Podcasts to help you kick-start your year and crush your goals

In case you missed it, 2020 has left the building! Whether you’ve jumped into the new year head first ready to take action, or if you’re still coming out from summer hibernation mode (guilty!) we have a collection of must-listen podcasts to help kick-start your year and crush your goals. 

#GrowGetters

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

No surprises here—we’re BIG fans of #GrowGetters at Creative Women’s Circle. If you’re yet to check out Tanya and Tiffany’s podcast, the good news is, you have plenty of episodes to dive into.

#GrowGetters is the future skills podcast for smart women in business. Known for their signature digestible and fun format style of producing, and available every Wednesday, their episodes are the perfect mid-week dose of inspiration and motivation.  Tune in as Tanya and Tiffany download the latest trending work methods and models, share insider knowledge on how to grow your brand, along with bringing you the latest digital growth hacks. 

If you’re a professional woman, passionate entrepreneur, or seasoned side hustler, #GrowGetters is a must listen!

Brandfetti

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

No matter what profession or industry you work in, words are the cornerstone to conveying your message and creating an impact. But like many, finding the right words, and more importantly, knowing how to use them effectively, can leave us mystified. Enter Brandfetti.

Brandfetti is hosted by Anita Siek, the founder and Director of Wordfetti, a strategic copywriting and communications agency. The no-fluff podcast dedicates itself to helping you craft a standout brand through creative content marketing, diving deep into consumer psychology, and lifting the veil on how some of the best-known brands have built a successful brand using words. 

StartUp Creative

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

Business coach and founder of StartUp Creative, Kaylene Langford, shares authentic and raw startup stories from the frontline of successful businesses. Episodes are jam-packed with actionable advice, resources, inspiration and recommendations for startups, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

The podcast features interviews from creative women such as Lunch Lady co-founder, Kate Berry and Seed & Sprout founder Sophie Kovic. Listeners are left feeling empowered in the knowledge that managing a business you love isn’t a dream for the future, but something that can be achieved now through persistence, sleep deprivation and a reckless renegade spirit of possibility and positivity. 

The Emily Osmond Show

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

If you’ve been searching for a podcast that blends marketing, mindset and money, then The Emily Osmond Show is for you.

With episodes released bi-weekly, listeners can geek out on practical strategies for business and career success, and indulge in shared candid stories from some of your favourite brands and entrepreneurs (hint: check out the Raw and Real episode if you’re a Lisa Messenger fan!). Emily’s episodes are honest and inspiring and have become known as the go-to for relatable and actionable resources for small business owners.

Vogue Codes:

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

The Vogue Codes podcast series hosts an array of leading female founders and entrepreneurs to unveil what it takes to succeed in the worlds of tech, fashion and beauty. 

Vogue Codes inception came from a desire to break down the stigma around women in STEM, and inspire them to look towards careers in science, technology and engineering. The podcast series follows from the 2019 and 2020 event series, where an incredible range of women deliver inspiring keynotes and panel discussions on a range of topics, all to encourage women to explore careers in the tech industry. 

Vogue Codes is the perfect accompaniment on your morning walk with easily digestible episodes to motivate you at the onset of a busy workday, week or in our case, a new year!

Tanya Garma, co-host of the #GrowGetters podcast, on crafting a personal brand

#GrowGetters Podcast is the brainchild of creative women, Tanya Garma and Tiffany Hart. Each week in their signature digestible and fun podcast, they discuss future skills to help women uncover the secrets to grow your brand and bring you the very latest in digital growth hacks.

Based in Munich, there’s nothing these two aren’t willing to share to help women grow their business. It’s just one of the reasons we’re so thrilled to have partnered with them.

You’ll be hearing lots more from them over the coming months but if you can’t wait, Tanya is speaking on the panel of our next Wine and Design event. She’s also written this post for us on the importance of personal brand.

