I recently had a conversation with a jewelry artist that went a little something like this:
Her: My business didn’t grow this year. I made less money than I did in 2013 and I’m feeling really discouraged.
Me: Did you take any steps to grow your business?
Her: Well, I watched a few CreativeLive courses. I read a couple business books and I read a bunch of blog posts.
Me: What I’m hearing is that you took in information, but did you take action on what you learned?
Her: A little bit but I could’ve and should’ve done a lot more. I did a few things like sprucing up my website here and there and I blogged twice a month.
Me: What did you do to connect to other creative entrepreneurs during the year?
Her: Not much. I commented on some blog posts and I got on social media some each week. I kept meaning to send emails and there was even a conference that I thought about attending but then I decided to try to go the next time.
Me: From what you’re saying, it seems like you weren’t really committed this year—like you weren’t invested in growing your business.
Her: I kept telling myself things like, “I’ll do that next month,” and “I don’t have time for that right now but I’ll do it next week.” And, then it never got done. I love my business but for some reason, I kept putting everything on the back burner.
Me: You’ve got to want it. And, I mean really want it. Do you?
Her: Yes. I do. I’m miserable in my day job and I love creating jewelry. My dream is to support my family with my business. I really want to do things differently next year.
Me: Okay. Then, you’ve got to make a firm commitment for 2015. You’ve got to start taking regular action, not just learning what you need to do but actually doing it, and you’ve got to invest in and prioritize your business. If you don’t, then you’re probably going to be in the same position at the end of next year.
Her: I’m ready. 2015 is going to be my year.
I’m sharing this interaction with you because I hear this kind of thing waaaaaaay too much.
There will always be excuses. There will always be reasons to procrastinate: to start the blog next month, to go to the conference the next time, to set up an email newsletter opt-in later, to invest in the Adobe suite next quarter, to learn how to host a webinar in a few months.
If you want to be successful, you have to prioritize your business regardless of the excuses. You have to commit. You have to make time.
Of course, that’s much easier said than done, right?
You can set goals for 2015. You can tell yourself that you’re going to blog every week. You can promise that you’ll finally set up an email newsletter opt-in. You can decide to design a new line of jewelry for the summer. You can set out to do one interview a month.
But it’s easy to let life get in the way, to put it off for another week or month or year.
It’s a horrible feeling to look at the past year and know that you should’ve done more—that you didn’t reach your goals and that you wasted so much time.
That awful feeling can be avoided.
My hope for you is that at this time next year when you’re taking stock of what you accomplished in 2015, you feel amazing. You reached your monetary goals. And you finally did what you set out to do whether that was write and launch an ebook, sell your first watercolor painting and then many more, teach an online course (that sold out within days of opening up registration), or quit your day job because you’re making a full-time income from your creative business.
Think of a big goal you’d like to reach in 2015 and then imagine how you’ll feel at the end of the year if you reach it.
Come on…close your eyes for a minute and imagine that feeling.
Accomplished. Confident. Thriving. Successful. Smart. Relieved. Stress-free. Excited.
So, how are you going to make sure that you reach your goals instead of procrastinating and telling yourself that you’ll do it later?
Here are the two main strategies I used in the beginning that helped me reach my goals, including earning a full-time income, selling out my courses and landing high-profile speaking engagements.
1. I invested in my business.
When you get serious about your business and invest in it financially, you’re more committed to succeeding. This does NOT mean that you have to spend thousands of dollars. Staying lean in the beginning is so much better than going into debt.
But, investing here or there can really make a difference to your excitement, productivity and commitment.
For example, I registered for a course that cost $997 within the first few months of starting my business and it lit a match under my little bum to make that money back. Instead of making excuses, I did the work and it paid off when I sold out my very first group-coaching program.
Some of the information in the course was stuff I already knew that I needed to do (like pitching guest posts and interviews and making my opt-in visually attractive) but I hadn’t done it yet. That course gave me the push to do the stuff I’d been ‘saving for later.’
I hired a web designer to design an email newsletter opt-in for $75. She designed it, added it to my website, and made sure all the tech pieces were taken care of. It was one of the best investments I’ve ever made for my business because I make about 90% of my income from my email list.
