How your mindset impacts on your pricing

by Andrea Beadle

I was part of a talk at Women in Business the other night where we discussed pricing issues in our businesses.

Clinker Little Accountants did a great session on the maths behind your pricing and showed us how reducing your prices was the absolute worst thing you could do unless you wanted to work a LOT harder for the same money.

Sian from the Ruby Marketers showed us a quick method to work out what your hourly rate needed to be.

And I discussed how your mindset could impact on your pricing.

Our subconscious beliefs impact on everything including our personal life and our business and I led a discussion which was designed to show people how it can show up.

Our brains are very complex and a lot of the time we operate on auto-pilot without even realising it. Our brains control all manner of bodily functions some of which we couldn’t possibly be trusted to control ourselves! For example our heart beats without any conscious effort and our breathing is something we don’t give a moment’s thought to unless for some reason our attention is drawn to it.

Our subconscious mind works in the same way and sometimes we don’t realise just how powerful it is until someone asks us to take a look at the way we think about something.

The Reticular Activator

There is a part of our brain called the “reticular activator” which acts a bit like a filter. If we took in every single piece of information that was around us our brains would go into overload. Each of our senses is bombarded on a regular basis but the reticular activator screens out most of it only allowing through what it thinks is important – and it bases much of that on our beliefs a great many of which are subconscious.

The easiest way to see how this works is to think about any time you have bought something new for example a new car or were (or knew someone that was) expecting a baby.

All of a sudden you see your make and model of car everywhere! Or everywhere you go someone is pregnant and prams with small babies are everywhere…

It wasn’t as if all of a sudden there were more of those cars or more women were suddenly pregnant…. your reticular activator has decided that it will allow them through your filter because they are more important to you now.

So suddenly you notice them everywhere!

Your subconscious mind is at work all the time. It decides what it will allow you to see based on the beliefs that you have.

The trouble is that many of those beliefs were formed during childhood and are very strong beliefs that no longer serve you or are not in alignment with how you would like you life to look now.

So what does this have to do with you pricing your services in business?

Everything!

Many of us end up with limiting self beliefs that come from our childhood experiences and very often they are around the issue of money or our own self worth. Many of these beliefs come from parents and our families.

Even simple phrases that you heard as a child are indicative of the beliefs you have around money, abundance and prosperity.

Ever heard yourself repeating phrases your parents said? “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “You have to work hard to earn a living”, “Money is the root of all evil”

Maybe you have beliefs around what money does to people? Rich people are not very nice or when people come into money they don’t treat people very nicely. Perhaps you have a belief that if you did come into money that everyone around you would want to “take” it from you somehow?

They might sound strange things to think but such beliefs are very often programmed into us as young children.

Beliefs about our own worth also have a similar effect. It is why we often see people who win the lottery having lost it all a few years later.

They just can’t handle having money because it doesn’t fit with their subconscious beliefs about how much they deserve.

To see whether your subconscious beliefs about money and your own self worth are getting in the way of your pricing or growing your business, consider some of these pointers.

The little voice

Notice if you have a little voice in your head that shows up sometimes. It might say things like:

• Who would pay me for doing that
• I can’t charge THAT much

Perfectionism and Procrastination

Perfectionism and Procrastination are both fear in disguise! It is often a fear of success or a fear of failure which is rooted in your belief about what value you offer. It may show up as:

• Avoiding giving prices
• Avoiding sending things out because they aren’t perfect
• Not following up on leads or quotes
• Scared of picking up the phone

Hidden Undercharging

• Doing too much work for the money you charged
• Charging errors
• Not banking money
• Money issues

If any of these ring a bell for you, it may be that there is some work to be done on money or your self-esteem.

The good news is that you can change your beliefs

Just by looking at where they came from and seeing them from an adult perspective you can decide that they no longer serve you and choose a new belief.

In order for you business to grow you often have to do a great deal of personal growth. Your business will only grow as far as your subconscious mind will allow and sometimes we need help to spot where it is holding us back.

