hustler's mindset the Art of turning nothing into excellence real quick
Copyright 2022 A Hustler's Mindset
Any Resale or Sub-Licensing of the Licensed Asset or any modification of it in a way that is directly competitive with the original Licensed Asset is strictly prohibited (e.g., as a stock asset or template).
PG. 16 - MINDSET. PG. 18
- IDENTIFY YOUR PRODUCT
PG. 30 - HAVE INTENTIONALITY. PG. 32
- HAVE URGENCY.
PG. 20 -TARGET AUDIENCE. PG. 34 - CONSISTENCY IS KEY. PG. 22 - INVEST IN YOURSELF. PG. 37 - AUTOMATION. - MARKETING IS PG. 24 DON'T STOP! PG. 39 MAJOR. PG. 27 - CREATE A CAMPAIGN. PG. 40
*BONUS
table of contents
, o l l e o t H me o s c ’ le r e l t W us ! t H e s A ind M
I’m Shayla, a child of God 1st, business owner, digital magazine author, teacher, content curator of substance and fashion leader in my community. My conglomerate, Slayism, is a brand, a movement, and a lifestyle. The first business under my umbrella brand is a custom jewelry line called Slayism Collection. What makes this part of my brand so special is that it has been created for other people's brand, as a marketing strategy to advocate their business name through nameplate jewelry. I eventually expanded Slayism Co. into a distribution source, offering a wholesale and dropship program to consumers to help them start up and establish their own nameplate jewelry brand. Although I discovered that product companies bring residual income, my calling was leading me to be even more effective. I now offer services in brand curation, aesthetics marketing, strategic communication, visual campaigns and custom manufacturing/vendor resources. These services are promoted to individuals who desire to curate their vision (a product or clothing collection) from scratch. With applied marketing tools and authentic visual strategies, your brand will be elevated from nothing to excellence, real quick. My digital magazines, workbooks, blueprints and courses are specifically encouraging and curated for you in developing your ideas step by step, seeing the vision all the way through from start to finish. It will always be service over significance, quality over quantity, and authenticity over popularity. I’m pushing this service based company because it supports a black women’s resource hub/foundation I curated in support of sharing resources and collaboration. I didn’t believe I could offer a space for others to share resources if I didn’t have any value to provide. So if you need quality and customized resources, join the email list by following the resource hub on instagram @thewombcollab and direct message your name and email. The details for brand curation services will be sent in a guide to set up a time to chat about curating your brand vision.
I was invited on a good friend and business associate’s TV show, called The Dissertation and I was introduced as the first episode. My episode is titled, “A Hustler’s Mindset”, so I came up with the clever idea to create this extensive course. i wanted to go further in detail on how to level up with just the God given tools and resources that have already been provided to you. You can check out the episode in my IGTV series on instagram @selahdiary. I give you the game on why not to forfeit the favor of your future by not having a hustler’s mentality. Here in this book, I give you the keys on how to make it happen, how to monetize your idea or gift and how to see the fruits by automating the hustle. I’ll be discussing how I set up a system for steamline and automation to scale up my side hustle to make even more money.
Wh y we a r He e re?
You aspire to become the Ace or highest rank in your industry, keep reading.
mind
Believe in your vision.
1.
What does believing mean? Belief is ultimately acceptance. Accept (something) as true. Have confidence in your vision or what you see as a unique way to make money.
ver matte
1. Mindset.
What idea do you have in your mind to monetize it?
