Last week, someone asked me what I had done that didn't work. The quick answer: I listened to the most average, most common advice and attempted to implement it. I also followed the encouragement from my closest cheerleaders.

Neither of these things worked - neither of them gave me the boost in confidence or in revenue that was promised from taking those actions. Keep reading for more details.

A recap though: last week, I wrote about losing my confidence. I told a little story about the first time it happened, the things I did to fix it - to boost my confidence back up - and then losing my confidence again. You can go read it here. It's okay. I'll still be here when you get back.

So, what are those details of what didn't work: I created offers no one ended up wanting. Or, rather, offers my audience didn't want:

• Three tiered advisory packages;
• Reconciliation workflows and worksheets for tax professionals;
• Cute little bite sized informational courses for business owners.

But Megan, these are things you know people want. You know clients want the three tiered advisory packages because everyone sells them like hotcakes. And you know tax pros want your reconciliation worksheets because they get very excited whenever you talk about them. And same with tiny little courses for business owners.

I hear your objections. And, they may not be wrong. But, the proof is in the pudding: with very few exceptions, my audience - my clients - has shown me they're not interested.

On the three-tiered advisory package

I am a solo practitioner with minimal runway. Most of my business clients are the same to similar - most of them have less than $300,000 of gross receipts. Several have less than $50,000 of gross receipts.

And I love these clients. They're excited about what they do and who they serve. They love what they do. They started their businesses to serve a need with their unique skills. And just because they only value compliance work from me doesn't mean their needs aren't valid. It doesn't mean they aren't deserving of quality tax support - even if that is compliance only with messy books.

​Check out how compliance-only services can still deliver tangible value to a client here.

That, right there, is why I started Crayon Advisory - so I could give those clients; those people; those business owners - the words they needed to hear, even if they didn't want to. And I could do it without the billing being written off.

These decisions have consequences though. For me, they're largely financial. It's difficult to grow and serve more clients when the clients I'm currently serving take three times longer than they, "should," because:

• They give me messy or even no books to create a tax return from;
• They give me extensive details - receipts and remittance advises - even the non-business owners - instead of summary information to work from;
• I pick them up and put them down too many times. Every time this happens, I lose not only efficiency but confidence (yep, that's the thing I'm even doing right now).

The three tier package selling, so popular among accountants and readily accepted by clients in general, isn't a right fit for my client base. And, frankly, I like my client base. It's who I've set out to serve.

They need a different offer.

That offer is difficult to make, at best, when confidence is low.

The Other Thing that Didn't Work

Courses and community.

These weren't a complete bust. And the dream isn't over. But, well, the sales stats on these are low - they're my original cheerleaders (thank you for trusting me and for your purchase!) And that's it.

Please don't flood my inbox with encouragement or suggestions. I know what I need to do to make these offerings work. It comes down to priorities - and doing those things that will generate sales has not been a priority.

Courses are a tricky thing. They do well with the DIY community - the business owners who are forging their own path forward. The ones who decidedly and markedly don't want professional accounting (or tax) support.

I won't build a tax course for the general public. There's too much to know and learn. There's too much at stake if someone interprets incorrectly. So I focus these courses on accounting/DIY Education - getting started in a piece of software. Selecting a piece of software. Similar projects that are somewhere well over half way to completion, but not something that is being completed today.

What's Working Right Now!?

Not all hope is lost though. Last week's newsletter had an 80% (!?) open rate. That's unheard of.
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It's also going to a very small list of mostly supporters and cheerleaders (thank you for being here!). I have my sights set on some different tools that give me energy. And I have an offering I'll start pushing very soon that I know is perfect for my kind(s) of clients and for a business environment that's a little bit flailing and gaslit. A little bit to a lot a bit struggling under the weight of capitalism and false hope and promises from technology that isn't the savior many think it is.

I keep telling myself me leaning into me will continue to work.