Ultimate Resources To Sustain Your Creative Business

Here we go: my end of year resources article – the inner, the techie and everything in between, for you to sustain your hand-crafted creative business. This covers many frequently asked questions.

Happy exploring and implementing!

1. Your Creative Guarantee

Creativity = Currency

It goes without saying that as a creative entrepreneur, new invention and innovation comes from your creativity.

Ironically our creative blocks can be our most loyal friend.

The following has happened to me as a writer. I’m pretty sure the underlying pains can be felt by painters, dancers, singers, photographers…all types.

At times due to self-imposed-whatever-reasons:

“Let me do one more round of promotion, so that I can leverage the content better.”

“Let me return a few messages first, be a reliable person in my network. Then I’ll have a clear mind to write.”

“I’ll just jot down a few more ideas on my post-it, or save them as a draft. One day, one day, I’ll organise them properly and hit “publish”.”

Nope, that day didn’t come. Your mind was still not “clear enough”. And there was always more promotion to be done…

Other times, we took “writing” way too seriously which was almost frightening.

“Only X ways to do ____? That’s not life-changing enough for your readers. Go and write more!”

Hands up if this happened to you recently?

This little truth, however, can always pull us back on track, fortunately.

The greatest joy lies within the act of creating itself.

You cannot guarantee fame, stats or conversion. But you can guarantee YOUR right to create, and here are 3 ultimate basics to make your creativity profitable with striking simplicity.

In short, don’t make it so hard to create; and don’t ruin your love for creativity.

2. Your Emotional & Spiritual Wealth

You cannot serve the world when you are not centred yourself.

You cannot uplift your community when your own energy is shaky.

You cannot fulfill your purpose while constantly absorbing other peoples’ fears unconsciously.

You cannot be sure of who you are while internalising someone else’s anxiety and sleeping with it every night!

Check out my article on Tiny Buddha on how to stop taking other people’s fear and live freely.

In addition to the 3 tips in the article above, here are a few daily rituals you should consider:

:: Forgive those who imposed fears on you – they are not doing this on purpose (and we probably all have done this to a certain degree). And forgive yourself that you allowed yourself to absorb those negative vibes.

:: Invoke Archangel Michael and shake off the “false perceptions” that stops you from living your truth.

:: Envisage a white light surrounding you when you are in a crowded place, with your Guardian Angel on your shoulder to protect you.

:: Envision a cube full of light at the edge of your energetic field, this is your energy bubble, whenever you feel that people are pushing your bubble (deliberately or not), use your intention to push the vibes back outside of your cube (this is a quick & fun demonstration for you). You always have the option to invite others in (eg, the loved ones), but bad vibes don’t have the power to step over you unless you allow them to.

:: Don’t ever say “yes”, when you mean “no”. Otherwise, gradually you are shutting down your third chakra – which governs the personal sovereign, that’s when you give away your power away and absorb like a sponge. If you feel this is such a big shift to manage, then at least aim to say “yes” very slowly.

:: Keep raising your vibration. Here are two really simple ways: laughter and prayer. What can you do to keep yourself amused and laughing? And even when things aren’t going your way, do you have patience just to pray? Praying is not weak, it is a sacred act to reach your true size.

:: Stop holding your “Psychic Bin” for others to “vomit” on you. Just stop.

3. Money Nuts and Bolts

Of course we’ll cover the money aspect. If you haven’t yet, get my complimentary ecourse Intuitive Money: Turn Your Purpose Into Prosperity.

3.1 It’s all in your attitude

Let’s start with exploring the following questions:

:: What if money is a loving life partner to you? 

:: What if money loves you, what if money wants to support your dreams, would you judge money less than the society imposed shame on it?

:: What if you don’t have to choose between getting paid and what you love?

:: What if money is here for you, at every step, to become a better human being?

The love of money is NOT the root of many problems, loving money is NOT obsessing over money or being purely motivated by it.

It’s more about enjoying life, adding value to the world and not afraid to receive support from it, including money. And be grateful and appreciative of it.

How about this fresh attitude for a change?

“I offer my heart’s desires as a source of love to the world. In their fulfilment, I bring a message of light to everyone that I encounter. Money is here to support me living my purpose at each step.”

You can find more mantras here to help you.

Those who shame your love of money do NOT understand LOVE, nor how energy flows in this Universe.

