I was having drinks with fellow coaches after a conference. We were laughing and chatting around a circular pub table when one of them said she’d been watching my business focus shift over the last few years as I’d moved from talking about the Transition Town movement and Green Party MPs to “how to make money”.

Passionately, she looked me in the eye. “You’re a parasite! You sold out.”

I could have been offended. But the funny thing is, I understood where she was coming from. If I had been her, I might have felt exactly the same. I might have thought that people who make money by helping others make money were like players in a pyramid scheme.

And it dawned on me: “Oh… you think I care about the money! You think that because I help people make money, my passion is for the pound signs. You think I stopped caring about all those things I used to talk about – like stewardship of our planet and community cohesion and personal empowerment – and started caring about money instead.”

Have you thought this too… about yourself?

I heard this perspective from the lips of someone else. You might have had a similar experience, or you might have noticed an internal dialogue along these lines, a little voice in your head saying that you’ll be judged as “selling out” if you start making really good money doing this good work. That your generosity and big heart will be polluted by focusing on profitability. That you won’t be a good person anymore if you care about making money. That you might go for a drink and get called a parasite.

So, this feels like a great opportunity to articulate the extent to which I care about money, and why it’s so important for you to focus on profitability.

Ready?

It’s precisely because you’re not doing it for the money that means you need to make good money doing this good work.

I’ll say that again: you’re not doing it for the money, and so it’s important that you make money.

You’re not doing it for the money – and yet until you earn a solid, consistent income doing what you love, you can’t keep doing this work. You have to do other work that is less fulfilling in order to pay the bills.

It’s not about the money and yet until you make money, it’s about the money. See the irony?

We need to address the money piece so that we can get back to what it’s really about. By keeping an eye on the profitability of our ventures, we can enable our work to truly be not about the money.

We have to allow the money struggle to fade away. We have to allow the other soul-depleting jobs to drop away. When you sell out your workshops, your sessions, your classes – that’s the only kind of selling out that is happening.

When you sell out in this way, you can forget about the money and focus on what truly matters. (Which is what – for you? Just pause right now and remember and know that you won’t lose this passion when the money starts flowing in. In fact, you’ll have far more brain space for it.)

By paying attention to money, we actually make money less important.

Here’s a parallel example… I used to lead an LGBT (les-bi-gay-trans) youth group in Cambridge. We met every Tuesday evening in a cosy room with sofas, games, books and hot drinks and we’d chat about school, careers, new romances, upcoming events, family issues – all the usual teenage stuff. One day, one of the boys said to me, “I love coming here precisely because it’s not about being gay. That bit which always marks me out as different at school? It’s just invisible here. It’s normal, it’s a given.” Because sexual orientation was the primary focus of the group, our time together became about everything other than sexual orientation.

By focusing on money to a healthy degree, you can make your life’s path about everything other than making money. You’ll find yourself free to focus on the people you are here to serve, the passion you are here to share, the unique message that is yearning to come through you.

I have a vision that one day it’ll be so normal for people to earn a healthy living doing work they love that I never have to write or speak about this subject again! Mine will be a redundant perspective, because it’ll be so obvious to everyone that it’s the only way a happy, thriving society can work.

And until then, while it’s still a rarity, I’ll keep doing this work and helping you with the kind of “selling out” that matters.

Over to you

Is it “selling out” to make good money doing good work? Is this an internal belief, or one you’ve inherited from others?

Or have you found that receiving a healthy income doing what you love is liberating and allows you to focus on what matters most?

Leave a comment below, join the discussion.

p.s. I have space for two more 1-1 coaching clients. If you’re keen to make enough money so you can dedicate your time to what matters most, click here for details. Or come and be inspired by a few of these Success Stories to get a sense for what coaching support could help you achieve.

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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2012

She tried going to the gym and that worked for a while but it’s quite a drive from her house, plus she feels self-conscious exercising in front of people. She spent a fair amount on an exercise bike but it’s become somewhere to hang clothes; there’s a set of dumbbells languishing under her sofa, gathering dust.

So, she thinks personal training might be the answer. And in her city, there are several trainers who look pretty good, one of whom is even personally recommended to her and who she has emailed.

But she hasn’t hired anyone yet. (And this is a big deal for your business, as you’ll see.)

Alice could be the focus of viable business niche because she ticks the key three criteria:

1. She knows she has a need. (Acutely so, uncomfortably so.)
2. She’s prepared to take action towards meeting that need. (As well as spending time on previous purchases, she has recently spent hours Google-searching for local gyms, boot camps, trainers and exercise classes.)
3. She’s prepared – and able – to spend money to meet that need. (She earns a decent wage as a paramedic – about £27,000 per year – and has a good amount of disposable income.)

