#192 – March 2026 Income Report

Shannon Mattern (00:01.368)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Profitable Web Designer podcast. And this is our March 2026 income report episode. So I'm joined by our client success coordinator, Erica Nash, who's going to interview me on how much money we made in March 2026, how much we spent, all of the lessons learned along the way. And if you're new to the show, we do these income reports every single month because

you know, how we think about money and pricing and all of the things determines a lot of how we operate in our business. And so we like to talk about that here and break it down for you because pricing and money mindset is a huge thing that we work on in the web designer academy, not just with like tools and systems and processes and strategies, although we have a lot of those.

but through like helping you figure out what you believe in helping you change it so you can charge more. So Erica, thank you so much for being here today.

Erica Nash (01:09.02)

I'm so excited. I love getting to ask all the burning questions and everybody's wondering.

Shannon Mattern (01:14.27)

I know this is everybody's favorite episode. So I'm going to hand it over to you to lead me through it.

Erica Nash (01:23.031)

Incredible. Well, let's start with total inflow for March 2026. Where did it come from?

Shannon Mattern (01:28.782)

Yeah, so the total inflow for March of 26 was, let me find it, $22,617. And that was next level mastermind renewals. That was a package matrix workshop that I hosted, or someone purchased a replay of the one that I hosted. It was...

Some private coaching, most of that $9,371 of that was ticket sales for the Simply Profitable Designer Summit. We had Web Designer Academy payment plans and renewals and that made up our total of $22,617.87.

Erica Nash (02:22.507)

Amazing. I love that you do it down to the cents. What was the total outflow and where did it go?

Shannon Mattern (02:25.527)

Hahaha.

Shannon Mattern (02:30.792)

The total outflow, see, I'm looking at this on my balance sheet, so it's a little bit different and it's not normally the way that I report it. So I'm like, that doesn't add up. Let me look at this a different way.

Shannon Mattern (02:55.566)

hang tight. Right. So I use QuickBooks or my accountant uses QuickBooks and actually a couple months ago I and I had them change my chart of accounts in QuickBooks to so that because before these income reports I used to go into like

Erica Nash (02:58.315)

the Jeopardy music.

Shannon Mattern (03:21.792)

I use YNAB to do my, you need a budget to do my spending plan and like all of that for projecting like what our monthly outflow is going to be and kind of keep track of inflow and outflow. And that's what I personally use. And then I just had my bookkeeper like keeping the books. And so we would, you know, map those expenses to the, to the normal standard, like IRS categories so that I could do my taxes, but.

Then when I started working with Jen Boss, she was like, let's map the inflow to your products and map the outflow to key initiatives so that you can see like what different programs are costing you. So I have all that set up now. I have like more of a at a glance view of all of that stuff, but because we're doing some things in books is like cost of consult, like some, like the, it's just not like,

Inflow expense. can't just like look at it in that place and and see it so I'm going to look at YNAB for that number. So YNAB has my total outflow for March as $21,583.33. So there's a little

Erica Nash (04:24.036)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (04:49.453)

bit of a difference here between my QuickBooks and my YNAB as to, and it's probably a difference of something that like landed in March or April in the books. so YNAB has my, YNAB is showing that I pulled $912.20 for my reserves, whereas

Erica Nash (05:00.662)

Mm.

Shannon Mattern (05:16.621)

whereas QuickBooks is showing that I added 1900 to my reserves. So I have a little bit of a discrepancy to figure out, but basically a break even month at the end of the day, once I figure out what that little discrepancy is.

Erica Nash (05:23.447)

Interesting.

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (05:32.253)

Interesting. Yeah. And like, I'm just going to shout Jen out. She I had a meeting also with her last last week or the week before just about, you know, finance stuff and just her brain and just the way that it works and like the spreadsheets and things like that. It's just beautiful.

Shannon Mattern (05:34.263)

Right?

Shannon Mattern (05:56.236)

Yeah, it really is giving me a different view into the numbers besides inflow and outflow related to like what I put my time, effort, energy, capacity, mental and emotional, you know.

effort into and is the juice worth the squeeze when it comes right down to it. so not all revenue generators are created equal. And that's one of the things that is really hard to look at sometimes. So yeah.

Erica Nash (06:29.953)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (06:41.591)

Mm-hmm, yeah.

