What I Would Do if I were Starting My Business from Scratch

[00:00:00] Kellee Wynne: Well, hello. Hello. I'm Kelly Wynn, artist, author, mentor, fiercely independent mother and wife, and the founder of a multiple six figure creative business. And I love my life, but I've been where you're at. I was slogging away at this art business thing for more than a decade. Once I finally connected with my true calling, unlock the magic of marketing and built a system that could scale, while I realize I can make an impact and make a substantial income, I'm finally running a business that I love and it makes all the.

Difference in the world. My biggest dream is to help you do the same. Let this podcast be the catalyst to your biggest success. You already have it in you because you are made remarkable. Well, hello, hello. Can you believe it? This is our 100th episode of the Made Remarkable podcast, and I just have to say thank you. I can't believe this is 100 episodes. You've been hanging in with me this whole time, more than two years of showing up and creating content. Amazing interviews, people that I've loved to talk about, expansive ideas, and then a whole lot of hopefully some good advice and a good kick in the pants for me, because that's what I'm here for, you know, I'm your tough love coach.

Have you ever thought of it that way? That's how I'm starting to realize that I have more of the attitude of give you what you need and not coddle you along on your path. And what you need is somebody to motivate you to fulfill your big audacious dreams. That's why I'm here. That's why I keep showing up.

It's something that I love to do. Love to be here for you. It's, I don't know. Thank you. That's what I'm saying. Thank you so much for being my listener, for being in my world and being part of my community. And I'm just really grateful because this is what I love to do. And I love to inspire others to do what they love to do.

So today I have a special episode for you. I figured it would be helpful for both of us, a little reflection and forward thinking. I wanted to do an episode on what, what I do if I was starting from scratch today. Now we can look at this more than one way.

If I were starting from scratch without the knowledge that I have right now, I would do the same thing I did. I mean, there's really no way around it. I would test, I would try, I would fumble my way through it. I would. Figure out just as I've done and I don't really regret the path that I've been on. I've learned so much and what have I, it's been like 12 years since I declared I was starting my art business and longer than that, that I've been in.

My own little form of busy business entrepreneur. But in the last 12 years, I've tried a lot of things. And if you listen to some of my earlier podcast episodes, I've talked about some of those experiences working in galleries, licensing with big home design companies, curated shows, let's see.

A show in New York City, you know, I've tried a lot of things. I've worked with a lot of people. I've worked for nonprofit organizations. I've sat on the committee for hanging and jury during shows. I did a lot of things early on that were very gallery oriented and community oriented. I am actually very grateful for that because it gave me a huge insight into the market, into the selling space, what artists go through.

I've been able to work with and collaborate with a lot of artists locally. And it was also because of doing that, I realized that I really enjoyed the online business. I really enjoyed the online community I was beginning to create. And I didn't love. Selling in a gallery, which is why I don't teach how to sell in a gallery.

It's why I don't teach how to do traditional things as an artist, because I feel like it's so much more expansive to connect globally. Also, more lucrative, let's just flat out be honest, you make a lot more money when you build a real business online versus being an artist that sells occasionally through galleries.

So unless you're one of those lucky people out there that found a gallery that is regularly representing you, selling your work and helping you make tens of thousands of dollars a month, then I zip my lips and say, good for you. Go for it. But for the most of us, we have a different path we need to take, which is either learning how to be our own best advocate to seller art, or find another path, which is something that I always love talking about, you know, thinking outside of the box and building your creative business in a different way.

In fact, I'd love to reach more creative business owners and really start pushing the idea of what is art? What is creativity? What is a creative business? And do we need to keep doing the same traditional thing? And so I've been on this path now, really creating an online community, probably since I would say 2015, 2016, it started taking off through Instagram and Facebook groups.

And I had a really lovely Facebook group and that was what was the catalyst for me starting Color Crush Creative, which is still one of my subsidiary businesses that I'm not quite focusing on this year. As you know, I kind of just put a pin in it, put it on the shelf and said, those art courses are still there.

We'll take them, dust them off the shelf once in a while. But right now I'm focusing on Made remarkable and business mentorship, but that taught me a lot to how do you build a community? How do you end up growing your email list? How do you show up online? How do you grow an Instagram account? All of these things were experiences that taught me what I know now and, and help make it so that I can teach others how to do what I've done.

