This article is the third post in a series about creating momentum for your new, emerging work and business by strengthening your foundation before you attempt large-scale marketing efforts.
Article 1: Honoring Key Themes as I Celebrate 30 Years In Business!
Article 2: How Mainstream Business Development Lets You Down, Steers You Wrong Article 3: Read Below
Article 4: Business Development: There IS Another Way
Article 5: A Strong Business Foundation Creates Momentum in Your Emerging Venture
Article 6: The Best Way I Know to Create Momentum in Your Emerging Venture
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As I mentioned in a previous post, Change Catalysts often turn to mainstream business strategies to help take their business to the next level.
When the course teaches you what you need to know, you implement what you learn and speed up your success.
But when the first class doesn’t create the results you were promised, you decide to dedicate yourself to another class. You hope you’ll be able to resolve the issue that’s keeping you from making progress.
When this scenario repeats itself over and over, your frustration turns inward. You sink into a downward spiral. You begin to worry that you won’t be able to turn your new emerging idea into a real business.
The Self-Blame Game
As your confidence in yourself and the work you do is compromised, you blame yourself for your inability to birth your new work.
You may find yourself wondering, “What’s wrong with me?”
- Why can’t I make this work?
- Why is it taking me so long?
- What am I doing wrong?
You may also receive subtle and not-so-subtle messages from coaches, mentors, and colleagues that your inability to name your niche and claim your ideal client avatar are signs that you are sabotaging your progress by being stubborn, resistant, or uncoachable. When you can’t “make up your mind” about your niche, you may get the message that you are being foolish.
Repeated Failures Bring on Business Trauma
When you’ve been on this path for a while but you haven’t been able to make it happen, the negative experiences start stacking up.
Perhaps you received dishonoring advice or your ideas were disregarded by the consultant you invested with. Or you have seen such minimal results from your efforts that you’ve failed to see a return on the investments you made in good faith. Or you were persuaded to take actions that went against your values and undermined your integrity.
Over time these difficult experiences create what my clients refer to as Business Trauma.
When you are committed to bringing your new work to those who will benefit most, but you can’t seem to make any progress no matter how hard you try, anxiety starts to increase.
- You have the desire to make progress, but you don’t know what steps to take.
- Your emotions swing from feeling shocked and confused to angry and afraid.
- You start to withdraw as feelings of guilt, shame, and self-blame take hold.
- Hopelessness and helplessness surface at inopportune times as you try to sort out your next steps.
At this point you might muster up your courage and gather enough hope to try again with another mainstream business course or you may decide to venture off on your own “Do-It-Yourself” path. Either way, past experiences weigh heavily on your mind and your heart. No matter what actions you try to take, there’s a part of you that questions whether it’s even possible to make your vision real.
Watching this Pattern Playout Time after Time
It has always been heartbreaking for me to watch wise, intelligent, creative, intuitive Change Catalysts stalled in this endless cycle that triggers business trauma. They are investing in themselves with hope and courage only to be disappointed again and again.
Having lived this cycle myself, I know the
pain, anguish, and despair of wanting
to bring your new work into the world
and not being able to make it happen.
Here’s what I know now:
As long as you lack clarity about your niche and
have a difficult time describing your ideal clients,
you will experience the same debilitating results
when you invest in mainstream business courses.
There Is Another Way!
First, please know that there is nothing wrong with you!
If you don’t feel confident or clear about your marketing niche or your ideal clients, it’s highly likely you are experiencing these gaps because your work is still coming into focus.
The struggle and hesitation you feel as you try to market your new work using traditional marketing strategies is your intuition confirming that it’s time to take a step back from out-in-the-world marketing strategies to strengthen the key elements of your business foundation before you try to step out into the world.
Take heart: You don’t have to stay frozen in place while you sort this out! There is a way to move forward at a pace that feels good to you even if you aren’t 100% clear about every aspect of your business right now.
Discover the developmental milestones that are essential
to your success but are often overlooked by the
Mainstream Business Approach in my new eBook:
7 Vital Milestones to Turn Your Emerging Work
into a Flourishing Business.
Read the next post to about another way to develop your emerging work and business.