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Do you ever wish you were more confident? When you are presenting your ideas? Asking for a sale Saying how much your services or programs are worth? From talking to hundreds of women business owners like yourself, I’ve learned that your answer is probably, “Yes”.
Read MoreThere’s just so much to worry about, right? Politics, the economy, the weather, terrorism, children, education, elders, the environment, health care, and when Joel Berry II’s hand will heal so he can return to play his senior year on the National Champion UNC Men’s Basketball team. Okay, that last was for some levity amidst all the things we have to worry about, but I do think about it because I do love my Tarheels!
Read MoreIf you are on Facebook, you’ve likely seen the many “Me too” posts shared there – to date there have been 1,400,000 of them. The point of these posts is to focus attention on how much sexual harassment, assault, and abuse women experience. Each post makes my heart ache. And when a beloved younger relative posted, “Me too”, I cried.
Read MoreIt lurks in the soul of almost every woman I’ve ever talked to.
Tons of research and well-respected books delve into it. There’s much debate on the cause and the cure for it. And yet it continues to plague even the most successful of us. I have a new spin on it. Watch and let me know what you think of my idea about how to remedy this difficult challenge to you and your business.
Read MoreYou will probably say this to another person 100 X faster than you will say it to yourself. It may even feel forbidden to tell yourself this. And that’s a shame. Because you must say it … often.
Read MoreI’d like to talk to you about another habit that can handicap your success. And that is: you don’t say no.I know. Saying no can be difficult. It’s also known as “setting a boundary.” And setting a boundary can be easy. Enforcing it can be harder. So we’re just going to talk a bit today about where you don’t feel like you can say no.
Read MoreToday, I want to talk to you about the habit of not asking. I see this in so many people. I see it in myself, too. And I know that the more we ask, the more we have the opportunity to succeed. We also have more opportunity to be told no. But unless you ask, you don’t know if it’s a yes, no, or a maybe. So how this shows up is that, maybe you’re too shy to ask. Or you don’t think you have the right to ask. Or you’re afraid that somebody’s going to say no. Or worse yet, criticize you. So what this leads to are missed opportunities, that you take less action, and you proceed less quickly—because the next stepping stone may have shown up if you asked for it. And if you don’t, then you’re kind of left where you are.
Read MoreToday, I want to talk to you about one habit that I see that handicaps people’s success. And in particular, women entrepreneurs’ success. And what is a habit? A habit is a repeated practice. And because it’s repeated, it sometimes will go unconscious—and we don’t even think about it. Like, driving to a familiar location, you probably don’t have to think about it very much. But these habits can get in the way of our success. And so, I want to talk to you about it—and what you can do about it to begin to turn it around.
Read MoreImagine my surprise when Carlos Watson, CEO of Oxy.com, a digital media company, spoke on the PBS Newshour about his belief that students should learn to sell. They should also learn to read and write and do math and probably to code to get a job when they graduate. I believe that Carlos’s message is not only for students. It’s for YOU if you have a business.
Read MoreMarketing what the market will buy. I want to talk to you about a client that I talked to today. And she is really bright, and has been really working with her marketing and getting feedback – which, until we talked today, I don't think she was really able to hear. Because she had an idea of what she wanted to provide. And the market was saying, "We want something different." Which she can provide. And what she was doing – and I know, because I've done this many times – is thinking, "Well, I want to give what I want to give." And they're not buying it. So what's the problem?
Read MoreThere is an injunction against women being powerful. I wanted to talk to you about a big revelation I had yesterday. On Wednesday, I had a conversation with my coach about why I hold back from being more successful in my business by helping more people and really making more money. And our conversation was challenging, and it also made me want to go deeper into what has been holding me back personally. And I did think it was personal. I thought there was something wrong with me. It's like, "Oh, I'm just built that way." And what I realized is, that's not true. What I realized is, there is an injunction against women being powerful. And that includes being successful and having money of their own making.
Read MoreToday, I want to wrap up my series of how to stop hating marketing and sales. And so I want to offer you the next step in being a transformational entrepreneur – a step that will take you into greater service, more clients, better agility with marketing and sales, and more peace with doing marketing and sales. And getting your work out there. And that is to transform your relationship with getting your work out into the world.
Read MoreToday I want to take our conversation about authentic sales even deeper.So we've talked about our common perception that, if you get good at sales, you're going to be like Lenny the Used Car Salesman. And I'm trying to bust that myth and encourage you to take back sales; take back the definition of sales. And make it suit you. Make it suit who you are, and what you're here to do in the world.
Read MoreIf you get good at sales, do you have to be Lenny the Sleazy Used Car Salesman? Do you have to manipulate people? Do you have to dominate people? Do you have to make them do something that they don't want to do and you don't feel comfortable doing? I say yes, there is an option. There is an alternative to sleazy selling.
Read MoreA big problem I see in the transformational entrepreneur world is that you hate marketing and sales. You just hate it. You won't do it. And your business lags because of that. I know, I've been there. I've heard many, many people say to me, "I would just love my business if I didn't have to market and sell it, sell my services." Yeah. We all want our fairy godmother to come in and tap us on the head and say, "Bing, here are your clients, go and serve them." But what we miss in that fantasy, in that dream world is that, marketing and sales is an extension of our services.
Read MoreDo high-pressure sales offend you? Are you sick of being a “target” for a salesperson trying to meet a quota? Do you yearn for a sales professional who “gets” you and what you want and tries her best to deliver that to you? Me too! Many of the service professionals I talk to are just done with old-school sales where what you want and need are not as important as making the sale. Recently I realized that the best approach to selling is not selling. It even goes beyond serving.
Read MoreMany of the business owners I work with have a mission to share their work to help other people enjoy a better life. Whether it's from their own story of struggle that they have turned into a strength and then into a business or a calling to change something they thought was wrong, they have a desire to make something better.
Read MoreWhat was your response to the US Presidential Election on November 8th? Were you elated that people had voted for change? Were you shocked that Trump won? Did you feel fear, uncertainty, or anger? Whatever your response, you know that change is afoot for us all. And your response may still be reverberating through your body and spirit.
Read MoreDo you resist doing things just like everyone else does in your field? Do you lose your creative mojo because you feel you have to conform to your industry norms? Several of my clients struggled with these very issues which stopped them from succeeding in and enjoying their business. As we worked to resolve these conflicts, they began to feel freer to create a business that works for them. As they gathered momentum and clients, projects and programs began to flow for them.
Read MoreMany of the coaches, thought leaders, and change agents I speak to think that selling is bad, manipulative and wrong. Does this resonate with you? As I work with clients to improve their sales skills and grow the number of clients in their business, I observe that they've bought into only one side of selling – the dark side.
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