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Business Stuff
1.
THE "BUSINESS" SIDE OF YOUR
BUSINESS
How do body-mind-spirit professionals stay in the
higher states of consciousness that their work requires and at the same time
build a solid business in the material world?
I often receive some of my best business ideas
while in the meditative state. I just make sure to have a pen and paper at hand
to record them for future use.
If you go into meditation with a single question that's been puzzling you,
you'll frequently get your "ahha" answer. And if you trust the answer
enough to follow through with action, you can move your business forward
materially, while being guided inspirationally.
Some people like to set aside a particular day of the week, or time of the day,
to handle the myriad "chores" of running a business.
Writing a new book, meeting with clients or inventing new products are the
reasons we put out our shingles in the first place.
But equally important are finding the right book distributor, attracting new
clients and selling more products. Whether you're an author, healer or specialty
soap-maker, you have to consider marketing and selling as an important part of
your business routine.
Marketing doesn't have to be an ongoing problem, either. Once you get clear on
your business focus and decide on what you want to be known and remembered for
in the marketplace, it's just a matter of choosing marketing tools that fit your
personality and your budget ...and then writing down a plan you can stick with.
Once your plan is written, just follow A, B, C on your "designated day of
the week" and enjoy your "real work" the rest of the time.
For your marketing to be really effective, you want to be offering something
that:
(a) really excites you
(b) has a target clientele who can pay what you need to charge
(c) speaks to an audience that is ready for your message.
In your quiet, reflective state, you can more easily figure out (a). To get a
handle on (b) and (c), you'll want to conduct some basic market research.
Read trade publications and e-zines, talk to clients and friends, visit websites
galore in your chosen field. Once you recognize the exactly correct target
market for your product or service, marketing becomes more cost-effective. Your
cost of attaining quality clients can be reduced and your clients' satisfaction
is likely to increase because they're in the right place with the right
professional.
Some body-mind-spirit professionals prefer to leave the marketing of their
business to an outside professional. That works, too -- as long as the marketing
advisor understands the nature of your business and the language your clients
respond to.
That's why I publish a resource list of writers, designers and marketing
consultants who are especially attuned to the body-mind-spirit market.
Click here
for the list.
With a marketing consultant (plus an accountant and administrative assistant)
available to handle the business "chores," you'd have more time for
helping clients.
So there are ways to build a business without compromising the more intuitive or
spiritual aspects of your work. But the fact remains that marketing knowledge is
necessary to bring the clients to you in the first place and selling skills are
needed to explain why you're the best person for the job.
You can farm out some of these tasks, or choose the times when you're in a frame
of mind to deal with them -- but you absolutely cannot ignore them and stay in
business for the long run.
(c) Copyright by Barbara Casey.
2.
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
by Barbara Casey
Within the body, mind, spirit community, we tend
to be generous in overlooking minor gaffes in print -- typos, misspellings,
do-it-yourself looking ad layouts. We recognize that the inner energy that is
projected is more important than the outer looks of an ad, brochure or flyer.
But what about prospective clients who just see what they see: a homemade ad or
a brochure that wasn't proofread? For those who notice, how you show yourself to
the public in print says a lot about how you see your business in fact.
Writing and designing an ad that captures the reader's attention takes skill and
training. A good exercise is to study the ads in your local holistic and
metaphysical magazines to see which ones attract you most easily. Which ones
turn you off? Which ones do you ignore?
I have this perfectionistic bent and when I see marketing materials with a
design that is hard to read or that include misspelled words or bad grammar, I
wonder what the business owner was thinking, putting something less than perfect
into the public eye.
If "the medium is the message," the message appears to be, to
thousands of people, "that's as good as it gets."
But your marketing materials can be viewed as holographic representations of
your business. For those who notice, the manner in which you communicate your
professional expertise reflects the actual level of your professional skills --
whether this is true or not.
In other words, "What you see is what you get."
To make sure you present yourself to the public in the best light possible, why
not look into having your ads professionally written and designed? New Radiance
is compiling a growing resource list of writers, designers and marketing
consultants to help you do this.
Find this
list here.
(c) Copyright by Barbara Casey.
