Those of us in business online (and offline, too, I’m sure) are pressured to “become the expert” in our fields. Our marketing is designed to portray us as experts, as the “go to” person for what we do. We work hard to plant the seed of that idea in our target market’s mind and even harder to nurture and grow it.

Yet, at the same time, we battle the nay-sayer voice in our heads. The voice assures us we don’t know enough, we’re not good enough, others will see through our bravado (and it is bravado a lot of times…the ol’ “fake it til you make it” routine…) and tells us we’ll be exposed as the frauds we are.

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines “expert” as:

expert: one with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject.

Doesn’t say anything about knowing everything

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On the other hand, if you think you can do something, you’re probably more than willing to invest the time, effort and energy into it because you’re pretty sure you’ll get the result you’re after.

So what makes the difference between thinking you can’t and thinking you can do something? For most of us, it’s proof. Proof in the form of results, past results, most likely. Where does that leave you if you’re looking at trying something completely new? Empty-handed? Not necessarily.

Just because you’ve never done a particular thing before does not mean you lack proof of your ability. All you have to do is rewind back to the last time you had to do something you thought you couldn’t do, but did. Guess what? There’s your proof. We each have things in our past that we thought for sure were going to ‘eat our lunch’, but didn’t.

There was a time in my life that I thought there was NO WAY I’d be able to earn a living from home without a job. I have three kids, a mortgage and a car payment, for crying out loud, plus I’m single with no other income to rely on! Well, guess what I’ve been doing since December of 2002?

Maybe for you it’s your managing your website or blog, or writing effective marketing copy, or picking up the phone and reaching out to a prospective new client, or any number of other things that loom over you.

Matters not. You’ve got proof. And the really good news is that “proof” from one area of your life transfers over to any other area of your life, because the proof is really about all the times – in any situation or context – that you did something you didn’t think you could do.

What can you change your mind about today and think you can, instead?

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We are responsible for the messages we send, but we are not necessarily responsible for how the message is received, particularly given how many ways and reasons there are for a message to be misconstrued. But in being responsible for the messages we send, we can’t turn a blind eye to the likely perceptions of others. And certainly, our words are not the only vehicle by which we send messages. We are responsible for all of the messages we send.

Are you skewing the messages you send verbally with behavior that says the opposite? Do your words say one thing while your actions say another?

Try stepping outside your own skin and seeing yourself through the eyes of others. Is the message you send the message you intend?

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photo credit: pdxjeff

What is the purpose of a lighthouse? Webster says a lighthouse is:

a structure (as a tower) with a powerful light that gives a continuous or intermittent signal to navigators.

According to Wikipedia:

Lighthouses are often interpreted in dreams as beacons of truth.

In my business, my “job” is to be a lighthouse, as opposed to being a search light. My job is not to chase after the folks who need my services, but rather to be that powerful light that gives them a sense of security in the world of entrepreneurship. I like the idea of being there to guide them and navigate unknown waters.

Again, I defer to my favorite quote:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?”

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson, from her book, A Return to Love

The idea of being a lighthouse is certainly not limited to business. We can be lighthouses in all areas of our lives.

What makes our light shine brighter and brighter is learning who we really are and living that in this life. Living in the present moment makes our lights stronger, too. Being authentic (not the same as one another, but true to who we each are, individually) and fearless about shining our light is the best contribution we can make, in my opinion.

Related posts:

1. The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online

As my dad has always told me, “Just pick one and look at the rest.”

At first glance, this might appear to be merely the advice of an exasperated dad, but the more frequently I’ve followed this advice, the more value I find in it.

Sometimes the only thing required to get unstuck is action, any action. Not everything about our world is linear. Not everything can be traced back to a logical cause and effect. Sometimes, all we need to find our answer is to step – in any direction – off of dead center. Movement is the antidote to being stuck. Action is the answer, more often than not.

Where I believe we get hung up is in our requirement to ‘get it right the first time’. When you think about it, doesn’t that seem an inordinately ridiculous goal? Doesn’t it just suck the wind right out of your sails to think about having to do something ‘right’ in order to do it at all? Is it any wonder, then, that we can feel so stuck?

Will the world stop spinning if you make a mistake? Will the sky come crashing down if you don’t do it ‘right’ the first time? Better yet – what if the action you take, the one that doesn’t really ever pan out, is the action that was required to get you to the next decision – the one that REALLY makes a difference in your life? Doesn’t it make sense then, when all of the available choices appear to be equally insufficient, to pick one and look at the rest to get unstuck?

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photo credit: Evil Erin

If you pay attention even the teeniest bit online, I suspect you no longer need to be made aware of the benefits of blogging. If you’re not blogging, I bet the reason is that the whole idea, from choosing the right platform to figuring out what to blog about and everything in between, is just overwhelming. Multiply that by 100 if you don’t consider yourself a ‘technical’ type of person.

