This is an adaption of the talk I gave at the ‘Fight For Your Why’ charity fundraising event on 16 October 2015.
We raised over $5000 for The Hunger Project, which was a stellar achievement by organiser Lynn Hoang, the attendees, the speakers and everyone else involved.
I spoke about creativity in business – why it’s important, how to unlock your creative juices, and how it’s helped grow and evolve my business over the last couple of years.
Listen in to hear the full speech, as well as an important lesson I learned from rocking up flustered and underdressed to a speakers event…
I spent a good part of 2014 living in New York City.
I had quit my job as an architect, left Australia and used my house deposit savings to spend the year travelling and setting up my online business.
My plan was genius: to teach architecture students and graduates how to communicate better. I started a podcast, which was going to get thousands of subscribers, and make tens of thousands in sponsorships. Off the back of that, I was going to create an ebook, sell it, make millions and live on the beach.
That was the plan. Did you think I actually knew what I was doing? F*CK NO! I knew nothing about business or creating content or growing an audience! I’m an architect! I knew how to sketch a toilet! I knew useful things, like, you know, how high a handrail should be off the ground (900mm, in case you’re wondering).
So I get to NYC with these grand plans, and I start networking, looking for famous guests to interview on my show.
The difficulty I faced, was – in New York, it’s really hard to get noticed. (It’s like everyone goes there to try and make it). Getting guests on my show was really hard. Especially when I was a nobody, and didn’t know anyone. People were unresponsive, they didn’t answer emails, didn’t answer my calls, it was a massive challenge.
I thought – there must be another way. So I thought – let’s think outside the box here. What if I sent something other than an email? What if I sent, say a hand made book? Or a flip book made of post it notes? Or a video? I thought – screw email. And I let my creativity loose.
The response? Every single person I reached out to said YES.
YES they would love to be a guest on my show. And it worked with Pat Flynn of the Smart Passive Income podcast, who said YES within minutes of receiving my rap video, and then sent me an amazing testimonial.
Since then, I discovered that creativity is highly valued; people approached me asking how they can also be creative. No, I didn’t know what I was doing, I just did what came to me and what felt right, and simply thought outside the box. I began to use my creativity more, and it led me to discovering more about myself and what I can offer the world than anything else. And it led me to switching up my business to something more authentic to me – I relaunched this year as The C Method. And creativity informs my work every day.
Why is creativity in business so important?
- Helps you stand out from the crowd
- Shows vulnerability, which builds trust. Trust is the number 1 pillar of authentic leadership.
- It makes it fun. We all want to have fun right? If you’re in this for the long haul, you may as well have fun doing it.
What could it look like for you and your business?
It could be thinking outside the box when it comes to reaching out to new clients. It could be when delivering a presentation. It could be in the way you create content, through your social media posts, or marketing campaigns. It could be dressing up as a superhero at your next conference. It could be busking on the streets with your ukulele as a teaching tool. It could be simply allowing yourself to think creatively in non-business activities, to allow your creativity to flow and generate new innovative ideas for your business.
Now, you may be thinking: It’s easy for you, Christina! I’m not creative!
I’m here to tell you that ANYONE can be creative.
Here’s how:
- Play to your STRENGTHS
- Identify your TARGET
- Share your ideas
- Take ACTION while enthusiasm is HIGH
- Stop giving a f*ck.
I’ve had so many people ask me how I generate my creative ideas, so I put together a worksheet to take you through the process I go through for every single idea. Click here to download it for free!
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