True confession time….

I don’t listen like most people.  25 years of being a psychotherapist has given me a bit of an ‘edge’ when it comes to hearing what’s said, what’s not said, and the energy around all of that.

So when I hear language that screams out a really faulty belief under the surface, you bet I release out my inner bloodhound and jump all over that!

Like the other day when I had a session with a client and we were discussing why she priced her product so low.  What she said about threw me out of my chair.

“Everyone knows women are cheap.”

I let it roll the first few times, but when she tried to use that again to justify her unrealistically low price point, I could no longer sit there!

Ya see, this is where my head goes -

If you have that belief, then YOU GET TO BE RIGHT and you’ll have a bunch of cheap women taking up your time and resources and never buying anything because that’s what you decided to be true.

Instead of screaming, I very nicely said, “Hey…I gotta stop you here because women are not cheap.  I’m not cheap and the women I know spend tons of money on things they value.

I then explained to her that clearly she had that belief and it must be banished from her language, or that would be her reality.  She got it when I explained the value piece, because here she was paying good $ for coaching, so it must be true. 

Now if the word police followed you around for a week, what would they notice coming out of your mouth?  Our beliefs are revealed through the words we use.  (Did I tell you the one where a new client kept referring to her “little business” until I corrected her and requested that she only refer to it as her big business!  AHHHHHH…..This stuff makes me nuts, gang.)

The gift of watching your language is that you become aware of hidden beliefs that are holding you back.

So here is the exercise I suggest – ask someone you are close with to listen for certain things.  They could listen for self deprecating statements you slip out, or they could be on the look out for any statements where you play small – like “my little business”, or a new “little idea.”  Have them give you feedback on that, then correct it immediately.  The goal is to extinguish and correct this language, but you also may have to look at where it’s coming from and if you have some funky energy around something you just don’t know about.  Your language is like the window to this for you.

Truthfully, I just got busted by my mastermind group when I spoke some language that showed some weird energy.  My point is that no matter how evolved you are, how long you’ve been in business, or have been doing personal growth work, your language is rife with those little slippery places where you are showing some of your ’stuff.’  What it takes to change it?  AWARENESS!

That and a sassy business and mindset coach!

Let me know how this lands for you, and what tricks you use to avoid those pesky word police.

Blessings!

Today I don’t have the answers.  I am not going to give you three quick tips or five easy strategies.  I’m sitting in the question.  So today I’m going to pose for you some deep questions that need to be asked.…….

If you read this blog from a couple of days ago, you will remember that I am conducting a survey, asking for people’s opinions about what they would like to see in a marking makeover program.   (The survey is http://bit.ly/8gkwb here by the way if you want to add your two cents)

It’s been really awesome to see the answers as they roll in.  I’m so grateful to all who have participated, but the last response that came in is the one that really struck a cord with me.

This person talked about taking another coaches very high end program.  They got great content, but after it was all over, the person was left feeling like, “Now what?”  The foundation was in place, ideas were generated, but there was no follow system or next steps in place, so after spending tons of money, the writer doesn’t feel like they are moving forward because they need more support.

It got me thinking.  As I work to design my program, what happens three months after the program ends?  What do my clients get if they have a questions down the road?  Am I going to avail myself to them, or will they have to wait till the next program rolls out?  It really is a discussion about what our role as information marketers or service providers is.  When people entrust us with their confidence and make investments in themselves through working with us, how much do we owe them?  I know myself and the folks that I like to hang out with tend to ‘give away the farm’ a bit, but then there are those who you can only get some face time if you are paying BIG BUCKS to.

It’s a tricky question, that’s for sure.  Is there a way to do a 90 day program but then offer three more months of some kind of additional support?  Is that for free, or for a fee?  (Maybe its kinda like the warranty on your car – “six months, six product launches, or 6 sales pages later….here’s what you get…” )

The question becomes when is a program enough?  And when should clients pay to keep getting more of you?

Probably more questions than answers, but I’d love your ideas to how you have handled this situation.

And thanks so much for the writer who shared (anonymously) with me on the survey.  May your words inspire us all to do a better job serving the people we are blessed to serve.

Blessings!

“What do you want to achieve in this session,” I asked.

“Can you review the new sales page that I wrote,” she said.

That’s where it started.  And fifty minutes later she had a completely different business model, had a plan to quadruple her income, and added a membership site for more leveraged revenue.