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So what is a 'personal brand' exactly? Your personal brand is how you express who you are, and shape people’s perceptions of you. It’s not just about having a logo - it’s about your whole package. It’s how you speak, how you look, what you post about, what you specialise in, and what you talk about.

Most importantly, it’s about what you stand for. 

It’s so critical today to really think about how you’re perceived by your desired market or audience – whether that’s an employer or your business’ desired target market. 

From a professional perspective, harnessing your personal brand will most certainly build towards creating a career advantage.

“We live in an age where the lines between your physical and digital realities are not just blurred, but essentially intertwined. What’s clear is that our representation online matters. And the opportunity to manipulate and leverage our own representation is huge. That’s where personal branding comes in. ”

Traditional brands have always needed to use novel ways to cut through the clutter and find resonance and relevance with their intended users. And people are no different. So whether you’re a CEO looking to raise your profile, or a retail assistant looking for a job, the easiest way to outshine the others in the pack is to leverage your personal brand online. 

To get started, here are three clear and easy ways you can harness your personal brand for professional success:

1) Position yourself as an expert in your field

What’s your professional field or the business that you’re in, and where do you fit in? If you have strong and credible opinions on matters in your field: share them! Is there a new angle or perspective on your industry that’s hardly been covered before: publish it! If you aren’t yet a fully-fledged expert on a topic, why not take the opportunity and talk to people who are: interview them!

LinkedIn and Medium are perfect professional platforms for you to write your thoughts in long-form. And don’t forget short-form content like posts and videos: LinkedIn loves this stuff – particularly long-form article content and videos. 

2) Fine-tune your visual aesthetic 

I’m not talking about FaceTuning the hell out of all your pics on Instagram, but presenting a consistent style that’s appropriate to the channel and audience. 

If you really want your personal brand to shine, invest in a few professionally shot photos for your profile pics on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. This is the first portal into who you are, and you want to get it right straight off the bat. This also applies to your cover images, as well as other images you post if possible. 

If you’re not a graphic designer, you can use free tools like Canva to help you create awesome images for your socials. You can even take your visual aesthetic one step further like many brands do, and consistently use colours and styles repetitiously. Doing this is deliberate, strategic and SMART!

3) Stay authentic

For your own personal brand, you need to ask yourself: what’s the unique value I bring to the world? It’s so incredibly important to stay true to who you are – building a personal brand means building on your own unique self.

Your passion will shine through in everything you put out into the world, and it’s especially true for Millennials who value authenticity above everything. For example, take two of the hottest musicians right now: Lizzo and Billie Eilish. These women are unabashedly themselves in everything they do. Not only is their music awesome, but people love them more and more for being authentically themselves. 

So don’t be tempted to carve out a personal brand that doesn’t feel good in your own skin. People will buy what you’re selling when it comes from a truly genuine place. 

When it comes to your personal brand, having a strong voice, clear guidelines around how you present yourself, and consistently putting yourself out there, are all things that will open up opportunities for you.

And if your online representation is far-reaching, and you've captured a wide audience, these opportunities are certain to be amplified. 

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If you'd like to learn more about personal branding and other future skills topics, tune into the #GrowGetters podcast on your fave podcast app. Every week, they cover the latest business tips, digital knowledge and growth hacks to help get your business or career growing! Check them out: growgetterspodcast.com

Many creatives haven’t necessarily been trained formally in business. What are some common mistakes people make with managing their money?

5 min read

One mistake that is commonly made is not seeking financial help or advice from a professional. We recommend that businesses either work with an external accountant monthly or hire a CFO or Head of Finance internally.

The language of business is accounting and unless you are well versed in it—you are dabbling! Some owners will have copious numbers of reports and yet they have no idea how to read, interpret, or understand them.

Leaders generally have enough to do between generating new work, designing, and ensuring your existing projects are on track—the business needs to put an expert in charge of this area. By outsourcing the accounting function to a specialist service partner, the business can focus its attention on other key areas that directly impact its profitability. This will free up the directors to lead with confidence in a competitive market, with the knowledge that the finances are in safe hands.

