scaleandserve

[scaleandserve]

Working with a mentor has allowed me to uplevel

It's been a wild 3 weeks, honestly. I've been working with a mentor in a group coaching experience for 3 weeks, and I've gotten so much clarity.

I'd be remiss if I didn't add this to the "things you should do if you want to grow" list this blog highlights.

Not even just uplevel, but I've refined my focus. Yes, I still work with Mission to Movement, and I still have my framework.

But I've gone deeper. I help people write books. I help nonprofits create community culture and leaders.

And I'm in another mentorship in a couple weeks, and I can't wait to grow even more.

[scaleandserve]

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in! 

Well, it’s the first day of Q3, so I want to be more consistent checking in and giving progress. 

I created a set of OKRs for this quarter, and I have 9 objectives I’m working on, which you can see above, and I’ve organized them by their priority. 

I’ve set 6-month goals then broke them down into quarterly goals, then monthly goals. 

Then I took those monthly objectives and turned them into weekly targets.  I took those weekly targets and created a daily checklist of activities to make sure I’m making progress on multiple objectives each day.  It’s a lot, but I’ve also learned that I absolutely can not be left alone with meeting goals. I don’t just need a list of goals and targets. I need a daily list of activities to know exactly what I’m supposed to do and when and which goal they’re attached to so I can stay focused. 

So, yes, it’s totally overkill for people without stuff like ADHD and executive dysfunction, but if you’re like me and struggle with that stuff? Yeah, it’s helpful. 

By the way, I’m using a site called Weekdone. It’s built for teams, but, hey, I’m a team of one at this point. And sometimes I need to reign in my “team.” I highly recommend the site (which is free), even for solopreneurs. 

I’ll share about how each of these targets are coming along and any hilarious mishaps along the way. :) 

[scaleandserve]

Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day, but I don’t have my kids since they’re at their dad’s until tomorrow night.

Instead, I’m going to do something for them: 

Get so wildly clear on my goals and how I’m going to get there that there won’t be a shadow of doubt in my mind at my capabilities of reaching them. 

That’s right. I’m creating my vision, my mission, and first round of OKRs. 

Get excited --- things are happening! 

[scaleandserve]

On setting crazy, outrageous goals

Ya know what I’m tired of? 

Living in poverty. Having to decide whether to buy food or keep the lights on. Panicking about how much money I have or don’t have in the bank. 

I’m done. 

That’s no longer going to be my story.

And you know what? I’m actually starting to believe I have the business knowledge and skills to be able to break this crazy cycle of poverty (it’s generational, y’all) and move beyond this. 

And there. I said it. I’m done playing into this narrative. I’m choosing something else, something better. Because I deserve it, my kids deserve it, the people I’m wanting to help (both for profit and not-for profit) deserve it, other single moms scared of making those choices deserve it. 

They deserve to know that one of them came from a broken relationship and made it happen.

And I’m going to show them because it’s about damn time.

So, I say stand up, stand proud, and create big goals. 

I’ve got some big ones set too. 

Forget about these generic “I want to make $10k months” goals. Nuh-uh. I don’t feel anything when I say that, and I need to feel into the goal and have it become a part of me if I’m going to execute on any strategy. 

$10k per month doesn’t excite me. That’s $120k per year before taxes and other expenses. 

Sure, on paper, it sounds good. Shit, I haven’t even crossed the $5k months mark yet, so I should be in awe of $10k months, right? 

But I’m not. It doesn’t inspire me to get out of bed, have long nights of pure joy, create in utter ecstasy. It just doesn’t. 

So, I made other goals for myself. 

(And we’re going to talk BIG numbers here, so this is your chance to bounce if you’re uncomfortable with big, scary numbers or people who want to make a fuck ton of money to help the world.) 

I’m starting off slow because I want to pace myself. Originally, when I did this, I went from having zero offers (or rather my current offer, which I’m discontinuing) to 4 offers (with one of them being 4 separate courses created and released, so really something like 7 offers). 

And that’s with zero current stable brand, no systems, and not even a full strategy. 

So, I’m reigning myself in because hitting high 6-figure months jazzes me like no other, I also want to make sure what I’m doing is so sustainable and consistent that I don’t want to screw it up because I was impatient. So, instead of 12-month goals, that turned into my 24-month goals, which is still an impressive feat if I can pull it off. 

In 24 months, I want to generate each month: 

$150k in cash sales for 4 courses

$700k in sales for 1:1 programs and consults

$25k in cash sales for memberships

$35k in cash sales (every two months) for workshops

That total? $892k per month. $10.7M per year.

And I go by the 70% rule --- in that if 70% of the goal has been achieved, it’s a win.

70% comes out to $624,400 per month. $7.49M per year.

Y’all, that’s per fucking month and per YEAR.  

