Avoiding Spiritual Whiplash
When you start out, you ain’t got nothin’ moving yet. You might be scared, but you also tend to be more open to following the whims of your heart. As your business grows, there is a real need to be more strategic. Simply following the whims of your heart moment to moment changes from being […]
An Unexpected Divine Quality
A client came to me recently with a question about confidence. “I’m not feeling as confident as I’d like to be with my clients. Is there a Divine quality for confidence?” If you’re unfamiliar with this idea, the Sufis talk about the Divine having 99 (read: infinite) Divine Names, a.k.a. elemental qualities. These qualities are […]
Musing on Community and Business
One of my private clients, whose business is doing well, in the low six figures annually, suddenly came to me and announced that despite some of her intentions to expand her business, she realized her real need was around community and relationship. She’s not alone. In the middle of Facebook, Twitter, and every other form […]
The Cold, Iced Water of Networking
Selling is what happens after someone gets to know you and your business, which I’ve been talking about the last couple of weeks. But, before the selling comes actually connecting with other people. There’s a reason that networking has a bad rap. I can’t imagine anything less comfortable than meeting in a cold hotel room […]
Video – Where Collaboration Undermines Selling
Before we get into it, I wanted to remind you that today, April 24, I’m holding a live call on the topic of Sacred Selling. I’m honored and humbled because over 800 people are already registered for it! It’s about increasing your pricing resonance and it’s about dealing with your anxiety and neediness… because it’s […]
Is Everything Really Selling?
Intro: I had written the article below before hearing about the attacks at the Boston Marathon on Monday. I pray for all of those, all of us, who are caught up in the storm of violence and grief everywhere in the world, and pray for healing, for peace, for justice. May all people find ease, […]
Struggling to Let Your Partner Support You
The year my wife Holly and I got engaged, we were biking hills together, camping. We went on a 250 mile bike tour together. Then, one day, she told me, “I can’t walk up the stairs.” “What? Of course you can.” My denial of her reality was the beginning of a 10 year journey for […]
A Rarely-Considered Reason Why People Aren’t Hiring You
When you are making an offer to potential clients, if you get shy or nervous, are you aware of how you act that shyness out? Because your potential client is having a reaction as well, and you may not notice if you’re caught up in your own awkwardness. The two reactions, yours and your potential […]
Wisdom From Elsewhere
This past weekend I boarded a train, headed north to Seattle, then walked onto the Bainbridge Ferry for a two day retreat with my mastermind group, including Jennifer Louden, Molly Gordon, Eric Klein, Michael Bungay-Stanier and Michele Lisenbury-Christensen. They’ve been one of the biggest reasons I’ve been able to flourish and grow so much over […]
How to Raise Your Prices on Current Clients
There comes a moment in most small businesses where you realize that the prices you started with no longer fit. It’s time to raise your rates! Raising your rates 15% across 15 clients can have a big impact on your monthly cash flow. It can mean fun, profit, the shift from not making it to […]