The Sustainable Creator

Do you need a personal brand to grow your creative service business? And does building one mean posting every day, sharing your entire life on Instagram, or investing in a new logo? (Spoiler: no.)

This week we're joined by Marissa Garcia (@marissaonbrand), a brand advisor for founder-led companies, to talk about what personal branding actually is and how creative entrepreneurs can use it to build trust, attract the right opportunities, and make selling feel more natural.

Marissa's approach is refreshingly simple: clarity, consistency, and connection. Get clear on what you stand for and what you want to be known for. Reinforce it through your content, decisions, and client experiences. Then build real relationships with the people you want to work with.

Because your personal brand isn't just what you say about yourself. It's what other people remember about you.

In this episode, we get into:

• What a personal brand actually is (and why you already have one)
• Why consistent messaging matters more than just posting consistently
• How to show up authentically without putting on a performance
• Building a personal brand beyond social media
• Setting boundaries around what you share about your personal life
• Building relationships that lead to referrals, collaborations, and paying clients
• How to measure whether your brand is working, beyond follower counts

Marissa also shares a surprisingly useful test: Can someone else explain what you do and what you stand for? If not, it might be time to revisit your brand clarity before creating more content.

And if you're feeling stuck on where to start, listen for her questions about the people you want to attract, the experience you want to create, and why you started the business in the first place.

WORK WITH US 1:1

If you're ready to connect your positioning and personal brand to offers that sell and marketing that attracts the right clients, we'd love to help. Our 1:1 business coaching combines Jo's creative and marketing perspective with Lyndon's business strategy, plus weekly support to actually put the plan into practice.

Learn more about coaching: https://www.joandlyndon.com/coaching

CONNECT WITH US

Marissa: https://www.instagram.com/marissaonbrand/

The Sustainable Creator: https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

Jo & Lyndon: https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

Have a takeaway? Share it on Instagram Stories and tag us and Marissa. We love seeing what sticks with you.

Ever sit down to send sales follow-ups and realize you've officially made it through your entire lead list?

That's exactly what happened during one of our monthly Sales Sprint calls inside Creative Maven Society. One of our members had reached out to everyone on her list and asked, "How do I find more leads?"

We immediately had five ideas for her. And then we thought, this deserves its own podcast episode.

In this episode of The Sustainable Creator, we're breaking down 10 practical ways to find leads and get more clients for your creative service business, without assuming you need to post more content, run ads, or start cold pitching strangers.

Because your best potential clients might already be paying attention to you. You just haven't recognized them as leads yet.

10 Ways to Find Leads for Your Creative Business

We break down lead generation into three categories based on their proximity to your business.

1. Find the warm leads already in your audience

• Identify potential clients watching your Instagram Stories.
• Pay attention to who's consistently liking and commenting on your content.
• Create "hand raiser" content that helps people signal when they're ready for your offer.
• Use strategic lead magnets that naturally connect to your services.

2. Re-engage people who already know you

• Revisit old Instagram DM conversations.
• Follow up with past inquiries that never converted.
• Identify potential clients hiding in your email subscriber list.
• Reconnect with previous clients who might be ready to work together again.

3. Find new leads outside your existing audience

• Build relationships and add value through conversations with complementary businesses and referral partners.
• Find people actively looking for your services on platforms like Threads, Reddit, and Facebook groups.

And because finding leads is only half the equation, we're also talking about what to actually say when you reach out.

How do you turn an Instagram Story view into a genuine conversation? How do you follow up with someone you haven't talked to in six months without sounding salesy? And when is it better to skip the small talk and simply tell someone you'd love to work with them?

We'll walk through how to approach these conversations in a way that feels human, including the three In's of sales follow-ups: invitations, insights, and introductions (from ep.45).

The biggest takeaway? You don't need to do all 10 things.

In fact, we'd rather you choose two or three lead generation strategies that make sense for your business, practice them consistently, and figure out what's actually working.

Whether you're a photographer, web designer, creative agency owner, or another service-based entrepreneur looking for more clients, this episode will help you build a healthier sales pipeline without turning marketing into another full-time job.

Want help turning those leads into actual clients?

Inside Creative Maven Society, we host monthly Sales Sprint calls where we set aside dedicated time to send pitches, follow up with leads, and get support on the conversations you're navigating. Plus, you'll have access to hot seat coaching, resources, and a community of creative service providers growing their businesses alongside you.

