Browsing Category: "Business Life"
If you are like most of the people I’ve worked with, you started your business because you knew you wanted to change the world. You were determined to make it happen and then you did. Yay for you! That’s awesome! Your work in the world is greatly needed, so I’m thrilled you started your business.
If you’re like most of the people I’ve worked with, you also had a gigantic learning curve when you came into this business. You may have had some experience in marketing, but you weren’t an expert by any stretch of the imagination. When you first started out, I’m sure the task of learning marketing was very daunting. Did you ever think you’d get as far as you have? I’m sure you’ve come a long way!
I’ll bet you always have some sort of book or download you are reading. You probably subscribe to the best marketing guru e-mail newsletter lists as well. Is your bookshelf full of marketing and business books? How about those binders you’ve received at different marketing events? Are those sitting in your office as well? All that studying has probably paid off in some successful launches that have gotten your business where it is today. I’ll bet you credit one or two marketing experts with your success. You did your homework and it paid off. Congratulations!
Are you 3 or more years into your business and still hogging marketing information?
So, when are you done with your creative way of going through marketing school?
Did you switch gears at some point and have to go back to Freshman year?
Will you ever get to graduate?
When will you have learned enough?
I’ll bet you’re thinking I’m crazy for asking those last two questions. That little voice inside your head says “Never!” ”I’ll never be done. I have to keep learning or my business will suffer.”
If that little voice lives in your head, then I’m betting your business is already suffering. You see. There comes a point in every business owners career when they HAVE learned enough to at least slow down or take a break for a while. I can just hear your little voice now….”What?! Nope. Not possible!” Tell your little voice it’s ok. We’re just exploring something and that doesn’t mean you’ve committed to anything. Ok? Do that now.
I’ll put it in front of you again. There comes a point where you have learned enough. At that point, if you are still consuming marketing education all around, then you have become an Information Hog. Here are some symptoms of information hogging:
- Important e-mails from clients and joint venture partners get lost in the sea of e-mails from newsletters and lists you subscribe to.
- You have so many things you have to read that you feel behind the times and catching up seems impossible.
- You utilize technology to keep your learning with you. You take it to the gym, on walks, in the car, on the plane etc…
- You are always trying out new marketing strategies in your business.
- You add things into your marketing plan mid-stream a lot.
- You often worry that there’s a better way.
It all seems pretty harmless, right? Not so much! If you’re missing e-mails then you are missing opportunities. If you are always feeling behind and doubting your own knowledge, then what kind of message are you putting into your marketing? Oh yeah, that doubt seeps in. You could be undermining your own hard work.
If you are constantly feeding your brain information on marketing, trying new things, and changing your marketing mid-stream, how consistent is your marketing? How do you ever get good at doing one marketing strategy when you don’t stay on it for longer than one launch, maybe two? Practice makes perfect. Although, I don’t believe perfection exists, I do know that practicing over and over again does help you hone and get better results.
Not only that, how about those marketing campaigns that have a lot of moving parts? If you shift gears mid-stream something is going to be broken, missing, or not doing what it’s supposed to do. Talk about a trust killer for potential clients. They will walk away fast if they see discombobulated marketing.
One more time. There comes a point where you have learned enough. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of being an information hog, I suggest you start a 3 month marketing detox right now. Stop learning. Use what you know and see what happens.
Are you going to detox? Where are you going to stop learning? What knowledge are you going to start trusting? Leave a comment below.
FYI - Being an information hog is just one sign that you may be addicted to marketing. Read more about marketing addiction and detox at http://www.coachesmarketingsource.com/marketingdetox.html.
Did you become a coach for the freedom? I bet you were excited when you set out to leave your day job so you could jump into being an entrepreneur and run your own show. Have you found that running your own business actually demands more of your time and energy than you thought it would? If so, I’ll fill you in on a little secret…you’re normal. Well, as normal as any human can be anyway. Yup, this happens to just about everyone who leaves a 9-5 job to be an entrepreneur. There are no more boundaries set for you. You used to go into the office and come home. You used to work Monday through Friday and work was miles away. You had dedicated “work” times and “off” times.
I see it all the time. My clients come from that 9-5 structure and then start their own business only to blurr the lines between work and life. At first it was easy, because there weren’t a lot of clients. Then those clients multiply and the business grows requiring more attention. Before they know it my clients are overwhelmed, tired and complain of not having a life. I’ve been known to get e-mails from them at 1:00am or on weekends. So it’s my mission to change this pattern of overworking and sacrificing life for the sake of growing a business. Ugh! Really?! This is NOT why coaches start their own business. It’s time to change this!
And in case you are wondering if it’s possible, I’m here to show you that it totally is! Keep reading as I share with you how I work my business and demonstrate that boundaries are not only good and necessary, but that clients will respect them, thus allowing you to do business on your own terms. Let me qualify this by saying I know you know this, but are you really living it? As you read, see if you are fully setting your own boundaries.