If you need some help with this, feel free to contact me for some help. I’ve been known to spot beliefs that need changing with a 10 minute conversation that has had a massive impact.

I personally had a great deal of help dealing with this from my good friend and healer Lisa Dorey. If money is one of the issues holding you back, Lisa’s digital course “Bring Money into your Life” may be just the thing you need. It certainly helped me to transform my own beliefs.

Are you keeping your business small?

by Andrea Beadle

When you decide to run your own business there can be many, many challenges. Not only do you have to learn “how to run a business” but you have the financial insecurity of not having the fixed income that you may have had in a job or career AND you have the logistics of fitting your business around your home and/or family.

Everything changes and it can be quite unsettling. Insecurity can also creep up on you in the guise of “business issues”.

If you are wondering what I’m talking about, this is what I’ve noticed; not just in others but in myself too.

We start off with a wonderful vision of what working for ourselves will look like. We feel liberated and excited about the prospect of being our own boss – and then reality kicks in…

Can I do this? Am I good enough? Who will want to pay for what I have to offer?

We undervalue our time, don’t feel capable of charging enough for our services, feel awkward about telling people what we do for a living or any number of other issues begin to show up as self-doubt.

We may struggle along wondering whether it is really worth it….

What I’ve learned is that in order for our business to grow, we must grow first.

When we start our own businesses it is as if we are beginning a journey of self-discovery and self-development.

We don’t only have to learn the “how” of running a business but we have to learn so much more about ourselves and how we tick.

If our business isn’t growing the way we want it to, then I believe that we have to look inwards for the reasons.

It is US that prevent our businesses from growing. It is our subconscious beliefs about ourselves that prevent our businesses from being successful.

As women in business, what I see is that our businesses are often held back because of pretty much one reason and one reason only.

I’m Not Good Enough!

It may show up as symptoms such as fear of failure, fear of success, fear of technology, fear of marketing, fear of networking, fear of what other people think or as money problems, procrastination, lack of organisation or anything else you care to label it.

However, I truly believe that whatever might be holding you back in business probably boils down to something to do with your own self-belief and self-worth.

My own journey since I’ve been working for myself has meant that I have had to face many of my own insecurities and I see and recognise that same journey in others around me.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a great deal of help so that I could quickly and easily see what was at the bottom of my own issues and deal with them pretty painlessly.

But I haven’t done it alone.

I’ve enlisted the help of some amazing healers and coaches to tackle what was holding me back. I’ve dealt with trauma held at an emotional level within my body, limiting self beliefs around all manner of issues and I’ve had support with developing the right mindset that I needed to go forwards. I’ve also had business coaching and support which has held me accountable and not let me take the easy way out.

I’m convinced that if I hadn’t had help in dealing with some of these issues that my business wouldn’t have grown the way it has.

So if this resonates and there is anything you are struggling with, this is what I recommend.

• Recognise that when you have a desire to change your life (or your business), difficulties often crop up to show you what you need to heal in order to move forwards. Don’t see them as barriers to what you want but as lessons that you need to learn and address.
• If you can, be thankful that the issues are showing you what you need to deal with because once you move through them, things WILL get easier.
• See if you can identify a particular “thing” or issue that keeps cropping up. Something that you might be able to say “Oh that old thing again!” to.
• Ask yourself what it is about. I find that journaling to myself is a great start. Just get a notebook and start writing to yourself. Ask yourself why that keeps coming up. What is getting in the way of xxx, what you need to learn and what can you do to start addressing it.
• Get some help! Find a coach, a mentor or a healer to help that you resonate with.

This can be very scary!

I know that when I signed up for the coaching program I’m part of, I felt physically sick. I KNEW that it was the right program for me at that time. I KNEW, that there would be nowhere to hide and that I would have someone to hold me accountable and I KNEW that I would have to step up and start earning some money because I had to pay for it! And I did!

It wasn’t easy but I can tell you, that committing to moving forwards is a big part of making things happen. It is as if making the decision starts everything moving.

