Have you made your own Right-Brain Business Plan™? We’d love to feature you, your visual plan, and your creative business in a future Spotlight. If you’d like to be considered, please e-mail info @ artizencoaching.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

In the meantime, you can check out past Spotlights on fabulous featured creative entrepreneurs and their inspiring Right-Brain Business Plans™.

The Creativity World Forum happened earlier this week in Oklahoma during Global Entrepreneurship Week. I enjoyed watching their inspiring video above about the event.

Also as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, President Obama proclaimed today as National Entrepreneurs’ Day.

A fabulous post about changing your business to follow your spirit from the always wise and wonderful Goddess Leonie. Plus, she just launched her new 2011 Creating Your Goddess Year Workbook, Planner & Calendar. The 2010 one rocked and this one looks even more amazing.

I really loved Chris Guillebeau’s post Who You Are and What They Say – if you’re a creative entrepreneur blazing your own trail, you will love it, too.

Here’s more creative inspiration from Jamie Ridler’s post for entrepreneurial dreamers.

And, I’m excited to let you know that you can now pre-order my forthcoming book The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success which will be published by New World Library in February 2011. Woohoo!

Outsource your drudgery and own your passion.

Instead of getting frustrated by things in your business that you don’t enjoy doing or aren’t necessarily your area of expertise, how ’bout getting some help? Really, you don’t have to do it all yourself! Off-load some of those left-brain tasks you loathe so you can focus on what lights you up. You’ll be happier and more productive.

Take one dose of Left-Brain Chill Pill as needed to quiet your judging mind.

NOTE: This post originally appeared in my Musepreneur column on the Wishstudio.

As a creative, independent spirit you may be used to doing things solo.  No one else can do it quite like you can, right?  I have no doubt that you’re the perfect person to do what you’re passionate about.  The core of your business should be doing what you love.  However, that doesn’t mean that you have to do everything on your own.  If you are bearing most of the burden, I bet that you often feel burnt out.

Not only can having support help you focus on getting the important things done, it also helps you maintain balance as well.

Support comes in many forms: pro bono or paid for, friends or freelancers, advice, accountability and a devil’s advocate or brainstorming, encouragement and simply listening.  Get clear on what type of help you need for what pieces of your business.  Perhaps you need expert guidance on how to set up a blog or Quickbooks.  Or you may just need a group of friends to give you feedback on a new workshop you’re creating.

Action: Make a helping hand wishlist of all the things you need help with in your business.  Also, consider other areas in your life where you could use support, too.  For example, I love that I can actually get work done while someone else is cleaning my house!

Below are a several suggested structures and resources to help you get the help that you need:

• Find an accountability buddy. If you’re looking for an easy, no-cost way to get some help and to help someone else, partner with an accountability buddy.  This is someone who you meet with regularly either in-person or on the phone to report on progress, talk through issues and celebrate successes.  A typical meeting might last an hour with each person having 30 minutes to share.  As you look through posts and comments here on the Wish Studio you might happen across someone you’d like to buddy up with.  Reach out to her. You never know what might happen!
• Corral your creative cohorts. A group provides a similar structure to an accountability buddy, but because there are other musepreneurs, you’ll get even more support and several different perspectives.  Meet regularly in-person or over the phone (get a conference call line at sites like http://www.nocostconference.com or http://www.freeconferencecall.com).  I have the good fortune of being part of such a group, which one of the members lovingly coined our “Nurture Huddle.”  We do a 90-minute call every other week and rotate meeting facilitation.  We share personal and professional challenges, celebrate successes, ask for ideas and feedback, and name our commitments for the next call.  We laugh often and learn a lot!
• Create an Advisory Board. If you want a more formal structure dedicated solely to your business, create an Advisory Board of designated experts who can guide you in growing your business.  Check out this helpful article on creating an advisory board from Entrepreneur magazine.
• Conduct a focus group. Perhaps you need targeted feedback for a specific project.  Instead of shooting in the dark, gather members of your target audience together (or even just some friends if you want something more casual) to test your ideas and offer suggestions.  Here’s a great article on how to conduct a focus group.
• Hire a coach. When you want 1:1 support with achieving your goals, consider working with a coach.  Through various stages of my life and business, I’ve hired different coaches.  They’ve been invaluable in helping me to transition from corporate to entrepreneurship, develop products, work on my book and so much more!  Ask around for referrals or search for coaches at the International Coach Federation or The Coaches Training Institute.
• Find a mentor. Mentors will take you under their wing and show you the ropes.  They have more experience than you and can offer wisdom and insights.  I found a mentor through Twitter!  I searched on Expressive Arts and found Chris Zydel, only to discover that her studio is 10 minutes from my house.  Be on the look out for potential mentors.  Take a class and see if you click with the teacher.  Ask a former colleague out to lunch.  For more tips, check out this great Ladies Who Launch article on how to find and work with a mentor and also Findamentor.org.
• Outsource tasks. I cannot tell you how many tears I’ve shed over Quickbooks.  In the beginning I had the bookkeeping under control but after awhile I ended up with a big, ugly mess that sucked up way too much of my time.  I learned from that mistake and invested in a bookkeeper.  What’s the thing that you absolutely cant’ stand doing?  What tasks require expertise?  Where will delegating free you up to focus on doing what you love?  Ask for referrals, or search on sites like Resource Nation or Elance.

