Hey, lovely, how are you? So great to have you back in I have just shaken things up a little bit here and there a little bit of a new intro, a little bit of a change of message as well.

So I am in an interesting stage of business, this is going to be a bit of a mini episode I'm feeling want to do a little bit more of these as well. So last week, I was probably the first time I didn't actually release a podcast episode, we were in the final stages of lockdown.And you know something, I just didn't have the energy to do it. And I thought I could hustle and I could make this happen. But something that I've been working through recently is how it feels to create content, how it feels to produce something. And when you're not in flow when you don't feel it. That's one of the reasons to batch is so that, you know when you're not feeling it, you've actually got content available.

But I'm definitely in a phase where I'm asking myself a lot of hard questions, which is what I wanted to talk about today, when it comes to challenging yourself with hard questions.

So recently, I hit a financial milestone in my business, a big one, one that I've had for a long time, you know, the magic number that people all talk about. And it's so interesting, because it doesn't feel any different. It doesn't feel like anything, it's just another day, it's just another number. It doesn't change where I am in my business, or what I'm doing today, it doesn't change how I feel or the work that I want to bring to life, either.

And so I recently did a training inside brand builders Academy of Facebook, live training for my clients in there. And I was talking about kind of the three different phases that I've seen my business go through, and that I see other businesses go through as well. And the three phases are around foundation and build growth and optimization.

And I talked about this a bit in the sales podcasts that I put out as well. And so my business during 2015 to 2017, which is when I started. And I was working part time in my own business, what I found is that, in the first few years of business, I was all about the community. So running events, having my membership, workshops connecting, which was amazing. So I'd have the breakfast and the conferences and all the rest of it.

Then from 2017 to 2019, I hit the growth phase, which was really about changing my business model to an online digital product model. And when I did that, I basically text my revenue and my profit or shared before that I kind of made the same amount of money in one quarter that I had made in the previous two years combined. So shifting that model was massive for me.

And that was that growth phase and then 2020 or 2019 to 2021 has really been that optimization. So it's been simplifying things, calling massively calling things. I got rid of my last one on one service recently, and rolled it all into the amplifi accelerator.

So it's doing personal brand and speaker coaching and working one on one with clients around how they build their digital products, etc. So all of that now wraps into amplify. And now it's about creating deeper work. And so I'm on this journey is what I probably call it, where I am looking at what am I doing Why am I doing it? How does it feel? And is this aligned with my values as well.

So it's so interesting the iterations that you go through this, you know, no longer the hustle in my business, but there's definitely striving to better all of my skills to get better and I am obsessed at the moment to get better at copywriting is a big one that I'm doing right now. How can I be more succinct, gonna be more creative? How can I be more connected? You know, how can I spend more time thinking about the work that I create, why I'm creating it, not just creating but thinking about the impact.

So now that I know that my services, you know what my services are, what I want them to be now that the money is there without the hustle and I love what I'm doing the next level up is scalable impact. So revisiting my purpose of supporting women to become bold and powerful voices in the world and claim their space with confidence.

You know, I've talked about that for years. And it's something that I've really honed in on, it's all of my products and services I'm constantly looking at, does it meet my purpose, because as I teach in brandbuilders, Academy, and as I will always say, that vision, that purpose should always be the compass for everything that you do. Whenever you're making decisions about anything, that's what you should be going back to.

So anyway, my coach challenged me, you know, group coaching call about whether women are a good target market bear with me, because I know that majority of my listeners are women. But the question is, if I'm passionate about my purpose, shouldn't it be about supporting anyone who wants to make an impact to be able to do that? So creative men can also struggle with finding their voice and putting it out into the world? And is focusing on women inclusive?

Now I just want to say, these are my questions that I'm just asking, like you, do you whatever it is that you want to do whoever you want to work with edu. But if inclusion is important to me, then what about people who don't identify as either men or women? What about people who need my support that aren't, and I'm doing this in inverted commas, savvy women in business, which is who I've always spoken to.

