My new side business 🍾

I'm freelancing again, and have a generous gift for you.

Well hello there. 👋🏻

It seems my last letter was a bit of a..."trigger" for some email programs. 😂

I noticed a lower open rate, and I've received feedback from some of you who found it marked as spam in your inbox. My best guess is that the words "passive income" in the subject line might have triggered these spam alerts. It is a term commonly used by spammers, and apparently, the words "is overrated" right next to them didn't make a difference.

Oh well. Lesson learned. I'll be more careful with my controversial email titles in the future, to avoid the Gmail overlords and their heavy handed judgement. And if you didn't get the email, now you know why. It might lay in your spam folder, all sad (but in good, plentiful company.)

Things are busy over here. I'm in one of those feverish periods of inspiration where I have too many ideas and too few hours in a week. I'm trying to pace myself, but it's hard when you’re excited.

Like I told you a few weeks ago, I'm picking up freelancing again this year after completely dropping it back in 2020 due to burnout.

As usual, whenever I get an idea like that it doesn't take me long to go from thinking to doing. I always make up my mind quickly if something feels right. And you helped me with that too. Thank you for voting in the poll of my last letter. 🙏🏻 Here are the results as they stand right now:

I'm delighted, because they reflect my own instinct as well. Writing is what I’m best at, and what I feel most called to do. And that usually goes hand in hand with consulting. Copy isn't written in a vacuum. It has to be informed by business strategy if it's going to get results.

I've played with the idea of also offering web design, but opted against it for the simple reason that it would be a logistical nightmare to collaborate with web design clients across different time zones. It was challenging enough within Sweden. 😅 You need meetings, file transfers, lots of quick back and forth sometimes, lots of technical problem solving.

A writing project is beautifully simple and can be done asynchronously.

And business consulting, well: I've already been offering that for a few months, in the form of creative business audits. (Which I've temporarily lowered the price on, by the way. They’re a great way to get some feedback and advice on your creative business, without having to schedule a call or invest too much money. Go check it out!)

So what I've done this week is figure out which writing services I want to offer, scrape together my portfolio samples, create a landing page, and write some copy for it.

You can view the page here if you're curious. But I've decided to start a separate brand and website for the writing side of my business, because I feel like it clashes too much with what I've built under the The Calm Creative brand. My current website (+ newsletter/Substack and YouTube channel) is primarily for artists and creatives. And even though I sometimes talk about business there, I don't want it to be the main focus. I want that to be art, creativity, and mental health. Also, I know not all of you run a creative business or are looking to monetize your art.

So I want to keep my writing/consulting business separate, and only mention it briefly in my newsletters and videos. If you want those services, you'll know where to find them.

However.

I have a proposition for you.

I realized, as I was putting together my writing portfolio, that I have almost zero work samples in English. (Naturally, since I've only freelanced here in Sweden.) This is something I want to mitigate as soon as possible, as it will help showcase my skills to international clients.

So. I want to give 3 people in my community a free copy makeover, in exchange for some fresh work samples for my portfolio.

You can apply for one if:

• You run a business (creative or otherwise)

• Your business has a website, a bio, or a landing page/sales page of some kind.

• Your language is English

• You're okay with having me showcase a before/after of your website (or landing page, sales page, or bio) in my public portfolio.

In a copy makeover, I don't re-write your copy for you. I assess it, and give you a bunch of ideas and suggestions for how to make it better. You'll get back a screenshot or Google doc with notes and comments on it that you can then use to re-write your own copy.

Click the button above, scroll down to Creative Copy Makeover, and use the button to send your application. Make sure you tick the box to give me permission to display the before/after in my portfolio, or I won’t be able to do it for free.

I will get back to you if your application has been chosen.

Looking forward to roll up my sleeves and do some "pro bono" work. 🥳

Oh and just to be clear: My current business isn’t going anywhere. I’ll combine my regular video uploads and newsletters with my freelancing business, to varying proportions. It will give me greater control over my income + more variety in my work.

Alright. It’s Friday afternoon here now, and I can’t wait to crack open a kombucha and go play video games… Hope you'll have a great weekend.

With love,

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New video: Why is everyone raving about this pencil?

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Some favorite things lately:

• Currently reading The Familiar, by Leigh Bardugo, and I like it. The language is more flowery than what I usually read, but I think that's a good thing. It's relaxing. And I'm intrigued by the plot.

• Freya India, “A Time We Never Knew”:

  A Time We Never Knew

  This piece made me cry, because a) it's excruciatingly well-written, b) I feel so lucky to have grown up at least partially in the pre-internet age, and c) because I'm saddened by what Gen-Z is going through. And what they're missing out on.

  (As a bonus, I discovered a bunch of great videos I can use as references for my novel, which is set in the 90s. Even though I was a teenager back then, I still struggle to remember exactly what it was like. 😅)

• Pat Flynn, on the death of short form content:

  Couldn't have said it any better myself.

• Ted Gioia, "Why Creatives Will Win by Thinking Small":

  Why Creatives Will Win by Thinking Small

  "Here’s what I tell writers, and musicians, and other creatives: The system is formidable, but growing weaker with each passing year—sometimes it feels like each passing week. Somebody is going to benefit as the insiders falter, and it might as well be you."

• Currently playing Planet of Lana on our Switch. I've been itching to play games for a while, but haven't found the right one. Until I found Planet of Lana: a stunningly beautiful, clever puzzle-platform game that takes my breath away. I mean, just the trailer makes me tear up. Might be one of the best trailers for a game I’ve ever seen.

• Latest gym music: Pain of Salvation - Entropia

  Because it's just pure, old-school fun.

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If you're an artist, check out my self-paced courses on drawing and watercolor painting:

I also sell fine art prints, and canvas prints, of my work on my website: