Hello beautiful people!
This month’s meeting will take place on Friday, January 12th at 11:30am PST at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85965793555 and its replay will live on this page within a day of the live mastermind session.
Reminder: We’re using the same Zoom link for all of our JFDI hotseat sessions. Keep it handy! And keep an eye on my events calendar for any changes to our dates (time will always be 11:30am Pacific). So excited for where we’ll GROW from here!
If you’d like a refresh on any of the JFDI with Bon curriculum goodness without having to comb through alllllllll the content we’ve covered since March 2020, check out this lovely orientation page over here. Yay!
AND, if you’d like more support or just some hang time each month, you’re welcome to join in for Connect with Bon (check for all the details here). No RSVP, no replay, no pressure.
Today we dug in on the many layers of dreaming big. We talked about energetic boundaries and Circles of Safety, gave Sarah’s book cover options some loving feedback, cheered and celebrated baby steps (and discussed ways to do social media *and* build Googleable traction), and of course let the convos take us into all sorts of areas. Always choose a big ol’ fishbowl! You’re growing INTO the person who will have created the thing you’re not yet finished building.
Remember to store up content when it’s popping up everywhere and then USE that file when it’s time to post but the muse ain’t showin’ up! It’s important to remember that you are NOT alone (even though you are a leader, and leadership is lonely). You have support. You have tools. You have your brilliance and your passion and your values and your gifts!
As always, I love seeing you do the workout, out there. Continue the convo in the comments below! Let’s celebrate all the work you’re putting in as you build your best life!
All my love,
So it looks like I’ll be the first poster of the New Year. Yay!
I took Bon’s advice to “spruce up” my website and went and had a look. It wasn’t too bad, as things went. But I noticed that there were some things I had on offer that no one, l iterally, had ever taken advantage of. I thought about taking them all away… but then instead of that I just reworked the language a bit, left the pricing as is, and let it all stand. These are coaching options for people to book coaching sessions with me regarding pre-production, production and post-production as well as festival strategy. I had put these options up when I was still in L.A. and had done some coaching “in person,” had fun with it and had gotten a good response from those who had taken advantage of it.
Well… anyway, wouldn’t you know it — out of the blue a total random stranger came to my website after buying my book and bought a coaching package. Boom! Just like that! Um… Okay. I guess the New Year is off and running. We have communicated back and forth and she’s not quite ready to set the date yet as she’s still writing her web series, but she’s thinking early February. But hey, I’m good.
And Dave and I just got back from another road trip where we made some plans for both of our businesses. So that’s good, too!
Ha, I love that!! How wonderful that the energy you put in to sprucing immediately attracted someone to your yard. Yaaaaaay!
And yay for road-trip-business-planning, too!
Kathi! So inspiring! My goal for this year was to circle back to my Jiggy and Photo presence and this is even more motivating. Way to put that positive mojo into the universe.
that’s awesome Kathi! What a great way to start the new years.
I LOVE this, Kathi! Way to energize an offer and bring that energy to it, Venus-style! Woo HOO!! And I’m glad to know you have a page you’re excited about now, should I need to refer folks your way. Right on!
OMG, I miss the roadtrip biz convos. That’s one of the things Hacienda gave us so much of over the years, with all the trips back and forth there. Love it! Eager to hear all about some of your new plans!
Feeling a little wobbly this morning after taking a next-tier step…
I decided to contact a lawyer to review and polish my contract/terms of service for TDS before 2024 recital season- the same one who did my trademarks. (Robert Sciglimpaglia- he’s a voice and on-camera actor as well, and is the lawyer who dealt with the whole Bev Standing/Tik Tok voice case.)
