Welcome to episode 375 of Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris.
Today on the show, we’re gonna talk about change. Change is scary. But also, super like, gonna happen to everybody and every business and everything in your life. It changes, it evolves, it grows. And that’s good. But I feel like this time of the year, November, we kind of see the end of the year ahead, or depending on maybe when you start your year, I know a lot of people do like, mid-year is kind of their start, so maybe you’re at the halfway point of your “year,” your reflection time, I feel like for me, though, I kind of run my year either … I feel like I have a lot of these refresher times.
Like, the school year, I guess September I always feel kind of like, it’s new. But definitely, as the number changes, so in December and November, when we’re looking ahead, this year is 2018 and like, January/February … you have this whole. It’s like the first page of a notebook. You have this whole stretch of time ahead of you. And I try not to plan or get too caught up in massive time periods. I definitely have a general idea of what I want the next, honestly, three years of my business to look like, in a really general sense. Like, super general sense.
But now, in November, is definitely when I start looking at what’s up for next year in a slightly less-general sense. I tend to get more, more, more detailed when we look at 12 week quarters. But I’m a big fan of mapping out things, like Backstage trainings for the year. I really like to put together a general sense of what my editorial calendar will be for the year, what my launch periods will be for the year because that helps me know … when I get an opportunity to be an affiliate for something, if I have the space for that, or if … I get some crazy, awesome new idea. Again, if I have the space for that.
Or, more often than not, what needs to be removed from my life so I can make the space for it. So, in November, I start looking at what do I need to change to hit my goals? I also like to look back at what’s changed since the last time I looked, so over the course of 2017, what’s changed in my business?
And so today I want to talk about why change is good, and how to look at that.
Before I jump in, I want to remind you, if you love this show, which I know you do, you need to join us Backstage. HitTheMicBackstage.com is the place to be. We are all about giving you what you need, right now, to help you with your digital marketing. This is the place to stay updated with what’s happening on networks, to pay attention to what you want to focus on, because we have how-tos on all of the major networks.
And speaking of change, we have some change over the course of 2018 that’ll happen, because we’re always making that community better. That community is always changing in the sense that, in 2018, for the first time, the bulk of our trainings that I have laid out, are gonna be about strategy. We have an entire library of step by step, how-to use networks, and now we’re gonna delve into some of the why’s and the strategies that can help us grow and help us, you know, actually see results and stuff. Doesn’t that sound lovely?
So if you want to be a part of that, HitTheMicBackstage.com is the place for that. I highly recommend you join us, because well, it’s just frigging cool. And I’m there! And lots of other cool people, so I’d love to see you there. All right? So.
Start with your brain…
Moving right along. The first thing I want to talk about is when we’re looking to change something. Maybe … and I feel like this is the most common one that comes up, the initial change is, “I want to make more money,” or I want to change the ways I’m making money, so maybe you’re moving from one to one services or one to one coaching and you really want to shift to a one-to-few or one to many model, so maybe it’s small group coaching or small mastermind coaching. Maybe it’s a course. Maybe it’s a membership, something like Hit the Mic Backstage. Whatever it is, there’s a change.
And here’s the first thing that you have to look at, is you have to go full on brain with it. You have to look at, okay, so where am I at now? Because until you know where you’re at now, you literally can’t change anything. There is no place to go if you do not know where you are. That’s why on every mall map/directory in the world, there’s a little sticker that says, “You are here.” We have to figure out what “You are here” is in your business right now. And that’s … that’s everything from, how much are you making, to where are you making it? To what’s your community size look like?
But it’s also diving a little deeper than that. Is the community size you have now made up of people who are going to be interested in whatever this next iteration is? A great example of this change, as I went through it in my business, was honestly looking at when I moved from on demand, virtual assistant, which was a virtual assistant business, to Hit the Mic Marketing, which was the original iteration of The Stacey Harris.
My clientele was not all people who are going to move with me. My mailing list was not all people who were going to be interested in what I was gonna start saying, and so I had to get really clear on if there was anyone, and if there was anyone, how I moved them, and also how I let go of those who were not a fit, from a client perspective, it was a lot of referring. Handing those people off to somebody who was gonna be a good fit, because obviously I still want to maintain those relationships. I still care about those people.
And I did that with my email list, too, the people who … when I sent out an email saying, “Hey, this is what we’re doing. We’re actually closing the doors of On Demand, we’re launching a new company, Hit the Mic Marketing.” Guys, I’m super original with these names, right? We’re moving to Hit the Mic Marketing. I’d love you to be a part of that if you’re interested in that, here’s where you stay on the list. If you are interested in more of this VA-focused, in more of the things I helped with, here are some really good resources.
So I set up a referral piece, not even just for my clients, but for my email subscribers, my blog readers, because this was before the podcast existed, so they would have that, for lack of a better term here, safe space to land.
So that’s really important to me, but again, it can’t happen if you don’t do this brain work first, which is knowing where your numbers are, knowing who those numbers are, because those numbers represent actual, real live people, something we forget. So pay attention to that stuff first. Look at your community size. Look at your budget. Look at your numbers.
And then, you gotta go heart.
You do. As much as it’s about who your ideal clients are, it also has to be about how do you serve best in the way that is in alignment with you. I mentioned blog readers before. Part of that looking at, who am I and how do I serve best in the sense of what do I enjoy most doing was part of the reason there’s not a blog anymore, guys, there’s a podcast, and it’s because I don’t particularly like writing blogs.
Like, it’s just … I used to say I wasn’t good at it. I’ve since shifted that. I don’t like it. It’s not even that I’m not great at it, it’s just not my favorite way to create. It’s not how I feel creative, even as I go through the process of writing my first book, it is an effortful process because again, it’s not my favorite way to create. I’m a very visual or like, audio. Audible. I don’t know what the word is I’m looking for. But you know what I mean.
