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I’m thrilled to report that my first free webinar last week attracted over 50 participants and that every space available for my upcoming program sold.
In my own business and the businesses of my colleagues, and what I see in the world at large, we must keep trying out different offerings and seeing what works.
We’re throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Boiling that water. Dropping in the pasta. Tossing it at the wall. Noticing what happens, then rinsing and repeating. This is the new normal.
When money was more plentiful, there were resources to try everything. But now, everyone is more conservative, so businesses are out there looking for the sweet spot for their audience.
Groupon is an example. A woman in the business-building course I took last spring offered her services at a fraction of their cost using that method. She got dozens of takers to try out her feng shui talents. Whether or not they ‘stuck’ as real clients at full fee was yet to be seen.
My son told me that Bonobos, a retail clothing site he loves, offers deals on twitter for limited time periods.
My sponsors for last week’s lunch talk experimented in their contract with me so that the risk was divided up amongst all of us. It paid off, and we all walked away satisfied. This is an era of experimentation, re-creation and re-defining success.
I’m still offering 1:1 coaching, Mastermind Groups, my Remarkable Women’s Network events and speaking engagements. Using the metaphor of the slot machine, these are coming up with two dollar signs and a cherry. The results of my first webinar offer created the ding-ding-ding jackpot I’d been striving for. I’ll continue to have the other pieces of my business model, but my attention will be on expanding the webinar classes in the near future.
I’ve worked with Arlyn over the course of a few different Mastermind Groups and have seen an evolution and unfolding of her imagination and skills that reinforces why I do this work. I’m not sure if everyone has the 20-20 vision to see the artist inside the corporate headhunter, but I am blessed with that talent.
Fortunately, Arlyn gave me the opportunity to challenge her creativity. I’ll never forget her surprised, awed and excited reaction to an early homework assignment: Come to our next session with 100 swatches of knitting patterns you’ve created. It unleashed her inner artist, took away any judgment about her work since volume was the desired outcome, and put her into action mode, something she’d been resisting. You know, that analysis paralysis thing.
Arlyn was wearing this same cool knitted scarf as seen above and in the video (click on her name to see Arlyn live) when I remember her telling me she was having growing pains in her business. She wondered when they would end. “When you stop growing,” I reassured her.
In my current skill building around coaching relationships I learned a term for the space between where you are and where you want to be: edge. Two examples in my manual are:
- Trying on a new idea or perspective.
- Being a shy person and choosing to speak up.
I certainly know the feeling and suspect you do, too. That’s where the word edgy comes up–that uncomfortable place between who you are now and who you’d like to become.
The illustration in the manual is an upside-down V. Over the holidays I received a delightful holiday card from my friend and colleague Janet Siegenthaler bearing an illustration by her son Max. It was a more memorable representation than the one in my fancy notebook illustrating the unstable and scary place between those worlds. There’s the “skier” whose primary identity (shy person) is on the left. the secondary identity (one who speaks up) on the right and an arrow crossing the peak of the V pointing from the primary to the secondary. When we’re poised on the top of that mountain, it’s a tenuous place. That’s where I come in.
I want to offer my services (again) to a handful of willing participants so I can practice coach this new skill. I made a similar offer back in October after my first course with great results. Here’s a second offer with this particular skill in mind:
Again I want to practice, practice, practice. Get ready for a bargain! The first 10 people who take me up on this will get a session for $25 to discuss an edge they’d like to focus on–making more money, moving into a new arena, committing to writing THE BOOK, whatever your edge is in ’09.
The specifics:
(This offer is SOLD OUT. Watch for future ones after my classes in late January, mid-February and late March.)
- A 30-minute (to one hour session) to get support for an edge you’d like to cross over.
- Sessions are by phone at a mutually convenient time.
- Calls can be with you as an individual discussing a relationship, or you with and the other person–an edge a partnership or relationship wants to move into.
- Sample session rate offer: $25 payable by credit card
In 2009 I’ll be taking three more courses in this area, stay tuned for future offers. First come, first served!
