“I do outreach for my business, but very few people respond… what's wrong with what I'm doing?”
You might be posting on social media about your business, or emailing your friends, and still… few people respond back with enthusiastic support. What’s going on?
Before I share some advice in this article that can generally apply to the variety of people reading this, I should mention that I have Q&A calls (info here: George Kao Q&A Calls) that I hope you can attend, to allow us to discuss and diagnose what’s really going on in your specific situation.
Until we get to talk, here are ideas that may help a variety of soulpreneurs:
“Authentic” business isn’t easy…
Did someone tell you that it was? What did they say? I’m interested to know what lies they’re spreading… or some secret knowledge that I too can learn from :)
What I’ve experienced is a different level of ease — profound ease that’s possible with an authentic business — but it’s not what most people think of as “easeful”.
Business success takes a lot of experimentation, way more than most people are willing to do.
What to experiment with?
You’ve got to experiment with public journaling — authentically creating and posting dozens (for many of us, it’ll be hundreds) of pieces of content — until you notice what gets the most traction. Among all the topics and formats that you post: what does the world want you to create?
You’ll also need to experiment with creating many offers (services/programs/products), possibly more than a dozen, before you chance on one that someone will buy from you. (Remember the Edison story of testing thousands of lightbulb variations before one worked?) However, you can speed up the process — and make it less painful! — by learning and practicing authentic market discovery.
Finally you’ll need to experiment on working with different types of clients until you discover the type of people (and situations) that are the best fit for your work. Who (and in what cases) get the most value from what you offer?
It takes a huge amount of experimentation (some people call it “rejection” or “failures”) before finding authentic business success.
Too many people, especially in my industry of business coaching, make it sound or look easy because… well, they’re trying to sell you something!
What about those who are succeeding and making it look easy? They didn’t tell you about all the experimentation they had to do. Perhaps they even forgot, or repressed it!, because it took years of trial and error. They’ve gotten through the hard parts, and have learned to systematize their strengths. (See this list of authentic business strengths.)
Dedicate yourself to authentic service
It’s never too late — or too soon! — to begin creating your foundation.
It’s a long journey to the destiny of having a fulfilling business. Start today. (Or start again!) It will require the process of growing into clarity about that blessed intersection of what you love doing, and what the world loves to buy from you.
However, it doesn’t have to be a hard slog. This process can itself be a profoundly meaningful experience of personal growth.
Dedicate yourself everyday to your values, as you work your way into clarity.
As you flail around not knowing whether you’re doing it “right”, you can do every activity — whatever it is — with as much gratitude, trust, kindness and courage as possible (pick your top values). Return daily to the connection with your highest source of goodness.
Keep remembering that it is about the authentic service to your higher path… which includes a heartfelt service to your fellow humans.
Practice your authentic service long enough, and you’ll get plenty of business.
The hard part is in doing enough experimentation (see the first part of this article!) to find what works.
But if you see every step as a practice of your values — and another step closer towards your ideal audience — then much of it will feel meaningful enough to keep bringing you back into action.
Again, I hope we can have a chance to discuss your specific situation (info here: George Kao Q&A Calls) so that I can offer you a more customized diagnosis and solution.
Until then, I wish for you the strength and clarity to take on a growth mindset and a joyful willingness to experiment!
100% yes! Some people post three blogs over the span of six months or one social post a week for years and wonder why no one's showing up.
It's as if all the consuming business owners are doing are making them feel like they've been doing more — but really, they've just been reading.
When you find that person spreading secret knowledge about how to do this all ethically and succeed by next Tuesday please point me in their direction too ;)