Creative Business Basics

So I'm really tired of people trying to sell creatives on this lie that you need like this big audience or some sort of management or like a record label or, you know, somebody to oversee or like tons of money to build this creative business that's really simple and that can be making you money now. And it's hard because I see people and they say, you know, Lennon, I'm running these ads, they're teaching me how to do it. I'm getting more followers. And my response to that is, that's great, but are you making money from those new followers? Do you have something in place that's going to replace the likes and the vanity metrics and the follower number into an actual dollar sign that allows you to support the people and the things that you love? And a lot of these people have sold creatives on the idea that, you know, these vanity metrics are going to magically turn into dollar signs in their bank account like some screwed up version of Animal Crossing. It just doesn't work that way. I've seen this over and over. People are teaching creatives how to build a wall around something that has no foundation. And over and over I see people burned out. I see people get frustrated, more frustrated because they've sunk now money into something that's not making them any money back. The vanity metric increases, the engagement doesn't and, and the bank account doesn't change and they end up feeling like it's not possible, but they've just been sold the wrong thing. And it's simple, right? Like you're either doing this to build some sort of business or you're doing this as a hobby. If you're doing this as a hobby and you just want more followers, like do it that way, that's fine. But if you're trying to build a business, you have to be able to serve somebody and sell something. That's just the facts. And you can't make that money unless you have something that's worth more than than an Instagram like or the fraction of a cent that you get for a Spotify stream. And you can't sell this thing unless you know who you're trying to sell it to. And that's what this course is all about. Creative Business Basics is a go at your own pace course. So this is self driven. You do this in your own time. This is a course that is a compilation of my 10 years on the road as a musician, my 15 years as a creative freelancer, then turned strategist who has now helped, you know, Creative people and creators grow and develop their audiences and income by tens and hundreds of thousands. This is tens of thousands of dollars spent on marketing courses and thousands of hours spent out on the road learning things like being in the trenches, making $0, playing shows to nobody, figuring out how to develop some sort of business strategy to be able to support my family without getting like a big boy job. Right. And then taking five, study and work with clients directly on how to grow their own thing and to learn the online landscape, which, let's be real, like the arts scene has not fully embraced yet. Yeah, people want more followers and they're trying to grow their following or whatever, but they haven't embraced it in this way. And that really gives you the option to have a leg up and listen, I know you don't care to be famous or make millions of dollars. Like, that's not my vibe. I mean, sure, you want an audience for what you do, but not all of us want to be the next Banksy or like Taylor Swift. We're just trying to make enough money to support the people and the things that we love. And you know what's cool about this process is that when artists start to embrace it and really go after it, then other brands and companies and people that really can understand why they should be hiring a creative person, they want to hire you. They want to have you come be a part of the thing that you're doing because they understand how the two of you can start to collaborate. You know, I took my wife through this process and those of you with significant others know how dangerous that might be. But what's been great about it is she's seen her brand grow to about 20,000 followers. A little over 20,000 followers on Instagram now. Getting hired twice by Netflix, getting write ups in HuffPost, Bor Panda and other articles and things overseas. So cool. I mean, this process really works. And why does this process work? Because you learn how to be more you. You learn how to make yourself stand out by embracing who you are and then doing that with intention, figuring out what it is about your natural instincts, your natural passions, your natural stories in life, your natural creative things, turning those into stories and processes and products and all this stuff. Creative work that people will gladly pay for. And I teach you how and why those things are valuable, how to make them more valuable for those people and why they are valuable to them. So honestly, if you want to grow your audience, you want to start to build your personal brand, you want to be able to create what you want to create. You want to stop running the popularity race that is the Internet, all while starting to make money as you grow, not waiting for you to hit some arbitrary milestone before you start to like, develop something, right? If you want to make money as you grow, then this course is for you. In module one, we're going to define your most valuable traits. This module is really about defining who you are so you don't get caught up trying to be somebody else, trying to chase trends in the wrong way. You can really embrace your natural traits. You, you're gonna learn how to make those traits sticky, how to make people want to be a part of it, and then turn that into an actual brand, something that's very concise for you so that you can speak it to people and they get it and they understand. And then module two is all about defining your most valuable fan. You may have heard it said that if you try to reach everybody, you end up reaching nobody. And this is really, really true. Especially when we're trying to stand out as creative people. If we wanna stand out, we can't try to reach everybody. Cause all of a sudden nobody cares. You become bland.

