When you go to their websites you are not confused. It is very clear what their message is and who it is directed to.There is no ambiguity.

Even if you’re not looking for what is being offered, the clarity of the message is powerful. You are able to see this person as an expert. There is no confusion.

This is how it needs to be if you are marketing a service. People need to feel like you are the specialist.

My very first website I wasn’t so clear. I attempted to market to more than one group. It’s like attempting to throw a dart at multiple targets. Even the dart will be confused.

When people are confused they go away. I know I do. I won’t pay money for something over $20 unless I am 100% convinced. 

You want your potential clients to:

• Feel you are speaking directly to them.
• Get the exact help they are looking for.
• Trust that you can help them with their problem.

It takes guts to name your niche and really go for it. It means you are saying YES and focusing your energy totally in that direction. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?  Sometimes fear and self-doubt get in the way.

Those people who are wildly successful have learned to get past the fear and jump in with both feet. When you do that it’s way easier to create programs that will truly help your clients. They’ll see you as the expert you are, and it’s a win-win.

If you are ready to jump in 100% but are not sure of who your niche is? Please join me in the Find Your Niche 3 week class. It will help get that clear focus you want.

Have a look at  your website through the eyes of a new visitor.  Is it crystal clear who you are speaking to?

This is a marketing tactic that works, no matter what kind of business you have. However, for a service based enterprise this is essential.

Once you really know your niche client, then offering freebies is the next step.

If your service costs hundreds of dollars and requires time, energy, and commitment, people are not going to be in a hurry to sign on and throw money your way. They need to trust that you can help them and they need to see the value of getting your help.

Free webinars, videos, ebooks and audios do just that. You might feel like I do and are overwhelmed with the amount of stuff out there to watch, read and listen to. Maybe you wonder if anyone will even participate in your freebie.

However, it is still an essential part of your marketing plan. The important thing is to see it in the context of the whole plan and then it will make more sense.

Know your strategy and why you are offering this freebie. You might be thinking, “Duh, of course I want more sales!”  However, freebies don’t always link immediately to sales. Your freebies can give you:

•  A platform to build your expertise and show your specialty. Even if they don’t sign-up they are more likely to remember you as an expert in a particular area.

•  A wider reach. People might hear about your freebie via a Tweet, Pin or a Facebook post and then end up following you on Twitter, “liking” your Facebook page or repining your pinterest pin.

•  A larger list of the right people who you can build a relationship with. Ideally you want people to attend or read your freebie, but you also benefit when someone to signs-up to get it. If people sign-up you know they have self-selected and shown their interest. You can stay in touch with them and they may become a paying customer later.

• It will drive people to your website which is ultimately what you want. When there, they might look at your whole site, read blog posts or download other stuff.

One of my present clients has been attending my free tele-classes for over a year and finally a year later she signed up for a paid seminar. Marketing takes time but if done correctly it will help you to  bring in more clients and build your business.

What are your freebies?

Do they speak directly to your niche market?

Are they helping you to build your expertise ?

I would love to hear your comments.

Someone’s website came up and it looked like she had the exact skill I needed.

Like most people searching the net, I didn’t have hours to read her website so I just wanted to get the bottom line; her services and price.

She did talk about her services but more from a place of, “I can do this, I can do that.” She didn’t talk much about the benefits to me. However I  wanted to find out what she  charged for her services and she kept sending me to a new page.

After four new pages there was a web form asking me to fill it out so she could call me.

I was irritated and clicked off the site. She lost me as a potential customer at that moment. I didn’t want her to call me or to wait for her to call me. 

In thinking about this afterward I realized that I assume that the way people relate to me on their site is often a reflection of how I will be treated if I hired them.

I like collaboration and transparency.  On her site it felt like she wanted to be in charge and the communication was one-sided. In truth, I do make decisions based on value not price, however I always like to know the price right away.

If I am at a department store looking at clothing I always check the price tag. I guess it is a common habit that I have and I have discovered that the majority of people do this. Even if I am not going to decide based on price, knowing the price is important to me.

Some of my clients say they don’t want to put prices on their site because their services are not so black and white and they need to hear more about the project in order to give an accurate price. Although this may be true, you will also lose many people in that process.

There is a huge jump from searching the internet to being willing to talk with someone on the phone with the details of your project. Many people are not ready to make that jump so quickly. Not offering any price on your website will provide one more barrier to connecting with a potential client. I have also heard  people say that if they show their price and people think it is too high, they will go away. I suppose that might happen, but I doubt if those people are ideal clients.

Some Solutions:

1. Show a price range if you can’t give exact prices.
2. Mention that you can give a more accurate price once you know more about the project.
3. Let people know you have payment plans if you do.
4. Remind people that there are many ways they can work with you.
5. Talk to them about the benefits they want.
6. Focus on the value they will receive and how it will make a difference.

