#68 - Grief, Loss & Creating Steady Sales When You Can't Show Up Online

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This week, I’m opening up about a deeply personal loss and how grief has shifted the way I'm showing up — or not showing up — online.

In this episode, I share my top 3 tips on how to stay focused when life feels overwhelming, the behind-the-scenes business strategies that kept things moving without needing to "perform" on social media, and an invitation to grab my Digital Product Mastery course for a special $47 offer.

If you're building a business through real-life ups and downs, this one’s for you.

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

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Transcript

 What do you do when life blindsides you, but you still have a business to run. I'm sure you have had mornings where you woke up and you truly felt like you could not put on a smile and face the world. But as a solopreneur, you may still need to meet with clients to make connections that turn into sales.

You still need to keep the engine of your business moving forward, so it doesn't all just fall to pieces when you're not feeling up to it. Right. Today I'm gonna share a personal story about grief and how to stay focused when you're absolutely overwhelmed. I'm gonna share the number one top challenge being faced by solopreneurs right now, and I'm gonna give you the exact steps that I have taken to continue earning money and growing my business these past two weeks when I could not even show my face online.

Why building a sustainable behind the scenes system is the key to protecting your dreams even during the hardest of season. And I've got a special offer for you if you're ready to start building the system that's gonna do some of that heavy lifting for you. So let's get right into it. Hey there.

Welcome to the Mindset to Market Podcast, your go-to place for practical tools and solutions for the everyday challenges of being a creative and spiritual solopreneur living in a material world. I'm your host. Debra Smith. I'm a holistic business coach with 17 years of experience, and I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and build a daily practice that prioritizes your business's financial growth as well as your personal health and wellness.

I'm here to offer you support, creativity, mindset, practical how-tos, and getting into imperfect messy actions so you can find balance while building the. Business. If you're a purpose-driven solepreneur, who's working on that dream one day at a time, then you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hey there.

Welcome back to the podcast. Thank you as always for being here with me. Um, I just wanna say before I start that I. The reason I have not started doing video yet for this podcast is because right now I'm sitting in my little office in cozy pajamas, in a bathrobe with a hot cup of coffee. That's the best I can do, and that is enough.

And so if anyone out there is like, I might start a podcast, but it's way too high tech, I'm like, no, girl. I got a microphone, a laptop, and my pajamas right now. So I invite you to release yourself from. The pinnings of all the high tech stuff. Don't get me wrong, I, you know, someday I'll have a team and we'll do big productions, but not today.

Today I wanna talk about actually the opposite of that, which is when you're a solopreneur and you don't have a team, and things happen in your life that cause you to feel like you're knocked out, like you're just overwhelmed. Life is lifeing hard and it's, it feels really hard to get up out of bed and.

Go do the status quo, normal set of tasks that you need to do to keep your business running. So, oh, this past week my family experienced a pretty devastating loss. Um, my beautiful, kind, funny, and just truly, deeply loving mother-in-law passed away somewhat unexpectedly. And honestly we have just been heartbroken.

She was a truly gifted painter. She was oozing with love for her family. And when I first met her, I remember being so moved by how she embraced me and brought me into her giant heart and just treated me like I was one her own daughter. So, and you know, I've shared a lot on this podcast about my own mother.

She had a stroke over four years ago. And my older sister and I play an active role in taking care of her. Um, and it's been really, really hard. And so having this very present active mother figure in my life has meant so much to me. So between grieving, supporting my husband and his family and helping prepare for the funeral, just making family arrangements, it's taken up a lot of space.

But also this loss has just kind of hit us really hard and felt. Really overwhelming and in that space, showing up online with a smile on my face just has not been possible for me. It's partly that I don't feel well, and it's partly that I, you know, out of respect for the family who I'm close with and connected in all the social spaces with, you know, I've been trying to be respectful of this moment that we're all collectively experiencing and.

I guess I just perceive that it would seem insensitive if I went out and behaved in my normal social media type of way, which is pretty active and pretty jovial, and I know that the professional thing to do is just to keep showing up as the icon and the. You know, the face of your business and all the big gurus would never probably even talk about this, and they would go out and just keep advertising their programs and their coaching offers and all that stuff.

But that's not who I'm speaking to right now. I'm trying to be real with. You who is probably a one-woman business, a one man business. And what's real is that when you are the engine of your own business and you are the face of your business, grief and loss and death, and all sorts of other personal injury, there's just so many things that can feel very destabilizing.

