REVENUE READY CREATIVE | Grow Your Art Business Online, Art Business Coaching, Increase Productivity, Passive Income for Self-Employed Artists

Do you wish your website could actually help you sell more art?   Do you wish your online presence could attract more buyers and sales?   Are you ready to stop wasting time on a website that doesn't convert?   Then you’re in the right place! As we continue with "all things sales pages" in the month of March, I’m excited to dive into a super important topic – web copy – the written content, or “cop...

Pretend we just developed YOUR Revenue Ready plan. And from that plan, you decide that you want to bring to life a new online offer or service for people to engage with, buy from you, sign up for what you offer, book, schedule. Whatever verb you want to insert there.  How do you plan for this new line of business to be profitable for you?  Is it possible to plan for it? Or does it simply happen or...

It’s always helpful to hear different perspectives, especially when it comes to money-related planning for the future. Hi! I’m Heather Allen, your personal professor of revenue readiness. I help artists and creative business owners to identify and optimize their revenue and income potential. And today I’m bringing a special guest into the classroom today to share a vision for what early retirement...

Raise your hand if time management seems to be a constant battle for you. If you find yourself wishing you had more time... "If I just had more time I could get these things done." Or feeling like the day has gotten away from you. Everything you were planning to do will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day. Or from time to time, you find yourself unsure of how to start your day and get into...

It’s time to flip the idea that all goals are a single, one-time event, or the final destination of the journey. 👀🙈 Instead, let’s recognize that some goals can be seen as a process that allows you to make improvements and optimize for continuous wins. ✅ After all, isn’t it better to take what’s working and use it to consistently achieve results? That’s what we’re talking about in today’s episo...

When you work with me to create your Revenue Ready Plan, you might identify Etsy as a good passive-income option for the future you envision. Or it might already be part of your revenue mix and you’re looking for ways to optimize what you already have. Passive income gives you what you’ve been looking for all along – consistent, predictable revenue that gives you more STABILITY and general ABILITY...

Are you struggling to balance creativity with financial success? Do you like the sound of passive income but don’t know how or where to start? Do you dream of consistent income year round, not just during market and festival season? Feeling like there isn’t enough time to start something new in your creative business?  Then this episode is for you! Today, we’ll dig into 7 ways to add passive incom...

Having a mission and a vision statement can be a powerful tool for the impact you want to make in the world. From an personal perspective, both give you something to fall back on when you need a reminder of your "Why." For other people, like customers and future employees, your mission and vision statements can provide clarity and direction. People can get on board when they see that what you're d...

Need some guidance for reviewing your Q4 sales, communications, and overall efforts? Fourth quarter is the busiest sales time of year for big box and small retailers alike. Many artists, crafters, makers, and designers find themselves overwhelmed by all of the activity, last minute sales and commissions, not to mention personal obligations that come in October, November, and December. You might re...

A common challenge we all experience with New Year's goal setting is figuring out how to sustain that energy and intention beyond the start of the year. You’ve seen those ads or memes about the new exercise bike or treadmill blending in with the furniture, being used as a clothes rack because over time, those exercise goals either change or fade away.  Today, let’s talk about your plan for making...

Hearing or reading about economic trends and predictions might cause you to think a little differently about how you’re doing things in your business. And how to prepare for uncertainty and change... After all, if you’re a commercial artist, designer, or creative business owner, get this – your customers are part of the economic trends you’re hearing about.  So today I’m going over some of some bu...

A new year is on the horizon. Pretty soon you’ll be starting a new semester of learning, testing, and growing in your creative business. But before that semester begins, let’s kick off this episode with a Pop quiz!  Question: A self-employed artist wants to earn more in the year ahead. Should she: Have a revenue-ready plan that will lead to higher earning potential Asses the areas in which she wan...

