3 Business Gurus Who Changed My Life
My ONE WORD for 2020 is Intention. I want to be very intentional about everything I do in my personal life, my creative practice and my business this year.
One of the ways I want this to benefit you is by sharing key aspects of how I started down this new creative path after getting laid off, very unexpectedly, from my fancy corporate job.
You’ve heard the story before. I worked a corporate job for 25 years and all of a sudden – poof! It’s taken away from you and your sense of self and how you have defined yourself for years shifts completely. You enter unknown territory.
You never know what life is going to throw at you. It’s how you react, absorb the punches, pick yourself back up and figure out how to move forward that really counts.
My re-invention started by exploring my creative side. I hadn’t done any art since the fourth grade (LOL) but I had a big box of unused art supplies in the basement calling my name. Now was my opportunity to explore where this new journey might take me, and keep me from falling into a state of sadness and depression.
My goal, initially was to find joy. But pretty quickly I wanted all of my corporate experience to serve for something and lean into some of that knowledge to build my own creative business. I knew I’d need a lot of cheerleading support from my family, but I also needed factual advice on how to create a successful online business. Aside from the occasional lemonade stand when I was in elementary school, I’d never thought of myself as an entrepreneur before.
During my creative exploration, I discovered surface pattern design, an industry and creative practice that I’d never heard of before. You’ve probably never heard that fancy term either! But if you look around right now, you’ll see patterns everywhere: the cushions on your couch, the pattern on your blouse, the design on the carpet under your feet. Most things look prettier with a pattern on them and surface pattern designers create those pretty patterns!
Why did this creative practice appeal to me, you ask? Ah… I love the combination of drawing, sketching or painting by hand and creating the actual pattern using the magic of Adobe Illustrator. The process is mesmerizing and I can get lost for hours working away at a particular design or collection. And I did spend hours and hours learning and honing my skills.
When did this turn into an actual business? Slowly, in bits and pieces, and with the help of three amazing online business gurus. My vision continues to evolve but it’s always been based on creating an online creative community where women who’ve never allowed themselves to explore or invest in their creativity, have the chance to see what’s possible.
I did not do this all by myself. I’m a big believer in education and finding experts to learn from. There are three online business gurus who have had a huge positive impact on my business. I wouldn’t be where I am now, or have the confidence that I’m heading in the right direction to continue to build and grow my business, without each of them.
Let’s talk about them, shall we?
Amy Porterfield
Amy is not only an online marketing guru but is one of the most generous teachers I’ve ever met. She impressed me from the get go because she shares valuable, actionable content with her audience every single week. Her top-rated podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, is fantastic because she covers specific topics that you need to learn and gives you the step-by-step implementation advice to move into action.
In addition to her weekly podcast, she offers two incredible online courses:
· List Builder’s Society – which teaches you everything you need to know about how to grow your email list – and don’t worry… we all start with zero people on our email list – and how to engage with your audience.
· Digital Course Academy – which is super meta! It’s a course on how to build your own course and create an amazing asset in your business that you can sell over and over again.
I’m a diligent student and believe that if I invest in something, I’m going to dive into the material, follow the instructions, do the homework and implement every step and recommendation to ensure I have the very best chance for success.
Using Amy’s strategies, I made progress really quickly. I know many of you dream of starting a creative business. I highly recommend Amy’s free Masterclass called: How to Start and Grow an Email List (Without the Stress, Tech Confusion, or Crazy Overwhelm).
What I like most about Amy is that she has a big heart. She really listens to her audience, cares about them and celebrates their success. She invited me to join her on stage last year at her annual LIVE event in San Diego. The event is called The Entrepreneur Experience and she asked me to talk about my experience building a creative business in my 60s. It was incredible to be on stage, with a panel of other female entrepreneurs, sharing our stories with Amy and her audience.
Jeff Walker
Jeff Walker has been a successful online entrepreneur for over 25 years. He is my kinda guru because he gives it to you straight and he practices what he preaches (and teaches!). He is well known in the online world as the “Launch Guy” because he teaches you how to launch a product, whatever that product might be (book, online course, membership, physical product, coaching…).
Jeff’s story of humble beginnings also resonated with me. He was a stay at home dad with two young kids. His wife, the sole breadwinner at the time, came home in tears one day because she was exhausted and drained from her boring corporate job. Jeff knew he had to figure out some way to bring in some income to support his family and lessen the burden on her.
He built his first business by sending a free newsletter out to his email list about the stock market. Note the importance of having an email list! Don’t forget to register for Amy’s free Masterclass.
It became quite successful and then, one not so fine day, his business partner stole all his clients and Jeff had to start all over again. That’s when he realized he had developed something even more valuable: a blueprint for launching businesses, called The Product Launch Formula.
Jeff, like Amy, provides valuable advice every week, not through a podcast, but through his YouTube videos. His videos are short which is awesome and you’ll immediately get drawn in by how down to earth he is and the valuable advice he shares.
You can get started learning his methods by reading his New York Times best-selling book, Launch.
Ryan Levesque
Ryan Levesque is the CEO of The Ask Method Company and author of the #1 National best-selling book, ASK.
The Ask Method is founded on the principle that you need to ask the people on your email list - note we’re talking about email lists again! - what they’re struggling with so that you can serve them with valuable content that really makes a difference in their lives.
This seems totally obvious – of course we should be asking people what they want! But until ASK, there’s never been a detailed roadmap to follow on how to gather this information, figure out what it really means in your own business, and then how to implement the results to deliver better, more targeted products and services to your customers.
I’m working through The ASK Masterclass right now so be on the lookout for a survey or quiz from me soon. Your answers will help me create content and products that best support your needs and wants!
Ryan’s idea is, at it’s core, simple: Just Ask! However, it goes much deeper than that because it reflects his philosophy that every single person on your email list is a real person. They're unique individuals and they don't need or want the same thing. Halleluiah!
I would not be where am I today in my business without the help of these three gurus. Their advice works. They each deliver their content with step by step precision. If you do the work, you’ll get the results. Nothing happens overnight but I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve found my passion which is serving you, helping you embrace your creativity, and sharing my process and how I keep learning so you can too!
A huge “thank you” to Amy, Ryan, and Jeff for showing me the way.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
