You're good enough NOW.

Good morning. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach. Welcome. Happy Monday morning, everyone. I. Forgive me, this is only my second cup of coffee, so I'm still in the wake up process, even though I've been up for quite a while. This morning. This morning I wanted to go live and talk about what it takes for you to finally be ready to start this business. Okay. And if you're watching, if you're, if you're tuning in, welcome. I am going live to the Facebooks, to LinkedIn, to YouTube, and to Twitter. And just so you know, sometimes not all the comments make it to me here in Streamyard. So if you comment and I don't call you out, know that it's not you. It just. Sometimes the technology just doesn't want to work with us. But anyway, if you have any questions as I'm going through this, please pipe in. I'd love to answer your questions. Now let's talk about what you feel like you need to do to be ready to start this business. Okay. Now let's talk about the types of business that this is relevant for. Okay. This is relevant for businesses where you are advising other humans on something that is not highly regulated. Okay. So if you need to be a doctor, if you're going to be doing brain surgery. Yes. You need to go and get your certifications, you need to pass the board, all the things go, like, get trained as a brain surgeon before you, you know, conduct some brain surgery. If you're a lawyer, if, if you want to practice law, yeah. You got to go to law school, you got to pass the bar, you got to, you know, do some other stuff, I'm sure, right. Go and do that. And then you can legally be a lawyer. Okay. If you want to be a financial advisor, there's a whole other slew of things that you need to do. I'm not really sure what those things are. Go find out. So this is not a go get them tiger, regardless of what you're doing. This is a go get them tiger if you can legally do what you, what you want to do. So let's play with the idea of a copywriting business just because it is so applicable to so many different types of business. So if you're a copywriter, a you know how to write, right. You've probably done a lot of self study, you maybe took a course. And also there's like this weird barrier to entry where you're like, well, when am I ready to become a copywriter? When am I Ready to go and start taking clients. I want you to know you're ready right now. Right now and right now and right now and right now you're ready right now. You are good enough as you are now. What I hear from my clients when they start with me is the top like four or five things that they are waiting to happen before they go out and ask for paying clients is number one. Like, they're like, well, I need more years experience. You know, feeling, feeling too young or too inexperienced is a huge barrier to entry for so many people. And I have to break it to you, you made that up. You a hundred percent made that up. Unless you are seven years old and you're still trying to figure out how many lines you draw off of an A capital E to make it a proper E. Just so you know, when I was a kid, this is a fun story. When I was like, up until like 6 years old, I didn't understand how to spell an E or how to write it. So I would start off with that and then I would just do as many, as many little lines off it. That was my E. If you're writing ease like this, then you can't start a copywriting business, okay? If you don't understand how your industry works. You know, if you're a copywriter, a copywriter, a copywriter who works in the love and romance industry, but you have no idea how that industry works. And I'm sorry, you need to go and figure out how that works. But if you're a copywriter who knows how to do your research, who can write compelling copy, who understands how to make a case for something, who understands how to get in a buyer's mindset, that is enough. Now more years experience, yes. Will make you better, but how the fuck are you going to get more years experience if you're working 40 hours a week in a job that has nothing to do with this? You do this as a side hustle, as a hobby, like, and how are you going to do it consistently if it's not paying you? Okay. Are you going to just do this for fun? Just write random copy for random websites and never use it? I don't think so. More years experience, yes. Will make you better, but you have to start somewhere. You can't become better unless you actually start. Right? I don't play soccer. I've never played. I mean, I've played soccer two days in my life when I was 5 years old. And when I was 14 years old, I signed up for the soccer team, made my mom go out and buy me all the stuff. Very. I was very lucky in that way that she could afford to do so. And then both times I came home and I was like, that was stupid. I don't want to do that. Right. There's no way for me to become a better soccer player. I can think about soccer all I want. Not that I would. I'm not that into sports. But anyway, the only way to become better at something is to start it and continue at it. Okay, you need to start now. You are good enough right now. So more years experience. And just so you know, I work with clients of all ages. Okay. Doesn't matter