If you find this whole subject of pricing to be difficult and confusing here is a solution!

Do you have your prices on your site?
Does it make you feel uncomfortable?
Do you like seeing prices on other people’s sites?

I would love to hear your comments.

Read another recent post about pricing.

More and more small business owners are realizing how and why it doesn’t work in helping you to create a sustainable business.

Hourly charging still works for unskilled labor because you are paying for an hour of their work. If you hire someone to dig in your yard, there may not be a big difference in people- other than body size. 

The more of an expert you are, the more this hourly charge doesn’t make sense, because your work is not a commodity and it can be highly differentiated from people who do a similar line of work.

If you hire a landscape designer, she may not dig holes, but will use her expertise to figure out where holes need to be dug and will come up with a plan for your property. It could take her 5 hours or it might take two days but the price will be the same. You will never know how long she spent on the design. It is irrelevant because you are paying for the end result, not the the hours.

When you have an hourly rate, it assumes that you are a commodity and that an hour of your time is worth X amount of dollars. Maybe if you were Oprah this would be true. People might pay a gazillion dollars to just be in her presence, regardless of what she was doing or saying during that time span. Just sitting at her feet for 60 minutes would be life changing, sort of like the Dali Lama.

However, for most of us, that hour on the clock would not be about someone paying to be in the presence of our aura. Your niche clients want an actual outcome.

They are buying not just you, but they are buying the benefits they want to receive from the work you do. They are also paying for your level of expertise.

Let’s say people want an update of some kind on their website. They call their web master and inquires as to how much it will cost. The web master thinks, “Hmm, it might take me an hour and I charge $75 an hour.  If I can get it done faster it will be a little less.” But she happens to be fast  because she’s good and she knows what she’s doing.  In my book, she deserves to make more money, not less if she’s that good.

If she prices that job at $75 flat fee and she’s fast, she’ll make a bit more money. She deserves it for her expertise. In this case, speed might be a high asset, especially if the client is in a hurry to get the work done. I know a computer repair place that charges more for rush jobs. They keep your computer for less time and they charge a higher price.

In the example above, the client is not buying an hour of time from the web master. He is paying for the benefits of getting his website work completed. The price for doing that job needs to include more than the time it takes to do it.  The business owner needs to know what her break even point is and how many jobs she can do in one week or month and set prices accordingly so she can make a profit. She may have to pay employees, buy new equipment and do training and all that needs to be covered by money coming in. Suddenly $75 might seem too low for that job.

If you want to give your niche clients a good deal. Give them high value. Offer bonuses and extras. Give great customer service.  Be honest. Those traits are worth gold to your clients. If you want to learn more about adaptive pricing, how to keep your niche clients in your pipeline, how to raise your prices and and more, check out “How to Price Your Services Seminar.”

Do you feel you are under-charging for your services? Are you afraid to raise your prices? I would love to hear your comments.

Nothing will cause you as much stress and confusion as the topic of money. It brings up huge issues.

In many ways a retail business is much easier because you buy products and mark them up a certain percentage and that’s it.

When you are marketing your own service, and it’s all about you offering yourself, your time, your tools, and your expertise, it’s easy to become too subjective. Here are some issues that often emerge:

• Poor self-worth. ” How much am I worth? Can I really help people? Am I good enough?”
• Fear of over-charging. What if people think my price is too high and they say no.
• Poverty mentality. I know I can’t afford it, so I assume my potential clients also can’t.

These issues can cloud your thinking and make it very challenging to come up with correct prices.

There are solutions!

1. Focus on value to your niche clients. Know what they want and why. If they have a true burning need, your first obligation is keep your attention of them and not your issues.

2. Even though it can look like people are buying You, in fact they are really buying the benefits they want for themselves. You are only a conduit in this regard.

3. Many people have their own money issues and they will surface when faced with spending anything over twenty bucks. Part of your job is to help them feel ok about getting the help they need. It will only be ok if they in fact have a strong need for the benefits and they trust that you will be able to help them.

4. In general, services are higher priced when they include more face-to-face time with you. For this reason, one-on-one programs will be the highest price and an e-course will be lower priced. Understanding this formula is important.

5.  A trained specialist can usually charge more for a job than a less skilled person. This isn’t meant to under-value anyone’s contribution, but the engineer has had years of training, licensing,  and skills beyond the average person and when someone needs their help, it is something they cannot do themselves. Most people can clean houses; they just don’t have the time or want to do it themselves. However, house cleaners can still have prosperous businesses based on hiring employees, selling products, etc.

6. The phrase, “I can’t afford it,” often means, “This isn’t a priority.”  Most people say they can’t afford many of the services they pay for but they do it anyway because they have decided the benefits are worth it.

