Manifesting a Business: A Get-Started Guide to Beginning your Passion Project

“The one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” – Neil Gaiman

“When I heard the quote ‘Working to live, not living to work’ that struck me. It shouldn’t be like this.” We were both bonding over our camper vans parked next to each other, living with less but experiencing more. And then he said “yeah I’d really like to quit contract roofing and teach yoga online”

I knew at that point he was meant to hear something from me, that I might be a co-creator on his path to the next step and so I thought about what would be the most helpful thing to say. I’m lucky that technology comes very easily to me, I’m also a web designer and developer.  So I said; “You know I was thinking about what you said before, and I have a resource I sent to a friend that wanted to take her yoga business online — I’m not sure if you were thinking programs or paid live classes but I’ll forward it to you.” When I told him I was a web designer, his face lit up, acknowledging the synchronicity which was cool to be a part of.

I thought about that ~ having an idea, a passion project but not really knowing to where to start, how to even take it online, and how elaborate and overwhelming the whole process can be. And so I thought I’d take my simplified tips and present them in this blog post for others who may benefit too. Let’s go!

How To Start a Passion Project / Heart Centered Business

I refer to a passion project as something-new-and-meaningful-to-you that you’d like to pursue. It’s more than a hobby, something you feel excited about pursuing that has the potential to grow, evolve, help others and earn revenue to potentially replace your job or transition your career. As the name suggests; passion is the driving force for these types of projects. This could b a calling, a knowing, a heart’s-desire or maybe just a longing to live life on your own terms.

 

01. Mindmap Your Ideas

Start with mind mapping your idea on a piece of paper. Get it all out.

There’s a reason you have this idea of a passion project and there will likely be reasons behind your choices. Writing all these down articulates your passion and your depth (this content will also be insanely useful to you down the track…)

Write dowm principles that are close to your heart and ideas that you could develop — this will be your guiding force.

Once you’ve written down everything that’s been swirling around your mind about this idea, have a look at the page and make some bubble diagrams — this is where you can join similar themes and identify important aspects.

Next, think about your values and principles ~ If you could structure this anyway you like (even if you don’t know how it could all turn out) what would feel good?

And consider what would be the aspects and elements that would be fulfilling to you, and exciting to you?

02. Create a Simple Website as a Hub

Create a simple website – this is your first base and will be your passion projects hub!

Your own website (rather than just an instagram account or fb page) is really important because it’s an asset you own and have autonomy over.

All your ideas can expand off your website as you go and as it evolves! In the future, you might like to add articles, a blog, live scheduled zooms, digital programs, courses ~ there’s infinite possibilities, but your website will be the hub.

When deciding to start your own site, probably the first big decision is going to be which platform to use. With a bit of googling you’ll soon realise there lots of platforms. I’m biased to WordPress because it’s what I develop all my sites with; it’s cost-effective, extremely powerful and adaptable to new features as your site and brand evolves. WordPress actually powers about a quarter of the all websites on the Internet, which is incredible and also demonstrates you’re in good hands!

[I can add a “Start a Website Step by Step” resource or starter pack if that would be helpful, feel free to let me know in the comments!]

Create a simple website (maybe just 1 page) that you like and feel excited about. Write some content on your ‘why’, values, principles.

And don’t worry, you can’t get a website ‘perfect’ — because it will constantly evolve, update and change. Just focus on a starting point (because you probably don’t have it all fleshed out yet) that resonates and that you can be proud and excited about.

Launching a website and putting your passion into the world can feel incredibly vulnerable. If your website feels scary then be self-compassionate and give yourself time to get comfortable with where you’re at with your website.

Give yourself time and space to feel and process any emotions that come up. That way, you will align your vibration to your vision.

03. Evolve as You Go

Do one thing at a time and enjoy the process. Start small and you can add to it as you go.

The cool thing is, your project will evolve as you spend time thinking about, and working on it and you’ll be led on a path!

Some ideas could be:

• blogging
• podcasting
• vlogging or making youtube videos
• creating and offering digital products, courses or workshops
• curating a forum or community
• offering client services or coaching
• sourcing and selling physcial products
• holding in-person events or retreats

You can tweak it as you go, you can add elements, transition offerings, refine your niche based on blog comments or customer feedback. And as you go, you’ll be led on a path that’s unique to you and the project you’re creating.

04. Do What’s Right for You & Go Your Own Way

If you look for it, you will find endless courses and programs about how to do X in the online space — my advice would be to disregard it all.

These ‘free resources’ and blog posts can have intentions that do not align with your own. More often than not, online marketing posts are about taking you on a warm up to buy what they are selling. Also, please be mindful about wanting to enroll in paid course or program with the hope they’ll give you the missing piece to creating ‘successful’ business — the hard truth is it a magic bullet doesn’t exist and sometimes these sales methods are questionable.

I believe, we’d all be much better off just following our intuition and doing things from our heart than following someone else’s ‘framework’

Check in with your intuition if you’re tempted to buy something. (My philosophy is if I want to learn something, to buy a book instead of an online course. A book is usually far more substancial than an online course, and a fraction of the price!)

Stay in your area, and create your thing in your way that feels true for you.

05. Keep Some Things Private

Your expectation is key to the results you get. Sometimes keeping it positive, means keeping certain things private.

If someone asks you how you did it — say you went your own way and followed what felt was right. And if they ask about your stats, traffic, strategy, or other online marketing management speak — you do not need to defend nor tell them anything. Keep your vibe and vision {sacred}

 

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You have the spark on an idea for a reason. And your idea is possible! Don’t let your fear or doubt prevent you from taking the first steps, it might just change your life!