There are many phases to business growth.  The dreaming, the planning, the implementing, the building….and then the erasing.

Are you aware of the fact that in order to go to the next level, you need to erase part of the thing that got you there?

For some this may seem normal and appropriate and easy.  But for others it’s tantamount to clearing out the family home of all the heirlooms.  Loaded with resistance and refusal!

Let’s start with why first.

Look at nature.  Nothing stays the same.  In nature, if you aren’t growing, you are dying.  Think tadpole to frog or acorn to oak tree.  The original form always falls away to reveal a new one that is more sturdy, more likely to survive, and more ‘grown up’ if you will.

And so it makes sense that the business you had three years ago also needs to morph into a new version.

But that’s going to take some erasing.

These are some old beliefs you will need to eradicate:

I can’t charge that much
There’s too much competition
I have to do it all by myself
I’m don’t know enough to be seen as an expert yet

You may have others that have plagued you for years, so now’s the time to create the new ones.  The trick here though is to create from where you want to be versus where you are now.  So visualize yourself more successful in 1 or 3 years and ask….”what were the beliefs that allowed me to get here?”

The trick then is to begin to incorporate the new and allow the old to be erased.

Next up to erase is your pricing.

If you are a coach or consultant or service provider, are you offering high end programs?  Are you ‘out of the box’ with your offerings, or still selling a few sessions here and there?

The first thing I do with my clients is look at what they are selling and find creative ways to package their genius.  So as you look at how you serve people, what needs to be erased?  It could be a poor selling program or product, or one that doesn’t make your heart sing.  Remember – nature abhors a vacuum, so start slicing and dicing and cleaning up in this area.

The final thing we erase is your invisibility.  And for some, this can be the scariest.  It looks like a bio with third person, boring, and ‘fact-based’ content.  It shows up as lifeless and devoid of color or your personality.  And the cost of this one is tremendous.  But it takes courage to fully put yourself out in the world in a big way.

So here the erasing consists of anything on your website that sounds like “but I should hope so.”  What I mean is if you are a CPA and your great claim to fame is how accurate you are, that’s an “I should hope so” as a consumer, and shows nothing about what makes you unique, brilliant or the very best one I should hire.

Let’s get that big eraser out and look at your marketing materials now.  Start with your bio.  Does it reflect all of you?  Does it give me a reason to connect (beyond your professional credentials)?  Does it make me feel like I can trust you, or does it sound like everyone else?  And finally….are there stories, pictures, and enough personal stuff so I can feel like you and I could relate a bit more.

If it doesn’t, start erasing!

Because in this new economy, it’s more critical to have a personal and authentic presence.  So I challenge you to grow this way.  (And feel free to send me the before and after!)

By the way, if you want to discover the way out of being invisible, I’d love to give you my free ebook on Inner Marketing.  You can grab it here and discover ways to stand out in the marketplace.

Let’s start with one of those sometimes not so pretty entrepreneurial truths -

Your visibility can be more important than your ability

What that means is that your ability is second to your visibility.  In the marketplace you could be the most talented, the most dedicated, and the most likely to do a good job for a prospect.

But if you are a little invisible, your competitor who is less skilled than you are can be scooping up your possible clients.   Isn’t that frustrating?

Does this seem fair?  Does it bug you?  But it’s the real world of business.  And in this ‘new economy’ where folks are much more discriminating buyers, it’s critical that you stand out from the crowd.

That’s why I’m now talking about ‘beyond being visible.’  Because we all know we need visibility.  It’s just not enough to roll out a few emails or pass out business cards and hoping someone calls you.

The real trick is to know what makes you different.  What would make you the very best person to work with?  And how can you find that, own it, and weave it into your business in a really powerfully authentic and attractive way.

My passion these days is to speak about INNER MARKETING.  That’s the work you have to do as you grow and evolve and before you roll out your newsletters or programs.

These are the signs you may need some more fine tuning in your ‘inner marketing’ process:

> You notice that what used to work to get clients in the door no longer is effective

> You have so many ideas, you don’t know where to start, so don’t move much forward

> You have lots of pieces in place, but can’t see how they fit together in a profitable or more leveraged way

> You’re not getting the right clients and so you are drained

> You have hit a plateau at the level of income you are at and you know you are capable of earning way more (and that’s so frustrating)

Help is on its way in the form of a new and free call I’ll be doing 10/18 at 10am PT/1pm ET

You can sign up here and be on your way to figuring out how to solve this problem.

I’ll be showing you what’s in the way of getting that “Brilliance out of your blind spot” and out in the world in a really cool way.  And you’ll also hear the cost of hiding that brilliance, or worse yet…settling for sounding like everyone else.

Here’s what I know to be true….

The world needs what you have.  There are clients not being served because they can’t find you!  Let’s change that okay.

And I’d love to hear your feedback.  Think visibility is more important than ability?  (Please don’t hear me saying that it’s not important to have ability, but the problem comes when you have crazy-ability and crappy visibility.  That’s what we are solving here.)

Here’s the way to sign up.