Business Rules I Won't Apologise For Breaking

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Transcript

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Welcome to Designing Success from Study to Studio. I'm your host, Rhiannon Lee, founder of the Oleander Finch Design Studio. I've lived the transformation from study to studio and then stripped it bare and wrote down the framework so you don't have to overthink it. In this podcast, you can expect real talk with industry friends, community, connection, and actionable tips to help you conquer whatever's holding you back. Now let's get designing your own success. Today I want to talk about four rules that I consistently break in my business and why this podcast would not be called Designing Success if we all just did the exact same thing. And I feel like each of these rules, once broken, just sat better with me and they made my business just flow better. Everything felt better. And so I wanted to bring you a podcast episode that you to address the idea of it. You actually are the boss of your business and you can make the rules. So just cause everyone's saying, Oh, you do it this way. Or I use this app or I do this thing. You don't have to do that research. If there's alternatives, have a look and think about whether it's actually the best, greatest client experience that you can give. Is there another way? Is there something cheaper on the market? Is there something more expensive on the market? That's just a better fit. Without further ado, let's have a little chat about what rules I went to make a list and I'm not kidding you. I feel like I'm the kind of person who people would assume is quite a role follower. Certainly. I don't like to get in trouble or do the wrong thing, but I cannot follow a role if you tell me to do something. I definitely have that opposition, what is that? Oppositional disorder or whatever that is. I cannot do the thing. If it was your idea and not my idea. I can't do it until it's my idea to do it. I am quite stubborn and unusually. Like all of these rules, the reason they're broken is just because I'm like, there must be another way. I don't really like this way. Let's go and find my version of what you're doing. Or asking me to do. Okay. The first rule I ever broke inside of Oleander and Finch was when I first started, I looked around because I was trying to, I didn't have anything like the framework and I didn't know how to build a workflow or process and I've never had any clients. So I didn't really know like after step a, what happens next? And then when do I send the invoicing? Anyone who's listening that's right in the thick of that, without the framework, you'll know exactly how confusing it is. It's very much I'm not sure if I'm doing it right or wrong. Anyway, I went to some websites. I had a look. A lot of websites are very process heavy. Like the designers will share everything that happens from step one all the way through, which is great. That's fine, but it allowed me to go, oh, okay. So I've looked, I've done some competitor analysis and market research, and I've looked at five websites and all of them have like step one, get in touch for a discovery call. Then I send you the questionnaire and then you fill it out and send it back to And then I reviewed that prior to our initial meeting or our first consultation. Now, I absolutely followed that rule of thumb because I saw everybody else doing it at the beginning. And then I got actual clients and I thought, this questionnaire, is silly. It doesn't work for my business because I'm spending all of my time chasing it. I'm contacting clients and going, did you get the questionnaire? Have you filled that out? Or they're filling out whether they prefer linen or velvet. And then I get into the virtual consultation and they're like, okay, we just need help with our hallway. We're going to do VJ up this wall. We don't know what color, we don't know what sideboard or what art to hang. And the linen and the velvet are irrelevant. And I've made them fill out all of these things about it. Preferences that they have that are not actually got anything to do with what I was going to be doing for them to get a style outcome. So I found it very annoying and it was large and cumbersome, which is probably my fault. I probably overwrote it, but I was again basing on things I could find on Pinterest and online and pulling together a first draft of a business and I didn't know what was needed. So the reminder there, or the lesson in that, I should say, is that you need to constantly evolve and think about it from your client's perspective. When I was chasing people, have you done the questionnaire? Can I get that questionnaire? That's when I started to be like, you know what? People are time poor. Part of my ideal client avatar that I know is that they are busy professionals who Like, then I typed in this questionnaire. So how can I do this better? I was like, can I put it on Google forms and make it multiple choice? So what does it look like if it's easy for the client? And the answer to that is it's on fire. Like it's gone. It's. done and dusted and put it in the bin. Once I decided to scrap it and instead print out one master copy of the questionnaire and then I just ask those questions in my Zoom if they were relevant. If