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Welcome to the Creative Business Kitchen, may I take your order?

Every Wednesday I serve up a healthy helping of tips, tools, and recipes for success on a silver platter to run a freelance creative business that makes you money. From setting prices to finding hungry clients, personalised coaching to free pricing tools, I help you create your own recipe for success that feeds your passion and brings home the bacon.

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You're should-ing all over yourself...

I heard myself say something a while back that stopped me cold: “I’m sick of letting my future self down.” Gut punch, hey? Because in that moment, I realised I'd been living in this constant state of mental debt. Always owing tomorrow's version of myself something I didn't deliver today. Always carrying this weight of unfinished tasks, unmade decisions, and unstarted projects. I was exhausted – not from working too much, but from thinking about work constantly. Here's the thing: It's not...
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Jasmine in teal outfit and hat holding a gold money gun while smiling, with money flying around. Text reads: “Six-Figure Freelancer Recipe – My FREE 17-page guide to scale your income to six figures without burnout or building a team.”

The 6 shifts that changed my income (and my sanity)

One of my worst traits?I’m great at the first 90%.But that last 10%? Gets me. 👏🏻 Every. 👏🏻 Damn. 👏🏻 Time. Like when I: Spend hours building a beautiful proposal… and avoid hitting send Create a shiny new service package… and never tell anyone about it Record a client walkthrough video… and never add it to the offboarding handover Sound familiar?I bet you’ve got your own folder full of almost-finished brilliance, too. This isn’t just about procrastination or perfectionism.It’s about the...
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On International Women's Day, we got our payslips. He was earning $8/hr more than me. For the same job. The one I wastraining himto do.

IWD 2018 was a day I will never forget.

Bit of a vulnerable longer read, hope you enjoy! It was the day I felt the full force of the gender pay gap, one I thought I'd escaped by choosing the freelance life. It all started a few weeks before... I was a freelance graphic designer for a recruitment agency, often sent to different businesses to help with design overflow. In my recruiter’s words, I was their best recruit. The fixer. The one they sent when they wanted to make a good impression. Hair toss. This placement had landed me in...
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Is everyone sending proposals for every job? 🤔

If you were in this morning's Cowork Ketchup inside the Freelancer's Pantry, you would have been part of a discussion Feast Member Paula brought to the table. "Is everyone spending hours creating proposals for every job? How do you know it's worth it? Some proposals I'm spending hours, days, sometimes weeks on, how do I decide what's worth going the extra mile for?" Firstly, shout out to Paula, having bravely pivoted away from serving the industry that used to employ her, she's now thriving...
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From curious to $8k client in 5 hours

Yesterday I had a client go from curious on a call at 2 pm to an $8k paying client at 7:30 pm. Wild, right? This client found me via a Google search (thanks Google gods) and was looking for a designer to handle a bunch of flyers needing to be redesigned as well as some promo items for an event happening mid-Feb. Literally the thing I do day in and day out, branding rollout to create better brand experiences. Excellent. It hasn't always been this easy, landing clients and converting them on...
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"A full breakdown of the $10k job I didn’t land... and why I’mglad I didn’t" surrounded by illustrated chillis on a navy blue background

A full breakdown of the $10k job I didn’t land... and why I’m glad I didn’t

A month or so back I had a client request that landed in my inbox that was IDEAL for me. AAAAND if this sounds familiar, you might remember I wrote about it in an email titled "I call it a F*ck around fee" Well, Reader, I've got a juicy lil update for you. But before I do, let's revisit the specifics, because I know if I were the one reading this email, I'd be curious about the deliverables, the expectations and the dollar figures we're making a fuss about. We all love a sticky beak, let's be...
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0 days since "You're too expensive"

This past week I was told I was too expensive. Not once. Not twice. Three times. And to be honest, I am totally ok with it (hell, it makes for good content), simply because I'm confident in the price I provide and not willing to be available for less. Lemme break 'em down so you can nibble on the popcorn Client A, runs a HR business in the states and wanted someone to create a brand for her business. She needed help with messaging, theming, and positioning given she was trying to stand out in...
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It's always stuck with me since that day

Last year, I wrapped up a job with a couple where I digitally painted and installed a mural inside a three-storey elevator shaft. Yeah. Certainly a unique experience, and definitely one I would bet I won't have again. But that job taught me so much about myself, my capabilities, my relationship building skills, and the value of problem solving. The client couple are two of the most unique, interesting and deeply wonderful people I think I've ever created for. I met them through a Good Karma...
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Introducing the Buffet of Action

So last week in the Finding Hungry Clients Masterclass, there was a slide featured towards the end that was all about taking a few small actions now to see the benefits later. Here it is below: This really helped brainstorm some ways that they could start taking action now to get clients later. Anyone who was at the masterclass, this was their fav part (Other than the Q&A at the end of course). This challenged them to not just listen and take notes, but take action! So here's my challenge to...
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