Sandra Martini's Success Strategies

When Leverage Becomes a Liability

The title of today's article sounds a bit like an oxymoron -- after all, leverage is that thing we all strive for in business. . .how can it possibly become a liability?

 

A few examples. . .

 

In coaching

 

There's been a trend over the past year or so to create high ticket "platinum" programs and hire someone else to run them.

 

It makes sense from a leverage standpoint -- less of your time (someone else runs the calls, answers the emails), more revenue (it's a high ticket program -- usually over $10,000 -- and is quicker than making/selling products) and you only show up for live retreats (built in celebrity status).

 

Clients join the program for access to you because of what you've done, your reputation, etc. The leverage you gain comes with the cost of how your clients feel about the arrangement.

 

From a client perspective, why would I pay a "high ticket" price to you to be coached by Coach X when I could hire Coach X on my own for less money and more personal access?

Generate more revenue by hiring a support team

Is your "to do" list longer than your arm? Are you so busy taking care of the urgent that you never get to the important? Do you consider the thought of getting some help but then think "I can't afford it" or "No one can do it as well as I can"?

If so, you've got a lot in common with most other small business owners.

Owning your own business is a great achievement and requires you to wear a lot of hats: owner, marketer, finance manager, widget maker/service provider, etc.

Wearing all these hats eventually leads to a state of burnout or overwhelm and the love, the passion for what made you start your own business in the first place drowns in all the details.

Right Left Why BOTH Sides of Your Brain are Critical to Business Success

After chatting with a colleague for about 30 minutes last week, he said to me "Thanks for this call -- I feel like both my left and right brains were satisfied."

I laughed, told him that I felt the exact same way and forgot about it until walking the dogs this morning.

It dawned on me then that one of the secrets of success is to be able to tap into both sides of our brain as needed.

And while I generally think of myself as "left brained", that's not entirely true and the same goes for those who believe themselves to be largely "right brained".

When F-R-E-E Isn't. . .

These days everyone and his sister is offering a FR*EE report, audio, ezine, teleclass, Facebook group, etc., all designed to get us *on the list* so we can be marketed to again and again.

But all these *FR*EE* goodies aren't actually FR*EE:

• They take time and energy to read and digest • In many cases, they make us feel more overwhelmed • They take time away from the actions we should be taking "in", and "on", our businesses • In many cases, they try to upsell you to something else

It's time to be hyperselective about who you give your time, attention and energy to while unsubscribing from the rest -- after all, you can read their blogs when you want to catch up with them.

Is it time to hire yourself?

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Have you heard the story about the cobbler whose children had no shoes? Or the auto mechanic whose cars desperately needed attention?

The same is true for business owners.

We're often SO caught up in caring for our clients and managing the day-to-day of our businesses, that we can neglect to give our business the same care we would a paying client.

After my recent private client retreat, I realized that while I certainly have written plans and goals for my business and systems in place so that things operate more efficient- and effectively, it's been a while since I've taken my business through the "break it down, build it up" process we went through.

And so I hired myself.

Are you taking a bandaid approach to a terminal disease?

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In chatting with a new client recently, she described the great teleclass series she hosted last month and how much revenue she earned from it and the one she has coming next month.

When going over her monthly revenue for the year-to-date, she quickly realized that she'd been bandaiding a much more serious problem in her business: the lack of consistent, month-after-month revenue.

Whenever she needed cash, she'd host a teleclass series, put on a webinar, offer a sale, etc.

The above was great for short-term, immediate cash flow, but did nothing for the long term success of her business. In fact, it hurt her business as she noticed that each subsequent launch was bringing her less and less cash.

You see, in addition to earning less revenue, her friends and followers were able to feel the desperation behind each of her efforts.

This is what I refer to as taking a bandaid approach to a terminal disease.

Terminal that is, until you decide to do something about it. . .which we quickly did.

If you find yourself in the position of adding a quick series, service, product or program whenever you need revenue as opposed to having it consistently come in day after day, week after week, you're suffering from the Entrepreneurial Myth.

