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Avoiding Financial Trauma Stress Disorder Day after day we're being treated to news of the global financial markets being flushed further and further down the toilet. If you run a small business, it can be hard to hold onto hope and inspiration, because maybe this time things really are doomed. Makes you wonder and doubt--did someone not buy simply because they didn't buy, or is this the beginning of the end of your business? Why Clients Don't Buy--The Hierachy of Choice So you struggle over getting all the details just right, like pricing and timing, and all the other features included in your offers so your best clients will buy from you. So why aren't they buying? It's because all of those details are actually the least important part of a purchasing choice. The How and Why of Wrestling Your Inbox to Zero Have you ever ended up TWO weeks behind in answering emails? An inbox full of missed opportunities, deadlines, and people you care about left with the sour taste that maybe you don't like them. Not good for business. Very good for encouraging an unhealthy sense of guilt, shame and pressure. When You're Too Exhausted to Run a Business. “Fifteen years I've put into this business, and I'm just spent,” lamented one client. Another told me, “I pushed myself to get my website up, and I went over an edge with my health. It took me months to recover.” It's humbling to realize, but as you age, you just don't have the same ability to go all night, and to push through deadlines and projects as you did once upon a time. Can Branding Ever Be Heart Centered? Sometimes the world delivers up vocabulary words that are just plain wrong. Painfully wrong. Words like "branding," which the world of marketing seems to love, but regular folks and cows just seem to hate. And it's because of how branding has often been used. Companies have done psychological studies on how to craft an environment that gets you to react in the way they want you to. It's like herding cattle into the searing-hot iron--ouch. How Do You Be Unique When What You Do Isn't Yours? You come off the freeway exit ramp, and bam, you're stuck behind a long line of cars at the stop sign, all wanting to turn left, the same way you want to go. Slowly, one by one, they go through the stop sign. You inch imperceptibly forward. Suddenly one of the cars peals off and goes right, instead of left. You're bored by this time, so you figure, what the heck--let's try it out. Why You Shouldn't Handle More Than Three Projects. As I write this, my wife Holly, myself, and our assistant Kate are planning to meet in a couple of hours. And why? So we can put a bunch of absolutely amazing and wonderful ideas on the back burner, and do nothing about them. It's probably not such a surprising idea for you, that you're supposed to prioritize your projects, and only focus on a few things at a time. Cookie Grandma's Secrets to a Unique and Powerful Business. Your business probably seems like many others. There are billyuns and billyuns of therapists, consultants, retailers, and healers. Yet, in order to make an impact and deeper connection with customers that is so necessary for a sustainable business, you need to distinguish yourself. However, just 'finding your voice' and 'developing your uniqueness' aren't often helpful strategies. When Following-the-Leader Gets Your Business in Trouble. On a hot summer day in the early 1990's, I was standing in the middle of a California freeway. Four cars were piled up around me, and ambulances, fire engines, and the California Highway Patrol were arriving one after the other. Our paramedic unit had parked where the first-in unit had told us to park, and we were working on the car that first medic on-scene had directed us to. Why your business needs a peer-led Mastermind group. Every time I teach a class, and build in the buddy system, people are blown away by how much -easier- everything is, just from not doing it alone. And not just getting stuff done, but the insights, the perspective shifts. Everything changes when you aren't solo. The Curse of Professionalism in Your Business. Have you ever received (or written) an email like this one? "Thank you for your correspondence. We appreciate your desire to contact us, and someone will get back to you shortly." Kinda cold and stale, eh? I'm used to seeing things like this from corporations, and from the back of our refrigerator, but how about us teensy business folks? Why Attraction is a Mistake in Marketing. Coffee shop. The background beat of some silly pop music. Buzz of conversation. The glow of laptop screens. And then, one near the counter, the other in a window seat, they both look up, and their eyes meet. Attraction! Next thing you know, they're picking out paint colors, and sharing chores in some nice little house in the neighborhood. It's a cozy picture, isn't it? If only your clients would move into your business as easily. Smoothing cashflow when your business is small or new. A participant in the Opening the Moneyflow Course has a fairly minimal email list of potential clients, about 80 or so. It's enough to bring in a few clients, but not enough to keep her pipeline full. While she's ramping up to increase the list, which is growing every week, she's still facing