See the details here: https://www.joandlyndon.com/creative-maven-society

Let's connect on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/
https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

If your sales follow-up strategy is basically “just checking in 👋” and hoping for the best… this episode is going to change how you think about sales.

We’re sitting down with Andrea Mac, founder of Salesy and a revenue strategist with 25+ years of experience, to talk about how creative service providers can build a sales process that feels human AND creates more predictable revenue.

Because sales doesn’t have to mean pushing harder, chasing people, or trying to close someone on the first call. (Andrea compares that to meeting someone on Tinder and immediately asking them to marry you 😂.)

Instead, we dig into what actually moves a potential client from interested → ready to buy: better lead qualification, intentional follow-up, stronger relationships, and knowing exactly what information you still need before an opportunity can move forward.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why most people give up on sales follow-up way too early
• The 6 things you need to know to properly qualify a lead
• Why “circling back” and “just checking in” aren’t great follow-up strategies
• Growth Play’s 3 in’s framework for adding value when you follow up: invitations, insights + introductions
• How to know when someone is actually ready for a sales conversation
• The difference between your target market and your ideal buyer
• How to track prospects, connectors, champions + dream clients
• Why relationship capital matters more than having the “perfect” sales script
• How often you should follow up after a sales call
• Why sales is ultimately about listening, not convincing
• What parts of your sales process you can automate — and what should stay human

One of our favorite reframes from the conversation: everything you do during the sales process is an audition for what it feels like to work with you.

So if following up feels awkward, you’re worried about being annoying, or you’re sitting on a list of leads you KNOW you should probably reach back out to… start here.

CONNECT WITH ANDREA MAC

Andrea Mac / Salesy:
https://www.besalesy.com/

Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea4thewin

CREATIVE MAVEN SOCIETY

If you’re a creative service provider and want support building a stronger marketing + sales system for your business, come hang out with us inside Creative Maven Society. It’s our coaching membership for creative entrepreneurs who want strategy, feedback, accountability, and a room full of people who actually get what it’s like to grow a service business.

https://www.joandlyndon.com/creative-maven-society

COME SAY HI

Jo & Lyndon:
https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

The Sustainable Creator:
https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

What if your portfolio could do more than show people you’re talented… and actually help bring the right clients into your business?

In this episode of The Sustainable Creator, we’re sitting down with Bri Summers of Brighten Made to talk about portfolio marketing, Instagram content strategy, and what it actually takes to turn creative work into qualified leads.

Because a beautiful portfolio post getting a bunch of likes is nice. A portfolio post helping the right person think, “Yep, I need to work with them”? Even better.

Bri shares how her approach to marketing has evolved over nearly a decade in business, from posting polished design work and hoping it performed to intentionally using storytelling, strong hooks, behind-the-scenes content, experimentation, and subtle selling to attract better-fit clients.

We get into the difference between content designed for reach and content designed to convert, why going viral isn’t always the goal, and how creative service providers can market their work without making every post feel like a giant BOOK NOW button.

We also talk about:
• Using storytelling to make your portfolio more compelling
• Viral content vs. content that generates qualified leads
• Writing stronger hooks for portfolio and Instagram content
• Creating content throughout your client process instead of starting from scratch later
• Educating potential clients without primarily attracting your peers
• Using your portfolio to communicate strategy—not just aesthetics
• Tracking marketing when clients may follow you for months (or years) before booking
• Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, referrals, and deciding which marketing channels deserve your energy
• Building a portfolio when you don’t have many client projects yet
• Marketing sustainably when you’re balancing creativity, business growth, a team, and real life

Timestamps
01:39 — Why “pretty portfolio posts” stopped being enough
04:02 — Going viral vs. attracting paying clients
09:20 — Where portfolio content fits in your marketing funnel
17:00 — Why the hook can make or break your content
18:37 — Calls to action, subtle selling & starting conversations
23:42 — Using your portfolio to educate potential clients
33:10 — Tracking leads when the sales cycle is long
44:13 — How to build a portfolio when you’re starting from zero
55:46 — Building a business for the season of life you’re actually in

Connect with Bri:
Brighten Made: https://www.instagram.com/brightenmade/

☕ Want to grab a virtual coffee?

