Art of Earning
I get asked to write about money a lot. I’ve written plenty of posts, guest posts, and a whole ebook. And when I sat down (multiple times) to write a new post about money for the Declaration of You blog tour, I was stumped.
I had one of those “What more can I say about this that I haven’t already said?” moments. Then I asked around, talked to Brigitte, and decided to write what’s been on my heart & mind for the last year.
When you’re known as the girl to go to for a money/earning/pricing smack-down, you have a reputation to take care of. And what is that reputation if it’s not about how much you earn? I learned that my money wake-up was just the beginning of an evolution of understanding around money and earning that has led me to build my business differently over the last 12 months.
After I got over my personal hang ups and misconceptions about my earning power, money for me was like a game. What product can I create, what conversion rate can I adjust, what marketing campaign can I invent that will make more, more, more? It wasn’t that I was greedy but that I was having fun.
I’m playing a different game now. I know how I could make a lot more money. I have the business model constructed. I largely have the platform and network in place.
But I choose to do something a little different.
The game I’ve been playing with money lately has only has two rules:
- Put as little time into the business as possible so that I can live a rich life outside the office.
- Do the work that will allow for the greatest returns in the future with as little hustle as possible.
I’ve concentrated the work that I do into short bursts of energy that have more impact on clients than I’ve ever had before. While I’m making about the same annually, I’m doing so with extraordinarily less effort.
But it’s not just about working less. It’s really about the set-up, the long game.
Just wait til you see what’s coming.
Because financial reward is one [of many] outward symbol of greater impact, choosing to dial back on earnings comes with mixed feelings and plenty of impostor complex questions. Can I be an effective business strategist if I’m not maxing out my earnings? Will I lose potential clients because I choose not to pursue the million-dollar launch strategy? What will happen to my reputation?
The truth is I am an effective strategist–many of my clients are generating much more revenue than I am. The truth is that any clients I lose weren’t the right clients for me. And the truth is that my reputation is stronger than ever–as far as I can tell!
Your net worth is not your self-worth. Your hourly rate isn’t your reputation. Your sales target isn’t your impact.
Right now, I choose to make decisions that bolster my self-worth, shore up my reputation, and maximize my impact–now and into the future. Those decisions result in leaving money on the table. But I believe that the decisions I’m making today will lead to greater return–both in profit & in impact–than trying to scrape up every last penny or find the gold at the end of the rainbow.
I also enjoy mixed metaphors.
There’s a time and a place to play the just-how-much-can-I-earn game. And I hope you play it, and play it hard. But I also hope that you take time to readjust every so often and look to the long game. What are you setting up today that will take care of you–and your customers–in the future?
Are you going after a bigger piece of the pie? Or are you baking a new pie that will make others lives meaningfully better?
Are you going after financial reward at the cost of relationships, peace of mind, or reputation? Or are you creating something that is in alignment with your values and preferred modus operandi?
Today, my declaration of money is that the choice to make less is often a choice about making more later, an investment in future impact.
What are you investing in? What game are you playing?
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The Declaration of You, authored by my brilliant friends Michelle Ward & Jessica Swift, gives readers all the permission they crave to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique, and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You’s BlogLovin’ Tour, which I’m thrilled to participate in alongside over 200 other creative bloggers. Learn more — and join us! — by clicking here.
Art of Growth, Customer Perspective Process
You’ve got a great product. So why don’t more people buy it? Many of my clients come calling because they’ve had the scare of a launch that didn’t preform to their expectations. It’s not because their plans were bad. Nor was it that the product design was subpar. It might not even be that the messaging or positioning was off.
Often, it’s because the wham-bam-thank-ya-ma’am style launch that everyone from that super successful life coach to the latest iPhone wonder app developers make look highly effective is actually the wrong choice for most new products or programs. There are lots of people out there who would buy your product–if only they heard about it the right way at the right time.