I was in a consultation I'd be like, oh cool. Now when it comes to cushions, do you have a preference around pattern or materials like linen, velvet, is there anything I need to know about what it is you're looking for? So much more organic builds rapport with the client was a way better fit. My brand values have been as authentic and relatable. And I knew that the questionnaire wasn't that for me, I'm not stuffy like that. There's lots of people that would be like super type a here's the list. It's non flexible and very black and white. Work hard. Here's the ethic. Here's the thing. And then there's people like wild cowboys are just like, yeah, whatever, like chill, spontaneous and somewhere smack bang in the middle. Like I love a process, a system and a structure, but I'm relaxed in the way that it's delivered and I'm super flexible to change it. I love to take on feedback and be like, you know what, in your business. You should use my system of X, but you should execute it in this way. And you should cut out step two, five, and nine, because it's not relevant to you. And it doesn't feel aligned to who you are and who you serve. So it's really important that you're open to making those changes. And if there's something in your business right now that you can identify and think feels like she's explaining around the questionnaire, ditch it. You can always put it back in trust me on this. Just try it for a month where you don't have that step in your onboarding, or you don't have that step in your process, and let me know how it goes, and if it changes something for you, please come over to the DMs at oleander underscore and underscore fint, and let me know, because nothing would delight me more than someone saying to me, I used to do this clunky thing in my process and I listened to the podcast and I got rid of it to see how it would go and nobody missed it, the least of all me. The second thing that I did differently to everybody else that I've definitely broken the rules on is when I wrote the framework, I did so after taking a course that taught you how to become an online course creator, basically, and write a course. Now, the course was excellent. The coach was excellent. The person whose course it was really good. It was really thorough, really well done, but obviously the way that it's taught is to host it on a very popular platform called Kajabi, and I hold Mad respect for this person for getting that many clients to sign up to Kajabi because it's an affiliate program, right? So you get, you make money as you sign up. It's not gonna, it's nothing to write home about. Like by no means did this person write a course in order to just milk the Kajabi money, I'm sure they just get a little sign up fee for Kajabi. I doubt it's like they get a cut of the monthly fees. Having said that, I, like there are a lot of businesses that were inside of this course were just starting up in business. They didn't have a large community and they certainly didn't have a large budget for that type of investment. Kajabi is around the 200 ish mark a month, I believe. And so I was like, Oh, I need to find an alternative because there are things about it I don't like. I don't like that it's a third party platform. So every time somebody's working on the framework, you're sending them over to this. place, Kajabi. And yes, everything's hosted in there, but it just, I felt like there could be a better way. So my course, the framework is actually hosted with a login on my website. So when my students are working on the course, they're on my website. Effectively, the only exception to that is the resource library, which is all housed in Notion, but I want them to be on Notion because learning Notion is a huge part of understanding how to do those systems and do all the deliverables and track everything that we do inside of the framework. Notion, you want to be getting really familiar with her because that is. the methods that I teach people. So Notion was fine. I wasn't upset that they were going to be in Notion, but the Kajabi thing just never sat well with me because I was like, at this point, we don't have validation of this course. I don't know if it's going to sell. I've got a wait list, but what happens if I write this course and I sell it and I'm contracted to 200 a month to host it and nobody buys it? The other thing to take into consideration is courses and IP that's hosted on Kajabi is not owned by Kajabi, but they have access to all of that IP. And I don't know what the terms and conditions are like on selling all of that, as well as if you don't want to pay for it, you don't have anywhere else to put it. Like you can't just grab the whole course and move it over to another platform, it's very specifically built out. And therefore they've got you in, I don't even know the terminology that would be polite here, but they definitely got you. And yeah, once, once it's up, you're committed to that 200 a month for the lifetime of that course. And if you've given people lifetime access, I just did not feel comfortable with it. So I found an alternative. The course platform that I use integrates with my website, and I think it effectively costs less than one month of Kajabi annually for me to do and I have complete control. I built out the course. I can go in and edit