Our goal is to bring you something you’ve probably not seen before in the digital space: raw, honest conversation centered around a multidimensional definition of wealth.

To support the launch of this project, we’re building the conversation space from the ground up. Last week, we traded posts on the fundamental pillars of the idea of “reclaiming wealth.” This week, we’re attempting to frame up the experience of the project.

We’re experimenting with opening the collaborative process to the public.

And we’d love for you to be a part of this conversation.

Check out progress so far and invite your friends: click here!

Want to know what comes out of my group coaching sessions? This.

Caffeinated Buddha moniker by Leah Quinn. Drawing by Carrie Keplinger.

Join me for a FREE webinar

Title: Making Money is Beautiful

Description: Bust 7 myths about the art of making a living with work that you love. Discover what making MORE means in the New Economy. Learn to embrace a different kind of “new normal.” This is a reprise of my Hello Etsy talk at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Date & Time: Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 8:00 pm EDT

Click here to register!

Reading this via email? Love you! The finger painting hereto mentioned is a
video I created about The Art of Earning LIVE at Teahouse Studio. Check it out!

I was also tickled pink to be featured in a US News & World Report article yesterday on Mastering the New Freelance Economy alongside my heroes Chris Guillebeau, Pam Slim, Ramit Sethi, and Tory Johnson.

I’m often asked to share my schedule of classes, events & course offerings months in advance. The part of me that demands flexibility is all things wants to cry at the thought of such rigidity. The much more rational and caring part of me thinks that’s a pretty damn good idea.

So, here’s the shake down through December 2011.

What Tara has up her sleeve through the end of 2011:

BlogHer – August 5-6, San Diego: I’ll be attending and teaching at BlogHer this year. Imagine 3,000 she-bloggers who are passionate about everything from victims’ rights to attachment parenting to cooking to technology. This is a diverse group of influencers people. I’ll be teaching about building digital products from your blog, along with Tara Mohr and Megan Auman. There are still tickets left if you’d like to attend! Otherwise, stay tuned for links to the live blog of the workshop.

Website Kick Start – begins August 30 (6 weeks): My signature program on learning WordPress & creating your own website is back for the Fall. This year, I’m kicking things off with a FREE teleseminar on how to prepare for building a website. Want to join me? Sign up here.

I’m also excited to say that I’m bringing on a new team member as a dedicated support person for this course!

Your Novel Business – group coaching program – begins September 6 (4 weeks): This is an intensive group coaching program for those who already have a business but are looking to up the ease factor in a creative & intuitive way. Business owners who engage their vision & imagination attract committed customers, create products/services that sell themselves, and strategically plan for success. This course is LIVE and limited to 12 participants. Want more info? Sign up here.

I’ll be running this program again in November.

BlogHer Handmade – September 15, Minneapolis: I’m attending & teaching at Blogher Handmade, as well! This time I’m talking about advanced strategies for “monetizing” (ugh… I hate that word) your blog. This event is part of The Creative Connection Event (which got rave reviews in its inaugural run). You game? Register to attend here.

The Art of Earning LIVE – September 24-25, Berkeley, California: This workshop will bust the myth about the need to be a starving artist. On Day 1, we will discuss how creativity is the most in demand skill on the planet and how you can “get right” with what that means for your pocketbook. On Day 2, we’re getting personal & taking a look at YOUR business and it’s potential for profit & growth. This workshop will be informative & interactive – and maybe just a little gut churning. Leave your money hang-ups at the door and learn how to embrace your personal worth as an artist (of any sort!). Find out more here.

Yet-to-be-titled Blogging Bootcamp – November: This one is still under wraps. But I can tell you that I’ll be co-teaching an intensive virtual workshop on taking your blogging practice to the next level – both technically & spiritually. I’m excited about this and I think you should be too! No sign-ups yet… but put it on your wish list for November!

Looking around the ballroom, everyone gathered & buzzing with excitement (and coffee, it is the Northwest after all!), it was clear to me that there were only 2 types of people in this room:

1. Leaders
2. And those on the cusp of becoming leaders.

That’s one exciting revelation for me. I really wanted to run on stage, grab the mic, and tell everyone what amazing leaders I saw sitting around me. I didn’t…. maybe next year, Chris?

