I’m offering a rare opportunity to engage with me personally through an 8-week mastermind program that will focus your creative business for success in 2016.
Every year I go through a system of analysis that serves as the backbone for my company, WeGrowMedia. This is now a five-year-old venture, and each year it has been a six-figure business. I do not say that to gloat or show off, because the truth is, it is a huge responsibility. I work my butt off to make this business a success, to ensure I am doing work that meaningfully helps others, and that supports my wife and son. And let’s face it, luck is a huge factor here as well.
I have never offered access to my planning system before. This process is, without a doubt, the foundation for planning my revenue growth each year.
This year, I am opening up my planning phase and sharing it with others through a public mastermind program. To show you the process I go through, and give you advice on how to grow your revenue as a creative professional.
WHAT WE FOCUS ON
I’ll start by saying that I only work with creative professionals. These are writers, crafters, designers, artists, entrepreneurs, and others whose work is not just about earning money, but about creating something special that will enrich the lives of others.
It is about craft, art, and an almost magical connection that happens when their vision sparks something in the hearts and minds of those who receive it. If you are reading this, that’s probably you.
But let’s face it, the money part is a big deal for you as well. And it’s difficult to figure out that part of it.
You have the “creative” part of “creative professional” down, but feel like you need more growth in the “professional” part.
The WeGrowMedia Mastermind focuses on the following:
- The products and services you offer.
- The business and money parts of your creative career.
- Developing momentum with your work.
- Honing your vision to focus intensely on a few key things that will lead to growth and make your vision a reality. So much of this process is about saying “yes” to a few key things, and “no” to hundreds of others.
We will move through four phases outlined below, each of which are meant to help you focus your products and your business on what will resonate with your vision, and what will resonate with your customers.
HOW THIS WORKS
This is not a course — it is a collaboration. A mastermind group is traditionally a group of like-minded people who come together to help one another brainstorm and focus. That is what this is, with an added layer, which is that I will be guiding you through my planning system.
The WeGrowMedia Mastermind program runs from November 4th to January 3rd. We will move through four bi-weekly prompts in that time:
- Collect (Nov 4 – 17): Here we collect all of the insights about what is working for you already, what isn’t, what people love, and what fell flat. We collect data, do research, and look all of the elephants in the room right in the eye. This is about putting it all on the table and getting practical.
- Organize (Nov 18 – Dec 1): Here we make order from chaos. At this phase, you likely have a big mess of ideas, a bunch of gaps between what you know and insights you hope to have. So we begin moving pieces around. We brainstorm. We establish a point of clarity that will give focus to your entire 2016.
- Analyze (Dec 2 – 15): Now we connect the dots. We take little ideas and make them big. We take 20 seemingly must-have tasks and cut them down to three. We hack through all of the stuff that feels overwhelming, and make a commitment. We double down on the ideas and the vision that makes your heart sing. This is about saying “no” to 100 things so that you can say “yes” to the one part of your creative work that matters most.
- Plan (Dec 16 – Jan 3): Here we put dates on the calendar. You identify clear steps you need to take, when they will be taken, and develop backup plan after backup plan to ensure you don’t fail.
In each phase, I talk about the goal, how I do it, and clear ACTIONS you need to take. That’s right, none of this is reading course material or doing homework — it is all about taking action.
My goal? Not to begin January 1, 2016 with vague resolutions, but to begin it with a clear focus and ready to take action. Through this mastermind, you will identify specific products and services you will be rolling out, when you will launch them, and how. This would equally apply to what you already offer (books, art, consulting, workshops, digital products), or crafting new ones that you come up with in the mastermind.
This bears repeating: You do not get loads of course material — you get prompts and actions to take. You are given a structure by which to collaborate with me and others in the mastermind. Nothing else. This is about action. Period.
You don’t have to show up anywhere on any particular day or time (because I understand the holidays are busy), but you will have constant access to the group (and myself) via these powerful collaboration tools.
- Weekly video updates from me. This is where I talk you through key steps to be taking, and how I execute on my planning system. I will not talk in theory, but in terms of practical steps, sharing with you how I am doing this myself.
- Shared Trello to-do lists. These will keep your actions focused and accountable. Each week, you create a handful of specific tasks and we keep you accountable to them. Everyone in the Mastermind can see your tasks, and you can see ours. Not sure what actions to take? Well, you will be looking over our shoulders to get ideas.
- A private Slack chat group. This is basically a 24/7 instant messaging system for small teams. This is where you can brainstorm ideas, share insights, cry for help, and feel a sense of collaboration in what can be an otherwise lonely process.
Are you worried about how to use these tools? Don’t. These are things my team and I use every single day, and are a core way that collaborative groups work. They are easy to get the hang of, and after all, we are here to help you out along the way!