Calling all workaholics! For creative small business owners, the end of year rush is particularly overwhelming. There are a lot of overlapping priorities. You’re wrapping up work, business, project commitments, commissions... You’re trying to make sales while gearing up for a new year with a desire to do things differently in your business. On top of all of that, you might have family commitments...

Today’s episode is the second in the series, and it’s all about the customer’s point of view. If you're ready for more commission sales in 2025, then put on your customer hat (maybe it’s a fuzzy red and white hat for the holidays) and think about the custom commission process from the buyer’s point of view. Here's the common challenges with this. As sellers, it doesn’t always come naturally to see...

Okay, here’s a common scenario: Someone out of the blue contacts you or stops by your booth at an art fair. They’re curious about how much it might cost if they hired you to make something for them. They want to know what the cost of a commission is. So what do you say? While it might be tempting to give them a solid number up front, doing so might actually limit you in the long run. Or worse, it...

If you're curious about what it takes to start and maintain a paid membership community as part of your business offerings, today I’m chatting with just the gal for you.  Since 2004, Christine Mighion has been hand crafting each piece of jewelry in her Northern Indiana studio. Using gold, silver, semi-precious and precious stones, her line is a balanced vision of organic and modern. Imperfections...

Welcome back to class. Today, we’re talking about ONE KEY THING that’s absolutely essential to successful planning. All of the best planning in the world can go straight out the window if this one thing isn’t there. I’ve experienced it. You’ve experienced it. So let’s talk about the difference between having this one critical piece in place and not. With your best work, creative projects, sales, c...

Raise your hand if you have a clearly defined budget and a strategy for investing in yourself as a small business owner in the year ahead.  I don’t see a lot of hands up. Let me rephrase... Raise your hand if you’re not quite sure what to budget for, business-wise, or where to make minor shifts and adjustments to invest in yourself and your creative business. Okay, more hands are up now. When it c...

When you’re in business for yourself, wearing so many hats, doing everything yourself or delegating to a few reliable individuals, everything depends on your energy, your focus, your drive, and your ability to create. Creative small businesses ask a lot of their creator. Which is why we’re diving into one of the biggest contributors to distraction, lack of focus, underlying stress, and overstimula...

It’s Monday morning and you open your inbox to find not one, not two, but three emails from customers who want to hire you for a commission of original artwork. What do you do?  Do you know how to get those new customers from their commission inquiry email all the way through your process to the final product?  Is there a customer service or communication layer built into your creation process tha...

You’re in a creative field so chances are, you have many skills and talents that you’ve turned into income at one point or another. Freelance work doesn’t scare you. You’re up for the challenge. You’re a creative professional in a gig economy, and you’re not alone. A few questions for you to consider: Do you ever find yourself so excited or overwhelmed with ideas for what you want to make or do NE...

Whether you’re an artist, crafter, designer, or graphic designer, being "Revenue Ready" is essential for consistent sales and business growth.  In this episode, we’re diving into the most critical areas for any creative business owner to have in place in order to ready for that next sale and to get sales consistently.  I’m going over some key points and recommendations to help you achieve that out...

Today we’re talking about the surprising truth about happiness and purpose through lessons from the book, “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier,” written by Arther C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey.  If you have a vision for your life but believe there are barriers keeping you from achieving a more satisfied and happy outlook, this is the episode for you. Links to the book and...

Welcome to Episode 6! If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Episode 5 which is called, “Get Organized in Your Business with this Sales Tracking Process for Creatives,” that’s a great episode to listen to BEFORE you get into Episode 6. Episode 5 is highly tactical. I lay out how you can prepare for your end of month or end of quarter sales review and what you can do to get started with your quar...

Welcome to Episode 5 and Happy Mon-yay to you! Today we’re taking a gentle stab at a topic people typically dread – bookkeeping, sales tracking, looking at your numbers, and doing a little spreadsheet administration. Somehow we’re nearing the end of September. So in the coming weeks, you might want to set aside some time to review the last month and quarter. In the first week of October, give your...