Another mistake that businesses often make is not implementing a cash forecasting system. Cash can be your single most important asset - it’s the lifeblood of your business. You need a cash system that allows you to forecast, as accurately as possible, your cash in and cash out. This may start as a monthly forecast, but depending on your needs, it could turn into a weekly or even daily system.

Starting with historical numbers, you can build out your first cash forecast using either a cash management system or simply MS Excel. The first time you create your forecast, everything is based on historical numbers and future assumptions. Each month that passes is going to tell you something about the accuracy of those assumptions and give you the opportunity to assess and revise.

Ask yourself the following:

• What was inaccurate about your assumptions?

• Was this a “one-time thing”?

• How can you refine your forecast based on the actuals that just happened?

A cash flow forecast, coupled with your P&L, gives you an accurate picture of the financial position of your business and where it is heading. Most importantly, it gives you the knowledge to make more informed strategic decisions. If you don’t have the capability or capacity to create cash flow forecasts, work with an experienced accountant to create them for you.

What is the difference between cash flow and profit, and why should it matter?

Firstly, profit and cash are different. Profit is the business’s earnings (revenue) minus the expenses (which are the costs that the business incurs to generate the revenue). Profit is simply put ‘a theory’ – because you can’t spend it.

Each business transaction will affect the profit and cash in different ways – and at different times. For example, paying salaries and wages, paying tax, purchasing computers and equipment, waiting on debtors to make a payment, or the creditors that have not been paid yet – all of these situations affect the profit and cash position differently.

Most of the time, the effect on the cash position can be delayed and occur after the change in your profit position. For example, say your fees for June were $500K – in by mid-July you are unlikely to have received any of the $500K that’s reported in your profit and loss statement. On the flip side – those salaries and wages incurred to produce the $500K worth of fees – say that equates to $250K incl on-costs – would have already been paid by now – and have reduced your bank account accordingly.

So, which one is more important? Profit or cash? The answer is more complicated—and the two are interrelated. As your business develops, the more you will probably need to invest in systems, equipment, additional people, and premises—all of which require cash. In most cases, you are investing this cash before you earn any additional profit, so to make more profit or grow your business, you will require more cash. Of course, you can also borrow it or receive it from shareholders or investors, but the point is, to understand how cash and profit impact each other.

In saying this, the age-old saying “cash is king” usually prevails. There have been plenty of profitable businesses that were forced to close because they ran out of cash. Having a loss on your Profit & Loss statement (P&L) does not mean you’ll go out of business, running out of cash is much harder to recover from.

Looking at just one of these metrics (profit and cash) doesn’t tell you the whole story. Just because you had a profitable month doesn’t mean you had a positive cash flow month. Similarly, just because you have cash in the bank doesn’t mean your business is performing well. That’s why cash flow and a P&L must be looked at together.

As a small business, sometimes it's hard to know when to enlist professional help and when to save money and do it yourself. At what point do you think it’s important to seek professional advice?

Most creative professionals start with a passion for design and execution. Their education and experience have prepared them for this, and it is what they excel at. However, creative people often do not have the education and experience to understand financial information and how it affects their business. Simply reporting finances is not enough, how can you use this information to make you more impactful and effective.

It’s important to what know your strengths are and which areas you can receive assistance from other experts, i.e. people who can not only prepare your numbers and reporting but interpret the financials for you and help you to make impactful decisions for your business.

Given this, seeking advice is necessary and important for your business from the beginning of your business. If you are a director or business leader, having a solid understanding of the current business finances and position will give you peace of mind, and the confidence to focus on the aspects of your work they are best at.

What are some steps you can take to manage your cashflow?

1. Hire an expert

By outsourcing the accounting function to a specialist service partner, the business can focus its attention on other key areas that directly impact its profitability. This will free up the directors to lead with confidence in a competitive market, with the knowledge that the finances are in safe hands.

