by Amy Flurry

Creative collaborations are great fun, but they’re also a smart marketing move!

It is easy to get people excited about DIY publicity (it works!) and about opportunities that come of sharing your story with thousands of people (for free!) But if you’ve made your passion profitable, you also know that the business backend can be a time vacuum and zap the creative juices you once called on to keep your marketing efforts fresh.

That’s why I love and encourage collaborating to keep create content –like blog posts, mailers, newsletters—engaging. In fact, I devoted an entire chapter to the idea in my book, featuring Rebecca Wood, owner of R. Wood Ceramic Studio (www.rwoodstudio.com) in Athens, Georgia and friends. Instead of letting their need for editorial-style content become a burden, she treated it as an opportunity to get together with friends with businesses and to share inspirations and bolster their outreach efforts. They choose a day each quarter (so pictures reflect the changing seasons) and a different location each time to finish projects, style vignettes with their products, cook, craft and eat together.  “Make beauty, inspire each other, photograph it all,” says Wood. “It’s like a retreat, with a purpose.” At the end of the day, they have enough photographs to spice up their social media needs and to keep fans engaged in their story and brand lifestyle.

How does this approach also help in landing press?  The first thing media influencers look at when you reach out to them is the picture associated with the pitch. After reading a pitch, editors then visit your website, poke around the About page, your blog, Twitter feed or inspiration board to get to know your brand better. They are looking for a compelling story, one that, if they covered, would inspire their readers and even better the publication by inviting you in to their community.  A good brand tells a story through how it handles every single photograph along the way.

Collaborating like this can have even broader perks. Recently, some friends who were also jewelry designers threw a party in New York as a way to better get to know some influential bloggers and to introduce those bloggers to their brand. The designers invited friends from home to join them, to share the ride and rise; a stylist served as the group’s muse and model in the lead up, and a photographer made her first trip to New York to document the behind the scenes, other happily contributed products to fill out the goodie bags and to also enjoy the marketing opportunity. When it was all said and done, each participant blogged about it with their own spin, shared images with their own communities and expanded the reach of the host designers substantially. And they had a good time doing it, developing new friendships along the way.

How do you collaborate in business?  Are you in the habit of photographing it? Before you know it you’ll have a deep well of images to pull from to keep your customers, friends, and vendors captivated and coming back for more.

Amy is a longtime freelance editor and contributor to Country Living, Lucky, Better Homes & Gardens, InStyle, Daily Candy, Conde Nast Traveler, Paste, Jane and others. She also co-founded Paper-Cut-Project, a company that conceives highly crafted installations in paper for companies including Hermes, Cartier, The Bay, Christies, Kate Spade and Korres.

Her new book, Recipe for Press, pitch your story like the pros & create a buzz, represents Amy’s irrepressible desire to share with small business owners, designers, crafters and local brands how to create fruitful relationships with media influencers and score valuable press. It is a “how-to-be-your-own-publicist” guide to all of the information a seasoned editor wants to share with you before you pitch your story.

Available on Amazon and at www.recipeforpress.com for $23.95

a little creative magic happened in the studio this weekend… thanks susan!

we had so much fun trying some cool ARTlab techniques, bubble printing,
string painting, and painting with salt!

buy a copy of this fun and inspiring book here.

{swirly signing books}

{kate, pixie and tracey}

{kate swoboda}

{kate, andrea, and pixie}

{kristen and pixie}

{vineeta nair}

{jen and lisa}

{goodie bag stuffing the night before}

{ann and christine}

{liz. grace, melissa, swirly, maya and vineeta}

{maya and her bucket of bazooka}

{see more from the whirlwind adventure here…}

Read more >>

so the buzz has begun…  early congratulations to christine mason miller, who’s own Desire to Inspire conjured the creative magic that illuminated this entire project! i am so excited and honored to be a part of this book and in the company of some truly visionary women. really, you have to pinch me because it all feels a bit like a dream.  if you haven’t seen the sneak peek on amazon, scoot over and check out the first two chapters to give you a yummy taste of the gorgeousness of this book! while you’re there, don’t forget to grab yourself a copy, as well as a few for your friends, because what’s a better holiday gift than inspiration?

all throughout november, join the festivities over on christine’s blog (www.christinemasonmiller.com) where she will be hosting 60 minute interviews, including lovely art giveaways, with each of the books contributors (i’ll be hanging out there on nov. 30th).  such a fun way to celebrate and dive deeper into the inspiration of the project. don’t miss it!

speaking of celebrations, if you’re local to the LA area, or are feeling a little adventurous and up for a fabulous soire’ then save the date *december 15th to be exact*, and come on out for the official book lunch party and what i know will be an exciting fun-filled bash… i’d love to see you there!

and to all of our northeast creative friends, stay tuned for info about a big book celebration here on this coast too!  i’ll be putting something together for sure.