It can result in feeling like your business is kind of falling apart at the seams. I should just add, by all means, I encourage you to hire support inside your business. Find a VA that you can, you know, train and trust, and maybe hire a team member if you're at that point financially, so that you have someone to create B roll and post reels and send out emails and all those things.

But if you don't have that yet inside your business. There are other things you can be working on behind the scenes that are gonna create that stability, that recurring income, and help you to continue to feel like you have a stable container, even when you need to step away. And. Take time for yourself and transparently.

I don't have a team right now. I don't really have a VA other than for projects. So, but what I have is a well-oiled machine that I've been working on solidifying, and that has allowed me not only to step away and take almost two weeks off of work, but I also consistently earned money during those two weeks.

And that's what I wanna share with you today, is how I did that and how you can do that too. Okay, so prior to the unexpected loss of my mother-in-law, I had been doing some research. I'm always kind of trying to keep my finger on the pulse of what is the most urgent need of my community, and I did this little bit of research.

I asked in a poll, and also I Googled and I did, um, some chat GPT digging. What is the top solopreneur challenge right now in April of 2025? And resoundingly without any debate, the answer was oversaturation in the online marketplace. Right? So AI has sort of created this echo chamber where a lot of messaging feels repetitive and same, same.

And it feels really challenging for a solopreneur to stand out and carve out their own lane in online spaces. I bring that up because I find it so interesting that. Even though the issue that I'm facing, the challenge that I'm facing right now is that, you know, sadness, grief, loss, it's creating this disconnect from my normal routine, but the solution to my problem and the solution to this current solopreneur challenge are.

The same, which is that we need to make a shift away from chasing trends and trying to compete with other people who are, you know, creating lots of content in our niche or in these online social spaces, and focus on building assets that will work for us even when we can't be on 24 7 or when we feel overwhelmed by, you know, the oversaturation.

So I have a little short list of. Strategy slash tips for you on how to do this right now. So the number one thing I want to ask you to do is give yourself permission to disconnect just. Energetically giving yourself some space and some grace to not be on all the time. It's so important. It's okay if you can't show up publicly every single day.

It's okay if you skip two days, three days a week, two weeks with your Instagram posts and your, you know, emails. It's okay. Please don't punish yourself for needing time away from this stuff. Online business is relentless. It's not going anywhere. Trust me when I tell you, you can pick up the pieces and start all over again, wherever you're coming back into it.

So don't compare yourself to those who you know are out there and they were on all the time. Um, we're not supposed to be on all the time, so simply give yourself permission to step away with no consequences. You didn't do anything wrong, and you're not losing the game if you can't be constantly present in social spaces.

Instead, what you can do. Is focus on foundational. Private work, right? Work on your inner energetics. You can work on your personal wellness, and you can work on parts of your business that are not necessarily public facing. You can create content that feels easy and connects you to your purpose. Without having to actually deal with human beings, right?

You can write a blog post or you can work on your email nurture sequence. That's gonna be a long-term asset. You can work on building aspects of your evergreen funnel that's gonna continue to grow a mailing list and connect with people and support them while you are not able to actually physically do that yourself.

So this past couple of weeks, instead of posting and showing up in like the virtual town square. What I've done is leaned in hard to something else, right? The quieter, sustainable parts of my business that don't rely on social media energy, and frankly, that's the long-term game that I want you to be playing anyways.

I say this all the time, but like you do not own social media. And so building assets and strategically, you know, building parts of your business that are gonna run without you present is such a smart strategy. Anyways. Um, but you can also do this type of work kind of quietly. It's on your own terms. You can do it in your PJs while you're still in bed and you can have, you know, a head cold or you can have just been sobbing because you're really sad and you can still get the work done.

So what specifically are those pieces of work? Number one, you can work on creating a digital product or updating an older one if you already have one. So I have. Talked about this ad nauseum because this strategy works so well, and so if you have not already created a digital product for your business, for your online business, this would be a standalone piece of content.

Can either be a printable thing like a PDF or a checklist or something like that. It could be an audio or a video. You know, you could be working on the script for this, or you could be. Doing the research for what would be a relevant, useful digital product for your niche for this moment in time. But basically I have a few very simple low ticket or free tools, um, digital products that live someplace on the internet.

Some of them are in just a Google drive for free. Others are housed in online platforms like YouTube or in a few cases I have. Sales platforms like Udemy that sell them for me and also do the marketing, but they bring in very little small amounts of money. But nevertheless, these digital assets, they just live there ongoing.

