5 MINUTE MARKETING JOURNAL
A Strategic Approach to Goal Accomplishment
for Purpose-driven Entrepreneurs
by Shana Lynn Yao - CEO | Your Marketing Mastermind®
Total Genius™
Marketing. It's the engine that drives a successful business but is the one thing that holds most entrepreneurs back.
Most people follow the old method of "being everywhere", automating everything, and disengaging from your business so you can just "get it done". And the reality is, that used to work - in the old school days when online business owners decided they had had enough of their J O B and trying to work for "the man" - and launched out down the road of entrepreneurship.
And it worked. Many businesses experienced huge success. People like Ramit Sethi, of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Marie Forleo and her now infamous B School, Chalene Johnson, who transformed her information fitness company into multi=millionaire dollar success - it worked in a BIG way for them.
But then the market became crowded. It has become easier than ever to build a business online, but now, the fashion bloggers, beauty vloggers, and people who claimed their space and unique niche built built their millions of followers and raving fans
So there you sit. And you wonder, how did they do it? And the road to trying to learn it all, DO it all, and ultimately, drowning in random information, a lack of clients, and complete lack of clarity is born.
STOP THE MADNESS, Really, stop it.
The "Secret" of Strategic Marketing
Marketing and having a marketing strategy are two very different things. Just like the the difference between a granule of sugar and an actual recipe that makes a delicious chocolate cake with that granule of sugar.
Marketing is comprised of tactics - things like the lettuce, the organic tomatoes, the fresh organic vegetables and the healthy organic dressing that make a delicious salad, are the tactics. In your business, the tactics are how you deliver your information - a webinar, a teleclass, email marketing, and social media - those are tactics.
Marketing strategy is the whole salad and the 7 course meal it leads into. It's how the finished product - after all of your course are served produces a happy, fulfilled customer. In a business, a marketing strategy that works would be having:
- A business that solves an urgent problem
- A product that produces the result people are seeking
- Knowing which marketing tactics the business owner best communicates the value of this product/service
- Using multiple layers of marketing tactics to contribute to an end goal (the purchase)
- Having a follow up system that continues to produce value for the client and building an everlasting brand
ou’re smart and are an expert at what you do. You have flashes of what could be - if anyone could see how great you really are. But sadly, you find yourself unable to get attention online. You feel your self confidence waning, and you feel like you're spending countless hours and dollars on learning how to run a business and your marketing. It's overwhelming and at best, when you try to put it all together, you're still struggling with the same problem you were at the beginning - lack of visibility and clients.
STOP THE MADNESS. You’re intelligent, want to do good in the world and make money. And today, you are going to make a decision to turn it all around. To GET LASER FOCUSED, CLAIM the success you deserve, and GET IT DONE. It takes 10 minutes. 10 minutes a day, laser focus on your individual goals, and knowing how YOU best can accomplish them.
10 minutes a day. Are you ready? (download the free 10 Minute Marketing Journal at the bottom of this article).
THE SCIENCE
As it turns out, there is a reason you may be struggling. And it's something you may not think is related to your lack of clarity, self confidence, and business building challenges. In actuality, it's based on ACTUAL SCIENCE - and because you are a purpose-driven and intelligent person, this is important for you to understand.
Author and Scientist Charles Koch wrote "The Science of Success". He found that there are 5 dimensions of success, the first being VISION. He describes vision as understanding what and how the business can create the greatest long-term value for it's customers.
I know, I know - you know your purpose - but you want to make money! And therein lies the problem for purpose driven, intelligent entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, as the expert you are - with high expectations of yourself - possibly a bit of a perfectionist - learning and DOING all of the things people are teaching to create your success, sometimes leaves you feeling less than fulfilled. Confused. Unfulfilled, and kind of sleazy.
The good news is, you are not alone! Have you ever "beat yourself up" or find yourself launching forward full speed then recoil and start judging yourself? Overthinking?
