I’ve seen so many incredibly talented creative professionals struggling to generate the consistent work and income they need to live the life they want.
If you have the talent, desire and grit to make things happen (and I know you do!), the only thing standing between you and a profitable creative business or career are the exact steps to:
- communicating what you do, and why it’s of value
- defining who you work with, and what’s in it for them
- creating a marketing message and strategy that draws your ideal clients to you
I’ve distilled more than 15 years of experience working with high-level creative professionals into 7 essential steps to building a profitable creative business or career. Each step includes an exercise that will move you measurably closer to your goals.
Are you ready to make monumental changes in your career and life?
Let’s do this!
Table of Contents
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1. DISCOVER WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE
In this step you will discover what unique gift YOU bring to the world, and how that talent benefits people who want and need your services.
2. CRAFT YOUR IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
In this step you will gain clarity around who your ideal clients are, what they struggle with or aspire to, and what they need right now
3. EXPLORE WHO ELSE IS IN YOUR MARKET PLACE
In step 3 you will learn who else is in your market place, and how you stand out.
4. WRITE YOUR COMPELLING PITCH
At the end of this step, you will finally be able to answer the question “So, what do you do?” with confidence and ease.
5. CREATE PACKAGES OR SERVICES YOUR CLIENTS WANT AND NEED
In step 5 you will create services that help your ideal clients quickly recognize you are the solution to their problem before you even speak with them.
6. PRICE YOUR SERVICES TO REFLECT YOUR VALUE, NOT YOUR TIME
In step 6 you will learn how to price your services and get paid what you’re worth.
7. BUILD A MARKETING STRATEGY THAT ATTRACTS YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
By the end of this step you will know what marketing activities align with your natural strengths, how to streamline your efforts, and get better results in less time
Step #1: DISCOVER WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE
We are all born with a unique gift or talent; no exceptions. Whether you’re a photographer, creative director, video producer, or illustrator, your gift his how you create positive transformation in the lives of others.
Knowing what unique gift you bring to the world is the first step to identifying your niche and standing out in the marketplace.
So why do so many creatives resist identifying a niche? Because they fear they will lose perfectly good clients in doing so (can you relate?). But here’s the thing: even if you target a VERY specific group of people, you’ll still have more customers than you can handle because you are the go-to person for that audience. As counter-intuitive as it seems, the more specific you get, the more clients you get.
“There are six billion people in the world. Even if your market is handmade spoke shaves for left-handed woodworkers, there are more people in your market than you can ever hope to track down.”
—SETH GODIN
Getting really clear about what makes you stand out from the crowd will help you:
- articulate what you do confidently, clearly, and effectively.
- build your business around your specialty, including: the clients you serve, what
services you offer, how you price them, and how you engage with your audience.
If you’re tired of blending into the crowd, but are not sure what makes you stand out, this exercise will help you gain the clarity you need.
EXERCISE 1: WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE?
The following questions will help you get clear on what matters. At first blush, the questions may seem simple, but challenge yourself to go deep and you’ll be surprised at what you learn about yourself. You can do this alone, or have a friend or colleague ask the questions and take notes (others often hear and see things we don’t!).
- What elements of your work do you enjoy the most?
- What would you do all day for free?
- What do people come to you for?
If people are always seeking you out for something specific, it’s an indicator of where they see your greatest value or talent. - What problems do you solve?
We tend to describe our business in terms of what we do and what our process is. Try
articulating what you do in terms of what problems you solve instead. - Of all the people in your field, what do you do that others do not?
You might initially blank on this, but I promise that there’s something different about the way you approach a creative problem. Stick with it and write down anything that comes to mind. - What results will people get from working with you?
Ultimately we are in business to solve a problem that our ideal client has. Getting very clear on what those problems are is the first step to building a client-centered message and strategy.
Step #2: CRAFT YOUR IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
– PETER DRUCKER
Creating your dream client profile is one of my favorite parts of the process. Because when you know who your ideal client is you have clarity. This clarity helps you:
• Create a brand message, image, and voice that resonates with your ideal clients
• Create services, products, and packages that solve their biggest challenge(s)
• Network where your ideal clients hang out
• Create a marketing strategy that turns prospects into paying clients
So let’s start with identifying what makes someone an ideal client.