And I can send traffic to them using either organic social media or paid ads or even just the podcast, but also using strategic SEO. So. Having these assets active and available on the internet brings in consistent monthly passive income for me. It also grows my list consistently without me having to be present.

So something that you can do while you're in a moment of needing to take a break if you're grieving or if you're just not feeling like you can show up online is you can focus on. Creating that simple, evergreen digital product that represents your work, that solves a single problem for people that they can get from you anytime.

And like I said, it's gonna grow your list with new active subscribers and it could also be earning you money. The best part about this. That many of those new subscribers or new clients or customers that are gonna opt in for that free or low cost digital solution, these people are likely to be the best candidates for deeper work with you later on down the road.

So this is something you can be working on sort of quietly behind the scenes inside your business without needing to necessarily show up online and, you know, talk about anything or sell anything. This is something that you're gonna put out there to be an evergreen asset that's gonna help build your business, and that's a great thing to focus on when you don't feel like you can face the public.

Right. The second thing you could be working on, that's a great digital tool that can work for you. Behind the scenes in these quieter moments is a blog. So if you don't have a blog, you can create one for free on WordPress. Um, if you don't have a website, you could also just publish it on your own website if you have one.

And I know that a blog might sound like a very 1990s or like early two thousands marketing strategy, but bear me, uh, bear with me, hear me out. I created a really simple blog and I transcribe useful bits of information often from this podcast, but also just on topics that I see are trending online. I don't spend a ton of time on this.

I would say I spend like a couple of hours a week and I just write a short, actionable post that's loaded with. SEO search engine optimized keywords that I know are going to be searched by people, and I make sure that I'm writing about the solution to a current and common problem that people in my niche are facing that I can help them with.

Right. And then I provide the answers to their problems or a solution. I offer a solution in the blog post, and then I create a few pins that I can post on Pinterest, another powerful search engine that does not require me to show up with my face in any way. Um, that's gonna lead to those blog posts. And then here's the, here's the strategy.

At the end of the blog post, there is a link to those digital products or. To my mailing list or to connect with my resources page so they can learn more about me or to this podcast, like I'm using the the blog strategically because it's such a great way to attract people that are searching for something and then they find me as a solution and then they learn who I am.

They listen to a podcast episode or they just find out about my business in some way, shape, or form. And that's slowly building. Recognition and visibility without me having to actually be visible. So this is a really powerful tool. If you don't have a blog and you're not sure about that, um, feel free to email me and we can chat about how you can set that up.

The third thing you can be doing is personal self-care. And also mindset work that really, truly sustain us as solopreneurs. So this work seems invisible because people don't see you doing this. It's like a behind the scenes thing, but I would argue that. Self-care and mindset work is the lifeblood of a successful long-term business.

And if you wanna build something that can sustain you and truly carry you forward and help you to do things like buy a house, create the time freedom that you need for family, or take nice vacations, um, and be able to afford, you know, high quality food in your life, and just having space and time. Then you're gonna need to incorporate daily self-care practices at some point else you're gonna flame out.

So what that could look like is just those, those daily non-negotiables that I talk about a lot. These are just tiny wins like journaling, hydration, taking a short walk, right? These are not big performances, but just simple, loving acts of self care that are gonna fill your well when you're feeling empty and.

Uh, a mantra that I love to use during these times that has really carried me through is focus on the roots, not the flowers. So focus on your roots, your foundations, the things that are gonna sustain you, that are gonna keep you feeling grounded. And having that, that space and that grace that we talked about, um, without having to necessarily be present in the larger.

Aspect of your business. Focus on your roots, not your flowers, and you can deepen your foundation. For yourself, even when it's invisible to others for a season of your life. So I hope that you found this helpful. I just to recap the three sort of tips or strategies or whatever that I'm, that I'm offering to you.

When you're dealing with periods of grief or loss or just overwhelm or a feeling like you need to step out from things for a minute are number one, just give yourself permission to do that gracefully and don't shame yourself or feel guilty for doing it. Don't add any weight to the burden you're already carrying.

Number two, focus your energy on these quieter behind the scenes tools that are gonna actually also be building that more sustainable recurring revenue for your business in the long term anyways, such as digital assets, blogs, you know, and, and things that are gonna connect for you while you're not able to connect.

