Don’t stress. It’s okay if you’re in full-on holiday cray-cray time. But as you make space to do this, perhaps sharing my experience will help you.
This past week, I embarked on an annual planning session. I tucked away for two days, turned off email (kind of) and all distractions, and got to work on my business and personal goals for the year.
PS: I did this as an experimental virtual mini-retreat with several other rockstar solopreneurs. Whoa, the power of accountability and not going at it alone! This may become a full-blown REAL retreat in the mountains next year, if you’re interested. Stay tuned!
First, I revisited last year. You must celebrate what went right before you beat yourself up about what went wrong!
I carefully reviewed my goals and themes for the year. Some of them, I knocked out of the park – HURRAH! So I explored why.
Some of my goals were not quite achieved. Meh.
And a few of those goals fizzled. Epic fail. Not even close. I explored the lessons I could learn so I could improve. Some say there is no such thing as failure, but everything is a learning opportunity. Yes. But let’s get real. It still stings!
As you, too, evaluate your year and look back, you may want to do what I did.
Ask yourself: Do you want to do this again or try this again next year? And more importantly, does the goal still resonate or should you just let it go?
But most importantly I revisited my Purpose. And I committed to planning to that. Not to what others define as success. Not to some mythical standard that I think I’m supposed to reach. Not to what society even expects.
Here’s my purpose statement, in case you’re interested. I worked with a brilliant strengths coach this past year to come to this and then asked a gifted writer friend to polish and articulate it – and the results surprised even me!
My purpose is to…
– INSPIRE. I inspire people to start amazing projects and businesses rooted in empathy that create a positive ripple in the world.
– ACTIVATE. I shift people from thinking/feeling (nice thoughts, good intentions) into action (actual, concrete progress).
– AMPLIFY. I work with influential people (writers, entrepreneurs, activists) to help them amplify their voices, share their messages with thousands of people, and create an even bigger social impact.
My purpose is to…
Teach people that you can do incredible good in the world—no matter who you are.
You can be a firefighter, be a monk, open a bakery, or run a software company. No matter what type of vocation you’ve chosen, there is always a way to bring more generosity, compassion, and empathy into your work—and leave the world in better condition than you found it.
Plan to your purpose. It’s a much smarter and happier way to set goals that truly mean something to you.
Are you craving more wit and wisdom on goal setting and time management? Check out my little eBook, The Juicy Guide to Time Management and Goal Setting: Advice on How to Wrangle Your Calendar and Slay Overwhelm. From Kam’s super-kind 5-star review: “This is the fourth eBook from Maria that I read and I know it will be the one I refer my mastermind buddies to over and over again!”
Being an avid Crossfitter (going on 7 years now), I’ve learned a thing or two about getting my head on straight so my body will follow. And how false assumptions can only hurt your progress.
My fabulous coach (I use more colorful adjectives when she gives me too many burpees) devotes herself to ensuring we understand the intent behind all of our moves, so that we are not just blindly trying to complete reps, but that we do each rep right.Proper form is everything.
You can do a million reps of an exercise, but if you do them badly, you won’t see results. Period.
For years, I held on to false assumptions about which muscles should be activated when doing certain moves. And because of that, I plateaued. Despite lots of effort, I never got stronger, faster or better. And often, I would just hurt myself!
For example, when you do a deadlift (lifting a weighted barbell from the floor), most people think you use your back or even your arms to a certain extent. You actually need to activate your hamstrings and booty to lift more weight..
When you do a push-up, most people position their arms in the wrong spot and believe it’s all about arm strength, which is why they quickly fatigue. It’s not about arms, but about tightening your abs and butt.
When you squat, especially with weights, it’s not about your quads. It’s about your booty and core.
When you bench press, it not about using your arms. It’s about activating and pressing from your core.
The epiphany here is that if each rep is perfectly executed, you can actually do less and make more progress than if you do a thousand reps really, really badly. And side bonus: You don’t hurt yourself!
You’d be surprised how much more weight you can lift and how many more reps you can do when you activate the right muscles.
The same holds true for your business and brand success.
If you’re brutally honest, you may find you, too, hold many false assumptions that are halting your progress and keeping you from reaching your personal best – and potentially hurting yourself!