I also spent money to go to a conference within the first year of business and I came home feeling extremely energized and confident. I did the best work I’d ever done the month after that conference. And, I connected with entrepreneurs like Marie Forleo and Laura Roeder which definitely skyrocketed my business.
Every time I invested in my business, there was a spike in my productivity and profit. Even though it was scary, it was worth it each time.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
Make a list of five to ten things you’d like to invest in during 2015. Pick one of those things, price it out (example: contact three web designers to see how much it would cost to design a header for you), and start saving for it.
You can do this by saving money from your paychecks from your day job, saving a percentage of each sale, or giving up something and putting that money towards the investment (examples: instead of getting Starbucks twice a week, put that $8 in savings; cut back on going out to eat from four to two times a month and put that $70 in savings).
2. I focused on connections.
It’s silly and unwise to stay in your little bubble, at home by yourself, when your business will grow so much faster if you regularly spend time on connections.
I left thoughtful comments on other blogs, emailed other entrepreneurs, connected on social media, went to conferences, asked others to chat on Skype, hosted a blog tour, set up an affiliate program, interacted in private Facebook groups and more during my first year of business.
The more I spent time strengthening connections with other entrepreneurs, the less time I had to spend on marketing and the more money I made.
I met one of my best friends, Mayi Carles, through a blog series that I hosted and we became each others’ accountability partners. We went through B-School together, told each other what we were working on, and checked in with each other every week to make sure we were staying on track.
One of the best things I did was invest the time and money to meet others in person. Meeting Mayi in person changed everything for me. She has helped my business more than any other person through feedback, support, encouragement and promoting my stuff to her audience.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
Write up a ‘connection plan’ for 2015. What are you going to do daily, weekly, and monthly to strengthen connections with other entrepreneurs who have similar values and goals?
Find an accountability partner: someone who you can check in with once a week (via email, Skype, or Google+) to share your goals, give each other feedback and hold each other accountable.
And, pick at least one event to attend in person. It could be a retreat, conference, course, or trade show. You can stay local or you can take a leap of faith and pick something that you really want to go to—something that you know will give you the energy and confidence to do the hard work it takes to succeed in business.
If you’re interested in attending a women’s retreat for creative entrepreneurs, I’m soooooooooo excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at the Movers and Makers Summit this upcoming February!
Along with Lisa Jacobs, Bonnie Christine, Paige French, and Kerry Burki, I’m co-hosting this amazing weekend retreat for twenty creatives in South Carolina.
This retreat is all about connecting and learning. If you decide to join us, you’ll learn how each of us has built our businesses while getting lots of practical advice on how you can improve your business, have access to ask us about any and all business secrets during lots of Q&A and discussion time and leave with professional headshots by the talented Paige French.
And, it’s all happening in a serene, coastal view location in Charleston.
It’ll be the perfect time to step away from the hustle and day-to-day drudgery while brainstorming new ideas, getting a clear focus on where you want to take your business in 2015 and connect with like-minded mentors and entrepreneurs.
You can find more details here as well as sign up to be the first to know when registration opens on December 29th.
If you’re at all interested, I highly recommend that you sign up for the wait list because there are only 20 spots and they could sell out fast.
How cool! That sounds like a fun summit. My goal next year is to break the 6-figure mark. I’m so close I can taste it! I know this will require me recommitting to my goals daily, weekly, and monthly, and serving my clients and customers in a bigger way. 2015 is going to be my best year ever! 🙂
I’m so excited for this women’s retreat! I think it’s going to be a ton of fun.
Six figures! Yay! I love how you’re saying that 2015 is going to be your best year ever…cause you’ve got to believe it.
I’m with you…I know that next year is going to be even better than this year and this year was pretty darn amazing. 🙂
Such great advice and I think that is what is going to be very different about my 2015. I have set big goals and I want to make them happy. I am investing lots more time into engagement and trying to build something of myself and am proud of where I am so far after only 6 months with my blog but still a long way to go.
If only the summit wasn’t on the other side of the world 😉
YAY for setting big goals. I love it.
