A few years ago I found the perfect coach! She dazzled me so much I signed up for her group coaching program. I was under her spell!
For like a month…
All the artsy creativity and pizazz that was in HER was NOT in the program. I felt duped. I’ve gotten pretty good at vetting online marketers so how did I not see thru the smoke and mirrors this time?
I know I’m not alone, you’ve probably fallen prey to a Merlin or two. It’s a trick the pros play BUT, I know their secret. And I’m going to share it with you… For $1499.00.
Just kidding.
My first step into understanding how I was charmed was when I went deep into Megan Macedo’s Artist and Business Paradigm work. If you’re not familiar with it, let’s review.
A paradigm is a set of rules to play a game. If you play soccer with basketball’s rules you’re gonna be a really shitty soccer player.
Remember BlockBuster video and DVD rental? They made like 20% of their money from late fees so they didn’t want to get into Internet streaming. They chose to play with the old rules and folded faster than tortillas on Taco Tuesday.
The Artist Paradigm is about doing what Macedo calls your “real work”. The focus is on doing your art and focusing on what makes you come alive.
The Business Paradigm is about profits and the needs of the market. This can be important and very handy but it’s #2 in my book.
Just so you know…
The coaching program I took wasn’t bad and I don’t have any ill feelings towards it or the peeps who sold it. Some people got a lot of value from that program. Why didn’t I?
If you’ve bought a course before and if what you bought seemed different from what you received, this may be true for you too.
You ready to find out what I learned?
Here it goes…
Most people sell you in Artist Paradigm but they teach you in the Business Paradigm.
I’m gonna repeat that.
Most people sell you in Artist Paradigm but they teach you in the Business Paradigm.
Now just let that sink in…
When I purchased that coaching program I resonated with the founder’s story. She was an artist who wanted more. She learned the skills and developed the confidence to play a bigger game.
Who wouldn’t want to learn from her?
But when I signed up I didn’t get HOW she did it, I got her SYSTEM. It was full of spreadsheets, goal setting, numbers, scaling, almost all Business Paradigm stuff. Her coaching program may have been great for me had I enrolled in it 5 or 10 years ago.
I have a friend right now that is doing what I used to do. She’s taking courses, traveling to conferences, using new technologies and is overly BP focused. She won’t admit it but she’s tired. And more importantly she’s not getting what she wants.
It’s like how contestants lose weight on The Biggest Loser TV show. After you cut your calories to 1200 a day and do more cardio than a cheetah, almost none of the contestants can sustain their results. A former contestant said they’ll never do a reunion show because almost all contestants gain ALL of the weight back.
So what was the solution to my problem? What did I eventually learn?
I realized the answers to the big problems need to come from within. Fulfillment is about loving what you do and who you become.
At least once a day you need to slow down and make space for quiet time (meditation, etc.) and connect with your inner YOU. You’re connecting to intuition, source, god, that feeling in your gut, etc. Use whatever term you want.
If not, you’ll keep being bewitched by the Business Paradigm. And let me tell you, the Business Paradigm ALWAYS has stuff for you to DO and BUY!
You can get more done if you buy this program!
You’re sucking wind cause you need SEO.
Why are you not posting on TikTok 5 times a day?
These are tactics and they work. You can even do these tactics in an artful way. The best pros do! But my point is, tactics don’t create fulfillment. Tactics don’t put you in the right direction to do your REAL WORK.
When you get quiet and get answers from the inside you’ll know you’re on the right track and it will ‘feel right’.
When my mother-in-law moved in with us she started doing all the laundry in the house.
Older me is ok with it but back then it was weird. She didn’t ask permission, she just did it. I was ready to paint one of those wording spells from Supernatural on my bedroom door to keep her away.
My wife was ok with it though. I later learned this was one of those little “boundary issues” that she grew up with. This was her paradigm and she was used to it. Apparently I just had to catch up…
Paradigms in your business are the same way. They establish and define boundaries so you know how to behave in order to be successful.