Hating money quite often leads to poverty. In this case, you are more likely to worry about money, even if you don’t notice it yourself!

I met a few colleagues in the past, who resent money due to some complicated stories when they grew up.

But they didn’t know that what they are resenting is NOT the true essence of money – which is just a form of energy, protection and provision to be specific, but the stories that they associated money with.

Sadly they dislike money, and as a result repelling money and stressing out about making ends meet month in and month out.

If you are struggling to make ends meet, this is NOT your fault. My advice is to:

1) release your old stories (you’ll be amazed by how many layers there are!) reconnect with the essence of money.

2) take practical actions to reverse your situation.

See below for the “how”.

3.2 Feel the essence of money.

We all know that money doesn’t guarantee happiness, but purposeful money can certainly ease your pains, heal your wounds and breed more abundance.

:: Just went out with your close friends and had a blast at your favourite restaurant?

–> Money just supported you for JOY. Oh, and that generous tip you gave to the waitress? It made her day brighter!

:: Got excited ‘cos you are heading to Hawaii for vacation?

–> Money has made ADVENTURE more accessible for you!

:: Paid rent/mortgage in time with peace of mind?

–> Money has brought SAFETY and SECURITY for you and family!

Just to name a few…

Want to feel more?

Use your creativity to fall in love with the essence of money. 

Trust me, this is not hard when you start with something that you already love.

My former client, Mélanie, a devoted lightworker and gifted healer worked with me earlier this year. Her passion for using aromatherapy to add more love to the world was (and still is) so contagious!

I enjoyed her energy and consulted my Spirit Guides and hers.  I could feel her love for aromatherapy – it should be her love for Money too! Her joyful energy towards aromatherapy inspired me to invite her to classify her main expenses, feel into the essence of each and connect it to an oil.

When I asked Mélanie if it is OK with her to share this love process on my blog, she said YES and generously wrote the below.

We want to inspire you to add more purpose into your finance and find your love spot with money too 😀

“Money is fun to make, fun to spend and fun to give away.” – Sara Blakley

[Enter Mélanie]

 

“A few months ago, I had the pleasure to work with the beautiful Yiye around money and abundance. Knowing about my passion for essential oils, she invited me to think about my main expenses and associate an energy and a plant to each one.

I loved this exercise, because it really allowed me to shift the perception I had of my current expenses, and made the whole process of paying my bills much more meaningful and enjoyable. I’d like to share with you how I paired oils with my five main sources of expenses, hoping it will help you too on your path towards abundance.

Rent – (essence: Security)

The energy I associate with rent is security. Patchouli essential oil is for me the perfect association with rent, because it is an oil that is very grounding, creating a sense of safety and deep joy, just like when you come back home to your family. Patchouli essential oil balances our first chakra and gives us the strength to accept our uniqueness while still belonging to the whole.

My son’s school – (essence: Angel, Joy)

Giving my son what I consider the best start in life for him represents a great investment for the future (his’ and the world’s), and it is a deep joy for me to see how he is thriving at his Montessori school. I chose to associate Litsea essential oil to this expense, because Litsea is the Angels’ oil, the one you can use when you want to call and welcome your Angels in your space. This essential oil also promotes joy and self-confidence, helping clear stress and anxiety.

As a side note, Litsea must not be used for children or during pregnancy, and must be used diluted, as it can be irritant to the skin. But, like for all oils, you can always call upon the Spirit of the plants and simply connect to it’s energy).

Groceries – (essence: Protection & Heath)

Healthy eating is something very important and non negotiable in my family, and I like to associate this budget with Fennel essential oil. Fennel gives you protection and balances the solar plexus and the heart chakra, which is associated with the immune system.

Blended with geranium, fennel is also a great way to protect yourself against negative energies from places or people, and for me eating lots of greens has a similar effect.

Car – (essence: Freedom)

After having lived without a car for most of my life (by choice), having a car became a necessity when we moved to our current Canadian city, especially in winter. I therefore associate my car with freedom, a way to “open up” my world. The perfect oil for that is palmarosa, because it helps discover opportunities where we could only see obstacles, opening the path to expansion.

