 A Solopreneur is Passionate About What They Do For a Living. Today’s Better, Smarter, Richer Mastermind class was wonderful. The participants are seeing great progress in themselves and able to implement this in their business. One participant asked if we thought a solopreneur would be considered if they were to bid on a really big job. What a great question, I have my opinion of why solopreneur’s are a better choice and the serious side of it includes the passion and commitment they have for what they do but on a lighter note I pointed out that a solopreneur is less likely to get sick and delay the job because they aren’t in a big office where “bugs” are passed around from office to office. I’d love to hear what you think about this….let’s keep it light hearted and fun. Why is it better to contract a solopreneur than to go corporate? Click below to access our Facebook page and add your reasons. After you add your reasons, click the following link and read about what Forbes thinks about Solopreneur’s……. They are predicting that the future is ours!! Commit today to become Better, Smarter and Richer as a solopreneur!
Forbes Article- 5 Trends That Will Topple the Traditional Workforce
 We will be ringing in the New Year soon and with it comes new goals, new focus and the momentum to create our best year so far.
As a business advisor, I council my clients to look back over the previous year and see the accomplishments of the past year and really celebrate them. I personally will celebrate the great success of the study groups we have been able to set up and help creative entrepreneurs and solopreneurs work through the book, Better, Smarter, Richer and really show them how to make the money they deserve by doing exactly what they love doing. I am also thrilled at the breakthrough’s the Mastermind Group is having and celebrate their success. On a personal note I’m excited to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary, no easy feat during the remodel of our house.
I also council my clients that after they celebrate all their accomplishments of 2011, I suggest they also see what habits, mind sets and other limiting belief’s held them back in 2011 and commit to not bring them into 2012. Whether your goals include tripling your income, finding your deep and narrow niche, staying away from mission creep, developing a business mindset or working on any of the other seven business principles outlined in Better, Smarter, Richer, I hope you will take some time to contemplate the successes you have had in 2011. By identifying these and celebrating them, you will bring more of these successes to the coming year, this may make your resolutions even more clear for 2012. I would love to hear about some of your successes. Please leave a comment below so that we can celebrate with you. Everyone at Better, Smarter, Richer wishes you a happy and prosperous New Year. I say let’s all get Better, Smarter and Richer in 2012!
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Exciting news from Better, Smarter, Richer is coming soon…..watch for an announcement after the first of the year.
Marketing is sharing your enthusiasm about your work. This is where your passion comes in. Remember, you have chosen a focus about which you are passionate, where you have talent, and where there is money to be made. Marketing is about bringing forth that passion and sharing it with others all the time. The more enthusiasm you have for your work and for what you do, the easier it is to meet others and talk about the work you love.
This makes it easier to market every day. Here are some ideas for a marketing strategy every day:
- Phone calls to past and current clients.
- Sending out emails to leads or to possible colleagues in your area of expertise.
- Attending a networking event.
- Writing blogs or newsletters.
- Making a proposal to a target customer.
- Researching target customers.
- Having coffee with a referral source.
- Working on your marketing materials.
- Attending a class on marketing.
- Developing your marketing plan.
- Working to polish your unique value proposition.
The idea is for you to participate in activities that keep you in a marketing mind set and to keep yourself there by doing something every single day.
Will you get too many clients? Not likely. But, what if you do? Tell the later customers that you can begin work for them at a defined time in the future. Remember, there are two ways that customers acknowledge your mastery or expertise: They will pay you a premium price and they will wait for you. There is nothing wrong with having work booked out into the future; in fact it is a very satisfactory feeling.
So what things can you commit to doing every day that will keep in that marketing mindset? Share below…..
Our mastermind is having some wonderful breakthroughs in their business and one of the participants recently committed to attending some events for networking. This was out of her comfort zone and it was a great way to push those limits we sometimes set up for ourselves. She gave her report to the group and said that she was overwhelmed when she arrived at the event. There were over 300 people there and she wanted to turn around and go home.
My advice to her was:
#1- STOP at the door.
#2 – Take a deep BREATH.
#3- SAY to yourself. “WOW! Look! 300 prospective clients.”
This brave creative entrepreneur has been working on her Unique Value Proposition within the mastermind and she was ready to use it. She is heading to another couple events for more networking and I’m proud of her for getting her marketing done every day. Whether she is calling a previous client, making new contacts, finding an event she can attend to network with people or adding content to her blog, she is treating her business like a real business. I’m so excited for the obstacles and ‘fear’ she has pushed through.
 If you have heard me speak and seen one of my presentations for Better, Smarter, Richer or read the book, then you have heard about my client Amy McAuley, she is the window conservationist expert and is a beautiful example of the seven business principles in the Better, Smarter, Richer workbook. She becomes every creative entrepreneur’s hero when they hear her story.
Sheri Joi recently did a phone interview with Amy….click here to listen to the updates going on with Amy and what she has learned in her journey to the top. This is a short interview (about 15 minutes) that will inspire you on your creative journey.
Small file of Amy McAuley interview
She has a piece of advice that EVERY creative entrepreneur needs to hear.
Visit Amy’s blog to keep up on the exciting new projects she is working on. http://oculuswindow.blogspot.com/
 How do I balance the time I need to focus on my business and making money to survive? I believe mission creep comes from two sources: a fear that the work you want is not attainable and more importantly a fear that there will never be enough money if you follow your dream. Mission creep can also happen because of a fear that if you don’t take the first thing that comes along, you will remain poor and without work forever!
