It’s Not Like It Used To Be So How Do I Need To Change - Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

The times they are a’changing and we need to change too. Nothing is like it used to be and it’s time for us to totally rethink how we do business. A two and a half year recession has brought major changes in what people buy and how they spend their money and has even influenced if they have any money to spend at all. If you want to keep up with the times, you have to stay flexible and relevant. You need to consider change.

If no one is buying what I’m selling, why am I still trying to sell it?

What’s working for you? What’s not? For instance, I’m very clear that people prefer live courses to home study courses so shouldn’t I schedule more live courses? That’s an easy enough step to take.

I see that people do not seem to have money for long term on-going coaching so I made smaller, results oriented coaching packages that feel more affordable and get fast, measurable results. I have a very concise package to get a strong blog up along with four coaching sessions to focus the content http://www.magneticblogbuilders.com I offer a half hour monthly coaching call to focus blog and article content. I could do some group coaching that would lower the cost. What else could I do?

I could look carefully at how I market what I do. For instance, I know that having a coach help you with a project can save you time and help you start earning money faster because it focus your ideas and serves as an accountability partner. And the idea of earning money is obviously very attractive. So now in my coaching we work on one signature product at a time and get it up and running and productive before moving on. It’s fast, it’s effective, and the results are measurable.

How can you break what you offer into smaller pieces to offer? How can you create a less expensive on-going involvement with your target community? What emotion do you need to target in order to involve the people you are meant to serve? How and what do you need to change?

What are the new needs of your target community?

We all need to get in the heads of our target audience on a regular basis. What is keeping your target community awake at night? What do they need? What do they want? And how can you help them with it?

I have found a new focus for my business that meets the needs of my community given the constraints of today’s economy. I think people will continue to purchase education – it never wears out and increases in value as it is used. So I help thoughtful leaders effectively organize their ideas so they can educate and inspire their chosen community. This can be the development of a signature product that adds to their expert status and earns them passive income. It can be the development of a new facet of their business. My work is about helping people focus their ideas and bring them to life.

Look at how you have changed and how your community has changed and meet their new needs.

What are my new needs?

Do I need more time with my family? Is there a new project I want to clear time to do? Am I just plain tired of my busy schedule? Do I need to schedule more body-care time – like exercise? How do I feel about what I am doing? Has my passion changed? Do some inner work to find out exactly how you want your life to look. And then take steps to make it look that way.

I’ve had a major time outs this year while I got both knees replaced. My focus changed to me and my body. And I hadn’t paid attention to that for a long time. So my process has been one of observation and self-awareness. What are the signs? What new opportunities have presented themselves? What am I suddenly finding more time to do? What does my body need to stay healthy? How is my social life? What is my new internal rhythm? How do I want my business to change? Take time to explore how you feel and what you want next in your life. Then go make it happen.

Measure your progress

When I taught a Self Mastery course in my church a long time ago, I had people write down where they were physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually at the beginning of the course. Ten weeks later they could look at those notes and see what had changed for them. If you don’t mark down where you are, you may not recognize your progress. I use my Magnetic Momentum Builder to acknowledge myself, but taking time for some major goals, or a reality check of what’s working can help you make better choices.

For instance, I love writing for my blog and it takes a bit of time. The writing is very satisfying, but there is a lot of time spent finding additional recommended posts that help optimize the post and to set it up in Word Press. I asked my emagazine community to measure what types of posts are attracting the most interest and I will write to address those needs. I also have to see what kind of conversion rate I’m getting from my blog. Google Analytics helps with that.

I stopped my radio show for a bit. I love doing it and it takes a good chunk of time to prepare. When I resume it may be in a 15 minute format rather than 30. That may fit people’s listening schedule’s better. And if I work it right I can leverage some of that material into a three minute video. Look at how you are spending your time and what kind of results you are getting. Figure out how to measure the success of what you are doing. Measure both your internal progress and your external progress. Take some soundings of your inner life on a regular basis to be certain you are still balanced.

Keep thinking

Keep writing down new ideas. Keep looking at what other people are doing: how they are promoting their work, what they are charging, what seems successful. Try out new ideas on some of the people in your target community. Get their feedback. Meet their needs. Measure the results and make your choices.

Things are not like they used to be and neither are we. Take an inner journey to find how what you want now and go exploring in your target community to see what you can give them that will make a difference in their lives.

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