Clare Josa | Author And Keynote Speaker

UK's Foremost Imposter Syndrome Expert, International Keynote Speaker & 8x Author

5minutebiz

Are You Selling Lemonade Without A Licence In Your Business?

5MinuteBiz

If you’re in the UK, you won’t have missed this story from last week – a 5-year-old girl being slapped with a £150 fine by her local Council for selling lemonade ‘without a trading licence’. She was described as distraught in the media, as she and her father, Andre Spicer, were given a filmed lecture by the local Council’s enforcement officials, as the pair sought to capitalise on the thousands of music festival fans walking past their lemonade stand in Tower Hamlets, London.

Should Andre Spicer have known he needed a trading licence for his lemonade stand?The Council later apologised for their heavy-handedness and revoked the fine, which was appropriate, given how the enforcement officers had behaved. No child should be reduced to tears by a Council official. However, the father legally needed a street trading licence and, given that Andre Spicer is a Professor of Business Studies at Cass Business School at City University London, surely he should have known better than most of us that this was the case?

Yes, we want to entertain our children in the holidays and, yes, encouraging their entrepreneurial spirit is a wonderful thing to do. But there are good reasons why street trading licences are needed – and they are intended to protect the public. At the barest minimum level, customers have a right to know that the ingredients used in what they are buying are safe, that the kitchen was clean enough, that everything has been properly stored, so it’s safe for you to buy.

Professor Spicer has been everywhere in the media this past week, defending his choices – even blaming his daughter: “Really, it was my daughter’s suggestion.” Fine. But as a parent, we’re legally responsible for our children when they’re five. For good reason.

 

Is The Law An Ass On This?

Are you selling lemonade without a licence in your business?You could argue that there couldn’t possibly be any harm in a five year-old girl selling lemonade from a stand outside her house. And I really see the point on that. But where do we draw the line? 8 year-olds? 14 year-olds? Or the 17-year-olds who fit the minimum age required to have a licence?

And the fact is that it wasn’t a 5-year-old girl doing this. I have a 5-year-old and the complexity of this kind of project is something way beyond children of that age. They’re great at ideas, but it was the little girl’s father who took action on the project, who just happens to be a Professor of Business Studies. Surely he’s someone who must reasonably have know that there are rules for this kind of thing?

On a wider scale, those who are trading illegally have a competitive advantage over those who are paying the fees and putting in the effort to comply with the law. Unrepentant, despite knowing he has broken the law, Professor Spicer says, “I’d encourage other people to go and do it as well. It’s a great way to spend a bit of time with the kids in the holidays, and they might learn something.”

The government website on this makes it clear that the fine for trading without a licence can be up to £1,000, so Professor Spicer’s attitude seems pretty irresponsible to me.

I’m not trying to be a killjoy on this, but I’m not seeing Professor Spicer either trying to change these laws or offering to pay people’s fines. He’s actively encouraging people to break the law. As a Professor of Business Studies, he’s got huge influence. And that comes with a responsibility.

I have seen so many business friends bust a gut to try to comply with laws like these that seeing someone advocating ignoring the rules makes me want to stop up to protect these tiny business owners.

 

But it raises the bigger issue for those of us running businesses: are we breaking the law, too?

There’s a difference between a hobby and a business. One is for fun, the other makes money. And if money is changing hands, there are laws we have to comply with, to avoid trading illegally. Those laws are there not just to protect consumers, but also the businesses. And they provide the framework upon which to build a thriving business that we love. Note: these examples are for information only. If you need legal advice, please contact your chosen legal professional!

[Tweet “4 ways #smallbusinesses are breaking UK law today: #entrepreneur”]

Here are four legal requirements I have seen small businesses breaking, even in the past week:

 

1. Not being registered to run a business.

When I started co-running the EU VAT Action Campaign (latest update here), I came across thousands of people who were running businesses, but who weren’t registered. I still come across it, daily. It’s a legal requirement in the UK to either register as some form of company (typically limited company) with Companies House or to register as self-employed, with HMRC, the UK tax authority.

Both of these will require you to produce trading accounts and to complete some form of tax return at the end of each financial year.

 

2. Your website must include your contact details.

Your business contact details must, legally, be ‘easily found’ by a visiting customer. This means your registered address and some kind of customer services number, not an anonymous ‘contact us’ form or, even worse, as I saw this morning, a link to your Facebook page, instead of contact details. If you’re a limited company then, by law you must include your limited company number, which country of the UK you are registered in, and your registered company address, in an easy-to-find way on your website. Most of us choose to include this in the footer.

It’s really rare to find these details on small business websites, even those running a Limited Company. If you’re stuck on the legal side of your website, Heather Burns has plenty of great information to help you.

 

3. You must provide invoices or receipts.

These need to include your trading name / Limited Company number (& the rest of the details, above), what was bought, how much was paid, when, by whom, who the seller was and sometimes additional details, too. Relying on PayPal to do this for you is a high-risk strategy.

 

4. You need a business bank account if you’re a Limited Company.

Yes, they cost a little money, but that is part of running a business. If you’re not planning to make enough money to cover the £5 per month fees, then you shouldn’t be setting up a business.

In the UK, you are invalidating the terms of your personal bank account if you use it for business. For sole traders, it’s best to check the Ts & Cs. The amount it will cost you is easily saved in time when preparing your business’s annual accounts, because you’re not sifting through personal vs business transactions. And many banks offer initial free banking for new customers.

