When people ask me the best way to grow their creative business, the question almost always falls within the topic of online marketing. Which social media platform should I use? What’s working on Instagram? How often should I post? But that’s not actually the question that matters most. This week, I’ve been refining a specific part of the upcoming six-month programme, and I want to share one of the key messages from it, what really grows creative businesses, and why the thing we so often avoid is actually what we’re naturally brilliant at.
The Question We Should Be Asking
When people ask about growing their business, the questions are almost always about online marketing. Instagram or TikTok? Should I try Pinterest? Should I start a podcast? How often should I post? Do I have to create reels?
Yes, every single one of these platforms can be hugely effective. They can all be a brilliant part of your overall marketing, as long as you find the right one for you and your audience, and it doesn’t take over.
But that’s not actually the question that matters most.
The question should be: how do I create real opportunities through real relationships?
Because so often we’re all focused on online marketing when actually, the very thing that grows creative businesses faster than anything else is strategic outreach. Direct, thoughtful, proactive relationship-building.
And we’re so often avoiding it. Even though it’s actually what we’re naturally brilliant at.
Why We Hide Behind Marketing
I think I understand why we tend to focus more on online marketing, It’s’s what we sense we need to conquer. Even though we often feel uncomfortable in front of the camera, and it’s notoriously tricky to grow on these platforms, and they’re incredibly time-consuming… this type of marketing still feels like something we need to focus on.
Online marketing feels safer because:
- We can control the message completely
- We’re not putting ourselves directly out there
- We don’t risk immediate rejection
- It feels less vulnerable than reaching out directly
But actually, when you contact someone directly, whether that’s a brand, a potential collaborator, an editor, a podcast host, you’re creating opportunities immediately.
You’re not waiting and hoping. You’re making things happen.
My Story (And Why This Matters)
Every significant opportunity in my floral design business began with an email I sent.
I didn’t have any contacts. I literally didn’t know a single person connected to these major brands, editors, or planners. At the time, being very honest, I was envious of many of my competitors who had family and personal links. But now, because of my role today, I’m actually incredibly grateful I didn’t. Because it makes what I’m sharing even more helpful for you.
So, if you feel that you don’t have any contacts or direct links in your own industry, I promise you, as long as you have the right approach, you can achieve anything and everything you’d love to with your business.
I’ve had heaps of “nos.” So many. But I’ve also persisted in a very positive way, with strategic follow-ups and genuine connection. And those “yeses”? They changed everything for me, my business, and for all those around me. Literally.
Last year I created a free guide about becoming thoughtfully and confidently persistent: finding very comfortable ways to follow up when you’re nervous to. One of the participants from the very first cohort of The Base Notes mentioned she really struggles with following up, and usually won’t. So I put this quick guide together.
There’s something interesting about this guide: out of all our free guides, it’s the least popular. But out of all of them, it’s the most important and the one that will help you the most. It’s not shiny and it doesn’t scream passive growth, but passive growth honestly doesn’t exist.
What Really Accelerates Growth
There’s something that reinforced this for me recently. Late last year I did a talk to a room of 12 people. A tiny number. But that talk created more work and future opportunities than my newsletter that went out that same week to over 20,000 people.
Simply because I got to speak directly to people and make real connections.
And my newsletter is really strong, we have some of the highest open and click-through rates in our industry and it grows steadily. But it’s amazing when you compare it to what really works with simply connecting directly with the right people for your unique business, in real life.
That newsletter still plays a very important part, almost all of those 12 people are now part of my newsletter list. So you can see how online marketing amplifies things for you, and it is central, but it’s only effective as part of a larger strategy.
Why This Works for Creative Entrepreneurs
The way you approach your creative work, the strategic thinking, the attention to what really matters, the ability to see where there’s genuine alignment, these are the exact same skills that make strategic business outreach incredibly effective.
When you’re identifying which brands to approach, which editors might be interested in your story, which collaborators would be the perfect fit, this is strategic thinking. You’re already doing this in your creative process. You already know how to research properly, how to understand what someone values, how to present ideas in ways that resonate.
And when it comes to following up professionally, maintaining relationships, staying connected over time, again, you’re not learning something completely new. You’re applying abilities you already have towards business growth.
What This Actually Looks Like
Let’s look at the difference between what most of us are doing and what we could be doing.
Imagine you’re an incredible fabric designer and you want to work with interior designers.
One approach: You post on Instagram frequently, write newsletters, share your work online, comment under interior designers’ posts, maybe even send them a DM or two. And you hope this has an impact.
Another approach: You identify 10 interior designers whose work genuinely aligns with yours. You research them properly, their projects, their clients, what they value. You reach out with a specific, well-considered idea about how your work could enhance what they do. And from this, you have an actual conversation with at least one of them.
You can feel the difference. The first approach feels safer, but it’s almost always one-way. You’re waiting. You’re hoping.
The second approach feels more vulnerable. But it’s also real business development. It’s a direct conversation. It builds professional relationships almost instantly. And when you speak directly to someone, even better, meet them in person, business relationships form so much faster than they do through social and online channels.
The Shift That Changes Everything
What if we stopped seeing online marketing as the answer and started seeing it as the amplifier?
What if we stopped waiting for opportunities to come to us and really started creating them, in effective, steady ways?
What if we stopped thinking we need big numbers and large followings, and started trusting that strategic, direct connections with the right people matter so much more?
This is all about a fundamental shift in how you see yourself and how you grow your business. From reactive to proactive. From hoping to creating. From hiding behind platforms to making direct contact.
And you already have everything you need to do this.
Your Next Step
Maybe this week, think about who you could contact where there’s real alignment. Whether that’s a potential new client, a brand to collaborate with, a publication to approach, a podcast to be interviewed on. What strategic conversation could you start? What professional relationship could you begin building?
Because that’s what will always grow a brilliant creative business. Strategic connections. Direct conversations. Real business development.
The skills you use in your creative work translate directly to strategic business outreach. Understanding what matters. Seeing where there’s alignment. Communicating value effectively. These aren’t separate skills, they’re the same ones.
All you need to do is point those abilities in the direction of your business growth. And yes, it feels more vulnerable than posting online, but it’s also so much faster, it’s direct business development, and when you get those yeses, they feel incredible, because you know exactly what they could mean for your business, far more than any number of new followers could online.
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