But what if I need money now? That is the big question. I often hear “How am I supposed to spend all this time working towards my future goals if I still have to support myself?” My answer is: You take the minimum time needed to make enough survival money and then you spend the rest of your time focusing on your goal. Taking short term work is not necessarily mission creep as long as you keep your laser focus on your business goals.
Recently I spoke with a creative entrepreneur that had returned to his previous transport job on a part time basis because it was easy, he knew the work and being part time allowed him the time he needed to focus on the goals he had for his computer programming business.
I know that it can be extremely tempting to go for the easy money when money is tight but I encourage you to make your choices with a very careful eye on the future. If you consistently take work outside of your direct mission or take a long term job in a completely different direction you may be giving up your entrepreneurial dream and turning it into a “beloved hobby.”
What ways have you made money while getting your creative business under way? Share with us below.
Did you read the previous blog about the changes for online sellers? If you do any online selling (think paypal), then you need to know the changes being made about YOUR business. Read the blog here……http://www.bettersmarterricher.com/2011/10/big-changes-for-online-sellers-2/
So, what do all these changes mean to you and your business? You need to know what your cost of goods sold is.
Outright, a software company, recently asked me to share my expertise with their blog community on this subject. In this quick blog I explain why you really need to know the cost of goods sold as well as your monthly fixed costs ….. (think *profit*…I know I always do and think write off’s).
Great info…. Check it out here…. http://outright.com/blog/why-should-you-care-about-cost-of-goods-sold/
To check out the wonderful software that Outright has available for solo and creative entrepreneurs, you can find them at www.outright.com
Outright dramatically streamlines the work involved with running a small business, by helping entrepreneurs pay the right taxes, organize their income and expenses, and keep their businesses on track. We help small businesses thrive in our connected world.
Read more about what inspired them to create this software at:
 Outright software for solopreneurs http://outright.com/about/
Most Creative Entrepreneurs suffer from Mission Creep so what is it?
Before my clients call or email me for consulting they are usually fully entrenched in mission creep. These creative clients see so many opportunities that they can hardly sit still and they bounce off into all directions. They do a little of this and a little of that, following every new idea that comes along, hoping this is the one! They eventually find themselves spread so thin in all their efforts, trying to keep all of their ideas a float that there is not time or money or energy for any of their endeavors. I believe mission creep also comes because creatives have a fear that the work they want is not attainable and more importantly a fear that there will never be enough money if you follow your dream.
Well, meaning loved ones also help with mission creep as they offer suggestions for work that is “like” what you’re real intention for work is but is not exactly what you really dreamed you would be doing. The problem is that you take a job “like” what you want to do then that leads to another “like” it but a little further away and another and another until finally you are so far away from your original mission that you are burned out.
Here is a page from the workbook, Better, Smarter, Richer. This client had a huge awakening when she sat down and finished this exercise. Do the exercise yourself and see if you suffer from Mission Creep. If you find yourself fully entrenched what can you do to avoid mission creep? (Hint: The next exercise in the workbook has all the answers to this question.)
 Do you suffer from Mission Creep?
Last week I answered some very tough questions on our Cash Flow call. The call was a huge success and we had many people on the call, we’ll do another one soon!
One of the biggest problems that solo and creative entrepreneurs have is they just don’t know where their money goes. They don’t track it and they don’t plan for it. Here are some steps to get you going in the right direction to start a positive Cash Flow Plan for yourself:
1- Start a money diary and track all your incoming money and your expenses for the next 2 weeks. Make detailed entries so you’ll know where your money is being spent. This is not about judging right or wrong on your spending habits. This is a tool to see where you can take control.
2- Put together a reasonable budget for a month. Personal and Business. List all your outgoing bills and estimate what they were for the last couple months and what you anticipate them to be for the next couple of months (remember to take in to account that warm months and cold months can make utilities fluctuate a bit.) Now calculate what your monthly incoming money has been for the last couple months and what you anticipate it to be the next couple of months (take in to consideration if your business has a seasonality to it.) Don’t forget to include a budget for entertainment and eating out. Setting a budget is a great tool to give you the courage to raise your prices to meet your budget needs.
3- Pay yourself first. Make sure you include yourself in your budget and make sure it’s not starving artists’ wages. If you have to start off small, that’s ok but include yourself in the monthly bills.
Repeat after me: “My money is the tool to give me the life that I want!”
Knowing exactly what money is coming in and what money is going out is a great start to treating your business like the success you want it to be.
We want to hear how you are doing with this. Click the buttons below and leave your comments.
“Now you know.
And knowing is half the battle.”
-GI Joe
If you need more customers and some incredible business tools, strategies and tips for making your business financially successful, then check this out TODAY. This is a short conversation about how you can be Better, Smarter and Richer. At the end of the call Sheri Joi asks me to give three MUST DO tips for all Creative Entrepreneurs, listen and make sure you are doing all three……..
Jackie talks about how you can be Better, Smarter and Richer (click the link to listen now)
I really wish I had known these business principles from the beginning of my advising. It would have made life SO much easier for me to advise creative entrepreneurs how to be more successful . But I have them now and I’m passing them on to you.
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Podcasts/Radio
Listen to Jackie on the Take Five Radio Show with Julie Fast on the topic: Creative Entrepreneurs and their Importance in Today's Economy.
Listen Now
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Testimonials
"Jackie taught me how to see my time as part of my business. She helped me charge exactly what I'm worth when I work with clients and truly helped me get clear on how to make money doing what I love. I used to give away my talents and then felt resentful of my clients! Jackie said, "What are you thinking!" and helped me change. My belief in my work has always been strong, but I know I was not working to my full potential financially. It's truly amazing to feel good about the business side of my career!" - Janice Patrino
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