Lisa Robbin Young

[Creative Freedom S7E2]

I’ve been holding onto this episode for a long time. Decades, in fact. You may already know that I’ve been in the online space for nearly 30 years - back when it took 15 minutes for an animated gif to load - and we were actually excited about that!

I’ve seen the rise and fall of many an internet marketer in my time - and the cult-like followings and mythos that those gurus often created around themselves. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work. Which is why I’m still here.

So many folks were wooed by a “guru” promise only to find out they needed to invest more before they were really ready to step into that guru's big-ticket offer. They were sold on a dream of “success in their sleep” with images of fancy cars and exotic locations. Except that the guru’s “way of doing business” was a cookie-cutter formula, or an online success “blueprint” - no joke - that was an actual thing back in the day. Those formulas and blueprints were often high-level overviews or outlines that didn’t give you enough details to help you make real progress. They just kept you hamstrung - needing to invest more and more money with the guru in order to finally get the details that they’d been holding back from the beginning.

Blueprints and cookie-cutter concepts can only take you so far. Heck, we use them when we build business models. We start with the same framework for every person we work with. But, like a good builder, we don’t stop at the blueprint. That’s the "what". We also need the “how”. We take that model and help our clients implement it in ways that work for them.

And you can do that, too... You can do business outside the box! Listen along as I bust 4 myths so that you can feel at ease and start doing business YOUR WAY.

Listen to Podcast

Download Season 7 Episode 2 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify

Podcast Show Notes

Inside this episode, we're talking about:

  • Your success isn’t measured in $10k months
  • Your audience has the answers - sort of!
  • You don’t need an online course to be successful
  • What Will Smith gets wrong about “the hustle and grind”

Links I Mentioned

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Theme music: “Big Time” by Ikoliks, Artlist.io

Sometimes it's innocent enough. Someone asks you to do something that's a real problem for them, but only takes you a quick second to handle. Once it's finished, they offer to compensate you in some way - maybe taking you to lunch, or actually offering you cash - but you decline.

You've just started down the slippery slope of turning away money.

I've done it more times than I care to count. Because I've got a pretty diverse background in all kinds of things, people ask me questions all the time. Sometimes it's a quick answer, other times, it requires a minute or two, but it's a whole lot easier for me than it is for them. They've just rented my brain (or my hands) for a project, and when they offered me compensation, I declined.

Whoops.

You train people how to treat you.

Whether it's your kids, your clients, your colleagues, or total strangers, you train people in every interaction you have with them. Last week, we talked about  being too generous, and the other piece to that puzzle is turning away business/income/money because "it's no big deal" for you.

People come to expect you to be a certain way. My mom expected every McDonald's to have clean restrooms. Why? That's not part of their brand promise. Simply, mom had a lifetime of experience that gave her that expectation. The day she walked into a filthy McDonald's bathroom, she nearly blew her lid. Not because McDonald's ever promised her a clean restroom, but because she came to expect it because of all her past... um... interactions.

Your knowledge has value.

My grandfather was a carpenter and once charged a guy $50 to hang a picture frame on the wall. The guy was a bit miffed. "All you did was drive a nail!" When the guy asked him to itemize the bill, it looked like this:

Driving a nail:   $5

Knowing where to drive the nail: $45

Total Due: $50

So often we discount the value of our hard-earned knowledge without even realizing it. Sure, it may only take a few minutes to handle that task  for someone, but you've invested YEARS of learning how to do it in such a short time. There's value in that.

While my videos are meant to be fun, this is a serious issue for creatives - especially for women. My pal, Jason Stein, is super passionate about this topic and works with women entrepreneurs to help them deal with their money blocks. He's gifted at clearing the clutter and helping you see straight... and he's a bit of a badass, like me. And my friend and former coach, Teresa Romain, also takes a holistic approach to facing money issues. Both are incredibly gifted and compassionate folks that are good at untangling your money stories.

This week's episode of Creative Freedom talks more about this issue, as well as another way that we turn discount our value and turn away money or opportunities. Special thanks to my mastermind pals Pam and Jill for the impromptu jam session in today's episode!

You train people how to treat you based on what they expect & what you accept. (Tweet this.)

How are you turning away money & opportunities?

Are you expecting money to show up a certain way? Are you "not enoughing" the opportunities and money that you've already got? What other ways might you be "biting" or "hiding"?