Profitability does not come from just signing new clients. It’s about managing expenses and correctly pricing your offerings or you could actually be losing money on every new deal.
It’s not about doing more and doing it all badly. It’s about focusing on fewer tactics and making sure you execute them with perfection.(TWEET THIS!)
Ready to learn proper form and technique so you can do less sales and marketing and yet attract more clients, fans and revenue? If so, please check out MOMENTUM Pro, a self-study digital course you will adore to help you focus, streamline and be more effective in generating sales. Sounds good, right?!
While I’m a creative type–marketer, actress, writer–I greatly admire that science and statistics can help us predict many things such as the last amazing solar eclipse, how strong a car seat needs to be to protect a child in a crash, climate change (yes, people, it’s real. Stop it.)
But factor in a human element and those predictions can go sideways. We all saw this in the last U.S. Presidential election. Models can be wrong when it comes to complex human behavior. You can run all the stats in the world on which team will win the Super Bowl next year, but you may not predict injuries, or how adrenaline and moxie can force a mediocre quarterback to perform superhuman feats when it matters most.
While there are markers of what will make a business succeed or fail, there is no true formula for your business success.
As you may know, I’m addicted to the Jeopardy! game show. I’m such a freak, I actually record the episodes that I’m not able to watch and “binge watch” as a treat to myself. It’s the most endearing of my vices, if I do say so myself. #DontJudge
Recently, a bartender has been demolishing the competition night after night, racking up (to date) about $300,000. He’s competing against lawyers, scholars, scientists–many older than he. Still the bartender is besting them all.
If he’d let himself get caught up in head games about his profession or about how others with their fancy degrees and academic lives were somehow “smarter” than him, he’d have lost by now.
He has prepared and trained for this. But he closes that last-mile gap to success with confidence and determination.
If you’re ready to finally tackle this whole “brand and marketing” thing, step-by-step, you may just love my Brand Bootcamp self-guided digital course. Seriously, you’ve got this stuff down – you just need clarity, confidence and focus to do it right!
Guess what every successful entrepreneur and business owner have in common?
The key to their success is not merely:
More funding
Innate marketing and sales ability
The right connections
An Ivy league education
or, even the BEST quality product, service, or offering (though that sure helps)
No, what they all have in common….is that they know when to ask for help. (Tweet this!)
Richard Branson, the genius behind Virgin, advises entrepreneurs to not shy about asking for help, like he did:
“I reached out to people who possessed the skills I lacked and asked them for help.”
Marie Forleo, internet marketing expert and community builder, shares that “everything is figure-outable”, her mantra for building her empire:
“If I don’t know how to do something, I’m pretty sure there’s someone else on the planet who does. I Google. I pick up the phone. I ask for help from everyone I know.”
Howard Schultz built Starbucks as an ambitious dream…and even rejoined the company to to right the ship when it started going off the rails. His secret?:
“One of the most undervalued characteristics (of success) is being vulnerable and
asking for help.“
You’re amazing at what you do. You have such value and talent to offer.
But if you’re still struggling with how to build a breakout brand….how to clarify your value, attract the right ideal clients and customers, manage your marketing overwhelm – or promote yourself with more grace, ease and authenticity so that you can reach your goals…
Ask me for help.
Here’s how you can ask me for help! Let’s spend 90 minutes together hashing out your marketing plan, brand strategy, promotional challenges or more in a Brand Booster Session. Click here for details.
Previously in Part 2 of the Red Slice origin story…
My entrepreneurial journey – and my life- came screeching to a halt when I almost died from a ruptured brain aneurysm.There are just some crises you can’t build into your business plan! But, guess what? The sky didn’t fall. In fact, it opened up to a whole new way of living and doing business that would change me forever – and can hopefully change you for the better, too.
OK, so I’d survived a ruptured brain aneurysm. It was amazing to me how quickly people can rally around you after a crisis and pick up the slack. Armed with moxie, and a healthy dose of ignorance about the severity of it all, I thought I’d be back to work in seven weeks, when in reality, it took many months to focus on healing, recovery and therapy.
