Prosperity Prayer Redux

I posted this on the blog back in 2006, but this seems a good time to re-post, with the economy in a bad way as it is. We can all use a little prosperity in our lives, financial or otherwise. It's Lynn Robinson's Prosperity Prayer:


Dear God —

I surrender my financial affairs and concerns about money to your Divine care and love.

I ask that you remove my worries, anxieties and fears about money, and replace them with faith.

I know and trust that my debts will be paid and money will flow into my life.

I have only to look to nature to see proof of the abundance you provide.

I release all negative thoughts about money, and know that prosperity is my true state.

I commit to being grateful for all that I now have in my life.

I learn to manage my finances wisely, seeking help where needed.

And finally, I ask you to help me understand my purpose in life and to act on that purpose with courage and strength. I know that prosperity will come, in part, by doing work I love. Please help me use my skills and knowledge to be of service in the world.

Thank you, God.

Amen

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You can read more of Lynn's comments about this Prosperity Prayer that she wrote here:

http://www.lynnrobinson.com/art_prosperityprayer.html

Taking an Entire Month to Create Products

Like you, I struggle with finding time to write books, create new classes, and put together new information products. I have a burning desire to create these things; I think about them and plan for them constantly. I guess it must be the "teacher" in me -- I want to share what I've learned with other self-employed people.

Each year our mastermind group meets in person for a live Mastermind Retreat Weekend. In May, I came to the Retreat with just one burning question: how can I take a month off of work, to write an updated version of a book and create a new class?

It seems an insurmountable dream and challenge. I hadn't had a full month off work or school since I'd been in college (oh so many years ago!). A whole month off with only 2 projects to work on? Woohoo!

My mastermind group helped me to plan out a strategy for taking the month of August away from my business:

1. Figure out how much money you need to save so that you can cover your August business and personal expenses.

2. Figure out if you'd still work with existing coaching clients, or ask them to halt work with you in August. I decided that I would work with existing clients, but not take on any new ones for August.

3. Figure out how to schedule your month off for maximum enjoyment and relaxation, AND maximum production. After all, I was taking the month off to get 2 big projects finished. I decided to work with clients 3 mornings a week and work on projects the rest of the time. I'd take Friday's off work completely so that I'd have a month of 3-day weekends; plus a 4-day weekend for Labor Day. I'd schedule time with family and friends during August for outings and visits, as well as some "me time" to walk in the woods or go to the beach and be in solitude.

4. Ask for support. I told my husband and my mastermind group I was going to take the month of August off; they loved the idea! I've also told my clients that my hours would be limited in August, that I'd still be there to support them but that they might not get 24-hour turnaround to emails or phone calls. And now I'm telling the world!

5. Stay present. This will be the tough one for me, staying present and aware during the month of August, paying attention to how I'm using my time, and if I'm creating the balance between work and relaxation that I'm seeking.

I'll let you know how it goes! It's going to be a great adventure and I'm looking forward to my month off with much anticipation.

The Problem with Niches

Mary called me and cried, "I need to find my niche!"

She had been told over and over again that she needed to find a narrow niche for her Life Coaching business so that she could be more noticeable among the pack of Life Coaches marketing to business professionals and managers.

But she had also been told that using words like "meaning" and "purpose" to describe what clients were looking for was over-used; all life coaches were using those terms and they had lost their power when it came to writing marketing text.

Here is my reply to Mary in regards to identifying her niche and writing her marketing text towards that niche:

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Remember, WITHIN the coaching industry, words like "soul," "meaning," and "fulfillment" are used constantly and we're used to them and don't think they're special.

But, OUTSIDE the coaching industry, people are just awakening to these words. They love these words. And people ARE looking for meaning and fulfillment in their lives. (Just because you are used to seeing those words everyday doesn't automatically make them powerless or boring.)

If you want to know if people are interested in these words, go to the Google Keyword Tool or the WordTracker Keyword tool and type them in. You'll see for yourself how popular they really are.

As a life coach, saying you don't want to market yourself using the words "fulfillment" and "meaning," is like saying you’re a dentist, but you don't want to have the niche of "filling cavities" because every dentist does that.

Sometimes your niche isn't just what topics you talk about with clients; sometimes your niche is the combination of what topics you talk about AND the people/groups you talk to.

The whole purpose of choosing a niche is so you can find a central place that potential clients congregate -- so that you can get in front of them to introduce your business via your marketing techniques. You can find "professionals" or "mid-level managers" or "upper level executives" in specific industry associations, magazines, websites, newspapers, peer groups, etc.

But say you want your niche to be "Hyper Ambitious Stress Coaching." There is no industry association for Hyper Ambitious people…how will you locate them?

Do you really want to be known as the "Hyper Ambitious Stress Coach?" (Do people really type in "hyper ambitious stress coach" into Google when they're looking for help?) It implies that you work with only people who are hyper-ambitious, and only stressed ones at that. There are plenty of "non-hyper-ambitious" professionals who are want to achieve great things and be successful (and are stressed), they just don't go overboard into "hyper" behaviors that create unbalance.

One caveat: being the "Hyper Ambitious Stress Coach" is great for PR. The news media loves a specialist. But clients may not be looking for a Hyper Ambitious Stress Coach; they're just looking for help with stress, over-scheduling, high demands, etc. So unless you're going to get all your prospective clients via news media interviews, you might want to re-think that narrow niche.

Choosing a niche is not an exercise in finding a place where you have no competition. It's okay if you have competition in your niche: it shows there's a thriving market there.

If you're simply looking to differentiate yourself from your competition, then that's not done by choosing a niche market. Differentiation and Niche are two separate marketing steps. You can differentiate yourself based on

• your personality
• your processes
• your techniques
• your background
• your experience
• your skill set
• your availability
• your fees
• your style

Differentiation asks, "Why would they buy from ME versus my competition?"

Niche asks, "Where will I find THEM so I can introduce myself?"

This entry in Wikipedia may help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_market

I'm not saying, "Don't go in that niche direction." What I am saying is this: if you define your niche too narrowly, you'll have a hard time getting in front of them with your marketing techniques. And along the way, you might not be following your own soul purpose.

Small Businesses Less Confident About Economy

According to the most recent "OPEN from American Express Small Business Monitor" survey, only 45% of small business owners feel that the economy will get better over the next six months. (This is the lowest showing of "confidence" by small business owners in the six years that OPEN has been doing the survey.)

The good news is that 71% of survey respondents say that they plan to grow their business over the next six months.

It's an interesting mix of reactions from the small business community. While the economy certain is rocky these days, and it does behoove us to pay careful attention, the economy is not the Sole Indicator of your business growth and success. There are many things you can do to turn the tide in your favor.