When Youre Doin What You Love But the Money Aint Followin - When I Grow Up

When Youre Doin What You Love But the Money Aint Followin - When I Grow Up The Parade by Ting Yuens Art Prints As much as Ive become a hippy-dippy since I started coaching, I still wince when I hear Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow. Its why i dont believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to, and part of the reason I became a certified coach to help devise the Action Plan (and break it down! and tweak what breaks! and hold you accountable!). But, alas, sometimes you have The Passionate Dream Career and The Action Plan and even the time and the resources but, (heavy sigh), the money just aint flowing. Its maddening. Its saddening. Its baddening (I know its not a word, but you so know what I mean, right?!)! And heres what pops into my head as to how you can fix it: Assess Assess Assess. Ever since Ive become a full-time Woman of the World (aka entrepreneur), Ive taken the first business day of every month off from writing, marketing and client sessions to have a Rousing Review Day. Theyre blissful: Id run the numbers from the last month, brainstorm what the next month would bring, pay my affiliates, and update my averages (sessions/month, age of my clients, how many consultation calls I need to have to book 1 client, etc). Its a day full of growth and reflection, and it allows me to not only tweak whats broken, but build on whats working. Feel free to go as micro (assess just your last craft show) or as macro (assess every project youve launched since opening your doors) as will be helpful for ya, and sign up for my VIP List to get access to a 9-page exercise thatll walk you through The Big Questions to ask yourself during your own Rousing Review day. Swallow your pride/nerves and go to the source your clients! Pick up the phone or send an email and ask your favorite 3 clients why they hired/bought from you, how they think youre different from the competition, and why they would (or wouldnt!) recommend ya. Remember, even the negative feedback is a gift, since its telling ya exactly what needs to be fixed right from the horses mouth (not that your client is a horseunless you own a stable!). Working in a career where you dont have a client list? Well, start one for sure (direct access to your (prospective) clients are priceless, and with MailChimp you can start one for free!), but dont wait to get the feedback you need. Ask the friends/family members who are close to your client type what they feel you represent in your work, who theyd recommend you to, and what they think you do best. If it makes you super squirmy, offer to do the same for them, and/or send them a handwritten Thank You note to express your gratitude. Be honest and ask yourself: Whats not working? and What more can I be doing? and What might be the disconnect? I know its scary, but you have to have to have to (have to!) answer these three questions right from the gut and the heart, and then really and truly commit to (a) stop doing whats not working (I dont care if you should be on Twitter if you hate it and your clients arent finding you there, stop it!) (b) brainstorm/braindump new marketing/advertising ideas (they dont have to cost money! Writing guest posts, for example, are totally free) and commit to working through the one that feels funnest/easiest (c) admit that there might be a disconnect for the client if youre selling your knitted products at a craft show on a 100 degree July day. If you wanna try something thats risky like investing in a pricey blog ad then take it a bit at a time and view it as an experiment. Instead of throwing down $200 on one ad from that Big Blogger, why not take out 2 $50 ads on smaller blogs and track what happens? And instead of putting pressure on yourself to sell scarves in the middle of the summer, why not do the craft show with the intention of taking custom orders for the winter and building your list (or saving the money youd spend on a summer craft show and put it towards one thats during the holidays)? Make sure you know who youre talking/selling to, and that your branding and pricing is consistent to that ideal client/customer. I heard recently that Snapple used to say that their target market is anyone who has lips. While you might think youd be cutting yourself off by limiting who youre trying to reach, know that when you try to sell to everyoneyou end up selling to nobody (especially when youre a solopreneur with limited means to market yourself!). Do yourself a favor and pick up The Right Brain Business Plan and work through the Ideal Client chapter, and get a real clear picture as to who you wanna work with/reach: age, gender, favorite brands, books they read, what they spend their money on, etc. When thats been clarified, look through your product/service as well as all the branding attached (logo, website, presentation and yes, pricing!) through their eyes. If thats tough to do yourself, find that person in your own life (your rich Aunt Sue? your funky friend Claire? your hipster colleague Jonah?) and ask them for their feedback on it all. Again, if youre uncomfortable, offer something in exchange or treat em to a nice lunch, a Starbucks gift card, or a big hug (aw). Find someone to troubleshoot and brainstorm with. About a year ago, I realized I knew a bunch of amazeballs ladies who all lived in Brooklyn and were all creative entrepreneurs or aspiring to be! I made us all go out to lunch together, and now we take turns hosting brunch each month. The Brooklyn Brunch Business Babes are known to spend 4 hours gabbing, updating, supporting, resource-ing, crying (yes, we cry together!), and helping each other through highs, lows, and everything in between. Its fantabulous to have that support system in place, and be part of a team of other women who speak my language (even though we all do something different!). If nobody that you know comes to mind, check out Meetup, LinkedIn Groups, Etsy Teams (if youre an Etsy seller), groups that Ive pinned here, and/or sign-up to learn when my Clubhouse doors will open! Seriously, my Clubhousers do all that for each other 24/7. It gives me the warm fuzzies for sure! Figure out your winning-est product/service and riff off of it (but dont discount it!). Lets keep with the knitter example. Lets say that, as a knitter, you know your scarves sell like gangbusters, but your quilts not so much. Sure, you might wanna have a well-rounded shop and offer a variety of products, but lets put that aside for now. What can you do to build on whats working namely, your scarves? Maybe you can offer a custom option where the client can pick their own colors. Maybe you can introduce yourself to the local marching band and see if they wanna put in a bulk order for the upcoming winter season. Maybe you wanna offer a special price on a scarf-hat-gloves set. Besides just having a sale on your scarves (thats the easy way out, and ultimately hurts your bottom line), what can you do to build on your winning-est scarves? And if you dont know what your winning-est product is, see the Assess Assess Assess note above! That should keep you busy, right? Just please please please dont beat yourself up. Thats not allowed. Come from a place of knowing that youre passionate about what youre doing, youre giving it your all, and the work you do is beautiful/necessary/helpful. Lets take that as a given, please and thank you. Give yourself the time and space you need to get in the air and see things from a Birds Eye View. and I promise that youll be able to see what might not be clicking. Then keep moving forward every day (like you have been.right?) and pay attention to where the money flows from and where it goes to. Then, youll be able to do what you love and have it pay the bills {woo-woo beliefs not required}.