It’s also a really sensible idea to keep your business and personal cash separate, even as a sole trader, otherwise you can really struggle to keep track of which is which and you risk ending up with an end-of-year tax bill, having already spent the dosh.

 

There’s a huge risk to you of not doing this:

A friend of mine is about to have to sue a contractor he hired, to get his money back, because the contractor didn’t provide the agreed service. The contractor, who owns a Limited Company, took payment to their personal bank account and didn’t mention their Limited Company details on their website – and they didn’t provide an invoice or receipt with those details. As a result, my friend is having to sue the contractor as an ‘individual’, rather than their Limited Company. This means any County Court Judgement will count against the business owner, personally, not their business, and it could make it hard for them to obtain credit (think mobile phone upgrade) or even pass referencing for renting a home or getting a mortgage, for the next six years. It also means that any business insurance they might have will be invalidated for this claim.

All because he didn’t comply with three of these four simple rules.

 

Why Do We Break The Rules?

Usually it’s because we don’t realise they’re there. But that’s the difference between running an expensive hobby and stepping into you CEO shoes – actually running a business. There are plenty of places where we can check whether our latest brilliant ideas will bring us legal obligations. And we need to do that, before we press ‘go’ on even the most exciting new project.

Running a business brings responsibilities. You can’t just whack up high-ticket coaching programmes to fund your ‘freedom lifestyle’ and hope you’ll get away with not doing the admin to meet your legal obligations. It’s up to us to be proactive, to find out what those rules are and to make sure we’re sticking to them.

And if you’re not an admin / detail person, then you need to hire someone who is.

We need to be grown ups about this.

[Tweet “Why do so many #smallbiz owners break the law, without realising, every day? #entrepreneur”]

Having spent the past 15+ years mentoring entrepreneurs, business leaders and passionate world-changers, there’s one common difference between those who make a success of their business and those who will never make it past the ‘freaked out freelancer’ stage:

Successful business people wear a CEO hat and treat their business like a business, not a hobby. They take responsibility for their business decisions and they make sure they are compliant with the rules and regulations required by law.

Time for some fierce truth here:

I sometimes wonder if it’s because we’re scared – we haven’t really committed to running a successful business? That ignoring the law means we’re somehow just ‘playing’ business, like we played ‘shop’ in primary school?

 

If The Rules Are Wrong, Get Them Changed

Our campaigning on the new Digital VAT rules that came in in 2015 (accidentally leaving millions of micro businesses trading illegally) shows that you CAN change the law: the legislation for a threshold and simplifications is currently progressing through the European Council. We were told by the EU Commission and the UK Government that we achieved something impossible.

Instead of getting people angry and rebelling, we worked incredibly hard to channel the anger and frustration into positive action. That is the reason why the campaign was so successful.

If we did it, so can you. Both the UK Government and the European Commission tell us we have changed the way they work with micro businesses. So changing the law is easier now than it was 2 1/2 years ago.

[Tweet “If business laws are broken, don’t ignore them, change them. Lessons from a lemonade stand. #entrepreneur #smallbiz”]

If you want to rebel, turn that into a positive force for change. Work with your local Council to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘rules’. Help them to see how small changes could help businesses to grow and survive. Find out if there’s a mid-ground that might allow kids to sell lemonade on street corners. Work with your MP, your MEPs, your regulatory body, your local Chamber of Commerce – or even set up a full-blown campaign.

But encouraging others just to break the rules helps no one, in the long run, and it can damage both the rule-breakers and those working hard to trade within the law.

 

What’s Your View?

Do you think it’s unfair that people need a street trading licence to sell lemonade to festival-goers in the UK?

Should young children (and, by implication their parents) be exempt from these rules?

How do you feel about a company when you can’t find their contact details on their website?

Have you spotted any other common traps that we should know about? Let’s help make sure we’re all staying on the right side of the law.

Why do you think so many people fall foul of these four simple business rules?

I’d love to hear from you, via the comments.

Clare Josa

Author of Dare To Dream Bigger

Mentor To Passionate World-Changers

 

Why I DON’T Want You To Change Your Limiting Beliefs – Yes I Mean It!

5MinuteBiz, Clear Out Your Blocks

How often do you hear me banging on about your limiting beliefs, hidden blocks, excuses and secret fears getting in the way of the difference you want to make in the world? And how often do I spill the beans (usually for free – I’m a compulsive over-giver on this) on how you can ditch those hidden blocks, self-sabotage patterns and feeling like a fraud?

And, if you’ve tried it on for size, you’ll know that the stuff I teach works. You might even think it rocks. It has helped many thousands of passionate world-changers, just like you, to create breakthroughs in their lives.

But here’s the thing: the work I share is wasted, for probably 95% of the people who use it.

Why? It’s not because it doesn’t get results – it does – with knobs on.

And, initially, it makes them feel great – positive, empowered and enthusiastic.

But I need to let you in on the secret of why I DON’T want you to ditch your limiting beliefs…

 

Want to listen to the podcast of this article?

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When I work with one-to-one mentoring clients and my group Masterminders, I use a 3 step process.

  1. Get total clarity and Soul-level alignment with what you want – your Big Vision and Big Why {Stuck on this? Here’s a video to take you through the start of the process. Watch it and then come back here.}
  2. Clear out the hidden blocks that would otherwise derail you, while you’re not looking
  3. Take inspired action

Rinse & repeat.

It’s really simple (of course, there’s a little more to the 3 steps – but that’s for another convo). And it works a treat.