2. Know your numbers

The language of business is accounting. How do you know where you need to go if you don’t know where you are?

3. Set your KPIs

Are you measuring your day-to-day activities? Have you set targets that align with your strategic plan? Analyse your data and select relevant metrics to help you define business success. For example, do you know your debtors days? This KPI has a direct impact on your cashflow and should be measured monthly. Do you know your % of technical salaries to fees? This is another valuable measure to use to keep your business in check.

4. Measure, measure, measure

Management guru Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying that “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.” What gets measured is what gets done. If you are not measuring it you are not managing your business effectively.

5. Compare/benchmark

You need to compare to how you are tracking year in year out as well as comparing your results with those of appropriate peers — that is, firms that are similar in size and business model to your own.

6. Take the right action — create change

Of course, knowledge without action won’t benefit your business. You’ve got to use the information you gather to make smart strategic moves that will enhance your success.

Do your tax: advice from creatives to set you on your way

Image: Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

The month of June means crips winter mornings and cold nights. The idea of bunkering down with a glass of wine or hot chocolate and doing something homely in my spare time is oh so enticing and alluring. However June also means…. tax time is looming.

If you’re anything like me, tax is something that is subject to extreme procrastination because it’s not particularly fun, and I admit numbers send my eyes into a glaze. However, as a creative with a small business and several side hustles on the go its imperative that it’s done right.

So, with June 30 looming, I’ve dived into the trusty CWC blog archives to help whip myself into gear and found some gems from over the years. Here are some useful blog posts which will hopefully set me on the right track, and help you out too.

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Tax Basics for small creative businesses

by Jes Egan.

Just want to be creative and not think about your tax? So do most of us, however there are many administrative tasks to running a small business and sometimes they can get in the way of being creative and doing what you love. Unfortunately, most of these tasks are important and avoiding them can land you in trouble. Here are some tips to help you prepare for your tax. Read more here.

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Organise me - it’s tax time

by Andrea McArthur

Tax time. Time to get serious. The count down to June 30 is on and we only have 5 days left. Now is definitely the time to start thing about your Tax. Below are some ideas to get you thinking about your Tax this year. Read more here.

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My Advice: Staying on top of admin

By Lizzie Stafford

We asked three organised business owners how they stay on top of the books without going insane. In the wise words of potter Ilona Topolcsanyi: “Admin is like a leg wax: if you move quickly, the pain is minimal and the results are pretty damn sexy.” Read more here.

5 blog posts to get you started in 2020

Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash

2 min read

Now that it’s January, many of us may be reflecting on the year that’s just gone, or looking towards new horizons. There are all sorts of things you might be thinking about in your creative practice. Do you take the leap and start a brand new endeavour? What can you improve with what you are doing now? And how do you start the year in the most organised efficient way?

So, this month we are revisiting the blog archives with some valuable tips, tricks, and reflections to help you along in the new year.

For getting yourself organised…

Andres McArthur

For getting started in January…

Lizzie Stafford

For changing careers this year…

Bec Mackey

For making things happen…

Dannielle Cresp

For understanding why desire and motivation pull us in different directions…

by Emily Willis

Business plans for creatives: what mistakes to avoid

To give you a push in the right direction we’ve put together a list of the most common mistakes startups make during the initial planning phase. Here are some things you should know:

Undervaluing the products you create

If you create something beautiful and then sell it to the lowest bidder then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Your work is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so don’t make the mistake of selling for what you feel you should sell for. Test the market and see what people are willing to part with in exchange for your work.

Leaving the hard tasks until the last moment

One of the most common mistakes is putting off hard and uncomfortable tasks. If you want to turn your creative talents into a lucrative new business, you’re going to want to tackle them head-on and embrace the challenge.

