Marketing

Coming Clean About My Business ‘Achilles Heel’

I want to come clean about something to you all.  Today, I embarked on my latest marketing campaign for my e-course.  My e-course is all about taking an holistic approach to business planning, which may give the impression that I am somehow in a Zen state about the whole business process. I’m here to bust that illusion- I most absolutely am NOT zen with online marketing.  In fact my internal wrestle with the whole process of marketing is something that I still struggle with and nearly undoes me every single time.  But it is a necessary and unavoidable part of the business process- particularly the line of work that I am in, and it does none of you any service to hide the fact that I struggle with it, because I know for a fact that a lot of you struggle with it too.So lets have a frank chat about this shall we?

Why am I telling you about this? Because it’s good to come clean about your ‘Achilles Heel’ which, by it’s nature, runs deep to your emotional core and has the power to take you down. Do you know that story of Achilles?  Achilles was an ancient Greek warrior who fought in the Trojan war (tee hee, I almost wrote worrier, great Freudian slip:-).  He was the greatest warrior around, completely invulnerable to injury, being the son of a goddess and a King, except for in one place and that place was his vulnerability- his heel.  It was an arrow in his heel that finally brought him down and killed him.  It’s such a great metaphor for the secret places we conceal from the world for fear that they may destroy us.So back to my marketing ‘Achilles Heel’.

Now I’m quite clear that marketing will not [...]

By |January 12th, 2015|Business, Creative Process, Creative Tension, Marketing, Online Business|13 Comments|
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    Why We Need to Give Up ‘How To’ Thinking for ‘Resonant’ Thinking

Why We Need to Give Up ‘How To’ Thinking for ‘Resonant’ Thinking

Recently something has become very obvious to me.  I have been in the online business game for a while now and what I see is a little disturbing.  It generally runs something like this.

Person decides that they need to go ‘legit’ with this business they are in.  Thus, they need a website.  They also need to do a business course or two to get a handle on the mechanics of ‘how it’s done’.  They look around at how others are doing it and see if there is a mould and method out there that might fit theirs.  And then the go about replicating it – with, of course the stamp of  ‘me’ on it.  Then they open up for business.

Now some people really hit the nail on the head, and business flows immediately and builds momentum.  But what happens to the vast majority is the deafening sound of crickets as they launch their blog / website / business to the world.  That online store that took months makes few sales.  That consultancy business brings in one or two clients a week max.  A lovely start, but nowhere near enough to make the ‘full-time’ income they were hoping for.  No matter how they tweak it, they just can’t quite hit their stride.

And then people become stuck.  They feel like they have done all that they can do and that it hasn’t worked, so maybe they are a failure.  Maybe they are not meant for their dream.  This is a confronting and heartbreaking phase to go through, I know, I have been there, and if gone unchecked can lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy of giving up and closing up shop.

What is really called for in this [...]

By |December 3rd, 2014|Intuition, Marketing, Online Business, Resonance|11 Comments|
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    Which Business Model is Right for You? The Essential Questions to Ask Yourself.

Which Business Model is Right for You? The Essential Questions to Ask Yourself.

One of the issues I assist creative people with most frequently in my consulting and coaching practice is figuring out which business model they want to pursue.  There are so many options these days for how to go about structuring your business and how to go about selling your product or service that it can be really tricky to figure out which is the right way for you.

There is no simple answer to this, though the internet seems to be full these days of online companies that offer you ‘the’ strategy to achieve a six-figure income.  Such offers can be very alluring, particularly for creatives who are struggling to bring in the income they would like to.  But you really need to ask yourself are these promises sustainable?  Are they relevant to an Australian market (if you are indeed Australian like me).?  And last, but certainly not least, is the business model and the tasks required of you to action it actually something that you want to do? Let me repeat DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO THE JOB YOU ARE SIGNING UP FOR?  I find it staggering how many people do not really think carefully about this question.  And lately I’m hearing lots of creatives complain about how much time these seem to spend in front of the computer.

It is true that the internet has offered us freedom to earn like never before for creative professionals.  Do it yourself websites that cost barely nothing and retina displays that offer excellent visuals have made it possible to market your art anywhere in the world.  And ‘must do’ online marketing methodologies seem to be popping up like new religions everywhere!  All well and good, and [...]

By |February 26th, 2014|Business, Business Design, Business Model, Marketing, Online Business, Retail|2 Comments|
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