You know how many safe houses I could open with that? How many children I can rescue from abusive, trafficking situations? How many women I can save from DV? How many people I can pay to help these people heal from the inside and create beautiful new lives?

A fuck ton, that’s how much. 

That’s my motivation right there.

But I need to chill out because I have to remind myself I’m starting from the foundation and working my way up, and I have to go slowly to make sure it’s done right. (Then take off like an exploded rocket after I know that foundation is secure.) 

And these next 8 weeks? It’s ALL foundation stuff. Even the next 6 months. 

So, I’m working on: 

Creating the framework to package into a consulting offer

Positioning my brand as an expert in this space (and collapsing time to do this since I’m going to move FAST with content creation)

Fully booking out my 1:1 consulting offer within 3 months -- by September (9 clients total)

Creating 2 courses -- 1 to be finished November, the other by January.

Running 5 workshops -- one every other month

In 12 months, my revenue goal (gross) is $450,000 total for the entire year. 

In my first month, I’m setting the intention of generating $17,000.

(And I’ll change this once I do my taxes for this year. In my first month, I’m setting the intention of making the entire year before. I just think I made somewhere close to $17k.)

And let’s just count the year starting July 1, 2020 and goes until June 30, 2021. That puts some fire under me to develop, implement, and test this framework FAST.

That means the money I’m currently making with done-for-you content and copy services won’t be counted since I want to only include the new brand revenue in that goal. 

Does that sound crazy? I hope so. I like being a little (or a lotta) crazy. 

Because I’ve got some crazy goals, some crazy missions to execute. And the reality is --- I can’t do them if I can barely keep my own head above water. 

So here’s to crazy goals. I hope you have one too. 

[scaleandserve]

Over the next month...

If you missed the post on the burst of insight I had, it’s the one just before this. Go read it. It’s pretty cool. (And you’ll need to know that before understanding this stuff.) 

In the other post, I mentioned I created different tracks --- ranging from 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months --- for clients to go through this process. 

I still need to develop each piece of the framework and test it to make sure it works in real life. (After all, I don’t want to just teach theory.) 

So, I’m putting myself on the expedited track to create and execute the first 4 strategies. 

Which are: 

business development

branding

content

sales

And since I’ll be documenting literally everything I do (on here, so you get a real-time update of my progress), I’ll inherently develop a framework that I can teach to others. 

We are in Quarter 2 of the year, and we have 8 more weeks until the end. (Well, 7 and a few days.) 

In that time, I want to: 

4 weeks to go through the expedited path for myself (while documenting EVERYTHING I do)

1 week to do an expansion strategy for myself

2 weeks to create and refine the framework for others (including all the resources and portals)

1 week to create all the sales materials (and set the price) to go live on July 1 for a discounted price since it’s my birth month (and the first time I’m offering this to people) 

My goal after that is to one 12-month client, two 6-month clients, two 3-month clients, and one 1-month client.  With the right positioning, I should be able to nail it. 

Then, in Quarter 3 (July-September), I’ll start the first course for people who want it broken down and work on their own (for a more affordable price). 

Stay tuned for all that.  

[scaleandserve]

In silence comes clarity

And LOTS of it! 

I feel like there has been so much expansion and so many pieces coming together that I can now finally create this amazing offer.

See, I was hesitating before because I didn’t really want to just work with people on “one” thing. Before, I was just developing a framework to help people create their brand message and branding strategy. 

Which is SUPER important, and I’m not dismissing it at all. (It’s what I love doing, after all.) 

But it’s still only one piece of the puzzle. 

So, I added content marketing strategy in there, too, but I still felt like there were some glaring holes. 

And tonight, I identified them. 

I’ve been diving into goal setting for 3 years, and I’ve been on the hunt for SOME SYSTEM to help me organize this crazy brain of mine so I can focus and just do the stuff I know I need to do. 

And I’ve come up against walls every single time. Until a couple days ago, I found out about OKRs, and I swear my life changed in an INSTANT. 

And I kept diving deeper into it because I didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. After all, what objectives do I choose? How could I guarantee that I was evenly spreading my time and energy? 

So, I thought about the relevant areas of my business that I need to monitor and grow and the types of results I could expect to track.

And, finally, I ended up putting it all together in one framework to make it SUPER simple, even for me (and I like to complicate the shit out of stuff for myself -- even though I love making things stupid simple for others). 

It was only until after I wrote a long post on my Facebook profile (where the screenshots came from) that I realized this was a KEY area many entrepreneurs were missing, and it made me think of the entire process in general. 

And like a freaking LIGHT BULB at 3:30 am, I figured out all the elements (including how I would even set it up) of my consultation package. 

Business development strategy (including the OKRs)

Branding strategy (but just the messaging, no visuals)

Content strategy (all organic here!)

Sales strategy (because this was a missing element too!)

