1장
When Creativity Meets Commerce: A Journey for Right-Brain Entrepreneurs
Jennifer Lee's "Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way" isn't just another business book-it's a creative revolution. Since its 2014 publication, this colorful guide has become the secret weapon for artists, designers, coaches, and other creative entrepreneurs who found traditional business advice too rigid and uninspiring. Lee's approach has garnered praise from business leaders like Michael Port and has developed a cult following among creative professionals seeking sustainable success without sacrificing their artistic souls. The book's unique blend of visual exercises, playful language, and practical advice reflects Lee's background as both a certified coach and professional artist-proving that business development can be as intuitive and organic as the creative process itself.
2장
Your Business as a Living Work of Art
The fundamental premise that sets this book apart is simple yet profound: your business is not a machine to be engineered but a work of art that emerges organically. Just as an intuitive painting takes shape through exploration and discovery, your business develops through play, experimentation, and refinement.
Traditional business thinking suggests a linear path from point A to point B, but creative businesses rarely follow straight lines. Instead, they evolve through a natural creative process: finding inspiration, sketching possibilities, playing with ideas, making them real, sharing with the world, learning from feedback, refining, and beginning again. This cyclical approach honors the way right-brain entrepreneurs naturally work.
The beauty of owning your business is defining success on your terms. Is it about freedom and flexibility? Financial milestones? Making meaningful impact? Receiving recognition? Expressing creativity? Having fun? The book encourages digging deep to uncover what truly fulfills you rather than chasing external definitions of success.
For sustainable growth, your business needs solid foundations. Working yourself to exhaustion just to make your numbers isn't viable long-term. Pushing too hard without proper systems might start with excitement but eventually hits a wall. Sustainable businesses are scalable and resilient, with owners who constantly learn and refine by cycling through their creative process, repeating successes, and increasing capacity to grow on their own terms.
When you pay attention to your company's overall health and have appropriate support systems in place, your capacity for growth continues to expand. This holistic view-treating your business as a living ecosystem rather than a mechanical system-is what makes the right-brain approach so effective for creative entrepreneurs who might otherwise feel alienated by conventional business advice.
3장
Mapping Your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
One of the book's most powerful tools is the Business Flower exercise, which helps visualize your business as an interconnected ecosystem. Using a flower metaphor, you assess key elements that contribute to business success.
At the center of your flower is your core message-what you're taking a stand for, the "irresistible nectar" that attracts your right people. Surrounding this center are petals representing inspired actions you're taking to move toward your vision. These should be aligned with your values, not just tasks you think you "should" do.
The stem represents your income goal for the year, with leaves showing each product or service you offer and the revenue each generates. Existing offerings go on the left side, planned ones on the right. This visual representation quickly reveals if your current and planned offerings will meet your financial goals.
The roots extending into the earth represent your core values-what grounds your business and gives it meaning. When your business is deeply rooted in your values, it can withstand even the harshest storms.
Other elements complete the ecosystem: the sun (mentors and expert guidance), soil (knowledge and resources), watering can (emotional support), and honeybees (fans and customers). By assessing each component, you can identify areas needing attention to create a thriving business environment.
This visual approach helps right-brain entrepreneurs see connections between different aspects of their business that might be missed in traditional business planning. It transforms abstract concepts into a concrete picture that speaks to the creative mind's preference for patterns and relationships over linear lists and spreadsheets.
4장
Finding Your Core Message and Attracting Your Right People
A compelling core message helps you stand out and serves as a guiding light for attracting perfect customers and focusing your offerings. It reflects your unique blend of background, passions, talents, and ideas that only you bring together in your special way.
To uncover this message, Lee offers creative exercises like designing a "Fantastical Freeway Billboard" that communicates your life-changing message, considering "What Would You Tattoo Across Your Chest?" to identify what you're most passionate about, or writing "Secret Love Notes" to your perfect customers.
The more you voice your message, the more comfortable you become with it and the more feedback you'll receive about what resonates. You won't know if your message makes an impact unless you share it and observe how it lands. Remember that your unique perspective is what will attract your right people-the more you bring your authentic self into your work, the more magnetic you become to those who need exactly what you offer.
Once you've clarified your message, you need to connect with your audience. This happens through three progressive stages: connections (individual relationships built over time), community (bringing your right people together), and customers (those who trust and invest in your offerings).
In-person networking remains powerful, especially when growing your business or entering new markets. Reframe networking as an opportunity to find and connect with your right people rather than selling yourself. Even at events that don't feel like the right fit, you might make valuable connections that lead to referrals years later.
