KAPOW! Mary Schiller is LIVE!

Hi there, it's Mary Schiller, author and results coach of MarySchiller.com. How are you? I want to welcome you to this free talk, which is called Kapow! I just loved that word, so I decided to use it. 3 simple things a successful solopreneur do every day, and you can too. If you are on here live with me, thank you for taking the time. If you could tell me that you're on here and let me know where you are connecting from in the world, that would be awesome. I would love to know where people are. If you're watching this on the replay, again, thank you so much for being here and for for taking part in this presentation. So let's see in the chat, where is everyone dialing in from? Can you all see and hear me okay? I'm looking, I don't see any messages yet. Oh, hi there, Kevin. Thanks. London, UK, brilliant, wonderful. I'm wondering if you're having as much rain in London as we are here in Paris. It's been a very rainy day today. But, you know, as they say, April showers bring May flowers. So it's all good. Where are other people dialing in from? I see we have a few more people live. Just started raining there, Kevin says. Yeah, you know, my daughter's lived in England for quite a while and we're from California. So the weather change has been quite drastic for her. Hi, Lynn in Colorado. Good to see you. Thanks for being here. Awesome. I'm just going to get a sip of water. Uh, oh, hi Allison! Where is Great Missenden? I have never heard of that place. It sounds intriguing. Hi Terry, thanks for being here. Uh, Buckinghamshire, that sounds very elegant as well. I just love the names of the places in England. They all sound just so regal. I guess they sound regal for a reason, right? All right, thank you so much. And please, if you're joining, you know, feel free to say hello in the chat. I'll keep one eye over there. I also wanted to let you know that if you have a question, you can put it where it says "Ask a Question," which is in the bottom there, and I'll be sure to see it. So that's the best place to post a question if one comes to mind at any point in this talk today. So welcome again to this conversation. I do have a little PowerPoint that I'm going to bring up in just a second. And really, I was inspired to give this talk to you guys today because I realized that I have seen a trend in working with people the last few years, and especially as I'm recording this, about the last 2 years. Hi, Birdie. Thanks for joining. I have seen a trend in the people that I have worked with and what their struggles tend to be. And I, I started to see, you know, what is it that people are doing who are not struggling, who are solopreneurs, meaning people who work for themselves? That can be anyone from an artist to a coach to a consultant, anyone who is working for themselves who doesn't have a big team of people around them. Like, I'm a solopreneur. And I don't have a team of people supporting me at the moment. It's still just me. But you might be considered a solopreneur if you have a virtual assistant or you hire people now and then to do odd jobs like graphic design or whatever. But it's still you. You're the business. So if that sounds like you and you're feeling like you're struggling, then this might be a big help to you, this presentation. That's my hope anyway. So I'm going to go ahead and jump over to the presentation here. And let's get started because I really hope that you get something from this presentation that is actionable. And speaking of action, you're going to be participating in this. So it's not just going to be me chatting. You're going to be doing some things too. So you're in the right place right now if you, uh, have your own business and feel like you're running in circles. So you might have the sensation that you're, you know, you're doing a lot of effort, you're putting a lot of effort out there, but you're not seeing much progress or much income. Uh, maybe you haven't started your own business yet and you're confused about where to begin. Or maybe you've been in business for a while and you feel like you're on the brink, you're just about ready to make it, but you're not sure what is missing, like there's a step missing there somewhere. So if you're any of those people, this— you're really going to get some good stuff from this presentation. And feel free in the chat to let me know, are you in business for yourself? If so, how long have you been in business? And if you aren't in business yet, you know, let me know in the chat what type of business you would like to start. I would really like to hear from you guys, so that would be great. So let me know in the chat. And as I, as I said a moment ago, get ready to participate because I'm going to be asking some poignant questions throughout this presentation. And I really want you to participate because that'll just make it so much more interesting and it will engage you more with what I am chatting with you about. I'm also going to share an opportunity with you at the end of this presentation. A way for you to get some specific help on the areas that we're going to be talking about. Hi, Kevin. Self-employed