it. I can move video clips around. I can I just am able to do that and it feels way more comfortable to me, especially at a time where I was going to be taking a big risk and launching something when I had no students in the first year, we have over 100 students through the framework, which I'm so proud of. Ultimately, I would have been able to maintain a cost like Kajabi, but I feel so comfortable knowing that I own it and it's integrated in my website. And I don't have this fear that I'll just I don't know, wake up and Kajabi's no longer or that I, yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? So I don't regret breaking that rule and I can totally see how you would just sell one platform inside of your course because why would you want to teach people a hundred different alternatives? It's up to them to do the research as I did and it did make following the course a little bit harder because it was taught like how to build it on Kadabi and I had to build it in my platform but zero regrets on breaking that rule. Today's podcast episode is proudly brought to you by Purefloor. Purefloor is a cleaning solution that I use in my own home. I have a white rug, a white sofa, three boys, a dog, a cat, and a husband. I definitely need this in my life. And because it's all natural, it's soap and chlorine free. It's a hundred percent a plant based formula, and 000 square meters of surface. Cozzy lives, am I right? It's gone a long way and it's been a total game changer for us at home. So thank you Purefloor for sponsoring Designing Success. Did you know PureFlora are offering you 10 percent on your products? Just use the code word DESIGN and it'll auto apply. The next rule that I break is that I don't follow the typical 9 to 5 work schedule. I have been very clear about this in the podcast previously, but I love to be able to run my business when it suits me, which is to get in here straight after school, drop off work finish at three o'clock. Walk the dog, take Luna down to the school, pick up the boys. I'm not working between 3 and say 7. 30 ish. And then I'll generally watch something sneaky on TV or just have a bit of downtime, have dinner, like chat to hubby, do that sort of stuff. And then I will also, Almost always pick up my iPad again and do work from 9 to 1030. Just do an extra hour and a half, schedule out some emails to go off. That suits me. To other people, they would perceive that as Oh, I don't want to work at 1030 at night, but I'm both an early bird and a night owl. So I like working bookends of the day. I feel sluggish in the afternoon. I don't feel at my best. I feel a bit like, Oh, I'm drained from all the energy that I put into the morning me and I get re energized after the kids go to bed and I have a night me that works really well as well. So I do not subscribe to, it has to be nine to five or that I cannot open my laptop late at night without laptop. Meaning that I'm burnt out or overworked. It's actually me designing my own success and what that looks like and what works for me and what I like to do. That is the third rule that I consistently break. I. Do hold strong boundaries. And if you've ever messaged me on a Wednesday, you will know that I generally will have messaged back to say, Hey, today's a day with Marley. We're up to story time. I don't work Wednesdays except for with my private coaching clients. So if you've messaged me and you're not currently in coaching pocket or private coaching, you will generally get a message that says, I'll hit this up tomorrow morning when I'm back in the studio. I'm also quite protective in school holidays. The Q and A's inside of the framework are only on during when school's in. So the term runs and we do all of that. We had a bonus one today and we've got another one on Thursday. So I'm hugely active inside of the school term, but in school holidays, my kids. Experience of their life and their memories of their holidays is extremely important to me. And it's the reason that I do what I do. So we like shut down from a work perspective. There are some exceptions to that. The 1st was when I wrote the framework and the 2nd will be this holidays because I'm restructuring the framework and I am building out the support AI assistance that I need and I need to do a lot of that stuff. However, the kids are going camping with their dad and leaving me to work. So there's stuff going on that's still giving them all those core memories. But mommy's just, I'm not, there was never gonna go and do like a couple of days hiking and camping anyway. The last rule that I consistently break is that I And I'm not even going to say I don't, I'm going to say I no longer, because I want people to understand there has been an evolution from the first version of my business in the early days to now, which is that I don't put all my eggs into Instagram as a marketing channel. I have been sending out Friday emails for over two years now consistently, haven't missed one. I have a podcast. Hello, if you're listening and the podcast is a huge important marketing channel to me because I have found since I've had the podcast that when I'm working private coaching clients and or new students in the framework, people will reach out to me and DMs just to be like that no like, and trust barrier is missing because people have