Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Welcome to Ignite.
I'm your host, Vicki Wright Hamilton and today we're diving into a powerful conversation that so many purpose driven professionals can relate to.
Overcoming the fear of selling what you create.
My guest today we are in for a special treat. Monika Thomas. As a licensed independent social worker, an award winning business owner and a creator of Social Work Success Path, a YouTube channel with over 31,000 subscribers which she helps social workers and therapists design fulfilling profitable careers through her company, Kendrick Connections Therapy center, she serves African American families impacted by trauma and helps professionals turn their expertise into into income and confidence. Now how many of us aren't looking forward to that? Monika, thank you for joining and welcome to Ignite.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Oh thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Awesome.
Let's start here.
Many entrepreneurs and professionals have really experienced and struggled emotionally and it's around the selling of themselves, their products, their services.
And I know during this segment I really want to explore how we can minimize the fear and self doubt that blocks our financial growth and purpose driven impact.
So Moniko, why does selling online feel so scary for new entrepreneurs and leaders?
[00:02:17] Speaker A: That's a really good question. And I think that when we talk about the online space, the online space is a lot different than traditional marketing spaces that we're used to. Oftentimes when we promote our businesses, we're used to word of mouth or just networking within our own communities. But when you talk about putting yourself out there online, you're in front of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people who can easily see your content and the things that you can create. And for a lot of business owners, one, it can feel overwhelming and two, they don't know where to start. And three, they get really nervous about the perception that people will have about them and their businesses. And when they don't feel like they have a really clear picture of what it is that they want to put out online and the image that they want to portray, oftentimes that holds them back from going all in on their ideas and doing the thing that they actually want to do. So oftentimes it literally just starts with being stuck in your head.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: Now you know what that says a lot. You know, we talk about getting stuck in our mindset and we know everything begins with mindset that if we don't have our minds right, we can't move forward.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Fears usually show up first when someone starts putting their offer out there.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: So one of the biggest ones is that people aren't going to buy it, that it's not going to sell that. You're going to put a lot of work in on the front end, creating the thing, doing graphic design, making your content, and then you put it out there, and then it's crickets. Nobody resonates with the message. It just kind of sits out there on the Internet. And then you're wondering, what did you do wrong? So that's one of the biggest things that I feel like business owners struggle with. And then also identifying, like, who actually needs this and where are the people who I want to identify who are actually going to show up and purchase the thing that I'm selling.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: You know, very important point. You know, I think that when we think about, you know, is it what I think that the person needs or is it really what they want? And addressing the need of your audience and saying it in the language that your audience can relate to, I think that's some of the hardest things in terms of doing. I know when I think about my own content and putting it out there, I'm always like, okay, this is what they told me their number one problem was. And I want to make sure that the content addresses it. And it's that fear of, will I hit it or will I not? What does that look like?
How can someone tell the difference between a healthy. Between healthy nerves and paralyzing fear?
[00:04:49] Speaker A: That's a really good question. So I really think that we should normalize fear because it's a natural emotion. Just like happiness, sadness, fear is designed to keep us safe. So our body is always scanning the environment for what it perceives to be a real threat or perceived threat.
So when you're putting yourself out there and you're nervous, that's a natural emotion. That's just letting you know that you're stepping outside of your comfort zone and your body saying, okay, hold on, wait a minute. This feels unfamiliar. I don't know that this is safe.
Now, your work as an entrepreneur is to begin to calm your nervous system and let it know that there is no threat here. We're totally fine. We can absolutely move forward on this. We're not going to be harmed. This is just us doing something different to step outside of where we currently are. So the way that we learn to calm our nervous system and talk back to all of those negative thoughts that come up to say, I'm not good enough. This isn't going to work. What if nobody buys? What if I have a lot of trolls on my content and I just get a lot of negative comments or people share it and Then I don't really like how I look. So when we overcome all of those fears, then we can begin stepping out and creating whatever it is that we want as long as we know how to quiet the noise within our head.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Okay, now you said a magic pill right there. And I need to know, do you have a prescription that we can go buy? A pill that will help us to say, calm our nerves?