The Myth that you can whip out a few products, host a few calls and become an instant millionaire and that the *next* product will be *THE* product.

Fact is, building and growing a sustainable business takes time and consistent effort.

Make It Real – My Request to You

Chances are, you’ve spent thousands of dollars buying products and attending workshops looking for that *one thing*, that one big idea which will catapult your business into the next income level, only to find that after finishing the product or returning home from the event, very little changes.

So what are you to do?

1. Write a business plan – I’m not talking about a 40-page monstrosity, but rather a very simple 1-2 page document which outlines your business focus, mission and revenue goal
2. Plot the revenue – so you want to earn $300,000 this year in gross revenue? WHERE is it coming from? What percentage of your revenue will come from product sales? Coaching programs? Membership/continuity programs? Speaking/hosting teleseminars? You want to start with 2-3 income streams (don’t worry. . .you can add more once these are up and consistently producing)
3. Write a marketing action plan – now that you know the “what” and the “how much”, it’s time to determine the “from where”. . .where will your clients come from? What specific steps will you take to attract new clients?
4. Determine your Extreme Client Care™ plan – GREAT! You’ve got the clients, now how are you going to keep them and have them referring everyone to you?

Ultimately, my request to you is to stop bandaiding you business and start building a long term, sustainable business which will exceed all of your revenue expectations. Are you ready to go for it?

Credibility GONE – Are you risking yours by doing this?

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Imagine your excitement: You just gave up your credit card info and plunked down money on a product from someone you've been following for a while, maybe even someone you've bought from before and really admire.

You're enjoying that instant post-purchase euphoria -- after all, THIS is the product you've been waiting for.

A week goes by. . .no product.

"It's okay", you tell yourself, "there's a reason they call it 'snail mail' after all".

Two weeks. . .no product.

"It will be here any day", you tell yourself, excitement starting to wane just a little.

A month. . .still no product.

Now you're getting worried. You email the company who tells you that it's not quite finished or is at the printer's and will ship in 2 weeks.

Another month goes by. . .no product and no communication.

Now you ask yourself: "Is there even a product?"

Another email to the company and another promise that it will ship in "2 weeks".

Another month and still no product, no communication.

At some point, you start to lose faith. All the good will that this company/entrepreneur has built up through their ezine, Twitter and Facebook connecting, f'ree teleseminars, etc. is quickly dwindling.

All because someone didn't plan properly (I'm assuming that when this happens, it's not malicious and is simply a case of poor planning).

As a consumer, your options are simple:

1. Ask for a refund or
2. Write the company owner and ask for an update then decide whether to stick it out or ask for a refund
3. Decide how this will affect your relationship with the company going forward

As the business owner who created the product, you have a lot more work to do:

1. Start to repair the damage done to your, and your company's, reputation by PERSONALLY emailing everyone affected with an apology and update (it's the least you can do).
2. Offer your clients something for their inconvenience -- a bonus product, a 15-minute call, whatever you feel is appropriate for the situation.
3. Ship the darn product -- move Heaven and Earth to get that product priority mailed, at a minimum, immediately and with a note of apology.
4. Figure out what went wrong and fix it so it doesn't happen again. . .ever! After all, you've spent countless hours building your reputation and now you need to repair it.

Many business owners frequently sell products before they're finished -- after all, it helps with the production and marketing costs and lets them know how much inventory to order.

Whether or not I agree with this practice, doesn't matter.

What does matter is that if you choose to do this, you want to be sure you know the ACTUAL date of shipment and stay in frequent communication with your clients so they know what's going on.

Make It Real -- My Request to You

There's so much talk about business owners being "authentic" and "in integrity" and that's great -- it makes us all feel warm and fuzzy inside.

However, there are times when the reality differs from the intent, no matter how good the intention was.

My request to you is to PLAN and remember Murphy's Law and plan some time in for mishaps, delays, etc.

Practicing Extreme Client Care(tm) means underpromising and overdelivering whenever possible and it's this which will gain you the love and trust of your clients.

Where do you go from here?

