How She's Making Cash and Consistent Content As A Creative

So I recently got to have a chat with Effie Summers, Creative, who is a super awesome visual branding guru living over in the uk. And we talked all about the multiple revenue streams that her and her husband have for their business. We talked about creating a bunch of content and actually dug into some of the visual sides of your brand and how that can help you as an artist and creative. If this is your first time here, my name is Lennon and this channel exists to help you stand out and make money doing meaning. While we do get into a lot of stuff about content, I know content can feel really just like daunting as a thing. So I do want to remind you I have a free guide that will walk you through how to develop 30 content ideas and it only will take you about 30 minutes. It's also got a bonus video that gives you my insight on how to make better captions for things like Instagram that really connect more with people. It tells more of your story. It's not just the typical, like, eating food today. Right. All right, so go Download that@creativecontentplan.com link is in the description below. Let's head over to my interview with Effy. Would you mind me asking, and I don't want you to divulge too much information, like how many revenue streams do you guys currently have and what's the ultimate goal for you and your husband as you're trying to put this stuff together?

Okay, so we have, I would say about six income streams. So the biggest goal is to increase the passive income and to have that much more level with the swapping time for money. So, yeah, the goal is to have at the very least, equal income from passive sources and from swapping time for money.

Would you mind kind of giving us a list of those revenue streams and what they are? You don't need to go like super detailed, but yeah, I think it'd be cool.

Yeah. So we have the UK business, which is split between the other teachers that bring in money. So they teach students and at schools and obviously they get a good wage and we take a cut. And then my husband teaches some English students over Skype as well because those students didn't want to leave him. So that's the two. And then he teaches private students here in Copenhagen. And then we have the online stuff, which is also based in Copenhagen. So that's completely passive. Obviously it took a lot of work to get the courses together. And he still does YouTube and Patreon, so I sort of class that as one. So that's online courses YouTube and Patreon. And that's what the main part of the business that we're hoping to grow. And that's a very small income at the moment. And then on my. My personal stuff is client work and then eventually some source of passive income as well.

That's cool. So just some takeaways here that I think Effie saying is like one just like, make sure that you have some idea of. And I love that you guys went for this thing of like, this will be the most beneficial first, which will then allow us to move the needle on the other things. Right. You said let's start here because we know it's going to work. We know it aligns with our passions. You're not taking away from something. You're not like, selling out in some situation. You're saying, we're building a business here. This is going to take time. So you do the thing that moves the needle the most first and then you start to branch those out, delegate where you can, and then push into other revenue streams that maybe align more with your deeper passion and allows you to kind of have some money coming in. Still loving making that stuff, but you're now, like, getting into the deeper stuff that you're like, this is what I actually want to do all the time. And now I have something to support that that I still love. So you don't have to keep this, like, you know, Best Buy clerk job or whatever up here. You can, like, be doing your thing. So I do want to ask you because I think it would be stupid not to, like, tell me what you know, give. Give me some ideas for visual artists, photographers, like musicians, whomever, you know, as they're just starting to develop their online look. Like, where. What, what do you feel like really affects the viewer the most when they're coming in and they see something? Where, where could they start to align their visual aesthetic to make sure that it impacts the viewer the way it needs to?

I think there's two main points that I would say is one is be consistent. So make sure that you're. The social media profile. Pictures and headers are the same or within the same theme on every platform. So when someone finds you on YouTube, they know straight away that that's you that they've seen on Instagram, and the other one is be authentic. So it's got to come from you. You can't just think, oh, okay, I'll make this random nice design. It's got to develop from your message and from your music or your art in some Way. So. So that research process needs to take a long time and it shouldn't be rushed. Even if you just make the social media accounts and just wait. I think that to get that initial branding right is really important.

Yeah, I love that. And I would say a lot of that really aligns with. I talk so much about your message from like an aural standpoint standpoint. Like, what's your copy say? What's the stuff that you're actually trying to get out there that connects to the audience? And I think, you know, I would say, and I would love your pushback on this, that, like, if you know that really well and you know what that. Why is that you're doing and you know what you're trying to give somebody and why you're trying to give it, that really then lets you build the visual aesthetic around that. Would you agree?

Yeah, definitely. You need your why, I think before you even make a social media account. And I think nothing will happen for you until you have that. Why you have to have that thing that is yours. And that thing can change and develop over time. Like, that's okay. You don't have to be like, oh, I've got one thing I need to decide on. You need the why. You need to be excited and passionate and know you can serve people in that way before you do anything else.

Yeah, I totally agree. Do you. I forgot how I was going to word it. Like, do you? What? What? I guess, yeah. What's your. Because you're making a lot of content as well. And we'll kind of make this sort of the last bigger question when. When you're making a lot of content, like, and it sounds like your husband's making content as well, sort of what's your thought process when it comes to that stuff? And if you can walk us through, like, sort of inception of ideas to execution and that sort of thing.

And so I look at similar channels, I look at the people who are commenting and the sort of questions and problems that they have. So if there's one question that keeps coming up, I have noticed some people in other videos asking about, like, the visual side, but more specifically, if they have questions, I sort of jump on them and think, okay, so that's something that people definitely need help with. I also do polls on Instagram. So YouTube and Instagram are my main channels. Really, I focus on those. So I do polls on Instagram asking, what are you struggling with? To get ideas.

So cool. Well, I just want to say thanks so much for doing this. Like, it means so much. I think you're brilliant and I love what you stand for and what you're doing. And it won't be long before we're all just running this place. We're going to be helping a ton of people, and it's going to be amazing. Because what I love is that, you know, the Internet is full of all these people like you, who are out there doing the deal, and you're like, in the grand scheme, like, nobody knows who you are. And we get so caught up. And I mean that in, like, the nicest way. Like, we get so caught up in the people that have 100,000, a million followers, and we feel like that's the thing, but that's not the thing. The thing is, like, serving a small audience really, really well in a way that allows you to make a living doing the thing that you actually care about. I just love. I just stand by that a thousand percent. And so I love having people like yourself on here that you're doing the thing that you love to do, and you're doing it so well, and it's serving people well, and you're making a living because of it. So thanks for being a part of this. So I would totally encourage all of you watching this to go watch Effie's channel. I'll make sure that it's linked. Because I think the way that she presents not only great information from a visual standpoint, so whether you're an artist from, like, on the visual side of things, you're a photographer, whatever. She has great points on just the visual aesthetic and how you can tie that into your brand, but also just the way that she presents her own business within the stuff, the way she talks about her own business without selling. I think there's a lot to be learned there that you guys could take away. And, Effie, thank you so much again.

No, thank you. It's been fun.

Great. Okay.