It is so difficult when you are, especially when you're stepping out of your comfort zone. I've never done this before.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: I don't know how exactly I can.
Yeah, exactly. And all that doubt comes up and second guessing yourself and wondering if you're good enough. So the prescription is literally learning how to talk back to that negative self talk. So in the social work and mental health space, that's exactly what we call it. It's all of those negative things that you say to yourself about yourself. So the more that you can learn how to really question those thoughts, like, is this real? Like, am I really not good enough? You have to counter those thoughts because they're going to tell you things that aren't true. So you have to have a message that counters it.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Well, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna call Monica Thomas and I'm gonna say, now you tell me that this message.
Because it's like, oh my gosh, am I stepping out of my comfort zone? And I really don't know what's happening, what I'm doing. So I need to go to the expert. So I think that'll be my number. I'll just pick up the phone and dial you.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Right, right.
It's normal though. It's totally normal.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Can you share a personal or a client story about how confidence around sales changes everything?
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Yes. So it goes back to this whole idea of self doubt. Even when we have all of the degree, all the degrees, all the credentials, everything that says that we're qualified, we sometimes still don't think that we're good enough to put ourselves out there. And I experienced that with the client who I had recently. She's an empowerment coach. She is in the social work space, but she's not licensed yet. And she was really nervous about putting herself out there because she doesn't have her license. So we talk through all of those limiting beliefs that she had and I convinced her to just start making content. Just let people know about the work that you've done, speak to the impact that you've had with families and with the women that you work with and the transformation that You've been able to get with them. So she leaned more into her identity as empowerment coach, and she started making more content. And then from that, we created some offers for her to be able to promote online. Then since then, she's been able to generate over 100 leads on her content. And then she has a digital product that we helped her create that ties to a paid offer.
So all it really took was her believing that she didn't have to stay stuck in this identity of not being licensed. And once she stepped out of that, she was able to thrive and then create her own community.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: You know, is stepping out to see the art of the possible, as I call it, right? That art of the possible, that I can do this, Will I be able to do this? What does it look like? You know, how do I move forward? And I think it's great that as you're working with individuals and you're sharing that mindset and that confidence, there's nothing like having confidence to feel like, oh, my goodness, I can do this, this will be successful. But do you know how many entrepreneurs don't have that? And they feel lonely and they're out there going, oh, my gosh, what am I going to do? I feel like I'm just spinning and spinning and spinning, and so it just makes it more and more difficult. So the fact that you're able to work with people and be able to bring them back to that comfort zone, that's phenomenal.
It's just phenomenal as we continue to move forward. And that's why, you know, when I think about being an entrepreneur, what's one belief our viewers can adapt? Adopt today to feel more comfortable asking for the sale. How do you ask for sale?
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Well, first is believing that you have to believe in what you're selling. If you believe that you have something that is going to transform someone's life, that's going to make their lives better, that's going to enhance their life, that's going to improve it. You have to have enough belief in what you've created to know that it's going to get people the result that they're looking for. And the more that you have belief in it, then it's not about selling, it's about meeting a need, it's about providing a service.
So if you really switch your mindset of I have to sell this, I have to sell this to know you're not focusing on the sale, you're focusing on meeting a need, helping people overcome a challenge or a difficulty in their life or to Begin to see something in themselves that they didn't see before.
So if you're able to help them make that transformation from where they are now to where they want to be, then whatever you have is sales itself. So you just have to focus on taking people along that path in that journey, and then the more you can talk to them about what is it going to look like on the other side, you don't really have to focus so much on selling the thing.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: You know, I'm gonna have to try that, because I'm gonna tell you, a person that hates to sell, it's like, oh, my gosh, is somebody. Because you don't want to be known as that person. Okay, here they come. They come in to sell something. Oh, they come in.
They're coming to do something. You get to that point is like, okay, I know what I have is Val.
