As I was picking up pizza last week for my kids I had a very interesting conversation with the owner about his business. It illustrates what fear of selling can do to an entrepreneur.

With some stores in the shopping plaza closing he shared that his business was slow. He said people weren’t even calling for deliveries. As a regular customer I had no idea he even offered delivery. Clearly he was not communicating this information.

“Why not put it in a big sign in your window to capture the traffic from plaza?” I asked.

“Oh, they should know that I deliver. All pizza places deliver.”

The fact is it’s very easy for an entrepreneur to blame the economy but the truth is no one will buy if they don’t know what you’re selling.

Here’s another example…

One of my favorite clients called me to say that she was discouraged that she hadn’t made any money from an information product she’d created. She felt frustrated that she wasn’t getting it done.

As we backtracked a bit, I asked her what she’d done to spread the word about her product. “Nothing,” she said, “I was scared that if I told them I was selling something they’d think I was being salesy and get off my list.”

Now the plot thickens…

The interesting thing about this woman is that she (like most of us) has something REALLY helpful that she’s created and would like to share with her community and sell it. She’s got a product that can help a lot of people.

The question then is “what’s getting in her way of putting it out there?”

Fear of selling. Fear of “someone” thinking she’s selling something. Fear of people dropping off her list because she’s doing more than just sending out nice content newsletters. Fear that she’ll be perceived a certain way.

Remember the Value of What You’re Offering

The good news in her case was I knew the prescription. It’s clear (at least to me) that the “simple” action she needs to take to get it done and achieve her short term goal of bringing in more money is to write an email to her list sharing with them what she’s offering. She needs to overcome her fear of selling.

Simple task but overwhelming to her because that email feels scary and has lots of strings attached. But I reminded her, “You’re not selling heroin, or used cars, you’re selling a product that makes people feel better.”

She’s offering a valuable service. I’d even go as far as to say that if she doesn’t offer it, she’s being selfish with her gifts.

Will some people unsubscribe from her list because they think she’s being salesy? YES

Is that okay? YES

She’s in business and the definition of being in business means that you make money by providing value to people. The more people you, the entrepreneur, help, the more money you make.

You can’t make money if you don’t let people know what you have to offer. Having the fear of selling is a mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs (especially women) make over and over again.

If you’re ready to move forward, but are still struggling with the fear of selling, check out my next blog. I’ll share with you 3 tips on how you can get the right mindset to sell so that you can attract more clients, make more money and have more fun!

The beauty of an entrepreneurial business is that there is a direct connection between your personal growth and your business growth. Watch your business grow exponentially as you personally develop and grow. I want to share some suggestions with you on how to invest in your own personal growth so you can achieve dramatic results in your business growth.

 

  Women Entrepreneurs – Your Best Business Investment is You [Metromom Podcast] [5:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This summer, my husband and I went to a camp called Enlightened Warrior Training Camp, one of the many personal development classes that Harv Eker has hosted. One specific idea from this camp that really stuck with me is “either commit 100%, or commit 0%.” That means if you know you can’t commit fully to something, just say no, rather than do it half-heartedly. And, when you say yes, go full throttle. I want to share with you some ideas on how to focus on the commitments that will get “it” done.

 

 Entrepreneurial Moms Committing 100% Benefits Your Business and Your Kids [Metromom Podcast] [4:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I took a huge leap by launching a brand-new program called The Get it Done Challenge and in so doing so conquered some pretty big personal baggage.

First, I put myself out there in front of very public large audience, which I’ve often avoided. Second, in the past I would have let myself believe that a program of this caliber is something “other people” do but certainly not me. Now, I say “WHY NOT ME?”

When I find myself going through my own internal junk, and having conversations with the protective voices in my head, I refer back to my favorite poem by Marianne Williamson called Our Deepest Fear. The specific passage that hits me every time is “Your playing small does not serve the world.” 

As women, for all our crazy reasons we don’t get out there as we should, we don’t share our brilliance as we are meant to, we don’t get paid what we’re worth and we don’t make the difference to those we know we can.