Being ridiculously over-ambitious

If you want to keep your motivation up, you’re going to want to be able to achieve the targets you set for yourself. No matter how successful you are, if your targets still seem miles out of reach you’re going to feel like you’re a failure. The best approach is to have a variety of tasks and deliverables that gradually increase in difficulty. It will allow you to build your confidence and take pride in what you’re building.

Not factoring in any possible delays

No list of common startup mistakes would be complete without some mention of being overly optimistic. Whether you are part of an online creative studio, or you’re importing new craft materials to use with your next big project, there will always be unforeseen delays. Even if you can’t identify what they are right now, you need to build some leeway into your business plan.

Ignoring the tools and services that are already out there

There are so many different tools and services out there you can utilize that we simply can’t fit them all into a simple 3-minute read. Here are a few you need to know about:

TrustMyPaper allows you to have a professional fine-tune your plan for flow and structure.

GrabMyEssay specializes in quick turnarounds when you want to make some last-minute alterations.  

Grammarly is ideal for using during the drafting process so you can create precise sentences that mean exactly what you intend.

Google Docs is a great collaborative tool if you’re partnering with a fellow creative to get your new joint venture off the ground.

Hemingway will prove useful if you want assistance with getting your plan concise and to the point.

Not quantifying any of your goals

It’s not enough to say you want to be the leader in your industry. Set yourself a quantifiable goal that you can actually measure your progress against if you want to give your business clear direction from day one.

Lucy Canner, Content Specialist at Studicus writing service says:

“I’ve sat through far too many meetings with talented creatives who make this mistake. Their work is inspirational, but they don’t seem to know the first thing about how to direct their efforts in a way that will make them money. My answer is always the same: be quantitative”  

Trying to offer far too many services

Last but not least, you simply must avoid having too much in your plan. If you want to offer half a dozen services from day one, you’re going to get burned out. And if you’re not exhausted from all the extra work, you’ll certainly be priced out of the market by specialists who focus on one or two key niches.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article has given you plenty of direction and motivation to really push things forward. Don’t worry, you’re still going to get plenty of time to be creative every single day, it’s just that you need that additional structure and direction that running a business demands. Take your time to familiarize yourself with the mistakes above, and you’ll be able to ensure you learn from them without having to make them yourself.

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About the Author

Angela Baker is a self-driven specialist who is currently working as a freelance writer at BestEssay writing services. She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it’s always important to broaden her horizons. That's why Angela develops and improves her skills throughout the writing process to help inspire people.

To blog, or what to blog? 50 ideas for creative businesses

Over the past several years blogging has evolved from personal journal to marketing platform, given the rise of social media. While platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook may come and go in popularity, a blog is home to all your platforms. A directory for your portfolio, podcasts, products, services, and information while creating additional online visibility.

Given that blogging is slower and more expensive than social media, the key is quality over quantity. Below is a list of 50 blog topics to inspire you to create original, authentic content for your client base, while building community. Whatever your creative business or niche, you will find inspiration for your blogging content.

Ok, here we go!

Image: Christina Lowry

1. Restate your brand vision. Your why.

2. Q&A - They ask, you answer. Comb through your client emails for your most commonly asked questions, or use social media to put a call out for client questions, then answer them in this post. Invite readers to leave further questions in the comments.

3. Create a library of free training – a one stop post for any tutorials, how to’s, lists of tips etc

4. Include client testimonials and photos of clients using your products – the more creative the better

5. Share behind the scenes of look books or photoshoots – shout out to the team, the location, relay stories from the day

6. Create a mosaic of your nine favourite images from Instagram with a call to action to follow you on Instagram

7. Share your successes – awards, features, published work, do a recap on your/ your businesses achievements

8. Travel diary – going away for the weekend, heading overseas on a holiday or buying trip? Create a travel diary with tips from your experience

9. Summer reads – books that fit your niche that they may not have heard of and will thank you for

10. Curated gift ideas – Create a collection of products from your range that would be perfect for a special occasion, like Mother’s Day. Or, inspire with a selection of local makers products for a Christmas wish list