I know that what I have can help you. But it isn't for free money, right? It's an investment, you know, and it's that. That fear of asking for something. It's like, okay, I got this great tool. It'll do this, It'll do that. You're all hyped and excited, and then it comes down to, but the investment is a thousand dollars. You know, the investment is. And it's like, you're like, oh, my God, will they want to pay it? Will they pay it? And that. That ability to be able to say, as you're talking about, just don't look at it as selling, but giving value.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: It's absolute value. Because imagine if you had changed. The mindset of what you were selling is you were in a room of. A room full of people who had just finished a 5k run and you had water to sell. You would not be shrinking down and saying, oh, do they want this? You would know. You would feel confident. Like, I know that they need this water because just ran this entire time. I know that they're thirsty, so let me give them something that I know is going to help quench their thirst. And you wouldn't be scared to sell it. You would be honored that you can help them along the journey to finish out their race. So that's how you have to look at the. The products and the services that you sell. It's not that you're pestering people. You're not bugging people. If you put your product in front of people who want it, who need it, and who see it as a benefit for them, you don't have to be scared. And oftentimes they'll come to you asking for it because they see the value in it.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Wow. You know, great, great tips and advice. We'll be right back. And coming up next, Monika is going to share how to break through the fear of earning more for your expertise and start getting paid for your purpose. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Ignite. Want more of what you're watching?
Stay connected to Ignite in every NOW Media TV favorite, live or on demand, anytime you like.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in both English and Spanish.
Now for those of you that prefer to have a podcast, you can catch us on our website at www.nowmedia.tv.
from leadership and business to lifestyle and culture, Now Media TV is a streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are now. Welcome back. I'm joined again by Monika Thomas. And in this segment, we're going to tackle a common internal conflict among many, many professionals.
The fear of earning more for what you know.
So many people who want to serve others feel guilty when it comes to making money, as if profit and purpose can't coexist.
This conversation explores how professionals, especially those in helping industries, can shift from guilt to empowerment and give themselves permission to profit from their purpose.
So, Monika, why do so many professionals feel conflicted about earning income from their purpose?
[00:14:43] Speaker A: Well, I think it's a lot of different reasons. But one of the major reasons, I think it has to do with our perception that we have of money, the way that we've grown up traditionally thinking about money, how you acquire money, the fact that, you know, money doesn't grow on trees, that you have to be frugal with your money, that that is not enough money to go around. So when we have these very limiting beliefs around money, we sometimes project our own limiting beliefs about money onto other people. Like if I ask them for this, maybe they can't afford it or maybe it's too much or maybe I'm overcharging. So instead of you identifying the value of what it is that you're selling or whatever it is that you've created, you're allowing your limited belief about what you think other people can afford to determine your prices. And that's not what you want to do because you don't know other people's capacity to pay.
So when you're thinking about what it is that you want to create, you want to again remove all of these mental health roadblocks that get in the way. And one of the biggest one is Your limiting belief around money, you know.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: And, and you say something that's really, really true. But it's something that someone said to me once. Don't spend other people's money.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: You know, it's none of your business. Don't go and try to spend their money. You don't know what they can afford or what they want, or more importantly, what they value.
And that's the key. You know, what does it mean to run a heart centered business that still gets paid well?
[00:16:15] Speaker A: So when I think about running a heart centered business, it's really about you defining your values first.
So you're doing things that matter to you not because they're profitable or not because they could potentially make you a lot of money. Because we know a lot of people who run businesses that are successful, but they're not happy in the business business or if they can turn it over tomorrow, they could. Or it's gotten so big and beyond them that it's turned into something that they never really wanted to create.
So when you have a heart centered business, you always start with your why. So what are, what are all of those motivators that keep you focused and that keep you grounded and centered on the things that matter to you? So when I talk about your, your values, those things that define what matters to you, I talk about the things that you feel personally are good, fair, right, wrong, just unjust, okay, not okay, acceptable and unacceptable. So we all have a set of values where we believe those certain things that everybody should have access to affordable housing or no one should have to go without clean water. So whatever those values are, you then build your business around those value systems and around those things that matter to you. Or everyone should have access to an Internet that works in a way to build and grow their business. So because that's what you believe, then you build your business off of those principles.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so important because nobody's gonna love your business as much as you do. So if you don't love it, that means that it's hard to show that value to others. So, so, so, so true. What's the biggest mindset shift you had to make in your own journey about earning online?
