10 Years of Business Lessons–Chapter 5: Oops! Did I Sell the Wrong Program?

On February 27, 2017, I will celebrate the 10th-year anniversary of the launch of my second business, Inspired Leaders’ Academy. This is a series of excerpts that tells the story of these ten years to help you navigate these same waters more easily and faster! Read chapters one here, two, three, four.

I did a lot of things right as I launched my second business (unlike my first coaching practice, where I did most things wrong). One of the things I did correctly was give my target audience a single focus for my business: my public speaking training.

They knew what I did and had just one potential action: to learn this methodology. I didn’t have an array of options. I had one. I cannot underscore how key this is! Your business “store front” must indicate just what you do, very clearly, no confusion. And the best way to do that is with a “signature program”; this is, at the start, the identity of your brand.

It bears repeating that being crystal clear with one offering is key to being successful early on. That one offering must be a program that has shape and form: with a name, a specified duration, a process (another key: a proprietary process) and very specific deliverables.

I could go on for an entire book about this, but sometimes less is more, so let me repeat this: early service businesses must guide a targeted market to just one main offering that teaches a proprietary methodology.

But eventually, a solo practice wants to develop an “ascension” business model. This means that you
create a second program (with name, duration, proprietary process and deliverables) that your clients/students from your initial signature program “ascend into.” In this new program, they are learning the next set of skills, or moving to the next level of transformation.

This is something Harv Eker taught us, though he called it having a “progressive line up of services.” Long ago, I began calling it the “ascensions model.” Same thing. To grow (vs. launch) your business, this is a must. Why? Because rather than always searching for a new client, you want to me smart and keep a client as long as possible. This reduces your marketing costs and the headaches that come with it, for one thing, but is another stream of income.

About three years into my business, I began to see a glaring need in those who were attending my public speaking training. Many would hire me to help develop their “experiences” (I taught them to use this word in place of ‘presentation,’ ‘workshop,’ ‘seminar,’ etc.) and the problem was revealed when I asked where the experience fit in the strategy of their business.

“I don’t know what you mean,” they would say. Essentially, they just wanted to give any old workshop or talk; they wanted to get out there with something.

I asked them what they hoped the talk would accomplish, what would folks do as a result of attending? To answer that, though, they had to know who would be attending. Most of them didn’t know. They thought in terms of “people,” not a targeted group. Then, when we discussed content, it had no theme consistent with their business; they really had no brand identity. Their “experience” was not going to clarify who they were.

Oh, boy, I thought. Have I been selling the wrong program? They’re not ready for the material in my public speaking training—their businesses aren’t strategically developed!

And so, I created my second program, which while logically should have preceded the public speaking content, was offered to those who had attended that training. My ascension model had begun.

I was smart enough, though, to offer this new program to those on my list who had never attended Secrets of Impact and Influence and soon I was teaching “12 Sentences” to new as well as familiar folks.

“12 Sentences” was unique. As a communication strategist, I knew that only good thinking can produce good articulation. And I knew that good articulation (what the business achieves and how it is different from all others) was job number one for any business owner. But for some reason, few understand how inadequate their articulation is.

So, this virtual group class rolled up their sleeves and dove into some seriously tough thinking, using my Nine Strategic Inquiries Manual as a guide.  Then, the course required them to take all of that good thinking and cogently answer 12 questions in single sentences.

These were the questions prospects wanted to hear the most. I knew that when a business owner can articulate in single sentences, s/he knows the business cold. This program was aimed at getting people to know, and then describe powerfully, the value and distinction of their business…cold.

For one year, I led both Secrets of Impact & Influence and 12 Sentences, and then phased out SII as a live training in 2012. This is when I was learning a few very important things about the needs of my market. The most important was that of all of the 12 sentences they had to craft, one stood out as the hardest. It was nearly impossible for them to answer: How are you different from everyone else?

I have exceptionally high standards for that answer and very few in the class were meeting them. I was not okay with this. They were; they thought they had a unique differentiation because what they had was so much improved over what they’d had. But I knew they could have something much, much better.

But how to get it for them? It took a while for me to make a pivotal decision for my business. I remember telling a colleague what it was, who responded, “Your integrity is going to cost you.”

I’ll tell you what it is next chapter. This is a question you may face, too.