Since the summit is on the other side of the world, is there anything near you that you want to attend next year?
Wow! Big stuff, April! How exciting. For me, my big goals for 2015 are to interact with my ideal clients through social media and blogging (especially blogging) on a regular basis and in a consistent way, have a profitable second year in business that can replace my previous income corporate income, and move my shop from Etsy to my self-hosted website. I’m going to do this by working on my smaller goals that I have set and written action steps for in my planner. To quote Sage, “2015 is going to be my best year ever!”
YAY YAY YAY! Loving this. It’s fantastic that you’ve broken down your big goals into smaller ones that you’ve then turned into action steps. That’s how you make it happen. 🙂
I’m excited for next year. This year was better than the year prior, but I still was stuck in many ways. Implementing the things I learned during your CreativeLive workshop is going to help me tremendously!!! 🙂 I’m going to sit down soon (after I photograph this huge wedding on Saturday) and think about my goals for next year, plus reflect back on this year and see how many goals I reached. It’s really one of my favorite things to do.
Totally wish I could join you at the summit…sounds so amazing.
I’m excited for you for the next year! I’m so happy that we got to connect at CreativeLive and I know you can make big things happen.
I also love to reflect on the past year’s goals…see what worked and what didn’t…and then set goals for the new year. I’m kind of a goal setting junkie. 🙂
Goal setting junkies unite!
Every time that I read one of your blog posts I feel like I want to conquer the world. Thank you for being awesome!! My 2015 goals (so far) are to attend at least 2 local conferences and purchase a letterpress machine to expand my product offerings. Yay for 2015!
I love that you feel like conquering the world when reading my posts. That means I’m doing something right. 🙂
Two local conferences and a letterpress machine are wonderful goals. Thank you so very much for sharing!
Hmm…sounds like a familiar conversation! I keep taking little steps but I am committed to taking the Big steps in 2015! You always inspire me to take action April! I would really love to be independent in my business and not have to work a ‘regular’ job. I will be able to concentrate solely on my business for the first few months of 2015. I plan to make the most of my time by learning new programs, continuing to build my blog, and develop a digital product! Thanks for continuing to drive us all!
YES for taking big steps in 2015! I love it! Thank you for sharing…and please let us know how things go after the first few months of the year. Accountability!
I have learned so much from you through CreativeLive and your blog posts this year! One of my goals for 2015 is to revamp my blog (probably moving from WordPress to Blogger) so that feels more like a store than a memoir. I just opened my Etsy store and need to improve my product photography. Thanks for being an inspiration! – Fawn
Thanks Fawn! Congrats on opening an Etsy shop. That’s a big step. I wish you all the best with it in the new year. 🙂
Thanks April! That conversation sounds uncomfortably familiar. My first investment for 2015 will be to move my shops from Etsy to my own site.
Since traveling to conferences is a bit out of the question for me right now, I’ll be strengthening connections by leaving comments on the blog posts that really speak to and inspire me.
That’s an exciting investment! Congrats. Come back and let us know when you’ve made the transition so that we can all check it out. 🙂
Is there anything local that you can attend since traveling is out? Any local craft shows that you could browse and connect with other local creatives?
This is exactly the kind of talk I need to have with myself. For 2015 I am going to develop my first service/product and I don’t know exactly what it is yet. But I’m commited to find it out writing every single day and talking to my ideal customers every week. I will use my recently bought course of “Master your people skills” from CreativeLive and make real connections with real people.
I’m also commited with your courses on CL to keep me update with what it’s important in my next business.
Thank you very much for this post! I wish I could participate in that awesome summit… but I live too far… (Spain)
Good luck to everyone!
AWESOME Ame! I love that you’re making the commitment and that you’re using things that you’ve already invested in to improve and enhance your skills.
I wish you could join us, too! Is there anything in Spain that you could attend? Any conferences or retreats?
Hi April! Thanks for your answer!
Actually, I am planning on creating an awesome club following the guidelines Vanessa Van Edwards provided us in her course:
http://www.scienceofpeople.com/awesome-club/
My goal is to create at least one of this in person (maybe another one virtual) and share and absorb as much as I can.