Take time right now or after this collaboration to think of 3 ideas (3 is a great number because it won’t overwhelm you and you can narrow down your possibilities). Think about what you believe is obtainable, sustainable and what could possibly create longevity. Also think about where your value is placed? Knowing your value and identity are intrinsic. Value is inside of me. I have a set of skills, knowledge, passions, and a peculiar personality that makes me different but it can’t be taken away from me. As an example, when I created Slayism Collection, my value was placed in wanting to create opportunities for other people to start up their business and make money. I became the middle man and distributor for companies to buy in bulk from me to start their own brands under me. I became of value because I was essential to my customers by providing a way to help them feed their families and start the process to generational wealth. I ultimately wanted to be a solution to someone’s problem. That was my long term goal for the business. My short term goal was to create a company where those with businesses could come and get their names on a nameplate to advocate for their brand. My mindset on this was from a place of people are usually nosey and so I leveraged off of just knowing this. So say for instance someone sees your business name on your necklace or bracelet, they are going to ask you, “what is that", “where did you get your necklace made” OR “what does the name on your necklace mean.” Therefore, that is free marketing for your company as well as mine.
2. identify a product. - Very easily accessible. 2. The main thing here when deciding what product to sell is getting an initial plan together to project the cost of expenses and budget. I’ll go further in detail on this in point 4, discussing investing into the product. So when I became inspired to launch a custom jewelry line, I started dropshipping first because it didn’t cost me a dollar to sell my products. I didn’t have to spend hardly any money on start-up costs. I pitched my idea to a family member and they purchased my first piece of jewelry without ever seeing the product. I believed in myself, so they believed in me too. Once I got their sample piece and advertised it, I started to receive inquiries almost instantly. I weighed out the pros and cons of dropshipping. What sold me on this style of business is because I didn’t have to have inventory on hand. I could just place my orders (even without a website) starting out and still make my money. I didn’t want to sell any furniture or big items that would cost a lot in shipping or storage space. With my jewelry I could use the manufactuer's shipping method, stock photos and reviews to determine the quality and effectiveness of the company I used. Also, another main indicator on what to sell was determined by the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) that I could order at a time. This is important to me because I didn’t have to necessarily buy my products 10 pieces or more at a time, I could just order when I got ready (piece by piece). You don’t have to necessarily commit to a dropshipping business but figuring out what is unique and cost effective is what will change the game for you. There are so many physical products and low content products that will make you extra money on the side. I recommend low content products like journals, digital books, coloring books, planners, and things of that nature because you can create so many designs and those are useful worldwide and they will always be used. Starting out, you will notice your residual income coming in faster because of the digital age we now live in. Platforms like etsy, creative market, gumroad, and amazon to name a few are great host sites to have your products listed for sale. I suggest these sites if you don’t want to worry about spending money on a site and you will already be on a platform where consumers can find your products faster. Remember that if your cost is lower, you’ll have to get more customers vs. if your items cost more, you’ll be able to charge more.
3. target audience.
3. Make your product very specific to who you’re selling it to. You need to know your target market and know how to pivot based on this. For my brand my target audience was women between the age 18 and 40 years old. I knew I was selling an experience or lifestyle, exclusive, affordable, and a fantasy because of how it made women feel when wearing their custom piece of jewelry. There is power in showing people what they need and they didn’t even know they needed it. You will need to test your market first to make sure that your target audience is there. This is vital for when it is time to create campaigns to generate leads within your audience and get sales. I knew that 18 year olds and up would either be in college or with a job and want to give these custom items to their friends, daughters, sorority sisters and family. That was my target market because all I could think about was there is so much variety in nameplates that I couldn’t lose exclusivity in my brand because others valued being exclusive as well. Knowing this and implementing it has always worked for me.