So, what are you taking away from this chapter? Here is a summary. Be sure.
..

  1. your business has a single focus
  2. and that it is a program–with a name, duration, deliverables and…
  3. …a proprietary process.
  4. Be sure to develop an ascension business model
  5. that your business is strategically developed!
  6. that it is different from everything else offered in your field!
  7. that you have done rigorous thinking before you articulate your value!
  8. that you never forget this: Articulating your value is job #1!!! You need to be able to do it in single cogent and concise sentences. And never assume you are doing it well unless you get conversions.

“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”
-George Bernard Shaw

Words That Impact and Influence

The other day, a talk radio guest was speaking about inmates and said starkly that “having a portion of our population in cages” impacts all of us deeply. I’ve heard the term “prison,” “jail,” “correctional facility,” and “cell” to describe where our inmates live, but never the term “cage.” It is a word that brings a vivid picture to mind that I have not been able to forget—an image that none of the other words (some could call them euphemisms)—have ever painted for me, and therefore, have had little to no emotional impact on me. The word “cages” sparked an outrage and an awakening in me.

Last August, my guy and I were in Jasper, British Columbia and saw the most astonishing sight—not a moose and not a bear, both of which we truly were
hoping to see—but a species of a whole other kind, one that exists no where else in North America: police cars with Peace Officers painted on the sides.
And guess what? The label has—like all labels do—trickled down into their very behavior.

I was double-parked in the town one afternoon and one pulled up alongside me. I was immediately awash with guilt (conditioning) and fully expecting him
to scold me. I waved that I was sorry and was about to move. He smiled broadly and waved back, as if to say, “No worries. I was just checking in to see if you were all right.” A Peace Officer indeed. Words are powerful things.

There isn’t a place in our lives—not even in the privacy of our own minds— where words do not exist. They are our lives. They inform our behavior, our choices, our reactions. Words matter because words affect. They either affect nothing because they’re lame–or they influence; they “spark”—revolutions, awakenings, action, transformation, as evidenced by my two examples above.

As a business owner, words are your business. You don’t have a business without words: you’ve gathered words to help you think about what you do,
and summoned words to describe what you do. You speak words in networking events, presentations and videos–and you write words, on websites, blogs and social media. And they either cause no effect—or they influence.

Washington spends millions of dollars hiring political consultants to form the right words to convey the ideas they seek to promulgate. A change was made years ago to change the label for Democrats from “liberal” to “progressive.”
Words shift and shape entire world views and, again, millions of dollars is spent on word architects to do that job because leaders have infinite respect for the art and science of persuasive language, for the truth that there are cold words and warm words; clinical words and emotional words; abstract words and vivid words—and they know if they get it wrong, they lose the race.

Same with you: if you get your word-choice wrong in presenting your business, you lose the race. There’s simply no way around it. It’s not smart to be in denial about that. Words matter. At the same time, it can also be hugely liberating to know that the most likely reason you’re struggling at all is because you’re choosing the wrong words.

wordscostyou

 

I have studied the microscopic subtleties of language and written prolifically
my whole life, starting with my first short-story in first grade, then moving into
poetry, then onto copywriting on Madison Avenue, then onto novel writing,
then non-fiction writing, then back into copywriting for my business and my
clients.

If there’s one thing I know, it’s words. And my passion—my crazy, soul-bursting
passion—is language that influences. Because I want to change this world
and words are the things that do it.

Words that “spark.”

Words

Last week, I led a Linked-In
discussion
and spotted instantly
words that said nothing and
therefore did nothing
. Here’s
an example.

 

One woman wrote in her elevator pitch: I work with women who struggle with
what I call the [
I’ve changed this name to protect her privacy] “Marie Antoinette
Syndrome:” successful career women who have difficulties with their interpersonal
relationships. I help them develop empowering solutions that transform their situation
or circumstances.”

Here’s what I wrote her (after a few kind words):

XX, there are some unclear words that you want to define: “difficulties”
and “transform.” (I’m wondering if you meant “transform”? Even if you
did, that would need to be better clarified.)

Here’s a tip I give often: You want your words to bring clear pictures to
mind. But not just ANY picture, the SAME picture–to 1,000 people. If your
words mean something different to all 1,000 people, you will get puzzled
looks and worse, polite phrases like, “I’ll think about it.”

