3 Things You NEED to do to Start a Creative Business

Sooooo many talented and creative women come to me for advice on how to start a creative business. Most of the time, you ladies have tons of IDEAS or already have a hobby to capitalize on but you just don’t know where to start.

Trust me, you don’t have to do all these extra things to make a hobby a biz. I wish I had known this 20 years ago when I was getting my degree in a computers but secretly wanted to do something creative. Now after years of coaching, investing in my learning and working through the challenges of being a creative biz owner, I know the shortcuts to turning a hobby into a legit business … and I want to share some of them with you right here.

Really, there’s only a couple of things you have to do to get started!!

First of all, if you’d rather watch and/or listen, I have a live video for you here …

the First 3 Things you need to do to Start a Creative Business

You CAN get your online business going by tomorrow… let’s focus on the FIRST three things you need to do to get started.

1. Name your Business

Just like during pregnancy, when you finally find out the gender, you start to refer “the baby” by name, and it becomes more REAL. So does a business, so NAME IT!!! The next time someone says “You’re so good!! You should start selling.” You can say, “I am, I started my business, it’s called ____”   See, It’s not just a hobby anymore, this baby is your BUSINESS!!!

I can’t stand the name of my decorative painting business – the Magic Brush. I didn’t when I first named it and I STILL don’t!!! But it works, and here’s why.. It let me GROW. I wasn’t stuck painting just one type of thing. Times changes, trends change, YOU’LL CHANGE. We literally went from sponge painting and stenciling textured faux finishes to painting furniture and cabinets. If you want to sell earrings right now, but in 5 years? So then think more in line with jewelry or general design! Don’t let your name make you feel stuck with just ONE thing!!!

Bonus Tip: Make sure people can spell our business name! Obvious, but I see it happen all the time.
 

2. Online Marketing

Marketing trumps talent almost every day of the week. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to put yourself out there. And your talent will only take you so far if you don’t market yourself. Marketing isn’t in junk mail, magazine ads and business cards anymore. Everything is online. So get on social media. And if you don’t know how to do it – just ask for help!

The largest social media platform is Facebook, hands down. If you have one already then you know how they work. But PLEASE don’t use a personal page… that’s a big NO! NO! Make a business page, it’s just as easy!!! The next platform I like to use is Pinterest. It’s a great way to have your product in front of a TON of people. And if you are decent with a camera, hop on over to Instagram. Just make sure that your social media names  or “handles”  are consistent, so that people can follow you across multiple platforms. 

(Bonus: Read my 5 tips for Rocking your Facebook Business Page here )

3. Consistently Use Social Media

This is pretty obvious but way easier said than done: once you create your social media actually USE IT!!! Don’t start with expensive Facebook ads and promotions. Don’t expect people to search you out. You have to put yourself out there.

Every single social media site wants their users to be posting consistently. So to make sure your content is being seen, you have to post regularly. I suggest posting several times a day. You’ll have to put in some work to find out who is your audience and when is your audience online.  Think about what times would easier for THEM to be on, and post for them!!! Try new things, ask conversation starters, trying sharing viral content, try different types of your own content, and see what works! It can be a lot of work but the payout is worth it. Plus, you can use various social media schedulers to help you get organized and planned out. For Facebook, it’s easy – just use Facebook Scheduler!

Once you start posting regularly, people will be looking for you and you just start building brand awareness from there.

Bonus Tip: Posting regularly keeps platforms pleased and essentially earns you favor and more eyeballs!)

So what’s next?

With these three things, your creative outlet or hobby could be a well-known, credible side hustle in no time. If you would like to more forward, I encourage you to download my Hobbyist to Entrepreneur Starter Pack here. It’s totally free and will help with some of the confusing  biz stuff!!!

After you’ve done these three things, you’ll be ready for my  Creators’ Inner Circle! This is a private group for creative business owners. We have monthly trainings and challenges to help build your online platforms and get your audience growing and make more money! Get on the waitlist here.   

Keep your Momentum

Subscribe to my podcast on your phone’s podcast app or go here to listen. There are so many good episodes that I recorded just for YOU, the beginner!!! From tips and mindset help, you will find tons of encouragement and decades  of c my biz advice advice there.

I hope you’re feeling motivated to start! Go and and comment with your new Facebook business page once you have! I’d love to see what you are building and creating! 

XOXO

Jen

Seriously, if you are just starting, you’ll be ready for the Inner Circle when it opens next, do your future creative biz a favor and get on the list now.