…Mastermind Group member Nikki Bates (see 11/10 post) recently sold a piece of her jewelry for close to $10,000. We track goals of each participant from when they enter my group until the final meeting. One of her earliest goals this session was to create a show-stopper–a piece that she creatively and joyfully designed without budget consideration. That was the necklace that sold.
When I was exhibiting my art I always had a show-stopper to attract attention to my booth, to woo that special shopper who wanted something totally unique and to expand my range. Also, when you have a piece that is 5-10 times your normal price point, it creates a different perspective for the buyer. When there’s a $750 brooch available, the ones priced at $125 seem far more reasonable by comparison.
It’s always a good idea when pricing your goods and services to have options for your buyers. That’s why I have offers like my Dream Peek Experience which is a stand-alone service (one hour, with a 15 minute follow-up call within 30 days) all the way to a six-month commitment for one-on-one coaching. The prices range from $275 – $2400.
Maybe I should have my own show-stopper for my coaching services: A Day with Jane–$5000. Any takers?!
It doesn’t get any better than this for a client or her coach.
Attending Patti Tower’s View From the Tower Open House on Saturday was like watching a vision unfold. She had several dozen guests and clients visit and purchase items from her new collection of hand-painted and embellished clothing.
Patti has gone from a corporate position to entrepreneurship with grace, delight and a lot of footwork. She articulately summed up her transformation to the cameraman/reporter from Channel 12 News who videotaped her for the program that night. Having recently lost her job with a Fortune 500 company, Patti stands out from that crowd having already seized the reins of entrepreneurship.
Does this look like someone who has found what she’s meant to do?
Whenever I have a big idea that I want to capture, I use a mind-map to dump out everything I’m thinking. It’s a simple and elegant tool I learned way back when I first discovered goal-setting. For me, it’s a non-linear way to brainstorm, and it works.
As you can see from this actual example, it’s an unencumbered format that allows me to see what’s in my brain, write it down with specific activities associated and then transfer each of those activities to a calendar date and time.
When my goal, back in 1999 was to write a book that would become a platform for my speaking career–Soul Proprietor–my mindmap included topics I would write about, how I would approach agents, publishers and promotion. But the very first activity I undertook, which was also on the mindmap, was to purchase and read Elizabeth Lyon’s book so I’d understand how to write a book proposal.
The mindmap shown here is for a party I’m putting together. I’m inviting all of my clients, one-on-one as well as Mastermind Group participants, to an after-the-holidays gathering as my gift to them in January. It’s a reunion for my past groups as well as an opportunity for everyone to meet remarkably successful women. I’m planning to hold it in the brand new studio of a client who had the vision to exhibit her photography in her own studio. What better proof of how the process works than this! More to follow…
I had the privilege of visiting two open houses this past weekend. Successful Mastermind Group clients invited me to their events, both of which were beautifully mounted and exciting to witness.
Carrie Wittenstein, at right with her sons, came to my group with an idea to create products with a philosophy of passing along kindness. She envisioned developing postcards and t-shirts with her message. Take a look at Carrie’s Woudn’t It Be Nice? site to see how she expanded the idea, the b-nice projects she’s created and order some cool stuff while you’re there. Part of Carrie’s vision is to give back, which is exactly what she does when you purchase a Wouldn’t It Be Nice t-shirt or sweatshirt. A donation of $5 is given to her favorite charitable organization when you do.
Carrie’s event was Friday evening. On Saturday I had the privilege of visiting the Loft Artists Association in Stamford, CT where my client Nikki Bates–goldsmith extraordinaire–participated in their open studio weekend.
You’ll have to go to Nikki’s site to see how truly exquisite her jewelry is. When I walked into her studio, a goal she established during one of our sessions, it took my breath away. There stood Nikki looking every inch the successful artist and businesswoman surrounded by her immaculate studio (she swears she cleaned up for company!).
Her showcase was filled to the brim with magnificent gems mounted with style and craftsmanship that is unique to Nikki. In addition, she was being assisted by her mother and mother-in-law. How lucky is she to have two loving women who believe in her so much they lend their time and energy in support!