I’ve seen the same thing happen with my good friend and healer Lisa Dorey. When I have committed to dealing with some issues with her, the healing process starts even before the first session.

So, if you are struggling in your business, make a decision to uncover what is holding you back today!  If you really commit, not just on a superficial level, that is when the magic happens!

Do let me know your thoughts below. I’d love to know what you think and if anything shifts for you.

Image credit – lusi

Are you dimming your natural brilliance?

By Andrea Beadle

Last week I wrote about how to find your bliss and a similar theme emerged this week after taking The Kolbe Test – It was about playing to your strengths.

Despite my HR background The Kolbe Test was not something I’d heard of as it is a tool originating in the USA and I’m in the UK.

However, the results where shockingly accurate and have helped me to see how to play to my strengths in business which has been quite literally liberating. If you haven’t taken it, I can highly recommend it.

I’ve always said that we need to work in our Zone of Genius – to do the work that lights us up and that no one else can do.

The results of the test reminded me just how important it is to work to your natural talents.

Doing work that lights you up, that you love and that you are brilliant at is magnetic to others. When we are working from this place everything becomes so much easier and work flows to us with no effort.

However, if we persist in doing work that we aren’t good at, or is one of our weaknesses it can literally drag us down and sap our energy.

I see it all the time with my clients who hate technology. The thought of tackling something technological fills them with dread and literally paralyses them and drains their energy and enthusiasm for the rest of their work.

It is as if the energy of those tasks takes the shine off our natural brilliance.

When we know our strengths, know the work that we love to do and that energises us, then THAT is what we need to do more of.

The work that saps our energy and paralyses us is work that we absolutely must avoid!

Not just because it takes us longer to do than someone who loves to do that work, but because of the cost to us in our lives and our business.

I know how the thought of tackling the accounts makes me feel. But the impact is pervasive. It scatters my focus and as a task in my consciousness it creeps into everything and saps my energy before I even start. My concentration is affected for ages in the run up to it and I’m exhausted afterwards!

This is work that the absolute best thing I can do is outsource!

Not only does it mean that I am not weighed down by the task but it frees me up to do more of what I love. It keeps my energy clear and allows me to shine more brightly!

So this week, consider your natural talents. Are you using them and playing to your strengths?

Or have you been struggling and working against the grain without even realising it?

When we work against the grain, we are not only unhappy but also unproductive, wasting our time on things that require too much energy.

If you are unclear about your natural talents or how you can modify the things you need to do so that you can accomplish them your own way, I can highly recommend The Kolbe Test (Index A)– it was the best money I’ve spent in a long time!

(Just so you know, I receive no commission for you taking the test, I can just recommend it wholeheartedly!).

I’d love to know your thoughts. Please do comment below and let me know what you think!

Image credit – Skippy3E

Are you Selling your Soul? How to Find your Bliss!

by Andrea Beadle

Would you like to know where to find satisfaction, comfort, contentment, fulfillment, and even bliss?

These exquisite gifts of right living are found by getting the balance between four things right.

Last week I saw the image above on Facebook and it really resonated with me. (I’ve since discovered that this was actually created by Dorothy Shapland

Many people know that I help people to take their business online and with all of the technology behind that but what they don’t realise is that the process I take people through helps them to get closer to that sweet spot in the middle.

The need for a website or the technology to go online is very often the symptom that presents itself to people but the underlying issue often ends up being that they are not doing enough of what they love!

When people are in business, if things aren’t working as well as they should be, we tend look to external sources for the problem. Things like the economy, our websites, our marketing, not having enough xxx, other people being better etc.

But what I’ve noticed is, at least for the people that come to me, that we need to look inwards because we just aren’t close enough to the centre of the diagram!

I know I’ve worked in the green section where I felt as if I was selling my soul just doing what I could get paid for.

I’ve also worked in the career section where there was no passion in what I was doing and it was literally soul destroying.

I was successful in many of those areas but it wasn’t until I moved closer to the centres of the diagram that things really began to flow for me.