[00:17:55] Speaker A: I would definitely say that it was the mindset shift for me. I knew that when I first started online, I saw people in other industries making money on the Internet. I saw people building super profitable YouTube channels, I saw people in all different types of industries, but I didn't see anyone really in the mental health industry that looked like me that made it Feel like it was doable for what I wanted to accomplish.
So I had to overcome this idea that what I wanted is possible because I thought it wasn't going to work. I didn't think my channel was going to grow. I didn't know that anyone would buy my offers when I first put them out there on social media. So I had to overcome the idea that what I have is valuable. People will want to pay for it, and I can grow my social media following. I can grow this channel. And then the more that I started learning the strategy of it, and not just, like, wishing that it would happen, but really being intentional about planning out how it happened, then that's really when the growth started for me.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Well, you truly have done a great job growing. I mean, 31,000 followers. I mean, my goodness, on your YouTube channel. That's phenomenal. I mean, to be able to get to that point and have to overcome these things. Congratulations on that success. That is absolutely great.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Can you share a success story about someone who finally gave themselves permission to profit?
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Yes. So I recently worked with a client, and he's a mental health therapist, and he had been putting content out online for many years, and he had grown a really big following. Like, he was well known. He was being asked to speak at different events, he was on big stages, he was connected with brands, but he didn't have anything that he had established for himself. He didn't have a digital product.
So when I would talk to him, we had met at an event, and he was saying, I need to kind of get this put together because I know that there's some opportunity out there. So one of the things that I noticed about working with him was he had a lot of really good ideas, he had a lot of good content and people connected with him, but he had not drew in his audience in a way that they would want to buy what he had to sell. So we had to overcome the challenge of people congratulating him, saying, good job, you're an inspiration, to actually wanting to pull out their credit card and then actually purchase what he had to buy. Because it's a difference between people seeing you as aspirational and then people supporting you financially.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Can you talk a little bit more about that? Because I think that's a very pertinent point from the perspective that, you know, you get people that like you, people that say, great job, or, oh, you hit the point right on the head. But then nobody's spending anything, buying anything, Even when you put things out there. Can you Talk a little bit more about that.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Yes. So a lot of times what that is, is you've conditioned your audience and that's what you have to learn. When you are online and you put certain types of content out there, you're conditioning your audience to expect certain things from you, which means they're not expecting you to sell. They're not expecting you to put forth an offer. They're not expecting you to ask for anything. They're just expecting you to put your lifestyle out there. The things that you enjoy, the things that matter to you, updates about what you have going on with your life. So if you're not building your content online, where you're conditioning your audience to buy from you, where you're taking them along what we call a client journey, meaning you're introducing them to what you created, you have some models and frameworks that you put together to help them with the transformation in their life. They're always going to look at you like, like the inspiration and not as if someone who can help them overcome the challenge that they have in their life.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Well, do you have any advice to help our viewers who are trying to make that transition? They're they having fear around monetizing their mission and truly may water it down because of it. What can you help our viewers understand?
[00:21:57] Speaker A: So one of the major things that I learned when I first got online was you sell by listening, you sell by listening. You sell by listening. So you want to listen to what are people having conversations about? What are the challenges that they're talking about? And then how can you create an offer that aligns with that challenge that they see as an option and a solution that they absolutely need? And then you want to have an emotional tie to it because you don't want them to perceive it as something that they can do without, like, oh, I'll do it later. You want it to be immediate and you want it to be urgent.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: Great, man. Your insights are so empowering for viewers who want to connect. Where can they find your videos, your programs, your courses, everything about you?
[00:22:43] Speaker A: So you can find me under my name, Man Thomas, on my website, as well as my YouTube channel. So that's where I'm most active, is on Instagram as well. So if you look on any social media platform under Man Thomas, is where you can find me.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: Wow.
You know, I think this has been such valuable and powerful content.
I mean, I hope the listeners are truly writing down. You're really giving some great nuggets to help us to overcome this.
Well, coming up next, we're going to talk about how to use what you already know as your exit strategy from the earn spin worry cycle. So we'll be right back.