Last week, I spoke with Sinclair about a lack of leadership in the entrepreneurs around me. They’re struggling to find their voice, struggling even more to be heard, and therefore struggling with cash flow. She agreed: a major stumbling block in making a business work is accepting your role as a leader to others. It’s less that entrepreneurs are not leaders and more that they haven’t owned their own leadership yet.

Becoming a leader can be frightening. It means your opinions are trusted, your ideas are given weight, your voice is heard. That’s a lot of responsibility! But offering a product for sale or guidance for hire carries the same weight. You can’t avoid the responsibility and, if you try, you end up feeling a bit trampled.

If you’ve abdicated your position of leadership as a business owner, you probably have a difficult time prioritizing your work, you feel like you have to shout to be heard, and what little communication you receive is generally in the form of polite encouragement instead of cash. When you don’t act out of leadership, you feel subject to the flow of the system instead of a driver on your own wide open road. When you haven’t accepted leadership, you use qualifiers like “I think,” “in my opinion,” and “maybe” instead of unequivocally owning your beliefs.

Do you want to be qualified or do you want to be amplified?

When you accept your own leadership, your voice is joined by those who trust you and by those who support you. You are no longer listened to – your word is acted upon.

Being a leader isn’t about how many customers/followers/friends you have, it’s about shining out of the dark.

Being a leader also isn’t dependent on what your business is about. You can lead from any industry at any level, it’s a mindset not set of qualifications.

Accepting your role as a leader allows for your art – your voice – your change-making to be witnessed.

You, my friend, are at the cusp of a new dawn and we need you as a leader in this new day. We need a jolt of your power and a taste of your juice. We need you to bring forward new, crazy ideas. We crave your voice & vision.

Will you step up? Will you show up?

I’ll be speaking more about this & a whole lot more at Profit Catalyst in Portland in a few weeks. This event – organized by Sinclair & also featuring the brilliant Charlie Gilkey – will be like no other and the good news is you don’t even have to catch a flight to attend. Sinclair is offering a simulcast version (watch with us live!!) of the full event so that you can get activated, catalyzed, and edified about doing business in the 21st century right from the comfort of your very own home.

To get all the details on Profit Catalyst – both the LIVE and SIMULCAST versions – click here.

PS The first 10 peeps to click the link above AND register for the Profit Catalyst simulcast will also receive a free 1 hour coaching session with me to be used between August and September 2011 (a $200 value). This is a great way to follow up on what you learned and grab one-on-one help where you need it most! So click here and get registered.

In a few short weeks, I’ll be speaking at a fab event hosted by the fab Ashley Sinclair, of Self-Activator. I’ve been watching Sinclair’s business explode for a while. If you dig my vision of a world led by passionate, creative entrepreneurs, her vision is going to rock your socks too.

You can find out more about the event – Profit Catalyst – and how to participate (including a sweet deal from me!) at the end of the post. But please take a minute to read through this brief interview with Sinclair where I dispense with the niceties and cut right to the quick.

You have experience working with large corporations & organizations. Why work with individual entrepreneurs?

Two very important reasons:

• I love business
• but I speak entrepreneur.

I come from a family of them. So I’ve been learning the ups and downs, the risks and rewards, of running your own business my whole life long. From tiny cottage businesses to multinational corporations, I’ve seen it all, but I’m most interested in the entrepreneur’s experience.

I want to be on the leading edge of culture and innovation, helping change agents push things forward. I may be biased, but I believe individual entrepreneurs are in this incredible, unique position to do just that – and I love to help them get there.

Well, we certainly have that in common!

You run a BIG business with a highly individual touch. Your tribe feels like they are connected to your personally (and I suspect that they are!). But in order to achieve this big business, you’ve got a team working behind you and supporting you.

Did you build your business with a team in mind? And how would your business be different if you didn’t have a team?

This is such a great question. I built my business with my personal strengths in mind – so yes, I planned on a team from the beginning, even though it was just me for the first 6 months. I know that I’m at my best when I’m leading a group of people, and helping each team member contribute what they are really best at.

I just don’t show up in the biggest way until I’ve got people to lead, so I make sure that I do. My own business would be much smaller in scope if I was still a solopreneur. I’d be much farther removed from my audience, since I’d be focusing solely on automated income streams to maximize my leverage on my own. And I think I’d simply be less creative, because I know that I build things best when working with a team.

