Pricing is one of the most confusing parts of running a creative business, not because the math is difficult, but because the work itself is emotional, subjective, and different every time.

But pricing becomes far easier once you understand that it’s not really about “choosing a number.” It’s about positioning, demand, clarity, and data.

The Real Reason Pricing Feels Complicated

Creative work isn’t like buying a chair. People aren’t paying for a physical object — they’re paying for thinking, storytelling, expertise, and reliability. So naturally, the price range is huge. You’ll see one-minute videos quoted at $1,500, $15,000, $50,000, or $500,000, and every one of those numbers has a place in the market.

The goal isn’t to guess the “right” price. The goal is to understand where you fit in that range based on the value you create and the demand you have.

Start with Supply & Demand

One of the simplest pricing truths: when demand goes up, your price should go up with it. When demand slows down, you may need to recalibrate — not because you’re “worth less,” but because pricing is a live signal of the market.

If you’re booked solid, raise your rate. If you’re slow and waiting for work to show up, it may be time to adjust, experiment, or reposition.

Your price is not a personality trait. It’s a tool.

Hourly vs. Project-Based

Hourly pricing works when you’re subcontracting, but it falls apart when you’re working directly with clients. Clients want clarity. They want to know the investment upfront. That’s why project-based pricing — where you estimate hours internally but present a fixed number externally — is the creative industry standard.

Hourly protects your time.
Project rates protect your business.
Proper scoping protects your profit.

Don’t Forget Profit

Most creatives price only the labor and leave out the profit. But profit is what keeps your business healthy. It pays for growth, downtime, team members, new tools, and the flexibility to say no.

A healthy creative business should aim for 15–30% profit margins.
Anything less, and you’re just surviving, not building.

Why You Keep Underquoting

The work you “make” is only part of the project. The real time drain comes from meetings, emails, revisions, file prep, admin tasks, and creative decision-making. If you only price the execution, you will lose money every single time.

The fix is simple: track your time. Not forever (although I still track my own time after 11 years) — just long enough to see your patterns. That data will make your future quotes radically more accurate.

When to Raise Prices

Raise your rates when:

• You’re booked more than 4–6 weeks out

• You continue to get yeses with no hesitation

• Your skills or process have leveled up

• You’re operating in a niche with high demand

• You can consistently deliver high-quality, low-stress work

A good rule of thumb: If you win more than half of the proposals you send, you’re priced too low. I personally aim for around a 25% win rate. Winning ALL the time isn’t always a good thing.

When It’s Okay to Lower Prices

Sometimes, a temporary correction is smart. Markets shift. Inboxes dry up. You launch a new service. You reposition. You experiment. Lowering your price strategically for a short season doesn’t make you cheap — it makes you adaptable. Just be intentional and clear about it.

Your Price Tells a Story

Pricing communicates:

• Your confidence

• Your clarity

• Your positioning

• Your demand

• Your professionalism

People aren’t just buying the work — they’re buying your process, your way of thinking, and the peace of mind that comes with hiring someone who leads.

When your systems are strong and you can articulate the value behind your price, the number becomes easier for clients to understand (and accept).

Want to Feel Confident in Your Pricing?

I built a free tool that helps you quote projects with clarity and accuracy. It’s built for creatives and modeled after the same logic we use at Made By Things to scope real work.

Use it to:

• Define tasks

• Estimate hours

• See everything totaled cleanly

• Avoid undercharging

• Reduce the stress of “guessing”

Try the free pricing calculator here:
👉 https://calc.makecreateclub.com

Use it for your next project quote — and start pricing with confidence instead of fear.

Good luck!

When we think about client work, most of us immediately focus on the work itself. The animation. The campaign. The design. The deliverable. But there’s something just as important that often gets overlooked — the experience of working with you.

Because here’s the truth: most clients can find ten other studios that can do great work. What they can’t easily find is someone who makes the process enjoyable, clear, and drama-free. That’s your real competitive advantage.

The UX of a Creative Business

We talk about “user experience” all the time in design — how people interact with an app or product. But rarely do we apply that same thinking to our own businesses. Yet your creative studio is an experience.

From the first email to the final delivery, every moment tells your client something about what it’s like to work with you. Is it smooth or chaotic? Clear or confusing? Predictable or nerve-wracking? That’s your UX.