4. invest in yourself. 4. You have to invest in yourself. Instead of making thousands of dollars in mistakes, hire a professional, hire an agency to analyze your business from logo design to launch day, or hire a branding coach to tell you your website is wrong. (consider these when starting out): Website -$500 Logo -$350 Facebook/IG Ads -$250 Packaging -$100 Photoshoot -$600 Influence marketing -$3000 This isn’t including necessities like trademarking, LLC, patents, state requirements to sell and all of those important entities to begin a business. Take note that with all of these expenses, they do add up. Not finding a solid team that can help you achieve all of the above may cost you hundreds of thousands depending on who you get your help from to make the brand happen. Finding the right team is helpful because you want a brand that is cohesive and you should want the brand story to make sense to your audience. If not then your overall look of the brand could appear unethical, not credible, and all over the place to your customer. Although, I cut costs because I created everything myself from website, social media feed aesthetic, campaign visuals, marketing, email systems, being my own model, getting my packaging provided by my manufacturer, being on foot by meeting local customers with their orders, etc. I learned along the way on what to do and what not to do moving forward. I learned through experience but I suggest getting a dependable team like my brand curation service to help you navigate what is specifically necessary for your particular brand. You may not even need certain variables to set up your business, but if you have a knowledgable coach then you will not have to go through the extra steps of finding out that something isn’t necessary. You won't waste money that could be utilized in another vital area of your business. Keep in mind that you can start a side hustle with as little as $500 to start up and then with the money you generate you want to put it right back into your business.
5. Marketing is major.
5. Learning how to market to the right people. You want to ask the right questions to your audience on what they would like to see from your brand. This will help you to test a product before even selling it. You want to create polls and ask the right questions because it will save you time and effort. Marketing to the right people will also help you grow in areas with influencers. Pitching to influencers through email using a email template and media kit will allow influencers to know that you're serious. Your media kit is a portfolio with all of your experience, social media stats, products, and rates. I help my clients with templates so they can seal the deal with influencers. Find someone you want to work with and you will want to study and research what the influencer's mission, values and audience is to create authentic brand marketing. If you are wanting an influencer to advertise to your target audience and they don’t even already use a brand that is similar to yours then using that influencer will be useless because they don’t have an audience for what you are providing. Why would I spend $1,000 with an influencer and their target audience is girls with natural hair but I want them to advertise my custom jewelry. Unless they have a legitimate business with their own trademarked name then it would only make sense for them to advertise my brand with their custom nameplate. But this won’t be an exception for all businesses considering my brand is for everyone who has a name. Make sure you also don’t overlook micro influencers because the underdogs are the everyday people that will make you money. Some influencers that have millions of followers don’t necessarily mean that their followers automatically generate into paying customers. Side note: have a content calendar and set times for posts to go out.
6. create a campaign.
6. Create a campaign. Here are 7 key steps to creating a campaign. If you need further assistance for authentic marketing, I’m able to assist you. Email me and we can set up a time to chat about designing the vision. a. Set clear campaign goals. Start by thinking of the desired result of your campaign. … b. Define your target audience. … c. Choose your platforms and channels. … d. Set key performance metrics. … e. Mark the timeline of your campaign. … f. Set your campaign budget. … g. Design and prepare campaign materials. - Side note: I will curate you a moodboard and help you formulate concepts for launch day.
7. have intentionality. 7. Everything you do has to have intent. Every post you make does too. This is why I focus so much on aesthetics marketing on social media because it plays a huge role in how consumers will take your brand seriously or not. The goal is always to encourage them to feel so they can buy. Evoking emotions is a rule of persuasion. I use this tactic when curating my instagram feed to give a mood to tell a story. People are more likely to buy if they can vibe with a brand's mission, story or visuals. Aesthetics marketing refers to the visual look of contents and advertisements used to promote a brand. Designing your campaign's aesthetics will help build your presence and promote consistency in your platform to recognize your business. No one can have your look if you do it this way, rather than using the stock photos of a product you want to sell. Just like for McDonalds infamous arch and colors, this is what sets them apart from any other fast food restaurants. Their visibility is known all across the world for their big golden arch. The colors they chose (yellow and red) are the first thing customers see, which draws them in. It also tells a story of how the brand was created because it is a signature look to that company's vision.
8. have urgency in your brand.
8. Have urgency in your brand. This applies to coming up with a sales funnel that will get leads and having a strategy to get them all the way to the checkout to purchase the item. So to seal the deal with a customer, I would come up with strategies like the next 10 people to checkout will get a free item when you purchase in the next 10 minutes. This motivates my customers to go ahead and jump on the offer I have available and they get free things which everyone loves. So this depends on what you need to do in order to create urgency to get people to buy immediately, instead of giving them time to think about it. A strategy is needed to do to make the sale is how you generate more sales. Customers need to know that "for a limited time" or "offer only valid until.." to get them to purchase. Urgency in email marketing as well as posting on your social media about the sale consistently is best. Keep in mind that a customer's email is like using their phone number to reach them so you want to make the communication personable and relatable so the customer understand that what you are selling is for them and they won't find it anywhere else for a better deal.
e
im
sl
se
qu
en
al
e h d t e l a
d an
9. consistency is key. 9. Consistency is key. If it works for you, repeat the wheel. To avoid wasting time, I learned from OG’s in the game, I took courses and read books to educate myself. Using my curated blueprint to help you get to the finished line is a tool to stay consistent. Checklists are provided, deadlines, and tasks that are obtainable are assigned. To have a plan to stay on course is vital in maintaining the business. If you know someone with credibility who has already created a course or book then learn from what they did and how they implemented wisdom. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel if it has already been done successfully. Don’t get complacent and stagnant. Someone has achieved whatever you have done before. I use McDonalds as an example because their system dominated the restaurant industry and if I started a restaurant, I’d use their blueprint to start because it is proven to be successful and generate income. I would definitely add my own qualities to the system, so that it will fit perfectly to my brand needs as well.You want to research your competitors. I suggest having a mindset of innovation because even when something doesn't work or there is room for change, be willing to pivot and grow.
dream
Everything you touch, multiplies. It turns into Silver & Gold.
10. automate your side hustle. 10. Automate your side hustle. If you are a hairstylist you need to sell classes, go on tour, sell t-shirts, hair products, hire an assistant, open a salon, and offer 1-on-1 classes. You can have one business or career and make many streams of revenue from it. I could’ve easily only sold custom pieces and stopped there but I realized that I wanted to offer a program on a larger scale for individuals to buy custom pieces in bulk orders. I wanted them to also make money. I didn’t just sell nameplate necklaces for women but I ended up selling custom baby pieces and men's jewelry pieces. I expanded. I can also begin selling my vendor/factory/manufacturer contact information to make money. Now I’m able to create this book to share and make money monthly because the work is done and my knowledge will help someone else. I am not only a retailer but I also became the plug. Automation is what will turn the goal of a $100 day into a $10,000 day. Set a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and quartly goal.
11. don't stop! 11. Keep Going even if you don’t make your goal on the first day. You have to reinvent the wheel in your mind and think. Just because it did not work means you should just stop. Just because the business model you set out to do was broken doesn’t mean your business is completely done or finished. What I knew about business day one starting is completely something different today. The mistakes made me grow even after Covid 19 shut down the factory I was in business with and it stopped all of my sales which forced me to learn how to pivot even in a crisis. I learned crisis management tactics and now understand the importance of having this written in my plans for my business in case something tragic happens. I still had a chance to take that set back and turn it into a comeback when I started my rebrand process. The mistakes have molded me and helped refine my vision for what I started years ago. It has allowed me a greater opportunity to use an obstacle as leverage. And you can too.
Know your end goal! Know your plan! Know if you just want a side hustle to make extra money or do you want to scale the hustle to a larger business.
understanding this will allow you to have an exit strategy. this gives you an option to sell the company, The website, the email list, social media followers, the inventory and the reviews to someone who donesn't want to start from scratch. having this mindset could triple your return on investemnt from what you spent starting the business. Most people don't know about the platforms you can sell your business on before starting over. Ask yourself "Is my vision long term?"
@nikssartt - @airiellemarieart - @artpce - @aaronya_paintss - @justjerrstudio - @namedhazel - @therealrjm - @whatsydneymade - @mcfreshcreates - @pndraws @latoya_visual - @malikafavre - @desmondphotography
Illustrations:
@desmondphotography