Shownotes
Every quarter, I love doing a Q&A episode where I answer questions from the Brand Your Passion Collective community. This one's full of real questions from creatives who are probably wondering about the same stuff you are.
In this episode, I'm talking about how to market your creative business offline (yes, there's actually life beyond social media!), what gets me out of bed every morning, where I find inspiration when I'm feeling totally stuck, how I actually manage to switch off from work, my favourite ways to chill out, and let's be honest - how I deal with burnout when it hits. Plus I'm ending with a random but super important question about my favourite Pokémon!
These are real strategies I've figured out through trial and error in my creative business. Whether you're just starting your creative journey or you've been doing this for years, you'll get some solid ideas you can try right away.
So if you've been wondering how to grow beyond Instagram, stay motivated when things get tough, or just figure out how to not work 24/7, this episode's definitely for you.
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🎧 122. The power of partnering up: Your guide to collaborating with other artists
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Transcripts
Every quarter, I like to do an episode on the podcast where I answer questions from members of the brand, your Passion collective. And so in this episode, I'm gonna answer a bunch of questions about branding, creative business, all the things in between. So let's dive in!
Okay. Before we get started, I wanna remind you that if you wanna ask me a question about branding, creative business, how I do things.
All of those things. You can ask me anything. You can join us in the brand, your Passion collective, and I have just also added a feature where you can leave me a voicemail. So we hopefully will start getting some voicemail messages where people ask me questions. But you can also just. Type me a question.
So there are so many reasons to join us in the brand, your Passion collective, but this is one of them that every quarter you get to ask me any question you have about branding, marketing, creative business, how I run my business, anything you want. If you wanna come and join us in the brand, your Passion collective, and ask me questions for the next episode like this, then come and join us.
The link will be in the show notes and I'd love to see you in there. Okay, let's get started.
How to Market Your Creative Business Offline
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So Judith asked me the first question, which is, with branding offline, what does that look like for other creatives? I understand the importance of social media, having a newsletter, et cetera, but what about in real life?
How do people extend their reach outside of the internet, which I think is a great question. I had a think about ways that people market their business offline, that I have talked to 'em about on this podcast. So real artists that have told me ways that they market their business. So let me tell you a bunch of these ideas and hopefully this will spark some thoughts for you.
And yeah, give you some ideas for how you can market your own business offline. I think the key thing with any kind of marketing is it's all about connecting with other people. So whether you're thinking about online or offline, it's like, how can I build these networks that I have, these connections that I have, this audience, this community, how can I grow my connections and grow my community?
So that's a good. Thing to think about as you're going into thinking about how you're gonna market your business online. But some of the ways that I've talked to artists about that have been great for them have been number one, collaborating with other artists. So whether it's on like a combined exhibition or an event you put on together a workshop, or you work on a collection together that is collaborative or you promote each other's online things.
Collaborating with other artists is a great way to maximize and increase your reach. So it's great because you get to get your work in front of their audience. They get to get their work in front of your audience, so it's. Beneficial for both of you. And it also, like people love to see other people working together and see how you're working together and what you're doing together and the behind the scenes of how you're collaborating and all that stuff.
So it's exciting. It maximizes the reach for both of you. So collaborating with other artists is a great one. Number two. The next few are all really about events, so you can combine them all. But we have attending events, speaking at events, and hosting your own events. So attending events. Is E the easiest one out of all of these ones, right?
I mean it's not super easy 'cause you have to go and introduce yourself to people and all of that stuff, but. Attending events is a perfect way to meet new people, to grow your community, to connect with other creatives, to talk about your work, to hear about other people's work, maybe learn about how you could collaborate with them maybe meet new clients or customers.
So attending events is a really great idea. Speaking at events is also a great option because that kind of gets you really in front of everybody as the somewhat center of attention speaking. Whether you are speaking yourself or you're on a panel or something like that that's a great idea because you are gonna be able to like specifically talk about your work, your story, your brand.
All of those things and make sure that everybody at the event knows what you do and what you're all about. Keep an eye out for speaking events. Reach out to people who host events and say, Hey, are you looking for speakers? Here's what I could talk about. I'd love to be a part of that. So speaking at events is a great option.