What a rewarding time!  Doing Strategy Sessions is one of my most favorite things because I can take the persons business, understand what motivates them, find what they desire, rip the heck out of their current model, then spin something really amazing out of all the pieces.

In this case we went from a business owner who sold only a $19 ebook, and turned it into a $97 Toolkit.  We then added a 90 day free membership for everyone who buys her  product so she moved from a one time purchase to monthly income.  How cool is that?!?  Let’s do the numbers – if she had 50 sales at $19 she’d be making $950/mo.  50 sales at the new price is over $4800!  Just one tweak and she’s rolling in the dough.

It got me thinking of how many creative entrepreneurs spend so much time energy and money, yet don’t have a business model that has the maximum revenue potential.

A couple of years ago I coached a woman who had a list of 22,000.  (Imagine that!)  She sold one thing – a $247 info product that she was getting ready to sink loads of money in to create videos and promotion for.  The problem was that this was a one time use.  So she had a huge list, worked her butt off to market, but once she made a sale, there was no other offering for those purchasers to get.

The solution?  We also created a funnel for her and added different levels of membership, and a higher end coaching program.   Finally, she could leverage that huge list and get loyal fans who kept coming back for more.

Now I want you to look at your business.  Is there a way to add more offerings?  Can you sell a upgraded version of your product?  Do you have a mechanism to have your customers return, or do they buy once and leave you?

An hour spent brainstorming these three questions can make your life (and revenue) a lot sweeter!  Think outside the box my friends……

And if you need some more support, get a hold of me and we’ll work some magic on your biz.

Blessings,

Do you realize the cost of having financial scarcity in your business?  Beyond the obvious, what I see is that it costs you so much more than you even realize.

It happened to a recent client of mine .

He had contacted me after being referred for coaching by my friend Jen Blackert.  He knew that he needed to have a mindset breakthrough, because he was stuck.  This man previously had two professional careers, but had left those to pursue his dreams of being an Internet marketer.  But after six  months, he was broke.  He had done all the Law of Attraction work, visualizations, affirmations, and everything he needed but still was struggling with not having enough money to pay his bills.

He came asking for some coaching, but when I asked “What is it that you want to accomplish if we work together for six months”….he couldn’t answer.  All he could do was wallow around in what hadn’t worked, where he was stuck, and didn’t have any idea of what to do next.

See, the problem was that all he could focus his energy on was what what he wasn’t getting. He could not get any clarity around his goals, or what would have to happen if he were able to have the breakthrough that he was seeking.  I work with lots of people here when they first get started with me.  They tend to spin around in the same possibilities that they know right now… as opposed to being able to break free and create something that they would really love.

In his frustration the man said, “Maybe I should just get a part time job to get some of these bills paid.”  Now as a die-hard entrepreneur, the thought of a job is not the first thing I ever think of.  In my mind there is always some way of creating a solution.  But in his case, after I had asked him what he wanted to create/accomplish/achieve, and he was completely focused on the lack, I decided to explore what this would be like for him.

We put it as an option on the table.  I said, “OK, imagine you get a part time job that brings in say…$1000 a month, what is different now?”  This is where my mind-blowing surprise came in - suddenly he knew what he wanted to work on! He “remembered” that he had really wanted to start a membership site, “knew” what his goals were and exactly where he wanted to be in six months.  Instead of being unfocused and having flat and draggy energy, he now became animated and could see a million new possibilities he didn’t have access to just 5 minutes before.

It was in that moment that I saw that his cash flow challenges were the thing that blocked his movement forward.  His constant focus on his problems interfered with his ability to create.  And I learned a huge lesson.  I think there is an “entrepreneurial arrogance” about never having to resort to getting the dreaded J-O-B.  But his commitment to the entrepreneurial dream was also the very thing that was preventing him from getting it!  When we opened the door to just taking a short job for 90 days to plug some of the cash flow leaks, he then was able to move into a place of creating his dream.

Lesson learned!  Do whatever it takes to get out of wallowing in what you don’t have and shift your energy into moving forward.

Here’s to your success……

This is one of those very inspiring client stories that I have the blessing to be a part of.

Ever since I started working with “B” a year ago, he’s been crusty at times.  Occasionally his brusk style is off putting to say the least, but the the transformation that he is going through needs to be shared.

