"When a deer drinks from a stream, the earth does not weep at the loss of
water. The value is cyclical. The earth is thankful for the deer, the deer is
thankful for the water. And the stream keeps flowing."
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| image: www.holidaysinsrilanka.com |
And so, to the final post of my Mindful Money series.
What great feedback I've had from so many of you on the Mindful Money series. Thank you all for reading and sharing, I'm glad it's been food for thought, and helpful to you. If you have missed any of the series, there is a list at the end of this post so you can catch up!
Do know that whilst I am philosophising about it here, I am still very much learning to put it into action now myself. I ebb and flow in my levels of confidence or cowardice. But I am learning. Slowly!
I know of so many women and men starting businesses right now, turning their passions into something they can make money from. Whether you are selling your wares at a market, your services, or establishing a more professional platform for your business, I think getting right about money - what to charge, how to cover your costs and time, and feel good about making a profit - is the biggest challenge on the road. Once you find peace with the money side of business, everything else falls into place.
" Our relationship with our money is directly
connected to our relationship with our
creativity."
The money freak-out thang is like a log damming up the river, once it's gone, everything else flows. After all, you're in business doing what you love, with passion and integrity. You want to be of service, to make a difference, to bring joy and love into people's lives - so the customer service aspect and the product aspect are there already to a degree - all you have to do is get confident in sharing your work with the world - and then taking right payment for it.
Oh it's so easy in black and white - but such a challenge in reality.
That's why there are a whole lot of people, some who have had great success in online business, and many, many self-styled prosperity coaches out there who want to HELP you, FOR A FEE!!! Many are cashing in on our insecurity, promising what they can't - and don't - deliver. I am always a little suspicious of people who make money out of telling other people how to make money!! They tend to be the ones who charge high prices, just to prove that they're worth it. A lot of them BUY their own ego bullshit.
I have done a lot of investigating, sampling and reading. I have found a number of products and e courses out there with major hype, and major prices (the Spark e course is one, at $150 for an ebook? Seriously?)
Here are my pick of the crop. Some free, some paid - but ALL offer SOME great free resources. I have used them all myself, though not necessarily for the prices they sell for (I got a number of them from the great 72 hour bundle deal I was talking about earlier this month).
But before you spend REMEMBER this: NO ONE CAN DO IT FOR YOU! They can give you tools, systems, flashes of insight, and methods for blasting through blocks - but the courage, the action, the application - is all YOURS!
So my top picks:
1) Leonie Dawson's Business e course. I found her e-book the single most useful tool in kickstarting my blogging, writing,online business, and selling my art. The e-course version, with built in support and feedback is starting on June 1st. She's also giving away a free e-book at the moment which has many handy biz and money tips and tricks which is well worth getting your hands on!
2) The $100 Start Up - a great new book from Chris Guillebeau. Highly readable in tone, it shares stories of successful passion based entrepreneurs who started on a shoe string, gleaning wisdom and practical tools from their experiences. I'm really loving it and recommend it very highly. He has a range of courses and e books for our types!
3) Maria Forleo's sassy b school looks seriously good for hands-on practical training in online business. I am really tempted, this year's intake includes a LOT of big names who I follow. But the $1999 fee is more than we have to invest right now. You can still get nuggets of her business insight through the great free videos she does, which I highly recommend.
4) The Art of Earning is super-good for challenging the stories you tell yourself about money. I'm re-reading it at the moment and it is chock-full of major "AHA!" moments! I love that she sells it as a pay what you can deal.
5) Etsy does a great free blog and newsletters dedicated to pricing, selling and entrepreneurship. This post is great on pricing strategies
6) I'd Rather be in the Studio - is a great practical business e-book for artists and creatives of all colours. Full of very practical advice for setting up systems for getting strong business and money systems in place, building up mailing lists and keeping clients. It is a no bull shit book.
Oh and I have just discovered...
7) Designing an MBA has a great blog on the topic of money, profit, pricing and business for creative entrepreneurs as well as e courses and e books - and if you sign up to her mailing list gives away a great e book for free
Do share your favourite books/ e courses and teachers!
This is part of the Mindful Money series at Dreaming Aloud. Take some time to check out the other posts on...
Naming Your Price
Our Matriarchal Inheritance
The Blessing of Money
Guilt and money
The ugly ducking sells out: Finding my inner entrepreneur
Transformational Teachers
Beyond Money
The Blessing of Money
Guilt and money
The ugly ducking sells out: Finding my inner entrepreneur
Transformational Teachers
Beyond Money
Hi Lucy - what a great wrap-up to your mindful money week. These look like great resources (some of them I KNOW are good!). I think the thing that gets me wary is when I feel like someone is trying to sell me friendship. If there's a product - a book, a piece of art, a course with clear aims and outcomes, I'll consider. And I like supporting my friends. So nothing makes me more excited than being able to do so financially by paying a fair price for their good work, as well as spiritually and psychically. But some of the services offered on the web feel like someone is trying to sell friendship (not yours, to be clear). Any thoughts on that?
ReplyDeleteHmmm, never thought of that, Melissa, I haven't come across it personally. Who's selling friendship? What I hate is people selling over priced (like $100) e books which are just highly spaced sentences fully of vaguery which if you picked it up in a book shop you wouldn't pay £1 for. I also hate the hugely priced e courses. Ditto. There is some absolute quality stuff out there. And the people who think that $100 an hour for services like coaching (when they have no qualifications) etc is an acceptable price- ummm, no, if you wouldn't pay that price on the high street, why should you pay it on line?
ReplyDeleteAck! The internet just ate my reply. It was really thoughtful and eloquent.
DeleteI guess no one is selling friendship, exactly, but maybe some of the courses/programmes that seems to offer everything to everyone strike a false note to me. The ones that guarantee to do XXXXXXX for your business/relationship/body/etc. There are no guarantees and how can someone claim to have your answers when they don't even know what your questions are? What moves me is when a person is doing something they love, are willing to share both their struggles and ideas, and seem to see both themselves and you as a person (beyond the seller/buyer, coach/client, teacher/student relationship).
I'll have to think about this more. I'm guilty of giving things away because I couldn't manage to name my price (especially to friends, who might be more than happy to support). So, this is good food for thought.
Thank you! I'm still in need of this for selling my art/prints/cards. Taking little baby steps at a time, but that I can say, I have been saving. Banks? loans? are not for me. I'm going to have a better look at 'I'd rather be in the studio'. Sounds like my kinda book.
ReplyDeleteThanks again. X
It is a REALLY great super practical book for artists
ReplyDeleteI love this: "The money freak-out thang is like a log damming up the river, once it's gone, everything else flows." It is so true! Thank you for sharing these great resources :)
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