Expansion strategy (*fireworks go off*) 

Those are ALL the five areas where I really want to work with people, and I’m SO happy I finally nailed that down and identified them all. 

Of course, everyone needs a different level. 

They can either come to me having no clue what’s broken in their business and I can help them identify and troubleshoot that (one or multiple areas), or they can tell me they need help with just one (or multiple) areas and we focus solely on that. Those would be super short-term consultations with a laser-focused approach. 

 Or they can say they have NONE of these in place and choose to work with me at different levels for varying times. 

(Though, I’ll only include the expansion strategy for 12-month clients since that requires actually executing the strategies in real time.) 

I’ll have a super expedited path of 1 month for all 4 strategies (16 hours with me), a regular track that takes 3 months (18 hours with me), and a slower track that takes 6 months (36 hours with me).

And now? 

Now, I just have to build out what each part of the framework looks like to know what EXACTLY is included at each level and the benefits of each. 

Because this offer is for people who are DONE playing around. They’re called to step TF up. And they take their mission very serious (even if we can still be conversational and playful). 

Trust your instincts. Trust those little flashes of insight. 

I was talking with someone about project management tools so I could get my shit together. And that led me to a website that talked about OKRs, which I fell into THAT rabbit hole for 3 hours, but it was a GOOD thing. 

It got me to that elevated level where I started to think more like a business person and less like a “mompreneur” kind of person.  (And if you know what I’m talking about, you know. I’m fiercely passionate about my businesses, but I wasn’t exactly in that CEO role yet. I was still playing around and still in a freelancer mindset. It was TIME.) 

I’ve been setting these OKRs in my own business, and I saw an immediate, radical shift in not just my approach, but how much easier and organized all my goals and efforts were. I could SEE the path. Finally. 

And I think just being in that elevated space and sitting with that allowed me this flash of insight tonight to share this OKR method with my Facebook audience.  Which led me to deciding that, yes, this stuff is SO important that I want to include this at the very beginning before ever working on branding or content with them. Because if they can’t address very specific objectives and goals, branding and content are impossible to do right. 

Which made me think about the whole process: What do people need? Which led me to sales. 

People need to make sales to stay in business, and so many people don’t know how to outline a clear, simple sales strategy to know exactly where to lead their audience and when. 

And because my favorite number is 5, I just had to add the expansion strategy because I want people to always keep growing and expanding to have more impact.

And it all started with a casual conversation where a friend randomly asked which PM tool I used, which triggered me to do some research to finding which worked best for me. 

So, when you get those nudges, follow them. Even if they seem useless at the time, you never know how you can piece them together later.

[scaleandserve]

I’m currently running a poll in a female entrepreneur group on Facebook. I’m so excited to see the results.

Wanna join in? Leave a comment and tell me which you prefer. 

[scaleandserve]

Core brand values

This is going off-book, but that’s totally okay. 

I love thinking about core brand values and the ways in which we can execute using them in every decision and every interaction. 

These are my core brand values:

Simplicity

Creativity

Passion

Excellence

Collaboration

Connection

Quirky

Growth

Leadership

Exploration

Sustainability

Purpose

Confidence

Why 13? It’s a sacred number in my Druidic spirituality practice, and I include some spirituality in my work with my clients.

My goal is to have at least one core brand value shine through in every piece of content, copy, or visual I produce and share with my audience.

I’m always curious about what other people consider core values too. If you have a list of values for your brand, I’d love to see! 

[scaleandserve]

BRAND COLOR PALETTES! 

I always feel so out of my element with this, but I want to learn how to choose colors (and a full palette) that supports my brand, mission, and movement. 

Any suggestions? 

PS These are some I found on Pinterest that I absolutely loved. I still don’t have a brand palette chosen. Yet. 

[scaleandserve]

You must make the ethical decision to choose the thing you are most qualified to teach with a reasonable amount of passion that will impact the most people.

Dan Henry, Digital Millionaire Secrets

Yes, yes, YES! I don’t know about you, but my goal is impact. How can I help as many people as possible? Then I do that thing.

[scaleandserve]

If you're thinking about what niche you should choose, you're already doing it wrong.

Dan Henry, Digital Millionaire Secrets

I happen to agree! I teach people it’s not so much about your niche (audience) as it is about the results you provide. I’m excited to see this belief validated too.

[scaleandserve]

Constant expansion...I’m here for it!

I don’t know about you, but I keep getting more and more insights on what I’m wanting to focus on. 

Ever since I decided that I wanted to STOP with a linear business model where I trade time for money (i.e. writing content for other people), I’ve been getting a clear picture of my vision in bits and pieces. 

And tonight, I got even more! 

I’ve always wanted to help become better connectors and grow their communities. 

And, of course, helping them create a strong brand message, position themselves authentically, and write content are all a BIG part in that. (Including creating strong, aligned strategies.) 

