I often dream about a time when people would want to buy whatever I wanted to sell. They would be eager to support my passions and care about what I want to do.
But, those dreams are short lived and then I’m brought back to reality and I know that unless I find out what people are demanding, what they will search high and low to find and what they are willing to spend money on then I better hope there is some serious change in my sofa cushions.
I’m actually a bit surprised however at how many people stay stuck in fantasy land – who still make every decision based on what they want to do, how they want to spend their time and the kind of projects that are fun to them without ever putting any emphasis on what potential customers are looking for. That’s just business suicide.
Yes – I think following what you love is great. Turning passion into a profit is utterly fabulous but that doesn’t happen without consideration for what the market demands.
So, how do you find out what the market, hopefully your market, is demanding? You ask them. Just as retail shops and restaurants and other brick and mortar businesses do, you do deliberate market research. You act like a real business who wants answers and you pay attention to them even if you don’t like the answers you get.
The cool thing is – there is a market for EVERYTHING you just have to figure out the best way to reach them. My dad spent his life in the automotive industry, traveling around the world studying manufacturing plants and marketing strategies to figure out what was working and what wasn’t. One day we were driving around and we saw a pink/purple car. I think it was a Grand Am or something like that and I said “I can’t believe someone would paint their car that color.” He said, “They didn’t paint that Melani. It came like that.” And he proceeded to tell me the story of the pink car and many others like it. This was my first education into niche markets and the truth that there is in fact a market out there, albeit very small, for pink/purple sedans.
Maybe the thing you LOVE to do is only appealing to a very small number of people and an even smaller number of people would pay for it. That’s totally cool. Be totally psyched about the fact that you can get paid at all for what you love – you are further ahead that 90% of the working population. What if you kept doing that and then supplemented your income with something you kind of liked that lots of people are demanding and are willing to pay money for? What might get to happen for you then?
I know for me it has been a lot!
So, what do you do if nobody’s paying attention to what you want them to pay attention to? What do you do when you feel like you have been working your butt off and the rewards are not there? What happens when you send out your offer and you hear crickets?
You spend more time researching and less time creating things that may never see the light of day.
For many small businesses and solo-preneurs the missing ingredient is research. Deliberate, planned, effective, committed, useful and ongoing research. Research saves time, money, resources, energy and sleepless nights. For me it gave me my life back.
And I feel so strongly about it, and so does my awesome partner in crime Chris Garrett, that we created an entire course around the idea of researching and launching programs and products that get results. The live class was a huge success and now we have just made the Home Study version available. It’s called the Mojo Marketing Plan Home Study Course and if you want to find out more about it just go to http://www.mojomarketingplan.com/mojo.
This is going to be short but sweet. Recently I was reminded of a very powerful business lesson.
Not too long ago I launched a new un-program called the “Could Your Biz Use a 30 Day “Holy Crap You Look Amazing & Have You Lost Weight Detox” or for short, The 30 Day Biz Detox.
This was not one of those things I spent too much time thinking about. The idea came to me and before I even knew what was going on people were signing up. I just offered it and I have to say have been VERY happy that I did. Happy for 2 reasons:
1) The people who have signed up to do it have been nothing short of awesome. I have loved working with every one of them and they have the kind of issues that make me love this part of my work.
2) It took all of 30 minutes to put together and it worked.
But here’s the reason I’m sharing this with you. I have asked every single person who has signed up for this program this question, “What is the number one reason you chose to work with me right now?” and out of the dozens who have come on so far and who have already returned their pre-meeting docs a solid 90% included this little bit in their answer…”Because you offered it.”
Here’s why that’s awesome. [click to continue…]
I got an email from someone that said “It’s not just about headstands and running. Please tell me it’s not.”
This person had come to me for marketing advice and was a little frustrated because she thought that since she’s not the kind of gal to get into a headstand at any given moment or have someone video her running and leaping through the air that she’d never get the kind of feedback or attention I did.
I actually get this a lot. People come to me for marketing not because I’m talking about marketing left and right but because my marketing has worked on them, they liked how it made them feel and they want to make their peeps feel the same good stuff.
I actually got a client the other day that said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hired you because of your headstand”.
Now obviously it wan’t just the headstand. It was how it made her feel. Maybe it made me believable, flawed, crazy or fun. Or maybe I reminded her of her best friend when she was 5 and she still misses her. Or maybe she wanted to hold the kind of retreat that needed this kind of marketing to fill it.