I had to overcome quite a few cognitive deficits: information overwhelm, prioritization, short-term memory, even vocabulary recall. All perfectly normal after-effects–and all skills I needed to do my work.
In addition, I lacked confidence to jump back into my life again. My hair had been shaved off, my eyesight was temporarily impaired and I was still regaining my strength. My husband, God love him, was my rock through it all. But he was not going to be able to jump-start me back to work.
Finally, after about six months (which is a miraculous timeframe for this type of injury), I was ready to dip my toe back into work and rebuild my business. But how to do it?
Networking again played a key role. The connections I’d worked so hard to build, both professionally and personally, saved me. I had to get comfortable asking for help–and see it as a sign of strength and resourcefulness, not weakness. People wanted to help. So I asked people to drive me places, accompany me to events, and get me back out there. I decided that if I started acting brave, maybe I’d start feeling brave–and I needed cheerleading and support or I’d lose my nerve all together. Had I not spent the time to build and nurture that community, before I needed it, I’d have been in a world of pain.
And soon, my network spread the word that I was back in the game and ready for action again.
LESSON ONE: Build your community and tribe before you need it. Tend to it. Nurture it. If you start only when you need it, it’s already too late. (Tweet!)
A NEW APPROACH, BUSINESS MODEL + SUCCESS
Fast forwarding through recovery, I started the difficult task of embracing the New Me. My brain now worked overtime on tasks that had once come easy to me so I had to adapt and find new strategies. What would this mean to my work, which was all about my IP and executive brain functions? My therapists suggested choosing a simple, structured project to start.
Which I did not heed. My first project back was unstructured and complicated. I cried daily.
But I got through it and gained confidence back in the process. Networking continued to help me get my name back out there. I ran a few workshops with a colleague. I started blogging and guest writing articles again. And slowly but surely, folks realized Red Slice was back.
During this “gentle” time of figuring things out and taking on limited clients, I finally got serious about writing a book, a dream I’d had since I was a little girl. Having this time to chase long-procrastinated dreams was a gift. I’m not sure I would have otherwise taken the time.
Soon, I published my first book and started booking more business. Client work was still a struggle, but I surrounded myself with understanding partners who helped me with some of my deficits on the back end.
In the next two years, I took on some big projects. At one point, I had a dream project with a software company…and simultaneously, a hellacious project with another big company. I finally realized that my passion was for the early strategic phase, where I could ferret out big insights and package them into an amazing brand strategy and story.
The rest of the project, however, was less fun. I basically functioned as a project manager, overseeing implementation. This phase made me want to poke my eyes out.
A wise coach gave me permission. She said, “If you don’t like doing that work, Maria, stop doing it!” And that was it. I was free! I revamped my messaging, repackaged my offerings to just focus on brand strategy and upped my rates. I was happy to give client’s a firm foundation and then refer out the tactical work so I could move on.
It was scary to narrow my focus to attract the right clients and do the work I love. But, hey, it was advice I’d been giving my clients all this time–I just hadn’t followed it myself!
And guess what happened?More of the right clients came to my door, I was happier, more relaxed and working from my heart.
Life’s too short to do work you hate. And it’s downright insane if you as an entrepreneur are the one deciding which work you do!
LESSON TWO: Don’t be afraid to focus, reinvent and make your business work for YOU (Tweet!)
BETTER PRIORITIZATION…ON AND OFF THE FIELD
This life-changing event not only transformed my work but my life. I was no longer the same person I was before the aneurysm. I couldn’t possibly be.
It wasn’t just having a “near-death experience” or even the psychological and cognitive changes that occurred due to the injury. Powerful lessons punched me dead in the face so there was no way I couldn’t pay attention.
I had always wanted my work to be more meaningful and now I had the chance to change lives. After much cajoling from others, I was finally ready to share my experience and lessons learned through a book. It was my heart’s mission and responsibility to take my amazing recovery and help others who were not so lucky. I wrote Rebooting My Brain in late 2011 and suddenly found myself playing the role of brain injury awareness advocate, speaking and volunteering to represent the patient point of view.
My cognitive challenges forced me to make significant work (and life) changes. I had no choice but to learn how to better focus on one thing at a time, stay present, and go easy on myself. My fatigue and overwhelm would not allow for manic multitasking and overscheduling anymore.