Recently “B” went to a workshop where he heard Brendon Burchard, who wrote the book “Life’s Golden Ticket.”  Brendon is an amazing speaker and a fabulous human being to boot.  Well something clicked for my crusty client.  Perhaps the time being away from the office gave him permission to reflect on his life.

You see, in his talk Brendon asks three powerful questions that he formulated as he had a near fatal car accident years ago.  The questions became the centerpiece of his life’s work:

1.  Have I lived?

2.  Have I loved?

3.  Have I served?

What I didn’t know is that while “B” was quite successful in the business world, his marriage didn’t offer him any happiness.  But being the good family man that he was, he just assumed that he’d hang in.  Little did he know that the trip to hear Brendon would have such an effect on his life.

He shared that when he got home, he could no longer maintain the veil of denial that had kept him stuck.  He was faced with those three questions and so decided to take the leap.  He asked his wife for a divorce and is moving through that with grace.

Now how does this relate to his business?  While I can’t prove it, I would suspect that having to deny an aspect of your life would cause all the other aspects to suffer as well.  Seeing the courage and commitment to Living, Loving, and Serving that “B” has made is inspiring.  I feel him being a different person, and I’m sure the clients he serves will also notice that positive changes.  And it’s also funny that his trip to see Brendon was under the auspices of business.  Do you see that so often it’s the business challenges and opportunities that are the catalysts for massive personal growth for us?  That’s why I always say that the entrepreneurial journey is a spiritual path.

So I will ask you – what is in the way of you living, loving, and serving in a big way?  You can’t take your life out of your business, so in keeping with yesterdays post, what’s next for you?  When you let go of all the ’stuff’ that is no longer serving you, what do you do then?

This is some deep stuff.  The stuff legacies are made of.  What will yours be?  Feel free to leave yours in the comment section of the blog.

Blessings my dear readers.

In the first two parts of this “Breakthrough on a Water Slide” series- we talked about the fear, and getting through it, but  let me tell you what happens in business.

After a few years, you reach a certain level of mastery. But then you hit another wall. You have to deal with these three questions -

How do you take yourself from where you are, and really get expert status?.

How do you get to be well known?

How can you have a leveraged business, and have a solid client base.

Those are the questions and the challenges of this stage. At this point having mastery isn’t enough. You ability to attract your ideal clients means you need to have ‘the hook’ of what makes you different, special, unique, etc. For example, it’s not enough just to be a chiropractor. Your success depends on you being able to articulate very clearly why you are better and there has to be enough to differentiate you from the crowd. And this journey is not easy.

When I was trapped in that black tube, with no control and NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH, it hit me that so many business owners get stuck right here. At times there literally is nothing you can do but surrender to the process. You can’t force, push, control or manipulate your next phase of growth. And here’s the thing – everyone goes through this. If they aren’t talking about it, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t’ been in the dark, not sure how to get out, not sure where the next client is coming from. But being in that tube, and having the experience of just surrendering to the flow, taught me huge lessons. Part of it is in our control, but the rest isn’t. Sure…you can market a bit more, but you will go through some dark times when you are ready to make the leap.

Let me wrap up with my process for how to get on the other side if you are feeling like you are in the dark or aren’t sure how to get over your business blocks.

1. Make a decision. It always starts with the decision. For me it took noticing that my kids were off having fun and I was all alone standing there in the heat, missing out. I decided that my fear would turn into an opportunity for growth. What do you need to decide in your life and business?

2. Ask for help from someone who has been there before you. Thankfully, the lads had been on all the slides so knew which one to start me on. You will be well served by enlisting support from people who are committed to your success, but can show you the way themselves.

3. Use all the tools you have. Truthfully, doing EFT on top of the slide was probably quite funny to some people around me and I’m sure my boys were horrified (cuz aren’t all kids embarrassed by what their parents do) but it worked. I’d make a list right now of the tools that you need to get you through to the other side. Maybe that’s doing some meditation or journaling, or creating a vision board. Just pull ‘em out and start using them.

4.  Put yourself in an environment that will challenge you. I hear from almost every creative entrepreneur that their big breakthroughs don’t happen while sitting in front of their computers!  Get outside. Do something physical.  Change your scenery, and you will open up to new possibilities you had not seen before.

