Stella Orange Genius marketing strategy + wordsmithing to make your cash register sing

Got freedom? [plus 2 resources]

What gives you freedom in your biz? What holds you back?

Dear reader,

What if, each year on July 4^th, we paused to consider what has brought more freedom into our lives?

And here’s what I’ve come up with:

My business is a path to freedom. I started Stella Orange, Wordsmith a couple years ago, because I love adventure. I was looking for a new frontier—something challenging, where I was called to grow, learn, explore, push my edges and serve. That’s the fuel for the fire in my belly.

Back in my 20s, it meant I took teenagers on long distance bike trips—London to Rome (1,500 miles, 12 kids, 5 weeks, countless pastries & espressos) and Savannah to Los Angeles (3,000+ miles, 11 kids, 6 weeks, lots of sleeping on floors of welcoming church rec rooms across the South).

It had also meant skiing and running and kayaking and travel—Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Sweden, Montana, Mexico, Duluth. But something within me longed to be something more than a tourist and traveler: I wanted my own tiny corner of the world.

Since I grew up moving around a lot, I’m a nomad. As much as I love—and long for—community, it’s become clear there’s no one city or town that can hold my peeps. As my friend Steve once said to me, “We are everywhere.”

I find freedom in that idea. And so I built my business around it. It goes where I do, and I can run my shop from Boston, where my folks live, from Sweden, where my brother and sister-in-law live. Or from San Francisco, where my dear friend just had a baby. New York, where some of my fave clients live. Or Montana, where I spend a month each summer.

So, as it turns out, my own tiny corner of the world exists right here. In the space between the words that I write, the words that you read, and a glowing screen.

Why share this with you? Because it’s awesome to set up your life in this way. I realize it’s not for everyone. But man, it sure beats someone else telling me what to do, and when to do it. For that, I am grateful. And I’m here as a resource to help you have that kind of freedom, too.

And while we’re on the subject, here are 2 more resources for you:

1) Overcoming Underearning. One thing I woke up to as a biz owner was that my relationship with money is now way different than when I got a regular paycheck. I don’t often go in for “mindset work”…but I could see how I was crippling myself with the way I thought about moolah. If this rings true for you, I highly recommend Maripatt Abbott’s “Overcoming Underearning” course, based on the incredible book by Barbara Stanny, daughter of the founder of H&R Block. Maripat was one of my first clients, and she was personally trained by OU founder Barbara Stanny to do this work. I found it to be tremendously helpful—and pave the way for some major breakthroughs in my biz less within 4 months after the course finished. Her next course starts July 13. More info can be found here: http://www.manifestingpossibilities.com/classes/tele-seminars/

2) Dream bigger. I would be majorly holding out on you if I didn’t share Stephanie McWilliams. Perhaps you know her from her HGTV show from a few years back, Fun Shui. She’s also one of my All Star Mentorship clients. Long story short, she helps women how to get everything they want—and have a blast doing it. She’s helped women do all kinds of things—reunite with long-lost family members, leave their jobs, find their dream partner, and generally kick more ass. We’re working on a rebrand of her website, so you can check out her splash page here in the meantime: http://stucktounstoppable.net/ She’s also taking applications for 2 private clients this month—if that’s of interest, email her directly at stephanie@stucktounstoppable.net to inquire.

Mighty thanks to Vectorportal’s flickr photostream for the handcuffs.