But what I’m actually doing is so much more, and I saw more of that tonight. 

I’m helping these strong visionary entrepreneurs monetize their vision. I’m helping them create the culture of their business, shift humanity, and step into a powerful leadership role in their communities. 

And, damn, if that didn’t just hit me HARD tonight. 

I love these little bursts of insight. And I love that these insights force me to step it up in a BIG way in my own business and community to be the person who can help transform these visionaries into leaders too. 

[scaleandserve]

Tomorrow, we dive into the strategy of creating offers.

Until then, I have some email copy to write for a client’s event. 

[scaleandserve]

You don't have to be the best; you just have to make a promise and deliver--even if that promise is entry-level.

Dan Henry, Digital Millionaire Secrets, page 31

[scaleandserve]

You can't scale 'done-for-you.' You CAN scale education.

Dan Henry, Digital Millionaire Secrets, page 30

[scaleandserve]

Yes, you ARE an expert

This is covered in Digital Millionaire Secrets, but it’s something I heard about a year ago.

I struggled thinking of myself as an expert in anything except how to fail spectacularly at life. 

I mean, I went from being homeless at 17 to spending $130k in college for 4 degrees (concurrently in 4 years) to getting addicted to drugs and alcohol to being pregnant and homeless (albeit off drugs and alcohol) to being a single mom to having another kid and failing at yet another relationship. And the list continues. 

If someone wanted to know how to screw up their life and do so splendidly, I was the person to ask. 

So, when people reassured me that I was, in fact, an expert in content writing, I scoffed. 

All I could see were all the other people who knew more about it than I did. They had more success backing them up. They had more commas and zeroes in their bank account. They had common household names. 

So who was I to come out of nowhere claiming experthood? 

But someone made it really simple. 

Think of a skill on a scale of 1-10. 

The household names? They’re probably at an 9+ on the scale. They know their shit inside and out and have been doing it for decades. 

He then asked me where I thought I fell on the 1-10 scale, and I said around 3-4. (He then called bullshit and told me that I was closer to a 6 in brand building and content writing, so we’ll go with a 5 for an average. To be fair, this person is about a 9 in brand building, so he’d know.) 

He reminded me that there are people out there right now who don’t even know what a brand message is, much less how to construct one and create content from it. They’re at a 0-1. 

To them, I’m an expert, and I can help them get to that next level. 

I can’t get them to a level 10 in expertise, but I can get them to a 3 or 4. I can get them very real, measurable results.

And the same goes for you. You have expertise in some area of your life. You might not be world class (yet), but you know how to do stuff better than other people know how to do the thing. 

What you need to figure out is: 

1.) What are you good at?

2.) What do you like doing? 

3.) What do you know that other people are desperate to learn?

Make a Venn diagram if it helps you, but the stuff in the middle, that’s the stuff you want to focus on.  

So, what are you an expert in?

[scaleandserve]

The thing that pushed me over the edge...

I’ve come to the edge a lot. A lot, a lot. 

I started consistently freelancing when the father of my kids walked out one day nearly three years ago, pretty much without any notice, and I had 4 days to come up with rent. I didn’t have a bank account, any local resources, or any leads on finding any way to get money. So, I threw it out there I wrote content, and the journey began. 

Since then, I’ve accumulated an embarrassing amount of resources, mostly paid, that I’ve simply never gone through.

But what really pushed me to the edge was when I thought I’d lose housing assistance and realized I couldn’t afford housing or to keep my children in my custody if that happened. Talk about scary. 

Turns out, I still have housing assistance. That letter came in the mail today, but what also came in the mail was a book I had ordered from one of my online mentors, Dan Henry. It’s called “Digital Millionaire Secrets.” 

I knew I wanted to shift to creating online products and do more mastermind-level things in my business, so I shelled out the $8 or so in S&H. 

It came today, and I realized that I could easily just let this book pile up alongside all the other books I’ve ordered if I let it. 

And that’s when it hit me. I needed to document going through this so I have that external accountability. Even if nobody ever reads this, that I’m making this totally public means I need to keep up with it. I’m staying accountable not only to myself but to the little pixels and whatever the internet ether is made of. 

Besides, it’s 200 pages. I can read and apply 200 pages. I’ve done far more.

So, that’s why I’m starting with this one. I could gather all my resources, review each one, and try to make a chart of which I should go through in which order, but let’s be honest: Not only is this something I would have done a year ago to procrastinate, but it prevents me from making any real difference in my life and business today. 

(And, yes, I know it takes more than one day to get anywhere, but why delay the start, right?) 

So, that’s where I’m starting. 

If you want to follow along, you can get the book here. I’m not an affiliate and don’t get anything if you buy this, but I do believe in Dan’s approach and love sharing things I believe in. 

Next post, we dive into the good stuff.