I used to have a major fear of failure.
In elementary school, I would pretend that I was sick on spelling bee days, because I didn’t want to be embarrassed if I couldn’t spell something simple. I also had meltdowns if I got anything less than an “A” on a test.
This fear of failure or of looking stupid stayed with me for a long time. In fact, I didn’t start to move past the quest for perfectionism until grad school.
The only way I got past the fear of failure was by changing my mindset. I realized that I would be happier and more successful if I looked at failures as opportunities to grown and learn. Now, when something isn’t working, I don’t panic. I don’t automatically beat myself up. Instead, I look at what isn’t working and I make changes and I try to do better the next time.
Allowing myself room to fail is one thing I credit to my business success. I wouldn’t have taken the chances that I have if I continued to be scared of messing up–of not succeeding on the first try.
With today’s video, I’m encouraging you to think about what YOU do when something isn’t working. Do you beat yourself up? Or, do you look at it as a way to grow and learn?
I’d really love for you to share in the comments below one thing that hasn’t worked in your business and how you changed it. Or, one thing that isn’t working and you haven’t figured out how to change it.
I think it’s really helpful for other creative entrepreneurs to see that they’re not alone–that they aren’t the only ones who struggle with writing product descriptions, taking beautiful product photos, or putting together blog content that is entertaining. So, please share with us even if it’s a little scary to do so!
This post sounds so like me! I have always had a fear of failure. It’s so hard to change that mindset. I worry that noone will respond when I post on our facebook wall. I worry that when we introduce a new product it will be a flop. I’m getting to a point now that I have to tell myself that if I don’t try nothing good can come from it. So I push through that way. I’m definitely what you would call an introvert but want to change so I’m doing that day by day ~~~baby steps 🙂
Barbara
April,
I just had to comment on this one…I have been in business for a little over 2 years + I was hearing crickets I would have a great month + then nothing. I started making some changes – I invested in some business training + watched a ton of FREE videos from Blacksburg Belle + Mayi Carles + lots of other people + then it hit me – I needed to give away my best content for FREE. So, 22 days ago, I did just that I started offering a free personalized printable stationery design each + every day to my subscribers – AND wow! My subscriber list increased 577% in 20 days, but even better than that…I started making connections with my subscribers, one of them even called me on the phone just to thank me for bringing joy to her inbox every morning. Now, I’m getting ready to celebrate my one month anniversary next week + ABSOLUTELY NO CRICKETS here! People are visiting my site every day. Snagging some amazing free content + picking up some paid items as well. It has been an amazingly short journey so far, but it has so much raw, unlimited potential. I am so glad that I found amazing free content to help me in my biz + I am so happy that I invested some $ into myself + additional training because it has paid me back so much in love, kind words + comments from subscribers that I would never have had if I hadn’t switched things up a bit.
xoxo,
Kim
Hello April,
I’m hearing crickets and it’s depressing, I quit my day job 4 months ago so I would have more time to create my jewelry. I appreciate all the helpful tips and videos and the cute bloopers at the end. Today’s video is just another confirmation I need to figure out other ways to make it work.
Thanks again,
Denise
I definitely have something to share on this topic!
I’ve got a pretty big range of products that I make and sell, and people on Etsy tend not to go very far in your shop–first few pages at most usually. So I put all my digital products into a separate store, and I separated my “regular” jewelry from my “geek” jewelry and had two separate shops for that too.
After quite awhile, I realized that Etsy customers aren’t familiar with digital products, so I completely closed that store. I tried for awhile to put my digital products into my paper studio (on Etsy), but people still bought them thinking they were “real” paper (despite my ridiculously detailed descriptions that they were buying something digital). Finally, I’ve moved all of my digital products to my shop on Indiemade, and I haven’t had one complaint over there at all (the downloads are immediate, whereas on Etsy, I had to email them separately).
As for my “regular” jewelry shop, I made a few sales–but it just couldn’t compete with my first shop, which already had over 500 sales under its belt. So I ended up closing that shop and combining “regular” jewelry back with my “geek” stuff.
It’s all trial and error. I was a bit sad at having to close both of those shops, but it felt better to know I’d learned something and was able to move on–yay! 😀
I currently have 4 shops on Etsy + my shop on Indiemade. The separations seem to be working right now, but I’m always looking for more ways to mix it up! Trial and error, baby! lol
Trial and error is the way it goes , doesn’t it ?? I know something about this 🙂
There are SO many things that I could highlight that didn’t go according to plan . But I’ll add to what Kim says . My blOg is a big example – offering free content gives the world a window into my skills & it’s something that they can use . I get so many emails from people that they truly like what I’m offering . My subscribers email me back after I send out weekly emails regarding the posts . I have conversations with my people . It spurs me on to be more creative . I wouldn’t change that for the world .
The other thing is we tend to scour the web for info & advice – rarely putting it to use . So my 2 cents is to write down the advice that resonates with & implement it – truly . Try it for a while & if it doesn’t work – move on quickly .
Thanks April , this is a really helpful video for a lot of us .
Thank you so much for this video April! I seriously hit a very low point today with my work and this video and reading everyone’s responses really helped. I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t a part of this amazing handmade, creative community. Working on your own is so isolating and when things go wrong in my dream business, it’s just magnified to an astronomical level.
Right now I’m in a place where I might have to close my clothing line of 2yrs+ because it is generating 0 sales. I’ve gained international and prestigous opportunities but none of those things have translated into sales. It’s frustrating, sad, and depressing. But I feel that if I stop now it’s not like anyone would notice ( except for the crickets that keep me company 🙂 ) and reassess and re-strategize. Closing my line doesn’t mean that I’m quitting, but I need to do alot of reworking and I can’t do that with the pressure of trying to keep up with social media and trying to stimulate my followers who are not saying or doing anything . I need to step away and come back when I’m ready. There are so many things that I need to be doing but I can’t invest anymore in this and I still have a full time job designing for another company that absorbs so much of my time.