binged the podcast. They understand how committed I am to helping them in their business, whether they're. Emerging or established designers and we just get chatting immediately. So it's been very helpful. It's not like people are hearing my voice or kind of meeting me for the first time. They tend to have a pretty good working understanding of if I am the coach that will draw the best and greatest result out of them. And generally by the time they get to me, it's more a case of can you fit me in? Can I pre buy before end of financial year, that kind of conversation, which, you work hard to get there, certainly in your design business or your whatever business, it takes a while until you're in that position. But that generally is because of an omni channel approach to marketing. And that just means multiple different ways, not just Instagram. So working hard on Instagram, yes, but making sure the Friday email goes out, the podcast goes out twice a week. Pinterest is a very important marketing channel for me and I'm tracking that closely. So I have ways that I can see people who have entered their email address to join my subscription list directly through Pinterest. They've come to the brand that way. And so I can see that's really driving a result, which is great. And Instagram, I have. Always been very active on Instagram and I will be the first to admit that 2024 I've really taken a back seat to that and that is purely because we have so much other things going on. I'm very, I've got strong clarity and focus in what I'm doing with the framework and with the frameworkers. I just don't need to be on there as much as I previously was. I just do not find it Always supportive of my end goal. And I don't always find it a nice place to be. I find that you have to be very protective of your mental health. It can be really anxiety inducing. There are times where it becomes a lot, especially if you see a lot of business coaches, a lot of the messaging and marketing that goes along with rah, I can get you. To six figures in six weeks and we're going to get all these striped notifications and that is absolutely fine. If that is your marketing strategy, great. It's just, it's an ick for me and it's so off, like so all consuming and constant. And no matter how many like minded businesses I unfollow. So I don't see that sort of stuff. It's a cacophony of noise on the internet. This year has really been some stuff going on at home and some things that the kids have needed to make sure support from me. And so I've just really felt that it wasn't designing my own success. It wasn't a fun place to be. And so I've just stripped it back to popping up when and how I want to, and I'm loving that. Like the other day, I, I am always in my stories. If you're listening to this and you're like, yeah, actually I haven't seen feed for ages. Any day of the week you pop onto my stories, you'll see me. I'm, I still want to nurture the people that are inside of my audience. I still want to show up and share my life with them. I'm just not always feeling like I want to be creating content in such a huge cycle. I have so much there so much available to anyone who needs help in their business. They can go back and look at the archive just continuously scroll back and there will be so much. Free content ready to go and you're so welcome to it, but I just slowed down the frequency of which I'm creating it and pushing it out and just some feedback on that. There is so much data in my business right now to support that this broader approach has really. Really enhanced my engagement and reach. And an example of that is I was on my stories on Friday night and, it's been ages since I've had that five figures over a thousand story views consistently with an audience of the size of mine, you generally, a regular stories for me with sort of six figures. sit somewhere between 200 and 500 at a stretch. That's pretty regular I'd say. And so I'm seeing a lot more, almost double that in story views more consistently. The other day I put a story that was one of those add yours, sharing with everyone and it had 3, 000 story views and it was just not anything interesting or even really brand related, but it's amazing that kind of reach is out there. So it's totally possible. It's just about deciding for yourself. Like how often do I want to be on here? Who am I talking to? What is the result I want to get? And am I happy showing up this often and only in this place? And the reason I made that rule number four is specifically to try to activate thoughts to anyone out there who might be suffering with overwhelm or might feel like they're doing a lot in the Instagram space. It's really important that you're always considering is that the best place to spend my marketing tokens? Because You could wake up tomorrow and it could be hacked or gone. And I never want to do scaremongering marketing. That's not what this is about. It doesn't bother me if you're on Instagram or not. It's more the case of that would be so devastating if you don't have that content across multiple platforms. If you can't access it or yeah, it just doesn't drive as good a result as if you are able to use the same topic and talk about it in the podcast. So show it on Pinterest. Put it in a blog on your website. Get it over there as a