Hello, brilliant entrepreneur.  It's Tash Corbin here, and welcome to another episode of the Heart-Centred Business podcast. This is episode number 206, which means that all the relevant show notes and links will be available for you over at tashcorbin.com/206.  In today's episode of the podcast, I'm going to be sharing with you some signs that your niche is too big and how to refine your niche so you can scale your business with ease. Let's jump in!

It is such a common question that people ask me, especially when they are in startup or wanting to scale their online business:

"Why does my niche have to be so specific and so narrow?"

You've probably heard some of those lovely catchphrases before, such as “the riches are in the niches” or one I like to use, “if you want to scale your reach, you need to know your niche.”

These statements are trying to explain why niching is so important and why it's such an important part of online business in particular, but they don't give you a lot of detail.

I want you to explain first and foremost why niching is so powerful when you are starting to grow your and scale your business online, and share some signs that your niche is just too big.

Your niche is “whom you serve.”

When I ask people what their niche is, sometimes they'll talk about being a kinesiologist, or helping people with social media, or being a Facebook specialist.

Those things may be your service, but your niche is the specific group of people you focus on when you are marketing.

It's important to understand that niching is not about who you could help with your products and services because, for a lot of people, their modality or service or product could help a wide array of people.

Just because you can help everyone doesn't mean that your marketing should be that broad as well. So your niche is who you focus on when you are marketing your products and services.

The more specific we make this, the more resonant your messaging can be.

If you try and create messaging that speaks to anyone who could benefit from this, then it isn’t resonant for anyone in particular.

A great example of this would be if you are a coach and you offer a one month coaching package that could help anyone who wants to make a life change – including leaving a partner, changing careers, going on a health kick, or starting a business.

With this in mind, let’s compare the difference if you were to craft two ads: The first one says, “Do you want to make a big change in your life? Well, I can help you with transition coaching and here is how it can help you with that.”  And then you craft another offer that says, “Are you a woman who wants to change careers, worried you're just jumping from one bad job to another, and you want to make sure you do your career change wholeheartedly to maximise the results?”

Now you might assume that a woman who is wanting to change careers would see both ads and resonate with both because she fits in the broad category of wanting to change as well as the very specific category of wanting to change careers.

But the specific ad is the one that's actually going to stop and grab her attention because it's speaking to a specific experience.

Put yourself in that person's shoes, seeing these two separate ads that look like they're from two separate providers. One says I can help you with any change you want to make. And another says, you want to change careers, but you're worried you’re making the wrong decision.

Which ad would you be most drawn to?  It's the one that's hyper-specific.

Not only is the one you're most drawn to, but from a pricing perspective, generalist coaching versus someone who really specialises in people changing their careers, people will pay more to work with the specialist.

This is where niching is so powerful.

By trying to speak to everyone, you deeply resonate with no one.

Clients that you do get tend to see you as a generalist, and therefore it's more difficult to charge premium prices and be seen as an expert in the market, even if you are the best coach in the whole wide world!

You will not be able to charge as much as someone who's just starting out as a coach but decides to go really specific.

So you can see that it's really powerful, not only for your marketing, but also for your business growth and business model, and the way you’re perceived online.

What are some of the signs that maybe your niche is too broad?

1. How you describe your niche.

When you try to describe your niche, do you find yourself putting “slashes” in there?  I actually have a ban on slashes when we do niching work in my programs.

It's a little bit of a joke because people try and find the sneakiest ways to get a slash in there. But if you say, “it's men or women,” or you say “maybe they're going through this or they might be going through that,” it’s just not specific, powerful niching.

Even just by paying attention to the way you describe your niche helps you to see whether you’re being specific and clear enough, or are still just a bit unsure and trying to hedge your bets!

2. Can you specify your niche quickly and easily?

You should be able to sum up your niche in five key decisions, and I'm going to give you those five key decisions in this podcast episode.

If you are asked what your niche is and you give a broad sweeping statement like “busy moms,” that's not a niche!

Or if you end up spending a few minutes trying to explain it, then chances are you aren't 100% clear, and you don't have a specific enough niche.

3. You use irrelevant demographics to narrow it down because you're not willing to narrow down in the most important ways.

A lot of people, when asked to explain their niche, will say things like, “it's women aged between 35 and 42.”  They believe this is the way to get specific for their niche.  However, age range isn't a big influence on the way you market your products and services.

Remember, your niche is whom you focus on when you're marketing your products and services. If it's not relevant, then don't include it as a demographic.

Anther common niching misfire is using descriptions like, “she does yoga every day.”  This happens when you make up a picture of this person, and that’s what you see, so you think it’s a niche.  If you’re using weird niching descriptors that actually aren't relevant, then I would say your niche isn't specific enough.

Instead, I recommend that you niche through three layers.

The first layer is the demographic layer, and within that layer, there are two important decisions you need to make: women or men, and do they work for themselves, someone else, or are not working.  None of the other demographic decisions matter unless they're relevant to your services, so I wouldn't worry about them.

The second layer of niching is psychographics. This includes their goals and dreams, their personality traits, etc.

And then the third layer is a word that I totally made up, which is sensor graphics – meaning their five senses telling them what their lived experience is.

I've also got five key questions or decisions you need to make about your niching that address those three layers in the most critical spaces.  I will get to that at the end of this podcast episode!

4. You’re not getting an “oh my goodness yes” from your audience.

You want to create the feeling that you know their situation so well it’s almost like you were peeking in their window last night.  Almost like you know them better than they know themselves.

That kind of feeling is totally possible when you have a really specific niche.  It helps people feel that you are the expert who is best to help them because you deeply understand exactly what they are experiencing right now.

That is the power of niching.

When I'm working with people, and they tell me they've got an issue with their marketing or their offers aren't selling or they don't know how to craft offers, or they don't know how to talk about their work or they're struggling with their messaging, the first place I go is niche.

If you’re experiencing any issues with your messaging, your offers, the way you market, getting more reach, getting better conversions - start with reviewing your niche!  Check that it’s specific enough, because chances are it's not.  And most likely that is what's causing issues at the other layers of your business.

By the way, you don't have to tell people what your niche is.

It doesn’t have to be public, it’s just what determines your messaging and your offers. That is where you create resonance.

Talking about a woman who's aged in her late 30s, and lives in such and such, and has her own business, and blah, blah, blah – this is not what creates the feeling that you understand me.

It’s about actually crafting messaging and offers through the lens of knowing what that specific niche is that you're speaking to.

So here are the five decisions that you need to make.

Decision number one is gender.

This can be contentious for people because you think you can help both men and women. But remember, your niche is who you focus on when you are marketing.  The way you market to men is very different from the way you market to women.

Now, just a little side note here, as I am an intersectional feminist. In relation to gender identity, it doesn't necessarily need to be "born as a man" or "born as a woman."  So when I am identifying my niche, it's people who resonate with feeling mostly female, or mostly women, and / or non-binary. That is my descriptor, and I use womxn with an x as a way of clarifying that for myself.  I don't necessarily go out and share that publicly, but that is my descriptor.

You don’t need to go out immediately and say, I work with women or I work with men. I just want you to make the decision when you are marketing.  Choose whether you are going to be focused on niching to men or niching to women. And if you niche to women, and a man comes along and wants your help and you want to work with him, you can. But that doesn't mean you then need to broaden your niche.

Decision number two is job status.

Again, this is critical in your demographics because of how it frames your messaging and your marketing.

The job status decisions relate to whether this person has their own business or works for someone else or is not working.  You need to make a decision of one of those three things for niching.

Decision number three is a trait.

This is a long-lasting, permanent personality trait. You want to create a business with marketing and messaging that attracts the kind of people you want to hang out with and that you want to help.

That trait might be extroversion, introversion, people who are hyper generous, or it could be people who are deeply creative. People who are colourful people, or are deeply spiritual, are deep thinkers, or they surround themselves with hundreds of hundreds of people.

Think about the kinds of traits of people you like hanging out with - it doesn't necessarily need to be related to your business.

For example, if you're a parenting coach, you could choose a personality trait of raging extrovert - it doesn't need to be specific to the work that you do.  Maybe they sell eco-friendly products, and that makes you really want to hang out with them. It may make them more open to your messaging.

