Art of Earning
This post is part of the Blog Crawl of Self-Love, hosted by Molly Mahar of Stratejoy. She believes in the transformational power of truly adoring ourselves and so do I. Find out more about The ABC’s of Self Love Blog Crawl + Treasure Hunt here.
I like making money. Even more, I like helping others make money.
I’ve been accused of equating net worth with self-worth. But I don’t.
Your self-worth isn’t a number. Your earning potential doesn’t indicate your living potential.
But since transforming my minimum wage mindset into a 6-figure business, I’ve learned one thing: it’s impossible to “earn what you’re worth” until you know your own self-worth. Not in terms of numbers, naturally, but in terms of the value you bring to your inner & outer world.
Yes, I believe that we’re born with inherent worth as human beings. But there is also something to be said for identifying the unique traits and talents that make up your ability to contribute to something larger than yourself, your immanent value.
Before I started my business, my own self-worth had been beaten down. The corporation I worked for didn’t value my contribution. I had very few meaningful personal relationships. I was disconnected from my creativity and my own genius.
Intellectually, I knew I was worth something. Practically, I didn’t have the foggiest clue why.
When it came to understanding how I could contribute to society – and my own bottom line – through a business, it was rough. When you lack self-worth, it’s near impossible to name the value you can deliver to a customer, client, or employer.
Little by little, project by project, job by job, I started to see my contribution for what it was. Valuable. Extremely valuable.
But it was the work – not the price tag – that told me that. It was the results I created. It was the ease & relief I brought to my clients.
It was my unique contribution to each relationship that reinforced a growing self-worth. It was the investment of energy, time, and risk that allowed me to get back in touch with my own value as an individual.
As time went on, I could easily name those traits and talents. I became in tune with my immanent value.
And that – and only that – was what allowed me to catapult my earnings well past the my own self-imagined ceiling. Knowing my self-worth made earning more, taking risks, and asking for the true value of the work that I delivered the default.
No, your self-worth is not a number. The number on your paycheck or your hourly rate doesn’t determine how important you are.
But uncovering & reconnecting with the value you already possess – and exercising that value – is the quickest route to earning more than you’ve ever dreamed.
Art of Earning, Self-Care for Your Business
When I decided to never return to my job at a now bankrupt bookstore chain, I did so because I never wanted to settle for using any less than my full potential.
When I decided to quit courting advertisers, give up on web design, and stop playing the business-as-usual game, I did so because I never wanted to settle for engaging any less than my full genius.
I want work that is fueled by the full extent of my capabilities. I want to make money – beautifully – by serving people with all of my personal brilliance.
I had to build a thriving business to do that.
That’s what I wake up to every day.
Why don’t you?
You assume your brilliance isn’t worth much. You assume what you have is nothing people will ever pay for.
You assume that your ideas are a dime a dozen. You assume that the people who “get it” are hard to reach.
Worst of all, you assume you need to build some other kind of business before you can unleash your full genius to the world.
Your assumptions are wrong.
The tools aren’t the problem. The access isn’t the problem. The economy isn’t the problem. The problem is that you assume this is hard — scary, even. You have been – to this point, today – unwilling to apply ease & integrity as a framework for building the business of your dreams.
Holding on to the assumptions that keep you from building that business means others are losing out on your work. Your genius. Your ideas. Your perspective. Your vision.
You are out of excuses. What do you have to lose by claiming the work that will make your heart sing & your world a better place?
Claim it.
Over 50 entrepreneurs – just like you – are busting these assumptions and writing a plan to grow their businesses on their own terms & in service of people they love. Grab a virtual ticket to The Art of Earning LIVE and join them.
Art of Earning, New Economy, Philosophy of Social Media
A good life is one rich in, above all, “human potential,” the capacity to seed, nurture, and harvest all the many different kinds of wealth.
— Umair Haque, Betterness
Building your own business on your strengths, passion, and self-determination goes a long way towards generating wealth on many levels.
