Starting a small business can be both tough and exhilarating.

Being technically gifted as a master craftsman/woman of your trade is a good place to start.

Yet knowing how and when to start is better…

And it pays to get help.

In this episode, you’ll hear why it’s a good idea to get feedback early on.

And how the right kind of mindset can impact your success when starting out.

I introduce you to one of my closest business mentors, Neil Foley.

Neil shares his best advice with you, from his many years experience, as an advisor, coach and owner, to many businesses.

Neil kindly answers the frequently asked questions often asked by aspiring business owners:

Revealing why pricing is often about confidence and how offering discounts can hurt both you and your business.

(And why you shouldn’t worry about the competition…)

This interview was recorded live at JMS Studios in Hethersett, Norfolk, England.

www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/285-neil-foley

www.businessgrowthclub.net

In this short action episode you’ll learn:

• How consistency and persistence can help you to achieve your creative aims
• The one thing that has kept Aaron and his business going
• What a creative business is really about
• What to do if your ideas are not working

In this short action episode, Phlearn.com founder and photographer, Aaron Nace, shares his wisdom when it comes to creating a life and business you want.

Hear how consistency and persistence can support you towards reaching your creative aspirations and lifelong ambitions.

And what not to do when your ideas aren’t working.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/

In this interview, part two, chat with Phlearn founder, Aaron Nace, we explore pictures of friends, (dressed as clowns) to politically inspired, visually stimulating, images…

And telling stories with composite photos of cuddly creatures playing hide-and-seek with kids…

Aaron is clearly someone who enjoys his life, his work and his photography.

As the founder of Phlearn, Aaron has not only created a world-class professional teaching platform for students around the world interested in Photoshop and Lightroom skills;

He’s created a great place to work for himself and other creatives.

With over 600 tutorials and 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube, and counting, today, the Phlearn platform reaches folks through the power of video and tutorial in 149 countries from their base in Chicago.

In this episode, we explore more of Aaron’s journey, as a photographer and as an entrepreneur, and why he is so passionate about making his life and workplace a fun and exciting place to be everyday.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/283-aaron-nace

Since launching five years ago, in November 2014, the Inspirational Creatives podcast has grown to over 100,000 downloads with a small yet highly engaged audience dedicated to creating, and leading, a more meaningful life with purpose.

To celebrate, host, founder and creator (curator) of Inspirational Creatives, Rob Lawrence, shares how his podcast has changed his life in the last five years and what the power of a podcast can do.

Get the new Inspirational Creatives app here.

Aaron Nace is an educator and photographer.

In 2011 he founded Phlearn to professional teach students around the world, Photoshop and Lightroom skills.

With over 600 tutorials and 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube, and counting, today, the Phlearn platform reaches folks through the power of video in 149 countries from their base in Chicago.

In this episode we hear how growing up in Hawaii gave Aaron the foundation to become a business owner.

And the daily challenges he’s faced with learning to become a leader of creative people in global and inspirational organisation.

In part one of this two part interview, we explore his love for photography, all things cooking, and the mindset Aaron had to wrap his head around shifting from employee to employer and entrepreneur.

https://www.inspirationalcretives.com/281-aaron-nace

https://www.phlearn.com

In this short action episode we explore how embracing our vulnerability supports us towards reaching our creative goals.

How?

It’s about living with uncertainty and detaching from outcomes.

Offering a fresh perspective on uncertainty, British painter and theatre director, John Link, shares his wisdom, in this short podcast, by describing how his painting and his work with actors has allowed him to learn more about himself and our vulnerability as creative beings.

Hear how our most powerful weapon can be our ability to embrace our vulnerability.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast

In this second chat, artist, John Link, describes how vulnerability and a sense of play both motivate and inspire his creative work.

Recorded in the heart of Norwich, England, in his studio, John shares how John’s recent ill health and confronting mortality has changed his outlook to life and his relationship to his painting.

We begin by talking about the John’s painting and the stories behind John’s paintings.

And how, in some sense, we’re all like Shakespearian characters.

www.johnlink.co.uk

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/

www.johnlink.co.uk

Our own creative process can reveal to each of us something unique, which we didn’t know already about human nature.

When we get stuck with our creativity, often it’s because we’ve stopped asking questions.

Questions from a place of curiosity - questions that ultimately lead to a story.

Almost all art tells a story.

In this short action episode, painter and theatre director, John Link, describes the similarities and differences between these creative disciplines, for him.

Hear how your own creative process can lead towards a new story;

One that could not only inspire others, yet teach you more about you, and human nature.

Items mentioned in this episode (quick access):

[00:42] Introducing this short action episode.

[02:08] John Link reflecting upon his creative process.

[02:43] Confronting a space. Asking questions.

[03:33] How filling a space creates a story.

[05:15] What creativity can teach you about human nature.

[06:18] Summarising this short action episode.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast

How do you navigate a career following your dreams?

In this second interview of the "Bringing it Home" series on Inspirational Creatives, artist, John Link, describes the relationship he has with his painting and background as a theatre director.

Recorded in the heart of Norwich, England, in his studio, John shares his creative process and what his painting endeavours mean to him:

How his painting both challenges and rewards him.

It seems there are deep similarities and a deep relationship between acting, director and painting, for John.

Hear how he chose to follow a childhood dream of acting,

And how he has navigated his creative career ever since.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast

www.johnlink.co.uk

Great leaders are relied upon to make great decisions.

