Creativ Rise Podcast

Watch This Video Next - https://youtu.be/fHx33G_FJs0

Ever wonder how some creatives get paid to travel, shoot in the mountains, and work with the outdoor brands they already love?

Most talented creatives can make a great video. The hard part is explaining what that video does for a brand's business. Without that, it's tough to land bigger clients, and even tougher to keep them around.

That's exactly where Ian McFadden was when he moved to Colorado to go after brand work. He had the skills, but no proof and no clear sense of what brands actually wanted from him.

In this episode, recorded late at night in Canmore, Alberta, right out of Ian's camper van, Joey sits down with Ian to talk about how he built a business as a content strategist for outdoor and travel brands. He shares how he learned to put words to the value he brings, why founder-led content is driving growth for small brands, how he plans a month of retainer content, and the communication habit that has kept one client around for almost three years. Plus, this one lands on the six-year anniversary of the Creativ Rise Podcast!

• Explaining the value your content brings to a brand
• Using founder-led stories to grow small brands
• Planning retainer content with content buckets
• Keeping clients for years through constant communication
• Building momentum with your personal work

Get clear on the value you bring, and brands will want to keep you around for the long haul. 🚀

P.S. Ian says the biggest thing the Mastermind gave him was hearing the business side over and over until he could say it confidently on his own sales calls. The Creativ Rise Mastermind November cohort has 10 spots, and inside we'll work through your pricing, your offers, and your pitches with you. Get on the waitlist at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

Booked $4,500 this month and completely exhausted? Had an amazing sales call, then got ghosted? Pitched your dream brand and got offered a free jacket?

These are three of the most common spots we see creatives get stuck in. And the longer you stay there, the more it wears on you. You start to resent your clients, dread sales calls, and check your phone every five minutes hoping it's them.

Most of the time, the fix comes down to how you price, how you close, and how you pitch.

In this episode, Joey puts Christy on the spot with three real scenarios she's never heard before, and she walks through exactly what she'd do in each one. You'll hear what red flag pricing is and why it can cost you bookings, the refundable date-hold deposit that keeps a great sales call from going cold, and how to answer free product offers with a pitch that brings in paid work. Plus, we share the mock sales call we ran with Hudson from Harbor Film Co and shout out this week's Mastermind wins, including a $12,000 month of tourism work.

• ​Auditing your offers and pricing when you're burnt out
• ​Spotting red flag pricing and raising your rates
• ​Booking clients before you hang up the sales call
• ​Setting a follow-up date so a great call never goes quiet
• ​Turning free product offers into paid pitches

Every one of these scenarios has a clear next step. Take it, and you'll work less, close more, and actually enjoy your business again. 🚀

P.S. Getting around creatives who are already booking the work you want changes everything. The Creativ Rise Mastermind November cohort has 10 spots, and inside we'll work through your pricing, your sales calls, and your pitches with you. Get on the waitlist at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

Ever send a proposal, hear nothing back, and decide they must not be interested?

What if that silence has nothing to do with you?

Last weekend at Lake Tahoe, Christy spent a good chunk of the afternoon yelling at her identical twin sister Leslie from a hundred yards down the shore, trying to get her to jump off a cliff. Leslie kept shaking her head. But Christy could tell she wanted to do it.

Most creatives treat a quiet inbox like a no. They send a cold PDF, get ghosted, and move on. Meanwhile, the client is standing on the edge, interested and just too nervous to take the step.

In this episode, Christy tells the full story of how Leslie finally jumped, and we break down the sales lessons hiding inside it. You'll hear why hesitation usually comes from fear, how Mastermind members Haley and Gabriella stack small yeses before a client ever gets on a call, and why getting closer to your clients changes your close rate. Plus, we shout out this week's Mastermind wins, including a $12,500 branding project and recurring revenue that doubled in six weeks.

