business insights
I’m officially building my first Al app. No code. No hoodie-wearing co-founder. Just me, my idea, a no-code tool called Lovable.dev, and two years of quietly training an Al on everything I know about marketing, messaging, and digital products.
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100 Profitable Digital Product Ideas
Plus, a totally free challenge to kick you into action and get this baby launched.
Why Your Business Needs a Systems Audit (If You Want to See Growth)
Emylee here. Words like “systems”, “audits”, “workflows”, “processes” and “checklists” - they can either make the extreme Type A person rejoice and ask for more or they can make the whimsical creative clam up and cringe.
Here at Think Creative Collective, part of “thinking creative” is to put on the business hat every once in awhile so we can check in with our growth and sustainability. And that’s exactly what a systems audit does for you.
How to Have the Most Productive Biz Year Ever
Cut through the clutter in every form of your life and make this your most productive year yet. This is not another KonMari manifesto (although you totally should read that book!), it's a no BS, start-now kind of system for making your business work for you, not the other way around. You've got this, lady.
25 Tips to Take Your Business Seriously
When you begin to treat your business like a business, things start to shift. It’s really simple. If you’re still treating your business like a “hobby” or “side hustle” it will only ever be one of those things. Even if your business isn’t exactly where you want or need it to be today you can still treat it like it’s on its way to getting there. Just because your business hasn’t reached the figure you want it to (yet!) doesn’t mean you can’t treat it like it’s the next best thing since the dollar section at Target! Here are the ways we treat our jobs like the big biz they are.
Uncover Your Personal Productivity Spirit Animal
You’ve tried planners, apps, notebooks, post-it notes and even set up entire walls of “organization” in order to master your productivity. Babe, quit trying so hard. You just need to know your productivity spirit animal and you will be set for life. You’ll know the environment you thrive in, where you get stuck and what you should do next.
But first, it only seemed right that we arm you with a few tips to get more done right away!
5 Ways You Should Legally Protect Your Business
You pour hours and hours of hard work into your latest content, course, product or service only to wonder, “what if someone steals this and sells it as their own? Can you contact them and ask them to remove it? What if they don’t take it down? Or what if they’ve been selling it as their own and making money off it?”
Or you’re 3 months into a 6-month service contract with a client when they suddenly change their credit card number and bails. Now what? You were relying on that money coming in and can’t afford to just let it go. But you didn’t have them sign anything, so how can you hold them accountable?
The Secret to Success is Smaller Than You Think
Success itself is arbitrary. It doesn’t mean you make a certain amount of money or have reached a level of fame. It is self defined. Success to me may not mean what success is to you at all. The thing about success, however, is that regardless of what you are seeking, there are always people seeking answers. “How do I get there?” There being the magical location where it all seems to fall into place.
People tend to ask those they view as successful, “How did you do it?” They assume that if they take the same steps, or follow the same path, they too will get there. Well, I am about to tell you that there is no answer, and there is no magic pill or pre-charted course. Success is made up of all the minute decisions that begin to add up. The small choices that make a radical change.
Automation FTW: How to Streamline Trello to Get EVEN MORE Done
So, this ain’t your first Trello rodeo.
You have Abagail and Emylee’s boards. Your business is insanely organized. You spend your days doing the things and moving the cards to the right, to the right.
Like Beyonce on opposite day.
Anyway, you spend most of your day in Trello and love it that way. But is that really a good thing?
I mean, I get it.
The app is a-mah-zing for planning and organizing, and that stuff is so important. But you need to focus on the doing, not just the planning and organizing, so maybe you need to find another way to get that stuff done.
Small Business 101: Accounting for the Non-Accountant
Accounting for Small Businesses is oftentimes the biggest stressor for small business owners, especially creatives. Crunching the numbers can feel overwhelming. But without the proper preparation and tracking, not having the right cash flow clarity can be the difference between you being a thriving business and closing your doors.
Did you know that recent studies have shown that 50 percent of small businesses will fail within the first year? How about the fact that a staggering 95 percent will close their doors before they hit their fifth year of operation? That one seems a bit hard to believe, but in today’s economy it could be true. Here are some additional stats that may surprise you (source):
40% of small businesses are profitable.