I have to be honest that one of the key differences between those who get ‘good’ results and those who get ‘breakthrough’ results is whether or not they do step 1 – most people don’t want to. They would rather clear out the blocks, to ease that inner pain a bit, then distract themselves from not living their Dharma – their Soul’s purpose – by being busy and overwhelmed. And, to be honest, if you’ve got a rough idea of what you want to achieve, that can be enough.

But here is what really breaks my heart:

There is a step I can’t take for you – one that’s implicit in those 3 stages – a block I can’t ‘fix’. And it’s the one that stops most people from ever, ever, ever creating their dreams.

The other week, Gary Vaynerchuk did a great video on regret. He said that when you talk to 90 year olds about their life, one of the first things they say is, “I wish…” They look back at all the things they wish they had done. And he concludes (and I agree with him) that regret can poison your experience of life.

So he encourages you to seize every opportunity to turn your dreams into reality and (for his target audience) to grow your entrepreneurial business and legacy.

Ditching your limiting beliefs and hidden, subconscious blocks is a Big Deal – to be celebrated – because it will shift you from “I can’t…” to “I can…”

But that’s not enough.

Sorry. I know that block-busting was hard work and I AM genuinely proud of you for doing it, but it’s simply not enough. Since 2002, I have worked with thousands and thousands of entrepreneurs and passionate world-changers, and there is one critical element that made the difference between those who, a decade on, are still stuck in desk jobs and relationships that they hate, and those who have been making the difference they dream of.

Someone shared a social media quote with me this morning that inspired me to write this article:

“You have to get up every morning and tell yourself, ‘I can do this’.”

No. That’s simply not enough.

“I can”, on its own, changes nothing, other than giving you a warm, glowy feeling inside.

But after a while, that glowy feeling disappears and you wind up with even more inner pain – an inner conflict – because your mind is telling you that you can, but your heart is asking you why you aren’t.

Changing the world isn’t about what you think or believe; it’s about who you allow yourself to become. And then taking inspired action. [Click to Tweet]

As I said, “I can”, on its own, changes nothing. It’s taking inspired action that makes the difference. “I will” and “I have done” are what change the world.

[Click to Tweet]

And this is the difference that makes the difference – the one leap I can’t push you through – the one block I can’t release for you, no matter how much I want to.

Want to know what the hardest part of my job is?

Getting people to say ‘yes’ to the future they’re dreaming of.

Once that’s done, the rest is easy. And so much fun!

Once the ‘yes’ is out of the way, once that decision has been made, then they barely read my sales pages – they just sign up. There’s no need for ‘discovery calls’ or ’email ping pong’. They know in their heart that I can help them on the next phase of their journey and they’re excited.

But if they haven’t made that commitment yet – if their ‘yes’ is still a ‘maybe’, then there’s very little I can do to help.

Variations of this quote are attributed to Goethe, loosely translated from Faust:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back.
Begin it and the work will be completed.

I can give you every step of the ‘how to’, once you have made the commitment. But I can’t make the commitment for you.

Sure, I can apply leverage, and in the NLP world, that’s surprisingly common, but to me it feels like bullying and scare-tactics.

It’s how the super-biz-gurus get you parting with thousands, almost without realising it. Then they keep you hyped up, so you don’t guy buyer’s remorse. And if it doesn’t work, it’s because it’s your fault, not theirs, and they make their guarantee terms so tricky that only a red-blooded pedant would be able to jump through those hoops.

I could use the fear-based marketing tactics; I could prey on your emotions; I could use fake scarcity; I could use the scarily-common sleazy sales tactics.

But I won’t.

Why?

Because I don’t want to do that. It’s not authentic and, frankly, it feels like bad karma.

Confession time:

I would rather have many fewer clients, but have them excited and engaged and getting incredible breakthrough results…

… than have an enormous tribe of window-shoppers, who secretly resent giving me their hard-earned cash, leaving my life’s work to gather virtual dust on their hard drives, inspiring nothing but guilt.

Very few people are prepared to do step 3. They’re happy to have their dreams and clear out their blocks, but taking ‘inspired action’? That’s the kind of actions that terrify and excite you, but which FEEL so right, in your gut, and create the leaps and breakthroughs the world needs from you.

I can’t make you say “Yes!” to taking massive action your dreams. Only you can do that. But without that ‘yes’, your dreams stay stuck as nice ideas.

When you hit your 90th birthday, unless you’ve moved on to step 3 and been taking that inspired action, you won’t feel the same amount of regret as someone who did nothing (phew!), you’ll feel more (bummer…)… because you’ll secretly know you knew what you wanted, and that you cleared out the blocks, but you didn’t fulfil your potential, or walk your Path.

I don’t want you to spend even one more day, just dreaming about your dream. I want you to be taking massive, positive, inspired action.

Without that, there’s not a huge amount of point in clearing out your blocks, because the happiness and relief that creates will soon be eclipsed by the icky feeling of not living your Path.

Sure, I can use leverage, and I can help you to crank up the passion and excitement with techniques from step 1 (and that’s what we do on our Mastermind Intensive days and in my one-to-one work), but even then, the only person who can make the decision to take action, to say yes to your dreams, is you.

Without that decision – and it is just a choice – to take inspired action, there’s little point in me teaching you how to connect with your Big Vision and clear out your blocks. I risk making it worse for you.

So How Do You Break Through This Self-Imposed Glass Ceiling?

You just choose to. Right here, right now. No fancy ‘processes’ or ‘interventions’ required.

It’s a choice. Pure and simple. And, yes, you can make it now. Shall we?

 

I’m here – virtual-hand-holding – walking by your side, TOTALLY believing in you, your mission, your dreams and your ability to make a difference in the world.