Who knows. She may never every be able to identify it exactly but the lesson is in there. Yes, you must be really good at what you do. You have to really and truly care about your clients – care more than anyone else ever has. You have to know your limits – promise what you can deliver on – and then add a bunch of cherries on top because you know it will make a difference to them. You have to help them get the result(s) they want. You have to walk your talk.
BUT, unless you show them who you are and be as approachable as their next door neighbor they may never get to see how awesome you really are.
When we shot that video of me on my head that was not planned. We were screwing around in the backyard and I stood on my head and we said “we should do a video like this.” Standing on my head at random is me. Making crazy noises and goofing off is me. Moving period is me. If that’s not your cup of tea then you will find someone else to hang with.
I always try to pick my clients, coaches and teachers based on 2 criteria:
1) Do they know what they are talking about – are they good at what they do – meaning can they help me solve my problem?
2) Would I want to enjoy my morning run with them or an afternoon sipping cold drinks by the pool.
If the answer to both questions is no I head in another direction. The truth is there are TONS of people who are good at solving your life or business problem – TONS. Why not pick someone you get and who gets you at a soul to soul level?
If you want to connect to your peeps more you can’t hide behind copy, perfectly crafted messages, elegantly designed websites and paint-by-the-numbers marketing tactics.
Do your work. Be awesome at it. And if you want to stand on your head, do that too.
A lot of people have commented to me that it looks like my business came out of nowhere or that I seem to be everywhere these days.
The truth is I’ve been around for a while. The work I have been doing hasn’t changed much in 5 years…or 17 for some of it. I have been counseling and teaching for 17, I have been “coaching” for 5 and have been marketing and helping others market their business for 4+. I have been out there, doing and working my butt off since I hung up my shingle as a sole proprietor 5 years ago.
I didn’t always have a web presence that reflected that though. I didn’t always market myself openly. And, I wasn’t always successful (as far as I’m concerned) as I am now. But I was there.
And I struggled during a lot of that time. I wanted to be 10 steps ahead. I wanted to attract better clients, make more money, be more well known, be seen as someone who knew the hell what she was talking about. But I didn’t and I wasn’t.
Until I was ready to.
It sounds so obvious, right?
That I needed to be ready? [click to continue…]
Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is no shortage of solutions out there.
Are you fat? Here’s a diet. Are you bored? Here’s an adventure? Are you single? Here’s a system. Are your business results lamer than a president in the final months of a 8 year term? Here’s the blueprint.
The problem is that most of these solutions suck. They don’t suck because the information is bad or faulty or incomplete. They suck because people buy them thinking they are buying a solution to their problem but the real problem is they don’t know what the heck their REAL problem is.
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I just opened the doors to a totally awesome new un-program. Here’s the gist:
Who?: Any entrepreneur, solo-preneur, mom-preneur, soul-preneur (and whatever other possible preneur title) who needs to clean up, clean out, de-clutter, stream-line, organize, categorize and better monetize their business in the next 30 days.
What?: This is Detox for your biz. In this totally awesome un-program I’ll analyze everything that’s currently involved in the complex and delicate mechanism called your business, help identify and refine your goals, and create a plan to get those goals through your business without any hiccups.
This is a structured program. We are not going to just get on the phone and gab about whatever is going on in your biz. We are going to get down to the serious sludge that’s clogging it up and keeping you from kicking more ass. Just like when you go on a detox diet and there are certain things you need to do and not do, this is the same thing. You will get questions before each ONE-ON-ONE call, I will walk you through a process and we will come out at the other end with a model and a plan that will help you get the most from your business. Just as when you get your diet under control and your booty moving your body and mind start to function at optimum levels, so too will your business when this process is complete.
So, if you have done an hourly session with me in the past, this is not the same thing.
Where?: At your desk, on the couch, at the bar, on the beach, in the hot tub – wherever floats your fancy. All you need is a phone. I’ll take care of the rest like telling you what number to call, recording it for you, and sending you pretty and very detoxified worksheets before and after that will make you say, “Holy shit I feel like I just dropped 20 pounds!”
When?: Over the next 30 days. Well, any 30 days that you pick. We don’t have to start right now. If you’d rather wait a few weeks we can start then. That’s the beauty of ONE-ON-ONE – we start whenever we darn well please!
Why?: There are several reasons I’m doing this:
1. Over the past month or so I have done several sessions with some people who came to me after spending a gazillion dollars on high end programs that made them feel dirty. Like, “damn I better take a shower I feel so violated” kind of dirty. Each of them told me that they got more out of our sessions together than they did the entire time they were in the high level – insert heavy precious metal – type of program. So good in fact that they hired me again…and again.
