Her eyes light up and she gets that excited look on her face. She opens her mouth and starts to answer my question.

Don’t you love it when that happens?

I do, I love talking to people who are super passionate and nerdy about a topic. It doesn’t matter if it’s obscure technical information or a creative project. I just want to soak it all in.

Part of this is tied to the fact that I’m curious by nature. I’m always trying to figure out what makes people tick. And I’m going to give myself a life-long learner merit badge, even though I’m only 37.

But the other reason is because of the amazing tips and tricks shared during these conversations. The insider information that pours out.

Information seems simple and basic when you are the person with it in your head.

When you have the information:

• You discount your own knowledge
• You discount the hard work you put into organizing and synthesizing this information
• You discount the terminology learning curve you busted through
• You discount the ease you have in finding answers because you know where to look

For example, I’ve got lots of legal insider information. What do I mean?

Hey, Kiff:

• what legal hoops do I need to jump through to start a creative business?
• what steps are required to form a LLC?
• how do I deal with someone posting my images on her website?
• can I #regram images?
• do I really need to register my copyrights? and if so, how do I do it?

The one-stop insider information shop

Last fall I was having coffee with Kate Ellen. She was telling the story of opening Crown Nine Boutique. And the frustration and roadblocks she had to overcome in the process. Some of the roadblocks were related to the fact that it took her forever to find information. She didn’t know where to look, what to search, or what questions to ask. She felt like she was blindly navigating the process.

She told me what she really wanted was one spot that she could go to and say, “I’m trying to open a jewelry store in California.” And for that place to tell her exactly what legal steps she needed to take. She didn’t expect it to cover all the local nuances, but she needed to know what questions to ask or places to look for information specific to Oakland.

At that time, I was starting to dream big about a project (now the artist’s Courtyard). So I asked her more questions trying to figure out if the project percolating in my daydreams could have been Kate’s solution.

After listening to Kate’s answers, I knew that my dream idea needed refining. And if I didn’t refine it, it would never function as the solution to her problem.

Big Tweak

The big tweak I made was to imagine the phases of a creative business at the 10,000-foot level. I came up with these six phases:

• building your foundation: helping you get your business initially set up and named
• creating your virtual home: helping you create and maintain your website
• don’t be a jerk: helping you set up and maintain your email marketing and social media accounts
• the launch rollercoaster: helping you launch a product or service
• protecting your creations: keeping your products or services in your control
• fine-tuning + elevating your creative business: helping you make changes, up-level, or pivot your creative business as it grows

These phases formed what I call the legal roadmap. And this legal roadmap is the backbone of the artist’s Courtyard.

The legal roadmap is the place you can go and say,

• I’m creating a new website what do I need to do to keep it on the up and up?
• I’m launching a new service, what do I need to add to my launch checklist on the legal side?
• I’m starting my business, what legal hoops are required when my finances are tight?

I’ve got a lot of random legal knowledge stored in my brain. And I use this insider information to improve my law firm client’s businesses on a daily basis.

But that information jammed in my head doesn’t help you.

So my goal is to make the artist’s Courtyard the place I dump all those tidbits floating around in my head. So that you can benefit from all the legal tips and tricks I’ve stored up over the years.

Hi! I’m Kiff! I’m your friendly legal eagle (and licensed attorney).

My goal is to add ease to the legalese. And because I think basic legal resources should be available to every creative, I create a lot of free content.

If I’ve created something that has helped inject a little ease into your creative business and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here.

If you’d like to hear more from me, I’d love to pop into your inbox every Friday morning to share additional ways to cut through the red tape and inject a little ease.

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