if you're 22 or 72, if you're starting something new. Everyone has that doubt of, I need more experience. I need to do this for more years before I'm credible here. All right, you have to start now because it's so much easier, let me tell you, to start this business when you're younger than when you are older. And if you wait for the experience to amass over time while you're doing other things, it's going to help take a hell of a lot longer. Okay, now the next one. This myth that you need all of these certifications that are out there in the world, maybe copywriting isn't the best example for this. Let's talk about coaching the coaching world. This is really common with. With coaches, executive coaches, life coaches, leadership coaches. You know, it kind of goes along with, like, that myth that you're supposed to feel ready to do this. But I can't tell you how many of my colleagues from when I went through coach training, I went through coach training, I went through the certification program with these people, right? And I started my business. They're still going back and getting certification after certification, after certification, after certification after certification, because they think that another certification will give them that final bit of credibility that will make them hireable as a coach. It'll just be that straw that, like, strengthens the camel's back and lets them go out and start this business. And they're constantly, you know, doing a certification, getting the certification, being like, oh, okay, well, that wasn't. That wasn't enough. I need more credibility. It's like they're credibility hoarders. And part of this goes into self esteem. Part of this goes into self esteem. Part of this goes into not believing that you're good enough. And my heart aches for folks who are constantly putting themselves through this hamster wheel of getting every certification and just churning them out. Part of what will build your self esteem is doing the work, Getting a paying client, working with that paying client, seeing that paying client have some kind of transformation, seeing the results of your work. That is what gives you the confidence to work with the certifications that you've got. If you keep going after new and better or whatever certifications, I mean, that's great. But what you're doing is you're actually creating a lot of confusion in yourself as to what you offer. Now I got certified a few years ago through the coactive Training Institute. So I'm a coactive coach, okay? Now, I blend their model and their stuff with my own life experience, okay? So I also train my clients on how to sell their services in a really relationship building way. I also train on marketing because I have a lot of experience with marketing my own services and marketing in previous jobs and writing copy. I also blend that with how to create an offer from all the work that I've done throughout my career of selling different services and different things. Whatever. I blend it all together. Now, yeah, sure, I could have gotten like 17 other certifications and blended that together with, with coactive coaching, sure, that could have been valuable. But what I want to remind you is that your life experience is just as valuable as the shit you're learning in classes, okay? If you climbed the ranks through a technology company and finally got burned out and said this, I'm done. You can absolutely blend that with whatever modality of coaching that you got trained in, okay? That bravery, that bravery that it takes to walk away from a job like that, what it took for you to climb that ladder in the first place. What were the lessons that you learned as you were growing your career? All of that can be blended with whatever training and certification that you've gotten. That is enough, okay? That is enough for you to go off of. You do not need more certifications. Now I'm not saying that continued learning isn't good for you, okay? One of the things that I made a deal with myself on was when I started my business is I kind of put a blockade on new trainings because I know that I'm an information hoarder, okay? This is, this is a tendency for people with adhd. We want to collect all, all of the information and we want it in our pockets and we want to be able to whip it out and be like, here, I know this stuff. I made myself stop. I made the focus. Grow the business, grow the business, grow the business. You're allowed to get more certifications later. I'm currently in the two certifications that I'm really excited about that goes along with my work. Okay? So Trauma of Money and Sacred Money archetypes. Now, I wouldn't have known that these two certifications would be complementary to my work unless I had actually gone and fucking done the work with my clients and realized just how much work needs to be done on their money mindset. Okay? You have to just start doing the work and let your work tell you what other certifications you may or may not need. All right, but stop. If you have a couple certifications and like the world has basically checked off that box of you can take clients now, just go and start taking clients. Just go. Start. You are good enough right now. You are good enough