So I think that leads us beautifully into our next question, which is about some of the important things that happened in March. And we tend to like blend the two together. So what are the important things that happen? And what are some of the lessons that you learned, mindset shifts, breakthroughs, things like that.

Shannon Mattern (07:05.461)

Yeah. So the biggest thing that happened in March was that we ran the 10th annual Simply Profitable Designer Summit. So we had 20 speakers come. This year's topic was conversion design. So the premise of choosing that topic was as AI is basically upending our industry.

for a lack of a better way to say that. How do we ensure as web designers, how do you all ensure that you are claiming your space in this industry shift, going from the doer to the strategist? And that's what the Simply Profitable Designer Summit was all about this year, was bringing together 20 experts that

help empower you to design websites that convert for your clients so that you can continue to charge profitably and sustainably or start charging profitably and sustainably for all that you do. So we had people coming in talking about like designing homepage experiences that convert coming in talking about behavioral economics.

and how that applies to designing decisions and so many different topics about, know, if you weren't sure of your value before conversion fast, walking away, being really confident that you know how to design sites that get clients results, you'd walk away being really confident in that. So that was the third week of March. And that just takes up our whole world basically from

Erica Nash (08:58.378)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (08:59.873)

January all the way through the end of March because it's pre-summit week, summit week, and then post-summit week. So that's basically the important thing that happened in March was the Simply Profitable Designer Summit. And then I followed that up. I always invite all of the women web designers that come to

Erica Nash (09:15.371)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (09:27.821)

to that to an open house for the Web Designer Academy. And yeah, that was pretty much my life in March, kind of a blur. But yeah.

Erica Nash (09:45.591)

I know that every year the summit speakers just bring it. But this year was truly incredible. I was legitimately so impressed with every single presentation. And I still have some things that I want to go through another time, because there was so much meat in them that

Shannon Mattern (10:07.618)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (10:12.226)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (10:12.925)

I felt like I really needed a second watch to really understand and begin to be able to implement. so, yeah, shout out to like our speakers because they really just killed it during the summit.

Shannon Mattern (10:26.145)

They really did. And, you know, I know what it takes to be a summit speaker. And it's not a small ask that we are.

of you when you, when we say, would you like to speak at the Simply Profitable Designer Summit? Like you're preparing a presentation, you're submitting it, you're giving us content to promote you, you're sharing, you're promoting it with your audience. And so for every one of our speakers, we're so grateful for the commitment that you make to making the event what it is because yeah, it was.

Yeah, same, Erica. I was just like, this is so good and so much value that our speakers brought to that experience.

Erica Nash (11:21.407)

Yeah, yeah, they really did. And so I'm curious, you know, the summit does really consume our, you know, our whole world. And so whether it was as part of the summit experience or the planning or sort of like the post, just like decompression, what were what

were any of the things that really stood out to you or did you have any specific light bulb moments or breakthroughs or anything like that?

Shannon Mattern (11:54.69)

Here is the biggest thing that I wish I would learn every single year when I do the summit is that the summit happens in the spring and it's planting seeds for future growth, not to sow immediately the week after the summit ends. And that is a challenging thing.

Like it's always been that way, but every year I conflate running the summit with like also, and I'm also launching the web designer academy, even though I've tried to retire that word launch so many times, I'm also launching the web designer academy. Therefore all of this work that I did to...

run this summit, all the time, effort, resources that me and you and the rest of our team puts into it should result in instant new students in the web designer academy next week. And my mind, my wires get crossed and it feels like an outsize amount of effort for a payoff that is not in proportion to

the amount of work that I did. logically, I know that the summit wasn't for March enrollments. The summit is for April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, June. Like it's for all of those enrollments.

Erica Nash (13:38.72)

Right.

Shannon Mattern (13:42.538)

And so that's probably the toughest thing that I do to myself every single year. Even if I logically know that it's planting seeds for the future, I secretly want it to be for explosive growth right now. And which does not happen. And then it's like,

it can create like a stress, stress slash fear response for me where it's like, my gosh, now what? You know, that type of type of thinking. So, that's a challenge that I find myself, that I found myself in ever since I acquired the summit that I'm like, that's not, that's mismatch expectations. And I say all of that to say,

Erica Nash (14:26.092)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (14:44.109)

marketing is not an instant gratification activity. And so when you all are built, like implementing the strategies that you hear on this podcast that we teach in the web designer academy that everyone everywhere ever says to do relationship building, outreach, planting seeds, all of these things. And it feels

Erica Nash (14:52.662)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (15:13.703)

exhausting at times because you're like, where are, where are my results? You know, you have to remember that the actions you take today are for 30, 60, 90 days down the road and be patient and persistent and realistic about that because it's, it's the stopping

and the starting and all of that, that like really creates the feast and famine experience that a lot of web designers experience. So that was kind of like my biggest.

pattern that I spotted, I'm like, here we are fourth year and I'm still doing this, this thing again to myself of making, this wrong for it, not doing something that it probably was never supposed to do in the first place. But it, but it did work like that back in the days of COVID and my mind hasn't

Erica Nash (16:16.695)

Hmm. mean, it's.