I don’t do mornings. I don’t do some weekdays either and I only do every other Friday. However, some Saturdays up for grabs. Yes, I’m a businesswoman and I run my own business. It’s because I run my own business that I can make my own hours. Even if that means I don’t take meetings before 11:00am.
You see, I have a life. And I refuse to let my business get in the way of that. This is a very strong conviction for me because my husband and I spent a lot of time on opposite shifts and not seeing a lot of each other while I was working as a Singer/Actress in NYC. Having that experience showed me that it’s easy to get sucked into so much activity that you can miss out on what’s really important to you. So as you know I changed gears and came home from NYC. That’s when I vowed I’d never sacrifice in that way again. Today, I run my own business so I can spend more time with my husband, friends and family. If I wanted a job where I was required to be in front of a computer or on a phone 8 hours a day/5 days a week, then I’d go get an office job.
Notice this does not mean I’m out of the office completely. It just means I have open business time. On days when I don’t have things to do outside of the biz, I will get a lot done. I work on marketing and business building those days. There are times when Hubby is busy or doing something I’m not interested in…I claim that time for me and do what I want. On a weekday, I usually want to play in my business so I do. Not having calls allows me the freedom to choose what I play in each moment of those days. Hmmmmmm, have you ever had a work day where you didn’t actually have an appointment of some kind to attend to? Try it! You might like it! Did you notice I used the word “play” when I described working in my business? And here’s the secret I want you to really understand…when you create time and space, it feels like play! It’s not effort. It’s enjoyable when your business supports your life and your life doesn’t drain from it.
With boundaries there’s an internal decision to make a commitment to being a certain way. Then you have to express that and maintain it. In order to keep the trust of my clients, I set the expectations up front with them. They know there are days of the week I may take hours to get back to their e-mails. It may even take me a whole day. So, they don’t expect me to answer quickly. They also know that I will get back to them as soon as I possibly can.
Scheduling regular no-appointment days has some additional great advantages too. Hubby and I get to beat the shopping crowds by going on weekdays. We also find that it’s easy to get doctors appointments and things out of the way when we have days off during the week. So, while I may only check my e-mail 2-3 times that day, I do not have to be at my computer all day. I can go play in between. I have a life and a business too!
I only take calls 2-3 days a week and after 11am Eastern time on those days. Some of you may have questions in your mind about that kind of a schedule. I’ll answer a few I’ve heard, but if you have more…leave a comment and I’ll answer them there.
You may wonder, what about networking? No problem, I go to luncheons and after hours networking opportunities. They do both exist you know.
What if a client would prefer 8:00am or 9:00am? Or what if they prefer Mondays? Well, if they really want to work with me then they will have to commit to a different time or day. It’s as easy as that. If they choose not to then they aren’t the right client for me.
What if an amazing opportunity comes up that could seriously boost my business? Well, there are always amazing opportunities around. Maybe I’ll miss this one, but another will come along later that will fit my schedule. However, there are occasions where I’ve been known to make exceptions. It has to be super, duper, deliciously awesome, and something I want to do SOOOOO bad it’s worth bending my own rules. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.
So, what is your schedule? Do you have days of the week where you don’t have appointments? If not, try one day a week and see if your life is any different. Then try stepping out of the office for a few hours on that day…play, have fun. Just because you have a business, it doesn’t mean you have to be chained to it 5-7 days/nights a week.
What would you do with an additional 3-6 hours of time in your week…unplanned?
I bet some of these concepts are exciting and some may be overwhelming for you. I challenge you to think about your boundaries and share with me how you maintain your personal boundaries in business.
FYI - I’m doing a free call Thursday to help coaches, like you, get your foundation set so you can stop marketing as much as you do and own more of your life. Visit http://www.coachesmarketingsource.com/stopmarketingcall.html for more information.
I know, I know! My challenge to you this month was to NOT do any marketing this week. Well, it’s Monday and I’m pretty sure I’ll do some marketing. What?!!!
This is the joy of not planning to do marketing. I’m definitely going to get my tax papers ready. I’ll also be taking some time out to go play with family and/or friends. I also have plans to take a voice lesson this week to prepare for an audition next week. That’s ALL going to happen.
However, there will be some extra business time, once my end of year/new year stuff is together. Then what? Usually, what happens is ideas for marketing start creeping in. Then I, of course, want to get started with those ideas right away and start writing. Inevitably this is what happens the last week of December for me.
Why tell you this? I want you to give yourself permission. If you find yourself having completed everything you wanted to do in the week. Let’s say Thursday you have some spare time because you completed your end of year stuff. Ask yourself the question…What do I want to do right now? Then, go do it!! If it’s marketing, then please give yourself permission. Give yourself permission to play wherever your heart desires. This is YOUR time. You created it, you get to enjoy it!