The trait that I chose is people who are really generous, people who give almost to a fault!

I don't necessarily go out there and put it in my messaging.  But when I craft my messaging for offers, or choose the types of podcast episodes to create, or the type of language to use when discussing my products and services, I really want to speak to people in that space - the giving type people.

That means the majority of people who come to work with me are in that space, not because I said you have to be a giver to work with me, but because my messaging really resonates with those types of people.

It also means that it's a really great space to hang out in when you join my programs. And I absolutely love and adore everyone that I work with. They fit the other decisions that I've made, and so it's really easy for me to help and serve them. But we're all these beautiful givers, and it's just this really gorgeous connected community-driven space, and it makes my business a joy.

Decision four is their priority goal you can help them to achieve.

If your ideal client has a number one priority goal they're trying to achieve, and you can help them achieve that, start focusing on the core thing that's important to them.

For my ideal clients, they want more clients, right? They want to make more sales.

Yes, their business is more heart-centred and more aligned. But the core of why they want to work with me is because they want their business to be more successful. They want more paying clients, they want to serve more people.

If I were to talk about creating a business with purpose, and sales that don’t feel sleazy, and all those sorts of things, without getting to the point of you making more money and getting more clients, then I'm just speaking around the periphery, and not getting to the core priority. That is the one thing my ideal client is looking for.

Ultimately, you need to get to the core of your ideal client’s priority.  If their priority goal is to lose weight and you're talking about getting more energy, you are speaking at the periphery.

If their priority goal is to make sales online and have a really simple, easy to use website, and you're talking about user experience and SEO, you're not getting to the point of what they want.

There's a difference between your what your ideal client’s goal is, what their top priority goal is, (in their words), and what you can see is what they really need.

Decision number five is establishing why they don't have it yet.

For my ideal client, they want to be making more sales online. They really, really want to be serving more people. But there are so many things they need to do that it feels like marketing is too hard. See how simple and straightforward that is?

It might be that your ideal client wants to lose weight, but they can't stick with any plan that they ever pick up. Or your ideal client wants to have a really easy to use website, but they don't have the budget to pay for a fancy-pants web developer.  Or they want to grow their reach on Facebook but think they need a $10,000 a month Facebook ads budget so they're just waiting till they have the budget. Or it might be that your ideal client wants to feel more aligned with their soul's purpose.

You can see how the priority goal and why they haven't achieved it yet are so intertwined.

When you're talking about the challenge, don’t talk about them "not knowing where to start," because if you are focused on trying to attract people who haven't even bothered to google it yet, then you're going to attract nightmare clients.

Really think about why she is saying she can't get it.  Why is she saying she hasn't achieved it? Why is she saying she's not there yet?

Because when you really deeply analyse that conversation and that part of your niching decision, that is where the gold is.  That is really where the juicy niching gold lies.

Okay, so here are the five decisions again: gender, job status, personality trait, priority goal, and why they haven't got it yet.

You can see when you make those five core decisions for your niche, you're hyper-specific.  Imagine how much easier it would be for you to craft resonant messaging and offers that convert when you made those five decisions.

If you are finding yourself in natural resistance, remember - it's just, for now, it's not forever. Even just try an experiment for a couple of months.  What if for just a couple of months, you completely focused on this specific niche. Just see what happens. Trust me, it is so much easier, and your business grows so much faster.

So if you would like to review that and make some more decisions about your niche to get 100% clear, and learn how to translate that into resonant messaging and offers, I have a super juicy offer for you.

It’s my Fast-Track Your Start-Up training.

Even when you've been in business for a while, if you are still not making those consistent sales, and you're struggling to articulate what it is you do, or you're struggling to craft offers that really resonate with people, I want you to go and watch this training.

It will help you to see where you might have gaps in the foundations of your business, and get those plugged so that you can fast track the sales and the income you're bringing in in your business. It's available here: https://tashcorbin.com/fasttrack.

And if you have any questions or "aha" moments, make sure you come over to the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs group, and use the #podcastaha. Make sure you let me know you’ve been listening to podcast episode number 206!

Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.

In today's episode, I'm going to talk about how you can grow your business, even if you can't afford to work with a coach yet.

I understand that for a lot of people when you're bootstrapping it and starting lean, investing thousands of dollars in working with a VIP one on one coach may be a little bit out of reach for you today.

That doesn't mean growing your business and getting results isn't possible for you.

In fact, after today's podcast episode, I'm sure you will agree you can get the support, information and encouragement that you need without needing to invest big, especially not at the start of your journey.

Being hand on heart upfront with you, when I first started my business, I had a very shoestring budget.

I had bought into this belief system that to be successful when first starting a business, you must have a one to one business coach who walks you through that startup journey.

This belief system says that otherwise, you'll be going around in circles for months, if not years, and will never succeed. And that if you invest, then your clients will invest.  This is what the coaching industry wants us to believe about what it takes to start a business.

When I started my business, I had a very limited budget. I maxed out my credit card before I started my business, pre-booking a VIP day with a one on one business and it was US$4000.

That got me one day with a VIP coach, and that was all I could afford. I bought her signature offer after doing her free course - a low cost product, low cost course.  I felt like the way they taught business was really aligned for me, and was building a business based on purpose. I found that to be very powerful and something I wanted to do.

I was launching my business and going on holidays in the same timeframe that I quit my job.

We had a three and a half week holiday booked in Europe.  So I quit my job and gave a month's notice before the holiday so instead of going on holidays whilst on leave, I just left the organisation.  I worked out my one month resignation window, rather than being on holidays during that whole full week, so that I could transition and hand over all the things I'd been working on.  I wanted to look after the company I was leaving.

To plan ahead, I pre-booked this VIP coaching day before we went on the holiday because I knew if I didn’t, we’d just spend all the available money on the holiday, which we totally would have.

It was arranged so that when I came back from holidays, I would be working with this coach. And she reassured me that in our VIP day, we would craft an offer and get really clear on my niche. We agreed to come up with a marketing plan that would help me implement getting lots of clients right away, and that my business would flourish because I had invested the big bucks.  And I was totally bought into this concept.

I did that VIP one on one day with that business coach and at the end of that one day I had an idea of what my niche will be. I had three different offers I thought I could potentially sell to those people.

But…I had no marketing plan.

I had no strategy.

Towards the end of the VIP day I was starting to ask questions about how do I find these people? How do I get this in front of people? How do I build an audience on social media? How on earth am I going to find these people who I am picturing, and I've done this amazing avatar description of?

I knew every demographic of them, including what brand of yoga pants they wear, and had collected all of this information, and wondered now how do I go and find that person and attract them into my business?

And she said to me, oh, yeah, we'll talk about that at the end of today's session.

But we didn't quite get to it.

Instead she offered for me to have a free 30 minute follow up two weeks later.

So I had two weeks to get out there and find these people and make these offers.  I went out and signed up some clients that were mostly friends of mine that I’d already been talking to before starting my business who were interested in working with me.

Other than those people who were my friends, who’d already decided to work with me before my VIP coaching, I did not manage to sign up any other new clients.

When I met with her again two weeks later I was able to say: I've put in all of the homework that you've given me, I've got it all worked out. Here's my offer. Here's my sales page. Here's my website. Here are the 10 posts I did on my Facebook page. I've done all of the homework now, so in this session, I really need you to tell me how do I get these people in the door as paying clients.

Well, at the end of that 30 minute free session, it turned out there was a sales pitch for a six month mastermind that was 12,000 US dollars.

Not once did I get any support around extra strategy.

I. Was. Devastated.

I had totally believed what everyone in the industry was saying - that you had to have a coach.  But here I was, I'd spent all my money on getting a coach, and I didn't have any results.

At the time, I really believed I needed to buy that $12,000 thing. I thought, if I don't have a coach, then I don't know what to do, and I'm not going to be successful.

I was in tears on this call as I explained that we’d maxed everything out in Europe, that I had already paid her with all the money I had, and that I would need money to be coming in from clients to be able to pay her more.  That I was the big breadwinner in our relationship.  That I had quit my job to start this business based on us having a marketing plan coming out of this coaching session.

Needless to say that jaded my experience in the coaching industry.

Out of necessity, not really by decision, I had to decline.  But if I’d had that $12,000 I would have paid her right then.  At the time it was about AU$15,000.