I was surprised how challenging it was to send this email though… some of it was low-enoughness, some was fear of being ridiculed for having made-do with internet cobbling. I had to employ a Mel Robbins count-to-five to get it sent. But, he was just as professional as before, offering both a totally reasonable price for the rewrite, as well as an option to join his new offer instead. It’s a monthly membership that includes things like unlimited question emails/phone calls, one contract rewrite per month (taking care of my initial request), one contract negotiation per month, reduced fees for additional trademark filing, et cetera for $74/month. So, for the same money as a one-off rewrite, I’ll get several months of legal support (and a few more contract reviews, too)!
Y’all, I sorta-kinda have an attorney on a sorta-kinda retainer now. Eeep!
Put on your Big Girl pants and now you have a Big Girl Attorney on retailer. Yay You!! Coming up in the world!! I love it!!
Lol!! Thanks, Kathi.
Even more good news and motivation coming from JFDI in 2024. Glad you’re pushing past the mental barriers to uplevel. It’c clearly your next step. Hey, guess what. And you didn’t die.
And I didn’t die. You’re so right.
Wow look at that, great work, Stephanie! It’s always lovely when the response isn’t as scary as we think, but what a rollercoaster.
And nice work on your attorney’s end too, that sounds like a really excellent membership!
Thank you! Definitely a rollercoaster! But I’m glad I got that positive landing- it’s a reinforcement to keep using and building this muscle. 🙂 I’ll circle back after a few months with membership feedback if it’s something I’d recommend to other ninjas as well!
Um, this is AH-MAY-ZING. Well done, Stephanie! What a fabulous deal!! And HECK YEAH, you’ve got an attorney on retainer. Say that out LOUD, babe. So so so good! Glad you could coach yourself into doing that outreach. Perfect all around.
<3
Working on building that voice up! Scary, but baby steps. (This one felt like a bit more of a leap, but.)
I also wanted to pop a post-Nutcracker-season debrief, just for the sake of accountability and closing the chapter.
#30SecondBallets did okay throughout! Not a bumper crop, but definite wins with the books being in four physical stores through the season and sold online. Still very happy with the #1 titles it received on Amazon as well! I’m pleased and proud. I’ll be honest though- I feel like I put so much work into #30 this year, and didn’t get the ROI I had hoped for. Of course, I temper this with the fact that it’s a super-niche market, business building takes time, and these are BOOKS in a digital age! So, I’m reflecting on the fact this is a longer game. All good. Of note, and off this momentum, I just emailed the libraries that have copies to see if they’d like the new third book.
As for TDS, my Winter bookings were entirely full-show narrations, with the exception of one pre-show. I did not expect that!! So, all the work I did (and y’all helped with) in setting up my pricing and the fancy click-the-box-add-ons weren’t used at all. LOL. Every single one was a custom quote and package deal. However, this did really help me clarify pricing for that type of work, as well as when I would/wouldn’t offer a discount. I did ultimately give 10% discounts to two multi-return clients that are supportive and easy to work with, both so I could meet their smaller holiday show budget. The rest were full-price, and I only had one client balk (over a rush fee of all things). Yay!! I’m thrilled to say my Nutcracker season total was almost the same as what I made during Spring recital season… pushing my 2023 voiceover total to exceed my choreography earnings for the first time ever. Wow.
(I still have Squirrel blocked, for the record. I asked a friend to take a peek at his website, and he was pushing announcements as “Santa”. Shrug. It didn’t sound like he had stolen anything else from me, anyway. I haven’t had his social media posts checked.)
So now, here I sit, thinking about what my goals are for all my businesses going into 2024… I’m finding it a bit challenging to dream big lately, but I’m sure y’all can shake me free of that. 😉 Looking forward to our first meeting of the year!!
Proud of you for moving on from Squirrel. I can see those ties thinning out and pretty soon they won’t even be there.
Very interesting about your stats. Curious to see how that trends over the years and if it leads you to new offerings this year. Your audience is definitely telling you what they want from you, at least for right now.
Thank you!! Absolutely lessons being learned from the Squirrel experience, woven from these ties, and integrated into the business.