So, with these in place, why on earth hasn’t Alice hired a personal trainer already? She’s aware, she’s in action, she has the money – why not just commit and get moving?

Because Alice doesn’t want to look silly.

Alice is not silly. She’s a highly intelligent woman, excellent at her job and respected by her colleagues. When it comes to fitness, though, she can’t seem to crack it. And she’s not convinced that these slim, toned, smiley women in lycra are going to understand why it’s so hard for her. She’s got a sneaky suspicion they might actually laugh about her with their other slim, toned friends when they go out for drinks.

She’s also anxious about their recommended diet regime. They all say to eliminate coffee but she can’t imagine surviving her busy work day without her regular cups. She also wants to be able to celebrate a pending promotion by getting drunk, but all the trainers seem to insist on no alcohol.

She’s happy to exercise in her home but she’s worried a trainer will want to take her running outside; she gets on with her neighbours and doesn’t want them to see her red in the face and panting and to think differently of her.

Alice is a very ready buyer. She’s an easy-spender in many areas of life (when buying DVDs, books, holidays, art for her house) but with this area, she has a whole backpack of concerns. She’d need a massive dose of empathy and reassurance that she’s normal before she parts with her cash, but when she receives that, she’ll happily part with hundreds or even thousands of pounds to address this issue once and for all.

What does Alice have to do with your business?

Everything. Whatever your line of work, there is a large percentage of your potential ideal clients who really want what you’re offering, the price is fine for them (do not automatically drop it! Price is often a red herring) but who won’t reach out to you – and certainly won’t hire you – if they think they’ll look silly.

So, it’s very worth knowing the “silly” concerns that your prospective clients have. Do they feel too fat (or old, or inflexible, or pregnant, or recently out of cancer treatment) for yoga classes? Are they embarrassed about releasing wind while on your massage table? Are they worried coaching will get them even more confused than when they started? Are they unsure whether they can have reflexology because they have a verruca?

It’s 100% worth knowing these concerns. Your prospective clients think they’re silly and unusual; you know they’re quite normal and easily addressed.

In the group business-building teleprogramme I lead (Turn Your Passion To Profit), we tackle this. For example, in Classes 2 and 3, we identify those people you’d love to help who are ready to take action and spend money and we figure out how to find them. I’ll teach you a beautiful soft-sell way of getting into conversations with them and hear their concerns so that you can package what you do to meet their needs (Class 4). And in Class 5, we look at how to use empathy, understanding, reassurance and hope in your marketing so it’s easy for potential clients to say “yes” and pay you.

My people think they’re silly too

I’ve had so many conversations with women who are keen for business guidance, like-minded community and accountability, yet have concerns before committing to group programme support. Here are just a few (see if you can identify…):

• She doesn’t want her partner to say, “Hey, you just spent thousands of pounds of our family budget on training as a coach, osteopath, speech therapist [fill in the blank] – shouldn’t you earn some of that back before spending out again?”
• She worries she’s too far along the self-employment path (or too much of a beginner) to benefit fully
• She has no idea what a “teleprogramme” is (or she knows and dislikes technology, or fears she won’t get the hang of dialling in, or can’t understand how 12 people can all be heard on one phone line)
• Although she craves it, she’s nervous about group accountability. What if she can’t follow through and her group mates think she’s feeble?
• She’s seen there are fortnightly group calls and can’t make all the dates and times

I’ve been helping women go successfully self-employed for years and I’ve heard all these concerns plus dozens more. They’re not silly and they’re not unusual. The group programme is now running for the fifth time and if you want to speak with me about enrolling, please know: you won’t surprise me and I won’t think your concerns are “silly”.

Instead, when we chat, we’ll be able to discern which are valid reasons for not having this group support right now, and which questions I can quickly answer (for example: it doesn’t matter if you can’t make all the dates and times because each of the 12 group calls is recorded for you to download at any time.)

Make it your mission

Beautiful Alice wants to lose weight and she has a sneaky suspicion personal training is the way forward. But until she gets to see that her concerns are normal and can be easily answered, she’s going to stay where she is: stuck, carrying more weight than she’d like, not feeling as good about herself as she could.

Likewise, your potential clients want something that you can help with. So make it your mission to find out what they want, what concerns are getting in the way of them hiring your help, and reassure them that they are normal and their concerns are not so silly after all.

Over to you

When have you wanted to hire someone, or buy a product, but didn’t get your concerns answered? Did you part with your cash anyway, go elsewhere, or did your needs remain unmet?