Wow. “Be present.” “Focus.” “Leave breathing room in your schedule.”
Not a bad way to live, let alone work, eh?
All of these changes led to a flourishing business once again. I built a solid reputation, enjoyed national media appearances, and published more books. And I even found a way, despite the high-risk due to my health issues, to have my first child at 41 years old, a beautiful baby boy.
So where are things right now?
Life is full. Somehow, someway, I managed to accomplish many of the goals I had set for myself way back when. I just got to them through a slightly delayed and circuitous route than expected!
Every day, I’m still learning and growing. I’ve added MOMENTUM, an exclusive coaching program to my offerings (Check it out! It starts October 6!), and am working on my next book. And I’m enjoying every precious moment with my husband, son, family and friends.
If only I could go back and tell that eager beaver to just relax. Everything you want can fall into place eventually, no matter what curveballs life throws at you.
I’ve learned that if you focus on your strengths, rather than defining yourself by your weaknesses, you can find creative ways to get to your goals in the end.
LESSON THREE: Despite setbacks, focus on your strengths + find new ways to your goals (Tweet!)
Did you enjoy my origin story? What was the most valuable lesson you can apply to your own life and work? Tweet me @redslice or comment on my Facebook page and use #BIZORIGIN to let me know!
Previously in Part 1 of the Red Slice origin story…
After leaving the security of corporate comfort, I embarked on my consulting business in my new home city of Seattle. Savvy, authentic networking and a rock-solid brand strategy accelerated my early growth, resulting in wonderfully interesting small business clients and a lucrative corporate gig.
If you missed Part 1, including my three powerful lessons learned, read it here.
Get ready for Part 2!
SURROUNDING MYSELF WITH EXPERTS
Having alwaysbeen surrounded by structure and process, the free-fall of entrepreneurship felt like fumbling around in the dark–every day. Quickly, I tried to get my legal and financial ducks in a row. Do I need to register as an S-Corp or LLC? What kinds of taxes do I need to pay? How do I manage my invoices and expenses? Ugh.
A new lawyer friend hooked me up with her firm for invaluable legal advice that should have cost thousands but didn’t and so I got the right counsel on risks and requirements I didn’t even know about. They developed my contracts at a bargain price and I filed for an LLC by downloading a free PDF online called, “How to File for a Washington LLC.” The paperwork. The tax requirements. The fees. It was all so damn confusing.
I promptly hired an accountant to help me with everything financial. Nothing fancy, she helped me set up my first QuickBooks and educated me almost weekly on what I needed to know. It felt like every day, I came up with more questions on how this whole “business ownership” thing worked. And I majored in business!
LESSON ONE: No one is an island, nor an expert in everything. Stop trying to be a hero and ask for help from experts who know better. (Tweet!)
PRICING RIGHT
Nothing paralyzes new business owners like pricing. I knew what similar consultants charged for my corporate client base, and I was comfortable with that rate because those clients have budget. But for my second client segment, small businesses and entrepreneurs, it was a different story. I had to figure out how to serve them with offerings that would still give me a healthy profit for my expertise and time.
I admit I didn’t do a very good job of this at first. At the time, my business model was that of a virtual agency. I would hire subcontractors to help me complete all aspects of a brand project. But I was horrible at project cost estimation and factoring in their rates, as well as the right markup. So once again, I turned to others: Experienced consultants who generously shared their spreadsheets with me; Partners who educated me on this new (to me) market; Ideal clients, who openly shared their budget realities with me.
It took me awhile to land on the right rates and project proposals. I seemed to underestimate how long everything would take me and then never billed those extra hours to the client. Many of my subcontractors made more money than I did from my projects! My nagging self-doubt made me undervalue my expertise and give too much away. I mean, I loved this stuff. It came easy for me, as I’d been doing it for close to 15 years at the time.
I had to learn that value is not about physical time and effort, but the results the client ultimately reaps. What is the impact on their business? My work often results in clients’ increasing their sales and/or saving thousands of dollars in wasted time and effort, not to mention softer benefits such as strategic alignment, message clarity, market awareness, and re-igniting their passion–surely this meaningful work should be valued accordingly. It was a tough lesson to learn, but I’m so glad I did.