If I could have gotten a credit card for $15,000, I would have done it, because I was totally in this space of needing someone else in order to succeed.

And I had been listening to coaching books and going to webinars and following a bunch of business coaches and life coaches.

I was this close to doing another coaching qualification because I thought I needed to be at the top level because coaching was amazing. But I didn't have the money.

Because I didn't have the money, I was on my own.  I had to learn how to grow my business and make money and get momentum without a coach.

Before I go any further - because I've likely offended all of the coaches listening along today - I want to say that I have since reconciled my relationship with the coaching industry.  But I also think that we need to stop blindly accepting this belief system that in order to be successful, you need to have a coach at all times.

We can be a lot more discerning about which belief systems the coaching industry teaches that we want to take on board (and which ones we're happy to leave behind).

One that I have left behind is: if you're not decisive and make quick decisions about who you're going to invest with, then you're going to attract people who are indecisive as well.

That is not true.

If you want to take 48 hours to sleep on whether you want to make a purchase or not, then take 48 hours and sleep on it.

If anyone tells you that in some way makes you not a good decision maker, not a good business owner, not worthy of success, then RUN, don't walk, AWAY from them – That is a fear-based selling tactic!

Some of the best decisions I have “slept on,” because I really needed to go through some analysis of where I'm going to get the return on investment from.  And I've actually been way, way happier with my purchase by waiting to make that solid decision versus jumping in to buy while I'm in a heightened emotional state.

I've gotten way better results from some of those things versus the things I did just jump in and buy out of FOMO or because I bought into the concept that “if you don't make a quick decision, you're not a CEO who's making great decisions and you're not going to have a successful business.”

That belief system - I've totally left it behind.

Another belief I have totally left behind is that you need a coach at all times.

It’s actually why I have created this podcast episode for you. Because I believe that, especially when you're in startup, you can grow your business without necessarily needing to work with a one on one coach.

I also believe in startup there are things you need mentoring on. But having someone trying to coach those things out of you is not necessarily the right approach when you're first starting out in business.

So if you are in the camp of really wanting to start a business, but not necessarily having the funds to work with a coach, then listen up because this episode is going to help you work out a plan to get the information and support you need to grow your business without necessarily having to invest in a one to one coach.

When it comes to getting results and growing your business, I believe there are three core elements.

There is the learning you need to do, the skills and techniques and practices and strategies that you're going to need to invest time in learning.

You also have to implement. It's one thing to learn strategies about webinars to grow your business. But you also need to actually implement those things.

Then there is the mindset piece, and the commitment to getting some form of external support.

Let’s go through each of them in detail.

1. Learning

When you’re starting a business, there are going to be some things you don't know how to do or even which things to learn. You don't know what your options are. You don't even know the full landscape.

There is so much amazing free content out there that can give you that information. You can search YouTube for how to start a business, how to get your first paying clients, how to grow your social media following.

If you already know what to search for, then you will find free content that will lead you to information.

But there is a lot of conflicting advice out there. And if you listen to too many gurus, (I have another episode about the many guru syndrome), or you listen to too many experts, you're going to get too many options.

You’ll get stuck in this either vortex of not taking any action because there's just too many things to decide.

If you’re like most women that I see, you're going to try and implement “all of the things” and then you end up half-implementing everything - and nothing really gets working.

Then even if you do get a few clients in the door, you can't work out which of the 37 things you implemented actually resulted in that client!

So what I recommend is picking between one and three people that you like based on the way they teach business, and the way they treat you.

Have a look at the process they take you through when you first sign up to their mailing list, the types of emails that they're sending, and whether they are empowering you or making you feel this crazy fear that you're never going to succeed.

And as you choose these three people, also consider using this:

• Person One - a clear business strategy person who works across most of the online industries.  Choose one person who's very marketing and business strategy oriented, who doesn't necessarily specialise in your specific area.
• Person Two - someone from your industry. So if you’re a health practitioner, it’s another health practitioner, who teaches you how to grow your business as a health practitioner.
• Person Three – someone you just really vibe with. They might not necessarily teach hardcore business strategy or marketing but they have a really successful business. Maybe you'd love to emulate what they do, not necessarily in your industry, but you just really love the way that they do business.

This approach allows you to get a great balance of industry specific advice. You’ll get core marketing and business advice that transcends industries and doesn't play into the mindset blocks of a specific industry. You're getting different viewpoints.

And I would make sure that if those three people have a podcast or blog that comes out each week, you add it to your priority list to listen to or watch that every single week. If they do any free webinars or trainings, you are signing up to those and going to them.

Since it’s just one to three people, you're not going to be overwhelmed with names, or thousands of things. Each of them may have one weekly piece of shorter content, and maybe one webinar a month, so you're not attending to eleventy billion things.  You can focus on those core things, and then turn off, unsubscribe and clear those other people.

Experiment.  Maybe for a week or so, you are on 30 different lists, and you assess as you go. When you see something you don’t like, you can unsubscribe immediately, and avoid having all of this fear based language into your inbox.

Don’t second guess your decision on who you're following. Pick your three and stick with them. Then focus on what you need to learn that is a priority for you and your business at this stage.

Maybe you hope to create an online course eventually, but right now you're focusing on selling VIP offers one to one.  So if someone you're following is talking about how to have great sales conversations, how to sell VIP services, how they get leads for the VIP services, then that is content you will consume.

If they're talking about strategies that are a bit beyond you right now, like launches and Facebook ads, and you're just not at that stage of your business yet, do yourself a favor and don't listen to it. You don't need to listen to that one right now.

Not everything that they say needs to be consumed by you the minute that they say it. You don't need to worry and have fear and FOMO that you're going to miss out on some kind of important thing you should be collecting.

In three years’ time when you’re ready to do those Facebook ads, you'll have the information there. It'll all be out of date by that time anyway. And chances are that person is going to create more and more amazing content that's fresh and up to date.

Stop hoarding information - you're never going to go back to it!

2. Implementation

So it's one thing to learn a bunch of stuff. But it's another thing to actually implement from the learning of that information.

As a rule, for every hour of content consumption, I invest an hour in creation. I am balancing what I consume with what I create.

If I listen to a 45 minute podcast, I will put 45 minutes aside to review what I learned from that podcast and what am I going to implement as a result, and I get in and start implementing.

As an example of this, I was listening to a podcast about email sequences and buyer behavior. It was a 45 minute podcast. I set aside 45 minutes the next day to implement an update to my email sequences for my freebies.

I actually sat down and went through my two most important email sequences. And I made three or four changes - it wasn't a huge amount. But I felt like I'd really implemented the thing that I'd learned.

Implementation comes down to setting up a system and having that balance between consumption and creation. There's a difference between making a commitment to yourself to balance creation and consumption and actually committing to those three 25-minute pomodoro sessions when you’ll sit down and do the implementation.

Finding ways to get that sense of accountability and implementation support for free can be really helpful, such as with a mastermind group.

When I first started my business I reached out to three people who I really admired in a Facebook group.  I said to them, I really want to do some form of masterminding with other women who are growing their businesses, I think you'd be a really great fit. Would you like to be in a mastermind with me? And two of them said yes, and one of them had another friend who was interested, and so the four of us met every single week, on a Monday.

Every Monday we talked about what we did or didn’t do, and the things we’d committed to and did we do them or not? And then we made new commitments for the week ahead.

It was so good for me, because we had time to talk through different strategies why some things didn't work for us, and also keep each other accountable to doing the things we said we were going to do. So a mastermind is great.

I've also got a bunch of business buddies that I connect with regularly. So some of it’s more formal and structured, ie we meet once a month, and we spend half an hour talking about each other's businesses.  Or it's just totally casual.  I'll message them when I'm going for a walk and say, Hey, do you want to have a quick catch up?

There are lots of different ways you can buddy up with people and get that sense of accountability as well. Particularly if you have a friend or someone else in business or someone that you know, and you're both launching at the same time, it can be really great to buddy up with them and be each other's launch support partners.

It’s the same with running a webinar. When I first started my business, I would say to people, I need to run a webinar next month - what if we both ran our webinars in the same week? And so we're doing all of the things together in the lead up and the follow up to that webinar.