This is because what you are doing is UNNATURAL to the purpose driven, intelligent entrepreneur. Unlike those that just are ok with focusing on money, deep inside you actually want to add VALUE to people's lives. You have high expectations of yourself and others, and want to DO valuable things so your intelligent mind is engaged. Doing things like "list building" and proving your value on Facebook is a bit boring and tedious - and leaves you falling into comparing yourself to others. Which leaves you judging yourself, not standing in your value, and therefore not being seen as the leader you are.
The problem is not that you are not smart enough... it's actually that you are too smart to get caught up in the online hype. You've lost your sense of what is valuable (including yourself) and are trying to "fit in" when you might be a bit of a natural rebel.
The good news is, now you understand why it seems like you are struggling in your entrepreneurial business, now you can fix it. It's a simple as changing the lens in which you see your success. Instead of focusing on the low value TACTICS, we are going to turn that UPSIDE DOWN, and focus on the HIGH VALUE that you are.
THE COMMITMENT
The 10 Minute Marketing Journal is for people who are ready to burn the boats. Take no prisoners, shut out the noise, and finally see progress. This is for impatient, high achievers who are tired of settling for ordinary.
The reality is, as a high achiever, every time you “settle” for less than you know you are capable of, you beat yourself up. It’s a cycle that keeps most people stuck in the endless loop of mediocrity. And mediocre, you are not.
Why 10 minutes a day? Because most goals are set at as a To Do list - made up of things that seem to be demanding your attention - social media, emails, Facebook even... and as you may have experienced, those things lead to distraction, procrastination, and leave the meaningful and deep work undone. 10 minute a day, with 90 day sprints and end goal focus will lead to the results you want - everyday.
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Me·di·oc·ri·tyˌ mēdēˈäkrədē/ noun: the quality or state of being mediocre; moderate ability or value
The comfort zone is actually a very uncomfortable place to be - as a business owner AND a human. It’s the state where growth does not happen, where you fall victim to other people’s thinking, and where you (uh oh), lose your own personal value.
So while you may think you are learning everything you can as a business owner, working “as hard as you can”, clearing your blocks, in fact, you’ve lost (or never discovered) your own uniqueness - the thing your potential ideal clients would pay BIG BUCKS for - and instead of becoming a visionary success, you’ve become a Facebook entrepreneur.
““Marketing and having a marketing strategy are two very different things.””
““You become what you believe you are.” Oprah Winfrey”
THE HARD TRUTH
The worst part about unconscious mediocrity, is that you probably think of it as “life”. “That’s just the way life as an entrepreneur is.” you tell yourself.
But at home when you lay in bed at night, you start to wonder why you even have a business. Why is everybody else making so much money? And you may even scroll through your phone’s Facebook feed, secretly hoping to find someone else who feels the same way too.
I’ve got good news for you. If you at all resonate with those feelings, you’re not alone. The truth is, it actually happens to everybody. Few people notice this uncomfortable comfort zone - 4% of the population based on a recent study - and are able to catch it and change on their own.
In fact, this unconscious mediocrity happened to ME. It silently crept into my once high standard mind, and resulted in months of anxiety, distraction, and a lot of sleepless nights.
A few months ago, I started to have this really uncomfortable feeling. I found myself liking photos on Instagram that I didn’t even like, spending countless hours on Facebook scrolling through mindless posts, and belonging to groups where the group owner would literally talk down to the group members just to get them to feel less-than and so that they would want to buy what the group owner was selling. So every morning I would get my independent mind in check with my daily Active Focus Meditation™, and then I would go on Facebook and feel depleted shortly after. I started to attract people that didn’t “get” me, and every night I felt this underlying anxiety that I was going to have to wake up and do it again.
At that time, I pulled back, started a vlog on YouTube, and claimed back some of my creative genius. And in doing that, I started to attract people that not only “got” me, but that I loved and everything “seemed” to be fine.
Unconscious mediocrity is caused by the environments you surround yourself with.