that cashflow issue: how can you keep a steady cashflow with just a handful of clients, before your marketing gets traction? Why you make some business mistakes over and over. Why do you make certain mistakes over and over again? No matter how hard you try to fix or control the situation, they seem beyond your control. For instance, I was working with a client recently who has a number of staff working under him, and wanted to delegate to them efficiently. And the same problem showed up in employee after employee. Does the cutting edge of social media really pay? So someone asks you: "What's your Twitter name?" And you look at them like they are a loony. Twitter? Huh? And then the next person asks you, "You blog, right? What's the URL?" Hold it. What happened? In the seeming blink of an eye, suddenly there's all this new so-called 'social media' on the web, and you know nothing about it. What's worse, is that everyone else seems to be there already. Handling complaints without making things worse. The email comes, or the phone rings, and there's an absolute flood pouring right at you. "Hey, you didn't do what you said you would do. This didn't work as advertised. You goofed!" Yup, a complaint. Ahhh! A complaint?! But you poured your heart and soul into it, how could they complain? Then you take a breath, and you read what they're asking for, and you realize... they were right. You DID make a mistake. How productivity contributes to global warming and debt. There was an edge to my voice as I asked the question: "And so why haven't you finished what you promised to do?" I meant for it to come out nicer, more reasonable. But, it didn't. This is so often where we land, kerthunk, in business: are you getting it done, or aren't you? In the western world, we call this 'productivity' and we think it's a good thing. How to avoid reader fatigue in your subscribers. There's some buzz I've been reading about in forums and on blogs about what's known as 'reader fatigue.' This is the condition that happens when you, as an individual, are confronted with sixteen hundred gazillion blogs, email newsletters, forums, and pdf downloads and you just get fed up with it. I can relate. Unfortunately, when you switch hats to being a business owner, suddenly you don't want to relate. Why giving clients more choices means they'll never buy. You're really wanting to be thoughtful and accommodating. You want to make your clients and customers comfortable, so they can have things the way they like it. So you start making up offers, each with different options and flavors. Eventually you have a menu of ten options. And no one's buying. Is it your marketing? Or your menu? How to avoid being trapped in a niche. Bang! Bang! Bang! The hammer comes down again and again, nailing those wooden planks in place. Finally, it's done: you're trapped. No windows, and the only door nailed shut. Those business gurus told you to pick a niche, and so you did. And now you're stuck there, for the rest of your days. G'bye creativity. G'bye freedom. G'bye. When networking events feel like a drag. Going to networking events is kinda one of those things you are 'supposed' to do for your business. Some people love'em, some people hate'em. But, the truth is, especially for a new business, making face-to-face and heart-to-heart contact with people is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, networking events can seem like pretty gross, low-energy, artificial affairs, with people glad-handing left and right. Deciding whether or not to publish your prices. Your website is up, your services/workshops/products page is finished. So... do you publish your prices along with it? If you do, won't that scare people away? If you don't, won't people think you're hiding something? It's a lose-lose situation, it would seem. So, do your clients need to see your prices, or not? How to stop being a piranha when you really need clients. In a recent Opening the Moneyflow class, we were discussing the balance between working on foundations and systems, and the need to get clients, like, now. As in 'now' thank you very much. Now, please? Clients? The need for cashflow in your business through having enough clients is profound. Paying the bills, keeping food on the table, and a roof over your head is no joking matter. How to Keep Big Opportunities from Tearing Down Your Business. "I love what you do. I want you to do project X, so we can reach a 1,000,000 people (or build that retreat center, etc.)" A few days ago I was reminded of this dynamic, when one of the current participants, using his newly-developed marketing message, started getting some pretty amazing results saying it to people. One of those results was a successful entrepreneur who shared his dream, and wanted to support him in "going big time." Losing business for want of "The Nudge." Our friend Erica called my wife and me to invite us to a holiday dinner. We couldn't go, because we already had plans that evening. But, when we hung up, we remembered that weeks and weeks ago we had decided to go to a show that her husband was involved in producing, but had never bought the tickets. We went online right then and bought 'em. This was an example of "The Nudge" even if it was inadvertent.
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