We’re Jo & Lyndon, business coaches for creative service providers, and we help creatives build businesses that grow without requiring them to burn themselves out in the process. We work with creative service providers through 1:1 coaching and Creative Maven Society, our coaching membership for creatives who want hands-on support with marketing, sales, positioning, offers, and sustainable growth.

DM us on Instagram to set up a coffee chat and get to know each other. No weird hard-sell coffee required. ☕

Jo & Lyndon: https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/
The Sustainable Creator: https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

Jo went to Create & Cultivate Festival in LA with one goal: make the most of it without trying to be everywhere at once.

She came home with new relationships, a very unexpected interaction with Emma Grede, a few paradigm shifts about business and visibility, and a reminder that sometimes the best networking strategy is simply being fully present with the person in front of you.

In this episode, Lyndon interviews Jo about her Create & Cultivate 2026 experience, from how she approached a massive women-in-business event without getting completely overwhelmed to the conversations that changed how she thinks about showing up online.

And yes… we need to talk about the moment Emma Grede looked at Jo and told her she recognized her. 👀

But the bigger takeaway wasn’t the photo or the surreal interaction. It was watching someone with that level of influence make one person feel like the only person in the room.

We’re getting into:

→ How Jo set intentions for Create & Cultivate before she arrived
→ Why she prioritized relationships over trying to “do everything”
→ Her unexpected interaction with Emma Grede
→ What the experience taught her about playing bigger and letting herself be seen
→ Why you might not be as “behind” as you think you are
→ The connection between personal branding, authenticity, and business growth
→ Why showing more of who you are can actually make your marketing more effective
→ How to turn conference networking into real relationships after the event
→ What Jo would, and wouldn’t, do differently at the next Create & Cultivate Festival

One of the biggest themes Jo came home with? People need enough context to know how they want to connect with you.

That applies at a networking event, but it also applies to your marketing as a creative service provider. Your expertise matters. Your values matter. Your personality matters. And hiding the pieces that make you you can make it harder for the right people to recognize that they want to be in your world.

☕ Want to get to know each other? DM US TO SET UP A COFFEE CHAT.

Seriously. We love meeting other creative service providers, entrepreneurs, founders, and generally interesting humans. Send us a DM, tell us you listened to this episode, and let’s see where the conversation goes.

Connect with Jo & Lyndon on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

Follow The Sustainable Creator:
https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

In this episode:
00:28 — What is Create & Cultivate Festival?
02:01 — Setting intentions before a huge networking event
05:21 — What Jo’s day at the festival actually looked like
09:45 — The unexpected Emma Grede moment
20:48 — Learning to play bigger and be seen
24:45 — “You’re not behind” and redefining the timeline
27:02 — Bringing more personality and values into your marketing
29:12 — Following up and turning networking into relationships
30:20 — Jo’s favorite conversations and biggest takeaways
32:28 — Would she go again, and what would she do differently?

Being booked out sounds like the dream… until you realize you’ve also hit the ceiling on how much your business can make without adding more hours to your week.

So what happens next?

You could raise your rates. You could build an agency and start managing a team. OR you could diversify your offers so your income isn’t completely tied to how many 1:1 clients you can personally serve.

In this episode of The Sustainable Creator, we’re breaking down four different ways creative service providers can diversify their offers, without accidentally creating a bunch of random products for completely different audiences.

We walk through the spectrum from low-touch knowledge offers all the way to high-touch done-for-you services, plus how to add recurring revenue into each category.

Because the goal isn’t to create more stuff to sell.

It’s to create an ecosystem where your offers solve different problems for the same ideal client, and naturally give people reasons to keep working with you.

In this episode, we cover:

→ Why hitting capacity doesn’t automatically mean you need to build an agency

→ The four types of offers: knowledge, planning, hand-holding, and done-for-you

→ How to identify new offers based on what your ideal clients are already asking for

→ Why creating an offer for a completely different audience can muddy your messaging

→ Turning FAQs, objections, and sales-process drop-offs into knowledge-based offers

→ How VIP days, audits, and strategy sessions can become high-value, lower-capacity offers

→ Creating recurring revenue across all four types of offers

→ Using quarterly strategy sessions, memberships, retainers, and other recurring models to reduce the feast-and-famine cycle

→ Protecting your capacity with A/B days or weeks and proactively blocking time off

Want us to help you map YOUR offer ecosystem? 👀

Our Ecosystem Days are half-day strategy sessions where we dig into your ideal client, your zone of genius, your existing offers, and what happens before + after someone works with you.

