As we approach the final months of the year, you might be feeling that familiar pressure to “finish strong” – maybe launch something new, add another service, completely reinvent what you’re doing.
But what if the most straightforward way to additional revenue is already sitting right there in your existing work and relationships?
Why Most Revenue Advice Fails Creatives
Traditional business advice assumes you want to optimise for maximum efficiency and scalability above all else. But creative businesses often thrive on connection, meaning and quality.
When you try to force yourself into systems that prioritise metrics over relationships, you end up feeling drained and inauthentic – and specifically for creatives, less successful in the long term.
Five Approaches That Work for Creative Minds
1. Create a small solution for something you’re brilliant at
Identify one problem you solve really well that takes a manageable amount of time. A brand photographer might offer 90-minute “Brand Story Clarity Sessions.” An interior designer might create “Room Rescue Sessions” for one problematic space.
This works because you’re solving proven demand with skills you already have.
2. Reach out genuinely to past clients
Reconnect authentically without being pushy: “I was thinking about that project we worked on and how well it turned out. I’ve been developing some new approaches I think you’d find interesting…”
People buy from people they know and trust. When you reconnect genuinely, you’re reminding them you exist.
3. Formalise what people always ask you about
The questions that come up again and again in casual conversations? The advice you give freely because it seems straightforward? That’s often something worth offering properly.
You’re not creating demand – you’re responding to it.
4. Partner with someone whose audience would love what you do
Find someone who serves the same audience with different skills. A brand photographer could partner with a copywriter to offer intensive “Brand Story and Visual Identity” days.
You’re both accessing warm audiences that already trust each brand, and offering something unique neither of you could create alone.
5. Commit to one new communication idea for exactly 30 days
Maybe daily behind-the-scenes content, weekly insights to your email list, reaching out to one potential collaborator daily, or offering a specific service you’ve been thinking about.
Thirty days feels manageable but is long enough to get real results and feedback.
The Foundation That Makes These Work
These approaches work better when you’re operating from genuine confidence about your value and clarity about who you are as a business owner.
When you truly believe in what you offer, reconnecting with past clients feels natural instead of awkward. When you’re clear on your strengths, creating small solutions becomes obvious instead of overwhelming.
Your Next Step
Don’t try to implement all five – that’s exactly the kind of overwhelm we’re trying to avoid.
Listen to which one made you think, “I could actually do that” or “That sounds like something I’d enjoy.” That response is more valuable than any business strategy.
Pick one approach. Commit to exploring it over the next two weeks.
Your creative business doesn’t need to become something completely different to be more profitable. You need to get better at recognising and valuing what you already do brilliantly.
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