Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way: Sustainable Success for the Creative Entrepreneur

Many creatives don’t see themselves as business orientated, which is why today’s book is so useful for creatives interested in promoting and selling their art.I am an avid reader so when I heard about Jennifer Lee I watched some of her workshops during her last online summit and read her book Building Your Business the Right Brain Way.I enjoy reading books on business from different perspectives and I can see from the start why Jennifer Lee resonates with creatives. She is a creative herself and created resources to visually express and map out our business needs as working artists. She connects the creative process for art making with the creative process of developing and refining our business strategy.Lee’s advice comes from a place of pragmatism, with smart, actionable steps we can take to reflect on and develop our business. Her work also acknowledges the importance of our intuition and soul-connection to our art. Included are fun and playful worksheets that get down to the nitty gritty details of business while also acknowledging our creative spirit.I enjoy the activities Lee created because they are visual and expressive. It takes the bite out of the daunting nature of creating and managing an arts based business. It also gives us practical reflections for us to consider to build the business we want to run.I really enjoyed one of the first exercises in the book, the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It’s a great way to get a literal picture of your ideas/goals/practice when it comes to the business side of your creativity.One really good tidbit that resonates with me:“Be willing to take action and put yourself out there, even when you don’t feel ready and even if your idea is not yet perfect. You’ll actually learn more and gain more clarity the more you interact with your idea and get feedback.”Too many artists wait until they are “good enough,” or until they know their work is “perfect” to showcase it, promote it, or consider selling it. This attitude is an obstacle to creativity. The focus of this book is about creating and maintaining a sustainable artist practice and business, something we all need to be thinking about as we pressure ourselves to create.Knowing what we want our business to look like is important.I appreciate the advice that we spend our time on what we are best at. Lee shares how rather than spend her time creating the lovely images for her book she knew she was better served to focus on the writing and activity development, so she hired her friend to illustrate it.Sometimes we ask ourselves to be and do everything when there may be resources to use or people we can hire to support us doing our best work.Lee deftly includes real life situations of creative businesswomen applying strategies offered in the book. The personal stories of real people makes you feel like you are part of a community; in fact, you feel like you could even be one of those creators mentioned by Lee. It makes all of the tasks, suggestions and information feel attainable, possible, and worthwhile.In the end it’s clear that we need to have a specific picture of what we want for ourselves going forward to make any strides. It sounds simple, but getting through the muck of emotional and social messaging that muddy the waters of goal-setting and creative dreams can be difficult. We have to do some inner work to discover what we really want for ourselves and our art if we are to create a life we love.“Dig deep to uncover and honor what truly fulfills and serves you…” - Jennifer LeeIf you have vast business knowledge this book would work best as a refresher text, offering new ways to look at your business strategy. It really shines for a creator seeking a map to build a sustainable business making the art they love.In the end this book is only as good as the time you put into it because you are only as successful as the time you dedicate to yourself, your business and your art.Read the full article review here: [...]

As an artist, the business side of marketing my art has always created a roadblock. This book helped me look at creating a business plan and marketing campaign for my art that tapped into my creative juices. From page one, I began to visualize the business of artistic creations in a way that made sense to me. This has helped me translate what was in my head and heart to paper for others to review. Visually representing my thinking and creativity allows others to understand what I could never quite describe in words. The content was so compelling that I bought a hard copy of the book after getting an electronic copy so I could go back-and-forth more easily. This is a great place to start for those thinking about going into art as a profession.

I adored the first book (The Right Brain Business Plan) and was so excited to receive my copy of this next step book, Building Your Business The Right-Brain Way. I dove right in! In fact, I am amazed at how quickly I am devouring the ease of this book and how valuable it is to my business exactly right now! The Right Brain Business Plan got me to feel the boldness needed to step fully into my business. Of course, immediately I came across questions and challenges that any business would experience. The timeliness of Jennifer Lee's newest book is so spot on. Page after page is like answer after answer. It makes me feel empowered as I watch my business grow.I am so glad to have this valuable resource. I highly recommend.

A good way for creative business-owners to take a look at their business building and do something to change or increase it.It's not packed with revolutionary business ideas, but it IS packed with new ways to tackle those odious business-building efforts and administrative tasks that make most right-brain people dither and stumble.The book is cheerful, helps point out where the dark spots are and how to shine a light in there. It has solid ideas, uses sketch-notes (illustrations for directions and concepts) and makes reading it easy.

I dislike paperwork and business organization - I just want to market my service. With the method of planning that Jennifer has developed, I found clarity and direction. I got to play with my paints and had fun in the process.

This was a wonderfully written, easy to read book that has set me on the path to building a business of my own. Jennifer Yee has made me realize that I don't have to be a master of all that goes into a business in order to have a business. Her worksheets are creative and helpful for those of us that need to see things in a more artistic way. I love this book!

This book puts everything you need to be successful in an easy to absorb format. Although I have worked with some high level coaches the way the information is presented in invaluable and made super easy to grasp and take action. Thank you Jennifer Lee for such an incredible gift! I absolutely Loved It and highly recommend to anyone, whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned entrepreneur.

This mentors one in right brained creative business. It is easy to navigate & keeps one focussed on some of the things us creative folk love to leave to others in our business.I use this as a work & reference book, that sits on my desk for re reads often... I have had it for a few weeks now & it is well used !

I'm taking on the advice that's given here. This is not just for right-brainers, its for people ho would like a different option or angle to building a business. Would recommend to start-ups as well as managers who want to try something new.

I found this uninspiring.

Book arrived & was in condition stated & receivedo promptly. Great read. Thank you