Create Your Offers ☁

aka, "I have a lot of ideas, which do I focus on first?"

Maggie 💫

Nov 07, 2023

Offer Structure

So you want to make money by creating and sharing something…!

There are 4 main structures for sharing creations / offers with the world:

Services
Products
Programs
Events

Here are some examples so you can get an idea:

Services = website design, yoga teaching, tarot reading, business consulting, coaching

Products = t-shirts, journals, albums, digital templates, tinctures, posters

Programs = courses, memberships, group programs

Events = popups, galleries, markets, live shows, trainings, workshops, classes, summits, online bundles

Now, I would consider: Which offer structure speaks to you as the primary income stream you’d like to focus on building?

Now for the artists thinking,

“But I don’t have an ‘offer’! I’m an artist. My offer is my art.”

Okay. Well, sure! But I would argue that all art is shared through one of these 4 structures.

If it hurts to call your work an “offer”, — don’t! You can call it your art.

It doesn’t matter to me what you call it — all I care about is that you consider profiting off of it.💸🦋 If that seems selfish, please remember that we all need money, even artists and healers.

Money is essential for movements to make tangible change, for us to give generously and widely, and for us to build the communities we dream of.

How to decide what to offer (or which to focus on now) 🤔

This is the big one. 😂 Most of us multi-passionate type artist / creative people tend to have A LOT of ideas.💡However, the follow through is sometimes…lacking, to say the least.😉

We’ve got a lot of different possibilities swirling around, different things we want to do or started doing. Maybe you’ve already built a business successfully, and you’re juggling a bunch of different things you’re offering, and you’re trying to figure out the best way forward.

The key is to work backwards:

Choose ONE ☝️ offer at a time to create, then develop an effective marketing strategy to share that offer with people.

Then once that is smooth — and automated as much as possible! — you can move on to focus on the next idea.

How do you know which offer to focus on fleshing out first?
My advice: go for the low-hanging fruit. 🍎

Look at your list of options for things you want to offer the world and make money doing right now.
Out of that list…Which 1 is the easiest, simplest, quickest to execute and share with people?
Now look at the list again…which 1 seems the most fun, exciting, or interesting to you right now? If none of them feel exciting, go with what’s easy. Low hanging fruit is still delicious fruit!

Struggling to choose just one?

Lower your expectations and put l e s s on your plate, for the love of all that’s holy!!

I know, I know — you want to do multiple things right now. I do too. So badly 😂

It’s healthy to have a bunch of different projects to juggle between!

Some experts say around a dozen is the sweet spot. One of my favorite productivity people, Tiago Forte, has this awesome YouTube video about “the 10-15 rule” for planning your projects.

However, not every one of those projects you’re creating right now is in the same phase. 🍞

Some are ready to bake.

Some are still marinating.

I can guarantee you this:

If you try to launch a bunch of different offers all at once — each with their own marketing strategy — it WILL feel chaotic.

I am truly sorry to be the messenger of this news, because I personally hate this news. ☹️ I LOVE to do the fucking most!! I have tried to launch several offers at once for years.

I urge you →
Save yourself the time, energy, and stress.
Give yourself permission to go for what’s simple. 🕊

Go for what is sustainable and manageable.
Go for what’s easy right now.
There is no shame in that.

In fact, I bet your “easy” is someone else’s “expert.”

🤠

Take a look at your different ideas you’re considering right now. Which one would be the easiest, simplest, smoothest to execute? Do that one.

It will clear up space for the next thing! You can always change your mind.

Okay. Now we’ve got that out of the way and you are mayyyybe a liiiiittle bit more on board with the idea of choosing one thing to focus on creating for the moment…

Pricing

How to decide what to charge

There are many pricing formulas and strategies for how people recommend you price.

Here are the guidelines I work with myself and would recommend to you:

Most important: choose a price that you will feel gratitude, not resentment, once people pay.
Especially for service based businesses, it’s common to feel resentful inside after getting paid because we are giving a ton of energy. Choose a price you feel good about and not resentful for.
Only you can know how much something really takes out of you.😩😓
Only you can truly honor that and set prices that reflect your boundaries. ⚔️ ✋
Only you can prevent forest fires 🔥 🐻 🏕️
Decide your hourly rate. Count the hours you’ll put into that offer and ensure you get paid for your time, at least.
Account for taxes and any other fees
Still not sure? Start the lowest you’re thinking, then raise your price every few clients/sales/months. This is a good way to build your confidence and grow your skillset / experience as your prices grow.

Sales & Discounts

Sales and discounts could be an entire month in and of itself.

(Next year, it might be. If you’d be interested in that, please let me know!)

Black Friday is coming up, the penultimate sales-&-discounts day, so let’s use that as our frame of reference. 🛍️🤑

There are a ton of different discounts and sales you can offer in your business to incentivize people to buy.

Here’s some of the most popular promotions we see:

free for a limited time / free trial
% off
BOGO
bonus for a limited time
giveaway
holiday / seasonal / pop culture themed (never underestimate the power of being relevant to the moment)
freebie swap / find a buddy & share with eachother’s audiences
price raises on x date (this is very motivating for people)

& Here are some other fun promotion ideas 🎁

Mystery box
Secret menu item — not normally something you offer
Affiliate
Pre sell something that launches later / advance copies
Themed coaching/consulting
Bundle / collection
Limited time bonus
Premium generous offer to send to past clients
Limited edition
Pledge to give away a percentage of your profit
Advent calendar style
Pick your own bundle (choose from options)
Limited time hotline style service

Here are some principles/guidelines I recommend keeping in mind:

The most important thing about promotions, sales, and discounts? Use them intentionally and sparingly.

Your prices should stand on their own, no discount needed.

If you offer a discount, it should help you meet a larger goal in some way.

If people aren’t buying, don’t just throw discounts out hoping it’ll make more people buy.

Try adjusting the price point, the marketing methods, or maaaaybe the offer itself. (Usually, the issue isn’t the offer itself — it’s pricing & marketing. It’s all about how we communicate it to people.)

Promotions are the exception, not the rule.

We all know businesses who run sales constantly. We all know it’s not really the vibe. Don’t be that guy.

Offer a kickass deal every now and then.

1-2x a year for a major promotion/sale is my advice.

You maaayyy want to do a sale/discount every quarter or every month, which can be a fun if it’s got a different theme for each promo.

Audio Guide + Actionable Resources

Join the Consistency Club now and get immediate access to:

Audio version of each month’s written guide
Action Week 🔥 so you actually implement what you learned & thought about in this guide!
Calendar with reminders + a marketing schedule
Body doubling sessions to help focus, follow through, & stay accountable
Private coaching & consulting with me through Voxer messages, during office hours to help develop your marketing strategy

For Consistency Club members:

Click here to see all the different resources related to this month’s theme of Creating Your Offers!

If you have any questions or need to get in touch, you can always email me → heymaggie@theworkisplay.com

📧

I’ll be in touch in a week or two to check in, see how things are going, & update you on the next Action Week so you can have some feedback & support with focusing & following through.