Small Business Resources

Here’s where you’ll find posts on creative as a business; for and about running your own small company and succeeding in today’s world. Look for advice on pricing your services, legal issues with intellectual property and copyright, plus tips on self-promotion, finding new clients and dealing with difficult and/or slow-paying clients.


Beyond Body Language: Listening with Your Eyes!

note: This is the second of three programs in Chicago Creative Coalition’s RE-Presenting Yourself series. As creatives, you are often undervalued, underpaid and misunderstood. Over time, your nonverbal signals can either change to reflect less confidence, or sometimes overcompensate, and become harsh. It is imperative that you understand the nonverbal signals you send and receive. … Continue reading

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Improv for Sales, Storytelling and Life

If you’ve ever walked out of a pitch or important meeting with that sinking feeling of “If I’d only said SOMETHING different I could have landed the deal!” and then thought of something better on the drive home, you’re not alone. The good news: you can get better at storytelling and thinking on your feet. … Continue reading

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Organize Your Shi_!

PROGRAM HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6. DPO Flow – Organizing Digital Photos Join Certified Photo Organizer Caroline Guntur of OrganizingPhotos.net for a closer look at how to best organize your digital photos! You will learn how to designate a digital photo hub, how to create a consistent file naming convention, and get help on figuring out your … Continue reading

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How to Be a Badass Creative

Congrats! You are a creative genius! As they say, that and five bucks will get you a latte. So how‘re you gonna make those five bucks, anyway? No matter how creative you are, whether you work alone or want to start a small company, you need to know some business basics. The evolution from being … Continue reading

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Making Friends with Fear

Business for Life, Program 4 If procrastination, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of criticism, or any other fears make an impact on your work, this program is for you. This is not a ‘blast through your fears’ kind of workshop. Instead, we will get to know the fears as part of your personality … Continue reading

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Marketing and Mindfulness

How to Get Your Head Together and Get More Business Anyone who’s ever obsessed over a situation –and wished they could stop thinking about it – knows the suffering that mental loops create. Here’s the good news: all of those negative states start in the mind (consciousness), and that’s where they can be fixed. Carolyn … Continue reading

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Tools for Making Money

Business for Life, Program 2 We all want a life creating amazing things for amazing clients, but how do we get to those bigger gigs with better clients? What does it take to go from solo-preneur working in your jammies to running a business – complete with an office, employees, and company parties? Making the move takes … Continue reading

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Trademarks and Copyrights

SOLD OUT Protecting your ideas and safeguarding your print, video and audio work has never required more vigilance than today, when many social media users share whatever content they wish without thinking twice. Whether you’re a designer, filmmaker, photographer, actor, podcaster, writer — anyone whose digital assets can fall out of your control — you … Continue reading

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Convention Writing Opportunities

HOW TO FIND AND PROFIT FROM CONVENTION AND TRADE SHOW WRITING OPPORTUNITIES Find out how to turn your writing talent into lucrative and continual work  covering conventions and trade shows at the Independent Writers of Chicago’s meeting on Jan. 9 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 4F at the Gratz Center, 126 E. Chestnut Street, just … Continue reading

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The Ins and Outs of WordPress

WordPress currently powers more than 74 million of the world’s websites. Why? Because it’s robust, customizable, cost-effective and easy to use — once you know how. Explore the ins and outs of building, growing and managing your WordPress website and/or blog at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Independent Writers of Chicago (IWOC) with the Wizard of … Continue reading

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