 

Is it time to say ‘yes’?

Ok – let’s do it. I’m here. You’re not alone. You can do this.

One, two, three, step up!

Yes!

Woo hoo!

Now how does that feel?

I’m so proud of you – and excited for you.

 

So here’s what I want you to do right now:

Let me know, via the comments, what action you are going to take in the next hour (yes, you read that right) towards turning your Big Vision into reality.

And also let me know what support you are going to get, to help make sure this happens.

Accountability is fabulous, and essential, too:

And if you’re ready to take action, I’ve got a special gift for you.

On May 26th, I’m running a live online training session, where I’m going to teach you the process I use with my Masterminders on their Intensive programmes, to move from ‘nice idea’ to world-changing business, taking things to the next level.

And it’s yours, as my gift to your future – but only if you’re ready to say “Yes!” to taking action and stepping up to do something about your dreams.

Here’s where to grab your seat:

 

And I’ve got an extra gift for you.

If you register for the Masterclass today, you’ll get a bonus gift of the 5 minute ritual I use each morning, before I get out of bed, to make sure that “I can” becomes “I will” and, by the end of the day, “I did”.

Grab your seat now:

I can’t wait to hear what you want to create and change in the world.

And if this article helped you, please use the buttons below to share it far and wide, via social media.

With love, Namaste,
Clare xP.S. The messages in this article will be a whole ‘how to’ chapter in my next book: Dare To Dream Bigger – The ‘Inside Work’ Handbook For Entrepreneurs And Passionate World-Changers.

Click here to pre-order your copy today, to get incredible readers’ club bonuses, between now and our launch date.

5 Reasons Why You Should Ditch Your Webinar Replays And Make Them Live-Watch Only

5MinuteBiz

I have run over 100 live webinars and live stream training events over the past few years now and, boy, have I had some learning curve lessons! As an NLP Trainer for over a decade, I thought I was already an expert at leading live events, but these have taught me SO much.

I’d love to shortcut your learning curve and share some insider secrets, to help you make the most of your live sessions. And today we’re covering why I’m moving my free webinars to be ‘live only’, as of next month. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Why You Should Ditch Your Webinar Replays And Make Them Live-Watch Only

What’s The Real Cost Of Imposter Syndrome?

5MinuteBiz

I was working with a client recently who has been running their own business for many years. They felt frustrated at how they were able to quickly grow to a certain level, but then always got stuck, no matter what kind of project they were working on.

Their Facebook groups never grew beyond a certain size. Their courses never had more than a certain number of students. They always reached the same, familiar old point in a corporate pitch and the emails would dry up. Their competitors seemed to be enjoying huge success. But despite doing all the right things, this person wasn’t getting the results they knew they deserved.

Why?

Imposter Syndrome. They felt like a fraud. The crazy thing is that this person is hugely talented. And – even more crazily – nearly every successful business owner and executive I have ever worked with has been held back by this pattern.

5 Early Warning Signs That You’re Suffering From Imposter Syndrome

I have been working with entrepreneurs and business executives on this since 2002, and here are some of the essential early warning signs for Imposter Syndrome, which mean you can get playing with the techniques I taught you as soon as possible, before Imposter Syndrome escalates and causes major damage.

Do you ever find yourself thinking things like…?

  • “I’m a fraud!”
  • “They’re going to catch me out!”
  • “They’re onto me!”
  • “Who am I, to…?”
  • “I’m not good enough.”
  • “I’m not really good at what I do. It’s just a sham. And one day they’ll find out.”
  • “I wish I could do it like he / she does…”

Yes? Then Imposter Syndrome is silently sabotaging your success.

The problem is…

Whether you believe you’re good enough, or you believe you’re not, you’re right.

… because we get – or unconsciously create – what we believe, even if we don’t consciously realise that we believe it.

Your brain has filters that are governed by your beliefs, so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the gazillion bits of information flying around in its subconscious awareness at any point in time. So, for example, if you believe you’re rubbish at presenting, you’ll spot the feedback from the audience that confirms this.

Similarly, that’s how we accidentally create self-imposed glass ceilings and self-sabotage behaviour.

I’m curious: what has Imposter Syndrome been costing you?

  • Which opportunities have you turned down?
  • Which projects did you not start – or not compete?
  • How many hours have you lost due to stress or worry or emotions linked to your negative self-talk?
  • How many times have you felt demoralised, by comparing yourself to others and deciding that they are better than you?

If you were to tally up the cost, I’m guessing it’s much bigger than you would like.

And just imagine, if you do nothing and keep running this pattern, how much will that cost you, over the coming months and years?

The world needs your Light now, whether or not you’re running Imposter Syndrome!

And even if you now WISH you had done something about your Inner Critic years ago, remember that:

The second best time to plant an oak tree is today.

And it’s not just about you! Here are 3 reasons why your Dream Customers WISH you would deal with your Inner Critic and Imposter Syndrome:

  1. Negative self-talk keeps you stuck playing small, when they need you most, which means that many of your Dream Customers will be missing out on you completely:
  2. You can’t do your best work – in flow and connected with your inner genius – if you’re reciting mantras about how rubbish you are
  3. They want and need to believe in you, so that they can believe in themselves and the transformation you provide, whatever that is. That can’t happen unless you believe in yourself.

 

The great news is:

All of these stories about what we can or can’t achieve – or who we can or can’t be – are just thoughts. They’re not the Truth. They are simply symptoms of an inner critic – a disempowering internal dialogue – that is scared of either failure or success. And that’s ok.

