Are You Ready?
Are You Ready to STOP Worrying About the Scary Details of Running Your Business and START Moving Forward with Confidence — So You Can Get Back to Serving Your Clients and Making a Real Difference in This World?
If you are passionate about your work, you can build an “Indestructible Business” that supports you from the ground up, supplying the structure and confidence you need to move your business forward in the most powerful way, allowing you to sleep at night, and silencing the nagging worries forever. (Without any of the scary stuff.)
Hey, I know you’re good at what you do, and sometimes all this “business” stuff can be overwhelming — especially when what you’d rather do is focus on the work you do to help your clients. So I just have to ask you one question:
“Do you secretly worry that your business is going to fall apart around your ankles because, while you’re doing the work you love, you don’t really know how to do/want to do the other stuff to keep your business going? (Or maybe you’ve just been afraid to even look at it?)”
Sorry, but I had to ask. I know what you’re going through. I know how important your work and your business are to you, and I know the little niggling things that hold you back, too, because I’ve been exactly where you are now.
When I was first starting my small business over 25 years ago, I put my head down, worked hard, and tried not to think about these questions:
• why do certain things about running the business make me feel so stuck and unsure of myself?
• I’m good at my work, why can’t I have more confidence in myself?
• why can’t I be more productive?
• am I charging enough?
• I see other people doing really well and I know I’m just as good as (or let’s face it, can I say it? I’m better than!) they are, how come it’s not working for me?
• how will I ever find someone to help me when I need a clone of me and I can’t pay them much?
• if I have a team, why does all this work end up on my desk?
• why can’t I explain what I do in a way that makes more clients want to work with me?
• am I actually making a profit in this business?
• will I even be around this time next year?
I started my business because I had a skill and a passion for my work, and I just dove right in. I didn’t realize that I’d actually be running a business until I had some success, some employees, and too much work. Then I realized I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, and I made tons of mistakes — that cost me a lot of time, money, and anguish.
I Was Over Working and Under Pricing
I was working seven days a week trying to juggle all the work I was bringing in (sure I was good, but I didn’t know I was also under pricing). As a single mom, I had to drag my son to the office with me after school, where I’d work until he got tired of coloring, and then we’d go home and I’d work after he went to bed.
I hired people to help me, but I was still working too many hours (I didn’t know how to manage them, or to make sure I was hiring the right people for me). It was actually more work to have help, and I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working out for me. I was constantly stressed and worried my clients would find out I didn’t know what I was doing.
I Was Worried Someone Would Find Out I Didn’t Know What I Was Doing and My Business Would Come Crashing Down Around My Ankles
I felt like a fraud a lot of the time. It seemed so bizarre to me — there I was, running a business, taking in and handling lots of work for important clients, and my own business was a mess. I was constantly in fear that the whole thing would fall apart.
I Knew There Had to Be a Better Way
And I slowly began to I realize that:
> Just being good at my craft wouldn’t keep me in business.
Yes, I could keep my clients happy. But I wasn’t always sure I could pay my bills. And I had no idea what would happen next year, next month, or even next week.
> You can go broke being successful.
Even though I had plenty of clients and lots of work coming in during those early years, spreading myself too thin and not paying attention to the fundamentals really took a toll on my ability to serve my clients and grow my business, too. If you’re there now, you know what I mean.
> Having a solid business base would allow me to focus my attention on other things, like my clients and growing the business.
So I made this my number one priority. And once I started to master the business building principles, I suddenly had more time to do the things I should be doing in my business to serve my clients and grow the business, instead of fussing over all the things I didn’t know how to do and worried weren’t getting done.
> Putting these foundations in place reduced my stress, bolstered my confidence, and increased my profits.
I was amazed at how much more confidence I had when I knew the basics of my business were there to support me. And confidence is a powerful client attraction tool.
And when I got to that point, there was a huge feeling of relief around it — mixed with frustration that it took so long. I finally had a real sense of freedom in my business. I found myself thinking, “So this is what it’s supposed to feel like to own your own business.” Finally enjoying myself, getting my passion back, and having the time to do the things I started my business for in the first place.
“You’re gentle but powerful, Marcia. This sounds really selfish . . . because not a lot of people have had the chance to work with you, and I kind of am a little jealous that you’re going out there and helping other people. You were my secret weapon, giving me strength. I’ve worked with a lot of coaches and a lot of mentors in the past, but what I learned and have gotten from you was on such a deeper level. It wasn’t like making a business plan, it was like ‘hey, let’s look inside at what we can pull out of you and display so your clients see who you are and the value you bring to them.’”