I did that three or four times in the first year or two of my business, and it was so good because I learned from other people's systems and their primary strategies. They learned from mine too. Buddying up with people can be really helpful.

You also want to set systems for yourself to make sure you have balance. Over the years in my business, I’ve perfected the way that I task myself and manage myself and reward myself.

A lot of it is just experimenting with what works for you, what doesn't work for you, discovering where you’re letting things go and not following through.  Identifying what the biggest wobbles are for you, and creating a system simple enough that you'll always use it follow through.

Now in all of these examples, I've talked about free ways that you can do these things. But I also want to quickly acknowledge that sometimes there are group programs that get you exactly the same result for a minuscule percentage of the price. And I've had that experience as a purchaser but also as a provider.

For example, if someone wants to work with me as a VIP one on one client, that is now upwards of 12,000 Australian dollars.

However, they can come and join my TakeOff program for under $2,000. And in the program, there are learning modules and action items. But there are also systems and support that helps with the implementation part.

So in the TakeOff program, there are three layers of implementation.

• One is being able to talk to me and actually discuss your business with me in the group calls. They are "hotseat" style calls. We talk about your business and I get to know your business.
• The second one is the Facebook group. You can create that accountability and sense of having people watch what you're sharing what you're doing. It keeps you on the ball with your implementation.
• And the third thing is we have pods in the TakeOff program, which are small group masterminds. So you've got small group visibility as well as visibility with a coach and mentor, and visibility with a large group.

Here's the caveat on joining group programs for starting a business though.

There are certain things that you need someone else's eyes on your business for, and this is why I don't recommend self-study group programs for starting a business because I've seen so many people pick the wrong niche. No one's actually checking their work or giving any feedback on that niche.

Then they go running off for miles and miles thinking they've got their niche sorted, but they've never had any feedback on that niche, nor any discernment applied to that particular decision.

So if you do choose to join a group program when you are first starting your business, the one thing I would recommend is make sure you get access to the person who's teaching the program.  That can be through the group calls, or one to one support, or some form of access to them.

Being able to ask them questions and talk through your decisions is really important to get some kind of oversight.  When you're in startup, it's very easy to go running off in the wrong direction thinking you've got everything sorted because you're DIY.

And then it takes three or four months of things not quite working before you go, Oh, actually, I think my niche was totally wrong. Oh, I think my messaging was totally wrong.

If you choose to embark upon the group program way of getting that learning and implementation rather than working with a one on one coach, make sure the group program comes with some form of the expert’s eyes on your specific business and giving you feedback in some way.

3. Commitment

You might not be able to work with a coach or VIP mentor for a period of six months, but there are certain decisions in your business where you do need to get some feedback on things.

Make sure that you're committing to getting that support, and assess along the way where that feedback is needed.  Use the free options that are available for you initially, and as you make sales, put portions of that money aside as you earn it, so that you can get the feedback you need at some point in time.

I did this when I started my business. Once I realised, oh my gosh, I need to go out and make a bunch of money and start paying off these credit cards before I can invest in anything else - From that day, I put 5% of every dollar I brought in right into a business growth fund.

And I was saving up to do a social media mentoring program, so as soon as I had $500 I knew I would join that program and learn some of the high level social media stuff because that was really my weakness in the sales process.

If you aren't going to work with a coach or mentor when you're first starting out, make a commitment to at least putting some of the money you make aside so you can invest in getting the right support, mentoring and guidance as you get further into your business journey.

Hopefully you found this interesting and informative in helping to create some kind of strategy to ensure that you’re growing your business - even if you can't afford to work with a VIP coach at this stage.

If you've got any lightbulb moments from this or any questions, make sure you come into the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs group and using #podcastaha, let me know you've been listening to episode number 205 and ask your question or share your comment, and we can continue the conversation over in the community.

Remember all shownotes and relevant links are over at tashcorbin.com/205.

If you would like to get some of that free learning with an implementation focus to help you get your business off the ground as quickly as possible, I also have a great free resource for you!

It's my Fast-Track Your Start-Up training program.

It’s totally free for you to come and join, and is at tashcorbin.com/fasttrack.  So come on over and grab that free training, and let's get your business bringing in some sales as quickly as possible, so you can get the support that you need to really magnify that growth and get your business booming.

Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.

In today's episode, I'm going to be talking through the seven telltale signs that you need a business strategy.

Regardless whether you think you have a business strategy or not, I want you to listen along to this podcast episode and just look for any of those warning signs that the business strategy you have isn't clear enough, isn't the right strategy for you, or you actually think you've got a strategy, but you don't.

When people ask me about which tactics they should employ to get more customers, one of the most common problems I see is a lack of one clear, overarching business strategy.

As they start a new business, a lot of people think they know which specific social platform they’ll work on, or they've laid out specific tasks they think they need to do in order to get paying clients. Over time, they simply add more tactics to that plan.

You might initially start working on Facebook, join a couple of groups, and then realise you really love Instagram so you go on Instagram as well.

You run a webinar here and there, you run challenges, you do sales conversations, you've got VIP services, you've got people working with you in group programs. You've also got a book on the way…

And all of a sudden your business process to get paying clients starts to look a little bit like a Frankenstein. There are bits bolted on here, there, everywhere.

And when I ask people: What's your core strategy for business growth over the next couple of months? They cannot answer my question. Or they give me a list of 35 different things.

I’m going to go through what core business strategy is, and the seven signs that you may need one.

A core business strategy is a focus.

It’s the one overarching core focus you use to grow your business, get clients, and deliver in the next two to four months.

Your core business strategy can pivot and adjust over time.  It incorporates some of the tactics you might use to get out there, reach people, convert them into paying clients, and then deliver your products and services.

But what is not a core business strategy is 35 different things all taped together with sticky tape!

So here are some of the signs that your business strategy isn't as focused and clear as it could be, or that it hasn't actually got that overarching core approach.

1. You just want to serve, you don't want to sell.

If you see marketing and selling as something separate from you being of service and helping people, then chances are you don't have an overarching business strategy.

When you're spending most of your business life trying to avoid marketing and selling activities that get people in the door, then you haven't got a core marketing and business strategy that actually works to bring in paying clients.

If you find yourself with that feeling of "Oh, I just want to serve and do the work. I don't necessarily want to do marketing in my business," then you may need some help to create a business strategy that's going to work for you and for your audience.

2. You have “many guru” syndrome.

When you're scrolling on Facebook, just chilling out and looking for fun things to engage with, you are very susceptible to those ads telling you if you're not doing this, you need to do it because you're leaving money on the table.

If you find your inbox contains hundreds of people telling you what to do in your business, or there are dozens of people telling you what to do in your business on the regular, then chances are you haven't found the overarching business strategy that is right for you.

When you don't have confidence that taking specific actions will grow your business, get the clients you’re looking for, and keep your business on a growth trajectory, then you become very susceptible to all of the fear-based marketing on your social media feed or in the “business besties” grapevine.

I know I have gone through some phases of this, because there have been times where I got a little bit fearful and a little bit worried, thinking 'oh maybe I haven't got it all worked out' and that is when I am susceptible to “many guru” syndrome.

If you’re feeling like you’re missing something, some secret you haven’t been told yet, then stop and check in with yourself: Are you feeling confident in your core business strategy, or not? Chances are, you're not, and your business strategy needs to be reviewed, or you need to build a better one.

3. You have overwhelming “to do” lists.

I run planning workshops for the Heart and Soul Planning System, which includes 4 focus areas for each quarter. When I work with people in those workshops, they tend to say, 'oh, I've got 16 things on my list for this quarter. How on earth am I going to get all of those things done?'

When I ask them to tell me which 4 are the most important, they can't do it, because their business strategy isn't built in a way that is focused on the core – it’s a scattergun approach.

You just end up overwhelming yourself with too many things to do.

And we all know, the more things on the “to do” list, the less things you're actually going to achieve.

If you have overwhelming “to do” lists for your business, chances are you haven't got that core business strategy nailed. It’s sent you into a spiral of thinking you need to do all these things, which makes it really difficult to discern what aligns with your strategy and what doesn't.  It makes it difficult for you to prioritise effectively.

4. You feel like you're doing a lot of work for little result.

I see this happen for a lot of people when they're just in the early stages of business.

