Coaching For Creatives with Aura McKay

Elevator pitches, 30 second networking speed intros, talking to strangers about what you do.....none of it sounds very fun for most freelance creatives.

A powerful and well crafted introduction can create the kind of first impression that leads to clients you love.

This episode of Coaching for Creatives shares some of my best tips for crafting a powerful and compelling introduction and why I believe they matter so much.

How confident are you with how you introduce yourself?

Book a free call with me to find out your best next steps for your creative freelance business.

https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

0:00 Powerful Introductions
1:33 What They Want to Know About You
2:23 More Clients, More Business, Less Stress, Growth with Confidence
3:38 The First Question
4:21 The Second Question
4:51 Your Ideal Client
5:07 The Third Question
5:46 The Fourth Question
6:24 The Last Question
6:51 Having A Clear Call To Action
7:51 The Five Questions Recap
8:02 A Popular Framework for a Powerful Introduction

Marketing can feel overwhelming and confusing for a lot of freelancers.

There are just so many options!

This episode of Coaching for Creatives shares some of my best tips for marketing freelance services.

Book a free call with me to find out your best next steps for your creative freelance business.

https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

0:00 Marketing Tips For Freelancers
1:17 Let Me Give You An Example
2:42 My Number One Tip For Marketing Yourself
3:41 My Number Two Tip For Marketing Yourself
6:01 My Third Tip For Marketing Yourself
7:16 Business Mastery
8:01 You Can Do Great Without Digital Marketing
8:49 What Kind Of Marketing Turns You Off
9:07 Finding Marketing That Resonates With You
10:37 On Using ChatGPT And Other AI Tools
11:29 Matching Your Marketing To Your Own Strengths
11:48 Finding What Will Work For You

Pricing creative services is way more complicated than pricing a product or a trade service.

You are trying to set a dollar value on ideas, innovation, and talent.

It's no wonder you are feeling confused or second-guessing your pricing.

How do you know if you are charging 'enough' for your creativity? Too much?

How can you feel confident in your freelancer pricing?

This episode of Coaching for Creatives offers some ways of thinking about pricing that will help you feel more confident (and ultimately earn more!).

Book a free call with me to find out your best next steps for your creative freelance business.

https://businessofcreativity.ca/book-a-call

0:00 Are You Charging Enough Money
0:19 Pricing Creative Services Is Complicated
1:53 Are You Charging Too Much
2:21 Different Ways To Price Creative Services
2:54 How To Know You Should Be Charging More
4:18 Positioning Yourself In The Marketplace
4:31 When You Are Likely Not Charging Enough
5:00 Delivering Less For The Same Price
5:15 An Example Of Not Charging Enough
6:24 You Don't Have To Increase Prices
7:17 When Your Market Is Telling You To Charge More

If you are a photographer, videographer, writer, designer, or creative freelancer of any kind, you've probably heard about narrowing your niche or creating an ideal client profile more times than you can count.

And you may be asking yourself....but why? Why do I need to know my ideal client?

Why will excluding people help me get more clients?
Why does it matter so much that I focus on one kind of client?
What does it even mean to know my ideal client?

Do I really need to niche?

This episode of Coaching For Creatives explains the benefits of knowing your ideal client and what it actually means to niche.

0:23 Why Does Knowing Your Ideal Client Matter
0:46 The Three Main Questions That I Hear The Most
1:14 Excluding People To Get More Clients
2:28 Being More Focused In Your Messaging
3:55 The Number One Misconception Of Niching Down
4:34 Focusing For Reputation And Credibility
5:27 Having Your Primary Market And Your Secondary Market
6:46 Why Focus Matters
7:07 What Do We Mean By Ideal Client
7:22 A True Story From Photography School
8:20 I Was A Reluctant Entrepreneur
9:50 Having A Niche Versus Marketing To A Particular Client
10:52 Being A Freelancer Is Almost 80% Business
11:03 Niching Can Be Very Scary
11:47 Building A Business Around Style Or Around A Subject
12:05 Talking Directly To Our Specific Ideal Client
12:17 We Build Relationships One At A Time
13:53 The Right Time To Expand To A Bigger Market
14:41 Don’t Worry About Excluding Too Many People
15:58 My Fantastic Mini Course Called Make Freelance Offers That Close

Here's the link to book a free call to lean how YOU can make offers that close.  https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

In this episode of Coaching For Creatives I share my top tips for closing more sales!

Based on my own experience as a professional photographer for more than 2 decades and the successes of the hundreds of photographers, designers and other creatives I've helped to earn more money.

From the initial inquiry to the proposal to getting the contract signed, I give you some very specific tools you can use immediately.