right now. I'm going to keep saying that because I need you to know this, okay? And for those of you who are tuning in and seeing the number climb. Hi. If you have any questions on what I'm sharing, then please pop them in the chat. Now, this next one, I'm going to talk about it as building a portfolio, but it also goes into getting testimonials. So if your work is performative, if it's something that you do for clients and it can be shown as a portfolio, that's one side of this. Or if it's results based. So you need good testimonials. One of the things I hear so often from new business owners is, and specifically new business owners who are taking freebie clients because they believe that they need to have all these good testimonials and all these amazing portfolio things to present to get new clients. Let me tell you, that's not true. There's nothing wrong with being open and honest with your new clients that you just started this business. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. They're going to hire you because they like you, because they feel connected to you. David, why are you all awake and dressed so early? I'm actually not dressed. I'm in my pajamas. I'm just wearing a sweatshirt and I kind of like ran my fingers through my hair. David, just, you know, thanks for outing me. And I'm not necessarily awake. I'm still drinking my second cup of coffee, but. Good morning. Good to see you. Let me tell you. So you. This whole belief that you need to build up a portfolio, this is that comparitis that's coming in because you're seeing other people in your world who have a full portfolio. You're seeing other people who have all these testimonials and you're Saying to yourself, okay, well, if they have that, I need to have that too. And that part of your brain, I mean, it's fine, but it's forgetting something. It's forgetting that those people out there have been in business for several years longer than you have. All right? They've been doing this for a long time. There's a reason why they have a portfolio. There's a reason why they have all these testimonials. Those things happen over time, okay? You can't bypass the time part of this and just fast forward to having a portfolio. Okay? So, I mean, like, one of the things that you could, like, do that's kind of weird. And I, I see people on TikTok and Instagram doing this is like, they're. They're video producers. And so I forget the name of the woman, but she comes up with, like, like, weird little advertisements that she films that are for, like, cucumbers, you know, just random household objects. And sure, like, that can get you business, but, like, that's not necessary. Okay? That's absolutely not necessary for you to get a business. If you want to do it for fun, then please be my guest. If you want to do it as a marketing strategy for yourself, then please be my guest. But you have to actually do it, and you have to actually go and get the clients after, okay? You can't just say, okay, well, I have to build my portfolio and let that be, like, busy bullshit work that you're doing to help you prevent yourself from actually putting yourself out there. Which I'm calling you out right now. I know I'm calling someone out because I see this. I see this happening so often. It's this bullshit work that you make up so that you look like you're working, but what you're really doing is you're spinning your wheels and you're wasting your time, and no one knows that you are for hire. And Sharif. Hi. Good to see you, too. Welcome. Now, next, this whole. This whole myth of feeling ready, this whole myth of feeling ready, like you're just waiting to feel ready to do this. You're never going to feel ready. You're. You're never, ever going to feel ready. If you had never learned how to ride a bicycle, assuming you know how to ride a bicycle, say, like, your parents just never taught you. Like, maybe you guys just didn't have bikes. Maybe they didn't know how to ride a bike. Now, if you had never learned how to ride a bike, and here you are, and you're an adult, and I If I were to say, hey, just. Just feel ready to ride a bike and just hop on, how would you feel? Would you be like, oh, yeah, totally. I could do this, no problem. Would you just hop on and ride away? No, you'd. You'd be scared shitless. You'd just be sitting there like, katie, are you nuts? I have no idea how to ride this death contraption. Like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna fall off. I'm gonna break my neck. I'm gonna. Like, everything's gonna get twisted. Where do I put my feet? How do I stop? Like, what if I go too fast? How do I stop if, like, I'm heading right into a wall? How do I turn? How do I turn without falling over? Okay. To feel ready to do something, you have to have done it several, dozens of times. Okay? So you're never going to feel. Feel ready to do this. Now, being ready for something and being willing to do something. I love this differentiation is a completely different thing. Being willing to hop on that bike and start pedaling and to have, hopefully have it go well is different than feeling ready for it. Being willing to put yourself out there and invite people to become clients and market your services and do some work and get paid for it is extremely different than being ready to do all that stuff. Okay? Because when you're willing, you're open. You're open to the possibility that this could go well. You're also open to the possibility that this could go very, very badly. Okay? And you are ready to pivot with whatever shows up when you're willing, when you're ready. That only happens after you've done it a couple dozen times. And if you're waiting to feel ready, guess what? We're going to be. We're going to be sitting around your deathbed at some point and commiserating with you on how. Oh, you never did that. Oh, that's so sad. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes. But think of all the nice things that you did in your life. That's so sad. I'm getting, like, a little emotional just thinking about that. I don't want to be sitting at your bedside when you're dying, commiserating that. I want to be sitting at your bedside being like, wow, you were a fucking badass. You went and did stuff. You helped people. That was phenomenal. Okay? So here's. Here's the bad news, is that if you're waiting for any of these things, your business is never going to happen. It is never going to happen. If you're waiting for any of these, and you're committed to waiting for any of these. It is never gonna happen, okay? You are stopping yourself right here, and that's that. You are never going to be perfect. Your very first go. You're never going to be perfect. Now the good news is that you're not doing something that's life or death. You're not a brain surgeon. You're not a brain surgeon who's going to be going and operating on other people's brains. You are not going to have this be perfect. You also don't have to be perfect yourself. You know, let's go back to the copywriter. The copywriter could be like, well, I don't have a website yet. How am I supposed to go and say to people that I write website copy if I don't have my own website yet? And it's not per. Or if it's not perfect yet? Well, guess what? My dad was a carpenter. My dad is still a carpenter. He's in his 70s. Can I tell you how many unfinished projects we have in our home? Can I tell you that you walk and I'm so sorry, dad, to telling you like this. There are rooms in our house that he redid, and we still don't have the little, like, frame that you put over the light switch that, like, hides all the wiring. Okay? That's like, my bathroom upstairs when I go home. There are rooms where, like, the baseboard's not finished. Like, you do not have to have it perfectly done for yourself to be amazing for your clients. Now, if I go to my client, my dad's clients, houses, their work is impeccable. It's so perfectly done because my dad was focusing on them, not himself. Okay? To my mom's chagrin. I love it when I can use the word chagrin. That's a great word. I need to set myself up to use it a lot more often. Sorry, dad, for. For telling on you like that. That was not nice. You can yell at me when I'm home for Christmas. So just have faith that you can do it well for your clients, even if you haven't done it well for yourself. And again, it's not life or death, okay? Their life is not on the line here, okay? If you do it, if you make a mistake, you can always go and fix it. All right? Now, this is your sign. If you've been holding yourself back, this is your sign to just go and get started already, okay? This is your sign that you are good enough right now, just as you are all right. You are good enough. Now, here's a little caveat to that. If you want to learn something like, like I don't know, cartoon animation, and you don't know how to do cartoon animation, go and learn how to do cartoon animation. Okay? This is assuming you know a little bit about what you want to do. But if you know a little bit about what you want to do, there's no reason for you to not start right now. Okay? So with that, happy Monday. Go. I hope, I hope this lit a fire under your ass to go and get working and to get some paying clients and to start living the life that you really want to live. If you have any questions for me on how to do this and DM me, I'm a great resource if I do say so myself. And otherwise, I wish you all the luck in the world. And David and Sharif, thank you so much for joining. I'm going to go finish my coffee and I have a meeting with my, my CEO in a couple of minutes. And Jettine Jatan, am I pronouncing your name correctly? Oh, thank you. No, I'm delighted to do this. Just so you know, this is day five of me going live every day of December. I am going to be going live earlier in the day this week because every single night this week, I have an engagement. Okay. This is like an extroverts heaven this week. I'm so excited and we'll see if I'm still as extroverted as I was before the pandemic. Anyway, with that, I'm going to log off. I hope you found this helpful and I can't wait to hear what you did to get started if you wanted to share that with me at some point. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach. Thank you for joining. Please tune in again tomorrow when I go live on God knows what because I plan this about two minutes before I go live. Anyway, have a great one, everyone, and I will talk to you soon. Bye.