Shannon Mattern (16:25.975)

fully untied all of the quote unquote good old day results from like reality results.

Erica Nash (16:35.448)

I, you know, we talk a lot and coach a lot on just like.

the well-worn pathways in our brain. And like, that's exactly what you just said it is, right? It's like that well-worn pathway and like you had that experience. And so if it's working, why would it not work the exact same way? I mean, but the truth is, right? We like truly just live in a totally different world, like two complete separate realities. And...

Shannon Mattern (16:46.976)

you

Shannon Mattern (17:09.195)

Realities.

Erica Nash (17:12.435)

And also, like, I think that there is so much to be said, what you said about, like, persistence. Like, I think that's the piece. It's so easy to stop whenever we are not getting the results that we expect. Right. And so, like, I think that there is something really, really valuable and really special when someone is able to

continue to be persistent even when their reality is not meeting their expectations. And I think that that is honestly like, that's where the projects are. That's where the money is. That's where the growth really is, is like in that really uncomfortable spot of being persistent. And like, I say this to myself because I can get into such a...

state of like, because if I'm afraid, I'm like afraid and I am like shutting down and like closing myself in away from the world. I'm like super like getting really isolated. And and if I'm doing that, then I'm not being persistent. I'm not doing the outreach. I'm not doing, you know, the things that allow me to show up and like get new eyeballs and things like that. And so I just think there's so much magic.

in the ability to be persistent in the thing that's not instantly gratifying us.

Shannon Mattern (18:53.047)

Yeah. I think too, as you were saying that I'm thinking there is a difference between persistence from a, how do I say this? There's a difference between persistence and powering through something that's just not working anymore. And I find myself doing both, right? I find myself being like,

Erica Nash (19:12.407)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (19:22.559)

this used to work a certain, like, I think what it is, is that what I think worked was the tactics and the actions. And I just had a conversation with Julia Taylor from Geek Pack on the podcast that's gonna be published in just a couple of weeks after this one. And we talked about like, when it comes to marketing and lead generation,

She was like, look back at your past and look at like what worked in the past instead of trying new and different things all the time. And I said, well, what if the thing that you did in the past is starting to have diminishing returns, which is what I'm experiencing with the summit, right? So what I'm experiencing with the summit in terms of Web Designer Academy,

enrollments. And I'm being dramatic when I say diminishing returns, the returns are not coming on the same timeline that they used to. And therefore, when they don't, I'm like, hi alert, instead of being like, actually, if you look at 2026 or 2025, and you look at the actual data, Shannon, you'll see that those came in in July, August, September, October. And

Erica Nash (20:32.182)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (20:49.724)

most of those people said that they found you at the summit. If you look at what's actually really happening here.

But so I said, was like, well, what if that thing that you were doing isn't working? we kind of talked through, it has diminishing returns, and we kind of talked through like, well, what's the spirit of the thing that you were doing that was working? And so like for me, it's like, oh, it is.

Erica Nash (21:15.511)

Mm.

Shannon Mattern (21:25.804)

Showing up as a leader in this space in whatever capacity that looks like it could be looking like running a summit, but it could be look, it also looks like speaking at other events. Um, and putting myself in other communities and educating and just being fully myself and not being weird and gatekeeping things like package matrix and stuff like that. That's what gets, that's what creates the leads for me. And so I was talking.

With my biz bestie, Alicia St. Germain, we had coffee on Friday and I was sharing that with her and we were talking about like all of the different like marketing strategies that she's doing. And I was like, tell me about like every client you've gotten over the past 10 years, what do they all have in common? And.

