As creatives, we have a hard time taking time off. We compare our work days to those of the people we see online and think we should be working when everyone else is. But the truth is, we need rest and time off in order to create space for more creativity. We need to allow ourselves rest so we can better serve our clients and customers. In fact, this time off will give your mind a break from the stress and will allow you to grow your own creativity.

Today, we are going to talk about why taking time off is important for you and your business. In addition, we will discuss how rest can help boost creativity, when to take time off, how to make time for time off, and how to mentally prepare so you won't feel guilty during your time off!

It’s no secret that wholesale has my heart. While there is a LOT of work involved, one of the many reasons I love wholesale is that it has the ability to substantially grow your business! 

That said, how do you go from dreaming of big sales to seeing your product on the shelves of your favorite store when a Google search is enough to make your head spin?! Well, m’dear, it’s time to get excited because I’m giving you a step by step guide to setting your wholesale biz up for success! 

So, earlier this week, Emylee talked about what it was like to prepare for maternity leave. Boy, am I thankful for every waking minute of work she squeezed in before sweet Penelope graced this earth. It made my job a hell of a lot easier. As one might imagine, with Emylee gone I had grand plans to go into business overdrive, get #allthethings done, do all the research for the year ahead and take some much needed R&R while she was sneaking in snuggle time.

When someone says you’ll be doing a photo shoot, what is your first reaction? Stress? Anxiety? Fear? For most of us, myself included, being in front of the camera can be nerve-wracking. We want to be natural, but the focus of the lens can often turn us into stiff robots. What is the trick to being yourself and showing your spark? After doing hundreds of brand photo shoots and capturing all types of personalities, I’ve put together six tips to boost your confidence so you shine in front of the camera in your upcoming branding photo session.

So you spent your energy, a shiz load of time, and a whole lotta hope on creating a business with no borders. The idea was that you get to live the dream and work from home, on your own schedule, with just you as boss. You get to take coffee dates, sleep in, work late and have more flexibility than Simone Biles. You also know there’s some wiggle room for when you decide to bring a baby into the mix…..but how do you actually prepare for that?

When I was preparing our business for my own maternity leave people kept saying, “You can’t ever prepare for a baby.” Even though that’s true with regards to your little human, I wholeheartedly disagree when it comes to your business. You don’t have to go into your leave (whether it be for a baby, a sabbatical or time off for health) blind. In fact, you can go into it with a solid blueprint and business manual for how things will run while you’re away.

When I started my business, I knew that my daughter, Olivia, would be involved somehow. I had always included her in “big girl” things (age appropriately, of course!). She was my little sidekick, so I ended up naming the company after her. Over the years, I have been surprised by how much of the business she has been interested in. She has learned so much from being involved, and I am here to encourage you to involve your kids in your business, too.

LeadPages, LeadPages, LeadPages.

Here’s the thing – as a WordPress user, I don’t personally use LeadPages. I choose to build sales pages/landing pages with Beaver Builder and/or Divi (for clients whose sites are built that way), BUT I used LeadPages for a long time and I loved it, just like most of the small business world.

So, what is it?

LeadPages is basically just a system to help you build landing pages and sales pages EASILY.

How I got ranked on the first page of Google within 2 hours of publishing my post! Learn to use Yoast to maximize your SEO; with just a few tweaks you too can rank highly! 

We adore ConvertKit over here at ThinkCreativeCollective, but we always wish we could make it prettier! Our guest blogger for today, Jessica Stansbury, is giving us a quick tip to create customized quote boxes in your ConvertKit emails. Time to enjoy some prettyness in your inbox!