Dear Ladies,
I appreciate a long time no post but I’ve been preparing a series of posts that will come out in succession so as to help you the best I can, as for me this blogging role is for me to see how I can help you all as best I can market to women, and maybe even overcome your addiction to chocolate!! You never know..
First off, I am writing a book about what I am calling ‘The Goddess Age’, in other words the ‘age of the heart’, where people are feeling connected on many levels from emotional, spiritual, to physical. ‘The Goddess Age’ comes after the previous ages of the ‘Information Age’ and ‘Industrial Age’ etc; a natural evolution for humanity, I feel. In my heart, ‘The Goddess Age’ is part of ‘The Conceptual Age’ which Daniel Pink discusses in ‘the whole new mind’ which is characterised by right-brain capabilities: non-linear skills of: intuition, wholistic and non-linear, creativity, meaning, empathy and entrepreneurialism. Oprah Winfrey truly rates him! So, worthy of looking into.
What marks this age in particular Carrie, and how exactly can it help me?
The Goddess Age is marked by the greatest Mum of all, Mother Earth coming to the fore to help balance ourselves, our conscious and the earth out. She is guiding us through our intuition, or ‘inner-tuition’, therefore it is no coincidence that people worldwide are suddenly more eco-conscious and are more aware of the impact that they are having on the planet and each other. It’s the time of the ‘sacred feminine’, where softness rules, and heart-centred lives are what matters, making our lives more meaningful, loving and creative!!
How can it help you in your businesses ladies?
Good question!! Well, first off, given that you are living embodiments of the Goddess, as you are female you have a head-start, or rather ‘heart start’, meaning that when you connect with yourselves from the heart and bring that essence and empathy into your business, if you do not do already, you will work wonders. As after all, one of the things that the ‘billion dollar man’, aka Jay Abraham said that one of the biggest things that is vital to establish with your customers is empathy, and if you connect to your heart, it will naturally come.
Another quality to nurture, is that of tapping into your intuition. When you listen to it you will know, when following a particular business strategy is right for you; you will know whether working with someone would be beneficial for your business, and know whether tweeting or facebooking all day is really going to help you build relationships online which are worthy of building or just whether you are just trying to look popular!! You know what I’m talking about, we’ve all done it; including me!!
And finally, the quality that is vital in every relationship you have including with yourself is that of trust. When you focus on nurturing trust with your clients so that whenever they have a problem they will automatically think of you! A lady who is great to model at this, is the lady who has the most influence, arguably, in America, Oprah, of course! Millions across America, who I look at as ‘America’s ultimate Mum, or Mom’, as people quite simply trust her like you would a Mum! She’s been nurturing this of course for many moons, but a lot can be gleened from how she operates. She’s very open, to the point where some people are truly uncomfortable at times, but you know what people love it; especially the ladies!!! We love to build a real human, authentic connection with people and feel more empathy and an emotional bond when we can relate to an experience that someone has gone through, you know this to be true hey! For example: Oprah has a long standing ‘battle’, her words not mine, with her weight, and she often discusses it with her expert panel and her best friend Gail on air, and women quite honestly love her for this as it helps them to feel more normal and less freakish!!
So there you have it ladies, those are my top three tips on how to thrive in the Goddess Age.
- Show empathy to your clients of where they are and how they are feeling, yes feeling and not thinking. A great way to do this is basic ‘non-violent communication’, made public by Marshall Rosenburg, a great chap, where you just consider: ‘what are their feelings and needs’ here. For example: a client might be in need a new graphic for their website but feel overwhelmed by the choice out there not only of designs but of who to work with. They might fear being ripped off and also fear being bamboozled by technology. What they might need is to have a real honest chat with a consultant to really listen to her needs and acknowledge where they are at. Yes, it’s quite simple yet very powerful. Try it and let me know. It could be that when you have had a chat like this with a prospect you will not end up with a client but you might be able to refer them and you know what that builds… TRUST. So either way it’s a win/win ladies! And they will respect you for your honesty, I know it.
- Look at how you can use your inner-radar to tap into the heart of your business in every aspect of your business, whether it’s which marketing strategy you use and how, to which client you select. Yes you have the ultimate choice about who you work with, oh you do, to which networking event to go to! Whatever it might be the key question here to ask yourself is: ‘How does it feel?’ And if you don’t know, close your eyes and have a few quiet moments to connect with yourself and tune into your intuition and you will know, you will so know; especially after a little practice!
- Trust, building trust is where the gold lies. To build it making your views about your business and your life visibile through tweeting, facebooking, blogging; it has never been easier! You can even do a Q & A, on your blog, in your newsletter asking your clients if they have any questions that you could answer on your blog etc. It will help prospective customers to understand where you are coming from and build rapport with them, as they will be like ‘aha she likes that, so do I’, etc. And of course if they don’t like what you are talking about and feel that you being so personal, then it’s not a bad thing as it’s great to know that you are not the right fit with each other so that you can both move on to a better one!
And here’s the chocolatey bit.
The first step to overcoming any addiction is to admit you have a problem! Oh yes indeedy. I know I didn’t want to admit I was addicted to chocolate, I so didn’t; and especially as it is such a socially-acceptable addiction, especially with ladies who create any excuse to bring out the chocolate from celebrating a deal made, to it simply being a ‘thank Crunchie it’s Friday’, moment, to just having a silly Maltesers’ moment, love those adverts. You know what I’m talking about I have no doubt. When I gathered a few observations together of my addiction to chocolate it was plain for me at least to see I had a problem that was negatively impacting my life. For example: I conducted a German Oral about how chocolate was important in my life, I honestly did. I used to whilst at University sneek out of halls in the middle of the night to get chocolate. I often preferred chocolate to sex, which I know is a common thing with women! Whenever I was stressed I preferred to ‘eat’ away my emotions with chocolate.. and so the list goes on….
But Carrie, what makes me a chocolate addict, is the key question here isn’t it?
Aha, of course. For me, what makes someone a chocolate addict, is someone who is eating chocolate to avoid addressing issues like their self-esteem, confidence, stress, intimate relationship issues, work issues, etc. and the endless issues go on. Essentially, I am not personally stating that there are so many chocolates or chocolate bars that you need to be eating to make you a chocoholic in the similiar vein for people to be considered alcoholics if they are drinking so many units of alcohol. No, what I am saying is that you will know when your chocolate addiction is having a negative impact on your life. Admittedly, it might feel uncomfortable to acknowledge you have a problem with chocolate, but you will know that you would greatly benefit from looking at how you can overcome it whether it be through Chocolate Rehab or something else. But step one, admit you have a problem!!!
As ever ladies please post your comments here as I’d love to know if what I have written has been useful and if you have any questions. I would love to know too if there are any issues you would like me to address here under the umbrellas of how to market effectively to women and how to overcome chocolate addiction !
And finally, a lady who I whole-heartedly trust and know to be amaaazing at what she does, full of empathy, who most certainly listens and follows her intuition, is Judith Morgan who has helped me in so many ways since I have known her in 2003; has a really cool competition for those of you who might be interested. The deadline is 17/3/10 so be quick ladies!
http://judithmorgan.com/12000-free-prize-giveaway
Wishing you a properous and joyful time.
Namaste, giggles & light,
Peacefully yours,
Carrie Eddins xxx
© 2008