7. Likewise, if  you hang around with people who are all struggling and poverty-minded, it will influence you seeing yourself the same way. You can begin by changing your own language and it might actually influence your friends in a positive way as well as yourself.

8. You need to have a clear vision and money map for your business. You need to know what your financial goal is, what all your expenses are and how many programs or jobs you need to sell in order to  meet your goal.

Which of these points resonated with you?  How do you feel stuck? I would love to hear your comments below.

I  know this is a huge topic so I will share more on this topic in my Free-teleclass April 18th.

However once you are there, it makes a huge difference what you actually do.

Most people think it’s all about promoting themselves, telling people how great they are, asking people to sign-up, buy, or come to their event. 

Not only does this not work so well to attract more clients, you probably hate promoting yourself this way.

Even self-confident people don’t actually like self-promotion. It feels icky. You know you are meant to nurture real relationships and it feels out of integrity to so blatantly talk about yourself.

You think that this approach is part of what you need to do to get your business going but under your breath you grumble about how much you really don’t like selling! 

Actually this is part of the problem. You are going through the motions of selling when no one has asked, self-selected and shown any interest. It is out of sync. Of course it doesn’t feel good.

Selling is actually a part of marketing but it comes much later in the process- after someone has chosen and asked. Once someone asks, it is a whole new ballgame because then you are helping them to get the support they say they want.

There is a seven-step process in marketing, and selling is way down on number six. When you go to social networking sites or local groups you need to be focused way at the beginning of the process in step one. This has to do with building empathy with them. So in a way, instead of promoting yourself, you need to promote them.

Here are a few suggestions as an alternative to self-promotion.

1. Talk about your niche client and what they want.
2. Talk about how they feel, their issue and how it impacts them.
3. Write blog posts offering them real value.
4. Offer tips that give help to their issue.
5. Give an example or story about a client.
6. Re-post other people’s articles that help your clients.
7. Make educational videos that offer free help to them.

Keep promoting your clients. It is all about them and not about you!

This will feel so much better because you are helping them and focusing on them. No one has trouble doing that.

Of course, first you need to know who they are and really understand their problem and issues.

If you need help with that part, check out Niche360. It explains how niche marketing works and how it will make it super easy to let go of self-promotions, and instead to promote your clients!

Do you know who your niche clients are?
Do  you  know what they want?
Do you know how to help them?

It has become even more crucial that you  really know what are doing in your marketing activities because if you don’t, you could find yourself spending hours on Facebook and not much to show for it.

It’s easy for it to turn into a distraction instead of a productive venture.

Facebook is all about building relationships and stronger connections.

As a small service business owner you want to bring in more of the right kinds of clients. You’ve been told that Facebook is good for growing your business but you have to know how to use it.

I’ve had my clients tell me they constantly do updates on Facebook but it is a waste of time because they still only have a small group following them and never get any interactions. The problem isn’t with Facebook.

The problem is with you not understanding how to use it. Here are a few things I have learned.

If you own a business, Facebook needs to be primarily about your business, even when you’re on your friends page.

These days people divide their friends on lists so they can choose to receive posts only from the people they want to keep up with everyday.

What this means is that your posts need to be valuable enough that they will choose to keep you on their main list. If you put up a lot of posts they don’t like, you they will click you off just like that.

Here are some common things I see everyday that don’t work and will not attract people to you.

•  If all of your posts are advertisements and selling something. That doesn’t build connection. Every so often you can do sales post but even then,  build empathy first.

•  Complaining and or being negative. It’s ok to share how you have solved a problem or an issue that you feel passionate about as that can be inspiring, but just negativity doesn’t draw people to you or help you to build positive relationships.

•  Sharing bad news and gruesome photos. Enough of that in the newspaper

Regardless if you post on your friends page or your business page you need to:

1. Know who is your niche market. It’s that strong narrow community of people that have a burning need inside of themselves.

It is about something they want in regards to money, business, health, well being, success, technical support, relationships, etc. They have an issue or a problem and you need to know what it is so you can engage with them and write and offer help, ideas, articles etc.

2. You want to give them real value, ask them thought provoking questions and inspire them. Encourage them to respond back. Post something so inspiring that they will want to re-share it with their group.

3. You want to build your expertise by presenting yourself as a specialist. That happens when you offer intelligent ideas, speak to your audience and offer good, sound valuable tips.

4. Comment on other people’s posts- especially those people you most want to connect with. Re-share posts that inspire you, written by people you want to support.

5. Notice when your people are on Facebook. You can tell by going on different times of the day and seeing who is there. Only the most recent posts will show up on your first page, otherwise they get buried.

6. Put your most important people on an special list and every so often check just that list. You will see all there posts for the past couple days, unless that list is huge.

