Ep. 109 What People Get Wrong About Setting Goals

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Today is a short little podcast to talk about mistakes I see people make when they go to set goals. Let me know, is this you? You say, “Okay, I’m going to make a business goal for quarter one or quarter two, and my goal is I want to hit $10,000 in revenue…”

or maybe your goal is, “I want to sell 30 units of my course.” Or, “I want to have 100 new subscribers on my list.” All of these goals are fundamentally flawed. I mean, they’re not flawed, they’re just incomplete because every single one of these goals you cannot control. You do not control how many people actually take their credit card out and buy your course. You do not control how much revenue comes into the business, ultimately. And you certainly don’t control how many people get on your email list.

So we create these goals that we have no actual control over, and then we get annoyed when those goals don’t come to pass. So I was talking with my friend Aria, and I said, “Do we call these lagging goals? What do we call these things?” Because they are milestones, of course, but they really can’t drive your behavior because they all have to do with the behavior of other people.

So I’m not saying that we don’t make these goals, but I’m saying that if you are going to sit there and say, “Okay, I want a certain number of subscribers.” Or “I want a certain revenue, or units sold.” That that be the milestone, that be sort of the indicator that you have done what you needed to do, but you actually need to write down some goals that you have control over.

So I see this happen a lot in the service based industry, because in that industry in particular, you can feel a little bit like feast or famine, you’re not quite sure where your leads are coming from, a lot of it is word of mouth, and sort of you’re just left with this feeling of like, am I going to get another client or not? And so lead flow becomes an issue.

So when you set a goal of, “I want to close 5 new clients.” Or, “I want to hit my first 10k month.” Or whatever it happens to be, you’re setting goals you have no control over, and your marketing lead flow is a little bit less defined than other types of markets because you’re relying so heavily on word of mouth.

So you need to step back and think about what triggers word of mouth. What triggers that? Well, number one, you have to actually be talking to people and people have to be able to communicate what you do, right? So if I’m going to recommend somebody, I’m going to see a post on Facebook or someone’s going to talk to me and they’re going to say, “ Oh I need help with xyz” and your name is going to come to mind. “Oh, Nicole is so good at this. You need to go talk to Nicole.” So I need to first know who Nicole is, know what Nicole does, and know what she does in a way that’s memorable enough that when I see somebody else asking…

So one of your goals could be to have a certain number of conversations with other people in a way that they actually know what you do. So let’s say I’m a coach for weight loss, or a ketogenic diet, let’s say. So my goal to close five new clients, one of the things I’m going to do is I’m going to aim to have 100 meaningful conversations over the month of January where I introduce myself to 100 new people and they know what I do and I am able to communicate it in a way that’s simple. So that’s the first thing.

Okay, so then I go back to word of mouth referrals and I think, what else? What else is a part of it? Well, I have to have done really great work. So maybe one of my goals for the month is to go back and look at who my best clients were and ask them for word of mouth referrals, and then maybe look at some of my clients who I’m currently working with, who I know if I step up or I over deliver or I do this extra thing, they’re going to be like, “Oh my gosh, this person is amazing.” And they’re more likely to refer me.

So this is how you start to develop your actual sort of task related goals that you can set up, which will then lead to this lagging goal, or this goal that you don’t actually have any control over.

So as you sit down and you think about whether it’s email subscribers, course units sold, breaking down what actually has to happen in that process, what are the actual nuts and bolts of selling courses? What are the nuts and bolts of getting subscribers on your list, and then setting up actions and KPIs of what you’re going to do. So do not underestimate conversations with people. Do not underestimate interviews, do not underestimate how much you are bumping into other people because this is usually at the core of a lot of lead flow and growth over the month.

Now obviously if you are a bigger entrepreneur and you have more reputation, this is a little bit easier because the proverbial snowball is already rolling down the hill, whereas if you are new it is going to be a lot of one on one conversations that on first glance don’t feel super productive. But if you are going in with the intention to provide value to them and to make sure that they understand who you are and what you do, you may find that these sort of lagging goals, these goals that you have that you really can’t control, start to get met. And once you have met them, then you sort of have a benchmark. “Oh look, 100 conversations led to 5 new clients.

Now you have a benchmark to say, “Okay, if I want 10 new clients, I maybe need to have 200 conversations.” And you start to come up with KPIs that help you dictate how to set your goals for the next month or the next quarter. Hope that helps, talk to you soon.