I mention Megan Macedo’s Artist and Business paradigms a lot because if you’re a Creative and if you try to grow your business with the traditional Business Paradigm you may not love ‘following your dream’ much.
This is why…
Because of what you have to DO to DO the work. What do I mean by this? Let’s say you’re a Financial Coach and you bought into building your business with YouTube or TikTok.
Nuttin’ wrong with YouTube.
Ain’t nuttin’ wrong with TikTok.
Nuttin’ wrong with video.
But if you don’t enjoy video or if you can’t stand editing, uploading, or posting everyday you will enjoy that process about as much as a flesh eating virus.
Before you know it you aren’t “marketing”, your money slows, and you start telling people how you couldn’t make it as financial coach. Or how it’s the economy…
Or Putin.
Or Millennials.
That’s why opened up enrollment for Attractor Factor BootCamp: The Spiritual and Practical path to the Money for Creative Entrepreneurs.
It’s four lessons over four weeks and if it does not transform how you attract clients and money you don’t have to pay anything.
Zilch.
Zero.
Nada.
If the experience worth it to you, you can pay at the end and receive two coaching sessions with yours truly to help you implement and stay on course.
When I stopped freelancing and started my own company I was determined to succeed. I devoured every book, course, video, and blog post I could get my hands on. I learned tons but my results were sketchy. Not to mention most of the new marketing techniques I was using felt like a wool suit that was two sizes too small.
Eventually I developed my own sales and marketing style. It was different than just about everything I came across but it worked and (most importantly) felt right. I knew I was on to something but I didn’t know why.
That is until I heard Megan Macedo talk about the Business Paradigm (BP) and the Artist Paradigm (AP). Megan’s paradigm busting philosophy set my mind on fire. She helped me connect the dots as to why some content was amazing for me and why some was about as useful as my old Sony Walkman.
Paradigms, Shifts, and What To Do When They Break
First, what the hell is a paradigm? In Joel Arthur Barker’s book Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future, he said a paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that do two things: It establishes and defines boundaries; and it tells you how to behave inside the boundaries in order to be successful.
“A paradigm, in a sense, tells you that there is a game, what the game is, and how to play it successfully.” So, when you ‘shift’ or break a paradigm, you have a new game and new rules.
This means if you’re trying to get your coaching business going, or if you sell courses, or want to take your biz to the next level, you need to know which rules to play by.
My goal in writing this is to give you the tools to:
Enjoy marketing.
Play a bigger game!
Earn more money.
Turn your clients and prospects into fanatics.
The Business Paradigm
When most people start a business they instinctively use the Artist Paradigm. The problem is gurus, most schools, and just about all companies follow the rules of the Business Paradigm.
Macedo said the rules of the traditional Business Paradigm say:
The thing that counts is the work you get paid for.
Your number one job is to serve the market and build the business.
The guiding question is, “What will generate a profit?”
Maybe you’ve heard some of Business Paradigms greatest hits? BP people love to talk about:
Scaling.
How rich you’ll get.
Metrics.
SEO
Often while using over-blown used car-salesman like hype! I don’t mean to rag on the Business Paradigm but… Well, maybe a little.
Scaling and those things DO have their place. And honestly Business Paradigm tactics are the safest way to build your business. That’s why there’s so many experts selling you their products.
For Linkedin marketing you need this…
For Facebook marketing you need that…
For Facebook Messenger marketing you need this…
Products like these are OK but this type of approach is ALL REACTIONARY. Internet gurus will have you buying their apps, books, and courses FOR-EV-ER! It’s like Groundhog Day but the money in your checking account keeps getting smaller.
The Business Paradigm is based on setting up a system so you can get away from the work (hire a manger, contractors, employees, etc.) and build the next thing. Or go hang out on an island with Tim Ferriss. The Artist Paradigm is the exact opposite. It’s about getting deeper into the work.