5. Have some fans. Part of the cool thing for me was that my kids saw me conquer a huge fear. In fact my son said, “Mom, does it kind of bug you that you have missed out on water slides and all this fun for fifty years.” Yeah John, it really bugged me, but now I now get to make the next 50 years full of more fun! My kids were super excited and proud. Who is in your life that is cheering you on? When you are going through one of these ‘dark nights’ in your business, there is nothing more important than cheerleaders who can show you how far you have come and what’s possible.

That’s my story!  Now I want you to share yours.  Where did your big breakthrough occur?  And what has changed because of that?  Put a comment on the blog and share please.

Blessings!

Therese

Part two – Finding the Tools to Prevent the Freak Out!

I’ll tell you the business application in tomorrow’s post, but I want you to hear the story of how this all came to be, because it’s pretty funny. Pathetic perhaps, but funny.

A friend and I decided to take our kids to the water park.  To tell you the truth, I was really cranky because it was about a hundred million degrees and I’d rather be anywhere but outside. But I said yes because the boys were super excited to go.

When we got there, we first went to more of the ‘kid-friendly’ area where there were a few teenagers, but mostly people under four feet tall. It was here that I finally decided to just go for it, so I think I did one 20 feet high open slide.  That open piece is the key because being in an enclosed tube in the black was more than my little psyche could handle. Me and the toddlers were content to stay on the baby-ish slides, but my boys wanted to head over to where the real action was.

Now that my kids were on the big slides, my only choice was to stand at the bottom, realizing what I was missing, mad at myself for having these stupid fears, and feeling pretty ridiculous that at age 50, I have this huge limiting thing. That’s where I began to make the decision that I was not leaving until I conquered my fear and did one of the slides, because I just knew that if I could do it, it would lead to a breakthrough somehow.

I found my boys and told them that I needed their help in getting over this fear. Having done most of the slides by now, they decided that I’d do the tubes that were only half way enclosed, but not pitch black. Let the journey begin!  Once decided on the slide, we began to scale what felt like five stories, and the closer I got, the more anxious I became. So anxious in fact, that I was almost hyperventilating! (But thankfully having done the Inner Guru Experience with Molly Luffy, I learned how to use EFT for just those situations!) It actually worked, and I was able to calm myself down enough to get up the stairs.

My ten year old was the one really leading the charge to get me to do this, and his famous coaching command to me (as I was doing EFT tapping like a fool and praying) was to say, “Come on mom, sack up!” Guess that’s boy love or something. Between that, the prayers, the tapping, and mostly my decision that I would not turn back, I did it!

One slide down! I did it and it was absolutely exhilarating. I had been able to conquer all my thoughts and calm myself down.

Now the boys decided to throw me into the black tube of death. (OK, it wasn’t really called that, but felt like it at the time!)

This slide was completely enclosed and totally black except for the last third. There was about a ten foot open space, and then it was enclosed again.

Being in this tube was where it all came clear to me. As I popped onto the inner tube and pushed myself into the water, it was pitch black. And the water was in control. Not me. Then and there I had the ‘a ha’ that this is the very place that business owners fear. Very often we hit places in our businesses where it almost exactly mirrors my experience here.

Tomorrow’s article will share with you the connection with the water slide, business breakthrough’s, and how to set yourself up to have one in any environment.

or “How my 10 year old coached me into getting over my fears and getting with the game of living bigger”

This is a story that I just kept writing and writing and writing, so we’ll break it up into three parts….

What if you could have a breakthrough in the most unlikely of places? What if doing one wild and crazy thing changed the way you experienced your business?

Because we are in some wacky times and almost every business owner I know has been faced with having to figure out how to get and keep clients, and how to best put forward their marketing messages. Since I’m in the middle of yet another rebranding, I’ve been experiencing some of that frustration myself. But it was all about to change….

There I was, finally facing my fears, barreling down one of those enclosed tube-style water slides, when it happened. CLARITY! It’s as if something Divine got revealed to me as I realized what a metaphor this was for not only my business, but for most business owners. Who would have thought that leaning into my HUGE fear of water slides would reveal something so symbolic and profound to me.

In that moment of surrendering to the water and where it was taking me through the black tube – I saw why so many business owners are struggling. Speeding down the tube, I even was able to see a solution! (Sort of like your life flashing before you…except I wasn’t going to the pearly gates, but to the big splash pool at the end.

