Use these 3 tips to help your small creative business stand out, they’re not niche specific. Being a start-up business, a solopreneur, or a blogger, you can make the most of these 3 advantages.

’I’ve been in the entrepreneur world, on and off, for around 25 years, part-time or full-time, and I’ve had 2 different businesses and seen people start, change and end businesses in those years.

It used to be, that entrepreneurship mainly was for men with “real” business start-ups, but blogging and social media changed all that. Thank Goodness!

Now, the business playing field is much more even, where you and I have just as much chance for building a successful business, that supports ourselves and our families, as men with big dollops of cash.

Your Onlyness makes your creative business stand out

Knowing what sets your small creative business apart, is branding 101, and what Marty Neumeier calls “finding your Onlyness”.

Getting to that clarity is not easy, and it might take a while. But it is important. So important, that I would use a strong word as essential, even though I don’t like it when other marketers use strong words.

There just is no point in doing the same, offering the same, and looking the same, as everyone else in your field.

Neumeier has a formula you can use to practice figuring out your onlyness:

My brand is the only __________ that____________

It’s simple, which is why it’s good.

1. Show the cracks in your business

Share your process of building your small creative business.

You can do this by sharing how you create blog posts, create products or graphics for Pinterest, the things you struggle with, and how you actually get things done.

There are so many ways you can show and share your day-to-day work.

Let us into the behind-the-scenes of your small business. We LOVE seeing how people do what they do. We love to see and hear the truth about how bloody hard it is sometimes, to wear a million hats, not make enough money, and all the other challenges that come with entrepreneurship.

Your advantage is, you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to what you can share and not share, because hey, it’s your business. Woot!. You don’t have to “keep up appearances” or pretend to know everything. You can be open and say when something’s hard. And if you blog, you can turn your challenge into a blog post. Win-win :-)

I’ve changed web design more times than I can remember and most of it has been awful. I’ve had the most horrendous graphic for my posts and they are still to be found on Pinterest (oh no!)

I like real, I like the photos on my website to be real and not too perfectly staged. I have tried, but that type of branding doesn’t sit right with me. My imperfect photographic skills are laid bare on my website, newsletter, and other marketing forms - and I like it.

2. Use Pinterest to stand out.

Here’s a stat that might convince you to use Pinterest, as your business bestie:
80% of searches on Pinterest are not brand-related.

This means that your pins and your products have just as much chance of being searched for and found, as big brands with big marketing budgets. That is if you create new, great pins with beautiful images and keyword-rich titles and descriptions.

This is what more and more bloggers and businesses are doing as Pinterest is a search and discovery network and not a social platform.

I found this blog post about how to get blog traffic from Pinterest without going crazy super helpful.

And of course, come and check out my Pinterest boards. :-)

3. You have complete creative freedom

Business is always changing, and a creative business is perhaps changing more than the average small business. We creative entrepreneurs are (in)famous for changing interests, and passions, and our creative businesses change with us.

When you get a new idea for a blog post or a new idea for a product, you don’t have to go through any red tape to get the go-ahead. You just act. This is such a wonderful position to be in. You’ve got creative freedom. You can do exactly as you want.

Creative freedom is important to me. It’s why I have this blog and why I’ve kept it through everything else that’s been happening in my life.

Creativity is part of you. Expressing yourself creatively is good for your emotions, mind, and body. Creative freedom leads to clarity of purpose and clarity of what’s important to you.

I believe many small creative businesses go under because we get locked in a way of thinking of “how we have to do business”. Yes, learn from other business owners who are doing what you want to do, but always listen to yourself the most.

What small thing could set your business apart at the moment?

This work of figuring out how your business is different is such difficult work. Honestly, it may take a very long time to know what sets you apart. Also, it might be several things, and they will likely change somewhat.

This small question might help you if you’re unsure:

What small thing could set my business apart at the moment?

For me, I think it might be my own imperfect photographs and my love of the imperfect process of creation.

In my newsletter, I share the ups and downs of my entrepreneurship journey. I keep it real. If you want pretty and perfection, I’m not your gal! But if you like real, honest talk and tips about entrepreneurship, self-development, and creativity, you should definitely sign up asap here (of course, I have goodies for you too)