Internet/phone – (essence: Communication)

Working mainly online, these are my main communication channels with my clients (as well as with my family abroad). Cardamom is the essential oil I associate with this, because it facilitates communication. It opens up the throat chakra, helping you communicate in a clear and authentic way, and giving you the strength and freedom to share your unique truth.

Thanks a lot Yiye for your beautiful guidance, and for giving me the opportunity to use essential oils in such a creative way.”

It was so pleasant to witness how you can align your love for creativity and your consciousness on money.

By the way, if you are curious about Mélanie’s work. She teaches energy aromatherapy, including how to create your own divine blend as your signature perfume.

Now, let’s get back to you.

What do you love creating every day?

Writing? Then write a poem to money, tell money that you are grateful for the food you ate, the bed you are sleeping in, the screen you are reading right now…

Performance art? Then choreograph a piece around protection/provision, just for fun, and to understand money better.

Are you an intuitive? Then call up and connect with your Prosperity Guide.

Are you a sensual/sensory person? Then romance it up:

:: you can wash your coins (while releasing all the negative stories towards money).

:: you can draw/paint some paper notes (while appreciating how convenient they have made your life to be).

:: you can sleep with your notes (why not make this relationship real? :)).

:: you can put money dearly in your hands and closely on your heart – feel its unique vibration – it’s all about protection and provision. That’s it. Everything else is human added flavour, which decides how you taste life but it might not be the truth.

I share many simple & childlike exercises like the above with my clients. And for those open-minded clients who throw themselves into connecting with money freely and intimately, they always receive more money in their bank account almost immediately, in the form of attracting ideal paying clients (who are ideal but they thought they were out of reach before), recovering owed money from years ago, unexpected refunds, or gifts.

I think it is because that love is the solution for all.

Just try it.

Feeling this is too dirty or weird? Then you have pleeeeeeeenty of room to improve how you feel about money.

Of course money is not everything. But if you have a wildly loving relationship with money, it’s definitely more fun and miraculous.

Plus it will make the next section a loooooooot easier, which is…

3.3 The down-to-earth part

So down-to-earth that we’ll talk about your bottom line straight away.

There are a bunch of metrics that you can track regularly, but these are the most important two:

:: your profitability (your take-home money, do you know how many self-claimed 6/7 figure business owners who are making losses?)

:: your cash flow (food for your business, do you know how many million dollar businesses are struggling due to cash flow issues?)

Here are a few guidelines to help you:

:: Focus on bottom lines. Don’t get too allured by top lines (gross sales).

:: Hone your genius zone. What do you enjoy doing the most while others seeing values & wanting to pay you? Keep doing it. Everything else is just distraction. Yes, everything else is just distraction.

:: There is no such thing as a passive income (with the exception of the “portfolio section” below). Firstly, there was time and resources upfront to create your products, then promotions, then human interactions, then the upgrade, then more promotions… Some claim that they’ve made such and such from passive income, but have you noticed how much energy they’ve invested in promoting this idea to you? My recommendation is less “lucrative” yet more sustainable: just put your head down, work in your genius zone and increase your bottom lines steadily year on year.

:: If in doubt, get helped. If you feel allergic to what I said above, please find a trustworthy professional like an accountant who has specialised helping freelancers/creative entrepreneurs just like you for at least a few years.

I have separate business accounts (and credit card) – highly recommended to separate your business accounts from personal accounts. Ultimately, your business should support you well financially, if it still gels together with your personal account, not only it’ll become increasingly difficult for the admin, you are not giving it chance to “grow up” either.

If you are in the UK, check out HMRC‘s site. Their telephone staff are quite helpful when it comes to answering your enquires, even the detailed ones.  Even if you do have an amazing accountant, knowing the basic requirement yourself is very empowering. Make sure that you know when your self-assessment is due (31 Jan the following year in the UK); and when your accounts filling is due (9 months after your year end in the UK); and every other important filing dates. Be organised and get them done in advance, so they won’t hold you back if you suddenly enjoy an influx of clients.

I ulitise ISA (ie, tax saving scheme in the UK: you don’t get taxed on the interests on your cash ISA pot/or investment gains on your investment ISA pot. You might have equivalent in your own country). I also highly recommend you to do so. By the way, it doesn’t matter how much (or how little) you put in your ISA each year, the key is to have an intention to take advantage of the compound effect over the years. You’ll thank yourself by taking a trip to your bank this afternoon years later…(with online banking, it’s even easier than ever to set up an account and make the transfer today).

