Principles, promotion, problems

👆👆👆 So... we're gonna take this as a sign you all are on board with the new Growing Steady era!

We appreciate each one of you who hit reply with your feedback on the launch of our fresh name and format. The most common reply we heard was that this format is easier to digest and get value from, which was music to our ears! (A close second favorite, of course, being the secret handshake. 😂)

We hope to keep bringing you value week after week and help you take action towards growing your version of a calm business.

Also, just to wrap-up our Drip to ConvertKit migration saga for those interested, the transition was seamless. 🙌 (Thanks, Natalie! 😉)

Now let's get to the 3 P's! Who's ready to build a predictable, profitable and peaceful biz?!

- Jason and Caroline

PREDICTABLE 🔄

Defining your operating principles

Happy little heart compass provided by your operating principles

If we believe business is much more about the journey than the destination, then it only makes sense that we’d spend time defining how we want that journey to look.

One way to accomplish this is to define your business operating principles.

Your operating principles are short, actionable statements that you can reference to guide your decision-making as you work towards your bigger business goals.

Here are the operating principles we defined at the top of the year for our software business, Teachery.

1. 💞 Be unmistakably human. Treat people like people. Be customer word-of-mouth driven. Create delightful experiences that don’t always scale. Be weird and wonderful.

2. 🦄 Do it differently. If it’s boring, if it reads like a checklist, it’s not for us. Try things, even if they fail. Aim to stop the scroll. Put a twist on everything, and be brave enough to buck the trend.

3. 🧪 Learn in motion. Don’t get stuck in Strategy Town. The sooner we act, the sooner we learn. Experimentation is the key. Planning is for informed action, not procrastination.

4. 🧘 Make commitments flexible. Think in finite seasons, not infinite commitments. Prioritize consistency, but with breaks. Let the workload shift. Keep schedules flexible, re-evaluate our pace regularly. Keep a life-first approach.

5. 🥳 Keep it “REVENUNS.” (Revenue + Fun = "Revenuns.") Revenue tactics need to be fun. Fun tactics need to tie back to revenue. Work can and should be enjoyable. If things feel tedious, if at all possible, change them. Laugh a lot and infuse joy into every move we make.

These ideas may change and evolve over the course of time, but this gives us a solid framework to reference as we take action.

Now, I want you to think of one big goal you have for this year, and ask yourself:

What are your operating principles?

If you haven’t crystalized these yet, try not to overthink it. Try writing 5 action-oriented statements that aim to answer these questions:

• As you pursue your goals, which values do you want to guide your behavior?

• What are you not willing to sacrifice along the way?

• How do you want to do things differently from similar businesses in your niche?

• Which aspects of the status quo do you disagree with?

• What are the most important things to remember as you make decisions?

Defining WHAT you want to achieve is one thing, but defining HOW you want to achieve it is arguably even more important.

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​

PROFITABLE 🤑

5-minute sales challenge: Add a discount code to your welcome email

Gandalf Zook waving your newfound sales at you

Sometimes we tend to overcomplicate sales. We think we need the perfect message, at the perfect time, with the perfect offer to the perfect person.

Those high stakes keep many new business owners from ever experiencing the momentum that comes when someone clicks purchase on your offer. So let's see if we can get you a sale with 5 minutes of work?

You know that iconic scene in Lord of the Rings when Gandalf 🧙‍♂️ slams his staff down and yells, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

I’d like you to envision that, but it's me wearing a cape, holding a staff, and I’m shouting, “I ISSUE A SALES CHALLENGE!”

Was that entire visual worth it? I think so… 😂 Anyhoo, let’s get into the challenge! TODAY, I challenge you to go to your Welcome Email that someone gets when they join your newsletter/email list and include a 50% OFF coupon code for your offer, digital product, etc.

You’ll know which offer you sell that's best for this. It shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to 1) create a coupon code, 2) add a line in your Welcome Email calling out this one-time offer, and 3) link to your product to purchase.

Your Welcome Email has the highest open rate of any email you will ever send (probably in the 70-90% range!) A new subscriber is most engaged when they join your list, so let’s reward that interest with an opportunity to buy a product from you at a one-time discount 👏👏.

You don’t have to leave this 50% OFF coupon live forever. If you get more than 20 subscribers to your list per week, just do this for the next 7 days as an experiment. You in to try it?

🙋‍♂️ Bonus points: If you embark on this sales challenge, reply to this email and let me know you've set it up, then check back with me once you get a sale from it!

​- Jason 👨🏻‍🦲​

PEACEFUL 🧘

One mental trick to make a problem feel smaller

Caroline's visual illustration of the ant vs. boulder vs. elephant metaphor

Are you thinking of your problems from the perspective of an ant 🐜 or an elephant 🐘?

Let me illustrate with an example. Recently, we’ve been contemplating a major infrastructure change for Teachery, and it initially seemed like an enormous challenge. The complex technical aspects, the need for research, and the future implications made me feel like a tiny ant cowering at the foot of an immovable boulder of a problem.

However, I realized that the size of this problem is only defined by my perception of it.

To shift my perspective, I asked myself: How could I make this boulder feel smaller?

Well, I could make myself feel bigger, like an elephant towering over a pebble rather than an ant looking up at a boulder.

I took three approaches to turn myself from an ant to an elephant:

1. I zoomed out and considered the problem on a longer time horizon. I envisioned how insignificant it would feel six months or even five years from now, when we would have already overcome it and made progress with Teachery. This helped me feel larger than the challenge itself. Through the lens of time, most boulders turn to pebbles.

2. I focused on my capabilities rather than dwelling on my deficiencies. When I feel like an ant, it’s usually because I’m thinking about all the skills I don’t have. By reminding myself of my tenacity and problem-solving skills, I started to feel more empowered and way bigger than the roadblock before me.

3. I reconnected with my values. I reflected on the flexibility and freedom that running a business provides, and questioned whether spending the day stressing over a technical problem aligned with what I truly valued. Once again, when I stay mindful of something bigger—my values—the boulder shrinks in my mind.

It's important to note that not all problems can be easily squashed by a change in perception. Some challenges are indeed massive boulders that we have to face head-on. However, many stressful situations in our business journey get inflated unnecessarily.

By adopting this framework, we can avoid winding ourselves into stress balls and approach these moments with a more empowered mindset. Hopefully, these strategies can help you too when you encounter similar situations!

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​