I like stuff that I can see or hear. Which is strange, because I’m a huge reader. I love to read. And I’m not a huge fan of audiobooks. So there you go. All right? But the point is, from a creative standpoint, I like to talk. This is how I best serve. And that was a feel thing, and you have to do that.
Another feel thing was when I closed On Demand and launched Hit the Mic Marketing, and even more recently than that, when Hit the Mic Marketing became The Stacey Harris, it was less about the numbers. It was honestly less about you, people who listen to the show, the people who were my clients and who worked with me, who were on my email list, and more about me, and who I wanted to be as an entrepreneur and who I wanted to be and how I wanted to serve as the leader of my community.
And so, that heart part? That feel part does matter. Because the things that we don’t like doing, the things that are not in alignment with us, are never our best work. It’s just the way it is. And so as much as it’s about your ideal clients, and you guys have heard me say that, I don’t know, 475 billion times, it’s also about you. And it’s also about how you best show up. All right?
So, take that into account.
What’s Next?
Our third step is going to be bringing those two things together and figuring out what our next step is. What are the actions? And really looking at, okay, so who are my ideal clients? What do they want? What are these numbers? What do I have right now? Where do I want to be? Okay now, where’s the map?
So now we have, you know, going back to our very bizarre analogy of the mall directory … I don’t know where I got this one, guys, but we’re going to stay with it. We have our “You are here,” because we did our brain work. We have our “Here’s your destination, here’s where you want to be,” because we did that inner heart work, that “this is how I feel best.” This is how I serve best.
The third step is, okay now, what’s my route to get to that destination? And that is the most important step, because if you don’t take that step and then follow that map, which I guess would be like, 3A or 3B, 3A being figure out, 3B being actually use, if you don’t do that part, you’re gonna stay where you are. You’re gonna stay at step one and you’re never gonna get to step two.
You’re never going to get to that destination part. You’re gonna end up living at that “You are here” spot. And that’s not where you want to be. And that’s okay. It’s natural for us to evolve. I think this is one of the most important marketing lessons and business lessons I’ve learned, and I say that not at all lightly, because man, oh man, are there a lot of lessons that we learn about ourselves, and about how business works and about how marketing works, and you know, tactical stuff and mindset stuff and everything. But one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is it never stops changing.
You never stop changing, and so nothing you do is permanent. Which is kind of freeing, because one of the biggest, like pieces of feedback I get from clients when I make a suggestion about trying something new or tweaking something is, “What if it doesn’t work? What if people don’t like it?” Well, great. Then we try something else!
Nothing is permanent. Nothing is forever. I mean, even tattoos can be removed at this point, right? Seriously, though. All of mine are original. It comes down to just take the next step now, because you don’t know what will be different later. You know, when I opened On Demand Virtual Assistant, I thought that’s the thing I would be doing forever. It lasted about 14 months.
And then I opened Hit the Mic Marketing, and I was like, “Okay, so this is the thing I’m going to do forever. I’m going to provide management services. This is what I’m gonna do forever.” It lasted about a year, and then we launched The Stacey Harris, and I thought, “This is the thing I’ll be doing forever,” and it was programs and a lot of one-on-one coaching. A lot of one-on-one coaching and still some management services. And here we are a few years later, and it’s very little management services. Very little. We do still have a couple of management clients. It’s mostly strategy development, and it’s the membership, which wasn’t something I ever thought I’d be able to do, and here we are, two years into the membership.
And I’ll be honest: I’ve kind of stopped saying this is the thing I’ll being doing forever, because I just know better now I guess. I’m not comfortable with the idea of forever and ever, still. I’m still kind of commitment-phobic guys, it’s cool. But ultimately, what I wanted to do with this episode is I wanted to remind you that if you’re looking at next year and you want to see something different, something in you is saying, “Hey, it’s time to evolve,” that’s okay.
It’s cool. It’s actually totally expected. So do it. Find out what little steps you need to start taking now to see those shifts and those changes happen. If you are interested in partnering with me to make those changes, I do have some spots open at our VIP Level for Backstage, which does involve monthly one-on-one calls with yours truly, The Stacey Harris. I don’t know why I’m referring to myself in the third person.
But it’s a really great way to get the support and the on-going coaching you need to see that change from a marketing and business perspective, because you know, you got someone to say, “Hey, is this crazy?” And I’ll straight up tell you if it is. I promise.
So, check that out. All of the information for all three levels of Hit the Mic Backstage, meaning the monthly, the annual or the Bam VIP Level are over at HitTheMicBackstage.com. Heads up: the really cool thing about BAM is that instead of where you’re looking at those 12 month, six month, nine month masterminds, right now and you’re saying “I don’t know if I am ready to jump into something that long-term,” BAM, just like any other level of Hit the Mic Backstage, is completely customizable to how long you want to be there.
If you want to join us for a month and just get a one on one call with me and access to the community and check it out? Awesome. If you want to commit to 12 months with me and spending all of 2018 really rocking it out with me, killer, let’s do that. That’s up to you. You can cancel at any time. So, if you’re at a point where you’re like, “You know what? This is the year where I really kind of want to have this one-on-one support throughout the year, but I’m not sure if I can commit to that kind of investment,” not a big deal. Let’s try it out. Let’s see how it goes, and you can cancel at any time.
HitTheMicBackstage.com is the place to go to get all of that information. And I will see you on the very next episode of this show, which, you know, comes out next Tuesday, because that’s when this happens. That’s not changing. There’s no change there. All right?
Thank you for listening. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you next time on Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris. That’s me.