• Why hesitation rarely means a lack of interest
• How to remind clients what life looks like after they say yes
• Using micro yeses to build trust before the big ask
• Swapping cold PDFs for sales calls and Loom walkthroughs
• Walking clients through your process so the decision feels safe

Selling doesn't have to feel pushy. When you understand how people work, getting a client to yes feels a lot more like helping someone off the rock. 🚀

P.S. The October cohort of the Creativ Rise Mastermind sold out within hours, and 9 of the 10 spots went to people on the waitlist. Applications for the November cohort open October 21st, and inside we'll help you build a sales process that gets your dream clients to yes. Get on the waitlist at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

Nobody wakes up and decides to have a flat year.

But plenty of creatives get to December with the same revenue, the same pricing and the same empty calendar they had last January, and no real explanation for it.

In 2021, Joey put on a shirt and realized he was 20 pounds heavier than the year before. He was playing sports, going to the gym, and eating tacos three or four times a week. He never decided to gain the weight. He just never decided not to. That's drift, and it works exactly the same way in a creative business.

Here's the part that makes it dangerous: drift only ever moves in one direction. It never takes you toward better clients, better pricing or a fuller calendar. It takes you away from all of it, quietly, over about twelve months.

In this episode, Joey breaks down where drift hides in a creative business and what actually pulls you out of it. Not more hustle. A narrow focus on the real problem, and then building the thing that solves it.

• Why "something will come through" is the most expensive plan in your business
• How to spot drift in your lead gen, your pricing and your money before it costs you a year
• Turning one-time clients into recurring work so next month isn't a guess
• Giving every dollar a job before it lands, so six figures doesn't feel like nothing
• The build, book and deliver audit for finding exactly where you've drifted

Twelve months from now, your business will reflect either a direction you picked or a direction that picked you. This episode is your reminder that it's still early enough to pick.

P.S. Drift ends when you stop guessing and start building with people who hold you to it. That's exactly what we do inside the Creativ Rise Mastermind - a 12-month program where Joey and Christy work with 10 creatives per cohort to build a six-figure business. Applications for the October cohort are open now at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

$1,450 for a newborn session, and the client says yes without blinking. 👀

If that sounds impossible in the portrait space, this one is for you.

The portrait space comes with a story attached, and most of us got handed it early: this is the work you do because you love it, not because it pays. Sessions get priced at $200. Packages get sold by the hour. And the whole model quietly trains you to compete on time instead of on the experience you actually deliver.

Amber Brown has been building the other version. She's a family and birth photographer in Roseville, California, a mom of a four year old and a two year old, and she crossed six figures in the first eight months of this year. She closed 2024 at $22K and 2025 at $80K.

Local family sessions are now $1,250. Newborn sessions are $1,450. And the month she's about to post her best numbers in is her lowest session count all year.

In this episode, Joey and Christy get the whole build out of her: the move off hourly packages and onto value-based offers, what goes into a session a client happily pays $1,450 for, the Instagram ad funnel bringing her one to three inquiries a day on $5 to $20 of daily spend, the sales move that takes the risk off the client and gets the date locked, and how she runs all of it on two babysitter days a week.

• Why value-based offers change what clients ask you about
• What a $1,450 newborn session actually includes
• The three-ad set and message funnel doing all of her lead gen
• The fully refundable hold that gets people off the fence
• What she spends on childcare, and how that math works

You don't have to shoot more to earn more. You have to sell something that's worth more. 🚀

Want the funnel drawn out? DM us “FUN FUNNEL” on Instagram and we'll send you the video where Amber maps it end to end.

P.S. Amber built this inside the Creativ Rise Mastermind, and she's still in the room today. The next cohort is capped at 10 creatives and starts October 1st. Public applications open September 15th, and if you're on the waitlist you get access earlier. Get on it at **www.creativrise.com.**

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

Two weeks into dating, we started working together. Six years later, we still do it every single day.

Working with a spouse, a sibling, or a best friend is one of the most requested topics we've ever had on this show, and for good reason. Almost nobody talks about what it's actually like.

Here's the tricky part. When you build a business with the person you live with, there's no line between the workday and the rest of your life. Every deadline, every big decision, and every win lands in the same house you eat dinner in. Nothing gets postponed, which sounds hard until you realize it's the reason you sort things out faster.

