Hey Reader,
Are you interested in meeting more people in person?
Last year Jo went to Kit's conference Craft + Commerce (this link has the details, not the discount), and we're so excited to be going again this year! But we want to go with you - so we asked them if we could give you a discount code. And they said YES.
If you want a hefty discount (we're talking multiple hundreds $) hit reply and we'll give you the link. (They're almost sold out, so don't wait too long)
The Messy Middle
When we interviewed Aashima about scaling her ads agency to multi 6-figure, one of the questions we asked her was, "How did you know it was time to hire?"
"I show up for things on time, especially for work things. And I made an error in the time, which is like, that's not me. So when I'm making errors, little things, is not typically me. That basically means I need support."
I've been thinking about that answer a lot recently... because I've started making little errors.
And I don't like it. 😭
For example, in The Breakroom every week we have one of our members do Tool Tip Tuesday, or a 5-10 min loom video demo of using a feature in one of their tool (eg: how to edit ___ in ___, how to ___ in riverside, using Dubsado to ___, etc). It's one of my favorite ways of micro learning and giving our members practice being experts.
You'd think this is super easy, I literally just have to ask people, and schedule them out...
This week I sent my first invite to do this week's Tool Tip Tuesday on Monday at 1:29pm...and surprise to no one they were already too busy to do one this week.
It's not like I don't have 3 minutes free to ask people days or weeks in advance, we're just doing something new and I haven't built the right systems & processes yet...so I'm making errors.
I spent 90 mins on a call this week with 4 our of Breakroom members that have deep expertise in Notion & ClickUp this week walking them through my needs, and mapping out what would make the most sense for Jo & I.
For anyone that watches our stories and was excited that Jo said I was building in ClickUp - I'm sorry, within hours of that story going up I'd pivoted and decided that Notion was a better for us.
Here's my rationale why Notion is better:
- Our needs: organizing information - things happening in The Breakroom, podcast Qs & notes, blog posts, lead tracking, brainstorming, and an idea parking lot... we're doing basically all of this in shared apple notes right now 🫣
- What we don't need: to-do lists, scheduled tasks, reminders - at this point it's just Jo & I, and we've tried most of the task tracking apps at this point, and they do more harm than good for our working styles.
- ClickUp is an amazing tool - it's just very focused on tasks (see previous point)
- Notion is more of a blank slate, and with everything I learned while getting my Master in Business Analytics, how Notion does databases makes sense to me (who will be managing whatever tool we use)
Which means I am choosing the more difficult route trying to build it all out myself - but I'm going to build slowly, one "error" at a time. As long as I have the base structure correct, I can slowly build, iterate and expand based on our needs.
*I don't recommend this approach for anyone that doesn't enjoy building or configuring systems... it just so happens excel is one of my happy places, so I find the idea of slowly iterating each week exciting, not draining.
Where are you making errors right now, and what's the smallest step you can take to prevent making them the next time?
This Week's Needle Mover
Idea 64: Cycle Sync Your Work: For female entrepreneurs, "cycle sync" your workflow by batch-creating content and tackling heavy, complex projects during your high-energy weeks (ie: follicular and ovulation phase) so you can rest and focus on low-lift items during your low-energy phases.
This one's written by Jo! 👱🏼♀️
When I first learned about cycle syncing, it absolutely blew my mind. It changed my entire outlook on productivity as a woman.
Simply put, here's how I use it (mostly intuitively at this point, but it's always helpful to reference so I can recalibrate my energy & tasks as needed)
Luteal phase (the week before your period, IYKYK): you probably know this phase as when you get a lil' extra grumpy and bloated; everything tends to feel a bit more magnified here. However! It's also great for completing projects, getting clarity, and slowing down. This is when you'll thrive in closing loops & reflecting on what's working and what's not. You're probably notttt going to want to do a bunch of social activities, this week is great for admin & on-the-business type tasks.
Menstrual (shark week): Okay, personally I love my productivity during this phase because it's when I get to write. It's a great time to work on long-form content, share your thought-pieces, and setting goals. This is when I tend to use my voice more. Everything feels like it comes together (clarity, business plans, next steps, etc.)
Follicular (week after your period): ah, when we start to feel alive again. This phase is great for planning, brainstorming, and collaborating with others. You're gonna feel a bit more social, probably going to want to strategize. Lean into it.
Ovulation (week after follicular): The queen bee of cycle syncing, she's when we feel most powerful and confident. This is the phase you'll likely feel more social so it's great for scheduling calls, presentations, get-togethers, or events. It's also a great week for filming & batching content if you're into that!
Now that you know how to use cycle syncing as your superpower, go conquer the world! (Or take your supplements, that's important too).
This Week on the Podcast
When Sam Vander Wielen first attempted to write a book, a book agent basically told her she hadn't done enough interesting things to write a book yet. In the years since she's built an amazing business selling just 2 products, that to date have done over $10 million.
Last week, the day after her book, When I start My Business I'll Be Happy, turned 1 years old, we sat down with her to unpack what the process is to write, publish, and market a book with one of the big publishers is actually like.
If you've ever dreamed of being an author, this is a fantastic listen!
Listen on Apple Podcasts / Listen on Spotify / Watch on YouTube
Prefer the blog version? Here's a peek:
You’ve scaled your creative business, built your email list, and optimized your funnels. Now, you’re looking at the next major authority builder and thinking... should I write a book?
In the latest episode of The Sustainable Creator Podcast, we sat down with our friend, attorney-turned-entrepreneur Sam Vander Wielen. Jo had the privilege of meeting Sam in person at the Craft and Commerce conference last year. She is seriously one of the most down-to-earth humans we have ever met. For the last decade, she has helped online creators legally protect their businesses, incredibly scaling her own digital product sales to over $10 million using just two products . She decided to write a book because she wanted one contained place to put all of her knowledge.
She recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her incredible book, When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy. Most people think getting a book deal means instant wealth and a team doing all the heavy lifting. Today, Sam is pulling back the curtain on the real timeline of a Big Five book deal, why an advance doesn't actually pay the bills, and exactly how to market a book as an entrepreneur while keeping your business thriving.
- What exactly goes into a non-fiction book proposal?
- How did her business actually grow by several hundreds of thousands of dollars during this intensely difficult time?
- One of her absolute best evergreen marketing hacks?
Overheard in The Breakroom
Thankfully Ellie came in clutch (even with my last min unorganized scheduling) and broke down how to use edits, effects, and trending audios in the Edits app.
Tool Tip Tuesdays are such a fun way to quickly learn something new that you can immediately start applying to your workflows.
Resource of the Week
After getting it delivered the day it came out IYKYK, Jo's been studying Start With Yourself by Emma Grede like it's a textbook. And it's been one of the most replied to things in our stories in the last week, to the point that we're gonna read it for book club in The Breakroom next month...
Emma Grede published a vlog on her YouTube channel this week about the first part of her book launch. And it's always interesting seeing how people playing at her level show up in the world!
What system do you use to manage your business?
Lyndon (and Jo for some sections 👀)