Check your investment portfolio regularly, set up a standing order to put your spare cash to contribute further into your funds or pensions. “Urrr, standing order! Portfolio!” I appreciate that those sound nowhere near as glamorous as “beach!””passive income!” as many internet marketers allure you with, but they ARE what can actually make you passive income and a freedom-based life down the road.

I also encourage you to automise your finance, ie, pay off your credit card in full each month (or if not possible at this stage, at least pay off as much as you can, declutter the unnecessary spending and actively look for ways to add more value in your work or business – this is the key to quantum leap your income.)

If you have been telling yourself the same thing over and over again: “Yeah, I know that’s important. And I’ll do that tomorrow” but that “tomorrow” still has not come yet, then it’s time to reflect on what are the underlying stories that stop you from growing your fund.

:: Do you believe that being rich and financially sound is “dirty”;

:: Or you don’t trust your bank due to the global financial crisis in the past decade?

:: Or you do love the idea of being financially abundant but you have a wounding relationship with money that you just don’t trust enough?

Take a moment to examine your underlying fears and emotions – no matter what the exactly they are, chances are they have nothing to do with money.

Money is just an exchange of energy. Its true essence is provision and protection. The rest…just our stories and they can be changed.

You ARE capable to take responsibility of your financial health, starting from today.

I schedule dates with Money weekly (looking at statements, where I am, where I am heading etc.).

I schedule dates with Abundance daily (fun, joy + expand my receiving ability).

I use my Money Love Playbook and Creating Prosperity Subliminal Audio to strengthen my relationship with Money and Abundance continuously.

 4. Done-for-you Scripts & Templates

Here are some popular scripts that I’ve created over the past few years. My intention is to save you time and headaches.

You can simplify them. Dress them up. Or tweak them and make them your own.

Here is how to reply to “but you are too expensive” – no more tongued-tied.

I highly recommend you to pitch your hand-made business effectively like this.

Overwhelmed by barter/discounts/”pick-your-brain” requests? You can say NO with grace and love.

You are welcome 🙂

5. Your Online Presence

5.1. Offering

Your signature offer is one of the most important things in your business.

A lot of people procrastinate with offering, over-complicate the process, or over-engineer the features.

If you are struggling with it, I want to give you some good news: it actually can be simple – find out what people value then deliver it.

Use survey. Talk to people 1:1. Run a focus group. Ask for honest feedback from past clients. Scan some popular topics in forums. Or even just start helping people, make a basic package then gradually you’ll find out what works the best for you, who your ideal clients are, and how you can help them the most.

I work at my best during an intensive setting as I can offer my deep insights to guide a transformation. And I fell in love with hosting VIP Days/Half-days.

I used to offer both longer and shorter services such as 3-month mentoring or 90 min intensive, I might still re-open some in the future. But right now, VIP Day/Half-day is what I enjoy the most. Because it is a unique container that makes acceleration possible  – right in front of your eyes, when a client who:

:: knows that launching her signature service is what her business needs but is searching for guidance to craft it NOW, instead of in 6 months time;

:: knows that raising her rate is the right decision (for herself and ideal clients) but needs energetic and practical steps to actually make it happen;

:: knows that budgeting is what exactly her household requires but needs the whole process to be fun and energetic;

:: knows that reaching out to XYZ is the next step to fulfill her purpose but needs space and a gentle kick to stop it dragging on + send that email with confidence TODAY…

Those can unfold during a VIP Day/Half-day more easily than other formats because its depth.

It’s a wonderful accelerator when it comes to deliver results and value. I encourage you to think about offering VIP Days if you haven’t already, especially if you enjoy working intensely.

My pricing for products and services has been steadily increasing in line with my experience. I switched back to charge in GBP from USD for simplicity – it was the theme for the past year for me.

5.2 Website

You can use wordpress.org, which is free and you might even get more exposures to potential followers, but bear in mind that you’ll have limited functionality, designs and ways to communicate with your audience.

If you want better control, then self-host your blog/website with wordpress, tons of templates and plug-ins are wildly available to you. which means there is a small investment every month, I’m talking about the region of £5 – $10.

My hosting company is hostgator – this was recommended by John Williams. Alternative hosting companies include: Bluehost, GreenGeeks.