for years, just transitioning from publishing work to holistic coaching field. That's quite a big change. I can relate a little bit to that because I started this particular business in one field and now I've changed to another. And that can feel really kind of weird. It's like you sort of have an audience and you have a rhythm going and then suddenly you're faced with almost the sense that you're starting over. So I can definitely relate to that. So this is me, Mary Schiller, author and coach. I have a website at MarySchiller.com, and you can also find me at BoldWomenMastermind.com. That's my new project that I'll be sharing with you at the end of this presentation. A little bit about me. I'm the author of 11 books and counting. I'm working on number 12 as we speak. I've impacted thousands of people through my books coaching, and programs. And what I really try to do with my work as a business coach is to help solopreneurs, coaches, or anyone in that realm simplify their businesses for more impact and more income. And the reason why simplification is so key to me, and tell me in the chat if this sounds familiar, is that we are kind of bombarded, bombarded with information about how to run a business, how to start a business, how to run a business, how to make money, all these things. And it can really create sort of this overwhelming fog. You know, like you just want something to cut through the fog. And that's my goal always, is to cut through the fog, cut through the confusion, cut through the overwhelm, and get down to what really matters. What really matters in terms of how you spend your time, and how you grow your business so that it is not so much effort. So let me know if that sounds good to you because that's what I'm all about is making things simpler and easier. And if you have been around me at all, you probably have already guessed that that's true. It's just about every talk that I give has some element of that in it about, you know, making things simpler, much less complicated. Oh, thanks, Kevin. Yeah, I think it's much needed too. And it's why I've kind of tried to move into that space because I know when I tried to start a business several years ago, I got totally confused, totally, totally confused about what to do. And a lot of what I'm going to share with you in the next few minutes comes from that experience of being confused and then starting to look at what people were doing who were actually not struggling. So here are some things that I have noticed as I have worked with people and as I've kind of observed people over the years with solopreneurs and coaches who are struggling. The, the biggest thing, and this is why I put this at number 1, is they don't consider the kind of business they really want. And I put this kind of in bold here and how they want to spend their time. Spend their time. I'm going to come back up onto the screen here for a second, um, on this one because I really want to have a little bit of a heart-to-heart chat with you. So if you are in business for yourself or if you are thinking of starting a business, to me this is the most important thing you could ever consider is What do you really want to be doing with your time? Not what somebody is telling you that you should do or that you're supposed to do if you want to have a successful business. But what is it that is calling to you in here? You know, what is really calling to you? And that's been the biggest difference for me this time versus the time I just mentioned a few years ago when I was trying to start a business based on a skill set that I had. Makes sense, right? I had a certain set of skills. I wanted to work for myself. I figured, okay, I'll take those skills and I will make it into a business. And I hired a coach to help me through that. Well, guess what happened? I discovered a few things. Like, I didn't actually really like spending all my time doing the things that my skill set seemed to indicate that I should do. So I felt— I started to feel kind of trapped. Like, anytime I would have a client sign up to work with me, I would get this pang in my chest, like, oh no, you know, like, it was the opposite of what you want. You know, it was like, Instead of being excited that I had a new client, I was kind of like, oh no, now I have to do another one of these jobs. And I was really miserable as I was working full-time at the same time. Thanks, Birdie. Yeah, I was working full-time at the same time and I was trying to do this on my off hours. And so I was ending up just working around the clock. I wasn't charging very much for this new venture when I would sign up a client. I mean, I was charging what I thought I could, but even making money from it, even if I'd been making 10 times as much, it wouldn't have mattered to me because I really was not interested in what I was doing. I really wasn't enjoying myself. And I liked the people that I was interacting with, the clients that I had, But the actual thing itself was like drudgery. And so, I put as much effort as I could into it and it just flopped for a number of reasons, including the fact that I really didn't understand anything about what