Email newsletters create direct relationships with customers who've given permission to appear in their inbox. Write them as if having a heartfelt conversation with your favorite perfect customer. Your authenticity helps the right people find you, as consultant Kerri Richardson discovered when she attracted a new client immediately after writing a newsletter in her true voice (complete with an f-bomb).
5장
Packaging Your Gifts and Crafting Irresistible Offers
With your core message clear and your audience identified, the next step is packaging your products and services into attractive offers. An effective offer clearly communicates what customers get, why they need it, and what it costs.
Authentic selling comes from the same place as thoughtful gift-giving-noticing someone's needs and matching them with something valuable. Instead of fixating on how awkward you feel "selling," turn your focus outward to your perfect customers' wants and needs.
A complete offer includes several key elements: your passions and gifts (what you're excited to share), your target audience (who will benefit), the benefits (how your offer helps customers), the features (what they'll actually get), anticipated customer concerns (addressing these upfront), the price, and left-brain details like policies and procedures.
When communicating benefits, clearly explain how your offer makes customers' situations better with specific results. Consider what problem you're solving, what need you're fulfilling, and what areas of their lives you're helping to improve. Describe their current challenges, where they want to be instead, and how your offer will get them there.
For features, customers need to understand exactly what they'll receive to avoid confusion. For physical products, describe quantity, sizes, colors, and materials. For services or information products, explain what's included, duration, number of sessions, and delivery method.
Setting your price can be challenging, but you need to communicate it with ease and certainty. Find a price that feels good to you, covers your costs with healthy profit, reflects appropriate value, and is acceptable to your customers.
Finally, consider what will make your offer irresistible while making your heart sing. Add complementary bonuses that enhance the experience without overwhelming the customer. Sometimes a simple offering is the perfect gift.
6장
Launching Your Offers with Impact
Creating great offers isn't enough-you need focused campaigns to ensure your right people know about them. Unlike ongoing marketing that builds visibility over time, a launch campaign highlights a specific offer during a particular window to create buzz and urgency.
Without focused campaigns, your offers just sit there waiting to be found-like artwork on your wall that eventually fades into the background. A launch plan helps you brainstorm each phase, starting with awareness-building teasers that pique curiosity, then opening the doors with a clear invitation to action, followed by strategic follow-ups and reminders.
For your first launch, keep infrastructure minimal to avoid overinvesting. You simply need a payment method and a way to communicate with potential and paying customers. Starting with manual processes is fine for manageable volume and helps you understand what's involved before investing in expensive systems.
Once you have various offers, think strategically about promoting them throughout the year. Map your launches by anticipating your customers' natural growth journeys. What will they need after their first purchase? What themes emerge in your community? What do clients ask about?
When planning your year, schedule breaks between launches. Back-to-back promotions aren't sustainable and risk confusing or overwhelming your audience. Allow enough time between launches to develop products, set up the launch, run it, and recover.
One powerful approach is "launch, then create"-setting a public deadline before your product is completely finished. A publicized launch date initiates focused action, especially when money's on the table and people expect delivery. This approach is far more effective than endlessly waiting for perfection.
7장
Making More Money: Multiple Revenue Streams
As a right-brain entrepreneur, you're passionate about making a difference-and making money too. According to marketing expert Jay Abraham, there are just three paths to increasing income:
1. Increase the number of sales to new customers
2. Increase the average size of the sale per client (raise your prices)
3. Increase the number of times clients return and buy again (frequency of sales)
Depending on where you are in your business journey, one path may make more sense than others. For new businesses, focus on expanding your reach. When your offers sell out quickly or competitors charge more successfully, it's time to increase prices. For established businesses, nurturing existing client relationships often yields the highest returns.
Diversifying income streams creates increased profits by leveraging your time and resources more effectively. Start with individual services, then expand to group offerings, and eventually create products or passive income streams.
For example, a health consultant charging $100/hour for individual sessions could earn $1,000 monthly from ten clients. By adding $40/person group sessions, she could make $2,000 in just five hours. Creating a $100 home-study course could generate another $2,000 monthly with minimal ongoing effort after initial development.
Tracking your numbers provides clarity about your business's financial health. Monitor weekly income and expenses, profit margins, and monthly targets. If you're working hard without reaching your earnings goals, analyze which methods are most profitable versus those costing you money or opportunities.
Balance "moola now" work (immediate, typically one-to-one services or existing product sales) with "moola later" projects (aligned with your big vision but requiring development time). Your "moola now" method can fund your more exciting "moola later" ventures.