7. Add photos or graphic downloads to your posts as that will attract more attention, especially if they are captivating.

8. Occasionally post good videos or audios as those have much greater impact.

9. Get on board with the new  pages Timeline as you can put links in the little boxed under the main header and those can connect to a web page. ( I am still getting mine done:)

Here is a recent post I did where I got a lot of comments and interaction:

Graphic Design Resources for Facebook Timeline Cover Image

denisewakeman.com

Do you have a Facebook page for your business? If so, then you probably know Facebook has changed things up and will switching over all pages to the Timeline layout (like your personal profile) on March 30. There have been hundreds of articles about what you need to do to prepare for the mandatory

__________________________________

 

I Love Facebook- as you can tell. I have met the most wonderful people and it has helped my business grow in countless ways. There’s a lot more of course. Follow Mari Smith to get the cutting edge stuff!  

Let me know what you learned from this article and what more you want to understand. Feel free to add things I might have missed.

•  They think their programs and tools are their niche.
•  Not wanting a niche because they can help everyone.
•  Spending all their time creating more tools.

Your niche are the people you market to, not your products. They need to be a strong but narrow group of  people with a similar problem that is compelling and is making them feel a burning need to get help in some regard.

What makes this so hard for some of you to get this? You might have been spending all your time and focus on developing your products and services.  You haven’t been focused on who these people are. You only “sort of,” know. Sort of is not good enough in marketing. It has to be crystal clear and laser focused.

1. For a service  business your niche is always the people who you are marketing to. It is all about understanding who they are and what is driving them. It is more about what they want than what you think they need.

2. You can still help everyone if you want to, but most people say they want to help everyone because they are operating from a fear of not having enough clients. If you check inside I bet you will know exactly who you would prefer to work with and why. However, your marketing needs to be focused on your niche group, regardless of who you decide to help. Without that niche focus you will not present yourself as a specialist and an expert and your message will be watered down.

3. Most likely you have spent most of your time developing your tools and services. You are already good at that. However, to build your business you need to focus on your niche and speak to their issues. It is not about you and what you are offering. It is all about them and their problem!

You can work with the exact people who you enjoy helping as long as you know what their problem is. It is not about what you think they need. it is about how they feel and what they want.

Example:  If you are a website developer, you might look at someone’s old website and know she needs a new one. You might think of all the new bells and whistles you can offer her and how it will give her a better presentation. However her main problem is money stress, not enough clients and just sees a new website as more money going out.  She thinks what she has is good enough.

She won’t decide to build a new site until she sees how this investment will pay for itself and give her more clients and ultimately more money. She doesn’t want a web site. She wants the benefits of more cash flow. She won’t make a decision until she sees these two things linked.

Do you know who your niche is?
Do you know what their problem is?
Are you a specialist at helping this person?

I would love to hear your comments. Below. I will come back and respond.

Watch my free Niche Marketing 360 free videos to get answers to the above questions.

ps. If you want help figuring this out, Leap Forward would be perfect.

No one signs up for your newsletter. You are frustrated!

Here is the secret for turning that around. It is simple but most people miss it.
 
It begins with empathy! If you manage to get people to your website, you want them to stay and get involved. You have to build empathy with your clients before anything else.  
 
Empathy is what you want from your best friend when you’ve had a bad day.
 
You want someone to get how you feel. When that happens you feel heard and cared for. There is no substitute for that feeling of being understood. Look at your home page and see if you have done these following three things before anything else:
 
1. State your client’s problem or issue in their own voice, using their words.
2. Say how your client feels the way they would speak if asked. “You feel _______ and _________.”
3. State the benefits your clients say they want and why.  How do they feel it will it change their life.
 
This is all about them and their perspective on themselves; not about you, your programs and how you can help. You will get to the help part later but first you need to build empathy. Until you do that, they won’t feel any connection or trust with you.

Too many people who are anxious for new clients, launch right into to talking about their programs and packages. They think that if they explain how they can help, people will want to buy. It doesn’t work that way.

Here is your free tip: Instead of telling about your programs right off, after building empathy, give immediate value right then and there. This can be in the form of a video, a downloadable ebook, tips or of course on your blog. Whatever you offer, it needs to always begin with building empathy first.

If you are not sure what words your potential clients would use, then here is the first step. Begin to listen to them closer and ask them how they feel. They will tell you and it will transform your business when you follow this formula. It will also give real value to the people you truly want to help.

If you want more help with learning how to do this and the next steps,  join the 90 day Leap Forward Program.

Do you know your clients words? Does every page on your website or newletter begin with empathy?

I was laser focused on how to tell people about what I was offering, how I could help them and what my services were.

I thought if this was articulated clearly, people would get it and then grab it.