So, the problem is that the world “difficulties” will mean something
different to 1,000 people. You want to mean the SAME thing to all 1,000,
which will begin to happen if you define the types of difficulties. “Difficulty
expressing love
” perhaps or “Difficulty keeping friendships.” These bring
pictures to mind–and while 1,000 people may imagine these two types
of difficulties slightly differently, it’s far clearer than before.

And then, you want to add an explanation for why they’re having that
difficulty (i.e. expressing love): “because ____” (because they grew up
in a motherless household
), which further spotlights who your market is,
which is essential.

And as for the word “transform”–it doesn’t mean anything at without a
qualifier. So, insert the word “by ____” and explain how you help them
transform: “by examining their fear of intimacy” for instance. This would
highlight your specialty.

What words are you putting out there—into the public—that just don’t do the job
of influencing? It’s scary to think about, given how constant the flow of words are
in business. Are you getting it right?

To see if a free class is available at this time, click here..
WordsThatSparkBlue

 

This free class will illuminate for you, by way of example, words that spark people
to act and to BUY—and words that do NOT! If you want to bring your best articulation
to the table for a chance under my scalpel, I’ll be opening the lines for that.

Let me leave you with these words.

“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are
no exceptions to this rule.”

Stephen King

“As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds
of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

And I will add: “Words can repel, bore, confuse and distract. To succeed,
you’ve got to get them right!”

Freedom to Lead Series 5: Freedom from “No Thanks.”

This 10-day video series honors our Independence Day here in the States–July 4; honors the determination our forefathers had to be free by looking at the freedoms entrepreneurial thought leaders must claim in order to be successful in business and in changing the world.

In this fifth video, we look at the dreaded excuse we get from prospect, “No, thanks.” What can you do to be free of this??? Watch and find out!

[youtube width=”640″ height=”480″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haB9V7BOybs&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

A NEW Kind of “TLC” on Valentine’s Day for the Service Entrepreneur

Happy Valentine’s Day! “Tender” isn’t the word used to describe me as a consultant (as in Tender Loving Care). In fact, a recent student of mine referred to me as a passionate pit-bull. So, I don’t have anything tender for you this Valentine’s Day, but I do have a NEW meaning for TLC, that definitely expresses my love for you.

A couple of weeks ago, a client of mine referred to me as a thought leader–which I accepted gratefully and humbly–in the same instant that I clapped a hand to my head and thought, “I build Inspired Leaders…but to be much more specific, they are Inspired Thought Leaders! So, the TLC I’m giving you this Valentine’s Day is: Thought Leader Clarity….namely, the 12 Steps to Thought Leader Clarity! (TLC!)

[Read more…]

Inspired Leaders’ Academy Launches!

 

 

 

 

 

Do you feel an unrelenting, driving purpose to contribute to the empowerment
of the planet…and a clarity that that purpose should be manifested as a business,
not a hobby or volunteer cause…and a business that must succeed because your
mission
is that important to the world…and because freedom, creativity and
autonomy is that important to your spirit? Do you have a powerful belief that
things in the world can be changed–and must be changed—and that we’re all
here
, at this critical point in history, to change them? And that YOU are here at
this critical time in history to help LEAD that change with a penetrating message
…on a much bigger stage than any you’ve stood on before? And…are you
determined to do whatever it takes?

Inspired Leaders’ Academy is your home: The Definitive Business School for
Visionary Entrepreneurs Changing the World.

It’s fitting to launch this new venture on Martin Luther King Jr’s official birthday.
He was, of course, one of the great inspired leaders of our times, and Inspired
Leaders’ Academy is dedicated to building a “special forces unit” of leaders
dedicated to empowering the world to higher ground…visionary entrepreneurs
ready to break the rules, thrive in a business, and change  the world their message.

I’ve built the Academy to be specifically designed for you–because as a business
owner called to change the world, there’s something you need to know: you are in a DIFFERENT BUSINESS than the vast majority of other service-based entrepreneurs
and so you must DO business differently. And it’s critical that you build or reinvent
your business inside  of a curriculum that understands that difference, or you’ll
spend years you can’t afford on the wrong track.

