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Are you overwhelmed by all the skills you need to learn as a new online entrepreneur?  

Gosh I get it. We all start somewhere and I was not a natural at most things in the beginning either.

All I knew is that I wanted to help people. I wanted to work from anywhere.  And I wanted to feel creative and do something I loved.

There were things I freakin' hated though.

I hated marketing. I hated analytics. And I hated selling.

But to be honest. Without those things, I was just a hobby blogger.

And in order to make money, doing what I loved, and help people, I needed to learn some online skills. So in this post I'll be sharing with you the top 5 skills I needed to learn that helped me out as a new entrepreneur. 

These are skills that that I believe most people can get "good enough" at to see results, before hiring out these tasks if they want to.

(PS. I'm a huge fan of outsourcing things I don't like doing now, but in the beginning I didn't have the money, mindset, or clarity to do that, so I had to learn as best I could to do them myself).

Here's 5 invaluable skills for new entrepreneurs to learn (that I think could help):

1. Copywriting (also called "copy" for short)

What the heck is copywriting?

According to google: "Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action."

Basically, anything you write for your branding and business is copywriting.

On your social media posts, ads, website, blog posts, podcast + YouTube descriptions, sales pages, emails. All that jazz. It's all copywriting.

And it's important.

Without it, sales can be more challenging.

With it, you can clearly communicate who your offerings are for, what problems you help solve, what your soulmate people truly desire, and how it is you can help people.

And if your soul mate people know you can help them, then guess what, the greater the impact and income! YAYY!

I would argue it's one of the most important skillset to learn as an entrepreneur. And it can be one of the highest paying writing jobs online for a reason. Because well written copy can generate millions (and billions) of dollars for people and companies.

Where people get tripped up, is the stories they have about "not being a good writer". Usually from some experience in school or childhood, that taught them to doubt themselves. But the good new is, you don't have to be a "perfect" or "proper" writer to be "good" at copywriting. All you need to do is understand the inner world of your ideal customer, and be able to write like you talk.

In fact, technical, jargon filled or academic writing usually sucks as copywriting!

Another thing to watch out for is being overly "woo-woo"... let's keep it grounded folx... and transmit the 5D into the physical. ;)

You want your copy to be clear and simple.

Heck, if you hate writing and can't stand it, try recording yourself talking on a subject. Then just using an app to transcribe it.  And clean it up afterwards in a Word Doc.

Honestly, that's how a lot of this post was written (it gets to be easy).

Another place where I see people get tripped up, especially the heart centered babes I work with, is they feel gross, slimy, or salesy when they're trying to write their copy. Or they feel like they are trying to manipulate or force someone to buy something.

And honestly, there's a lot of people in marketing who DO abuse the power of potent copywriting and sales psychology.

But in the flip side, there's a lot of people who use it for good. Who have products, services or offerings that truly CAN help create real transformation and spark joy in people's lives.

So it's your job before you sit down to write anything in your business or in your sales copy, to get crystal clear about HOW your offerings can make a difference. To be SOLD on your product or service before selling it to others. You need to believe in your soul work more than anyone else on this planet. Because if you're not sold on it and it's value, who's going to buy it?

Learn to become your own biggest cheerleader, even when no ones clapping.

Learn to be so turned on and excited by your offers that you can't NOT share them.

Learn to believe in your message so deeply that you KNOW you must get it out to as many people as possible.

Get there within yourself first, BEFORE trying to sell anything.

I know it's hard in the beginning to KNOW at such a deep level that your gifts can make a difference and that you deserve to be well paid for them.

But conviction and certainty is a skillset, along side copywriting, that can be learned and practiced, until it just becomes second nature.

And when it does, wowzaaaas. Watch out baby because you will become UNSTOPPABLE.

(Looking for someplace to start learning copywriting? Check out my girl's YouTube Channel - Alex Cattoni knows her stuff)

2. Learn to Design your own Graphics (I'm obsessed with Canva).

Now, this isn't a requirement, but in the beginning, it sure was helpful for me to know how to design graphics myself. AND I still do most of it because I love it. It feels fun and creative for me.

Graphics are needed for so many things in your branding. Blog posts, Instagram posts, Announcements, email banners, YouTube Thumbnails, Social media banners, ads, etc, etc. The online world is VERY visual. And gorgeous on brand graphics make it easier for you to get noticed by your ideal soul mate people.

And learning how to make my own graphics has helped me learn what I like and don't like visually. AND it's helped me actually save time and get my message out there quickly.

Because let's be real... ideas have a shelf life. And in my experience, when something is alive and fresh, and I'm super stoked to write, talk, teach or create an offering about it, I want to get it out there RIGHT NOW.  Before my creative energy and excitement around it drifts away. And the longer I wait to put my ideas out there, the less enthusiastic energy is infused in them, because a new idea comes along and I want to start creating that next (can you relate or is this just me? haha).

So as a highly creative person, I NEED to be able to share things fast, or else I can lose momentum and enthusiasm. 

Canva helps me keep up. By allowing me to have templates set up where all I need to do is go in and edit them with fresh copywriting and pictures.

I have a template bank for Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Workbooks, E-books, Freebies, etc. So whenever I have a fresh hot offering or teaching I need to get out ASAP, then I'm empowered to do so. And I don't have to waste precious life force going back and forth with a designer trying to get something I like (because I'm picky AF). I can just log in, do a little tweaking in my templates, download the graphic, or share it straight from Canva.