You’ll find your reserves of creativity rising, your relationship accounts overflowing, and your energy reports firmly in the black. Raking in a nice profit doesn’t hurt, either.
This is old news.
You Economy businesses must not only support their owners but support others.
This is not as simple as “do no harm.”
It means working in a way that leaves your commercial ecosystems qualitatively & quantifiably better. As Haque describes it in his book, Betterness, it’s a positive paradigm of economy – not simply a “not negative” one.
The positive economic paradigm isn’t just based in the trade of financial assets but the growth of real wealth in all its forms.
In this system, your business thrives because you’re not just solving problems for your customers but helping them live richer lives. Your business doesn’t make life “not bad” it makes life better.
You know your business can make your life richer in many forms: relationally, creatively, financially, intellectually, emotionally, etc.. But have you designed it to make your customer’s lives better in all those ways as well?
Do you make business decisions with the intention of making your customers richer?
I don’t doubt that some of you already do this. However, in striving to make our businesses work “better,” we often crack open the annals of Them Economy business. We assume the answer lies in the dots that remain unconnected in our non-MBA-trained brains. We assume the answer is hiding in more persuasive marketing copy, finely tuned profit & loss statements, and better launch strategy.
But you are not just another cog in the Them Economy machine.
I love persuasive marketing copy, finely tuned P&L statements, and rocking launch strategies, but the basis & understanding for those facets of business must now arise from an other-focused culture. Your overall business culture must emerge from a focus on generating multidimensional wealth for those you come in contact with.
What is business culture?
Your business culture (and yes, you have one!) is the point-of-view & values that make up all business decisions, communication, and development.
“The thing is, every business has a culture. It may be strong or weak, positive or negative, or just plain hard to spot, but it’s like a form of internal brand in a way. It’s the collective impression, habits, language, style, communication and practices of the organization.
— John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing”
You’re not an entrepreneur, you’re an anthropreneur.
An anthropreneur is part of & is creating a commercial culture that serves human beings to their full potential. The language, habitat, rituals, and beliefs of service & those you serve are at the center of your business culture. As an anthropreneur, you are concerned with building wealth into every facet of life – beyond mere profit – both yours & your customers’.
This is why you find the usual answers to business questions lacking. It’s not that those answers are wrong. It’s that in a different time, a different economy, a different culture, you could start with those answers & build from there.
In the You Economy, you must start with your other-focused culture. You must start with the intention to build wealth on all levels for all parties involved. You must know what that looks like, feels like, tastes like. And then you can layer the business-as-usual answers on top of that context. You can evaluate them. You can mold them & manipulate them to work for your business culture.
Consider social media. No, really.
I am a lover of social media. Both for what it has allowed me to access in commerce & for what it has allowed me to communicate to a mass audience. But I’m not a “how to” social media strategist. I’m a user. And maybe a bit of a philosopher.
But social media is an acute & accessible example of the generating multidimensional forms of wealth.
The gurus will tell you how often to tweet, when to post updates, and what types of headlines will generate the most response. That’s fine. There’s even research to prove it, which I highly recommend reading.
You can construct tweets & updates that have no purpose, no greater message, no call to action. They’ll get retweeted. But does that give your business traction? Is anyone really paying attention? Or is it simply part of a paradigm that rewards competitive behavior? I, of course, would argue the latter.
Instead, starting a movement around a single ideal – even for entertainment, internet memes, FTW! – encourages others to build on the conversation. Develop a #hashtag around something you’re passionate about, use it, and watch others add their own emotional & intellectual wealth to the conversation.
Your output is valuable, sure. But the spontaneous conversation created around your output is exponentially more valuable. If that conversation is tied to a business and you leverage it for sales, your financial wealth increases. If that conversation is tied to a nonprofit and you leverage it for action, social wealth increases. There is greater value for you, your customers & compatriots, and those you all touch in the shared wealth than there is in the value of a single source output.
What I’m not suggesting is that we build other-focused cultures at the expense of profit. Sometimes, these cultures will impact profitability – or our ability to squeeze every last cent out of the business model. Businesses & anthropreneurs should be encouraged to profit – lots of it – as one simple indicator of the wealth they are building into the system.