Action: Choose at least 2-3 things from your helping hand wishlist and identify at least 1-2 ways you can get support for each one you selected.

Bonus points: Based on your list, reach out to someone today and ask for the help you need.

Running a creative business can be challenging.  And it can also be lots of fun when you invite others to play with you!

Create a circle of support.

As you go after your creative dreams, pick positive people who will provide you with helpful insight, feedback, and encouragement.

Take one dose of Right-Brain Booster as needed to enhance your creative intuition.

Name: Elaine Coombs
Company Name: Elaine Coombs Fine Art
Website: http://www.elainecoombs.com
Twitter: @ElaineCoombs
Facebook: http://artist.to/elainecoombs/

Note from Jenn: Elaine Coombs is an amazingly talented painter from the San Francisco Bay Area. I feel so calm and centered whenever I see her majestic landscape paintings of beautiful trees. It’s like being right there hiking in the forest breathing in the fresh air. I had the pleasure of having Elaine in a teleclass a couple of years ago and it’s been cool to see her business continue to flourish. Below Elaine shares a bit about her creative process when she paints and the importance of having an accountability buddy in her business. Very inspiring! (All images in this post courtesy of Elaine Coombs).

What is your business and what makes your business unique?

I am a fine artist – painter.  I sell my paintings through galleries nationally in New York, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle.  My work is derived from a fascination with the rhythms, colors and patterns of the natural world.   Local and national forest environments inform and inspire my acrylic paintings.  Luscious studies of light laden trees depicted by thousands of dots of color create a pixilated surface that blurs the line between the abstract and representational painting genres.

How has the Right-Brain Business Plan helped you? What is different for you and your business after approaching planning in a creative, visual way?

Creating the RBBP helped me to get organized and focus my efforts on expanding my business.  As a solopreneur, there were a lot of aspects it seemed I didn’t have time to address.  Having a visual plan (which now hangs in my studio), has helped me keep a clear focus on the future, including all of the aspects that will work together to achieve my future goals.  Looking at it inspires me everyday.

What goals (big or small) on your business plan have you already accomplished or have made progress on?

I have already set up an accounting system and keep track of my income and expenses on a monthly basis. I can run reports when needed and it is easy to see whether I am reaching my financial target either quarterly or year to date.

I have reached my goal of sending out submission packets to new galleries across the United States and Canada, along with local and regional museums, in an effort to create more visibility for my paintings.  As a result, there are two new galleries that now carry my work, and I have been featured in several group shows.  Approaching new art venues is something I rarely made time to do in the past yet is extremely important to the growth of a professional artist’s career.

How do you use your creative intuition in your work?

To create my paintings, I work from small photographs taken on walks in local and regional forest environments.  Choosing the spot to photograph is intuitive and emotional – it just has to feel right.  After that initial connection with the place, I will go back into the studio and choose several photos as source material for my work.  Then I choose the size that I will paint it in and the material (canvas or paper).  Generally the more complex the image, the larger the painting.  But the most intuitive part of the process for me is in the act of painting itself.  Although I use a photograph as my basis, it is the translation of that photograph into paint, into the dots of color that are the signature of my style that is the most intuitive.  I also think that it is this aspect that creates the most dramatic effect in my work.

Is there anything you’d like to share about your Right-Brain Business Plan in terms of what it’s made out of or how you made it?

The plan is a hanging wall piece made up of 6 panels hung in two rows, adjoined by ribbon.  Each panel contains collaged words and imagery that represent my goals regarding a particular subject.  A final seventh panel exists in the form of a small clipboard that is independent from the rest.  I use this to keep track of my immediate goals and action steps and can be easily modified.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I wanted to mention that since our class, I have been corresponding with an accountability buddy – fellow artist Michelle Casey, first on a weekly basis and now on a monthly basis. Via email we share our current progress toward our goals and accomplishments while providing feedback and support for the other persons efforts.  This has been a wonderful tool that has greatly aided in the momentum of pursuing my plan.  It has created a much-needed support system and cheering section for my business that I was craving.  Not enough good things could be said about the positive aspects of having a creative cohort like Michelle, who knows all your dreams and plans and is happy when you succeed.

Although challenging at times, I really enjoyed creating this plan.  It serves as an inspiring testament to all of the aspects that go into creating a successful creative career in the arts.  I am proud of myself for what I have already accomplished and look forward to a bright future.  Thanks Jenn!

Creative Resources

Click here for more information about Elaine Coombs.

Click here for Right-Brain Business Plan™ e-Course and the Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book.