Money talk. Because creatives need it too

Having money can help you to create. And, the contrary - money nearly running out - can also drive creativity. It's about the mindset you adopt in either situation. Plus, why I took out a loan.

Last year was a good financial year for me. I launched The Creative Way (to earn a living online) for the first time and 100 people signed up.

People had experienced ‘online course fatigue’ post-pandemic (me included, as a creator), but now, they were open to learning online again.

When I launched that course, I had hardly any money in my bank account. I’d gone away to Somerset for the Easter holidays and I was waiting on a ghostwriting payment.

I sat in the bedroom, panicked. How could I quickly make money? Lots of money. Enough to sustain me for a few months. Around £10,000.

Writing books that are published by other people is wonderful. It’s so good being part of a team and having that support. But your ‘advance’ is often not paid in advance.

You wait and wait and wait and wait. Often, you’ve written and submitted the book and still, you’re waiting for payment. You have no control over this.

So, I knew that pitching to write another non-fiction book, or getting another ghostwriting book deal, wouldn’t bring money instantly.

With journalism there’s a quicker turnaround, once you’re commissioned and it’s published, but being paid £200 to write an article wasn’t going to be enough.

I’d previously run a lucrative online course business and I was paid as soon as a course launched and people signed up. Amazingly, they always did. People always came.

I started thinking about online courses. Could I re-launch an old course? Create a new one? Did I want to re-enter that world?

I met with a friend for a coffee and we spoke about creativity, entrepreneurship and how the two sometimes compete: Can you be an entrepreneur and a true creative?

While discussing our work and barriers and challenges, I had this idea. What if I launched business courses but with a creative edge? Did things differently.

From this talk, I came up with the idea for The Creative Way (to earn a living online). That’s the course I launched, 100 people signed up and I earned…