photo credit: DorkyMum

Hi there… regular readers will recall that last year I wrote a review of the Lateral Action course; it’s a ‘Roadmap for the Creative Entrepreneur’ which I bought last year and got a lot out of, so I wanted to recommend it. Well, the doors are opening again and this time Mark McGuinness, who runs the wonderful Lateral Action blog, has prepared some superb free content to go along with the relaunch, in the form of an ebook called ‘Freedom, Money, Time – and the Key to Creative Success‘. I think it’s worth a read, and wanted to pass it along to you.

Here’s a bit of initial information to whet your appetite, or you can just go ahead and click here to download the book straightaway – no opt-in or anything. The ebook does contain an affiliate link, which means that if,  after looking through the free materials, you decide the full Roadmap is for you I would make a commission on the price you pay.

However, the book itself is free, and there is a TON of other great information on the Lateral action site that won’t cost you a dime, including a guest post by yours truly and an extensive email course by Mark called ‘The Creative Pathfinder’ – so there’s really no pressure to buy anything here – but I do still think the full Roadmap is superb.

Free Ebook: Freedom, Money, Time – and the Key to Creative Success

Creative people need three things to be happy:

1. Freedom – to do what you want, when you want and how you want it. Not just in holidays and spare time – but also doing meaningful work, in your own way.
2. Money – to maintain your independence and fund your creative projects. Of course you want a nice place to live, but you’re not so worried about a bigger car than the guy next door. You’d rather spend money on experiences than status symbols.
3. Time – to spend as you please, exploring the world and allowing your mind to wander in search of new ideas.

Usually, you’re lucky if you get two out of the three. But if one of them is missing, it compromises the other two.

Without money, you don’t have much freedom, because you have to spend your time chasing cash. Without time off, money doesn’t buy you a lot of freedom.

And if you’re doing something you hate for a living, it doesn’t matter how big your salary is, or how much holiday you get. You still feel trapped.

Surely there must be a more creative solution?

This is the premise of a new free ebook by Mark McGuinness: Freedom, Money, Time – and the Key to Creative Success.

The ebook describes Mark’s unconventional career journey, as a poet and creative coach, and the lessons he’s learned the hard way about finding the right combination of freedom, money and time.

It’s full of practical advice you can apply to your own situation, if you want to earn a living from your creative talent, or if you’re a freelancer or small business owner and want to make your business less stressful and more profitable.

Mark and his partners have also prepared an in-depth training program to accompany the ebook, and I’m pleased to be an affiliate partner for the launch (see above). But the ebook itself is free to download, with no need to even give your email address!

Click here to download your copy of Freedom, Money, Time and the Key to Creative Success.

And feel free to share the ebook with anyone who you think would find it helpful.

photo credit: dlofink

Two heads are better than one…

I’ve heard a few people say that there’s nothing like getting interviewed to let you know what you’re really all about, and I’ve recently had occasion to discover that there’s a lot of truth to that. There’s something about the format, just replying to questions from an interested person and trying to make some sort of sense about things you normally take for granted… it seems to bring out unexpected insights.

I mean, as a professional musician and someone who’s had it in mind to be one since childhood, I’ve thought over the kinds of things I might say in an interview many times, though opportunities to deploy these musings have been thin on the ground thus far. And of course it’s not exactly the same, because the things you think someone might ask are often the things you already have in mind, whereas the things someone’s actually likely to ask might be completely different.

So it’s with some pleasure that I can now send you to an audio interview I did recently for a new series called ‘Mix and Master‘, where my new friend and colleague Oleg Mokhov will be talking to a variety of independent musicians about how they make it work, what makes it worthwhile, and probably many other things as well. I was honored to be his first guest, and I hope you’ll find the resulting conversation worth listening in on; it was definitely a lot of fun and an interesting experience for me. (There are a few audio dropouts and glitches here and there, but most of the essential points come through). Read the rest of this entry