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Now perhaps more than ever we have access to more knowledge, more resources, more apps that empower us to take things into our own hands. We can create and manage our own websites. Write and publish our own books. Build our own businesses. You name it, there’s probably a way that you could find out how to do it yourself.
Here’s where we get trapped.
Just because you can download a logo design app doesn’t mean you are necessarily skilled to design your own logo.
Just because you can access WordPress or Foursquare and choose themes doesn’t mean you are necessarily skilled to design your own website.
You can write well enough to form coherent, clear, sometimes lyrical paragraphs, but does that equip you to write your best copy?
I can strum guitar chords good enough for sing-alongs with friends, but I would never produce and try to sell my covers of Bob Dylan.
I’m curious: Why do we settle for good enough not only for ourselves but, more, for the people whose lives we want to make better – our customers and communities?
Maybe we think that because we can kind of sort of figure things out on our own that we should do it on our own and that we are skilled “enough” to do so.
It will save us money, right? Maybe. But maybe not. Not if your doing so is consuming your finite time and effort. Not if what you produce actually does not bring back your best revenue.
DIY could waste you money and time.
Here’s something to consider:
Trying to shape vague ideas into a business venture is daunting.
Veteran artist and teacher Nikki Jackson had sat for a few years on an idea that involved creative collaboration. She dreamed of some space or place or venue that would attract accomplished creatives fatigued with competition and open for true collaboration. She didn’t lack experience and smarts and conviction.
Longtime teacher Susanne Peterson also hungered for a way to bring to fruition dim inklings she had for helping women (and possibly men) recognize their innate value, the jewels within them. She didn’t lack passion.
Here are other truths:
- Trying to piece together all of your existing business parts into a coherent whole and narrative can be daunting.
- Trying to transition or change your brand can be confusing and scary.
- Trying to unify your brand messaging, logo & look, plus your offers can send your head in the sand.
- Simply trying to talk about, promote, and “sell” what you do so you can engage the people you love to serve and earn the livelihood you deserve seems way out of your comfort zone.
Veteran consultant Nancy Seibel struggled to redefine her existing brand mission and Story at Keys To Change, LLC.
Apple Hill Farm founder and writer Lee Rankin hadn’t updated her farm’s look and site in years. It required more than a new site. It required a new Story that brought Lee more to foreground as founder and writer and author.
Loraine Van Tuyl wanted to refine her brand presence, too. An accomplished clinical psychologist and founder of the Sacred Healing Well, Loraine like Nancy didn’t lack smarts or passion, and she didn’t even lack a boldness with technology.
The same could be said of Saundra Goldman of The Creative Mix, Suzi Banks Baum of Laundry Line Divine, or Anahata Little of Bodhisattva Healing Arts.
Not For Lack of Passion & Smarts
Every one of these people is smart and impassioned. But when we channel our wits and zeal to trying to figure out everything on our own we get in trouble.
Learning how to unify a business Story – its messaging, mission, manifesto, & offers that land in the hearts of the people who need that business – is complex.
But the process also can be infinitely enjoyable and rewarding.
Human learning – despite our download culture – requires a few things. It requires that we make a complex concept our own (assimilation). It requires that we learn how to test things out (application). It requires guidance and feedback.
And most of us human beings come up with novel, useful solutions when we’re in good moods.
Tying to figure out complicated stuff locked up in a room on your own usually does not a smile to the face bring.
Right?
But working together with the right people in the right flexibly structured learning environment with the right smart educational design can brighten your days even when facing these big but voluntary challenges.
That’s remarkable.
For several months, these professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives – plus numerous others who will make their online debut soon – banded together, bonded, and buoyed each other.
They ran together in a program that helps professionals and creatives unify their business parts, messaging, & offers into a coherent and captivating Story that lingers in the hearts of their best customers & community and draws them back for more of their good business.
They motivated themselves and each other to handle the big stuff. They started seeing real impact both in their hearts and in their bank accounts.
This pack of professional peers channeled their verve and intelligence not only to their own endeavors but also to each others.
They sought each other out for face-to-face pow-wows as they traveled the U.S.
Julie Jordan Scott started a Creative Conversations as a post-program follow-up.
It is this DIT (Do It Together) spirit that, I am convinced, contributes considerably to their collective success.
DIY is a lie for entrepreneurs. Don’t get trapped. DIT.
Sites of Professionals, Entrepreneurs, & Creatives Cited:
