Should I Be Branching Out?

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This is an article I actually wrote a few years ago when those of us in the healing arts, but also all of planet Earth, was emerging from the pandemic. The original article doesn't exist anywhere anymore, which is why I wanted to publish it. It also helps to navigate the life cycle of a healing arts business, which is what I talked about in the last episode.

So basically, as we go through the life cycle of our business, we're going to come to all these different forks in the road. That's very normal. That's how life goes, right? And this article helps to navigate how to answer the question for yourself about if and when you should take a next step, and where the ideas that you should take a next step might be coming from.

So, as we are all emerging from the pandemic, those of us in the healing arts really struggled. We had to be shut down for a period of time- ff you see people in person. If you see people online, you were affected less so. But in general, we all got shook up and people had questions about how they earn a living.

The question that I kept getting from people was some version of, "Should I be branching out?"

Should I be... making a change? Is it advisable or more secure financially, or safer to add some kind of side hustle on to my private practice? And even the question- people might not articulate it this way- but the question was essentially, should I be creating my own system or my own modality methodology and then build a business around it?

The answer to all of these questions, which I boil down to: "Should I be branching out?" is, it depends. That's the short answer.

The long answer is, how to wrestle with, "It depends."

"Side hustle" is not the phrase that most people are using when they ask me this question. Instead, they're asking more specific things like,

"Should I be starting a podcast?"

"Should I be posting on Facebook or Instagram every day?"

"Should I start a membership site?"

"Should I teach an online class?"

All of these are questions about the idea of an additional business or income stream.

Some of them are business models, and some of them are marketing tactics. I've spoken about this elsewhere, but oftentimes we collapse the distance between promoting a business and having a business because of social media, right?

Growing an audience and having a business become synonymous. But in practice, they are not. You can have hundreds of thousands of social media followers and make zero dollars from it. And businesses earn revenue!

If you're self employed in a private practice model, and you're either thinking about how to grow and sustain that private practice through marketing activities, or you're thinking about how to branch out, i.e. how to diversify that private practice with some version of another offering, you have no doubt come across a lot of opinions about what exactly it is you should be doing and how exactly you should be, to use the ick word, "hustling".

I am always suspicious when anyone has The Answer, and for good reason. I think all of us should be suspicious when anyone says, "I have the answer to everybody's problems." There is no one cookie cutter, super important, paint by numbers thing that we should all be doing

In the spaces of online businesses and/or online marketing it can feel like we're spinning through constant next hot things. At this point, (meaning, in the years since the birth of social media, and, going back even further, the internet), there's some amount of fatigue about all the proliferating next hot things: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, everyone needs to have a podcast. No, everyone needs to have a digital class. No, it's digital summits. No, it's membership sites, right?

For every potential idea that we cycle through, or new tech companies with platforms that come along, there is going to be somebody who has, or many somebodies who have, a blueprint formula for how to do it just right. They are going to guarantee that it will work for you if you follow their system. That you are going to amass riches is also usually a part of the messaging.

People reach out and they ask me about what they should be doing or even what they could be doing. And so just as an aside, part of the reason why people ask me that is because I've done a lot of these things. I've run three podcasts. I've run numerous online courses and retreats. I ran an embodied practice studio as a membership site, and I did that online through the pandemic; We had five teachers. In the non-digital world I run a private practice as a Rolfer and I've done that for decades. I've also spent years teaching holistic health professionals how to grow their private practices. 've taught yoga, I've taught natural movement...

So I've had my hands in these options and questions for a long time now. Let my compulsive overdoing and creativity help you so that you don't have to try out all these things! Instead you can learn how to try out the things that are going to be the best fit for you instead of everything as maybe I do.

We want to differentiate between tactics and businesses, and also to understand that there is no one perfect right fit for everyone. And just to say, learning tactics can of course sometimes be very helpful.

The problem with tactics on their own is that you can't zoom out enough to ask questions about who you are, what your needs are, what you actually want to do, and how your strengths, knowledge, and yes, even your weaknesses are best adapted into a sustainable and nourishing work life.

Behind the scenes, I do know people, and I myself, have spent a lot of money on some blueprint program, diligently followed all of its rules, and then still not having a business that pays the bills. Or having a massive social media following, but being unable to grow a business from those numbers. Or running a successful podcast and earning nothing from it because a podcast is only a business model in certain circumstances, which are essentially when you are earning via ad revenue. I know people who were teaching a profitable, well known, signature online course and had interest in it wane. or people who ran a very lucrative membership site and then having many of their members disappear.

It's not that there's only terrible news out there! Many people (many, many people) do have success. I'm not trying to Debbie Downer on making changes within, or having aspirations towards your business at all. But when we get sold the idea that we should all be transitioning to online work, or that we all have to have big social media followings, or even that we need to constantly create new income streams in order to have a successful career- that's where I can say that I disagree. I don't see that that's true.

Finding what works for you and your work path is much more individual and a lot more nuanced than just hopping on a bandwagon that has a promise of success.

I'm also not saying that earning money is bad. It's also not the only reason to do anything- if someone wants to spend money running a podcast that doesn't earn anything because it's a satisfying learning and creative project, (and yes I am talking about myself here with my Liberated Body and with Bliss and Grit podcasts), then go for it!

But for the purposes of this article, I'm speaking to the many people who have, over all the years, they've reached out to me about how to shift or add to the work that they do that pays their bills.

A big part of their question is, "Should I make a change in order to financially take better care of myself?" And, It's understandable! This is a time that things have been wildly fluctuating, vand ery groundless.

Back to the original questions: "Do I need a side hustle to my private practice?" Or, "Should I be branching out?" Or even, "Should I be putting together my own system, my own methodology, and build a business around training people in that."

As I've already covered, nothing has guaranteed success. That's life. If you build a business around your weaknesses or around things that you hate to do (which we don't usually do consciously), it's often because we're following a blueprint that says we have to force ourselves to do something.

If the business is really built around things that are not your strengths, are not enjoyable for you, or even things that you hate, that is going to be an uphill climb.

Instead of following what somebody told you is guaranteed to work, here's a way to sort out for yourself what some of your underlying interests, desires, needs, and assumptions are, with what I'm loosely calling the Assumption Busting Question Tree, which is not a catchy name.

But I'm going to use it anyway.

 Whenever you are considering making something, whether it's an experiment for a new income stream or it is a marketing strategy for your private practice, ask yourself truly what is it you desire to have out of this thing that you're experimenting with and that you're committing to, at least for some amount of time.

Because if you don't clarify that for yourself up front, you're likely to expend a ton of energy before you hit that sweet spot of what it is you set out to do. So we need to sift through by asking ourselves why we are pursuing something.

Here's how the assumption busting question tree works: The trunk of the tree is to first figure out what are the things you're saying to yourself about this undertaking. I'm going to give a few common examples that we can work through together, and then you can take it from there and figure out what statements you have in mind, what assumptions might you be making about your particular reasons for pursuing something.

For example, "I need to diversify my private practice." Or, "I should really be posting on the socials daily." "I should start a... fill in the blank... a podcast, an online course, a membership site, etc.

Let's start with the first one: "I need to diversify my private practice."

The way we begin branching off the trunk of the tree is to ask yourself, "Why?" And from this very toddler-esque question, it can branch in many directions, depending on the circumstances of each individual. I'm going to give a few examples so that we get a sense of the breadth of answers ,and that it could be quite different in any given circumstance.

One answer might be, "Because I can make more money that way." And then from there you get to surface that assumption: "I need to diversify my private practice because I assume I can make more money that way."

Now spend some time with the next question. The next branch off the tree is, "Are you really sure?"

And just as an aside, my personal experience is that sometimes I have made more money when I diversified. And then sometimes I actually made less money when I diversified because I spent so much time and so much money growing something that it took away from my client hours.

If you decide that you're not really sure about the original assumption, then consider some of the other possible resolutions. And this is where I'm going to be the metaphor of the tree to death (apologies) things can start leafing out into the tree canopy, meaning it can lead you to consider the different options you might have.

If you love your work in your private practice, but the assumption statement is, "I should diversify my private practice." And when you ask why you realize the reason is because you're wanting to make more money - well then maybe instead of starting a whole new business or creating a side hustle of some kind, it's much more simple and you have to raise your rates.

Oftentimes the reason why we didn't see initially is because maybe you might hate raising your rates. If that's the case, that's okay. Let that be there too. It is uncomfortable to raise our rates! You can creative with that- maybe create a pay it forward scholarship for clients who really could not afford the new rate. Or create a tiered payment structure so that you don't wind up raising your rate and having no one who pays you more because you have this very loosey goosey sliding scale system.

Or maybe, as you look at all the options, it means that you need to change the way you offer your private practice work, or at least partially.

So, in this case, then you can play with ideas of diversifying your business model: Is there some group offering that's available to you?

Or maybe you look at the number of clients you see and you realize, actually, I'm only seeing about three clients a day, four days a week, when in reality, I have energy to see more. That means that this is essentially a practice building question. You now need to get the word out and grow your clientele.

This is where, you've heard me say it a million times, doing the math becomes so helpful. How many clients would you need to see to earn the living you need to make? At what rate? Can you see that many people? Meaning, is that rate workable and viable? Is seeing that many people workable and viable?

As you answer more and more of the questions, you head farther out into the tree canopy and you start seeing a variety of workable options that meet your specific circumstance and your actual need, they're not just born out of an assumption.

Here's another way the same question might be answered by a different person in a different circumstance.

"I need to diversify my private practice."

We ask the first toddler question, "Why?"

And if the answer is, "Because I have recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome, and no matter what I do, when I make my living this way, it hurts my body. I need to get real about my exit strategy so I can take better care of myself."

Then in this case, the follow up question: "Are you really sure?", is probably more straightforward.

If you've done the work of rehabilitating yourself, you've gotten the care that you need, and you know it's just a bad match between your body's needs and the kind of client work that you do, then yeah, it probably is correct to spend some time sorting out how you can diversify from your private practice so that you can take better care of yourself and you're not dealing with a repetitive stress injury.

Let's look more briefly at some of the other example statements and how exposing the assumptions underneath them can help us get it to real choices, real solutions.

"I should be posting to the socials daily."

Why?

If the answer is, "Because no one will take my business seriously if I don't. And it's an important way for me to get clients." We ask the follow up question, "Are you sure?"

And then you get to look, right? How do you normally get clients? Think of the actual people on your schedule this week, last week, and next week.

Did they come in through social media? Or did they come in through word of mouth? Or Google search? How are people actually finding you?

Leafing out into the canopy, if finding clients usually is by way of social media, but you hate it anyway, you can consider branching off there too. Then how could you be more intentional about your practice building in a way that doesn't keep you chained to the socials?

And of course if you look and you answer, "I get 80 percent of my practice from posting to social media. And you know what? It's like a fun, creative, educational process for me. " Great! Do that! That's not a problem at all. We do what works!

In this scenario you can consider a way to stick with social media. Or you can find a way to do that through the lens of your strengths. For example, if you're a strong teacher, but you kind of hate the "look at me, I'm perfect" performativeness of social media, well then you can just make your feed heavily educational and not aspirational. There are many, many options.

Another statement to take through this assumption busting questions tree, "I should start a... fill in the blank... a podcast, an online course, a membership site."

Why?

Now, there are so many reasons why you might want to do this, and there are also so many reasons why maybe you've been told that you should do this, or you have an assumption about what it will do for you, which may be correct, or it may be incorrect.

I would suggest that when you ask, "Why?" That you make sure the answer has some actual desire in it, instead of a should.

Desire sounds like, "I like this. I want to do it."

For example, "I'm a little bored after so many years in private practice. I would love to have this creative outlet where I can get super nerdy about some aspect of my work and work with people who are also super nerdy about it. "

Should, answers sound like, "I need to..."

So for example, "I need to create a signature online course if I ever hope to earn enough money to save for retirement."

If that is your answer, then you can go into the next branching out question, "Are you sure?" And in response to that question, you can dive into the intricacies of this model.

You can learn about signature online courses, which is a one to many class. This model is about scale unlike a client based business where you see a certain number of people each week.

You will need to consider how the course can equal to or surpass what you make with clients. You will need to dedicate a bunch of time to promoting it, launching it, getting the word out about it exists. This could turn into earning less, or this could turn into earning more, and it really depends on how much desire is in it for you. Do you really want to do this, and does it match your strengths?

In this instance, an online course, you'll have to have some strengths in marketing, you are going to have to get the course in front of people. Do you feel proud of it? It helps if you can't wait to tell the world about it!

Of course knowing all the variables in advance is not possible. That's why we play with these questions- so that you can see what your individual answer is and what your individual circumstances are.

This brings me to the final part of this process: experimentation, which I also talked about in the life cycle of a healing arts business.

The assumption busting question tree is a way to surface our assumptions and to see why we're making them. What is the actual need underneath them?

Once we've observed those more closely, while taking into account that, of course, we cannot know the future perfectly, and this isn't about making the perfect decision, we can decide what we want to experiment with.

We can explore what seems like it's actually going to meet our need, and what has desire in it rather than pushing a boulder up a hill.

Nothing has to be a giant decision. This isn't getting married on a first date. Hold it loosely. Try things out. Play around. See what works for you. Learn what doesn't. In many ways, we can't know how things are going to go until we try anyway.

Play around in the canopy a bit. This is a part of the process.

It's one of the benefits of being self employed, and it's also one of the reasons why, we just do feel like we're living on a certain amount of shifting sands as well- because we're going to be experimenting and trying stuff out.

A recap of the Assumption Busting Question Tree process (just rolls right off the tongue lol...)

First, the trunk of the tree: Identify the statements that you're making to yourself. What are you saying to yourself about your idea? Write them out.

Then ask of those statements, "Why?" Be a toddler. Be really curious.

Take the response to the why question and ask, "Are you sure?" To see what other assumptions then pop up from there.

As you bust up  assumptions, you're going to be leafing out into the canopy from there by seeing ways that are individual to you, your circumstance, your interests, your needs, and also what might better or best solve the problem that you had intended to solve with your original thought- i.e. the original statement that you had in your head.

Then you can explore in the canopy- what are some creative ways around the same block? Once you see the block, and once you see the assumptions about what's going to solve the block, then you can actually get much more creative and also much clear.