Introduction

I think I should just quit now.

That is what the digital course creator wrote in response to a comment on their post.

I think I should just quit now.

In the post this creator shared their numbers around their email list and conversion rates or sales rate for their course. They wanted some help to figure out how many people would need to be on their list to make a certain sales goal. That number felt staggering.

We’ve all uttered the words or felt that sentiment that maybe we should just quit before.

If you are nodding your head yes, I’d like to invite you to stick around for this unscripted, no holds barred conversation about what it means to be an entrepreneur and dealing with the doubts that creep in.

I think I should just quit

This episode today, you might get a feel for it, is not like any other episode on the digital course creator podcast that you’ve heard. It’s why I’m releasing this on a completely different day than normal, because I want you to know that this is a safe space. This is a day where I just want to have a real raw conversation with you about the challenges that come up as an entrepreneur, especially as a digital entrepreneur.

These are the things that That I have clients telling me over and over that they wish someone would talk about. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. Let’s talk about that post that I shared with you at the start of the episode. The course creator had basically had a launch. She did not have a ton of people at the webinar.

That launch mechanism that she was using and she had a fair amount of sales. So she was curious, you know, with that percentage, how many people do I really need? So I’m not going to be able to get to this level of sales on my next launch, assuming the same conversion percentage. And people did the math for her because I know my brain even gets wrapped around that sometimes.

And I’m a stats kind of girl. And the response that this person wrote was, I think I should just give up now. I think I should just quit now because that number feels so undoable and It comes on the heels of seeing people talking about the fact that they’re having six figure launches, which means a hundred thousand dollars in a single launch, a hundred thousand dollars or more in a single launch, right?

Six figures. And for someone just getting started, that feels so undoable to the point that how am I ever going to get there? Because you cannot see the pathway. You cannot see what it’s like to take these itty bitty teeny steps that it feels like you’re making without any progress to know that at some point, those steps, if we do them often enough and consistently enough and listen to our mentors and make adjustments that someday we will get to that six figure.

It feels so far beyond our realm of imagining.

We all want to be successful in our business, right? But the reality is there is not a secret sauce that guarantees success. It’s not working a boatload of hours or having all of the right contacts. Yes, those things help. Success in business is, you know, when I think about it, it’s a lot like those kitchen sink cookies that you can get and no, I don’t mean they’re made in the kitchen sink.

You know, the ones that have like all of the different ingredients thrown in and then they’re baked. Success Is a conglomeration of so many different things. It’s not just how many people show up to our launch mechanism, whether it’s a challenge or a webinar or a master class or something that we’ve ever greened that just plays automatically in the background of our business.

It’s not just about those numbers. Although they matter. It’s not just about the price of our course, although that matters, too. It’s not just about our social media presence, although that matters, too. It is the kitchen sink of things that combine to bake. And create, help us to create our success in business.

And the thing is that success looks different for everyone. For some of you listening, success might be having a week off every month. Others, it might mean paying down your mortgage. For someone else, it might mean just simply being able to serve. And the money side of it, as long as it evens out, you’re okay.

We all have different definitions of success. And so when we hear someone saying, Oh my gosh, this launch was a success. I want you to ask the question, what is success for you? Because if we start comparing apples to oranges. Suddenly we get sucked into this bunny hole of comparisons that don’t serve a purpose.

The fact is that regardless of how many things we put into our kitchen sink cookies of business, success doesn’t come quickly. Too many times we are just being bombarded, especially at specific times of the year when some of the biggest names in the industry are launching. We are being bombarded with ads of 7 and 8 figure business owners inviting us to their solution.

And we have to realize that this is not a fairy tale. Business is hard. There’s no magic bean. There’s no fairy godmother fitting us with the perfect, uh, slipper. Right? Right. Entrepreneurship is hard. And I would love to say that it’s easy, that it can be easy and it can certainly be lighter, but it’s still work.

There’s still things to be done. If it was easy, if we truly had one of those, you know, staples, I think it was, that has the easy button. If we had that easy button. Everyone would be an entrepreneur. Everyone would be wildly successful. We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now, but we also know that the best things in life are the ones that we have to work for, that we have to fight for, that we have to give up a little bit of our comfort for.

That’s when we get into the flow of things. That’s when we have these aha moments, these breakthroughs where we’re able to build our business and take it forward. It’s not because it was easy. In fact, it’s because it was hard. It’s because it was important to us. It’s because we knew what was going to happen as a result.

And we were committed to that. It’s not easy. And anyone that tells you it is, they have forgotten the hard stuff. I’m here to remind you it’s okay to feel like this is really stinking hard, because it is. You are doing something probably new for the very first time. Yes, you have been online for 15 years, but chances are, you haven’t been running a business on social media for the last 15 years.

You showed up for the cat videos, the horse videos, the baking videos. You showed up to catch up with your friends and your family and to see their cute kids growing up. But you didn’t show up to run a business. You didn’t show up to say, Hey, here’s my offer. I can help you. And that’s a whole different ball game.

You have to step outside your comfort zone to do that. So what do we do if business is hard? If the reality is that success, whatever that’s defined for you takes time. If business is more like a kitchen sink cookie than a plain old chocolate chip cookie that just has some sugar and flour and butter and eggs and chocolate chips, we call it good.

If it’s more like the kitchen sink cookie that has a whole parcel of things thrown in. Or, you know, maybe your favorite soup that you cook at the end of the week where you go through the refrigerator and you throw everything that’s leftover in and you hope for the best, and it’s so good. That’s what business is like.