Let's say you've been running your business for 3 to 6 months, and you've got a few clients coming in. But it feels like you put 25 hours a week into getting clients and 5 hours a week into actually delivering to them.

You feel like you’re investing so much time into just getting the few clients you're getting. Then when you think about scaling up and getting more clients or growing your business even more, it feels really overwhelming and hard because you don't know how you could possibly fit in more marketing time to get those additional clients.

If you find you're doing more and more work, and it's not necessarily translating into more results, your business strategy needs to be reviewed.

Chances are you don't actually have a core business strategy mapped out.  So if you feel like you are doing a lot of work for a little result, review your core business strategy, get 100% clear on what that is.

5. Your business is feeling harder as it grows, rather than easier.

When you've Frankenstein’d a bunch of things onto your list, deciding what's important and what isn’t can become difficult to discern.  You can’t tell what’s actually creating the results in your business, or the difference between “nice to do” versus “actually working.”

You need to be very clear on where you focus your energy and attention, so you don't feel overwhelmed, or feel like it’s hard and is going to be hard forever. That is the last thing that I want for you!

6. You have a lot of tactics.

If you find yourself on multiple social media platforms, and have multiple types of freebies, and are creating lots of different products, services, programs, memberships, and courses, you don’t have one core focus.

And when you have lots of different tactics, but not one core focus, that is actually a sign you don't have a business strategy, and you need one!

7. You sit down to work and don’t know what to do.

You may sit down with an intention of putting in a solid 2 to 3 hours of work into your business, but then not know what to do in that 2 to 3 hours.

Maybe you spend the first hour checking emails, working from what other people want from you.  Then you might jump onto social media and do a few posts, and another hour goes by.  Then in your last hour you start to panic, doing a bit of admin behind the scenes so you can at least feel like something's been achieved today.

But ultimately, you've wasted three hours because you didn't know what to do first.

One thing I really love about my business strategy is that whenever I sit down to my desk, I know exactly what I need to do every single day in order to move my business forward.

Believe me, it hasn't been like that from the very beginning!  It’s taken time and consistently reviewing my strategy in order for me to get it down to 'Where do I need to show up? What is my core value proposition that I can add to my business today? How can I move my business strategy forward in three easy steps today?'

Most days, when I sit down to work in my business, I have 90 minutes at the start of each day to work on what I need to work on.

Then whatever client-facing time I have after that, my work is already done for the day and I know I've moved my business forward.  I know I’ve taken things off my to-do list, and that my business is going to continue to grow into the future.

That is such a beautiful feeling to get to. I had to try a lot of different tactics to get to that point in my business. I had to see what worked for me, what worked for my audience, and what was converting.

It also taught me how to be very consistent in getting rid of the things that don't work, outsourcing the things I shouldn't be focusing my energy on, and really understanding what metrics I need to look at to make great decisions.

All of this allows me to continue to grow my business and serve more people more effectively.

If you are listening to this podcast episode thinking, ‘oh my goodness, I think I am missing that core business strategy - I'm not focused on the key priorities to move my business forward,’ then I have a free resource you might find really helpful.

For those of you who are at the startup level, still not consistently making $5,000 to $8,000 a month in your business, this is going to be a really juicy free resource for you.

It's called Fast-Track Your Start-Up.

Whether you've been doing this for three years or three minutes, if you aren't making consistent sales online, and you've noticed some of these telltale signs we talked about, I would really encourage you to come and check it out.

It's just over an hour of video-based training, and will help you focus on the activities you need in order to feel like you have a very clear business strategy.

This is really juicy and practical, and will help you determine what you need to sit down and work on day in day out. You’ll also save time because you'll reach your results faster, and let go of some of those activities you’re only doing because someone along the way said it was a good idea and they managed to get a bunch of people into their business as a result.

You can let go of those things with confidence, knowing you can focus instead on the things that will be most important for you and your business growth.

If you have any questions, make sure you come over to the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs group, and use the #podcastaha. Let me know which of those telltale signs really resonated for you, and what you are going to do as a result of listening to this podcast episode.

Also, if you've got any questions, you can use that same #podcastaha to ask them. Make sure you let me know you've been listening to podcast episode number 204.

Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.

In today's episode, I'm going to share with you the seven surprising habits that support my business growth. And I'm not going to be focusing on the "business as usual" things you would probably expect. I'm going to talk about seven things that might just surprise you.

So let's peel back the curtain and jump straight into it.

I want to talk about these seven habits through the lens of why they support my business growth and also encourage you to think about what habits you need to put in place to ensure you are supporting your business growth as well.

1. Eating completely gluten-free.

This is something I have tried and failed to do (and been on and off the wagon about) for many, many years now. I know that gluten is not good for my body. I know it's not good for my system.

I have had many a naturopath and doctor tell me I should not be eating gluten, and yet delicious gluten just kept creeping back into my eating. But I have now been completely gluten free (aside from a couple of accidents) for at least four months now, and it has made a significant difference to how I feel.

A big thing for me is brain fog. But the biggest impact that gluten has on me is the physical discomfort - it really messes with my digestive system.  I get really bloated, have no appetite, and I lose my sense of hunger for weeks after consuming gluten.

Then I end up with no desire to eat food, and just snack on low nutrition things, which creates a huge cycle for me. But this decision is very specific to me. Going gluten-free is not what I'm talking about today.

I just want you to think about: What is one thing your body needs from you?

Whatever that is, it should be a consistent habit.  Can you make it a priority? For me, I can directly link my consumption of gluten with dips in my income in my business, dips in my productivity, dips in my effectiveness, and dips in my energy.

Some of the big gaps where I didn't release podcast episodes for extended periods of time happened because I was feeling so lethargic with so much brain fog.  There were times I would turn on my recording system to record a podcast episode, and after an hour, I still hadn't formed three coherent sentences.

I know this was happening because of what I was putting into my body. So I just use gluten as one sexy example.

But for you it could be needing to hydrate more effectively. Maybe you're not eating enough vegetables, maybe you need a greater variety of colors of the rainbow in your diet. Maybe you need to stay away from gluten or sugar or dairy or whatever it might be for you.

Whatever that thing is for you, it means that your body is not optimized in terms of its performance.  For me, it's particularly what I'm putting into my mouth.

My habit of eating gluten-free actually impacts my business growth.  I can see direct links between how I feel and how I show up in my business with what I'm putting in my mouth.

2. Taking a slow meandering walk every morning.

This is another of my surprising habits that directly impacts my business growth. I go on a morning walk with my beautiful dog Munchkin. And I'm not a power walker. I wake up so slowly. I have fresh lemon and warm water in the mornings, and then I put my shoes on and I wander out the door with Munchkin. And we go for a slow meandering walk.

Some days I listen to podcasts. Some days I listen to walking meditations. Some days I listen to an audible book. Some days I don't listen to anything. But that habit is very good for my business in a number of ways.

When I feel like I'm needing some inspiration to listen to other people, it's great to create that space and consistent habit of listening to something every day.  Particularly when I want to get through a great audio book, if I'm out walking for at least an hour each morning, I usually listen to books on one and a half times, and can get through plenty of chapters in that time. So it's a really great way to get through my audio books quickly.

That morning walk is also a really beautiful boundary in my business, to be able to create that space - to not roll out of bed and start talking to clients straightaway. This means that when I do talk to clients, I'm switched on and I've got lots of oxygen in my system. I have already had that beautiful morning walk and had a chance to get my head together. I’ve set myself up for the day really beautifully. By the time I have my first client call, I've got myself together.

Part of the reason why this morning walk is so important to me is that it's part of my vision of what I want my life to look like when I'm a multi-millionaire. It's a part of that vision I can do today. Every time I get up in the morning and go for my beautiful meandering, slow walk, I am living like “millionaire Tash” today. And that's a really powerful thing to do.

So have a look at what you think your life will look like when your business hits its mark, wherever you want to get to, and pick something you can start doing now. If it's walking, then walk; if it's having someone come in and clean your house once a week - do that. If it's something that's free - start now. If it's something that's paid, and you need to get to a certain income level to do it, set yourself the goal of getting to that income level and get there as quickly as possible.