LESSON TWO: Your expertise is valuable. Even if it comes easy to you. If someone else needs it to move forward, you have the right to be compensated well for it (Tweet!)
THE BRAND BUILDS… AND THEN CRISIS HITS
There I was, cranking away on my big corporate client and talking to others. It was big impact work that paid well, but I really fell in love with small business entrepreneurs. I had always enjoyed the San Francisco start-up vibe and many of these folks had that same drive–but for work that also fed their souls. The boutique owner. The cupcake shop. The jewelry designer. The life coach. The leadership consultant. The photographer. They all inspired me! I longed to find a way to make this client segment more profitable in some way. In the meantime, I was making a name for myself, attending networking events, writing online articles and doing a few (unpaid) speaking engagements. I started an email newsletter, and began blogging regularly. People began to recognize my brand! Sure, I had to write many proposals for work that never went anywhere, but the point was that Red Slice was gaining traction.
Added to this new business, I was still trying to do it all: yoga, acting, making new friends, seeing the sights of my new home city, writing freelance wine articles. We were brand-new, first-time homeowners and just adopted a dog. I clearly remember confiding to my bestie, a coach for women entrepreneurs: “It’s all great stuff, but I just feel more overwhelmed and stressed than ever!” And she said, “Maria, you thrive on change but I think even you have hit your limit. Then she shared this gem…
LESSON THREE: “You can do it all but you don’t have to do it all RIGHT NOW!” (Tweet!)
But by then, it was too late. It all came crashing down.
After a theatre audition, I was struck by a blinding, sudden headache that was like a drill boring into my skull. My neck and back muscles seized up, nausea flooded me and I had no idea what was happening. After collecting myself, I promptly made a doctor’s appointment. He chalked it up to all the stress and advised me to monitor my blood pressure daily, do physical therapy, yoga and acupuncture and report back to him in about a month.
Did I pull back? No. Silly, right? The yoga, acupuncture and PT just became more to-do’s on my list. I suffered from a few debilitating migraines over the next month and planned to go see the doctor again – when I had time. And then, I collapsed, unconscious on the bathroom floor. Luckily, my husband saved my life by calling 911. Or I’d be dead.
A ruptured brain aneurysm had brought all my business–and life–plans to halt.
I won’t bore you with the details, as a) I wrote a book about this and b) spoiler alert: I survived. What I will say is that some sort of crisis WILL hit your life or your business; something random for which you can never, ever prepare.
It happened to me. Even though clients needed deliverables and my task list was not complete. Even though I thought it was ALL SO IMPORTANT.
And guess what? The sky didn’t fall.
The sky actually opened up. It opened up a whole new way of living, relating and doing my work in the world – and you can learn to do the same.
Tune in for Part Three to learn how I revved up my business again and then reinvented itto better suit my life…right here!
Like this origin story so far? What major setbacks has your business faced? Tweet me @redslice or comment on my Facebook page and use #BIZORIGIN to let me know!
Starting a business is not easy. Maintaining it for over nine years (gasp!) can be downright unbelievable. People always ask me, “How did you start?”
Recently, I cleared out some old folders and came across every yearly plan from 2008 on. As one does when decluttering, I got lost in nostalgia, chuckling to myself about all the things I thought I knew – and how far I’d come.
Inspired, I decided to share with you a three-part look at THE RED SLICE ORIGIN STORY and the valuable lessons that can also help your business grow. Full credit for this idea goes to my friend, Melissa Cassera, who recently published a spine-tingling blog mini-series about her business start.
Please sit back, grab some popcorn (or a lovely Cabernet) and learn from my entrepreneurial adventure!
THE SEEDS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ARE SOWN
2006. Newly married, I was living in San Francisco and directing global marketing campaigns for a billion-dollar software company. Corporate life was all I’d ever known, working at a big consulting firm, a small ad agency, and a multinational entertainment powerhouse. In 1999, I’d come to SF to chase the dot.com dream and did my first stint at a (failed) startup, which was the riskiest thing I’d ever done. But I was still working for someone else for a steady paycheck and full benefits and had never known life without such security.