to offer. I was very confused about how to put an actual offering together and how to price things. But on top of that, it was just like, I don't like what I'm doing, so I don't want to do this anymore. And this is one of the biggest things I have seen in the last couple of years of coaching people who are trying to either start or create and grow a business, or maybe they've started a business and it's kind of stalled, is that they're not actually doing the thing that they really want to do. It's been fascinating, uh, Bertie and everybody, to see that that has been the number one thing. Okay, number 2, they spend a lot of time on things that don't bring in money. So let's talk about this for a second. So if, let's say they are doing something that they like and they really do want to ramp it up into a business that creates a beautiful impact and a beautiful income, I've noticed that they're spending time on things that actually don't get them there. So I bet you could think of a few things, like what are some things that seem like real time wasters? Like for instance, tinkering with your website, you know, trying to get it quote unquote perfect, you know, futzing around with technology that you don't even actually need. Yet. Things like, you know, a lot of social media posting and a lot of back and forth that doesn't actually land customers or clients, that doesn't really connect you with people. In the chat, let me know if you are kind of understanding what I'm saying here, that a lot of solopreneurs are engaged in activities all day long that really don't have any real connection to making a living, making money. Hi Kevin, putting subtitles on my videos when I could pay someone a dollar a minute to do it for me. Exactly right, exactly. Things like that. I see a lot of people who are very new in business trying to attempt things that are like 10 miles or 100 miles down the road from where they actually are. You know, they will attempt to do very, very complex these quote-unquote sales funnels and things that take a lot of skill and ability and learning and time. All the while they're not making any money and they're feeling like their business is failing when they could actually do something much simpler, like connect with people in some way and ask them to get on the phone with them and have a chat about what you could do for them. That actually has an impact. Hi there, Esther. Thanks for joining from Ontario, Canada. I appreciate it. So I see people spending time on things that they don't need to be doing that actually don't lead to signing people up as clients, customers, whatever it might be, and making money. So that is number 2 I see in people who are struggling. Number 3, here's another one. They don't consider how much money they want to earn and end up working for peanuts and around the clock. Does that sound familiar? Hear from what I just told you about my own experience. That's why I put that there. I never stopped to consider, oh, when I work for myself, I really would love to earn X amount per month. How could I do that? It was almost like any money that showed up that came in, I was just grateful for, even if it was, you know, not nearly enough to pay for my groceries that week. I was living in New York City at the time, and, you know, groceries cost a lot of money. And you know, I'd get paid $100 here, $200 there, and it was kinda like, okay, if you added all this up, it doesn't even cover my groceries for half a month, you know, it's ridiculous. And yet I never stopped to consider how much do I really want to earn from this business and how can I start to price things in a way that gets me to that number? Let me know if that sounds familiar to you. Give me a shout out in the chat. And here is another big one. If you have come on some other calls with me, Birdie says yes. Thanks, Birdie. If you have come on some of these other talks with me, you will know that I consistently talk about being consistent. I don't want to name any names and I don't want you to either, so let's not go there, but I'm sure You can think of well-known people, well-known people, successful entrepreneurs, solopreneurs who may not be like the best at the thing that they're doing in terms of a service, but they are really good at showing up, at being consistent. Do you know what I mean? There are people who, you know, are, are just kind of okay at what they do. You know, they're not terrible, but they're certainly not like a superstar. But what makes them appear like a superstar and why people love being around them and love working with them is they are consistent. I think that this piece for me personally has been huge. I started this particular business back in 2016. And I think what helped me get such a running start was I had been really consistent before that, before I went pro as a coach, I had been doing a daily audio blog 7 days a week. So I had a small following of people who had been listening to me every day in their heads through these audios, you know, for several months. And so that consistency helped me to, to take off rather quickly. Hi Kevin, 90% of success is showing up. I think Woody