 So I'm not begrudging the stumbling, the clawing my way through the dark, the down days. There were a lot of days where it was just like, am I ever going to make it? I know you're feeling this too, right? Am I ever going to make it? Or you have a really great year and then the next year you're like, oh crap, it's over.

It's not working again. What do I need to do differently? And I'm still trying to find my way. I'm still trying to figure out how do I want to build this business? And then some of you are fortunate to stumble on a gorgeous business plan and it grows and it thrives. And I would imagine many of you, even with a growing, thriving business, hit a wall and say, Hey, why isn't it growing anymore?

And that's what the Made Remarkable podcast is for, is to help you think about things differently. Learn what the pulse of online business looks like right now, and especially for creatives, so we're always having to adapt and change. And that's what I've done the entire 12 years that I've been a professional artist, I guess, is what we could call it, but a creative in business.

 I can look back and say, if I don't have the knowledge that I have right now, I took the right path. Even with the knowledge that I have right now, I took the right path and learning all that I needed to learn and making all the mistakes and failing it so much so that I knew what worked for me and what didn't work for me.

I knew what lit me up and what didn't light me up. And that was crucial for me to know what I need to do now in this decade. Of my business and many of, you know, there was a pivotal moment in 2020, where I shut down my membership and started to change. Selling art courses, but slowly bringing myself to the forefront of, I want to teach people to do what I've done, which is how to actually build a real viable online business because I figured it out how to make a multiple 6 figure a year business.

And I now helped other. amazing artists do the same thing. Those are the kinds of things that are invaluable. So if everything was stripped away from me today, if everything was taken away, I still have the knowledge and the experience that I've been through. And so do you. So, so all those struggles, all of the mountains you've climbed and all the times that you've rolled back down and have to climb back up again.

That's given you the kind of grit you need to keep going and the knowledge that you know what you're made for and what you're not made for, what you are meant to do and what you're not meant to do. These experiences are invaluable and each of us have a different path, how long it's going to take to get to the goals That we set for ourselves, and sometimes we don't even know what those goals are.

Right? We have a vision, or maybe we didn't even know what was possible until we started seeing what other creative business owners were doing. And let me tell you, I've really been paying attention. There are so many wild ideas we haven't even scratched the surface, but now that you're starting to scratch the surface, now that you're starting to get this peaked curiosity that says, Hey, is this meant for me?

What do you do? So I wanted to give you some advice of kind of like, what would I do if I was starting from scratch with the knowledge that I have now, because I can't go back and change anything I did in the past. And I wouldn't, because I wouldn't be the kind of leader and mentor and coach that I am today had I not done what I had done.

But I can tell you what I would do now if I was starting from scratch and what I give advice to all of the people that I work with because this is the hard and fast and truth about building a business and that's that you need some clarity. You need a plan and you need to stick with it. Those are like some of the most basic ideas.

And I'm going to dig into what that means. And I think that you're going to find some aha moments here and then also choose the path that's right, right for you. Because I love to give out what I know as, as trying true methods for the people that I've worked for or for myself or that I've seen, work for other successful business owners.

But it's not always the right model, structure, strategy, or even action for everyone to take, because we have to go with the flow of who we are, our natural, extrovertedness, our introvertedness, our lifestyle, and really build around those things. I want you to keep that in mind. I'm going to give you some advice today.

There might be one or two things that I'm going to say absolutely are a must. Everything else is a must. Take it or leave it and move on. I'm going to tell you the two things that I think are absolute musts for building your business. Everything else can be super flexible.

My absolute musts are consistency. And build an email list. So 1 is how you're showing up and the other is an action that you need to take. Those 2 things are non negotiable in your business. So if you're the kind of person that's all over the place, and you're not showing up regularly, you haven't created like some sort of online.

Business brand persona, which is essential. You've decided you want to be in a business. That means it's time to show up online and you're not regularly creating content to attract a new customer, new eyes on your business. It's going to be really hard to build the business. So number one is that consistency of making the commitment and showing up regularly for your business, even when you don't know what it's about, even if you don't know that whether or not you want to make a course or you want to sell art, or you're going to make a print on demand program, or you want to teach workshops around the world, or I don't know, go to my 100 ways to build your creative business today.

