4 Key Takeaways from Sorelle Amore's Creative Genius Workshop
Last night I blabbed for 20 minutes about the member areas feature on Squarespace.
My audience? 182 of Sorelle Amore’s followers who were hoping to tap into their creative genius and learn to monetize their superpowers. Not only was I excited to share my over ten years of Squarespace knowledge but I was also eager to gain some insights from this inspirational woman who has managed to grow a successful business that allows her to travel the world and connect with other awesome free humans.
Here were my key takeaways from the 1.5-hour-long presentation
Don’t chase trends. It’s easy to look at someone who is doing something unique like Sean Evans who interviews celebrities as they eat increasingly spicy chicken wings on his YouTube channel, and want to mimic him. I mean he’s got 13 million followers! But what works for one likely won’t work for another. And if it does it won’t be sustainable because part of what brings success is tapping into your unique creative genius which includes regularly pivoting as new life experiences and interests come up.
To discover your creative genius: first, write out a list of activities that make you lose track of time, next, list out specific skills or qualifications you have, and finally, ask your closest friends and family members what your five best qualities are. You can also write down any advice that people usually come to you for.
To help you start generating a following, and building credibility in your space, reach out to online communities such as Facebook groups. Spend some time in the comments responding to other people’s inquiries. Get a feel for what this community needs or a problem that they are trying to solve. That will lead you to a potential offering and if you become an active participant in the group you might even have a built-in audience when it’s time to launch.
Pivoting is ok and encouraged! This was a big aha moment for me. For a while, I have been cautious about sharing new projects or insights on my Instagram, Blog, Newsletter, and LinkedIn profile because 1/ I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself and then get bored of the topic and 2/ I didn’t want to confuse my followers. Every expert marketer will tell you to dial into your niche and deliver content that speaks directly to them. But I have so many interests, hobbies, and skills! It feels like a daunting task. I loved Sorelle’s example. She started as the selfie queen. She made self-portraiture her creative genius and ran with it. But now she doesn’t align with it the same way so she is pivoting in another direction. Sure you might lose people along the way, but you’ll also gain some too. Don’t let the fear of confusing people or losing followers prevent you from pivoting toward a direction that is more aligned with who you are right this moment.
That’s it for now! But I feel like that will give you enough to chew on for a while :)