How my MacBook Helped me Launch my Creative Business (and save money!)
When I heard about Steve Jobs’ death a week and a half ago, I was sad. Admittedly, though, the sadness had a tinge of self-centredness to it. Whenever a notable, visible person passes away, I’m brought back to my own experience with death; my dad, my grandparents, my father-in-law.
Mr. Jobs’ death also reminded me of where I’ve come from in these past few years. Part of my transformation over the past few years has involved unleashing my creativity and letting go of the “should dos”. And I have a lot to be thankful to Mr. Jobs for in that regard. He made launching a creative business more of a pleasure (and much cheaper) than an intimidatingly scary undertaking.
I remember when I made the shift from PC to Mac. It was in early 2007, in the midst of the blossoming of my brand new life. When I discussed new computer options with the woman who I was contracting to, she discouraged me from getting a Mac. “No one at our company uses a Mac, and you need to be able to communicate with us”.
But I knew I wanted a Mac, having learned about the ease of using it from friends. So I got one anyhow and discovered that a copy of Office for Mac would make a non-issue out of the work-communication concerns my boss had. (This was yet another situation where heeding my own instinct over another’s opinion worked in my favour).
That was around the time that I had just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was working on my relationship to food (as I recovered from anorexia), and was developing my Nia practice and teaching. I was getting over the “failure” of being excused from my full-time job as a Speech-Language Pathologist, and working to redefine what my life was going to look like from that point on.
Save Money Using a MacBook
Starting my Nia business in a creative way was a lot easier, and MUCH cheaper, because of my new MacBook. Everything about it was so intuitive and therefore accessible to someone with no experience using anything more than word processing programs. I was easily able to learn by doing (without lessons) because of the simplicity and straightforward nature of Jobs’ creations. AND, what I was able to create was professional looking and fun to get behind.
1. Creating a website
I used my new MacBook to launch my first website using iWeb. That saved me a ton of money. Even though I didn’t know how to write code, I was able to make a really funky website quite easily.
2. Creating Music
I used my MacBook to create basic music for my classes using Garage Band. While the idea of composing anything was initially daunting, Garage Band made that a deeply satisfying process. And of course iTunes helped me organize all my creations.
3. Creating Advertising (videos, flyers)
My MacBook helped me create flyers to advertise my classes. Editing and organizing my graphics through iPhoto also helped me create impressive slide shows. And iMovie helped me create videos to send to clients (who traveled on Yoga & Nia retreats with me to Croatia & Colombia) as well as potential business contacts.
Oh, and did I mention that I was able to do all this in a timely manner, not wasting time dealing with viruses, system crashes and or pop-ups?
So, thank you, Mr. Jobs, for contributing to the success of my small business. The first 5 years with my Apple products has been simply delightful. Thank you for creating a culture of technical ease for those who just want to creatively share their talents with the world.