But I will have a good search around to see where I can have this kind of exciting gathering.
Thank you very much 🙂
Oh how fun! That sounds really exciting.
Wow! That summit sounds beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful time; it will be a wonderful experience for everyone involved, I bet.
I’ve made some big investments in my biz this year, and they’ve all put a lot of fire under my butt – so to speak. I just started the whole creative cloud experiment (to create some digital products and up my overall visual game), I’ve enrolled in your next group coaching program in January (Woohooo! I know it will be worth it), and the biggest investment so far has to be the trip I took to San Francisco to meet you and attend your latest 2 Creative Live courses.
That last one was an UNBELIEVABLE win. It upped every single thing about my business, and it cemented some fantastic relationships with other entrepreneurs – but most of all it made it feel like my business is real and legitimate and that I have every right to carry on FULL STEAM AHEAD and make my plans for next year a reality.
Thanks, Lady! You’re the best 🙂
xo
K
Thanks Kris! I’m so excited for the retreat.
YES, you’ve definitely made some investments this year. Doesn’t it make such a huge difference when you take a leap like flying to SF to attend CL courses?
I don’t think it’s possible to even understand how much something like that will change the game of your business until you do it.
THANK YOU for sharing! I can’t wait to see what you create in 2015. I’m so excited to see what you come up with.
This year has been a very, very, very ….. I do not even have the word to express it! I guess life changing 🙂 I invested in B-School which change my whole point of view on how to do business, I found my big WHY, I voiced MY STORY, I changed inside, I learned a LOT, I had meet a wonderful woman through Facebook, KrisWithaK :). I had the guts to say NO MORE to my “day job” and quit … this just happen last Friday! YEEAAHHH!
Now, I am ready to really dedicate myself to my studio, I am setting achievable goals, launching a new website, re-designing my jewels but now with SOUL. I want for 2015 to be a reflection of what I learned on 2014!
BESOS y SUERTE
PS: I wish I can do your retreat! mmm maybe 😉
YAY for life changing years! I’m so happy and excited for you. Congrats on quitting on the day job. Sounds like you’re on an amazing path and have set yourself up to have an amazing year in 2015. I can’t wait to see where the year takes you. And, I’d love for you to come to the retreat…we’re going to have the best time EVER! 🙂
This looks AMAZING! I LOVE Charleston, and a good ladies retreat. What a perfect combo. This is dangerously close to my due date and my husband will kill me if I even hint at the idea of being that far from home at 39 weeks pregnant. Don’t think Im not still scheming in my mind over here! Especially after I wasn’t able to make it to SF!
You girls don’t have too much fun without me. We will have to get together soon.
Oh my goodness….yeah, I don’t think my husband would be up for me traveling away from home if I was 39 weeks pregnant. 😉
I wish you could make it but totally understand why you can’t!
Great post. I’ve only recently started really investing in my business. Doing so has really made me more productive. My next goal is to start going to conferences. Movers and Makers sounds interesting. I’ll check it out.
It does make a difference. It helps to switch your mindset from “this would be great if it worked out” to “I’m going to focus and make it work.” You get more serious about succeeding. Thanks for sharing and I’d to see you at Movers and Makers!
April, as always you inspire me so much! And reading everyone’s posts and seeing their successes and what they have planned is very encouraging as well! Definitely planning on graduating from the masters program…come on July 20th! So ready to be done and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I don’t have much time between the day job, my web design business, and school to fit anything else in.
I think my next big goal once the M.A. is added to the end of my name is to focus on my writing. One of my big goals in life….visiting England…will be coming true as my graduation gift in August of next year. My other big bucket list item is to write a book. I’ve wanted to write a book since the 3rd grade!!! What am I waiting for!?!? I’ve attended writer’s workshops and conferences…just never taken the plunge and actually followed through and finished a book. Scared to put it out there and it not be good enough. It’s terrifying. But next year I’m really going to do it. My boss who is a great writer is also on the same path and we can be a great support group of two for each other! I can SO use all the things I learned in April’s “Six Weeks to a More Passion-Filled and Profitable Business” to get the marketing in place before the book is done…set up a website, start blogging, get an opt-in email list going, etc. to set up an audience for the book. It’s going to be an exciting year!!!
