The obsession with 6 and 7 figure businesses (and how it could be harming yours)

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:: 00:00

Do you care, whether I'm a six or seven figure business owner. I've been thinking about this a lot recently, because part of me feels like it shouldn't really matter. Most of my clients, aren't looking to generate those kinds of sales from their content right now. And no, do they want the responsibility that comes with it, like having a team and spending the best parts of 10,000 pounds a month just to run your business.

:: 00:27

The another positive Mayfield's that if I want people to invest in my content training, they need to know my strategies and advice actually work, which is why I do say things like my content has helped me build a multi six figure business or help me generate more than a million pounds in sales, both of which are true, but I still feel kind of mucky saying it.

:: 00:49

I used to think this was down to my money hangups and by the way, if you're okay, choose now considering emailing me to offer me money coaching, please don't do it, but actually I'm starting to think it might be something else. Could it be that I just want to be valued for my expertise as a content creator and teacher, rather than having loads of money.

:: 01:09

I have a long career in journalism. Jaime, I'm also a really experienced teacher. I think I'm a good one as well. It comes with experience and an experienced online marketer. Who's launched hundreds of times. I've sold digital products, courses, masterminds events, both on and offline. You name it. I have sold it and I've sold it at scale.

:: 01:30

I mean, shouldn't that be enough? And here's another thing I don't actually care that much about money. Stability is important to me. And as someone who grew up in the 1980s, when interest rates were sky high and there was very little spare cash about, I hate that feeling of having to watch every single penny. I'm not particularly good naturally at managing money.

:: 01:55

And that does kind of stress me out. So more than anything I value feeling comfortable about, I don't have a swanky house or a car. I live in a three-bedroom semi. And I often joke that the people who work for me have a bigger and better house. The may, one of my best performing posts on my Facebook page was when I shared that I lived in a very ordinary house and actually I had a client came to drop something off to me and I'm not proud of this,

:: 02:23

but my first thought was, oh my God, she's going to find out that I live in a small house and maybe she's going to think I'm making it up about what I earn is just ridiculous. Isn't it. I'm also not interested in handbags or fancy beach holidays, but that's mainly because I hate hot weather a few years back. I went to Chris Docker's tropical think tank event out in the Philippines,

:: 02:45

which actually was amazing. And one of the best business events I've ever been to. But even though it was in this amazing tropical resorts, I was the one sitting in the bar where it was shady while everybody else was sunbathing and having a great time in the pool. The best investment I made last year was giving a relative 10,000 pounds to have an operation because they were in pain.

:: 03:07

And I didn't like watching them like that. The only other money thing I'm proud of is being able to offer flexible work to the contractors who worked with me. I'd be able to do that for quite a number of years. Now. They are pretty much all women who fit their work around that families. And that does make me proud and particularly to continue doing that during the pandemic,

:: 03:32

but none of this really fits with their female entrepreneurs stereotype. I mean, I've got the nice photos for my website, and I understand that particularly as I sell a product, that design is important and air for my staff doesn't look nice. People probably won't desire it at the same time. And I've been quite open about this. My publicity photos were taken in someone else's house that I hired around the corner from mine,

:: 03:58

because think my house is perfectly nice. It wasn't quite right for what I needed for my publicity photos. And again, I remember joking at the time that I chose that house because it was the kind of house that I would have if I had the time to work on the interior design of a house, if I wasn't working all the time, but I kind of feel weird saying all of this on line.

:: 04:22

And I've actually been very vocal about it on my social media channels over the last week or so. And I intend to be more vocal in the coming weeks. And the reason it feels weird, I think is because I feel like I should want something different. And I wonder whether my content expertise somehow holds less weight because I'm not pasting pictures of me swinging out in posh places for who has time or telling everyone how much money I'm making,

:: 04:48

because it's just, it's just not me. And I've been thinking lately, what would happen if I never mentioned money again, which is why I want to ask you as someone who engages in my content. Is it important to you when you're listening to this podcast and listening to my content advice that my content has helped me to build a multi six figure online business.

:: 05:13

Do you need the proof in the pudding? Is it important to you that I can say hand on heart that my content has helped me make more than a million pounds in sales of digital products? It is true. I don't feel great saying it, but it's true. Would you still value my expertise in content and online business strategy? If you had no idea how much money I was making,

:: 05:33

I would really love your thoughts about this because I really want to start a conversation about the online business world. I've been it now for about eight years and hands up, I have made mistakes. I've auditioned into ideas that probably don't feel right for me, maybe used terms or phrases that don't feel right for me because that's what everybody else in the space was doing.

:: 05:58

However, I don't do some of the things that are going on in the industry, which I think are wrong. So I don't do big affiliate launches. And I'll tell you more in a future episode about why I don't do them. I am very careful with things like sponsorships. I last year I was approached by a company who basically said, and I'm not joking name your price.

:: 06:20

What do you want for your life or business? Do you want a new car? Do you want a nice holiday? Is there some software or equipment that you want for your business, name, your price? And they wanted to pay me. And it seemed to me like the feed was pretty open, anything to get access to my clients. So what they wanted to do was to be able to get my clients on calls and talk to them.

:: 06:43

And I got wise to it. I didn't like the sales conversations we were having. It didn't feel comfortable. It didn't feel like they valued my expertise. They didn't value the expertise that had helped me to build the audience that I have. And in a way I hate saying audience now, I think community is a much better word for it. I felt that they just wanted to talk to my clients and to be able to sell to them.

:: 07:09

So I said, no, because I feel that you and everyone in my community deserves better. So I'd really love your thoughts on this. There's a couple of ways that you can reach out to me one way might be to leave me a question on apple podcasts. So they're way back and leave a review and share your thoughts there, or connect with me on social media at Jan Murray UK.

:: 07:35

I'd love to do a follow-up episode on this topic where I share your responses. Well, I think it would make an interesting episode. You can let me know what you think, but if nothing else, I hope that this short episode has made you think not only over the question of whether I should talk about having a six or seven figure business on my podcast and on my socials,

:: 07:57

but also what is it that you want from your business? It's okay to want to make money. In fact, I think a lot of women can feel quite apologetic about it, but personally, I'm not feeling comfortable right now with the way you bought or talking about money in this space. And I would love to hear your thoughts.