Read more >>

we are popping the champagne and officially beginning the celebration with christine on her upcoming book release this fall!  i couldn’t be more thrilled and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy as i’ll be featured between the pages along with many other shining creatives.  you can join the book’s fan page on facebook to hear the latest buzz on all the launch excitement, here.  i’m incredibly honored and grateful to have been a part of this heart-filled project and ridiculously excited to see it emerge into the world!  yay swirly!!! i can smell the freshly printed pages already…ahhh.

here’s the yummy description of the book:  In Desire to Inspire by christine mason miller, readers will be introduced to twenty extraordinary women – writers, artists and entrepreneurs – all of whom share a unique example of how they create a meaningful life and, in turn, make a positive impact on the world. The stories and examples explore the roots of their desire to inspire and how they manage to pursue their passions in the midst of all the twists and turns life has given them. In addition to a beautiful collection of quotes, stories, and anecdotes, readers are given substantive, encouraging exercises aimed at supporting their own journey towards a meaningful, mindful life.

pre-order your copy on amazon today, just in time for the holidays!  i know what i’ll be gifting this year ;)

by amber morris

Jennifer Lee is the author of The Right Brain Business Plan, the founder of Artizen Coaching, and a certified coach, artist, and yogini who believes in living life in full color.  her brand new book recently hit the shelves and here, she shares a bit if her inspiring book journey…


how and when did you know that the Right Brain Business Plan needed to become a book?

I had no idea when I created my first Right-Brain Business Plan on my kitchen table back in 2007 that it would turn into a book. I did know, though, that I wanted to write a book. In fact, I had a mini handmade book on my first RBBP to represent that very goal. And now that little book is on my book cover!

I had been working on a whole different book about creativity for about a year with my book coach. When I was getting ready to go the Book Expo America with my proposal in hand, my intuition told me, “Bring a sell sheet for Right-Brain Business Plan, too.” And so I did. As I talked with different publishers they consistently showed more interest in The Right-Brain Business Plan, and it was then I knew it was ready to born.

what was one challenge that you encountered but then overcame on you book journey?

Getting that first rejection letter was tough. I cried. I sulked. I worried that no one would ever offer me a contract. Of course other rejection letters came, as did signs of interest, too. What helped me through that painful waiting period was getting great guidance and support from my book coach, and leaning into my community of creative cohorts who kept cheering me on. Also, painting out my frustrations and worry was quite therapeutic!

what was one of your favorite moments in writing The Right Brain Business Plan?

The most memorable moment for me was holding my book in my hands for the first time. I remember thumbing through the pages and being so excited seeing all of the colorful photos of the featured plans. And I remember how much I loved the smell of my book!

did anything surprise you about this process, and what did you learn from the unexpected?

One of the most unexpected things about this whole process was realizing just how much the Right-Brain Business Plan concept resonates with people from around the world. When I hosted my Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit during my book launch, I was amazed that we had participants all the way from Barbados, South Africa, Iceland, Hong Kong, and Lebanon. It underscored for me how much creative souls are yearning to bring their gifts out to the world through business and how much they want to do it in a way that’s authentic to them.

what is next for you and the RBBP?

In terms of what next for me and the RBBP, I’m turning my e-Course into a home study version so that people can participate on their own time. I’m also going to launch a Right-Brain Business Plan® licensing program so that other coaches, creatives, and facilitators can lead in-person workshops and use the materials with their individual clients.

***giveaway*** Thanks for hosting me in the wishstudio, Mindy! I’d love to giveaway a Right-Brain Business Plan book/kit combo to a lucky member of the wishstudio community. So, please write a comment below about what you’re passionate about and we’ll pick a random winner on wednesday, july 13th.

***and the winner is… playcrane! (thanks for sharing your passions everyone ~ so very inspiiring ;)***

thanks, Jenn! i loved hearing these juicy details of your book writing process as the story behind a book always add to it’s meaning and life.  i know your words and work will continue to spark creative fires everywhere!

we are kicking off summer here in the wishstudio with our very first book group (yay!).  because we had so much interest in this book that inspired our necklace project here in the studio, i decided that it would be the perfect read to take along with you to the beach and to stay connected to that energy of community over the lazy days of summer.  i read this book a while ago and the message within the pages really stuck with me… that experiences and connections allow us to transcend our own lives and can lead us to wonderfully unexpected places of discovery and beauty.

the book is the true story of 13 women who came together to buy a diamond necklace.  little did they know that this social experiment would lead to fulfilling friendships, amazing events, and surprising revelations in their own lives.  it’s a story that we all can relate to in some way shape or form and speaks to the power of women, community, and how both can be a catalyst for change deep within ourselves and far reaching in world around us.

join us this summer as we read the necklace.  we will kick things off on sunday, june 2oth and will finish our last discussion on august 29th.  each week, a new discussion topic will be posted in the cafe where you can pull up a cozy chair and chat with fellow readers to talk about that weeks chapters.  it will be very fun and low-key.  all you need is a copy of the book and to sign up for the group in the cafe.

on june 20th you can meet me in the cafe and i will post the breakdown of the chapters for each week.  we’ll also have a little intro discussion of the book as we kick of our summer reading.  so sign up today over in the cafe!  it should be loads of fun.