The Artist Paradigm
In the Artist Paradigm, Macedo’s rules are:
The thing that counts is your real work, your art, the work you care deeply about that only you can do. Questions about which parts of that work you can get paid for are important but they come later.
Your number one job is to serve the work and build a body of work you can be proud of.
The guiding question is not “What will generate a profit?” The guiding questions is, “What’s worth doing even if it fails?”
How many coaches do you know that coach just to make a buck? I’m sure they’re out there but I haven’t met any. The coaches I know do it because they know something that can help people and they want to share what they know.
This is true about most artists and skilled producers like photographers, consultants, make-up artists, marketers, trainers, web developers, etc. Most photographers I know didn’t turn pro because the world needs more photographers, they did it because they love photography.
For years I wasted time focusing on Business Paradigm stuff and NOT building a body of work to be proud of. For a while I was consumed with…
What will make the biggest profit?
What does my market really want?
What’s my exit strategy?
I’d built it, little or nothing would happen, and then I’d start over. I felt like a dog chasing it’s tail—with NONE of the satisfaction. Creating a product and building my business around it didn’t work for me. Instead I focused on my message, passion, inspiration, and desires FIRST, and then went after my audience.
Some of us are naturally suited more towards one paradigm than the other. For example I think Las Vegas real estate developer Steve Wynn is an excellent leader. He’s creative and he’s got epic vision and good taste. He’s also a Business Paradigm guy. What he does is wonderful but I’m not built like him.
My DNA is 100% Artist Paradigm! The AP is more fundamental and it’s more aligned with creativity and the laws of nature. AP leaders that I model are people like Stan Lee, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, and Hugh Hefner. They had a vision for a change they wanted to make, then they spent much of their lives making it happen.
The Artist Paradigm guide to getting your shit together
1. Your work is 100% selfish. You do it for YOU and your own curiosity and desires. I draw everything from superheroes to bikini models and I read marketing stuff everyday. I do it because I love doing it. Not because the market needs more of it.
2. Your marketing starts with you and your story. How did you get here? It doesn’t have to be a big and awe-inspiring rags to riches tale either. Copywriter John Carlton said this could be as simple as three sentences.
You just need: The set up, the action, and the resolution—and you can expand on them later. This is important because anyone can copy your site or your product or service but they can’tduplicate your story.
3. Be bold and clear about what you do and the problem(s) you solve. Are you a Weight-loss Coach or do you help women over 40 lose 20 pounds or more? Simplify it and make it so clear an 8 year old would know what you do.
4. Stand for something. The marketplace is overcrowded and very noisy. Communicating what you stand for sets you apart from all the clones and wanna-bees out there who are trying to be everything to everybody.
For example look at The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah’s goal was to bring light into her viewer’s lives. She knew that would never happen while she was doing shows on the KKK and husbands who cheated on their wives… So she changed! And whether it was her talk show, book club, or cable network her goal remained the same.
Standing for something matters because it connects you to your audience on a deeper level. It will attract like minded people who will love your message and want to rally behind it. And then when you connect it to your service or offer, it takes the hard selling out of the equation.
Simon Sinek Was Right
Simon Sinek’s famous TED talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action is must-see TV—his presentation has over 57 million views! In his talk he explains why some leaders and companies inspire and form bonds with customers and why some don’t.
At the heart of Sinek’s message is this: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Your WHY is bigger than WHAT you are selling.
“The reality is, strengths can be copied. It’s true for your company, and also for you. Products can be replicated. Benefits can be improved upon, secret formulas uncovered, winning systems beaten. People can outdo your strengths. But nobody can outdo who you are. Your personality is the only aspect of your work that nobody can copy. People can copy your product, your pricing, your actions, your recipe or program or formula. But they can never replicate who you are. Who you are is the greatest differentiator you’ve ever had.”