So if that’s the case, what do we do? What do we do in these moments of, I think I should just quit now while I’m not completely buried in this, while maybe I’m still a little bit ahead. Here’s some things I’d like you to think about. These are things that I think about if I’m going through a hard moment in my business, because we all go through them.

Even the biggest names go through these hard moments, whether you’re six figures, seven figures, eight figures, or you just made your first hundred dollars. Everyone goes through these hard times. We all have that little automation in our brain that says, Ooh, should I quit? Would it just be smarter of me to stop now while I’m still ahead?

We all have those moments. So just like after losing a loved one, we’re often counseled, you know, don’t make any big decisions. A lot of times it’s for a year, but in this case, what we’re going to talk about is just that concept of don’t make any big decisions in the throes of something that didn’t go real well, take time to grieve, take time to heal a little, and then evaluate your options.

I highly recommend talking to someone as a sounding board. It might be a family member. It might be a friend. It could be a coach or a mentor. Ideally. It’s someone who can balance your thought process for you, because when we’re in the thick of it, we just see the bad and chances are we aren’t able to see the good.

So in the case of this person who I shared a little bit about their post with you, We can recognize that A, they launched, B, they had people show up and sign up for their launch mechanism, and C, they had some sales. What an amazing success. So you need someone in your life who’s able to look at that situation while you’re seeing Oh my goodness, it’s going to take this many people to get to that level of sales.

That’s not even doable. They’re saying to you, look at that conversion rate. Look at what you were able to do with this small number. Now we just have to figure out how to amplify what you’re already doing. That’s working. We need the person that can do that for us because in the midst of the chaos, we often can’t do that for ourselves.

And then, you know, as you’re talking, start looking for the next step that you can take. Okay. Pursue just that one next small step, because oftentimes it will help you to take action. It will create momentum, and then you can reevaluate again. The key here is to reevaluate often. And remember that if you feel like you have, you get to that point where you need to pivot, remember that’s not a failure.

That is being aware. of what’s happening in your business and realizing that your kitchen sink cookie, it needs a new ingredient. And maybe you ought to remove one of the ingredients that you had thrown in thinking it would be a good option. It is not a failure to pivot. Goodness knows I have pivoted in my business quite substantially at times.

And sometimes that’s what we need. Also, remember that if at the end of the day, Not today, but you know, a different day when you’ve had time to really evaluate and think and heal and grieve a little bit. Remember that it’s not a failure to need to walk away from your business or to take time away from your business.

Those are acceptable resolutions to what it is you’re going through. It is not a failure. Sometimes we stick to things because we feel like, oh my gosh, am I going to be a failure? Are people going to, more often, are people going to see me as a failure? My first response to that is no one has a right to judge you.

So if they see you as a failure, that’s more of a reflection on them and who they are as a human than on you and your actions. They don’t know the whole story. We never know what someone else is fully going through. We see the external stuff. We see the stuff that they’ve told us, but we may not have the whole picture.

And so if someone is judging you, that’s on them. I know it’s easier said than done. That’s on them. know that sometimes the answer might be to step away. And I wish more people talked about that, that it is not a failure to say I’ve tried this. It’s not for me, or it’s not working the way I need it to at this moment in my life.

Maybe it’s something I’ll revisit later on. And this is good. Okay. Regardless of what you do, what decisions you make, the key, especially in these moments when you think I should just quit now is to get support. The key is to have support. I love small groups for getting support and here’s why. I love one-on-one coaches.

Don’t get me wrong. I use one on one coaches. I offer one-on-one coaching, but I also offer small groups and I love being part of small groups. Because you will be in a group of people, lovely humans who have different perspectives, different styles, different ideas, and you never know who’s going to spark that light bulb moment.

With a quick comment, even if it’s just kind of an off the cuff comment or a more in depth response that helps you think about what is the next small step that I can take, what can I do to move forward? What can I do to quiet that automation of “I should just quit now because I’m not sure I can actually do this”.

It feels scary. It feels big. You never know who’s going to have that little comment. That flicks the light bulb on for you and gives you that clarity of action. Whatever course you take in your business, whatever decisions you make when you face those hard situations that maybe the launch didn’t go well, maybe you’ve got that really tough student who is just sending email after email and it is making you regret the choice of ever having a course, or maybe it’s something else entirely.

Maybe something in your life is going on and it’s making you wonder if you should quit right now. Please know that no matter what I’m cheering you on whether you are a client of mine or not, I’m here to support and guide you. If you could use a little extra support right now in your course creation business, send me a DM, send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at digital course creator guide. Let me know that you are reaching out because you heard episode 195 of this podcast and I will know exactly why you’re reaching out. That’s all you have to do. In fact, if you just send me that DM that says 195, we will find a time to talk so that you have the support you need at this moment. Please know this moment, it may feel like you’re stuck in it right now, but it is fleeting. It will pass and you can move forward.

I hope that sitting down today in this super informal style, you can tell I’m a little bit passionate about this, has been helpful. If it has, bookmark this episode, save it, download it, come back to it when you need to. When you hit those hard moments in business, because they are going to happen, just like sometimes you burn the cookies.

Sometimes business has those moments that feel a little bit crispy around the edges, a little bit more crispy than you wanted. Come back to this. Remind yourself that you are worthy. You are supported and you have me cheering you on. I am in your corner until next time. Happy creating. And take some time to reflect and to celebrate everything that you have accomplished.