How do you (or could you) reassure your prospective clients that their concerns are normal? How do you (or could you) show you understand and empathize with them?

Leave a comment below, let us know…

Want step-by-step business guidance?

If you love the idea of doing marketing in a way that’s about connection and hope and empathy and if you were intrigued (and relieved) by the idea of “soft-selling”, then check out the details of the group programme, fill out the form and let’s have that conversation > > (NB There are only 4 places left and we start in a few weeks so if you feel this might be what you’ve been looking for, do fill out the form now so we can speak as soon as possible. I’d love to connect with you.)

Want to receive alerts about these blog posts to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Subscribe to my free newsletter here.

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2012

A few hours after publishing the latest blog post, How To Get Paid 1,000 Times, I had a similar phone call from a coach who’s been wanting to get her business off the ground for years. She said: “Reading your post, I decided I couldn’t keep going like this. I realised I have to do something - so that’s why I’m reaching out.”

We humans are pretty resilient. We soldier on. We don’t want to admit we need help, we don’t want to burden anyone. We want to be self-sufficient so we delay doing that “something”.

But at what point do you decide to make that call?

When is enough enough?

As a person wanting to be successfully self-employed, this is the kind of “enough” you’re likely to have had:

• Enough of not knowing which business step comes first.
• Enough of feeling overwhelmed and out of your depth.
• Enough of feeling isolated and alone on your self-employment journey.
• Enough of your partner calling your passion an expensive hobby.
• Enough of not reaching the people who need you.
• Enough of not fulfilling your potential and having your biggest impact.
• Enough of shuffling by financially, rather than enjoying money being easy.

If enough is enough and if you’re done with struggling on your own, please take advantage of the support that’s waiting for you.

The next Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme starts on 9th January, giving you six rich months of business-building guidance and like-minded community. You can decide to make 2012 the year you become clear, supported and able to move into profitability.

I’m ready to have more phone calls with people who’ve decided that enough is enough. Will one of them be with you?

There are only 4 places left on the January programme and if one of them is yours, claim it. Reach out now. Enough is enough.

Click here, read the details, fill out the form.

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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

There’s a special moment where you lose your Getting Paid virginity. Someone says you’re just what they’ve been looking for; they want you, they need you… YES!

You enjoy the delirious satisfaction of that first incoming financial transaction, that warm after-glow, staring in awe at the cheque in your hand or the PayPal notification in your inbox.

Lost yours yet?

Before that first financial encounter, Getting Paid can feel like foreign territory. It’s longed for but scary. You’re hungry for it but daunted.

Even once you’ve enjoyed a few dozen payments, you might still have question marks about how to get paid consistently.

How do you fully enter and stay in this territory? How do you reach that point where someone actually reaches into their purse, or bank account, and hands over their hard-earned cash – again and again?

1,000 yes’s

Last week, You Inspire Me enjoyed its 1,000th payment. Since going self-employed in 2005, I’ve tracked every financial transaction (much to the joy of the Inland Revenue) and felt a surge of joy when we tipped into four figures. You know that voice which nags at you, “Are you good enough? Will people ever pay you for this?” Getting paid for the thousandth time felt like pretty conclusive evidence that the answer is “yes”.

Getting paid repeatedly is wonderful but if you’re thinking “Getting paid just once or twice would be nice!”, then let’s take a peek at how I lost my self-employed virginity…

How to get paid once

My first ever payment as an independent practitioner was from a woman named Sue. She was looking for an English tutor for her daughter, her friend (Penny) knew I’d recently resigned as a school English teacher. It was a clear match: One woman had a need. Another woman could fulfill that need. And Penny was the pimp in the middle.

I went on to be paid repeatedly as a tutor. Then as a life coach to teenagers. Then as a life coach to women finding their passion. Then (and now) as a coach and mentor to people starting their own businesses. But although my niche focus has changed, the principles of Getting Paid have stayed the same.

Want to know the principles?

People pay independent practitioners because three things are happening:

Principle #1: You’re visible as the perfect match

It’s important to become a beacon for people who have a need that they’re prepared to take action and spend money to meet. Joy, an osteopath, is the perfect match for people in Cambridge who have Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Elinor, a coach, is the perfect match for working mothers who feel guilty and overwhelmed. Margaret Hiley, a translator, is the perfect match for academics who want their work translated from German to English.

(Not sure who you’re the perfect match for? Then check out the Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme because Class 2 will give you clarity about this. And yes, Joy, Elinor and Margaret are all Passion To Profit success stories).

Becoming visible means letting people know about you. If I hadn’t made myself known in my community, I wouldn’t have been on Penny’s radar when Sue spoke about wanting a tutor.

