Business Strategy: You’ve answered “the questions” so now what?

Over the years I know it drove my corporate consulting clients, and then my entrepreneur/small business clients, nuts when I answered a question with a question or asked a bunch of questions that seemed (to them anyway) totally irrelevant.

They also weren’t thrilled with my ever-too-frequent answer of “it depends” when asked whether they should use this software tool or that format for their content or whether to do a teleseminar or a webinar or … or … or…

And I get that it’s frustrating, honest I do!

That said, it comes from the place of knowing there is NOT a single answer to the questions and knowing that you deserve the best solution FOR YOU!

Not for someone else who was successful in some way or ‘tother.

And would you WANT to be part of a big crowd, with a one-size-fits-all (or no one) solution?

Wouldn’t you prefer to be treated as the uniquely talented individual and business that you are?

Thought so!

So when we work together, or you work with another trusted advisor, and there are a lot of questions being asked, answer them with glee and as much honesty and clarity as you can muster!

Oh, and just so ya know, most times questions beget more questions and the more of them you answer the faster you’re on your way to a “Goldilocks Solution” (named after Goldilocks and the 3 Bears story, of course):

one that fits you Jussssssssssst right! 

This really is the best way to save time, money and get your message out there faster.

So, be sure you

1. Answer The 10 Questions first (they’re all listed on one page here for you)
2. Answer The question about the right business model for YOU
3. Decide what you want to offer in the way of services and products (or a little of both)
4. Review what you already have, or already know, and decide how you want to deliver it
5. THEN decide what tools or technology and support you need to put your first product out there lickety split

Notice that tools, technology and support come LAST! And it’s for good reason.

An example

Bofore working with me, a client purchased course after course on how to write a book (all well and good, of course). She purchased all sorts of different tools she was told she “just had to have” (now if you’ve read any of my posts, you’ve got to know my alarm bells were going off already).

She listened to a bunch of goo-ruus who said she absolutely MUST have a book and a video and a Kindle (oh, and a website too).

And she struggled. And felt like a failure. And wondered why she ever bothered to do this thing called put yourself out there as a business owner.

The problem was, she did what so many of us do (yes, I’ve done it too, and really don’t want you to go through what I’ve been through!), she bought all this stuff and didn’t realize

• She didn’t WANT to write a book, in fact she really hated writing!
• She was scared to put herself out there.
• She didn’t know the first thing about running a business.
• She wasn’t tech savvy.
• She was overwhelmed with the tons of content she was supposed to create to put everywhere.
• Oh, yeah, she loved to do presentations and training.
• And she had a great process she had developed for getting the specific results she got with people when she worked in the corporate world.

Can you see the problem? I bet you do (and bet you relate to at least some of the challenges, eh?).

What we did differently

We backed all the way out and ignored everything she had heard or been told (yup, lots of wasted time and money).

Together, we walked through her answers to the questions shared above, and many more.

When we were done getting her some kick-ass clarity, we found her Goldilocks Solution: teleseminars!

She was a natural trainer, she could whip together a few notes to get her going and within less than 1 week after our consultation, she was able to get on the call and get moving forward.

Now she has a bunch of content…

• She has a recording she can give away or charge for.
• She can slice and dice it into mini audio segments.
• She can combine the audio with some slides or images…voila, a series of videos to put everywhere.
• She got it transcribed and sliced and diced the transcript into a bunch of tweets and Facebook posts.
• She can create some tips and create images using Powerpoint (a tool she was comfortable with).

She has almost endless content now…

And no more hair pulling or being stuck.

Priceless!

The cost?

• The cost for the tools: Zippola (we got her started with free conference lines and used Facebook and Twitter to promote the first call with the RSVP going to her … free… gmail account).
• The cost for the consulting? Less than $900!
• The cost for starting at the wrong end? I’m not sure, she didn’t share the exact details and she did mention it was over $10,000. (Whew, that’s a bunch, eh?)

And the initial consultation took about 3 hours, which cost a whole bunch less than $10,000 (although if you WANT to pay that much for 3 hours, I’m all in…smile).

So here’s my next question: where are you struggling?

How could stopping helping you go forward faster, less expensively and without so much angst?

Let’s get you moving forward now!