Welcome back to Ignite. I'm here with the great Monika Thomas. And now we're talking about one of her specialties, leveraging what you already know to break free from the earn spin worry cycle.
So many hard working people feel like they're doing everything right, but they're still not ahead financially. The money just isn't there.
Monika believes the key is to stop trading time for money and start monetizing your knowledge.
The conversation centers on using expertise, not extra hours to build scalable income through digital products, education, or consulting.
Monika, why do many people feel like they're working hard but still not financially ahead?
[00:24:31] Speaker A: I think it again comes down to the mindset issue. Because traditionally we've been taught that working hard equals success.
And it's not that when you get online that it becomes easier. You just learn how to work hard differently. So the way that we've been traditionally taught to work is you put in effort and you get the outcome. You put in effort and you get the outcome. When you start making content online and when you start putting yourself out there online, it's not the person who makes the most, it's the person who has the most leverage. So when you learn how to leverage what you know and then you're able to push that message out on multiple platforms, it's not about creating more, it's about stretching more out of what you already have. So for example, if we have this video, If I recorded 15 of these, yeah, I can record 15 videos of this episode or I could take this one video and chop it up into 15 different segments and then push it out on five different platforms. So when you learn how to leverage your expertise, it's not about working hard, but it's about working smarter.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: Okay, so Monika, when you start talking about and you bring up a very, very good point, point, you talked about multiple platforms, you talked about getting your content out there and splitting up. How do you know what to put where? I mean, there's confusion around how you even move that forward. Can you help us in terms of how we can leverage our expertise across those platforms?
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So before when I mentioned, when I said you sell by listening. When you're deciding to put your content out there to your audience, whoever that might be, you want to identify like where is your audience showing up? That's going to tell you the primary platform where you want to be so if you notice that majority of your audience is on Facebook, then that's where you want to start creating most of your content. So that would mean you can go into Facebook groups, for example, to see where people are spending the most of their time, or looking to see where your, what your target audience is sharing. Are they sharing Instagram reels? Are they sharing LinkedIn post that can let you know that they're spending a lot of time there. So that's where you want to identify one platform to put forth your most effort and have that be the place where you primarily make your content and then just push your content out to other places from there. But it's always centered around where your target audience is located first.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: So can we dig into that just a bit when we talk about what our audience is and where they're going now? You know, this may sound like a crazy question, but how do you research to know who's where and doing what? I think there's so much data and information out there that you get so overwhelmed. It's like, I don't know whether I should be on Facebook or I should be on Instagram. I mean, I can follow certain people and I see certain content out there, or I could be on Facebook. How do I know how to go research groups to go find out which ones are the most powerful? How do I know how to do this research to really understand?
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Well, if you want to know the questions that your target audience is asking and where they're hanging out, I highly recommend starting with Facebook groups. And the great thing about Facebook groups is you can search within Facebook groups. So that's going to give you insight into what questions are that, what questions are they asking?
Where are they sharing their links from? So you can actually type in Facebook, you can type in TikTok, you can type in Instagram, you can type in who, what, when, where, why, and how, which is going to give you some of those questions that are being asked. So you want to identify what are some of the interests of your target audience. So you should know who your audience is, the things that they like, the things that they enjoy, and then identify Facebook groups that could potentially align with that.
So if you're a Realtor, then you will want to find Realtor Facebook groups. If you're a baker, you will want to find cooking Facebook groups. So whatever those interests are, and then think about your own core group of people and the things that you talk about when you're in community with them, then that can also give you an idea.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: Okay, I Need to write those tips down. That's great. Especially I didn't realize you could search that you could go inside of groups and search who's there and what, when, where and how and all. I didn't realize you could do all that. That's a great, great tip. I know I'm gonna be using it. That's fantastic.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: So why is monetizing what you know such a powerful way to create freedom?