“Marcia is one of the strongest coaches I’ve ever worked with, she’s been a force in my life. I got the most value in such a short period of time — so whatever she’s got, you need to sign up for it.”
— Lorrie Morgan Ferrero www.redhotcopy.com
My Business was Becoming Successful and Solid
Soon, people started asking me:
• how I got my business to run so well, so solidly, for so long (over 25 years in business)
• how I got such great people to work for me, and how I kept them so long, too (6, 10, 14, 20, 22-year team members)
• And how I kept my clients for years and years, and what made them keep coming back to me (6, 8, 10, 14-year clients)
and there were other things, too, like:
• how I drastically reduced the amount of time I spent managing the business (by 70%)
• while I increased my revenues (by 60%)
• how I got the flexibility to get away from the day-to-day stuff to focus on what I love (and spend a solid month at my cottage every year)
• how I chose and worked with my team, who loved what they were doing too, so they stayed with me, did a terrific job, and felt great about it
• how I kept my confidence up so I could put one foot in front of the other every day to continue fighting the dragons, serving my clients, and building my business, even when times got rough
• how I stayed productive and kept my team productive so we kept our billable time at a maximum and made the best use of our downtime
• how I tracked and stayed on top of the financial end of the business even though I hated spreadsheets, didn’t understand QuickBooks, and was allergic to my accountant
I Decided to Write it Down
I decided to document what I learned in over 25 years of business and share it, so you won’t have to learn from the school of hard knocks, like I did, and so it won’t take you as long as it took me. So I’d have answers for people when they asked me, “How’d you do that?”
I wrote down what I was doing, and started sharing it with a few very select coaching clients. And then I did a small group program or two.
“I’ve been in a lot of different trainings and studies and I’ve never felt as good about being in a space and learning and growing as I am in this one right now, and I wanted to communicate that to you publicly, because it really has been so transformative for me. It was so profound for me in ways I hadn’t expected. The Value exercise was just so eye opening at a deep level for me and it’s opened a whole new door of communication for me with my audience, so it was just amazing for me, just amazing.
“I was shocked. I thought, ‘Oh it will be a fun little course,’ but I probably got more value out of that one class than I have in a lot of classes I paid thousands of dollars for, truthfully.”
— Lisa Robbin Young, www.therenaissancemom.com
And now, for the first time, I’ve put the entire process together, in a step-by-step process, so you can see what I’ve done, and benefit from it, too.
Announcing
“How to Have an Indestructible Business” 8-Week Course
Why I Created this Course
(and how it can help you the same way it helped me)
I’ve pretty much spent the last year talking to values-driven business owners – creatives, coaches, consultants, and other small business owners who have a great passion for the work they do and are guided by their values — people like you. Some of these people have been clients, some have been on my list, through strategy sessions, and some were colleagues and friends. I got the information through conversations and brain-picking. And the same stuff kept coming up over and over in these conversations.
Most of the people who are attracted to me are very creative, like designers and writers and consultants, or maybe you’re just great people people – and you have big ideas, and do wonderful things for your clients, and your work is so important to you that you have often not taken the time to really design your own businesses. Because the work is what you hold in such high regard, you sometimes have difficulty seeing your own value in the equation, or see the value in the designing of your businesses.
You do an excellent job for your clients but you undervalue your own contribution to them, which drives me crazy because I can see where your genius lies – and this undervaluing results in:
• a lack of confidence
• under charging
• a struggle with marketing
• an aversion to the financial end of your businesses
• stress, and
• inaction and a lack of momentum – because you don’t really know exactly where you’re going
The 7 pillars of this program are the 7 areas that the people I talked to — you — kept having as challenges in your businesses, matched with the experience I had throughout my own 25 years in business. And even though the skill and talent and passion and success may be there — many of you were severely lacking in three or more, and sometimes all, of the 7 pillar areas (just like I was). The amazing thing about this is a testament to the quality of people I’m speaking to here — you started businesses anyway!
Which Makes You Awesome
You stuck your neck out, you made something out of nothing, even without the safety net. Even when you didn’t totally know what you were doing. Not everyone can do that. I’m so proud of you!
You Also Have to Love Your Business
I’m a lot like you in that I absolutely love to work – I always have. But what I learned after 25 years of being in business is that you also have to love your business, and you have to work on it, too. It has to be a project of yours.