My creative urges had led me back into acting and writing, alongside my day job. I landed (unpaid) gigs writing food and wine articles (yum) for local magazines and websites, and soon began my own blog. I wanted to write about many things: theatre, business, culture, marketing, wine, food, film…there were so many facets to my personality. I named this personal blog Red Slice, to represent this redhead’s many “slices” of interest. It was liberating to express my creativity again. Like I had come home to myself.
Right before I got married, I left my big global firm to be a marketing director for a smaller software company. My amazing team and I remain great friends to this day. But the company itself left a bit to be desired. I was restless.
In 2007, we moved to Seattle for my husband’s job. By then, you must understand, I had lived through three layoffs during the tech bust. I no longer viewed “working for someone else” as the secure proposition I once did. Rocked by my experiences, I expanded my career thinking. I was also getting older and really fed up with corporate political B.S. Most of my time and energy was spent on bureaucratic B.S, rather than doing actual good work.
I flirted with consulting and daydreamed aboutworking with clients Iliked, doing work I loved. While I’d done freelance consulting between layoffs, permanent entrepreneurship was not in my blood. My two grandfathers, both Italian immigrants, had owned businesses at one stage or another, but my dad had sailed steady, loving his decades-long engineering career with the same firm. Stability was everything to me.
Luckily, my small software company kindly allowed me to work from Seattle. As this extrovert adjusted to working on my own, setting (mostly) my own hours, an addiction formed. A freedom addiction.
LESSON #1: Leading a life where you call the shots and every ounce of work you do benefits YOU is positively addictive. There is no freedom quite like entrepreneurial freedom, even though you’re working harder than you ever have in your life. (TWEET!)
For fun in my off-hours, I built a crappy little consulting website in GoDaddy and, naturally, called it Red Slice. I liked the name: It stood out from the crowd, intrigued people and also had a double meaning of helping my clients’ brands stand out, like anything “red” often does. I would offer clients “slices” of services to fit their needs.
Then, fate gave me a big push. In early 2008, my company laid off the entire marketing department in prep for a sale. The day we got the final notice, I flipped the switch on the crappy website and sent an email to everyone I knew: Red Slice, the marketing and brand consultancy was born!
NAILING MY BRAND, FINDING MY VOICE
While the visuals were horrendous, I focused more on the brand strategy and the messaging, naturally! I wanted a fresh, focused, innovative brand and to offer my full breadth of skills earned from many years in communications, branding and marketing. I got to say what I wanted to say, in my own sassy voice, without corporate jargon. #Freedom.
A treasured agency contact from my corporate days offered to design me a better website for free, and his team came up with the fruit imagery you see today. While my website has evolved since then, they nailed it on their very first design because I had done a great job of articulating my brand strategy, value and vibe before they even got started. Some old corporate colleagues scoffed that clients “wouldn’t take me seriously” if I mentioned my writing and acting on my business website. I doubted myself, but bravely stood my ground: I wanted my brand to showcase my unique blend of practical business savvy and playful creativity.
LESSON #2: Nail down your brand strategy before you even think about a logo, website or marketing tactics – unless you like wasting hours of time, burning piles of money (TWEET!)
NETWORKING PAYS OFF
Lacking any sort of professional Seattle network, I joined a Ladies Who Launch incubator. There, I met a ton of cool, smart women, including Melody, the woman who’d become a dear friend, brainstorming partner and personal escort into the world of independent business owners – a client base I’d never even considered. She got me my very first small client!
I asked friends to introduce me to folks they knew in Seattle and met them on coffee blind dates. I networked like crazy with the few other contacts I DID have, and it got me into meetings to eventually become a subcontractor for a consulting firm doing work at Microsoft. So two months into my new venture, I had a super fun small business client and a large, well-paying corporate client.
LESSON #3: Networking is your biggest business booster and it doesn’t have to be icky. It should be part of any marketing plan. Network with people you genuinely like and who knows what doors will open (TWEET!)
I quickly realized that the large project put me right back into corporate bureaucracy again so I began exploring the small business community. It was like discovering this wonderful subculture I never knew existed when I was in my corporate bubble.
