For some strange reason, left brainers who write about the financial world tend to complicate things by using stupid formulas, silly terminology, and some really ridiculous ideas about what to do with your money. Why? My guess, to make themselves feel important and useful (and to make us feel like idiots and incapable of dealing with this stuff on you own). You are NOT stupid, and you CAN do this without the help of a money chaperone.  Just because you don’t understand their lame lingo doesn’t mean you don’t know anything about money. Some of your best assets as a creative, right brained person can be used to your advantage when it comes to making and managing money. When it comes to finances, thinking outside the box can actually be a good thing and I believe the creative person has a lot of advantages over others in this area. All we lack is the knowledge about how money works so we can make educated decisions about what to do with our money.  This guide helps to demystify money so you can manage it (effectively) yourself.

Many creative people are clueless about financial matters. Yet money is an integral part of the creative life whether you are aware of that fact or not. Having it can create a feeling of abundance, confidence, joy, validation security, satisfaction and freedom. The goal of this guide is for you to experience freedom. Freedom from financial ruin. Freedom from debt. Freedom from stress. Freedom from horrible work. To free your mind from money hassles so that you can do what you do best – create. To go from being financially dependent (from others, your day job, and even your work) to being financially indepedent through a brand new (healthy) story you tell yourself to yourself about money, along with proven techniques bleded with some unorthodox ideas about how to earn, spend, invest and save your hard earned money. Without the worry or guilt that can sometimes accompany doing things that don’t feel natural or are out of alignment with your beliefs.

This guide is designed to help you make money with your creativity. (make that a lot of money). And why not? You deserve it. If not you, then who should be reaping the benefits of your ideas, talents, and hard work? Someone is going to be paid big bucks, and in my opinion it should be you. Then we will tackle how to manage that money they lavish on you without letting it slip through your fingers.

Maybe you aren’t aware of the importance of money in your life as a creative professional. That is a problem right there. No matter how hard you try, I will never be convinced that money isn’t a major concern in your life.  Maybe you aren’t motivated by money but it is exactly that same thinking that kills so many creative people’s careers. What’s wrong with profiting from your art just like any other business?

The answer is to take a businesslike approach to running the business side of your artistic endeavors. If you don’t – for whatever reason – lack of interest, lack of knowledge, or just plain neglect – the dream dies. How can we be creative with unpaid bills, little or no savings, debt, and a myriad of other potential pitfalls hanging over your heads? The answer is: We can’t.  Living a creative life is a unique challenge that is made more difficult because we must balance our need for money with sacrificing our artistic integrity. It is done with dignity all the time, and you can do it, too.

To me, making money at my art is insurance against having to live a boring, normal, uncreative (and thus unfulfilled) life. Somewhere along the line, artists pick up the story that being disinterested in money is noble. It is NOT easy to make money at art – it is almost impossible when you aren’t even trying.

We need to counteract some of the negative things we are always hearing about how hard it is to make money in the creative arts. This guide is full of stories of people who either ‘didn’t get the memo’ or made it anyway by saying,  ‘the hell with it, this is what I want to do – money or no money’ and made it.  This guide is packed with positive stories of other creative people who have persevered and profited!

You don’t even need a lot of money to benefit from this guide. When we have nothing (and know very little about how to have more) it seems impossible to imagine ourselves with wealth and financial health. But don’t write off your chances because you have no formal education in this are, aren’t good with math, lack the ability to focus, and have done some dumb things in the past. Most of all, don’t accept the labels others may have put on you (flake, dreamer, starving artist). No matter how much or how little you make now, we can help you make more or, at least, better manage what you have. No matter where you are, you can either get out of it or improve upon the situation.

We will look at small, simple steps you can take right away that will make an immediate impact on your finances. Managing money can be an enjoyable (doable) experience (surprise) and anyone can do it. People with wealth are not always the sharpest tools in the shed. Financial advisers are not gurus – they are people who got the special decoder so they can decipher all that money related mumbo-jumbo – but most don’t have what you have: innovative, right brained thinking. So if you take it one step at a time, it is not complicated, and you can get your mind around it without much effort. Above all, it isn’t as boring as it sounds. Think of this as you would approach a blank canvas. You can dream up what you want to see and then start applying the processes in this guide, along with your own ideas and insights, to create a masterpiece that you can be proud of. I promise.