And everyday, that Facebook dread would pull me down, leave me drained, and uninspired. I literally started to produce a biological response every time I had to go on it. Subconsciously, I think I knew what was causing my strife, but a daily habit is a daily habit - and well - you HAVE to be on Facebook regularly to produce business success, RIGHT???
And this is when the real light bulb started to turn on. You know those new LED lights that take forever to shine bright like a diamond? Yeah, that was what happened.
It started by walking my little dog down a different street by my house. I live in LA and down this busy street are tons of little high end boutiques and restaurants. As a former retail and marketing shopping center director, marketing and PR manager of Rodeo Drive, I was reminded of the richness of unique businesses. Small business owners that were making $10 - 20,000 A DAY, and not trying to learn or achieve what other people were doing - they were just being themselves and doing what they knew best.
And I remembered the last time I felt inspired in my business, I recall doing that same thing. Being ME out loud. A time when I didn't feel pulled to Facebook because I "had" to, and willingly wanted to go on it to share a great discovery or new program I created. And I started to listen to what I was actually teaching my clients. While I was empowering them to their personal freedom and success in their businesses, why was I, myself, feeing so stuck?
When was the last time you felt really YOU? When you decided that your vision of what you wanted to create, was going to be the thing that will make you successful, and NOT the latest social media trick or "like" on your Facebook page?
Before you started your business - did you have a greater vision of actually having a business? From what you would be doing, the amount of money you would make, how your perfect day would look?
The truth is, whether you have an online business or brick and mortar store, you don’t need to do or know a lot, outside of a few business basics, in order to make what you want, have a tribe that loves you, and be happy as hell.
So today, right now, how about you join me in a little decluttering, renewing, and doing a little DETOX from the year past, and reclaiming your genius, independence?!?
A PERSONAL DECLARATION DETOX
So let's make a personal declaration for independence, high standards, and not settling for less.
Here are just a few suggestions on how to declutter and detox all of the negative vibes you’ve picked up. Feel free to pick and choose what applies to you, and add your own personal touches. This is YOUR business and life after all, and when you are done, we only want things that will help you create the habit of success - literally unconsciously create your success by enabling you to do things you don’t want to do automatically so you can focus on what you DO want to do.
The areas you should cover include:
- Your health
- Your personal style
- Your finances
- Your relationships (business and life)
- Your spiritual/belief
Look at the surroundings you are in everyday - are they supporting you in your business and life? An “environment” are things like your your kitchen, your personal space, your office, your bathroom, your daily routine, Facebook groups - take a look at each of those - are they bringing you closer to the vision you wrote down in step one? Closer or farther?
And while you may be thinking - "How is my health and personal style related to getting clients?" - that's just it. People don't pay you money just because you want to make money. They pay you money because you're an amazing PERSON - mind, body, AND spirit.
So let's declare your personal truth and freedom of expression as the luminary leader you are. Here are a few simple things you can do to declutter, detox, and get your internal positioning ready:
- Spend some time writing what you actually want. Your vision of what you want to create in your business and life. Start a journal and spend an hour writing that out so you are clear what you want and what your own definition of success is.
- Make a list of everything you are doing, being, and thinking now that causes you anxiety, unhappiness, and distraction. Then decide (declare!) that you will NOT do those things anymore.
- Make some rules for Facebook. Facebook is a habit forming product - literally producing dopamine (the same chemical produced when you take cocaine). And if that doesn’t frighten you, the 95% of who you think you are is based on your surroundings. And no, that does not mean that you will make more money if you are around people that make a lot of money. You actually may make LESS because you’re so focused on what they are doing, and not what you need to do to BE MORE YOU OUT LOUD. (two very different things) Make some rules for Facebook - i.e. time you will spend on it, when, how much, and then GET OFF of it and run your business.
- Facebook groups - do they INspire you? or EXpire you? Inspire literally means "In Spirit". Do you feel supported and guided? Or distracted an confused? Whatever your answer, it's time to delete, delete, delete.