Allen said that. Yeah, I think somebody said something like that. I really believe that that's true because, um, you know, I will sometimes— let me know if you do this— uh, to, to kind of spy on people in a nice way, I'll get on people's email lists who are really successful, who, you know, are all over Facebook ads and everything, and, and I kind of want to see how they're doing things. And recently I signed up to someone's list who I'm not gonna mention the name, but he is very well known in his particular sphere. And I noticed that he is extremely consistent with how often he emails people. I'm sure it's an automated sequence that I'm in, which is fine. But he's very consistent about it. He's very consistent about what he does in the emails. But you know, the content is not all that good. You know, I look at it and I go, hmm, it's pretty mediocre. But the reason why he is so successful, I think, is because he's just there. He shows up almost every day. I see him in my inbox almost every day and he's trying to share something with me that he thinks will help me. And, you know, perhaps some of the things that he's sharing, maybe I'm the wrong audience for, but I have marveled at some people's consistency. And so that's what I have tried to model myself. Not just because I think it's going to make a better business, but because I want to be consistent. I want to be there for people. So how can we fix this situation? Well, it's actually quite easy. And let me remind you, if you have any questions at all that come up while I'm talking, just type them in where it says, "Ask a question," and I will answer it the moment I see it. All right, how do we fix it? So let's look at what do successful solopreneurs, coaches, entrepreneurs do differently? We'll look at 3 things. You ready for number 1? Number 1, they focus. They focus. They are laser focused on what they are doing. And, uh, let me just go here. So here is where focus comes from, in my opinion. Focus comes from having an overall vision for your life, not just for your business. So when I think of successful entrepreneurs, they are solopreneurs. They have some kind of vision that they are working from so that everything they do kind of falls underneath that vision and yet also leads back to it. So Let's think of someone famous like Apple. So think of the, the two guys who founded Apple. It's very interesting because, uh, as a quick side note, um, a long time ago, a long time ago when I was in high school, my dad's company was supplying printed circuit boards to the two founders of Apple when they were still working out of a storage unit. So I've been around Apple a long time. But what is it that they were trying to do? What was the vision of those, those two guys when they started Apple? Well, they wanted to create a much more user-friendly computer, one that was not scary and intimidating, but was much more fun, had, you know, was, was really functional, but was really user-friendly, right? So everything that they did Everything they did was focused on that and came from that. They didn't start by saying, okay, well, we want to create these amazingly user-friendly computers and we want to create devices where people can listen to music and we want to create new kinds of phones and we want to do, you know, they weren't doing that. That all came sort of as outgrowths later. Their focus Their vision was how can we make computers more accessible to more people and easier to use. So when you have a vision, when you have that, then it's much easier to focus on what matters. You start to, my second point, you start to drop the things that you really don't want to do anymore and that don't match up with that vision and you start doing the things that you do want to do, you start to go, wow, you know, this really would contribute to that vision and I think this is something that, you know, I wanna spend my time doing and then you start doing those things. Let's see, Kevin, hi. When you do something you love to make your living, you'll never work another day in your life. If you dread Monday morning, time to reassess. Very well said. I couldn't agree with that more. You know, a lot of people have asked me how I am so productive and how I create so many things. It's because I never really feel like I'm working. You know, I, I feel like I'm creating and I'm doing projects and I'm interacting with wonderful people like you, and I'm, I'm doing all of these things with this larger vision in mind of what I would love to create, and not just in my own life, but for the world in some way. If I can contribute something, then, you know, that's what I'm aiming for. And I think that a lot of solopreneurs don't take the time to figure out what is my bigger vision for myself? What do I really wanna focus on? You know, it's also not just about doing the things that you want to do, but it's about not waiting around. Because, you know, if we wait until we've got the right feeling or we wait until the circumstances change, we'll be waiting forever. You know, when I started this particular business, on paper it looked like the worst time ever to start a