This is such a hard and emotional decision for me since it’s my passion, but it’s the right thing to do. So it’s back to the drawing board for me and hopefully I can also take more classes so that when I do comeback, there’ll be nothing stopping me.
Hi, April, thanks for sharing. I’m definitely the same way. I hate to fail–I hold myself up to (often) ridiculously high standards, am harder on myself usually than others are when things don’t go as well as I would have hoped, and always feel the need to put in 110%. I recently took a risk by quitting my job to travel with my husband for an extended period of time, and am taking another risk now by investing a lot in my newish Etsy shop. I was afraid to do it for so long because ultimately I was afraid of failing, but now I am looking at it from a new perspective–now is the time to try, and if doesn’t work, then oh well, at least I tried. I think I’m still too early into the process to be able to distinguish what works from what doesn’t, but experimenting with different things. Will definitely add in the future when I have any revelations 🙂
so true, so true. you make a product you love…no one buys it. you make something just to make something…and it’s a hit. i think you have to continue to create, to try, and not be afraid of the fail. when you stick yourself out there, you WILL get feedback, don’t fear it. embrace it. and truly learn from it.
i’ve learned to not try so hard, but go from my gut a bit more. and badaboombadabing…that works!
xoxoxo
One thing that doesn’t work is: doing nothing. Procrastination is a by product of perfectionism and fear. April’s procrastination workshop has helped me focus. I updated my blog, and have ideas for fine tuning my painted items. Sometimes we get distracted by everything we CAN do and do nothing to completion. Since updating my art blog, and getting out a newsletter (after one year), I have doubled the likes on my business facebook page. Loved the blogging info, and although everyday will be too much, I am aiming for at least twice a month for the meatier articles and facebook for the daily stuff. I think I can pull off some guess posting too. Got a big list of suspects 🙂
I am going to overhaul my website, and get back to Etsy
I am learning to say no, and finally seeing who my market isn’t. 🙂
“Sometimes we get distracted by everything we CAN do and do nothing to completion.”
I can completely relate to this! I get overwhelmed by the amount of things that I want to do that so often I get nothing done. I’m trying a different time organizational approach because the haphazard method is doing nothing for me!
Hi April!
Huge topic here! And a nice way to present it (loved the vid and the pinwheels!). But you do have to let your hubby dress himself (he’s got to learn it… and yes, he should still make it so to impress you on special nights!).
It takes a lot of ourselves not to fall apart when things don’t go how we planned or hoped they would. It’s hard not to be upset about it and act like everything is peachy perfect. But it sure isn’t impossible! And we really should be able to see beyond it. We might give ourselves a short moment to be sad or mad about it, but then we got to get back on our feet and keep on fighting to be successfull. Everything (literally everything) was made through a process of trial and error, and we really should see errors as an opportunity to learn and move forward.
Easier said than done, right?
I confess I’ve had my down moments, thinking I was worth nothing and nothing would ever go well for me, so why should I even insist on trying again and again? The thing is, I was never a good quiter also, so has hard as it was for me to do it, I picked myself up and went on with my life. If one way wasn’t good, then I’d go another.
This happened on my blog. Somehow along the way, I got lost on it and deviated from the things I really wanted to put there and that people cared about. And I noticed that I was losing the fewer readers I had + I wasn’t really enjoying it, it felt wrong. So, I turned it around, reviewing it all and deleting most of its content, leaving only what I really wanted to have there and what I believed people would enjoy the most. Last wednesday, I’ve celebrated the blog’s 1st anniversary (in fact, celebrations aren’t quite over yet…). It still isn’t perfect. It still doesn’t capture that much attention (although the number of readers is increasing) and I still hear the crickets loud and clear (mainly in the comment section), but I’m getting out there and getting noticed. I’ve been promoting it more and more over the social networks, and that got me to be featured in a selection of articles on the “DailyOut”. I’ve also seen my first Guest post published on Michelle Ainslie’s blog and the second one will come out next week on Juliette Crane’s “Creative Suggar” blog serie. And all this is giving me yet more impulse to keep on working it, to emp it up and to go further and further, so I have many plans up my sleeve to attend to step-by-step. Will it work? I don’t know, I can only hope it does, but unless I give it a go, I’ll never know, right?
I believe it’s better to live life trying things out and learning from our mistakes, than to let it go by and be left with a bunch of “what if’s”. And you?
XOXO
Cathy 😉
I’m pretty much still hearing crickets in all 3 of my etsy shops and not sure yet what I’m doing wrong, however I don’t plan on giving up, just have to find some new creative solutions to the problem. BTW love the pinwheels.
I really liked this video, April. I’ve had my blog for about a year and I’ve focused mainly on using Twitter to bring people to it and to also reach out to people. But I haven’t exactly set the world on fire doing this. In the last couple of months, I’ve been reaching out to people more on their blogs and have also joined an online group. Since I did this, I have made some wonderful, genuine connections and it feels so much nicer. Twitter is so quick and it didn’t feel like I was getting a chance to connect to people the way I wanted to.
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wish I had looked into other ways of connecting earlier. But I think I like to give things a darn good try before I decide they aren’t working (maybe too much of a try). I don’t want to give up too early, before I have given things a chance. I also get frustrated when people say it has worked for them really well, and then when I try it things don’t go the same way. I sit there wondering what I did wrong or what ‘special ingredient’ I missed. But I am learning that maybe what works for one person, doesn’t work for another and there is no real reason. It just is.
It feels a little like starting over or like I am starting ‘behind’ because I waited so long before trying something different, but as you say – we learn so much more when things don’t go to plan. It just feels tough at the time.