Going for the Easy Win

We’re in the middle of a big ambitious goal: a website redesign, including a major update of our look, and launch by July 1. It’s going to take a lot of focus and effort from the team, and I’ve been doing my part, too- rewriting outdated copy, thinking through the vision, etc, etc.

It’s a big goal, and important one, too. We’re going for it full out, because it’s time, it feels right, and I have the extremely talented support in place to make it happen.

If we hit our deadline, which I’m feeling optimistic about, it won’t be an easy win.

The Heart of Money Was an Easy Win

Yesterday I just taught the fourth class of the Heart of Money, and everything about this class has been an easy win. It sold out before the early bird deadline, the participants have been sincere and enthusiastic. The questions asked in the assignments have been thoughtful and real.

Plus, I’ve taught it many times before. I know the material cold, and so it’s easy to riff and add in other pieces, to bring it alive.

What made The Heart of Money an easy win? And if it was so easy, why wasn’t I more ambitious and go for something bigger?

Why I Chose the Easy Win

The end of last year was rough. Kate left, Judy, one of our practitioners, also left. Because our team was smaller, I picked up many of the pieces, so our team was smaller. And the boys had just turned two in November, and have been a double handful.

Coming into spring things have felt alive again. More of an ease and flow in my experience of working the business. So when it came time to do the Heart of Money I had a choice: take a known quantity and make it REALLY BIG. Or go for the easy win.

When I sat in my heart, the easy win felt right. I could help people. We could make a good profit, and help fund our website redesign project. And I wouldn’t have to put a huge effort into the Heart of Money promotional campaign.

I wrote last week “When Does It Ever Get Easier” and this is an example of when it does. I have the luxury of choosing easy over ambitious, because we already have one ambitious project going, and I needed the rest.

They Didn’t Know It Was Easy Until After It Was Over

One of our clients had an easy win, too. They hit the perfect number of sales, the number their heart showed them, well into gravy and profitability. But they didn’t know it was an easy win until afterwards. ?They chose ambitious, and felt a lot of stress during the launch. We spent a fair amount of time in Remembrance, coming back into the heart, relaxing into the easiness of what they were doing.

It was a great lesson for them. So, how do construct an easy win for yourself?

What the Easy Win Doesn’t Do For You

A more mature business has much readier access to the easy win formula, but if you’re willing to get clear, anyone can have an easy win.

Here’s what an easy win won’t bring you:

• The most ambitious amount of money you can think of.
• The high, and related depletion, of living on adrenaline for weeks.

Here’s what an easy win WILL bring you:

• Some money. Often enough, or slightly more than enough.
• The feeling of accomplishment that comes when you hit your goals.
• Many nights of good sleep in a row.
• Often it will set you up to have an easier time with your next ambitious goal.

The Easy Win Recipe

There are three ingredients to the Easy Win Recipe.

1. Create an easy offer on a topic that you know, really know, your audience wants.

I said “wants” not “needs.” Hopefully it’s both. People want ice cream, they don’t as often want brussel sprouts.

However, as a heart-centered person, you can include some brussel sprouts or other leafy greens when you give them ice cream.

A few years ago the local naturopathic college was giving free talks on different health-related topics. Attendance had been meh, kinda so-so. Then they announced a topic, “Women and Hot Flashes- dealing with menopause.”

The room was packed. They hit a topic that was both ice cream and brussel sprouts- badly wanted, and badly needed.

How about for you? What topics does your audience badly need?

2. Choosing an easy price.

In our Right Price exercise, using your heart to identify a price rarely gives you a single number. More often a range of prices, starting at the lowest price that feels acceptable and going up to an ambitious price.

If you choose a price at the lower end, you make it easier for you and for the people buying. An ambitious price can sometimes inspire you, and it can sometimes shut you down just a little bit.

3. Limiting the quantity.

When you have an open-ended offer there isn’t as much urgency for people who really want a spot to grab it. They think, ah, I can get it later. Urgency can be manipulated, but it can also be used with integrity, in a healthy way.

To be healthy, the quantity limit has to mean something, beyond “If I only offer six of these, people will go crazy!” Find a legitimate reason to limit the number. And yes, it counts to say, “I’m a bit tired when I think of dealing with more than that.”

In the past we’ve had up to 100 people in our Heart of Money course. This year, although our email list was larger, I chose 50 for a number of reasons.

For one, it just felt right in my heart. For two, without Kate, we didn’t have as large a support team, and I wanted everyone to have a great experience and to be responded to promptly. And three, I didn’t want to have a long-drawn out promotional campaign trying to fill every single spot.

Could we have filled 80 or 100 spots? I think we could have. But 50 was enough. It felt right. It was an easy win.

For our clients, it was 125 people in a course instead of 500. For me, it was 50 instead of 100 or more. For you, maybe it’s only making three client slots available.

What is “easy” depends on your circumstances.

And guess what? The next time you offer it, you get to truthfully say, “Last time it sold out, so don’t wait.” Which is powerful.

If you’re tired of always, always reaching for the stars, maybe you need an easy win. Create an offer people really want, an easy price, and a limited quantity, and you can have that easy win.

And no, as I said above, one easy win won’t make your business. But several easy wins will. And a reputation for sold-out offerings doesn’t hurt. And having some rest and ease in your promotional campaigns is something you and your audiences can appreciate.

p.s. Two no-cost calls.

Reminder: We’re holding two no-cost teleclasses tomorrow afternoon. One is on Your Right Price hosted by Heart of Business practitioner Jason Stein, and one is on Out of Your Ruts and Into the Flow hosted by Heart of Business practitioner Yollana Shore.

I’ll be on both of them, introducing these two bright stars to you. Go ahead and register!

Your Right Price with Jason Stein

Out of Your Ruts and Into the Flow with Yollana Shore

Both of these are meant to introduce you also to our Opening the Moneyflow six month program. Applications have been coming in.

There are only 52 spots open. Five ambitious folks to work directly with me, six big-hearted ready to fly people each with Jason and Yollana. So only 17 spots in truly intimate groups.

Then only another 35 spots in the extremely affordable DIY version of the program, which still comes with a fair amount of support.

Some of those spots are already taken, by applications we’ve received already, and by folks from the first six months who are continuing.

It starts in July, and the program includes our full library of heart-centered content (some of our clients have been struck dumb upon seeing the full breadth and depth of it), as well as an in-depth assessment, a personalized business development plan, monthly spiritual teachings, and more, depending on the level of support you want.

No hype, no fluff. Just solid, heart-centered, spiritually-oriented, and practical-nitty gritty business support for the mature, discerning, small business owner: Opening the Moneyflow 2011, July-December.