And I agree, these stats are very interesting. My working hypothesis is that holiday season is more about family storytelling…? And no one can deny the sheer momentum of Nutcracker (despite the funny story that the original premiere was a total flop).
The one other interesting TDS trend was a number of requests for a pre-fab Nutcracker or holiday-themed narration that didn’t flip into clients. As you know, I’ve been on the custom-only side since Day One, but I’m starting to wonder… Is this an evergreen product I want to make/sell? Does it fill a Triangle of Dave item in a way that feels right for TDS? Or do I want to remain custom-only and let Squirrel and the newest competitor, “Recital In A Box”, duke it out? Hm…
Well, if every year for eternity someone somewhere is going to be doing the Nutcracker…
‘Tis the heavy weight leaning me toward doing it. Although, there are a few versions of the story that could complicate things… I’d have to be careful how I wrote the script so it’d work for a majority. (Thank goodness I have this knowledge from my own studies, and from writing #30!)
Could be fun to get some tripwire clients off that evergreen offer who end up buying custom from you at a higher price point, now that they trust your work. Worth a shot, I’d think!
Oh, and if you don’t already have an email newsletter/blog post planned (or in existence) re: the Nutcracker premiere being a flop, DO SO. That’s gold!
Could be… I have a year to decide, write a script, and record everything before Nutcracker season rolls around again. It’ll also give me time to also see how this whole AI situation plays out…
And Nutcracker newsletter note taken! It might even be a mini-series to try out… there are quite a few ballets that had similar experiences. Swan Lake is another…!
Yay! So much good stuff in here, Stephanie!
A couple o’ thoughts:
#30SB — Consider that we’re always skewed with the ROI on these things. The years SMFA brought in the most (in all various combinations — as book only, as book + audiobook, as book + audiobook + the thing that gets me hired to tour and speak/teach all over the world, as book + audiobook + the thing that gets me hired + the course curriculum behind GIGFTNT) were never the ones in which I did the heavy lifting creating the book or even marketing the book. The ROI is always low when we’re doing the big build of it all (and that includes initial marketing and getting anchored/known in the world). And after a while, it’s just tending a garden. Hang in there! I know you’ve probably already given yourself this peptalk. Just making it official that I’m giving it too. 😉
LOVE that your voiceover work eclipsed your choreography work! That’s awesome and it’s the kind of thing you can keep letting ’em fight it out about. Let ’em battle for biggest earner in your life, always pushing each higher by focusing on what lights you up and what you’re excited to do more of at any given time. Yay!
Yes on the dreaming big thing being an effort (especially with the flavor of woo weather we’re headed into), but we’ll get some of this poppin’ during our Zoom this week. Hooray! So looking forward to it!
I so appreciate the peptalk, though. Hearing it in different words, especially in this specific situation that I know you’ve been through, is comforting. And yeah, you’re right. I’m sure I’m not seeing all the things, I’ve sown a bajillion seeds that might not germinate for years to come, and I’ve probably undervalued a lot of my work. So, hanging in, indeed. 🙂
I love the VO surprise, too! The battle has been between dance performance and choreography for the longest time (since that’s where my career first established itself), so it was a shock to me to see this newcomer underdog swing in that strongly. Very cool, and something I’m proud of. (A lot of this was TDS specifically!)
Oh, and for the record: New copies of #30 going to my alma mater’s library later this month, as well as the college I taught at! Both are thrilled to have them.
Had the realization about a week ago that my Jiggy audience is not necessarily who I thought it would be. I was expecting adult nerds who like puzzles and pop culture, turns out, I think it’s… children. Aside from my (target audience) friends who bought during the 10k in 10 day challenge of 2022, all my Etsy sales have been for children. Granted, adults have been buying them, but with children in mind.
