There are no guaranteed outcomes
This is a good thing.
Back in the summer of 2022, I launched an Instagram Live series called “Candid Conversations to Level Up Your Business.” The theme was real conversations with women business owners in a variety of service-based verticals sharing what they’ve learned about running a business and their best advice for their area of expertise. Think: mastering your presence on video, nailing your branding, creating effective email campaigns, to name a few.
One of those early sessions was with Bookkeeping Coach Erika Millard (full disclosure, she became my bookkeeping coach). During our conversation, I asked Erika a question that I posed to every guest, “What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were starting out?” What was fascinating is that every guest had a different answer.
Erika’s, in particular, stuck with me:
“I would say to just start and to keep taking steps. I think I really struggled, especially last year. Even with my pivot [that] it is okay that I said I was going to do one thing and then changed my mind.
But I really do think as you just take those small steps and small actions you find what is the best fit for you and what isn't. And so I wish I knew and had a little more confidence that that was okay. And that those small steps were going to lead to the thing that I love doing now.
You know it's easy to see that as I look back. It was hard in those moments to choose, ‘Okay now it's time to take those steps then is this really the right step’
If you know all of those questions and have the confidence and know that it also might take some trial and error until we figure it out, that is part of this journey too. And if it doesn't look like it on the outside, we all know there's so much else internally going on behind the scenes…”
<some commentary from me>
“Yeah and that was the cool thing that I found too. I felt like as I took the steps the people ended up telling me what they wanted and what they needed. And so it wasn't until, you know, taking those steps and offering one service that they said, ‘Well I could really actually use this other thing.’
And so that can also be cool. You could see it as a failure but then it's also cool to see how the steps can morph into something you totally didn't expect that you like even better.”
~ If you’re interested, you’ll find the IG Live video here.
Boom! There’s so much wisdom in these few paragraphs.
You don’t know what you’re actually building and what’s going to resonate with your target audience until you put your ideas out there and start getting feedback. You won’t know what’s going to work and what isn’t.
This is true whether it’s a new offering, a newsletter, a podcast, social media posts, everything.
What’s holding you back?
You’ve got your idea and you’ve worked on it and yet… you’ve still not taken out into the real world. Why is that?
Here are some common hurdles I see (and have experienced myself).
“It’s not ready yet.” Also known as perfectionism.
This shows up as endless tweaking of a sales page, rewriting the offer document (again), or waiting until the brand shoot, the new website, or Mercury to be out of retrograde. The offer may be fine—but you’re aiming for flawless.
And underneath that is the fear of being judged.
Fear of being “too salesy.”
This is especially true for women.
Many founders don’t want to sound like a used car salesperson — I get it; I don’t either. So you swing the other direction — barely getting the word out, if at all.
What’s underneath? The fear of being rejected or seen as inauthentic.
“I don’t want to bother people.”
This one's disguised as being considerate. But it’s actually revealing challenges around self-worth. When you deeply believe that your work has value, you’re not bothering someone, you’re inviting them into your world.
To do this, you need to own the value you deliver. And realize that if nobody knows about your offers, they can’t benefit from them.
Lots of ideas, not enough clarity.
You’re stuck. Your mind is spinning up ideas but you can’t land on any of them. Is it a course? A retainer? A VIP day? A membership? You’re not able to make a decision.
What’s really going on? You’re avoiding the vulnerability of committing to one thing that might not work.
Math avoidance means marketing avoidance.
“If I don’t have a funnel or a list of 5,000, what’s the point?”
You don’t believe small can be effective. Or you avoid putting offers out until your backend is “set up.”
Underneath it all, you fear wasted effort. You don’t trust that there’s power in taking action and seeing what comes of it.
Comparison + Imposter Syndrome = Creative Paralysis.
You scroll on your go-to platform and think “everyone else has this figured out.”
You don’t realize most of those polished brands took years (and help) to get there. So you assume you’re behind. And rather than start where you are, you do nothing.
This, to me, is the most devastating. It’s a misunderstanding of what’s really going on.
The next right step.
The truth is nobody has it all figured out.
Emmy Award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and TED speaker Suleika Jaouad has been on the podcast circuit promoting her new book, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life" — I have a copy and am five journaling exercises in at this point.
One of the interviews I listened to was with Marie Forleo. The two got into an interesting discussion around Suleika Jaouad’s experience creating The Isolation Journals, a community-based creativity project, she launched during the pandemic.
And she shared this:
“And the thinking through like, well, what if this happens? Or this one wants this or and it's just like, when you just go, none of that exists.
And you kind of, you not only have to be porous in the sense that you're, you know, observing what's happening and reacting to it in real time and growing as you go. But, you know, one thing I think about a lot in terms of entrepreneurship is, you can spend a decade coming up with the most beautiful, detailed business plan in the world. But that essential question of, is this something that's actually wanted or needed, is not something you really know until you take the leap.
So the advantage of going fast was I was getting real time feedback, and that was informing the next step. And so it really felt like I was actively building this thing day by day, and it was so fun and so dynamic. And I felt like I learned so much, not just from this community, but about what it takes to launch something like this and to sustain it.”
If you missed Suleika Jaouad’s first book, Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Interrupted, it’s a beautifully told account of her initial leukemia diagnosis. It was published in March 2022 and I happened to start reading it just as she was told that her leukemia had returned.
I love this quote.
And in the words of a one of my clients…
You don’t know what’s going to come from taking action and that can be a beautiful thing.
“I am noticing that energetically, by putting all the things out there, it is bringing in things that aren't necessarily related to my offers, but are still amazing. I am here for it! You mentioned this in a voice note, and it really resonated.
I am building brand awareness and trust with more businesses.”
Just start.
Until next time.
Katherine
#ICYMI
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I loved the Picasso quote and #3 on your list…don’t want to bother people