I was soo wrong. People don’t actually want to hear about you and what you are offering. At least not yet. They are focused on themselves and their problems.

What they want, is to know you get it. They want to feel empathy from you.

You might remember a time when you were facing a big problem that was making you feel confused, overwhelmed or discouraged.

How wonderful it was to talk with a friend who listened and didn’t immediately tell you what to do or try to give advice. They had no agenda and you felt supported.

Active listening offers this and it includes empathy, paraphrasing and support.

•  People feel really heard and understood.
•  Allows the person to then go deeper.
•  Builds trust with the listener.

Your home page content can do all that. Way later you can gently suggest some next steps.

How to do active listening in your marketing message and on your home page?

First, you need to have listened to enough of your niche clients so you know what they would say, how they would say it and how they feel.

•  Post a video on your website where you speak to them using their words and paraphrasing.
•  Put those same words in text.
•  State the  benefits they want.

Next you can offer valued help right then and there with free downloadable tips.

If you look at my 7-step marketing circle, you will see that talking about your programs is not until step number five. It comes way later. In fact, ideally people will ask you about it because by then, they feel supported, understood and they trust you.

Have a look at your home page via the eyes of your niche clients. Do you build empathy and trust first or do you offer help too fast?

I know what it’s like to not be able to sleep due to fear and panic around money.  It’s not fun.

I guess I’ve become somewhat of an expert at beginning a small solo business, now that I have made every mistake in the book! I know how important it is to build a strong foundation first.

Do you freeze when someone asks you what you do?

One foundation piece involves developing a strong core marketing message and to know your niche clients inside and out. It doesn’t work well to only know them, sort of.  Sort of doesn’t pay the bills.

However, there is a process for figuring this out and it’s important to stick with it until you get that gut feeling that you’ve nailed it.

If your core marketing message isn’t quite there, it will affect your cash flow. You will get some business coming in without it just from your passion, but your passion will only go so far. You need passion and clear steps.

So why is your core marketing message so important and why is it one of the foundation pieces of your business?

•  You can’t build a good marketing plan without it.
•  You will confuse people and a confused person goes away.
•  You will end up offering the wrong products or services.

A core marketing messages has three components.

1. The strong but narrow niche group of people who you are speaking to.
2. Their problem, issue or strong desire that is a burning need for them.
3. The benefits they want and how it will make a huge difference to them.

You might be wondering, where you come in? What about your expertise?”

You are the specialist at helping the above people with their problem and the benefits they want.

Simple yes? Easy, not so much. Important? Absolutely.

What can make it easier?
Learn the steps and process instead of going around in circles.
Work on this with people who don’t have your blind spots.
Join the Leap Forward Program which includes tools, steps, process and huge support.

Take the free business self-assessment and learn more.

How confident are you with your core marketing message?

If you are going to work so hard, why not make “real” money?

You have likely heard of those success stories of people who went from zero to six figures in seven months. It is mouth watering and it makes you think anyone can do it.

Well, in theory anyone “could” do it that quick, but there are a ton of things that would need to be lined up for that to happen.

I know a woman who spent $20,000 she didn’t have, to attend a program that promised this outcome; plus the cost to fly there and stay in a fancy hotel.

However, at the end of the year she was still at the starting gate and felt discouraged.

A very small percentage meet that goal, and yet she ended up comparing herself to them and felt even worse.

I have to admit, at one time those programs grabbed my attention, but something always held me back. I have invested at least that much money in my business, so that’s not the issue. What I do know is that there are steps to building a business and it takes time to do it correctly.

If you are new in business- you might be thrilled to get to the first income level $50,000 a year. You wouldn’t be rich yet, but you would be building the foundation to grow from.

If you compare your business to building a house from scratch, the foundation level is the beginning. The six figure income  lives on the second floor.

The foundation is the most important piece.
• The foundation is the blueprint for the rest of the building.
• If you make big mistakes there, you will be having to deal with them constantly as you build higher.
• The mistakes have more  impact the taller the house gets.
• When the foundation is solid, it is much easier to add the next floors.

My advice to you, is to get it right at the beginning!

• Slow down and let go of your hurry to make money so fast.
• Make sure you don’t skip essential pieces in the foundation.
• Go for quality and value when you make decisions.
• Face your inner self-worth issues.
• Acknowledge your blind spots.

Do you want to know more about how to develop your  business blueprint in a step-by-step format?  Check out the Leap Forward Program.

Is your foundation blueprint built correctly? Take my free Business Self-Assessment to find out.

You have a great service to offer.
You help people to solve their problems.
And yet your challenge is to get your own business activated.

Maybe for some months you’ve been trying to do it all yourself, and yet you are aware of blind spots and it can feel discouraging.

It’s a smart to get help right away, otherwise it can feel confusing about where to focus your energy.

