creative business

9 content creation strategies for creatives

Why content creation is important for your creative business

Content creation is an integral part of growing your brand and your business. 

Content helps you to establish and nurture relationships with your audience, building community. It involves sharing your unique genius with them, in the interests of service and making their lives better.

So you see, content creation is not an extra or a nice-to-have. That’s where many of us go wrong and miss out on so many opportunities to get to where we want to be. 

It’s so easy to neglect your content creation when things are going well and you’re busy. However, doing this is to the detriment of ensuring that the abundance you’re enjoying isn’t just temporary.

Content needs to be a priority if we want to grow and thrive.

Continue reading “9 content creation strategies for creatives”

9 signs you’re not taking yourself seriously

My has this been a season of growth?! 

Personally, I’ve been making more and more small positive changes, in every aspect of my life, and it’s bringing me better and better results.

I feel more mentally well and resilient than ever; physically, I feel stronger and fitter than I’ve been in decades; my son-shine is thriving; my close relationships are nourishing; my creative business is growing; and my current levels of creativity, joy and confidence are unmatched! 

A lot of it has been inspired by deeply checking in with my purpose; working on feeling truly worthy (not just intellectually appreciating I should feel this way); and adjusting my thoughts and behaviour to match.

It’s a cold pill to swallow but, I realise I’ve spent most of my adult life, not taking myself seriously.

Continue reading “9 signs you’re not taking yourself seriously”

3 creative paths to a richer life

3 creative paths to a richer life

I remember a conversation I had, way over a decade ago, with a couple of friends who were a few years older than me. They spoke about how 26 was the point at which both of them decided to get free! They left jobs, careers and lives, that fit the expectations of others, to pursue what was in their hearts.

Last week, a member of my team asked me about the biggest risk I’d ever taken. Leaving my job without a solid plan, while living in a foreign country, was definitely one of them. I did that at 26. 

What’s in a number? I got curious and found this:

Continue reading “3 creative paths to a richer life”

Time management for the person you want to be

Time management is an essential life skill that many of us struggle with, at some point in our lives. 

We may possess all the genius and creativity in the world but, without strong time management skills, the freedom, impact and prosperity we desire, will always remain out of reach. Continue reading “Time management for the person you want to be”

Grow your Instagram (and your bottom-line)

In the past 3 months I’ve grown my Instagram following by almost 1,000 people, to over 8,000 followers. 

This audience has been responsible for the majority of the revenue to my business – via various income streams – during this time. 

Thus, to me, these numbers are more than a vanity metric because I appreciate the measurable contribution this growth has made, to my bottom line.

How did I achieve this?

Very intentionally. 

In this post I’m sharing tried and tested approaches you can explore, to grow your Instagram.

Continue reading “Grow your Instagram (and your bottom-line)”

9 good things from a life-changing quarter of a year

The past 3 months have felt like 30 years! A lot has happened and shifted, for all of us, in incredibly significant ways.

The past quarter has undoubtedly been tough for most – in many different ways – and, for some, much much more than others.

If you know me, you’ll know that it’s in my nature to always look for the silver linings. Despite all the grief we’ve witnessed and experienced, I see these past few months as having been a time of clarification like never before. 

We’ve had to confront where we’ve collectively fallen short as a global society. And we’ve had to look at where we, as individuals, need to grow. 

In this post, I’m sharing 9 things that contributed to my personal and professional growth and wellbeing, in the past quarter. My hope is that you may find something useful or inspiring here too.

Continue reading “9 good things from a life-changing quarter of a year”

Growing your audience made easy

I know growing your audience is something a lot of creative businesses struggle with. As a creative who’s fascinated with marketing, I’ve done lots of experimenting, over the past 10 years, with growing an audience for my own business.

One simple strategy has brought me results, time and time again. In the beginning, I wasn’t really aware it was a strategy! Since then, I’ve honed it and would love to share it with you.

First things first…

Continue reading “Growing your audience made easy”

31 income streams for creatives

With all the changes our world is going through, many more people are now appreciating the value of having multiple income streams. 

I know I am. COVID-19 rendered 3 of my income streams non-viable because they all relied on people coming together physically – Afri-love Fest, Afri-love Connection Club and my graphic recording services. 

Luckily for my business, I had a few others that weren’t dependent on human interactions in real life and recently launched another. It has meant I can continue to support myself and my team.

If you’ve been thinking of pivoting or diversifying your income, there’s no time like the present to take action!

In case you’re feeling stuck, here are plenty of ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Continue reading “31 income streams for creatives”

10 biggest takeaways from 10 years of Afri-love

Today, Afri-love is 10 years old. 

What originally began as a blog has come to be so much more. 

I started Afri-love to celebrate African creativity and remind us how much we have to be proud of. I knew I wanted it to one day be more than just a blog but, at the time, I didn’t realise how much it would be a platform for my own self-discovery as an individual, as a creative and as a business owner.

I’m reminded of the 10,000 hours theory, popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, contested as it is. I started my creative business, not long after I started this blog. It appears it’s taken me 10,000 hours – 10 years – to experiment, establish and refine my creative voice and align with my purpose.

Part of that purpose is to share everything I learn! In that spirit, I invite you to look back at the journey with me, as I share

The biggest takeaways from the past 10 years.

Continue reading “10 biggest takeaways from 10 years of Afri-love”