I have hit publish 52 weeks in a row here at Even Steven Money. My first year of writing and sharing my story is complete. Some of the stories were from the days of yesterday with a fresh new coat of paint and commentary. While others were brand new straight from Miami an entirely new world for me. I shared stories about my life, my new business ventures, and the successes of reaching financial freedom. 52 weeks in a row. Like the famous author Ray Bradbury said “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.”
Not every story was filled with success. Some were filled with failure. One of the most difficult things for me was going from a salaried 9-5 job and then abruptly to without an income stream as I started my financial coaching business.
I’m never going to write again
You are probably thinking that Steven Donovan aka Even Steven Money is never going to write again. 52 weeks in a row is impressive but he’s packing it all in and he’s probably done forever. Even Steven Money is going to fall into the deep abyss of hopeful writers that started their journey and ended all too quickly. Not me my friends.
What’s great is essentially I’m going into the workshop for the next ~6 weeks to refocus my chi. That’s partially why I’m writing this in week 53. I’m trying to earn extra credit for this week, 52 weeks in a row just wasn’t enough.
I have big plans for 2020 and I want to plan and prepare so I am ready. Here are a couple things that are fresh on my mind that I will be focusing on for the next 6-8 weeks.
Getting Ahead
Last year when I started writing I had 6 weeks worth of articles ready to publish every Monday. The plan was to stay ahead at least 4 weeks and in a perfect world even further ahead. I didn’t follow through.
I found myself writing on a Sunday night, finishing editing, and adding pictures all at the last minute. These next few weeks I will be focusing on writing one article a week and will have 6 weeks worth of publishing ready for the 2020. I haven’t decided if writing every week is going to be my same plan in 2020, but I’m excited to sit down and figure it all out.
I can’t believe it’s going to be 2020, amazing I tell you.
Plan my Writing
One of the things I struggled with as part of the writing process was what topic to write about next. I didn’t really have a plan.
Sure in the beginning I had articles from the past that I wanted to edit and publish immediately. I even had a few new topics that I was eager to discuss, but somewhere along the way I got lost.
This year my writing will be thought out and well planned. Like my new year’s resolutions or should I say lack thereof I plan to have a themed year. It’s most commonly called an editorial calendar in the writing world. Those readers with a keen eye this month have seen it as my theme or focus in November has been investing.
I look forward to having a themed written editorial calendar to keep me focused and not having to struggle with what’s next or a shiny new object that catches my attention to write about.
Putting Myself Out There
My focus this year has always been on my business. While I enjoy writing and sharing my story I think the best way I can help people is through my one on one financial coaching.
Despite some early struggles and internal battles I feel really confident that I am helping people get their financial lives on track. The satisfaction in helping other people succeed has been enormous.
Finding Clients
Almost all of my past and current clients have found me from simply putting myself out there. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a networking event where I hand you my business card and I accept yours. I’m sure business gets done in that way for many people, but that’s now how I want to do business. In fact I don’t own a business card to hand out. I’m also not a big fan of networking events. So I am staying true to myself.
My clients have come from sharing my story and relating to what I have gone through and was able to accomplish in paying off debt and saving money. The majority of my clients come to me online. But other clients I met have been at events or personal interests I have.
In person, no agenda, no business cards, just two people talking. Conversations often lead to sharing that I’m a financial coach and sharing a little of my story. I enjoy this, it’s natural to me. This just makes sense to me.
Always Go
The biggest and most important piece is I reached out. I showed up. I put myself out there.
What I learned this past year is that going to a specific event to “sell myself” as a financial coach really isn’t my thing. I’m excited to put myself out there more both online and in person. It could be more collaborations online or a book club meetup with fellow entrepreneurs. As a good friend of mine says about Glacier National Park, “Always Go”. I’m looking forward to adding that as part of my 2020 plans.
You never know if you are going to meet someone new that could be a client or business partner. Maybe it someone you meet that you can learn from or simply put a smile on your face in an otherwise day of being grumpy. I’m still working on the specifics and the goals based around this but getting out of the office once a month is a great start for me.
That’s going to become a big part of 2020. I want to challenge myself, feel a little uncomfortable, and try new things. I have a lot of brainstorming to do in the coming weeks so I’m excited to get started. Launch an online course, write a book, public speaking, I’m not putting anything off the table it’s time to explore and get away from the comfortable.
Getting Better
My number one goal in starting my financial coaching business is to help others get their financial lives on track. I want people to experience what the road to financial freedom feels like. The journey and effort it takes to get to a better place in your financial life and in many cases in your life overall is something I have experienced and it’s all worth it.
So for me it’s important that I get better every single day as a money coach. I want to better help and understand my current and future clients.
I plan to spend more time becoming a better coach. The specifics are not there yet as the brainstorming hasn’t officially started. However, training and development on becoming a better money coach, better processes and procedures to make helping clients easier, and continually learning about money and personal finance would be a great rough outline on where my current thoughts are leading me.
52 Weeks in a Row
I’m truly humbled to have this opportunity to explore what I really enjoy doing. I have the opportunity to do this at Even Steven Money. I’m really happy that I didn’t give up in the tough times and have a wonderful supportive wife to love and listen to my successes and failures.
Thank you to everyone who has stopped by the website, social media, read an article, shared my money coach page, or subscribed to hear more from me. I appreciate it.
My goal this year was to hit publish 52 weeks in a row. Now that this is week 53 I will celebrate. Really I’ll be working on more behind the scenes and taking extra time to make Even Steven Money a better place.
Don’t be a stranger. Check out past articles and sign up via email for new articles to come. Find me @EvenStevenMoney via social media pretty much everywhere. Add a comment. Send me an email. Message me to tell me about how you plan to get your financial life on track. I’ll see you in 2020.
Happy Holidays!