I did it for the Freedom and then I forgot…

I did it for the Freedom and then I forgot…

I had just got off a client call and I was energized, feeling on top of the world. I was grateful I chose to become an entrepreneur. Seeing the difference I made in my clients’ business was exhilarating.

To reward myself, and revel in the freedom of entrepreneurship, I decided to take a 2 hour lunch break and take my kid out for ice cream.

I remember thinking: “Wow, this is the big reason I took this path: I get to work with clients I love and also be present for my kids when it matters!"

Back from lunch, I sat down to tackle my to-do list.

Ugh... One unpleasant task after another, doing things I didn’t enjoy, all in the name of feeding the marketing machine so that I could get more clients. No matter how many items I crossed off the list, more piled on.

Lately this perpetual blast of daily challenges was causing questions to start creeping into my thoughts:

Should I even be doing this?

This is NOT what I signed up for.

Maybe I should just give up…

“If only I could just spend ALL my working time with clients!. That’s my zone of genius! Why can’t someone just do all the rest?”

If you’ve ever had this thought, read on.

As entrepreneurs, we often create long lists of things we “should” do. And usually we hate most of them.

But what if we didn’t have to do those things?

I’m not just talking about delegating here. I’m talking about seriously rethinking the entire premise of our business model so we can minimize all those pesky things we don’t enjoy doing and spend most of our time doing stuff we LOVE!

The beauty of entrepreneurship is FREEDOM. We are completely free to build our business any which way we want.

I’ll just say that again: We are completely free to build our business - any - which - way - we - want.

And this applies to your marketing as well, since that’s the engine of your business success.

So how do we do that?

Here are 3 exercises to help you define the business you want:

1/ Let’s start with our values

Think about the 3 core values that drive you, so that you can build your business around them. That’s a great filter for you to make decisions.

For me those are Connection, Curiosity and Generosity.

I believe that Connection between people enables everything that humans might set their minds to. It is what enriches our lives, both intellectually, emotionally and literally, by translating into sales.

I find that curiosity and generosity is what has driven most of my choices in life. Curiosity and generosity serve as a rudder for me to navigate situations on a daily basis.

Not in the mood for my next call? If I get curious about who that person is, and I think about how I might be able to offer something of value, my mood does a 180!

2/ The next thing to think about is the lifestyle you want

Early riser? Need to spend 3 to 8 with the kids? Want to work 2 days a week? Travel 2 months a year? You may not be able to immediately implement these choices but having them as your goal from the start is critical. You will be making all your decisions based on optimizing for this goal.

For me, having several long breaks between calls allows me to change the rhythm of my day and not feel confined and caught in a whirlwind. It gives me room to process my thoughts and think deeply about connections between ideas. So I’ve built my week that way.

Also I can’t sink into a project unless I have a whole day for it. So I’ve blocked 2 days a week for those.

3/ Finally, be aware of what you enjoy doing

Are you extroverted and love talking to big groups of people? Or are you an introvert and prefer writing and asynchronous conversations (that would be me).

Love video and get excited by the idea of doing lives? Or shrink at the very thought (that would be me).

Prefer short projects with no long term commitment? Or multi-month or multi-year horizons with incremental progress?

Once you have done these 3 exercises, you will have a compass to help you design your business around your life instead of trying to fit your life around your business.

By the way, my story at the beginning of the email? That was me in my previous business, the one I left to open this one, being a LinkedIn coach for mission-driven entrepreneurs.

I built my current business following these 3 exercises and I love it!

This is also how you can design your marketing.

There is no one size fits all marketing. Bringing the diversity of all the ways we each think and view the world is incredibly beautiful!

There are many different ways to reach our goals and believing we need to fit ourselves into a mold of “how it should be done” is horribly restrictive, uninspiring, and ultimately it can be the death knell for many entrepreneurs who end up burning out.

This is why I started the Marketing Mutiny movement

I started Marketing Mutiny to widely share the stories and the strategies of entrepreneurs who have looked to their values to develop their marketing and are successfully attracting clients to their business.

I want all of you to find inspiration from these stories and take away ideas that you can implement in your business. And because I believe connection and conversation is the best way to learn and get things done, I’ve arranged for a space where we can exchange ideas and experiences, inside a dedicated LinkedIn group..

Marketing Mutiny started as a 1-month project in April with 10 entrepreneurs.

It was widely appreciated and I am happy to now bring you more!! I will be featuring a new entrepreneur every 2 weeks, to bring you even more ideas and strategies, right here in this newsletter, with a link to the LinkedIn group where the conversations will take place.

MARKETING MUTINY 2.0 IS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!!!

I am particularly excited to open this new chapter of Marketing Mutiny with Sarah Santacroce who I discovered through the conversations in Marketing Mutiny in April!

Sarah and I are completely aligned in our philosophies around business, marketing and how we see the world (even our love of Audrey Hepburn!)

So here we go:

SARAH SANTACROCE

Sarah’s bio

Over a decade of running a successful LinkedIn Consulting business inspired a yearning in Sarah to create a global movement that encourages people to bring more empathy and kindness to business and marketing.

As a ‘Hippie turned Business Coach’, Sarah has written two books, hosts the Humane Marketing podcast and works with heart-centered entrepreneurs to question their assumptions when it comes to marketing & give them permission to market their business their way, the gentle way!

Sarah shares a fresh perspective and doesn’t shy away from calling things out that no longer work for many of us when it comes to the current marketing model. Her clients sometimes refer to her as ‘the female Seth Godin’.

Sarah’s question for our discussion in the LinkedIn group:

Where and how can you collaborate more with others who are aligned with your values? Where can you tap into the power of community for your marketing?

Links to where we can find Sarah:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsantacroce/

Website: https://humane.marketing/

Sarah’s gifts, just for us Mutineers!

1-page Marketing Plan https://humane.marketing/one-page-marketing-plan/
A 20% coupon code for the Humane Marketing Circle. The code is MUTINY.

http://www.humane.marketing/circle

When members enter that code they save 20% on their monthly membership, for life, and Sophie is also making 20% affiliate commissions. Win-win-win!

Thank you Sarah!!

We'll see you in the LinkedIn group with answers to your question and to ask our own questions and discuss how we could apply this in our businesses!

I also encourage you to check out the contributions of all 10 entrepreneurs featured in April, and to delve into those discussions in the Linkedin Group as well (be sure to tag the entrepreneur and other mutineers in the group to keep the conversation going!).

Marketing Mutiny E-Book

If you want the e-book version of the Marketing Mutiny project from last April, with all the bios, stories, videos, links and gifts from those initial 10 entrepreneurs, you can get that free over here: Marketing Mutiny E-Book