Then there's the working styles. One of you locks in at 9am and is done at 7pm. The other is a slow burn who finally hits flow at 9pm and doesn't want to stop. One of you runs at every new idea. The other wants to make sure the foundation holds. Neither is wrong, and the whole thing gets easier the second you stop expecting your partner to work exactly like you do.

In this episode, we sat down and answered the questions we get asked the most. Joey wrote his list, Christy wrote hers, and neither of us saw the other's until we hit record. It's the honest version.

• How to divide the work so you stop burning out on the same tasks
• Why output matters more than hours, and how to stop keeping score
• What to do when one of you carries more of the drive than the other
• The green lights and red flags before you say yes to any partnership
• How to protect the relationship underneath the business

Building something with someone you love is one of the best things in the world. It just works a whole lot better when you build it on purpose.

P.S. If you want the business side of this dialed in, we're running the $10k/Month Creator Workshop again on September 15. Live, cameras on, and we break down pricing, lead generation, and sales for $9. Applications for our next Mastermind cohort open that same day, and we're only taking 10 creatives. Get on the waitlist at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

What if the thing holding your business back has nothing to do with your work?

We've coached over 450 creatives at this point, and the most successful ones are almost never the most talented ones.

We get on calls with filmmakers and photographers who are better shooters than we'll ever be. Better gear. Better organized. One guy had a spreadsheet of every person he'd ever pitched, when he followed up, and what he sent. And the business still wasn't moving.

Talent can actually work against you here, because it hands you something to keep polishing instead of something to test. So you re-edit the portfolio piece instead of sending the pitch. You wait until it feels ready. And ready doesn't show up on its own.

Here's the part nobody says out loud: the creatives who build the business aren't the ones who felt ready first. They're the ones who got their hands on real evidence that it was possible for them.

In this episode, Joey and Christy break down exactly where that evidence comes from, and it isn't affirmations or mindset work. Christy tells the story of flying to San Diego on money she didn't have just to carry a photographer's bags for a day, and how one day rewired what she thought her business could be. Joey tells the story of getting dropped off at two working filmmakers' houses at thirteen years old, being completely useless on set, and why it set the direction for everything after.

Then we get practical about how you go get the same thing this month.

• Why the most talented creative in the room is often the most stuck
• The difference between borrowing confidence and trying to manufacture it
• Why following someone on Instagram isn't proximity, and what actually is
• How humility is the fastest on-ramp to confidence in your business
• The one assignment to run this week to get real evidence it's possible for you

Belief is buildable. It's not a personality trait, and it's not reserved for people who look like they were born with it. 🚀

P.S. The fastest way to borrow belief is to be in a room with creatives already doing it. The September cohort of the Creativ Rise Mastermind sold out and closed early, and the next one starts October 1st with 10 spots. Applications open mid September, and the waitlist gets access first. Get on it at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

10 creatives. 10 niches. 10 strategies that are producing real money right now.

Sometimes growth comes from learning a new tool or a new trick. And sometimes the fastest thing you can do is look over the shoulder of someone a step ahead of you and see exactly what's working for them today.

Most growth advice stays vague. Post more, stay consistent, raise your prices, good luck. So you end up testing something for six months before you ever find out whether it was going to work.

The creatives who move fastest skip that part. They borrow what's already proven and run it in their own business.

In this episode, we break down 10 Mastermind members across weddings, brand work, social media management, tourism, and outdoor content. Real names, real numbers, and the one specific move driving each of their businesses right now.

You don't need to implement all ten. One or two could change your next quarter.

• How a $5 per day ad budget built a multiple six figure business
• Why your paid traffic should never land on your homepage
• The pitch change that took one photographer from a 3% reply rate to 30%
• How to pitch retainers instead of one off projects, and land a $50,000 deal doing it
• Why repositioning as a strategist raises your rates faster than better work does

Pick one strategy, build it out over the next three weeks, and your business will be in a stronger place than it is today.

P.S. Every creative in this episode is a Creativ Rise Mastermind member, and the Mastermind just changed. It's now a 12 month program that opens with a four week Sprint on your offers and pricing, your brand and positioning, your lead generation, and your sales system, followed by a full year of building it out with us. We're capping it at 10 creatives per cohort and applications for September are officially open. Message us CRM on Instagram for the offer doc, or apply at www.creativrise.com.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

47,382 of you entered. One of you is getting a camera today.

We read through as many of those comments as we could. Not just the Canon vs Sony vs Fuji arguments (though those were elite). The other ones. The people telling us what they'd shoot if they won.

So many amazing projects and dreams inside this community!

If that was you, we hope this whole week nudged you closer to it.

Book the shoot.

Send the pitch.

Start with what you already own.

And thank you for showing up for this the way you did.

47,000 comments is not a giveaway thing, that's a community thing. You turned a camera into a week-long conversation about what everyone's actually trying to build.

And a massive thank you for celebrating 300 episodes of the Creativ Rise Podcast with us. We are overwhelmed with gratitude of all the ways this podcast has connected us with you guys!!

To 300 more!

Watch this video next - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHx33G_FJs0

—

Ps. Here's a few things to get involved in throughout the next few weeks!

1. The $10k/Mo Creator Workshop is back — it sold out so fast though that we've added more tickets. Aug 19th — message us "HIT10K" on IG to get a ticket
2. The Creativ Rise Mastermind application opens again for the first time in 6 months on Aug 19 — join the waitlist for early access — message us "CRM" on IG for details!

—

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS

→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator

→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass

→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout

—

FOLLOW ALONG

→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers

Get Your Ticket For The $10k/Mo Creator Workshop - www.creativrise.com/workshop

You've got the portfolio. You've got the reviews. So why does it feel like pulling teeth to get someone to say yes to your biggest package? 👀

We asked a room full of creatives to put a hand up if selling their core offer felt hard. Almost every hand went up.

The problem isn't the price. It's the position they're in.

A stranger isn't evaluating your work. They're evaluating their risk. Asking someone who found you last week to hand over $8,000 for a wedding day or a full brand campaign is an enormous leap of trust, and no pricing guide is going to close that gap for you.

So most creatives sit and wait. Post, nurture, hope the right inquiry shows up.

Meanwhile the sales window stretches from weeks into months into years.

In this episode we break down The Offer Pitstop™, the three-offer structure that gives people a low-risk way onto your road before you ever ask for the big yes. You'll learn how to build an On-Ramp Offer that earns trust fast, why most "smaller" offers quietly cannibalize the very offer they were built to sell, and the free and paid on-ramps we're running in our own agency right now.

• Why trust, not talent, is what's blocking your biggest sales
• How to build an on-ramp that doesn't compete with your core offer
• Free on-ramps that cost you 20 minutes: audits, teardowns, and guides
• The $399 UGC project that leads to an $8,000 campaign
• The 3-part test every on-ramp has to pass

Get the sequence right and your core offer stops being a leap. It becomes the obvious next step.

P.S. Building offers that actually sequence into each other is Week 1 work inside the Creativ Rise Mastermind. Open Enrollment launches August 19th with only 10 spots for the September cohort. Get on the waitlist at www.creativrise.com and we'll send you the Sales Call Formula free to binge while you wait.

FREE TOOLS & TRAININGS
→ Pricing Calculator: https://www.creativrise.com/pricingcalculator
→ Pitching Masterclass Course: https://www.creativrise.com/pitchingmasterclass
→ Sales Call Formula Course: https://www.creativrise.com/offers/RM2ZPtZx/checkout
→ Productivity Course: https://www.creativrise.com/productivity
→ Money Management Training: https://www.creativrise.com/moneytraining
→ Fix Your Inquiry Form: https://www.creativrise.com/inquiryform

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
→ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/creativrise
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/creativrise

FOLLOW ALONG
→ Instagram: @creativrise | @joeyspeers | @christyjspeers