In today’s episode, I’m going to teach you how you can build your online business with a notebook and a pen. If you have just these two things, you have enough to start a successful business. The daily writing practice I’m going to teach you today is going to arm you with one of the most important skillsets of the future, and will help you to become economy proof.
To start, I want you to think of some of your own favorite books, teachers, movies, magazines, cartoons, and podcasts. Think of all the content you’ve ever consumed throughout your life. Think also of your favorite subjects in school, which were taught from text books. Consider any coaches or mentors you might have worked with. Now….I want you to really soak in the fact that the one common denominator of all of the best things you’ve ever consumed throughout your life was WRITING.
And now I want you to consider the fact that when you’ve come across something exceptional, it always required the presence and conscious focus of a a human being. That magic spark of hearing somethin utterly transformative, new, and yet at the same time slightly familiar. It doesn’t matter what topic or genre we’re talking about. Quality is quality is quality. And quality content always involves writing.
Ideas are the currency of our modern day times. And to have an original idea, or to have the ability to teach whatever it is you’ve learned and share those ideas, is the most valuable commodity in this world. It also happens to be the most helpful in this world. An idea or thought shared from person to person is how we have survived, how we’re able to overcome, and how we grow and evolve out of unhealthy paradigms. Thoughts, ideas, and teachings are the engine of the evolution of humanity.
The Artist Way
15 years ago, at the same time that I started my nutrition and fitness company, I was reading Julia Cameron’s incredible book, The Artist’s Way. Within this book, she offers a practice called “The Morning Pages”. The morning pages is three longhand pages, written in a stream of consciousness format, with zero editing, zero effort, and just keeping the pen moving.
This is a process I haven’t skipped in 15 years, and is one of the primary practices I credit to being a successful and self-made online business owner. I’ve adapted it, and I’m going to share the process with you here.
Step One – 10 Minutes of Quiet Time
Good ideas happen when you give your mind space to think. Without enough space, you’re just going to be parroting what you’ve heard someone else talk about. And while there’s value in consuming content, if you want to have a profitable online business, it’s going to require a level of inginuity and creatitvity that can only be accessed with SPACE.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s lots of noise in the internet. There’s no shortage of garbage content. It’s a sea of people trying to get views and copy “what’s trending”. The result is a sea of garbage that all sounds the same. People are trying to “create content” but they have no idea what they believe, what they think, and they have no clear message to offer.
If you want a successful online business, you must first fill up with YOU. You must connect with your message, with your helpful advice, with your essence. The best way to do that is to spend 10 minutes in the morning just sitting quietly to cultivate witness conciousness. Now, instead of being a squack box without a clear message, you’re speaking from the part of you that actually has something to offer.
Step 2 – One Shitty Page
Tim Ferris coined the term one shitty page, and I’m stealing it because I love it. Tim Ferris is also a follower of Julia Cameron’s work (this book is actually something many online businesses creatives follow).
Now, put your pen to paper and allow yourself to just write and write until one page is full. The true Morning Pages are three pages each day. However, I want to emphasize that one shitty page is better than no pages at all. If you happen to keep going past the one page, all the better.
This is the discipline of corralling your ideas onto a page, clearing your mind, and pulling any threads that need to be pulled. The objective here is NOT to generate “good ideas”, but rather, to get plugged in. To connect and flex the idea muscle. To be generative.
We live in a world where consumption and aimlessness is an epidemic. And what people need now more than ever is teachers like you to help them with whatever their problems are. And the way we do this is by being part of the brave few who are willing to set aside some time each morning to cast our net into the field of conciousness, and give of the treasure we find with a heart of generosity.
There are billions of people online, and less than 5% of them post anything. So, if you take the time each morning to show up and do your deep work, you will rise like cream to the top of the sea of noise. It really isn’t hard, and just a modicum of effort will get you pretty far in the online business game.
Step 3 – 500 Words Typed Out
Now, immediately after, you are going to sit down and type out 500 words into a word processor of your choice. I use Scrivener, but you can use whatever you want.
Take whatever ideas, problems, solutions, or helpful tips you can offer the world, and type them out in 500 words or more.
After doing this on a daily basis, you’ll begin to develop a cohesive message, framework, set of tools, and more. You’ll begin to open floodgates for new and bigger ideas. You’ll build momentum for your business, and begin to generate newletter concepts, video scripts, podcast episodes, e-books, course cirriculum and more.
500 words per day is a solid practice that, by the end of one year, will give you an entire universe of content that you’ve created. (By the way, that adds up to an average of about one very thick book’s worth of content PER YEAR)
Step 4 – Share Your Work
Now some of your daily writing sessions will shape up into articles and newsletter. Some of it won’t see the light of day, but will help you to understand your message or spark something massive.
Some of the ideas will have enough energy behind them to be made into something dynamic. This means a podcast, audiobook, or video. A very important part of being a successful online business creative is being generous, aka sharing your ideas and teachings. So, on a weekly basis, show up for your people and share whatever it is you’ve written by offering the idea in a format that your people enjoy.
Step 5 – Have Doorways Set Up for Money to Flow In
Now this is the step that gets many new business owners tripped up. They feel a struggle with getting the whole onlline business thing working. By the way, that’s one of the reasons I created the Six Figure Creator Program and the $10k in 30 Days Mini Course. Both of those are in the description and go into detail to break down the 7-phases of building a profitable online business no matter what your niche is.
But in short, every service or product you sell is a doorway for money to flow in. It’s also an act of generosity. People make the mistake of approaching online business as some puzzle to solve or figure out, instead of an opportunity to contribute and be helpful.
If you want to get massive profits, reliably, and have financial freedom, all you need to do is to solve a problem that people want to solve. And so, mining your ideas and conciousness for what problems you’re particularly good at solving that other people want solved is the path of the six figure online business owner.
So, ask the question, “What solutions can I offer the world, and what sort of experience can I provide that solution into?” I’m a huge fan of digital products and courses, as well as live experiences. But it could also be E-Books, templates, coaching, consulting, offering your services, or a blend of all of it.
I personally use and love Circle.so for my business, and I can’t recommend them enough. They give me the ability to provide a vast array of products and services to my customers, and an exceptional experience with things like live events and a beautiful and customizable community space. This is the first affiliate code I’ve had on this channel in 15 years because I love them so much.
But in all honesty, when you are connected with your message, and willing to give it generously with products and services that solve people’s problems, it doesn’t really matter what platform you choose. There truly isn’t “one best” anything, and the delivery method of your product doesn’t matter as much as your ability to give your solutions generously.
Thank you for spending this time with me! I’m rooting for you always.
❤️,
Brenda
ĀKĀŚA
