This is the first in a series of posts by the amazing Andrea Mansfield of Brand and Bloom.  We’ll be sharing her posts on Tuesdays for the next few weeks!  Please let her know if you loved this first piece by leaving a comment!

Have you ever wondered what is the best kept secret to creative business success?  I’m going to share it with you today.  But don’t tell anyone!

You will never meet a more passionate business owner than a creative one. Creative business owners extend pieces of who they are and connect to their customers, find
meaning in their work, and best of all make things with their own hands. But passion
doesn’t always grant you the how in making your creative business flourish and go
places.

You have what it takes to be wildly successful and recognized! The great news is this–it
has nothing to do with being business savvy, and everything to do with being self-aware
and true to who you are.

The best kept secret to creative business success is this: know exactly who you are and what you are coded to do–then go do this for the benefit of others.

Your most urgent needs and your biggest desires will be solved by being true to who
you are. Things like:

• Consistent and reliable sales
• Ideas with purpose and direction
• You can quit your day job and find your true calling
• Understand how to reach your market
• Love the selling process

Think about three creative women entrepreneurs you admire right now. Now go through
each one and name the one single thing you associate with their business. Is that one
single thing pretty obvious? Probably because it makes up their brand, their creative
process, their marketing, and their products. It’s what you buy, what you admire, and
what you follow.

Imagine going to work each and every day with a strong sense of purpose and ease. How great would that feel?

Pretty good. So good in fact that you will start to let go of what you think you should be
doing and fill it up with things you are meant to be doing. I strongly encourage you to
clean out all the “should” in your business. Be free of it! You don’t bring your best self
to “should” and you don’t love “should” so why would others?

Over a few posts I will teach you how to connect to the real you–I know you have the

best intentions but something just is not clicking. Maybe you really dislike marketing,
maybe you are selling but not making any money, maybe you are terrified to charge
higher prices, or maybe you have been working hard with little to no difference.

For today I have three free write assignments for you. Work on these for as long as it
excites you. Don’t take it too seriously and let yourself shine through.

Free Write no. 1: Think back to a time in your work life when you felt the most vibrant,
alive, and useful. When was this and what exactly were you doing?

Free Write no. 2: List out all the positive personality quirks you and close friends
associate with you. When I did this exercise I discovered I have always been the friend
others seek when they feel lost in their life. This was a powerful discovery! Write what
you think your quirks are AND ask 4-5 of your closest friends, family, or your partner
what they think are your quirks.

Free Write no. 3: Despite specific education or training I want you to write out all the
things in your life you feel you are coded to do. This might be organizing, cooking, care
taking, rearranging, etc.

In the next post we will connect what you discover to who you want to benefit with your
business.

With passion and spark,
Andrea