•  There is an actual proven system to follow where one action builds on the other.
•  It is important to be crystal clear on your intentions and goals for your business.
•  You can create a map, plan and set benchmarks to see and know you are on track.

If you are a therapist, designer, coach, writer, educator or a health and wellness practitioner, you probably have had very little business training and even if you have had some, when you begin your own business, it is another story.

• You own emotions will derail you.
• You feel desperate to make money and that can affect your decisions.
• You aren’t sure where to focus first.

If this sounds like you, the “Leap Forward Program” is perfect. We focus on helping you build your business with the core components that need to be put into place.

What are your answers to these questions?

Do you know exactly where you want to go?
What it will take for to get there?  Can you answer with a huge YES?

When asked what you want, it’s easy to state your dreams of more money, more clients and a freer lifestyle. That question is not so difficult to answer in general. It can be harder to be more specific and say exactly how much money, where it will come from and how many more clients.

The best question to ask is, “What is holding you back?”  What is going on inside of yourself that keeps you stuck in your familiar habits or ways of being? There is something comfortable and safe in just staying right where you are.

What you want often lives just outside of your comfort zone!

If you truly plan to double your income this year or triple it- what will it require? It can feel scary and overwhelming to shift into a new mindset. But that’s what it takes in order to make this jump.

Whatever it is you want to accomplish in your business has been done before by many, many people. So, it is not impossible. Everyone faces internal demons that want to hold you back. You are not alone. In fact, you already have overcome many, or you wouldn’t be where you are now!

The good news is that there is a formula for figuring out that “Right Question,” and then creating easy steps to get there. Here is the order:

1. Know specifically what you want.
2. Identify what fears or self-doubt hold you back.
3. Look at what you need to get past those feelings.
4. Begin mapping out simple steps.
5. Start with step one.
6. Breath.

If you follow these steps, before you know it, you will be moving forward. I am following my own advice and am working on the next piece of my own business plan. Let me know if you want to chat about it. My wish is that in 2012, we all leap forward together. Are you in?

Here is a simple process for overcoming this common obstacle; how to shift your mind-set to do what feels hard.

I tend to vacillate between my two extremes. I focus on doing the things I am good at, and then I worry and stress about the stuff that’s a challenge.

In my case, the easy parts are marketing, customer service and anything creative, like writing or product development. I love doing things that involve directly communicating with and helping my clients. As a result, I have developed mastery in these areas.

All the back end parts like organization systems, live in the other end of the polarity. It took me awhile to figure this out I  love having everything neat and put away. I get a warm feeling when I walk into my office and the desk is clear and I know where everything thing is. However, this has happened maybe five times in the last five years

My solution is to over-compensate with tons of filing cabinets and I actually have it under control, but this isn’t the issue. I don’t do it easily and stuff piles up because I put it off.

Back to the question; how do I use my strengths to get me to be more excited about organizational tasks ?

On the surface it looks like my strengths are creativity and relationships. It can feel like a huge jump to marry this to cleaning my office and I have to really stretch to see any relationship connection to organizational tasks. However, I decided to dig deeper into my own psyche because I know the secret lives there.

It’s really about motivation. I have read tons of books on how to be organized but they are all written by people who are good at it and don’t have my issues. One book I do love is “The Color Code,”  by Taylor Hartman. Great book that helps you understand yourself and your motivations. He has an online personality test. I have done the long book version of this test multiple times and no matter how I answer the questions, I come out a Yellow.

Yellows are people who are motivated by fun. Organizing my office doesn’t feel fun to me. It feels tedious. The obvious question is, “How can I make this process fun?” When I look at my strengths, I have to ask what makes those  things fun?  The common denominator is communication. Marketing, customer fulfillment and product development are all about communication. I love any form of communication. It’s in my genes. It gives me a buzz. Organizing feels like work.

From that place it is easier to see a way to make that jump. It is about bringing the process of communication into organizational systems. It immediately feels more creative  Re-framing this transforms the whole process.

My example:  Motivated by  fun. Communication is my key. Marketing, customer service and writing are all about communication = fun. Organizational tasks = responsibility, tasks. work = not fun.  Shift: Organizational tasks = communication processes = more fun.

Your story will be different from mine but the process will work regardless. Here are the steps I followed to get from A to B.

1. Figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are. You can use my nifty Whole Business pie chart process to help.
2. Make a short list of what you like  about your strengths.
3. Figure out what motivates you forward. Take The Color Code assessment to get help and find out your key.
4. Determine how your motivation operates in your strength and weakness areas.
5. What is one way you can bring that key that motivates you, into your challenged place?

This takes a bit of a focus to get your head around this. If you are a blue, you might feel confused but just breath! It works. Please come back and tell us what color you are and how this has made a difference.