Having a week off from marketing means to not have any marketing that MUST get done. It doesn’t mean you have to avoid marketing when you really want to go play in it.
Enjoy your week! And if, per chance, you are missing out on things you really wanted to do this week…let me know. I can help you get more of that on a monthly, weekly, daily basis.
Okay, so I’m NOT one of these people who runs out and attends every seminar I can get to in a year. I don’t enroll in programs. I RARELY even purchase e-books or home study courses. I’m a one-on-one kinda gal and I’ve invested in a coach to keep me moving in my business, help me find what I need to work on, and support me in gaining the information that’s necessary along the way. HOWEVER….
I have been known to occasionally invest in my education to further my business. A couple years ago I felt a deep desire to attend coaching school at CTI and I went through the 5 weekends of core training. This was a HUGE investment of time and money that paid off tremendously! I expanded my skills and integrated coaching into my consulting, which has allowed me to advance the services we offer. Not only that, I gained some major confidence in my relationship with my husband and in my business. So, it was personally a very big growth moment for me.
Just last month, I decided to invest in my education and learn more about marketing to my clientelle by attending Kelly O’Neil’s Marketing to Millionaires Retreat. I am NOT someone who typically makes purchases without having the money in the bank to be able to pay it off. HOWEVER…I’ve decided the investment is worth it!! Here’s the deal. I know what it takes to market a business. I know how to attract the clients that I worked with when I first started my business. Over the last couple years I’ve been moving towards this higher earning target market. I’ve been getting a straggling client here and there, but I’ve not been NEARLY as successful as I have in the past. So, I know there are a couple things at work here.
First, is my LACK mentality. Yes, even positive people have lack mentality, at times. I’ve been unwilling to invest in the resources that are necessary to attract this market. So, I know I need to start investing or I’ll just keep convincing myself that I can’t afford anything and I’ll stay where I am.
Second is my level of understanding. I don’t earn (on a yearly NET basis) what my clients earn, so I have no idea what it’s like to be them. I can’t get into their heads and look at what they are thinking about their purchases. I also don’t understand what their struggles are as much as I did my previous target market. I most certainly know my work and what I can do for them, but I don’t know how to help them understand that. In order to be able to produce effective marketing materials, I know this retreat is needed.
I know I will learn what I need to learn and that this investment is about so much more than education. It’s also going to help me grow and get out of lack mentality. There is a time to invest in your business and, I believe, it coincides with when we need to grow as business owners. I don’t believe in going out and spending tons of money on credit just to learn everything I can learn, regardless of whether I know I need it or not. I DO believe in investing in my business when I have a sneaky suspicion it will get me out of the mental lull when I feel myself moving towards getting stuck there.
Invest wisely, but make sure it’s an investment that will not only move your business, but move YOU as well.
What are your thoughts on investing for self as well as business? Leave a comment and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
One of the first things I learned in working with a coach was to be aware of toleration. I also learned that I didn’t have to tolerate anything. I can choose something else, if I want to. Since that revelation (several years ago), I’ve also discovered that sometimes it’s worth tolerating something. Especially when it comes to buggy technology.
I know, the coach in you would like me to look somewhere else, but open your mind and look for the value in toleration here. There are two places, in particular, that I tolerate buggy technology.
1) Shopping carts - every cart has it’s thing. I work with several different carts between my own and my clients’. Every single one of them has something to tolerate. There is one that can’t handle an upgrade. Every time they change something and I see a notice that on a particular date there will be changes, I get nervous. From past experience, I know, that usually means one of our clients will have a problem. Why do my clients and I tolerate this? Because it can do everything we need it to do to support their ever growing businesses. Sure, there are other options out there, but they also have bugs. They also don’t do everything we need. So, we stay where we are and we tolerate the bugs. In the long-run this supports our bigger vision of growing the business.
2) Twitter - Now, I do have to give Twitter credit here. They’ve gotten MUCH better with the bugs over the last 5 months or so. In the beginning of Twitter the fail whale was a daily occurrence. Now, it might be once or twice a month that we have issues. Why do we tolerate the fail whale? Because Twitter is such an amazingly powerful tool that we love it. For me, I get so much value out of Twitter when it’s up and running, that I’m willing to tolerate the days when it’s buggy. It’s SO worth it.
Technology isn’t perfect. No matter how hard the programmers try to predict every possible problem to code for, there will always be something unexpected. Online marketing is totally reliant on technology. So, the important thing to remember is the value you receive from the technology when it’s working properly. Is that value worth sticking around for? If not, then it’s time to stop tolerating. Otherwise, practice gratitude when the technology works the way it’s supposed to and forgiveness when you find yourself tolerating.
What are your thoughts on this? What kinds of technology are you tolerating? Leave a comment. I’d love to read it.