Your messaging is more important for you than for any other type of entrepreneur
out there…

At Inspired Leaders’ Academy, you build a business empire based on your one-of-
a-kind inspirational leadership message. The free training video on the homepage
explains not just how ILA is different, but it goes into the 5 ways you are different
from all other business owners, the 6 ways you must DO business differently, the
6-step “sales path” you need your prospects to walk in order for you to build a
thriving business that changes the world, and the 8-step path *you* must walk in
order to manifest that sales path. It’s a lot of  essential information. I hope you’ll
go watch it now.

Here’s to 2012 and the outrageous potential within you to change the world with
your message!!!

Leaders of Change: The Future of Entrepreneurship

In my last post, I cracked the moral whip, taking a zero-tolerance
stance on “how-to experts” who earn a living sharing their expertise,
without ever learning the expertise of teaching. I made it clear
that I find doing so irresponsible and glaringly out of alignment with
their professed intention of wanting to help others. No one is being
helped by an expert who doesn’t know how to successfully transfer
knowledge. And I ruffled a few (not many, but a few) feathers,
clearly hitting a nerve.

So, let’s leave morality behind and get practical. Teaching power-
fully is the difference between a message sticking, and a message
evaporating into thin air. Teaching effectively is the difference between
your viewers, readers or listeners taking the action you want them
to, and slipping away into oblivion. Teaching well is the difference
between their buying on the spot, and procrastinating. Contributing,
and making excuses. Participating full-on, and sitting on the bench.
Telling others about you, and remaining silent. If you got triggered
by my wrist-slapping the other day, you can certainly agree with the
common sense fact that teaching well is good for your reputation,
your business and your intention to stimulate action.

But I believe there is a critical purpose to teaching effectively that is
greater than the moral value and the benefits to your business—and
it has to do with the historic times we find ourselves in, and what
they mean for the future of entrepreneurs.

Have you noticed the once-incomprehensible changes that are happening
on the planet right now? Upheavals of almost every kind abound, and
with them come growing fear and uncertainty. And whether you realize
it or not, your role as a business owner is changing, too. Where once,
you were in service to your individual markets—now, you’re in service to
the planet. Your role as entrepreneur is being upgraded to “leader of
change.”
I met an 85-year-old woman the other night who was terribly
excited about the GET ON YOUR FEET2011 movement I’ve launched,
and she added a new word to my lexicon: world-citizen. In these times,
we are being called to world-citizenship as businesses.

Which means we will be called forward to lead–on platforms we’ve
never stood on before.

And we must be worthy of that leadership. We must communicate
so potently and effectively, that our words of insight get through, and
move people to change with these changing times. It is essential that
we not waste a breath speaking, unless it impacts. As a leader of change,
everything we convey must count. And that is the most important
reason to teach with powerful effectiveness. Not just because it’s morally
responsible (which it is), or because it will make you more money (which
it will)—but because you are here to achieve something and become a
part of something bigger than you, and its success is imperative.

The “new world” we are so quickly inhabiting will require powerful new
leaders with new-paradigm qualifications
. Teaching with excellence
will be just one.

On Thursday, February 24 at 4pm EST, I am doing something I have
never done. (You’ve heard that one before, right?) I’m serious, though. For
years, I’ve taught a revolutionary public speaking training based on brain
research in memory and learning
. Secrets of Impact and Influence
has been an enduring and highly acclaimed signature program—that I only
give live. Outside that training, I have never so much as whispered to any-
one the secrets I teach there—and all of my attendees have been sworn to
the same code of honor.  But on Feb. 24, I am opening up the Secrets of
Impact & Influence
manual and teaching page 13: The 10 “Don’t-Bother
-Teaching-Without-These” Factors of Deep and Rapid Learning
.

And because I’ll be using all 10 factors, The Inspired Speakers teleclass is
going to be unlike ANY free call (or paid call!) you have EVER experienced.

If you’re an expert, you cannot miss this. If you’re an entrepreneur, this
is your future
: leaders of change must know this information. So go now,
read all about it and sign up!