I was like, where did they, how did they find you? Where did they meet you? What do they all have in common? And she was like, well, this one I met at this conference and this one I met here and this one I met here and this one I met here. And this one was a friend of a friend that I met here. And I said, every single one of them you've met in person. She's like, yeah. I was like, and you're trying to like,

get clients through a newsletter and Instagram and all of these online ways. I was like, that's what we're talking about here. So for her, it's like, I just need to go meet more people in real life. Because once you meet Alicia, good luck not working with her. You know what I mean? So.

Erica Nash (23:04.671)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (23:17.084)

That's kind of what I mean by like persistence versus like persistence versus just like powering through. Like if I continue to run a summit thinking that it's going to create a result that it is not creating, that's powering through at my own expense and that is not a sustainable thing to do.

Erica Nash (23:19.744)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (23:44.993)

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (23:46.711)

But if I'm like persistent in figuring this out and being willing to kill the sacred cow for lack of a better term, like the way we've always done things, is that the way that we're going to continue to do things? And do I need to like fully look at everything that we're doing and being willing to decide, make some decisions about like,

Erica Nash (23:58.519)

Mm.

Shannon Mattern (24:16.512)

just because we've always done this and done it this way, doesn't get to stay in this new landscape and be willing to like look at those things. I think that's how, that's the persistence piece versus the, this just doesn't work anymore. I'm quitting or whatever.

Erica Nash (24:31.275)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (24:37.205)

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's so hard sometimes to tell the difference between the two and figuring out like, is this a thing? And that's why I love data so much because when I'm in that head space.

the emotional part of me wants to make the decision that feels the safest. Of course, my brain is trying to protect me. And so I can't see things clearly. And so I love data because in those moments, it's able to kind of make decisions for me or at least help to guide me in a specific direction where then I can go back to like you or my biz besties and kind of ask for.

some clarity and validation and like, okay, is this saying what I actually think it's saying or like, what does this mean?

Shannon Mattern (25:32.875)

Yeah. I mean, looking at our data, our data is telling us Web Designer Academy enrollments are down in Q1 of 2026. And is that a trend that's going to keep going? Is that a state of the world situation? Is that...

Is that a sign that the marketing that I've been doing is off? Is it just a matter of time? I have no idea. I'm looking at the data and making decisions.

based on what it's telling me. It's like, the revenue's coming from private coaching. The revenue's coming from next level. So it's super interesting. And I shouldn't say that. That's March's income report. had April's, it's already April. April's income report will show something a little bit different.

Erica Nash (26:47.425)

Hehehe.

Shannon Mattern (26:56.382)

Yeah, we're just, you have to keep your eye on things and not like here's, here's the thing, not make decisions or changes too fast. I think that is the other thing that I am like so guilty of is like my fear responses fight. And so when I see things, when I see inflow, don't like

When I see outflow, don't like. When I see too many months that I don't like, which is hilarious, Erica, because when I look at my, you know, when I look at the executive summary of my revenue, our year to date for Q1 of 2026 is up 13 % over last year.

But my brain is telling me that it's got to be down like a million billion dollars from last year. And it's because our net income for March is down over February. And so my brain's like, let's not look at that you're up over last year. Let's not even take into account that last year you ended the year in a profit. This is a new year.

Erica Nash (28:02.423)

That's so interesting.

Erica Nash (28:10.519)

Mmm.

Shannon Mattern (28:23.304)

Everything that happened last year doesn't matter. Like your current financial picture doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you made less in March than you made in February and now the world is on fire. And that's what you need to fix. And like,

That I'm going to say something that I hate is even going to come out of my mouth because it sounds so judgy of myself, but I'm like, that's not how a CEO can like run a business. and so when I think of I'm like, I'm seeing, I'm seeing my actions and reactions in certain situations on one hand of like,

Erica Nash (28:56.951)

Mm.

Shannon Mattern (29:12.468)

being very reactive to what's happening in front of me and also being like, you can't do that. You like if you're like, you have to like get ahold of yourself and be more calm and steady and make slower decisions and not just want to put your hands in and metal and fix it when, when you see something that like triggers your nervous system. So when I see myself doing that,

Erica Nash (29:21.559)

Mm.

Shannon Mattern (29:41.791)

And being so reactive in the moment and seeing my fear response kick up, like that means I've just been working way too much. That like we talk about this in next level and that's, you know, that's the summit. That's the summit life, living the summit life and running a whole entire business. We don't stop the business to run the summit business as usual, plus the summit, summit on top of it. Right. And yes, we like have.