You can also host your own events. So if you don't want to do a talk or you don't wanna reach out to people to see if you can be a guest in whatever they're hosting, you can just host your own events. You could do a workshop, you could do like a. A more hands-on, like crafting workshop you could do something where you teach them something about how you run your business or a skill that they can do.
You could do a talk, you could do a networking event. You could do like a craft and sip where people just come and craft together. You could do whatever you want. They're really unlimited ideas for your own events. But hosting your own event is a great option because it's like you get to market yourself and your work.
By marketing this event people will come to the event and they might come to the event, not necessarily because of you, but then by coming to the event, they learn about you and learn about all your work. So that's amazing. So yeah, highly recommend hosting your own events. Relating to events also is like markets or conventions, those sorts of things where you can take your work physically in front of people.
So whether there are, yeah, local events where you live or elsewhere in the country, or there are these big conventions, you can apply to those and see if you can get a table at those events to reach a whole new audience because people will be coming there for so many different reasons and hopefully discover your work.
So markets and conventions are a great option too. Next we have joining coworking spaces or studio spaces, like Shared Studios. These are good for so many reasons but also just great because you get to meet new people, you get to connect with people who can help you with your business and help you just being supportive and cheer you on and just.
Be there so you don't feel so alone as a creative. But it's great for growing your network and growing your reach and connecting with new people is to be physically in a space with other people who are working. I did this for many years ahead. It was in a shared studio and it was amazing, and I've met some of my best friends there.
I've met people who I've worked with, collaborated with, like so many great things came from working in studio spaces. So highly recommend considering that. You could also put flyers or business cards or any kind of like information about your business into local shops. So there might be local creative shops or local shops that are adjacent to creative things that you could ask if you can put something in there that tells people about your work, about your, the products that you make, the services you have, all those kinds of things. So I would think about where do my people go in my local community? Where do they hang out? Where do they shop? Where do they spend time? And could I reach out to those people or go in and talk to 'em and say, Hey, could I put a poster up or could I leave you a flyer or a business card?
And then you could. Leave them there for people who wanna take them. So that is a good option too. And then also connecting with potential wholesalers. So wholesale is a great way to get your work in front of a whole group of new people because people will be coming into those shops and browsing and looking at stuff, and hopefully discover your work and buy it.
So you can scout out what shops are around in your local area or outside of your local area that you really wanna be in. And then you can go and talk to those people, go and connect with them, go and talk to them about selling your stuff in their shop. So wholesaling and connecting with those potential wholesalers is a great option too.
So that is a bunch of ideas. Hopefully started some thoughts in your brain about how you can grow your audience, extend your reach outside of the internet. Okay, next question.
Finding Daily Motivation
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What gets you out of bed in the morning? Which is a great question sometimes. I struggle mostly because I'm not a morning person or an evening person.
I'm a sleepy girly and I love to be in bed. However, there are two things that do get me out of bed. Number one is that I just love to create, and it sounds really simple, but I'm sure all of you listening being artists and makers and creative will understand this. But I. Made to create, like it's what I'm meant to be doing.
And when I'm not being creative, I literally don't feel like myself and I don't feel like I am. Breathing, like living. I don't, yeah, I just don't feel like myself when I'm not creating. So I wake up every day because I'm excited to create something and to see what I am gonna create that day. Am I gonna create some amazing content?
Am I gonna help someone else create something? Am I gonna write an amazing email? What am I gonna create? One day I'll get back to creating like. But right now, the way I create is like through the content that I make and through how I help all of you and the brands that I help design. So I just get excited about what I'm gonna create today and the fact that I get to wake up and create something, like how cool is that?
So that gets me out of bed and also. If you've listened to this podcast before, you've probably heard me talk about the fact that my vision is to make the world a more creative place, one brand at a time. And that's a simplified version of everything that I'm passionate about, which is the power of creativity, like I believe so truly, deeply, madly in how powerful creativity is and that it is.
Powerful for like us, the artists. It's powerful for the people who engage with our art. It's powerful for society. It's powerful for the world. Like it starts conversations, it brings people together. It helps people feel seen. It's like cathartic for the creative, like it's so many good things and. I get up every day because I wanna help all of you to be more creative so that you get to experience all of that magic.