What can you do?

Well, to start with: put a name to it. It takes the power out of the internal dialogue: “Oh – that’s just Imposter Syndrome come out to play.”

Can you feel the relief?

It takes the drama, emotions and potential victimhood out of the discussion. It stops the story in its tracks. It sets you free to make other choices.

Here’s another top tip:

This one’s from the world of yoga. Movement is the key to change. You can’t shift anything by standing still.

Want to sort out your inner critic and shift your internal dialogue? Then move – physically! Take action. Stop being stuck. You will never set yourself free from Imposter Syndrome by sitting at your desk and worrying.

Forget the old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.”

If what you’re doing isn’t working, try something different.

The bottom line? Thousands of my clients, students and readers over the past 10+ years have proved to me that you CAN choose which thoughts to feed. You CAN set yourself free from Imposter Syndrome. And you can even tame your inner critic – retraining it to become your biggest cheerleader.

I would love to teach you how – guiding you through, step by step.

How about we get started with Imposter Syndrome first? Right now?

I have seen so many people suffer from Imposter Syndrome – and I’ve been on the receiving end of it myself. So I have pulled together the gems from thousands of people’s journeys – the common thread techniques I have used to help them – and combined them into a process that takes less than 10 minutes to go through.

And it’s yours – as my gift – because the world needs your Light today, not when you’re ‘finally feeling ready’.

Register now to get instant access to this transformational video training – as my gift.

I can’t wait to hear what you choose to create and who you choose to be, once you have been through the Imposter Syndrome training.

See you on the ‘other side’!

With love, Namaste,

Clare x

P.S. If you know anyone else who would love to ditch Imposter Syndrome, please share this article with them, so that they can sign up for the free course, too.

Why ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ Doesn’t Cut It Any More

5MinuteBiz

Back in 2002, when I started my online business, the mantra ‘Fake it till you make it’ was the received wisdom in the online coaching and training world. And for many, it worked. It was about playing bigger than you were and allowing confidence to carry you through, where perhaps skills and experience were still being built.

And, to a certain extent, it can work.

But it’s high-risk. Find out why and what you could be doing, instead, if you want to grow a business you love – and make a difference in the world.

Over the past 14 years of running my business, I have seen so many coaches, consultants and online trainers come and go. It’s sad to watch. They start off with a big mission, put their heart and Soul into it, but it doesn’t succeed.

And I have seen so many achieve what – to the outside world – looks like incredible success, on the back of pyramid-selling of ‘get rich quick’ business programmes.

Yes, there are many talented people out there doing wonderful work. But the your Facebook news feed is much more likely to be filled with adverts and posts from people who are selling you a dream they haven’t yet achieved for themselves.

‘Fake It Till You Make It’ Is An Epidemic

It’s so common. I hang out in lots of online business networking groups and I have lost count of how many people – the brave ones – share their story about high-profile snake oil merchants who leave in their wake a trail of broken promises and shattered dreams.

I say the ‘brave ones’, because admitting you got sucked in by a shiny sales pitch takes guts. And many of these online gurus have terms in their contracts that forbid you from publicly criticising them or their programmes.

For the past 14 years, I have picked up the pieces for the people for whom someone else’s glossy ‘Fake it till you make it’ strategies didn’t work.

You see, serving – and changing the world – isn’t about glitz and glamour and lifestyle and having a fancy graphic designer. It is about having done the inside work that means you are grounded, with firm foundations, with genuine confidence, compassion and capability.

But – heartbreakingly – in this world of carrot-dangling overnight success, few are prepared to put in the effort that will create those foundations.

Playing Devil’s advocate: what’s the problem with ‘fake it till you make it’, if it brings in the punters?

Let’s start with integrity:

Do you really want to sell your Soul, to grow your business?

Could you imagine paying someone to help you to create a transformation in your life, only to find they haven’t yet created it in themselves? How would you feel? Cheated? Betrayed? Somehow violated?

If you over-hype your lifestyle, results or ability, you are setting yourself up for a fall. Over-promising and under-delivering leads to upset customers who will never buy from you again. And whilst your contract might prevent them from talking about it, the word will still get round.

Remember: the best formula for a good night’s sleep is having a clear conscience.

Then how about humanity?

If you’re only in business to make money, then please get off my blog right now.

Of course, receiving a fair energy exchange for your work is essential. And making money is what makes the difference between an ‘expensive hobby’ and a business. But if the only reason you’re doing it is to get rich, to create your dream lifestyle and to be in the limelight, then this blog ain’t the place for you.

The most inspirational businesses in the world make money – of course, or they wouldn’t still be here. But they also have a Big Vision – a change they want to create in the world. A revolution they started. They are driven by wanting to make a difference.

Imagine how you would feel about shelling out thousands on a course or for mentoring, if you then discovered that the guru’s primary motivation was how much money they could make from you? Pretty bad, I’m guessing.

When an expert surrounds themselves with a pedestal-ready veneer, it means people don’t really connect with them. They are too aspirational. They attract hero-worshippers, not customers. And they lose their ability to make a difference in the world.

Are you living from a place of love – or fear?

“All choices made from freedom create more freedom.” ~ James Twyman

Similarly, all choices made from fear create more fear.

If you choose to ‘fake it till you make it’, then you’re coming from a place of fear. You are pretending to be someone that you aren’t. And that vibe will be filling each and every interaction you have with your customers. They will sniff your intentions like a dog hunting for a long-lost half-rotten bone.

