All photos courtesy of creativeLIVE

Working with the top-notch creativeLIVE team to do the Right-Brain Business Plan® 3-day course in January gave me a whole new appreciation for corralling creative cohorts. So much goes into operating a complex business like that and excellent teamwork is vital to pulling off a production of that scale. The event was not something I could have done flying solo, that’s for sure!

Where in your business (or life) could you lean into some extra support and infrastructure? What would it be like for you to have helping hands shepherd your projects along?

I’m super grateful to the executives who brought me in, the producers, set designers, camera operators, sound and tech crew, marketing team, co-hosts, in-studio participants, make-up artist, magic elves who filled my tea and water on every break, and so many other folks behind the scenes who made sure everything ran smoothly.

Whether you’re wanting to team up with a larger organization like I did creativeLIVE, buddy with another solopreneur who has complementary offerings, or you just need a partner for a personal project, there are a few things to consider:

• Know what you have to offer. Perhaps you have original content, a new idea, certain skills, resources, or connections. Be clear about what value you’re bringing to the table. This will also make you attractive to potential partners who may seek you out!
• Articulate what you’re looking for from your strategic partner. What would you like your cohort to contribute to the partnership? What would complement your offering? What are the qualities you’d want in your cohort since it’s important there’s a good fit.
• Build your relationships. Cultivate connections before even entering into a partnership. Effective collaboration needs a foundation of trust and that develops over time with each interaction.
• Let go of control (or at least loosen your grip!). In a collaboration you can’t have your hands in everything. Allow each contributor to own their piece and lend their unique talents. You’ll end up with something far richer than if it was all you. During our prep I started to obsess about the set (even though planning physical space is not my strong suit!). But when I stepped back and let production team work their magic, I was amazed by what they custom built for the event.
• Lean into support. If you’re used to going it alone, it can be a challenge to simply receive. Yet, that’s partly why you’re looking for help, right? Be open to assistance so you can stop bearing the burden all by your lonesome. Believe me, I felt so weird having someone steam my dress in the morning, but when I relaxed into it, I was comforted knowing I could eat my breakfast and prep for the long day ahead.

What could collaboration look like for you this year? Who are the creative cohorts you’d love to corral? And what is the greater impact you can make when you join forces?

And sometimes corralling your creative cohorts can be sharing awesome opportunities with special peeps in your circles. I had the honor of getting to invite a couple of special guests to the workshop.

Vivienne McMaster joined us live via video Skype on the first day and shared about her journey growing her creative business I know hearing her story helped others know that they are not alone when it comes to the ups and downs of pursuing your dreams.

On the second day Right-Brain Business Plan® licensed facilitator, yoga studio owner, and life coach Sharon Tessandori graced us in the studio with her wisdom and grounded energy. Sharon walked us through her path from teaching yoga classes, to launching her own beautiful studio, to leading retreats, training yoga teachers and more. She is certainly someone who knows how to cultivate multiple moola-making methods and to do it with heart.

Who in your circles could you spotlight or feature? It’s another great way to connect and share the love.

Have fun corralling your creative cohorts and seeing what more you all can co-create together!

Last weekend Jan 18th-20th, thousands of creative entrepreneurs gathered online to participate in my Right-Brain Business Plan® creativeLIVE workshop. I’m still blown away by the transformations that happened in-studio and over the Internet. I heard from so many people how with this creative and visual approach really spoke their language and how they were finally able to get their business plans done. Music to my ears!

For highlights from our last day together, you can watch the video above.

And for a recap of the entire, fun-filled, colorful weekend, here are some memorable moments below.

One the first day participants worked on their Big Vision collage which became the foundation for building super inspiring Right-Brain Business Plans®.

What a treat to get to work with the 6 incredible studio audience participants: Rebecca Stumpf, Catilin Colling, Cathy Skraba, Kathy Jakielski, Nathan Friedkin, and Frances Arnold (not pictured)

Even all the folks watching from home got in on the action and it was so fun to see the pics of their RBBPs that were shared online.

On the second day we walked through the Painting the Picture of Your Business Landscape market research exercise with Nathan Friedkin of the Divorce Cafe. As we filled out Nathan’s business landscape on this wall-sized play sheet, new insights, opportunities, and connection points emerged.

On day 3 we moved more into the left-brain details with moola mapping to help folks get clearer about the money coming in and money going out. And proclaiming inspiring financial goals.

I’m always amazed at the a-has that happen during the moola mapping exercise!

A segment on creative action planning would not be complete with out a demonstration of my favorite sticky note project planning method. Thanks to image stylist Caitlin Colling for playing along with this visual process.

If you’re wondering where the fabulous giant calendar is from, you can order it from Paper Source. (Looks like it’s out of stock right now, perhaps from all the enthusiastic folks who got inspired seeing it on creativeLIVE ;)!)

Many thanks to the wonderful co-hosts Kenna Klosterman and Alicia Dunams for being the voice of the online participants who joined us from all over the world.

When we wrapped up the workshop, the participants surprised me with a super thoughtful gift. As Frances shared some very touching words on behalf of the group and presented me with a voucher for a massage near my home, I was moved to tears (with no waterproof mascara!). It was a wonderful way to end our 3 days together.

There’s still more to share from this incredible experience, including my take-aways about collaboration after having the opportunity to work with such a stellar team over at creativeLIVE. They’ve taken my perspective of corralling creative cohorts to a whole new level and I look forward to writing more about that later.

Until then, for other fun pics, you can check out the Right-Brain Business Plan® Facebook fan page and see more photos including more fantastic shots from Rebecca Stumpf and an album from the team at creativeLIVE. And if you participated in the online course, I’d love to hear from you about your insights, a-has, and actions. Thanks!!