Whatever your beliefs, I like to think of the centre area labelled bliss, as being “Your Purpose”; the area you were made to work in. Whether by God, The Universe or however you like to view your purposeful work it is the thing that so many of us search for – purpose and meaning…

When you are doing something that you love, that you do well and that is part of “a bigger plan” for the world, people WILL pay you for it and they will pay you what you are worth.

The struggle stops and people are drawn to you magnetically. Opportunities seem to present themselves magically to you and everything flows!

There is something incredibly powerful about being in the flow, being lit up by what you do, that people can’t resist.

So if things aren’t flowing for you in business, perhaps you need to assess where you are on the diagram?

Are you selling your soul or doing soul destroying work or are you working in the area that is labelled fulfilment but haven’t worked out what people will pay for yet?

The easiest way to begin to shift is to look at the area that you are missing.

How can you begin to incorporate those into what you do?

Even setting the intention to find it can help to shift things immensely.

If you are in the selling your soul area, find a way to do something that you love today:

It might be as simple as having a phonecall whilst sitting in the sunshine or working outside for an hour.

If your work is fulfilling but not paying very well, research what people WOULD pay you for. Ask someone else for some help. I recently had a conversation with a client who was doing beautiful fulfilling work that she was hardly able to sell. Just a tiny shift in perspective had people paying her 8 times what she had been charging before and the floodgates opened for her.

If you would like to know more about how I help people find their bliss, do feel free to contact me.

I’m also considering releasing a home study programme based on the work that I do with my clients to find their purposeful work and I would love to know if it is something that you would be interested in – Do let me know!

Have a wonderful day and follow your heart!

Image credit -Dorothy Shapland via Alex Lightman 

The Selling your Time Trap

by Andrea Beadle

In life the majority of people trade time for money or products for money. It is how most of us have been taught.

But the problem with trading time for money is that you only have so many hours in a day; you can only work a limited number of hours.  Regardless of how much you’re getting paid per hour, there is a cap on your income which is restricted by the number of hours you can physically work.

The majority of the population work in a traditional j.o.b. or are salaried.  Even if you are running your own business you probably generally sell your time based on you physically being present to deliver your services.

And so your earnings are limited to how many hours you can work.

Much of people’s frustrations with this situation is that they know they’re capable of so much more.

If you are already running a home business you may have more freedom but it is highly likely that you still find yourself in the same trap.

A Sweet Example

One current home business trend seems to be to make cakes (cupcakes) and sell them at fairs and markets or even posh cupcakes for weddings and parties.

I really admire the many people who have made an effort to start a home business and are making a significant income from doing this type of thing as a home business. However, it is likely that they are still trapped in the “selling your time trap”.

There are physically only so many cupcakes that you can make, frost and sell in a week.  What’s more you face the added difficulties of having to keep going no matter what.  Sickness, health problems, rain making the market a washout are all obstacles that can sometimes make you wonder whether it is worth it.

And when you want time away, you end up paying twice! Once for the holiday and a second time in lost income!

And this doesn’t just apply to cup cakes. It applies to healers, coaches, trainers, artists, photographers…. and the list goes on!

Virtually all home business will be affected some way by this very trap.

In any business you need to have your exit strategy very clearly in mind.  What happens when you want to retire?  You either need your business to continue on autopilot without you or to be able to sell it.  For some businesses this works fine as they have a physical business that they can sell.

However, many businesses are only successful because of the knowledge of the owner and this is something that you can’t pass on or sell!

If you currently have a business, consider for a moment whether you are in the selling your time trap.

The Pitfalls of Trading Time for Money

If you are trading time for money:

• There aren’t usually enough hours in the day!
• There is never enough time for what you want to do, when you want to do it!
• If you don’t work because you want to play golf, go shopping or take a walk in the park, you won’t earn a penny!
• Trading time for money usually means that you are at the beck and call of the person paying for your time and you are likely to feel an obligation to fit in every job to make a few more pounds or dollars.
• You are likely to find it hard to work to the schedule that YOU want and end up squeezing out family time in favour of more work.
• You live under the illusion that time is the most precious thing you can sell and that you just need to find a way of charging more for it.
• The cap on our hourly rate is too low ever to make a difference to you.