A studio’s client experience isn’t just customer service — it’s brand strategy. It’s how you turn one-time clients into long-term partners.

Why Client Experience Matters

1. Trust Builds Before the First Frame. Clients decide whether they trust you long before you start creating. Every early interaction — your proposal, your communication, your tone — either builds or erodes that trust.

2. Process Reduces Anxiety. Most clients aren’t creatives. They don’t know how animation or design, or film production works. When you give them structure and visibility, it replaces uncertainty with excitement.

3. Experience Drives Retention. People remember how you make them feel. Great work gets attention; great experiences get repeat business.

Lessons from the Studio

At Made By Things, we learned that even when projects go perfectly from a creative standpoint, they can still fail if the client experience isn’t great. Missed updates, unclear expectations, and confusing communication can sour a good outcome. Over time, we realized that refining the experience mattered just as much as refining the output.

That’s when we started treating our process like a product — designing it intentionally to make working with us easy, collaborative, and even fun.

How to Create a Better Client Experience

Here are a few ways to level up your studio’s UX:

1. Set Expectations Early
Presentation decks are your friend. We call ours “Breadcrumbs” since it shows HOW we’ve gotten to the current point. Outline your process, milestones, roles, and communication rhythm from day one. Clarity equals confidence.

2. Communicate Proactively
Never make a client wonder where things stand. Even a short “Hey, we’re on schedule and working on X today” email builds trust. Silence creates anxiety.

3. Make Collaboration Easy
Choose tools clients can actually use. Frame.io, ClickUp, Notion, Google Drive, Slack — whatever reduces friction. The simpler it is, the smoother it feels.

4. Be Their Guide, Not Their Vendor
Clients don’t want order-takers. They want partners who help them make better creative decisions. Educate, advise, and explain your rationale. That’s what builds authority.

5. Add Small Moments of Delight
Include a behind-the-scenes breakdown, an unexpected animation tweak, or a small handoff gift. These moments don’t have to be expensive — they just have to be thoughtful.

The Ripple Effect of Great Experience

When your client experience is great, something powerful happens:

• Projects go smoother.

• Feedback gets clearer.

• Clients come back again and again.

• And maybe most importantly, you enjoy the process more, too.

A strong client experience reduces friction for everyone. It builds mutual respect. It turns stressful production cycles into creative collaborations.

The Internal UX

Client experience isn’t just external — it starts with your team. The way your team communicates, stays organized, and hands off deliverables directly impacts what the client feels. If your internal systems are messy, your external experience will be too. (See my last post for more on this)

So if you want happier clients, start by creating smoother systems internally. Better project management equals better client experience.

Final Thoughts

The work is what clients buy. But the experience is what they remember.

If you’re a creative entrepreneur or project manager, think about the UX of your studio as intentionally as you’d think about the UX of a website. Ask yourself: how does it feel to work with us? What moments confuse people? What moments delight them?

Because when you design your process as carefully as a product, you don’t just deliver great work — you deliver peace of mind. And that’s something clients will always come back for.

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Most creative professionals would rather talk about ideas, storytelling, or color palettes than spreadsheets and timelines. But the truth is, great creative work falls apart without great project management.

In my first few years running Made By Things, I thought chaos was part of the creative process. Every project felt like starting from scratch. But chaos, I learned, kills creativity. The turning point came when I realized that structure doesn’t restrict creativity—it protects it. The systems you build around your work are what give your best ideas the chance to survive.

Why Process Matters More Than Talent

I used to believe that if I just made great work, everything else would fall into place. But clients don’t hire you for your talent alone—they hire you for trust. And trust is built on predictability.

When a client asks, “So what happens next?” and you can answer confidently with a clear step-by-step plan and timeline—that’s when they start seeing you as a partner, not a vendor.

If you can’t answer that question, they start to lead the project themselves. And when that happens, the project becomes a guessing game instead of a collaboration.

Steal My System

You don’t need expensive software or a full-time producer to get organized. You just need a clear plan, a timeline, and accountability.

That’s why I’m sharing our Made By Things Gantt Chart Template—the same one we use for every single project. It’s simple, adaptable, and has helped us manage everything from $5,000 videos to seven-figure campaigns.

