As you know, I hosted a virtual training with top soul-inspired entrepreneurs. These are people I admire, sincerely look up to and they have taught me a lot about how to go from being BROKE and defeated to being fulfilled and making money in my business.
On some of the calls we had time to have some Q & A and two calls were fully dedicated to giving people business makeovers…
The most common thing I saw in people’s challenges with their business is they had a passion but they were confused as to how to get their business in front of people to get clients and customers.
To see brilliant people stuck, scared and broke is heart-breaking for me. To blame the economy or how it feels “wrong” to sell or being so used to “just getting by,” I am reminded of my mission. It’s hard to see people forget that they have what it takes to be successful.
I also remember what that feels like… I know what it’s like to know you have a big mission and you are not making money and now sure what to do.
In order to turn your passion into a successful business, not just a time-sucking, expensive hobby, you must know four things:
1. You have what it takes AND you cannot do it by yourself.
STOP trying to do it alone and telling yourself that if you “wait a little longer, something will turn out.” It’s okay to ask for help. Do what ever it takes to hire help and a mentor.
If you are a coach or consultant of any kind and you don’t have a mentor, then you are out of alignment. How do you expect people to hire you when they feel scared and they aren’t sure how they will pay for it if you aren’t doing it yourself? This may mean you get a part-time job, take out a loan, put something on a credit card, sell stuff….
Are you willing to DO something you have never done so you can have what you have never had?
2. Know your unique, benefit-based message.
What is your unique message? What is it that you do? I see a lot of soul-inspired entrepreneurs, especially in the coaching and healing world, talk about how they “help people go deep into their soul,” “create more joy and emotional freedom,” “love deeply…”
What does that really mean and will that compel people to pull out their wallet and pay for it? You have got to be tangible with results when you explain what you do.
When you can speak to the top things people struggle with and tie it into your service or product then you will speak to people’s hearts. You are the much needed answer they have been looking for. It comes down to the basic pain points – do you help people make or save money, look or feel better, or save time? Every service and product on the planet ties into those top three pain points and when you do that my friend, you will be appealing to your market.
3. Marketing is NOT having a website or a logo.
For two years I stayed behind my computer tweaking my logos and website, designing my business card and wasting time on social media. When instead I could have been out there talking to people, networking and engaging with people to get business. Networking and going to events is what got me clients.
The TOP question I received on last week’s training from people around the world was how to get more clients. You get more clients by sales and marketing. I know when I first heard this, I thought there has to be another way because I felt that it impeded on my soul purpose of serving people. Guess what? If you have no clients, you aren’t serving people.
Marketing is simply getting your business in front of people and inviting people to invest in themselves through the product or service you offer.
4. Believe in yourself.
This is what breaks my heart the most. Have we as human beings been conditioned so much so that it’s rare to be confident more often than not? Trust me, I have my days too where I think “What the hell kind of idea was this…did little ol’ me really think I could pull this off?”
The very fact that you have the idea is the only proof you need that you can do it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t even enter your stream of consciousness. What ever you BELIEVE is what you can ACHIEVE. As much as those little cheesy phrases make me roll my eyes, it’s true.
The biggest gift you can give the world is to believe in yourself. Even when people resist your growth (which always happens when you uplevel), remember who you really are and do it anyway.