You get to create, you get to feel that catharsis of creating. You get to do what you love. You get to do all of that. And also the result of that is that the world gets more creativity, which we need so deeply. So I get out of bed because I get to help. People like you, all of you with your art, with your business, with your branding, so that you can create more, the world gets more creative.
Yeah, so that gets me outta bed. Those are the two things, and a really good cup of Yorkshire tea that will get me outta bed too. Okay, next question.
Sources of Inspiration
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How do you find inspiration for new ideas? Great question. I think that my best ideas. Often come when I am not working. So either like in the shower or out for a walk or if I'm reading a book, anytime I try to concentrate on something that's not work, that's usually when I get my best ideas.
So yeah, if I try to. Read a book or I try to go for a walk and do something else. That's usually when a good idea comes to me. I think it's because that's when my brain can shut off and leave room for new ideas. So a giving my brain space for new ideas helps me find new inspiration also.
Kind of bringing external ideas into my brain. So that often comes from like listening to podcasts or reading books or that kind of stuff. I try to be careful with that because I don't wanna overload myself with what everybody else is doing and how everybody else is doing things and scrolling, social media and all of that sort of stuff. 'cause I can get overwhelmed. I can get a bit like comparison, just like all of us can. So be a bit selective about how that happens and the ways that I do that. But it's usually like listening to a podcast or reading a book will help me to be like, oh, okay.
That's an interesting thing. That's an interesting way of doing things. Or they're doing. I just listened to the story of how somebody did this thing and that part of it is really interesting. So could I do something with that in my business or with my creativity? So I think, yeah, giving my brain space to come up with new ideas and then selectively bringing in outside inspiration from other people can also be really helpful and help me to come up with new ideas.
So those are the two main things.
Switching Off and Relaxation Techniques
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The next question is how do you switch off? There's another question about like the literal things I do to unwind and relax, so I'll talk about those in a second. But the ways in which I enable myself to switch off are several things. Number one is that I try to not work in the evenings or weekends.
This is. Very personal to different people, but I find that I need to set boundaries with myself on when I'm working to allow my brain to switch off because otherwise it will never switch off. And that's how I get like overwhelmed and burnt out and exhausted is by not giving my brain the space that it needs to relax and switch off.
And it also takes a while for my brain to shut off. If I don't give myself like the whole weekend or I don't take off like a longer period of time, every now and then yeah, I get really, like my brain gets really built up with too much stuff and it's hard to switch off. So I try not to work in the evenings or weekends.
That doesn't always work. There are busy seasons of life and business. However, I try not to as much as I can. I also set time aside for time off throughout the year. So at the beginning of the year, I put in like any vacations that I know I'm gonna have, but also time off to just do nothing. So I try to have at least a week off every quarter, whether that's to go on a holiday or to sit at home and do nothing.
I just am like, okay, I'm locked in on having some time off because that also allows me to switch off for a longer period of time. Actually like reset, give myself a break give my brain a break, all those sorts of things. I also set boundaries with my phone. Another thing I'm not always the best at, however, my partner will attest to this, that I have like apps on my phone that stop me from using certain apps.
So sometimes I'll be like, oh, I wanna show you this video, and then I'm like, no, I can't because I'm locked out of TikTok right now. And that's. A good thing. So I try to put systems in place with my phone so that I'm not switched on to work or marketing or social media all the time. Like I have to have time where I'm not allowed to do that.
I'm like, we are not looking at Slack. We are not reading our emails. We are not scrolling through threads because that's not helpful and I need time to do other things and let my brain do other things. So setting boundaries in my phone. And also getting everything out of my head somehow. So usually that's either on paper in my journal, it's in Notion, in my notes inbox, or it's like in the General Notes app.
Anything I can do to get things out of here, my brain and onto somewhere else, helps me to switch off because I'm not holding all of that stuff in my brain. I'm letting it go and I'm allowing it to. Not take up space in my brain and I can come back to it later, right? I know where it is, I know where to find it.
I can search it up. I can go back to my journal later on. And I can process all of that stuff when I need to. So getting everything out of my brain really helps. How I switch off is trying not to work in the evenings or weekends. Setting time aside for time off throughout the year, setting boundaries with my phone and getting everything out of my brain somehow.
