How the Enneagram can define your business goals.

If you’re going to give this indie author thing try, you have to treat it as a business. And every successful business has clear goals and a clear strategy to achieve them. So what should yours be?

This is the million dollar question, and I see people miss the mark with it every day.

If you look around at the indies who have made it big, you’ll find a variety of ways they got there and a wider variety of strategies they used.

Sure, some people luck into success without a strategy, but you really don’t want to rely on luck (or, let’s call it what it often is, privilege) to get you where you want to be.

The key to finding a strategy that works for you is to make sure it’s based on your motivations. You must tailor it to your personality and your reasons for getting into this business.

And if we’re talking core motivations, a great place to start is the Enneagram. If you’re not sure of your Enneagram type, you can click here to take the test (it’ll be the best $12 you ever spent).

Once you know your number, though, we can talk about the basic motivations of each of the nine types and what specific aspects of the business each will care about. Only once you know all that can you build the right strategy for your business.

The nine types and their core desires

Type One: The Reformer

The core motivations of this type are all about goodness. If you’re a One, your top priority will be to hold yourself to high standards of integrity, and the one thing you absolutely want to avoid is being perceived as corrupt or making a move that compromises your values. When you make decisions for your business, you must incorporate the things you care most about into the process.

Some things Ones will care about:

Producing quality work
Telling stories that matter or can effect change
Being perceived as honest and moral by both readers and fellow authors
Not sacrificing your integrity to make a few extra bucks

Type Two: The Helper

The core motivations of the Helper revolve around, you guessed it, helping others. Helpers feel loved by being useful and needed, and they’ll go the extra mile for their readers. On the flip side, Twos are terrified of being seen as selfish or ungenerous, and if they don’t feel like their help is properly appreciated, they can slip into martyrdom in a heartbeat.

Some things Twos will care about:

Making the readers feel like family
Helping other authors
Writing stories that heal
Emails from readers they’ve helped

Type Three: The Achiever

Indie publishing is chock full of Threes. Their core motivations are jet fuel for the exhausting and fast-paced industry, but they can also flame out in a spectacular fashion. Achievers are an externally focused type and their core motivation is being valued by others. Their greatest fear: being seen as unworthy or worthless to others. And the way a lot of Threes measure their worth is numerically (and they’re not afraid to show the favorable numbers to others).

Some things Threes will care about:

Bestsellers lists (NYT, USA Today, Amazon)
Making six or seven figures
Being seen as an expert in their field
List size/# of followers

Type Four: The Individualist

Fours are the typical eccentric artist type. Not only do they tolerate suffering for their work, they sort of prefer it. Their core fear is not being seen as unique, and their core motivation is to figure out their place in this world. Trying to convince a Four to write to market is usually a futile pursuit.

Some things Fours will care about:

Expressing themselves through their books
Standing out from the crowd
Unconventional marketing
Being authentic with readers

Type Five: the Investigator

You might find a lot of Fives writing historical fiction or non-fiction about very specific topics. That is, if you can even find them at all. They tend to hide out and only emerge when absolutely necessary. The core desire of a Five is to be self-sufficient and competent, and their fear is to be lacking in those departments and therefore dependent on others. Because of this aversion to social ties, they’re usually cerebral folks and deeply interested in a few overly specific subjects.

Some things Fives will care about:

Factually accurate stories
Finding fans who aren’t needy
Freedom to write to their specific interests
Time to research the stories thoroughly

Type Six: The Loyalist

The instability and unpredictable ups and downs of indie publishing can be tough for Sixes who require a deep sense of security before they can even get out of bed in the mornings. Their core fear is a lack of support or security — that can be financial, social, or whatever else — and their core desire is to feel like they’re supported and safe. As you might guess, this requires an entirely different strategy from someone with less risk aversion.

Some things Sixes will care about:

Staying on top of cash flow
Minimizing fluctuations in revenue
Building a robust email list of dedicated readers
Creating tight support networks with other indie authors

Type Seven: The Enthusiast

The Enthusiasts’ need for stimulation is pretty much unrivaled. They are fantastic at thinking up big, and I mean BIG ideas, but not always so great with sticking with those ideas to see them through once it’s clear how much time and energy they require. That’s because Sevens are the undisputed kings and queens of FOMO. They’re terrified of being unsatisfied with life, and so they hop on every shiny opportunity they see. But this causes a fear of committing to one path, which can make it tricky for this type to stick with a series for more than a few books at a time.

Some things Sevens will care about:

Maneuverability, being able to make quick pivots to pursue new avenues
A flexible brand
A readership who doesn’t require consistency or frequency in publications
Being where the people are — author conferences, fan cons, etc.

Type Eight: The Challenger

This type has a big personality, and they can sometimes find success through sheer will and brute force of personality. They’re natural leaders mostly because they would rather die than follow what they consider stupid advice from others. The core desire of an Eight is to have complete power over themselves, which can make a great entrepreneur. And the core fear is being the victim of abuse of power by someone else.

Some things Eights will care about:

Not being beholden to a single retailer
Having full control of their schedule and platform
Only doing the parts of the job that they see value in
Being the leader of their readers, and not the other way around

Type Nine: The Peacemaker

If a Nine doesn’t find his or her own pace and rhythm in this industry quick, they can get crushed or swept away by the fast pace. While Nines are in the anger triad of the Enneagram, their natural aggression is rarely a danger to anyone but themselves. Whereas Eights can use that natural anger as fuel and Ones are especially adept at molding it into self-righteousness, Nines have a tendency to turn the aggression on themselves and feel like they aren’t measuring up to the standards of others. They don’t always fare well in a competitive environment, as they fear conflict above all else and desire peace and harmony.

Some things Nines will care about:

Creating stories that bring people together
Feeling like they can write at their own pace
Creating a strong sense of community with their readers
A lifestyle that allows for stillness and tranquility

As you look through these types, it becomes clear right away that the goals will be different for each, and therefore the strategies for achieving those goals will be just as diverse.

Knowing what you care about is the first step to deciding what you want out of your career. It’s not always money, and it’s not always recognition. And if you aren’t clear on that, you can end up broke, unknown, stressed out, and all without having a clue why.

So take a second to figure out your type and create a strategy accordingly. The time you spend on this single task now will save you hours of wasted time and money later.