The reason I brought this habit up is because it has so many different layers in how it supports my business. It's about setting my day up correctly, it's about having those boundaries. So I'm not having to roll out of bed straight into client time and feel rushed. I feel so spacious every morning.

It's also about what it's doing for my body. Of course, I get all my steps done in the morning, so I don't have to worry about getting my steps in at any other point in the day. I do more vigorous activity in the afternoons, which I don't do every day, but I do my meandering walk every morning. It also contributes in terms of listening to things and getting that inspiration and those ideas - it just contributes in so many different ways that I love.

3. Colouring in.

One of the things I love to do at the end of every day is track my income. And I love doing it because it's the perfect window into what's going on with my mindset. It helps me get clear on how much money is coming in for my business, and allows me to show insane gratitude for that money.

It’s the very last thing I do each day when I'm working in my business.

To give you an insight, I am recording these podcast episodes, and when I have finished this podcast episode, that's me done for today. So whenever I close the lid of my laptop for the day, I pull out my income tracking, check out how much money have I brought in today, and do this beautiful coloring in.

That coloring in is not only great for my money mindset, for paying attention to my cash flow and looking at my income stuff, but it’s great for my gratitude.

That becomes my gratitude practice for the day - done. And it’s this beautiful transition between working in my business and tuning out for the day.

Sometimes it takes me two minutes, sometimes it takes me a little bit longer, but when I do that coloring in, I am signaling to both sides of my brain: “Okay, the day is done, it's time to shut down.”

Another little habit I do is whilst I'm coloring in, if things pop to mind that I need to remember to do tomorrow, I just quickly stop and write those down in tomorrow's planner page, so when I step out of my office to have dinner or take Munchkin for another walk, or go to the gym, or whatever it is, I am switched off from my business.

That is a boundary that means I'm way more present with my partner, I'm way more present with my friends, I'm way more present with my Munchkin. I'm way more present to my exercise that I'm doing and moving my body.

Sometimes I'll get a massage or get someone to come to my house and give me a massage in the afternoon, and I'm way more present and can totally relax into it. My mind isn't racing with things I haven't done today, or things I have to remember for tomorrow, or haven’t quite shifted gears from business mode to outside mode.

Coloring in is one juicy little habit does so much for my business growth. I know that when I turn up the next day in my business, I'm going to show up way more effectively if I've actually switched off in between.

It can be so tempting to just say I’m an entrepreneur and I never stop thinking about my business.  But by consistently saying that to yourself, you are keeping that true.

If you are hearing how I talk about switching off in the evenings and think maybe you’d like to try a little bit of that, just experiment with it.  That little transition from “working” into “not working” now is hyper, hyper powerful.

4. Getting my hair done.

At the moment, it's every three weeks, but I will move that down to every two weeks and then eventually every week.

It's moved to every three weeks because the hairdresser closest to me actually has closed down. So it went from five minutes to get to the hairdresser, to now about 45 minutes to get to the hairdresser. But I go and get my hair done.

I had it done today (can you tell?) – it’s so shiny! I usually get them to do a little soft curl or something every three weeks, and I don't get it cut every time - I get it cut every second time.  And I don't get coloured every time, I just get a shampoo treatment and blow dry or curl, and then the next one I'll get the cut and colour and then blow dry as well.

So that is something I always book for a morning. And then that same day I will schedule time to do some videos and Facebook Lives, and focus and all sorts of things because my hair is feeling great.

Having that consistent habit in my business and in my life actually means my business is growing because I'm consistently creating content. I do more Facebook Lives on that day, I pre-record little videos for different launches. I can batch up a bunch of stuff, because I've got my hair done, I'm feeling really amazing. And I mean, who doesn't feel amazing after getting a scalp massage or sitting in a massage chair? They make me a little cup of tea and I have a great chat about random things that are happening in town. It is so nurturing and so lovely to be looked after. It just puts me in a really great frame of mind.

Sometimes while I'm getting my hair done, I'll be jotting down little ideas about the things I want to record, so I'm really using that time effectively. Sometimes I just sit and read magazines about what Meghan Markle is up to or whatever, but most of the time, I’m thinking about things in my business and just jotting things down. Especially when there is wait time like waiting for the colour to set in or waiting for the treatment, whatever it might be.

I will use that time to just jot down ideas for videos, so that when I do finally sit down later to do the videos, not only do I have my content plan for all my podcast episodes, but I often have all these extra little ideas. And I can just go and do them straightaway and it's super fun. I love to get my hair done. If you can get it done weekly, I recommend getting it done weekly.

5. Have a Toy Box.

My toy box is where I put all of the fun project ideas, new product ideas, and things.  It's an Evernote notebook called “Tash’s Toy Box.”

Whenever I think of something new, like doing a retreat, and the ideas flow (“we'll do this and we'll do that” or “we should do this thing at conference,” or “maybe I could add this thing to the academy” or “maybe I could make this entire new course”...) Those things go into the Toy Box.

When I go back to Australia, I'm going to do some partnered speaking gigs, so I will reach out to three or four members of the lady posse, whom I know are all in one particular local area. And we'll put on a half day mini conference together. So I've had this amazing idea, and I really want to do it, and I was working up that idea from the toy box, because that was already in the toy box from several years ago.

I set a timer on my phone for five minutes, I go straight into the toy box, I create a new note for it in the toy box, and I spend five minutes playing with that idea. And then I close the lid of the toy box and I go back to what I was doing.

This is really powerful for my business because I know that in order for me to really hit my goals, get that growth, get that scaling happening, I need to stop playing with shiny objects.

I know that I can come up with lots of really cool ideas. But that's not actually where I need to be focusing my energy and attention in my business. I've got a plan, particularly for the next one year, and I need to stay focused on that specific plan to make sure I'm nailing that before I start playing with any other new shiny things.

The toy box habit allows me to keep generating all these creative ideas and play with that creativity, but in a way where it doesn't derail and sabotage my business.

Every second Friday afternoon, I have Toy Box time scheduled into my calendar.

As long as I've got all my jobs done for the week, and I'm really feeling it, I want to play in the toy box. I will allow myself a couple of hours to pull something out of the toy box and play with it.  I might design things or put more detail into it, or maybe chat to a few people and ask some questions. Then when toy box time is over, I put it back in the toy box, and I move on.

I keep pulling things out and playing with them and then I put them back until they are ready. Then there's space in my business for those things to come to life.

Now the beautiful thing about the toy box habit is that I don't ever shut down new ideas. When new ideas come, I reward them and encourage them and celebrate them, because what we focus on and show gratitude for is what we create more of, and generating ideas is one of my zone of genius things.

It's also a value proposition for my clients and for people who are following me, because there's always new core strategies coming out. But that doesn't mean I need to stop what I'm doing in my business right now and derail everything to focus on that new thing.

It’s a really beautiful strategy and a great habit that does support my business growth.

I love Elizabeth Gilbert's take on this, and she talks about it in her book “Big Magic.” She says that if an idea comes knocking at your door enough and you don't pick it up and run with it, it will go and knock on someone else's door.

Something I have recognized with the plethora of ideas in my toy box is that it can also be really fun for me to hand those ideas on to someone else. As a result, a lot of my VIP clients have products, services, courses, memberships, that were actually born in my toy box.

The ideas may have come in originally for my business, but after evaluating on a scale of 1 to 10 how important it was to my model, how likely I would be to actually implement it, and whether it was really aligned with my core business, I sometimes concluded it wasn’t a fit.  Then I asked myself, well, whose business is it aligned with? Sometimes I know exactly who to give it to straightaway and I go talk to them about it straightaway.

A lot of the time, it will come up in a VIP session with a client. The client will be talking about wanting to do a membership thing and I already have a really amazing idea in my Toy Box.  So we pull it out and play with it, and as a result there have been masterminds and group events and conferences and new courses and new memberships all born out of my toy box.

It’s exciting to know that this thing is going to exist, and I can help that person bring it out into the world.  And I don't have to be responsible for the ongoing management of that thing. Ideation is one of my favourite things to do. And I get to do it really beautifully because I have this amazing toy box. So my toy box habit of allowing myself to play with new ideas but then putting them back in the toy box has allowed my business to grow in so many different ways.

