Corwin Hiebert and his boutique business, Taendem Agency, for all practical purposes operates in the shadows. Out of sight to most, though, he and his team are responsible for making sure their clients, all creative people, have thriving businesses so that they can keep doing what they love.

The celebrated author, speaker, teacher, David duChemin is one his clients. From David's own words we hear about how he is left best to creating images and fully living the life of a creative because the other side of his business, which is the nitty gritty details of running it – bookkeeping, answering emails, setting up appointments etc. are all handled by Taendem.

Now, not everyone can afford the step up to this kind of laissez-faire (in truth, though, that was probably the wrong word to use as Taendem plays such an active role in the creative's life and lifestyle). That's one reason why Corwin sat down and crafted what I consider one of the most important books you should read – Living The Dream.

It's a small book but it will take you while to go through the chapters because every single thing he says is germane to the existence, sustenance and success of your photography business. Split over two parts – one that addresses managing your creative business and the other, marketing your creative business – this 14-chapter book must be one of those that you pick up to read and refer to all the time. Yes, it is that good! Buy it here [affiliate]

A couple of weeks back, I got in touch with Corwin because he launched Business Action Planner, “a self-paced resource that you can use to bring structure and focus to your business building efforts.” Curiously, the Business Action Planner works alongside Evernote, which I use every day anyway to save or retrieve content.

We sat down one early morning to chat about Business Action Planner and why this new resource, which includes a massive guidebook, the Business Action Planner and worksheets is so timely and relevant to photographers right now.

The Business Action Planner is now on sale (through November 30th, 2014) for only $40. You'll notice Corwin has the Tool Kit available for both freelance photographers and freelance designers. Choose between the two, or buy them both if your studio serves both kinds of clients.

While the investment in such a resource would be a no-brainer, I understand some of you may want to dip your toes in the water first. Check out Corwin's ebooks on Craft & Vision.