I used the basic free WP theme 2012 when I started out.

(No, I was not ashamed by its lack of design. I was really pleased that I felt OK to trust that my content would be sufficient for the time being. I didn’t let external reasons stop me from doing what I deeply loved – connecting with YOU that is! I hope you don’t either!)

I played along with design as I went. Towards the end of 2013, my inner-child got curious and wanted to get her hands “dirty”.

So I bought the Thesis Theme (a premium theme, an one off investment c. $97). You can explore other premium themes over here.

I learnt some basic html and it’s getting less and less intimidating – a bit like studying another language.

Once you’ve learnt the alphabet, and put some words and sentences together, with some decent practice, you then can put a few more words and sentences together, and so on.

The same for your website.  Just keep working on your it. The more you use it, the more you’ll realise that it’s supporting you, not against you.

I always invite my Spirit Guides on board when I am doing the practical side.

In contrary to common belief, our Guides and Angels can be very hands-on and effectively. Especially when you make the intention to attract such Guides too (see the article above for the “how”).

If you don’t want to get involved in the details at all, you should consider hiring a web designer. Ask your network, get recommendations and see whose work you resonate with.

5.3 Mailing list

I use Aweber (there are alternatives such as MailChimp). It’s fairly straightforward to set up opt-in forms, create follow-up series (to deliver your both free or paid ecourses for example), segment your lists, create “rules” within the lists. It recently introduced the “campaign” function, which I’m yet to navigate.

It is easy to interface Aweber with leadpages and shopping carts such as ejunkie (which is what I use at the moment) to deliver eCourses. Ejunkie changed its design and layout lately, which is much more user-friendly than a few years ago.

5.4 Your relationship with social media

Julia Cameron has really nailed it:

“For many artists, social media is a mixed blessing. Easily addictive yet highly connective, it works best for us as an addition to our art rather than as a substitute for it.“

You can read this short article here.

I’m not a social media expert. As many of you know that I don’t log on or post very often and when I do, I choose to hang out in low maintenance (but more engaging) platforms and interact with my connections in ways that feel good, natural, not being pressured.

This really works and I can love and appreciate social media more.

Let go of FOMO (fear of missing out). Do what it works for you. When you let your intuition guide you, it’ll be more effective than any hottest trends at the moment – going back to my earlier point of “honing your genius zone, or else is distraction.”

There are plenty of scheduling tools that can help you save your time eg. Hootsuite, Buffer. They both have free plans to start with. Still struggling? Have a chat with Tracy, my former assistant, her good relationship with social media and SEO may well become your catalyst to move forward with joy.

5.5 Graphics

For the DIY option – Christie Halmick has tons of useful resources on her site. You can source photos from istock, shutterstock.

There are many sites that can help you bring your vision onto digital paper: Pixlr, Canvas, PicMonkey.

Time hungry + looking for some fab assistance? There is also our amazing community member Jessica – she is really generous and I know that she will go above and beyond to help you!

6. A Healthy Giving/Receiving

Needless to say that in order to make your creative business work, you’ve got to give your heart, your brain, your time, your energy, your intuition, your skills, your…everything.

A very common trap that healers/creatives fall into is an imbalanced giving/receiving. Therefore, it’s easy to suffer from “abundance stagnancy”. You give, give and give, you completely exhaust yourself but the other side of the stick still seems too far away?

Well, the society’s norm on giving and receiving is fundamentally flawed – “give to others then you can receive something IN RETURN” – this will not get you where you want.

A true giving-receiving is completely free from co-dependency. Here are 4 simple steps to quickly redirect you to a healthier cycle + renew your energy level.

And whenever in doubt, always remember that: YOU ARE THE CURE.

That’s it for now.

Some links above are to “sister links” on my own website; others are external links but there are NO affiliate links. If you find them useful, then I’ll get pure joy for recommending them! For record, I don’t have anything against affiliate marketing. However, I understand that, in this ever increasingly crowded online place, impartial recommendations are becoming more and more rare. And I thrive to give you rare content.

On that note, is there anything else that you’d like to know? Leave a comment & I’ll reply/update accordingly! 

 

Intuitive & Abundance Guide,

I decode the mysteries of your soul & simply your path to abundance. Check out my Abundance Shop. Want my 1:1 help? Here is how we can co-create together for you.

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