12 Must-Reads for a Motivated, Productive, Creative Business

I’m easing back from maternity leave these days, and part of that process is diving into some of the excellent advice shared by incredibly smart people around the internet while I was otherwise occupied!

If you are a creative entrepreneur, small business owner, or self-employed blogger, you’ll love this month’s round-up of marketing tricks, motivation, and practical skills that will help you succeed in work and everyday life.

You don’t need a fancy camera to have a strong presence on Instagram: how to take great photos with your phone.

Even if your business is primarily online, you can still benefit from word-of-mouth marketing.

Managing your personal finances is one of the least sexy parts of self-employment, but also one of the most important for staying in the game.

Advice on growing a brand while staying genuine from a surprising source.

I’m eight years in, but I’m really only two years into real monetization of the site, and it’s so much fun, and I’m learning so much, and I’m so engaged in what I’m doing. I wish that it hadn’t taken me so long to be brave enough to say, “Hey. Let’s make this a business.”

Confession: I know nothing about using Trello. Until now!

Three things I wish I knew when I started blogging. (Getting real is good.)

31 tips on using social media to boost your sales. (Big fan of #s 11, 17, and 24! And I should probably try #30…)

Need some real talk about your business? You should probably ask your spouse.

This business instituted a 5-hour work day, and awesome things happened.

I needed each of my team members to be twice as productive as the average worker. We had a high bar of productivity to clear before this, and that didn’t change. I told them they just needed to figure out how to do it all in just five hours now—but there’d be support: we’d all need to figure it out and were in this together.

A surprisingly pleasant way to end your emails.

 

Plus a few things around here you may have missed: using an e-newsletter when you have a brick-and-mortar business + spending wisely when starting your business.