Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way

Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way Plot Summary

Introduction

Unlocking your creative business potential requires more than just passion—it requires a strategic approach that honors both your artistic soul and entrepreneurial spirit. Many creative professionals struggle with the business side of their work, feeling that structure might somehow diminish their artistic integrity. Yet the most successful creative entrepreneurs understand that structure actually creates freedom. What if your unique creative process could become your greatest business advantage? Throughout these pages, you'll discover how your right-brain tendencies—your intuition, your ability to see the big picture, your knack for human connection—can transform into powerful business tools. You'll learn practical frameworks that align with your natural creative process rather than fighting against it, allowing you to build a thriving business that feels authentic to who you are and the difference you want to make in the world.

Chapter 1: Define Your Core Message That Attracts Perfect Customers

At the heart of every successful creative business lies a compelling core message that resonates deeply with your ideal customers. This isn't just a tagline or mission statement—it's the emotional heartbeat of your work that attracts kindred spirits who value what you uniquely offer. Vivienne McMaster exemplifies the power of a clear core message. As a photographer and e-course leader, she initially taught self-portrait photography focused on artistry, camera techniques, and storytelling. While she wove her personal mantra "Be Your Own Beloved" into her classes, it wasn't until she fully embraced this as her core message that her business truly blossomed. Vivienne realized this message of self-compassion through photography deeply resonated with a specific audience hungry for exactly what she offered. Once Vivienne fully owned her purpose, she made a crucial decision—everything in her business had to align with her "Be Your Own Beloved" core message. From collaborations to new classes, e-books to other offerings, if something didn't support this central theme, she let it go. This clarity allowed her to stand out in a crowded marketplace of photography instructors and connect authentically with people seeking self-acceptance through the camera lens. To discover your own core message, try creating a "Fantastical Freeway Billboard" for your business. Imagine having a giant digital billboard where you could communicate life-changing messages to your right people. What images, metaphors, symbols, colors, or words would convey your message? If there were a tagline, what would it say? This creative exercise taps into your right-brain intuition to express what matters most about your work. Another approach is asking yourself provocative questions: What frustrates you about your industry? What do you wish people truly understood about your field? What's missing from the world that would make it better? The themes that emerge from your answers often point toward your core message. Remember that your core message evolves over time through sharing and engaging with your audience. Start practicing it publicly now, even if it's not fully formed. Write articles related to it, craft social media posts inspired by it, or introduce yourself at networking events using it. The more you give voice to your message, the more comfortable you become with it—and the more feedback you'll receive about what resonates with the people you aim to serve.

Chapter 2: Craft Irresistible Offers That Reflect Your Values

Crafting an offer that perfectly aligns with your values transforms the often-dreaded act of "selling" into the joy of giving the perfect gift. When you package your creative work as a solution to your ideal customers' problems, the focus shifts from self-promotion to genuine service. Kerri Richardson, an intuitive life strategist and business strategist, experienced this transformative shift firsthand. She had been struggling with creating sales pages for her coaching programs until she reframed the process. "I never liked the idea of a sales page, but a love letter? Oh, I can write that," Kerri explained. "This shift literally took me from struggling to get a page done to banging one out in half a day. Being a naturally compassionate person, I loved the idea of sharing tools to help people through their challenges. Writing it from that place felt awesome!" With that initial "love letter," Kerri sold out her first group coaching program. The key elements of an irresistible offer include understanding both your passions and your perfect customers' needs. Think about your offer as a beautifully wrapped gift. The "to" card identifies who will benefit most from your work. The "benefits" card explains how your offer improves their situation with specific, emotionally compelling outcomes. The "features" card details exactly what they'll receive. You'll also want to anticipate potential concerns or objections and address them preemptively. Setting the right price can be challenging for creative entrepreneurs. The sweet spot is a number that feels good to you, covers your costs plus profit, provides appropriate value, and is acceptable to your customers. Finding this balance requires exploration and sometimes experimentation. When communicating your offer through what Kerri calls a "love letter" (essentially a sales page), imagine writing directly to one perfect customer. Picture them sitting across from you, engaged in a heartfelt conversation over tea. What would you say to help them understand how your work could transform their situation? Include authentic testimonials that demonstrate both tangible results and emotional transformation. For creative service providers feeling trapped in a money-for-time model, consider diversifying your offers through information products. Designer Mary Maru Wright discovered that crafting informational PDFs like "How to Plan for Your Business Website" allowed her to share her expertise more widely while creating additional revenue streams beyond her one-on-one client work. Remember, your offers don't need to be complicated. Sometimes the simplest "brown paper packages tied up with string" are the most effective. Keep your offers focused and aligned with your core message for maximum impact and minimum confusion.