If you want to get paid repeatedly, you need to become known for helping a particular group of people resolve a particular challenge. Who are you the guardian angel for?

Principle #2: Your pricing is resonant

You know that pure musical note a tuning fork emits when it hits a surface? It resonates at a specific pitch – and it can be like this with your pricing. A resonant price is one that feels right to you and to your ideal client.

The amount I quoted Sue sat well with me and sat well with her. Resonant pricing is a method of setting your prices that has less to do with market rates, competition and ego and more to do with your intuition. Sounds crazy but it works – time and time again.

(You’ll get to grips with this in Class 4 of Turn Your Passion To Profit.)

Principle #3: You make it easy for someone to pay

How is that prospective client actually going to give you money? Newbies to self-employment often haven’t thought this far in advance. It can be such a shock when that first person says “yes” and it’s easy to get tongue-tied at the payment stage.

In the free How To Help More People Become Your Clients audio class, I talk about the inadvertent obstacles which can block money that wants to flow to you. Take a listen here – it’s a recording of a 75-minute teleclass that will help you nail this whole getting paid thing.

The simple formula for getting paid

Since losing my self-employed virginity, each payment has happened because I was following these same three principles:

1. Being visible as the perfect match for people who are prepared to take action and spend money to meet their needs.
2. Setting a price that feels resonant to both you and the prospective client.
3. Removing obstacles and making it easy for someone to pay.

What do you think – are there other elements that need to be in place for you to get paid? How are you doing in these three areas? Is getting paid harder (or easier) than you thought? Leave a comment below, let us know.

Let’s get you paid

I want to help you enjoy a solid, steady self-employed income and for you to know that you are being paid for making a difference and doing your good work.

Are you longing for your first payment? Wanting more consistent financial activity?

Visit this page, be inspired by the other people who’ve invested in support, and complete the short form at the bottom of that page to book your free consultation.

There are just 5 places left on the next Turn Your Passion To Profit programme (starts 9th January) and if one of them is yours, I’d love to hear from you.

Please note: I’m taking a technological break until 19th December so please fill out the form now and then I’ll get back to you on my return.

Want to receive alerts about these blog posts to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Subscribe to my free newsletter here.

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

If you were on the call live, or as you listen to the recording, you might think: “Huh? Did I miss something?” Yes, it was a smooth call and I’m proud of the content.

But when it got to the part where I describe the Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme and invite people to register for a free consultation, I skipped some of the important aspects. I didn’t make the call to action crystal clear. I felt an inner cringe that I was selling.

And to me, that’s messing up.

Why?

Old habits die hard

I’ve done a lot of inner work around selling. I’ve slowed down how I speak, to take the time necessary to communicate effectively. I’ve shifted my perspective from seeing selling as gross to seeing it as potentially generous, an act of service, a way of making it easier for people to find and access the support they need.

It’s because I know what it’s like to transform this area that means I’m well-placed to help other people do the same in their heart-led businesses – but now and again, old habits throw me to the floor. I get coy. I get apologetic (inside myself, if not in words). I rush, I skim over, I try not to take up too much space, I tell myself that people aren’t interested.

Last night’s experience was frustrating but also humbling because I remembered how painful it is when you live in that “I can’t sell” state most of the time.

If you’ve gone self-employed in order to pursue what you love, there’s a high chance you find it hard to sell. It feels pushy and manipulative and those lovely little unhealed parts within you sneer: Who do you think you are, to take up others’ time like this?

Sound familiar?

Let’s get real…

Reality #1: Businesses sell

A business is only a business if it’s selling products and services. Marketing, sales and making money have to be integral parts of your day-to-day activities.

If you’re only giving away stuff for free, then you’re running a charity. Or you’re being funded from elsewhere – by the government or an organisation, maybe.

Now, a good business owner both sells and gives resources away for free. You recognise that giving away content-rich resources can be a beautiful gift to your community and at the same time, it’s a potentially effective marketing strategy.

Sales without generosity is not good for business. But likewise offering freebies without sales doesn’t make for any business at all. The only way you can give away a free class, or offer a free article (like I’m doing in this blog post), is because people are paying you somewhere in your business.

If you don’t sell stuff and nobody pays you, you don’t stay in business. End of story.

Reality #2: Other people know this and have choices

Naomi Dunford, of Ittybiz.com, wrote a brilliant blog post called How To Email Your List. When I read it, I had the biggest, brightest lightbulb moment.

She says: “The purpose of your [mailing list] is to give people who like you the opportunity to hear what you say and buy what you sell. Therefore, you must say it. And sell it.”

