I see so many people struggle in their business when they try to take on really sophisticated approaches. Creating an entire course in their first year or so of business. Launching an entire membership site in the first three years. Putting a sophisticated sales/enrollment structure and follow-up in place…
Can I whisper an open secret in your business ear?
<whispers>If a task feels overwhelming, too complex, like climbing a mountain, it may be because it’s coming way too early to be helpful.</whisper>
So many things get literally sold to folks as “the answer” to a stable, profitable, successful business. And, for some individuals, it may be right.
And, it’s also true, with nuance and awareness, that some things feel overwhelming just because of the emotional reaction we may have in our hearts.
But… even with the emotional reaction, the whispering truth is still true… whether the business has to develop, or we have things to clear through in our heart, it does no good to try and push through to make something really complex work before we’re ready for it.
I had a client who was struggling with getting content created. But, when we looked more closely, we saw two things. One, that her business didn’t require content creation for marketing right now. It would be helpful down the road, but what her business needed was something else entirely.
And that meant that she could work much more slowly toward content creation, with more joy and openness, and way less pressure.
If you see a project as being the thing that is “absolutely necessary right now” and has the potential to “save’ your business, then that’s really high pressure to deal with! Way different than, “Oh, this will be important to the business, and so if I work learning about it and practicing it now, in little steps, I’ll be ready when the business is ready for it.”
I get frustrated with the way that so many relatively sophisticated business strategies are sold as “the big thing that you need now!” when that is so obviously not true.
A webinar as a marketing strategy is a good example.
If you’ve never held a webinar, but think it might be a good idea, there is a lot to get comfortable with around it. The conference platform, your audio/video technology, how to teach in that kind of environment. How to promote it. How to make sure participants have the info they need… we have a longish checklist/workflow to set up webinars.
But, for us over here, I’ve taught online a LOT, and have done many webinars. For us to do a webinar, it’s easy, because we’ve been through the hard.
For every single thing that we’ve done at Heart of Business that has been successful, it’s almost always been the next natural step, and not overwhelmingly difficult or complex.
When we’ve taken on overwhelmingly difficult or complex projects, they’ve usually failed.
They’ve failed not because we can’t do difficult or complex- there’s a lot that we do that is difficult and complex for your average solo business owner. But, for us, because we had a foundation that we were working on, we’re not starting from absolute scratch.
Our membership site is another great example. I had spent years, since 2008, creating home study programs and courses. Putting them together into a membership site was complex, but not overwhelmingly so.
I so want you to trust your heart, to trust the step-by-step nature of growing your business, and to set aside overly complex or overwhelming projects. It’s okay to let go of one-size-fits-all offers which promise you big returns but don’t help you discern if what they are selling is right for your business.
You’ve got this. Your business isn’t broken, it’s just developing.
with love,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
Small group coaching: spots available
One of the ways I work with clients is in small, intimate group coaching settings. No more than six people, we meet live twice per month for 90 minutes, and the rest of the time coaching and feedback is done through a private Facebook group.
It’s for those who are past start-up, who are wanting to move their business into momentum, and need some significant shifts to see that come through.
It’s also for those who really resonate with my teachings, because each live call includes 30 minutes of spiritual teaching in the context of business, to deepen your heart’s presence with love, and then we dig into the nitty-gritty of how to move your business forward. Each member gets at least one focus spot per month.
We have fun! We go deep! We move your business forward. And people stick around because of what happens for them. One member just completed after being in for 2 1/2 years. So if you resonate, plan on staying awhile.
There are two spots open in my Tuesday group, and one spot open in the Thursday group. The minimum commitment is six months. Both groups meet twice per month on their day, from noon-1:30pm eastern.
If you’re interested, check out this page, and fill out the application, and we’ll talk.