That is the real value here: collaboration. You will have me and others in the mastermind providing feedback on your goals, helping provide direction, giving feedback, and pulling you out of the hole when you feel stuck and lost.
Each week, I will provide feedback on your tasks, your progress, and your direction. And I will also tell you when you are losing focus or biting off more than you can chew. So much of this process is about clarity and focus. Taking simple actions consistently, not getting bogged down.
My role is to be a coach in this process. You get to watch what I do, I give you direction, observe and suggest corrections. But I’ll be clear: it is YOU on the playing field. I’m not out there to do the work for you, or hold your hand when you are stalling. My feedback will be short and to the point. This is about taking action when it matters.
WHO THIS IS FOR
This is for the creative professional who wants to take the business side of their craft more seriously. Who wants to have a clearer plan for 2016 in terms of products, services, and revenue. Who may have had some success selling their work, but felt it was mere luck, not the product of a well-executed plan.
I work with writers, artists, designers, crafters, entrepreneurs and anyone who is doing creative work that is deeply meaningful to their audience.
And I will absolutely say, this is about living up to your creative vision. A big part of my process is indeed about getting clearer about the meaning and experiences I am creating for others. The business side is meant to honor that, not derail it.
WHY THIS PROGRAM MATTERS
Let me share a few ways that this program is different from anything else I have offered before (and from what most others offer):
- Very often, people sell you “content,” such as course material, when a key ingredient to success is collaboration. This mastermind is about that collaboration: relationships with others that keep us focused and accountable.Consider why it costs $75 to join a gym for an entire month, but $75 to hire a personal trainer for a single hour. Just joining a gym gives you access to tools, but hiring a personal trainer gives you access to insights and a personalized system. Most people don’t show up to the gym on an average day, but they nearly always show up to an appointment with a personal trainer. It is a commitment, and assurance to get the job done.This mastermind is that commitment. I am waiting at the gym for you to show up. Don’t leave me — and your creative vision — hanging.
- I do this work during the holidays on purpose, because it is a time of reflection where we assess what matters, and make a clear plan of action that begins January 1. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t take you three weeks to cook a single turkey dinner, and it doesn’t take you 4 weeks to buy presents.Yet many people I talk to are “too busy” during the holidays to do business planning. They say they will start it in January, along with that diet they have been restarting every year for 20 years.
I do this system during the holidays to leverage the things that the holidays are already stirring within me: reflections on what matters most. For many of us, we see family during the holidays, we take time off, and (good or bad) lots of stuff is stirred up from our past. Use this. Use this reflective mindset to fuel your business planning. To ensure you are on track to do work that deeply matters to you.
And let’s be honest here — not everyone loves the holidays. It can stir up identity conflicts, trauma, family crisis, and so much else. Again, use that. Planning how to make your creative work sustainable via revenue streams is very much about the identity you create for yourself in the world, and how you will affect the lives of others. If you have strong feelings about that, good! I love that. Even if they are conflicted emotions, that is way better than just rotely going through the motions. This should be a process filled with passion. I want you to be fighting for something you are creating, not allowing a turkey dinner to derail your creative vision.
(Disclaimer: No, I am not a heartless machine. I love Thanksgiving and turkey as much as anyone. But I simply don’t write off an entire season of creative planning because of it.)
- There is no refund policy on this program. When you sign up, you are making a commitment not only to me, but to yourself. Take action, or else lose your investment. This is a no excuses program. If you don’t do the work, you will hear it from me. One term you will hear a lot in this program is the following: “No half-assing it.” (Sorry for the language.) Why do I use this term? Because most creative ventures fail not because they aren’t engaging ideas, but because the person half-asses it. They do it part way. They give up at the drop of a hat.
This program is a half-ass free zone.If you have creative work that is deeply meaningful to you, whether it is full-time or part-time, I’m challenging you to stop treating your profession like a hobby.If you have a day job, I would bet that you would never consider showing up late for work. Or show up only three days per week to a job where you’re expected to be there five days per week. Or you wouldn’t just leave mid-day from the job because you didn’t feel inspired to do it.
Yet, this is how people “show up” for their creative vision. For their creative career.
This program isn’t for everyone.
I’m accepting a really limited number of participants because I want to ensure we have a solid group of people ready to take action. And I’ll be honest — we will be spending the holidays together, so I want it to be fun, not just productive. I talk through what you can expect in this video:
Want in? Apply now. If you are accepted, there is a $499 total fee for the two-month program, payable in two parts (one payment of $249 at registration and one payment of $250 in December).
Instead of a “Register Now” button, I have an application for you. I want to get a sense of your vision and challenges before I allow you to join the group. This is not meant to be judgy — that is not my goal. I simply want to ensure this group is filled with a group of passionate creative people ready to take action.