Then three, focus on the roots and not the flowers, right? Focus on those self-care practices, those daily non-negotiables that keep you feeling healthy and well, and lean into the mindset work and the energetic work that is a critical part of being a successful solopreneur. And if you want to work on building a simple, high converting digital asset that can sell for you behind the scenes, even during those hard seasons, and you would like to do this with support and guidance, my Digital Product Mastery course is officially open.

Um, I have been working on this for months and I am so excited about it, but of course. It's really hard to have a big public launch of something when you're grieving a death. So I am just gonna quietly launch this right here and now. Um, I have created a three module, sort of mini course. It's 12 lessons.

They're all very short. They walk you step by step through creating, designing, positioning, messaging, launching and selling a simple. Problem solving, high converting digital asset. That can either be a list builder. Or create revenue for your business depending on which, what you decide. And the course content is based on two live programs that I've coached this year.

I've had 23 successful members go through the program and create digital products, um, several of whom have already made a lot of money with them, and most of whom have launched their product and are using it to build their list and connect with future high ticket clients. It's really amazing. I'm so proud of it.

And the doors are officially open to get your hands on this amazing mini course. Um. I am charging $97 for it, but this week only, I'm putting it out there as sort of a soft launch for half price. You can actually get it for $47. So crazy. You can go to deborah c smith.com/digital. Dash product, dash mastery dash course.

I'm gonna put that link in the show notes, and it's also on my website, and I'm not live coaching it, but what I did was I created a private Facebook community that I will be active in so that you can get your questions answered. I'm gonna host weekly co-working sessions because I know that so many people have, even the people that went through the live program had so many questions and wanted support.

I can't, obviously for $97, I can't be coaching every single person that's doing this. But what I can do is host a space where everybody working on this at the same time, can meet and share wins and ask questions. And then I'll pop in there weekly for coworking. And during that time, you can have access to me to ask questions about the modules, about your own product.

Uh, you can get feedback on your copy, things like that. So this thing is open. It's ready for you to grab it. It is an amazing resource and like I said, it's already had 23 success stories, so I'm really proud of that and I wanna share that with you. And I'm keeping it low cost for now, just 'cause I want to get some.

Some testimonials and build this thing and see how it does. So go get your hands on Digital Product Mastery. This strategy is, I think, an amazing winning strategy for any online entrepreneur. I use it all the time in my own business, and like I said, it's one of the reasons I could take two weeks off.

This past couple of, you know, weeks and just not feel stressed out about money because I have these products out there doing a lot of that heavy lifting for me and my friend. If you are interested in having even deeper live support to help you build your full online business ecosystem. Including creating your signature offer to messaging, to marketing, to building the sales funnels.

I'm happy to announce that I'm reopening my group coaching program. It's called Solopreneur Foundations, and it's gonna start June 2nd, and the doors are gonna be open in May. It's a six month group coaching program that is designed to help solopreneurs create that sustainable, scalable, and soul aligned business that's really, truly going to give you the support that your life deserves by architecting some of these systems that I keep talking about that are gonna give you like the time freedom and the space freedom that you deserve and need.

So keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information about foundations and I will just drop a little secret that there's gonna be an early bird registration period. So if you're interested, you can save some money. So those are a few ways that I can support you, um, coming up soon. Right now, you can go to the show notes and grab the link for Digital Product Mastery, and this week you can grab it for the very low price of $47.

It's a steal of a deal and yeah, and foundations is coming in June, but what I really wanna leave you with is this. Wherever you are today, whatever you're carrying, whatever you're going through, I just want you to know this. You can keep building even when it's gotta be quiet. You can keep moving forward even when it feels messy and when you feel like you can't possibly show up.

And just remember that your roots are growing all the time and. Focus on the roots, not the flowers. So, and I'm cheering you on every step of the way. I know personally I need this time to be where I'm at, and the best I can do is take care of myself and I'm gonna end this episode and go take a walk in the woods and go hug my husband.

And, um, you know, I want that for all of my clients and all of my community. It's the space to do that. So let's keep building foundations and moving forward. And I should also tease that I've got some great interviews coming down the pipeline for you. I've got a great interview with Jess Freeman, who is a, a web uh, designer, who's an SEO expert.

And I interviewed Jen Marilla, who is an online marketing expert, specifically trained in helping craft the signature offer that I talk about so frequently. And she's also a TEDx speaker and has this incredible story. So I can't wait to share those interviews. Um, and until then, my friend, take care of yourself and may you be vibrant.