Scrollable piece of work, right? So in this module, I'm going to show you how to define that fan so that you can start to solve a problem for them. You'll start to understand what their problems are. And yes, your creativity can actually solve a problem. It's so true. And it has to if you want to build a business around it, right? So I'm going to show you how to do that so that it serves you so you love it and they love it too. Module three is all about taking those two things, you and your fans, and bringing those two things together, connecting those two things. I'm going to introduce you to my connection roadmap, which is going to show you how the things you create can start to reach the right people and get them to know you more, feel like they trust you more, and ultimately want to Pay you. Module 4 is all about developing product ideas that actually sell. Some of you are selling your work and you know that right now it's underpriced. You know that right now there's something about it that's just. It's not enough for people to understand why it's valuable to them. And that's okay. We're going to get into that stuff here in this module. So we're going to go through everything from making your existing products better, more exciting to people, all the way to creating new products that are scalable, meaning you don't have to spend more time on these things to make more money. You can serve more people at once and be able to bring in more income, which leaves you more time for creating to do the stuff that you actually want to do. And then finally, Module five is all about creating the simplest promotional strategy for you and your audience that works. Marketing does not have to be this like crazy thing. Marketing is literally you just going to someone and saying, I have this thing, would you like it? It's that simple. And so I've developed the simplest three step process for you to actually market your products to your audience so that they understand what it's all about. We're going to go through things like building an email list, full blown, like content strategy, what makes great content. We're going to do case studies on people that are like you, that have done this very thing, from a very simplistic to a more elaborate approach. And I hear it all the time. Like, people in my niche don't pay for this kind of stuff. Like, I see everybody over here selling this for so cheap. How can I even sell it for more money? Listen to me, you can and you will. But you have to trust. You have to get out of your bubble and put yourself into the position to start to understand that there is a world outside of where you are right now. And it's time for you to step into that. It's time for you to trust and step into the fact that nobody's going to invest in you without you believing in it. You have to go and find it. And that's what this module is all about. On top of that, I know that it's so easy to just get lost in like, okay, but how often should I post on social media? What should my email say? I've literally put together an entire checklist for a two week promotional strategy for whatever launch you do. So it's literally laid out like email. One should say this content piece, number one on your Instagram stories should go over this thing. It's step by step by step by step all the way down the line for two full weeks so you don't get lost in the like, how to. And you can focus on what you need to do and why you're doing it. And that's going to make this so much easier and allow you to just sell it simpler because you believe in it more. You're not thinking so much about the scary parts and you're digging into the parts that you actually believe in. As a creator, you're gonna get all this +30 days for free inside the Creative Trade Collective, which is a new community that is revolving around community live meetings. So we do two live meetings a month. You get a free month inside that community. So if you have questions that regarding the course, you want to dig in and like build more relationships with people like you that are doing this kind of stuff, that's what this is all about. And right now that community is really small, which is really beneficial for you because you're going to get more time with me and more time with a smaller group. And that can be hands down the best scenario for somebody like yourself who's trying to get more one on one time, trying to get more intimate time inside of a community like this. This is a lot, right? But this is a go at your own pace course. You can take as long as you need to. You have lifetime access to all of it. And if you don't like it, I have a 30 day money back guarantee. If you dig into it and you're just like, I don't care for this, I'll give you your money back. I don't even care because it's all about me helping creatives to change the way they see their work. So at the end of this course, you're going to know how to confidently put yourself out there so the right people start to take notice of what you do. You're going to know how to make products that actually solve a problem for your fans and just get them flipping stoked to pay you money for the thing that you've made for them. Even more than that, you're going to start to see the value in what you do. You're not going to be as afraid anymore in who you are and what you're trying to say. And you'll be able to say that and tell people what it is you do without feeling like this sleazy salesperson anymore. I'm going to help you figure out what things you're naturally good at and how you can start to develop those into products that align with your creativity, that align with your art. So you have multiple revenue streams that are making you money and you actually love doing all these things. At the same time, you're going to become more confident in your abilities without ever having to be a better artist. If you're a good artist, a great artist already, you don't need to be better. You just need the right approach. You need to bring your story to their story and allow them to connect. You're going to eliminate the overwhelm that is marketing, or quote unquote marketing, and see the real potential that you have as a creative person. So I want to help creatives change the way they see their worth. And even more so, I want to help you specifically to change the way you see your worth and as creatives. Money is one of those things that we're afraid of. Money is one of those things that we're afraid to ask for. And I want to help you with that. Because when we are given, when we are paid for our time, it's an exchange of value. It's somebody saying to you, I appreciate what you've done. This is valuable to me. Thank you. And there's nothing more powerful than that when it comes with the heart of service, when it comes from a heart of excitement and trying to give. And that's what this course is all about. If you want to change the way you see your worth, then this is a great place to start. You do have to start seeing yourself as a business. But it doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be all this stuff that everybody talks about all the time. I mean, this is your business and your life. You can keep this as simple as you like. And that's what I want to help you do, is give you the roadmap to build the simplest scalable business that you can create right now. I'll see you on the inside.