So what is the answer? Automate your business, create information products and break free of the selling your time trap!

Elements of Automating your Business

There are a number of elements to automating your business to break free from the selling your time trap.

1) Specialist knowledge, information or products that solve a problem. This doesn’t have to be knowledge that you’ve been taught formally. It can be from your own life experience.

2) A platform to present the information.  This could be a website or blog

3) A system for offering your information that does not require your own personal time to operate once set up.  You will need to invest time initially in order to set up but you should not have to continue spending time to operate it.

4) A way of getting people to your platform – easy when you know how.

5)  A variety of different ways to make money from visitors to your platform.

I’ll go back to the cupcake analogy to illustrate what I mean.

Making cupcakes is a profitable product.  There is a great deal of profit in each cupcake sold.

However, it still requires you to make cupcakes and to sell them.

Creating Information Products

One way of diversifying and turning it into an online business could be to use your knowledge of making cupcakes to create an eBook about making cupcakes or baking in general.

The ebook might be a free offer but it could lead to a recipe book that you sell on your website.

Perhaps you could run online master classes that you charge people for showing people how to make something really special for Easter or Christmas.

Then you could turn the master class into a digital product that you also sell.

Over time you create a portfolio of paid products on your website. You blog about all of the beautiful cakes that you make sharing tips and information to help other people with their own creations. Most of these people will never be able to purchase your cupcakes because you will reach people who don’t live locally to you.

Some people will purchase your products, others may not but might later purchase something else that you recommend such as a cool new decorating aid or kitchen products.

Your website or blog provides your potential clients with a host of valuable information that they will come back to time and again.  You continue to add content to your website which might also review new products related to cupcakes.  You have a captive audience interested in cupcakes who may very well be looking for products related to them.

You might even be interested in adding a direct sales connection to your website. There are a number of direct sales opportunities that could be linked to cupcakes and baking.  Jamie at Home and Pampered Chef are just two examples.  Maybe your website could show people how to turn their love of baking into a business opportunity?  Your website finds prospects for you and all you have to do is explain the opportunity.

The key is thinking about how you can diversify and serve many people at the same time.

Think about what people need from you. What are people always asking you for? Is there something that you are passionate about teaching people?

Think about how could you turn your knowledge and passion into products, teleclasses and related products that mean once you are set up they can run almost on autopilot.

That is how you can begin to break free of The Selling your Time Trap!

Part of the work I do in helping people take their business online is to explore how they can automate their business and create products to sell. If you are stuck in this area or would like to explore how I can help you, please do feel free to contact me.

Photo Credits

Time is Money by hisks

Selling your Time Trap - Cupcake by nazreth

3 Tips for Using Social Media Authentically

by Andrea Beadle

You know how some people seem to spam links all over social media?

They post on your Facebook wall; they tweet links using your @tag and they only ever seem to post about their latest “stuff”!

It is SO annoying and you wonder whether they actually get any business from it at all. Maybe they do or they wouldn’t keep doing it? Or maybe they are doing it because they are desperate for business? Hard to tell but I know which I think it is…

There is a whole energy of what they are doing that is wrong. I see it as desperate, repelling energy which is never going to reach the right clients!

For me, and many of my clients, that kind of behaviour causes us to completely switch off from what they have to say.

But there is a bigger problem here. Because we see that kind of approach as so completely opposite to what we are about we NEVER tell people what we can do for them.

So, you might be sharing lots of helpful information for people, have quite a following on Facebook or other social media but it doesn’t bring you in any work!

You Must Tell People What you Do

But it is important to get the balance right. Something that you feel comfortable with but that also lets your clients know how you can help them.

Share a mix of things with a focus on building relationships and helping and supporting people.