PDF. That's Maderemarkable. com slash 100. There's a hundred ideas. So whatever it is that you've decided or haven't quite decided yet, you can still start showing up consistently as yourself, showing the things that you're interested in, whatever your creative outlet is. If you're a painter, if you're a potter, if you're sewing, if you're gardening, if you're just like a love lifestyle and home.

Whatever it is that you love, start showing up and sharing with everybody. Now, learn the ins and outs of communication online. It's an absolute non negotiable. So for all of those who are like, I don't like it, I've actually had students say that. They're like, I just want to be able to build this business without having to be online or showing up.

And I'm going to say, yeah, there's a possibility you could do that. But do you have money for ads and magazines and newspapers, like good old fashioned days, or. Maybe even just running ads in general on our social media channels. I don't know, old fashioned networking. You're going to show up at a lot of events and do some cold calling.

Those are all viable options, but it still makes it really hard for you to have the kind of legitimacy that you need and credibility and authority. Without showing up and establishing yourself online. Now, does this mean that you need 100, 000 followers? No, because even with just 500 or 1000 followers, you can build a really strong business, but you got to show up.

And so that's a number 1 non negotiable. That was something I did. I had no problem with consistently showing up from the moment that someone handed over a platform and said, Hey, here's social media. Give it a try. So ever since then, I've been on the platforms, I've been showing up and I've been picking my favorite.

I don't do it all, as you know, Instagram is my favorite. And I just keep, keep showing up. Even when I'm changing pathways, even when I'm changing my mind, even when I change my message, even when I don't know who I'm talking to, I just keep showing up and connecting and building relationships. So that's the number one, even when you haven't gotten it all figured out.

That's the number one. And number two, start figuring out how to build your list. There are some effective ways, and there's some less effective ways, but at the very least, have one. At the very least, set up a free account with one of the online offers, MailChimp, or MailerLite, or Flowdesk, or whatever. I'm not affiliated with any of them, but Sign up for either the free version or the cheapest version and begin now just collecting names because that's the lifeblood of your business.

That's where you will be able to make money.

This is actually how you protect yourself from a big crash. What happens when the Instagram's gone? What happens when the Facebook's gone? What happens when Pinterest is gone? Like we've seen platforms change. We've seen people having their entire accounts stolen from them. I don't say this to like scare you or say, you know, whatever.

It's not important whether or not you build online, but I am saying is this is your, this is the lifeblood. It really is the lifeblood of your business because it's a direct line access to the people you want to communicate with. So building the email list is a non negotiable. Those are my two non negotiables because if you're not doing those two things, it's going to be very difficult to build your online business.

I mean, it makes sense, right? But what about all the other things that I would do if I was starting from scratch today? So besides showing up and list building, of course, I would love to have some clarity. And I've been going through a lot of exercises and even digging through some of the past exercises that I've taken my Clients through on identifying some of the core patterns of who they are and how they stand out, what it is that makes them unique and how they can build like an identity or a business around that.

Basically creating a niche out of all of the beautiful aspects of who you are. But that's easier said than done because as I said before, sometimes we start before we even have clarity and that's okay. But if you can take some time and just find a little bit of a direction, maybe it's pointing north today, northeast tomorrow, and maybe you're in the west the day after, it doesn't matter.

Just start by heading in a direction and start getting clarity because it's in action. That you get clarity. It's in the doing that you're going to find the answers. It's an amazing thing that happens that if we sit and cerebrally or emotionally think about what it is that we want. We're never going to quite know until we do and take the action.

I mean, has there ever been a moment where you're like, Oh, I love the way that so and so makes this kind of art. And then you set out on this whole plan to make it and you realize, man, I actually, I hate painting realistically. It doesn't work for me, but it's in the doing that, you know, What kind of art you love to make, what kind of food you're going to cook, what kind of clothes you want to sew.

And you're going to make a lot of mistakes along the way. And you're going to have, you're going to be like, nope, I just really hated that recipe. So I challenge you on this is, uh, two sides of the coin. One is getting clarity makes a huge difference on how we build our business. But on the flip side of that, without taking action, we're not going to be able to get clarity.