I write about self-doubt a lot. It’s not because I am obsessed with this topic. It’s because it comes up all the time.

Self doubt comes up for me regularly, and I have become an expert at seeing what triggers it and how to get past it.

It is one of the first things new small business clients share, regardless of how long they have been in business.

Self-doubt leads right into fear and panic and you might feel:

• I’m not good enough or smart enough.
• No one will want to hire me because…..
• I will fail and look bad!

There are more and I am sure you could create your own list. My own list has caused me more pain and suffering than anything else. Here is what I learned and it still works.

1. Have a crystal clear and detailed vision and picture of where you are going. This needs to include how much income you will get and the income streams that will provide it. Check out Chapter 5 in my book, “Your Money Map.”  I created this process during one of my most fearful times and it really helped me to shift. Remember your vision is about your business, not about the lifestyle you want.

2. Keep a positive attitude. Instead of saying, “I can’t or don’t know how,” say “Who can help me and how can I find out how?” Your own limiting thoughts are your worst enemy if you are a business owner. An important entrepreneurial trait is to have the ability to keep your focus positive. When I wake up to a bad day, I immediately look at ways to get more empowered. For me it is often about talking to my support team.

3. Take calculated risks. If you stay where it is safe, you won’t move forward and won’t grow. If you don’t want to take risks, it is better to have a job. To grow a business you have to get out of your comfort zone and invest in yourself. This can mean investing money, and jumping in with both feet.

These three points are intertwined and related. For example: You might have a fear of spending more money and creating another debt. Fair enough, however if you have a clear vision of where the money will come back, it makes it easier. Your fears can also be part of your limiting thoughts.

Tell me what you think about these three points. Can you see how they can work to help you stay away from self-doubt?

(above art by Rogenetheartist)

Those are all positive traits that help them to be great at helping people via their services.

Creative people are also notorious at struggling with getting their businesses to be successful.

If you can relate to this statement, you most likely have a vision for your business that is way too small. This can hold you back and will affect every decision you make!

Here are 5 things to consider. Look at this list and ask yourself if this sounds like you.

1.  Not seeing multiple income streams.
All business owners have blind spots; areas you just can’t see.

If you offer direct service to clients, this is the easiest route to begin to bring in cash flow, but there is a limit to how many clients you can see in one week or how many direct jobs you can take on.

In order to develop a business it is important to look at how to leverage income by offering programs to  groups of people or creating passive income by offering products to your niche clients. If you know your niche client, it is all about offering more and more value and a variety of ways you can help them.

2. Not wanting to invest more money.
Solo business owners tend to feel hesitant to invest in their own business.

Maybe your lack of confidence makes you question your ability to be successful, so you view investing as creating another debt, rather than helping you to grow in prosperity.

It is hard, if not impossible, to grow a business without investing money, however you need to perceive a return on your investment and  in order to do that you need to see with your entrepreneurial hat on.

3.  Incorrect priorities.
It is easy to spend time doing the things you love.  Most people end up focusing the majority of their attention on their services and products learning more skills and developing more expertise.

Although those activities are important, it may be more important to focus on business skills; your marketing plan, organizational systems and your money map. Without those, you will never grow a real business.

4.  Limiting thinking.
I often ask my new clients about their financial goals and how much money they want to be earning per year when their business is fully developed.

People are notorious for giving a very low figure based on what they think they are capable of, what they think people will pay and generally undervaluing themselves. Your own limiting thinking could be your worst enemy.

•  Self doubt
I always mention this one because it is the biggest culprit!

Your own self doubt will stop you dead in your tracks and make you question your decisions, your ability and will undermine your confidence.

The best cure is to get help from someone who sees more in you than you see in yourself and then to act as if.

How many of these five things could you relate to? I am an expert at each one   I would love to know I am not alone!

It’s great to see so many people speaking out about topics that effect everyone’s quality of life.

Last night I heard a man, who identified himself as a community activist,  interviewed about Occupy Portland. He said that Occupy is not about one particular issue, but many and all are important. Makes sense!

Wanting to make a difference is an inherent entrepreneurial trait, regardless of your specific points of view. It’s about listening and giving value to people.

As small business owners, you are in a unique position. You are an integral part of your community and within your businesses you face many of the same issues yourself everyday, including health insurance, social security, retirement and other financial issues. You also want to have a sustainable business.

Here are a few things you can do right within your own world that can make a huge difference. It is not all about camping down in the park. It is about fully occupying your own business in a more conscious way.

1. Be an excellent listener. Listen to your clients, their issues, concerns and desires. Your business is all about them and how you can help them. In order to give them excellent service, you need to hear what they have to say first.