It got me thinking if this changes my approach to the business at all, specifically with marketing and branding. Obviously my products will now include more “kid friendly” items and any social media posts will mention how they’re “great gifts for your little one!” or when you need “goodie bag items for parties”, etc but beyond that.. I’m not sure yet how things will unfold or may change. Those are my first steps for now.
My goals for early 2024 were already to circle back to Jiggy and Photo to spruce up their presence and do the things I consciously ignored last year since I was focusing on the book, so I guess it’s a good thing I let those be on the back burner for a while as they evolved.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to attend our meeting this month, so to some degree I’d like this to be on the agenda. If I get more clarification around it I’ll make sure to post before the meeting.
Definitely a good thing that you were able to let these simmer and coalesce. Yay! How interesting to see a potential target shift as well! I’d be curious to see what happens with your test crop of kid-friendly items… It sounds like you could easily do a small collection and see how that sells before you completely change tack with the full business.
I’d also be curious to dig into whether this perceived shift is because of where/how you’re coming up in searches, where you’re marketing, or even if it’s your target adults living vicariously through their kids. 😉 Fun things to think about!
Too much to think about! But I like the thoughts and will think about them later and for now let them sit in the back of my mind .
That’s me charging down rabbit holes in typical fashion, lol. 😉 Offered in the hopes it pops something for you, whenever that kernel of popcorn is ready to burst off the back burner!
Yes! Please do come back and give me some specific hotseat topic covering you’d like me to do with this. I love the shifts a brand makes while we’re not looking and would love to learn how we can help without you ’round for the chat! Cool data to notice, for sure!
Looks like I will be able to be at the meeting but haven’t put much thought into this since I’ve been focusing on the book, so we can table this for now. And more on the book below (separate thread).
Fellow Self-Publishers – Came across this while doing my book launch research. Not sure I’ll be able to make use of it this year, but you all should:
https://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/self-published-book-awards
Nice! Really nice! Thank you for the share, Sarah. Here’s the PDF version of all the things (which I’ve stored locally in a place on my machine that I’m sure it’ll sit ’til it’s far too late to do anything with it). 😉 Heh heh. At least I know myself re: PDFs at this point. LOL
Hmm… something to definitely look into. I’ll see if I can get some budget to do this for #30. Thank you for sharing, Sarah!
Happy New Year, y’all! Wow, a lot going on already.
I’m looking forward to the meeting. I am still truckin along with my intentions from previously:
– put up a short a week at my youtube channel
– my Be A Helper series is finished for now on IG
– I shot and am putting up my Instructional Design In Action series on IG
– starting to outline another series
– Got a graphic template set up for when I turn my reels into written content, and created the Course Creation Essential graphics. I think I’m going to post them all at once as a carousel since graphics don’t do as well as reels.
I’m also applying for real people jobs, and side writing gigs, and I want to send out an email blast to my baby mailing list and put up a Facebook post talking about how much Magic hour has grown. There’s lots of content on IG, we have a youtube now, we’re an official corporation, we offer grant calendars, I can talk about the very cool project of mine that is wrapping up, and I can include either attachments or a link(?) to my Course Creation Essentials graphics as an ask. I think I’d like to talk about that and my blocks around sending it in meeting.
My main money gig is ending at the end of the month *and* my rent is doubling, so it’s a very spicy time.
Definitely, let’s get you in that “blocks around sending it” hotseat, Jaki. This is all so so so good (spicy money stuff aside — but even that will reveal some bigger earning power than you may have thought possible, of course) and I’m sure everyone can benefit from a little block busting like this! Hope you’re celebrating all the good in here!!!
Well, I will be missing the first JFDI meeting of the year… but for a good reason! I’m dancing again for the Canadian Opera Company, and they plopped rehearsal right at the same time as our meeting. (Don’t they know? Lol.)
Anyway, my challenge with the whole dreaming big thing absolutely still stands, and I’d love some of that poppin’ directed my way to catch on replay and work on in the comments.
