Living Forward Business & Lifestyles Inc
Do you like to get paid but dislike asking for money?
A lot of entrepreneurs and especially women, really struggle to ask for money for their services. They’re not comfortable stating their fees or asking for non-refundable deposits, or they feel awkward asking the client to get current on their payments, or renegotiating when the client wants more than agreed upon.
You know what’s a total buzz kill for freedom? Burnout.
What separates the successful from the strugglers, is the successful do what they gotta do, no matter what.
But you know what? The truth is, sometimes you need a break, and the question is how do you know the difference between when you need to suck it up and push through, and when you need to take a break?
You’re not alone. Early on in my business, I noticed a trend in my masterminds, and with my own clients and colleagues, that those who had REALLY successful corporate careers, seemed to struggle the most in getting their business off the ground.
Here’s the thing – while technical knowledge is important, success in any endeavour ALWAYS comes back to who you’re being and how you show up. And the mindsets, decisions, and behaviours that make a person successful in their employment are usually exactly the opposite of what’s needed to succeed as an entrepreneur.
So if you’ve been also wondering “What Gives?” , don’t worry, you won’t be schlepping burgers or coffee any time soon. You CAN make this happen with just a few shifts on some BIG stuff.
If so, what’s stopping you?
Fear? Thinking “That’s crazy”? Wondering HOW to do it?
The funny thing about a crazy dream, is there’s really no perfect time, and circumstances will never be right. However when you make the decision (as evidence by taking ACTION), it’s amazing how circumstances an opportunities you couldn’t see before, just suddenly line up.
Today I’m interviewing Marketing & Mindset Mentor Simona Ksoll.
There are no lack of resources or trainings available out there on why you need to speak, how to write your talk, how to craft your offers and deliver your talk, etc.
The reason for that, is that speaking works! It’s one of the fastest and most lucrative ways to generate a buzz for your brand, to attract leads and to get you clients.
BUT….it seems that most of those trainings are missing a key ingredient. They don’t actually tell you with any depth of information or strategy how to GET those gigs.
Sure they may give a few tips, and give you directories to look up. But simply downloading a directory of venues and reaching out to places you don’t know without proper preparation, or just putting feelers out there – is a recipe for frustration and disappointment.
If you’re asking yourself how you can do that without being selfish, you’re asking the wrong question.
The question to ask yourself is “WHY does what I want and need make me feel guilty?”.
As women it’s in our nature to nurture and to take care of others. And putting yourself first isn’t about taking away from others. In fact it’s about adding to who you are so that you can really show up in the way you want to.
I’m sure you’ve heard the proverbial and, well, almost cliché example of airlines telling you to put on your oxygen mask fist. And while it’s true, you HAVE to take care of yourself before you take care of others, in my opinion that example doesn’t go far enough, its very nature is about SURVIVING.
This is a bit of an unusual episode for me, because I’m getting really personal.
I’m sharing details about my story, because I think it’s so easy when we see someone else’s success, to dismiss our own potential, and think “It can’t happen for me”.
That’s why in our episode today, I’m taking you back about 25 years, to when I was the most broke I’ve ever been in my life. I couldn’t pay my rent, I was living off credit cards, I had no idea where my next dollar was coming from.
Back then I could also have chosen to believe that success was just not for me, and that this was my life. But instead I chose a lot of things that other people thought were “irresponsible” – such as continuing my daily stop at Starbucks.
I tell you what they have in common in our episode today in a really cute story about my nephew. I kind of went off script, but I couldn’t help but giggle about it!
When his fridge broke down in his rental apartment, he was elated that it wasn’t his problem as his landlord replaced it that morning, and as a homeowner looking around at my own appliances I realized “Heck, these are all out of warranty now, and when they break they WILL be my problem”.
Then I remembered when I crossed the threshold from renter to homeowner what a wakeup call it was to me as from shovelling snow, to trash removal, to leaks, to appliances, everything was my responsibility.
It was a very similar journey that I went on when I transitioned from employee to entrepreneur. And if you’ve made that leap – recently or not so recently, it’s always a good idea from time to time to do a quick check in with yourself to make sure you’ve left that employee mindset behind.
It’s so frustrating when your income just won’t grow beyond a certain level and it starts to feel like you have a job, with a paycheque, and a boss who just won’t give you a raise no matter how hard you work.
Or maybe you did break your plateau and had a record month in sales and income, and now not only can you NOT replicate it, your income in the following months has dropped dramatically, and you’re worried that maybe it’s about to dry up and you’re wondering
This week I’m really excited to bring you a VERY special episode of Living Forward TV.
Last month, my husband and I spent a week at an AH-Mazing private island in Belize. The first 4 days were for a retreat with my own mentor, and then we added a couple of extra days of R&R at the end of it.
While I was there and reflecting on a few things, I was inspired to record a video. I originally recorded it for my closed Facebook Community. And as the message is so important, we decided to make it a full episode of Living Forward TV.
If you’re struggling to get your clients to say “Yes” to you, and find yourself not charging what you want to charge, or fearing that people won’t pay what you know your service is truly worth, then you’ll want to watch! It’s definitely a bit of tough love and I know some may not be comfortable with what I’m saying, however I’m COMMITTED to your success, and that means no holding back.
And if you find that YOU are the one who is uncomfortable, accept this video in the spirit of love it is given. And know, that what triggers us most, is usually exactly where we need to go to grow. And if this message gets to the heart of what’s holding you back, then it’s served you.