6. Taking time out.

I understand that when you’re in the thick of things, and you’re going for a goal and you're in the middle of a launch, taking time out is not necessarily aligned to what you believe is actually going to grow your business.

But as a reformed workaholic/perfectionist, I can tell you that the more time I take away from my business, the more effective I am in my business, and the better my business runs, and the more I keep those boundaries about who does what in my business rather than taking on jobs I've delegated to someone else.

The more I take time off from my business, the better my business works and the faster it grows.

I talked about this in a previous podcast episode (tashcorbin.com/192) about how taking time out in your business isn't always just an all or nothing concept.

You can take time out in your business by making sure you finish at four o'clock every single day. That is taking time out and actually shutting down. Or you can have a three day weekend once a month.

You can also take time out of a certain part of your business. Maybe you don't do client facing time on Mondays and Fridays, only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Maybe you don't do any group stuff except for on Wednesdays, right?

So if you can you keep those boundaries around things, it helps you to create this sense of spaciousness and this capacity for lots of time off, not just a four-week chunk once a year, but actually spaciousness throughout your time in your business.

Taking time away supports me my mental well-being and my health well-being. It supports my creativity, my idea generation, my enthusiasm and motivation for my business. It supports me having a great relationship and not feeling like my business is costing me my relationship or my friendships or my social life.

All of those things add up to a more effective and a more successful business. So taking time away, habitually, is actually responsible for a lot of my business growth.

7. Decluttering.

I love decluttering in lots of different ways. We do this in my Fast Money Challenge. In the Fast Money Challenge, I talk about the different layers of decluttering that you can do for your business.  I declutter whenever I'm going for a goal as part of my manifesting process.

And whether it's my monthly income goal, or a 10-day short term income goal, or a longer-term goal, I will declutter as part of that process of manifesting the money.

There are different layers of decluttering that I do.  The first phase of deep decluttering is physical decluttering, like getting in the habit of tidying your desk.  Keep your workspace nice and organized and declutter your purse, handbag, or laptop bag.

This helps to keep things feeling spacious physically.  Physical spaciousness and decluttering is the first stage because physical clutter is the fastest way to slow down the energy of a space. (Hashtag let's watch some hoarders and see just how true that is!!)

Then I do a digital declutter. I recently decluttered my calendar. I had lots of random blocks in my calendar for random things. I had blocked out Mondays for this and Wednesdays for that, and every Friday afternoon for toybox time and all those sorts of things, but there were just so many of them.

So I went in and decluttered all of the things out of my calendar that were recurring appointments or random appointments that didn't need to be there. I just left the bare minimum appointments. Then I went into my Acuity and changed my hours of work, so I didn't need to keep blocking out all that time. I put in three time blocks for the three most important things and they are recurring weekly time books, and it was so good.

My calendar is now spacious again, and that spaciousness creates so much excitement for me. It energizes me. It means there's room for more in my calendar because I've decluttered the unnecessary stuff.

In a digital declutter, I also tidy up my downloads folder if it has got a few too many things in it, or my documents, or the desktop, or the inbox - all of those spaces where you might just have clutter accumulating digitally.

I have a folder called “business development” and a folder called “personal development,” and if I go to webinars, or sign up for freebies, I will save a lot of those things in there. So every month I declutter it, because if I haven't watched something within a month, the chances of me watching it are pretty low!

Just declutter it. It creates so much spaciousness, releases that heaviness of feeling there are still more things to watch or do.  I figure if I really need to learn that thing, I have this amazing magical tool called Google, right?

I also do energetic decluttering. You could call this mindset, energetic, or emotional decluttering.  I might write down a list of all of the worries I have, and then I'll tap on them.  I'll do some journaling, and clear out the mental clutter that's going on. Sometimes I find even doing my end of day ritual that I may still be carrying mental clutter, like to do lists or shopping lists. So I consistently put those things down somewhere.

In our phones, both Davey and I have a family management app. It has shopping lists, to do lists, a shared calendar and a shared diary like a gratitude journal, and a shared message board. It's a really cool app. I love it. And in that app, I have the shopping lists and stuff.

So when I’m thinking, “I have to remember to buy that,” I’ll get it out of the brain and put it in the app. Because if it’s in the app, both Davey and I can see it, and we might be able to take care of some things for each other. And not only that, when I go to the shops, I will actually remember to open the app and find it. It's just getting into the habit of using the systems that you already have to declutter your mind.

If you have a bunch of grievances you're holding onto in your brain and are wanting to remember to be cranky at that person, write it down, forgive it, tap it away and just let it go. All of that emotional clutter is slowing down your business growth.

On that note of decluttering and keeping your business growth going quicker, I want to share with you a free resource called Fast Track Your Startup.

It's not just for startups, but does focus mostly on those early stages of business. In that training, I take you through the things that you don't need to focus on and the things that you do need to focus on in order to get that income going up quickly in your business.

It helps you to declutter all the things you don't necessarily need to be doing. And it also helps you to focus on and prioritize those things that are going to bring the income quickly.

Before we close up on today's episode, I'd love to know which of my seven surprising habits surprised you the most? And what habit are you going to implement into your business to fast track your business growth?

Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.

In today's episode, I'm going to share with you how to be magnetic to your leads and clients. This one is super juicy!

There are actions and strategies you can use to be more magnetic to the right people. In this podcast episode, I'll share five of those strategies, and I've even got myself a very dodgy but cool magnet metaphor that perfectly demonstrates how you can be more magnetic in your business.

So let's jump in, shall we?

In this day and age, particularly with this whole feeling of “have’s” and “have-not’s” on social media, the “cool kids” versus the "not-cool kids," it could be very easy for us to assume that magnetism - or being attractive to your ideal client - is a thing that some people have and some people don't.

But speaking from experience, I can tell you that being magnetic to your ideal clients and leads doesn't come down to some random innate quality that you have.

Let's look at five concrete strategies for magnetism.

1. Magnets are polarizing.

So magnets have a north and south - a positive and a negative. And when it comes to you showing up in your business, you need to reconcile yourself with the fact that not everyone is going to love you.

When you share your deeply resonant messaging from the heart, some people still won't like it, and some people will actively dislike it.

There are people out there who hate Oprah. I don't understand it.  There are also people out there who hate Adele. I don't understand that either. But there are.

And the thing those two ladies have in common is they deeply connect with their true belief system and what they're willing to do and not willing to do. They go and share it unapologetically. And they aren't on Facebook looking at all the negative reviews about themselves.  They aren't going, “Oh, that person didn't like that song. I'm not going to release another song again until I get it right.”

That's not how you become magnetic!

You become magnetic by deeply standing in your power about the message you share, your belief system, and accepting that not everyone is going to love you.

Now being polarizing is sometimes used in poor ways. For example, being a jerk on purpose, or swearing a lot because you want to drive away people who don't like swearing, or doing things that are purposefully controversial when it's not even particularly important to you.

I actually had a conversation with someone about this at a recent event. She said she's not really that big of a swearer, and she doesn't really care about swearing, but she swears a lot on her podcast because it drives away people who don't like swearing and she thinks that “niches” her down. And I was like, “but if it's not important to you, why are you polarizing people on it?”

There are also people out there who teach this as a strategy, to purposefully choose a popular belief in your niche and then argue against it.  Sometimes it's done as a click-bait thing. And I just think this is really stepping out of alignment.

So when I talk about being polarizing, I'm not saying to be a jerk, or to purposefully go out there and criticize something popular just for the sake of it.

Instead, be really clear on what you do believe in and stand for it.

If there is something you see happening a lot, and you profoundly disagree with it, don't be afraid to talk about it.  You may repel a bunch of people, but that's what magnets do.  When you polarize, you will repel those who aren't your ideal clients, and you will magnetize those who are.

Be really clear about who you are, what you stand for, and do some reflection on which beliefs you hold near and dear.  Start speaking about those more consistently, with the understanding that some people aren't going to like it.

When it comes to getting haters or people un-following you or un-subscribing, it's all just part of what we call in the TakeOff program “Business Bingo.”

That’s right.  We actually have Bingo - things you can check off when they happen in your business, because they are part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. That includes people sending you messages saying you're stupid, people hating on you, and people un-following you.