How I Came to My Senses After a Fainting Spell and 2 Shady Mechanics

So, I fainted in Target on Sunday. Out of the blue.
And no, it wasn’t because of the great sales. In fact,
they say it was dehydration, but whatever it was, it
was scary. I had the oddest symptoms for about an
hour before I crumpled in a heap somewhere between
kitchenware and bedding. I found out it was due to
loss of oxygen to my brain; apparently we traverse
weird territory without our requisite O2—and for
sure, I thought I was going crazy. Then, without
warning, boom, a man’s kneeling over me,
asking if I know why I fell.
“I didn’t even know
I DID fall,” I answer, groggily looking from left to
right. Soon, I was surrounded by paramedics, police
officers and Target managers bracing themselves for
a lawsuit. Because I hit my head very hard on (something;
no one knows because there were no witnesses—but,
man, does that bump still hurt!) I was escorted onto
a hard, orange plastic gurney and fit cozily with a

neck brace. Off we went, sirens wailing, to the hospital
for tests.

It turned out that every blasted test came back normal
—which is what one typically strives for, I know—but
when you’ve interrupted your family members’ lives,
not to  mention your own all-important shopping
spree, you want something to explain the hours in
the ER. But, alas, I was diagnosed with syncope
otherwise known as fainting—and released to my
own recognizance. Such as it is.

As I was reclining back at home, my ex and signifi-
cant other took my VW to the dealership to have
them resolve an odd sluggishness I’d been experi-
encing. After sleeping eleven hours that night, (and
not one of them on my left-hand side because of
the massive bulb on the side of my head), I headed
over to the dealership to await my car’s release. And
that’s when I got the female treatment. I’ll spare
you the details, but suffice it to say there was some
unmistakable shady activity going on. Ten minutes
after I declined a $400 additional service, I was told
that the issue had, remarkably, “disappeared.” All was
fine. Then, a moment later, they came back to say
that they had a used part in stock from another car

and could slip that in to replace my faulty one. Had
I gone ahead and accepted the $400 job, do you
think I would have been told of the free used
part
? Or that the issue had miraculously disappeared?

I’ve been feeling increasing disgust over the corruption
and secrets
so prevalent in our world today—not

just on Wall Street, and in government; Big Business,
“corporate media,” our religious institutions, etc.—
but also in “small business”: the shallow and greed-
based antics playing out in internet marketing
every da
y. Having my own mechanics try to shaft
me was a tipping point for me and I decided to make
some changes in my own business. I have always
been honest and trustworthy as a business owner,
but I was following many of the Internet Information
Gurus—and this week, I unsubscribed from a vast
majority of them
. I decided they’re too slick and
phony for me; they’re the “Internet Hollywood Scene.”
The few hours in the ER, not knowing what was wrong
with me, plus the massive knock to my head, brought
me to my senses:
I’m “leaving the pack,” “escaping
the wannabees
” once again, no longer aspiring to
rub elbows with them, proverbially “sleep with them”
to get to the next level, attend their parties or adapt
their business-building strategies. (Which are, on
another note, entirely cookie-cutter, have you noticed?)

I don’t want to make money by gouging other people
of their hard-earned money. (And I never have.) Isn’t
that what the banks do? I don’t want to make money
by hosting a seminar that’s really a pitch-fest. I believe
that’s called bait-and-switch. I don’t want to make
money from obscenely inflated home-study products
or memberships. And I don’t want to tell my daughter
I made money following. Inspired Leaders don’t
follow
, they lead through inspiration. I got seduced
by the glitter and glam—but now know that all that
glitters is not gold.

I have created a questionnaire over at Survey
Monkey
, to see if my own experience reflects the
“zeitgeist,” the energy in the culture right now, about
slick, internet information marketing. You know
–the guys and women making millions of dollars on
$20,000 – $100,000 yearly memberships, claiming
they can “teach” (ha!) and “coach” (ha!). Have
you had it, too? Do they feel like shallow, slick, plastic
Hollywood types? Do you want to learn from a different
type of leader? If so, what type?

I promise to share the comments from your
peers in an upcoming blog.

By the way, in case you’re wondering: I’m doing fine…
except for the nasty bump and the bruises on my
leg and knee. I’ll be going to a cardiologist for a
“table test,” just to ensure that I don’t have a
propensity for losing oxygen to the brain. But I expect
everything to come out normal. After all, I’m still
young! In fact, the best part of the whole experience
was my daughter grumbling to me as we sat in my
ER room: “Everyone’s asking me if you’re my
sister.

It was all worth it for that!

Please
click here to take my “Have You Had It With
The Internet
Hollywood Scene?” survey.

� 2011-14 Inspired Leaders Academy. All Rights Reserved.