Behind The Scenes Monthly Updates, Behind The Scenes Strategy

November 2021 Behind The Scenes Update

Welcome to an honest look behind the scenes of my business (including what I did, money & feelings) for the month of November 2021.

Welcome to My Behind-the-scenes Updates

This is where I get honest about what’s been going on, how I earned my money, and how I’ve been feeling about everything in my business for the past month. Past updates:

  • October 2021, on my “bad launch” and behind-the-scenes shifts.
  • September 2021, on being fully booked, confidence in my work and almost best months.

NOTE: I also semi-regularly go live in my Facebook group, The Inside, to give a completely honest look at what’s going on. Click here to join the group, as I’ll be going even deeper in there on some aspect of this post.

*Affiliate Disclosure: It’s highly likely that this post contains affiliate links, meaning I’ll be compensated if you go on to buy after clicking. I only ever recommend things I’ve personally used and stand by, and I’ll mark them with an asterisk.

What I Did & How I Felt In November

(1) I judged myself about money (& realised how far I’ve come)

As frustrating as this reality is, most of us don’t have a truly consistent income. Some months can be great, and some months much less so. In the earlier days, those less great months might actually add up to zero, but over time it gets easier and easier as you build up your recurring income in the form of payment plans or funnels set up behind the scenes. It just so happens that November was a “quieter” month for me compared to the five-figure months I’ve been having lately, and it led to a few uncomfortable feelings: is it ‘good enough’ as a business coach?, is my income going down? will I be able to get it back up again? The fact is that I still made £7K and had to laugh at myself when I looked at my spreadsheet and realised that I totally wouldn’t have been upset about a £7K month not long ago! 

I’m including this here firstly to normalise these feelings – we all get them, it’s just a case of learning to move through them as quickly as possible. It’s also a reminder to really check-in on how far you’ve come when you started to have the judgemental, fearful or “not good enough” feelings come in about your income. It’s incredible how quickly we can shift to a different baseline once we’ve met a new one (and, by the way, getting to the consistent £5K was by far the hardest in both of my businesses, so hang in there if you’re still in that place). The chances are that there’s a past version of you who was dreaming of doing what you’re doing now, so honour how far you’ve come even when you still have further to go (don’t we all?!)

(2) I launched a new programme (which had been in the works for around a year)

Over a year ago (I think?!) I had this idea to create a course called Connected Content. The idea was so big that it overwhelmed me, and even though I had it all outlined it never felt like the “right time” to create it. It was based on the way I create content, but definitely not your average “content marketing course”.

Ever since I decided to get visible in mid-2018 I’ve relied heavily on how I felt, trusting my intuition when it comes to when to lean in and go deeper, and when to hold back. But there has also been a lot of inner work along the way to bring me to a point of trust. On this journey I have built up an audience completely from scratch and I have beautiful and meaningful conversations with my people on a daily basis. Importantly – I have also sold my offers and built this business up to £10K+ months based on this inner work mixed in with strategy.

So while I was practicing the “connected content” method myself this whole time, it hasn’t been until now that I’ve decided I was “ready” to create the course (and it’s a bit meta because that’s what connected content can be about sometimes… waiting for full alignment) …to cut a long story short I finally released the first version of the programme in November (at a time when my own messaging was going through a shift – but I’ll talk about that another time) and it was a hit! ✨🎉

I decided to put it out there at a really irresistible price point before I ran it live, and I had 34 people registered on the programme (and I actually crossed the 500 total students mark in my Podia* account which is pretty fun!). The “launch” was extremely low key, fun and easeful and while I made a nice amount of money, the most important thing for me is that this programme is now out there. I have huge plans to expand this into a “signature” offering, so if you got in early (or decide to get in early now!) then I promise you made the right decision. Click here to check it out if you’re interested. 

(3) I re-launched my podcast (in a way that suits my current capacity)

I can’t quite believe that my podcast turned THREE in October. I started it before I even had any offers and clients in this business, and it’s one of the best things I’ve done. But it has also been a lot of work. Earlier on it was easier, but now I have a full roster of clients, plus chronic fatigue added to the mix (see below), I no longer have the capacity that I used to. Which is why the podcast was on the longest break it has ever had.

In the summer I started getting the nudge to get working on it again, but I purposefully put off starting the new season until I was sure I could manage it #RadicalPrioritisation. I spoke with my wonderful VA Meghan about how we could make the process easier, she helped me so much with the rebrand and is now taking on more editing responsibilities. And after a conversation with one of my mentors I decided to release solo-only episodes this season (bar two previously-recorded episodes with my mastermind sisters).

You may or may not have a podcast, but this is an important lesson in recognising what it is that you love to do, and what it is that you actually have capacity for, and asking yourself how you get to be supported so that it doesn’t take as much from you. Recording solo episodes is now incredibly easy: I batch them when I’m inspired and then I hand them over to Meghan. I hope that I’ll have capacity for interviews again in 2022 (and I already have a whole season’s worth of guests who have said yes to being interviewed), but I’m giving myself permission to take the easy route for now.

(4) I was (really) tired

This feels like such a “boring” thing to include in my monthly update but I feel it’s important. I don’t always talk about it, but it is always present in my life and business. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been experiencing chronic fatigue since mid-2020. I’ve been tested for lots of different things, and so far the fact that everything is coming back “normal” is pointing to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (which is a diagnosis by process of elimination), but I have been told I’m on a waiting list for “at least a year” to further explore that (and I cannot tell you how that makes me feel that they just do not care).

I have periods where I feel “better” (like I did for a few months this summer), but generally it’s a new way of being that I’m constantly adapting to. I’ve changed my schedule to suit, building in much more space after everyday events that will now leave me wiped out afterwards. And November was a frustratingly “tired” phase. I’m pretty sure it started with the clocks going back, and having a 3-year-old who wakes up early and sometimes still in the night.

So I’ve had to go extra easy on myself this month. I was managing very short and slow runs, but I cut them out and started walking every day for my mental health. I quit drinking alcohol for the month which helped a lot. I’ve also realised that I need to adapt my schedule even further. Things I’m working on/ working up to: not doing any client work on Mondays, ever, because I need time to recover from the weekend, reducing the number of client calls I do in any one day, raising my prices to accommodate fewer clients without sacrificing income, reducing my daily working hours. 

How I Made My Money In November

Here were my main income streams for the month:

And here were the tools I used to help me make that money:
(Send me a message if you buy Thrivecart through my link and I’ll give you a bonus!)

  • ThriveCart* shopping cart & for client payment plans (I LOVE this!)
  • Podia* to deliver all my courses & “The Library” for 1:1 and group clients
  • ConvertBox* for basic funnels
  • ConvertKit* email marketing provider
  • Deadline Funnel* for my automated funnels with time limits
  • LeadPages* for my lovely looking landing pages
  • Paperform* for all my forms
  • The Tabwoo* not a tool but my amazing coaching certification

Content I Created In November

Behind the scenes: I’m still (very slowly) editing my book, due for release in 2022. And I’ve been creating more content for my “REST” business training framework that all 1:1 and REST & Rise clients get access to.

In public:

Coming Up Next…

I can’t wait for some real time off from 17th December. In the meantime, I’m about to run my free Play With Possibility workshop (which is one of the most magical ideas I’ve had for a while), before I close the doors to my REST & Rise group programme. I’m also still trying to figure out how to manage my prices increasing sale – now I’m thinking I might just leave them as they are until putting them all up on 1st Jan. I’ll send an email update before I raise them!

Ruth

uk • introvert & hsp • writer, podcaster, qualified coach & mentor • honouring feelings, strategy & REST • lover of honest conversations, 90s music, & plants

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