Listen to Your Excuses

What excuse do you use the most to not do something that you know will move your business forward?  Time?  Money?  Energy?

Often times we let our excuses stop us from taking action on something.  However, if we take a moment to examine why we don't have what we feel we need to take action, we can evaluate what changes we may need to make in order to reclaim control over the things which feel like they are currently holding us back.

TIME:

Why don't we have enough time?
What are we prioritizing instead?
How are we setting up our schedule in a way that continually limits our time and makes it impossible to have time for improvements or exploring something more beneficial?
How can we improve our time management in order to gain more control over our time?

MONEY:
Why do we feel like there isn't enough money?
Where has our money been going instead?
How are we setting up our spending habits that restrict our ability to invest in business building opportunities or hiring help that would create more revenue?
How can we improve our financial management in order to gain more control?

ENERGY:
Why do we feel like we don't have enough energy?
Where are we directing most of our energy?
How are we setting ourselves up to feel drained of our energy so that there's no additional energy left to add anything else to our plate?
How can we improve our personal energy levels so that we can accomplish more?

Examine your excuses to identify where you need to make changes in the way you manage your life or your business.  The solution is often just within reach when we realize that we have the power to make the necessary changes by simply thinking ahead and identifying what habits need to be changed.

Anne Ruthmann helps creatives find smarter solutions to common business problems as a Creative Business Strategist and author of the Pricing Workbook for Creatives.  Her wisdom is steeped in the experience of managing her own creative businesses since 2004.  Stay in touch on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

Asking the Right Offer Questions

Online groups are a great place to test an offer or get feedback on how to deliver an offer.  However, I often see people asking questions that won't be very helpful for getting good feedback, so I wanted to address one of the most common questions that gets asked, and what a better question to ask would be instead...

THE UNHELPFUL QUESTION: "How much should I charge?"

This is question will quickly deliver a variety of responses that may not be helpful.  It's often followed by comments like:

• Do you know what your expenses are?
• Have you done your numbers?
• What area are you in?
• My so-and-so charged this.
• I would pay this. 
• I've never bought that before, but I could afford this.

None of these are going to be as helpful to learning more about how to deliver an offer or identify an ideal client.  What they accomplish instead is just delivering a wide range of opinions that may not apply to you or what you're offering.

THE HELPFUL QUESTION: "I'm planning to offer a (product/service) photography package, for (estimated price) $950, in (specific location) Sedona, AZ and I'm curious what else you would need to know to help you make a decision about wanting this offer?"

This question delivers an example of an offer you'd like to test, and asks questions that help reveal the hidden fears, concerns, and questions that people need to have answered in order to move forward.  With this question, you can better understand the need-to-know factors that go into whether or not clients feel ready to take action on an offer.  The types of questions that follow are much more helpful for refining your offer or understanding client needs:

• How much time will it take?
• Can I see examples of previous work?
• How many images will I receive?
• Can you do it in a different location?
• What do I need to prepare in order to begin?
• Do you offer payment plans?

These questions reveal actionable and answerable items that can be delivered with your offer in order to bring client clarity to a product or service.  Try using this question the next time you want to test an offer in a local group or marketplace in order to get more helpful information that will ultimately make your offer easier to act on!

Anne Ruthmann helps creatives find smarter solutions to common business problems as a Creative Business Strategist and author of the Pricing Workbook for Creatives.  Her wisdom is steeped in the experience of managing her own creative businesses since 2004.  Stay in touch on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.