[00:29:02] Speaker A: So I believe that when you learn how to monetize what you know, which is basically making money from what you know, it's not about, again, your license, it's not about your certification. It's literally about you being able to take your life experience or something that you have had success in and then showing people how you did that and taking them along on that journey. So if you were a mom, for example, and you had your, your child had difficulty staying asleep throughout the night and you found a strategy or a way to hold your baby or something that really helped them get longer hours of sleep and then you started talking about that online, other moms would want to know, how are you doing that? How my baby is not sleeping throughout the night, they're waking up at 5am how are you doing that? So you take a real life experience that you have where you've gotten a result for yourself or a result for someone else, and then you can begin leveraging that and monetizing that experience.
And the value of that is you go from taking something that was just personal to you to you being able to share and help other people who struggled with the same thing. And that's really the value of monetization.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Wow. Can you share a story of someone who broke free from the earn and worry cycle using their own self skills?
[00:30:14] Speaker A: Yes. I mean, I would say my, myself. When I first, when I first started, When I first started my practice, it was during COVID We didn't know what was going to happen with the, the mental health industry. Everyone was switching over to telehealth. We didn't have the infrastructure in place to see clients. I had only had my practice open for, for two years. And you know, I was worried about what that was going to look like for me. So when I first transitioned on to making content online and creating my YouTube channel, I had to overcome those ideas and thoughts that like I said before, this isn't going to work. This is for everybody else. This is not for me. This is not going to work in the mental health and social workspace. Like I had to overcome all of those Mental challenges.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: Wow. What was your biggest inspiration in terms of turning that around, Monika?
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Mentorship. I had to get in community of people who I saw doing it, and then I had to believe that it was possible for me, just like it was possible for them. And one of the things when I was in the mentorship that they said, if you don't have enough belief in yourself, then you can borrow mine. And that kind of like stuck with me that if you believe that something has happened for you, but it's just not embedded deeply enough within you to believe that it's possible, then you have to surround yourself with people who see it more in you than you see it within yourself. And then you borrow their belief to believe that you can do it too. Until your belief is strong enough and you have enough results to say that this is possible for me, just like it's possible for them.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: How do you find these mentors? Tell the viewers a little bit about how they can go about finding these mentors to move forward.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Well, again, you can start with the Facebook groups, like I mentioned before, and then you can go on social media. So people don't know that YouTube and TikTok are really big search engines. Meaning? Well, YouTube is the second largest search engine outside of Google. So when you go on YouTube and you start searching for something, then a lot of YouTube channels are going to come up and people who specialize in that content, whatever it is that you want to do, oftentimes they might have a mentorship program or a course that you can take.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: Wow.
Okay.
So you'd have to continue, be a continuous learner, educate yourself and continue to go search and find so you can keep your knowledge up and find those that are also doing it so that you have others to mentor you through that, through that process.
That's great information.
What is a small step viewers can take this week to start building income on their own terms?
[00:32:46] Speaker A: I would say identify a niche. That's the first thing, because there's so many options of things that you can do. Identify what are those top skill sets that you have? What are the things that people always come to you asking whether you know how to draw, you can sing, you have pretty handwriting, and you're really good in Excel, spreadsheets, whatever that talent is that people always come to you for. Write those things down because that's your best leverage right there. And then from that, then you could start looking at opportunities, maybe through YouTube, searching for who can I connect with that are already doing something similar and just watch what they're doing? How do they position themselves? How do they talk about what they're doing? And then I would say write that down too, and just continue to learn through the process.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: You know, it's, I think it's so interesting because people think about, oh my gosh, if I'm doing something and somebody else is doing it, straight competition. And from my perspective is always that we can do the same things, but we all had different experiences. And our experiences of those journeys allow us to have our own little niche and switch to things that is not going to be like anybody else because nobody did our journey but us.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Plus Right, Exactly.
I'm sorry. And that's true. And not only that it's not competition, but it's validation in the marketplace that it actually works. So you don't have to worry about if is this going to work? Are people actually buying it? Is it going to sell? Because if you see someone else doing it, that's giving you validation that that's a viable idea.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: So you heard it right here, audience. It's not competition, it's validation.
I love that. It's not competition, it's validation. You then know what you're going after.
Other people are also going to want and do.
We'll be right back. And coming up, Monika is going is sharing why working more isn't the solution and what real scalability looks like in today's world. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Ignite.
Don't miss a second of this show or any of your NOW Media TV favorites, streaming live and on demand whenever and wherever you want.
