I’m going to be brutally honest with you: Sometimes, we creatives can be a bit desperate.

When you work in a creative field, you often have to explain to non-creatives what it is that you do and why it’s a real job, and that you deserve to be compensated in real dollars for real work that has real value. It makes you want to barf. But hey, it comes with the territory.

Because of this, a lot of new creatives with new creative businesses immediately start freaking out about gathering clients as quickly as possible. They’re so worried about staying afloat that they take on any and all work that comes their way. I tenderly refer to this panic as “Business-Artist Desperation Syndrome.” It’s B.A.D.S.ville.

I’ve been here before, guys, and I can say with absolute surety that it is not a good look. I want to save you from some of the long-term effects of working with less than ideal people.

So babe, here’s what you already know:

You’re an awesome creative pre-preneur who’s ready to finally start her own creative business.

You know what you’re good at, and you’re ready to share your products or skills with the world.

Except you also know that there are about a gazillion other creative businesses out there who do exactly what you want to do. And many of them do it so well, you’re already doubting whether you have what it takes to succeed before you’ve even started.

So you’ve created a stylish blog with a beautiful layout and creative content. You have all of your social media accounts linked and a brand new subscriber list ready to be filled to its capacity, and your feelings of accomplishment are out of this world! After being in a world of blogging bliss, few months or so go by and you realize with a quick look at your analytics that nothing is happening on your website.

Want to know the worst part? It’s actually true. Ain’t nobody reading your blog but your momma and maybe your best friend when she has the time. This is the painful reality for the majority of bloggers. It’s a vicious cycle that happens continuously and that I see all too often, even having been there myself. It's frustrating to think that you're actually an amazing blogger who has a powerful message to share and the only thing holding you back is an audience. In this day and age, it isn’t enough to put up a blog and post content.  You need a strategic marketing plan to get people to come to know who you are and read what you have to say. 

Your business is missing its marketing department: let’s talk social media for a minute. When was the last time you sat down and looked at your social media efforts with the eye of a business boss? Are you able to look at your posts on the various platforms you’re on and tell us the data? Do you have reasons as to why you posted that image or that caption on that day or time? Or is what you’re doing on social media similar to your mindset when you’re strolling through the Dollar Spot at Target?

Look, we’ve all been there. We create accounts for our business on all the platforms and post here and there thinking we’ll unlock the code. We keep half-assing our presence and wondering why we’re not A) growing, B) making sales, and C) enjoying it. We look at everyone else’s account and think that they’ve must have found the magic pill for social media success.

Starting your business generates a lot of emotions, right? One day you’re so excited and stay up until 3.00 a.m. working, and the next day you’re super nervous and wonder, “Will this even work?”

I’ve got a secret to tell you to help wipe away some of those nerves: you got this.

How can I be so sure? For starters, you’re not going to have any competition.

A well-decorated and well-designed home is about so much more than good looks. Your everyday spaces can boost your energy, lift your mood, and promote your overall happiness, not to mention affect your productivity. And, when your home is well organized, you're pretty much unstoppable (or at least that little bit more able to stop showing up late to brunch or your kid’s soccer practice).

On the other hand, a home where the design is less than stellar, a space that’s just a little short of pulled together, has the opposite effect: it can leave you feeling overwhelmed, disorganized, stuck, and beyond frustrated.

We’re gonna start this one out with a mega truth bomb: no one (literally, no one) cares about the price of what you offer. Yet so many of us let this stage of launching our latest products, services or courses hold us up. We learned very early on that the actual number behind what we offered (whether it was photography session, canvases, logo designs, or branding) was the lowest thing on the list of concerns for our buyer. So we put our focus elsewhere.