Business-First Creatives

Every creative deserves to turn their craft into a business that brings them joy and profit. Here you'll find a no-BS approach to what it takes to put the business first, prioritizing the systems and strategies that will actually move the needle and ensure your creative business is profitable rather than an expensive side-hustle. Your host is Colie James, a Disney-loving family photographer, and filmmaker turned Workflow and Automations Guru who helps creative service providers automate their sh*t, reclaim their time and get back to living!

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Episodes

The Buffer Episode

We can never talk too much about outsourcing, but in this (short & sweet) episode I discuss two questions you should ask yourself to decide if your first thought should be DIY or outsourcing for tasks (new and old) in your business. Giving you true transparency, this is totally a buffer episode. I didn't like last week's episode and decided not to publish it, but this week's episode already has 'episode 11' all over it. So I needed SOMETHING for episode 10 and this is what you get 🤣 Resourc...

Aug 16, 2022•7 min•Ep. 10

Conducting Consistent Customer Research with Nadine Nethery of CAN DO! Content

In today’s episode with Nadine of Can Do! Content, we are exploring the idea of conducting consistent customer research to fuel all the messaging in your business. Basically letting your potential and current clients give you all the words you need to talk about your offer and attract other dream clients for your offers & services. Nadine specifically identifies herself as a strategic copywriter and I adore anyone who puts strategy-first. This conversation fully covers the when, how, and why...

Aug 01, 2022•35 min•Ep. 9

Honeybook to Dubsado: One Year Later with Mary Otanez

A little over a year ago Mary hired me to streamline her business in Dubsado. She was switching from Honeybook to Dubsado, but to be honest, she was barely using that CRM for more than sending out invoices and contracts. So we can safely say this was a brand-new systems setup 😉 A year later I interviewed Mary to ask how the systems were treating her for this week’s podcast episode and if she had made any changes. Here are the highlights… [00:43] About Mary’s business [04:20] How she was underut...

Jul 28, 2022•34 min•Ep. 8

Webinars, Low-Ticket Offers, and What I Learned About Sales

Each week I ask my guests what their biggest f*ck-up was in business and what they learned from it... are you curious about mine? In today's solo episode I am sharing my experience with webinars, low-ticket offers, and what I learned about sales after doing one. Show notes: http://coliejames.com/episode-007/ --- ARE YOU READY TO CREATE CONSISTENT SYSTEMS IN YOUR BUSINESS? Dubsado VIP Experience : This is a fully done-for-you offer for creative entrepreneurs and service providers, which includes ...

Jul 21, 2022•11 min•Ep. 7

Expanding into Education with Annemie Tonken

I am SOOOOO excited this episode when I had a conversation with Annemie Tonken of This Can't Be That Hard podcast. I've been a guest on her podcast 4 times and every single time I find myself jotting down notes for myself! Here are the highlights of our conversation: [00:51] Business-Owner or Creative First? [03:59] How and why she expanding beyond her photography business [07:15] Collaboration with Pic-Time [08:38] Why she started the This Can't Be That Hard podcast [10:46] When you move past t...

Jul 14, 2022•34 min•Ep. 6

Avoiding Burnout with Sabrina Gebhardt

My business bestie Sabrina Gebhardt loves talking about outsourcing and automation just as much as I do. The only thing she loves talking about more is sustainability and avoiding burnout. Okay and planning… I totally forgot to ask her how many planners she owns. It is a lot y’all! There are so many nuggets from this conversation, but the underlying theme for this entire podcast episode is “ you are the boss ” so build a business that makes you happy. Highlights [01:00] Entrepreneur or Creative-...

Jul 07, 2022•35 min•Ep. 5

Choose Happy

In this episode, Colie chats about evaluating your business to make sure you can answer YES to four key happiness questions. Show notes https://coliejames.com/004 --- ARE YOU READY TO CREATE CONSISTENT SYSTEMS IN YOUR BUSINESS? Dubsado VIP Experience : This is a fully done-for-you offer for creative entrepreneurs and service providers, which includes full strategy and implementation to provide each and every one of your clients with an amazing + consistent experience. https://coliejames.com/dubs...

Jun 30, 2022•8 min•Ep. 4

How Maddie Peschong is using Dubsado in a totally new way

I am very excited to share a conversation with one of my clients today. Maddie Peschong is a fabulous brand photographer based in Sioux Falls, SD and has been a Dubsado user since 2017. She was using automated workflows in a very minimal way and recently hired me to update her proposals and fully streamline + automate her workflows in a Dubado VIP Implementation Day. Here are the highlights... [00:43] About Maddie's business [03:33] Her CRM experience prior to Dubsado [05:42] Automation before w...

Jun 23, 2022•39 min•Ep. 3

Pivoting in Your Business with Britney Jeanine

My first guest interview on the podcast was with, my very own business coach, Britney Jeanine. We covered a number of topics from bring profitable to creating a social media content strategy that works for YOU. Here are a few of the highlights… [01:18] When did your business become profitable? [04:58] My VIP Day experience with Britney [07:56] What is the most important number to know in your business? [13:01] What was the biggest fuck-up in your business and what did you learn from it? [15:57] ...

Jun 16, 2022•29 min•Ep. 2

If you keep hearing NO, listen to this

It’s hard getting that NO when you send the offer for your services. In today’s episode, I am sharing four areas to focus on in order to audit your offer and improve your conversion rates. The Business-First Creatives Podcast is brought to you by CRM and Dubsado expert Colie James. Join Colie each week as she discuss how to build a business that brings you joy and a paycheck! From business advice with fellow entrepreneurs to sharing automation tips and tricks, Colie and her guests are sharing in...

Jun 08, 2022•13 min•Ep. 1

Welcome to the Podcast

Introducing the Business-First Creatives Podcast, a podcast for creative entrepreneurs where we want all creative service providers to build business that bring them joy and a paycheck. Your host is Colie James, a Disney-loving family photographer, and filmmaker turned Workflow and Automations Guru who helps creative service providers automate their sh*t, reclaim their time and get back to living!

May 28, 2022•2 min

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