Together, we map an ecosystem designed to create repeat buyers, recurring revenue, and multiple ways for dream clients to work with you, without simply piling more 1:1 work onto your calendar.

You’ll leave with your ecosystem mapped out, a one-pager showing how everything fits together, and an implementation plan so you know exactly what to prioritize next.

DM us “ECOSYSTEM” on Instagram and we’ll send you the details:

https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

And tag The Sustainable Creator when you share about this episode:

https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

Does your marketing feel like it’s starting to look… suspiciously like everyone else’s?

Between trends, algorithms, AI, and the pressure to follow whatever is “working” right now, it’s easier than ever for creative businesses to blend into a sea of sameness. And when clients can’t tell the difference between you and the next person? The conversation quickly becomes about price. (Not exactly where we want to be.)

In this episode, we’re breaking down 3 ways to make your creative business more memorable, differentiated, and easier for the right clients to choose.

We get into why people really do buy from people, how your personality and interests can become part of your marketing strategy, and why being more specific about what you do can actually make you more valuable, not less.

We also talk about the piece a lot of creatives miss: your clients probably don’t care about your deliverables nearly as much as they care about what those deliverables do for them.

In this episode:
• Why “sameness” eventually turns your service into a price comparison
• Visibility vs. virality, and why they’re not the same thing
• How personality builds trust in an increasingly polished/AI-filled internet
• 3 practical ways to bring more of you into your marketing
• Why having a sub-specialty makes you easier to remember + refer
• The questions to ask when defining what you want to be known for
• How to identify the success metrics your clients actually care about
• Why selling the outcome can be more powerful than listing deliverables

✨ WANT TO GO DEEPER THAN THE PODCAST?

Join Creative Maven Society, our coaching membership for creative service providers who want practical support building a more profitable, sustainable business, with coaching, masterminds, masterclasses, accountability, and a room full of people who actually get what you do.

JOIN CREATIVE MAVEN SOCIETY:
https://discover.circle.so/products/creative-maven-society

Come say hi or send us your questions:

• Jo + Lyndon on Instagram:
  https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/
• The Sustainable Creator on Instagram:
  https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

And if this episode got your wheels turning, send it to another creative business owner who’s ready to stop blending in.

If it feels like the strategies that used to bring in clients aren’t working quite the same way anymore, you’re not the only creative business owner asking that question.

We’ve been hearing it everywhere: leads are slower, offers aren’t selling like they used to, and figuring out where to spend your marketing energy can feel like one giant guessing game.

So… we decided to get some actual data.

In this episode, we’re taking you behind the scenes of the marketing report we’re building for creative service providers and agency owners. Our goal is to survey 200 business owners to understand how people are finding clients, building trust, and ultimately deciding who to hire.

And we need YOUR help to get there.

📊 TAKE THE MARKETING SURVEY:
https://forms.gle/7RqxC6yZfxhRgD7r8

It only takes a few minutes, and your response will help us create a free report showing creative service providers what’s actually driving sales right now.

🎉 PLUS: YOU COULD WIN A 60-MINUTE COACHING INTENSIVE WITH US!

Fill out the survey by Friday, September 4 and you’ll be entered to win a free 60-minute intensive with Jo + Lyndon. If you’ve already completed the survey, you’re automatically entered!

Get the giveaway details here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DctyIG2qLp5/

At the time of recording, we had 42 completed surveys—and the early data is already fascinating.

We’re talking about:

→ What happened after personally reaching out to 162 people
→ Why one DM strategy converted around 3x better than another
→ Where people are finding clients right now
→ The role referrals are playing throughout the marketing funnel
→ Which platforms are influencing awareness, trust, and buying decisions
→ The marketing activity currently delivering the highest ROI
→ The activities people say are wasting their marketing time
→ The highest + lowest income months in our early data
→ Why 74% of respondents say they’ve changed their marketing this year

One finding we’re particularly interested in? So far, 67% of respondents have named networking and relationship-building as their highest-ROI marketing activity this year.

But these numbers are EARLY.

That’s why getting to 200 responses matters. The more data we collect, the more we can dig into how marketing differs based on industry, offer, price point, and more—and give you information you can actually use to make smarter decisions in your business.