Share channelled insights or messages if you get them, useful tips in the field that you help people, comment on posts, share personal insights, inspiration, photographs, recommendations for other people and results that your clients are getting (with permission of course).

Lastly, mixed in with that should be what you can do for people.

You could say something like:  “If you enjoy my insights did you know that I also do tarot card readings via skype.” Did you know that you can get your own personal messages from the Angels? I offer readings by phone or in person – check out my website here”.

It doesn’t have to be spammy, but you do need to let people know what you do and how to contact you!

You should be using a Facebook page for your business so start to send people to your page. Anyone that likes your page is interested in what you are saying so it won’t be seen as spam. You can increase the frequency of sharing business things here without it being spammy!

Share Links to your Blog or Website

Facebook is great but all the time we are engaging with people there, we are helping Facebook to keep its traffic. We own none of the website traffic that we generate through relationships.

Don’t post everything on your social media site. Post snippets of information but make sure that some of the posts that you share link to your website.

People that follow the links to your website are interested and are potential customers for you, if not now, in the future.

Give People a Call to Action

Research shows that people need to be told what to do next.

They may land on your website, read your blog posts or pages and be very interested in what you have to say but unless you tell them what to do next they are very unlikely to do anything!

At the end of each page or post tell people what to do. Ask people to comment on your posts, read something for extra information, sign up for a free report, buy something or contact you.

They are much more likely to do something if they know what you would like them to do.

If you haven’t got a Facebook page for your Business yet, take a look at my free Facebook training

I’d also love to hear your thoughts. What do you struggle with, what would you like me to write more of? Comment below and I promise to respond!

Photo Credit – mzacha

Work Life Balance – The Mayonnaise Jar

adapted by Andrea Beadle

When we are running a business from home it can sometimes be hard to get the balance right between work, family and me time.

The very reason we run our business from home sometimes gets forgotten and the very priorities that led us to create it, get squeezed out somehow!

There is a beautiful story that I heard some time ago. It often does the rounds on email so I’m not really sure where it originates. However, it really resonates with me right now as I look at the priorities in my own life. When things become busy in my business I sometimes forget to take care of myself or make time for some of the most important things in my life.

Sometimes I find myself having to listen to my own advice as I help my clients to deal with the same issues.

So, when things in your life seem, almost too much to handle. When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee (or mine’s a peppermint tea!)

The Mayonnaise Jar

A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things – family,
children, health, Friends, and Favourite passions -
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else –The small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So…

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical check-ups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the rubbish.

‘Take care of the golf balls first –
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
‘I’m glad you asked’.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.’

The moral of the story is clear but how many times do we squeeze out the important things to meet a work deadline?

How many times do we take time out from work in order to spend time with our kids and spend the whole time thinking about the work we think we should be doing?

Our kids are only young for a few years. They grow up once.

We owe it to our kids to be completely present for them when spending time with them.

The time to play in the sunshine is when the sun is shining.

Tomorrow it may rain so take that time today if you can. Focus 100% on your children or family when you are with them and don’t let your attention wander into the work that will wait until later. Your family will appreciate you for it and the work won’t notice that you weren’t thinking about it at all!

Longer term, look at your priorities and schedule them into your week in the order of importance to your life.

Schedule that time to go exercise regularly if it is important to you. Find a time that works for you and prioritise it the same way you prioritise picking your kids up from school. It is just as important – if not more so! When you have taken time out to build your strength or recharge your batteries, you will be far more useful to everyone!

Fit your work around the schedule that works for you personally, not the other way around. If something comes up that clashes with a time that is important to you, find another time.

Ask yourself whether you are filling your jar with golf balls, pebbles or sand and remember that if you focus on the sand first it will leave no room for anything else!

I’d love to know your thoughts – please do let me know below!

Photo credits:

Pebbles in Jar – melodi2

Love and Coffee  - piavasco

How Vulnerability in your Marketing helps you to connect more deeply with your clients

by Andrea Beadle

Have you ever known that you needed to do something but felt too vulnerable to carry it through?

