Are These 3 Fears Killing Your Business?

There are 3 dominant fears that keep showing up over and over in slow growing or stagnant businesses. You’ll notice all 3 of these fears  focus on outside influences. The good news is that all 3 are easily turned around by a small shift in your perception about how you deliver quality solutions to your clients.

Fear #1: Fear of Giving Too Much Away
“If I give my expertise away, no one will buy my product”

This fear is prevalent. I hear this over and over from clients in diverse industries. Since giving and receiving are opposite sides of the  same coin, if you embrace the laws of prosperity it’s impossible to hold this belief and be prosperous.

Of course you should be paid for your expertise and if you deliver high quality, you should be paid top dollar. But that doesn’t mean you don’t also give information away as a service to your clients and also as an introduction to potential clients.

Be confident enough in your ability to over-deliver to know you can afford to give your potential clients a sample of what you can do for them, and they’ll be so impressed they’ll want to do business with you.

From personal experience I can tell you that one giveaway I did several years nearly tripled my small and growing ezine list in just 3 weeks. Joint venture genius Mark Hendricks taught me how to do this with his 12 Days of Christmas promotion. That was the boost I needed to reach critical mass and get my message out to more people. And I did it by giving my knowledge away first!

Back then I started giving away the mini-course, “9 Steps to Getting to Yes Without Selling”. I built a separate list that equaled the size of my entire ezine list in only one week. And that was the week between Christmas and New Years!  That’s the power of giving your knowledge away.

Fear #2: Fear of Cross-Promotion
“If I promote someone else’s product, they’ll steal my clients”

If you are delivering a quality product and customer service, why would your clients leave you? This is one of the most irrational fears business owners have. When you have the confidence to promote other products to your clients, it shows that the relationship you are building means enough to you that you want them to have access to every possible tool that would make their life easier or their business more successful.

When your clients see that it’s not all about you, you’ll see your referrals increase and your client retention rate go up, not down. You are acting as their trusted advisor and exposing them to opportunities they may not hear about anywhere else.

Think back in your own experience. How many times have you been grateful for someone forwarding an email or calling to tell you about something that ended up being a huge benefit to you?

I witnessed a great demonstration of introducing complementary services in the Internet marketing industry many of the big Internet gurus.  For the last several years I have been watching these guys bringing Internet experts to their clients, sometimes several each month. Now that’s service! And guess what? All of their businesses keep on growing!

I know the effort I put out to bring my clients all the tools they need to make their Internet businesses successful has only enhanced my relationship with my clients. I have modeled much of the way I offer my teleseminars and promote other people’s products on what I learned from watching the best. And I only promote products and services I believe will be helpful to my clients.

Fear #3: Fear of Competition
“Too many people cover the same information I do.  I need to discredit them before my clients buy their products”

It’s OK to point out your strengths and even to state that you have a different philosophy on accomplishing goals than your competitors.  That’s part of what makes you unique. But don’t do it by poking holes in other businesses, and certainly, don’t attack them personally.

I would suggest that you look instead at how what you do may add another layer of knowledge to what others in your field offer. It’s highly likely that there are ways you can increase your business by entering into a cooperative relationship with your “competition”. You’ll find ways that you dovetail into each other’s areas of expertise in a way that will benefit both of your clients as long as your in alignment.

So don’t get caught in this dangerous trap in your business. I knew this wouldn’t be a problem with my expert faculty at “Women’s Business Empowerment Summit” the first year I created it because they are true professionals and their desire to see the attendees succeed was their primary concern. It’s been the same every year. They all knew the quality of their products and also the value of what the other speakers were offering and how it could compliment their products and services.

All of these faculty members exemplify the spirit of true professionalism. None are victims of these 3 fears that kill business growth. They give plenty of their knowledge away in teleseminars, mini-courses and special reports and videos. They are happy to refer products and services of other experts to their clients as well.

In that way, you give the greatest benefit to your clients and at the same time you’ll be rewarded with rapid growth in your business. Do you think this attitude of abundance and sharing has something to do with why the people I just told you about are considered top experts in their fields?

Think about it next time you see yourself heading towards one of these fears. If you come from a place of service to your clients, you will be rewarded with a business filled with many more happy clients.

Until next week, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Just comment on this post on my blog at http://www.LynnPierce.com

If you would like personal mentoring, send me an email detailing what you would like help with.  As your mentor I hold a bigger vision for you than you hold for yourself.  When you have faith and a team that believes in you, it gives you courage.  When you don’t have to do it all yourself, all things are possible for you.  Commit today to go for your dream 100%.

Lynn Pierce, the Success Architect, has taught people how to combine business and personal development to reach the pinnacle of success and live the life of their dreams for almost 30 years. In addition, she is also the founder of one of the most exciting annual events for women entrepreneurs, “Empowered Women’s Business  Summit”. Now she shares her keys to success and life mastery with you. You can get her special report, “What Do You Stand For? A No B.S. Guide to Creating Your Own Personal Manifesto” at http://LynnPierce.com