Ep. 32: What to Do When You Feel Like Quitting

Shannon Mattern is a pricing expert and creator of The Package Matrix™ Method that helps freelancers, fractional execs, consultants, agencies and service providers stop undercharging, overdelivering and overworking by using pricing, proposal and sales strategies backed by behavioral economics and sales psychology.

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[/et_pb_audio][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]Today we’re talking about what to do when you feel like giving up on your side hustle.

For me, there has been only one time in the past 4 years that I have thought about giving up on my side hustle.

When I first started out, I called my business LimePress Development, I spent way too much time on a really beautiful website that was basically an online business card and was not at all positioned to help me get the right kind of clients.

I worked for anyone that would pay me, and I was afraid to charge for my time if it took longer than I thought it would. I was not putting myself out there as an expert. I was not guiding and advising my clients – instead, I was just doing whatever they told me to do.

I didn’t choose the right clients. I didn’t even know how to attract the right clients. In fact, I wasn’t in the right mindset to attract the right clients!

I was not functioning as a web designer, I was functioning as an assistant. Totally not the dreamy job I had imagined when I started.

Even though I know WordPress inside and out, backward and forwards, I didn’t think of myself as an expert, but I thought if I could show people how to use it, they wouldn’t need me to change a font color…

My next idea was going to be brilliant… #not

I abandoned LimePress Development, and I wrote a super boring PDF called 5 Steps to Website Success, spent too much time on a website called Website Essentials Academy, created a Facebook page, and spent $50 on ads that got me about 7 page likes.

I was totally bummed out, I felt lost, and I thought about giving up.

Then last September, my husband won a trip to Nashville from our local sports radio station (finally his never-ending sports trivia knowledge paid off!)

On the plane, I was listening to Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn and he shared how you can do affiliate marketing with the heart of a teacher and not a sleazeball.

In that moment, something clicked in my brain! I bought wifi on the plane, bought the domain WordPressAlly.com, and the Free 5 Day Website Challenge was born.

And then, a few weeks after launching it, I discovered that I wasn’t allowed to use the word WordPress in my business name, so I bought a branding course called Brandgasm 101 to help me figure out a new name, and I came up with WP BFF – WP because I couldn’t use the word WordPress, and BFF because I want you to feel like it’s your best friend forever, your BFF, helping you through this process of getting your business online.

I thought I was just teaching WordPress, I had no idea that it would lead to creating a community super-motivating, supportive entrepreneurs.

So, what if I would have just quit after freelancing blew up in my face?

What if I would have thrown in the towel after getting exactly zero response on Website Essentials Academy?

What if I would have given up after finding out I couldn’t keep the business name I loved?

I’d have crawled right back into that hampster wheel that was my day job and started walking. Right back into my comfy little comfort zone.

Some of you just started a side hustle. Some of you have stopped and started. Some of you are just thinking about it and haven’t done anything yet.

I challenge you to make a decision and move forward. To keep pushing through the roadblocks that pop up. It’s overcoming the obstacles that make it so rewarding. I look back on what things were like vs. 4 years ago and I’m so glad I kept pushing forward.

Think about where you’ll be in a few months, a few years if you just keep going!

If you feel stuck, if you feel like what you’re doing isn’t quite right, if you can’t find the time – DON’T STOP. I’m here to support you. We have a Facebook group you can join where I’m hanging out, ready to help push you and cheer you on. You can join us over at www.shannonmattern.com/facebook and I’ll see you in there!
d for me to remember everything because it’s no longer a mindless routine.


Today’s pep talk is brought to you by Bluehost. Go to www.shannonmattern.com/bluehost and get 36 months of web hosting for just $2.95 a month. That’s less than one trip to Starbucks a month – and if you’re anything like me, you’re at Starbucks more than that!

Then you can sign up for my Free 5 Day Website Challenge at www.shannonmattern.com/5day and I’ll show you step by step how to get started building your new website for your side hustle.
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Pricing, Proposal & Sales Strategy For Freelancers, Fractional Execs & Consultants

ANCHOR HIGH™ PODCAST

Pricing Strategy for Service Providers & Consultants

If you sell your expertise and hands-on implementation, deliver solid work and have happy clients – but you’re maxed out and feel like you’ve hit an income ceiling, this show is for you.

Each short episode breaks down how pricing psychology and proposal strategy influence prospects’ decision-making and helps you rethink everything you thought you knew about how much you can really charge for your services and expertise.

THE PACKAGE MATRIX™ METHOD

The Package Matrix™ Method is a pricing framework built on behavioral economics, sales psychology and a decade of results. It strategically designs a value-based decision for your clients, so you stop pricing based on what you think they can afford and start pricing based on the value they can create by working with you.

How It Works ⟶

ANCHOR HIGH™ CERTIFICATION

If you’re a business coach or consultant who’s an expert at helping your clients grow their businesses and reach their goals – but you don’t have a strategic pricing and sales framework to help your clients confidently close more proposals at higher prices (without working harder), our Anchor High™ Certification program might just be the missing piece of your coaching methodology.

Learn More Here ⟶

ABOUT SHANNON MATTERN

Shannon Mattern is a pricing expert who helps Freelancers, Fractional Execs, Consultants and Creative & Professional Service Providers stop undercharging, overdelivering and overworking by using pricing, proposal and sales strategies backed by behavioral economics and sales psychology.

She helps other business coaches and consultants integrate her pricing and sales methodologies into their coaching, group programs and consultancies so they can help their clients make more without burning out. 

She’s also the founder of Web Designer Academy, where she has spent a decade helping women web designers move from undercharging to premium pricing, and where she developed the offer framework now used by service providers across industries.

Topics

90 DAY REVENUE ROADMAP

Increase your income without rebranding, niching down or adding more services or skills.

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