7 Steps to Replace Your 9-5 Income with Christine McAlister
Episode 255: Show Notes
On this edition of the The Strategy Hour we have a very special guest, Christine McAlister, founder of Life With Passion and author of the new book The Income Replacement Formula. Christine’s business is dedicated to helping hopeful entrepreneurs transition from their day jobs to owning the business of their dreams, and boy, do we love her for it! It is a challenge that almost all business owners have to face and doing it correctly can be so tricky. That’s why Christine’s service is so important!
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During the episode we go over the steps that Christine lays out in her book and she details each step with great information to get you started and excited about this shift. We talk mindset, marketing, visibility and much more that you are not going to want to miss! Our guest has one of the longest and most diverse lists of achievements we have ever seen: Olympic broadcaster, horse mother, raising service dogs...amongst other things! So do we even need to say how excited we are to have her here? The point of this episode is to start you on the path where you can quit the slog and start working on your passion full time. Let’s jump right in and get started!
A Little About The Income Replacement Formula
Christine has always had a passion for creativity having studied film and media in her undergraduate degree. In her college days she started to create this idea of breaking the stereotype of the starving artist. She has continuously strived to show what is possible for creative and passionate women in today’s world of entrepreneurship. Christine saw the choices available to entrepreneurs can very quickly become overwhelming, and picking a strategy when you are literally bursting with ideas is not always the most natural thing. That’s where her work comes in and saves the day! As entrepreneurs, these decisions are all the more difficult due to our investment and passion for the business we are trying to run.
In fact, Christine’s first taste for this type of work happened when she helped her college boyfriend escape his 9-5 and start a business that he still runs today! Way to go Christine! The first piece of advice and the primary step in Christine’s framework is to just make a decision. This is so important because once you have made your decision, you can make anything happen. That surety and belief will lead to new opportunities presenting themselves that would otherwise remain hidden. Often we are held back from really diving in, not because we are scared to put in the work, but because we are too shy to ask people to pay for what we are offering. Once you have decided and committed yourself, this will all become much easier. You have to know what you are doing is worth being paid for!
The High Achiever Mindset and Burnout
When moving from a 9-5 into the entrepreneurial universe, you do not want to just replicate the feeling that you got from your employment, one of scarcity and external pressures that do not fulfill your soul. Christine admitted to us that though she had a successful first business, but due to her mindset at the time she experienced a high level of burnout after a short period of time. So even when you love what you do and are sure this is where you would like to be, your mindset really needs constant attention in order to manage the challenges thrown at business owners.
One of the important questions is to know how and when to pivot from the day job that you do not want. Of course this can be really scary, leaving the safety and security of the career you have built and being sure it will be better doing your own thing. This is one of the challenges and you really should only be pursuing this path if you feel that burning desire. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but if you believe you can do it and that it’s what you want then chances are, it is for you! It’s really all about unlocking new levels, powers and skills and becoming a badass business owner is just another skill that you have to learn that they do not teach in school!
Niching Down and and Figuring Out Your Offer
The next step in Christine’s plan is to niche your business down. As we have said many times on past episodes, making your business appeal to everyone is almost never a good idea. The more unique and specific you make your offering, the more certain people will connect with and love you! Aim for a specific audience and chisel away until your business is razor sharp! The other aspect niching down helps with is laying out your path, when you have found your niche the next steps in your process will be much clearer to you, we promise! There is a common feeling that narrowing your business too much is a limiting exercise which will lead you to avoiding specific audiences and markets by not catering to them. Take it from us, if you do not define and set your work apart no one will really take notice! You have to make yourself the go to person for a specific type of service or product, be the standout business that provides that thing! Once you have that down you can start thinking about pricing and how to sell yourself. A good place to start is to always to try and match what you were making at your 9-5 so get out those calculators and figure out what your starting rate should be so that you do not have to suffer. From there you can build and increase your price as you see fit, but just get that foundation in the beginning and do not be scared to ask for what you are worth!
Being Brave, Stepping Out and Marketing
The next big thing is marketing. Now we all know how important marketing is because how else are people going to hear about you? You have to get yourself out there and take your work seriously. A huge factor in this is surrounding yourself with those people that aid this process. You do not want to be surrounded with friends and family who indulge you or hold you back from succeeding in your dreams. Find those people that will push and support you in the way you and your business needs! Oftentimes those close to us will be scared for themselves when the changes you make challenge their preconceptions about work and success. That’s okay, but do not let their feelings determine your path! Connected to the idea of marketing is the next step, visibility. Once you have put your name out there you have to take the measures to make sure you are seen by the audience you are aiming for. You have to go beyond the warm markets of people know you and become visible in those colder areas, if you want your business to really grow. This can initially be very simple, you do not need to start out with the craziest strategy, just cover your bases and get your name out!
Get the Wind in Your Sales!
The last point and the most important bottom line is obviously sales. None of this matters if you are not making sales, the lifeblood of your business. These sales can happen in a multitude of ways but there is no getting past that they have to happen. You can do all the preparatory work and planning that you like, but if money is not changing hands, you cannot really call yourself an entrepreneur. Find your own way and style of selling, one that suits your genuine self, that way it will feel true and sustainable. A great tool in this process is to find business heroes you feel a strong connection to and take a lesson from the way they do things. From there you can build your own perfect business, step by step and brick by brick!
Quote This
Once you make a decision, it literally gives your brain the ability to start looking for the possibilities to bring it about.
—Christine McAlister
Highlights
A Little About The Income Replacement Formula. [0:04:09.4]
The High Achiever Mindset and Burnout [0:11:16.1]
Niching Down and and Figuring Out Your Offer. [0:18:18.9]
Being Brave, Stepping Out and Marketing. [0:29:22.3]
Get the Wind in Your Sales! [0:04:22.3]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:45:10.6]
Fricking Decide!
Master Your Mindset
Nail Your Niche
Pitch Your Offer
Marketing
Visibility
Sell!
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Christine McAlister
Life with Passion
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Christine McAlister is an entrepreneur, business coach and the author of The Income Replacement Formula: Seven Simple Steps To Doing What You Love And Making Six Figures From Anywhere. An expert on turning tragedy into triumph, she founded her company, Life With Passion, after the full-term stillbirth of her first daughter, Maeve. She's been featured in Inc., Business Insider, The Huffington Post, and the Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast. Christine helps high-achievers all over the world to quit and stay out of their 9-5s, by building businesses out of their passions. Christine and her husband and "rainbow baby," Fiora, live with their 2 rescue dogs, near their Arabian horses, in Louisville, Kentucky.
KEY TOPICS
Day Jobs, Freedom, Self Belief, Decisiveness, Mindset, Niching