I’m down if you want to go woo on it. My Thursdays have tended to be more overwhelming and inconsistently MOAR lately, to the point I’m more on edge than party-bus-y. And as someone with a lot of Jupiterian influence in my chart, this feels disconcerting (5H Sag stellium [Moon, Uranus, Saturn], Piscean NN, and natal Jupiter in Gemini, 11H [10H in Placidus]). I have added some extra Jupiter remediation to see if it helps, but I think it’s more than that… there’s absolutely some mindset and enoughness stuff that’s totally mine to bring to the table.
I have to say I’m also facing some really interesting reflections of how far I’ve come, returning to the opera for my 3rd contract. That’s rocking me a bit, too. Didn’t expect January to be so full of looking backward… at performing, at my businesses… betcha wouldn’t guess I’m in a 9 year… 😉 Just realizing where I’ve grown, how different I am from last opera (pre-pandemic), and how unique a career path I’ve gone off on compared to my cast mates. It’d also come as no surprise to you to find out I’ve become the de facto leader of the dancer cast, and even got “elected” as Equity liaison. Lol.
All to say I’m looking forward to seeing y’all on replay, and working out with you in the comments this month!
we’ll miss your presence Stephanie, but what a reason to be absent!
Would appreciate some eyes on these mock up for the Dragonfly book cover. There are 3 new options (front cover and full spread, so you’ll have to open the image and not just look at the thumbnail), with the previous options for reference. Open to thoughts and ideas. And yes, you’ll notice there’s more photoshopping that needs to be done.
Book cover mock ups: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j63x0JY3Zy1oEui2r16Y4ygfUcnHjt1P?usp=drive_link
They are all great!!
My personal favorite is the light green option. I find that color easier to read text upon, and the design draws my eyes to the dragonfly first (which makes sense to my brain, given your book title). I’d go further and say that would also make it easy for a child to find in the library, even without the right title… “I want the Dragonfly book!”
I hope that helps. 🙂 You rock!!
Thank you for looking. The older versions are only there for reference. The ones I need eyes on are 1, 3 an 4 (front cover and spread). I should have clarified.
For reference:
The “dragonfly only” image, while it tends to be the one people choose first does not work as it does not accurately represent the story being told and is misleading after reading the book. The “people only” images, while cleaner and simpler, were not enough to make people want to pick up the book (unlike the “dragonfly only” covers) and give it further consideration.
As I mentioned in last month’s zoom, I need to find a happy medium that gives you a sense of the story being told while also making you want to actually pick up the book and look inside it. That is what I’m attempting to do with the combination (images 1, 3, 4), while also adding the tow truck to show that something went wrong.
I misunderstood, sorry. Of the actual options I was supposed to choose from (lol!), I most love #4. All the elements are on the cover, but they are not too tightly placed. I also like that the trunk of the car juuuust peeking onto the cover makes me want to turn the book over… where the first blurb line explains exactly why the car is being towed, and what’s up with the story. It’s a nice journey, imo.
I should have been more clear. And I *know* not to post while I’m at work because I always forget *something*.
Re: 4 – that was my intent, so thank you for picking up on it. I’m just not sure I can make it happen the way it is in my brain without extra work and money, so I’ll have to wait and see how people are responding.
I just hope these results don’t turn out the same as the results from the previous cover, where I ultimately learned that I need a new cover, but not exactly *what* that cover should be. I wish we judged books by something else…
Added 2 rough mock ups to the link for those that want to take a look. One with no truck on either cover and one with 1 person on the cover, the rest of the family on the back.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j63x0JY3Zy1oEui2r16Y4ygfUcnHjt1P?usp=drive_link
I appreciated the feedback and encouragement you all provided, especailly as I work my way towards the finish line.
Yesssssssssssss. This is definitely how it looked in my mind as we talked through it yesterday. Love it!! Hope you get more helpful feedback (not MORE helpful, like ours sucked… MORE of this sort of helpful feedback… because it’s good to get more feedback). 😉 Ha! Great job, Sarah!