― Sally Hogshead
It’s easy to look at industry juggernauts and think they had it easier than we do today. Oprah didn’t set out to own a network or have a book club in the beginning. She only had her WHY and she was using Artist Paradigm thinking…
“What do I care deeply about and what’s worth doing even if it fails?”
She wanted to inspire people so that decision led her from being a news anchor to hosting AM Chicago. Which led her to the Oprah Winfrey Show, which led her to starring in the movie the Color Purple, which led to…
One brick on top of another, on top of another, on top of another…
What work do you care deeply about? If you could choose a movement or right a wrong, how do your skills, beliefs, desires, and your personality make you unique to do it?
And once you start on this path something strange happens… Marketing gets easy! You send e-mails and people talk back to you and buy stuff. You stop getting ghosted for strategy sessions and appointments. People come to you!
I would love to tell you that the Artist Paradigm approach is the express elevator to wealth or success. It’s not. Honestly, it may take a little longer! But the difference is, your success is nearly guaranteed.
My first phone sales job was working for the phone company.
I could sell ok in person but I sucked at selling on the phone. I mean come on, how interesting is Call Fowarding?
With the help of my friend Bernard, I got good though. Cocky even. I liked that job about as much as I would like being Vladimir Putin’s food tester, but still…
When I made the switch to car insurance phone sales…no problem. I was like a fish to water.
When I switched to phone life insurance sales… Problem.
To help me suck less, my boss had me sit an hour with one the department’s best salesmen, Gus.
Gus was the perfect storm of great salespeople. He had the voice, the patience, the technical knowledge, and the charisma.
I learned a lot from Gus that day but what I really learned was, I’m NO Gus.
I struggled selling that companies’ products because my integrity couldn’t get behind their tactics.
As Chuck Woolery would say, there was no ‘love connection’ for me there.
When this happens there’s two ways to make the situation work. You can CHANGE what you do, or you can CHANGE the way you FEEL about what you do.
I changed what I did and skipped off to Marvel.
So everything was just unicorns and rainbows, right? Nope. It was still “work”. There was still stress. But the difference is…
It was worth it.
When people say, ‘do what you love’ that may sound a little airy-fairy. And for most people that’s not entirely true. The key is doing work that’s valuable to you. Work that’s fulfilling. Work that fits into your lifestyle.
And when that happens, THEN you’ll find a way to love it.
I read a post the other day by an info marketer who struggled with getting leads. Just about any business on Earth can relate to this problem, right?
She said maybe she needed to create free weekly content, start a podcast, or maybe her team could do more on social media .
This gal is an accomplished info-marketer. So I was surprised she never mentioned e-mail marketing. Which is odd because e-mail still blows the socks off most digital sales methods. Especially over time. So I asked her about it.
She said, “I already crush at that.”
Even John Holmes would call that answer cocky…
After her response, I was out. Everyone else kept talking about SEO, funnels, limited time offers (LTO), and all the normal business paradigm stuff.
She may be “crushing” her e-mail marketing but I say she’s living in Mamby Pamby Land. You know why? Because she is NOT building relationships with her e-mail list if her sales are sucking wind.
She’s focused on finding a lot of people and saying YOU need to buy this before the sale price ends or before this bonus goes away. And before you know it you’re back head-hunting for more people.
You can run a business like this but it’s exhausting. Us artist paradigm types are different.
And when you use a Blockbuster approach and entertain and teach with your e-mails a strange phenomenon happens. Your readers actually give a shit about you and read what you say.
Maybe they buy maybe they don’t but they stay on your list. And the longer people stay on your list the more they usually buy.
I may not have a list the size of Tony Robbins’ but I can spot an e-mail marketing problem. I’m not a nutritionist either but I can tell you eating a box of brownies will make you fat.
I just call them like I see em.
If you’d like to know how I could help you attract super high-quality, clients who are fans of your work holla at me: https://adamstreet.net/contact-me/
