People who are operating at the poverty-, working-, and middle-class levels of their lives are always getting ready to get started toward their goals. The poverty class will find work once the economy improves; the working class is getting ready to move from midnight shift to a day shift; the middle class is going to go back to college one of these days. All have good intentions; yet rarely move beyond their intentions. They anxiously spend countless days and hours waiting when the time will be better for them to begin. They are waiting for their emotions to motivate them to action, and as a result, they become imprisoned by their feelings. The champion-class, or self-employed champions are masters over their emotions; they know that waiting to make their next move is a losing proposition. If they wait, they will loose the client and the sale.
So let me ask you this, do you often stop your sales and marketing because of anxiety, and didn't know where it was coming from? Have you experienced a fear of success, fear of rejection or a fear of failure? I don't think I know anyone who's not experienced some form of fear of rejection when marketing themselves, especially to a different gender, or a different culture. I think it's inherent in many of us. Problem is, it holds us back from doing what it takes to follow up with prospects and to get clients. And we need to tame that fear in order to consistantly fill your practice to capacity and make this year the most prosperous year yet.
What does fear do? Well, fear of rejection keeps people from asking for the sale, from asking for referrals, from writing that article and from collaborating with strategic alliances. You've heard me say this before: if you don't market today, you won't have clients in three months. Then your small business has really become just a hobby.
Now, my business mentors have shown me that there is more to getting clients than the outer game of marketing. There's also an inner game of your mindset and beliefs, your paradigms. If you don't deal with the paradigms, then you'll keep making the same money you've been making for years to come. Now I prefer to take more time off, while attracting more clients and makeing more money. Why would I want to work 50+ hours a week on my own business, when I can do that at a corporate job?
So, I went on a search by talking to self-employed (6 and 7 figure) champions to find out how they became masters of their emotions. Here is what I've found... most business coaches and motivational speakers would lead you to believe that success or failure in your business is totally dependent upon your goals. While goals are essential and a person cannot be truly successful without them, there are many people who have goals and still do not have enough clients to fill their practice. The goal was never the problem. The real problem lies in their motivation. Unfortunately, this concept is only understood by two or three people out of 100.
Having a better understanding of your Motivational Gap, the gap between your vision and your business reality, is the key to financial freedom and will guide you down the right road towards your ideal clients.
I've broken down the Motivational Gap into a series of steps, so that when done in sequence, it will help you eliminate the fears that hold you back from marketing with local and global clients in a big wildly wealthy way. Here's what you do:
1. What truly motivates you? Think of a client situation where you were highly motivated and would have been an excellent role model for others to emulate.
2. Describe the vision or dream of how you want your business to look, and of the results you really want in your business.
3. Describe where your business is now.
The gap between where you are versus where you want to be is what creates the motivation. Goals that are too small create very low or no motivation and yet goals that are too big seem impossible, thereby making it difficult to create any energy. To reach your client and revenue goals, you need to be motivated by the gap!
Do the exercie above immediately. Take an afternoon, and really work through what motivates you. Soon, you'll notice that you will start attracting more clients than before, taking advantage of opportunities, doing joint ventures, and getting better results in marketing. That immediately equals more results, and in my experience, financial freedom and being able to live the life you really want.
We see endless lists of small business ideas and opportunities in articles over the internet and they all appear sensible, practical and practicable. The advertisements even make them seem fail-proof. Like you can never go wrong. Low or no capital at all. So why a lot of people still fail? Over half of business ventures in every place shut down after only a few months of operation. And the money and effort spent on them is no joke. So why small business opportunities become costly frivolities?
People are generally like children. They tend to get excited about new things and new ideas. They have a tendency to get carried away. So they jump off right away at the first business opportunity that comes along their way. They are inclined not to think and plan it thoroughly. In their excitement, they forget to anticipate problems and other factors in putting up a business. All they see is the opportunity and the good things, especially the amount of money, it would bring. People fail to see all sides and every little possibility that could go wrong. Like children, they get carried away easily. But after a few months, they would tire of it. Get bored with what they are doing and start to realize that they would not want to do it for the rest of their lives and just quit.
Another factor is the mindset that says, My friend earned this and this amount of money in this kind of business. She says it's just easy and fun. I can do that, too! That mindset is all you need to fail even the smallest business opportunity. After a while, you would again realize that it is just not working for you. And you would ask yourself why. My friend pulled it off, so why can't I? That is because businesses are like shoes; one size does not fit all. A business that worked for a friend may not work for you because every person is unique. Your friend has different set of values, preferences and passion.
So for a business to succeed there has to be passion. Passion is not something that dies easily. It stays with a person for almost a lifetime. It is what makes a person what he is. When there is no passion, you would easily get bored and tired of what you are doing. Everything would seem routinary and robotic. It would wear on you like an irritating fragrant of perfume. You would eventually stop doing your work well. You would simply not have the drive to do better, neglecting competition. And your customers and clients would catch on it and stop coming. Remember, a businessperson should have faith in what he sells or offers. It is what he would communicate to his customers and it is what would make them patronage your service or buy your products. People these days are intelligent consumers. They know when you believe in what you say or not. They can recognize pure sales talk.
So before you jump into some small business opportunity and start spending time and money on it, take your time to think of what you really love doing. What are you passionate about? What is it that makes you feel alive? What is that something that you would never tire of doing? That is the very first thing that you have to do and everything else would follow.
Both Kim Schott & Daegan Smith are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kim Schott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Leadership, A Secured Loan and Top Accounting Firms. Kim Schott, created the Keys to Client Communication System to help struggling self-employed professionals master Client Attraction Marketing while increasing their revenue, and taking more time off. Signup for our FREE eZine ($107 value) by visiting. Kim Schott's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
Daegan Smith has sinced written about articles on various topics from Start Online Business, Multi Level Marketing and Web Development. Daegan Smith Is And Expert Online Marketer"Wanna Lean The Secret To Making $85,147,717Per Month While Quickly And Easily EXPLODINGYour Network Marketing Organization by 7,141People Without EVER Buying Or Calling aSingle Stinking Lead?" Free CD Explains Al. Daegan Smith's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.