Creative Independence

In this third installment of our Kickstarter Maxi Series, we speak with Richard Bliss, host of the podcast, Funding the Dream On Kickstarter. Richard has, as of this writing, posted over 183 episodes, interviewing, in Chris’ estimation, at least 120 different Kickstarter campaign owners, where they tell him what they tried; what worked, what didn’t, […] The post CI 403: Kickstarting YOUR Dream! With Richard Bliss first appeared on Creative Independence.

You may recall several years ago the very last interview we did was with our good friend Cedric Hohnstadt. In this episode Chris, and I jump into the CI time machine and flash forward to today where we catch up with Cedric again after four years. Cedric reveals what he’s been up to for the […] The post CI 402: He’s Back! – Interview with Cedric Hohnstadt, 4 years later!!! first appeared on Creative Independence.

After a 3 year hiatus, Bob and Chris are back to talk about one of the most significant changes in the creative world; crowdfunding. Specifically Kickstarter. Listen in on what they have planned for the next series of episodes. The post CI 401: Kickstarting our Kickstarter Maxi-Series first appeared on Creative Independence.

Bob interviews professional illustrator Cedric Hohnstadt. In this episode Cedric and Bob discuss marketing techniques, networking, social media and self promotion. Cedric is an extremely talented character designer and humorous illustrator who specializes in mascot design, cartooning, animation, logos and other forms of marketing entertainment. Some of Cedric’s clients include Disney, DreamWorks, Wal-Mart, Target, Crayola […] The post CI 310: an Interview with Cedric Hohnstadt. first appeared on Creative Independence.

Bob welcomes Carlos Castellanos back to the show. Carlos is a wealth of great business and marketing information. Whenever we have Carlos on the show we make it a point to get out out our notebooks and take notes so I don’t miss anything… We know you’ll want to do the same. So grab a […] The post CI-309 An Interview with Carlos Castellanos first appeared on Creative Independence.

Bob and illustrator Sparky Firepants (AKA David Billings) talk about marketing. David shares some of his surefire marketing techniques including, slowing down, networking, using social media, and the importance of forming strong and trusting relationships with your clients. If you are not familiar with Davids work you can find him at SparkyFirepants.com. (don’t forget to […] The post CI 308 An Interview with Sparky Firepants. first appeared on Creative Independence.

This episode is full of comedy and adventure! Come along for thrills, chills, explosions, guns, fisticuffs and hilariously sarcastic retorts. Join us as Dan Thompson, creator of the syndicated cartoon strip Rip Haywire talks to us about his journey to get his strip syndicated and published. While we think he’s got a real winner here, […] The post CI 307: Creative Independence goes Haywire! Rip Haywire, that is. first appeared on Creative Independence.

If you’ve been on twitter, Ustream or any of Dani’s many websites you know what an amazing and talented artist Dani Jones is. Chris and I had the privilege of interviewing Dani a little while back. It was a fantastic interview unfortunately the sound quality was so poor we weren’t able to release the episode. […] The post CI 306 An Interview with Dani Jones first appeared on Creative Independence.

General Text Messaging definitions There are scores of places on the web to find the definitions for this texting shorthand that is developing around short-form messaging, but here’s a decent on to start with: http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp Twitter Tags – what do they mean? @<username> – Use this tag when you want someone <username> to see your […] The post CI 305: Another Twitter Episode first appeared on Creative Independence.

Hey, guys, just a short one this week to keep things moving along in a positive direction while Chris and Bob play Skype Tag. In this episode, Bob takes a quick breather and Chris steps in to talk about a couple of interesting tools for managing your online social activities. Avatar Management: Gravatar (Globally Recognized […] The post CI 304: This Episode is NOT about James Cameron’s Avatar first appeared on Creative Independence.

So, maybe if you’ve been living on a deserted tropical island or under a rock you haven’t heard of twitter. This episode, Bob and Chris talk about the basics of Twitter and go through the process of getting you set up and branding your account. Twitter helps you reach clients and grow your business 140 characters […] The post CI 303: A Twitter Episode first appeared on Creative Independence.

Short show this week. Bob does a quick recap on his way to visit a group of art students at Wake Technical Community College. Home work assignments for this week will be collected with the release of the next episode. If you haven’t done your assignment yet there’s still time. Just head on over to […] The post CI 302: Bob visits Wake Tech first appeared on Creative Independence.

A few years ago I had the good fortune of finding John Jantsch‘s podcast, Duct Tape Marketing Radio. John is an expert in small business marketing. His podcast and blog site have completely changed the way I think about my business and how I market myself.  In this episode I talk with John about some […] The post CI 301: Interview with John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing first appeared on Creative Independence.

In this episode, we conclude our discussion of LinkedIn by leaving the realm of the personal profile and looking into the many features that Linked In offers for network, for promoting yourself, for promoting you business, and job searching. Topics covered this episode: Inviting your friends and colleagues. Finding people on LinkedIn Using LinkedIn’s Search […] The post CI 212: Learning Linked In – Part 2 first appeared on Creative Independence.

Chris and Bob take a look at Linked In. This episode is the first in a two part series showcasing the many features available on Linked In.  Once you’ve listened to the show please visit Linked In and join the CI group . Don’t forget to let us know you heard us on the show. […] The post CI 211: Learning Linked In- Part 1 first appeared on Creative Independence.