👉 Download the free Gantt Chart Template here

How to use it

1. Copy the template to your own Google Drive.

2. Fill in all the details, including your step-by-step process.

3. Color-code cells to your working days and then add in the client's review days

4. Share with your client so they know exactly what to expect and when.

It’s quite simple, but it makes a world of difference for both you and your clients.

For most creatives, profit feels like a dirty word. We don’t start studios or freelance businesses because we’re obsessed with spreadsheets—we start because we love making things. Money feels secondary. But here’s the hard truth: without profit, your creative business is just a hobby with invoices. And more importantly, profit is the very thing that gives you freedom as a creative.

Not freedom in the Lamborghini-and-private-jet sense. Freedom in the sense of choices. Profit gives you the ability to choose better clients, choose better projects, choose more time off, and choose the future you want to build.

Why Profit Matters (Beyond Paying Bills)

At its core, profit is what’s left after you pay your expenses. But it’s more than leftover cash. Profit is margin, and margin is breathing room. Without it, every month feels like survival mode—you’re scrambling to cover payroll, rent, and software subscriptions, with nothing left over to grow or rest.

Profit is what turns a business from reactive to proactive. It lets you:

• Take on riskier, more experimental projects.

• Hire help before you burn out.

• Say no to clients who don’t align with your values.

• Invest in your own skills, tools, and marketing.

In short, profit gives you options.

The Guilt Trap of Profit

A lot of creatives wrestle with guilt around profit. “Shouldn’t I reinvest every dollar? Shouldn’t I keep prices low to stay accessible? Isn’t profit greedy?”

Here’s the thing: profit doesn’t have to be selfish. Profit is what keeps your business alive. It’s what ensures your employees get paid, your clients are supported long-term, and your creative work can keep existing in the world. Without profit, your business is fragile. With profit, it’s sustainable.

So instead of asking, “Is it greedy to make profit?” ask, “What freedom could this profit give me—and how can I use that freedom responsibly?”

Deciding What to Do with the Extra

Okay, so you’ve got profit. What now? Here are some options:

1. Reinvest in the Business

   • Upgrade equipment or software.

   • Build out your portfolio or marketing efforts.

   • Hire contractors or staff to expand capacity.

2. Build a Safety Net

   • Create a reserve fund to cover 3–6 months of expenses.

   • This buffer reduces panic when projects slow down.

3. Invest in Yourself

   • Take a course. Attend a conference. Hire a coach.

   • Your growth as a leader and a creative directly benefits the business.

4. Reward the Team

   • Profit sharing, bonuses, or even small perks show your team they’re valued.

   • A little recognition goes a long way.

5. Buy Back Time

   • Use profit to reduce your own workload—hire admin help, a producer, or even a cleaning service at home. Free time fuels creativity.

6. Experiment

   • Profit lets you play. Maybe it’s a passion project, a new product idea, or a marketing experiment. The risk of failure feels lighter when you’re not in survival mode.

7. Pay Yourself Well

   • Don’t forget: you’re allowed to benefit from your own business. A fair salary, retirement contributions, or even just taking your family on vacation—that’s what profit is for, too.

Balancing Today and Tomorrow

The challenge is balance. Spend all your profit on yourself today, and you may starve the business of growth. Reinvest every dollar into the business, and you may burn yourself out with nothing to show for it personally.

A simple rule of thumb is to divide profit into thirds:

• 1/3 for reinvestment in the business.

• 1/3 for your personal financial security.

• 1/3 for flexibility (team bonuses, experiments, or savings).

It doesn’t have to be exact, but this mindset keeps you from swinging too far in one direction.

Final Thoughts

Profit isn’t about greed. It’s about freedom. It’s about having the margin to breathe, to say no, to grow, and to create on your own terms. The goal isn’t to maximize profit at all costs—it’s to use profit wisely so your creative business can thrive long-term.

So the next time you see extra money left over, don’t feel guilty. Feel grateful. That profit is your creative freedom tool. The question is: how will you use it?

Most creative businesses live project to project. A client hires you, you deliver the work, you send the invoice, and then… silence. Maybe they’ll come back, maybe they won’t. It’s unpredictable and frankly, a bit exhausting.

