My first “professional” photo shoot was a disaster. Yes, the pictures looked crisp, and the lighting was even. But I looked stiff and tense! A few years later, I tried again. This time, I looked frumpy. And my beautiful studio looked cluttered in the background. After that, I retreated to selfies. “Who needs photos when…

I’m excited to share a powerful visual campaign making waves in the fight against plastic pollution. Meet Jennifer Timrott, a VisualMinds member living on Germany’s northern coast. Her passion project is to reduce plastic waste in the North Sea – and worldwide. Jennifer doesn’t have a business – she’s working for free. But even a…

Holiday in Sweden First we spent a week in the family’s holiday house in the Swedish forests. We went for long walks in the rain, collected mushrooms and did some house repair. Also, I painted an old table top inspired by Swedish folklore.It was fun to incorporate the day’s conversations and activities into the artwork.…

Ever feel stuck with your brand? Here’s a secret: It’s okay to change! As a brand designer, I’ve always preached consistency. But you know what? For solopreneurs like us, flexibility can be a superpower. I just gave my own brand a makeover. Here is my logo evolution over the years:   In the beginning I…

Coaches often grapple with the concept of niching. The fear of limiting oneself can be paralyzing, yet the benefits of focus are undeniable. The Visual Minds Model offers a solution to this dilemma, introducing a dynamic approach to niching that balances specificity with adaptability. Understanding the Visual Minds Model At its core, the Visual Minds…

Less is more. And leads to more and more If you want to create effective social media posts, it helps to have a plan. What I notice again and again is that people want to say everything in one post. This leads to convoluted posts, emails and websites that nobody wants to read. Content marketing isn’t a…

Am I neurodivergent? Are you? I had a coffee conversation with a fellow entrepreneur, who is “neurodivergent. He talks about it openly on his website. He is also multi-talented, interested in many things, and craves things being visual. We had so many things in common that I started thinking I’m at least a little bit neurodivergent,…

Are you struggling with finding your niche? Instead of boxing yourself into a niche, try creating a thing.  A thing could be a service that you can show, promote, and sell. If you like doing it and you get good feedback, you can build your brand around it. Here is the recipe:  Of course, there are…

Do you have a clear roadmap for your customers to reach their desired outcome? If not, why not draw it out? We did just that in our last Visual Minds meeting. While teaching, I was also learning. It was surprisingly challenging. But it is difficult to break complex processes down into easy-to-understand, meaningful chunks and…

  What’s your almost-forgotten-because-it’s-so-ingrained superpower? It might help with your positioning! Because in your business, you want to show off your uniqueness. There are countless wellness coaches, graphic designers, and brand strategists out there. All of them do good work. What makes you different? You have collected superpowers in your past experiences. 😮 Maybe you…

Hello, I just got an email from a Visual Minds participant: “You need to convey the amount of personal coaching members get from you. This is powerful stuff! Visual Minds is a business coaching program that combines your expertise in teaching “drawing for business” and your insightful creativity on how to improve our message.” This…

Do you have a creative urge and want to use sketches in your business? Yay! But. If you post drawings of landscapes, coffee cups, or your scary-cute dolls, people will probably like them and comment with “beautiful, you’re so talented.” But will it bring you clients? Probably not. Instead of creating random stuff, communicate your…

Sometimes I use ChatGPT to generate reference images for my illustrations. In this case, it wasn’t very helpful. Here is an excerpt from our conversation: Ingrid Can he go much closer to the suitcase with his head, looking for a small item buried in the stuffed suitcase ChatGPT I encountered issues again while attempting to…

Are you good enough to pursue [insert whatever you want to do]? Probably not. I wasn’t when I started posting drawings on social media. But I knew I wanted to bring more creativity to my professional life, so I documented my attempts at building a business — with ugly drawings. And, what do you know…

The way I define “superpower” is maybe different from the norm. It is NOT superhuman strength and perfection. Possibly, it is quite the opposite. It is to be utterly human and still get what you (and your clients) want.    I strongly believe that showing your imperfections is a superpower – now that AI is creating…

Here is maybe the biggest obstacle to clarifying your message: You want to tell the truth. “What I do is complicated! There are many layers to my process! Plus, I’m working intuitively, not in a linear way!” But, for clarity and communication’s sake, you should find out how to extract the main points of what…

Do you have a framework for your business? Here is an idea to get you started. Ask yourself: What two worlds are you bridging with your business?  Identify your main area of business/work – world 2 Identify a completely separate and distinct domain that brings a unique perspective – world 2 The power comes from…

To grow your business YOUR way, you need to be visible. That means you must publish content to the people you want to reach. This can feel uncomfortable! It sounds like this: I hate social media. I don’t want to work for free for these evil corporations! I’m a very private person! What, daily? I…

Are you one of the many creative people who would love to draw but never get to the point where they think their work is good enough? That was me for the longest time. And as an artist and designer, I beat myself up about not being able to draw the ideas I had in…

Do you have a defined process when you are working with clients? A (visual) framework is Very Useful for communicating what you do. Especially if what you do is intangible, abstract, and difficult to explain! Once you have defined your framework, you can… Give it a name and use it as an asset! I started…