So much of what will support us to get done what we want to get done is a healthy mindset, a belief in ourselves and a trust in what we’re doing and how we’re being while we’re doing it.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves…who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?

For me and many of the women I know it’s rarely just making money that drives us. It’s about doing what you’re meant to do and serving who you’re meant to serve. The key to remember is that:

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

I’d love to hear what inspires you to take action! Is there a quote or some advice that you look to when you know it’s time to move forward? Please share!

In my last blog I shared how I see women in business, myself included, consistently underestimating their value. The impact from a financial perspective, if you’re not appreciating the value of your products and services, you’re certainly not being paid what you’re worth.

As entrepreneurs, we have to validate that our ideas have meaning and worth. You need to connect with like-minded women; they’ll see things in you that you don’t recognize about yourself. A huge revelation came to me because I took the time to participate in the mastermind group. What’s interesting is my biggest learning came from chatting in a restaurant, over a glass of wine, after hours!

If you really want to be prosperous, and not just get by, your success depends on association with other entrepreneurial women who have great ideas, an open, sharing approach, are in tune with their purpose and are already achieving the kind of lifestyle you want. Spending time with the right peers and role models is invaluable. It’s time to reach out if you don’t already have these kinds of connections in your life.

So once you get some clarity and feedback on your true value, what’s next?

For me I recently realized that I could help a lot of people take their brilliant ideas (which typically overwhelm them) and learn a system to actually make them a reality – that is “get it done.” But then my doubts started creeping in… “Can I really do that? Is that possible? Will people care? Will they want it?”

What helped me overcome these doubts was acknowledging that I have value and it’d actually be selfish for me not to share my gift. If we hold back from putting our true value out there we’re not being of service to the customer who can benefit from what we offer. You owe it to yourself to step into who you’re meant to be. Acknowledge your gifts and talents and then find a way to share them with the world.

Even though I’ve had some financial challenges as I launched my business, I feel completely prosperous. I give my business my heart and soul. I love the customers I get to serve and feel gratitude for the prosperity that flows.

I share this, because I am just like you, and I know that you’ve got tons of value to share with the world, and you owe it to yourself (and to the world) to get it out there.

FYI – If you’re ready to get it done join me for a free call I’m hosting – Get It Done 101: How to STOP Procrastinating and Tackle Your BIG Ideas with Confidence… So that You Can Make More Money and Help More People.

What you do (and who you are) has huge value. To truly be prosperous in business and life, you must wholeheartedly believe this. Often, however, I see women in business, myself included, consistently underestimating their value. While they enthusiastically support the gifts and talents of their husbands, children and friends, when it comes to their own talents you hear them say…

"It’s no big deal," "Anybody can do that," or "It’s just a fluke it all worked out."

From a financial perspective, if you’re not appreciating the value of your products and services, you’re certainly not being paid what you’re worth. You’re absolutely leaving money on the table.  Let me share an example of something that I’m naturally really good at but I’d placed little or no value on it until recently…

I was at a mastermind group a few months ago and was speaking with one of my mastermind partners. As she was getting to know me, she basically said, "Kim, I’ve never seen anybody who gets things done as quickly as you do."

As I wrote those words down, it really sunk in for me. Even though I knew this about myself (somewhere deep down), I’d never internalized it until I wrote it down on a napkin!

When I went back to our mastermind group and shared this with them, I said, "You know, last night Evana told me I get things done quickly." Everyone in our group said, "Well yeah, of course. That’s what you do." I had never allowed myself to appreciate the value of my "innate" skill.

Now what was the benefit of recognizing the value of my special ability to get things done quickly? Well, I started to envision how I could help others get things done. This got the wheels of my brain spinning and led me to revamp my Metromom community to the GET IT DONE Circle and launch a new "Get It Done" coaching program. In a very short time, after acknowledging my gift, I not only created more valuable and needed products and services, but became more aligned with my purpose and as a result am having much more fun with my business.