Because marketing shouldn’t be throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Let’s get some data behind it. 🤓

Help us reach 200 responses:
👉 https://forms.gle/7RqxC6yZfxhRgD7r8

CONNECT WITH US

Jo + Lyndon:
https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/

The Sustainable Creator Podcast:
https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

Giveaway details:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DctyIG2qLp5/

Two months ago, we decided to run an experiment on The Sustainable Creator to test a hypothesis. We bumped our output to two episodes a week, pitting guest interviews directly against our own solo episodes. We tracked the time investment, analyzed the streaming numbers, and evaluated how each format actually moved the needle for our coaching business.

The results? They completely flipped our assumptions on their head. In this episode, we’re sharing metrics to show you why more content doesn't equal more growth, how solo long-form sharpens your business frameworks, and how to build a marketing ecosystem that serves your bottom line without dragging you toward burnout.

• The 8-Week Data Reveal: Why our solo episodes consistently out-streamed guest interviews by double digits, even with zero promotion or clip strategy.
• The Hidden Time Tax: How guest interviews were costing us over 4.5 hours per episode compared to just over 2 hours for solo episodes.
• Podcast Business Models Decoded: The critical difference between playing the volume/ad-supported game and using long-form audio to build high-ticket coaching trust.
• The Long-Form Refinement Bonus: How structuring solo episodes acts as an internal framework lab that sharpens your client delivery and streamlines your weekly newsletter.
• Data-Driven Strategy Shifts: Why we’re returning to a sustainable one-episode-a-week rhythm—and how to evaluate your own marketing experiments using real data instead of gut instinct.

Building a business that feels good requires stepping back from the content treadmill to look at what’s actually generating ROI. If you're ready to stop guessing, refine your offers, and build a high-converting ecosystem tailored to your capacity, let’s look at the numbers together.

👉 Book a discovery call for coaching with us: https://www.joandlyndon.com/coaching

Join our coaching membership, Creative Maven Society: https://discover.circle.so/products/creative-maven-society

Get actionable creator tips in your inbox (Sign up for the email list): https://joandlyndon.kit.com/645369a50f

Connect with us on Instagram! Tag us if you loved this episode:

• Jo & Lyndon: https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/
• The Sustainable Creator: https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/

Have you ever felt like you're running your head into a wall, completely unexcited by a business that used to light you up? It’s terrifying when the thing paying your bills no longer aligns with your long-term vision, leaving you stuck in analysis paralysis.

Today, we’re sitting down with Rachel Struve, a brilliant business strategist and accountability coach. At the start of 2026, Rachel was juggling photography, a studio, and a part-time job, feeling completely scattered. She intimately understands the terror of walking away from a six-year career to bet on a new direction.

Rachel shares the raw, behind-the-scenes reality of her pivot from photography to business strategy. We discuss how clarity actually comes after taking action, building the scaffolding on your way down, and how making small decisions helped her trust herself again.

If you are sitting on the edge of a big change or waiting for the "perfect" time to shift your business model, this is your episode. Rachel’s story is the permission slip you need to take that terrifying, beautiful next step.

• Why trying to fix the "vibes" of your business won't save an offer you've already outgrown.
• How making the smallest possible decisions pulls you out of debilitating analysis paralysis.
• The emotional reality of letting go of an old identity and leaving a familiar career.
• Why giving yourself permission to dream bigger naturally changes the "tables" you want to sit at.
• The exact capacity-saving boundaries Rachel set to fully book out her new coaching roster.

Pivoting your creative business doesn't mean you have to navigate the messy middle by yourself. If you're ready to transition but need help making the math work and getting it in front of dream clients, we've got you.

👉 Book a discovery call for coaching with us: https://www.joandlyndon.com/coaching

Connect with Rachel Struve:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyitsrach.co/

Participate in our Marketing & Sales Survey for Creative Service Providers: https://forms.gle/BnVeif6ZVdPNFyvh6
Join our coaching membership, Creative Maven Society: https://discover.circle.so/products/creative-maven-society

Get actionable creator tips in your inbox (Sign up for the email list): https://joandlyndon.kit.com/645369a50f

Connect with us on Instagram! Tag us if you loved this episode:

• Jo & Lyndon: https://www.instagram.com/joandlyndon/
• The Sustainable Creator: https://www.instagram.com/thesustainablecreator/