So, keep track of what you're doing. See how you feel. Make notes. I have a pile of books, literally, all my notebooks that go all the way back to about probably 2015, 2016, I started keeping track notebooks with my to do lists, my ideas. I would update them, conversations that I've had, and I go back regularly and look at how much I've changed along the way.

And yet, how many parts of Who I am have moved with me and shifted with me over the years. Clarity doesn't come very easily, but it's in the doing that you're going to start getting some bigger picture. Sometimes it takes hiring a coach or a mentor that can give you feedback. Sometimes it takes a group or a community, which I find to be one of the most important things you can do in building your business is finding a community.

In order to get kind of a sounding board, because when we do this in a bubble, when we try to make all these decisions on our own, or sometimes asking our sister or our best friend or our spouse, what should I do? They don't know you. They don't know the business. They're not as invested. They probably don't have the kind of expansive ideas that you have.

They may have limiting beliefs and fear around you making these big decisions. Audacious dreams come true. So you need to be around other like minded people, other Visionaries and change makers and creative beings in order to say, Hey, does this sound right? And who do you know that I can connect with in order to try this out?

You know, whether it's markets or fairs or workshops traveling around the world, when we come together in a community, we have more of an opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and get feedback on a sounding board. So here's your answer for getting clarity. Take action. Find like minded people, write it down.

And keep moving forward because really it's in the doing. Like I said, that's going to help you get more clarity over which direction you're going. But on that note, really, the most powerful businesses are the ones that have answered the question of why of what are they known for? Who do they serve? What problem do they solve?

How do they stand out? And when you can start answering those four questions, you're going to start finding yourself on fire with your business because your communication is going to be dialed in. You're going to know who you're talking to. They're going to feel seen and heard because you're talking right to them.

And I'm talking about any kind of business that you build, whether it's selling art to interior designers, or it's helping someone through, creative therapy play in order to heal themselves? Knowing and understanding that client, when you make that decision to work with them, is what's gonna make the difference of you sitting on the sidelines or moving forward.

So that's where clarity comes into play, when you can start answering those questions. And even if you just answer them for the next 6 months and move forward and then reevaluate. And move forward again, but getting clarity took me a really long time. And even when I knew in 2020, when I shut down True Colors, that I wanted to work more in the coaching or mentorship business, it still took me until maybe about last year.

2023 to really declare it and put it out there and make an offer. And I'm still in the early phases of rebuilding what it is that I want to do online and establishing myself as your Made Remarkable coach. So it takes time. That's 12 years into my, my career. And even though I've had great success along the way with a lot of the things I've done, sometimes it takes time. Even with success, you have to pull back and allow yourself to shift into a new path. Give yourself time and grace, but start working on your niche with answering those four questions. And these are questions that I come back to online on this podcast and any of my trainings and workshops. The first thing I ask you to do is to start figuring out The answer to those four questions, what am I known for, or I could say, what do you want to be known for if you're not known for it yet, but what am I known for?

Who do I serve? What problem do I solve? And how do I stand out? Now, of course, I go into a lot more training with this inside my program, Build It Remarkable, but those are still the base questions to get you going with your entire business plan. Believe it or not. That if once you can start answering those questions, it's full force ahead.

So if I was starting today, I would try and narrow in on that and decide on a niche and start moving forward in the direction that I want to go. And maybe some of you already have clarity on that. Maybe you're already really clear on what you love and what you want to do, or you've already been doing it and now it's time to define it.

So what is the next step? What do you need to do? Well, I would say building An amazing lead magnet, which means getting out there, being seen, being heard and getting known for that thing that you want to be known for. And if it was me starting today, I would start on YouTube. And this is me pointing the finger back at my face at this very moment saying, why have you been saying you should be on YouTube for all these years?

And you're still not on YouTube. Well, I also believe in the power of one, which is picking one niche. One product and one customer to serve on one platform, because if you try to do too many things, you're going to burn out. But when it comes to picking a platform, which one is going to give you the best bang for your buck?