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Just yesterday I was talking with a new client who’s invested thousands of dollars on programs, plans and info products and came to me asking “What should I do?” as she was so overwhelmed with all the options and wanted to get the *right* things done in order to achieve her goals.

In a time when information – good and bad – surrounds us and we’re hit (it actually feels like I’m being hit sometimes) with thousands of marketing messages every day around what we should do with our business, it’s no wonder you’re confused about the best way to get where you’re going.

Mapquest gives you a choice when it comes to driving directions:

• Shortest distance or
• Scenic route

I’m guessing you want the “shortest distance” to your business goals as opposed to the longer scenic route.

Knowing that, it’s time to decide which steps, in which specific order will get you there:

1. Write – don’t type -- a list of all your goals (there’s a greater connection to our desires when we write them out)
2. Put each goal on a separate piece of paper
3. Write the projects which will culminate in the completion of each goal
4. Decide which goal you want to work on FIRST (now I know you want more than one, but you can only do one thing well at a time, so pick a #1)
5. Decide which project within that goal you want work on FIRST
6. Write a list of tasks/action steps for that project – complete with timeframes
7. Delegate what you can to your team
8. Do what only you can do (if you don’t yet have a team, prioritize the tasks – there is usually a natural order to these)
9. Take this goal as far as you can and move on to the next

It’s key to remember that no matter how much you “want it all”, you’ll get there quicker by picking one thing, getting it done and moving on to the next. The “all” will come before you know it.

And if you’re confused about which goal/project to start first?

Answer this one question: “What *pain* keeps you up at night or which goal makes you giddy with joy?” and you’ve got your first goal.

If you want help sorting out which priority is THE priority or need to brainstorm the right steps to get you there, you’ll want to see if a strategy session with me works for you.

Integrity -- Has It Lost Its Meaning?

From www.Dictionary.com, the word "integrity" means:

1.	adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2.	the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3.	a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

Looking at the first definition only and then PAYING ATTENTION to several online businesses, I have to ask, has the definition changed?

For example, one online business recently promoted that there were only X number of a physical product available so "get it before we run out".

Subsequent emails trying to get us to buy and showing how many more were sold (plus other calls the business owner was on pitching the product), added up to almost double the original "get 'em before we're sold out" quantity.

The issue for me -- aside from the blatant untruths -- is that this business owner, like so many others out there, preaches and teaches the concept of integrity.  It's become a case of "do what I say, not what I do".

This is just one example, I could easily cite many more.

You could ask, so who's being hurt by the above scenario...particularly if it's a good product/service/whatever and has the potential to help many people.

My answer is simple: All of us. 

After all, there are better, more honest ways of doing business and if someone is willing to lie (let's stop dancing and call it what it is) about something as small as "how many widgets" they have to sell, what about the bigger things?

I'd love to hear your thoughts as I have some pretty strong opinions around this topic and I know they may not resonate with everyone.

What do John Cena & Wrestling have to do with your business?

My 15-year-old nephew is a fan of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and of John Cena (one of their stars) in particular. 

This weekend, while flipping through stations, I kept seeing an ad for WWE's Extreme Rules pay-per-view and pictures of Cena wearing a t-shirt with "HLR" on it.  So last night, when WWE was coming on, I hopped over to see what the "HLR" was for.

Turns out it's for Hustle - Loyalty - Respect -- these are the tenets by which John Cena's character lives.

Think about that for a second: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.

Pretty good, wouldn't you agree?

While I never would have thought my business had anything to do with wrestling, it absolutely does.

Here's how I incorporate those words into my business and life:

Hustle -- Implement and take action quickly, as if your life depends on it because, quite frankly, your business life DOES depend on it.

Loyalty -- Remain loyal to your business by remembering that YOU are its owner and responsibility for its success or failure rests with you and remain loyal to your clients and customers by treating them with the utmost...

Respect -- Your clients are people, not a tribe, not a herd, and not dollar signs.  They are real people who each have a unique gift and your *job* is to help them fully impact the world by using YOUR gift.

So how will you incorporate H-L-R into your life, starting today?