You all love when Emily comes on the podcast. So the good news is, she’s back! We last left Emily at her job at Quality IP facing the wall with people talking about lunch behind her. Turns out this opportunity was the final straw to Emily exploring entrepreneurship! We are talking about sales, the economy and ripple effects, the rate of change, and the safety net that is your credit score. Here’s the update…
The Next 6 Weeks
Pretty safe to say the two of us like to plan. And there’s a cadence or a cycle to organizing. We dream, make it real, complete the idea, and then we get to start dreaming again. Emily shared that she looks at these areas of her life the last week of the year or the first week of the new year: financial, spiritual, relational, emotional, mental, and vocational. She decides the next steps she wants to take to improve those areas and then strives towards the next step over the next six weeks which takes her to her birthday. She can audition new ideas and keep what works and what needs to be revamped. Recently she’s been trying to get to the yoga studio. I remember when I used to do in-home organization and Carol, my partner, would always say “Let’s audition the couch over here. If you don’t like it then we’ll move it back or audition a new location.” Emily has auditioned the idea of trying out this yoga studio, but it’s time to look for a new gym or mode of physical activity to move her health goals forward.
Don’t Force a Square Peg Into a Round Hole
“Forcing things never prosper.” Emily and I agree I have a pretty high awareness of my intuition and I follow it. I have always been more focused on the destination rather than how I get there. I know what I want the end product to be. I asked Emily when she decided to start trusting her intuition. She acknowledged that she used to force things and go against her gut. And it was no surprise that things haven’t worked out with this strategy. When they let her go at Quality IP, she thought “I’m done!,” I’m going to do business through relationships which is in alignment with me.” They wanted her to play the numbers game and she wanted to earn business through relationships. Despite her sales being stellar, they weren’t happy she wasn’t doing it their way. She was tired of forcing square pegs into round holes. Once she relinquished control, she felt God putting things into place to keep her afloat as she started down her entrepreneurial journey. She only has her income so she can’t just sit back and collect unemployment. She has hustled.
And let me tell you, in general, the hustle is back. The pandemic is over and we are back to the hustle and bustle of life. She has found a couple of marketing clients and she’s done some odd jobs to supplement. These odd jobs have been put in her path. God just keeps winking at her to let her know she’s on the right path. She’s doing business through relationships and that feels much better than playing the numbers game. She’s always been a fantastic networker and those relationships are paying off in her transition. She knows she does not want to work for anyone again. There’s no forcing anything and she’s listening to her intuition. She knows she’s not in control. She reminded us all that we are only in charge of our thoughts, attitude, and our efforts.
Emily’s Lessons in Business
Emily pointed out not to count eggs that have not hatched. She shared that she had calls lined up that ended up canceling. That resulted in not making money. But Emily didn’t sweat it because she’d taken advantage of all opportunities that had come her way. Don’t say no to a money making opportunity today because you may have money coming in a week or two. Take advantage of all opportunities. A Friday Workbox® can really help a person to keep track of odd jobs while organizing your main stream of income.
Emily has found herself to be more productive when she starts the day with a list of priorities from the end of yesterday’s work day. She made her list at the end of the day what was most important to complete the next day while it was fresh. And there is science that backs up the fact that the act of handwriting with a writing utensil (not a stylist on a device) provides better recall and encodes the information deeper in your brain.
Emily took advantage of her good credit score before she was let go. She knew she had to have income to get a bank loan as a safety net for this transition. Keep your credit score in good standings. This has benefited me in my personal life and small business. We had to live off credit cards for a little bit when our children were younger. And I have been able to get lines of credit at two banks for Organize 365®. When I was looking into purchasing a building, my credit score was definitely a bonus for me, too.
The Changing Sales Landscape
Things are moving faster since Covid. Change happens in about 3-5 years. But since Covid has dwindled down, the hustle is back. I remember many years ago learning about the Singularity Theory from Ray Kurzweil, that at some point everyone would know everything. I had the hardest time wrapping my brain around this concept. This has been made possible mostly due to the internet. The rate at which we learn new information is exponentially faster than 10 years ago. There’s not the lag of relaying of the information that there used to be. Emily remembered asking a classroom if they thought there would be self-driving cars and maybe one student would raise their hand. She asked the same question a year later and all but one student would raise their hand. It went from no one thinking it was possible, but with a plethora of information coming at them, they learned and understood this could be a possibility one day. And now…
When Covid hit, we all took advantage of technology that would have slowly been utilized. Covid catapulted that forward. Now most know how to Zoom, order groceries online, and alot of us rely on Amazon. All these changes were almost forced on us due to the restraints of Covid. And there has been so much ripple effect from Covid and supply shortages we experienced. We’ve seen the minimum wage has also gone up. But one part of the economy doesn’t go up without everything else going up. There was stimulus money that was given to employers who in turn spent it on wages. And of course, the product they needed went up! Another example is the price of shipping a cargo container went up so high. But then once we could get them shipped, they sat at the ports because we didn’t’ have enough workers on the railroads
I have also noticed that the fad of high ticketed coaching and other online sales funnels are starting to shrink. These strategies were popular based on it being a numbers game. Reminds me of the book “80/20 Sales and Marketing” by Perry Marshall. The idea is if you are in a bar, and you ratchet a shotgun under the table, 20% will look at you. Those are your people. Those people want what you have. Now build a relationship with those people because they are your client and know others with similar interests. When Emily had Rainmaker, her tagline was “Hope is not a strategy and everyone is not your target audience.” Focus on your target audience. We buy from people we know, like, and trust!
Well, there you have it folks. Emily is now an entrepreneur using the unique skill, knowledge, and abilities she has to do what she was uniquely created to do! The two of us aren’t going anywhere. If you need Emiy’s services reach out to her via email emilyMkelly@hotmail.com
EPISODE RESOURCES:
- Friday Workbox®
- 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
- Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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