An ideal client relationship is where: your unique skill, your client’s challenges or aspiration, and their ability to see how working with you will benefit them, intersect.
One of the most common mistakes creative entrepreneurs make is launching a business or career without taking the time to get really clear on who their ideal clients are. The result: a strategy, message, and services that are off-target, and don’t end in sales.
By doing this two-part exercise, you can avoid this pitfall completely by gaining clarity and confidence around who your ideal clients are, what they need, and how you are uniquely positioned to help them.
EXERCISE 2 (PART 1): INTERVIEW YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
What’s the best way to learn what your ideal clients need? Ask them! In this exercise you will choose 3-5 of your best clients to interview. Don’t have clients yet? Interview colleagues, professors, bosses, friends or family.
Aim for about 10-20 questions in total, take really good notes so you capture as much as possible. Review all of your notes. What common themes did you see? How did your clients describe you? How did they benefit from working with you? Were there any surprises?
Here are some sample interview questions to get you started. Feel free to edit and add questions that make sense for your business.
- Why did you come to me?
- What did you get from working with me?
- What challenges do you regularly come up against?
- What do you aspire to achieve?
- What do you need most to get those results?
- How would you describe what I do to others (in the case of a referral)?
The best part of this exercise (aside from all that clarity) is your ideal clients will give you the exact language to use in your marketing message. You can guarantee, if they are struggling with things, others like them are too!
EXERCISE 2 (PART 2): COMPLETE YOUR IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE
This exercise will help you get a clear sense of who your ideal client is as a person. Why is this so important? Because when you write copy or content, it helps to write to a specific person. This alone will add a whole new level of authenticity and engagement to messaging and marketing.
- Who are they? (men, women, or both?)
- Where do they live?
- How old are they?
- What’s their income?
- What’s their professional title?
- What’s their professional philosophy or aesthetic?
- What brands do they like?
- What are their interests?
- What magazines, blogs, or books do they read?
- Who do they follow (online, social media)?
- What organizations do they belong to?
- What trade shows do they attend?
- What are the three most important factors to your ideal customer when choosing a provider for your product or service?
Now you’re really clear on who your ideal clients are, what they like, what they struggle with, and what they need right now, you’re ready to craft a message, services and content especially for them. Ahhhhh, clarity!
Step #3: EXPLORE WHO ELSE IS IN YOUR MARKET PLACE
I realize that looking at our competition is a really uncomfortable proposition. We ALL think everyone else has it together and is doing it better than us, but that’s just not true. We’re all just doing it differently (and that’s a good thing!).
Gaining clarity that’s based on research, not insecurities, is going to help you:
- Clarify how you’re different, and what you offer that they don’t.
- Get inspired and motivated by people doing what you do really well. You’ll get ideas for services or ways market yourself that you might not have thought of before. Figure out ways to use what others have successfully done and adapt it for yourself. I’m not saying copy others, but you don’t reinvent the wheel either.
In this exercise, you will research your marketplace and look at how others position
their services, whom they are working with, and how they package and charge for
their services. This will help you understand what others are offering and fine-tune
your niche within the market place.
EXERCISE 3: RESEARCH WHO ELSE IS IN YOUR MARKETPLACE
Part 1—List your competitors by category
Start by listing the obvious competitors and then add anyone who might offer similar services to you. For example: if you are a website designer, your competitors migh include:
- Graphic designers
- Art Directors
- Design Studios
- UI Designers/Web design firms
- Advertising agencies
- In-house design teams
Now list your competitors.
Part 2—Research at least 3 actual companies/individuals for each category
Answer the following questions for each.
- What is their focus or niche? Write their positioning statement.
- What do they offer? List specific programs/services
- Who is their audience?
- What do they do well?
- What could be improved upon?
- How does their point of difference benefit the client?
- What do they do that’s different?
- What does their website look like?
Review your findings. Do you see any gaps you are uniquely equipped to fill? Pull that difference out in your messaging and you’ll be sure to stand out in the crowd!
Step #4: WRITE YOUR COMPELLING PITCH
How do you respond when someone asks “What do you do?”
Do you panic/mumble/ramble, or are you prepared with a simple, clear description that invites interest and further inquiry?