And right now, I really do believe that it's YouTube. Even though I love Instagram, I've established myself on Instagram, I'm still growing on Instagram. It's still my platform of choice. I see the Lasting effects, those who have built a YouTube channel have, and I know people who have just started their YouTube channel a year ago and are already seeing tremendous results, meaning that a YouTube channel with content is great.

Evergreen. Like, if someone does a search and your keywords show up, your video from years ago can still be watched. Your content, keeping it relevant, can build an amazing audience, lots of followers, and the beauty of it, which you can't do as well on any of the other platforms, you can monetize it. So you can actually build an entire income off of just building a YouTube channel.

I know people who pay their whole mortgage off of YouTube. Just having a YouTube channel. I know some people who pay their entire, well, I know of some people, I don't know them personally, their entire income comes off of just being an amazing content creator on YouTube. And it is still a viable thing to do.

But what I love about YouTube videos is that it's a deeper, richer way to connect with you and you have content that you can. Chop up into little bitty pieces and make some short reels out of it. So you've got kind of an added bonus that if that's your primary content machine, which is something that I go over in my program, that's your primary content machine.

That machine can continue to help you create more content for all the other platforms when you're ready to do that. So where would I go? I would. Have that list. I would be consistent and I would create a YouTube channel and get going. I love podcasting. I'm not giving up podcasting, but podcasting doesn't have the searchability or organic growth that a YouTube channel has.

So I highly recommend go to YouTube first. If you don't have a big audience, if you have a really big audience, Big audience with, tens of thousands of followers and a big robust email list. Podcast could be pretty beneficial, but I don't think there's anything quite as powerful as a really good YouTube channel.

And that's just my honest truth about that. And then the next thing I would do if I was starting my business today. is I would master the art of messaging. And that's something I'm still working on now, but it's something that I see as the biggest hold back from those who do really well, and those who are still stuck with just trickles of sales here and there.

And if you're still saying, Hey, here's my offer. This is my painting. It's It's 24 by 34 and it's X amount of dollars. If you're saying, Hey, my art course is open and it has six lessons and it's four hours long and I'm going to teach you how to do a mixed media art journal. That's not messaging. That's listing. What the product features are messaging is getting to the heart of what your customers real pain points or deep desires are how you're going to actually solve that problem for them, how you're going to actually connect with them and have them be seen and heard have them say, oh, man, this is exactly what I was looking for.

I have been missing that piece of knowing how to get through the messy middle. Which is actually a program that somebody, Denny Renew, created after working through the Build It Remarkable program because she knew that's where people struggle in the middle of getting through that abstract artwork and being so overwhelmed that they quit and they don't know how to finish artwork.

And so she can talk to that pain point of the artist who struggles to see their vision come alive. So to me, as I look at those who are killing it online, those who are doing really well, it's because they've really learned how to communicate. And that is what marketing is, is communication.

So learning marketing skills is like absolutely essential. Learning messaging, learning how to communicate, and learning how to talk to your customer, and not just throw a picture up and say, Hey, here's my photo. Cause that's the old school way of Instagram. Now it's. Hey, I see you. I hear you. I understand you.

I want to help you. I'm here for you. This is our community. I'm in service. I want this to be meaningful for you. I want it to make a difference for you. It's a shift in the way you think of here. I'm here. I have a product for sale by my thing. And a lot of, a lot of artists and creatives really hate selling.

And that's because they've gotten backwards. They're all about, here's the offer, here's the thing that I'm giving you, here's the thing that I want you to buy, here's the product, and they've forgotten what's the transformation, what is it that's on the other side of your customer taking the leap and doing the thing with you, the workshop with you, the deep dive, the coaching program, the course, even if it's just a short little course, what's the a ha that they have at the end of that?

What's the aha that they have from just watching your reel? Even if it's not making an offer or a sale, how are you connecting with them? This is the part that it gets me the most excited and really took me a long time to say, Oh, well, I love to communicate. I love to write. I've always been talking to everybody, but now I can be more effective with it because I understand it better.

And I'm still diving into it. It's just one of the most interesting things about running a business is learning how to communicate. And I would say that that's one of the things that you should be starting with is really learning how to do your marketing, your messaging, and your communication. It's the make or break difference folks, because I hate to tell it to you this way, but 90 percent of our business is marketing.