Okay. The next question similar or following on from that is, what do you do to unwind and relax? There are a lot of things. I am a cozy, crafty, girly. So I try to do lots of things within those veins. So I spend time with my partner. My partner and I have been together for 15 years nearly. So I love spending time with him.
Playing cozy video games. You'll often find me with my switch curled up on the couch, playing some kind of cozy indie game. Hiking with my friends. I am, I love like walking with my friends, but I recently be getting more into proper hiking nervously and slowly, but I'm having a great time and it's good.
Great. In fact, for me to get out of the house, not be anywhere near a device and be focused on the outside world. We love that for me I read a lot of fantasy books like not romantic. That is not my thing. Kudos to anybody who loves that, but it's not my thing. I love a high fantasy moment. Often the less romance, the better.
Actually, I love to sew, so you'll often find me sewing either like adjusting something or making something new. I just spent this weekend like cropping a bunch of t-shirts. So that's also a good task for me because it's like I have to fully focus on it and I can't be. On a device or like thinking about work or anything like that, I get fully engrossed in the process, so that's great.
Same with knitting. I'm really not that great at knitting, but I do really like it because yeah, I'm using my hands. I'm not on my computer. I'm like focusing on something and it's a really intense, like problem solving thing for me because I'm not very good at it. So I'm often solving the problems that coming across.
Oh, I also love to bake. So lots of different like crafty, cozy things. That's what you'll find me doing to unwind and relax. I also love a bath. Yeah, those are the main things. There's probably many other things that I have forgotten, but those are the main things. Okay, next question.
Coping with Burnout
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How do you cope with burnout?
Obviously a lot of these questions are very connected but this is a great question and. Burnout is something that I definitely have and continue to experience, is something that I haven't solved. I love my job. I love what I do, so it's really easy for me to go a bit too hard on my job and then find myself a little bit burnt out.
But over the years, I have found many things to help when I do find myself in that situation. Number one is to just recognize that's what's happening, which is way easier said than done to be like, oh, why am I feeling all of these things? Like, why is this feeling really hard? Why am I really tired?
Why am I not excited about this? Like, all of these questions that come up when you feel burnt out, the hardest thing is to go, I think I'm burnt out actually. That can be really difficult, but I think that's the most important first step is to go, okay. What's happening right now is that I'm burnt out.
I'm overwhelmed, I'm exhausted, I am tired. I am all of these things. That's what's happening. So step number one is acknowledge and realize that I'm burnt out. Number two is to give myself grace for that happening. So just because I'm feeling burnt out doesn't mean that I have done anything wrong, that I haven't done anything right, enough that I am bad at business, that I'm a bad creative, that I'm a bad partner human.
Coach, like I'm not a, I'm not bad. I haven't done anything wrong. I haven't failed in any way. It has just happened, like things have built up and occurred and continued to happen that have meant that I am now burnt out. That is. Okay. It's not good, but it doesn't help to blame yourself for getting to that point.
So if you are feeling burnt out, here's your reminder. It's not your fault. You haven't done anything wrong. You haven't done anything, not right enough. You are doing your best and giving your business all that you have, which is incredible, and that has led you to this point. That's. Anything you have done.
So we are not blaming ourselves. We are giving ourself grace for situation that we are currently in. Once I know, okay, I'm burnt out. It's not my fault. Now. Now it's about figuring out why is this happening? Like why have I got to this point? What has occurred? That has meant I've reached this point? And oftentimes it's a lot of journaling that happens for me.
So I do morning pages. Hopefully every morning. Usually not, but I try to do every weekday morning at least, and I write down this like stream of consciousness of what I'm feeling, what's going on, what I need to work on, what's in my brain, like I. Everything. And so that I find really helpful for me is okay, I start writing like, why do I feel like this?
What's going on right now? I'm feeling really burnt out and overwhelmed. Why? So try to figure out what has happened. Is it because I've taken on too many clients? Have I set the wrong deadlines? Have I agreed to too many things? Have I have I had lots of life things going on at the moment? What has occurred that has led to that point?
