Currently browsing: Consistency

Hey there! The first part of this teeny weeny series is hyah. You should totally read it first.

Should I put the spiral picture in again, I wonder. Yeah, why not, it’s still pretty.

So last time we were introduced to the Foundations Stage and the Action Plan stage. Thus, it’s time for…

The Implement/Experiment/Implement/Experiment Stage

This is by far the biggest stage – it’s the one where the plan is made, and it’s time to Do The Work. You’re running your business, constantly adding  and removing and tweaking your offerings, putting them out there, and then adding/removing/tweaking again. It’s never a static process, but the changes are more controlled.

What this stage is marked by:

• Constant small changes
• Building, improving, refining
• Rhythms of work
• Routines, processes and systems

Challenges to manage while you’re going through this stage:

• Falling into a rut
• Sustainable profitability
• Self-sabotage
• Misplacing the mojo
• Inertia and mediocrity
• Adapting to change

Opportunities to exploit while you’re in this stage:

• Building resources
• Legacy
• Creating a reputation
• Living fully
• Going deep into your subject
• Going wide across subjects
• Generosity

Resources to help you through this stage

I’m collecting resources to help you create and maintain a thriving, soul-nourishing, squoodles-of-cash-and-joy business. There are lots and lots and lots of them.

The ARGH!!! Stage

Eventually, no matter how you polish and refine, your business (and you) has the weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable blues. I’m using “unprofitable” because I like quoting Hamlet out of context, although your business may be doing quite well, financially.

But it doesn’t matter.

It’s busted. The clients are wrong, or the business model doesn’t support you, or you’re not doing anything meaningful, or you’re bored with the work… whatever it is, you’ve reached the point where there is a problem that is not solveable in the business as it currently exists.

You aren’t (necessarily) mad as hell, but you definitely aren’t going to take this any more.

What this stage is marked by:

• Sleepless nights
• Dissatisfaction and irritability
• Going through the motions
• Envy and avoidance

Challenges to manage while you’re going through this stage:

• Accepting that this business no longer works (in its current configuration)
• The temptation to chuck it all in
• Denial and desperation
• Keeping commitments

Opportunities to exploit while you’re in this stage:

• Personal growth
• Insights on how to do it better next time

Resources to help you through this stage

I’m on the lookout for these, because this long dark tea-time of the soul is terribly uncomfortable and extremely volatile. (Especially considering the temptation to burn the bridges, not just behind you but in front of you and even in another country.) As soon as I find some, they shall be found here.

The Foundations Stage (again)

This is a spiral, remember? It’s time to (re)build your foundations in the new iteration of your business. This can be remarkably similar (changing only the Who, What or How*), or a complete reinvention, but otherwise it’s sorta the same as last time.

Except, of course, you’re a different, more experienced, and more awesome person since the last time you were at this stage. You know more, you have more resources, and you’ve had experience in what works and what doesn’t. It’s the spiral, one level up.

All the challenges and opportunities are the same as last time, just on a higher level. It’s handy that you’re one level higher, too.

(Lucky, that.)

By the bye: One seat in the 12 available for The Pilot Light has been filled. Don’t wait until the new year to tell me you’re interested, ‘cos you might miss out. And this is going to be AWESOMETACULAR.

*Riddle me this: Why did I not include the Why in the list of things that change? And when would I be wrong to do so? Answer in the comments!

This is a story about you, my lovely. Pay attention to what you say, “Well, duh” to – those are the lessons you’ve already learned, and well done.

And pay double attention to the ideas you violently recoil from – those are lessons that will be coming, I promise.

1. Keep moving or die.

Like sharks, businesses have to keep moving forward.

That means that every week that you spend just getting through your work is actually a bad week.

No matter how frantic your inbox, you constantly need to be planning and working toward the next thing.

2. There are far fewer rules than we think.

In my opinion, there are really only three vital rules for business.

1. Create something of value.
2. Find people who appreciate the value.
3. Sell it to them at a price commensurate with that value.

That’s it.

A colleague of mine told me recently about someone in the wellness industry who charges $30,000 for one session. And while that makes my brain go wobbly, I realise that all that says is that TO ME the value and the price are not aligned. To that practitioner and her clients, the value is clearly worth the price.

So they pay it. And (presumably) they get more than $30,000 of value from their session. So they’re both happy.

And that’s the point of exchanges.

Extra note: it’s the buyer’s assessment of value that matters. You, who can easily create the thing you’re offering, will never ever value it as highly as them. So ignore you, and listen to them.

(Are my rules missing something? Tell me in the comments.)

3. There is a big enough audience for you to do the work you want to do.

How many buyers do you need?

Ten a month, maybe, if you’re a coach.

A hundred a month, possibly, if you sell goods.

