You're listening to the life friendly business podcast. I'm your host, Erin Thomas Wong, business coach & mentor, author and founder of the cocoon VIP membership, empowering women around the world to build businesses on their terms. If you want to grow and scale, a business that works in harmony with your family and your life, this podcast is for you.
Hello, this is Erin, and welcome to the life friendly business podcast. It's been quite a crazy few weeks for me, I came down with COVID. And hit me really hard. I was absolutely floored for about eight days, the rest of my family got it and bizarrely, they were barely affected. That's a very weird thing about this virus. But sadly, my mum also caught it. And she, as I record this, is still in hospital on oxygen and steroids. So from a personal note, it's been quite a weird few weeks, October half term was a complete Wipeout. So I'm gradually getting back to it. And yeah, kind of working towards Christmas now, like we all are.
But today, I wanted to talk to you about making an impact. And it's great timing, because I've actually got a big promotion this week that this has been published for my impact interactive online workshops. So these are events that I created during the pandemic, because normally I run to in person conference days in Bournemouth and London. And obviously, with COVID, I was unable to do that. But I recognise that, you know, so many of us out there really wanted that, and needed that time to be focusing on our business, but also be surrounded by other amazing women in business, because we all know how special that feeling is to actually be in the same room with people. So we couldn't do that in person. But I knew that it would be possible to create an amazing atmosphere online using zoom with the breakout rooms and things like that. So that's when I created the impact online workshops.
And in this episode today, I thought it would be useful to think about how we can make an impact in our businesses to the world within ourselves, how do we make an impact. And my view is that it really does start from within. As cliche as that may sound, it really starts with having the right foundations in place. And, you know, it's about taking care of ourselves. Like as a small business owner, we are our own USP. And we need to be feeling confident about what we're doing. And we need to feel focused about what we're doing in order to have an impact on the outside. It's really, really important that we create the time to reflect on how things have been going on our businesses in our businesses, to reassess and plan and maybe make some tweaks. Also, we need time to allow our thinking to be challenged.
When you work on your own. You know, we swim around in our own thoughts we often don't have someone to bounce ideas around with. And the truth is, is that you don't know what you don't know. So putting yourself in a situation where your thinking can be challenged, however much sometimes you might not like it because you're like no, I know best. And of course, you know best. But the point is, is that you will get new ideas and new perspectives on what you're doing. And we also need to create time to be able to recognise any barriers, which are actually holding us back. Which until we have that time to think about it, we might not realise that there are any barriers that are holding us back. But it's not only that, it's also working out how you can get through them. So that's what I have created the impact workshops to do.
But this is something that you know, we should be doing on a regular basis for ourselves. And I know the difference that this makes in in my business, and that's why I wanted to share it with you guys because I think it's so easy to be caught up in the hamster wheel of trying desperately to keep the wheels turning on your business, raising your kids keeping the household running, looking after relatives. We're just constantly on the move. And when we become so busy, we lose sight of what's really important. And we also become so busy with all the noise around us that we don't listen to our inner voice, our gut, our instincts, all those things. So we need to slow down and create time to think about that stuff. And also, in order to use our limited time, effectively, you know, this is all about running a life friendly business, we have got limited time, we need to use it well. And if we want to make an impact, both in terms of income to our business, but also making a difference to the world, we have to stay focused on what's important.
So I want to break this down to three steps. So this is what you need to work on to make sure that you can make an impact in what you're doing.
Number one: know your message. What do you actually stand for? What does your business actually stand for? And who do you help? Do you know who your ideal client is? This is one of the things that is so easy to rush through, and just saying no, it's fine. Anyone can buy this, it's, you know, any, any woman could buy this, or, you know, anyone that's age 20 to 70, could buy this, that's not going to help you, you need to really focus down and decide who you want to target. So who do you help? How do you help them? Are you good at explaining to people how you can help them? And do you know how to explain and do you know how your product or service can positively impact someone's life.
Now, these are big questions. And sometimes they can feel really overwhelming. But this is where reaching out and getting business support this is this is the whole point of it. But also spending some time reflecting on this, thinking about it, chatting to other colleagues, friends in business, and thinking through this stuff, it's really, really fundamental, you need to be absolutely clear who you help and how you can help them. Because remember, when you're selling to people, you need to present them with enough information for them to make a informed decision about whether they're going to buy from you or not. So you might have the best product in the world that will change people's lives. But if you haven't worked out how to explain how it will change their lives, you're not going to sell them, or you're going to certainly be limited in how many you can sell. So the way that we describe what it is that we're selling, and the messages that we put out, there are absolutely fundamental.
Step number two: have a clear call to action. Do you know what you want the potential customer to do next? Are you are you aware of what the customer journey is in your business? And, you know, think in simple terms, if someone sees a post on Facebook, about something that you've written about your product or service, what happens next? Is there any information on that post that tells them how they can find out more or what you want them to do next, like booking a free call? And then once they've booked in that free call, then what happens? You have a call with them? Do you follow up with an email, then do you chase them two weeks later? Or actually do not chase them? Because you think oh no, they don't want to buy they would have told me if they want to buy? I don't want to hassle them? Have you thought through what that customer journey is? And you know, it's so easy with I do I am going to generalise here.
