Category: Stories
But What If I Need Money Now?
I believe mission creep comes from two sources: a fear that the work you want is not attainable and more importantly a fear that there will never be enough money if you follow your dream. Mission creep can also happen because of a fear that if you don’t take the first thing that comes along, Read More …
What is Mission Creep?
Most Creative Entrepreneurs suffer from Mission Creep so what is it? Before my clients call or email me for consulting they are usually fully entrenched in mission creep. These creative clients see so many opportunities that they can hardly sit still and they bounce off into all directions. They do a little of this and a Read More …
A filmmaker starts to charge what he is worth!
I love to hear reader stories. I have heard so many in the past 20 years about people whom I tell about the ideas in Better, Smarter, Richer and I just watch the light click on! It was the same for Wes. Wes is a very, very talented film maker. But as you can imagine, Read More …
Are You in the Time/Money Squeeze?
My client Rosanna had an idea for a scarf project made from beautiful wool and a beaded fringe. She designed the look, chose the yarn and bought the beads. She carefully wrote down the cost of these products and estimated the time it would take her to make each scarf at 1.5 hours. Based on Read More …
Pt 2…… Are You in the Grasp of the Time Money Squeeze?
After the show, Rosanna counted her money: $900. She told me she was pleased with this. It made her feel good that the scarves sold out. I saw the amount she made and had to sigh. I knew that the time and materials she used to create that $900 led to a very low hourly Read More …
It’s hard to start a business in an uncharted field… scary too!
Hi Jackie, I used to be very upset with myself for charging so little for what I knew was some really great work. I am one of the only people in my field- it’s so new. And yet, just like you said, I constantly did too much and spread myself too thin with too many projects. Read More …
Do You Suffer from Mission Creep?
Principle #3 in the book is called Mission Creep. What a great term to describe what often happens to creative entrepreneurs. You are all so talented with so many ideas that they can often take you in too many directions. When mission creep happens, you may have three ‘businesses’ or more that peak your interest. Read More …
Are you a Better, Smarter, Richer success story?
Are you a Better, Smarter, Richer success story? I just received this email from my client, Annette Orban a graphic designer who made the decision to focus on packaging of gourmet foods. Here is what she has to say about the Better, Smarter, Richer class at the Portland Community Climber Center. Jackie, I made excellent progress Read More …
BSR Newsletter #5: Know When to Change Your Focus
Sometimes you can do everything right and yet the market simply won’t support your chosen focus. When this happens, it’s time to change focus. The following story about one of my clients, Dianne, llustrates this point well. Dianne is a self-employed mediator. By background and education, she is an attorney, but she has always had Read More …
Focus, focus, focus
I had to practice some “tough love” with a client yesterday. She is re-starting her graphic design business and was about to send out a letter to her large data base of prior happy clients- but it was just a general letter, ‘Hi, I am back in business, send me some work.” I said NO! Read More …