But what if you could turn those one-off projects into ongoing partnerships? What if, instead of constantly chasing new clients, you could deepen relationships with existing ones? That’s where the real magic happens, and it’s how you build stability in any business.

Why Partnerships Matter

1. Predictability. Partnerships provide steadier cash flow. You’re not starting from zero each month. Being able to plan your income beyond a month is a key step in overcoming constant scarcity.

2. Efficiency. When you know a client’s brand, you work faster and smarter. Less guesswork, more impact.

3. Trust. With ongoing work, you move from vendor to partner. Clients listen to your advice more, and projects run smoother.

The Problem with One-Off Projects

One-off projects feel good in the moment. They pay the bills, fill your portfolio, and give you variety. But they also create constant pressure. You’re always marketing, always pitching, always starting from scratch. It’s hard to grow when your calendar depends entirely on finding the next gig.

How to Build Partnerships

1. Do Great Work First. It sounds obvious, but nothing matters if the initial project isn’t excellent. Trust starts with delivery.

2. Ask About the Bigger Picture. Don’t just focus on the immediate brief. Ask questions like, “What’s next for your team this year?” or “How does this project fit into your long-term goals?”

3. Plant Seeds Early. While working on Project A, mention ways you could help with Project B. Not in a pushy way—just as part of the conversation.

4. Stay in Touch. After delivery, don’t disappear. Send follow-ups, check in on results, and share ideas.

5. Offer Ongoing Options. Suggest retainers, subscription models, or phased campaigns that spread over months instead of weeks.

The Retainer Conversation

One of the best ways to formalize partnerships is through retainers. A retainer is an agreement where the client pays a set amount each month for ongoing access to your services. It shifts the relationship from “one and done” to “always available.”

Retainers aren’t for every client, but for those with recurring needs (like content, campaigns, or brand support), they’re a win-win. They get consistency. You get predictability.

Examples of Partnership Growth

• The Podcast Client. A client once hired us for a one-off video. Instead of stopping there, we suggested helping them repurpose their podcast into weekly social clips. That turned into a year-long relationship.

• The Event Client. Another client came to us for a single event animation. We asked about their annual events calendar. Turns out, they had four more planned. We mapped out support for the whole year.

• The Startup. A startup hired us for a brand video. By asking about their fundraising goals, we discovered they needed help with their motion branding and product explainers. One video turned into a multi-year partnership.

The Long Game

Partnerships aren’t built overnight. Sometimes it takes months or years of small projects before a client fully commits. The key is to stay present, stay helpful, and keep showing that you care about their success—not just the invoice.

Final Thoughts

One-off projects pay the bills. Partnerships build businesses. The next time you land a client, don’t just think about the deliverable in front of you. Think about the bigger journey. Ask questions. Plant seeds. Offer solutions that stretch beyond today.

Because when you shift from vendor to partner, you stop chasing gigs and start building a business that lasts.

One of the trickiest parts of pricing creative services is deciding where the bottom line should be. At what point does a project stop being worth it? How low is too low? This is what I call the minimum level of engagement—the smallest amount of work or money that makes sense for you to take on.

It’s tempting to say yes to everything, especially early on. A $200 project here, a $500 project there—it all adds up, right? But in reality, those tiny projects often drain more energy than they give back. And if you don’t set a minimum, you’ll find yourself constantly underwater.

Why Minimums Matter

1. Protects Your Time. Small projects still take admin work: contracts, invoices, and communication. If you’re spending more time setting up a job than doing it, that’s a problem.

2. Signals Value. A minimum tells clients, “This is the level at which we work.” It sets expectations and weeds out the folks who aren’t serious.

3. Supports Profitability. If your minimum is too low, you’ll never hit sustainable margins. A good minimum ensures you’re not losing money by saying yes.

How to Find Your Minimum

• Know Your Costs. Start with your monthly expenses: business and personal. Divide by the number of projects you realistically want to take on. That gives you a baseline.

• Track Effort. Pay attention to how much time small projects actually take. Sometimes a “quick job” eats up hours.

• Experiment. Raise your minimum slowly and see if clients still bite. You’ll be surprised how often they do.