If you’d like to have anytime access to the workshop recordings so you can create your own Right-Brain Business Plan® and learn from seeing the process in action, you can purchase the 3-day intensive course from creativeLIVE here.

Above are some highlights from an amazing second day of the workshop (including an insightful interview with Sharon Tessandori a yoga studio owner, life coach, and Right-Brain Business Plan® licensed facilitator)

The last day to participate live for FREE is today, Sunday January 20th starting at 9am PT. Until then you can catch the rebroadcast of Day 2 here.

The participants are blowing me away and the level of engagement, insight, and action that’s happening in the global online audience is incredible. Thank you to all the Right-Brain Entrepreneurs joining us from around the world!

And thanks to the in-studio participants for rocking it!

Caitlin C. (@caitcolling) – Caitlin is a corporate and personal image consultant, wardrobe stylist, and motivational speaker. Caitlin’s company, Caitlin Colling Image Consulting, motivates and empowers others to dress successfully. She will work with Jennifer on planning and growing her business.

Rebecca S. (@photorebecca) – In September, Rebecca quit her full time job and is currently attempting to make her passion, editorial photography, into a profitable business.

Cathy S.. (@cathyswraps) – Cathy is the founder of CathysWraps – A design company focused on decorating everything from vases to cupcakes. Cathy hopes to get her finances in order and grow her business.

Kathy J. (@whatdobacondo) – Kathy runs a successful massage therapy practice and also has several creative business ideas. She will work with Jennifer to try and draft a business plan to piece all of her ideas together.

Nathan Friedkin (@koshercuts) – Nathan plans to launch a website tailored to divorcees that will help them through the difficult steps of life after a divorce. He needs Jennifer’s help to get it off the ground.

Frances Arnold (@FrancesLArnold) – Frances is a registered dietician and yoga teacher. She wants to bring her platform to a whole new level and knows that designing a business plan is the first step.

Now that we’re settling into 2013, I’m sure goal setting is on your mind.

This year, I’m keeping things simple. And that feels like a wonderful relief!

I got this mini Paper Source DIY calendar as a Christmas gift and thought that doing a collage for each month will be a do-able way to set my short-term intentions. You can see the collage I did for January above.

Focusing on an intention for 30-days feels much more manageable. I can ask myself each day if I’m acting in alignment with my vision.

Of course, I still like to have an overall sense of what the year holds, so I capture my high-level moola and milestones all on 1 page using my quarterly goals play sheet. Again, keeping it simple.

Curious to hear more about the quarterly goals process? I shared my tips and tools in this free video class: Kick-Off 2013 with Captivating Quarterly Goals.

Plus in the class, I also talk a bit about how I use my sticky note project plan (the colorful
giant wall calendar from Paper Source that’s always behind me in my Livestreams.)

Want to make sure that you reach your monthly and quarterly goals? There’s still time to join in my Right-Brain Entrepreneur Mentorship Program and work directly with me in a supportive circle of creative cohorts.

We have our first group coaching call TODAY Tuesday, January 8th, so if you want in, now’s the time! Doors close at 9pm TONIGHT Tuesday, January 8th.

Just like Dan Pink’s book A Whole New Mind blew my mind several years ago and helped me to embrace my right-brain gifts, Dan’s new book To Sell is Human has helped me to look at sales in a whole new, empowered way (thank goodness, considering the traditional way of thinking of sales makes me cringe!).

Dan shared this fun visual with us folks on his book launch team, so I thought I’d share it with you. Enjoy!!

By the way, here’s my stab at a rhyming pitch for the Right-Brain Business Plan®:

“Do numbers and budgets cause you great pain? Then, how ’bout business planning from the right side of your brain?” 😉

What’s your creative pitch?

Before we head into the holidays next week, I wanted to make sure my right-brain peeps heard the latest and greatest news!!

I’m gearing up to give a FREE Live Right-Brain Business Plan workshop on creativeLIVE. Together, we are going to prove that all you need to build a beautiful, comprehensive business plan is a fantastic idea that fills a need and a box full of markers, paper, scissors and miscellaneous crafts!

During the 3-day workshop (Jan 18-20), you’ll learn my secrets for growing a business in a profitable, sustainable way that’s driven by what makes us all unique – our imagination and creativity. I want to stress that this is a FREE live workshop, and I will showcase all of my best tips from my award-winning book, The Right-Brain Business Plan, and my extensive experience working with creative entrepreneurs from around the world.

If your new year’s resolution is to finally get your small business off the ground, or to take your existing business to the next level of profitability and impact, then get ready to make business buddies with your right AND left brains, grab every artistic tool in your arsenal, and tune in for my creative workshop!

We all have a great business idea, but that’s not good enough. You need to make it real and that’s why I will not only show you how to take that idea and craft it into a business vision but I’ll also take you step-by-step through the planning process. You’ll also learn you how to build your business team, manage your moola, and get the word out with a marketing plan. When all is said and done, you’ll have a clear idea of how to set and achieve your business goals while using your creativity and having fun.

So what are you waiting for? Join me and get that business off the ground! And even if you’re already in business, wouldn’t you love a fresh approach to breathe new life into your work and help you expand your enterprise in ways you never thought possible?

More details on the workshop can be found on my creativeLIVE course page.

And hey, did you know that YOU could have a chance to meet me in-person and coach with me LIVE during the workshop? Find out how you can participate in-studio with me in Seattle.

For those of you who have participated in some of my other live video sessions, let me tell you that this course through creativeLIVE will take the experience to a whole new level! I have a feeling you’ll love it. I can’t wait to connect with you in January!