Erica Nash (30:01.109)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (30:07.251)

Hehehehe

Shannon Mattern (30:11.51)

help with a lot of it, but a lot of it is still on me and Erica. That's when I know like, if you don't rest, you're going to like create way more problems than resting would create. Because my fear response tells me like, fix it now. Fix it now, fix it now. And next level thinking, what we would say.

in the next level mastermind would be like, you think there's a problem to fix, what else could be true? Like it would question that there's even a problem. And then what else could be true would be like strategic rest. So yeah, that's where I know like, I wanna go listen to March, 2025 income report and see what my mindset was like after the.

Erica Nash (30:47.765)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (31:02.71)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (31:07.779)

yeah, that's a good idea. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (31:08.402)

after the summit. have data. I have data to see if this pattern is a thing. But I've gotten some anecdotal feedback from people in my life that this is definitely a pattern that marches traditionally a month that I feel like the sky is falling, that I'm a little chicken literally.

Erica Nash (31:33.911)

That's so interesting and totally understandable. Like, I mean, I get a behind the scenes view of how hard you work. You know, not quite like your husband does, but like I get to see some of it on this side. And yeah, I can see how just in March it would be like just a tough month. like, you know, coming off of that, like I can imagine.

how long it takes to like wind down from that. yeah, I think that there is, I don't know, just, it's so challenging to recognize in yourself sometimes when it's time to take that rest.

If other people are not speaking that into you, if you are, which I imagine if you're listening to this podcast, you probably are just like a go-getter. So like when you're a go-getter, I think it's just, you just want to go get. And so you just do whatever you got to do. And then like on top of that, if your fear response is like fight, you know, it just like makes it really easy to go fight and

If you're doing things in a silo and you're just kind of by yourself, you don't have anybody to tell you like, wait, hold on. Like, let's take a look at this. Let's slow down a little bit. You know, that's like uncertainty that you talked about and just like, I just want to go fix it. I just want to feel better.

And like, I guess the hard truth, and I say this to myself, like as somebody who like uncertainty literally is my kryptonite, the nature of business is just uncertain. And that is a hard pill to swallow. And so like, what do you do? If that is the truth, business is uncertain. Life is uncertain.

Erica Nash (33:51.832)

I'm genuinely asking this for anybody listening and for my like, what do you do? You know? I don't know.

Shannon Mattern (33:54.188)

You

Shannon Mattern (33:58.804)

I think you have to give yourself the gift of being in the room or in a relationship with people who can give you the perspective that your nervous system cannot give you in the moment.

because when I'm in it, I believe everything I think to be fact. Like the fact that we had zero new people join the Web Designer Academy in March means that zero new people will be joining for the rest of eternity. That's what my brain says. Fact. That is the most ridiculous thing ever.

when I'm in a good mental place. But when I am in that like place of fight, the idea that we would ever have another sale again, like that seems so unrealistic when I'm in the bad place to be like, it seems so unrealistic that you have to, you can't do that alone.

Erica Nash (34:54.135)

Sure.

Erica Nash (35:19.511)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (35:19.98)

and so for me, it's being in a mastermind with other people that I can go to and be like, here's all of the crap. My brain is thinking, can I get some perspective here? to have, like a financial person that can be like, here's the actual picture of your business.

And do you reasonably think that you're not gonna like make another dollar beyond today? Like, has that ever happened? And like helping lead through that. so expecting that we're supposed to like do all of this alone is crazy.

Erica Nash (36:10.039)

It really is. It really is. I'm also going to add therapy to the list. Like that for me right now is literally, and you told me, you were like, Erica, please give yourself that gift. And I did. And it is literally the best gift I have ever given myself. And because I have OCD, OCD says basically,

Shannon Mattern (36:16.509)

yeah.

Erica Nash (36:40.541)

if it's possible, it's probable. And so I have an over-reliance on possibility. I over-rely on possibility and I really under-rely on my own sensory data. So like what I see is not real and it literally hijacks my reality. And so like exactly what you're talking about, like having support.

Shannon Mattern (36:47.733)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (37:02.152)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (37:09.247)

so that people can tell you, wait, that's literally not what's happening. It's so powerful because like you, when I'm in it, I believe it. If my brain says, let's go there, we're going there and we're going deep and we're staying there, we're unpacking, we're living there and like it is truth. And my husband's over here like, that's not at all.

what's actually happening right now. Like what are you doing? Pack your bags, let's go, you know? And so it's just like invaluable to have people that can like speak truth into you.