The first? It’s OK, you’re not alone. Many creative professionals struggle with telling people what they do, and the reasons usually fall into one of two categories:
- They do so many things they don’t know where to focus
- They don’t want to appear sales-y or pushy, so avoid having a pitch altogether
As a result, their default message is a version of “I can do anything for anybody.”
Would you pay big bucks for that? Me neither.
“The best elevator pitch is true, stunning, brief and leaves the listener eager (no, desperate) to hear the rest of it. It’s a little fractal of the entire story, something real.”
–SETH GODIN
In this step you’ll learn how to confidently, quickly and gracefully communicate
exactly what you do, whom you do it for, how they benefit, and what they do next to
work with you. The exercise below will help you gather the relevant information and
get it in the right order.
EXERCISE 4: CRAFT YOUR COMPELLING PITCH
Review the answers so far and use the information to fill in the gaps.
When you’re done, see how it reads.
Here’s an example of how that would read for my business:
Hello my name is Justine Clay and I help freelance creative professionals and entrepreneurs attract more, high-quality, well-paying clients, even if they are uncomfortable with marketing or selling themselves. I do this by taking them through a step-by-step process that helps them gain clarity and confidence around what makes them unique and build a marketing message and strategy that resonates with their ideal clients.
What separates me from other business coaches is I have more than 15 years of experience in creative management and understand the unique challenges creative professionals face. If you’re ready to build your creative career or business, simply visit justineclay.com and schedule a free 30-minute introductory call with me.
Now, I warn you, the first version will likely feel stilted and unnatural, so consider it a starting point. Crafting a natural sounding, effective pitch takes time, and doesn’t come easily to anyone, so stick with it. If writing isn’t your strong suit, and you’d rather work on your pitch with someone else, let’s chat!
Step #5: CREATE PACKAGES OR SERVICES YOUR CLIENTS WANT & NEED
I’ve worked in the advertising and design industry for more than 15 years and one of the most over-used statements I hear is, “we are a full-service creative agency.” Typically, this statement is followed by a laundry list of services that could be interchanged with any other agency website.
How does your “Work with Me” page read? Do you offer every service under the sun
(even if some of those services aren’t your strong suit)?
It’s time to get real. Are you really the best person to offer all of them, or are just a few your area of expertise and brilliance?
By focusing on the services you are brilliant at, you:
- build trust
- build your reputation as an expert
- Ensures you get the best results for your clients (further enhancing your reputation
and likelihood of referrals).
The next exercise will help you hone in on the services you are uniquely equipped to
provide and meet the exact needs of your ideal clients.
EXERCISE 5: EDIT YOUR SERVICES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUR IDEAL CLIENT
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What do clients come to me for?
- What do clients ask me to do again and again?
- What do clients happily pay for?
- How do my clients describe what I do to others?
- Where do I get the best results for my clients?
- What is my area of expertise?
Now eliminate all the services you’re not uniquely equipped to offer (or clients just don’t come to you for) and build out the services that clients value and ask for most.
Step #6: PRICE YOUR SERVICES TO REFLECT YOUR VALUE, NOT YOUR TIME
Are you:
- Working all hours and still not making the money you want?
- Working on small jobs with fast turnarounds and no budget?
- Confused about what to charge and how to command the fee you want?
You’re not alone. The fact is, pricing your services is part art, part science and finding your client/pricing sweet spot takes time.
The first step is knowing your numbers, so you can enter negotiations with clarity and confidence.
While I strongly suggest you don’t quote an hourly rate, instead moving to a project rate, you DO need to be clear on what your billable hours are, and what that rate is. This formula will help you calculate your hourly rate, which will be the basis upon which you estimate project fees.
EXERCISE 6: DETERMINE YOUR RATE
This number will be the basis of your project rate estimates. Finding your sweet spot
with pricing takes a little trial and error, but here are 5 tips:
- Get clear on who your ideal clients are (step 2) and the budgets they are
likely to have. For example, if your ideal clients are fashion retail brands,
Bloomingdale’s will have a higher budget than an up-and-coming designer.