Examples of Minimums

• A freelancer might set a $1,000 minimum project fee. Anything less, and it’s not worth the setup.

• A studio might set a $10,000 minimum engagement. That way, every project is substantial enough to move the needle.

• Some creatives use time instead of money: “We don’t take projects shorter than 2 weeks.”

The key is consistency. Once you have a minimum, stick to it. It’s better to say no than to burn yourself out.

When to Bend the Rule

Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes you take a smaller project because:

• It’s with a dream client.

• It opens the door to bigger work.

• It’s an experiment that teaches you something.

But those should be conscious decisions, not desperate ones.

The Danger of No Minimum

Without a clear minimum, you’ll attract clients who only want the cheapest option. And cheap clients usually come with the most headaches. They’re not invested, they push for more than they pay for, and they rarely stick around long-term.

Setting a minimum is like putting a sign on your door: “We take our work seriously. If you do too, come on in.”

Final Thoughts

Your minimum level of engagement isn’t just about money. It’s about respect—for your time, your team, and your craft. It keeps you from drowning in low-value work and frees you up for projects that actually matter.

So figure out your minimum. Write it down. Stick to it. Because sometimes the best business decision you can make is the power of no.

Early in my career, I thought the key to repeat clients was doing the best work. Nail the design, animation, or video, and clients would come back, right? Not exactly. I learned the hard way that great work isn’t enough. Clients don’t just remember the final product—they remember the experience of working with you.

That’s where the “white-glove approach” comes in. It’s not about wearing actual white gloves (though, hey, that might be a bold brand choice). It’s about treating the client experience as carefully as the work itself.

Why Experience Trumps Deliverables

Here’s a harsh truth: there are plenty of talented creatives out there. Clients can find someone else to design a logo, edit a video, or animate a sequence. What they can’t always find is someone who makes the process painless—or even enjoyable.

Think about the last time you hired a contractor for your home. Did you remember the exact nails they used? Or did you remember whether they showed up on time, communicated clearly, and left your place cleaner than when they arrived? The same goes for creative services.

What the White-Glove Approach Looks Like

1. Clear Onboarding. From the start, clients should know what to expect. Walk them through timelines, roles, and how revisions work. Clarity = confidence.

2. Proactive Communication. Don’t wait for clients to chase you. Regular updates, even a quick “here’s where we’re at,” go a long way.

3. Empathy in Action. When clients are confused or stressed, don’t roll your eyes. Step into their shoes. Most of them don’t know the creative process like you do.

4. Surprise & Delight. A little extra polish on deliverables. A handwritten thank-you note. Small touches that show you care.

5. Respect Their Time. Be on time for meetings. Stick to promised deadlines. Nothing screams professionalism like reliability.

The ROI of Great Experience

When you focus on experience, three things happen:

1. Clients Return. Even if another studio is cheaper, they’ll come back to you because they trust the process.

2. Referrals Multiply. People love bragging about vendors who made their lives easier.

3. You Command Higher Rates. When you’re known for a stellar client experience, you’re not competing solely on price.

A Story from the Studio

At Made By Things, we once had a client say they were used to a “white-glove approach.” At first, I didn’t know what they meant. But when they described it—clear communication, organized steps, hand-holding when needed, it clicked.

Less than 24 hours later, I was redesigning my whole process to make sure it focused not only on our work, but the client experience too.

Building Systems for White-Glove Service

The good news: you don’t need to reinvent yourself. You just need to systematize the basics:

• Send welcome decks or videos to explain your process.

• Use project management tools to keep everyone aligned. Make sure it’s always known how you got to where you are in the project.

• Set client review dates in advance. I like to set all our meetings before we ever start any work.

• Train your team to communicate in a consistent, professional way.

These aren’t flashy changes, but they add up to an experience clients will remember.

Final Thoughts

Good work gets you noticed. A great client experience gets you hired again. The white-glove approach isn’t about pampering clients with champagne (though that’s not a bad idea). It’s about clarity, empathy, and care.

Because at the end of the day, clients don’t just want a deliverable. They want peace of mind. And if you can give them that, you’ll have clients who not only return but rave about you to everyone they know.