You know, I know a lot of women struggle with selling and I've absolutely been one, it's something I still work on to this day. I still get support when it comes to copywriting and things like that around selling. But the point is, is that we can be so scared of being too salesy, this whole like too salesy, they want to be like that. They actually we don't sell at all. So we're not giving people the opportunity to actually buy from us. So when you're putting posts out there and you're demonstrating your expertise, and you're explaining how your product or service can help people. Are you telling people what to do next? Are you saying book in a call by now join my Facebook group? Are you giving them that call to action? Because, you know, it's really important to think about the 80/20 rule in terms of 80% valuable content, and then 20% selling but I can tell you a lot of the women that I mentor, they don't do the 20% selling they do 100% fantastic value content, but they don't actually sell to people and then they get frustrated and down when they don't get sales but it's because they're not giving people the opportunity to buy from them.
So don't assume that people will find their own way to you, you know, people are busy, you have to lay it out on the line, this is what you do. And I'm sure that you can think of some experiences of your own where there's been a really clear customer journey, you know, you've you've been interested in something, it's told you to go to this page. And then on this page, it said, these are the next steps to buy or to apply for something. And it feels really good to have that all laid out and very clear. So definitely think about whether you've got that in your business, have you got a clear call to action in everything that you're putting out there.
Step number three: is about having conviction, you can't make an impact unless you have conviction. So do you have that inner confidence in what you're doing in what you're selling, in what your message is, you know, you may well feel super passionate about the subject matter, and loved speaking about it for now for hours on end. But when it comes to actually selling the product or service that you've created around that subject matter, that's a whole different ballgame. And you need to get that confidence in order to sell authentically. And in order to get people's attention. If we really want to be noticed, we need to stand tall and proud. And we need to be confident to get visible, and speak confidently and concisely about what we offer. That's just something that has to be done.
So I know, for so many people, they really struggle with getting visible. And that all starts from lacking that inner confidence. So this doesn't come naturally. Like if you're sitting there thinking, I wish I could be like that, but I just you know, I'm shy, or I'm an introvert. You know, this is something that we actually need to nurture ourselves to do. So it's something that we need to invest time in working on ourselves development so that we truly know our worth, and the difference that we can make. Because when you truly know that from within, you are going to be able to express that so much more clearly. And that's when you're going to be able to make an impact and start making a difference to other people's lives. But you need to be able to get out there and tell more and more people every day more people new people about what it is that you do.
So this is why I really wanted to create the impact events to be able to walk people through these different steps and to really think about these different elements of their businesses. Because, you know, we spend so much time doing doing doing but we don't spend enough time thinking about the bigger picture and spending that CEO time working on our business. And you know, if you need one to one support as well, mentoring is something that can really help with this to really dig into, you know, what are the blocks that you're having with really putting you and your business out there.
So just to recap, if you want to make an impact, three steps that you need to take are to...
Number one, really know your message, know what you can do for other people and be able to communicate that
Number two, have a clear call to action on the content that you are putting out there. Are you making it easy for people to find out more and to come and buy from you and
Number three, have conviction in your message have conviction in the difference that you can make to people in how your product or service can help people.
And if you have those three things, you will make an impact. And it's just about getting visible and getting out there and seeing more and more people. You know, you might be getting really visible right now. And thinking I'm doing everything I can I'm doing Facebook Lives, Instagram lives. I'm, you know, posting in other groups. But just step back a moment and just think, is your message clear about who you help and how you help them? And are you giving people a call to action? Do they know what steps they need to take next you need to have all three of these things in place. So I really hope that you found this useful and some food food for thought to think about what might be kind of holding you back from making the impact that you want to make. And like I said at the beginning if you're listening to this at the at the time of publication, do check out the special offer I've got for the impact annual pass for 2022. You can take a look at the website life friendly business and all the information is there. But I would love to help you get your message out to the world and really start making a difference both in your own life and business but also a difference for other people. See you next week.
Set yourself up for 2022 business success with the impact annual pass special offer. I've purposely planned the events through the year to coincide with the times when we and our businesses most need a boost, right after the summer holidays, the Christmas break and towards the end of spring. At these times, we've often turned our attention away from work to focus on family life. And now we need a mojo boost and the opportunity to prioritise our work so we can keep making progress with our life friendly businesses.
Whether you arrive at the event raring to go or limp into the Zoom Room clutching a cup of coffee for support, you'll end the day on a high, full of enthusiasm with an actionable plan for the next few months. Buying an impact annual pass now is a great way to combat those seasonal dips of motivation, and is the best value way to access all three events next year. This is available for a very limited time and this offer ends at midnight on Thursday the 11th of November. So grab yours now at lifefriendlybusiness.com
Transcribed by https://otter.ai