But what’s needed to make a great decision?

Of course, there are many ways to approach decision making.

How you reach a decision will depend upon your aims and the criteria you apply.

Yet, important decisions are different to urgent, critical, decisions that need to be made.

And when it comes to making good, often complex, and important decisions, there’s an effective approach that many great leaders use to make great decisions that’s rarely shared.

In this short action episode, Professor John Last, from the Norwich University of the Arts, reveals a powerful approach to making great decisions.

His insights may surprise you!

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/276-making-important-decisions

What does it take to remain at the cutting edge of education in the creative arts and design?

In 2017, Professor John Last was appointed an OBE in the 2017 Queen’s birthday honours list for his services to education.

Today Professor Last is the vice-chairman at the Norwich University of Arts and the chair for the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Digital Creatives group.

In this interview, Professor John Last reveals what it takes to create a positive and safe environment for those wishing to carve a creative life and career utilising one's creativity at the very core.

You’ll hear what his own career and experiences have taught him.

And how smaller universities can offer a thriving creative community for creatives and artists alike.

The interview is the first of a short series,  of the Bringing it Home season on Inspirational Creatives, and recorded in the heart of Norwich at Future Radio studios.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/275-professor-john-last

If you want to create a life and living around the work you love,

You probably won’t want to create yourself another job…

Instead, you’ll want to learn how to create a business that works for you.

So grab a notebook and pen and get ready to take note of these hot tips from, small business owner and marketing guru, Alison Boyle.

In episode 273, Alison shared her best tips towards creating a business that works for you.

A business that allows you to do your best work without the stress of the numbers and everyday tasks and processes.

Hear how to take control of your business; before it takes control of you.

And learn some of the most fundamental principles, from this entire series, that could help you to create a business around the work that you love to do.

https://www.lamarketing.co.uk

https://www.alisonjboyle.co.uk

What is the true reality of working for yourself?

Alison can tell you.

Digital marketing expert, Alison Boyle, began her own business journey juggling children with uncertainty during the launch of her first business.

She understands what’s at stake and what’s involved, when starting up under your own steam, pursuing a passion with purpose.

In this conversation, hear how Alison managed both life and a new business and what she had to let go of as part of her own evolution growing LA Marketing.

Hear about the traps many new business founders fall into.

And why starting out ‘organically’ can often be a great place to start and how ‘shiny object’ tactics will distract you.

You’ll also learn how to start succeeding with digital marketing today as Alison offers some core guiding principles to follow.

Listen to how you can make a business doing what you love, which people will want to buy from; one that is based upon a clear offer.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/273-alison-boyle

If you’re thinking of starting a podcast, you’ll be interested in this short action episode (< 8 minutes.)

One of the most frequently asked questions, amongst creatives, looking to market their output, products or services, is:

“Is now a good time to be starting a podcast?”

In this short action episode, Rebel Base Media CEO, founder, and podcaster, Mark Asquith, offers his own ideas, tips and insights as to how we can begin to answer this question.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com

Mark Asquith is the CEO and founder of Rebel Base Media and Podcast Websites.

(He’s also a massive DC Comics fan.)

More recently, with new products, podcasts and services well underway under the Captivate and Productivity brands, to name a couple, he is somebody who is making a difference to podcasting and globally.

As a podcasting coach and mentor to hundreds, if not thousands, of content creators and small business owners, in this episode, hear how podcasting can help build confidence, trust and credibility.

Hear how to overcome the challenges of starting and re-branding an existing podcast.

And how a little a bit extra can take your podcast from average to very good…

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/271-mark-asquith

Stuck?

We all get stuck at certain points in our creative lives and career.

Often the bigger the game we play, the more likely we are to find ourselves frozen.

Frozen with fear, distraction or procrastination.

In this short action episode, featuring the wisdom of entrepreneur, coach and expert, Peter Sage, we unpack why we, as creatives, get stuck and what we can do to get going again on our biggest aims and projects.

Hear how raising your self-awareness can help you to focus on the creative work that matters.

And why we allow ourselves to become distracted by anything but the very work we were born to do.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast

He bought his first Ferrari for cash at the age of 25.

He’s spent six months in Pentonville, one of the UK’s toughest and most violent prisons.

As an accomplished athlete, skydiver, diver, honorary black-belt, and as someone who claims to have climbed some of the world’s highest peaks, Peter Sage, is known for having created 20 businesses in 15 different industries.

He is a speaker, serial entrepreneur and best-selling author;

In this revealing interview, Peter shares how he sets up his mind, and his life, for success.

You’ll also hear about life after prison.

And how to start setting yourself up to win - in your own life.

Plus hear Peter’s views on today’s education system and why ‘time management’ is a big mistake.

www.stressproofprofessional.com

www.petersage.com

www.inspirationalcreatives.com/269-peter-sage

You may not have heard of Casper Lee;

He’s an internet and social media sensation.

My 11 year-old nephew assures me he’s the real deal:

Last year he won global social media superstar by global.com

Currently he has a growing audience of 18 million combined followers across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

And these aren’t just vanity metrics: this is an engaged following.

So what’s the secret to his success?

In this short action episode, his business partner and Influencer.com co-founder, Ben Jeffries, reveals what he believes is the secret to Casper Lee’s success.

https://www.inspirationalcreatives.com/podcast/268-successful-content-creator