Introducing Ponderstream: A Webinar Show for Creative Entrepreneurs

If you’ve spent time browsing my blog archives, you know I love talking about creative entrepreneurship, and I jump at every opportunity I get.

So I am excited to announce my newest resource: Ponderstream!

Each week, I am hosting a live webinar show filled with high-quality content to help you in your business endeavors. I wanted to create this new form of content to transparently share even more insights and strategies with you. I love how easy and enjoyable it is to learn with video, and I can’t wait for you to see what’s in store.

Think of Ponderstream as a video podcast series that you can return to each week for new content, all designed specifically for creative entrepreneurs.

And the best part is, it’s an interactive livestream!

Ponderstream features the in-person feel of live video and a chat feature. So you can take part in the episode, too, by asking questions you have about each week’s topic.

With time dedicated to Q+A towards the end of each livestream, you can come away with personalized tips and ideas for your business each week. (Almost like a mini coaching session.)

I hope to see you there!

Find details for Ponderstream episodes here.

4 Key Areas of Branding a Small Online Business

By now, you’ve probably heard it: a brand is more than just a logo.

As a brand identity designer, I know this first-hand and talk about it often on the blog. A business’s branding is created from building color palettes, pairing fonts, and through compiling an entire style guide—just to mention a few of the visual elements.

However, branding goes even deeper than what the outside of a business looks like. And many of these other critical areas are often neglected and in much disarray.

Branding is more of an abstract concept—like developing a writing style; it’s something that takes quite a bit of unpacking to understand fully because there are so many components and the possibilities are endless.

So I’ve broken the essentials of creating a brand into 4 simple parts to make it easy to digest and implement in any creative business.

Learn the ins and outs of these 4 key elements of branding in today’s crash course.

What is Branding? And Why it is Important?

These days, branding gets a lot of buzz. However, I still come across many businesses that just don’t seem to grasp the full concept of branding.

I suspect this is the case because branding is a bit difficult to master. It’s an abstract concept made up of many parts and often looks different for every creative company.

But the truth is, branding will either drag your business down or allow it to soar.

So it’s paramount for every entrepreneur to set aside time to delve into forming and refining their brand identity.

Maybe you’re new to learning about branding, or maybe you’ve already covered some bases. Either way, I’m spelling out the nitty gritty of this critical notion to make it easy to understand.

As a brand designer, this is one of my favorite topics to talk about, so I hope you glean some helpful insights from today’s post on branding basics!

Branding, Getting StartedSarah ForestMay 1, 2019creative business Comments

How to Plan Out the Perfect Quiz for Your Audience

I was featured on the Interact Blog today! Here is the free quiz-planning template that goes along with my post.

While it’s easy to come up with a great concept for a quiz, it’s often difficult to translate that into questions, answers, and results.

This is where implementing an effective planning method comes into play.

I created a Quiz-Planning Template to make it even easier.

Create your quiz right here!

Business, Marketing, Getting StartedSarah ForestFebruary 26, 2019Quiz, creative business Comments

How to Plan 30 Days of Instagram Content

Planning Instagram content 30 days in advance has many benefits.

It allows you to create and prepare everything so you only need to spend a few minutes on Instagram each day.

It helps you to “show up” consistently without Instagram becoming your full-time job.

It saves so much time and lets you create an Instagram routine that works with your busy life.

And, you never again have to stress out about throwing a post together last-minute.

If you’re wishing for a better posting strategy, or if you’re just curious about this whole “planning” thing, you’ve come to the right place. Because today, I’m sharing my simple step-by-step process for intentionally planning 30 days of Instagram content.

How to Build a Quiz to Grow Your Email List

Everyone loves a good quiz. They are interest-peaking, interactive, and often informative.

But quizzes don’t have to be “just for fun;” they can be a great tool for growing an online business, too.

A quiz can offer a solution to the first step of a problem. It can shed light on the value of your products and services. It can be a great opportunity to build trust with your audience and demonstrate your expertise. And a quiz is the perfect way to grow your email list.

I recently created my first quiz for Ponder Trail. I used Interact for the platform and was impressed with how easy it was to use.

I’m excited to show you my step-by-step process for creating a quiz: from brainstorming ideas and implementing strategy—all the way to building it in Interact and embedding it into your website. Here’s how:

How I Got a Head-Start on the New Year

I wanted to try something new going into January this year: get a head-start.

The first few weeks of January usually get away from me, and before I know it, I’m halfway through February.

So I brainstormed ways to set myself up for success this year, and I’m happy to announce it’s made a huge difference so far. They are strategies I plan to continue implementing for the rest of the year, and I recommend you try them out, too.

This is what I did:

Why and How to Define an Audience for Your Creative Business, Blog, and Social Media

Who is your audience?

It’s perhaps the most important question you will ever answer about your business.

Your audience is the group of people who are ecstatic about your brand and want to buy your products or book your services. They’re your potential customer or clients.

If you want to have a profitable business, you need to reach and connect with them. And every element of your business needs to be designed and intended for that market.

Until you know your audience, you won’t have complete clarity or get the full potential out of the work you put into your business.

You’ll miss opportunities to speak to your potential customers or clients through intentional branding and messaging.

And you’ll likely put time into creating content that isn’t effective.

But once you follow the steps in today’s blog post, you’ll be on your way to building a loyal following for your creative business.

Business, Marketing, Blogging, Social MediaSarah ForestSeptember 11, 2018Blog Pod, Strategy, creative business Comments

The latest insights for creative entrepreneurs