I’ve had messages for a long time that I needed to use video in my marketing but I finally admit it, I’ve been resisting it for far too long.  I’ve been too busy, the timing wasn’t right, I didn’t know what to talk about…. I could list a whole string of excuses but what it boils down to is that I felt too vulnerable!

For a long time I’ve known that vulnerability in your marketing can help you connect more deeply with your clients. I often talk with my clients about sharing your story as part of your marketing and often people resist because they aren’t ready.

And then I watched a TED talk video by a lady called Brene Brown on the subject of vulnerability and I knew that I couldn’t put off being more vulnerable in my own marketing any longer.

So today, my blog post is a video post. It is one of my first so I hope that you enjoy it. Please do take the time to leave me a comment. I’d love to know what you thought!

Here is the link to the video that prompted this one!

Scared of Social Media?

Are you hiding behind a technology story?

by Andrea Beadle

Many people struggle with the whole social media thing. Often people understand how it can be used socially but the leap to using it for their business doesn’t quite make sense.

There seem to be a number of issues for people, many of which I’ve battled with myself in the past. But what I’ve found is that they often present themselves in the form of a technology story. You know how it goes:  I hate the new Facebook timeline, I don’t know how to create a Facebook page, I can’t work out how to do xyz…

In reality I’ve found that they are all just stories to put off doing what you need to grow!

Reluctance or a fear of mixing social and business circles seems to be another common thread. This was a huge one that I needed to personally get over so I know exactly where you are coming from if this is your issue!

I certainly didn’t want my family and friends to be subjected to stuff that they didn’t need to know about my work and even more significant was that as my beliefs have shifted and changed, I felt that I was opening myself up to criticism and ridicule if I told people what I thought.

I even have two facebook profiles because when I started building a home business pages weren’t really being used. I segregated my life into compartments and was terrified that people I worked with would find out that I was trying to build a business in my spare time.

When I look back, it is no wonder that it was such hard going getting my business off the ground. I wasn’t telling anyone about it!

Most of the issues around social media are just smoke screens to hide behind!

We are just hiding!

On Facebook, a business page means you can easily separate your business and private life. You get to choose exactly how much business you share with your social circle and how much personal stuff you share with your business circle.

Very often there is a hidden fear at work – particularly if you are a healer or have a personal story that needs to be shared in order to inspire others to make changes in their own life.

Until you can deal with the underlying issue, social media will continue to be something that you resist. So if there is some resistance to it, check in with yourself to see what it might be.

Common themes seem to be:

• A fear of shining
• A fear of stepping out
• Fear of success
• Not feeling worthy
• Fear of your own power
• Safety issues

The list goes on but it all boils down to this:

If you are resisting social media for your business, there is something else going on for you that you need to deal with in order to grow to your full potential!

You may not be particularly enamoured by social media but do you know that your ideal clients are probably hanging out on Facebook?

I’ve only recently fully embraced who I am in my entirety and begun my own Facebook page for my business… I know, how embarrassing is it to admit to that??

But the reason I share that humiliating fact is this. Almost as soon as I did that, things seemed to shift for me!

It was as if I accepted who I am and what I need to do to serve others.

It was as if I recognised that in order to inspire other people to make changes to their own lives, I needed to be more authentic, more open and be ready to share and be vulnerable myself.

I realised that just by sharing my own journey openly and without shame or guilt, I inspired others to make changes to their lives.

It can be difficult to believe that a few words can inspire others but it can!

And as I had this own realisation myself, I realised that I needed to be more vulnerable, to share parts of my story that needed to be heard much wider.

As a result I’ve had quite an influx of people wanting my help in the form of leads for my business.

I’ve also been guided to potential speaking engagements that will help me share my story much wider and I’ve made contacts literally around the world which will no doubt mean that I will have to step out of the shadows in an even bigger way.

So what is the moral of the story?

Using social media is critical to your business success and to the impact that you can make with your story.

It is not just a “nice to have” in this day and age it is a lifeline for people in terms of finding the help and support they need. And that support might just be you!

