1. Do you dread asking for money from your customers or raising your fees when you need to?



2. Do you feel you do not deserve to be paid for your services because you feel you don't know enough?

3. Do you feel as if getting paid for your services means that you will have to compromise what you do or say in order to keep business coming in?

4. Do you break out in a sweat thinking of meeting new people or talking in front of a large crowd to promote your business?

5. Do you find yourself saying, "I HATE the thought of selling or marketing myself," "I have no time to market myself" to the point that your business never gets off the ground?

Well...if you answered YES to any one or all of these questions, you definitely need to keep reading this article.

I Think I Have a Really Good Idea? Why am I Not Making Any Money?

Most people start a new business based on her present skill set and/or a passion for something. This can be anything from making wedding cakes to building custom websites. Their product or service is dynamite.

But what often happens is the happy new entrepreneur quickly realizes that, no matter how fabulous her product or service is, at first not many people will beat a path to her door. The dream of working for oneself quickly dissolves into the reality that all businesses face: having to find and keep paying customers.

That is usually when the "deer in the headlights" look comes out. Why don't I have enough customers? Usually it is because the solo-entrepreneur has not done enough or anything to market or sell her product effectively. The thought process goes something like this:

- "I am really good at making pocketbooks but I know nothing about marketing. I don't even know where to start.

- "To be really honest, I hate the thought of selling. I don't want to be a salesperson.

- "I don't have the time to market myself."

I am sure you realize that just creating a business does not guarantee its success, no matter how great the idea behind it is. Yes, we have all heard the dismal statistics about new business startups and their failure rate. But, should this discourage you from starting a new business or working to get your business off the ground? I certainly hope not!

Working for yourself will bring freedom and personal rewards that cannot be measured in any amount of money, so don't give up. Believe it or not, the success of your new business is really much more under your control than you think.

The Hard Part Starts the First Day You Open Your Doors for Business

I probably don't have to tell you this; once you have started a new business, the really hard part starts immediately. I will not sugar coat the fact that if you have an idea that amounts to selling ice cubes to penguins, the chance of your business succeeding are slim indeed. Well, maybe with global warming this might actually be a good business. Of course, your business's ultimate success depends on you having a viable market for you product or service.

I am sure this is not news to you. But, if there is a potential market for you, attracting customers to your business and eventually selling your offering to them is now up to you. If you do not market and sell your business consistently and effectively you are the one who is blocking the flow of money into your business. You have to be the one that gets out of the way of your money stream.

May Seem Obvious But...

I know this sounds kind of like a like a "DUH, I know that." But let me show you where most beginning entrepreneurs make their first fatal new business mistakes. I have found that working with new self-bossers, the most common initial complaints I hear from them are is that they are uncomfortable asking for money for their product or service. They are worried that people will think less of them if they sell their product or promote themselves. Worse, they never make the time to do any marketing.

Do you hear yourself feeling the same way? Once you do get up the courage to get out and meet with new people, do you feel you might have nothing of value to sell, even if that is not true and have spent years developing your product or service?

It is important you do something to rid yourself of these Business Shyness fears or your business will not grow. I don't mean that you need get to the point where you sort of tolerate doing this. You really have to learn to ABSOLUTELY, and I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVE PROMOTING AND SELLING yourself and your business.

The good news is that this is easily learned and can actually be fun to accomplish. I know this is hard to believe, but once you understand where most of your sales and marketing jitters come from you will see that it is possible to effectively overcome them.