So there's no conclusion or discussion, it's just a question that I'm asking myself. And what I am obsessed with at the moment is surrounding myself with thought challenges. So people who share things that make me double take and question why I'm doing some of the things I'm doing, is it because that's what I'm supposed to be doing?

You know, a great example is that I've always loved Instagram. But recently, my feed posts have been tanking. So very little engagement, very little comments. But when I create a real, then I get loads of views and engagement. So the question is, do I love creating reels? Well, I think that they're funny, you know, are they the deep conversations and connection that I want to have? Potentially not.

But the platform that I use is corralling me to use what they want me to use? Otherwise, my followers won't see my content. And this was such an interesting aha moment for me. But at the end of the day, that's the price you pay for a free platform because you're not paying for it, then you're at the mercy of the social gods. So you've always just got to remember that there's always a price, even when it's free.

So it does work. It is great. But what's the cost as well, I think is such an interesting question to ask yourself. I was in a discussion recently, as well, with so many other business owners, we're feeling the pull away from social. I've been working on my own media content for a while now. But we're really doubling down on that in a much bigger way. And all the content you create for insar, or anywhere else that you don't own? How are you using that on your own platform so that people can find and engage with you there?

So this is just a much bigger question, generally, that I've been asking is, if I want to put work out into the world, and I want to connect with the people I really love to connect with, I feel like there are controls around how I'm doing that. Which I find frustrating if I'm honest. And so I have to play by their rules and do what they want in order for the people that have chosen to follow me to see my content, which is obviously just another reason why we build our email list, etc.

But I'm also really aware that you can have, you know, a lot of people on your email list and still, you know, 2030 40% of your list will see your content as well. So it is about creating more meaningful content, it is about creating more meaningful work. And it's about working out what that looks like for you. You know, are you just creating content for the sake of it. Are you on that hamster wheel? Does it fulfill you? Does it fulfill your purpose in what you're here to do?

And if it doesn't, then, you know, what do you do about that? Are we kind of beholden to the platforms that are out there in order for us to connect with the people that we want? Once again, I'm just asking the question, because these are things that I'm pondering. These are the things that I'm thinking about. Yeah, that we create, I sit and I craft I craft cat options and I craft content and ideas, I put it on a platform. And then that's potentially gone like, Am I reusing that? Where else? Am I putting it?

What else are we doing with it. And so we are definitely looking more at going back over the podcast, making sure that we're writing blogs for Cornerstone content, which is content that we want to be found for, you know, going into Google and searching for terms that we want to be found for and understanding what we need to write in order to be found for those as well.

And it's not about not continuing to be on those platforms. But I think it's just about making sure that you don't kind of just get swept up in everything that everybody else is doing. And I do love the fact that my coach is, you know, 10 million plus, and she doesn't really use social media. And I just love that there are so many contrasts, I think that there's beliefs that we have that in order to grow a business, you have to do certain things. And that is a fast way to do it.

You know, YouTube is definitely a faster way to grow your audience. Instagram is a great way to grow your audience. But it's just really understanding what's going to move the dial for you and where you want to be, and how you're creating content in a really smart way too. But I think that as you grow your business, and you start to increase your revenue, your impact and your influence, that you really want to align with everything that you're doing in a much bigger way.

And you want to really look at where am I spending my time? And how does it feel? And am I doing the work in the world that I want to do? So today, I kind of wanted to throw some of those questions out there. And I don't have the answers. Sorry about that. I don't have the answers.

But I do think that it's a really interesting discussion. And I caught up with a friend of mine on the weekend, Marian Piper creative. She's been on the podcast before. And we were talking about this, we were talking about a podcast that she's just introduced me to, which is called make art not content. And it's really unique and different. I'll link it up in the show notes as well. But I think that it just inspires us to think a little bit more deeply about what it is that we want to do and not be so transactional in the way we share content and the way that we create our own art.

