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The truth about shiny objects

by | Inspiration

It’s so easy to fall in love with the ‘new thing’ and abandoned the project you are working on, or at the least get temporarily distracted.

Creatives love ideas. And when you’re working on a project and spending time ‘in the zone’, new ideas inevitably show up.

The challenge becomes what to do with those ideas, and there will be some good ones. Do you file for later, let it inform your current project or jump ship and run with the newest idea.

If you tend to do the latter, you might be sabotaging your business. This is especially true if the new idea is a tangent, meaning it’s not aligned with your current business direction. The creative process might be fun, but marketing it will drain resources and energy and the end result is not likely to yield much, let alone a second sale after the initial one.

And if you jump ship again before this newest idea is complete, you’re just burning through your creative mojo with little to show for it.

Here are four questions to ask when a new idea emerges while working on a current project:

Start here…

1. What do I love about my current project?
2. Can this new idea influence my current project?

And then…
3. Is this new idea in my genius zone?
4. Is the new idea aligned with my current business goals?

If you get all yeses, definitely pursue it when the time is right.

Running ideas through these 4 questions may help you avoid idea hopping and shiny object syndrome.

There is one exception though…

If you repeatedly get ideas that ALL point in the same NEW direction, that’s worth noticing. This is very different than a one-off idea. There may be a new direction your soul is calling you to follow.

Bottom-line, it’s awesome to have lots of ideas and if you are discerning and strategic, your creativity will grow your business.

Top Two Sales Page Mistakes

by | Inspiration

If you have a program, product or a private coaching package, they all need some sort of sales page. The purpose of the sales page is to let your people know what it’s all about and invite them to sign up. Sounds simple enough, right?

But there are two big mistakes most people make that can hurt results.

Mistake #1: Failure to connect

When you speak at your reader instead of directly to them, there is a disconnect. Often I’ll see people say something like; The program provides step by step solution to xyz. It can feel kind of cold and detached when you are just describing your program without engaging your potential client. Instead try something like, I’m going to walk you through step by step so you can finally experience this goal you’ve been dreaming about forever. Can you feel the emotional difference?

Your potential clients want to feel seen and understood. They want hope of something better and they want to be personally invited. Begin to use ‘you’ more often. Like, hey client, are you feeling misunderstood and floundering? Let them know you understand, you’ve been there and there is indeed hope.

Sharing your experience or a client’s experience and speaking directly to your potential client are great ways to connect.

Mistake #2 : Focusing on features vs benefits

Do you know the difference between features and benefits? Features are things like; 8 weeks, 6 modules, handouts & worksheets, meet via zoom, recordings available etc. Benefits are what your client will take away, the transformation they will experience. It is all about the question ‘whats in it for me’?

Your potential clients buy the transformation they believe they will get. Period. The features are only relevant to them once they say yes to the transformation.

Here’s a few of examples of benefit statements from my programs:

  • Impact 1000’s of people and boost your credibility without spending years writing a book
  • Creative ways to break through the strategy straight-jacket, so you can create a heart-to-heart connection with your ideal clients.
  • Attract clients that stay longer and buy everything you create.

Getting the benefits clear can take a bit of work, but it’s so essential!
If you pay attention to just these two things, connection & benefits, your sales pages will begin to work better for you!

Money Memories & Pricing

by | Inspiration

What is your earliest memory related to money?

What were the emotions that surrounded it?

My earliest money memories, growing up in a blue-collar home with 6 kids, led me to conclude that there is ‘not enough’ and it wasn’t okay to want more than your fair share. It also motivated me to find ways to earn money at a very early age. I sold ears of corn from my section of our garden, I did baby sitting and got a real job as soon as I was old enough.  How about you?

Our early experiences begin to shape our beliefs about money and they can play out now in your business. They influence how we price our products and programs today.

Identifying those beliefs is an important first step in changing them. Take a moment with these questions and see if you can identify your money beliefs.

What shows up for you when you think about pricing?

What is your first reaction when someone says “I can’t afford your program”?

If your coach said double your current fees – what would your gut response be?

Did you notice any beliefs that might be sabotaging your success? The inner ‘judge’ has plenty of lies to go around: There’s not enough, You have to work hard to have more, if you charge that much you will be expected to be perfect, If I have more, you will have less, I’m much more comfortable giving it away, and on and on.

Here are a few ways you can begin to play with those beliefs and reduce their hold on you. In Positive Intelligence work there are 5 Sage powers. Each of these can help you shift to a more abundant mindset.

Empathy
Bring empathy to your circumstances and fears and then see past that to the field of all possibilities.

Explore
Become fascinated about your beliefs and habits without judgement. What do you notice? Ask yourself, what would a 7-figure coach do?

Innovate
When it comes to doubling your rates, play the Yes And game. “YES, what I love about that idea is…And what if…(and repeat multiple times)

Navigate
How would becoming financially free serve your mission, purpose and values? What would your higher self do with greater abundance?

