Something magical happens when you’ve become a creative expert. It doesn’t happen overnight, and you may find that you’re the last one to adopt the “creative expert” title for yourself, but at some point you’ll take a step back—after sending that final invoice to a client, after designing your 85th logo, after showing your client a moodboard and hearing that enthusiastic “YES!”—and you’ll think, “Wow! I am really good at this!”
“But I’m so busy in the doing!” you might say. And yeah, the client managing, business managing and the creating itself for sure, is a big part. But another part is doing what creative experts do. So we want to share with you our do-like-a-creative-expert list—and if you’re kind of at that “fraudy feeling” stage where you’re not quite ready to claim your creative expertise, you might find that you’ve got some of these items covered too:
Creative experts explain, they don’t sell.
You can’t have a business without a sales funnel because no matter how fabulous your services are, the idea that anything “just sells itself” is a lie. Creative experts know this, but they also know that a stuffy sales pitch is not going to do them any favors either. So what do they do? They explain. Your clients want a behind-the-scenes peek, a glimpse into what drives you to create an amazing product, and a preview of the journey you’ll take them on in your time working together.
Creative experts know that the sales process is really just a conversation—not polished and perfected, but genuine and transparent to really get that potential client to understand the process and connect with you and what you’re offering. (click to tweet)
Creative experts predict and notice patterns.
This isn’t to say that each of your clients isn’t a unique and beautiful butterfly, but when you’re a creative expert, you understand your dream clients before you’ve even met them (click to tweet). You’ll begin to see which problems, worries, and frustrations are common among your favorite clients, and you’ll be able to anticipate those same needs for similar clients moving forward. Creative experts see these patterns and connect the dots so they can produce more content that is even more specific to their dream clients. Once you’re able to offer those specific solutions to those problems and concerns, the only thing they’re thinking is, “Oh my gosh this person gets me! I need to work with them immediately!”
Creative experts earn enthusiastic approval.
We’ve all had that client (or fear having that client) who after seeing the final logo, or the brand design, or the website, even final room (for you interior designers out there!)—just didn’t like it. Cue: heart drop, irrational anger, and feelings of hurt and rejection.
Creative experts know how to minimize the risk of ever getting to that disappointing place so late in the project, and instead get a response that’s more along the lines of an all-caps, exclamation-point-expression of love and excitement. And it’s not because they’re better at what they do, it’s because they know how to listen, adjust, and share the process along the way. By making your client feel like part of the process and be able to give you constructive feedback before you get too far in, you’re able to take some of that pressure off the final reveal and receive that enthusiastic approval.
Creative experts have a creative process.
You know when you finish a project that just felt so right? Your client was a dream, the process was smooth, and the result made your client excited and made you think I wish every project could be just like this!
Creatives experts have figured out how to make all of their projects just like that one project. That’s not to say they don’t have a project that gets off track sometimes or only produce a uniform product forever and ever, but they’ve developed a process to follow that helps streamline communication, smooth over any bumps, and maps out a timeline that’s achievable. This process helps you work in the perfect conditions to create your best work, it helps your clients trust that you know what you’re doing, and it gives you the confidence to continue to grow.
Creative experts teach and share their knowledge
By sharing the knowledge that attracts their dream customers to them, creative experts are setting themselves up as an expert in their field. They build trust not only by demonstrating that they know what they’re doing, but potential clients feel confident that if the free content can add so much value to their lives, then the actual paid service will help them move mountains! The more you can share what you know, either by giving it away or choosing to package and sell this content, the more you will build a tribe of built-in dream customers who are already learning from you.