Grab the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our lineup of both bilingual programs in English and Spanish. Now, for those of you that prefer podcasts, don't worry, we got you covered. Listen to IGNITE anytime on Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv.
from business and innovation to leadership and mindset, now Media TV is here 24 by 7, helping you grow and succeed.
As we close today's episode of Ignite, we're wrapping up with the myth so many professionals live by thinking that working harder is the way to succeed. And we heard Manika talk about that a little bit earlier.
But as Monika Thomas teaches, the real key to freedom isn't about ours. It's learning to build something scalable.
Overworking has become a badge of honor, but true leadership requires strategy, systems and scale.
So, Monika, why do you think so many ambitious professionals default to just work harder even when it's unsustainable yeah, that's.
[00:36:37] Speaker A: A really good question. And I. I think one of the reasons why it goes back to what you just said.
Oftentimes you have to work hard when you don't have systems in place to support the work that you're doing. So that when you put your system in place, that's the thing that makes your work repeatable and scalable. It keeps you from having to say the same thing over and over again, do the same thing over and over again, and it gives you a process to really look at where you are and whether or not it's working and successful. So once you learn how to create something one time and then systemize it, then you can begin looking at different data points within your system to say what's working, what's broken, what needs to be tweaked, where do we need to change things? And oftentimes we think because we're doing busy work and we're doing the things that we're actually being, we're progressing. But oftentimes we're holding ourselves back because we're having to do things multiple times, repeat it over and over again because we don't have systems in place.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: You know, I will say to you that I thought a lot about this. So as we start talking about generational differences and we talk about the challenges, you know, in my generation eons ago, you know, it was all about, you got to work harder, you got to be more, you got to show up more, you got to be smarter. It's about the hours at the desk. It's about how long they see you, and it gets ingrained in your head. Right. It's like, the only way that I'm going to be recognized is to be present and for others to see us and to get that mindset shift to say, well, now I'm going to go and do something for my own. How do I go from all this working hard, and I got to do this, and I got to be in and I got to make it happen. To actually thinking outside of the box is such a different paradigm shift.
And generations that come behind us are learning that, boy, do they know it well. They know how to take technology and make it work for them and make it faster and how to create those systems. So when we start talking about that, Monika, what are some of the differences between how you add more hours in terms of focus and getting it done versus creating what is really going to be scalable and reusable?
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So when you're first thinking about starting more out or creating more hours.
I still think it comes back to the mindset shift that needs to happen because even when you get more hours, you won't fully utilize those hours to the best of your capacity because you don't have those systems set up. So one of the things that you mentioned that I think is really key is before you start figuring out how you want to use your hours, think about how many of those limiting beliefs that you're carrying into the hours that you already have. Meaning, are you carrying ideas that, like you said before, that you have to be twice as good, that you have to be twice as smart? Because then that will mean that when you start creating things, you're never going to think that it's good enough and you're never going to launch it. You're never going to put it out there. You're always going to be revamping and tweaking and fixing and changing.
So with more hours, you want to do that with the right mindset. But in order to get the hours one, you want to be able to automate some things that are repeated, you want to be able to delegate things that other people can do, and then you want to fully eliminate things off of your schedule that can help free up your time. So once you've done those three things and you've done that mindset work, then you can fully utilize the time that you have to plan and create your offers.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: Awesome. For people in nine to five or service based roles, what does scalable income actually really look like?
[00:40:20] Speaker A: So scalable income means it's something that once you have a viable product, that a certain amount of people have bought it and purchased it, and you have validation that the marketplace wants this, then you keep repeating it over and over again and putting it in front of more people, more eyeballs, so more people see it and have the opportunity to it put buy it. So you always want to start with something small. Sometimes when people hop online, they think they should do paid ads or they think that they should buy into something that's really going to get them moving quicker and faster. They want to scale too quickly. But you always want to start with that viable idea and make sure that the market wants it. And then once you have maybe 15, 20, 30 people who bought that, then you want to begin to try to put it in front of more people, which might be a different platform or getting it in front of a different audience. And then you just continue to repeat that process.
