Earlier this week, we were talking exposure for your creative business – I sent a private lesson to my email subscribers, and then shared 5 ways you’re making business harder than it needs to be here on the blog.
Today I want to share 3 actionable techniques you can take to overcome the obstacles on your path …
Because we’re all creative in business, I’m sure you’ve felt vulnerable about your work at some point. I imagine you know how difficult “putting yourself out there” can be. I’m sure you can relate to the fear and hesitation that occurs when you set out to do something you’ve never done before.
I looked up the definition of “vulnerable,” and these were the options that came up:
1. capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon
2. open to moral attack, criticism, tempation, etc.
3. (of a place) open to assault; difficult to defend
I thought these were each so interesting, but one stood out to me more than any other: “(of a place) open to assault; difficult to defend.” The dictionary used “a vulnerable bridge” as an example of the definition. It got me to thinking.
Does a successful online business simply mean crossing the vulnerable bridge between where you are and where you want to be?
And if so, no wonder we build armor around our dreams. Which by the way, is what I used to think I had to do in order to succeed in my creative career. I’m always taking a leap that NO ONE I know has ever taken before, so each time I share my big dreams, they seem open to assault and difficult to defend.
Moreover, every “next level” in your creative business leads you to another vulnerable bridge. And even though you’ve already crossed many vulnerable bridges to get to the safe and solid ground you’re standing on now, the next bridge to appear on your path always presents more difficult challenges to overcome.
These scary and seemingly unsafe bridges can make the journey utterly exhausting.
If the bridge in front of you is especially vulnerable (higher and scarier than you’ve ever traveled before), fear can stop you dead in your tracks for days, months, even years. And you’ll get stuck there until your desire for what’s on the other side of the vulnerable bridge trumps all; until you decide to just go for it.
3 Steps to More Exposure
I have some techniques you can use to cross that bridge when you get to it.
#1 Name the work that will produce real results for your business.
We often get caught up in a lot of business-building ideas that don’t even make sense: such as, “Open another storefront,” or “Grow my account on Twitter,” or “Start Periscoping.”
None of it matters. It’s all doing for doing’s sake. You don’t need two storefronts anymore than I need two blogs! It will only create more things that don’t matter to fuss over.
To grow a successful online business you need: 1. A website that attracts and converts. 2. A marketing strategy that wins, and 3. A plan to optimize numbers one and two.
Therefore, don’t open more storefronts if the original site isn’t working. Instead, spend your time and energy improving your existing storefront! Don’t open new social media accounts if you’re not connecting with the profiles you already have. Instead, study the platform with the most potential to grow your following through the roof!
#2 Break the “scary big” things down into a simple task list.
For example, I wanted to start creating opt-in promos for my blog, and I wanted to use LeadPages to do it. It was a problem I chased in my mind for months. It cost money to sign up, I didn’t know how to design a landing page, I’d have to write copy for the offer, etc.
In order to get over humps like these in business, I have a very simple conversation with myself: Okay, you’ve been chasing this for months. What have you tried so far to achieve it?
The answer to that question is typically: Nothing. All I’ve done so far is fussed over the issue. Then, I make a simple task list. Here’s my example:
1. Decide which offer you’ll promote for opt-ins
2. Prepare that document
3. Sign up for LeadPages
4. Build an opt-in offer
5. Promote that page
Once I finally simplified the process, this goal (that had been looming on my to-do list for months) was complete within a matter of hours.
You don’t need to know exactly how to do it before you start. But, you do need to start.
#3 Get the training you need.
I can’t stress this enough. I’ve already received 39 reviews and counting on the CreativeLive class I taught last week. 38 of them are positive. And then there’s this one:
HA! This attitude gets people nowhere fast. Seriously, don’t be this guy! It takes hundreds of hours to build a course syllabus that connects with students and creates results.
Good training is not only about learning and applying the material (or should we call it “free stuffs you just search over the internet” – LOL!), but it’s also organized to help you reimagine your offer and strategize business growth.
An hour of good training will leave you with 14-pages of notes, full of solid gold ideas <— that’s actual feedback I’ve gotten from my courses.
Bottom line: Don’t be afraid to invest in the training your business needs. If you loved this post, there’s so much more in store! If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to my mailing list to get private lessons delivered to your inbox. Here’s to your success!