The good news is, you really, truly do not have to be a ‘technical’ person to be a blogger. Once your blog is set up, blogging is more about communicating than technology. True enough, there are many decisions to be made in the process of setting up a blog, and this is where having the guidance of a ‘technical’ person becomes a real asset. But once you’re set up, blogging can be as simple as emailing – it’s just that your reach is far greater and you don’t have to fool with SPAM issues.

A blog gives people a taste of who you are and build trust and familiarity among your site visitors. You’ll have a much easier time moving them from visitor to client because they have an opportunity to get to know, like and trust you!

Whether you’re avoiding starting a blog, or you have one but it’s just sitting there, what’s keeping you from blogging?

• “I don’t write well.”
• “There’s already too much competition.”
• “I already do article marketing.”
• “I don’t have the time.” or “It takes too long to get results.”

You may not consider yourself a writer, and that’s ok. You don’t have to love writing to make blogging work for you. One way is to write like you’re telling someone about your topic. Be relaxed and conversational. (This usually makes for better blog posts, anyway.) The more you do it, the better you get at it. And don’t forget, spell-check has your back. Another way is to create a podcast (that’s an audio blog) and speak your way there!

You have no competition: There is no other you out there. Use your blog to let what’s unique about you and what you have to offer become known to the world.

If you’re already writing articles, then you really should be blogging! All those articles would serve you better as blog posts. Drive traffic to your own site, not an article directory site!

As for the issue of time – it’s time for a reality check. Like anything else worth doing, blogging is an investment that builds over time. Fortunately for you, it doesn’t have to take a long time. Done well, blogging delivers some of the best bang for your marketing/PR/platform building buck. Bottom line, if you’re willing to invest the effort to create a blog that’s worth the time it takes to read, your readers will make it worth your time to blog. It’s reciprocal like that.

So, tell me – what are some of your challenges where blogging is concerned?

Related posts:

1. What Pages Should Your Site Have?
2. 2 Sure-fire Ways to Lose Visitors and Prospects

I don’t get it.

But then…a mall is about the last place I’d go voluntarily.

What intrigues me, though, is that 3 of the people also mentioned they’d been “saving up” to do all their back-to-school shopping that weekend. Saving up? For an 8.5% sale? You’re kidding me, right?

Oh, no. These people were not kidding. They were dead serious. Why?

Great marketing. Seriously.

You see, if all the local stores were to advertise the fact that you’ll save 8.5% during this event, no one would be all that impressed. I mean, really…would you actually “save up” for an 8.5% sale?

Like adding insult to injury, we’re all kind of stuck going back-to-school shopping in one form or another. Most of our kids have grown since school let out, and we can’t send them back naked. Then there are the school supplies, the back packs, the endless list of must-haves that gets longer each year. So yeah, we’re kinda strapped in…feeling stuck…forced to spend money, which feels really bad if you don’t have it sticking out your ears.

Someone, somewhere, in a brilliant flash of insight, realized that suspending the sales tax for a short period would go a long way toward easing the pain of parting with our money by focusing our attention on the freedom from taxes, which feels really good.

I got a postcard in the mail Saturday from a school uniform shop touting a tax-free WEEK at their store. Oh yeah, baby – and I quote:

“The tax-free weekend is officially August 7-9, but we will be extending these savings to our customers for the entire week!”

So, of course, they’re the best place to buy your kid’s school uniforms because they are freeing you from taxes all. week. long.

Get it? It’s not the piddly 8.5% sale that had those people at the bank all excited. It was the freedom from the bondage and tyranny of taxes! And that feels really good – particularly in a down economy. It’s the Boston Tea Party all over again! Woo-hoo!

There will be (the retailers hope) a lot of happy shoppers in the stores on the weekend with their “saved up” funds flowing freely, shopping like they’ve lost their natural minds. And I guarantee you it won’t be the 8 1/2 cents they’re saving on every dollar that lured them there.

So how can you divert your customers’ attention from the money you want them to spend with you (that they think they don’t have or don’t want to part with because doing so feels really bad) and focus it, instead, on a way or a reason to spend money with you that makes them feel really good?

I’m interested to hear your ideas, because, at the end of the day, making the sale is hardly ever about the money.

Related posts:

1. The Unconventional Marketing Guidebook for Soul Proprietors
2. 2 Sure-fire Ways to Lose Visitors and Prospects
3. The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online

What if you asked the question a different way – one that gets at what you’re really asking – which is, “What is the minimum set of pages my site should have?” The answer is probably a shorter list, for one thing, and knowing the minimum requirement to go live takes a great deal of the pressure off from day one. You can (and likely will) add pages as you grow.

