I was reading a story recently about someone who saw a scruffy and unkempt looking person stood by the door of a cafe.
Based on their appearance, they decided this person was homeless and offered to buy them a lunch.
Turns out they were on their break from work and were just waiting for their meal to be cooked!
#Awks
Toe-curling cringe as that must have been, it is a great example of how easy it is to create an entire story in our head that are far removed from reality.
And many of your stories are likely sabotaging you in business.
Have you ever told yourself stories like these?
“My audience is only thinking about Xmas in December and won’t want to buy from me until after the January payday.”
“There’s no point promoting an offer in July and August because everyone will be on holiday”.
“I can’t charge £99 for my new program because my audience won’t pay that.”
“When anyone tells me they can’t afford my prices, it means they don’t have enough money to pay what I’m charging.”
“Sending more than one email a month will upset my subscribers.”
“My clients only want to work with me 1:1.”
“I sent an email to my list with an offer, and nobody bought. That means I’ve built an audience that don’t vibe with my stuff so will have to start again.”
And so on…
Next time you hear yourself thinking thoughts like these, recognise them for what they are – YOUR stories!
Jackanory will probably love ‘em but these works of fiction have no place in your reality…
… unless you choose to let these fiction stories hold you back, that is?!
They have no basis in reality unless you CHOOSE to let them become real.
You can opt to send emails weekly for example, which could lead to you making more sales?
Heck, send an email every day if you want to!
Or, you can choose to stick to sending one ‘newsletter’ email a month in case you upset someone who would never have bought from you anyway – handing them power over your purpose to help those in need of what you know so you make a lasting impact and get paid well in exchange.
You can choose to reduce the price of your offer because nobody bought when you sent an email?
Or, you can choose to consider that you:
- Didn’t promote the offer enough – it can take 7+ touches before someone is ready to buy.
- Didn’t give them all the info they needed to hear from you to become interested in your solution, let alone confident enough to buy
- Promoted the offer to an audience who don’t know or care about you or what you sell
- Didn’t communicate the value or benefits of your offer – or how the benefits serve your prospects’ needs and wants.
- Or even, that the price was too LOW for the offer to be perceived as credible. Charging too little can lead people to believe that what you’re selling is ‘not worthwhile’.
I mean, I don’t know which of these is relevant for you, but the point is, YOU don’t know either.
You can choose to believe the fiction story, or you can choose to show up, serve, and sell MORE, ultimately leading to you proving the story wrong.
Which choice will serve you best, do you think?
Instead, identify if you have any concrete evidence that the story is true, and if the answer is, ‘none’ – challenge yourself to prove the story wrong.
Next time you hear yourself scripting a story about what you or your prospects will or won’t do or buy, ask yourself whether auditioning for Jackanory will REALLY take you closer to your goal?
Isn’t it time to let the Jackanory producers find someone else to fill their episodes?
You’ve got this!