00:00 Sales Tips For Freelancers
00:53 Tip Number One - Listen More Than Talk
02:35 Tip Number Two - Have A Framework
04:42 Tip Number Three - Present Your Proposal
07:03 Tip Number Four - Book The Follow Up Call
08:02 Tip Number Five - Handle All Objections Before Price
09:36 Tip Number Six - Ask For The Sale

Host: Aura McKay, Business Coach For Creatives
Founder of Business of Creativity

Book your free call with me at https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

As creative freelancers and solopreneurs, we are often told to price based on 'value' or market the 'value' you deliver not the time it takes you.

So what is value?

How can we separate our self-worth and net-worth?

These are the questions we are exploring in this episode of Coaching for Creatives.

0:00 What Is Your Value To Your Clients
2:07 What Does Value Mean To Us
3:04 What You Decide It Means To You
4:01 Being Seen Aligned With A Brand’s Messaging
6:31 Value In A Particular Area Of Expertise
6:54 Value Coming From Places You Don’t Recognize
7:21 Ask Your Clients What Value You Bring
7:43 Looking At The Challenges Your Clients Are Facing
8:06 Levels Of Value To Explore
9:17 It’s Not About Your Self Worth

Host: Aura McKay, Founder of Business of Creativity
Book a free call with me: http://www.businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

Everybody says you need to niche in order to be successful in your freelance business.

Okay, how does one do that?

Today on Coaching for Creatives you can learn more about why finding your niche is so important and 3 ways you can do it.

0:00 Finding Your Niche For Photographers and Designers
0:34 Being Multi-passionate
3:00 Your Niche Changes Over Time
4:18 The Advantages Of Focusing
4:49 Focus Is Valuable For You And Your Business
6:06 Everyone Has A Unique Offer
7:52 Niching By Subject
8:48 Niching By Usage
10:08 Niching By Style

Host: Aura McKay, Business Coach For Creatives
Founder of Business of Creativity

Book your free call with me at https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

Myth Busting Some Common Misconceptions About Freelancing

Being a freelance creative means getting to do what you love for a living!
While it can be hugely rewarding (emotionally, creatively, and yes....even financially) it is not without it's challenges.

One of the biggest misconceptions about freelancing is that it's a solo journey.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Freelancers need support just as much as anyone else, and there are many misconceptions about what that support looks like.

In this episode of Coaching For Creatives, we will debunk five common misconceptions about freelancer support and explain why they're wrong.

What misconceptions about working alone did I miss?

Book a free call with me to find out your best next steps for your creative freelance business.

https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

0:00 Common Misconceptions About Freelancing
1:13 Freelancers Have To Do Everything Alone
3:29 A Lack Of Resources For Creatives
5:14 Freelancers Can't Afford To Hire Help
6:24 Freelancers Need Support
7:50 Free Events For Creative Freelancers

Creativity, Play, and Inspiration

Why am I talking about creativity as a business coach?

When you are selling our creative services, our ideas and talents, you need to be able to tap into your creativity 'on demand'.

What can you do to access your creativity and ideas more easily?

This episode of Coaching for Creatives explores creativity, play, and inspiration so you can blow your clients away with your ideas.

Book a free call with me to find out your best next steps for your creative freelance business.
https://businessofcreativity.ca/advisor

0:00 Creativity, Play, and Inspiration
2:27 No Longer Creating For Your Own Enjoyment
4:21 When Your Creativity Becomes A Job
5:39 Where To Find Inspiration
5:55 Look Outside Your Craft
6:25 Scheduling Time For Play
7:10 Permission To Do Art Badly
8:13 Getting Paid to Do Work You Love
8:28 Sometimes We Create Insecurity
9:11 Seeking Inspiration With Intention
9:40 Where Do You Go For Inspiration
9:49 What Do You Do For Play

Two Reasons Your Marketing Isn't Working

Yes...marketing your own freelance services can be confusing and overwhelming.

Especially when there are so many different ways to attract, engage, invite, and convert prospects into clients.

For most photographers, designers, and other creatives there are TWO BIG REASONS your marketing isn't working for you.

This episode of Coaching for Creatives looks at how you can be more effective with your digital (and in person) marketing.

What do you think is the main reason your marketing isn't working?

0:00 Two Reasons Your Marketing Isn't Working
2:16 What Is A Marketing Strategy?
5:05 The Seven Ps Of Marketing
7:53 Digging Down Into A Marketing Plan
9:06 Getting Some Feedback


Host: Aura McKay, Business Coach For Creatives
Founder of Business of Creativity

Book your free call here:  https://www.businessofcreativity.ca/advisor