Ep. 102 How To Stop Procrastinating on Something You Need To Do

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Today I want to talk about how to get something done that you’re procrastinating on. This is sort of just Julie’s version of how to do something. I don’t say that it’s backed on science. This is just my unsolicited advice and opinion about how to get something done that you are procrastinating on.

So I have seen this happen in my life in multiple areas, and I would say that the first thing that you want to do when there’s something that you have to do that you’re avoiding, is to sit down and ask why you’re avoiding it. There could be some subconscious belief patterns you’re running that are creating that resistance.

So for example, let’s say you’re procrastination on writing a book, or you’ve been writing a podcast, writing a blog post or doing a podcast. In fact, I would argue that this podcast I’m recording right now, I was procrastinating on. So I look at why. Why is there resistance? Because once I’m in it, it’s actually not that hard, or I get into momentum. Usually there’s a belief system. So for me the belief system is I haven’t been consistent with my podcast, therefore nobody cares, therefore nobody is listening, it’s not going to do anything. Nobody’s going to be excited. You’ve lost all of your momentum. You should just quit.

A lot of us carry those belief systems around, now is it actually true? So I started to put myself in my customer’s shoes, and I thought, if I had a podcast that I really liked to listen to and then the person stopped recording podcasts, I would be sad. And if they started back up again, I would be excited, even if it had taken them a long time. It’s the same reason why when you watch a Netflix show, if it ends people are sad. But if you decide to come back and do another episode, people are super excited.

So I was like the belief pattern is not true. Right. So sometimes it’s belief patterns that are holding you back from doing something. So once I realized that, I was able to move into it.

The second reason you might be procrastinating is because logistically there’s a problem in the way. There’s something that you can’t quite solve. So let’s say you’re procrastination on writing sales copy. And the reason you’re procrastinating is because you actually don’t know how to write sales copy. So you need help. You need someone to teach you how to write it.

Or maybe the reason you’re procrastinating is because you haven’t really done the work yet of identifying the offer and the market, so you always sit down and sort of stare at a blank screen because you haven’t done that previous work. So sometimes there are logistical problems in the way.

The third reason that people procrastinate is based on the idea of tyranny of the urgent. We’re always reacting to things that are squeaky and loud and urgent. And we’re not doing the things that are important and are going to move the needle. And I’m preaching to the choir because there are several projects that have been sitting in my task board that I say, ‘Oh, I’ll get to them later.” And then I never do because I don’t really value importance over urgency.
So my advice for this particular problem is that you have to create space where there is none. Because a lot of us wait until there’s space, and then there never is space. This is the same thing with planning vacations or date nights, or quality time with people you care about. You think, “Oh my gosh, my schedule, there’s no way.” But if you basically ignore the laws of time and space, and you force into your schedule a block for that thing, it forces everything around it to adjust. So it’s this sort of uncomfortable, it’s uncomfortable for us to do this, but it’s forcing prioritization.

So let’s say that you are really wanting to write a book. You’re going to go on your calendar, and you’re going to block time off, even if there is no time, and you’re going to do it anyway. And what’s going to happen is you’re going to have to reschedule calls, or you’re going to have to change priorities, or you’re going to have to not attend meetings, or you’re going to have to do things that are going to be inconvenient because there’s stuff in the way.

But waiting for the stuff not to be in the way is the lie. So I would recommend if you are procrastinating on something, you start to look at these possible issues. Number one, the belief systems behind why you’re procrastinating, your own incompetence, or imposter syndrome. The second thing is that logistically there’s a problem that you haven’t solved yet, or something that you don’t know how to do that really is the precursor to getting that thing done. And the third thing is not letting the urgent overriding the important. And forcing into your schedule, things that are important, even when they don’t seem urgent.

And the last example I can give of this was back in the spring we needed some new documentation for FG Funnels, and it was one of those things that just sort of sat on the back burner. So I asked Nuno, who is our head of tech coaching for FG Funnels to come stay at my house for a week so that we could get this out in one week time. It meant he had to take time off from work, he had to leave his family, it meant I had to move a week’s worth of meetings and appointments, and get childcare. I had to move everything out of the way, and we got it done in that week.

So hopefully that helps you with your procrastination. If you pop off this podcast, go right to the thing that you’re procrastinating on, and ask yourself if it’s any one of those three issues. Appreciate you all, talk to you soon.

Ep. 98 How to Sell Something Intangible

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Today I’m going to talk to you about how to sell something that is intangible. So a lot of us work in the personal development space, mindset, we work in spirituality, relationships, things that, you know, you’re not selling mugs or lipstick or websites, or things that people can either smell, taste, hear, touch, or at least digitally see.