But that exploration came to a screeching halt when, just eight months into my new business, crisis struck.
Nothing would ever be the same…
Tune in for Part Two to learn what nearly crushed me and my business for good..right here!
Like this origin story? How did your business start out? Tweet me @redslice or comment on my Facebook page and use #BIZORIGIN to let me know!
When you think of the personality traits of a successful business owner, what do you picture? Tenacious? Hard-working? Creative? Sure! A little tenacity never hurt anyone. But what if I told you the most important quality a business owner can have is … empathy?
4 reasons empathy is good for business
Empathy increases the know/like/trust factor
Let’s say you can’t throw anything out and you’re suffocated by your clutter. You decided it’s finally time to hire a professional organizer. Who are you more likely to connect with, relate to, and ultimately hire:
* the person who tells you that five years ago they too had drawers overflowing with old t-shirts?
* the person who’s somehow “naturally organized”?
* The person who doesn’t tell you anything about themselves or their background?
I bet you connected with the person who knows your struggle, didn’t you? It’s human nature! We’re more likely to know, like, and trust people who are similar to us. And – as I’m sure you know – we’re more likely to buy from people we know, like, and trust. Here’s a great example of a blogger showing us how to break bad habits by sharing the bad habits she struggled with!
2. Empathy shows that you walk the walk
If you can show your clients that you’ve been where they are, found a solution, and emerged triumphantly, you’re modeling success. You’re demonstrating that you’re empathetic to their struggles and you’ve made specific changes to overcome those struggles. You’re living proof that they don’t have to stay stuck! Living proof makes for pretty convincing marketing.
3. Empathy helps your clients be more vulnerable with you
When you show your clients you understand them, you’re helping them feel safe. You’re showing them that they can be honest and vulnerable with you. When you say “I get it. I used to be overwhelmed by social media too,” you’re making it easier for your clients to open up to you. And the more they open up to you, the more you can help them, and the better their results will be.
Share your backstory What have you struggled with? What hurdles have you overcome in your business? And how does this make you uniquely well-qualified to help us overcome something similar? Maybe you overcame stage fright; maybe you undercharged for years. Perhaps you mismanaged your team and lost a big account or had self-limiting beliefs that held you back for years. Whatever your backstory is: share it. Help us know, like, and trust you. Show us how you can help us overcome what we’re struggling with.
Share examples of people or situations for which you feel empathy You can also look to current events or public figures who are experiencing something with which you empathize. For example, if you’re a financial adviser you could say, “When I heard about Johnny Depp declaring bankruptcy I thought, ‘Ugh. I know how that feels.’” Then you share the story of how you struggled with credit card debt in your early twenties and how you righted that ship to make healthy money management your life’s calling. If you’re a life coach you could say “When Emma Stone talked about navigating her career while managing an anxiety disorder, I wanted to raise my hand and shout “Me, too!” And then you can share how you changed your workday, workload, or daily habits to get past this hurdle. Anticipate where they might get stuck If you’ve been in business for a while, you probably already know where your clients freeze up or give up. You know they’re nervous about being on camera or intimidated by downloading new software. You know which excuses they’ll pull out. Show them you understand them and you’ve got their back! This can be as easy as using phrases like “You might be thinking ___________” or “I know you’re probably worried that ____________”. Then explain why that reasoning or excuse doesn’t apply here. Or just assure them that they’ve got this and it’s not as hard as it seems! My friend Sarah spent years working as a teacher and now creates and sells online courses. Every module of every course includes a ‘Where you might get stuck’ section where she addresses common hurdles!
If you don’t know what your people are struggling with or how you can help, ASK
None of these methods will help you if you don’t understand your people. If you don’t know what they’re struggling with, it’s hard to empathize, right? Luckily, there are tons of ways to figure this out.
Invite someone who’s an ideal client out for coffee
Request a Zoom chat
Simply ask your social media followers “What are you struggling with at the moment?”
Create a survey and ask your blog readers and newsletter subscribers to fill it out. Make sure to clarify that their answers will help you create things that are more helpful and useful!
For more research and strategies on why empathy is great for business, check out The Empathy Edge podcast and book!