You know how many people have an internet connection and speak the same language as you? Let’s use a woefully underestimated number: 400 million.

Say it aloud: 400,000,000.

Four hundred million.

As long as it passes Rule #1, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling: there will be enough people to buy it.

You still have to find them. But they are out there, looking for you.

4. It’s really not about you.

I got a piece of criticism lately that filled me with pity, because it was so very clearly not about me. It was about the person who wrote it, and their experiences, and how they felt. I was nothing more than a big white sheet on which their views could be projected.

But this is also true for every bit of praise.

5. Eventually, you have to leave the beaten track.

You can’t follow in Cinderella’s footsteps and get her results: there’s only one prince, and Cinders has already married him.

To succeed – instead of just doing sortakinda okay – you need to blaze your own trail.

Thus, there will always be a point where you abandon the wisdom of all of your mentors and inspirations.

Good mentors will encourage this – rip-off artists will tell you that you’re doomed if you go your own way.

*wave*

6. Money isn’t evil.

Money is a form of power, and all power is morally neutral.

What we do to obtain that power, and how we use it? That’s different.

But you are in charge of your actions. Money isn’t the devil that made you do it.

You are.

7. Consistency is vital.

• A business isn’t built in one offering.
• A marketing campaign does not happen in one tweet.
• One testimonial does not a recommendation make.
• You don’t build a following from one amazing post.

Because we can all be magnificent sometimes.

It’s consistent magnificence that builds your reputation, your business, and your bank account.

8. Self-care is NOT optional.

The single biggest capital investment in your business is… you.

Many of us threw away the user’s manual and decided that we could run indefinitely with no maintenance at all.

9. Start wide, then narrow down.

When you’re entering a new endeavour, say yes to every (legal) suggestion.

• Guest post? Sure.
• Custom offering? Heck yeah!
• Meetup? Why not?
• New client? Bring it on!

But as you learn, as you experience, as you realise that large business clients are a giant ball of suck, or people who ask for six revisions are actually going to need twenty… then you start adding filters.

Filters like:

• I should never do client sessions after lunch.
• No clients who will debate endlessly. Get it done or GTFO!
• I don’t touch Adwords.
• Only invoice people who we’ve worked with before. (Except Sofie.)
• Natural fabrics only.
• Three revisions max!

These filters have two purposes: they save your sanity, and allow you to start targeting in on your absolute best work.

Love them, respect them – every single horrible client experience you have ever had is due to inadequate (or ignored) filters.

10. Your business will be as sane as you are.

Sane, well-adjusted people build sane, well-adjusted businesses.

Crazy people build crazy businesses.

When things go awry, sane businesses struggle. Crazy businesses fold.

11. The bonus lesson

Tell us one more vital lesson you’ve had to learn. Bonus points if you have one that I’ve haven’t learned yet…

Good news, lovelies: since I was incapacitated by illness and exploding computer last week, I’ve decided to keep the doors open for Cash and Joy Foundations for one more week, AND bring back the four-payment option. So if you are sick of having a love-hate relationship with your business and are ready to ROCK IT THE HELL OUT, then sign up today!

 photo credit: 

I’d like to introduce someone to you.

This is Sean Platt. I spent a MIND-BLOWING hour with him talking about micro-publishing (you know, selling 99c books on Kindle), how to get started and rock it out, some of his most epic fails, and his hard-earned lessons. And lots of other topics. We’re both talkers.

If you are interested in publishing anything ever, you should . It is seriously that good.

If the note-takers among you want to share your notes for the benefit of those who aren’t audio-friendly, that would be awesome. Tell us in the comments or send me an email.

Sean is a better writer than I am, so I let him write his own bio. Except I said I’d also call him “nifty”, because that is how I roll.

Want to know more about Nifty Sean?

Sean Platt is a content marketing specialist, publisher and awesome dad. You’d be really silly not to 

Click on the link to buy the Yesterday’s Gone pilot. It’s, but if you want to get the full “season” now,  Click to become a “goner,” and get exclusive chapters with shocking endings, along with a ringside seat to all the behind the scenes stuff (perfect for readers AND writers!)

Fair warning: if you don’t like serials like LOST and writers like Stephen King, you probably won’t like reading Yesterday’s Gone. But if you like stuff that starts out awesome, and then is awesome on every page until the WTF? cliffhanger ending, then you’ll totally dig Yesterday’s Gone. (I dare anyone who reads Yesterday’s Gone to not secretly like Boricio, especially by season’s end.)

Thanks Sean, for sharing so much smartness on how to rock it out to piles of cash AND joy.

If you have any follow-up questions, please pop them in the comments. And if you too would like to hear Sean and I talk about balancing strategy and white-hot passion, then let us know!