So when you’re selling something really intangible, it can be very hard to sell the value of that. It’s also hard for the person to really measure whether or not it worked. And especially as you go to write sales copy, it just, you know, it can easily fall flat.

So I have used a very classic example about making something intangible tangible. Many of you have probably heard me use this example. I will say it again, but I will actually give you a new example today to kind of help you walk through the process of how you think about it, so that you can come up with something.

So the classic example that I always use has to do with my two clients who are in the makeup space. But they’re really in the female empowerment space, so they wanted to do a challenge, they wanted to build their list, and they really wanted to focus on women feeling more confident, something very intangible. So what we did was we made the red lip challenge, and the idea behind this was that women typically don’t wear red lipstick, you know, unless they’re very confident, because red lipstick is very bold, it makes women feel like they’re standing out, and they’re uncomfortable. And typically a woman who is not confident in herself is probably going to avoid attention getting lipstick, like red lipstick. So if you were to imagine someone going from being afraid to loving and wearing a bright red lipstick, would you say that that was a manifestation of an increase in confidence and empowerment? And the answer is yes.

So that’s a very tangible action they can, you know, pick out their red tone for their skin, they can wear their lipstick, they can share it on social media, and they have actions that really point to the fact that they are working towards building their confidence.

Okay, so kind of how do you get there from here is really the question. So again, I’m coaching in our program Launch Gorgeous Lite, and I was working with someone who said that they wanted to do a workshop at getting better at your intuition. Okay, intuition is intangible and how are you going to know that you’re better at intuition. So I asked her, “What are some examples? Some tangible sort of manifestations of someone who has good intuition? Someone who has arrived at that result?”
Okay, so these were some things I thought of. You can foresee trouble in relationships before anything is spoken. So it’s almost like this sort of seeing eye idea. You can make better and stronger decisions that you don’t regret because you’re really in touch with yourself and your true desires. So you’re not making bad decisions because you’re following somebody else’s ideas. So that’s another one. A third one would be, maybe you’re a better partner or parent because you can read between the lines. So you’re kid is saying, you say, “How was school?” and they say, “Oh fine.” But you really know based on their body language and your intuition that they’re not fine and this is what’s going on. And you can kind of read between the lines and get at the root of the issue.

So here are three more tangible examples that show someone has good intuition. So when you’re thinking about something intangible, yeah, something intangible, ask yourself what are some examples of the manifestation of the result that you’re selling.

Okay, the next thing you need to do is think about a common theme that runs through these examples. So is there any pattern, is there any theme, is there any thread of similarity between these examples that I gave that we can kind of use? And to me, for someone who can foresee trouble before it’s coming, who can make decisions for themselves that they don’t regret, because they understand their true desires, and someone who can be a better parent because they are reading between the kids’ lines of what they are saying, the common theme is that they see and understand things that are unseen or unspoken. And that to me is the theme, learning to see and understand things that are unseen or unspoken.

So that to me is sort of the crux of good intuition, so instead of doing a workshop where you’re saying something like, “Learn how to have better intuition.” Or “The better intuition workshop.” which feels kind of, a little nebulous, maybe you call the workshop “Unspoken”. Which again, if you listened to my last episode about how to get good at writing hooks, I’m curious right. Unspoken, a workshop called unspoken, is it a silent workshop? I need to read more.

So “Unspoken: the workshop that teaches you to read between the lines with anyone.” Now we’ve taken something that’s kind of intangible and almost turned it into a skill, right. So if I say, “Hey, this is a paid workshop, it’s called unspoken, it teaches you to read between the lines with anyone, and I’m going to give you 5 steps to building your intuition so that you can foresee trouble in relationships before it happens, make better personal decisions that you don’t regret, understand your family members more completely when they give you one word answers.” Now it’s incredibly like, oh my gosh, I can see how this skill when learned will be applicable in my everyday life, in real life situations. That I can imagine.

So that is sort of the process of how I would help you think about something intangible. Right, you think about the result, you think about the person who actually has the result that you’re selling, you kind of come up with a couple of examples, you look for a common theme, and in this case I turned intuition almost into a skill, a more like, you know, hard knock skill that you can really be like, “Ooh, I have that skill.” And then I showed through some bullet points the real life examples of how that’s going to manifest when you have that skill. And that is essentially my formula for how to sell something that’s largely intangible and hard to communicate.

Appreciate you all, talk to you soon.