11. ‘Meet the Maker’ interviews – take five with a crafter you employ or represent, interview a staff member

12. Recipes – whether your brand is food related or not, recipes often add a sense of connection

13. Seasons – from seasonal products, to imagery of the seasons, nature is always a great starting point

14. Tips or advice – your favourite apps, the best way to do something, how to get a job in your industry, share your knowledge

15. Behind the scenes – everyone loves to take a peek behind the exterior and see the details of how things are made

16. Insider’s guide – share the secretes of your niche, your hometown, styling etc.

17. A studio/ workshop/ shop/ office tour – allow the audience to connect with and be inspired by your spaces and what they say about you or your brand

18. How To – use a product, make something, fix something. People love to learn.

19. The making of – a step by step visual of how something is made

20. Sneak peeks – create excitement about an upcoming collection

21. For the love of – share beautiful images relating to your audience. For the love of linen, gardens, lipstick, stationary

22. Highlights from the previous year, season or market – create a round up of images and info

23. Launch details – whether it is a book, product, event, share share share

24. Half yearly check-up – open up on how you working towards your goals, or encourage others to make plans for the next half of the year

25. Summer bucket list – things to do this Summer

26. Brand history – what has changed, what has stayed the same. When and where did you start out and where are you now?

27. Personal or funny stories – what you wanted to be when you grew up, how you thought Tasmania wasn’t a part of Australia, how you got a nick name

28. Create a regular feature – you can create a monthly challenge, feature a maker each week, a weekly editorial, a collection of inspiring images and quotes

29. Future plans – what are your big dreams? What direction do you see the business going in? If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

30. Write a list of your favourite accounts to follow on Instagram/ podcasts

31. Travel essentials – what do you pack when you go away overnight, overseas, with children?

32. A ‘day in the life' post – people are always fascinated by a day in the life of an entrepreneur or business owner.

33. Your routine – morning/night – do you wake at 5 am to do yoga and write your diary, or are you a night owl?

34. Share videos – video content is getting bigger and bigger. You can make a video out of most of the topics in this list.

35. Celebrate your businesses birthday – do a giveaway, celebrate your achievements, thank your customers

36. Your must-haves – what’s on your rider? Is it kombucha and lip balm? Coffee and a great bag? A certain pen, organiser or night cream?

37. Overcoming a creative funk – how do you find inspiration? What is your go to for self-care?

38. Explain one of your services – imagine a client came across your page for the first time and you were explaining what you do, or how a product works.

39. Your road to success – the path to overnight success is usually a long one.

40. Overcoming failure – think of a time when you used a failure to achieve a bigger goal, or to motivate you to do even better.

41. Things you won’t ever do – perhaps you won’t sell your originals, perhaps you will never buy caged eggs, we are as much what we do as what we don’t do.

42. Organisation hacks – do you batch production, are you a compulsive list keeper, are you terrible and being organised and have found ways to make it easier?

43. Create a roundup of your best content – save them from reading the whole blog and create a post that has the best of the best in one place.

44. Staying motivated – what keeps you motivated when business is slow, or you haven’t reached goal, or someone has copied you

45. Charity – do you support an organisation, do you fund raise, do you work with a company that pays living wages in third world countries?

46. How to style – a dress, a cushion, an office

47. Which _____ is the right one for you? This is great if you offer several similar products

48. Re-publish your email newsletter with a call to subscribe

49. Share something new – a product, team member, idea, business cards. People are attracted to new things.

50. Steps you have taking to have less environmental impact – recycled packaging, non-toxic dye, compostable mailers, timeless style.

Now, it’s time to get writing! Grab a cuppa and a notebook and brain storm some of the ideas on this list to create blog posts of value, with personality, that connect with your audience. Use you blog to inform, entertain and ultimately, give them the details that help them decide to work with you.