The Exceptions to The Rules

The Exceptions to The Rules Ruled by Passions by 3 Lamb Illustrations Ive had it up to here, I tell ya! Up to HERE (yes, I am putting my hand way above my head, which without that visual youd have no idea about where I am in the up-to-here scale) with But Im supposed to be doing X and So-and-so does Y so I need to, too and I know I should be doing Z, but. It enrages me each and every time, so please dont mind the enpassioned (thats not a word, but I dont care) lady as she steps on her soapbox to bring home the point that there is no right (or wrong!) when it comes to working on or in your creative business. For every Rule, theres at least (at least!) one exception. Theres totally more exceptions, but honestly, I worked on this post for something like 3 hours and I just cant bring myself to find and link to any more people. You understand. The Rule: Im interested in so many things the thought of just picking one makes me feel like Im in jail but Im told I cant have a successful businesses unless I do just that! The Exception:  Tracy Matthews. Head on over to her site and youll see it right away: Bespoke Jewelry, Grounding Yoga, and Inspiring Offerings. Yup, all 3 of her offerings live on one site, together in harmony, allowing the visitor to get a real 360 degree view of who Tracy is and what she offers custom ready-to-wear jewelry plus  yoga classes (workshops, group classes, and private lessons)  plus  coming-soon curation services. And, um, Tracy makes $30,000/month. So there. How to adapt:  If you saw your Renaissance Soul-ness as a blessing instead of a curse, what would your business look like? If you could do the type of work you love each and every day/week, what type of work would you love to do? If its tough to differentiate the its-fun-now-but-might-not-be-in-6-months work from the ones thatll stick (thats a classic Renaissance Soul trait, by the way), think back to the type of stuff that has held your interest for at least a couple of years. Dont forget, everything counts: your love of dogs, your fabric obsession, your mastery of calligraphy. Start thinking of how they interact, and/or let my workbook or Emilies help ya along your way. The Rule:  It wont be worthwhile to have an offering unless I have at least 1,000 newsletter subscribers. The Exception:  Emilie from Puttylike. She talked to Srini about making $4K with a list of  only 500 people, and has done a bang-up job on putting out products and services that are super valuable since she started her biz. And ya know what? Offering things with value that put your perspective/process out into the world is just the thing to do in order to attract your audience/clients/customers to yousure, its a bit of a Catch-22, but dont let not having A Big List stop you from offering what you know you rock at. How to adapt:  You probably have an idea of what you wanna offer, and it probably is Big. Maybe Too Big. What would Phase 1 of that offer look like? Thats what you wanna be working on and getting out into the world as soon as youd like. Dont forget without people knowing who you are, what you stand for and what you offer, they wont know why they need what youre selling. The Rule:  If I want to grow my business, I have to be on Facebook and Twitter and blog and be on Pinterest and host a podcast and. The Exception:  Alexandra Franzen.  Man oh man, does this lady break all the rules in the best way possible. Do ya notice how she only has 1 social media link on her site?  Twitter.  Thats it. Thats all. No Pinterest. No Instagram. No YouTube. No LinkedIn. No Facebook, even. No Facebook! She loves Twitter, so thats what she sticks with. End of story. And, um, can we say  shes booked til Sept 2013?! Sept 2013. Let that sink in. How to adapt:  The bottom line is that you have to be engaged in whatever social media site you commit yourself to. If youre not sure what platform you want to be your significant other (yes, I still call twitter my boyfriend), then dont be afraid to play around -its time well spent. Spend 2 weeks on Twitter,  learning the ropes  and see how/if ya like being there. Then move on to  how Pinterest can help your biz  and play around there for a bit and so on and so forth. If you know in your gut where you enjoy being lets say by vlogging and Facebooking then cut out the rest of the noise and just do that for a month. See what happens. And if you wanna take a quiz as to which social media platform would be best for your targeted audience  and  your personality,  sign on up for my newsletter  and crack open the Business Building That Brings You Bliss exercise thats included in the VIP Library you get when you subscribe. The Rule:  If youre really serious about your biz, just take the plunge and start working in/on it now. The Exception: Me! Is that allowed? OK, since Im the writer, Ill allow it. The first thing I did when I decided to make a go of this whole life coach business was to get a new job as an Executive Assistant. Yup a 9-to-6 assistants job with a financial consultancy company. The job I held prior was too draining (aka a boss who made me psychosomatic), too all-consuming (aka expected to answer emails on my Blackberry at midnight), too soul-sucking (aka see above) to allow me to work on getting certified and build my business and I knew the biggest way to fail fast was to give up my steady job and jump into coaching full-time right away. I shudder to think what that wouldve done to me. How to adapt:  But now that I think of it, this Rule is a Rule that needs to stand just not in the way that some people see it. You dont need to quit your job and take the leap right now but you do need to keep putting one foot in front of the other as best you can, as often as you can. It took me 2 years and 7 months from the time I started that assistant job to the time I was able to quit and that was only because I spent the vast majority of my nights, weekends, and downtime at work getting certified, coaching, and doing other business building-y things. So, think of whatll make you comfortable and confident with diving in and whatll make the leap to being an entrepreneur feel more like a large step and break it down into daily or thrice-weekly tasks (any less time than that and youre losing momentumand/or might not really wanna launch this business). This can help. The Rule:  You must have a niche if you want people to understand what youre offering and see themselves in. The Exception:  Kate Swoboda.  