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16 10, 2026

How Creative Pros Build Sustainable Businesses with Their Talents

By |2026-10-12T09:29:04-05:00October 16th, 2026|Guest blogger|0 Comments

A Guest Blog by Jenna Sherman

Image via Pexels

Freelance designers, illustrators, writers, photographers, and other creative professionals often want more than sporadic gigs. They want reliable income from work they’re proud of. The core tension is real: artistic ability monetization can feel like trading freedom for pressure, especially when sustainable business building demands consistency, pricing clarity, and boundaries. With the right foundation, turning creative talents into business becomes a repeatable way to earn and keep creating.

Understanding the Building Blocks of a Creative Business

At the heart of a sustainable creative business are three building blocks: a specific audience, clear offers, and steady business basics. This matters because talent alone does not create consistency. A clear focus helps you price with confidence, market without guessing, and choose projects that fit your energy and values. It also protects your creative time while still supporting growth, since companies that prioritize creativity often see stronger results.

Think of it like a menu, not a buffet. A photographer who serves founders with a “brand shoot plus monthly content” package can write simpler emails, track average email open rates, and improve one offer instead of juggling ten. With these pieces in place, learning business management becomes a smooth, organized next step.

Build Business Skills That Support Your Creative Vision

Once you’ve clarified your audience and offers, the next step is strengthening the skills that keep the business side steady. A business management degree can help creative professionals build practical foundations in marketing, finance, operations, and strategic planning, so your talent isn’t doing all the heavy lifting alone. If going back to school feels unrealistic alongside client work or personal responsibilities, earning an online degree can offer you the flexibility to keep moving forward without putting your life on hold; you can find all the details here. With stronger business fundamentals in place, you’ll be better prepared to take practical steps to attract clients and stabilize cash flow.

Build a Simple, Sustainable Creative Business System

This is where your talent turns into steady income. Use the steps below to shape clear offers, set pricing you can stand behind, market in a way that feels natural, and create a simple pipeline that keeps clients coming in.

  1. Set a price floor, then choose one pricing format
    List your monthly essentials and your realistic working hours to find the minimum you must earn per project to stay afloat. Then pick one format to keep it simple: a flat project fee, a monthly retainer, or a package with add-ons. Review results every 60 to 90 days and adjust as needed since 73% of software vendors increased their prices, and regular updates can be part of staying sustainable.
  2. Market with proof, not pressure
    Choose one channel you can maintain, such as a weekly post, a short email, or a monthly behind-the-scenes video, and focus on teaching what you know. Show examples, share before-and-after results, or explain your process so people understand what they are buying. The case for consistency is strong because content marketing generates 3x more leads when compared with many traditional approaches.
  3. Systemize the work so delivery stays smooth
    Write down what you do each time from the first message to final files, then turn it into a checklist you can reuse. Start by identifying what activities you engage in daily, weekly, or even monthly so you can spot what to automate, template, or stop doing. Lightweight systems make your business easier to run, even when life gets busy.

Sustaining Your Creative Business With Planning and Real Strategy

It’s easy to feel pulled between making great work and making enough money to keep going, especially when pricing, marketing, and doubt hit at once. The steadier path is long-term creative entrepreneurship: pair creative talent with business strategy, and treat decisions as simple, repeatable choices rather than pressure-filled leaps. When that mindset guides work, sustainable creative business success starts to look like calmer launches, clearer offers, and consistent income you can plan around. Creativity thrives on a realistic plan.

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Jenna Sherman is a mom of three (two girls and a boy). She created Parent-Leaders.com to help other parents build the skills they need to raise future leaders with a collection of valuable, up-to-date, authoritative resources.

Take a minute to visit her blog for helpful tips.

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12 10, 2026

Christopher Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

By |2026-10-08T09:08:16-05:00October 12th, 2026|Holidays|0 Comments

Christopher Columbus believed he had reached East Asia when he sighted Cuba in 1492, thinking it was China. When his expedition reached Hispaniola, he believed he had found Japan.

His voyages opened the way for centuries of European exploration, trade, and colonization in the Americas. They also brought devastating consequences for Indigenous peoples, including disease, displacement, warfare, and enslavement.

Columbus’s accomplishment has been celebrated as Columbus Day since the 18th century and became a U.S. federal holiday in 1937.

But Columbus Day—and the man who inspired it—has long been controversial.

Critics argue that European expansion came at the expense of Indigenous peoples, who lost their lands and, in many cases, their freedom and lives. During the 1990s, protests surrounding Columbus Day helped fuel the movement for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a counter-celebration recognizing Native peoples and the impact of colonization.