Every night, I do crossword puzzles for a little while before bed. Thank goodness for Kindle and it’s practically unlimited apps! Crosswords help me transition from daily stress into nighttime serenity. My husband totally gets why I have to keep the light on at least twenty more minutes after he turns in.
Every day, I switch mental gears and recharge by watching game shows. I eat lunch while watching my recording of the previous night’s Jeopardy! No matter what craziness is going on with my work, game shows help me use different parts of my brain, embrace my inner competitor and have a little fun.
When I had my brain injury in 2008, puzzles and games were big parts of my rehab. They helped me get my cognitive edge back and sped up my brain gears to react faster. I am convinced that if I had not discovered Lumosity or returned to my word games and crossword puzzles, my recovery would have taken longer and been less effective.
These games helped me unstick my brain from neutral into drive. Conversely, at night, they helped me downshift my busy-bee mind into park.
It’s common knowledge that sleep is the key to mental acuity and brain health. When the stresses of the day bear down on you too much, and that hamster just won’t get off its wheel, find out what you need to untangle your anxious thoughts so you can be healthy, happy and more creative.
We all need to untangle our brains. At night, we need to do so for sound sleep. By day, we need to unstick our brains to tackle tough challenges andfind new, creative ideas.
Famous people whom we admire for accomplishing great things often have their own brain untangling methods. For example, Einstein played the violin and piano as a way to brainstorm and find solutions. There is also strong evidence that doodling helps you focus and unleash your creativity.
Studies show that our brains work best and generate new ideas when we use different parts of them. A 2015 University of Haifa study showed: The researchers hypothesized that for a creative idea to be produced, the brain must activate a number of different – and perhaps even contradictory – networks.
Find ways to untangle your brain and make them a part of your daily habits and nighttime rituals. If you can master this, you will be happier, healthier, AND more present, productive and creative.
Are you narrowing your eyes at the title of this blog post, thinking “There’s no such thing as a simple marketing plan, Maria”?
If every marketing plan you’ve ever tried has made you feel overwhelmed, allow me to explain simple marketing via a story about milk and pasta.
Picture this: Your husband opens the refrigerator and removes a carton of milk. He asks, “How long has this been in here?” and you shrug.
He opens the carton, takes a big whiff, and recoils in disgust. You think he might actually start crying.
“Ugh! I think this milk has gone off! Here, smell it.”
Are you kidding me? You have very clearly shown that what awaits me is horrific. With that ringing endorsement, no thank you. I’ll pass.
But…
You’re in a restaurant with your bestie and, upon tucking into her gorgeous pasta dish, she rolls her eyes in ecstasy and moans in a very inappropriate way.
“Oh my gosh! You have got to take a bite of this. It’s amazing!”
With that kind of enthusiasm, hell yes. Of course, you take a bite. And enter into blissful euphoria yourself.
Whether people are trying to persuade you to take a whiff, try a bite, or buy that must-have new product, their excitement or disgust is what will–or won’t–sell you.
Now imagine if you asked the store owner if the milk they sell is good. And they said, “It’s okay, I guess.”
Or if the head chef said, “Here’s your meal. It’s no big deal. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t.”
If makers and sellers don’t talk about their own work with passion…or worse, talk about it with disinterest or disgust…are you going to be convinced to buy from them?
If you hate marketing your “thing” and don’t promote it with passion…or worse, talk about it with disinterest, that’s exactly what you’re doing to your prospective clients, fans or customers.
It’s the overwhelm that’s killing you. You’re trying to do everything and doing it all…badly. And you think they can fool people by plastering on a sweet smile and phoning it in.
Not only can people tell your heart’s not in it, but you probably aren’t consistent and effective with your marketing efforts. If you hate blogging, will you really commit to doing it on a regular basis? Heck no.
Relax. You don’t have to be everywhere. In fact, you CAN’T be everywhere.
Seriously. That’s it. This intersection of your joy and your tribe will give you your marketing plan. And the great news is that if your target audience plays in several places, you have a choice.
You may be crystal clear about #1 but if you’re clueless about #2? Ask them where they like to hang out and how they like to get new information about work like yours!