2. Be open-minded and accept new points of view. Most people begin their business with knowing a lot about their product and service but very little about how to be a business owner. Let go of your subjective ideas and get help so you can really lead your business.

3. Present yourself as a professional. Acknowledge your self doubt and share that with your mentor but make decisions from a place of empowerment. Build a professional website and see yourself as a successful person.

4. Get out of your office and connect with other entrepreneurs in your community. Find a variety of business groups and people. Staying in your comfort zone won’t help you to grow.

5. Create a plan and keep updating it. New business owners waste a lot of time going around in circles and then feel frustrated. A good plan for marketing and growing, will keep you focused and on track!

These five things might be obvious but it is easy to forget how important they are. Doing each of them will keep you grounded and you will be able to help way more people and make a much bigger change in your community. Can  you see how they will make a difference?

•

It makes me wonder if this problem is contagious!

I also think this is more a women’s issue. I want to whisper this in case it is not politically correct to imply this, but women do seem to end up giving and giving without getting paid enough.

Here are some examples I have heard already this week:

•  Under-acknowledging the value of your service. One woman admitted to me today that she has no trouble expecting a hefty bill from her lawyer or paying her counselor, because she needs those services, but she is not seeing her own service is equally important. She wonders if people will really value it.

•  Giving too much! you offered a free 30 minute introductory meeting and then end up going for over 90 minutes. You offered tons of solutions to a potential client who has not yet hired you. Client hears too much and gets confused and then backs away. Giving is part of marketing but you have to know how much to give and how to lead it into a sale.

•  Poor communication about what you are offering. You lack clear written documents that outline exactly what is covered in your program. As a result clients keep asking for more and you keep giving more without any additional charge, because of your fear that if don’t, the client will be angry and feel not taken care of. Lack of clarity makes everyone confused.

All of these situations are a result of a mixture of low self-worth, self-doubt and not fully stepping into a full leader of your business. If you can relate to any of the above issues, here are a few things you can do.

1. Make sure there really is a burning need for your service. You need to see the value on a gut level, not just in your head. You have to feel the value 100%. If you don’t, this is the first place to begin. You can’t successfully offer a service you don’t really believe in.  If you do acknowledge the value fully, then the issue is about you, not your service.

2. Your own self-worth needs to come from knowing you are a really good person, skilled and an expert at what you do. You help people and make a difference.  If your self-worth depends on everyone liking you,  hiring you and paying you, your potential clients will feel your desperation or discomfort and it won’t make them feel secure and trusting that you can help them. When you feel good inside, you can put forth clear structures that then help people to feel safe with you. They know where they stand and won’t feel confused.

3. Be willing to step into those big leadership boots. Operate from a clear business plan and vision that states how much money you plan to earn and where it will come from. From that plan you can figure out what you need to charge in order to run your business. Get away from charging by the hour as you have a whole infrastructure to support. It is not just about the minutes you spend with the client.

By the way- I can identify with all the above. I used to be similar and it was painful to look at myself. The good news is that I followed my own advice and changed!   If I could do it, so can you.  I would love to hear your stories and comments below and if you want more help just let me know.

Read more about why people undercharge.
The dance of giving and receiving.

There are so many issues that are “women’s” issues.  Not to say that men never feel similar ways, but they are – different. I am not an expert at men. They are often a mystery to me. However, I do understand women entrepreneurs.

At one time I thought all the issues I had were unique to me. I realized that many, many women felt the same way and they could understand and empathize as well. What a gift.

There are some common things that block women from being a strong leader of their businesses and as a result, being wildly successful! Have you ever felt any of these ways?

1. Self-doubt that makes you either freeze or make really poor decisions.

Not being sure about something is not the same as self-doubt, which is all about you and your ability, your skill or your basic worthiness.

2. Afraid to take risks in your business. You don’t want to get more into debt or are unsure of being able to handle whatever it is. Without taking risks you stay stagnant and then wonder why your business isn’t growing.

3. You become emotionally attached to doing what you love and your identity is tied up with your profession. Instead you need to identify as a business owner first and then do whatever it takes to get yourself and your business strong.

In order to feel highly confident, take risks to shift and change and to wear the hat of a leader of your business, you need to find those cool new boots and step into them with a strong purpose.

One thing that can help to do that is to amass a strong team of other women in business who understand and will challenge, support and celebrate you and your success. Women are community oriented and need to connect with other women. Women who will see the strong leader in you!

If you work alone this becomes even more essential.

Does this resonate with you? If it does you and I are on the same wave length!

Do you have a team of women on board to challenge and support you and to offer you really good feedback?

If you are searching and wanting to find that community with a group of other strong entrepreneurs then say YES and make it happen. Take the risk, listen to truth instead of self-doubt and decide you are worth it.

Awake Women Visionary Mastermind Program
If you feel a strong YES!