Chapter 3: Launch Your Gifts Through Strategic Campaigns

Launching your creative offers effectively requires more than just announcing them on your website or social media. A strategic launch campaign builds anticipation, creates urgency, and guides potential customers toward making a decision within a specific timeframe. Ho'omalamalama Brown, a fitness instructor and creativity teacher, demonstrates how thoughtful launch planning can connect with different audiences. Beyond working with individual clients, Ho'o also contracts with corporations, day care centers, independent studios, and federally funded programs. She makes herself visible within these organizational circles by volunteering, attending their events, and supporting their community outreach. This allows her to understand their specific needs and submit targeted proposals when opportunities arise. A well-crafted launch includes several distinct phases. First, generate awareness with tantalizing teasers that pique curiosity about what's coming. You might share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process or post intriguing hints on social media. Next comes the official "opening the doors" phase where you formally announce your offer with all the details. This is often accompanied by an event—virtual or in-person—that gives people a taste of what you're offering. The follow-up phase is where many creative entrepreneurs fall short. As a sensitive, heart-centered business owner, you may worry about seeming pushy with reminders. However, anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of sales typically happen toward the end of a time-sensitive offer. Those final nudges often come at just the right moment for people who were interested but needed that extra encouragement to take action. While planning your launches, consider mapping them throughout the year for sustained success. Using a Seasonal Planning approach can help align your offers with natural rhythms and occasions. For example, the beginning of the year might focus on goal-setting offerings, while spring could highlight "cleaning" or renewal-themed products and services. It's also important to anticipate your customers' natural journey with your business. What might they need after their first purchase? Where do you see them going next? These insights can help you create a logical progression of offers that serves customers at different stages of their relationship with you. Remember that not all launches require the same level of effort. A small, focused offer might need only a handful of personal invitations and a single announcement, while your flagship product might deserve a more extensive campaign. And don't wait until everything is perfect before launching—sometimes the most effective approach is to "launch, then create," allowing real-world feedback to shape your offering as it evolves.

Chapter 4: Diversify Revenue Streams for Sustainable Success

Creating multiple income streams is essential for building a resilient creative business that can weather market fluctuations and provide ongoing financial stability. Rather than relying solely on one-to-one client work or single product sales, diversification allows you to leverage your expertise in multiple ways. Sharon Tessandori, a life coach and yoga studio owner in Lexington, Kentucky, exemplifies this approach. After leaving her full-time job, Sharon initially taught yoga classes wherever she could. Within two years, she had opened her own studio, Barefoot Works. But she didn't stop there. "Ten months after opening my yoga studio, I led my first yoga retreat, a weeklong international retreat in Tulum, Mexico," Sharon explains. "Five months after that, I led my first two-hundred-hour yoga-teacher training." These additions to her business brought in significantly more revenue than group classes alone, allowing her to lead sold-out retreats and trainings by the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. Later, as a new mother, Sharon expanded again into life coaching with a yoga-minded approach, giving her the flexibility she needed while continuing to pursue her passions. According to marketing expert Jay Abraham, there are just three basic paths to making more money: increase the number of customers, increase your prices, or increase the frequency of purchases from existing customers. For established businesses, focusing on repeat customers is often the most efficient approach since you've already invested in building these relationships. The key is understanding what they might need next and how you can continue serving them as their needs evolve. The Multiple Moola-Making Methods Map illustrates how service providers can transition from purely money-for-time work to more leveraged offerings. For example, a holistic health consultant might start with one-on-one sessions at $100 per hour. By adding group sessions with ten people at $40 each, she could earn $400 for that same hour. Taking it further, she might develop a six-module home-study course that continues generating income long after the initial development work. Artists and makers can similarly diversify by adding teaching, retreats, or licensed products to their offerings. Amy Crawley, who creates ornaments and sculptures from polymer clay, expanded her income by offering private lessons and teaching at museums and art schools after customers repeatedly asked her how to work with the medium. Whatever approach you take, knowing your numbers is crucial. Track your income and expenses regularly to identify which offerings are most profitable and where you might need to make adjustments. Elle Roberts, cofounder of the Artful Business Conference, initially felt overwhelmed when she calculated that running her first event would cost $50,000. To overcome this fear, she wrote "$50,000" on Post-it notes and placed them throughout her home until the number lost its power to intimidate her. This allowed her to focus on practical steps—selling tickets, securing sponsorships, and offering virtual access—that ultimately made the event a success.