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments and let's be a rising tide for everyone. Remember to share this video with folks you know that could benefit. You'll have my undying gratitude for years to come!

What does it really mean to be profitable?

With my newly-minted certification as a Profit First Professional coach (huzzah!), I've spent more than a few hours thinking about this question.

Profit First is a concept (and now a book) penned by business author (and my friend) Mike Michalowicz. The book drives home the point that most business owners make profitability an event (or worse, an afterthought), rather than a habit. Mike says "Shouldn't your profit come first?"

Um. Yes.

In fact, even a "for-purpose organization" (a term my friend Doug uses for non-profits) needs to generate positive cash flow in order to be sustainable.

Yet, so often, people bent on making a positive difference in the world think that focusing on profits is "icky".

*breathe*

There's a good reason for the ick. It stems from a very dismpowering definition of the word "profit". Let me explain...

Profit 1.0

Here's how we typically define "profit" today - courtesy of our friends at Google. The idea of "more" for the sake of more can leave heart-centered entrepreneurs feeling icky. We're not trying to get "more" all the time - especially not at the expense of people. Neither are trying to take advantage of others - or be taken advantage of ourselves! Yet the top two definitions of the word "profit" relate specifically to those two concepts:

Profit1

For most of us, the word "profit" is synonymous with the word "money". They think about "rakin' in the dolla bills" and then rolling around in a pile of money like Scrooge McDuck. It's the "bottom line" of the balance sheet. It's the account balance, the number that's left at the end of the month when all the bills are paid - and before the next bill comes due.

millions

Evil empires have hoarded it, conquered for it, and some companies have been built to focus on it (and only it) relentlessly.

No wonder we get all icky inside just thinking about it. After all, we're here to make a difference, to make a positive impact on the world. We want to make people happy, bring them joy, ease their pain, and we put the welfare of people ahead of money money.

We want to do good things, and all that ick, can't be good, can it?

We get mixed messages: loving money is the root of all evil, yet it makes the world go 'round.

Ah money, why do you vex us so?

What if profit had a wider, more holistic definition? Or is that too much of a stretch for you?

(more…)

by Leesa Renee Hall

[Editor's note: This is day 24 in the Be Your Own Guru series. I first "met" Leesa  in a bathroom at a conference in 2009, but we really didn't have time to talk. About a year later we met at a different conference, and became fast friends. As she's shifted her focus from virtual event planning to working with her "faithfully rich" clients, I've thrilled at watching Leesa step more fully into the Noble Empire she's been called to create and serve in the world. Today, in keeping with the "how to" theme of the week, Leesa shares three ideas to help you hone in on your most bankable assets.]

 

This was one of the hardest things I had to write. I didn't want to tell you to "be authentic," or to "become a rock star" nor come back with the witty "you're not special" missive.

Because I do believe that we can be authentic, become a rock star and be utterly special if we use our T.A.G.S. effectively.

Your talents, abilities, gifts and skills (otherwise known as T.A.G.S.) are your edge. It's that thing that makes you unique. Because you were fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, you are indeed special.

The key to increasing your income isn't to invest in yet another "blueprint" or to uncover the hidden "secret." These will work only if you share the T.A.G.S. of the guru who's selling that program.

Instead, to find your money sweet spot, you need to uncover your strengths and stop focusing on your weaknesses. The easiest way to do this is to add your T.A.G.S. to your idea or business, as that will trigger a flow of income.

So, how do you uncover your T.A.G.S?

Here are 3 ways you can do so.


1 - The T.A.G.S you haven't used in 1, 2 or 3 decades? That's your money sweet spot.

Woman Writing Notes on Music Score

Yup, you heard me. Look back 10 or 20 years and you'll find a talent, ability, gift or skill that has laid forgotten and dormant.

Mine is music. I recently started playing the organ for a congregation. The last time I did so, I was still in university working towards a degree. That was 15-years ago.

To prepare for my debut on the organ, I went digging into a box in my basement for old song books.

What I discovered were pages and pages of unfinished compositions that I started writing in the mid-1990s. My side project is finishing those compositions and getting the choir at my church to sing them.

I now incorporate music and music training into my teachings. I help my clients find their voice when talking about money and there's no better way to teach this than through a song or by using voice exercises. This is what makes my teachings different from other money coaches out there. (more…)