After my morning meditation, I was feeling reluctant to get up and face the day. I started thinking about the anxiety I’m feeling from clients and members of my various communities. There is an underlying, and overt, feeling of “what happens now?
“Will my business survive?
How will I make enough money to pay my bills?
Is my work even needed in this current environment?
I have these feelings too. My marriage and first business both failed after 9/11. I was remembering that this morning. That event triggered a huge pain and upheaval in my life as it did for so many others.
This one feels different though. Bigger. Even more uncertain.
I went back to thinking about how to make ends meet. The technology available today is also a huge gift we can leverage to keep ongoing.
Here are a few ideas you may find useful for expanding your reach right now if you’re asking these questions too.
1. If you’re a consultant, coach, speaker, an expert in something, set up a profile on Clarity.fm. People who need answers and expertise can book consults and pay by the minute. It may not make you rich, but it may keep some much-needed cash flowing into your bank account. I’ve been on it for years and every now and then I get a request for a consult. Today, I decided to drop my rate in half to make it easier for solo business owners to get answers to their pressing online marketing questions. (Here’s my profile if you want to see an example.)
2. If you have a product, book, ebook, service, post it on Gumroad. Use the Pay What You Want feature to be both of service and get paid for your offer. I’m looking at this option right now so I can get my services in front of more people.
3. Reach out to your clients, customers, and students, one to one to see how they’re doing. Send a personal video email using Loom (free version). Don’t make a sales pitch. Check-in and see if you can offer support in any way. If you need a kick in the pants to up-level your video skills, join Lou Bortone’s Video A Day in April Challenge. Video is a top skill you need now and in the future.
There are many other ways to generate income that may not be your usual way. If you’re feeling nervous right now, then maybe it’s time to open up to some new ideas.
I’m planning to have an open Q&A call to discuss these and other ideas, on Monday, March 23 at 10 am PT.
Click here to watch the video replay and download the chat notes.
May you have a safe and peaceful day.
Adela Rubio
Loved the live Zoom call today, Denise! Great resources and lots of contributions by participants. Thanks again!
Denise Wakeman
I’m glad you were able to attend, Adela. Lots of good energy and ideas all around.
Cynthia Trevino
Thanks for this rich list of ideas, Denise! It’s so helpful because we’re all looking at how do we contribute to our communities, in a way that’s right for now.
Denise Wakeman
Thanks for stopping by, Cynthia. Once we understand that we cannot control what happens in our environment, and we can control how we respond, then the creative juices and start flowing.