10 COMPANIES AND COLLECTIVES SUPPORTING CREATIVE BUSINESSES
Our main goal at Creative Founders is inspire female artists and creative entrepreneurs to build better businesses, and one of the ways we aim to do that is by introducing you to some ladies that are killing it in the digital world. We recently did a post on 12 Amazing Women Teaching the Online Business Skills You Need to Know, and decided to continue on that theme with some more awesome individuals, collectives and courses that can help you skyrocket your online business to success.
SMALL TALK SOCIAL
Stephanie Gilbert is the brains behind Small Talk Social, which focuses on content creation and social media marketing for creative online business owners. She has a ton of experience working in visual marketing, wedding and event planning, prop styling, and most recently managing social media for Urban Outfitters. Now she helps creative brands and bloggers build their businesses on Instagram and other social media platforms. Join her free 30-day Instagram challenge, sign up for one of her membership courses, or grab one of her cool tools like the social media planner of one of her ultimate hashtag resource guides.
CRAFTSPOSURE
Craftsposure offers business tips and inspiration to makers, entrepreneurs, and pretty much anyone who wants to use their creativity to craft their own success. Sign up with them and you’ll get a free 5-day e-course that will help you take your ideas and passions and turn them into a viable income source. They don’t promise it’s going to be easy, but they do promise bucketloads of support and great tips and tools to start shaping the business and life you truly want. You’ll find great blog posts on the site, as well as a handy business planner to help you plan and achieve your goals, plus their IGTRIBE Instagram course to help you rock your social media like a champ.
www.instagram.com/justagirl_abby
TRADESHOW BOOTCAMP
Launched in 2011 by Katie Hunt of Kelp Designs, Tradeshow Bootcamp is geared toward small businesses and designers creating stationery and other crafty gifts who are looking to break into large trade shows and the wholesale market. Their in-depth and in-person workshops take place at various dates throughout the year and they cover everything from developing products and setting prices to working with reps, building sales tools, and marketing. They also give recommendations for printers and packaging and tips on scheduling your trade shows and budgeting.
WONDERLASS
Colourful, quirky and super creative, Allison helps other creative women start, launch and grow online businesses that will eventually become passive income machines. She does this by offering tons of fun freebies like webinars and online courses packed with videos, slides checklists and actionable steps along with what she calls ‘adult homework’. Once you’ve got the basics down, you can take your action plan one step further with her paid courses like From Blog to Business and Webinars for Introverts.
BLOG SOCIETY
Although they’re based in Sydney, Australia, Blog Society is a global community where digital storytellers can connect, collaborate and share their experience, knowledge and inspiration via a series of classes, workshops and online gatherings. We absolutely love their 6-week Digital Bravery e-course because it encourages online entrepreneurs to conquer their fears of digital marketing and social media and gives actionable strategies on clarifying your vision, building your brand, and putting your business out there with confidence and pride.
THINK CREATIVE COLLECTIVE
If you’re a creative business owner who loves creating but is not so savvy on the marketing front, Abigail and Emylee from Think Creative Collective are there to help. They work one-on-one with all types of businesses from big to small, established to just starting, and they focus on design, branding and marketing so that you can attract your ideal clients and customers. They’ve also got some great free resources like a course on sparking your creativity, a 7-day Instagram Bootcamp challenge, and a free printable to help you boost your blog traffic.
www.thinkcreativecollective.com
RISING TIDE SOCIETY
What started as a gathering of a few makers discussing the loneliness of creative entrepreneurship and the need to cultivate relationships over competition quickly gained traction and became a huge international movement that now attracts creatives from all over the world looking to engage and interact with like-minded people. At last look their hashtag #communityovercompetition had over 480k posts, and their website offers loads of free webinars, blog posts, and affordable courses to help small business owners grow both professionally and personally.
CREATE & CULTIVATE
Create & Cultivate is a movement made by women for women who are creating and cultivating their own businesses in the digital world. Three times a year they hold conferences in different cities around the US where they bring together entrepreneurs, creative types and some of the best girl bosses in the business to take part in workshops, mentor sessions and panels with great food, drinks, and pop-up shops thrown in for good measure. While you may not be able to jump on a plane to attend their next gathering, you can check out their blog for useful biz tips and downloadable resources.
BLOGUETTES
Join the Bloguette community and you will have access to the full gamut of training and tools you need to elevate your online business like workshops, webinars, video classes, tutorials, one-on-one sessions and even stock photos. If you’re in the US, you can join one of their 3-day Branding Workshops to get hands-on instruction and inspiration on how to build up your online presence through blogging, social media and kick-ass design. However, if you’re out of the country or unable to attend, you can check out their blog for cool tips and tricks and sign up for one of their live webinar sessions.
STARTUP CREATIVE
This unique Australian professional development and mentoring program was designed for passionate young people aged 15 to 35 years old who are considering taking the leap into starting their own creative business. Besides offering workshops, e-courses, e-books and coaching sessions, founder Kaylene Langford also connects young creatives to industry experts and mentors, funding programmes and development programs so that young start-ups have access to everything they need to reach their full potential.