- Your email list - is it a jumbled mess made from "build your list" freebie opt ins? Do the people who fill it actually open your emails? Are you writing something just to have a weekly "get in touch" connection? What if you decided to just write what you feel - like you're talking to your best friend. Nobody - NOBODY wants to think they are part of a list.
- Your office - is your working space totally messy? Successful people are meticulous about their spaces. It’s how they stay organized. What files do you need to throw away? Move to an online storage space?
- Your health - do you feel vibrant and healthy? If not, was it those cookies you have in your pantry? What about the ice cream in your freezer that you ate last night in your stress? Trash them. (and no, the starving children in Africa won't go hungry just because you threw away some cookies that are cluttering your fat roll. Urgent situations require immediate action).
- Your closet - Steve Jobs wore the same black sweater (he had countless of the same black sweater) - but your personal style is a reflection to the outside world AND yourself, of your internal positioning. So unless that makes you feel beautiful and successful, it’s time to go through your closet, take all of those old clothes you were going to wear “someday” and give them to Goodwill. Do you need to buy something new to upgrade your wardrobe? What about that raggedy pair of sweats you wear because you think "the laptop lifestyle" doesn't require you to wear pants? Buh-bye to all that is ugly, over-worn, and less than amazing.
Settling for what is, is well… settling. And how you do one thing, is how you do EVERYTHING
(As a side note, I actually tried to wear the same thing everyday and believe me, I’m no Steve Jobs as far as his clothing preferences are concerned.)
Those are just a few ideas to start decluttering your life and business. Just doing that will help you to feel lighter, freer, and gain back that independent, beautiful, self. It will help you be more of YOU - so you can actually do, be, and speak the things that will actually attract your BBF ideal clients.
I know for me, after recovering from my dog having a stroke last week - which pulled me OFF of Facebook for the majority of my day - enabling me to only have time to care for her, work IN my business, help my clients with some really inspired marketing ideas - and wallah…
I’d like to introduce you to the NEW Total Genius - The Home of the Business Luminary.
In my upgraded business, I will soon be launching the first issue of The Business Luminary magazine (get notified of the DETOX issue coming soon >>>SUBSCRIBE ), and check out the Collaborative - where you can customize your business strategic programs, work with a small team I’ve assembled of the best in the fields of client experience strategy, money mindset, holistic health and wellness, Facebook ad strategy, digital strategy, and so much more!
And be sure to take the FREE QUIZ - so you can discover your positioning quintessence and know who your business muse is aligned with. You'll find out the best path you should be following to make sure you reach all of your high level goals, and the areas you may need to focus on that are holding you back. It's an important step to take as the leader of your own niche.
So I want to ask you, does your business make you jump out of bed everyday? I mean really - without the coffee, does your business excite you? Do you push you through your challenges because you’re so excited to create, to try new things, and to even, possibly fail so you can discover your next big thing? If not, it's time to do some detoxing and decluttering.
After all, you can do anything you want in life, as long as you are willing to put up with the consequences. Strengthen your belief in yourself and something greater. It's time to really claim the visionary success you were born to create.
Shana Yao is CEO and Your Marketing Mastermind® of TOTAL GENIUS™, She is the Editor and Chief of The Business Luminary Magazine, and works with high achieving clients to empower them to own their expertise so they can make a bigger impact in the world, with a signature business that reflects their personal style.
Driven by purpose, her mission is to build Luminary Leaders of tomorrow to light up the world with change and innovation. Her focus around the areas of holistic health, personal style, and mental clarity, are based on the belief that true success is found in becoming the person you are meant to be in life and using that to empower your business. For it's the combination of your greatest strengths, talents, and life experience that fulfills your life and creates true, everlasting success.
She is an award-winning Business & Personal Success Strategist with over 28 years of experience managing multimillion dollar retail and shopping center locations, including the famed Rodeo Drive.
Join her and other Luminary Leaders, lighting the world with their holistic and powerful businesses at the The Business Luminaries.