business. I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say, if I gave you all of the facts from that time, you would say, Mary, this is completely the wrong time for you. To start your own business, you should go get a job. Uh, hi Erna, what's my vision for the world? Well, I'll tell you. So one of the things that I want to do is I want to create a space for women in particular to feel freer to follow their, uh, their own business dreams. And really, as I will talk about in a moment, feel emboldened to have a space where they can really allow their ambition to flourish, especially women like me, quote unquote, of a certain age. I'm almost, I'm approaching 60. And a lot of us are kind of told that it's time to wind down. Well, I feel like I'm just winding up. I feel like I'm just getting started. And so I would love to create that kind of community. When I recently wrote out a renewed vision for myself, one of the things on there was I want to be around an amazing community of go-getter women. And I thought, well, I guess one way to do that is to start it myself. I can start this community myself. So for me, that's a big focus. And I think that it's why I've been able to make progress so quickly on that particular goal. Because I was very clear that that was something I wanted to create. And the word focus tends to seem like it's narrowing, but in a way it kind of does the opposite of that. When your focus is sort of concentrated on something, you suddenly open up to new opportunities in that arena, if that makes sense. So it's not about becoming rigid and small and narrow. It's almost the opposite. Let me know, you guys, if that makes sense. And Erna, thank you for asking that question. That was very kind of you. I hope you like the answer. So here's a question. I want you to write your answer in the chat. What is your vision for 3 years from now? In 3 years, what is just one thing that you would love to bring into being for yourself, for your business, uh, in any realm of life? Just one thing. So I'm going to give you a moment to consider that. Um, oh, thanks, Birdie. And I would love for you to type that in the chat area. If you don't feel like typing it into the chat area, then at least consider it and maybe write it down on a piece of paper. What is your vision for 3 years from now? One idea of something that maybe seems impossible to you. Maybe it seems like, you know, gosh, I could never bring that to reality. That's just crazy. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about those kinds of thoughts. If they come up, which they will, you can safely ignore them and say, you know, kind of wave at them and say, thanks for showing up, but really not interested in listening to that right now. I'd rather listen to something else. Also, you know, it's kind of inevitable that when we give ourselves this space to listen for our dreams and for a vision, you know, it can get kind of emotional. It really can. It was for me when I recently redid this vision for myself. I got really emotional about it. And I was like, wow, you know, what if I could do that? Wouldn't that be amazing? I would just, that would just be so cool. And it can also have a tinge of, you know, Well, what if it doesn't happen? I don't want you to worry about that right now. I want you to really consider what is it that you would love to bring into form, into being 3 years from now, or even less. Hi, Kevin. Reputation for having genuine positive impact on the people I work with so that I have a fully booked diary for one-to-one work, which I really enjoy. Beautiful, that's amazing, Kevin. Congratulations for that. I have a feeling you'll do it a lot sooner than 3 years. Maybe just 3 months. Yeah, 3 years seems too far off. I consider 1 year or 6 months or this month or whatever you would like. But if you do this exercise, just really let yourself go. You're very welcome, Kevin. Let yourself go and really see what comes to you and try not to censor anything. If that little censor voice pops up, just like I said, just wave at it and go, yeah, I'm not going to listen to you right now. I'm going to go over here towards what I would really love to create. All right, so you can consider that, and if you'd like to keep going with that in the chat, I would love to hear. And this is another piece of it. So we can tend to get these ideas for a vision, and suddenly something in there is really big. That's why I use this image, like something really big comes up, like, um, I want to be as big as Apple, you know, or I want to be as big as Oprah, you know, some idea like that will come up and we'll be like, whoa, Nelly, you know, that's a little bit too big. Well, you know what? It's not too big. It's not too big. You can be anything. You have the capability of being anything, of creating anything. You know, if a private citizen can create something that blasts off into space, then pretty much anything is possible. I want to go global, Birdie says. Yay, that's a big one. I love that. I absolutely love that. Great, Birdie. That's what I'm talking about. You know, Kevin, if you want to jump in here too, or anybody else, Erna, you know, what, what is something