little video clip of the podcast that you recorded. Have it over here as a static or an Instagram carousel. So just really thinking how you can squeeze more juice out of each lemon. So I'm going to leave you with the idea that just reinforces the message to explore unconventional methods. And as long as they align with your brand and with your end goal, there's so many other ways you can do things. You don't have to do things the way they've always been done, because if you always do what you've always done, you always get what you've always had, or whatever that saying is. I probably completely mangled that, but it's Really important to me. You will see people talk about what is your USP? What are your differences? I can absolutely do an entire podcast episode on how I do things differently to most other people I know that work with my ideal client. I just am different. And I have a long list of things that I believe in and that I know I will and won't explore and you just get those opinions over time so you should be adapting those opinions to your business to make sure it's running in a way that makes you proud and in a way that supports your clients and not just in a way that you googled or saw someone else do and thought you had to. I had an Instagram post years ago that was around discovery calls. Like you literally don't have to call them discovery calls. I call mine alignment calls. I'll just say to get on an alignment call? Meaning, do you want to see if my course aligns with where you're at currently in your business? And can I get a result out of you? Can I take you further in that? Do we have to look at private coaching? Or is the framework not a good fit at all? And that would be fine, but I don't need to discover anything really like a treasure map or like the Goonies. I feel like discovery is just one of those words that it doesn't really fit for me, so I slip in and out of it. I would definitely have podcasts that talk all about the discovery call'cause it's the language that most people are using, but there's nothing stopping you just looking at that and going, no, gonna break the rule on that one. I call mine the, are we a good fit call or check availability call or, I don't know. The, this post that I'm referencing actually has 50 other examples of things that you could do and I can't think of one. So there you go. I need to go back to my own Instagram archives. Hey, if you haven't already, I would absolutely love you to subscribe to this podcast, to click the plus button that says follow so that you get each episode as it drops. It helps me Spread the word, like it basically helps boost my reach so that more people, I know there are interior designers out there that are either emerging or established that would really benefit from binging a back catalog of the interviews and learning from our guests and hearing, some of the solo apps and on particular topics that they might need. So if you could leave a review podcast in your stories, like just one time to say, Hey, I listened to this and it has helped me with this. marketing or business or whatever that it has helped you with. If you could do that for me, I would be so grateful because I would really love when coming up. Oh my God, I can't believe this. We're coming up to the first birthday. This podcast is one on July the 11th And it is also just about our 100th episode, which is wild. I can't believe that is so crazy. So yeah, if you could tap on the buttons, share them, the aeroplane, the hearts, the, just, if you see something, please just tap on it for me. I would love that. Otherwise I will be bringing you another re released episode on Thursday as part of the winter series. There are​only two more of these, and then we'll get cracking meeting our new guests. For the end of the year. Okay, bye for now. That wraps up another episode of Designing Success from Study to Studio. Thanks for lending me your ears. Remember, progress over perfection is the key. If you found value in today's episode, go ahead and hit subscribe or share it with a friend. Your feedback means so much to me and it helps me improve, but it also helps this podcast reach more emerging and evolving designers. For your daily dose of design business tips and to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, follow at oleander underscore and underscore finch on Instagram. You'll find tons of resources available at www. oleanderandfinch. com to support you on your journey. Remember, this is your path, your vision, your future, and your business. Now let's get out there and start designing your success Today's podcast partner was Purefloor. Purefloor is a 100 percent natural plant based formula cleaning product. It uses multi enzymes that continue to work up to 72 hours after you clean, it's a soap and chlorine free stain remover and odor remover. I can absolutely attest to this because my father in law rang me in a blind panic last week after he'd spilt hot, dirty, chocolate, milk, all through his beautiful rug. I whipped over there with my Purefloor, we treated the rug and I can tell you there are no milk smells and no remaining stains. So thank you Purefloor for sponsoring Designing Success. Did you know PureFlora are offering you 10 percent on your products? Just use the code word DESIGN and it'll auto apply.