Neither is right or wrong, but something to take into account. - Be clear on the value you offer. Do you have experience solving similar problems for similar clients? Are you a seasoned professional, or just starting out in your
chosen field? Do you have glowing recommendations and testimonials to back you up? - Know how much you’d like to be paid, and how much you’re willing to
negotiate (and why). Would this project be a great portfolio piece? If so, you
may feel more inclined to negotiate to ensure you get the gig. Conversely, if it’s a
project you’d ONLY do for the money, feel free to go high and not budge. - Increase your fees little by little. If you’re not confident in the fee you’re
quoting, the client will sense it. Increase your fees, little and often, until you start
getting price resistance from your clients. Incidentally, price resistance doesn’t
necessarily mean you’re charging too much, but you may need to find clients with
deeper pockets. - Know who your competition is (Step 3) and what they charge. You should be
priced within the top 10% of your peers.
Step #7: BUILD A MARKETING STRATEGY THAT ATTRACTS YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
A common theme I hear from creative professionals is they hate marketing and, as a result, don’t do enough of it. Typically, this is because they don’t know where to start
and feel intimidated by the number of on-line tools available to them. And in my experience, when people feel confused and intimidated, they do nothing.
As a result, talented creatives remain stuck in the feast or famine cycle, feeling frustrated by and worried by their lack of inconsistent work and income.
In this step we will demystify the process and get you on the path to marketing your business authentically to your ideal client.
Broadly speaking, marketing falls into 2 categories:
- Online marketing e.g. social media, blogging, video, webinars, etc.
- Offline e.g. networking and speaking
In this final step of building a profitable creative business, we’ll focus on the category that has people most worked up – online marketing.
On-line marketing
Contrary to popular belief, the platform e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. really doesn’t matter. That’s just the vehicle by which you’ll deliver your content. What does matter is the quality of content you’re creating and how it resonates with your ideal client.
The next exercise will help you create content that resonates with your ideal clients and get your message out there.
EXERCISE 7 (PART 1): CREATE YOUR EDITORIAL CONTENT LIST
In this exercise you will create a list of things that speak to their interests, aspirations or challenges. Go back to your ideal client questionnaire (step 2) for inspiration.
For example: If you’re a food photographer and your ideal clients are art directors, cookbook authors, and restaurateurs, your content list might include:
- Recipes
- Behind the scenes of a photo-shoot
- Upcoming food fairs, restaurant/bar openings
- Season cocktail recipes
- Recent projects
- Interview/showcase of a chef that you admire, a ceramist who makes beautiful dinnerware, lifestyle blogger, nutritionist etc.
- Personal things – a dinner party you threw for friends. What you cooked, who came.
Keep your content ideas list somewhere you can easily access it e.g. Evernote and when you come across something interesting – perhaps an image, a quote or TED talk – add it to your list. Having this list will help you avoid staring at a blank screen when it comes time to post and, as a result, the quality of what you share will improve tremendously.
EXERCISE 7 (PART 2): CHOOSE THE CONTENT CATEGORY & PLATFORM THAT WORKS FOR YOU
Marketing is like working out or eating well. If you enjoy it, you’re more likely to be consistent. Check out the table below and see what content category sounds most like you. For example, I enjoy writing, so when I started my coaching business, I started with a newsletter. I later added guest blogging, article marketing and, after a while, when I’d created tons of content, developing a video series, workshops and webinars.
So you see how you can build slowly?
EXERCISE 7 (PART 3): GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT THERE
Choose the content category that feels best for you e.g. visuals, and one or two platforms to distribute your content e.g. your blog and Instagram. Now, figure out when you’ll share that content and put in your calendar. For example, if you choose to do a newsletter or blog every 2 weeks, put it in the calendar and honor it as if it were a client commitment. However regularly you choose to post (daily, weekly, or even monthly), be consistent. Why? Because when you’re consistent, it builds the “know, like & trust” factor with prospects and people buy from those they know, like and trust.
List your first area of focus and how often you plan to share content.
My content category is:
I will post every:
I know I’ve given you a lot to think about and plenty of work to do. The good news is, this kind of clarity isn’t reserved for a chosen “business-minded” few. Learning how to build a profitable and fulfilling creative business isn’t rocket science, (thank goodness!) but understanding and taking action on the business, marketing, and sales principles shared in this guide are crucial if you’re going to build the consistently profitable creative business you want.
If you’re tired of trying to figure it all out yourself (really, who has the time?) and ready to confidently build a profitable creative business, I’d love to learn more. Click here and book a free 30-minute introductory call with me where we’ll talk about your goals, your challenges, and the best next steps for you!