My Business Playbook

Want to scale your creative business? Watch my free 20-minute scaling roadmap here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/the-system

In 2020 I lost half my business overnight. One by one my clients called to pause or cancel, and I sat staring at a calendar that had been full the week before. If a big project just fell over or a client pulled the pin, these are the four moves I'd make right now - and the first one has nothing to do with strategy. 

• The exercise I do every time I get the wobbles, before I write a single game plan
• Why a slow season is exactly when your clients need you most, and what to say when they ask to pause
• The two-word test every offer needs to pass when the market gets shaky
• Why your big six-month project might be the right work at the wrong time
• How to create one easy yes before Christmas that brings cash in fast
• The people to pitch first (they're already in your world)

Want to scale your creative business? Watch my free 20-minute scaling roadmap here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/the-system

Think no one buys in December? Think again. If you're assuming clients are tapped out or distracted before Christmas, you're leaving money on the table. In this quick win episode, I'm sharing three simple strategies to help you land dream clients before the holidays – and start the new year booked and confident. 

What You'll Learn:

• The big money mistake creatives make every December
• Why “everyone’s on holidays” is killing your sales
• The one mindset shift that will unlock pre-Christmas bookings
• How to repackage your offer to make it irresistible
• What to say to retainers who want to pause over the break
• Three things you must do to start 2026 with momentum

Want to scale your creative business? Watch my free 20-minute scaling roadmap here: ⁠https://tools.laurahiggins.com/the-system.

⁠For years I treated my energy like it was unlimited. Then I hit burnout, asked my doctor for a miracle fix, and got told it was "lifestyle stuff" (super annoying). So I changed six things. Some are small, some are big, and a couple are a little bit weird, but together they gave me my energy back.

• The change I made the same day my doctor said "burnout" (and why I didn't go cold turkey)
• The ring that tells me to chill out before I even realise I'm getting sick
• Why the first thing you look at every morning is quietly running your whole day
• The app that locks me out of Instagram, Slack and ClickUp until 10am
• How long recovery really took me, and why I'm being upfront about it
• The slightly embarrassing, very basic fix that took one daily decision off my plate

Mentioned in this episode: 

• Sunrise alarm clock: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0F8NV2KMX
• Oura Ring 5: https://ouraring.com/store/rings/oura-ring-5
• Freedom app: https://freedom.to/
• My Fitness Kitchen: https://myfitnesskitchn.com.au/
• Beja Health Collective (IV drips): https://www.bejahealthcollective.com.au/
• Mecca Coffee decaf: https://www.mecca.coffee/collections/decaf
• Primary Coffee decaf: https://www.primarycoffee.com.au/coffee/colombia-la-serrania-decaf
• Glee Coffee decaf: https://gleecoffee.com.au/products/decaffeinated-coffee-afterhours

Want to scale your creative business? Watch my free 20-minute scaling roadmap here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/the-system

Nick designs luxury residential gardens, and when he joined the Next Level Club he was doing around $8K months on word of mouth alone. Worse, his best work takes three years to grow in, so he never had a portfolio he was proud of. Six months later he's doing $25K+ months, has gone from 1,800 to 63,000 followers, and hasn't spent a cent on ads. We unpack exactly what changed, then I coach him live on his next big move.

• The five-times-the-price gym around the corner that made Nick rethink what cheap pricing was saying about him
• The one question that killed his "pretty finished garden" posts for good
• The design tip he almost didn't post because it felt too basic, and the hook that took it past a million views
• Why he starts his reels in the middle, and what it did to his skip rate
• The old lady and the split shopping bag - the sales mindset that ended his desperate follow-up emails
• What's next: a one-to-many offer that won't cannibalise his studio, coached live on the mic

Follow Nick Pembroke on Instagram: @nicholaspembrokdesign

https://www.instagram.com/nicholaspembrokedesign/

Want to get coached by Laura? Book a Scale Session here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/scale

Every creative hits a ceiling. More clients you could take on, more money you could make, and zero capacity to do any of it. I've made all three of these hiring mistakes, from my bedroom agency in Newcastle to now, so you can skip them and make your next hire take work off your plate instead of adding to it.

