Hey, guys, welcome back to my channel.
My name is Julia McCoy, and I help creative entrepreneurs get their strategy, skills
and systems down for massive online revenue.
You can learn more about me at contenthacker.com
Check out my free training at contenthacker.com/freeclass
You don't want to miss it.
If you want to learn how to build a sustainable business, let me tell you that is
the class. We've had hundreds of entrepreneurs have breakthrough moments just
from watching it completely free.
No gimmicks. But today, what I want to talk to you about is a really important topic.
I don't think it's talked about often enough in the right way with the right answers and
right. Meaning how do we do it in a way that doesn't burn us out?
So today we want to talk about how to start a business when you have no idea if it's
going to pan out, if it's going to work.
You have no reference point for anything like this working before.
Ten years ago, I dropped out of college to follow my passion for writing, and in the
next ten years I was able to write six books build a business that led over forty thousand
projects for clients and achieve over five million dollars in sales.
We did a lot of things that weren't done before, and frankly, it was why we were
successful. So it's important to talk about this topic, and let's give you some real life
pointers on how to actually do this.
Ok, so how do you start and grow a brand when you have maybe no expertise in the area?
You're just starting out.
You don't have a reference point for if this is going to work.
I like all of that's new.
Well, I'm going to give you a few tips.
Come on up. Let's head over to my handy dandy poster board here.
So there's really three things you want to do.
And yes, you want to do them in this order.
Whenever you're asking yourself, Should I start a business?
Should I rule this out?
Should I do it? Should I take that jump?
Make that leap?
Right. So no one does it come from a core passion and talent?
And let me tell you, those two things are critical.
Guys, it can't just come from something you're good at.
For example, my husband and I started a farm, really, it's more of my husband's
venture. I don't have a green thumb.
But he started indoor hydroponic gardening, and he was going to make money on it by going
to farmer's markets and selling produce.
We actually rolled out the idea of making a whole business out of that because the most
we can make after sitting down doing the math on what you actually make at farmer's
markets. The total was a potential of seven hundred dollars a month, which didn't even
cover the basic mortgage, so we had to rule that out.
Yes, it was something we like doing, but no.
Two Was there a direct way to make money from it?
That is the next question you need to ask.
And does this scale?
Can you make enough to pay your bills and then hopefully 10 x right?
We want to scale our revenue.
We want to put our time, our money, our investment, our efforts, our passion, our
talent into a business that's going to last.
So that's number two.
Can you directly make money from it?
Will people pay for this and will you be able to scale that to a real profit?
Number three, I'm pretty aggressive.
I like to go six months or less.
Now it's more realistic to give yourself a year, especially if it's a new venture and if
you have some savings, if you have a nine to five, by the way, there's no shame in that at
all. I think we need more primary sources of income before we jump into our big, great
ideas. Because 70 percent of businesses fail.
There's a reason for that.
Some people jump in way too soon, or they jump in without any means of sustaining
themselves. If you're in a brand new market, you're building a brand new business, you're
just getting on. It really takes years.
You should give yourself a year to get no right.
But we're talking about, can we make a profit?
We want to be able to make a profit that should happen in your first year.
So at the beginning of my journey, I learned online writing it was a skill I did not have.
It was a skill I was not taught ever before, so I had to go learn it.
And within three months I was able to monetize and make about two thousand dollars
a month. And then the next six months I was able to double that.
And this that's not a million dollars, but I believe that's how it should be done.
You should be slowly scaling with time.
In no way shape or form should you believe all those flashy promises that say you can
make fifty thousand a month by doing x y z in something you don't know, something you're
not good at yet, something that it's going to require a lot of work because most
businesses do.
Number four, if you're in this for the long term, if you want to own something right, and
I'm a big believer in that creating a brand that we own because whenever we own that
brand, we can do things like sell it for two x the price.
One day we can do things like scale it to multiple seven figures.
So again, how do you grow a brand if you have no idea if it's going to last the
reference point in the industry?
These are the three questions to ask.
And if you want more, I do have a blog on this topic.
I'll drop the link right here that goes even more in-depth on how to start a brand when
you have no reference point.
You have no expertise.
It's just an idea.
And I can tell you, if you go by this first point, does it come from a passion and a
talent you won't burn out?
And that's really important, because if you don't love what you do, eventually you will
burn out and it'll feel kind of miserable.
So you have to love what you do.
And I can tell you if you can make money from it and if the potential for income is
there in the first year, that's all you need to give it a shot.
Be open to the journey.
That's the next piece of advice I would have for you, because the journey is arguably also
one of the most important parts of all of this.
So after you have that brand idea, after you are establishing, can I answer these three
questions? Then be open to the fact that a business plan, you might have to throw the
trash and you may just have to take steps and learn and implement as you go.
Some of the best things I did whenever I ran my agency was listen to my customers and let
them guide what we built.
Our first customers told us what they wanted.
Now you have to balance that with what it is you want to do again.
Make sure it's your passion and your talent.
If a client tells you to do something you don't want to do.
Don't do it. Tell them no.
Send them somewhere else because you don't want to burn out.
You really want to keep doing what it is you love.
But be ready to ditch a very guideline driven plan.
Be open to the journey and the process of what building a great brand looks like.
So if you can answer those three questions and you feel like it's a yes in your gut, you
know you can do this.
Your next step is to build that brand.
I'm not a big fan of going and getting clients first.
I'm actually more of a fan of building the concept, creating the visual that's going to
identify you in your marketplace.
Very strong logo creating the first draft of the website.
This is how I have built seven profitable brands so far in the last 10 years.
We've done a bunch of niche domains and brands on those domains on top of an agency
and a coaching consulting business.
We always did it brand first, and whenever you have a brand, a logo, something you're
proud of, what's really cool is that you actually want to then go and market it.
You actually want to then go and tell clients about it.
And I'm not a fan of telling clients whenever you don't even have a brand to stand
on, because then you're much less excited.
You don't really make a great impression.
There's nothing there to show power what it is you're doing, so be brand focused first.
Actually, do the work on you and what it is you want to do.
Give very clear in your marketplace.
Get clear with your messaging.
Get clear with your strategy.
Create a content strategy that's going to work.
Know how to target your people.
And then half that brand presence you can scale online.
And if you're completely lost, I do this.
I handhold creative people and I teach them every step in the process of building a brand
that lasts. We have a pathway and then we have live coaching in one program called the
Content Transformation System.
If you want to learn more about it, it's open by application only so you can go to com
forward slash transformation.
To learn more about it, consider applying.
And if you're completely new to this and you're like, Julie, I've never heard of you
before. You need to watch my free class content for free class.
Hundreds of entrepreneurs have had breakthrough moments from watching this
training. It will show you how to avoid the burnout, how to avoid the hamster wheel and
build a business you actually enjoy running because why do all this crap if we don't
enjoy it, if it's not going to last?
Let's be in that less than 30 percent of businesses that create legacy impact and are
remembered in their markets.
Thanks so much for watching.
I hope to see you around.
Hit that subscribe button and again to action items for you.
I'm a big believer in taking action beyond the Subscribe button.
If you are completely new to this, watch the free class content hacker dot com for slash
free class.
And if you know you need that help, if you need somebody holding your hand is going to
show you the steps it takes to implement, create a business that's going to last.
I do that. You'll learn more about that.
A concept hacker forward slash transformation.
Thanks for watching and cheers to you for following this path of your heart and your
passion. It is going to pay off.
I could promise you, if you take the right next steps, I'll see you around.