Following your intuition, letting inspiration guide you shouldn’t make you feel unsure of what to do to move the needle in your business, let alone how to do it. 

As an operations consultant and systems strategist for creative businesses, my goal is to help you bring your vision for your business to life by using structure as a tool to do that. Spontaneity and creativity keeps you passionate about your business, but building from scratch every time you get a new client or project is draining you.

Here are three parts of operations structure you can optimize to land more clients, launch new offers or even pivot to your net big idea:

🧑🏿‍💻 Project management 🧑🏿‍💻

Your process for taking on and executing projects isn’t just an internal thing. It should help clients trust you as a creative visionary and expert and feel secure throughout the project. Empower them to show up as collaborators who want to help you help them by implementing these three project management tips: 

Clear communication boundaries

Set expectations for when clients can expect to hear from you and where they should look for updates. You shouldn’t be getting texts, emails and dm’s about your projects. If you find that you get those “just checking in” messages around the same point across projects, use an automated or template message to fill them in on how things are going.

Detailed project outlines and timelines

Cut out the guesswork for your clients by telling them what they need to know before they ask. You’re the expert, tell them what to expect as far as timeline and project structure to build trust and help them feel fully supported. Disclose your estimated turnaround time and creative process outline during your onboarding process to fill clients in on what they can expect when working with you.

Regular updates and insight

Create a solid email template or area of your project management platform where you can give your clients updates on their project. Not only will this keep them in the loop, but it will hype them up for the finished product! It also gives them an opportunity to ask questions and give a bit of input before the finals are ready for them. Deliver the perfect project by empowering them with the opportunity to help you know what they want.

By updating your artistic project management, you’re making it easier for you to work AND easier for clients to work with you. That means happier clients, more referrals and the data to inform your next move in your biz, whether that’s raising your rates, opening availability or launching something new. 

🤖 Automations 🤖

The reality is that at some point you have to get ahead of your business. Having a laundry list of small things to do every day, week or month just to keep the lights keeps you from doing the work that will actually grow your business.

Let the robots help you

Make a list of those annoying little admin things you have to do and automate them. Systems that “talk” to each other execute processes more quickly and with less human error for a more standardized system. Use a tool like Zapier to invite attendees to events for you, handle data entry and keep your project management platform up to date.

There are tons of ways to automate repetitive parts of your projects, too, including invoice reminders, onboarding steps and more. If you don’t already, use a client management system, like HoneyBook, to do all of this on one platform.

Schedule your social media content

If you’re not already doing this, get on it right. NOW. Scheduling content is a game-changer because it fully frees you up to handle the high-impact sh*t in your biz. It also allows you to prioritize engagement on social to actually grow your audience instead of spending all your time throwing content at them and ghosting.

Scheduling tools like Planoly allow you to schedule stories, reels and posts, complete with captions and hashtags to make sure you’re calling in your people. Personally, I’ve been loving Instagram’s in-app scheduling feature so I can create content, find trending audios, use the hashtags my audience is following and schedule the post all in one place.

Automate your email marketing and lead funnel

Use your email marketing platform to it’s full potential! Haven’t started your email marketing journey or looking to change platforms? My clients and I love Flodesk, here’s 50% off just for you! Instead of writing to your audience whenever you have time and hoping one of them converts into a client is not giving. Set up automated welcome sequences for new subscribers, drip campaigns to nurture leads, and personalized emails based on client details to speak directly to their needs.

Automated messaging isn’t just for marketing, though. Use workflow messaging in your client management system to get back to leads quickly, onboard clients and move the through your project pipeline without having to step away from your work to do it.

⚡ Standard operating procedures (SOPs)⚡

Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs help you implement a creative business success strategy and can work wonders for you, whether you’re:

• Doing commissions in your fine art business;

• Updating your photography project management process;

• Implementing some brand design automation into your client management process;

• Using automated scheduling workflows to check design process optimization off your to-do list;

Showing up consistently with a reliable, tried and true process to get clients the results they’re looking for helps people trust you and refer their people to you. By standardizing the way you work, you and your client will have full confidence that people they send your way will love working with you.

Document your processes

It’s gonna take some time, but break down checklists of your processes and workflows as you work in and on your business. Go beyond your project management SOPs, create onboarding checklists, break down your lead intake process and create a master guide for course launching, too, if you do that kinda thing.

Don’t be afraid to get visual, either. I love to incorporate flowcharts with Miro and quick screen recording tutorials with Loom, too. The objective here is to get you away from running your business from memory and getting all of your creative business operations recorded somewhere. That allows you to execute tasks consistently with confidence and make updates as processes change.

Identify your must-have tools and templates

If you were looking for a sign to unsubscribe from the platforms you aren’t actually using, this is it. Choose the most necessary tools for your business to run efficiently and get rid of the rest. Not only will this make your wallet happy, it will minimize confusion and complication in your creative business process.

While you’re at it, take a look at how you’re using these platforms. Clean up your project management template, your client management pipeline and save any other organization templates that make it easier for you to get sh*t done and move on to the next thing. That includes questionnaires, proposals, project workspaces, EVERYTHING.

Set a routine to review and update your artist SOPs

SOPs are not a set it and forget it solution. They require updates and maintenance as your business grows and shifts for them to keep working. I recommend doing a quarterly review of your SOPs to clean out out-of-date processes, add any new checklists and update your tool roster.

Ditch the constant worry that you forgot to do or send something by creating a success manual for your biz. Use the steps above to replicate successful processes for a consistent working experience for yourself and clients alike.

The thing that project management, automation and SOPs all have in common is they help you create a quality standard for your services. 

Flowy, messy action can’t really make an impact without a creative business strategy and structure. It just holds you back from the security and freedom you crave in your biz, taking up your time and energy without yielding much in the way of results.

When clients come to you, they should know that they’re getting the best that you have to offer, no skips and no misses. Working becomes easier because you can trust yourself to show up and do your best work because you’re not splitting your energy a million different directions.  

Not sure where to start or want specific on what this looks like for your business? I’m always a Zoom call away. Just take 5 minutes to tell me about you and your biz here, then check your inbox to book a free 30-minute chat with yours truly!