And that makes it harder to fill your programmes, harder to get people to open your emails and harder to get them to trust you. And it makes your customer service experience a nightmare, because people are much more likely to be dissatisfied and to complain.

So what’s the alternative?

Well, ‘I’ll Wait Until I’m Ready’ Will Never Grow Your Business, Either…

If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll most likely never get started. Years will go by of your dream customers WISHING you would step up and help them in the way that only you can.

So if ‘fake it till you make it’ and ‘wait until I’m ready’ aren’t the answer, then what is?

Here’s the answer I’m proposing – it’s bold, crazy, scary, exciting, outrageous and yet such a sense of relief, once you actually do it… and it will magnetise your dream customers to you in a way that ‘Fake it till you make it’ could never do.

It is… drum roll…

Be authentic. And do it now.

Start where you are right now and be the best you can be – today.

Show the courage to be true to yourself. Let go of the pressure to over-hype or pretend. It might feel scary, but your dream customers will love you and the relief you will feel at finally allowing yourself to be ‘good enough’ is immense!

And that will shine through everything that you do.

And I would love to make it easy for you.

I’m running a live, online Masterclass on this on Friday 29th January at 11am UK time (replay available). And I would be over the moon to share it with you.

I’m going to take you through exactly why ‘fake it till you make it’ doesn’t work – from a psychology point of view, from a business strategy perspective, and even – minor woo woo alert – in the context of alignment and energy.

Then I will guide you through, step by step, the solutions you need to be able to get authentic and turn this around – and how this is the key to your long-term success – and inner peace and happiness and shining your light!

Plus I’ll be spilling the beans on the near-universal habit we all run, that could derail you, without you realising, and giving you strategies to set yourself free from it – forever.

Are you in?

Here’s where to get your ticket – right now – as part of the Dare To Dream Bigger business summit:

Yes! I’m in!

Let’s start a revolution!

We have had enough of seeing super-glossy ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ adverts for coaching training and business programmes in our Facebook news feeds.

We are DONE with seeing people who shelled out thousands quietly crying in the corner of a Facebook group because they feel stupid at being ripped off for thousands by yet another snake oil seller. {Important: please don’t ever feel bad if that happened to you. It’s so easy to fall for the sweet-talking. xx}

We want to spread a wave of inspiration and empowerment so that we can all be authentic – with integrity – and know that we’re already more than good enough – so we can make an incredible, positive difference in the world.

Are you with me? I’m a ‪#‎WorldChanger‬. Are you?

With love, Namaste,

Clare x

DTDB 002 – Are You Inspiring Your Customers? Or Are You Secretly Nagging Them?

Dare To Dream Bigger Podcast

Welcome to this week’s Dare To Dream Bigger business podcast episode.

I’ve been busy this week running the Dare To Dream Bigger business summit and one of the things I noticed in our discussions is how rare it is for a business to truly connect with its customers. And that got me thinking… How often do you open your inbox and find it full of emails that demand your attention? How often is it bulging at the seams with messages from businesses you barely remember, but who want you to buy from them? And when did you last receive an email from a business that made you feel genuinely important and valued?

And I realised that it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of accidentally nagging your customers, when you email them, rather than inspiring your customers.

So in today’s podcast, we dive in and explore:

  • How the problem happens – and most of us don’t notice it creeping up on us
  • Why it’s an epidemic these days
  • How it will be hurting your business growth and sales

And then I take you through a step-by-step process that helps you to identify exactly how you could turn things around, so that you add value, easily build a lasting relationship with your customers and turn from an oft-ignored email to one they actually look forward to receiving.

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And when you’ve listened to today’s episode, I’d love to know:

  • What have you learned today? Any insights? Surprises? Questions?
  • How might the ideas in today’s podcast help you, your business and your dream customers?
  • What action could you take in the next hour to implement these changes?

Can’t wait to hear from you – over on Facebook or via the comments below!

And next week I’ll be sharing with you insider secrets for handling customers you secretly want to strangle. Not to be missed! Catch each episode by subscribing via the iTunes button, above, or getting the quick-reminder newsletter (form above).

With love, Namaste,

Clare x

Clare Josa, Mentor To Passionate World-Changers

Make sure you catch each episode – plus member-only bonuses:

Prefer the transcript? Here you go!

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Dare To Dream Bigger business podcast with me, Clare Josa, mentor to passionate world-changers. Today, we’re going to be looking at whether you’re inspiring your customers with your email messaging and marketing or whether you’re secretly nagging them.

 

Now, not many of us would want to admit that we’re nagging our customers, and yet it’s so easy to fall into that trap. I’m going to take you through how to spot whether that’s happening to you, what the risks are, what’s going to happen if you don’t turn it around, and then some practical strategies for turning from a nagging in their inbox to somebody who inspires them.

 

What I’ve noticed over the years, and I’ve been running my own business since 2002, is that we connect with our customers via social media or via their emails, and so much of what we do, if we’re really honest, feels like it’s going into a black hole. I remember back in 2008, sitting in a room with some really, really high-powered business owners who were launching a brand new program. They were so excited. I sat there as they pressed “Send.”

 

They waited for the emails to come through, and it had gone to a list of 20,000 people. They’d spent months working on this dream and nothing happened. We sat there in the room in silence waiting – waiting, waiting. Eventually, the program was a success, but it took more than that initial email. But, what happened for them was totally demoralizing. They felt that maybe they’d failed; they’d gone in the wrong direction. What they’d expected was to send out that email and, within seconds, to get thousands of people signing up for what they were offering.