In 2021, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the same date as Columbus Day. Today, states and communities differ in how they observe the second Monday in October. Some recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, some continue to celebrate Columbus Day, and others observe both or have their own commemorations.

The controversy continues.

Dissenters argue that holidays, statues, and other memorials to Columbus overlook the suffering associated with European colonization and give him credit for “discovering” lands inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Italian Americans, meanwhile, may view Columbus Day primarily as a celebration of their heritage rather than the explorer himself.

Whatever you choose to call the day or if you choose to observe it or not, I will think about the three ships Columbus sailed—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María—and remember the little jingle I learned in school:

Christopher Columbus sailed in the ocean blue in 1492.

Turns out, that familiar rhyme came from Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr., who wrote poems, rhymes, and mnemonic jingles to help people remember facts. Her poem, “The History of the U.S.,” was published in Yankee Doodles: A Book of American Verse in 1943.

The poem is quite long and covers American history all the way through World War I. I’m extremely grateful my teachers never made me memorize the whole thing!

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5 10, 2026

They Steal Our Hearts and then… 

By |2026-09-27T10:09:07-05:00October 5th, 2026|A Writer's Life, Writer's Life|0 Comments

From the moment you hold that fluffy little ball of fur, your head knows that he’s not going to live as long as you do. Yet, for some reason, your heart refuses to acknowledge what your head knows. When the time comes, your heart cracks into a bazillion pieces.

We lost our beloved Finnegan MacCool last week, and our hearts are in a million pieces.

It wasn’t unexpected. He was ten years old with a life expectancy of 10-12 years. We knew the day was coming. Our other five Old English Sheepdogs, Obadiah, Micah, Rhinestone, and Toby, met him on the Rainbow Bridge. Buster, our Maltese, and our four-legged mixed-breed babies: Lucky, Azariah, Bernie, and Scuttles also greeted him.

The separation is hard no matter how many times you go through it. We know time will ease the sadness. That doesn’t stop the tears.

Some days are better than others. We move on one day at a time. On those not-so-good days, we remember the fun times.

 

RIP      Finnegan MacCool, July 26, 2016 – September 22, 2026

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28 09, 2026

Wake up and Read!

By |2026-09-20T16:41:38-05:00September 28th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Library Week, which highlights the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians, was in April. School, public, special, and academic libraries took part.

Sadly, statistics show fewer people are reading books. Unfortunately, that’s been true since the mid-1950s. According to research, the problems in the 50s were radio, television, and music. The 21st-century issue is social media. Both are really the same problem.

To motivate people to support and use libraries, the American Library Association (the ALA) and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit organization in 1954 called the National Book Committee (NBC), which plans a yearly National Library Week.

The very first theme for National Library Week was “Wake Up and Read!”

The focus for Library Card sign-up month is “a library card hits all the right notes.”

Books do entertain, teach, and provide escape. And, most importantly, books are FREE at libraries. All you need is a library card.

The library has always been one of my favorite places. My library card is one of my most prized possessions. I love checking out books or downloading eBook editions. I’m currently reading Karen White’s That Carolina Summer.

I also use Libby, the library app, which allows free downloads to Kindle. Check Libby out here: https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby. Your library card serves as your account.

Do you have a library card?

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21 09, 2026

Suicide-the stigma and prevention

By |2026-09-09T14:29:49-05:00September 21st, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

This is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Suicide doesn’t really get a lot of press, though it has been a problem throughout human history. Suicide rates are increasing and, in recent years, it has become something of an epidemic.

Did you know…

  • 5.5% of U.S. adults have serious thoughts of suicide each year.
  • Suicide was the eleventh leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 49,300 people.
  • Suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34 and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 44.
  • There were over two times as many suicides (49,316) in the United States as there were homicides (22,830).

Until I started researching this topic for this blog, I didn’t. Even more staggering statistics can be found here: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide#part_2558

Suicide is particularly problematic because people with suicidal thoughts feel as though they can’t speak to others due to the stigma surrounding suicide.

“Suicide loss survivors” and friends and families affected by a suicide too often have feelings of shame that prevent them from talking openly. Those feelings of stigma are not unique to suicide but to all forms of mental illness.

In 2020, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line phone numbers were combined. The following year, the FCC expanded 988 Lifeline services to text.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States and its territories.

Educating ourselves about mental illness and suicide can be the first step toward reducing the stigma and the statistics.

This Suicide Prevention Month, help spread the word:

Post about Suicide Prevention.

Learn to recognize warning signs.

Walk, run, or fundraise.

Support an organization. Donate or volunteer.

Share the 988 Suicide & Crisis Number.

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