So that’s why I developed this course. Because your awesomeness can absolutely get unstuck and on the right track. In a very un-scary way.
Now I want to make a clear distinction here – while I’m operating my business online now, I didn’t always do that. My marketing communications firm was a bricks and mortar firm for 25 years, and we dipped our toes into online marketing for the last few years – so what I want to tell you is, that I am first and foremost a business person, not an internet marketer.
These Principles Work Online and Offline
The “Indestructible Business” principles that you’ll learn from me are time-tested principles to help you design a business that will support you, regardless of whether you’re working online or offline. I’m not going to blast you with the newest launch strategies or teach you tricks to get more eyeballs to your site or people to sign up for your list – although we may talk about those things, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I focus on. There are many people who do focus on that. And you won’t get any magic pills or overblown promises from me, either.
What you will get with me, and I truly don’t think there is anyone else offering this, is:
• sound business advice you can understand and count on, whether you’re working online or offline
• building blocks to take the fear out of running a business, all in one place
• techniques that have stood the test of time, that you can learn about and absorb and know deep down inside
“I have had the privilege of learning from some of the best teachers in the business, but you, Marcia are in a class by yourself. With your coaching and mentoring, I have not only learned about business, I have become a businessperson! A huge milestone!
“Your deep experience of having created and run your own successful marketing firm brings a powerful dimension to your coaching. I feel that I am being patiently developed by you as you must have developed your staff. I can see why many of them stayed with you for twenty years. And yet, you bring an enthusiasm and interest in my business that is fresh and present.
“Marcia, you embody a rare combination of patience and steady challenge. I cannot believe how much I have grown under your mentorship. The other day I was in a challenging moment with a big client and I was astonished to hear what was coming out of my own mouth. I was clear and confident. I knew this was the impact of having you at my back, coaching me moment by moment this past year.
“I can’t thank you enough for all that you have done for me!”
— Barbara McCollough, www.surrogacysuccess.com
It’s a Comprehensive Business Guide
The “Indestructible Business” Model is a comprehensive business guide. I don’t think anyone has put this all in one place like this before, combined with real in-the-trenches experience, to help you with the structure of your whole business.
The idea is, that if you have a structure to hang your business on, the wheels start churning by themselves, and you don’t always have to be there reinventing things and making things work.
1.) You get the pillars in place,
2.) you revisit them from time to time, and
3.) you free up large sections of your brain to do other things like help your clients, or grow the business —
because things are building on each other and you’re not living moment to moment, in fear or worry, wondering what’s going to happen next.
The 7 Pillars of an Indestructible Business
Pillar #1: Your Vision
You begin to define your path.
• how to determine where you are now, where your business is taking you, and what it will take to close the gap between the two
• how to stop the flames if everything’s on fire, or cultivate some growth if you’re stuck in your tracks
• how to keep moving along the path more and get stuck in the weeds less
• how to find the truth of your Big What and your Big Why
• how to look at your business model and make sure it matches your vision
• tracking exercises that will surprise you, make you proud, and light a fire under you
Pillar #2: Your Confidence
You gain power, focus, and forward momentum.
• how to understand your best business mindset, get out of overwhelm, and find focus
• why being different is a wonderful thing and how to use it to your advantage
• how to explode limiting beliefs and patterns, and install powerful new belief systems
• how to feel the fear and do it anyway
• how to make decisions so they fit you, your values, and your vision
• strategies and ways of thinking about business that will give you more confidence in your ability as a business owner – a very powerful thing
Pillar #3: Your Difference
You get to know your true value. You’re more client attractive.
• why clients should work with you over the other guy
• know your true value, and how can you talk about it in a way that’s truly engaging and authentic?
• how to talk about your business that shows people your genuine value, that rings so bright and true, they’ll know they need to work with you
• surprising things you can learn from your clients about your true difference
• sneaky brain tricks to dig the information about your value out of your subconscious
Pillar #4: Your Visibility
You stop chasing clients. Your ideal client comes to you.
• how to develop marketing and messaging to make sure your ideal client can hear you in the most effective way
• what clarity and consistency can do to open client’s eyes to your message
• how emotion and point of view work for you or against you in your messaging
• why all the marketing in the world won’t help you if you don’t do this right
Pillar #5: Your Productivity
Things happen more easily. You can see and feel the momentum.