People aren’t stupid. They know that you run a business and that if they sign up to your mailing list, or your public teleclass, then you are going to be selling stuff. Yes, you’re giving a valuable freebie that people can enjoy without ever giving you a penny. But one key reason for doing that freebie is that you have something worth selling that a percentage of the sign-ups eagerly want to hear about.

If someone doesn’t want to know about what you’re selling, they can unsubscribe from your list with one click. They can hang up on your teleclass. It’s simple. They are entirely responsible for staying in contact with you or detaching.

It means that the people who stay on your list, or who are still listening to your class, are choosing to be there. They want to hear what you have to say. So say it.

Back to reality?

Time for some remedies…

Remedy #1: Allocate time

One of the reasons I stumbled (inwardly) over the selling section in my call is that I’d allocated one hour and we were running over. I don’t like to break my word on timings (blame my part-German heritage!) and was concerned I would inconvenience the callers.

Actually, when I look back at the stats, I see that callers stayed for an average of 70 minutes, with a couple staying 81 or 87 minutes. They were engaged and keen to hear what I was talking about, including the selling bit, because they recognised that what I was offering was speaking directly to them and their needs.

Allocate 75 minutes for your call if it consists of 60 minutes of content and 15 minutes of describing your new service. If you’re giving a talk and your slot is 90 minutes, then as you prepare your content, allow time for Q&A and allow a chunk of time for passing around your mailing list sign-up sheet, or booking people in for consultations.

Consider your call to action part to be equally as valid as the other content you’re delivering and build in that time when planning your free offering.

Remedy #2: Be transparent

When you listen to the recording of the call, you’ll hear me talk about two main qualities to help more people become your clients: Safety and Ease.

And as one wise caller points out, that applies to you, as business owner, as well as to your prospective clients. You need those qualities for yourself because business is fundamentally pretty damn scary.

The way I would have felt more safety and ease when I moved to the sales element of the class? Transparency.

I could have said something like: “I hope you’ve enjoyed this valuable free content. I’m now going to spend ten minutes walking you through the Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme because I want to make sure that you have enough information if you’re ready to take the next step and get support”.

Anyone who wasn’t interested could have left the call, or stopped listening to the recording, and anyone who was interested would have stayed with me. I’d have known that, even if only one person stayed listening, I’d have their full attention.

You’ll hear me doing this to some extent on the call but not quite enough for me to feel totally relaxed and comfortable about taking the time.

As with the other strategies I teach on the class, it’s often one very small action – one line on a flyer or one 30-second voicemail message on your phone – that can make all the difference in terms of how easily you’re able to help new clients.

You have full permission

Considering that people are opting in to your marketing communications, without anyone forcing them, and considering that you’re in business, you’re allowed to sell. In fact, you have to sell otherwise you won’t stay in business.

You’re not a sleazy marketer trying to make a quick buck. You’re a service professional who loves to help others – so don’t apologise for communicating that. People need your help and they need to know what you’re selling.

What do you think – should we apologise for selling? Does that part of being in business feel uncomfortable to you? Have you held back from letting people know about services that could help them?

Leave a comment below and let us know.

And here’s my call to action

1. If you’ve already signed up for the Help More People Become Your Clients call, put aside 75 minutes and listen to the audio that arrived in your inbox today. Not signed up yet? Want to help more people become your clients? You can still get the recording; register here.
2. If the Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme that I describe on the call sounds like just what you’ve been looking for, come and read more about it and see who else has benefited and book your free consultation by filling out the form on this page.

Important: The early-bird price ends Wed 30th November; save £150.

There you go. Selling. No apology.

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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

Do you want to help everyone, everywhere, in every way?

Uh-oh. Although that sounds wonderful, it’s sadly one of the quickest ways of not getting clients.

In this 3-minute video, you’ll discover why this is one of the most common roadblocks for self-employed coaches and complementary therapists. You’ll also find a way of making it far easier for your ideal clients to say “yes” to working with you – and to refer you on to more ideal clients.

Watch here:

What do you think – is the “I help everyone” approach working for you, or not so much? Have you identified those people who need you the most, and what difference has that made? Leave a comment below, let us know…

No idea who you want to help?

It can be frustrating to be told you need to “pick a niche” but not know how you actually do that!

We delve deeply into this topic in Class 2 of the Turn Your Passion To Profit group programme. It’s quite normal to be resistant to what feels like narrowing down your niche. I hold that you’re actually the guardian angel for certain people and so it’s an act of love and generosity to define and take a stand and build your business with them as your focus.

If the “I help everyone” approach isn’t working out so well for you, you can instead discover how to create a needs-based business where clients (and money) flow to you with more ease.

