Hey Reader,
Quick one before we get into it: what's the one thing people know you for? Sit with it for a second, because this week is all about what you build around it.
We have a few 1:1 coaching spots open in July
We're right at the start of Q3 (how is it July already?), which makes it a great time to check in on your progress for your big goals, and get support on the things that have been slipping through the cracks.
We take a handful of clients at a time so we can actually support you well, & we're currently booking through September.
Messy Musings
From our Thursday pod episode (Apple, Spotify, Youtube):
This is the high-level version. If you're thinking about building your own ecosystem, go listen to the full episode where we walk through way more examples.
While "ecosystem" sounds like a big, corporate word, it doesn't have to be. It just means having multiple ways someone can work with you, and a path that carries them from one offer to the next, and the next, and the next...
Here's what we frequently see with creative service providers: they have one offer, that's good, and it pays the bills (feast). But when a perspective isn't ready for that offer, or a client finish working with them, there's a scramble to find the next (famine). Those customers fall out the bottom of their business leaving them back to starting from zero.
That fall off is hard mode. What if you could increase how many times each client purchased from you, and how much they spent (in total)?
Start with your flagship offer. If you think about a mall it's know for the flagship store: Macy's, Dicks Sporting Goods, JC Penny... aka the big sign on the front. That's the thing brings the most people to the mall.
For us the flagship offer is 1:1 coaching. For you it might be brand photography, a website build, a systems audit. It's generally one thing. People have goldfish brains, so they remember you for one offer.
You can start building your ecosystem by looking at what comes before and after it. What does someone need before they're ready for your flagship? What do they need after? A web designer might add logos on the front end and a monthly SEO or Blog retainer on the back. Suddenly the thing that used to be one-and-done becomes something people buy from you again and again.
Then build a bigger version and a smaller version. When someone isn't a fit for the flagship offer, you don't have to lose them, you have a downsell ready. When someone needs more than they asked for, it's your job as the expert to tell them about a bigger offer that's a better fit.
That's the whole game: give people a way in to working with you at every stage, and then give them the next step to working with you before they know they need it. We've watched clients move every direction in our current ecosystem. Up, down, in one door and out another. That's what makes it an ecosystem instead of just a list of offers.
If you map yours out and something clicks, hit reply and tell us what you're building. We love to hear about what people are building!
This Week on the Podcast
This week we sat down with Steve Kamb: founder of Nerd Fitness and author of his new book, How to Try Again. We met him at Craft + Commerce (Kit's conference) and loved reading his book before we interviewed him. It's part pep talk, part practical playbook, and every chapter includes at minimum a couple good stories.
We brought Steve on because so many creative service providers are in a season of trying again right now. What clients are buying feels like it's changing. The sales process & questions perspective clients ask are changing for many of us. And Steve has a framework built for exactly this moment.
In this episode we get into:
- How he met Taylor Swift in an elevator... ๐คฏ
- His PACT framework (Pause, Accept, Change, Try) and how to actually move through it
- Why the pause is the step everyone skips, and how to give yourself permission to stop
- How to accept a new reality (AI, social algorithms, buyers who've changed) without it wrecking you
- Why there's no such thing as square one, and no wasted effort
- Treating your next move like an experiment: one variable, a set timeframe, no guaranteed outcome
If you've been white-knuckling something that used to work and quietly doesn't anymore, this one's for you.
โโListen on Apple Podcasts / Listen on Spotify / Watch on YouTubeโ
See you next week!
Lyndon
Before you go: Do you have an ecosystem?
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