Without marketing and sales, you don't have a business. So when you're like, oh, I hate that part, or I don't, I feel icky having to make a sale. It's like, well, then you're not really committed to your business. But if you're really committed, you're going to shift how you think about marketing and sales and see them more as a service than they are a, in any way, shape or form, something that's selfish.

Because if you have something that you believe in, that you know is going to make a difference to somebody else, then you want to get it out there into the world. You want to communicate it. You should be so excited because you know on the other end of it, when somebody says yes They're going to have joy.

They're going to have a transformation. The thing that they've been struggling with, you're going to solve that problem. And once you realize that you're there to help them, and this is just an energy exchange. Then you're going to feel lit up by sharing what you have to offer, lit up by talking about it, lit up by making a sale and not feeling icky about it, feeling like you've served at your best level.

I know that this maybe sounds corny to a lot of you, or you're like, uh, no way. But I want you to just think about a time where you. Said here take my money because I remember a time it was a very special occasion for me because I'm not a luxury goods buyer I buy myself clothes from Target or a lot of like Eddie Bauer simple, basic stuff comfortable I'm not much into Purses or shoes or fashion.

I'm not really that person, but I will tell you there was this moment that I was traveling with my mom through LA, seeing sites of my childhood and visiting her home area where she lived in Brentwood. And then heading on over to Beverly Hills and going down Rodeo drive. And I was just like, I'm a high of knowing that my business was finally hitting this point where.

I can afford something a little extra special, wasn't it? It wasn't something that I splurged on often, but I could afford something extra special. So that moment that I walked into a Tory Burch store and saw this beautiful round yellow purse. And I'm like, here, take my money. And the experience of being sold to and making a purchase was exciting and elating, and I still think of it to this day.

And I'm not saying every purchase we make is that exciting. Believe me, I get to the end of the grocery store. Check out and I'm like, Oh, my gosh, 400 for groceries. You've got to be kidding me. That's not that exciting, but I'm still grateful because I get to bring home the food. And I want you to think of that when someone says yes to you and hand over your money, there are moments that you've had where you're like, just so excited to say, Hey, I got to do this thing.

I got to spend my money and get the thing that I really wanted. And if you're creating an offer, a product, a program, something that's just so. well thought out and put together and exciting and nourishing for your customer. I mean, then you should be thrilled to sell it to them and know that it's going to make a difference.

Am I making sense here? Does this make sense? Is it a little hokey or are you finally having that aha moment that money is an exchange of energy and we don't need to be scared of making the sale? So put yourself in a place of service. This is something that I've had to learn over the years and so selling and marketing is not scary to me anymore.

At all. And so if I was starting over today, I would master messaging before I would worry about how to make the latest, you know, TikTok trend. That's not nearly as important as the words that you communicate. I would say the one thing that I did not do, that I teach everyone to do now, It's probably my most useful tool, and I do it now.

I do. I test everything. Test, test, test, because what goes hand in hand with messaging and marketing is learning how to test your ideas and see if it's resonating and change the path if it's not. To include, I just jumped before I was ready, which I'm still very grateful that I did and it all worked out, but I jumped, I, I would spend hours and hours and hours, days and weeks creating a course and then make an offer rather than what I encourage you to do now, which is ask for a small group to join you, put an offer out for a beta test, run it live, run it at a like it.

Strip down version to say, does this make sense to my audience? What is it that I'm missing? What is it that my customer really needs? If I create a course, is this the kind of course that they actually want? The only way to do that isn't to poll your audience and say, do you want this course or do you want that course?

Because as Henry Ford said, if he had asked his customers what they want, they would have said they want a faster horse. But what he knew was he could make a car that would give them the same results, if not better. And so instead of saying, Hey, what do you want? Invite them in to actually experience it with you.

Do a beta run of your program, your workshop, your whatever, your product. And say, give me the feedback. How does this look in your home? What do you experience when you take this course? I'm going to run it live. Here are my lessons. I'm running it live with you so that I can get real time feedback.

