Stacy Stuff
Sometimes you just have to jump in the pool, and just hope there’s water in it.
It’s 4:52 am, and I’m wide awake, a full 18 minutes before my alarm goes off. Just laying in my bed, trying to talk myself into getting up, and walking downstairs to get on my bike.
Stacy's Nemisis
I know I should - I have 16 lbs to peel off, if I want to get into, well… any of my outfits that don’t involve leggings.
I know if I go get on that bike, my mind will clear, I’ll feel better mentally and physically. (Well, the physical part is debatable. Lately my knees have been sounding sort of… crunchy. That cannot be good.)
I’m up not because I’m worried or upset - I’m excited and nervous, like a little kid at Christmas. I’ve got about 400 things swirling around in my head. Will the prezi work? Should I have used powerpoint? Does the hand out jive with the prezi? Am I giving enough tools? Is there enough content for an hour? Do I have enough snacks for Arik’s lunch this week?
You see, I’m about to start testing my first ever product.
As some of you may have read, I decided last year that my business needed to make some changes - go back to basics, to our roots. And we did that. My partner, Shannon and I, have streamlined what we do, how we do it and with whom we work. We did it for what I think of as our “QuickBooks Division” - meaning the setup, clean up, training, payroll and bookkeeping services we offer. In other words, what I’ve been doing since I randomly scrawled “Kildal Services LLC” on my business registration form 11 years ago, because I couldn’t think of a better name.
Last December, when I started working with Laura Wooten on a marketing plan, I figured she’d help me with copy and redesign of my websites, she’d tell me how to market my services to targeted audiences, and give me a “marketing calendar” - guidelines for what I should do and when. She totally has, and she’s kicked some ASS doing it. She knows the professional circles I run in, she knows the landscape, she’s GOOD.
What I wasn’t expecting was her helping push the other “division” of Kildal Services LLC in a direction I really wasn’t expecting. After spending a day with her, just having her ask a jillion questions and the two of us brainstorming some stuff, we came up with a training program. The program came because in 2014, I really started doing more coaching/consulting with other ProAdvisors. Helping them with pricing, determining what apps would work best for them, advising on how to move to a more remote practice.
This is where Laura helped me see that I could combine both “divisions” - take what we’ve done with the QuickBooks side and combine it with the coaching side, to offer something that I’m so excited about starting. It involves actual tools that we use almost every day, when working with clients.
The first tier offers the tools. There are 11 documents that are vital to how Shannon and I interact with clients and get our work done, including an engagement letter, our QuickReview™ process, and our Base+ Billing structure.
The second tier is all of those tools, plus live webinars where I explain HOW we use the tools and weekly “office hours” for any help or follow up questions.
We’re still working out the top tier…
By the time my alarm goes off at 5:10am, I’m starting to hear that little voice. You know that VOICE, right? “Will it be good? Will they like it? Do I even know what I’m talking about? Will I sound like I’m just full of sh*t? What if this sucks? How the hell am I going to get back into those cute black dress pants? What if no one is interested in this whole program??”
I push that little voice aside - that voice that Arianna Huffington calls “the obnoxious roommate in your head” - get dressed and head down to my bike.
As I workout, I’m running through all of the last minute things. I need to zip up the files and send to my beta tester. I need to go through the prezi one more time. I need to finish up the presentations and handouts for weeks 4 & 5, and figure out what the content for the last week will even be... AND OH MY GAWD I THINK I NEED NEW KNEES.