And what you don’t know is…
That blitzkrieg-style launch is actually the final iteration of careful planning, testing, and incremental sales cycles.
Why is this important?
Sure, planning and testing is always a good idea. But really, the reason the initial stages of introducing a new product, program, or service to the public is that there are 3 kinds of good customers and you need to sell to each differently. And that means the majority of your potential customers won’t buy the first time you launch something or because of the same messaging you’d use to get that first round of customers.
To get more people to buy what you’re selling, you’ve got to adapt your marketing and sales approach to each segment.
Moreover, you must sell to each in their own way in the right order.
Image from The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development
Early Adopters
Early adopters, by nature, want the dirt on the newest things to hit the market. They want to try it, experiment with it, offer suggestions, be a part of the process. “New” and “innovative” are value-adds in and of themselves. Early adopters will work to figure out what untapped benefits are buried within a new product.
These are the people who waited in line for the very first iPhone.
Early Majority
The Early Majority are interested in being ahead of the curve with new ideas but aren’t willing to suffer the kinks & quirks of an untested product. They rely on others to test drive a product but then happily buy what is new and trendy.
These are the people who waited in line for the 3rd generation iPhone.
Late Majority
The Late Majority wants what is standard. They don’t want to look like they’re lagging behind but have no interest in being ahead of the curve. They’re happy to buy a product, as long as it has reached a certain ubiquity in the conversation.
These are the people who waited to buy a high definition DVD player until BluRay beat out HD-DVD.
For more on this, check out the book The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development.
What does this have to do with your launch?
If you create a shock & awe launch without first selling to your Early Adopters, those Early Adopters won’t buy because they’ll shy away from something that is aimed at the Majority of the market. The Early Majority will be nervous that there isn’t a proven track record for the product. And the Late Majority? Well, you can only imagine how nervous they’d be.
The key to a truly successful launch (over time) is to sell to the natural buying habits of each segment of your market.
Introduce the Early Adopters to a beta version of your product. Offer a limited number of first edition products, seats in a new program, or spots on your service calendar. Let them know why they’re getting the first word (you value their opinion, you’re looking for testers, you want to reward them for their loyalty, etc…) and invite them to buy.
Once those Early Adopters have had their way with your new idea, you can open sales to your Early Majority. They’ll want to see testimonials from Early Adopters and hear about the actual results that group got. They also want to hear a bit about the process you used to create the product and why you’re bringing it to market now.
Finally, the Late Majority will be ready to buy. They don’t want to know about your process or your inspiration; they just want what everyone else is buying. They’ll happily listen to the Early Majority recommend your product. Demonstrate that your product is “standard” and reach out to new markets.
How do I take advantage of these market segments?
Taking advantage of each market segment is a matter of, you guessed it, segmentation. You need to be able to segment your audience by their buying habits so that you can present your offer in different ways as you go.
You might be able to hand pick a group of Early Adopters to sell to via social media or your email marketing service. Just remember that your Early Adopters are probably brand evangelists but not every brand evangelist is an Early Adopter. Many brand evangelists are not customers at all but simply people who buy into your vision and want to see your business or ideas succeed. Early Adopters are the ones who actually buy.
So when you’re picking that initial group, concentrate on people who have purchased something from you recently. Look to your last launch and target those who bought in the first wave. You can also identify Early Adopters in your industry or niche and invite them to try your product or service. Remember to focus the value here around what’s “new” or “innovative” about your product and why those features benefit your Early Adopters specifically. You’ll want to make sure all your messaging is focused on “invitation” instead of sales pitches, too.
Your Early Majority is found in the heart of your list. These are the people who already know, like, and trust your business; they just don’t place as high a value on buying right away. Focus the next stage of launching a new product on your internal network. Use the themes you’ve been discussing in email marketing, social media, and/or your blog to springboard this part of your launch. Affiliate marketing and most media relations aren’t very effective here so don’t spend a lot of time with this. Make a splash but keep it inside the pool, so to speak.