Chapter 5: Build Support Systems That Honor Your Creativity

Even the most talented creative entrepreneurs can't do everything alone. Building the right support systems allows you to focus on your zone of genius while ensuring all aspects of your business run smoothly. Beth Barany, a fiction-writing coach, transformed her business by first recognizing what she loved most—creating content—and then delegating almost everything else. "Delegating has presented a big learning curve because I'm a bit of a control freak," Beth admits, "and because it has felt as if the time it takes to explain something is the same amount of time it would have taken me to do the task. But I've learned that once I've trained someone, it takes only a short time to request that the task be done. Then I can go back to focusing on my core work." Determining what to outsource requires honest self-assessment. Consider delegating tasks that you're not good at, that require specialized expertise, that drive you crazy, that take you too long, or that keep you from more profitable work. For example, meditation teacher Bindi Shah found an unexpected helper when she mentioned needing a housecleaner during one of her classes. A student later offered to clean so that Bindi could focus on teaching rather than tidying up. This simple shift gave Bindi "more energy and time, including a full Monday to work on my business!" When you're ready to build your team, start by creating a "Who Does What" chart that clarifies which functions you want to maintain responsibility for and which you'd like help with. Be specific about the qualities, experience, and values you're looking for in potential team members. Ask for recommendations, interview at least two candidates for each role, and keep communication lines open once you start working together. Strategic partnerships offer another way to expand your reach without hiring employees. Tiffany Han, a life and business coach, spearheaded a project called "Love Letters" by collaborating with twelve artists to create a monthly product featuring an art print, an inspiring letter, and a coaching exercise. She began by consulting with her friend Jess Swift, a professional artist who helped her understand licensing and pricing. Then she reached out to her "dream list" of artists, using early commitments to demonstrate credibility when approaching others. For effective collaborations, be clear about what you bring to the table and what you want from partners. Build relationships before making requests, and create clear written agreements about expectations, responsibilities, and rights. Remember that letting go of some control allows each contributor to shine in their area of expertise, ultimately creating something richer than you could produce alone. As Brighid O'Shaughnessy, founder of the theater nonprofit Erasing the Distance, discovered after transitioning from doing everything herself to leading a team: "Our impact and reach is far greater now than anything I could have achieved alone. We could not have reached the number of people we have, as professionally and sensitively as we have, without the collective effort of our team."

Chapter 6: Embrace Ease for Long-Term Business Growth

Sustainable success requires more than just hard work—it demands a thoughtful approach to energy management and self-care. The most successful creative entrepreneurs understand that periods of rest and rejuvenation are essential for long-term growth and innovation. Professional organizer Beth DeZiel of Lasso experienced this firsthand when she learned to prioritize herself and her wellbeing. "Learning to value myself and my time above all else is the surest way for me to get into an energetic groove with my business and experience the pure joy of sharing my gifts with the world," Beth shares. By creating supportive systems and rituals, streamlining her approach to work, developing a daily schedule, and purging people, habits, and beliefs that no longer served her, Beth created a foundation for sustainable success. Five key strategies can help you embrace ease in your creative business. First, seek simplicity by asking, "What's the easiest thing to do?" Rather than overcomplicating projects or getting stuck in analysis paralysis, focus on quick wins that build momentum. Second, create spaciousness by letting go of tasks that don't serve your bigger vision. This might mean saying no to opportunities that don't align with your core values or scheduling regular "white space" on your calendar for strategic thinking and creative exploration. Third, prioritize self-care activities that refuel your creative energy. These don't need to be expensive or time-consuming—simple pleasures like a short walk, a few minutes of meditation, or a cup of tea might be exactly what you need to recharge. Create a personalized "self-care catalog" of activities that energize you, so you don't have to think about what might help when you're already depleted. Fourth, build the right support systems (as discussed in the previous chapter) to handle tasks that drain your energy. And fifth, implement smooth sailing systems—documented processes and procedures that make day-to-day operations more efficient. As designer Mari Pfeiffer demonstrates with her client process mind maps, visual documentation can transform complex steps into user-friendly guides that save time and mental energy. Managing your time according to your natural energy flow rather than rigid schedules can also enhance productivity. If you're not a morning person, avoid scheduling important creative work before 10 AM. If you're an introvert, block off uninterrupted time for deep focus without distractions. Yoga teacher and life coach Sharon Tessandori embraces this approach by giving herself permission to work in environments that feed her creative spirit, whether that's a cozy coffee shop or her outdoor patio. Sometimes embracing ease means walking away from parts of your business that no longer bring you joy or align with your values. Watch for warning signs like persistent unhappiness, financial struggles, excessive time demands, or misalignment with your vision. These indicators suggest it might be time to pivot or let go, creating space for new opportunities that better match your evolving goals. Remember that pausing isn't just a luxury—it's a strategic necessity that creates the mental clarity needed to see new possibilities and respond effectively to challenges. The more you expand your reach, the more important it becomes to maintain reserves of creative energy that allow you to seize unexpected opportunities when they arise.

Summary

The journey of a creative entrepreneur is both deeply personal and universally challenging. Throughout these pages, we've explored how embracing your unique creative process can become your greatest business advantage rather than an obstacle to overcome. From defining your core message to crafting irresistible offers, from strategic launches to diversified revenue streams, from building support systems to embracing ease—each element works together to create a business that's not only profitable but also sustainable and deeply fulfilling. As Jennifer Lee reminds us, "Your creative business is art. Just like an intuitive painting, your creative business naturally emerges through play, discovery, and your refinement of each inspired action." This perspective liberates you from rigid business formulas and invites you to trust your creative intuition as you build your enterprise. Today, take one small action that honors both your artistic soul and entrepreneurial spirit—whether that's articulating your core message, reaching out to a potential collaborator, or simply scheduling white space on your calendar for strategic thinking. Remember that sustainable success unfolds over time, bit by bit, through consistent, concrete steps taken from a place of passion, purpose, and service.

About Author

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Jennifer Lee

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