You approach business creatively, holistically, and strategically. How do you envision business changing for creative entrepreneurs over the next 5 years? What strengths will be most valued?

I think we’ll continue to see a proliferation of boutique creative industries pop up, as the way we digest content and info matures in the marketplace. I would not be surprised if this proliferation required all entrepreneurs to become branding and positioning experts – I think we’ll see less hangups about that as people get more comfortable with the self-publishing model of sharing free content to attract business.

I believe Individualization will increase in perceived value, big time. Authenticity will be at a premium, because nothing else will get through the noise of the marketplace.

Many start-up entrepreneurs have major difficulty getting past the PROFIT part of business. Their heart & souls are invested in what they’re doing and that’s just hard to price. What is ONE thing you wish entrepreneurs knew about themselves & they’re inherent ability to command a good price for their work?

Oooh, this is so tough to share just one thing. I’m going to with what I think you need to know first:

Pricing has nothing to do with your worth as a person, or the worthiness of the client. It’s not the time to get squeamish, that’s for sure.

If you’re struggling to make a good living, you’re absolutely useless to those outside of yourself.

Price accordingly – the world needs your gifts, and needs you at your best, so you’ve gotta take great care of yourself to begin with by charging well for your work. I mean it – this is non-negotiable for passionate entrepreneurs who want to make a contribution.

Making this higher pricing understandable and desirable to your customers is the art of packaging and positioning. Don’t worry, it’s a skill set, and it can be learned. Hallelujah!

In my experience, coaching crafters and Fortune 500′s alike, I’ve found that if you give the customer the right info to make a great decision about your product, they are more than happy to pay a premium, every time.

Connect with Sinclair on her website or on Twitter.

For most of formative years, my family didn’t have much of the stuff. My single mom employed herself as a seamstress. She was constantly busy but not rolling in the dough. Still, despite earning very little, we were never without stuff.

I had instruments, summer camps, piano lessons, a computer, and even a car.

She figured out how to get me what I needed without incurring massive amounts of credit card debt. We lived frugally but always got we wanted passionately.

She also taught me to save like a mo’ fo’. From my very first gig umpiring a softball game to my last part-time job in a jewelry store, I put half of every paycheck in my savings account for BIG purchases (trip to Austria, anyone?).

Money came & went.

After college, I got stuck. I started equating money with time, tasks, and responsibility. I saw inside the belly of a retail beast and began to believe that if I earned more money, certainly others would lose money.

I began to assume that I was truly worth the $13 per hour they paid me.

I assumed I would never be worth more.

At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, this was a burden I carried. I assumed my worth had been set. What I soon learned is that your personal worth surges out of you even when you don’t expect it.

Your personal worth doesn’t always show up in money – maybe it will take the form of gratitude or influence – but it shows up. It’s our job to claim that worth as the dollars & cents we need to earn to experience the world and to improve the world in the ways we desire.

Abundance of personal worth begets abundance of financial worth. It’s your choice how you use it.

An example:

Yesterday, I dropped about $400 at a craft show. It’s the third year I’ve attended this show and it’s by far the best show I go to every year. I love the people who vend. I love the people who show up.

But the last two years, I held scarcity in my heart when I attended.

This year, I came ready to spend. While $400 may or may not seem like a lot to you, it still represents a lot to me. And while I was a bit sticker shocked at what I had done at the end of the day, I felt damn good embodying abundance. And I felt damn good extending my abundance to those I purchased from.

Also, Lola now has a week’s worth of clever indie t-shirts to wow the kids at summer camp.

For the vendors I purchased from yesterday, I changed the world a little. I reinforced the uniqueness of their ease. I shared a smile with my debit card that told them they were worth more than the sticker price.

No, increasing consumption won’t fix our problems but having a better relationship with money might.

* * * * *

In case you haven’t noticed, our relationships to money are changing. Fast. Furious. And unexpectedly.

No longer are finance, law, and medicine fields that guarantee stability, profit, and growth.

Artists – of all kinds – are finding money to be easier to come by, abundance amidst recession, and demand despite saturation.