8장
Building Your Support Team and Systems
As your business grows, there comes a point when doing everything yourself becomes not just impossible, but counterproductive to growth. Identifying tasks to outsource becomes crucial as your business grows in complexity. The key is recognizing which activities drain your energy or expertise. Consider outsourcing:
1. Tasks you're not good at (like computer issues, website maintenance, or complex spreadsheet management)
2. Those requiring specific expertise (legal advice, accounting, tax planning, intellectual property protection)
3. Tasks that drive you crazy (tech support emails, customer service inquiries, scheduling appointments)
4. Activities that take too long when your time could be better spent elsewhere (social media management, bookkeeping, data entry)
5. Routine tasks that no longer inspire your passion but keep you from more profitable work (order fulfillment, invoice processing, email management)
When bringing on help-whether an employee or freelancer-clarity is essential. Begin by listing specific tasks you need help with, then envision your ideal helper's qualities, experience, values, and location. Consider both hard skills (technical expertise, industry knowledge) and soft skills (communication style, problem-solving ability, cultural fit). Find candidates through recommendations from trusted contacts, professional networks, industry associations, and specialized job boards. Interview at least two people to compare fit, and always check references thoroughly.
Strategic alliances offer another powerful way to expand your reach without adding overhead. Whether partnering with larger organizations, complementary solopreneurs, or gathering collaborators for specific projects, successful partnerships require clarity about what you bring to the table and what you seek from others. Consider creating formal partnership agreements that outline responsibilities, revenue sharing, and exit strategies. Look for partners whose strengths complement your weaknesses and whose values align with yours.
Beyond people, your business needs solid systems to thrive. Documenting processes is fundamental to creating what Lee calls "Smooth Sailing Systems." As your business grows more sophisticated with additional offers, products, and customers, tracking details mentally becomes increasingly difficult and risky.
Document payment processes (including payment terms, collection procedures, and refund policies), launch plans (timeline, marketing materials, team responsibilities), customer relationship management (onboarding, communication protocols, feedback collection), scheduling (appointment booking, project timelines, team availability), vendor relationships (ordering processes, quality control, payment terms), production processes (workflow steps, quality standards, delivery timelines), shipping methods (packaging requirements, carrier selection, tracking procedures), marketing procedures (content creation, campaign management, analytics tracking), and backup systems (data storage, emergency procedures, contingency plans).
You don't need exhaustive documentation-high-level bullet points covering key tasks, decision points, and potential issues create effective "cheat sheets" for future reference. Consider using project management tools, workflow automation software, and cloud-based systems to streamline these processes. Regular review and updates of these systems ensure they evolve with your business needs and incorporate lessons learned from experience.
9장
Embracing Ease for Sustainable Success
Building a sustainable business requires creating calm amid life's chaos. You need stamina to share your gifts profitably over the long haul. Though it may feel counterintuitive, sometimes resting is exactly what's needed to reach your next level of success. This principle becomes especially vital as your business scales and demands increase.
Five interconnected strategies help create business ease:
1. Simplicity: Finding the easiest approach rather than making things unnecessarily complex. When overwhelmed by grand visions, ask "What's the easiest thing to do?" Stop complicating things, find the path of least resistance, and build momentum through quick wins. For example, instead of launching a complex 12-week course, start with a simple workshop. Rather than creating an elaborate marketing plan, focus on one effective channel. Break large projects into smaller, manageable chunks that feel doable.
2. Spaciousness: Creating breathing room in your life and business. Ask yourself, "What can I let go of?" Create white space on your calendar-scheduled "pause buttons" that enhance creativity and mental clarity. This might mean blocking off every Friday afternoon for reflection, scheduling regular breaks between client sessions, or dedicating specific days for deep work without meetings. Spaciousness allows insights to emerge and prevents decision fatigue.
3. Self-Care: Managing your energy and nourishing your creative spirit. Create your own self-care catalog with activities that refuel you when depleted. This could include morning meditation, afternoon walks, regular exercise, proper nutrition, or creative hobbies. Track your energy levels throughout the day and week to identify patterns. Schedule important tasks during your peak energy times. Self-care isn't optional-it's essential for your business success and directly impacts your ability to serve clients effectively.
4. Support: Asking for help and building a team (covered in chapter 8). This includes not just employees but also mentors, coaches, accountability partners, and professional service providers who can handle specialized tasks.
5. Systems: Creating smooth processes (covered in chapter 9). Well-designed systems reduce cognitive load and free up mental energy for strategic thinking and creativity.
Rather than wasting time obsessing over the latest time-management techniques, use simple practices that honor your natural rhythms. Block time according to your inward and outward energy flow rather than rigid hour-by-hour scheduling. Consider your natural daily patterns - are you a morning person or night owl? Structure your most important work around these peak times.
The more your business grows, the more crucial embracing ease becomes. Simplicity, spaciousness, and self-care create a valuable reserve of creative energy that keeps you resilient and ready for opportunities. This reserve helps you weather challenges, spot new opportunities, and maintain enthusiasm for your work. Even small changes can have significant impact - taking regular breaks, simplifying complex processes, or learning to say no to non-essential commitments.
