I have suffered from SOS.
When running a business it’s one of the worst illnesses that will kill your mindset, productivity, sanity and ability to move forward and get stuff done. What’s sad is I see time and time again other solo biz owners being floored by it’s virus.
Back in 2008, I had it bad. Real bad. I wanted to bring my business online (successfully) and I didn’t know how to, so I went searching. I went looking for the person who had the holy grail of getting more clients. What I found was there are plenty peeps who say they have overflowing cup of marketing gold, but after following them, reading them and buying their crap (not all of it was), I realised I had been conned by a slick, hit-me-where-it’s really-painful sales messages.
Because my business was not where I wanted it to be, because I felt I was missing massive chunks of information, and because other people told me they had the solutions to all my client, marketing, attraction and mindset problems .. I would buy. I would buy every single Shiny Object.
We need clients. That’s the bottom line.
To survive even us authentic and ethical biz owners need people coming into our businesses on a regular basis.
We need to work out the best strategy to lead people in a heart-centred way to our products and services. We need systems in place where the people already looking for us are met with you coming from a place of trust saying ‘I’m here, I can help’.
Why am I telling you this?
Fooling:
Have you ever read anything like this: 7 Secrets To … The Fastest Way to Cash … How to Attract All the Clients … More Money, More Clients, More Sales the Easy and Instant Way, Your Competition is Doing This Right, Are You?
Many of them are playing to your worst nightmares and fears. Slick (and effective, but maybe not ethical) copywriting and marketing sales pages based on buying psychology, tapping into your pains and offering you easy, instant, affordable solutions.
Think about this, if it were THAT easy would you not already be doing it?
If you’re lacking in clients please don’t make my mistake and try and implement everything you have been feared into thinking you’re missing all at once. It’s not doable. And you may find you end up being out of sync for what you really stand for. Not all tactics have this effect may I add, some do work.
We (you and I) can learn every tactic and buy every shiny object, however we can’t implement ANY of them until we have a strategy.
And I’ll say this, when you are being feared by lack sales messages, you may find that don’t have all the technical knowledge and skills needed to implement these so called easy to use tactics. Example: it takes me two minutes to install a blog today and add all the bits needed to make it work, my first one took me two months and it was an ugly baby. I can add a mail form to a website (all pretty with bells on) in five mins perfectly coded. My first? About two weeks.
Learning all the techie stuff takes time, don’t be fooled by anyone who says it’s easy, it needs to be learned.
What to do once you have all the techie parts in place, takes even longer, and many little biz owners don’t even get to this part . They use the shiny object but not the strategy behind using the shiny object.
Example: adding a form to your website is the easiest part, having a system in place of what happens next, then next, then next, then next takes a heck of a lot of working out (of course you could buy pre made emails but don’t please, don’t, where is the authenticity in that?) Adding a blog? Simple. It’s how to build a successful, a client attraction blog that will take a while to learn. Thousands of pieces that need to be fired out all at once.
Shut down the noise.
I have no right really to say to you don’t buy tactics, your business is not my business. But if you’re buying because you’re scared your business is flunking, don’t buy shiny objects because you are in emergency mode. Don’t buy tactics. If you can afford it, buy someone who can help you see what you’re missing and help you focus on a strategy.
From one who knows it’s cheaper, less painful and a lot quicker than being disappointed when the Shiny Objects no longer sparkle.
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