And so now i'm really looking at the stuff that I do. And I'm like, is that art? Like? Is that just fodder? Or? Is that just babble? Or is that art? Like how am I doing things differently than inspire other people and challenge other people to think about what it is that they're doing as well. So it's just such an interesting journey that I think that you go on, as well as you know, as a business owner, is that you do go through that foundation and build where it's like it is hustle, it's hustle, and it's hard work to get to those first six figures, you know, into the low multiple, six figures, and then you go into the growth stage. And then you go into the optimized stage.

And I just think we have to take a look at what version of ourselves we want to be throughout that, you know, and in that foundation stage, you are just like, oh, what products and services is going to work, what's gonna sell? How do I build my audience? How do I build my community? You know, and then in that growth stage, you're very much more into how am I scaling? What are my funnels, what's my tech, what's my team, all the rest of it. And once you kind of get through some of those things, and it's not by any means done, I think that the markets always changing and moving.

So we always have to be learning and growing and changing with that. But I think that ideally you want to still be in that mindset of how am I bringing my best work into the world and I'm going to be talking so much more about this because it's something I'm really passionate about and I feel like it fits really well with what we're talking about today is that if you're creating fodder and just serving up to the Instagram or social media Gods whatever they want in order for them to show your content to your followers annoy, annoy, annoy.

And then you know where are you bringing your best work into the world?  Are you thinking about how you are refining your ability to have scalable impact and that's something that I have kind of formulated in the last couple of weeks I've kind of stepped away during the you know pain and all the rest of it of lockdown. I kind of had a lot of time to think Think about what does scalable impact look like? And what does it mean? And it's a term that I've come up with, and I'm going to be writing a lot more about it. But I think it is about that creativity and putting your art out into the world and having the impact, and continuing to ask yourself the hard questions, so that you stand out.

And I think that's one of the big things like, if you are just like everybody else, if you do what everybody else is doing, then you just become like everybody else as well. And it's not to say that those things don't work for growth. But I think it's just asking yourself, does it fulfill me?

Is this something that is fulfilling me, and serving my purpose and what I'm actually here to do? So that was what I wanted to share with you today. Those are just some of my thoughts.

That's kind of the process I'm going through at the moment for myself. And I feel like the amplifi accelerator is where I'm really looking at how do I bring my best work to life? What are the things that I really want to talk about? How do we go so much deeper? How do I inspire and support my clients to birth their best work into the world? And, and deeply desire to want to do that as well? How do you build a personal brand that stands the test of time?

You know, how do you impact in a way that really aligns with your values, who you are and what you're here to do? And so I'm loving going this deep, and I'm loving sharing this with you, and I'd love to know your thoughts on it. Like Where are you? Do you feel like you're in that foundation in that growth? Or in that optimized stage? Do you feel like you're beholden to the social gods? You know, are you enjoying the journey? Or is it that you're just in the hustle and feeling like, you know, you just have to do what you have to do?

I'm really interested to know so DM me if you're listening to this episode, and you want to, I'd love you to DM me at Suzanne Chadwick and let me know what your thoughts are. And if anything sparked for you, whilst you were listening to this episode, so it's always amazing to have you here. And I'm excited to shift and change things a little bit, we'll still be talking about tactical business, marketing and branding.

We'll be talking about a lot about mindset. But we're also going to be talking about how you bring your best work into the world. And so I'm excited to take you on this journey with me were Episode 180.

Now, I can't believe that we're heading towards 200. That's so exciting. I have to think of something special to do for that, as well. But I'm excited to be here with you. And I hope that the podcast continues to inspire and teach and help you to become a bold and powerful voice in the world and claim your space with confidence.

Well, that's it for another week. It has been amazing to have you here as always, and remember to follow me on all socials at Suzanne Chadwick. But thanks so much for listening.