Responsibility to generating all forms of wealth doesn’t negate your responsibility to generate a profit. And it will probably help.
Yes, building your own business is a big step towards you living a better, more fulfilled life. But to get there in the You Economy, you must begin with making the lives of others better. Unleash their human potential – they’ll help you unleash yours.
What’s your anthropreneur angle?
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The Art of Earning LIVE is now available as a VIRTUAL experience! Join us from the comfort of your own office & yoga pants via LiveStream. Build a road map to the business of your dreams. Learn more.
Art of Earning, events
Congratulations to Carla Smyrl of Crown Bindery! Carla will be venturing to Philadelphia to attend The Art of Earning LIVE courtesy of Tara Mohr & Playing Big.
In 2012, I want to transition into a business plan that is less taxing for me personally in production and fulfillment. I want to dream more, design more, empower others more.
— Carla, Crown Bindery
Are you still in the “see what will happen” phase? Are you ready to move into the in control & in demand phase of your business?
Get locked in. Join me at The Art of Earning LIVE. Registration closes February 6.
Art of Earning, events, Philosophy of Social Media
My first website was a “local” arts & crafts blog. What I did not consider when starting my online business was that people would want to meet me outside the comfortable confines of the online space.
To me, online business was being safe & sound on my couch. Alone. Possibly in my PJs.
Meet? For coffee? In real life?
I’m an introvert, a bit shy, and not particularly socially skilled.
I tried to use my 6 month old infant as an excuse.
“Nope, can’t. I’ve got a baby.”
Of course, that doesn’t work when the people who want to meet up with you are moms themselves looking both to get out of the house and to get ahead with their dreams.
“Bring her along!” they’d say.
Luckily, their persistence forced me out of my comfort zone. Within the first few months of starting my business, I’d met several new friends and even taught my first workshop.
At first, the terror of meeting someone new and battling my idea of her expectations of me was all I could think about. I’d be sick to my stomach days ahead of a simple coffee date. As coffee date after craft show after workshop started to pile up, things became easier.
Practice makes perfect.
I learned that the only expectation I really needed to worry about was the expectation for me to learn about someone new, explore her story, and meet her in the moment. It didn’t matter if I was more or less than she thought I was or if I had strange interests or if I ordered an iced latte in the middle of winter. What was important was meeting then & there with shared purpose.
That took me about 18 months to really understand. But still, it happened!
By the time I started to master meeting new people, I realized that much of the “social networking” that was happening among people online was happening offline. My peers & mentors were meeting up at conferences, workshops, retreats, and just generally traveling around furthering their careers.
Cause & effect.
If I wanted to grow my business by expanding my network, I was going to have to get out of my house. And my state.
I took the leap. Last year, I made it a point to travel to every conference that truly interested me and embrace the strangeness of strangers. I flew to Portland, OR for World Domination Summit & Profit Catalyst. I took the bus to NYC more than a few times. I hopped a plane to LA, St Paul, Chicago, and San Diego. And I sprinkled in plenty of day trips.
I put a priority on surrounding myself with people who “get” what I’m all about. Or people who should. Or people I just desperately wanted to understand myself.
Yes, it’s difficult to leave my child to travel. Yes, it’s difficult to pony up the money. Yes, it’s weird to be in a room with 500 people I don’t know.
But the benefits of meeting my clients, customers, and colleagues far outweighed any downsides.
I now have good friends – a support system – that span this country. Now we schedule Skype chats to stay in touch in between trips.
I have a better understanding of who my customers are and what their needs are. Cause they told me, over drinks.
The people I look up to in my industry know my name, my face, and what my work is all about. Cause they asked.
But best of all, I have the experience of seeing people encounter my work firsthand. I have the confidence that comes with the “aha! moments” that people take away from dinner or drinks. I feel the ease with which my work emanates.
That’s something I’ve not experienced in any other setting in just the same way. And so I keep leaving the house, I keep traveling, I keep meeting people.