Your relationship to money is no longer determined by your previous experience with it, your college degree (or lack thereof), or time in an industry. Our ability to earn is instead based on our own view of our unique talents.

Capability doesn’t determine cash flow.

But passion might help determine your profit.

At the Selling Your Soul event in NYC on Thursday, Danielle LaPorte (or, as I affectionately refer to her in my noggin’, DLP) and Marie Forleo provided (at least) 2 important sparks about our relationship with money. One, a question: What do you really mean when you say “I can’t afford it?” And two, a statement: we all have “money stuff.”

Much of my success as an entrepreneur has not been about having the best widget, the fastest fingers, the smartest brain, or the most intuitive spirit. Gaining influence, earning money, finding my niche, and producing my art has largely come as a result of working through my “money stuff” and understanding what I mean when I say “I can’t afford it.”

Let me say again, having a 6-figure business isn’t about being the best. It’s about understanding your relationship to money.

Having a 6-figure business isn’t about producing more than anyone else, having more clients than anyone else, or having a monopoly on your message. It’s about understanding the art of earning.

Scarcity in earning is directly related to scarcity in spending, investing, hiring, and giving.

Making money can be so easy.

My come-to-Jesus moment with money was when I truly discovered how easy it is to earn what you need when you work for yourself. What is easy to you, what comes naturally & beautifully to you, is ugly, difficult, and downright nasty to someone else. That is the source of value.

What is easy to you, what comes naturally & beautifully to you, is ugly, difficult, and downright nasty to someone else.

That’s the source of value but it’s not the end. Value flows forth from your alignment with your purpose and your relationship to those who identify with your purpose. Your purpose is the beginning & the end of the transaction.

What you do – the work that is paid for – may be meaty, but it won’t seal the deal.

The art of earning is offering your valuable bits for sale. The art of earning is finding your purpose scattered throughout the experiences of your life and business.

There is no need to paint a different picture or construct a different model. Take your “easy” talents, your insane passion, your drive, and purpose and box it up for sale.

Nota bene, parts of this equation often missing:

• Ease
• Talent
• Passion
• Drive
• Purpose
• Package
• For sale sign

Money need not control you. You need to control it. Money need not determine your experience. You need to earn money to determine your own experience. Your gain need not mean your customer loses. Your gain needs to be others’ gain.

What does a passion-driven entrepreneur need to know about the art of earning?

So very many things… but I’m specifically curious about what you’d like to know. I want to help you strengthen your relationship to the dollars & cents you & your business needs to survive & thrive in the changing economy. I want to help you find profit in work your soul craves.

This conversation is part of my purpose. And I’m on fire about it.

——

Update! While the conversation continues (and will for the foreseeable future!), my first contribution is all shinied up & put together. The Art of Earning is a digital guide all about making money beautifully. It’s a deconstruction of our hang-ups around the topic of cash, profit, and earning potential. It’s also a reconstruction of a new money paradigm for artists-of-all-sorts.

The best part of all is that you can name your own price. And frankly, that’s a celebration of my own confidence in my earning ability, a party to which you are oh-so invited.

Click here to learn more about The Art of Earning!

“Art of Earning” will help you heal your beliefs about money and start getting into a really loving relationship with moolah and your mojo. It will teach you how to be a Goddess of your own Abundance. The world needs this! 

- Goddess Leonie | goddessguidebook.com | author of the Business Goddess ecourse

I’m beyond excited to tell you that I’ll be leading a workshop at the Etsy labs on April 19 at 7pm EDT.

If you can’t make it to Brooklyn, no problem, you can join me live online. Pretty cool, huh?

My mom’s story, from Etsy’s blog:

When I was a kid, my mom woke up regularly between 3 and 4 a.m. She got up, made coffee, and sat in front of her sewing machine. She sewed and sewed until it was time to make breakfast, ask my brother and me how we slept, and see us off to the bus stop.

Then she would sew more.

My mom had to provide for two children: feeding us, putting a roof over our heads, sending us to countless summer camps. She did it all on the income she brought in with that sewing machine. When faced with a daunting, near impossible task, she didn’t balk.

She simply asked, “Can it be done?” Every day, she answered, “Yes.”

I have built my business on the same question. Constantly asking and reasking, reframing the challenge to move myself and my goals forward. I must thank Mark Frauenfelder, of MAKE magazine, for posing the can-it-be-done question in his book, Made by Hand. He applied it to the almost inexplicable drive to create, to DIY.