Places are now being snapped up for the next programme (starting January 2012) so come and check out the details here. (Feel free to ask any questions about the programme in the comments box below.)

NB Early Bird price available until 30th November; save £150. Book your free consultation by completing the enrollment form you’ll find on the webpage.

Want to receive alerts about these blog posts to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Subscribe to my free newsletter here

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

I love being a megaphone – amplifying the reach of excellent services which more people should know about.

But what difference would it make if I were getting paid for doing this?

And what difference would it make if you were getting paid for spreading the word about me?

Earlier this year, I tentatively started a referral reward system. I invited a few dozen people who were already spreading the word about my work to register as referrers so that they could receive gratitude payments: 10% of whatever their friend or colleague paid me.

The intention was to shower these people with appreciation. They were helping my business grow and it felt like they deserved to share in my profits.

Some people were delighted by the idea and registered straight away. Others said they weren’t comfortable receiving the 10% themselves but registered in the name of their favourite charity or organization.

And others said they didn’t want any money, that the good karma of spreading the word was enough. Some even said they hated the idea of getting paid, that it made them feel ‘icky’.

This, of course, got me thinking. Was the ‘ickiness’ because giving feels good but receiving can feel uncomfortable? And if this were the case, should I be taking a stand and insisting that it’s okay for good people to receive money?

Or was there more to consider, in terms of what happens when we add the money dynamic in with word-of-mouth referrals?

I became hesitant about rolling the system out more widely until I got clear on my position.

I’m clear that I’m unclear

I’m passionate that money should flow towards those who do good. But should that just apply when the person is offering a paid-for service like coaching, acupuncture or yoga? Or could spreading the word count as ‘doing good’ and you could be financially thanked for that?

Should saying nice things about a service be ‘pure’, with no money motive? But that suggests that money makes things dirty, which I don’t believe. And there’s a delicate but important distinction between paying someone for spreading the word, rather than to spread the word.

One way of keeping it clean is to insist upon transparency: that when the referrer mentions me, they fully disclose that they receive these gratitude payments. But that doesn’t change the fact that we believe a friend’s recommendation of a service because they have no agenda other than to help us, as opposed to a salesperson on a commission. Does knowing money is involved skew the trustworthiness of an endorsement?

I have lots of questions so I decided: what better than to open the discussion up to you? Maybe you heard about my work via a recommendation or perhaps you’re already out there, spreading the word about me (thank you!). Maybe you’re an affiliate for other services or perhaps you’ve considered this minefield in relation to promoting your own business.

So, what do you think?

What system could I put in place for encouraging people to spread the word about my services and thanking them for doing so? It has to feel good for me, for the people referring and for the people hearing about me.

And, moreover, what kind of system could you have, as you expand the reach of your own business and acknowledge your ‘megaphone’ people?

It’s a rich topic for discussion – so leave a comment below, let us know…

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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

For many people who choose to do what they love, money is a dirty word. It’s a part of the self-employment process that they just don’t like.

Doing the healing, helpful work – yes.

Asking for money – no.

Does this feel like you? Is ‘money’ a dirty word?

Picture the scene: You’re in a consultation with a prospective client. They’re keen… you’d love to work with them… and then it comes to the money bit.

Ugh. You feel your heart speeding up a little, your palms getting sweaty. This money part just feels icky.

It’s like the villain stepping on to the stage in a pantomime, interrupting the beautiful fairy tale. You can hear the boos and hisses starting from the audience, not happy that this ‘Money’ character has entered the scene. This is a bad, dirty, unwelcome character who has no place in this realm of transformational, kind-hearted work.

Money conversations can make us cringe because they can feel so crude, so base. We can see them as tarnishing the fairy story of you giving your talents away generously. Your work goes from being a pure gift, that you want to give freely, to being twisted and corrupted.

If money feels dirty to you, it’s understandable that it feels hard to ask for it. Those money conversations get stuck in your throat. Your hear yourself giving away freebies, offering deep discounts, rather than stating your price with pride and certainty. Even when someone is keen to pay, you don’t feel comfortable taking their money.

All of this makes it very hard for you to make good money by following your passion.

And so here’s what happens instead…

You have to keep going with another job that you don’t care about in order to pay the bills. This leaves you feeling exhausted, demoralized and with no energy left to put into your passion. You feel burnt-out and under-used and like you’re not fulfilling your precious potential.

Pretty dirty, huh?

It’s also dirty to botch the money conversation with a client. To give one price on your website and then say something incongruent when you speak with them. To change your mind, to confuse them. To take away their sense of clarity & safety. To muddle and muddy those money conversations.