And from that, you can move forward and say, how can I make it better? And then when you go to launch it big time, you have testimonials. You have people who've already experienced it with you. To me, this is one of the most beautiful things that you can do. I'm not saying sell it and then make the content and create all the videos. I'm saying make an offer on a small scale, maybe at a reduced price from what you want to do and run it live. Whatever it is that you're doing, run the program that you want to design live for a short, limited time and get the feedback of somebody, some people, a small group, 10, 12, 30, 40 people to run through your program with you. We have the power of Zoom. You can do anything through Zoom now. And that's what I would do, because I created Timeless Art, which was a course that I thought everyone wanted. I spent so long building it, long, tired, tearful nights, to tell you the truth.

And it was not my most popular course. In fact, it was probably one of my, it's a beautiful course, but it has been one of my least popular courses. And now in hindsight, I'd say, why not focus on that one thing, run a test through it, and then reiterate on it until it was my masterpiece and make it the best.

Instead, I just kept putting more offers together and more offers together. And I don't regret any of that because boy, did I learn how to make a course and launch a course. But in the end, what if I had focused on the power of that one thing, tested it, reiterated it, and made it better, and that's what I would say to anyone who's getting started now is focusing on that one thing, test it, reiterate it, make it better, get the feedback, do it again, and then put your whole heart and soul into building it just the way that you want to build it.

That's my advice to you. If you were building a business today, if I was building the business today, I get online, I'd start learning how to communicate. I would show up consistently. I would be that build that email list before I even knew what it was for. I would begin to get some clarity. I would narrow down on a niche and then I would design that dream product, test it, see if I loved it, test it again, pivot if I needed to pivot to the right.

Product, design, program, whatever you want to call it. And then I would put it out again. And I would keep doing it on repeat until I hit success or I hit a wall and I needed to pivot again. And that's how you build a business. The only way you fail is if you quit. And believe me, there are times where we really want to quit.

But the truth of the matter is, if you really are born for this, if you're really desiring something for yourself, if you really want to create this big audacious dream, the future that you've been imagining, and you have the fortitude for it, there is nothing under the sun quite as exciting as having built a business up that's profitable with your own imagination, your own hard work, your own fortitude of showing up over and over again. Did I say fortitude twice now? Do you see my point? You do have to have strength to do this, but boy, on the other side of it, you feel like a superhero. And if you think I'm exaggerating on this, go back and listen to what Brooke, Henry said in the episode that I recorded with her.

It really does transform how you see yourself and what you're capable of. So just stick with it, folks. Even if you're not starting from scratch, even if you've been doing this for a dozen years, just like me, just keep showing up, keep learning what you can about marketing and messaging and consistency.

And put that offer out there, the only way that you're going to lose is if you quit. All right, so 100th episode, also go and check out 100 ways to build your creative business today. It's the same PDF as it was before, 100 ways to make money as an artist without selling your art. I needed to change the name.

This is part of testing and learning and growing. So now it's 100 ways to build your creative business today. It's still the same list. There's a hundred amazing juicy ideas. So even if you've been in business a long time, take a look at that list. And see how it sparks new ideas. And maybe there's a piece that you've been missing.

Maybe you're stagnant. Maybe you launched an art course in 2020 and you're like, I've barely made a few thousand dollars on this. What am I doing? What can I do better? Well, guess what? Start there with that PDF. And then I want you to know that Build It Remarkable is opening. We're launching in June. I'll have a big fun event to kick off the excitement.

And I want to invite you to join. Build It Remarkable is going to be remarkable, and this is my second time running it because I did it as a beta test, and I also did it with my Remarkable League, so I've tested it out for two years, and I've gotten results, and these are foundational principles of building a business.

That you may learn in a lot of different ways, but have you ever learned it as a creative? Have you ever really gotten in deep and learned systems that are going to make a difference? All that marketing and messaging and consistency I was talking about, that's the heart of Build It Remarkable. And I want to be the one that helps you.

I want to be your mentor to get you to that next phase. So I hope that you are excited about it, just like I'm excited about it. I know it's only middle March, but June is just right around the corner and we are Prepping to make it the most amazing event of the year. So be on the lookout. And I just wanted to say thank you.

I love you. It's been such an exciting time to be able to bring a podcast to you. I love doing this. I love being your host and your coach. And I can't wait to meet you again in the future. All right. Thanks, everyone.