From a Doer to a Creator
This is a story about a little transformation that created a huge mindset shift in my whole life, not just my business. See, I have always struggled with one fear in particular, scarcity. Raised by a single mom, then turned out to be a single mom myself… there was never enough of most everything, but most specifically…money.
Fast forward a few decades to 2015 and I’m a 42-year- old newbie entrepreneur. Up to and including 2015 I had never made more than $22,000 in one year. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that $22,000/year barely makes ends meet.
Late fall I decided to start taking some risks with my business. I was fortunate enough to have had a couple of GREAT clients who really transformed my business {hint hint…her name is Julie :)}, because of what I was able to LEARN from them while working for them. Aren’t those the best clients?!? But I digress…
I took my growing knowledge, threw in a couple more pivotal classes in the spring, like Julie’s DIY Web Design with Genesis, ConvertKit Basics, and her Blueprint Mentorship Program, and before you know it I was on the cusp of a huge metamorphosis.
I really had a handful of skills that could propel me further. One thing was missing: a plan to get me there. So I took a little break, literally. The month of April I did very little client work.
I’m old school, a list maker extraordinaire. I went back to the basics with my pen and trusty notebook and put my thinking cap on. I thought about my business, what I loved to do, what I did naturally well, and what clients seemed to love the most of all the tasks I do for them, and I looked at what was hot in the market…what was in demand.
I came up with four core services which just happen to be inter-related, bonus. Because that makes offering more services/packages to your clients just way. too. easy!
I came up with value added packages.
Here’s what I mean by that…
When I design an opt-in for a client, I add marketing images and Facebook ad images to the package. Adobe allows for copying layers pretty easily so it’s quick and easy to create a few more images with the same branding once the design is set. The client thinks you’re creating this huge package for them when really you are just adding to what’s already created with a couple clicks and drags of your mouse, then some design tweaks to make the images unique but still coordinating with the overall design.
Then I used my newly found web design skills, whipped out a new website with my four core offerings, and switched from hourly pricing to packages.
I have now gone from someone who has habitually made between $18,000 to $22,000 every single year to being on target to make $40,000 this year. But what’s even better than that is my numbers for July and August are actually showing that I will make closer to $45,000-50,000 because my momentum is compounding with my sales funnels and referrals.
One word for you: pivotal transformation. Okay, okay, two words!
I’m not a VA working on a list of tasks for clients day in, day out, every single day.
No way, no how.
NOW, I am an online business specialist on the verge of transforming to an online business manager who thinks like a money creator.
Here are 7 goal setting tips to help you transform yourself from a doer to a creator:
- Think long and hard about what it is you really love to do as a freelancer.
- Narrow that list down to 3-5 in demand services that work in tandem with each other.
- Take strategic classes that will help you offer better quality/higher paying packages to clients {cough…Julie interjecting here…The Digital Gangsta}.
- Come up with packages to offer that are no brainer.
- Figure out a way to give added value to your packages without requiring much more work from you. THIS IS KEY.
- Build an optimized funnel for each of your core offerings {Julie again..I know..so annoying…we’ll be doing this LIVE in October at a weekend intensive in Boston}.
- Write out a list of 3 short term and 3 long term financial goals and business benchmarks you feel are a stretch for you to meet right now.
What can you do right now to go from a list of “doing” to creating a business you love?
This is a guest post by April Lewis who is a VA turned online business manager and web designer. She is an alumni of Julie Stoian’s Blueprint Mentorship Program and Genesis Web Design classes and was signed on as one of the first ConvertKit Certified Specialists. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.