Everyone in the Creator Economy is Overwhelmed — Here’s Why.
Dec 12, 2023
If you are an overwhelmed creator…
Working on six different projects at once…
Reading 3 books and taking 2 coaching programs…
Never actually getting to the point where you’re making money and getting clients…
Let’s talk about the real reason this happens and how to nip it in the bud.
There is something lying beneath the surface that must be fixed first.
In order to illustrate this, I want you to play coach with me.
I’m going to tell you about a situation that a hypothetical client of mine is in.
Let’s call this client “Brad”.
Brad is currently:
- Writing 2 books
- Building 3 funnels
- Creating his course
- Revamping his brand (and website)
- Taking 2 other coaching programs
- Rebuilding his offer
- Trying to figure out his niche
- Reading all of Russell Brunson’s books at once
Brad is not making any money in his business yet. In fact, he never has. He’s brand, spanking new.
Brad is also not creating content anywhere. He has no social media following or email list.
Brad has been working on all these various projects for about a year, spinning his wheels, absolutely overwhelmed, drinking from the firehose, learning everything under the sun.
Brad is lost.
Now, as Brad’s coach, what advice would you give to him?
My guess is that you would say:
“Brad, you’re overthinking this. Just put yourself out there. Work with some clients for free. Try to sell your program. Get feedback. And for the love of God, start creating content so you have someone to sell this stuff to!”
It’s easy for us to see what Brad would do, from third-party perspective.
But the truth is: I have been Brad, too.
I’ve locked myself in my office for months, tooling around with a new book or course that I was sure would “change everything” for my business.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can see what I was really doing…
Procrastinating.
But procrastination is kind of a bullshit label for what was going on. It was a surface level symptom.
Below my procrastination, I had doubt and uncertainty.
I wasn’t sure if I could really help people. I worried what they would think of me.
I feared being judged.
I wanted to get things “perfect”. Perfectionism is another surface level symptom of fear.
Here’s the funny thing about perfectionism — It’s impossible to make a “perfect” product when you’re creating it on an island.
You can’t create a good product for someone else — by yourself.
You need iterative feedback to sculpt it into something amazing over time. So let’s drop this idea of hiding in a cabin in the woods until your online course is finished.
Anyways, back to what we were saying…
When new creators are overwhelming themselves with endless projects, talking to no one, and waiting forever to launch…
They’re scared.
(I hope you’re Ok with calling a spade a spade.)
They convince themselves that they need to listen to one more training, take one more course, finish one more project, and this goes on forever.
They overwhelm themselves to avoid putting themselves out there.
Serious question:
How long can someone stay in a place of overwhelm, with zero income?
Even the strongest person will fold in that environment eventually. This is why 90% of creators fail.
OK, so we’ve identified what lies beneath the surface. Let’s talk about what to do to fix this.
We will use another example from a hypothetical client of mine. This will be someone who got it right.
We will call this client “Katie”.
Katie knew that she wanted to help moms rediscover their passion once the kids had grown up.
She didn’t write any books or create any courses. She didn’t even create a website.
Katie just started posting tips for moms on Instagram.
She created a free quiz moms could take to help them rediscover their passions. The quiz allowed Katie to collect their email addresses so she could follow up.
Katie reached out to every mom she knew. She asked what their biggest challenges were around to rediscovering their passions.
Katie coached three of the moms for free for 30 days. Those moms filmed Katie a testimonial that she could show to future prospects.
Katie roughly outlined a coaching program based upon the feedback she got from the quiz results and the free coaching.
Katie kept posting content, documenting what she was learning.
Katie got her first paid client soon after. It wasn’t much, $497 for ten 1:1 sessions. But, it was what she felt comfortable charging.
That client taught her even more about what moms struggle with.
Katie’s content got better as a result. So did her program.
The next month, she got two clients at $497.
The month after that, she raised her price to $997 and got two clients.
Her library of testimonials kept building. So did her social media following and email list.
At the end of her first year, Katie took on 35 clients in total. She made $50,000.
She is now starting to film videos that teach the same things she’s been working on with her 1:1 clients, so she can add a course to her product suite.
She is also outlining her first book.
Soon, she will have a book, course, and coaching program. All three do the same thing — help moms to rediscover their passions after motherhood.
Katie is sticking with this offer until she hits 1M in sales.
Can you spot the difference between Katie and Brad?
Katie got her hands dirty. She started minimally. She cared enough about solving the problem to go and talk with real people. She gradually built infrastructure along the way.
Brad is still busy trying to build the Eiffel Tower, but in the middle of the desert. He’s never going to finish it, and no one knows he’s there anyways.
OK, you’ve seen an example of what doesn’t work, and what does. But, we haven’t talked about how to get over the fear of putting yourself out there. We haven’t talked about how to deal with “imposter syndrome”.
I know a ton of people who don’t post content and won’t ever launch their offer because they are worried about what people will think of them.
I get it. I feel the same way. To this day, I think about what people will think of me when I’m creating something. Family members, friends, clients, colleagues, my neighbors, anyone and everyone.
I don’t have a magic solution for you. I think, when you decide to enter this space of being a value creator, and of documenting your journey, and changing lives, it’s an edgy field to go into.
Nobody wants to admit it, but it’s vulnerable. It would be so much more comfortable to hide at a 9-5 job. In this business you have to show everything. You live part of your life publicly on the internet. You make claims that you have to back up.
You ask for people’s time and money and you better deliver high value in return.
Next to becoming a parent, nothing has pushed me to grow as a person more than being in this industry.
And remember, personal growth doesn’t feel good, but once the growth has happened, it feels like the best thing in the world.
You’ve got to find that part of you deep within that wants to grow. Then, use your business as a vehicle for your own personal growth. When you look at it this way, launching your offer and reaching out to prospects may not seem so daunting.
If you want my 1:1 support and accountability to help you get clarity on exactly what you need to be doing next....
To break you OUT of overwhelm and finally start getting clients, go here to see a brand new way I've created for us to work together:
Here’s to you getting OUT of overwhelm in 2024 and gaining traction,
Brian
