Biz Got You Stressed Out? Here’s 1 Thing I’m Doing to Kill the Stress and Grow my Biz (AT THE SAME TIME)
“I’ve just been really stressed lately.” 🥵
How many times have you felt this while working on your business?
To make it worse, here’s the unfiltered, raw, honest, bad-news-bears….
In my experience, the stress never fully goes away.
Why? Cause there’s a lot going on for us one-person biz’s!
As I write this, my head is currently spinning from all of the things that need my attention… (I’m fine… I think… I hope… 🤪)
Most Common Top Stresses for SoloP’s
Financial concerns
Workload and time management
Uncertainty and risk
Isolation and lack of support
Self-doubt and imposter syndrome
Balancing work and personal life
Marketing and acquiring clients/customers
Dealing with competition
Time management and productivity
In this entry, I wanna focus on the bolded items above.
Because I have a solution that’s been working tremendously well.
Problem: Working for yourself, by yourself, is a rollercoaster of a career path. At some point all soloP’s face crippling loneliness, lack of direction, and a mountain of self-doubt.
Solve: Have more conversations.
I screwed myself for the past 2-3 years because I hesitated on this very thing…
Don’t Be Like Me… Learn from My Mistakes
My one-person biz journey started in 2019 when I began freelancing as an email marketer.
All was well…
I was not very skilled, but was learning a TON each day and raising my rates consistently. Confidence was not an issue. (yet.)
However, around 2021 I revamped my vision for my solo-biz career to become more of a product-based business that went beyond the scope of selling my time to help other businesses with their email marketing efforts.
Essentially shifting from a B2B to a B2C model - from freelancer to creator.
So I used my blind confidence to start posting content online to build my following. …and like I mentioned in my last entry, it didn’t go very well…
No growth, no engagement, no leads, no nothin….
Yikes….
My confidence tanked overnight.
(and tbh, I’m still working through this)
I share this to help you avoid the crippling stress due to my ego and stubbornness.
Ego? Stubbornness? no! not me..! 🤥😅
You see, I had been completely disregarding a specific piece of advice that I had already been told countless times…
99% of your problems…
99% of your questions…
99% of your stress…
99% of your future success…
Can be solved with one singular action…
Having Conversations.
Start new conversations and contribute to existing ones every single day.
Not for the sake of blabbering and avoiding important work though…
But to get feedback, insights, advice, new customers, and colleagues.
I’d say that’s pretty important work!
Especially in the beginning right??!
Here’s where to begin.
Places for Conversation
There are a variety of places to start or join really great conversations online. Here’s what has worked for me.
Coaching - I hired a business coach in May ‘22 and am so glad I did. Conversations with a coach or mentor is ridiculously impactful because you can really unpack and detangle your specific situation. You’re paying for high-level expertise directed 100% at you and your business.
In my coaching calls I:
→ ask a crazy amount of questions
→ pitch my ideas and logic behind it
→ share my insecurities and doubts
→ soak up every ounce of wisdom that’s given
Online Groups - You can participate in forums like in Reddit or join groups on facebook for instance. There are a lot of online groups of similar people flocking to be next to each other. There’s a sense safety and belonging in these groups. Whether public or private, free or paid, online groups are great for meeting new people and seeing the questions and feedback of many who are also in your niche.
Emails & DM’s - There’s something special about this. Lately, it’s been one of my fav forms of digital conversation. Legitimate email and DM conversations are not scalable at all because it can be time consuming, but what it lacks in scalability is way offset by the depth of relationship building that occurs. It only takes one or two exchanges and you immediately feel like you’ve made a new friend. I talk to other niche-related professionals, customers, and my email subscribers. I always end of having a great conversation and can ask for feedback, advice, or return the favor. It always leaves me feeling great.
Following Specific Social Media Accounts - I’ve been doing this since day one of my solopreneur journey, and it can be helpful, yet can be really damaging if you’re not careful… I made a youtube video on my experience with this (it’s one of my highest viewed vids as well).
Your mind will internalize and begin to believe anything you put in front of it enough times so if you curate your social feeds to be that of healthy information from leaders in your space, then you’re doing something right. But the gold is in the in comment and replies sections. Start asking, and answering questions in there.
Toss out your perspective in a respectful way. The feedback you get may not only turn into a new virtual friend, but this also helps you feel heard and validated - which really helps cure the loneliness found in the solo biz journey.
Word of advice… Pace yourself and don’t let it get in the way of you accomplishing your critical tasks.
These are just a few ways you can start having more conversations online.
My Current Online Conversations Involves:
Posting and commenting on Twitter/Threads
Replying to every email I get from subscribers
Browsing and engaging in online groups
This is just what my situation looks like currently and will change over time.
Here’s an Idea for ya!…
I’d much prefer to have more conversations and be helpful specifically with you as a subscriber.
You’re supporting me by being an active member of my little corner of the internet so allow me the chance to return the favor.
Things we can chat about:
One-person Business ideas / strategy
Marketing
Mindset around business / life and the way to win
Productivity, systems, time management
You can ask me questions, pitch me your ideas/plans, or anything related to build your best life through one-person business ownership. I’m down for it all.
Don’t let your ego or imposter syndrome get in the way of your success like I did.
You’ll waste years of your life when you could’ve been inching closer and closer to your dream outcome.
Having conversations dramatically helps reduce the loneliness, self-doubt, feeling stuck, and more. Not only will you feel better, but the best ideas and opportunities always come through the human connections we make.
I don’t claim to be a business coach, but I definitely know how hard this career path can be.
Plus, I’d love the chance to know you better.
Talk Soon! ✌️🙂