Once I've outlined that and got some clarity on that, I then try and figure out what I can do to change that. So maybe it's about resetting some systems or boundaries or routines that have probably slipped, and that's why I've got to that point. So usually for me it's like I've been working way too late or like way too much.
So I'm working in the evenings and the weekends, and that's usually down to I have a lot of people pleasing tendencies. This is like therapy. I also, yeah, I wanna do the best job that I can. I wanna hit these deadlines and be as fast as I possibly can and I love to work. I end up just like falling into working late and working the weekends and working too much, so that me going, okay. How can I fix that? Or what can I do to change that? Can I reset some deadlines? Can I put a limit on how many clients I take on in the future? Can I reset those boundaries with myself for not working late? Can I make sure that I have time put in my calendar or blocked out to do other things to have a break?
So just resetting. Systems, boundaries, routines, putting new ones in place that are gonna help that is really helpful. Also like revisiting and focusing on the little things that bring me joy or help me feel more relaxed. So even if I am feeling burnt out, I'm feeling exhausted, I'm feeling tired, I can still try to start focusing on and remembering to do those little things that bring me joy.
So whether it's like. Working hard, but also stopping in the afternoon and having a cup of tea and a little treat, or going out to work at a cafe. So I still get to do my job and I still get to do what I love, but I also get to go somewhere fun and new and eat something. Yum. Or coworking with my friends.
So again, still working, but I get to see my friends or like just little things like that actually will make a really big difference and bring back. Like slowing down, doing the fun things that, yeah, make it feel a lot more enjoyable and more okay, this is why I do this, because I get to take a break in the afternoon, have a cup of tea.
I get to work from wherever I want. I get to go and work with my friends. Like these are the things that help. Me feel like I'm coming back to myself and back to normal happy me. Also getting help. So from my partner, my friends, like my other creatives around me, just talking about it, asking for help, saying I feel really overwhelmed right now.
Can we do this in the weekend? Or can can I talk to you about this? Or my assistant being like, can you help me with. These things because I'm feeling like really busy right now. So however you can get some help, whether that's just talking or getting support or yeah, just getting help from the people around you.
So that is, there is so many little things I think you can do to help with burnout, but those are the things that have helped me. It's just like recognizing what's happening, giving myself grace for it happening, figuring out why it's happened and why I've gotten there, and then thinking about what I could do to change that within my business, within my life.
How can I bring back the fun, joyful things that make me feel really happy and more relaxed? And then how can I get support when I do feel that way? So hopefully those things help you too. And yeah, if you are feeling burnt out, always happy to chat about it. Okay.
Fun Q&A and Conclusion
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And then last question for a little bit of fun.
Someone asked me what is my favorite Pokemon? And my favorite Pokemon is Bulb. So if you are watching a clip of this potentially here he is bulb my little guy. I know he's like a little bit basic, but I love him. He's very cute. And yeah, he just makes me really happy. I actually am really torn between like the starters.
I love Pikachu, also love charmer. I'm a very basic girly, but I don't care bubble. He's the best. Okay, that is all for me and Bob. So are gonna leave now. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. As I said, if you wanna ask me any questions in the future, you can come and join me in the Brandel Passion Collective.
We have so many fun things in there when you're listening to this episode. We are going to be. Just starting a 28 day content creation challenge in the collective. So come and join us for that. That's gonna be epic. And we also have obviously the courses inside there, the community itself, like connecting with other creatives.
If you wanted more ideas for how to connect with other people and grow your community and your audience. Joining an online community is also an incredible idea. So highly recommend it. But yeah, the link for that will be in the show notes. You can go to brand your patient.co. Come and hang out with us.
It's a great time and we're doing fun things like the challenge and like answering questions like, what's your favorite Pokemon mom? Bulb saw. Okay, I'll see you in the next episode, and until then, keep creating. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Brand Your Passion. If you enjoyed this one, it would mean the world to me if you could share it on social media and make sure to tag me at Maker and Moxie so that I can see and share it too.
It really does help to get the show out there, which means that we can all work towards that maker and Moie vision. Of making the world a more creative place, one brand at a time. Thanks so much in advance and I will talk to you in the next one. Until then, keep creating!
