by Jan on October 21, 2009
I’ve been reminded by a few people lately I haven’t posted anything to The Creative Infopreneur for a while. And it’s true.
It’s not that I haven’t thought about it, it’s just that I allowed other things to get in the way. Maybe that’s good, maybe not. It’s what happened…
I’ve been very busy starting up a new business called Small Business Clarity where I help small business owners be true to themselves, in their business and their life. I do this through my coaching and consulting services.
There is so much to do when setting up a business like:
- what name to call the business
- what colours and logo to use
- how to market the business
- setting up a website
- putting together the copywriting for the website
- get networking
- figure out pricing structure
- finding the clients
Fortunately I’ve learnt with my other business, Simple Synergy the necessity and benefit of not going it alone.
Particularly with marketing. What you think might work, does not always translate into what does work. So this time round I searched for and found an excellent marketing consultant, Angela at Ideas into Action and asked her to help me.
I can’t tell you what a relief it was. It was like a huge load had been taken off my shoulders. I could have put my own marketing plans together, researched the market, found what kind of logo and colours would work, but it would have taken me ages. And to be honest I wouldn’t have done as good a job and it would have taken me significantly longer to get the business up and running.
I’m writing about this because as creative entrepreneurs, as people who create things whether it’s design, writing, problem solving, idea generation, we need to learn when to let go. If you’re anything like me you like to know how things work and you want to do it yourself. Delegation or outsourcing is not easy.
But you need to learn to let go. To trust that someone else can do a better job than yourself, especially if it’s not your core passion and business. Don’t let it drain you of your creativity, you are too precious for that.
Take the risk and let go. You’ll be amazed at how liberating it can be.
Photo credit: 
photo credit: divemasterking2000
by Jan on August 21, 2009
You just never know… I mean I never imagined when I put a video on YouTube about this time last year that it would get so many views! So far over 2,400. Woohoo!!
I initially did it as a test – to see whether I could create a half decent video and get it up on YouTube. And I must confess it took me a couple of goes and the help of a friend, but I did it.
At first, I would login and look at the statistics and then over time I forgot about it. Like all things, life moves on and although I had good intentions to make another video – well you know what happens…
Then, the other week I was looking through my Google accounts and on impulse logged into YouTube to have a quick look. Imagine my surprise and absolute delight when I saw the numbers and the fact that people had bothered to rate and refer it.
I must admit it’s motivated me to do another one, I’m not sure about the topic but when I’ve done it I’ll let you know. I’m learning that if you don’t ‘toot your own horn’ then nobody will. Firstly because they don’t know about it, and secondly if you’re not interested in celebrating your achievements why would they?
What does all this mean? To me I’ve learnt three key lessons:
Be bold and give it a go
You never know unless you try. It’s an old adage and frequently cited and it is very true. We (take that as an I) worry about what people will think, what happens if no-one likes it, think to myself if only I didn’t stutter here or stumble there.
So what? What is the worse that could happen? And is that a bad thing? Doing anything creative always has an element of risk about it. It’s what you learn from it that counts. It’s the picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and moving on to the next creative endeavour that counts.
It’s not usually personal
None of us are the same. We think and feel differently. So how we interpret what’s before us is very much a personal thing. It’s our life experiences and how we are feeling at that moment in time that colours our thoughts.
If I’m having a bad hair day or had a disagreement with someone, chances are I’m going to look at something with a more critical eye than if I was in a happy and generous mood. And so any comments, ratings or leaving before the finish is more about the person who is viewing than you.
I learnt this lesson from my video being used as a class exercise to comment on and give thoughts on the content. Once I realised it wasn’t personal (I mean get over yourself Jan), I was able to enjoy the fact someone thought enough of it to use it in a class lesson.
You just need to remind yourself of this when you start to tie yourself in knots about it.
It’s OK to be yourself
In fact it’s better than OK, it’s a must. Trying to be who you think others want you to be is hard work. And if you’re anything like me (basically lazy), it’s much easier to be yourself. It’s more fun and the rewards, I think, are greater.
Creativity is about you. Who you are, what you feel and think. How you see things. And that’s what brings colour into both our own and others lives.
What now? I don’t know about you but I’m going to continue to be bold and give whatever takes my fancy a go, not worry about what other people think and most importantly of all, be myself.
If you’re interest and have a spare 9 or so minutes (lesson learnt – make the video shorter, 4-5 minutes seems to be best) click here to view the YouTube video. It’s called the ‘Seven Key Skills of Facilitation’ and I originally did it for my Team Coaching website www.simplesynergy.com.au