Have you heard of “hair tossing?"  It's when someone leaves your community, un-follows your page, or un-subscribes from a mailing list, but they can't just walk out quietly - they have to get up and toss their hair and tell you what you've done wrong before they exit. That is just part of “Business Bingo,” and it's going to happen.

In fact, it's a sign that you're making it, so celebrate it and check it off!

2. Get stronger. Share more content.

Did you know that when you consistently rub a magnet on another magnet in the same direction, it gets stronger? That is so cool. (You get a little science lesson in with your podcast episode today!)

As online business owners and entrepreneurs, we need to get stronger as well. The way we get stronger and grow our magnetism is by being consistent and sharing valuable content. That is what magnetizes people towards us. So yes, it's a bit of a stretch with this magnet metaphor, but it works, right?

We want to get stronger. And we want to strengthen our magnetism by putting out more consistent, valuable content for our ideal clients.

This works in a range of different ways to magnetize people towards you:

• SEO. When people are Googling things, and you've got content that relates to these things, they're going to be more likely to find you.
• Shareability. When you create valuable content for your ideal clients, they will share it with other people who need that content as well.
• Consistency. Consistency always trumps “flash and crash” strategies when it comes to growing your reach and your audience.

When I can trust you are going to turn up consistently and you're going to add value consistently to my day, then I will consistently follow you and be drawn into watching your video or consuming your content.

I've had hundreds of people tell me when they are scrolling Facebook, and they see those spots, they stop scrolling to watch my video because they know it will be valuable for them.

That has come from consistency, not just a single fancy schmancy video that I did once and was a value to them. It was that consistency - I have proven my worth and my value in investing their time to watch my videos.

3. Moving closer.

If you've got a ball bearing here, and your ideal client is over on the right side and you're the magnet and you want to draw that ball bearing towards you, you can do that simply by moving closer and closer and closer.

But you don't have to chase them. Sometimes when you use a magnet and you push it too close to something too quickly, it actually pushes the thing away.

That is what happens when you brace in too far. So don't be aggressive towards your customers and ideal clients, but move a little closer to them.

A great analogy is from the movie “Hitch,” when Will Smith talks about how you come in 90% of the way, and you let them come in the other 10% - that is exactly the type of metaphor that I love!

You’re moving closer to your ideal client, saying “hey, look at this magnetic thing that I have here,” and then they get to make the decision about whether to jump on board or not.

This includes things like asking for the sale consistently, talking about your products and services, talking about the way you serve and help people, and consistently inviting them to engage with you.

You can put this into action when you send your regular newsletters, or short emails to your audience to say “hey, just wanted to send a quick email to check in and see if you still need help with A, B or C - let me know.”

Those simple steps are actually moving closer to your audience while still giving them the power to make that final call.

4. Get out of the box.

Magnets left in boxes and shiny packaging are not particularly effective at attracting iron towards them, are they?

Often when we are in business, we feel like we have to have this beautiful shiny packaging, but that packaging makes you less magnetic.

People want to buy from other human beings.  Showing your true self and your flaws - jumping out of your shiny packaging - is actually a way that you can magnetize more people towards you.

When I share posts like a ranty Facebook Live on my couch with no makeup, I often get a better response than the pretty, well-presented ones where I'm sitting at my desk. And me sitting at my desk often performs better than those beautifully modeled, studio recording sessions.

In fact, I've never done beautifully modeled studio recording sessions because when I see them from mentors that I follow, I don't really like them as much, and don't watch them as much, because they look like a perfectly manicured ad.

Humans are distrustful of advertising and marketing, so the more you look like a perfectly polished ad, the less magnetic you are – I know, it's so counterintuitive!

We come from a long masculine history of admiration marketing, and “you need to admire me because I'm perfect and I've got it all figured out.” Buuuut that doesn't work anymore.

In this age of human to human business, being more human actually makes you more magnetic.

So get out of your perfect packaging from time to time, and start connecting human to human with your ideal clients.  You might just find that you become instantly more magnetic.

5. Find your true north.

Left to its own devices, a magnet will consistently point north. For us as online business owners and entrepreneurs, finding our true north makes us more magnetic.

When I say "find your true north," I'm talking about things like trusting your gut and following your intuition.

Stop following people who don't align with your values and what you prioritize. Stop trying to be a cookie cutter model of someone else's business and find your own true north instead.

For a long time, I thought that I needed to have lots of testimonials in order for people to feel like they could trust and buy from me. But whenever I asked my clients for testimonials and shared them, talking about how so-and-so made $8,000 after just six weeks in the TakeOff program, it just felt really weird to me and I was uncomfortable with it.

Then I had a conversation with a client of mine, talking about my discomfort with those kinds of testimonials, and she agreed.  She worked in the weight loss space, and she said, “I don't like sharing my clients “before” and “after” photos, because it's like I'm taking the credit for them, and I've had companies and coaches do that to me, and I don't like it. I lost weight because I was the one who did the work.”

And I feel exactly the same when it comes to client testimonials. Me saying that so-and-so made $10,000 in six weeks doesn't actually resonate or feel congruent for me.  Sure, that person might have been in my program or done coaching with me, but they did the freaking work. They're the person who went out there and got the clients, and delivered to the clients. They did the marketing.  They showed up. They overcame all the mindset blocks and did the work.

I just didn't really enjoy nor feel aligned with the process of sharing client testimonials - particularly the ones about the money.

Instead of getting perfectly polished client testimonials, what I do now is collect those moments when someone just organically shares their thoughts and feelings about the program.  When they say, “oh my gosh, this was amazing, thank you so much” in reference to a specific part of the program or process, I share their words, onto sales pages or occasionally social media, but I don't share them a lot.

By talking that through with my audience, so many people said, “That's why I love you. That's why I still follow you, because you're not claiming all of your client’s successes.” And it was such an amazing thing for me.

It simply came from listening to myself - listening to what felt right for me and what didn't.

Now, there's a big difference between this and slightly pushing me outside my comfort zone. This just wasn't aligned to my values. It's important that we get good practice discerning between the two.

Ultimately, if you are feeling like something is not the right fit for you, or not the right strategy for you, you don't want to behave in that way.

Trust your instincts and find what is true north for you.

Don't be afraid to discuss it with your business coach or mentor, because a great business coach or mentor should be able to help you to dig into whether this is a values misalignment or just a discomfort.

A great business strategist or coach will be able to help you find other strategies to get the same outcomes without having to step out of alignment.

Throughout my years in business, when something comes up and I feel like it's a values misalignment, I discuss it with my coach or mentor immediately.  At times it has led to me firing that coach or mentor, because they wanted me to blindly keep implementing something I could see was deeply out of alignment.

I once had a coach who wanted me to put a countdown timer on an email I was sending, even though that countdown timer wasn't real, and didn't actually change anything. We had this deep conversation about why I wasn't willing to lie in the sales process, and they just wanted me to blindly do it.  So I fired them. It was like - I can't work with you as a mentor if you can't help me keep my conversion rates high without creating false scarcity. That was such a great eye opener for me!

So if you are having these thoughts about different business strategies you're being taught, go and speak about them with the people who are teaching them to you because they will be able to help you discern between a values misalignment versus just nudging you outside your comfort zone.  If it is a values misalignment, they should be able to help you find alternative strategies that feel more aligned for you.

So here is a quick recap:

1. Polarize, but don't be a jerk!
2. Get stronger through being consistent.
3. Move closer. Be present but don't be gross!
4. Get out of that shiny packaging!
5. Find your true north. Trust your gut and your instincts!

You're a smart, capable woman, and you know exactly what is good for you and what is not good for you.

If you liked this super juicy reflection, and you want to explore these more deeply, I have an entire book (with worksheets!), which is completely free!  You can get it for free as part of listening to this podcast. All you need to do is go to the show notes at tashcorbin.com/202.

There will be a link there for you to come and grab my Magnetic Business book.

And it's not just a book, it's actually got worksheets and exercises that you can do to help you really clarify where you can show up and be more magnetic in your business.

As always, if you have any thoughts or questions from this episode, come on over to the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs group and use the #podcastaha, and let me know that you've been listening to Episode 202 and what your questions or “aha” moments have been.

You can also use that hashtag to tell me which of these five magnetizing strategies you need to focus more on in the next few months.  It will be lovely for us to continue the conversation!

Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.