• The 70% rule for knowing exactly when to start hiring, way before you're drowning
• The one role I tell 90% of creatives to hand over first
• Why your first hire is probably smaller and cheaper than you think
• The quote that explains why you keep micromanaging, and how to fix it in your onboarding
• The two-part vibe check every close hire goes through with me, including a date
• Why a paid test project tells you more than any portfolio ever will

Want to scale your creative business? Watch my free 20-minute scaling roadmap here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/the-system

Ever written a caption, stared at it for 20 minutes, then deleted the whole thing? I once cleaned out a junk drawer that did not need cleaning just to avoid filming a 20-second video of my own face. You already know the strategy. This episode is about the thing sitting underneath it that stops you hitting post, and why more strategy won't fix it.

• What one of my members said posting content feels like in her body (the whole Zoom lost it)
• The magnet rule, and why trying to be liked by everyone turns your content into vanilla mush
• Why I gave my ideal client a name, and the one question I ask her every time I sit down to create
• The two-word swap that stops your teaching content sounding preachy
• A Cornell study, an embarrassing T-shirt, and why it should make you a lot braver about posting
• The only metric I want you grading your content on right now

Want to get coached by Laura? Book a Scale Session here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/scale

Most scaling stories online skip straight to the champagne and the Stripe screenshot. This is the real behind the scenes of building an eight-figure business right now - what's working, what we've changed, and the ugly $12K a month we found leaking out of just one department. Plus the move that sounds ridiculous but made a huge difference to how I show up every week: sorting out my lunch.

• Why Nath became CEO, and the identity wobble I had to get through before I could hand it over
• Entrepreneurs vs intrapreneurs, and how to build a vision big enough that A players choose you over going solo
• How skipping lunch turned out to be a real constraint in the business (and the simple fix)
• The admin audit that uncovered $12,000 a month, and the Fathom + Claude setup that plugged it
• The weekly leadership meeting and scorecard that stop your departments working in silos
• The one question to ask about your worst days that shows you exactly what to fix first

Want to get coached by Laura? Book a Scale Session here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/scale

Lee built a Shopify and email marketing business doing solid 20K months, but she was doing it all herself and ready to torch the whole thing. Then her husband lost his job the same day they moved into a new house. This episode is what she did in that season, and the new offer we built together live on the mic.

• The two-week paid trial that told Lee exactly who to hire, and why skipping this step is how most first hires go wrong

• Why she made her hourly rate MORE expensive than her retainer, and what that did to her sales calls

• The pricing guide she put straight on her website, and why it kills the ghosting problem after a sales call

• Her 42k record month with just her and one assistant, and why revenue was never actually the goal
• The new digital product she's building next, coached live on this episode: naming, pricing, and how she's going to sell it

Want to get coached by Laura? Book a Scale Session here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/scale

I've spent the last year becoming a proud quitter, and it might be the best thing I've ever done for my business. In this episode I walk through everything I cut, why everyone told me I was crazy, and what it did to our revenue. 

• The channel that was costing me six figures a year - and the call I finally made about it
• The one funnel we decided to keep - and the four we decided to quit
• The profitable, waitlisted offer I shut down anyway, and what happened to our numbers the very next month
• The kind of "dumb admin" we're cutting with AI right now, live as it happens
• The 3-question audit that tells you exactly what's ready for the scissors

Want to get coached by Laura? Book a Scale Session here: https://tools.laurahiggins.com/scale

Allan Dib spent 10 years broke before he built the One Page Marketing Plan - now he's a bestselling author who's exited multiple businesses. In this episode we break down his simplest, most repeatable framework for getting clients. And every small business needs it.

• The "dumb ad" test that tells you if your marketing message actually works
• The only two numbers in your entire business that actually matter
• Why charging more can make people trust you more, not less
• The real reason most of your leads never buy - and it has nothing to do with price
• The uncomfortable truth about why people actually refer you
• The one thing you should never offer someone for making a referral