Are You Making This Mistake When Designing Your Packages?

Behold, my second video tip!

The setting for this one is very exotic: my father-in-law’s house.

(I daresay I look a little windblown – that’s Oregon weather for ya.)

In this video, I share the biggest mistake I see soul-based business owners making when designing their packages. If you have a hard time convincing your clients of the value of what you do, definitely check it out. You can see it here:

http://www.MarketingGoddess.com/2009vip.html

Also, a quick reminder…

The application deadline is almost here! To be considered for one of the last few “Clients & Cash Flow Secrets” VIP mentorships for 2009, I must receive your application by TUESDAY, Dec. 1 at 11:59pm.

You can download your application here:

http://www.MarketingGoddess.com/2009vip.html

A powerful secret to happiness (and getting what you want)

With Thanksgiving upon us, I’ve been reflecting on this past year in a big way. (You know, aside from just marveling at the fact that it’s Thanksgiving already.)

I know you’ve heard it before, and ’tis the season and all. But I truly believe that gratitude really is the key to living a purposeful life, and getting what you want out of it.

I’ll admit that when I first started really paying attention to gratitude (instead of just paying it lip service), it wasn’t easy. Which seems silly. I mean, of course, gratitude should be easy, right? For example, I have a roof over my head. I’ve never been hungry. My apartment has central heating. Hello!

(You know what I’ve been really grateful for lately? Soap. Soap is, like, the best thing EVER. Especially the organic handmade soaps from my fave local peeps… ever had chocolate soap? All my Platinum clients are getting chocolate soap in their goody bags from here on out. I’m tellin’ ya…!)

I think the tough part for me was this: giving thanks for the things in my life meant giving thanks to myself. Being nice to myself has never been easy. Being grateful for the good things means acknowledging my substantial role in creating those good things… something my “squishy mind” resists. (Can you relate?)

But something miraculous happened when I started to really and truly give thanks every day. I started to feel sooooo much better. Feeling good is truly priceless.

No, I didn’t manifest a zillion dollars in five minutes. But slowly yet surely, those good feelings started to attract more good things to me. And when I took the time to actually receive and accept them energetically – instead of blowing them off – more started coming.

You’ll find the gratitude practice that works best for you. Here’s what works really well for me: giving thanks every morning before I get out of bed. Positive thought first thing in the morning is one of our most powerful tools for creating our day. (And heck, it’s cozy under all those covers!)

My coach’s request to you – perhaps my challenge to you, depending on where you are – is this. If you don’t have a gratitude practice of some kind, start today. Then, don’t wait ’til next year’s Thanksgiving to give thanks again. Give thanks every day.

Yes, gratitude is a practice – dare I say a discipline – before it becomes a habit. Keep it going, every day. Bright blessings & massive success to you….

Are Your Clients Missing Out Because You’re A Marketing Perfectionist?

My friend and colleague Helen Graves of CrackerJack Online Marketing has a saying that I just love.  “Imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time.”

I love it because the idea of “perfect inaction” totally cracks me up.  I mean, really – when you really think about it, “perfect inaction” is pretty ridiculous, no?  And also because it speaks to a challenge that just about all of us spirited, heart-centered entrepreneurs have struggled with: waiting until something is perfect before taking action.  (Also known as “the perfectionist trap”.)

Helen also calls it the “just one more” cycle.  Just one more tweak to the website, just one more training, just one more revision, just one more whatever until… your program, your product, or your marketing is finally ready “for prime time” and you can get out there and get results.

Here’s the thing about the perfectionist trap and the “just one more” cycle.   Not only is there always “one more,” the reality is you’ll discover the tweaks that actually matter only AFTER you bring “your baby” into the world.

More importantly, when you’re stuck in the perfectionist trap, you’re not helping clients. You’re not changing lives.  You’re not having an impact.  You’re not living your dream. (That’s a pretty high price to pay, no?)

Bottom line: When you’re a marketing perfectionist, your clients are missing out… and so are you. Here are some simple tips that make taking purposeful, impactful, and yes, imperfect action a snap…

1. Focus on one thing at a time. You may have heard about what I like to call “the power of one” or “the rule of one” in marketing.  Just as you will get much better results when you make only ONE offer at a time (because a confused mind always says no), you’ll fly by the stumbling blocks in your marketing tasks when you focus and just get ‘er done.

2. Break it down. Find yourself in a project that’s even mildly big, let’s say, and what’s the first thing that happens?  Well, if you’re like most entrepreneurs (me included), you get overwhelmed.  Perfection follows overwhelm, just as sure as night follows day.   And then you’re stuck.  Yuck!   Instead, break it down into small chunks and focus on the chunks.  Success creates momentum and leads to more success, so be sure to celebrate each one!

