Okay, so today was supposed to be the day. The day I finally filmed my two-and-a-half-hour Show it masterclass that I’ve been planning for weeks. I spent the last couple of days trying to figure out the perfect setup with lights and my iPhone, and honestly? It’s been frustrating as hell.
I got everything set up, was ready to hit record, and then... the webcam situation wasn’t working. The little picture-in-picture thing I wanted? Not happening because my iPhone isn’t fully connected to the computer. I have a webcam on the way, but after all this time spent on apps and lighting and configurations, I’m worried I’m going to end up right back at square one.
And then I looked at the clock. I have to pick up the kids from school in an hour. Not enough time for the full video I’ve been planning.
So you know what? I decided to just start anyway.
The Podcast Nobody’s Watching (Yet)
This is my podcast called “Start Anyway,” and as you can probably tell, I’m literally building in real time. There’s a huge light reflecting into my bookcase behind me. The setup isn’t perfect. Probably nobody’s watching this right now anyway. But hopefully in the future, someone will, and they’ll get to see every awkward, imperfect step of this journey.
Because here’s the thing: I announced my business on August 1st on LinkedIn. It’s a Show it website template business (with Canva templates coming too), and I’m tired of trying and not having anything to show for it.
One of the hurdles I’m dealing with? Not a lot of people know what Show it is. That’s something I’m going to have to figure out how to overcome. But luckily, on Pinterest, people seem to know it, and I’ve been running some ads there for my freebie.
The Freebie That Actually Rocks
Let me tell you about this freebie because I genuinely think it’s an awesome deal. If you go to my site, you get this free Sales Page Starter Kit—and it comes with a full template (worth $97), a starter guide, a mini workbook, and a GPT for sales page copy. Someone already told me the GPT was super helpful for them, which made my day.
I’ve had quite a few people sign up for it, which is exciting. Though of course, while I’m recording this and trying to show it, I realize I didn’t publish a text change and the cache isn’t updating and... you know what, this is the reality of it all.
Pinterest Marketing is WILD
Can we talk about Pinterest marketing for a second? Because oh my god. I did not understand this world at all.
You think, “Okay, I’ll do one pin every couple of days, that’s a lot, right?”
NO.
Fifteen pins a day is normal. That’s what you should aim for. I’m averaging about seven pins a day right now, which still feels like a lot.
But Pinterest is ultimately a search engine, and it’s really good for my ICP (ideal customer profile). That’s where you all hang out—Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram, but mostly Pinterest. I’ve been part of a really cool program where they’re teaching me how to write pins, create pins, understand the rules... because you don’t want to be creating AI slop, but you also need a process to do them fast because you need a LOT of them all the time.
The ad side of Pinterest? That’s a whole complex thing in itself.
Entrepreneurship Means Being a Jack of All Trades
Here’s what I’m learning about entrepreneurship: you have to be competent in so many things. Email marketing. Pinterest marketing. LinkedIn marketing. Website design (I can help with that one, at least). Understanding offers, funnels, upsells, downsells, where to sell, which software to use...
It’s just so much stuff.
And ultimately—I read this somewhere and I really think it’s true—you end up spending most of your time on marketing your product. Because the product can be amazing, but if no one knows about it, it’s like it doesn’t even exist.
You’re better off creating an amazing product while simultaneously getting it out there and getting feedback. Even if it’s at 70%. I think it’s Bezos who uses the 70% rule: if you waited for 90% of the information, you’ve waited too long.
So yeah, I’m learning all of these things. Even simple stuff like makeup for YouTube—I hardly ever wear makeup, but now I’m doing YouTube, so that’s another thing to learn. Podcasting. Just trying to get my business out there in front of as many people as possible.
Managing Your Mind Is the Real Work
And that’s the other thing, right? You have to learn how to manage your mind around all of this.
I saw someone on LinkedIn put it really well. She’s a popular marketer and she said: “Here’s to being embarrassed every day.” And that’s really what you have to be okay with. People are going to snicker. People are going to say stuff like “Oh look what she’s trying, that’s never going to work” or “What an idiot” or whatever voices are in your head.
But I told someone the other day: I’d rather be hated outside of myself than hate myself.
And if that means I have to be my full, weird, sometimes annoying self—because that’s who I am and I want to put that out in the world—then that’s who I have to be. If others hate it, that’s okay. They’re not my people. I want them to eat, just not at my table. Go hang out and be good, and I totally wish you well.
But this shrinking ourselves and then lashing out at others who don’t dare shrink? That’s not a way to live. We only have so many days left on this earth, and I know that sounds corny, but it’s so true.
So yeah, you’re going to watch me try and fail and try and fail until finally, maybe at some point, something’s going to click and it’s going to work. But in the meantime, I’m feeling called to do this.
Our Deepest Fear
There’s this quote from Marianne Williamson that I keep coming back to:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
When I first heard that, I got chills. Because I’ve seen it so much with people who are brilliant and they’re just so afraid to try. They think that by doing more research, just doing more research, that they’re making progress. But they’re not.
At the end of the day, you have to take action.
That’s why I’m recording this right now. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t get my video going for this awesome idea I have for my main channel masterclass that I said, “You know what? F it. I’m just going to do the podcast.” I had nothing prepared, but I want to share the raw, real, authentic what’s-going-on.
What Else I’m Learning
On a personal note: I’m baking a Jamaican rum cake for my husband right now, so I’m also running out of time for that.
Business-wise, I attended all of Alex Hormozi’s launch content and got some really valuable information. A lot of it reinforced what I’ve already been learning: you just have to do it. You just have to get the reps in. He called it “mental masturbation”—that thing where we research and plan but never execute. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of it. I know I have.
I’m also listening to the book 10x Is Better Than 2x, which is pretty good. And Under My Hat by Hedda Hopper—she was a gossip columnist from the 1950s, 40s, and 30s. It’s really interesting, though not related to business. Just thought I’d share.
Email Marketing & Launches
My launch is coming up, and I’m learning about email automations. Like, how do you nurture a list? Just like a baby needs to be nurtured, your email list needs to be nurtured. The people on it want to hear from you and they want value, but they also want to know what you’re offering. They want to know you’re alive. But they don’t want to be spammed.
So it’s a balancing act. And then there are different funnels people come through—if they come through this landing page versus that landing page, you have to make sure the automation is keyed in, people are imported correctly, they’re tagged right...
For my launch, I have a specific sequence: what I’m going to say beforehand, what I’m going to say once it launches, and then afterwards, offering value. It’s a whole other beast to learn.
You really do have to become a jack of all trades but master of none. Though ChatGPT has been incredibly helpful for this stuff. Claude too, and any of the AI tools. Plus YouTube—we live in an amazing era where you can find all the information you need to get things done.
My Goals for Next Week
Since we’re doing goal check-ins on this podcast, here’s what I want to accomplish:
Get my Show it Masterclass done
Launch my website template
Create the shopping page for the template
Get the upsell/downsell things ready (though I might start with a simple checkout)
Start working on my Canva templates (I have some fun, exciting ones planned, and I think I’m going to sell those on Etsy, linked from my website)
We’re just trying things out. Testing. Seeing what works.
Come Along for the Journey
If you’re also on this solopreneur journey, come along with me. I’m figuring out the community aspect—I have a couple I’ve been testing out. We’re all in this together.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this. I hope you have a wonderful week.
And remember: just start anyway.
This is the first episode of my podcast turned into a post (yes I used AI to help me but it’s all authentically me from the transcript) and it’s messy, and it’s real. It’s exactly where I am right now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