Your Late Majority is found outside your internal network. Here is where joint venture & affiliate marketing, as well as media relations, really work. This is when an explosive launch strategy can create big returns. With everyone talking about your “new” (ahem) thing, the Late Majority will realize your product has become standard (safe) and ready for them to give it a go.
Is there an example I can check out?
Marie Forleo‘s Rich, Happy, and Hot B-School is a great example of this in action. When that program was officially “launched,” the ideas in it were not brand new. The program incorporated elements that had been being taught to Marie & Laura Roeder’s inner circle (read: Early Adopters) for years. The Early Majority (the core of Marie & Laura’s audiences) took the program the first two years based on the fact that those Early Adopters were trusted, high profile members of the online business community.
The last two launches of the program focused heavily on affiliate marketing and brought in a whole new audience to the brand. That affiliate marketing also turned off a whole slew of Early Adopter and Early Majority community members because, while on the surface it was annoying to see the same marketing message everywhere, below the surface these segments didn’t like that the program had become “standard” and ubiquitous.
The launch of the iPhone is also similar. The first and second generation iPhones were produced in limited quantities, largely marketed to early tech adopters, and sold only through one provider. Early adopters are willing to jump through those kind of hopes to get the hot, new thing. Later generations, were marketed more openly and produced in much larger quantities. Finally the last two generations saw not only larger quantities produced but many more sales channels added to the mix. For a large segment of the smartphone market, the iPhone is standard.
What to do next
The summer is the time when many businesses are putting the final touches on new products or programs to launch in the Fall. If you’re wanting to make a big splash later in the year, this might be the perfect time to get your Early Adopters involved. Don’t keep the lid on your big project, devise a way to sell an early prototype of your product, program, or service to Early Adopters and invite them to start working with your ideas pronto.
Use their feedback to make the jump to your Early Majority in the Fall. Plan a launch that relies on internal communication and word of mouth referrals among your own community. Then, consider relaunching in the Winter, casting a wider net to catch your Late Majority.
If you’re in a different part of the sales cycle, adjust accordingly.
— PS —
If you’re looking for more strategies for launching, check out this Forbes article that featured some of my best advice on the topic. I offer ideas on why a launch didn’t go as well as it could have and what to do differently next time.
Art of Earning, New Economy
My bottom line is impact.
I believe impact can and should be profitable.
I believe profit is abundance. It’s the absolutely necessary positive gain on the energy, effort, and execution your business invests in [value] creation.
I believe an important part of that positive gain is financial. But wealth is not one dimensional. I also measure profit in relational, emotional, and organizational wealth.
I believe business has an obligation, a duty, a responsibility to increase its bottom line and maximize it’s profit margin: increase its impact, find the path to leveraged abundance.
Dollars & cents really do matter. And there’s so much more, too.
What’s your business’s bottom line?
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New Economy
Here’s another case study from a 10ThousandFeet participant. Deirdre Walsh discovered how to organize her long-term vision into actionable steps she can take now, while reducing the stress of holding on to such big ideas.
Deirdre Walsh, Integrative Health Coach
Spool back to December of last year. I was seriously frustrated with pulling my business together. Maybe frustrated is too cheery a word for what I was feeling. I couldn’t see what my business needed me to see.
A savvy client captured it when she said: “You’re an amazing coach, but you can’t sell worth sh*t.”
I didn’t know what to sell. I didn’t see the structure and dynamics of the business. I didn’t have a handle on the skills that were required. I thought I understood who my best clients were, but they weren’t picking up what I was putting down. My business was whispering encouragement to me, but I couldn’t bring it together into focus.
My eyesight scores high on the near-sighted scale–think Coke-bottle lenses. I need to leave my glasses in the same place every night so I can find them in the morning. And when Tara emailed me last December about 10KFeet she found me, sans metaphorical glasses, standing in the room of my business, squinting and listening, but unable to focus on what I needed to see.