3. Realize that nobody is looking at this thing as closely as you are. When I was a little girl, I used to live in mortal fear of being publicly scolded or called out – like if I was talking too loudly in class, say.  I have a voice that carries, and often adults would tell me that I was “too loud.”  I would be so embarrassed, so humiliated!  And then I realized that the kids in my class were waaay too busy passing notes and snapping rubber bands at each other to even notice the teacher “yelled” at me.

The truth is, nobody looks as closely at your stuff  as you do.  Yes, your clients take note… but 9 times out of 10, the those little niggling things YOU notice are not the ones THEY notice.  Which leads me to the next point…

4. Choose to view your project as an opportunity to get valuable feedback from the people who matter most. If there’s one thing that never, ever ceases to amaze me, it’s that the feedback I get from my clients is rarely what I expect.  You will learn so much from “getting it out there” that you ever will from hanging out in your own head, churning over how to make something perfect.

Instead of sweating the details, choose to focus on how cool it’s going to be when you get real feedback from real clients… which you can then use to make the next go-round even more life-changing for them.

5. Get in touch with your why. Remember, you’re not in business just for the heck of it – there’s a reason why it’s so important to you.  For many of us soul-centered business owners, it’s about living our purpose: making a difference for our clients and the world while creating a lifestyle that truly supports us.  Every project you complete pulls you forward, no matter how it turns out!  Your “why” is so much bigger… and so much more important… than any tiny imperfection.

© 2009 Elizabeth Genco Purvis.  All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website, blog or in your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Elizabeth Genco Purvis, “The Marketing Goddess” teaches spirited solo business owners and conscious entrepreneurs how to attract an abundance of clients, income, freedom and satisfaction in their business while staying true to their values.  Visit MarketingGoddess.com to claim your copy of “Grow Your Business With Spirit And Soul,” a 7-part audio workshop with everything you need to begin attracting more clients right away.

Have You Been Telling Yourself This?

Over the weekend, I finally did something that I’ve wanted to do for a while now… create my first video tip!

All the cool kids are doing video and it was high time for me to get on board. Yet something held me back… repeatedly.

So what held me back? Well, you’re going to laugh at this but…. it’s the very thing I talk about in the video.

(I feel compelled to add that I figured this out AFTER making the video.)

Curious? Click on the screenshot below to watch…

“The #1 Biggest Myth Soul-Based Business Owners Tell Themselves That Keeps Them From Serving Clients And Creating The Income They Really Want In Their Business”

Or just click here to watch.

Massive Social Proof Fail

Up late tonight burining the midnight oil on some copywriting and what do I see before me?  The opportunity for a quickie lesson in saleswomanship, persuasion, and not-so-pretty human nature.

So there I was, reading my Twitter feed.  Someone I respect linked to a post which lands me smack-dab on the site of a marketing strategist I’ve never met (online or off) but whose name I recognize.

The strategist’s picture in the banner at the top of the page is bold, confident… maybe even a little sassy. Definitely client-attractive.  The landing page looks great, with lots of yummy benefits, so I click over to the About page, so I can learn more about who I’m talking to, so to speak.

After a strong intro, I learn that this person is “the secret consultant to [very important people]“ including moguls, celebrities and industry leaders.  “Wow,” I say to myself, “I can’t wait to read her testimonials.”

Except that there aren’t any. (Testimonials, that is.)  At least none that I can find.

Actually, I take that back.  There’s an endorsement, from THE leader in this strategist’s area of expertise.  Unfortunately, said leader doesn’t mention specific results.

“Hrm.  Maybe she has some on her blog,” I think, hoping.  I thumb through the first couple of pages.  No mention of clients, let alone results she has helped those clients get.

(Maybe she mentions them in her Twitter feed, but after frustration at the absence of a testimonials page and the blog thing, my patience has officially run out.)

I did find lots of comments about this strategist, such that she is cool and awesome and an amazing person.  I have no doubt that she is.  However, as a potential client coming to her website, I’m not really interested in cool.  I’m interested in whether or not she can really help me.

I want to write, “I have no doubt that she’s really good at what she does and has helped her clients make a lot of money.”  Because I really hope it’s true.  But you know what?  I can’t.  Because I do have doubt. Not because I want to, but because I just do.

She alludes to lots of clients and experience in her bio, yet doesn’t call a single one of them out by name. I mean, what other conclusion am I supposed to come to?  The secrecy of her consulting may indeed be a legitimate reason for not having testimonials, but as a potential client, it doesn’t satisfy my need for proof, and it certainly doesn’t help me out.

I don’t want to have doubt, but I do.  And that sucks.  For both of us.

These are the things that go through your potential clients’ minds.  Ignore them at your peril.

(Do you have a system for collecting testimonials that get you clients?  If not, you can get one here.)

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