Blog
Articles on finishing self-generated work and building expertise-based creative businesses, with the Creative Engine, Ground Truth, and Capacity frameworks.
Why you can’t commit to one idea
Struggling to commit to one idea? The problem is asking one idea to do too many incompatible jobs. Here’s how to evaluate ideas more clearly.
Leaving the teaching treadmill to become a poetry publication coach: Finding a sustainable path as a working poet
For years, award-winning poet Radha Marcum had been searching for a way to bring together her creative work and her income-generating work. Like many experienced creative professionals, she found herself split between two worlds—trying to maintain her artistic practice while cobbling together teaching and workshops (and copywriting gigs to boot!) to pay the bills. That changed when she developed a premium coaching practice helping poets develop publication-ready books. Within weeks of a small, targeted launch, she reported: “I got four clients right out of the gate. I’ve more than met my financial goals.” Each of those four clients brought in revenue comparable to teaching an entire class in the past. That kind of income can actually support her life and…
Get paid without guilt: 6 lessons I’ve learned
We’ve been holding the Simplify to Amplify Roundtable monthly for several months now, and I’ve fielded many burning questions about creative business, from how to answer the dreaded “what do you do?” question, to how to improve sales. But one of the most painful and pressing questions I get every single time comes down to something like, “How can I justify charging ‘a lot’ of money?” I put “a lot” in scare quotes, because “a lot” could mean $25 to one person and $25,000 to another. The number doesn’t matter. It’s whatever number makes your insides clench up when you think about asking someone to pay you that amount. Sometimes the focus of the question is on the fear that…
Celebrating 6 new creative businesses!🎉🙌
I’m so incredibly proud to introduce you second cohort of the Autonomous Creative Incubator! We’ve all been working so hard for this day, and it feels incredible to be helping launch these new businesses into the world! Six short months ago, these awesome creatives committed to building new businesses. Why did they take this huge step? Because they all needed to create time, freedom, and autonomy in their lives. I mean, don’t we all? The way that actually happens in reality is by redesigning what we do for a living to bring in a lot more money with a lot less effort and time. That well-resourced time means freedom and the white space we need to take care of ourselves…
How to build an ethical business that honors your core values
In this article, you’ll get an activity that will show you how to use your core values to build an ethical business that can help make the world a better place. Yes, seriously. Obviously, in this big crazy world, there is a lot that’s out of your control. We all make compromises, a lot of them. We all have to grapple with adverse circumstances (and often actual adversaries). In order avoid feeling like you’re continually failing, it’s crucial to acknowledge that there are things you can’t fix on your own. (And in parallel, of course, to contribute in any way you can to collective action for change.) However. There are also so many ways you do have control over your…
Resetting for the New Year: the power of a self-compassionate annual review
I’m about to ask you to do something hard, but before I do, I want to tell you a little story. Last month, I wrapped up the autumn class I teach each year called “Illustration Projects.” The title is vague, I know, but that’s intentional, because the content of the class changes each year. It’s a class where 4th-year students design their own independent projects customized to help them take the next step towards the careers they envision. They plan out their own tasks and milestones, and then they execute on their plan. Or, they try. Because one of the most important outcomes of this class is failure. Specifically, the failure to hit the exact milestones and goals the students…
From riding the rollercoaster to piloting the plane—how one artist brought joy and financial stability back to her business
Listen to Rauni’s story in her own words: Update 2025: Three years after beginning to transform her business, Rauni Higson has been awarded an MBE for services to Silversmithing, creates commissioned pieces for royalty, and takes climbing trips between major projects—all while earning more than ever from doing less. “I feel like a grub that has turned into a dragonfly,” she says. Business transformation isn’t instant—it comes from laying the right foundation and then committing to building on it, even through self-doubt and ups and downs. When we first interviewed Rauni in 2022, she had just established her new business model. She was seeing early success, but the real power of the changes she made would unfold over the next…