Easy peasy. And I'm aaaaaall about the ease if you know me.

And if you don't want to become a great designer? That's cool. If it drains your energy and isn't fun, then by all means hire it out.

But if you're just getting started, try it first. Give yourself a little time to pick it up after a slight learning curve.

And it can be a really fun and enjoyable to get to know your brand from the inside out! 

3. Basic Website Editing

Let me be clear, it's not *required* to have a website to run an online business AT ALL.

But you'll probably want a way to create sales pages and landing pages for your business, and I personally love websites. It feels like my virtual home where I get to connect and get to know people. 

I also really value simplicity, so all my products, email list, free content, and payment systems are set up on the same platform.

That platform is Kajabi.  And I'm obsessed with it. Because it has everything you need to run an online coaching and course creator business under one roof.

I don't have to worry about complicated tech integrations across different platforms, and learning several different systems, since I don't consider myself a techy person. And I found Kajabi to be intuitive and easy to learn.

In the beginning (and in my opinion at any stage in your business), it's really empowering to know how to make last minute changes or tweaks to your content or sales pages as you go.

Knowing the skill of basic website editing makes it easier to test products too. If I get a download to offer something and I'm super exciting to launch it now, I don't want to have to wait and hire someone to build out all the landing pages, sales pages, and sign up forms. 

Having the skill to create landing pages myself allows me to spontaneously create fast cash injections into my business through flash sales, new offers, and freebies to grow my list whenever I feel like it. 

And in the beginning, when we're rapidly evolving, we to get more clear on our ideal customer over time. And as we get more clear, our branding starts to grow and evolve with us. And knowing how to tweak your website with new graphics and copy can save you a lot of money and sometimes even time.

But if you're finding that creating a website is holding you back, and it's really not your zone of genius, no sweat. By all means you can definitely hire someone to build your website for you if you want one!  But they aren't required to have.

4. Presence + Speaking from your heart

With video, live recordings, and audio content becoming more and more popular, I think the skill of being present in your body and speaking from your heart is so important.

I get it that it can feel nerve racking (and terrifying!) at first putting yourself out there.

It can trigger trauma, and old fears of expressing who you truly are and being judged, shamed or ostracized. 

It can trigger our own inner critic and feelings of being not good enough, not well spoken enough, not good looking enough.

All the things can come up.

That's why I think choosing an entrepreneurial path is one of the deepest healing and personal growth journeys we can embark on. It brings us face to face with our shadows, fears and insecurities. 

But this is a good thing! Because it can give us a chance to heal it, and learn it's safe to be who we truly are, even if not everyone agrees with us.

And part of that process of healing, is practicing being present and grounded in your body when you speak, present or share. 

Being present helps us get grounded, and helps us tap into superflow.  I like to think of superflow as being a state where our ego takes the backseat, and things become so much easier.  We let go of getting it right, and just trust and channel what what's to come through for us. I think it's something we can recognize more easily in incredible athletes, dancers, speakers, performers and actors. But it's something we all have an innate access to. And learning to tap into it can create massively magnetic content that just "resonates" with people.

And speaking from our hearts and soul helps us remember to be kind, compassionate and truthful.

Of course we won't ever be perfect or get it right, but setting the intention to speak from our hearts AND practicing being grounded in the present moment and in our bodies can help us feel more confident, clear and aligned.

And trust what wants to come through as the messenger, not the critic.

(Pin this image 👇🏻)

5. Asking for help and getting feedback

The last skillset I want to talk about that helped me so much, is asking for help and getting feedback.

And in the beginning, it wasn't something I was great at. In fact, I learned a lot the hard way, and get myself stuck for a really long time by being too proud to admit I didn't know something, or needed support with something.

I felt a mix of Superwoman complex of "I'm an independent woman and don't need no help", to a scared little girl who was nervous of getting it "wrong" and feeling embarrassed to show people I didn't know what I was doing sometimes.

It took developing humility and grace for me to realize I couldn't do everything alone, and that help and feedback was really important to improve.

Help came in things like courses, teachers, coaches, therapists and healers. It came in the form of hiring VA's and freelancers. And it came in the form of community, friends, and peers who just "got it", that I could ask for business advice and emotional support from.

I found my soul fam through masterminds, group coaching programs, and events I went to. And now some of them are my dearest besties I could ever ask for.

Asking for feedback was a whole other dragon to get past. I was terrified in the beginning that my work wasn't "good enough". So asking for people's opinion felt like a nightmare to my nervous system.

But here's what I realized... this was something I needed to heal if I was ever going to be successful. I needed to be okay with people not agreeing with me. I needed to be okay with being wrong. I needed to be okay with learning daily. Constantly being a student. And I needed to become super discerning about who's feedback I took as valuable, and who's feedback didn't matter as much.

For example, I really value the feedback of my clients and students. I want to know what they love, and ways they think I could improve. 

Because everything I do is to help THEM. Which is another thing I had to learn in my business. It's not about me and being "good enough", it's about doing my best to show up and serve any way I can.

I also value the feedback of some peers in my industry, and of mentors or teachers who have created lifestyles that I want to emulate.

Anyone else's feedback, I take with a grain of salt. And know ultimately at the end of the day, I can't please everyone.

That's it!

Copywriting, creating your graphics, basic website editing, presence and asking for feedback/help were super valuable skills I needed to learn to get going.

Which one of these do you intuitively feel called to dive deeper into?

(Pin this image 👇🏻)

With love + pleasure,

 Amy Meraki