Making a living as a freelancer and creative entrepreneur can be tough. When you first start out you’re usually just happy to be making any amount of money from the work that you feel inspired to do, but at some point you’re going to start to crave a stable and consistent income and to alleviate the stress and anxiety that can come from being in charge of your own paycheque.

My biggest goal when I first started my creative coaching business was to create a full time income from my work, and down the line what I've really started to work towards is stabilising my freelance income so I no longer feel trapped in a cycle of feast and famine where some weeks I feel super stable and on top of things, and others I worry if I’m even going to be able to afford food the next month.

And thankfully that’s exactly what I’ve done. Alex and I are finally moving into our (super tiny) apartment in just over a week and my biggest goal since we paid our deposit was to stabilise my business income as much as possible so we can feel financially prepared and can avoid those sleepless nights where we feel wracked with fear about money. 

HERE’S THE THING ABOUT STABILISING YOUR INCOME AS A FREELANCER AND CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR; IT HELPS YOU BE BETTER AT YOUR JOB.

Because terrible business decisions are made when they come from a place of desperation, and when you have your money matters together you can then just get back to doing what you do best. So today I want to dig into the things I’ve done to stabilise my freelance income, and some ideas you can explore too if you’re struggling to break free from the feast and famine stage. 

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This episode of Make It Happen was definitely one of my favourites to record so far.

I invited Jess May onto the show to talk all things relationships and business, and she's hilarious and crazy insightful and smart when it comes to nurturing a game changing relationship alongside a game changing business. Jess is a relationship coach and she works specifically with creative entrepreneurs and business owners to help them balance it all without sacrificing any of it.

I like to think that I have two great loves in my life; my better half Alex, and my creative coaching business. Balancing the two can be super tough sometimes; nurturing a relationship when you're both busy building your dreams (both your shared dreams and your solo dreams too) is a huge balancing act, and I really loved having this opportunity to chat with someone who completely gets what I'm doing right now. We talk about the benefits focusing on your relationship has on your business, how to get your partner on board with your business goals, and how to balance it all along the way. I love this episode and I think you will too. It's a little different than what we've done on the show before, but it was great to talk about the non-business side of running a business for once.

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There is one simple thing that has played a huge part in helping me to build a profitable and sustainable client-based creative business:

Word of mouth referrals.

My own online presence, content marketing, and business strategy have played a big part in helping me to move forward in my business, but word of mouth referrals have been able to have an impact in a way that I could not have made alone.

Somebody else saying how awesome you are is so much more powerful than saying it yourself.

The thing about cultivating game changing word of mouth referrals though is that, a lot of the time, they can feel completely out of your control. I didn’t realise how much of a game changer they were going to be for me until 30-50% of my client bookings each month started to come from referrals from past and current clients. You can’t force your clients to rave wildly about you to anyone who will listen, but what you can do is run your business in a way that is authentic, delightful, and ultimately a word-of-mouth machine that turns paying customers into lifelong brand ambassadors (and if you’re lucky, returning customers at some point too).

So if you're looking to cultivate word of mouth referrals to help you build a sustainable, thriving, and booked-out business, I have four key steps for you today to explore that could be the things you need to end the feast and famine cycle that you may have found yourself trapped in.

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If you asked me what type of business I’m building, I’d hands down straight away say a lifestyle one. I admire and respect so many power brands and online empires who are taking their industries and communities by storm, but for me and the work I do it’s way more about the life I want to be living and the part I want my business to play in that.

A LIFESTYLE BUSINESS IS BUILT UPON THE VISION THAT THE BUSINESS SERVES AND ENABLES THE LIFE ITS OWNER WANTS TO LIVE.

The best part is, you get to define what that lifestyle looks like. Your lifestyle business may look like a 20 hour work week, with lots of travel and time for adventures. Or it may look like a 50 hour work week with lots of time for creative side projects too. Whatever it is, it’s yours to define. But when you’re building a lifestyle business, you’re not chasing the money; instead you’re chasing what that money can enable and bring.

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Earlier this week I shared a post all about How Working With Dream Clients Can Change Everything, and today I want to dig a little deeper into some of the reasons why your online presence may not actually be helping you to attract those dreamy clients along the way.

Our online presence can be a game changing tool for our business and brand.

It can help us to build community, connect with the people we can serve best, and convert that audience into paying customers and clients too. For you and your business right now maybe those dreams clients are the ones who truly will understand and respect your creative expertise, or maybe you’re just getting started and dream clients for you right now are actually just going to be paying clients - whatever it is, your online presence can help you to attract and book them along the way.

If you’re feeling like you’re hustling crazy hard but you’re not seeing any client enquiries and bookings come in, today I have 10 reasons why that may be the case, and some jumping off points for how you can turn things around and start to unlock the potential your website, blog, and digital presence has to be the best and most effective marketing tool for you and your work.

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One of my favourite things about launching Make It Happen so far has been the opportunity to touch base with awesome and inspiring creatives each week and cultivate some pretty awesome friendships along the way too. This weeks guest is no exception and I am super excited to share this episode with you today. I invited Megan Minns onto the show, a business strategist and virtual assistant, and I really think you're going to enjoy this episode and connect with the insights she shares throughout this show. 

Megan shares with us her story and journey so far, her best advice for side hustlers and anyone hoping to become a virtual assistant, and we even go a little off track and talk about her recent engagement too! We also dig into our thoughts on evolving in business, and some our favourite tools for staying organised and building systems that actually work. Megan is seriously awesome and this is a great episode for anyone who is working a 9-5 alongside their creative business, is interested in becoming a VA, or just wants to listen to two creatives talk shop and share some behind the scenes insights of what it's like to live the freelance life. 

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Working with dream clients is the difference between feeling like just another creative service for hire and feeling like a creative expert who is doing work that is purposeful and effective. Working with dream clients has changed everything for me; it’s helped me to find direction, focus, and purpose with my work, and it feeds my soul and gives me the energy that I need to hustle hard and keep on moving forward with my business. 

Dream clients are a game changer for service based creative entrepreneurs and freelancers. They’re the whole reason we started out on this path in the first place, and it’s how we can truly be of service with our work, our creative expertise, and our ideas and methodology. 

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For today's episode of Make It Happen I have the awesome Melyssa Griffin of The Nectar Collective on the show and we talk about her story and journey so far, our thoughts on making a living online, the biggest business lessons Melyssa has learned, and some behind the scenes of The Nectar Collective and what's next for Melyssa and her team. This is a really great episode for any bloggers, freelancers, and creative business owners who want to hear first hand from someone who has made awesome things happen online with her brand - I can't tell you how much I enjoyed recording this episode with Melyssa and I can't wait for you to dig into the insights and advice that she shared with us today. 

Melyssa's mindset and approach to business is one that I can really relate to, and we both share in this episode how we harness our intuition when making big and small business decisions along the way. I also pick Melyssa's brain about how she continues to uplevel with her business and brand, even when she's already achieved so much success, and she also shares with us the behind the scenes of her experience of bringing a team of contributors onto The Nectar Collective too.

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Our first year in business is as exciting as it is nerve-wracking

There are so many lessons to learn, mistakes to be made, and so many decisions along the way that it can all feel a little overwhelming at times. There are many sleepless nights, leaps into the unknown, and doubts and fears along the way as we start out on this journey of creative entrepreneurship, and one of the biggest lessons I've learned so far is the power of experimenting and evolving as we go. 

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