In the end, online business is no different from offline business.
We are all in the people business. And if you’re going to be in the people business, you better understand your business in relation to people.
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Regularly interacting with your peers & potential customers allows you to consider these questions:
- What is it like to talk about my business with people who care?
- What aspects of what I offer appeal to people outside my current audience?
- What appears most valuable about what I do?
- How do others talk about me & my work?
- What lights me up when I talk about my business with people who get it?
- How is my story different from others stories?
Put away your excuses. Put on a sharp outfit and get out of the house. If you can, get in a plane, a train, or an automobile. Leave home behind — leave online in the dust.
Venture out to find the people who will enable you to make your business sing.
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Sound like a plan? It’s not too late to join me for The Art of Earning LIVE. Find your own place in the You Economy with this intensive, intentional, and intimate experience. Take a minute to find out more.
Art of Earning, New Economy
What does business look like in the You Economy?
It looks like that. After working with passion-driven entrepreneurs for the last 3 years, I’ve created this cycle to explain what it takes to create a thriving business that allows you to earn with ease while inspiring you to do greater & greater work.
You can download a .pdf copy by clicking here. (right click then “save as,” if necessary)
This is what I’m teaching next month at The Art of Earning LIVE.
But I wanted to give you the rundown here. Now. Because this stuff is important.
Why | Mission | Purpose
People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
— Simon Sinek, Start With Why
You’ve been hearing this from me for the last year. But I refuse to stop preaching it.
From a different perspective and discussing the craft of writing, Anne Lamott says, “The core, ethical concepts in which you most passionately believe are the language in which you are writing.”
Those core, ethical concepts are also the language in which you are doing business. When you communicate – whether through visual design, social media, product packaging, customer service, etc… – with your customers, you are doing so in the language of your fundamental beliefs about your world, your community, and yourself.
Without a crystal clear understanding of your core beliefs, working on any other part of your business is going to be unsatisfactory at best.
Personality Brand
Because your core beliefs are yours, your personality – the person of YOU – becomes key to how others will understand your business. I believe this is true of all businesses in the You Economy. Not just solo entrepreneurs or microbusinesses.
A larger organization may look towards a strong, internal company culture instead of an individual personality but the result is the same: the work has a clear sense of humanity.
Decisions are made based on the human element & human origin of commerce. The customers that come into contact with that brand remember the humanity first & foremost.
Community Laboratory
Commerce is changing rapidly. In a world of instant feedback & minimum viable products, you need a place to experiment.
You have the tools at your disposal to set up your own laboratory in the form of an online community. This could be as simple as engaged Twitter stream or as complicated as a niche social network.
The future of your business relies on you creating a space where people can not only talk to you but talk to each other.
Manifestation – Product or Service
Last, yes, last, is deciding what it is that you sell. It’s not just the particular item on the shelf or the offer of service. It’s the experience you’re creating for your customer. It’s the connection they feel to you, to others, or even to the product. It’s the deeper meaning that seeps out of your offer.
Manifestation means simply “an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something.” Your mission, your personality, your community: your product or service must embody those things.
Until you understand the first three steps of this plan, it’s impossible to create a product or service that truly claims your premium value. And, baby, you’ve got premium value – manifest it.
The beautiful part of this “road map” is that it’s a round trip. You don’t start at one point & end up at the destination. It’s a continual cycle of evolution & innovation. It’s recalibration & experimentation. It’s dynamic.
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This is what we’re working on at The Art of Earning LIVE. Why tell you in such detail? It’s not so much about the “what.” It’s about the experience of discovering how it works for you, with expert guidance, and a supportive network. It’s about seeing your genius reflected back to you and witnessing your value for what it is.
You are ready to reconnect with your business. You are ready to realize artful earning & effortless marketing. You are ready to do your work with heartfelt inspiration. This is the road map. This is your experience.
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Care to share?
Business in the #youeconomy is a round trip. Download your FREE road map via @taragentile! http://bit.ly/bizroadmap
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