If there’s one topic that makes most creatives squirm, it’s sales. We didn’t get into this work to be salespeople—we got into it because we love making things. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you want to build a creative business, you can’t avoid sales. Clients don’t just appear out of thin air. They need to discover you, trust you, and eventually pay you. That process—the journey from stranger to client—is what’s known as the sales funnel.

The problem? Most sales funnels you see online look like something from a corporate MBA textbook. Complicated diagrams. Acronyms. Endless software. It all feels unnatural. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, a sales funnel for a creative business can be incredibly simple—and even, dare I say, creative.

Why Creatives Hate Sales

Most of us hate sales because we think of it as slimy: cold calls, hard pitches, used-car tactics. We imagine chasing people down, begging for attention, and pushing our work on folks who don’t want it. No wonder it feels gross.

But that’s not what real sales is. Sales, done right, is just relationship-building. It’s guiding someone through a series of steps where they get to know you, like you, and trust you enough to work with you.

The Five Stages of a Creative Business Sales Funnel

Let’s break this down into five simple stages:

1. Awareness – People need to know you exist. This is the top of the funnel. Social media posts, blogs, videos, talks, networking events—anything that introduces you to new people. The key here is consistency, not perfection.

2. Interest – Once someone knows you, they need a reason to lean in closer. Maybe they follow you on LinkedIn, sign up for your newsletter, or attend your free webinar. This stage is about small commitments that show curiosity.

3. Trust – This is where you prove you’re worth it. Case studies, testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, and face-to-face conversations all build confidence. Clients want to know not just what you make, but how you think and what it’s like to work with you.

4. Commitment (Sale) – Finally, the client says yes. But here’s the kicker: the sale often feels like the smallest step if the first three stages are done right. At this point, the decision is obvious—they already trust you.

5. Reward Loyalty - Most people often completely skip over this step, but it’s potentially the most important. It can essentially be boiled down to doing nice things for people that you’ve worked with before. This could also be called overdelivering or gifting. This is where you keep relationships growing. Do this step well, and you get things like repeat clients and referrals.

Why the Funnel Matters

Without a funnel, sales feels like shouting into the void. You make a post, cross your fingers, and hope someone reaches out. That’s not a strategy—that’s luck. And luck runs out fast.

With a funnel, you know what step you’re moving people toward. You stop expecting instant sales and start focusing on nurturing relationships over time. This shift alone can ease so much pressure. Instead of every post or coffee meeting needing to “land a client,” it just aims to move someone one step closer.

Real Talk: Sales Cycles Are Long

In creative services, sales cycles are rarely quick. We’re not selling $20 T-shirts; we’re selling multi-thousand-dollar projects that require trust. On average, it can take 12–24 months from first contact to signed contract. That’s a long game. Which is why it’s so important to have multiple people moving through your funnel at once. Some might close next month, others two years from now. Your job is to keep them in motion.

Creative Ways to Fill Your Funnel

• Share Your Process – Don’t just post finished work. Show how you think. Clients love to see the magic behind the curtain.

• Host Small Events – Coffee meetups, mini workshops, or webinars. They’re low-pressure ways to build awareness and interest.

• Write Case Studies – Focus less on the deliverable and more on the problem solved. Let potential clients see themselves in your stories.

• Stay in Touch – A quick email checking in goes further than another cold pitch. Relationships are built over time.

Why This Works for Creatives

The beauty of a funnel is that it allows you to sell without feeling salesy. You don’t need to pressure anyone. You don’t need to manipulate. All you’re doing is showing up consistently, providing value, and letting people move closer at their own pace.

When you think of it this way, sales stops being gross. It starts being another form of creativity—designing experiences that lead to trust.

Final Thoughts

If you hate sales, you’re not alone. Most creatives do. But avoiding it isn’t an option if you want to build a business. The good news is, you don’t have to sell like a car dealer. You can sell like a creator: with empathy, with consistency, and with a clear funnel that makes the path simple for clients.

Because at the end of the day, sales isn’t about convincing. It’s about connecting. And that’s something creatives are already pretty great at.

Click here to be a part of the next cohort of Creative Business School today.

When most creatives decide to quit their full-time job and go off on their own, they think they’re building a business. But more often than not, what they’re really building is a job. A good job, maybe even a great one—but still a job. And the distinction between a job and a business asset is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a creative entrepreneur.