Assuming you’ve done your homework and have identified an authentic (for you) target market/niche and have created your X,Y,Z sentence, coming up with the minimum required pages list is fairly straightforward.

Your X,Y,Z sentence tells people what you do, for whom you do it and the benefits those people get when you do it, and should be clearly stated on your Home page.

• The what you do is fleshed out on your Products, Services or What We Do page.
• The for whom you do it is described on a page called Is This You? or Who We Help
• The benefits should be on the Home page – clear as day – and restated on the other pages of the site, where appropriate.

One of the first things people want to know (if they’ve stayed past the first 10 seconds on your site) is who is the person behind this site? That’s your About page. And they’ll expect a way to contact you, so that’s your Contact page.

Recommended Pages for Just About Any Site

• Products, Services or What We Do – this is pretty self-explanatory, yes?
• Is This You? or Who We Help – this is where you zero in on and talk directly to your target market/niche/ideal client.
• About – this page is all about you. Don’t write it in 3rd person, ok? Be brave – write it like you’re talking to your ideal client – in 1st person. Be personable, friendly, approachable – real.
• Contact – give the maximum contact information you’re comfortable with. The more ways there are to contact you, the more your readers will trust you.
• Blog – fresh, updated content to help drive traffic to your site and connect with your target market
• Home – ideally, this page should be written last and be based on or compiled from the best of the other pages, making sure you include your X,Y,Z sentence.

Related posts:

1. Can You Say the X, Y and Z of Your Business in One Sentence?
2. What’s Keeping You from Blogging?
3. One Person’s Benefit, Another Person’s Barrier

Let me introduce you to my friend, Marty Marsh. Marty “gets” that the “M” word intimidates us. He “gets” that we Soul Proprietors are in business for far more than just the money. But he also “gets” that if we don’t market ourselves and what we offer to those who need us on a regular and consistent basis, we won’t be able to make a difference for them, much less pay our own bills. Which would (and does) completely suck.

So, he’s written The Unconventional Marketing Guidebook for Soul Proprietors to help us get good at marketing with integrity, confidence and heart. This is marketing you can feel good about, so much so that you might actually come to the conclusion that marketing is something you can actually enjoy. (Gasp!)

Download your copy (it’s free) right now. The people who need you and what you do are waiting.

Related posts:

1. The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online
2. Great Marketing Makes You Lose Your Natural Mind

As the days passed, I grew more and more nervous. As I said, I love my About page. I worked hard on it and practiced all that I preach. What could be so wrong that it’s taking this long for her to make her suggestions? I couldn’t take it anymore, so I emailed her about it. Here’s some (the pertinent part) of the reply I got this morning:

“Here was my problem. I loved your about page. But it wasn’t quite right. So I put on my copy editor hat and thought of all the ways I could mix it up to make it work. And it was a horrible pain in my ass and it kept not working and I was being a real bitch to Jamie about it. Bless him, he said, “When you used to do this for [insert name of evil company I used to be a copyeditor for here], didn’t you always say that if it was hard, you were doing it wrong?”

Jamie’s a f****** genius.

So I sat down again and really thought about it and realized the reason I was having such a hard time was because I was making it hard. If we made the changes I was thinking of making in the beginning, it would lose the YOU factor, and that would be stupid. Therefore, having thought of my objections and the blocks in the copy, here’s what you should do:

1. Cut the line at the beginning about “If you got here from Twitter”.
2. After the first bit about you’re the person behind vAS and your Twitter ID, add a sentence that says, IN ONE SENTENCE, what you do for a living. Benefit rich. “I help people like X do Y so that Z.”

Then the rest of the back story is interesting and nobody’s reading through it going, “Huh? When do we get to the pitch?”

After I let out a whoop and a holler in celebration, I cut the line she was talking about in #1. That leaves her second suggestion.

Now any of you who’ve worked with me know that I preach knowing who you are, what you have to offer and to whom until the cows come home. And my About page reflects all that – just not in one sentence as Naomi suggests. And she’s right – we ALL need to be able to say it in one sentence. We all need to know our X, Y and Z.

In this case, X is the “to whom” part, Y is the “what I have to offer” part and Z is a 4th, but very important element: the “what’s in it for you” part.

So let’s take mine in pieces, shall we?

X = “to whom” = entrepreneurs like you

Y = “what I have to offer” = create or improve your web presence

Z = “what’s in it for you” = you can use the web to make money doing your thing ? in this lifetime!

Now, let’s put it together:

Hey – how cool is that? It’s 139 characters, including spaces, so I could Tweet it if I wanted to. Extra handy!

Now it’s your turn. Tell me your X, Y and Z and then put it all together in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. What Pages Should Your Site Have?
2. One Person’s Benefit, Another Person’s Barrier
3. The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online