I set a big goal for my business for 2014: to welcome 800 dreamers into my Creative Dream Circle. And to do this not by getting super pushy about selling – but to do this with heart and soul and creativity and joy and LOVE.

(you can read my original post about this here)

At this point though, it?s less about the numbers and more about growing my capacity to serve dreamers everywhere in living gorgeously with their dreams – gorgeously meaning in alignment with their inner truth.

In support of this goal, I am writing weekly updates on Fridays, for all of 2014. This is where I’ll share the story of all the ups and downs of bringing a big dream to life.

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So the last month or so this has felt stupidly complicated.

I’ve been exploring, and ultimately decided to totally recreate, my marketing plan.

This kind of stems back to the question I was asking when I first started this journey: To get a different result, do I have to do something different than I’ve been doing, or do I just have to do MORE of what I’ve been doing?

I’m not a marketing expert.? I’m really happy that I’ve learned enough about it to make a living doing the work that lights me up.? But my marketing has always felt a little murky.

Marketing is essentially being clear about who you help and how you help them and explaining that in a way that they can understand.? I’ve got a Bernina sewing machine.? When I run into trouble with it, I go to the Bernina authorized dealer & repair shop.? I know that they are the ones to solve my problem.? They help Bernina machine owners keep their machine running happily.

It’s never been that cut and dried for me to say WHO I help or even HOW I help.

The last few years my marketing message has been that I can help creative, spiritual people make their dreams real.

And that’s changing.? Sort of.

My job is to hold the space of where you want to be, give you the tools that help you build a path that leads to where you want to be, and hold the space for you to complete the construction.

That’s what I do in the Creative Dream Circle.

And that’s what I’m going to do in my marketing now.

So this is my new plan:

I’m going to talk about living gorgeously with your dreams instead of talking about how to get your dream.

Which is still talking about the same thing but with a different vibe.? It floats above resistance.? It’s more inspiring and encouraging.

People who believe that their dream is impossible are probably not going to want to listen.? People who are living gorgeously with their dreams, like the people in the Circle, are going to be inspired to listen more closely.

Until now, when I’ve tried to really dig down and get clearer on my marketing…? Blah blah fucking blah.? That is all I can think when I try to focus on it which is why I have not focused on it very much at all.

I want to admit here that when I first started taking business classes, when I was still doing my classes in-person and just thinking about moving it online, I cried, A LOT, about how hard it was to nail this stuff down.

But now, here I am on the other side of it.? These past few months I’ve spent a whole ton of time and energy focused on exactly this thing? – who do I really want to serve and how – and yes it was really frustrating at times but my results are INSPIRING.

My heart is actually sparkling with joy about the to-do list I put together for this week.? I want to EXPLODE with happiness about having a 2014 class calendar all set up (more on that below).

I want to sing and dance about how I feel about promoting the upcoming Creative With Money course I’m doing in the Circle.

Things are shifting, big time.

You have to be wiling to shift through the muck to get to clarity.? They’re both necessary parts of the process.

I also simplified & updated my website to align with how I’m feeling about this now, and added a welcoming new home page.? (I do plan to record a new video for it – hopefully soon)

The new header is one of my dream-bots, and let me tell you: he is THRILLED to sit at the top of the page and be able to welcome you here.

This is one of the robots that keeps the dream factory humming happily.

He invokes ease, support & delight.

Another result of that digging is that I created a course calendar… FOR THE WHOLE YEAR.

I’m going to create SIX new courses and run a few of my old favourites.

The new classes are very much about living gorgeously with your dreams and LOVING LOVING LOVING the deliciousness of creative soulful exploration.? Lots of journaling and magic-making.? Deep, transformative processes and playful healing work.

And I feel amazing, having a solid schedule mapped out for the whole year. It’s an incredible relief to know what I’m going to be doing all year.? (Though it’s also spacious enough to accommodate change)

And the work I’ve set up for myself to do is inspiring the heck out of me!

Though the numbers are still small.

In terms of numbers, so far this year I’m not getting more sign-ups than I used to when I ran all of my courses separately.

The Circle is just over 80 members now, growing slowly.? I’m accepting that it may not grow fast enough for me to stop doing one-on-one sessions completely, but/and I’m feeling really optimistic and happy with it.

I love what I’ve built.? I love the people that have joined.? It is growing slower than I’d hoped but that seems so small in comparison to how happy I am.

And I do anticipate an upswing in new members as we get closer to Creative With Money (starting April 3) which is a really fantastically awesome class, if I do say so myself.

One thing I do need to do more of that I’ve been totally stuck on is SHARING PEOPLE’S STORIES.

Miracles are happening all the time inside the Circle and I know if more people knew about it they’d want to be a part of it.? I know that sharing these stories is fun and inspiring and the best selling tool I’ve got and I haven’t been doing it.

So that’s what I’m exploring now.? Not so much “why am I not doing this?” but more “how can I find a way to start doing this that I feel comfortable with?”.? There has got to be a creative, soulful, EASY entry point to doing that, and I’m going to find it.