Because here’s the truth: if what you’re building depends entirely on you showing up every day, then you don’t own a business. You own your job. And that job will disappear the moment you stop working.

The Job Disguised as a Business

I learned this the hard way. In my early years, I called myself a studio. It sounded impressive, like I was running a full-fledged company. But in reality, it was just me, a computer in my 1-bedroom apartment, and a small, but growing list of clients. I was doing all the work, managing all the projects, sending all the invoices, and answering every email. I had no real systems in place. If I got sick, projects stalled. If I wanted to take a vacation, my income stopped. My “studio” wasn’t a studio at all—it was just me with a shinier title.

This is what I call building a job disguised as a business. You might feel independent. You might even be making more money than you did as an employee. But at the end of the day, you’ve just created another job for yourself, one with longer hours and more stress.

What an Asset Looks Like

A business, on the other hand, is an asset. An asset is something that continues to generate income even when you’re not present. It’s something with systems, processes, and people that allow it to operate independently of you.

Think about it: if you took two weeks off right now, would your business keep running? Would clients still be served? Would invoices still be paid? If the answer is no, then you don’t have an asset yet.

An asset has value beyond you. It can be sold, scaled, or passed on. A job cannot. That’s the difference.

Why the Distinction Matters

The distinction matters because it changes the way you make decisions. If you’re building a job, you’ll prioritize short-term wins: billable hours, immediate client projects, and keeping busy. But if you’re building an asset, you’ll prioritize long-term sustainability: repeatable systems, hiring, client retention, and brand equity.

Jobs die when you stop working. Assets live on.

This mindset shift is also crucial for your family. When I thought about what would happen if I got sick or, worse, died, it was sobering. If everything depended on me, my family would be left with nothing. But if I built a true business asset—something that could be sold or continued—then all the years of effort wouldn’t vanish overnight.

From Job to Asset: The Transition

So how do you transition from building a job to building an asset? Here are a few practical steps:

1. Systematize Everything – Write down how you do what you do. If someone else can follow your playbook, you’re on your way to an asset.

2. Delegate Tasks – Start with small things: bookkeeping, design tweaks, client emails. Free your time for high-value work.

3. Think Scale, Not Just Survival – Stop asking, “How do I get through this month?” and start asking, “How do I build something that lasts 10 years?”

4. Hire for Fit, Not Just Skill – A team isn’t just extra hands. It’s people who can carry your culture and your values forward.

5. Invest in Relationships – An asset business doesn’t just sell deliverables; it sells trust, consistency, and reliability. Strong client relationships outlast any one project.

Examples of Job vs. Asset

• Job mindset: You design logos for $1,000 each. If you stop, no logos get made.

• Asset mindset: You build a branding agency where designers work with clients under your systems. Even when you’re away, logos (and revenue) keep flowing.

• Job mindset: You freelance as an animator. Each project is yours alone to complete.

• Asset mindset: You run a studio with producers, designers, and animators, and projects move forward even when you’re not touching every frame.

The difference is independence versus interdependence.

The Freedom Factor

Ironically, most creatives go freelance for freedom. But true freedom doesn’t come from being your own boss—it comes from owning an asset. Freedom is being able to take a week off without panicking about money. Freedom is knowing that if life throws you a curveball, your income doesn’t vanish. Freedom is working on what excites you most, not just what pays the bills.

And that freedom only comes from building an asset.

Final Thoughts

If you’re freelancing right now, don’t panic—you’re not doing it wrong. Freelancing is often the first step toward building something bigger. But don’t stop there. Don’t mistake your job for a business. Think long-term. Start building systems, relationships, and a team. Start building an asset.

Because one day, you won’t want to work 60 hours a week just to keep the lights on. You’ll want to rest, to take care of your family, to maybe even sell what you’ve built. And when that day comes, you’ll be glad you built a business that lasts, not just a job with a fancy title.

Running a creative business is a little bit like trying to balance on a surfboard while juggling flaming torches. Some days it feels smooth and exciting, other days you’re just hoping not to burn your eyebrows off.

So the question is: how do you build a creative services business that people actually want to work with? One where clients keep coming back—not because you’re begging, but because they can’t imagine working with anyone else.

