A successful copywriter, Satya Kothimangalam (her business is ZAG Studios) shared a video recently on how to grow your business to a crazy level of success. Of course, I watched it! I’m a sucker for free tutorials about words + business.
Beyond that, though, I couldn’t help but notice that lessons learned in business are applicable to life in general, even for non-business people. Also, I wonder if one’s business is a reflection of the owner’s state of mind. Read on and see if you agree. If I’m wrong, there’s still a ton of good learning here!
Your business will only grow as fast as your mindset will allow.
Isn’t that true for everything? Whether financial success, great relationships, a healthy and positive living space, body image – we either “strive” or “settle” for what we think we deserve. So if you’re not happy with your situation, think about your mindset. Do you listen to a critical inner voice? If you do, your ability to have or reach what you want will be severely limited. So do whatever you must to alter your thinking. Line it up to match your desires, every single minute of every day. In a way, it’s reprogramming your brain. Erase the old script and replace it with one that will keep you on track. “Commit to being the best. Always act with integrity,” says Satya.
It seems to be a universal law: you will attract clients – and people into your life – who are attracted by the vibes/persona you put out. So if you want clients to be fair and honest with you, teach them how! Be that way with them and yourself, in life and biz.
Your prices are non-negotiable, and they’re high.
Do you want the best customers? The ones who happily pay your premium price because it’s absolutely worth it? Then let them know you’re worth every cent. Tell them why. Even when you’re just starting out, you’re worth X dollars because…… Be no-nonsense about it. One of many valuable lessons I learned in sales during my years with Mary Kay Cosmetics (where I was in the top 4% of the entire company) was to “fake it till you make it.” Do not allow temporary inexperience to make you feel like a fraud. I like to pretend my future self is talking from a place of experience. That’s how a total introvert inexperienced in sales made it as far as I did. Model for others how you want them to see you, and they will act accordingly. If they don’t you simply have more room for those who will.
There are two reasons you allow clients to underpay you: You think you’re not worth more. You’re afraid no one will buy from you. WRONG! I’ve been in sales and around business people long enough to know neither of these is true. F. E. A. R. means false evidence appearing real.
Remember, you’re not selling a thing or time. You’re selling a transformation, a good feeling, You’re selling dreams, goals, and possibilities. You’re selling value. What you can do for your customer is priceless to them. So price according to your value to them.
Make it super easy for customers to buy from you.
One of my favorite stores is Bath & Body Works. Just walking into their stores makes me feel good about the beautiful smells, colors, and helpful employees. There are pretty sinks where you can sample soaps. I mean, everything is about pampering and indulgence for all the senses.
So right off the bat, it feels good to just look. Your website should elicit the same feeling. Make it feel good for visitors. Even if they don’t buy, encourage them to visit often and before you know it, they can’t resist a little something. Give away samples (snippets of songs, videos, PDF’s…..). Make it a discovery experience.
To ensure that customers don’t feel too overwhelmed by vast and confusing choices, Bath & Body Works groups products together by fragrance. And every fragrance conveys a mood, doesn’t it? And one step further – they offer ready-made gift sets. Here’s where you come in. Want to make it easy for your clients to buy from you? Bundle your services and skills into packages. It makes more sense for clients to understand what they need, and makes them feel good about you. nine times out of ten, a client doesn’t actually know what they need. They just know they feel overwhelmed, disorganized, lost, frustrated, falling sort of goals.
If your clients knew what they needed, they would have found it by now. Have crepy, aging skin? Our Anti-Aging collection is perfect. New baby? You need the Head-to-Toe pampering set. Stressed out? A Stress-Free kit will fix you.
See what I mean? Allow your clients to come into your beautiful shop (website) and choose packages. And name them according to the value they provide! A bunch of unrelated, individual skills you perform doesn’t seem to work together to solve your customers’ problems. But packages do!
You want your customers to understand the value you provide. Otherwise, they’ll go to Upwork or Fivrr, pay next to nothing, and get next to nothing for it. And their problems remain.
Carve out your niche. Be known as the expert.
So many business people are afraid to specialize. They feel doing so cuts down on the field of potential clients. Mathematically, it makes sense. You might be known as a smart person who knows a lot about a lot, but I promise you when someone needs a website or a children’s book editor, or aromatherapy, they won’t think of you even though you might be talented in all these skills. Instead, they’ll think of the person who specializes in those skills, who is an expert.
And being known as an expert when you have a niche and specialty makes it super easy for people to refer customers to you. You’re a specialist in something!
So there you have it. Examine your mindset to make sure it supports your goals. Be the client you want for yourself. Respect the value your services provide. Package your services and products to make it easy to buy from you. Serve a niche and be known as the go-to expert.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
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