Shannon Mattern (37:49.962)

Yeah. Yeah. and the, don't know. I'm just like, I do get like tired of the pattern that I find myself in though. And so that's the thing where I'm just like, again, I thought I, I thought I solved this and that's the other, that's the other thing. Like we always talk about in our next level mastermind is like,

new levels, same devils. But also like the fact that I would expect that like never again, I would have a freak out about like outcomes and results not looking the way that I expect that they should. Like somehow my whole personality would like change overnight. I don't know. Not overnight, but I just.

Erica Nash (38:44.535)

And I see.

Shannon Mattern (38:49.547)

I think, I I hear, have a lot of conversations with a lot of women that are like, I should be over this by now. I should be through this by now. I'm so frustrated that I'm still dealing with this. And I find myself saying those things to myself too, but then I'm like, why should I expect to like,

Erica Nash (39:01.687)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (39:17.361)

solve something and never have to deal with it again. What if the expectation is, I know I go through this, so I'm gonna put some support systems in place for when it happens again that I have the help I need to make it like easier to get through.

Erica Nash (39:26.295)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (39:35.527)

Mm-hmm and like

We, and again, I think this, this comes with this, like, we want results now kind of thing where, where we cannot expect something that was like built into our brain and nervous system over 20, 30, 40 years to be solved in six months, a year, two years, like it is something that will take some time. And so

And I don't know about you, but I find that once I notice a pattern and can kind of predict like, okay, you know, at this time of the month, I know I'm going to be anxious or like whatever. It kind of takes some of the power out of the anxiety because I'm like, this is why that's happening. And so I can kind of relax a little bit because in my like, even though it's quote unquote real, it's

kind of not because I know that like there's no real like problem that needs solving right now. And so I think just understanding your own patterns can be really, really powerful.

Shannon Mattern (40:55.371)

also just getting very neutral about things. So with the summit, the neutral version of me would have been like, the summit made $30,000 in revenue in 2025, and it made $19,000 in revenue in 2026.

The gap is this and this is the data and these are the decisions I'm going to make with this data about the summit going forward as to what we're doing with that in 2027 versus.

I worked so hard. Like I can be disappointed, right? I can be disappointed that the financial outcomes and results of the summit were not what I wanted or expected. I can at the same time be really proud of the education, the attendees, the speakers, the topics, all of those things. Those two things I can hold at the same time.

The problem comes when I make that outcome mean that like my whole business is falling apart. It's like, no, one line item in your PNL didn't turn out the way that you wanted. Strategically or like factually, the amount of time, effort and energy that you put into that was outsized for the place that it earns.

We'll see, we'll continue to see like what that creates for us through the rest of the year. And then it's a data-driven decision going forward versus let me like tear something down because I'm scared or something. So yeah, but it's, I sometimes think I shouldn't be going through this. I'm over it. But then again, I think

Erica Nash (42:41.376)

and

Erica Nash (42:51.307)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (43:02.655)

The fact that I still go through it, part of my job is having to process it and learn from it. And I can so empathize with the people who come to work with us because I know exactly what it feels like because I've been through it at times. And it's so much easier to help someone else through it sometimes than it is to help yourself. I'm like, I can see exactly what this is.

Erica Nash (43:26.871)

Yeah.

You

Shannon Mattern (43:33.484)

And here's how we can help you get through this. I can see exactly how it feels when you haven't had a new client in a period of time and the things that it makes you think are true about your business that keep you from like taking the actions that the really simple next action to take because your thoughts have got it twisted about what that means. Like that's the kind of stuff that we do.

So I know we've talked about that a lot, but the other thing that I would say, the big thing that happened in February is I taught a workshop at the summit called pricing for conversion, where I went more into detail about package matrix and what it is and how it works than I had anywhere else. And I know we've talked about on the podcast before that I've been scared to do that. So that was like a big thing that I did. And I also.

Erica Nash (44:03.415)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (44:33.707)

created a new freebie. I'm just thinking, how did I also do all of this and run a summit? I created a new freebie, high converting proposal template, lead magnet. So that's on our website to talk more about our pricing strategy. I also started a TikTok.

Erica Nash (44:39.336)

You did a lot.