Now, one thing that has served me well over the years is to recognize genius and listen when it calls. So when Tara asked me if I’d like to be part of this mastermind I jumped.
Here’s a short list of what Tara taught me to see and hear:
The strength and uniqueness of my business.
This was a game-changer for me. I’d been looking for a market niche to fill. The most sensible-looking niche met clients where they were stuck. The business opportunity was to drag, cajole, and coax them to stay status quo and not move backwards. Talk about tiring – like Sisyphus-type tiring. Tara helped me see that the strength of what I do is in moving forward with my clients, seeing what they don’t see for themselves.
The conversation my customers want to have about how my business can serve them.
A handful of clients popped up as soon as I got really clear on this. I’ve heard that before and thought it was hype but that is what happened to me. Half of them said: “I’ve been waiting for you, but I didn’t know how to find you.” It’s been much less resource-intensive to connect with, and convert, the clients who make my business hum.
The plan for growth
I have a two-year plan that is unique to my business. I can’t even begin to describe how much stress this has taken away from me. (And managing stress is my thing!) My plan is not hoping that someone else’s plan will work for me. My plan is the plan my business was trying to whisper to me. I’m not second-guessing the choices I’m making, the posts I’m writing, the courses I’m prepping. They all fit into a bigger plan that will unfold over the next couple of years. Wow.
Customer Perspective Process
“Most of us are slaves of the stories we unconsciously tell ourselves about our lives. Freedom begins the moment we become conscious of the plot line we are living and, with this insight, recognize that we can step into another story altogether.”
— Carol S. Pearson, The Hero Within
I came across this quote through the brilliant Sarah Peck. I have told myself many stories in my life and I have slowly released myself from their snare. A recent story I uncovered was that I am a “misfit” and that most people just put up with me in social situations.
This is a story that’s haunted me since I was very small. It’s not that I believed myself to be quirky or misunderstood. This story was much closer to believing that I was “unlovable” or, at the least, “unfriendable.” Despite the mounting evidence to the contrary–I have brilliant, loving, and supportive friends–in recent years, I continued to tell myself this story as I acclimated to a new community and new relationships.
When I became aware of this story, I was able to live a different plot line. I’m no pariah and I don’t need to act like one. That doesn’t make me any less shy or introverted but it does fundamentally change the way I act in relationships.
What does this have to do with your business? Simple. You tell yourself stories about your customers. And most likely, those are limiting stories:
- They won’t pay enough for this.
- They want fast & dirty.
- They like the flash & sparkle of my competition more.
- They will only buy this a certain way.
Are you a slave to the stories you tell yourself about your customers?
Click to tweet.
Often, I work with my clients to bring attention to these stories and the effect they have on the decisions they make in their businesses. A story about their customers not valuing the product or service they receive leads to an artificially low price. A story about the way customers are used to buying can stymie innovation.
This quote from Frederick Buechner appears in Anne Lamott’s classic book on writing, Bird by Bird:
“You avoid forcing your characters to march too steadily to the drumbeat of your artistic purpose. You leave some measure of real freedom for your characters to be themselves. And if minor characters show an inclination to become major characters, as they’re apt to do, you at least give them a shot at it, because in the world of fiction it may take many pages before find out who the major characters really are.”
I used to use this idea to prod my group coaching participants to drop old stories about their customers and allow those customers to grow, evolve, and change.
Our customers are integral characters in the stories of our businesses. In many ways, they are the main characters with our businesses operating more as settings or worldviews and us, as business owners, acting as semi-omniscient narrators.
The stories we tell are the stories of the people we serve. But all too often we pay more attention to parroted beliefs and limiting thoughts than the actual, expansive stories that are playing out in front of us, with us.
When you bring attention to and question the stories you tell yourself about your customers, those same customers–your characters–can help you co-create new stories that take your business in all sorts of new directions.
Truly getting to know those customers, not just the stories you tell yourself about them when you’re frustrated or feeling doubtful, is the key.
