I Think I've Killed My Cactus

June has been both a great month and a terrible month.

I started the month on holiday in Dubrovnik, met up with my cousin during my trip to Newcastle, got a course PB in the Leeds 10k, had a lovely picnic and day out with friends, saw Billy Ocean live, and I've just spent the weekend celebrating because today is my birthday.

Happy birthday to me 🥳🎈🎂🍾🍻

On the downside, I think I've killed my cactus. It was looking a bit skinny, so I gave it extra water, and I think I've overwatered it and caused the roots to rot. I've taken it out of its pot and I'm trying to salvage it, but I think it might be game over 😢

And my cactus isn't the only thing I'm worried about.

Because, while June has been great for me in my personal life, it has been absolutely terrible business-wise. Financially, it's been my worst month since before the pandemic, and I didn't even earn enough to cover my costs (thank god for that buffer).

And to make it worse, only one person made it to my lunch and learn on Thursday.

I had members who told me in advance they couldn't make it, and others who had to unexpectedly cancel on the day. So I ended up with only one attendee.

I could have just rescheduled. But I didn't. I still ran it because I'd already blocked out time to do it, but more importantly, that member had blocked out time to attend.

So she had me all to herself for an hour - great for her because it worked out way cheaper than booking a one-to-one. And good for me too, because I was able to present some new ideas and get feedback.

Why should you be interested? Well because it means if you're not already in my membership, it's a bloody good time to join. The numbers are small, so you get more of my attention and a more personalised service than you would if you joined a membership with hundreds of members.

Here's a reminder of what you get:

• Access to monthly co-working events to help you stay on track with your marketing (and get feedback on ideas and content)
• Access to my monthly lunch and learns (where you can also ask me anything you want about marketing or freelancing)
• Email support (send me questions about anything)
• Member-only content

All this for only £20 per month or £200 for the year. I think that's a bloody good deal (and so does the member who turned up on Thursday).

So what went wrong this month?

I'd be lying if I said I was happy about how this month has gone. The impostor syndrome definitely set in:

"How can I possibly help other people get clients when I can't even get my own?"

"What if my membership never grows?"

"What if I'm just not as good at this business stuff as I think I am?"

But then I gave my head a wobble and reminded myself that:

1) I took a week off at the start of the month to enjoy my holiday. Then I was up in Newcastle for three days, and although it was work (learning and networking), it wasn't profitable work (yet).

2) I've been so busy promoting my new membership these last couple of months, that I've been pretty shit at promoting the other stuff.

3) My ideal clients are struggling freelancers, and unfortunately, many freelancers are struggling so badly right now that they can't afford to invest in their business.

And that's the catch-22 freelancers often face. They know they need help to make their business more profitable, but until they make their business more profitable, they are reluctant to spend money on getting the help they need. And so, they continue to struggle until they get to breaking point.

And while I can help freelancers who are on the edge of breaking point, I much prefer helping them before I become their last hope.

I prefer helping them when they are ticking along, but aren't quite where they want to be.

Or when they are doing alright, but don't get enough of the work (or clients) they love.

Or when they are working a ridiculous number of hours every week, but are only just scraping by.

Or when they are doing well, but want to get their marketing in a better place while they have the money to do so.

Or when they have an idea for a new business, product or service and want to make sure they get off to a great start with it.

And I know there are plenty of all those types of clients out there right now, so I'm not going to beat myself up about having a terrible month.

What I'm going to do instead is have a lovely day celebrating my birthday today (feel free to buy me a beer if you want to help me celebrate). Then I'm going to up my marketing game for next month and get things back on track.

I don't know whether my cactus will survive, but I'm pretty confident my business will.

Upcoming events

Before I give you this week's ten-minute task, here's a reminder of what I've got coming up. You can book any of these events on a pay-as-you-go basis for £15 per event or get them as part of a monthly membership at £20 per month or £200 per year.

Your weekly ten-minute task

The weekly ten-minute tasks are short, simple tasks that should take around ten minutes to complete (although you can spend longer if you want to). The goal is to help you improve your sales and marketing processes.

Completing these tasks won't magically transform your business, but doing one small thing each week to improve is better than doing nothing. So block out ten minutes in the next few days and complete the task below.

Review your second quarter and plan for the second half of the year.

We're halfway through the year - how are you getting on?

Are you on track to meet your goals for the year?

Review the following for the last three months:

• How many enquiries did you get?
• How many of those enquiries were good enquiries (work you actually wanted)?
• How many of your total enquiries converted into paying clients?
• What was your total invoice amount for the quarter?
• How many clients did you retain and how many dropped off?
• Did you invest as much time into marketing, business development and personal development as you planned?

How does your second quarter compare to the first?

Think back to January - what were your goals for the year? Are you on track?

What do you need to do in the next six months to ensure you meet those goals?

Set specific, measurable and realistic goals for the following:

• Financial - what are your financial targets, and how many clients do you need to achieve this?
• Marketing - what can you build on to ensure you generate enough leads?
• Operational - what systems and processes can you improve in your business?
• Professional development - what skills do you need to learn or develop to move your business forward?
• Personal goals - do you have any personal goals that require more focus?

Weekly anagrams

Sometimes you need a little break from work or something to get your brain going while you have your morning brew. That's where the weekly anagrams come in.

And this week, they are all birthday-themed:

• cake
• led scan
• serpents
• loan slob
• pry at

If you are unfamiliar with how anagrams work: An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, using all the original letters only once.

Feel free to send me your answers once you’ve got them all – there’s no prize, but it’s always good to share your achievements. I'll give you the answers in next week's email.

And talking of answers, here are the answers to last week's anagrams:

• beacon, cuttle, damn tatoo = Bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• cragged ness = Egg and Cress
• auto many = Tuna mayo
• cheeked pelicans = Cheese and pickle
• hashed menace = Ham and cheese

Thanks for reading

That's it from me this week. As always, if you'd like my help with anything sales, marketing or business-related, you can book 90 minutes with me.

Starter Session - Lisa Slater

Let’s find out what’s holding you back so you can start attracting more of the clients you want and building a business that makes you happy.

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