As Bob and I continue to roll out the new Creative Independence Network, we’ve reached a point where if we wanted to split the Creative Independence feed from the Answers for Freelancers! feed, that now would be the ideal time to do it. So, we did. Overall, things are looking good. iTunes has updated the […] The post CI 210: Burning a New Feed first appeared on Creative Independence.

Chris and I talk a little bit about some of our favorite podcasts and what we like to listen to when we’re not up to our eyeballs working on Creative Independence. We hope you’ll check out these out if you haven’t already. There are a million great podcasts out there and unfortunately we could list […] The post CI 209: Favorite Podcasts first appeared on Creative Independence.

This episode, Bob and Chris talk about the business applications of social media: promotion, networking, community and lead generation. The social media scene is so big that there’s no way we can touch on everything, but we can definitely talk about some of the more relevant types of tools available, and we can certainly list […] The post CI 208: Getting Social first appeared on Creative Independence.

This is an interview you will not want to miss. Bob sits down with Carlos Castellanos the co-creator of the syndicated comic strip Baldo. A big fan of Michael Gerber, Carlos talks about his experiences with freelancing and business ownership. If you are interested in learning more about Carlos and some of the websites he […] The post CI 207: An Interview with Carlos Castellanos first appeared on Creative Independence.

Bob and Chris conclude the discussion on Mind Mapping your business before you start working on it by asking you to start thinking a bit outside the actual business and start thinking about the type of lifestyle you want your business to provide to you. The bottom line, if you want a certain style of […] The post CI 206: What’s In a Name? first appeared on Creative Independence.

Following up on last week’s assignment to find and start playing around with Mind Mapping software, Bob and Chris start putting your newfound Mind mapping skills to use. We go over two fundamental concepts of reinventing yourselves and redefining your businesses; personal influences and business models. You can see our map here. Sign up for […] The post CI 205: Personal Influences & Business Models first appeared on Creative Independence.

Chris and Bob cut the fluff and get right down to it. Chris kicks off with an update on his site Intelligent Acne Treatment.com. He talks about rebuilding his credibility with his costumers when a competitor posts a questionable review on a public forum. Bob checks everybody’s homework and picks up from where we left […] The post CI 204: Mind Mapping and More first appeared on Creative Independence.

Chris and Bob catch up on old times. Seems the guys have been pretty busy with Chris launching his new site intelligentacnetreatment.com and Bob hard at work on his (bobostromstudio.com). Bob talks about the tutorial videos he’s been working on with Burning Oak Studio and Jerry’s Artarama. Chris brings us up to date on his […] The post CI 203: The New Plan first appeared on Creative Independence.

Chris and Bob learn about licensing with artist Tara Reed Tara Reed. Artist Tara Reed followed a twisting and turning path to where she is today: a mom, an artist who has her own business licensing her art and teaching other artists what licensing is all about and how to do it. An artist by […] The post CI 202: Chris and Bob learn about licensing with artist Tara Reed first appeared on Creative Independence.

Just a catch up show with a little mail bag, some catch up of how things are going with Chris’ new business and a few other odds and ends. We hope you enjoy it! Opening: Chris blows the opening by double-clicking on his Wacom tablet, and then the dynamic dou lament the loss of several […] The post CI 201: Fries in a Cup first appeared on Creative Independence.

Welcome to the second episode of illustrator Bob Ostrom’s and multimedia designer Chris Wilson’s new show, Creative Independence! The goal of this show is to explore and highlight the many and varied ways that intelligent and creative people are using their talents to create and run businesses that generage income in ways that are fulfilling […] The post CI 102: Experiencing Technical Difficulties first appeared on Creative Independence.

Welcome one and all to the first ever episode of Bob Ostrom’s and Chris Wilson’s new show, Creative Independence!  The goal of the show is to explore and highlight the many and varied ways that intelligent and creative people are using their talents to create and run businesses that generate income that does not include […] The post CI 101: Chris Ventures Forth first appeared on Creative Independence.

This episode is a repost from our classic Answers for Freelancers feed. This episode is #4 from the third season, and is officially our final episode of Answers for Freelancers. With this episode, we discuss why we decided to take the show out of ‘freelancing’ and into a more entrepreneurial direction. Well, you’ve all waited […] The post A4F Archives: The Final Episode, in which Bob and Chris set out on new adventures. first appeared on Creative Independence.

This episode is a repost from our classic Answers for Freelancers feed that we felt highly impacted the decision to start Creative Independence. This episode is #9 from the first season. In episode 8, we interviewed renowned business guru Michael Gerber, who had some very interesting thoughts on the very nature and business viability of […] The post A4F Archives: A Follow-up Discussion to our Interview with Michael Gerber, the E-Myth man. first appeared on Creative Independence.

This episode is a repost from our classic Answers for Freelancers feed that we felt highly impacted the decision to start Creative Independence. This episode is #8 from the first season. Michael Gerber, author, entrepreneur, and acclaimed business consultant, talks to us about what happens when Freelancers are ready to start growing their business into […] The post A4F archives: Interview w/ Michael Gerber of E-Myth Worldwide and In The Dreaming Room first appeared on Creative Independence.