I'm on a bit of a soap box today and encouraging you to be a terrible designer. Why? Because you don't need to be a great designer -- that's my job. Instead, join me as I talk through the three things I'm hearing from my audience that keeps them from having the brand they *actually* want, and why being a "good designer" is the last thing to help you get there.

Mentions:

Tiny Brands

The Inspired Foundry Library

In this episode, we’re chatting through the fourth and final part of building a tiny inspired brand: the practice of keeping everything running smoothly.

I call this practice engaging your brand vision. It’s a way to hold the vision of your inspired idea while knowing exactly what to be working on everyday to get closer to it.

Because this is the work, the sitting down at your desk every morning. The slow and steady focused hustle of seeing an idea through. Riding through the waves of doubt, the bursts of energy, the exhausting that settles in, all of which come and go at various times.

What we need is some kind of plan. Let's make one together!

Mentions:

The Creative's Almanac

The Inspired Foundry

In this episode, we're talking through what it looks like to set your business up for success. Based on your client experience, what do you need in place to make everything happen, from people discovering you to purchasing and beyond? Join me as we talk technology, systems, and software, plus a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of my own business setup over the last 8 years.

Mentions:

Notion

The Inspired Foundry

There is so much wrapped up in your brand experience — we’re talking brand personality, your visuals, customer or client journey, and even down to the little details like how you’re packaging your offers, your copy, and the systems and tech you implement as a part of your experience. Tune in to get your brand up to snuff with the experiential side of things!

The Inspired Foundry

Step one of building your tiny brand is having a solid plan. We're chatting through what that looks like, what to include, and why having this foundation makes running your creative business so much easier. This episode is perfect for creatives who are ready to do more than just come up with good ideas and make good art -- you're ready to take things seriously, focus more, and build something lasting for your and your audience.

The Inspired Foundry

Don't get me wrong, I love logos. But if something isn't working with your brand, it *might* not be the logo's fault. Tune in to learn more about why the logo is just the tip of the iceberg, the four pieces of your brand that create cohesion, consistency, and clarity, and also listen to me attempt to relate a car metaphor to branding. It's a good one.

Mentions:

Tiny Brands

Tiny Brand Club (coming soon!)

Tiny Brand Handbook (coming soon!)

This week I'm bringing you a car conversation with my Swedish friend, Harald Nilsson -- guitar slayer in Jaerv, photographer, videographer, and teacher. On our way to Gullbrannafestivalen (near Halmstad, Sweden with Jaerv and my duo, The OK Factor), we spent an hour talking about his creative business and the shape his career has taken, as well as tackling a branding exercise in real time. There are some really lovely golden nuggets of wisdom here -- join us!

*Recorded in a car while driving on the highway, so the audio isn't amazing...just fyi.*

Links:

Harald Nilsson Website

Harald's Instagram

Jaerv

The OK Factor

If you’ve ever struggled with pricing yourself as a creative, this is the perfect episode for you. Mostly for solidarity because I also struggle with pricing myself, lol. But the good news is that branding can provide a bit of a framework for the kind of price range we should be in. If you want to get paid well for your creative work; raise the bar for your creative business; reflect the value of what you offer - thinking about this relationship between pricing and branding is the best place to start. Tune in for all the deets!

Mentions:

Tiny Brands

Pricing Calculator

Bonsai (affiliate link)

My Marketing Coach :)

My Business Coach :)

The Inspired Foundry

A recent poll on my Instagram suggests that the most important thing for creatives to get support in is not visuals or backend streamlining. Surprisingly enough, it's vision. Understanding your vision for the long haul, your creative work, how to get there, and what to work on first. In this episode, I dissect the results of this poll a bit deeper and share how The Inspired Foundry is *the* place to help you find and grow your vision for your own inspired ideas.

Mentions:

Tiny Brands

Tiny Brand Club (coming soon!)

The Inspired Foundry

Inspired by this post by my friend Jen Fieldman on Instagram, we're talking about how branding can hold you back. If branding or creating a website or any other brand-related activity is causing you hesitation when it comes to sharing your work, then you simply don't need it.

Yet.

This episode is perfect for you if how something looks has ever stopped you from sharing your inspired ideas and making that dollar.

Mentions:

Jen Fieldman on Instagram

Tiny Brands

The Inspired Foundry website