Most Impactful Things I Did In My Creative Business To Break Through $50k

“What got you here, won’t get you there.” - James Wedmore

Whether you're making $30k per year or $300k per year, there's always going to be a point when something has to change before you can hit your next income goal. You may be at that point right now. You may be on the brink of it soon. At some point in your time as an entrepreneur, freelancer, whatever - a change will have to happen.

In 2017, this happened for me. I did a few specific things that made a huge difference and finally got me above and beyond the income goal I set for myself. After setting this goal a while back, there were times I thought it was completely unattainable, but with these changes I was able to reach that goal and then some.

Ready for a look behind the curtain? I’m sharing the most impactful things I did in my creative business to break through $50k.

1. I got rid of the “extra” stuff

There was a point where I was literally doing everything. If I had any idea of how to do something and I read from an “expert” that I should be doing said “thing”, I did it.

From weekly blog posts, all kinds of newsletters, a website theme shop, producing podcasts, YouTube videos - I did it all. Gosh, I am getting exhausted just recalling all of those late nights and packed days getting all of this stuff done each month.

While this was happening, I was active on social media through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook groups and Pinterest. I would respond to each comment, contribute to each thread, like each photo - all of it.

If you think I’m missing something in the list above, I probably outsourced help to get it done. There were SO many moving parts.

Cut to the middle of 2017 and I was burnt out and over it. I decided to get rid of everything that wasn’t actively bringing money into my bank account. Some of the things I got rid of were YouTube, Twitter, being active in Facebook groups, writing podcast transcripts, and I dropped weekly blog posts and newsletters to a bi-weekly schedule. On top of all that, I cancelled a bunch of software I didn’t need.

This was scary at first, but it gave my team and I the space to double-down on the things that were bringing in money. To put some things into perspective, I ended up saving $10K that first year. Yup, ten big ones.

2. I narrowed in on my services and raised prices

Most now know me as a WordPress developer for designers (for my other business), but back in the day I was kind of doing it all. I’d work on custom and semi-custom projects for designers and non-designers with retainers, maintenance packages, random fixes and tweaks, and full website builds.

It was so much to manage and my schedule was all over the place trying to get it done. Each project had a different process for the type of service, there were all kinds of custom quotes and extra calls, and I was working with a lot of non-ideal clients.

I decided it was time to ditch the fear I had of turning down a project and only accept projects with designers. Not only that, but only custom development and retainers. I let all of my maintenance package clients go and I was able to focus on the clients that were bringing in the most revenue and the ones who I could serve the best.

These steps allowed me to give them a much better experience as well as speed up and simplify processes. Raising prices was an easy move since what I was working on was my specialty - it was a no-brainer.

3. I ran an online summit

In between all of these transitions and positive changes for my business, I had an idea. It came a little out of nowhere for me, but I decided to run an online summit. I felt stuck in my business and wanted to find a way to get the momentum going again. I had already positioned myself as a leader in the industry and I was ready to kick it up a notch. Plus, I really wanted to grow my email list at a quicker rate.

I didn’t know what to expect or where to start, but I’m so glad I took a leap of faith. After it was all said and done, the summit helped me triple my email list, which meant over 1,000 new leads. I also made connections with a ton of industry experts that are still paying off to this day.

It helped elevate my position as a leader, leading to a ton of collaborations with businesses I love. The best part? I made $16k that I wouldn’t have made otherwise without the online summit.

Even a year later, people are still talking about my first summit. They approach me for my services or collaborations because of it. It has produced a huge ripple effect for my business and revenue.

Think you want to host a summit? Check out some of my previous posts.

• How an online summit will skyrocket your revenue, email list, and influence this year - Read the post
• 5 keys to a successful online summit - Read the post
• How to host a successful summit with no email list - Read the post

All of this to say, if you feel stuck in your business, take that as a sign that it’s time for a change. Like our good friend James reminded us at the start of this post, you can’t keep doing the same things to get to new places. Get to the next level of your business by trying something new.

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