Congrats Dana! That’s a huge accomplishment. I’m so excited for you. It sounds like this is going to be an amazing year for you.
Write that book! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. And, I love that you’ve found someone who’s also working on something similar. That can make such a huge a difference.
I hope you have the best time EVER in England. 🙂
Your posts are always so inspiring! I’ve only started working on my business this year and I have been learning so much, so next year I am planning to put all that into action and enjoy the results. I have big goals for next year and I’m really looking forward to see my business take off! I still need to work on my plan for the next year during the rest of this month and your post is a great push for me to get to it and to not forget to have the “making connections” part in it. I’m hoping that your course starting in January will be a great place to start making connections. I still need to think of a good offline event I could take part in. I am extremely shy, so this feels like a very scary thing to do, plus I live in Finland and we don’t have so many conferences for creative people, at least none that I know of. But I have to do some research and make it a goal to get out of my comfort zone and go meet great people.
Thanks Sasha! I’m so excited to work with you in 2015. You’ll absolutely be able to make connections within that course–there are going to be lots of other women with similar values and goals and we’re going to have so much fun.
If going to a large conference is too intimidating for right now, you could start much smaller. Maybe ask another creative who lives close to you to meet for coffee. Or, you could host a small get together for five other Etsy sellers who live near you. You could have wine and cheese and chat about your businesses. Or, you could meet up at a cafe for lunch. Take matters into your own hands and start with something that feels a bit more comfortable. 🙂
Wow! I signed up for your course in Jan, working through your CL Irrestible Biz course now & plan to follow up with your CL blog course, and I stepped out of my comfort zone & signed up for a Blog Retreat in June of 2015. Planning to map out my 2015 goals soon & really get sharp on the action steps.
Your retreat sounds fab too! Crunching those #s now. 🙂
YAY Trish! I’m so excited for you. I know that you’ve been investing time and money into your business. I feel like you’re going to have an amazing 2015. So excited to continue working with you.
I so, so, so wish that I could attend this, but I will most likely be in the middle of a move. Will there be a similar one on another date?
Hi Cecillie! I don’t know if there’s going to be another Movers and Makers Summit. I think Lisa (she’s the creator) is going to feel out how this one goes since it’s the first retreat she has hosted. 🙂
Thank you for the motivating post & good advice! I grew up in my mom’s fabric shop and for as long as I can remember have worked for her part-time. Our big goal for next year is opening Eau Lily boutique to fill with local, handmade goods. It’ll be located next door to Mom’s fabric store (she’s celebrating her 30th anniversary this year!). We’re trying to reach a completely different target audience with the boutique so our whole mindset needs to shift. My job is to focus on marketing and social media and your advice about connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs is key.
The Movers & Makers summit sounds wonderful, hope we can make it happen!
I’m taking a minute out from my reflection/goal setting session inspired by you + Mayi to post what I want out of 2015. This year was very draining on me and eventhough I didn’t hit all of my goals, I gained clarity on what I will and won’t tolerate, what’s important for me and what kind of life+ biz I want. To get to that point took ALOT of hard lessons but I guess I needed to experience them give me that much needed clarity and to get me motivated to take massive action in 2015.
Apart from moving forward with my own biz plans, I want to create more live connections in 2015, collaborate on creative projects, and focus on my self-care. Those are things that I need now. I just want to feel alive again, energized, bubbling with creativity and action, and feeling self-confident once again.
I hope you are having a wonderful time w/your family during the holidays. Wishing a blessed and bright new year bursting w/ opportunities and happiness!
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Sometimes I don’t think I do enough networking or investing – but then I think every little bit counts.
Last year I had my first year anniversary in business and I was able to create a new abstract art series, I started an instagram account and I made a really big investment by buying a professional giclee printer!
Now I definitely feel ready to deliver an excellent product to my customers but I still have to find where my target market hangs out!
This year I plan on trying different marketing ideas that are within my reach. (I was quoted $500 for an ad in an interior design magazine – unfortunately not in my budget!)