Remember that ease isn't about doing less - it's about being more effective with your energy and attention. Even though it feels counterintuitive, pressing that precious pause button can be the best thing you do for your business. Regular periods of rest and reflection often lead to breakthrough insights and renewed motivation that drive business growth.
10장
The Path Forward: Your Business, Your Way
As you continue your entrepreneurial journey, remember that your business is a reflection of you-your values, your creativity, and your unique gifts. The right-brain approach isn't about ignoring practical business considerations but rather integrating them with your creative process in a way that feels authentic and sustainable. This means incorporating your personal style into everything from your brand voice to your customer service approach, making decisions that align with your core values rather than simply following conventional business wisdom.
When you take consistent steps forward from a place of passion, purpose, and service, you'll make a meaningful difference and the money will follow. This might mean starting with small projects that excite you, testing ideas with beta clients, or launching minimal viable products that you can refine based on feedback. Be patient with yourself, knowing each small step counts-whether it's writing a blog post, connecting with a potential collaborator, or improving your systems. The more you share your work, the more you learn and grow through real-world experience and customer interactions.
Your right people need what you offer, so honor your commitment to making a difference. This means showing up consistently, even when it feels vulnerable. Create content that speaks from your heart, develop offerings that solve real problems, and build genuine relationships with your community. Be open to receiving abundance in all forms-whether through monetary compensation, meaningful connections, or opportunities for growth. Celebrate your wins, both big and small, and invest in self-care practices that keep you energized and inspired. Making your ideas real builds confidence to manifest more meaningful magic, creating a positive cycle of creativity and success.
The beauty of the right-brain business approach is that it transforms what might feel like business drudgery into a creative adventure. Instead of seeing marketing as a chore, approach it as storytelling. Rather than viewing pricing as purely mathematical, consider it an expression of value alignment. By treating your business as a work of art-something that emerges and evolves through your creative process-you can build something sustainable and profitable that also nourishes your soul. This might mean creating seasonal offerings that match your natural rhythms, designing services that leverage your unique strengths, or structuring your workday around your peak creative times.
Remember that your business model can be as unique as you are. Some entrepreneurs thrive with one-on-one services, while others prefer creating digital products or facilitating group experiences. The key is to design your business architecture around your natural way of working and living, rather than forcing yourself into a conventional mold. This authenticity becomes your competitive advantage, attracting clients who resonate with your genuine approach and appreciate the distinctive value you bring to their lives.
11장
Bringing Your Creative Gifts to the World
Jennifer Lee's approach fundamentally reshapes how creative entrepreneurs can view business operations, demonstrating that business doesn't have to be boring, linear, or left-brain dominant. By embracing your creative nature and applying it to all aspects of your business-from planning to marketing to systems-you can create a sustainable enterprise that reflects your unique vision and artistic sensibilities.
The right-brain way isn't about avoiding structure or ignoring practical considerations. Instead, it's about finding approaches that harmonize with your creative nature rather than fighting against it. This might mean using vision boards for strategic planning, incorporating mindmapping for project management, or using color-coding systems for financial tracking. It's about using color, imagery, and intuition alongside spreadsheets and strategies to create a business model that feels authentic and energizing.
Creative entrepreneurs can apply this approach across various business functions. In marketing, for instance, you might craft story-driven campaigns that showcase your artistic process rather than traditional sales pitches. For business planning, you could create visual roadmaps or illustrated goal sheets instead of conventional business plans. Even mundane tasks like bookkeeping can be transformed through creative systems that make sense to your artistic mind.
Building a sustainable creative business requires balancing practical needs with artistic expression. This might involve developing seasonal rhythms for your work, establishing boundaries that protect your creative energy, and creating systems that support both your business growth and artistic development. Many successful creative entrepreneurs find that their best business solutions emerge from combining traditional business practices with innovative, artistic approaches.
As you implement these ideas, remember that building a business is itself a creative act-perhaps your most ambitious artistic project yet. There will be messy first drafts, unexpected discoveries, and moments of inspiration, just as there are in any creative process. Trust your unique journey, stay connected to your core values, and keep refining your offerings. Your perfect customers-those who resonate with your authentic expression-are waiting for exactly what you have to offer, and they'll appreciate the distinctive way you've chosen to bring it to them.
Remember that success in creative business often looks different from conventional metrics. Focus on creating sustainable practices that honor both your artistic integrity and business needs. By embracing your creative nature in business, you're not just building a livelihood-you're crafting a legacy that reflects your unique vision and contribution to the world.