Tune in tomorrow to hear how I went from a freaked out water-slide phobic mom, to a solid and grounded business owner who ‘got it’ in terms of the flow of life and business.

“What the heck,” the frustrated business owner proclaimed. ” I can’t believe that my program didn’t work.  I did EVERYTHING right.  I had great copy, offered some cool benefits, and solved a problem for my market.  And price was super low.”

“But mostly, I thought I used consciousness in this one.  I prayed about it,  connected to the soul of my prospective clients, and felt all the feelings of how amazing it would be to work with these people. “

She was near tears with this as she went on..

“Why?  Did I do something wrong?  How could people not buy?  Maybe it’s an integrity issue with me, or maybe I have some hidden beliefs that made me screw this up.”

The wise marketing mentor listened patiently, and let her go on.

“I thought I knew how to work with the Law of Attraction, but clearly I missed something here.”

At this point, it was too much for the marketing mentor.  She had to jump.

“Stop!”  I hear that you are going down that road, and that stuff may be part of the problem, but do you want to know what the real issue is?”

Startled, the business owner was ready to hear what the problem was because she was so desperate for solutions.

“The real problem is that you had a marketing failure!”

“What?”  Marketing failure?  What do you mean” asked the business owner.

The mentor went on – “Think about it…you have not been connecting with your list regularly.  You absolutely cannot expect your audience to buy from you without first establishing a relationship with them.”

“Really, it’s that simple?  Can you tell me what to do to start establishing those connections?”

“Sure! Here is what you do:”

1.  Consistently get in front of your list.  Weekly is ideal.  Send a newsletter or tip.

2.  Share content that solves their problems.

3.  Be personable and let them know personal details about you so they can connect.

4.  Gradually begin offering them ways to partake of your services.

5.  Start by offering small things – even free teleclasses/articles are fine at first.

6.  Next move into offering low cost ways to have them sample and experience what you do.

7.  Invite other people to promote you to their lists, and repeat the cycle with the new names.

“I can’t tell you how much better I feel!  I will still do the LOA stuff because that’s who I am, but this gives me something I can work on.  Now I have a plan!  Thanks so much.”

The mentor smiled – feeling so happy that she could pass this information on, knowing that it will make all the difference in the world.

This one surprised me.

I was coaching a woman who is incredibly talented in what she does.  In fact, she’s positioned to make close to a seven figure income in a year, so the gal knows her stuff! Trust me – you’ll know her name very soon as she rolls her marketing out in a big way.

We were working on the elements of her ’squeeze’ page and other items for her new blog.  That’s when it happened.

I said, “Okay, so now what you need to do is to put those things we just talked about in your calendar and get them done.”  She said, “Yeah, but how?”  I said, “You just do it!”

She said, “But Therese, that’s where I break down.  I can’t figure out what to do in what order, so because of that I do nothing.  I need you to help me with that.”

Truthfully – probably not my greatest coaching moment – I giggled.  I couldn’t believe it!  This woman is so powerful and fearless about picking up the phone and getting clients, that I was shocked.  Luckily we have a good relationship and so she said, “I know you are giggling because you see me as really successful and you always see the best in me, but this is where I could really use your help because I always get stuck right here.”

So I took her through the process of deciding what to work on, which order, with how much time, and then to put it into her calendar so it could get completed.  She was delighted, and I had learned something really valuable as a result.

What I learned was that we all have areas where we struggle.  We all can look brilliant and talented on the outside, but experience places in our business where things don’t come easy to us.

For me it’s spreadsheets.  I feel completely ill equipped to work spreadsheets.  They are like doing neurosurgery or something in my book and I look at people who can use the functions (like adding!) as demi-gods who I respect and admire!  I used to say that in my world, before I was an entrepreneur, Excel was a phone company!  This is one of my huge weaknesses.  But do I beat myself up for it?  Maybe playfully, but what I do do is to have an assistant who is a rock star with this stuff so I don’t have to try to slog through it, feeling stupid and frustrated.  I get to focus on what my unique brilliance is.

The morale of the story?  Everyone has both an inner rock star, and an inner goofball who can’t figure out what seems to be the simplest of tasks.  The goal is to not beat yourself, but to get the support around you that allows you to S-H-I-N-E.

I’d love you to share with me your thoughts.  Feel free to post your comments.

Blessings,

Therese