30% break even.
30% are continually losing money.
So You Think You Can Edit: Why Your Biz Might be Ready for an Editor
Hiring new consultants, contractors, and team members is a big step in your business, but once you’re ready to take it your workload decreases and your business is able to improve in multiple ways, leaving you to work on your strengths and be the bad-ass lady boss you are (instead of the boss, chief bottle-washer and Jill-of-all-trades).
A blog editor may not have made the top of the list when you dreamed about bringing someone on to help you. But…
You only have twenty-six small letters and a handful of dots and dashes to wow, inspire, share, create, and convince. Surely you want to combine these in the best way possible?
How to Design a Website with SEO in Mind
The goal of every website is to find harmony between form and function. Businesses want (and need) a website that is both beautiful and ranks well on Google.
Good site design will immediately form a positive impression for the visitor. It will help guide the users’ eyes and easily tell them where you want for them to look. A site that is well designed will build trust and will encourage conversions.
A site that ranks well on Google will consistently drive targeted traffic to the site. An SEO optimized site will increase brand visibility and will build trust with users.
When creating a new website for your business, you don’t have to choose one over the other, good design or SEO. By focusing on design and content you will create a site that seamlessly integrates form and function.
The Ultimate Guide to Website Design
When you’re finally ready to dive into revamping your website there are a few things you’ll want to keep top of mind. Sometimes the project can feel overwhelming just thinking about all the tiny details can make you wonder if the project is actually going to be worth it (spoiler alert: with the right designers it definitely will be). So we’ve rounded up the top elements of great web design to be mindful of as you explore your options.
Ready for Change? How to Know When it’s Time for a New Website Design
Having your website redesigned is no easy decision, and we don’t typically encourage it if there’s no reason for it. You have to consider the process of transferring content, how this could impact your SEO, etc., but some cases are a definite yes. Take our case, for instance– we went years with our old website that had outdated content, wasn’t clear about what we did especially after we switched gears with our offers, and didn’t aesthetically align with the direction we were heading.
Now that we’ve gone through with the redesign, we’ve never been happier. We feel our website does a great job in conveying what we do, our personalities, our mission, and funneling in prospects. If you aren’t sure if a new website design is the next move for you, here are 5 signs that it’s time for a change.
Heck, we’ve even landed a high 5-figure client, because our website confirmed for them that we were the ones they wanted to work with.
The 25 Best Dubsado Resources for 2022
We’re longtime Dubsado users and fans, and we know the impact that this particular CRM has on the way so many service providers are running their businesses. On the other hand, we know that with the implementation of any new or unfamiliar technology comes a learning curve that you have to get over.
To help you expand your knowledge (and therefore your user experience) with Dubsado, we’ve compiled a list of 25 resources that will teach you or guide you through many different aspects of using Dubsado. Stick around at the end for a bonus resource that will be a complete game changer for setting up and using Dubsado in your business!
The Top 19 Resources for Serviced Based Business Owners in 2022
Although we serve all kinds of businesses in various ways, 1:1 service providers most definitely make up the majority of our audience. A big issue we see them having is being unable to find information to help with all of the specific issues and nuances that come with serving clients.
We’ve cranked out tons of great content tailored to our friends in the service-based industry. Now, we’ve compiled these resources into a list that you can bookmark or save to keep with you during 2022 and beyond!
11 Things You Need to Know Before Scaling Your Service Based Business
Scaling a service-based business is a special kind of feat. As a service provider, there are only so many hours in the day that you can dedicate to client work after all. This can definitely make scaling seem impossibly difficult or out of reach. After starting off as a service-based business for years and then working directly with service providers to scale their own 1:1 services, we’ve learned that there are 11 things you absolutely need to know before scaling. We’re going to dive into what those are in this blog post!
Welcome to My Blog
Hey, I’m Abagail Pumphrey!
You know when you are so deeply passionate about something you can’t help but share it? That’s how this blog has felt for the last decade. I’ve written about my latest strategies, tech how-tos, experience with scaling and so much more. I hope you find just what you’re looking for. We’re here to help!
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