Hey hey, it’s May!

Hope it’s off to a good start and you’re having a maxin’ relaxin’ weekend, Friend.

There’s this journaling exercise I try* and do each month that I thought you might dig.

Here are the Qs (I got these from Benjamin Hardy):

• What went well?
• What were your key wins?
• What did you learn?
• What has you most excited?
• Where do you need to pivot? (<== that word again!)

*truth is, my hand loves to cramp up when I journal so I don’t love it. Whyyy?! Pass the magnesium…

Okay, story time for all my service providers, anyone who relies on 1:1 work or trading time for dollars.

So I had a call with this potential client. Super successful shiny business, published book, engaged audience — all the makings of a perfect client in my mind.

I always talk about price on sales calls. It gets less and less uncomfortable the more you do it, promise. Anyways, everything was cool. I put together a proposal and offered her a really sweet deal.

But then I got this strange response…

… the kind of response that makes service providers say fuck it all and throw in the keyboard once and for all.

The gist was “how dare you charge this much during a pandemic — do it for this much or I walk“.

UM.

Ummmmmmm…

We are all aware the world is in crisis but that does not take away from how much time and effort and years of experience distilled into my little brain go into each and every project.

I didn’t say that.

But I did say, despite the current situation my clients are still getting amazing results.

And then I said I was sorry we aren’t a fit. All good.

Here’s the thing though — there was a time in my copywriting career that I would’ve taken the deal, red flags and all.

You do what you’ve gotta do even if it means you end up being treated like a word robot commodity.

Wanna know what changed the game and helped me go from doormat to divaaaaaah? ( ⇐ my friend Ingrid would tell you the real meaning of diva is divine one so I’m stickin’ with that definition 🙂

I built an email list of smart people like yourself who I do my darndest to serve, delight, entertain, support, and who I know in turn, trust me enough to buy what I create.

There’s this poem…

Things Every Woman Should Have And Should Know By Pamela Redmond Satran (read the whole thing here)

It starts off with:

“A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE…
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to…“

And I feel like there should be a version for service providers that goes like this:

“EVERY SERVICE PROVIDER SHOULD HAVE…
an engaged list of qualified leads who know, like, and trust them so they don’t have to only rely on word of mouth, referrals, and red flag clients…“

(For the record, I freaking adore every single one of the clients I’ve worked with in the last year. Part of that is because I’m comfortable saying no when it’s not a fit.)

Even after I’d built an email list of a few thousand people, I would ghost them for months.

Don’t be like me and wait YEARS before consistently creating a community and connecting with your people.

End PSA.

🎵 WHAT I’M READING

I finished Untamed by Glennon Doyle and felt absolutely LOST as to what to read next. It was just so incredibly powerful and one of the few times I regret reading it on my e-reader and not having an actual book to mark up and bookmark.

I’ve since moved forward and started reading When We Were Vikings by Andrew David McDonald. The protagonist Zelda (a girl with fetal alcohol syndrome and an obsession with Vikings) both have the same mission: to be legendary. Plus, I can get behind her rules for life:

1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.

🎵 WHAT I’M LISTENING TO  

The Weather Station — an incredibly talented Canadian songwriter. This SkiiTour mix is full of great diddies to clean your house or cook dinner to.

🎵 SUNDAY SETLIST UPDATE

I told myself I’d experiment with this newsletter format for 3-months and here we are! Are you diggin’ it, Friend?

Please let me know if I should continue or if you’re like — Sundays are for snuggles, not emails, Chanti ⇐ that’s okay too.

I *might* press pause because I’ve got SO MUCH other really wonderful things coming your way in the coming weeks but if I get enough people telling me to keep going, I’m here for it.

Wishing you the very best month,
Chanti xx