When you’re your own boss, it’s up to you to seek out challenges, to do terrifying things, and to get comfortable with failure. Building your business so that it’s sustainable, profitable, and rewarding is the ultimate challenge.

In my Dare of DIY workshop, we’ll discuss what it means to challenge yourself, why we thrive on personal challenge, and how you can dissect your problems and liabilities into challenges that push you forward. Instead of focusing on the difficulties of building a business, attendees will tap into their DIY ethic to create exciting ideas and opportunities for their business by asking: can it be done? There is no right answer or correct methodology, only the unique answers we each have to share.

Attendees will leave the workshop with a fresh approach and positive outlook on their growing businesses. Please join me!

Click here to all the info!

Consider the goal of your blog and the content that you want to produce. Then carefully consider who just might be interested in reading that content. Who are they? What are there other interests? How do they fit into your bigger picture?

Once you have an idea of who you’re blogging for, ask yourself these questions:

Where do they hang out?
Whether online or in “real life,” go where your people are. Introduce yourself, help them out, make friends. It’s not about being spammy – and yes, you can be spammy in real life! – it’s about being a resource and a cool person. Visit forums, Twitter chats, Facebook pages, other blogs. Find your people and let them know you’re here to help.

Who do you know already?
Leverage your network – or you family and friends – to build a bridge to your target audience. When you investigate who you know already, you might be shocked just how many people have a lifeline to your target audience. Again, introduce yourself or have your network make the introductions for you. Getting an intermediary is a fine way of building a trust relationship fast!

What do you have in common?
Your target audience should be different than you. They should have needs that you can address or questions that you can answer. But we’re all people and we all have things in common. Figure out where your experience and your audience’s experience overlap. Use shared experience to create a bridge between you. Discuss your common ground and link it to the subject that you’re blogging about. You can blog on a wide variety of topics near to your heart if you keep your goal & audience at the heart of what you do.

What do they need?
Hopefully, what your ideal audience needs is what you want to give. But if not, you can clarify the focus of your writing to match the needs of your audience. Readers will stick around longer, subscribe more often, and be receptive to pitches.

Blogging doesn’t have to feel like a solitary venture. Blogging with your target audience in mind will help you focus your writing, guide your content creation, and help you pitch offers to your audience with more success.

Want more about blogging? I’m prereleasing 52 MORE Weeks of Blogging Your Passion today! This sequel to my first successful ebook is packed with information on blogging with intention so that you can engage your readers, build community, and convert readers to customers & clients. Get it now at discount and get an invite to a live webinar with me where I’ll answer your questions on the spot!

[photo credit: jot.punkt]

When I think of you, I feel very subconscious.

I can feel like I’m not enough. Like I’m fluke. Like I don’t know enough. I feel like there’s something missing in my daily routine.

I work hard – but it’s not hard work.

Could I be more successful if I made my work hard? Could I earn more if things were more difficult? Could this business be larger, more expansive, more influential if I worked at the things that were hard?

No, I’ve found my easy.

And when you find your easy, you realize that the work isn’t hard. It’s challenging, it’s uncomfortable, it’s time-consuming, it’s boundary pushing. But it’s not hard.

Of course, I could be more successful. I will be more successful. But it won’t be because of any one book (unless it’s the one I write…) or because of one coaching session or because of any specific knowledge. The hard work of learning what to do and how to do it doesn’t make you successful. All the money in the world can’t buy the real key to finding success:

ACTION.

What is one thing you can act on today to make a difference in your journey towards your goals?

PS I’ve just released an update to my last ebook – Storytelling for Creative Biz Success. Only, I’ve changed the title – so now it’s How to Sell with a Story. I’m working on additional updates for the near future but in this FRESH version, you’ll see a whole new easy-to-read layout, updated chapter on writing Stress Free About Pages, and a video with me explaining my about page best practices! Click here to learn how to leverage your own story to generate more sales & shape your biz!


PPS I’ve also just released that oh-so-popular chapter on about pages as a separate guide! For just $10, you can have my technique for writing compelling, engaging “about pages” and bios without stress or hives. Click here to buy Stress Free About Pages.