How I’m learning how to price my products

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Growing up with frugal, conservative parents, these statements and their implications are all too familiar: 

  • Don’t waste your money
  • If it’s free, you should take more (if it’s a physical object) 
  • Don’t spend your money on trash
  • How much did you spend?

Now that I have the Habit Factory to run with workshops to market, this type of thinking has admittedly caused more harm than good when it comes to pricing our product. 

In business, nobody can sustainably offer their products for free all the time. 

So how do you know your worth?

I know our team puts in a lot of care, time, and expertise in order to pull off our workshops.

It’s not something everyone under the sun is willing and able to do. 

And, we’ve proven ourselves time and time again that our product solves a problem that people care about. 

Not only do we have to pay our team members fairly for their work, but we also have to have enough to reinvest into business growth (and of course, running expenses).

So that’s it. That’s the “math”.

Bottom line: Whatever I decide those 2 amounts to be (and factor in expenses) will be the price tag on our work. The market will react however they will react, and we can adjust. 

My 17-year-old introverted self would NEVER have imagined future-me being part of a panel of social media brand builders

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But she sure as heck would be pumped to see it.

Thank you to Jesse, Jack, and Alex for having me join Boulder Parc’s Build Your Brand event last month.

My 2 key messages if you want to start building your brand? 

  1. Do not fear the post button. Many people shy away from posting about their business because they’re scared of how it makes them look on the outside. Do not let this stop you from taking the most important steps to brand growth, which is building your business on social media.
  2. Be clear with WHY you want to create content. If it’s your job, then you’re tied to a paycheck. However, if you are building your brand for yourself and for your own business growth, this is the top way to build your community and gain brand awareness. 

What else do you want to hear? Let me know in the comments or email me at anna@habitfactory.space. I always respond!

How I started writing my first blog post. 

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I: 

  • Had no idea what to write about
  • Didn’t have an audience
  • Started out of pure passion

It doesn’t take a lot to get your writing started. 

P.S. I’m building our second content club for people who want to take their brand seriously. Want in? Join the waitlist with phenomenal freelancers, marketers, and writers today.

https://mailchi.mp/f41197074327/contentclub2

How I’m building my business while working a full time job

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If you know me, you already know I work at my family’s restaurant in Scarborough, Ontario. 

When I get home, I work on my business called The Habit Factory (we do professional development for early-stage creatives). 

Of course, I’m not doing it alone. I have an amazing team that I get to work with (if you’re here reading this, thank you for pushing both me and the business forward). 

Fortunately, the pros of building a business while working a full time job is that there’s financial security, it offers you a different environment to think in, and you get to meet a lot of new people (if you manage social media and front-end like how I do). 

Unfortunately, the cons of building a business while working a full time job is that your time is limited. There’s never enough time to do either job at it’s fullest. You’re constantly flipping your brain from one environment to the other. 

If you’re building your business while working a full time job, what have been your methods of managing between your two workloads? 

Things to feel okay about: 

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  1. Taking a break when you need to
  2. Sleeping 7-8 hours a day
  3. Waking up at a healthy time that suits your schedule
  4. When your posts on social media don’t do well 
  5. Not being able to hang out with friends because of work you care about 
  6. Not being able to do work because you want to prioritize your friends 
  7. Cheat day food 
  8. Saying no more often to things that don’t give you value
  9. Saying yes more often to things that scare you 
  10. Once in a while, ice cream

My biggest lesson in brand building

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Brand building is not for the impatient. 

You need to have good people skills. 

You need to have empathy. 

You must seek to connect.

You must adopt an attitude of serving. 

Brand building is a long game. 

You win by having an audience of people who care about what you do. 

When I was 9, I wanted to be an artist

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When I was 17, I chose to study Industrial Design at OCAD University, because that program and school seemed the most interesting to me. 

(I could honestly tell you, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I just went with it).

Now I’m 25. I’m working at my parent’s restaurant, managing social media, and trying to build the legs for my business, Habit Factory, where we do community-centered workshops for creative growth.

I’m pretty sure the 9-year old me expected to see paint, canvas, and easels but hey—my idea of an artist has evolved since then.

One mindset flip towards confidence for creatives

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Have you ever felt like what you created wasn’t “good/cool/awesome enough” to share? 

I did.

I’m going to share how I got over my own feelings of not-good-enough below.

But first, a little context.

I used to do a lot of fashion illustration. 

Everyone told me my work was great, but I still wanted my sketchbooks and drawings to remain tucked away for the most part.

In some ways, I felt insecure about my work because there was always this voice telling me that my drawings looked funny.

Okay.

Now to the part you’re here for.

How do you get over your own feelings of inadequacy as a creative?

3 Steps:

  1. Who exactly comes to mind when you tell yourself that you’re not good enough? This person could be you, your parents, a sibling, or a stranger.
    • the point of this question is to pinpoint your history of how this feeling started 
  2. Who exactly are you creating your work for? Who is your current audience?
  3. Do your answers to question 1 and 2 match?
    • If no, perfect. Now you know what you’re creating is NOT INTENDED for whoever made you feel inadequate. Keep creating for who you want to be creating for, and don’t stop.
    • If yes, perhaps it’s a good chance to reassess your work and your audience. 

For me, it was a family acquaintance who made me feel awkward about sharing my work with others. Nothing weird and mostly harmless—just a little teasing of my cartoon ballerinas when I was 10 years old. 

Except that moment stuck with me into my 20s. 

It took a lot of thought to separate that feeling from my current reality. 

But it is possible.

If you can separate your negative feelings from the sharing of your art, you’ll be in a much better place to grow your creative career.