OUR BLOG

I’m a business coach, and I can’t help but observe business owners and how they operate.

I’m always looking at what works and what doesn’t, so I can pass best practices on to you! And recently, I got slapped upside my head with yet another example of how business owners can be shortsighted in how they treat their customers and clients.

If you’ve been reading my newsletter, you know we got married in the Cayman Islands recently.

We hired a wedding planner to help with the legalities and facilitate the details for us, since we live 1,100 miles away.

There’s something she did … or rather didn’t do … that can provide a major learning for you and your business.

As a business coach and speaker coach, I’ve long stressed the importance of just being your genuine, authentic self, But I’ve mostly underscored this in relation to meeting folks before your talk and in terms of how you’re “being” in front of the room during your presentation.

But what about after … when you’re done speaking and you’re interacting with the folks as they leave, especially the ones who hang around to get a little bit of more personal time with you?

The message doesn’t change. You’re the same person … before … during … after … always.

I’m sure that seems pretty self-evident and you probably wouldn’t expect anything different from me in terms of advice, so why do I bring it up?

In my fifteen years as a business coach, working with thousands of small business owners on their business development and marketing strategy, I’ve seen it all.

From businesses that continue to grow and thrive year in and year out, all the way to businesses that never seem to get off the ground!

So what makes the difference?

You know how to make yourself miserable?

Take on too much, take on things you think you “should” do instead of things that feel right … and then struggle to get through it all.

I got this in my mailbox recently. I’ve copied it verbatim.

“How To Easily, Quickly & Consistently Generate Enough Clients Every Month To Scale Your Coaching / Consulting Business From Zero To 6 & 7 Figures In 6 Weeks Or Less”

Really?   From zero to 6 & 7 figures or more in 6 weeks OR LESS!

7 figures is over a million dollars. 6 weeks is … well … 6 weeks.

Yeah, right.

Whoa. What’s this?

I looked at my list and realized I was actually caught up.

Stop the presses!

No big projects and deadlines looming.  Nothing weighing on me business-wise causing me undue stress.  I was just going along at a nice easy pace … enjoying the business coaching I was doing.

This is a most unusual experience for me.  All my life, I’ve been a Type A overachiever who prided myself on my productivity.

I’m the girl who was in charge of the largest outdoor street festival in the Southeast for several years in the 90’s.  

I’ve always been diligent.  I love my lists of priorities and I’m pretty darned good at managing them. But up till now, my tasks and projects have always been a bit overwhelming.

So what changed?  How did I get to this new and wonderful place where I’m not feeling overwhelmed and behind all the time?

If you’re a professional, offering services to the public, you want your clients to think of you as a “trusted provider” … someone they know will take care of them and look out for their best interests.

Fact is, it often takes a long time to build that level of trust, comfort, and security.

And it can be lost in an instant.

Running a business presents you with a never-ending string of challenges. Sometimes they seem overwhelming … as if you’re playing a game you can’t win.

It’s the rare person who’s never experienced that sense of having too much to handle … of facing such big a gap between where you are now and where you need to be that you have no idea how you’re going to close it.

Have you ever been there? Of course you have.

Well, I’ve got a blazing insight for you … straight from the 5^th game of this year’s World Series!

I was “fired” by a client not too long ago.  Ouch.

What went wrong?

How many times have you heard somebody say, “Social media is the way to build a business?”

And how many times have you said to yourself, “But I don’t want to do it! I don’t like it. I don’t really understand it. I don’t have the time to learn all the ins and outs. It seems to suck up so much time and I’m not even sure it really works!”

That’s a good question.

Does it work?

Can you really attract new clients by sending out Tweets and posting on various sites and doing the whole Internet networking thing?