Break all the Business Rules...and Thrive?
Calling all Female Founders and Mindful Leaders: The rules don't apply for you because they were never meant to. You're a trailblazing change-maker who believes business is a vehicle for powerful good and world-changing ideas. Break the Business Rules to Thrive and join me in doing Business as Unusual | Kellie Adkins, Holistic Business Coach
The “Rules” of business-as-usual say…
Work long hours
Hustle harder than everyone
Be everywhere on the internet
Market with sleazy high pressure tactics
Launch shoddy programs …
Then upsell when they don’t deliver results (cue the “from 6-to-7 figures expert advice”)
Sacrifice your talents to “prove your worth”
Undercharge for your services to “stay competitive”
Undercharge because you’re a woman/minority/neurodivergent in business
I don’t want to live (or run my business by) those rules anymore.
There are more important things to prioritize than hustle culture.
Democracy is being threatened around the world.
AI is coming for our jobs and affecting our brains.
Racism is experiencing a global resurgence.
Misogyny seems to be the new(again) standard.
A history of violence against women is no longer a barrier to nomination (or election) to the highest levels of government in the United States.
No longer is it gauche to attack someone based on their beliefs, racial identity, or gender: online or in person.
Which is why NOW is not the time to play by the rules: their rules.
Now is the time to toss out the rule book and get rebellious.
Now is the time to be the change.
Mindful, yes.
Not quiet. Not demure.
Let’s ignore the rules and embrace business-as-Unusual.
Business as Unusual says…
Honor your body’s needs to build a business that doesn’t burn you out
Center in your strengths for optimal productivity and less overwhelm
Be intentional and strategic with your online presence
Market with trauma-informed, ethical approaches that honor agency
Craft thoughtful services and programs that demonstrate your expertise
Invite people into deeper work instead of chasing internet fame
Price to prosperity and sustainability not to fund a “4 hour work week”
Encourage referrals and repeat business through generosity and excellence
Own your place in the marketplace and name that privilege
Break all the Business-as-usual rules (they were never meant for you anyway)
Business as Unusual says your business (or mission-driven organization) is a vehicle for social good and commerce.
Business as Unusual says you get to decide how to structure your services, offers, and products.
Business as Unusual says Take. Up. Space. Especially in those spaces (IRL and in the digital sphere) where you, and those like you, are underrepresented.
Business as Unusual says toss the fear-based marketing and trigger-laden sales tactics: emphasize being of value and generating real connections with the people your business serves.
Business as Unusual says you don’t need to do what everyone else is doing. Write a book. Develop a Course. Lead a Retreat. Start a Podcast. Start a Revolution. You’re the boss for a reason :)
Business as Unusual says there is a season for everything. Honor your seasons.
Business as Unusual = Permission to break all the rules and to ….
⚡️ Expand your business for the greater good
⚡️ Place better boundaries to avoid burnout
⚡️ Cultivate the radical focus that elevates your influence
⚡️ Rise to your own, values-driven standards for success
⚡️ Break all the 'business rules' (except your own Rules for Business + Life Alignment)
If you identify as a Rebel with a Cause, I’d love to invite you into Third Jewel —a growth catalyst and leadership circle community to support your exponential expansion (WITHOUT sacrificing your values).
Join fellow Atypical Founders and Mindful Trailblazers who want to guide their next evolution with the power of intention, community, and strategic action to do more work that matters.
Third Jewel: a boutique leadership circle for female founders + mindful leaders
See you there,
Kellie
Want more clients as a Coach Healer or Helper? Solve problems
We’re officially in the home stretch of 2016. (Can you believe it? Where did the year go?!?) Before we know it, the supremely-exciting-but-somewhat-draining holiday mayhem will be upon us. And if selling services is your primary revenue stream, you probably know what that means: fewer new clients signing up, and current offers remaining unfilled as customer attention shifts to gift-shopping excursions and family gatherings.
Business is about solving problems.
The more clear you become on the specific problems you solve for particular clients, the more success you’ll have in your business and marketing efforts.
As a coach, your focus is to help your clients achieve their goals. To connect with potential clients, it's essential to identify the specific problems they want to solve. Good businesses solve problems, but not just any problem – a specific, urgent problem that the potential client is actively looking to solve.
By conceptualizing your business's products and services as solutions to specific, urgent problems that your perfect-fit clients want to solve, you've already done half the work of selling your products and services. Besides, when you are able to reframe your marketing efforts from “all about you” to “all about the problems you’ll solve for your clients” it becomes much easier to show up consistently and share your message.
To attract your perfect-fit clients, you need to identify the problem you solve as —and for whom. The specific problem your business services solve might not be the problem other coaches, healers, or holistic practitioners solve: or you might solve the same problem but for different perfect-fit clients.
Before you go any further in planning your programs, services, or packages ensure you are addressing problems worth solving:
Problems your perfect-fit clients know they have
Your potential clients have hidden problems that they may not know how to fix. Or that they don’t even know are the cause of the surface problems they KNOW they have.
Attempting to solve these “unknown” problems will backfire if your potential clients aren't motivated to find and fix the underlying problem.
For example, if you are a Life Coach who helps clients transition to a healthier mindset, you need to target clients who are motivated to improve their outlook on life. The chronic complainers need your services but they don’t know they have a problem (yet).
Problems your customer cares about addressing
Your potential clients must be aware of the problem that needs solving and care about solving the problem.
In fact, these are the most valuable types of problems for you as a coach to solve because your client is motivated to solve them.
For example, if you are a coach who specializes in career transitions, you need to target clients who are motivated to find a new career path, who are on every job search platform, and who are actively seeking support in their career transition.
What problem(s) do you solve?
Identify the higher-order problems your business solves for a particular client.
Once you clarify these problems, you can develop your unique solution (which is the fun part!).
Solving a valuable problem that your perfect-fit client is aware of, in a unique way, while providing excellent service, is a recipe for success.
By identifying and solving specific, urgent problems that your perfect-fit clients want to solve, you can attract more clients to your healing, helping or coaching business.