I came away from these two visits feeling reinforced in my mission to lead remarkable women to their own definitions of success.
In the 10 minutes before my Mastermind Group session started a few weeks ago, my clients were chatting among themselves. The conversation was about me and what happens when others ask them about “working with Jane”.
I was all ears.
There was a lot of energy in the room as they compared notes. I heard that at a recent EWN event someone said to my Mastermind Group participant, “I hear she’s really expensive.”
My client: “Yes, but she’s worth it. This is what I’ve done since I began working with her…It’s changed my life.”
EWN Networker: “I hear she really pushes you.”
My client: “She does, and that’s why I’ve gotten to where I want to be.”
“It’s only pushing if you’re resisting.”
Then I got an email from a past workshop attendee and Mastermind Group client, Jamie Cat Callan, who further captured the experience:
I’ve been writing and publishing since 1978. But I was always the “ARTISTE.” I never publicized or thought about the business aspect of things. I didn’t care about making a living. I was all yin energy.
And then your workshop gave me a big dose of yang! Seriously, you made me understand (and the mastermind group of women) that it’s just plain foolish and unproductive to only take care of the art and neglect the business.
So I do believe that in a roundabout way, I’m on Page Six of The New York Post because you gave me that much-needed little boot in the pants!
I hear this a lot in different versions:
“I’m good at what I do, but I don’t feel good about what I do.”
The bottom line here, I believe, is that the people saying these words are paid a lot of money to do something they’re not particularly passionate about. When I hear the word “should” or watch someone’s pained or dull facial expression as they’re explaining to me why they stay in unhappy work situations–entrepreneurial or corporate–I can’t help myself from reflecting back what I see.
“Where’s the joy? What lights you up?” I ask.
They’re usually confounded by that question. Like working and joy are unrelated. That’s the saddest thing for me to witness.
I surround myself with men and women who wake up each morning raring to get started on their work that day. They LOVE their work, their clients, their vendors. Who doesn’t enjoy being with highly energized, passionate people?
The sad news is that so many men and women who thing that the dollar is the ONLY bottom line in business. They legitimize this with keywords like mortgage, college tuition, gas prices. I don’t spend a lot of time in those conversations.
Here’s the good news: when you’re doing work you love:
- You find creative ways to fund your business. One client started a series of workshops to make up the shortfall from saying no to a lucrative client.
- You need less “stuff” to make you feel good because happiness is generated from within. An extremely creative new client, whose day job is in the financial arena, doesn’t need to pay for as many doctors when she’s pursuing her artistic endeavors.
- You attract opportunities which become increasingly more lucrative because your performance is better in arenas where you’re really happy. (See my recent post on Jill Flynne’s experience.)
Need I say more?
My client, Jill Flynne, is a watercolor artist with a passion for animals. During the course of our coaching sessions it became clear that the positive energy she found in her work with animals needed to have its head. I encouraged her to begin a foundation, which she did.
The NEAFA (New England Artists for Animals) Foundation makes grants to organizations that train and support animals for therapeutic and companion situations. They recently had an opening reception that was beyond Jill’s wildest imagination. In addition to bringing attention to her cause and generating revenues for it, here are some of the other unexpected outcomes:
- I was just interviewed by a new online pet magazine called South Shore Pet…and want to feature NEAFA.
- We’ve been offered space at the annual Arts Walk as well as space inside “Maggie’s Doghouse.”
- We have been offered space to show our work at the New England Wildlife Center.
- I have been offered a show next year of my own work.
- This morning I am off to do my first “art consultant” job.
- I have people seeing our show and calling me to do portraits of their pets.
Other clients may wonder why I encourage them to follow their passion, especially when they don’t have the dots to connect. Jill’s story is a beautiful example of how the Universe blesses us when we honor and follow through on our passions, even when we’re not 100% sure where they’ll lead us.
Jill generously added in her email summation: “You truly discovered my gift and I can’t thank you enough.” What I did was to hold up the mirror and coach her as she heeded the call.