I know many of you have had similar experiences… When someone pointed out to you a special gift or ability you have that you probably take for granted. Please share your comments about any breakthroughs you’ve experienced.

In my next post I’ll share some suggestions how to get clarity about your value and then really maximize your potential.

You have the best idea, great marketing strategies, and effective systems in place, but you still feel stuck. You can’t get any momentum. If this is the case, limiting beliefs may be holding you back…

 

 Limiting Beliefs – Are They Holding You Back? [Metromom Podcast] [8:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Do you have ideas that you’d like to implement but something is holding you back? If so, you’re going to enjoy this week’s podcast. We all have doubts about our lack of experience running a business or expanding in some way. Find out how I discovered that knowing WHAT needs to be done is more important than knowing HOW to get it done.

 

 Empower Yourself as a Resourceful Entrepreneur [6:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I truly believe in the power of setting intentions and believe even more that when you put a voice to them, and share them with others, something magical happens.

While preparing for the Metromom Telesummit I was looking for ways to get the word out and share it with as many women as possible. One of my intentions was to get a segment on the Today show.

I shared this with many different people and I put out feelers to those who I thought might have connections from my local TV station to my new friend and publicist Shannon Cherry. I even posted it on Twitter weeks before my event.

Two weeks before the Telesummit went live, I got an email from a connection at Ladies Who Launch saying a Today Show producer was looking to do a segment on women whose husbands have lost their jobs. Wow, I fit that bill perfectly.

I checked with my husband to make sure he was comfortable with my going on national TV about our situation. With his support I sent in a response to the Today Show and let them know that I could share some additional information for the piece.

Within moments, the producer and I were emailing back and forth with each other (in between her own live news segments on NBC’s NY morning show). She invited me to participate in a coffee shop gathering where three other women would share how our husband’s job loss had affected us. The piece was a lot of fun to be a part of (I  was amazed at how much footage (and coffees) were required to get down to the few seconds of TV coverage.)

On Mother’s Day I shared with my sister-in-law that my Today Show piece was airing in two days. "That’s amazing Kim, just last month you told me you were going to be on the Today Show, and look, now you are". I back pedaled (and minimized the whole thing) a bit saying the piece wasn’t about Metromom, or my event, and I’d probably only be on for a few seconds. "Who cares?” she said, “What’s amazing is that you said you’d make it happen and you did".

At that moment I realized the value of sharing my intention to be on the Today Show. I was stating my belief. We’re often taught to be modest and not put out “pie in the sky ideas”. What’s the good in that? Who do we really serve by staying small? There’s a lot to be said about believing and dreaming and that’s something I know I want to teach my children.

Did I really make it happen because I put it “out there”? Will it lead to other opportunities? I believe yes to both questions, and I will continue to ask for what I want and trust that I’ll get it. I hope you’ll do the same. (Please share an intention that you’d like to manifest.)

Here’s the segment for you to view – there are some really valuable tips for women with out of work husbands:

One of the best parts of being in business for myself is getting to work with people that I love and who bring great amounts of joy and value into my life. Laura West, the founder of the Center for Joyful Business,  has become a very special friend and business supporter in my life. We like to call ourselves business girlfriends.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve led 3 different classes together, and had a great time in the process – both in the preparation and the actual interaction on the calls. (You can still check them out, if you’ve not already heard them).

• Taking Charge of Your Economy: 5 Steps on How to Use the Internet to Prosper and Profit (a preview call for my Telesummit last week).
• 5 Easy Attraction Marketing Tools to Build Strong Relationships and Attract Amazing Clients (that we discussed at the Telesummit) :
• 5 Most Powerful Attraction Marketing Secrets To Help You Embrace your Authentic Marketing Style (for my membership community)

I also want to share with you Laura’s first video in which she discusses one of her Joyful Business exercises – the “I Wonder” Game. She created this video for her own blog but I thought the information she shared was so great that I wanted to incorporate it into mine. (thanks Laura)

As well, Laura interviewed me for her Joyful Business Podcast series. You can visit her blog to listen.