This is what really sullies this beautiful work that you want to do.

And it’s downright dirty to ignore your finances. To shove bank statements into a drawer, to fiddle your taxes, to have no clear sense of what’s coming in when.

It’s actually dirty to make money dirty. It’s like dropping a dollop of Marmite on your pretty top and trying to rub it out but finding that just spreads it. It creates a big dark messy patch, it makes the dirtiness worse and and it ends up tarnishing what was once beautiful and treasured.

Making money a dirty word stops you making clean money. Clean money? You know, the kind you make from good, honest work. The work that is truly yours to do, that you do from your heart, with freedom of spirit and a desire to help. Where there’s clarity in your financial agreements and where your accounts are clean and up to date.

Asking for money for doing work that you love isn’t dirty. And it’s time to stop making money a dirty word so that you can make money cleanly.

Here’s how to stop yourself choking over those money conversations:

1. Imagine that you’re watching a play – a pantomime, possibly. Onto the stage walks the character known as ‘Money’. What does this character look like? How do they speak? What happens to the atmosphere when they’re present? Spend a few minutes now, imagining the scene and noticing your default reaction to ‘Money’.

2. Now, imagine that you’re the director and you get to re-cast the show. You get to choose a different kind of ‘Money’ character. When you choose to clean up the concept of ‘Money’, who do you choose to bring on? What does this character look like? How do they speak? What happens to the atmosphere when they’re present? Spend a few minutes now, imagining the scene and noticing your reaction to this new, clean kind of ‘Money’.

3. In the next conversation you have with a potential client, be aware of what version of Money seems to be showing up. If it’s an old dirty character, experiment with bringing the new concept of a cleaner ‘Money’ in and notice what shifts in your conversation.

We do this visualization exercise in Class 8 of the ‘Turn Your Passion To Profit’ group programme, where we look in depth at healing your relationship with Money & Sales. The outcome for many, if not all, the participants is that once money feels cleaner and healthier, then money conversations are much easier – even enjoyable! – and it’s much more likely that prospective clients say “yes”.

If you want to find out more about this programme, do check it out here > > and fill out the enrollment form at the bottom of that page so that we can have a free consultation together. The next programme starts in September and the early-bird price is available until 29th July.

And I’d love to hear what comes up for you around this topic of ‘dirty money’ and the money conversations you have when you’re self-employed. Do leave a comment below.

Want to do some good honest work and get well paid?

I’m hiring. Check out this fantastic opportunity to work with me as my assistant, supporting me in supporting others and learning how a successful business operates from the inside out. Here’s the link > >

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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2011

But joyful, ecstatic, all-engrossing passion is an ingredient which also makes the journey harder.

Here are FIVE challenges we’re likely to encounter because we’re following our passion:

1. You Are Besieged With Ideas

It’s not unusual for a passion-led entrepreneur to wake up at 4am with a new service concept, words for a blog post, or a new page for your website. It can literally be exhausting to have so much inspiration and frustrating that you don’t have the hours in the day to see every aspect into reality.

Solution: Establish structures into which you can channel your inspiration. I have twice-monthly calls with my Heart of Business mentor, Jason, where we stick to a strategic plan, filing away certain ideas and taking immediate steps with others. Once you have big picture focus, you can assess whether each fragment of inspiration takes you in that direction, or whether it’s a distraction.

2. You Love It So Much You Won’t Share It

This is your dream, your baby. It can be really hard to allow others to help you take care of something so precious – and so instead you do everything yourself, to the point of burnout.

Solution: Seek support and delegate. In addition to my mentor, I have a web developer, an accountant and am in the process of hiring an assistant. This is also an inside job so look to your spiritual practice to help you find the safety to trust others.

3. You’re So Close You Don’t Know How Good You Are

Put your finger on your nose. Try to see the tip of it. Yep, you can’t, you’re too close – and that’s how it is when you’re so “in” your business and “in” you that you can’t see what others see. Your skills come so naturally and abundantly to you, you don’t realize they’re a rare commodity to others.

Solution: Ask for and receive feedback from supportive others. What do they see in you that’s special and unique? What do you bring that others just don’t/can’t? Get some perspective to overcome your blind spots and recognize your value.

4. You Love It So Much You’d Do It For Free

It comes so effortlessly and enjoyably to you that it feels unfair to charge for your service. Money is compensation for slog and sacrifice, no? So you find yourself giving away freebies, undercutting yourself and chronically under-earning. Ouch.

Solution: Spend time on the pricing aspect of your business. (Top tip: People aren’t paying for the hour or two you spend with them but for the years and effort you’ve invested in developing what you offer). Again, this is an inside job: address your relationship with money and have a conversation or two with the part of you which doesn’t believe you’re allowed to earn good money doing good work.