Words are fun. 🙂
Yes! I like both of these new ones a lot, Sarah.
Thanks again for the workout in the meeting, Bon & co! I changed my Facebook URL, and I have content going out today, tomorrow, and Wednesday on multiple platforms (FB, IG, and Youtube)! More updates below.
Looking at my previous Facebook posts, I don’t think they are valuable or engaging enough to turn into slide decks. If I zazzed them up and added another case study or two, that could be different. I’ll keep that percolating.
I’m also thinking about slide deck youtube videos to go in depth on my IG reel topics – like, instead of five little shorts about objectives, just have one longer youtube video about them (like 5-10 minutes). That’s already five right there since I have fight complete series – Objectives, Evaluations, Course Creation Essentials, Be A Helper, and Instructional Design In Action! Definitely something to think about.
It’s also time to think about more IG reel content. Maybe I’ll find more inspiration while I’m camping this week. Right now I have a half-baked series idea that is both spicy and more in response to the war of it all than like, a business need. It talks about all of the unlearning I’ve done to get to my liberatory pedagogy. It’s stuff like Why I Don’t Call The Cops, Why The Nuclear Family Is A Lie, Queer Theory: We Have Always Been Here, Health Insurance & Disability: The Cruelty Is The Point, Labor Rights & Homelessness: The Cruelty Is The Point.
I do think I want to also create something more instructional design related in February as well, lol. yay Aries moon.
Love all of this. I think it’s so necessary. Every last bit of it. Been having lots of convos in my private coaching sessions with people who are helping lead the field with the social changes headed our way (and fast, thanks to Pluto in Aquarius and all the other outers getting extra fired up in the next few years). Get that shit that you’re passionate about GOING and OUT THERE. It’ll serve you (and others) very well!
I want to and it’s scary! I’ll work on for our meeting next week or get some encouragement/talk through it then. Thanks for validating it Bon
I had my first coaching session yesterday. My gal sent me her pilot script for her web series (about 5 minutes) and wanted feedback. Cute ideas. Needs work. We spent a fair amount of time going over what she could do and what her goals are with regard to the series. She’s currently a pretty well-placed VO actress on a well-known series who wants to start getting more on-camera work so she’s doing this for herself. She’s got lots of assets (and friends) to call upon. And she wants to keep working with me. All in all, it was fun and she was very happy at the end of the meeting.
How wonderful! Congrats, Kathi!! Hooray!
hoooooray! What a great first experience Kathi!
I’ve been watching this replay piece-meal in between rehearsals, and finally got through it all. Lol. And you’re right, Bon, this was the first JFDI meeting I’ve not been at live!
Still deep in the opera, so I haven’t had a lot of dedicated time to really muck through what’s blocking the big dreaming. Some of it is straight fear, for sure. Some is feeling unmoored and unsure what the dream even looks like (paired with a roomful of suits and judges for whatever does bubble up). Some is a need to reframe costs into investments, and remembering I can/will make this money back. (Related sidebar: not entirely sure where this originally came from, but the phrase “every dollar I spend comes back to me multiplied by ten” has made its way into my consciousness again. Trying to use it often.) So, an ongoing conversation, for sure. Is it somewhat ironic that I’m questioning dreaming at the same time I’m literally standing on stage in one of the biggest theaters in the country? Which was, in and of itself, a dream? One that has now been fulfilled thrice? Hmm…
On another note, I wholly recommend the idea file. I started keeping one for choreography/songs way, way back and it’s served me many times over. It’s literally just a Word doc/word-dump categorized by dance genre. I also had a smaller one for #30 newsletters last season that helped a lot.
Cheering you on in replay, and looking forward to hearing how y’all have progressed since this meeting!
All of this rocks. 🙂 Specifically:
Yesssssssssssssss. Lordy, this is so damn good. So damn right. Well spotted, again.