What are the 5 things I wish I knew when I started out

This has been such a long time coming and I’m guessing that if you are reading this you are looking for that push towards your business. Well you are in the completely right place. When I first dreamt of working for myself Instagram wasn’t even a thing (I am really showing my age) it launched and we all posted photos of everything and anything with those heavy bordered filters and nobody really knew what they were doing. It really doesn’t have to be that way for you, starting out is one of the most beautiful opportunities in the world as you get to create anything that you want, the way you want to. Lets just take a moment to remember that, you get to create anything you want: you are here and you are doing it.

As promised by the very obvious title for this article here are my top 5 little snippets of information that I wish I knew in the begging:

1: Get an email list. It’s not sexy I know, but it is an absolute must for anyone starting out. Fun fact for you, I literally started by adding my family and friends emails manually to my email provider which was mailchimp at the time and used to email them randomly with no real rhyme or reason. But, even all those years ago I saw the value in starting my list. Fast forward to today and I add anywhere between 50-100 subscribers a week through being consistent and targeted with a clear strategy. One of the best way to get people on your list is to have a freebie that you can offer them that gives real value, solves a problem or saves time, in exchange for giving you their email address. I currently have five that I delve between in different places on my site to get people onto my list and into specific segments where I can target that warm audience. I also treat my list like VIPs, they find out anything 24 hours before anywhere else so that they can be the first people to get involved. Even if you are not launching something get consistent and set up a regular time every week where you can speak to them. I do this every Sunday evening with a Mindset email as prep for the week ahead, which by the way if you are not signed up for…. you can here. It’s a beautiful piece I love to write every week and above anything else it gives genuine value to anyone reading it. I must also do a small plug for my email provider Flodesk, they have the most incredible templates and honestly take away all the clunkiness of platforms like Mailchimp. If a clean aesthetic is part of you then you really need to try out Flodesk. I have a 50% off sign up here, which also stays the same no matter what the size of your list, again why they are the best out there.

 

2: Community over Followers. It’s easier said than done but it really is all about building your community if you are going to have a successful business. One of the best ways you will do that is again by thinking about who you want to get on your list and why? what is it that they want to see from you and how can you provide that for them? Think about your unique voice that you have and what you can do to share this day after day to reach those wonderful people you want in your camp.

 

3: Followers do not mean £. I hate to break it to you but having thousands of followers and no strategy means you just have an expensive and time consuming hobby. I work with small business owners weekly to really get to specific about what you need to earn each year, each month, your overheads, your pricing psychology and how to move forward. Do you actually know how many revenue streams you want and how you are going to create them? Do you know how you will target consumers in a way that feels natural to you because your wellbeing is essential when working for yourself. I only say this with such certainty as I have been there, I have felt the struggle with money and how to overcome mindset blocks to get super specific about my targeting and where my energy goes. I offer 2 hour strategy sessions for this exact reason which you can apply for here, and by the end you will have your next 3 months strategy ready to go!

 

4: You will get Negativity. I initially found this one of the toughest things to deal with in my business that people will occasionally have something negative to say to you and there is nothing that you can do to control that. When you work in a service based business everything is subjective so when people disagree with you, you are going to take it personally as you are sharing from the heart. My biggest learning from this was to try to listen to the parts that “could” be constructive and let go of the rest. Such as, I once had someone tell me that they hated all the images in my email (it was a lot more vicious than that but I am paraphrasing) I took it how it was meant at first, that I seem self indulgent and obsessed with myself and I was genuinely hurt as that is so far from who I am. However, on reflection I stepped back, I replied to say thank you for your critique I think you are right I use too many images and I appreciate your feedback so much. They were so shocked I replied that they then apologised. Now I wouldn’t ever normally reply to hate but she made me think about how I was portraying myself and I actually did really appreciate that as I was clearly doing something wrong.

 

5: It is hard to work for yourself. Please don’t think even though you work for yourself you are on your own, come and join in the community here and get to know one another. My biggest mistake I made initially is that I really put the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was ready to prove everyone wrong who said or thought that I couldn’t build my business on my own, and all that did was lead me down a hole of never achieving enough and burn out. If I could do one thing again from the beginning it would be to work with a coach, I cannot tell you how much more I have achieved since I started working with my mentor. Whether you want to work with me or not, find the right coach for you (click here to read an article about what to look out for in a coach) and put 100% into it. you are going to get setbacks but it is how you get up from those that will shape your business.

 

I cannot wait to see what you start creating… one step at a time my darling.

 

Love, Kirstyx

 

I couldn’t leave you without something extra now could I. Click here to get my FREE 28 days of heart centred content ideas. If you are starting out this will give you that clear 28 Day strategy to build from.