2. I’m about to go through a bit of a detox myself. I am having minor surgery tomorrow and because of it I won’t be able to do any real physical activity (yes that one too) for at least 10 days. Since not moving makes me crazy I’m going to take the opportunity to do a full detox as well and just embrace the moment. Not just the stop eating jellie bellies kind of detox but the whole life, whole business kind. So, what better time to offer this than now?
3. I have decided that one of the biggest causes of the financial meltdown is the fact that people have totally gone nuts when it comes to value of money and by nuts I mean money and value seem so separated that the idea that money actually represents value has been totally lost. Now I am quite certain that Warren Buffet would have other ideas but I am doing my part to take a stand against totally insane fees and prices. I am going to offer out-of-control value, access and results and I promise that when you are done you are not going to need to call your grandma for money or take a shower in my new patent pending bath scrub, “Ick Be-Gone.”
How Much?: Like I just said I’m taking a stand. That’s why you are going to get 2 one-hour sessions with me for just $2000 dollars. Ha ha. Just kidding. Seriously you are going to get 2 one-hour ONE-ON-ONE sessions with me for $275.
Sounds like a chance to turn up the awesome, right?
If you want to register, all you have to do is click this link and I’ll be in touch to schedule your appointment.
Here’s one of the things I often hear from my clients, “I’m not attracting the kind of clients I want.”
Maybe they are attracting people who are broke, too overwhelmed, too attached to their stories, not committed to achieving results, late payers, energy drainers… You name it. There are any number of things that make clients less than desirable to work with right?
Or, my clients talk about how they want to create a program on a “hot topic” so they do it but then only 2 or 3, or worse, zero people join the party. And again, they scratch their heads and wonder why this is “happening.”
To me it’s very simple. It’s simple because I have been there. I have felt that frustration of attracting pain in the butt clients (and actually saying yes to working with them) and creating programs that bombed. But, I know why it was happening so I wanted to share this with you in the hopes that it will serve you in some way.
Let’s use the analogy of dating for a minute [click to continue…]
Google is ahead of the curve in many areas but one of their best practices by far is giving their engineers the freedom to spend 20% of their work hours doing whatever they want. For some this means surfing the web, for some it means more time on their bike and for others it’s simply taking a nap under a tree.
Why do they do this? For 2 reasons:
1) Research from the National Academy of Sciences shows that giving your mind a break every now and then – shifting it away from being constantly focused on important matters – may be one of the best ways to clear the space for more insights, ideas, and solutions. And
2) It works.
The engineers at Google can count many company and personal successes that have come out of this down time. And they certainly aren’t the only ones who know how powerful it can be to simply daydream, stare out the window and stretch your creative wings. [click to continue…]
I have a mirror that makes me look skinny. I look taller than my 5 foot 6 stature, all clothes seem to flatter me and every time I look in it I think, “Okay, that’s pretty good.”
I also have a mirror that makes me look fat. We’re talking borderline fun house mirror at the neighborhood carnival. I look shorter than I think I am and the distance between my hip and my knee seems to have been cut in half. I have been known to look in that mirror and be so overwhelmed that I’ve gone and run 15 miles right on the spot. Probably in a lame attempt to run away from myself I guess.
Looking in THAT mirror surprises me every time. I think, “Really, this is what you look like after all of the running, the pull-ups, the clean eating, all of the work? Can that be possible?”
Then inevitably after a long run and some fresh air I ask the most important question – which is real? And by real I mean which mirror reflects what other people see – the skinny or the fat one? When they see me do they see the person I feel good about being or do they see what I consider to be the worst version of me?
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I have an incredibly fun group of women entrepreneurs that I get together with a couple of times a month. We chat about our businesses, help each other with ideas, encourage each other and most importantly just hold the space for each other to be the indecisive, creative and sometimes whacked out of our heads people that we are.
Well, a few weeks ago I left one of our morning coffees with this feeling in my gut that everyone was working too damn hard. It seemed that everyone was launching something, going through some big shift in their business, or dealing with some physical problem while at the same time trying to be there for their kids and partners and it was wearing them out.
So I called up my friend Sandy and said “I want to plan a secret adventure for everyone.” Naturally she was in immediately. So we told everyone that we were having a meeting on Friday April 9 from 11:30-3 and that we weren’t going to tell them anything about it. We just wanted them to show up.
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