5. You Weren’t Born With Built-In Business Know-How

Your passion comes naturally, your talents are innate. So you might assume that the business side should come easily too. But business has to be learnt: the general solid principles and aspects, as well as what will work specifically with your venture.

Solution: Just as you trained as an acupuncturist or personal trainer or [fill in the blank], invest in developing yourself as an entrepreneur. Take courses, hire a mentor, subscribe to newsletters, pay attention to what those you admire do.

Leave a comment below on this blog post and start/join the discussion. Although your passion is the perfect starting place, do you find it’s a problem? What challenges do you encounter, which of the above most ring true for you? And how do you find ways to channel your passion effectively? What helps you have impact and earn income?

Want Support?

If you want business guidance specific to a one-person business plus feedback and support from a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, then do check out the ‘Turn Your Passion To Profit’ programme. There’s also an individual coaching programme, if you would prefer the one-to-one format.

Want to receive alerts about these blog posts to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Subscribe to my free newsletter here.

I was good at what I did, I was becoming quite well-known in certain circles, so why wasn’t the money following?

Simple reason: I wasn’t making money important.

I was in the fortunate position of having a partner earning a very solid income which meant that even if I didn’t earn a penny for the whole year, we’d still keep our house, pay our bills and be able to have meals out and go on holiday.

Sounds very comfortable, huh?

The truth is: It was painful. When I looked at my bank statements, I’d feel my pride slink away. There was anxiety each time I drew from my savings account. It was uncomfortable to feel restricted when it came to my partner’s birthday and I didn’t have a proper pension plan or a way of affording the higher mortgage we’d often talk about.

Can you identify with this?

There was also an incongruence with my core message – The World Needs Your Passion. It felt ungrounded to say: “Yes of course leave that job that doesn’t fulfill you – it’ll all be okay” when I was blatantly ignoring the big elephant in the room.

In a world which places TOO much importance on having and spending money, I realized I’d reacted by going to the other extreme.

My biggest mistake? I hadn’t made money important enough.

I hadn’t set goals for income. I didn’t have any real plan for how I’d earn what I really wanted to earn. I was only putting part-time hours into my business and was making myself too available for distractions, albeit worthy ones like community initiatives.

And this meant I could avoid the tricky yet all-important question: “Are the people I’m wanting to work with actually going to pay me what I want to receive?”

It dawned on me that I no longer wanted to be so unconnected to money. I didn’t want to leave that burden with someone else, or avoid my own responsibility to Myself-As-Good-Earner, and I just didn’t want to be such a bloody ostrich about money.

I’m sharing this with you because I’ve become much more serious about the money side of following our passion. I’ve invested thought and time and energy and effort and money into cleaning up this mistake.

These days, I have a mentor, a clear niche, and financial goals (which I meet – and that feels GOOD).

And I feel really strongly about you not making this same mistake as me and here’s why…

Even if we have a back-stop – whether it’s a part-time job, or an inheritance, or a supportive partner – I believe that it’s important to earn money from doing what we’re passionate about for reasons which are different from pure survival.

We want to feel good about ourselves. We want to feel proud and confident and to have that sense of achievement.

We want to be generous. We don’t want to feel tight and pinched but rather we want to be able to give to others, support others and pay forward.

And we want to be role models. We want to take a stand and show that good people can earn good money doing good work.

Want to get clear about the money side of following your passion?

Take a listen to the archived audio recording of the ‘How To Turn Your Passion To Profit’ call, paying special attention to:

- Top Tip #1: ‘Identify Your “Love Love Money” tribe’
- Top Tip #3: ‘Fulfill Their Needs’
- Top Tip #4: ‘Get Comfortable With Money And With Business’

Not yet received the audio recording of this call? It’s FREE! – Sign up here > >

Then come back and leave a comment below, letting us know:

- How much of an ostrich are YOU when it comes to the money side of following your passion?
- How are you with financial goals? (and meeting them?!)
- How do you feel about creating a viable, sustainable, profitable business from your passion?

Fed Up Of Struggling With The Money Side Of Your Passion?

In the free audio, I also talk about the ‘Turn Your Passion To Profit’ programme. This is six months of support to help you see clearly how to actually turn your passion into a profitable business. You’re guided through implementing those all-important aspects such as: defining your business niche, packaging & pricing your services, marketing and sales – all from a heart-centred point of view.

If you’re fed up of going it alone and are struggling to properly get started with finding clients and earning income from your passion, then do check out the programme and complete the enrollment application form > >

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