Money... Scared Yet?

Most people are scared of money. They are scared to ask for it, to earn it, to understand it or even just discuss it.

When was the last time you sat down and asked someone you consider successful how they make and manage their money?

"I could't do that, it would be rude." 

Why? Because your parents told you not to talk about it, because society say being wealthy is bad (more on that in another post), because you are afraid of the answer.

Think about it for a second. Everyone says they want to make money but most people (especially creative business owners) don't track what they spend or make on their business. They don't understand how their money works, how much they really need to make and they are certainly not comfortable discussing money with clients. It took me years to figure this out. It wasn't until I started working with my mentor Kirstin Carey that I started to be honest about money.

I was so bad that I ran my business for several years without putting any data into my accounting software until right before taxes were due so I monitored how much I was making by checking my bank balance using my ATM card. Bad idea but it wasn't as scary as seeing the truth.

I have been giving out "homework" as it were, at the end of some of these posts. Today's is to sign up for Kirstin's phone seminar "Pricing & Fee Setting for Creative Services". Don't forget to tell her Amy says "hi".

Want Business? You have to ASK for it.

What, ask for business? But if I am good people will know and then word will spread and then I will make money.

If only that were true.

There are plenty of moderately talented people out there who make a lot of money and plenty of extremely talented people who barely scrape by. Fair, no, but true. So, why does this happen?

It happens because the successful ones ask for the jobs and ask to be paid. This is the thing that scares the bejibers out of most creative people. The fear of rejection stops them from even asking and then they don't get work which makes them even less sure of themselves which means they are less likely to work which means their self esteem goes down which means they... You see the vicious circle.

I know I just made it sound easy. Want to work, just ask. But it actually does work.

I just started a marketing campaign for my husband's lighting design company. A new law was just passed allowing cities and towns to choose and maintain their own street lighting. So, I starting sending out letters and e-mails. Just a simple letter, asking them to work with my husband. I sent the first set of e-mails last Thursday and already we have received 4 serious inquiries. Not bad if I do say so myself and that is only one county.

Do you think these town councils would have come to us? Probably not or it could have taken months or years for them to even start working on their street lighting. So, I asked them to hire him. 

Who do you want to hire you? Go out and ask them.

Stuff You Should Read 1

Business is About Results, not Excuses!

Ed Rigsbee is a great guy and knows his stuff. Don't let his target audience make you nervous. This article applies to everyone from a one person company to one with a staff of hundreds.

What is Success?

Well, I was getting ready to start off all serious like but I just spoke to my sister of "Go Big or Go Home" fame and she gave me another tip so, we will see how this works out. (Little sisters do actually know something sometimes.)

In addition to painting murals and running my and my husband's businesses, I also help creative people get over business hurdles. I did almost everything you could possibly do wrong when I started my company, Ketteran Studios, so I decided to help others avoid my mistakes. Stay tuned to the blog to learn who and what helped me.

I just spoke with a client a few days ago and we started talking about success. What is it?

Yeah, yeah. I know, lots of money. But that isn't everything. What else does success mean to you? This client is also a muralist and while money was important, when she really started to think about it a whole bunch of other stuff came out too. People loving her work, working with families, having time off ( "real" time off not just a few hours a week) and feeling in control, just to name a few.

I always give my clients homework so here is yours. Take some time and decide what success means to you. After all, how do you you when you have become a success if you don't know what a success is.

Click Here to find out about Go Big or Go Home