By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing
I think that most of the people who join my Marketing Mastery Program are looking for change.
Change means improving your marketing skills, attracting more clients, or upgrading a web site. And when you look from the outside, that's what's happening. Change is going on and hopefully things are changing for the better.
But transformation is more important than change.
John and Wendy (not their real names) are partners in a coaching business in England and members of the MM Program. They are delightful, smart, and sweet people. I love working with them.
In a conversation a couple months ago, the topic of money and fees came up. It turns out they had some real issues about money. They weren't earning what they could and they seemed to have a big resistance to money - especially about setting higher fees.
If I focused on change I would have offered them more strategies to earn higher fees. But I knew they needed more than change; they needed transformation.
So we explored some beliefs and mindsets about money. And we discovered some good ones! It seems that the predominant belief for both of them was that the idea of making good money was seen as shameful. People who made good money were not good people. And they saw themselves as good people.
Can you see the big problems that this belief caused?
As good people they thought that if they raised their fees and made good money that they'd become the bad people their parents always warned them about. What a success formula!
All I had to do was to ask some questions about this belief and discover if it was true, if it was a belief that was working for them or not, and what the consequences were of holding onto that belief for such a long time.
They saw that this belief was a relic of their upbringing in poor families. They managed to get excellent educations and were successful at what they did - up to a point. But they could never bring themselves to charge what they were worth.
Within just a few minutes they saw that making good money was far from shameful, in fact it could be quite uplifting to earn more and a true reflection of the service and value they offered.
I don't do motivational or rah-rah sessions. We just look at the facts. Is that belief working for you? If not, what's a belief that might work better and give you the results you want?
That was the transformation. And then things started to change.
They told me last week that they had doubled their fees and that they were getting virtually no resistance from their clients. They started planning for much bigger projects and had become more positive and hopeful for their future prospects. They are well on their way to being extraordinarily successful.
This transformation that John and Wendy experienced reflected a similar transformation I had many years ago. I believed very firmly that nobody could afford my services! So I offered services at rates I thought they could afford and failed to offer them the services they needed to make a real difference.
Yeah, I know, it sounds stupid - and it was!
I can't remember my transformational moment. I think it took a lot longer than John and Wendy, but after a time, it just came natural to charge what I was worth, and to offer huge value to every client. My income went from close to the poverty level to a six figure income in very short order.
Do you want to make more money in your business? Do you want to attract more high-end clients and get paid what you're worth? Of course, but it will happen very slowly if you focus solely on just making marketing changes.
Instead, if you look more closely at the thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back, and then seriously inquire into the value of those thoughts and beliefs, you will soon discover new thoughts and beliefs that serve you a whole lot better.
That's what transformation is - a change in the way you think. And once you have a change in the way you think, then making changes in the actions you take follows naturally.
Another Mastery participant who found marketing to be no fun, turned around his thinking and discovered it could actually be VERY fun. That transformation propelled him into massive action. Playing the game of attracting clients become a game that he's now becoming very proficient at.
What's the thought or belief that's holding you back that you'd like to transform? Focus on that first and change will come relatively easily.
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: Change is a process. Change will come whether you're transformed or not. Things will go up and down, get better or worse but you won't have changed inside. And even if you're successful in marketing, it will still be a struggle. Transform your thinking about marketing and it might become the most fun you have in your business. And of course, when something is fun, it's also much more successful.
*
What thoughts about marketing/business/success do you want to transform this year? Please share on the More Clients Blog.
Yes, if you still have the fear and you get the capital, you probably won't use it wisely. You'll still be stuck in fear. Get past fear into fearlessness and you may discover you need less capital that you need or you'll swing out and use that capital creatively in a way that makes a big impact on your business.
Posted by: Robert Middleton | January 23, 2011 at 07:31 PM
After reading this article, I think I now no what I need to do to 'transform' my catering business. I keep saying that I need more capital to expand, but I think fear is keeping me from expanding and I would like to over come that.
Posted by: Jeanette Marcelle | January 20, 2011 at 02:36 AM