Just because you haven’t met them yet doesn’t mean they don’t exist…
I say this all the time to my clients about their ideal clients. It’s easy to think and plan from where you are (and the clients you already have and know) but that can close you off to new and bigger things.
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This keeps happening to me.
I wait for ‘someone’ to say something, do something or share something or sell something and they don’t. So I wait some more. And then I realise I have to do it!
What are you waiting for that you know it’s up to you to do?
Maybe it’s time to stop waiting…
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Stories sell.
And if you don’t like ‘selling’ try stories instead.
Obviously I am very strong proponent of the adage that people buy from people but it’s true for my business and all the business owners I work with.
Now much as you can ‘create’ a brand around who you are, what really sells you are your stories.
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I love the internet.
But that said, my business also has to have a ‘real world’ aspect to it too.
The internet is there to HELP you with your business – to sell for you, to connect for you, to maintain relationships, to find new relationships (business or otherwise!), to share who you are and what you do, to have fun, to reach the places you can’t reach, and more.
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Being an artist and being creative isn’t always about painting, sculpting, or in the case of someone I know very well covering everything in glitter (she’s only little though). I absolutely love being creative in my business. So I thought I’d share some artistic inspiration with you today.
Here’s 11 ways for you to get creative in your business (that you can do right now)…
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I ask this question a lot.
I ask myself, I ask my clients, and I ask (in my head!) this on behalf of people I see who are stuck, or afraid, or unsure. The reason I ask this question a lot is that sometimes there isn’t actually a ‘good’ reason to wait. There may well be an excuse (or lots of excuses) but very often, when it really comes down to it, there isn’t actually a real reason.
So what are you waiting for?
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Now I am the world’s worst (or best?) at coming up with new ideas.
I am always excited about the next thing. What I can do that’s new. And I always want to move forward. Keep it going. Bigger, better, bolder, brighter. But actually this can be exactly what not to do in business.
If you have something that works – keep doing it!
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Are you running your business for you?
What I mean by that is are you doing it YOUR way or are you doing it the same way as other people who do what you ‘do’ are… or even the way you think it SHOULD be done.
Doing it your way is what will make you different and make you stand out. And it will also make your business easy for you as you’ll never have to ‘work out’ how to do what you do differently, you just will…
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Today I had the great privilege of seeing the Air Ambulance crew do their ‘Thing’ up close, rescuing someone from an island in Poole Harbour. Now what you do may not be as ‘matter of life and death’ as this, but to the people that NEED you it’s pretty important.
So who do you rescue?
When someone is dialing a metaphorical 999 (911/000/etc.) in their life or business do they get you on the end of the line?
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I have a client who when we first starting working together referred to her ‘Thing’ as common sense. And it is. To her!
That’s the beauty of your ‘Thing’ – to you it’s something easy, effortless, makes perfect sense and is just so OBVIOUS. Once you see it and you realise that that is your Thing of course. But because your Thing is right in front of you, you might miss it…
Your Thing is what you just ‘can’t help’ but do
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Here’s what I see a lot… people marketing recipes: the ingredients for a cake – the step by step pieces you need.
But what a cake lover is more interested in is the finished article – what a cake lover buys is a CAKE! I get a lot more excited looking at a slice of carrot cake than I do a bag of flour, eggs, sugar, some carrots, a wooden spoon… and yet this is what I see a lot of people are ‘selling’ – the ingredients.
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If you ask me you can never give away enough information.
I am happy to share a great deal of ‘information’ for free, because I know that for it to be effective, for it to ‘do’ what it’s shared for, it needs to be put into action.
The difference between information and action is why people buy from you. And this makes a huge difference to how you market and ‘sell’ what you do.
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Sometimes it’s absolutely the right time to do something big, new and bold. Other times it makes sense to just move things a little bit. But you do need to move – onwards, upwards, sideways, longways, anyways :)
Standing still might seem like a good idea if you’re having a wobble or a panic or just not sure about something, but actually it’s very rarely the best plan. If you stand still you can’t see what’s possible, you can’t tell if something is a good idea (or not) until you try it. Keeping yourself in one place (literally or metaphorically) isn’t always a safe plan. No one wants to be a sitting duck!
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Planning is great fun. It’s very important. You need to have a plan about where you are, where you are going, and how you’re going to get there for you and your business.
That said, it’s also good to be able to go with the flow – make sure you’ve got time and space to breathe in your plan.
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Transformations are what sell what you do. Features need to be listed of course, but it’s the results that count.