We have a big discussion on this  here, but I love that shes able to differentiate that her niche is actually her  perspective. Anyone is her client as long as they want to live a more courageous life. OK, its a bit of a niche because shes shutting out (in a loose terms) those who dont want that for themselves, but its not as if shes  only  working with artists or Moms or insert-demographic-here. How to adapt:  Tanya and I have been digging into this over at  Golden Ticket  this week, and what we found needs to part of your business foundation is  message, not niche. Fill in the blank: I want people to know _________. What goes in that blank is what you wanna make sure is absolutely clear in your communications and relationships and then your niche will find you (you gotta be proactive about it, but still). The Rule:  Dont put more than 1 type of work in your online shop itll just confuse people. The Exception:   Jessica Swift. There are 19 different product categories in her shop currently, and they run the gamut from accessories to stationary to artwork to apparel to sea elves (!). Shes been doing this full-time for years, and her work has been licensed by Big Deal Companies like Casemate, Pier 1, and Hallmark not to mention she raised $25,000 on Kickstarter to help produce her rainboots. Oh, she also has a lil ole book coming out this summer. How to adapt:  Tying it in with the rule above, latch on to your message/mission/style and be rest assured that you can put pretty much whatever you want under that umbrella.  I know youll agree with me that Jess work is uber-distinctive, and the fact that its all cohesive and a direct result of her tagline, Live Color to the Max, makes it all work together. The Rule:  But my blog has to have a niche, and I can never stray from talking about that one thing! The Exception:  Yes Yes. With the tagline Yes is more fun than No, Sarah gives us True Stories from all over the spectrum (examples:  I Dated a Transman  and  Im a Grocery Store Sample Lady  and  I Gave Up On My Dream) + weekly  Web Time Wasters  +  Style Icons  +  travel posts  OK, you get the point. If it has to do with Yes, its here and that obviously takes a lot of different forms. How to adapt:  If the thought of Only Writing About 1 Thing gives you a case of the no-fun face, think of your blog as a magazine or a curated store instead. What would be inside? What do you wanna showcase? How/what do you wanna share? And yes, this is another Rule that ties into message. Damn that message is important! The Rule:  When you set the terms of something, you better abide by them. The Exception:  Me again! OK, sorry, but once permission was granted, I couldnt help myself. Ya know Ive been telling everyone everywhere that my Clubhouse was closing after 50 sign-ups or on Dec 5th at 6p Eastern, whatever came first? Well, at around 2p Eastern, only 16 people had signed up. The last time I opened up the doors, in June, the spots went way faster so this low number was unexpected. I wavered, knowing  that we have room to accomodate more members without feeling crowded/overwhelmed in there, and that more brains in the Clubhouse = more knowledge and support. Because of that, I decided to keep the Clubhouse doors open for the next 34  29 people to walk on throughor close em earlier if I wanna. Im the President, after all. How to adapt:  Its always sticky to go back on your word, but when somethings not quite sitting right, dont ignore your gut. As long as its not detracting value from what youve promised and feels like an ethically sound decision to you, then its fair game. If you feel anythings being compromised, ask yourself what you can do to make it up to your client/customer. When I first launched my Clubhouse, some people opted in to get a free seat in a virtual workshop I promised to host every 4-8 weeks. I  realized after the first one that I totally super overcommitted myself, so I pushed out the timeline to every 12 weeks and gave them each a free 30-minute private session. Everyone was happy. The Rule:  You cant make a living selling pizza out of a firetruck! The Exception:  Company 77. So successful they brought it to a new location. Also led to the best wedding food/activities ever  (thanks Kelly Dave!). How to adapt:  Stop thinking Cant and start thinking How. This video can help you communicate that to your loved ones (including yourself!). I say it to my clients and Ill say it here: its a blessing and a curse to be building a creative business in 2012, since there are soooooooo many ways to do things nowadays. Sure, a Magic Formula might give ya some guarantees, but just because somethings worked for someone else doesnt mean its right/itll work for you. So, embrace the unknown, filter out the noise, live in the questions, and make the decisions thatll be best for you based on what your heart/gut says (and know its always funner to break the rules and run your biz/project your way instead of how so-and-so tells ya and be successful but miserable/inauthentic). Then, let me know, and Ill feature you as An Exception to the Rule. Did I miss any other rules? Any exceptions? Despite the time it took putting this together (thanks to everyone who answered my call on Twitter and Facebook with their Rules!), Im thinking of making this a feature if there are more Rules to break. Let me know in the comments!  Stacy Kathryn is another exception to the rule, and in the best way possible. She works in collage, illustration, and paintings, which you can see (and buy!) right here.