It's been a few weeks since I
announced the launch of my agency.
I did what I always do - I had the spark of an idea then I took action on it.
The idea? Build and launch an agency.
In public 👀I decided to build in public for two reasons:
- To lead by example and inspire other creatives to build something of their own. I'll share my wins and lessons along the way.
- To give myself some accountability, even when I hit the inevitable brick wall or loss of motivation. You, dear reader, are one of my shareholders to whom I must report regularly to bring peace of mind that your investment is being well spent.
It has been a chaotic few weeks. My mind has been a churning rapid of ideas, some of which have found their form, others of which have been mercilessly discarded.
Before I dive into the numbers, let me give you an update on positioning.
As you know I’m a business coach for creatives but I have 20 years experience in digital design and marketing. The reason I coach people is because I faced a lot of the issues people struggle with in this sector: imposter syndrome, low confidence, lack of strategy, poor leadership skills, overwhelm etc etc.
My goal as a coach is to inspire and enable creatives to take ownership of their business so they can build the life they want.So it should come as no surprise that my agency will reflect this experience as I align my values with my work once again.
The mission of this agency is:
To elevate the status of leaders and organisations who are working to raise the human spirit.Sounds lofty, right? Good. Mission statements should be. But what do I mean? Well I've been on something of a journey these past few years. I've come to see business as an expression of oneself. But unfortunately I see a lot of us walking around wearing masks. Unable to truly be ourselves. Boxing our inspiration in favour of being a "realist". Conforming. In simpler terms, this agency will exist to support those working in the personal and spiritual development space, to grow their profiles so they can reach more people with their message. This is me playing my part in the betterment of our society.
"Sounds great Matt, but how are you going to make money with your head so far up your own butt?"
Good question, shareholder. Here's the answer. I'm going to provide strategic brand, design and marketing services to those aligned with this cause. I'll also run community events and infuse coaching into the model. The mission will be central to everything I do. By blending my experience, perspective and skill set, I'll create a unique proposition that will resonate with my ideal clients, and repel the wrong ones.
There is currently no website for prospects to see, not much in way of a portfolio, no brand identity or anything like that. So far, it's just me, reaching out to potential prospects and partners with a vision for what I want to build. Let's dig into what's been happening on the ground...
As I so often preach to my clients, you should only focus on what you can control. Everything else can be blissfully let go. Therefore, this
on the ground section will be split into four sections:
- Inputs
- Outputs
- Lessons
- Next actions
Before I dive into each, here's a snapshot of how this sprint has gone:
My inputs are simply outreach messages sent and offers made.
I can send messages, but I can't control the response. I can make offers to work with me, but I can't control the reply.
In this sprint I sent 61 messages and made one offer to work with me.
My measurable outputs are not right nows, calls booked and new clients signed.
(The reason I refer to them as not right nows [NRNs] is because experience has taught me that opportunities often circle back around).
In this sprint I received 9 NRNs, booked 12 calls and signed no clients.
- Keep outreach messages as personalised as possible. Look for common ground and use it. The best conversations so far have come about because there is some alignment in what we're each up to in the world.
- Go after big fish. I got replies (but NRNs) from two major clients I'd love to work with. Of course, they'll hear from me again 😉
This is what I'll be doing in the next sprint, and will be reporting back to you next time.
- Continue to reach out to potential partners and prospects
- Settle on name for the agency
- Set up a basic website to give people more detail on what I'm up to
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