 

What went wrong? Nothing. They simply forgot some basic truths that not everybody is sitting on their email all the time. Those who are have hopefully got some time management skills that mean, if your email comes through, if it’s not on their priority list in that moment, they might not read it. Even if they do read it, there’s a strong chance that even if it resonates with them, they won’t take action right away. They’ll put it on their to-do list for later. It might slip off their to-do list. It really takes a lot to inspire a customer to the extent that they’re excited, waiting for every email you send, and ready to take action immediately bumping you up their to-do list.

 

Here’s the problem. We connect with our customers. We sent them our newsletters. We send them our special offers, and we sit there, and we wait for them to take action. The problem is you can’t force anyone to take action. Over time, it can end up — you know, we’re in a crowded airspace. Some people’s inboxes are getting hundreds of emails a day, and that’s if you even make it into the inbox and you don’t get hotmailed into the spam folder or gmailed into the promo folder, and it never ceases to amaze me how many of my customers don’t know they’ve got a junk folder and don’t know that gmail has a promo folder, and they complain that they’re not hearing from me, but that’s where it’s going.

 

It’s a crowded airspace. The inboxes are full. Their to-do lists are overflowing. Most people are feeling overwhelmed and stressed. How do you get their attention? This is where the problem comes.

 

It can feel like we’re sending our messages into a black hole. We send out our weekly newsletter. We send out our special offers. We don’t get quite the response we were expecting.

 

Now, there’ll be a large portion that don’t even get the message. There’ll be another portion that get the message, put it on their to-do list to read later, and never get around to it. Then there’ll be those that do read it and think, “Wow. That was great. I’ll deal with that tonight,” and life gets in the way. It’s actually a really small number who are engaged enough with us that they get excited about opening up those emails and taking action.

 

Now, when you feel like you’re sending your messages into a black hole–and you’re giving, giving, giving, hopefully, rather than taking, taking, taking–you can end up asking yourself, “Why isn’t anyone buying?” I see this so often with the people I mentor, and I’ve been there myself. As you send out something that’s absolutely gold dust, and you wonder why you’re not getting the response that you expected, it can build up to be resentment.

 

The next time you send out a newsletter you think, “Well, none of you did this,” yeah? We’ve all had that experience. It can create frustration, and it can even lead to people who have got fantastic business ideas totally giving up. Now, that fear and that resentment build the frustration, and we can even end up feeling desperate. Well, you know, what do I have to say differently in this email to make you guys click? Yeah?

 

I had a situation recently. I run a weekly newsletter, video newsletter called FiveMinute.biz, which people absolutely love. But, sometimes when I send it out, it feels like it’s going into a black hole. Every now and then I sit there and think, “Should I keep going with this newsletter?” Just when I make the decision, “You know what? Maybe I’ll just let it go,” within hours, as though people can smell that, I start getting people saying, “Hey, I really love the videos.” It’s just that maybe 1 in 100 or 1 in 500 people actually take the time to comment or feedback.

 

The fact is, you never know the impact you’re making on people that they’re simply not telling you. When you ask people to comment and to share, only a tiny proportion will. They’re all so overwhelmed. There’s so much noise in that airspace. And, a large number of people are scared about their privacy these days, and they don’t want to go around sharing how much your stuff helped them because, frankly, that’s like taking out an ad on the front page of the newspaper saying, “Hey, I had a problem, and I needed help fixing it.”

 

If you get to the desperation point, the frustration, the resentment and the giving up, customers smell this. Your tone will change in your messages. Instead of being heart based, positive, and coming from love, it’s going to be coming from irritation, perhaps even anger and fear.

 

Now, this is when we shift into nagging zone. It’s so easy to do. If what you’re doing when you’re creating your messages is feeling annoyed and resentful, that is the vibe that will go through every word you write and speak. It will go through your offers. People can smell it a mile off. Just like dogs can smell fear, customers can smell nagging, and they can tell when we’ve got an agenda.

 

For most of us, there’s enough crud in our inbox that, to get us to open a message, we need to have a really strong relationship with that company, and we need to feel inspired. We want things that uplift us. Okay, there are only so much cute cat video things you can do in a day, and I’m not talking about superficial stuff. What I’m talking about here is a deep connection with your customer, seeing the world through their eyes and noticing what you can do to play a role in their life, to make their life better. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling services or widgets; you’re creating a transformation and an experience for those customers.

 

If you end up in the resentment, frustration, despair, and nagging route, then what will happen is your open rates will go down. You’ll be damaging the relationship with your customers without even realizing. They’re going to feel nagged. None of us like to be told what to do. None of us like to be made to feel bad just because we’re doing our best and it doesn’t suit somebody else’s agenda. You’re going to get unsubscribes, and you’re going to find that social media engagement is already pretty low unless you’re doing paid postings. You’re going to find that that engagement goes down further too. In these days, where it can get harder and harder to reach people organically via social media, your mailing list is your business for so many business owners.

 

What can you do instead? I’ve got an NLP (neurolinguistic programming) exercise I’d love to share with you called Perceptual Positions. Now, this is about standing in somebody else’s shoes and seeing the world through their eyes without judgment. I used to head of market research at Dyson, do getting into the customer’s shoes was something that we were trying to do on a regular basis, and it’s a technique I’ve brought with me over the past decade or more of running my own business.

 

What you do for this, it really helps to actually physically move. If you stay sitting in your chair or whatever you’re doing listening to this podcast today, then you’re going to find it quite hard to do, so I invite you to stand up and then go and stand somewhere else in the room. Imagine. We’re going to do some real mindreading stuff, but just imagine. Play with this that you can stand in the shoes of one of your dream customers.

