Sometimes technology can do more harm than good...
... because many people are putting the cart in front of the horse:
We get sucked into the research and busywork, "trying so very hard" to watch the tutorials and learn to use the software, tweaking the hex # for the 56th time so we don't have to do WHAT TRULY MATTERS because often times, those things make us face our fears and stretch our boundaries.
Let me share my story...
When I started my first business, I whipped up a bare bones website using WordPress.com over a weekend. (I don't recommend WordPress.com - always get a self-hosted site... but that's what I did knowing what I knew.)
I stuck a few PayPal buttons up, and let my peeps know about it through social media and forums.
Orders started pouring in. It's how it all started.
Fast-forward 3 months, I realized I was emailing 400+ people from my Gmail account. I finally moved to an email service provider and sat on their free basic plan, which took me to hitting 6-fig comfortably.
Didn't sweat about autoresponder. And I survived.
18 months in (yes, 18 months!) I realized I was moving thousands of dollars worth of digital products WITHOUT a shopping cart.
I know, crazy.
I emailed the files out manually every time a PayPal notification came in. With a personalized note that I typed (not cut-and-paste, mind ya.)
I even did it in the hospital on my phone, few hours after giving birth to my kid.
Didn't lose sleep over shopping cart until I could pay someone to lose sleep over it for me.
I spent every single minute I would be wrangling with "technology" to create products and market the heck out of them.
Operative term: Income Generating Activities.
Operative mindset: Keep It Simple, Sunshine!
"They" said I needed an autoresponder and a shopping cart.
I said I wanted to get some clients and sell my stuff.
I saw money in the bank before "they" could finish saying, "get a merchant account, sign up for 1shoppingcart or InfusionSoft or Office Autopilot and pay $79/$199/$299 a month."
When you are "struggling" over "technology" and find yourself spinning your wheels - take a moment and ask if what you are doing is the shortest path to achieving your current goal, or if it's just a handy excuse to keep you from doing what needs to be done.
I have an online marketing background, and I run my entire business virtually.
However, being "online" doesn't mean hiding behind the computer, a website, a bunch of sales page templates or "set it and forget it" autoresponders with canned messaging.
You still have to stick your neck out and tell the world what YOU are about. You have to walk your talk. You have to communicate. You have to connect. Because...
When the rubber meets the road, sales & marketing is about a human being at one end, communicating with another human being at the other end.
And yeah, making connection with another human being (gasp!) can stir up a lot of crap.
Fears. Insecurity. Uncertainty. Rejection. Judgment. Doubts.
You can predict how a piece of software will react (hmmm, most of the time anyway) but you can't control what the other person would say or do, and what that will trigger in you.
***
The most important thing to remember about "technology" - it's intended to make our lives easier. It's intended to help us achieve our goals faster.
If it's not doing either, if it's distracting you from actually doing that - CHUCK IT!
If it's asking you to tweak your message or change the way you roll, just so your materials can fit into a certain format or presentation - THINK TWICE!
Sometimes pedaling a bike gets you there faster than a driving Lamborghini - when in a traffic jam.
... because many people are putting the cart in front of the horse:
- They worry about what bells and whistles to put on a yet-to-be-built website before they define their message and niche
- They pull their hair out about the nuts and bolts of autoresponder before they start their lead generation effort and having a list to mail to
- They drive themselves up the wall about shopping cart set up before they decide what products to create
- They spend hours researching online course software before they know what their audience want and are willing to purchase
- They concern themselves with complex sales funnel, while all they need to do is to get on the damn phone and sign some clients, yesterday, to get the cash flow and momentum
We get sucked into the research and busywork, "trying so very hard" to watch the tutorials and learn to use the software, tweaking the hex # for the 56th time so we don't have to do WHAT TRULY MATTERS because often times, those things make us face our fears and stretch our boundaries.
Let me share my story...
When I started my first business, I whipped up a bare bones website using WordPress.com over a weekend. (I don't recommend WordPress.com - always get a self-hosted site... but that's what I did knowing what I knew.)
I stuck a few PayPal buttons up, and let my peeps know about it through social media and forums.
Orders started pouring in. It's how it all started.
Fast-forward 3 months, I realized I was emailing 400+ people from my Gmail account. I finally moved to an email service provider and sat on their free basic plan, which took me to hitting 6-fig comfortably.
Didn't sweat about autoresponder. And I survived.
18 months in (yes, 18 months!) I realized I was moving thousands of dollars worth of digital products WITHOUT a shopping cart.
I know, crazy.
I emailed the files out manually every time a PayPal notification came in. With a personalized note that I typed (not cut-and-paste, mind ya.)
I even did it in the hospital on my phone, few hours after giving birth to my kid.
Didn't lose sleep over shopping cart until I could pay someone to lose sleep over it for me.
I spent every single minute I would be wrangling with "technology" to create products and market the heck out of them.
Operative term: Income Generating Activities.
Operative mindset: Keep It Simple, Sunshine!
"They" said I needed an autoresponder and a shopping cart.
I said I wanted to get some clients and sell my stuff.
I saw money in the bank before "they" could finish saying, "get a merchant account, sign up for 1shoppingcart or InfusionSoft or Office Autopilot and pay $79/$199/$299 a month."
When you are "struggling" over "technology" and find yourself spinning your wheels - take a moment and ask if what you are doing is the shortest path to achieving your current goal, or if it's just a handy excuse to keep you from doing what needs to be done.
I have an online marketing background, and I run my entire business virtually.
However, being "online" doesn't mean hiding behind the computer, a website, a bunch of sales page templates or "set it and forget it" autoresponders with canned messaging.
You still have to stick your neck out and tell the world what YOU are about. You have to walk your talk. You have to communicate. You have to connect. Because...
When the rubber meets the road, sales & marketing is about a human being at one end, communicating with another human being at the other end.
And yeah, making connection with another human being (gasp!) can stir up a lot of crap.
Fears. Insecurity. Uncertainty. Rejection. Judgment. Doubts.
You can predict how a piece of software will react (hmmm, most of the time anyway) but you can't control what the other person would say or do, and what that will trigger in you.
***
The most important thing to remember about "technology" - it's intended to make our lives easier. It's intended to help us achieve our goals faster.
If it's not doing either, if it's distracting you from actually doing that - CHUCK IT!
If it's asking you to tweak your message or change the way you roll, just so your materials can fit into a certain format or presentation - THINK TWICE!
Sometimes pedaling a bike gets you there faster than a driving Lamborghini - when in a traffic jam.
Ling is an Intuitive Brainiac. Through her unique blend of
Business + Marketing coaching with a Mindset + Psychic Twist, she helps
the multi-talented and multi-passionate maverick solo-entrepreneurs
distill ALL their big ideas into ONE cohesive Message, nail the WORDS
that sell and design a Plan to cut the busywork and do what matters,
through her intuitive yet rigorous iterative process born out of her
Harvard Design School training and 10 years of experience in the online
marketing industry.
Ling helps her clients optimize the space between individuality + originality vs. "tried-and-true" marketing so they can express their WHY unapologetically and profitably without reinventing the wheel.
Ling helps her clients optimize the space between individuality + originality vs. "tried-and-true" marketing so they can express their WHY unapologetically and profitably without reinventing the wheel.
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