Activate
Action is where things really start to shift. What’s one thing you can commit to that releases old beliefs and opens you to more prosperity?

When those old beliefs loosen up and your mindset becomes more abundance focused, it’s a good time to go review how you are pricing your services, programs and products.

A Client’s Storyline – Where to intervene?

by | Inspiration

Your clients generally have a storyline that evolves in their work with you.

When you first encounter your client, they are a beginner of some sort. They want to grow themselves or their business, learn a skill, reach for more success, meaning or something else they don’t currently have or know how to get.

As you work with them, they begin to gain skills, stretch, expand their capacity, experience success and grow in the direction of their desired outcome.

Towards the end of your work together, your clients are beginning to step into mastery, they are taking bigger risks, feeling in command of their choices and maybe even developing a whole new set of goals inspired by this new place.

I refer to these three stages as the client’s storyline. It’s a helpful structure to identify the unique needs, challenges, problems, and desires relevant at each stage of the journey.

When you have a good sense of where your client is and what gets in their way, you can create something specifically to address the challenge. It could take the form of a product, a program, a course etc.

Here are some questions to help you think about your client’s storyline:

What does my client want at the beginning?
What do they need to learn, experience or overcome, but haven’t yet?

What does my gaining skills, growth focused, client want?
What do they need to learn, experience or overcome, but haven’t yet?

What does my advanced, high-achieving, ready to soar, client want?
What do they ready to learn, experience or overcome, but haven’t yet?

As you look at your answers, what are the solutions that come to mind?
What are you inspired to create for them?

Finding your way back to joy

by | Inspiration

Whether it’s the global crisis, family stress or way too much on your to-do list, sometimes we just get bogged down. Our energy flattens, worry loops start cycling and everything feels hard. In those moments, it’s hard to find joy.

It happens to us all and it’s good to have some tools in your back pocket to pull you back to your natural, resilient self. This is important because trying to manifest the business of your dreams from flat, bogged-down energy, just isn’t going to work.

Once you notice you are a mess and want something different, here’s a three-step process that will help.

1. Get out of your head.
Your mind is whirring away with worry and judgement. Your first step is to get out of your head – that’s where all that gunk lives. Anything that will pause the constant chatter is good. You can focus on your breathing for 5-10 minutes, go put on some music and dance, play with a toddler, work in your garden, make some art or anything that gets you into a different headspace. It’s about moving from survival brain to the generative, intuitive part of the brain.

2. Actively go in search of joy
The only thing you need to feel happy is appreciation and gratitude. That’s what fuels joy. There are a few ways to do this; sit down and make a list of what you are grateful for, think about things or people you appreciate, make a collage of things that make you happy, or my favorite – get your smart phone out and take pictures of everything that makes you smile. For me, this one activates the artist part of my brain and gets me fully engaged.

3. Tune into inspiration
Once you’ve given yourself this kind of a break, come back to the situation that had you bogged down. From this new refreshed headspace, tune into what you feel inspired to tackle – and do that.

This is something you can do whenever you feel bogged down and disconnected from joy. For those familiar with the Positive Intelligence work, what this does is interrupt your Saboteurs and help you connect to Sage mind. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

From Solid Ground to Fertile Ground

by | Inspiration, Personal Development

What does well-being look like for you?

I had to spend some time with this one, especially in light of the current pandemic. For me it came down to three things. A balance between action and reflection, awareness of my needs and making sure I’m tending to them reasonable well. When those things are in place I can feel like I’m on solid ground. It’s easy to find joy, receive and give love, laugh and create. It’s easy to feel a deep sense of well-being.

Lately ‘solid ground’ has not felt so solid and it has left me feeling unsettled and out of sorts.

Years ago a good friend said, Marcy you are too much ‘sun’ and not enough ‘moon’. I knew exactly what she meant – it’s that balance between being and doing, left brain activity and right-brain receptiveness.

Our culture values ‘sun’ > action, achievement, progress, productivity. As a whole we have been too much sun. The pandemic however has forced us to collectively stop, slow down and stay home. Anytime you have been in bright sun for a long time and get thrown into night-time with nothing but a sliver of moon, it’s going to be hard to find your way. But your eyes will adjust.

As you fully embrace ‘moon’ a new solid ground will emerge. This is a reminder to myself as well as you.

This is the gift of this time. To re-connect or connect more deeply to the anima, to the feminine, intuitive, gentle, healing moon energy.

Just as there are ‘sun’ practices; maintaining routine, going to work, ticking off the to do list, figuring things out, developing strategies, staying in motion, meeting deadlines, there are also ‘moon’ practices.

Moon practices include the arts, prayer, nature, stillness, honoring natural rhythms, deep listening, resting, receiving, healing and tending to the interior life.

Moon practices will open you in new ways, invite inner guidance and allow the divine feminine to lead. The divine feminine is demanding to be experienced right now and this is fertile ground. This is where we plant and nurture the seeds for what is to come. It is important to keep dreaming. 

My invitation to you, find your moon practices, dream and be well in this fertile pause.