I’ve made it really easy for you to get started with Facebook if you have been putting it off or know that you need to stop hiding behind your “technology story”.

Take a look at the video on this page, sign up for the rest of the series and let me know what you would like help with so that I can make a video just for you!

Photo credit Wagg66

Home Business Stress

5 tips to get your work life balance back on track

by Andrea Beadle

This week I’ve been very aware of the difficulties in running a business from home and around a young family.

Many people see having a job as the “normal” way to earn a living. If you are a career woman with children, people marvel at how you can hold down a full-time job, keep the house nice and have immaculate turned out kids.

I speak from experience when I say that the reality can be very different. For me, that reality burned me out and I became ill so I had to reassess my priorities.

Watching other mums run a business from home so that they could be with their kids was the thing that inspired me to find a way to do the same.

I’m blessed to have found a way to be home for my son whilst doing work I love but it is not all plain sailing! I know of many mums who run their own business experiencing difficulties at the moment and it is probably not what you think!

One of the issues is that other people don’t take what you are doing seriously. It isn’t a “real” job. And if it isn’t a real job then it can’t be that important.

But when we wear so many hats; business owner, mum, wife, cook, cleaner, housewife, taxi service; it takes amazing organisational and management skills to get everything done.

And still people don’t get it! Because we don’t have a proper job, we aren’t working!

Not only can we feel undervalued, particularly if your previous identity was largely due to your career, it can also mean that people have unreasonable expectations of us.

If it isn’t proper work to be taken seriously, we can be expected to drop everything when other people need us.

And so we can end up running around for other people, squeezing the amount of time we have left for ourselves and our business.

The vision we had of running our own business to be at home for the kids can begin to slip away from you if you are not careful and the additional tasks and expectations begin to show in your energy levels or as stress.

So what can you do about it?

1) Remember your WHY

When you started your business you probably had a wonderful vision of what it would mean for you and your family? It was the beginning of a new chapter and meant that you could live your life on your terms. But somewhere along the way it didn’t quite work out. As stressful as it might feel right now the reason you do what you do is still there you just need to reconnect with it!

WHY are you doing what you do?

Remember why you started your business and if it hasn’t quite worked out, picture what you DO want your life to look like. How does your business support it? What is the balance?

If you don’t have a clear vision of what you want your life to look like then stop right now and take time out to get clear on what you want!

2) What things don’t serve that vision?

Take a close look at your life right now. Where is the disconnect with your vision and your life now?

Are there any things you are currently doing, any demands that are being made that take you further away from that vision?

3) What changes can you make now?

People often wonder “What is the point? Changing one thing won’t make any difference!” But it does! Just deciding to make a change and making the smallest change can actually make a huge difference. Think of it as going somewhere and discovering that you are going in completely the wrong direction. You don’t carry on regardless wondering what the point is. You turn around and start going in the right direction no matter how far off course you are.  Deciding to make some changes is like turning the car round and deciding to go in the opposite direction! It is like sending out a message that you want something different.

Of the things that don’t serve you and your vision for your life, what can you stop doing today? What can you change?

Just a “NO” to one thing or a small tweak to what you agree to do can make all the difference. Just get started on making some change!

4) What do you need?

Very often women put ourselves at the end of the line when it comes to our own needs.

Just like on an aeroplane when it is in trouble you need to put on the oxygen mask first so that you can take care of your children, you must take care of yourself first when running a home and business.

If you are running on fumes, you WILL eventually run out of fuel!

And if you run out of fuel then you won’t be able to help ANYONE!

Find time daily to replenish your energy levels and place it in your schedule as top priority. See what you need and change your schedule to make sure that you get it.

It may just be a 15 minute sit down with a cup of tea in the afternoon  but if you need it then find a way!

5) Remember you are AMAZING!

Yes you! You are AMAZING!

Other people’s perceptions are just that – a perception.

You know how hard you work and how amazing you are – Don’t forget it!

Photo credit: Alicja_sto