 

Imagine you’re holding your body the way they would be holding their body. Imagine you’re breathing the way they would be breathing. Adjust your posture, and notice the kind of thoughts that they’re thinking when it comes to the solution that you offer.

 

You might want to press pause and allow some stuff to bubble up here without judgment, without filtering. What are the kinds of thoughts they’re thinking? What are the kinds of problems that they’ve got?

 

Now, what would you need to be doing and sharing and giving to become a non-negotiable part of that person’s experience of life? How could you help them in ways that have nothing to do with selling? How could you inspire them? What interests them that’s kind of a lead in to the service or widget or product that you offer? What kind of things would they love you to be talking about?

 

There are so many big brands out there that just do nothing other than pitch. “Hey, here’s our latest special offer. Hey, here’s what’s selling best on our website.” They never send you an article about how to fix this thing or how to deal with that problem, or look at this; we’ve been having fun in this way. Have you? It’s not about building a relationship. It’s about selling.

 

Yet, given how expensive it can be to find new customers, keeping your existing customers, keeping them loyal and passionate, and turning them into super fans, is essential. That requires you to allow them to connect with you, and a relationship is a two-way thing. It’s about listening to them and then talking to them in a way that inspires and uplifts them.

 

And it’s about being you, living and breathing your brand. Whether your brand is just you or whether you’re leading a larger company, what your brand stands for needs to flow through every message you put out there. It’s time to stop hiding behind that brand, allowing yourself to be a human, and allowing yourself to be personable.

 

One of my top tips is, please, please, please get rid of these sending from no reply email addresses. Yeah, we all know it’s a pain when you get 2,000 “out of office” messages in August, but people want to connect with you, and there’s nothing that says more clearly that this company doesn’t give two hoots about you as a person than replying to them to an email only to get it to bounce saying we don’t read this inbox. It’s one of the rudest things you can do. It really is. Being human is so important.

 

About ten years ago, I used to run a website on seasonal food. It’s something I did during maternity leave with my first son. I managed to get it so it ranked number one on Google for all sorts of stuff, all sorts of recipes and ingredient information, and it used to outperform the BBC food website and Delia.

 

I used to send out a weekly newsletter with recipes for people who got veg boxes and bought local, seasonal food. It was very human. The newsletter had the recipes in, but it also had stories in. I don’t know about you, but I love reading recipe books where there’s an introduction, there’s a story behind the recipe rather than just cold, factual recipes. It was a hugely successful newsletter.

 

Then there came a point where the business grew too big. I didn’t want to make it full time, so I actually gave it to a company that specialized in eco and green products. They took the humanity out of the newsletters, and it became just about the recipes, and they stopped sending it from somebody who had a name, and it was just that business’s name.

 

Within about six months, the brand was dead because it had lost the human connection. Now, obviously, if you’re doing the newsletters for a big company, you need to find a way around this, but people want to connect with the energy of the humanity of your brand, not just be sales pitched, not just be nagged. Standing in those customers’ shoes, what would get them excited to open their inbox and find you in there? What would make them think, “Well, no. Okay. To-do list out the window – I’m reading this right now”?

 

What kind of value could you be adding as a gift? I’m not talking compulsive over-giving. I’m talking about making a positive difference in their lives. How could you become somebody who feels like a trusted friend or expert?

 

How could you build a relationship that’s two ways? And, how could you become a nonnegotiable part of their life? When you have that privilege, you don’t need to sell. You’re in there. You’re inspiring. When they want to buy, they’ll remember who you are and you stay top of mind.

 

The benefits of doing this are that you massively increase your open rates. You build that relationship with your customers. If you’re doing it via email, then it has a knock-on effect for social media. You’ll get more interactions. You’ll get better value out of any paid campaigns you’re running. You’re going to increase your sales rates from your email campaigns. And, you get to make a difference in people’s lives.

 

It’s not a high effort. It just requires you to see things from their point of view rather than yours. Sure, you want to make the sale and grow your business. They want you to be part of their life. They want you to add value. You need to do something different to everybody else in your marketplace to create that long-term, two-way relationship.

 

I’m curious. What have you learned today? Is there anything that you spot that maybe if you’re being totally honest, it means you might be seen as nagging, or are you pretty much sorted and you know that you’re well on your way to inspiring all of your customers with your marketing, your communications, and emails? What have you learned? What could you do differently, and what action could you take in the next hour to start turning things around?

 

I would love to hear from you. The show notes for this episode are at the Dare To Dream Bigger podcast site, DTDBpodcast.biz/002. I’d really love to hear from you. If you found this useful, please share it far and wide with your friends.

 

I hope today’s installment has inspired you with some ways that you can connect with what your customers wish you were doing and the way they wish you were communicating and the way they wish you were relating with them. I really know whatever kind of business you’re involved in and whatever its size, there will be things that you can do to take that inspiration to the next level and to move away from nagging.

 

The simplest thing you can do, if you take just one thing away from today’s podcast, whenever you do a customer communication, really connect with them as human beings. They’re not just numbers on a mailing list. They’re people with hopes and dreams, wishes, and fears. Connect with them and then, before you send the communication, ask yourself, “What is my intention with this communication? Is it to inspire or might I be perceived as nagging?” Be totally honest and notice if anything needs to change.

 

Let me know how you get on with this. I can’t wait to hear what results you get. I’ll be back soon with the next episode of the Dare To Dream Bigger podcast.

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