[00:41:12] Speaker B: Okay. And so then you're actually going scalable at the same time. When you do that, that makes sense.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. And then you can also leverage other people's audiences. So if you have someone, how we talked about, it's not about competition, but it's validation. If you have someone else who's in your market and their audience is bigger than yours, then you can leverage their audience and put your offer in front of their audience, and you two can partner together, and then your offer can maybe be a part of what they already offer. So then not only are you getting your eyes in front of new people, but then you also are kind of coming into that community, and that's giving you some credibility.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, partnership is so important when we start talking about leverageability, because you're right, it's like, you know, you don't want to go to somebody else's audience and act like you're, oh, I'm better. I'm gonna try to steal your audience. But it's more about if we work together, you do this piece, I do this piece. And now we have a big spectrum and ecosystem that we can share and be able to help the audience as we move it. That as we're moving forward.
[00:42:14] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:42:15] Speaker B: So for people who are.
That are working from a perspective of the mindset shifts, something that you talked a lot about and helping them to move from being a doer to thinking like a digital CEO.
Talk to me a little bit about that process and what needs to be done to ensure that they can get to that mindset that we've talked about. But really getting to a digital CEO.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: Yeah. So I would say two things are crucial. One is absolutely mentorship. You have to connect with someone who is doing the thing that you want to do so that you can see as possible for yourself. And two, you want to read. You want to read books about digital marketing, you want to read books about entrepreneurship, you want to read books about how to put offers together, read books about marketing. Because that's what's going to help you make that shift from thinking like an employee to thinking more like an entrepreneur. Because when we think like an employee, we're used to being like the technician. So one of that concept of the technician comes from the book the Emit.
So that's one book that you can look into. So the technician is the person that's tinkering around in the business doing all the things. But when you become the CEO and the visionary, then you're not working in your business, you're working on your business because you need that big picture vision to drive it forward. So when you start reading books like the E. Myth, then it'll help you begin to make that mental shift. Because we're traditionally taught about how to make something work in the thick of it, but that's not the mindset and the mentality that you need when you're becoming a digital entrepreneur.
[00:43:57] Speaker B: So, you know, we talk a lot about working in our business versus on our business. And you know, it's one of those things that when you're a CEO, it's like every day I should be spending so much time, you know, generating revenue and really figuring out what I'm going to do to bring the profits in and the money in and scalability. But when you're a chief everything officer, when you're first starting out, oh my gosh, how am I ever going to get out of this rut and really trying to figure out how do I get from working in my business to on my business? Can you talk a little bit about startups from that perspective and what that means?
[00:44:32] Speaker A: Absolutely. So you definitely want to start with the budget, see what you can afford, because there are ways for you to get affordable help without it breaking the bank. So you don't have to start with a full team of people, but you absolutely want to be able to, how I talked about automate, delegate and eliminate. You absolutely want to be able to delegate some of those tasks that don't keep you in your wheelhouse. Because if you're not a graphic designer and you're spending all your time on Canva or Publisher Pro or wherever you are, you're not an editor and you're on Adobe Premiere Pro doing all the things, then you're taking away the time from the thing that you can actually be doing with your expertise. So I would say think about what are some of the things that you can delegate and find some really affordable and low cost ways to offset those costs, which can be again, Facebook groups to find a virtual assistant that can help offset the cost for you.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: Fantastic. Monika, this has been incredibly powerful. Where can people follow your journey, learn more about social work success path and explore your programs and digital courses.
[00:45:36] Speaker A: So again, you can find me on all social platforms under my name, Manika Thomas. And then as well as my YouTube channel, that's where I make the most of my content. My website, manikatomas.com is also where I have some of my programs there, but it's primarily through my YouTube channel.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Monica, thank you for such an insightful and empowering conversation.
You've shown that confidence, clarity and courage can transform not only your business, but. But your life to our viewers. Remember, the goal isn't to work harder. It's to work wiser, with purpose and balance. Whether you're building a practice, starting a brand, or just dreaming big, your next step begins with belief. I'm Vicki Wright Hamilton, and this has been Ignite, where we fuel leadership, growth, and transformation. See you next time.