Shannon Mattern (45:01.917)

So that's new. You can go follow me at profitable web designer on TikTok. Still finding my way through the world of TikTok, but I'm posting consistently and all of that. And I also launched a new podcast called Pricing Mindset Makeover in March. So you can find that anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Erica Nash (45:09.687)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (45:18.359)

That's half the battle.

Shannon Mattern (45:32.402)

at pricing mindset makeover. And that's really the start of me like working with other service providers beyond web designers on pricing strategy. So a lot happened in March and it's no freaking wonder. I was so tired for like three weeks after the summit because I overworked, you know, and I

Erica Nash (45:52.619)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (46:00.215)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (46:01.759)

When I'm in it, I can't see myself doing it. It just feels like survival. And then I break down because it's impossible to sustain that level. And then there's like a reflection period. And then there's like, OK, what's not working? It's usually something about my mindset, not necessarily something about the business. And then it's like,

Erica Nash (46:07.574)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (46:30.943)

fixing not that my mindset's broken, but it's becoming aware of like, what am I thinking that's causing me to take these actions that's creating unwanted results for me. So yeah.

Erica Nash (46:43.99)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (46:47.541)

Yeah, yeah, that was a lot in March. don't think I realized that you did some of that in March. So yeah, I'm not surprised.

Shannon Mattern (46:56.619)

I don't think I did either. Like what? What?

Erica Nash (46:59.991)

You were just on, you're just going. Yeah. I think... Don't do that. If you learn anything. I think...

Shannon Mattern (47:04.219)

Yeah. So don't do that. The moral of the story. Don't do that.

Erica Nash (47:16.467)

I want to normalize that we all have wobbles. You know, like it's so normal to experience a wobble and to be like, no, this is the end. It cannot get better from here. And I think the opportunity is to

Shannon Mattern (47:20.319)

Thank you.

Erica Nash (47:42.583)

One, as best you can, try not to believe everything you think while in that wobble, because you'll stay there longer. But two, I think it's about how you come back from it. I think that's really the opportunity is, how do I come back from this wobble feeling maybe not even stronger than ever? Maybe it's just feeling

What does my therapist call it?

like with a functional level of certainty. That's what she says. How can we get you to a functional level of certainty? So just coming back to that place where it's like, okay, I do have to live in this certain level of uncertainty, but how can we get to such a level of functional certainty that I can just at least take the next step and like be okay.

Shannon Mattern (48:19.743)

Mmm.

Shannon Mattern (48:40.907)

That is so good. It makes me think about like, there are certain things that I, my thoughts and actions, I'm not always in control of the thoughts that I think. Like in terms of whether or not I think those things, I'm not in control of what pops into my head, but.

Erica Nash (48:42.262)

Yeah.

Erica Nash (48:56.075)

Right.

Shannon Mattern (49:05.919)

And I'm not even in control in the moment all of the time, whether or not I believe those things, but I can be certain that I've always figured it out. And I can be certain, like there's just, there are, love that. And I could list, you know,

Erica Nash (49:16.087)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (49:27.485)

a million things that I could be certain about. Like, I know I'm the kind of person who like, I will do these things. I've been through really tough times in my business. And this looks nothing like the toughest time I've had in my business. So that's super interesting to think about, like something about this must feel like that. That's triggering this. Because

Erica Nash (49:33.205)

Mm-hmm.

Erica Nash (49:49.579)

Right. Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (49:54.668)

that's probably what's going on here is like a pattern looks similar to like my worst year ever or something about that pulled that up. And maybe I haven't fully processed that. And that's like, made me think, Oh, that's happening again. When there were so many circumstances that happened that back in 2023 that were

Erica Nash (50:13.367)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (50:25.887)

different, not the same situation at all. yeah, I think I was probably like.

Shannon Mattern (50:36.339)

It was a traumatic financial experience. And so yeah, I think that that happened too. But yeah, you got to deal with this stuff. You got to deal with this stuff. So that's why we talk through it on these income reports. So we got to wrap this up because we're moving on to our Web Designer Academy Live Strategy call.

Erica Nash (50:39.179)

Yeah, for sure.

Erica Nash (50:49.161)

Yeah. Yep.

Erica Nash (50:58.955)

You

Shannon Mattern (51:04.235)

but yeah, any final things you want to share before I close it out?

Erica Nash (51:10.849)

think that was my final, final thought. Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (51:13.193)

I love it. So get yourself some support. Don't do it all alone. It's way easier when you have people. So that's all I got for you this week and we'll see you back here next week. Bye everyone.