Creating with intention
If you want to attract premium clients, selling won’t work. You have to show why someone should buy from you.
Sure, a high-end customer might be ready to pay, and they may want to commit long-term. Why? Because they trust you. They’ve watched you regularly show up and prove that what you say and do align.
Want better clients? Consistently demonstrate you’re worth investing in.
Price isn’t simply an amount, it’s a representation. This is how good we are, this is why you should trust us, this is the commitment, this is the value you’ll receive.
Yes, FREE can help solidify a brand and attract customers. Maybe it can make selling easier. But unless you’re using “free” to establish consistent revenue, is it worth it?
When you circumnavigate hassle with a free label, you might sacrifice perception in return.
Free could just be an easy way out.
It’s easy to get caught up in choices that don’t matter: The website design, the colors, the marketing channel, the social media story.
Decisions should evolve from your WHY. If you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing (and who it’s for), details are irrelevant.
So if you find yourself focusing on unnecessary fluff, there’s a good chance you haven’t made the real decisions…yet.
They might say they want passion, that excitement and energy is magnetic and alluring. But they don’t really want it.
Stability is comfortable, and safety is reliable. Passion inserts question marks into shadows and corners. It’s the same with knowledge and education, opportunity and progress; publicly, someone might say they want these things, but do they?
What if progress means stepping away from the known, and opportunity means walking away from those you hold close? What if education creates a gap between you and your tribe? What if knowledge brands you — and not in a positive way: A tree standing too tall, asking to be cut.
Which direction do you choose? What do you chase?
14 people from around the world signed up to join me in a small experiment: For two weeks, I would commit to daily discussions focused on Good Things.
I spoke with Italians, Brits, folks in the United States, Sweden, and Nepal. On some days I had to talk myself up for the session; other days I looked forward to thirty minutes of positivity.
At the beginning of each call, I asked participants to rank themselves on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 for on-the-floor depression and 10 for something close to contagious joy). At the end of our call, I asked for another self-ranking. 12 out of the 14 participants reported an increase in positive feelings. The other two reported no change, having already reported high levels of feeling. I, too, found myself feeling better at the end of the calls.
But beyond feeling better, I felt seen. Those thirty minutes became a plug-in of support, encouragement, and connection. Many participants echoed battles with imposter syndrome — “Am I good enough, capable enough, strong enough, ready enough, productive enough, gentle enough, prepared enough?” Time management was another expressed hurdle, but it was rephrased as a goal that could be conquered.
And in all of these calls, it became clear that even when the world seems upside down, we have the ability to write our own narratives. We have the choice to fall into old, self-sabotaging coping strategies or tap into traits that can set us up for something greater. We can choose to see ourselves through a compassionate lens, or we can cling to memories that no longer apply. Our stories can become ones of curiosity and growth.
There’s no telling when or if things will return to “normal.” This experiment, however, reminded me there are many things still in our control. We can make time to connect, and we can train our minds to focus on creation, empathy, and compassion — for ourselves and for others. I’m thankful to all those who participated in this experiment with me.
Try for yourself: Set a calendar of participants (ask friends, family, and colleagues), keep a journal of notes, and record pre- and post- rankings for each call. Let me know how it goes.
Perspective keeps coming up in Positive Talk sessions. From media articles to family conversations, the meanings we assign to situations, reactions, and words can weigh significantly on our perception and interpretation of the world around us.
This is important for three reasons.
One, we get to choose how we want to interpret a given situation.
Two, we get to decide how important any situation will become.
Three, our choices dramatically impact the way we feel.
Now, more than ever, the definitions we use to understand ourselves, our communities, our cultures, and our world are open to interpretation. Though many of us are “stuck” physically, our minds are free to roam.
Perspective can be the flashlight needed to navigate uncertain, challenging circumstances.
It’s worth taking time to review your own assigned meanings. (And yes, it is possible to edit the meanings we have assigned to ourselves, to others, and to the ways in which we perceive what is happening around — and to — us.)
Each day, we make a series of decisions.
Decisions of worry or freedom. Creation or inaction. Calm or frenzy. Patience or frustration.
Take time to reconsider the meanings you assign.