Category Archives: Brand You

Why No One Likes Your Art: 26 Reasons

You work hard at creating pieces of art, design, writing, music, song and dance. But do people truly like what you do? If you want to do well, earn and survive in this industry, it’s quite important that at least a few people do.

The 'Red Lemon Creative'. A 10-Point Manifesto for Successful Creatives Who Stand Out

Having now worked on Red Lemon Club for close to three years, there is so much I’ve learnt and so much that I yet want to explore, learn and share.

The more time I spend researching for posts and thinking about the ideas behind the site and the people that drive it, the clearer an idea is formed in my brain as to what it is that makes up who we are. We, being those people drawn to the ideas discussed here.

The 20 Most Useful Lessons I've Learnt as a Creative Blogger Over the Last Few Years

As you’ve no doubt seen me write about a good deal, keeping a blog* is one of the things I most consistently recommend as a means to so many fruitful things, including self-promotion, building credibility as an expert in something, and self-teaching/learning/discovery.

21 Ways to Add Magic to Your Brand and Stand Out as a Creative

I like to talk about the importance of brand when it comes to presenting our products and services to our target market and the world.

It is vital that, in the current climate, where people are clambering over each other to be seen, independent creatives take deliberate action in modelling a clearly defined brand for themselves.

7 Crucial Things That Will Save You as an Independent Creative Over the Coming Years

As most of you will have noticed, the current economic climate isn’t particularly rosy when it comes to available work for us creatives.

Let me rephrase that. The current economic climate isn’t particularly rosy when it comes to available work for a large proportion of us creatives. There are many people out there who, for various reasons, still do earn a very good living from creative projects, and many who are doing better now than they ever have in the past.

On Why It's No Good to Try, You Must Do!

With the passing away of hugely influential science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury I wanted to cobble together a quick post to discuss one of my favourite quotes of his:

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”

Though the first part of the quote is hugely important, I’d like to take a closer look at the latter part (which relates to the first part anyway).

Why It's Ok to be Introverted, and an Interview with Writer Susan Cain

I’m someone who could be considered ‘in his head’ a great deal and definitely what one might call an ‘introvert‘. When Susan Cain’s book, ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking’, came along, I dove into it with some enthusiasm, possibly as a means to find some comfort in dealing with and understanding the ‘affliction’.

15 Reasons to Stay Focused on Developing your Craft

Let’s great straight into this idea of ‘craft’. What is it, and why is it worth pursuing?

My own thought on craft is that it is more a honed skill, style or application, than a tangible object. Craft is your technique; your brain’s neural connections, sculpted over hours of practice. Your craft is the way in which you apply paint to a canvas, how you think about a new musical composition or how you structure your written sentences in a short story.

25 Inspiring Quotes for Creative People

I find one of the most effective solutions to feeling unmotivated or disinterested in what I’m doing is to read a couple of quotes from others who have been and done it.

How to Get Laser Focused by Designing Your Perfect Client

If you’re a creative professional, freelancer or business of any sort, one of the key parts of attracting regular clients, is in deciding on and determining a target market.

These are the people you are not only creating your finished product or service for, but the people you base your entire brand around. Your existence as a creative professional who earns good money from what you do depends on them.

How to Set up Your Self Promotional Kick Ass Newsletter

Are you a creative professional/freelancer/guru/genius without a newsletter (or whatever you prefer to call it)? Are you putting time most days into growing your mailing list to which you send this newsletter?

15 Reasons Creative Freelancers Need a Growing Twitter Network

You might have noticed that my sites ‘Ape on the Moon’ and this one have pretty large Twitter followings. This isn’t something that is down to the content of the sites on their own.

29 Ways to Stay Creative Animation

The guys at TOFU design, have come up with a nicely executed short animation providing some straightforward ways to be and stay creative. Despite the simplicity, it’s useful to get a nicely packaged reminder of all the good stuff, we need to keep doing. Have a look!

How Having Boundaries is the Secret to Being a Sought After Professional

This might seem like an odd suggestion, but having boundaries is a major secret to professionalism and coming across as such.

This means being someone who sticks to their own defined values, needs and policies and presents them to those they engage with (without coming across as aggressive).

Google+ Course for Freelancers Launches!

After several months in the making, I’m pleased to announce the launch of my ecourse for freelancers and small businesses!

‘The Freelancer’s Guide to Winning Incredible Clients through Google+ Mastery’

The step-by-step course, split into three ebooks, has already received a great amount of praise and already a number of great testimonials, which I’m very grateful for.

10 Free Google+ E-Courses Giveaway

Well this is good news!

In the run up to my new e-course’s launch on Tuesday February 7th, I’ll be giving away 10 courses for free.

*Winners Announced!*

Congratulations to those who signed up to the Red Lemon Club Google+ page and wrote a comment. The following 10 people won a free copy of the course. I’ll be contacting you all individually with your prizes. Well done!

Red Lemon Club Motivation Tip #9: Find Your Inner Einstein

Every one of us has the capacity within us for genius. You probably already know what it is.

Make sure you don’t neglect that element of you. You can do this by using your imagination, and then using it some more. Spend time writing down or sketching out your imaginative ideas whenever you can, like a child would plan building his fort. Bring a notebook around with you to document your plans, dreams and ideas.

Red Lemon Club Motivation Idea #7 Create a Career-Shifter Goal!

We’ve all heard about the how great it is for your career or business to set goals, right? I’m a little sick of hearing about them personally.

The thing is though, they really are important, and really can get you some awesome achievements if you stick to them. But how to stick to them? Sometimes it’s hard to motivate ourselves towards goals.

10 ways Google+ is Better than Facebook for Creative Freelancers

People are understandably hesitant about using Google’s recent addition to social networking in the form of Google+.

Surely having a presence on Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter and more, is enough for sharing content and promoting ourselves! Facebook alone can prove to be an enormous time-burner.