Typically we buy results – the transformation – more than we buy ‘what it is’.
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Sometimes what you need to do next in your business is simple. But we can very easily over complicate things.
Sometimes it’s just right there.
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I have been doing a lot of un-learning recently. Or, to put it another way, learning to do things NOT the way I had been doing them (for a long time!). Which is the best learning I think. Although hard…very hard!
What I wanted to write about today is un-learning. The picking apart of what you do now and making it better. And I wanted to talk about how uncomfortable that is!
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If you really want to get noticed in your market then a niche is not enough.
Absolutely you have to have a niche, no arguments from me about that, BUT you have to let people know you’re there, in that niche, doing your Thing, and you’re the perfect person to help.
So what do you do?
You get a Fame Name, you use your PSP (Personality Selling Point) and you become a Business Celebrity.
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You absolutely need a plan in business, and while I am not a big fan of the v-e-r-y long (and let’s be honest sometimes quite dull) ‘business plans’ that your bank manager might want to see, you absolutely DO need a plan.
Not having a plan is like navigating in the dark with no idea of where you’re headed. Things work out so much better when you have a plan.
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How much does the space around us (literal or metaphorical) restrict our thinking. And how big is your space?
It sounds simple and it is, but how often do you consciously change or upgrade your environment to match your plans? Do you work outside your usual space, do you go for a walk under a huge sky or by a vast ocean and think in a bigger way?
How big is your space?
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Lifetime value is not a new concept in marketing and business but it often astounds me (in a slap-on-the-forehead kinda way) that many business owners don’t ‘get it’.
Lifetime value is the ‘number’ you need to have in mind when you are evaluating your marketing, when you’re working out your investment into how much to spend (time or money or both) in getting a new customer.
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I don’t know everything. I am always learning, always finding more ways to solve things, and discovering more ways to share what I know.
What I do know is that I know enough. In fact I know plenty. What I know is that what I know is of value to other people.
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Are you in that relaxed place just seeing what comes along, not doing anything too energetic i.e. are you in ‘holiday mode’ with your business?
There is nothing wrong with taking it easy (I am not saying don’t relax!) but what I suggest is that like any good holiday you put some planning time in beforehand to pick the best time, place, location to get the MOST from it… I know I relax more when I’m where I want to be!
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How do you do what you do?
This is a really important question to ask yourself as it will really help you with your marketing and get you noticed.
Share the details, the thoughts behind your process, your procedures, the details, the ‘little things’ that you do to make how you do what you do different.
I am guessing that whatever it is you ‘do’ there are also lots of other people and businesses that ‘do’ it too.
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When you’re doing your marketing, your messages, your website copy, your ads, your talks, your landing pages, your flyers, your videos, anywhere you are talking about what you do… make sure you use the language that your clients (existing and potential) do.
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On the one hand, yes you have to be visible and be in ‘it’ (where ‘it’ is your ideal clients’ radar) to get noticed. On the other hand if you read ‘it’ as being ‘everywhere’ then that’s a recipe for marketing overwhelm if ever I saw it!
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Yes I am talking about Things again. I can’t help myself. It’s what I love to do! :)
And a question I get asked often is can you have more than 1 thing? So I thought I’d share my answer here.
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We all need to set ourselves some world records to break from time to time. Or at least some ‘personal bests’.
I have been feeling a bit under the weather the past couple of days, so my dedication of course has also waned. Then I see this article and video about Eddie Kidd still running the London Marathon (that started almost 5 weeks ago – and for most people finished the same day). He is covering a few hundred metres a day most days. Which is incredible for a severely disabled man.
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I was talking the other day with a client about ideal clients (as I always do!) and was asked in return what my ideal client is. And my answer surprised me as it was so simple – I said my ideal client has to be willing.
Knowing that you want to do more, or grow, or change direction is enough – the only other thing you need is willingness. Fear is bound to come up as new and different things can be scary (I am scared all the time) BUT the way to overcome fear is tackle it head on – so you need to be willing to do this!
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Do you ever do something or write something or have a meeting about a project and think ‘is this really me?’.
There are lots of things you CAN do but not necessarily all of them ARE you.
When you are really being you, you are being brilliant.
And you are being brilliant with ease and grace and fun.
If you have that sinking feeling when you look at some copy or design or a proposal that is ‘from’ you and it’s just not feeling right, then heads up – it’s not really you.
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Lucy followed up with a couple of ‘kick up the backside’ calls and then it was up to me.