I was chatting with Creative Business School student, Tony Elmore, about this recently, and we ended up covering everything from retainers to pricing to who you should even be working with in the first place. Here are some of the big takeaways (sprinkled with a little real-talk).

1. Relationships Are the Real Currency

Forget the fancy cold email templates for a second. The truth is, your next project is probably coming from someone you already know—or from someone they know.

Most of my best work has started over coffee, lunch, or a totally random chat. Like I told Tony: “Most of the time it’s just having some deep, meaningful conversation about something that’s completely unrelated to work… and then by the end, we end up talking about work anyway.”

That’s the trick. Stop treating every interaction like a pitch. Talk about baseball. Ask about their kids. Hell, complain about airline food if that’s what you’ve got. People remember how you made them feel way before they remember your portfolio link.

2. Retainers Are Great, But Not A Magic Cure

Retainers sound sexy on paper—predictable income, fewer sales calls, a sense of stability. But they can also trap you into doing work that doesn’t excite you.

I usually shoot for a balance: about half of our revenue from retainers and half from one-off projects. Not all, but some retainers can easily suck out the creative fun from the work we do, especially if it’s the same type of task done on repeat. A good balance creates a healthy, creative soul.

And here’s the thing—even so-called “one-off” projects often lead to more work. The client might come back three more times that year. So while invoicing may be more sporadic, you may already have a perfect client and not even know it.

3. Get Creative With Pricing

This is the part a lot of people get squeamish about, but pricing doesn’t have to be rigid. You don’t have to follow some corporate agency formula.

Sometimes I’ll send a proposal with three options. Sometimes I’ll say, “If that’s your budget, cool—let me make a plan for it.” And yeah, sometimes I just get weird with it. Like I said to Tony: “As long as they’re getting value, I can literally do this however I want—as long as I’m getting value too.”

The point is: don’t be afraid to improvise. Clients respect when you shape things around them instead of forcing them into a template.

4. Work With People Who Can Actually Pay You

If you’re working with tiny businesses or brand-new startups, you’ll probably get a lot of enthusiasm but not a lot of budget. And sometimes, by the time you finish a project, their entire business model has changed anyway.

Mid-sized companies—let’s say $10M to $50M in revenue—are usually the sweet spot. They’ve got marketing teams, real budgets, and ongoing needs.

But don’t write off smaller companies entirely. Like I told Tony, “You either move up the chain a bit, or you develop a product so good that even the little guys will pay a premium for it.”

Both can work. Just be clear about which game you’re playing.

5. Show Up in Person

Zoom is fine. Emails are fine. But nothing beats showing up in person.

This year I’ve been travelling more than usual, and it’s paying off. As I said in our conversation, “Competition is fierce right now, and I need to make sure I’m one up on everyone else. So I need to get face-to-face with potential clients often.”

It doesn’t always have to be a big pitch, either. Sometimes it’s literally just a coffee and a chat. The work comes later… In some cases, 12 - 24 months, so be patient!

6. Surprise People (In a Good Way)

Here’s a secret: the little extras stick in people’s minds way longer than the polished deck you spent three days on.

Sometimes that means designing a graphic they didn’t ask for. Sometimes it’s buying tickets to their favorite baseball team. Sometimes it’s redoing their website just because you know it’ll help (and because, let’s be honest, you wanted to anyway).

As I put it: “Doing things nobody else would do builds so much trust.”

Don’t give away the farm, but those little surprises? They’re what turn one-off clients into long-term partners.

7. Keep It Fun

This might be the most important one. We could all make more money doing something boring and predictable. Roofing, accounting, whatever. But we chose creative service because we like it.

So don’t build a business that sucks the fun out of your own creativity. Balance client needs with passion projects. Overdeliver when it feels good. Travel to meet clients if that excites you, and if it doesn’t, try something else!

Because if you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point?

Wrapping It Up

At the end of the day, building an in-demand creative services business isn’t about locking everyone into a subscription or chasing every lead on LinkedIn. It’s about being human. Building relationships. Staying flexible. And remembering why you started in the first place.

As Tony put it, “I feel like I’ve been thinking too small… but I also don’t want to lose that heart for helping people.”

That’s it right there. Big enough to grow. Small enough to care.

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