Do what you love, and the money will follow.  It’s cliche, and not always true in a direct sense, but often in a roundabout way.  For example, I love to sit on the beach and read, and I haven’t yet been able to monetize that directly.  However, quite often the ideas I generate, and the information I absorb while on vacation, help me to generate income once I’m back to work.

Entrepreneurs often lose sight of their passions while running their business.  It’s a dangerous trap that can cause us to forget why we wanted to own our business in the first place.  Even worse, not doing what we love can lead to stress, overwhelm and burnout.

 

However, the biggest risk of not expressing our true passions, interests, talents and gifts is that we may end up with a business we don’t love at all.  We may attract clients who aren’t fun to work with, and then our day to day routine becomes perfunctory and robotic.

 

When our products and services are an expression of who we are, and what we are all about, business and life becomes more fun.  If you love swans, include that in your logo.  If you love yellow Labradors and leopard print shoes, use them in your branding.  And if you love Elvis, find a way to express that too.

 

The photo above is from a party store near the barn where my daughter rides her horse.  The name of the store is “Graceland”, and the entire place is covered in Elvis memorabilia.  Every wall, corner, and shelf is loaded down with Elvis. They even play Elvis music from open to close.  They have received local press and people come in specifically to see their collection.  What’s fun for the store owner is that he attracts a lot of people who love Elvis as much as he does.

 

I recently relaunched my new website, it was time for a branding update.  I realized awhile ago that I wasn’t letting my own interests, gifts and talents take center stage, yet it’s something I make sure my clients are doing consistently.   I’m a creative person, and I help my clients express their own creativity in their businesses and marketing, yet it wasn’t something I was effectively communicating in my marketing, although it has always been part of my services and process.

 

Our business, our marketing, and our brand needs to be much more about Who we ARE, not What we DO.  But if we aren’t expressing ourselves, and being SELF-ish, meaning expressing our personality and unique abilities, we are withholding.   In not sharing our true essence, we are a different type of selfish.

 

Doing what we love should happen most of the time, not just part time.  There are several ways that doing what we loathe crowds out doing what we love:

 

1. Not delegating:  Create a list of everything you absolutely LOVE to do in your business, and outside your business.  This might be referred to your “permission” list.  All the things on this list, you have permission to do more of in your business.   Then, create your “loathe” list.  Everything on this list you are forbidden to not delegate.  Doing what we loathe takes time away from doing what we love, and ultimately will cost us more more money than delegating ever will.

 

2. Saying Yes to No’s: When you take on clients or projects that aren’t a good fit, or are just plain wrong, we become stressed and drained. Coming from a place of “need” rather than want creates the mindset that allows us to say yes to work to which we should have said no. Try saying yes only to clients and projects that are exciting and fun, and you will attract more of that type of work in the future.

 

3. Display Your Passion: Look for ways to incorporate more of what you love into your business.  Look for ways to include your interests, talents, passions and unique gifts into your marketing, branding, and services.  Building a business is all about building relationships, and when you reveal more of your personality, you give people a reason to identify and connect with you, which makes it more likely that they will want to work with you.

 

What are things you absolutely love or love to do, and aren’t expressing in your business nearly enough? How can you be more Elvis Self-ish? Leave me a comment, I’d love to help.