• ways of being more productive that will help you actually get things done and move you closer to your important big goals
• systems and techniques to make the most of the time you have and to make sure the right things are being done
• the most important productivity tip you’ll ever get, and I can guarantee that no one else is teaching this!
• how the “Boss Myth” may be sabotaging your relationship with your business
Pillar #6: Your Support
You have more time. You feel less stressed. You feel supported.
• which people and strategies you need to lighten your load
• how your boss style can help or hamper your growth
• how to be a better leader
• how to hire the right people
• the three major principles of a great team
• how to compensate team members whether employees, contractors, virtual, part-time, commission, or whatever, including bonus systems and incentives
• do you need a mentor, coach, mastermind, or peer group? why?
Pillar #7: Your Money
You have peace of mind. You have intelligence about your business.
• how much does it take to run a business?
• what should you measure?
• what does money really mean to your business and how to think about it so you’re in charge
• tracking and financial knowledge to give you a firm handle on your business even if you’re not good at numbers
• non-scary ways to keep an eye on your progress
“Thanks to you, my team is working much more profitably. I spend less time on managing and training, so I’m free to focus on growing the business.
“Thanks to your team communication system and focused understanding of work styles, my team is working much more profitably than it was just two months ago. My partner Liz and I spend less time on managing and training, so we can be free to grow the business, You helped us all get clear about our roles in the company, so bottlenecks disappeared and problems don’t all end up on my desk! No more ‘babysitting’ and now I can focus on profits.”
— Alexandria Brown, www.alibrown.com
Here’s How the Course Works
Here’s how the 8-week program works (and how it differs from the 4-week free webinar series):
• as a small group, we’ll have time to dig much deeper into what we were able to do in the 4-week webinar series
• there will be a total of 16 interactive group sessions with much more focused content
• one content webinar (where I’ll teach the content) and one open Q&A webinar (where you’ll ask questions and we’ll talk through the concepts) per week for 8 weeks
• there will be exercises and worksheets for each of the 7 Pillars
• during the Q&A sessions, we’ll interact, and work through your individual questions, worksheets, and challenges, so you’ll have a chance to work on your business as we go through the course. Because the group size is limited, interaction will be maximized
• each participant will receive one 60-minute private coaching session with me to use as you like
• all sessions, webinars, and private coaching calls will be recorded for your use
I don’t want you to have to spend 25 years building your business when I can show you the steps today. And really, the fact is, you can only build a business one way. And that’s by doing good work, showing up consistently, treating your customers right, consistently, and managing your business well, so it will be able to support you, consistently.
By Now, You Know Those “Make 6 Figures Overnight” Offers Really Don’t Work, Don’t You?
None of it happens overnight, and none of it is magic. What I offer is 25 years in the trenches, having faced probably every fear and worry and question and situation you’re in now, and I’ve worked my way out of them. And I set up systems so they didn’t keep coming back around to haunt me, so I could enjoy my business, and it could sustain itself and continue to grow.
I Get It. I’m Just Like You
I have a practical approach because I’m a practical person. But I’m also a creative person like you are, and I go running with my hair on fire at the thought of a financial spreadsheet. I never wanted to work with an accountant or controller because they’d find out how much I didn’t know. I didn’t build these steps to teach something complicated to someone else, I developed them for myself, and I didn’t want complicated systems and processes. I love simplicity and I didn’t start a business to be tied down with the running of it – so I had to work around these things and design things that worked, but weren’t complex or scary – and I get it that you don’t want business to be complex or scary and time consuming either.
How Will This Program Help You?
• If this resonates with you, then this program can help you.
• It can help you define your path. Finding your way on your own is hard — but I’ve been there.
• It can help you focus and gather momentum. What is your lack of focus costing you?
• It can help you determine your true value and learn to talk about it and gain confidence in it and in yourself and your business. How frustrating is this for you? What if you had that confidence that you know is in you?
• It can help you gain more visibility and develop lasting relationships and be more productive. This difference could be huge for you, couldn’t it?
• It can help you get the support you need, feel less stressed, get a handle on your money and gain peace of mind. Wow, can you feel the relief in that?
Is What You’re Doing Enough to Keep You in Business for the Long Run?
YOU started the business. And you’re doing a terrific job. This program can help to make sure it’s strong enough to be around tomorrow.
And this program will do it in a way that won’t scare the pants off you. It’ll challenge you, it’ll make you think, but it’ll challenge you in a creative, right brain way, and I’m not going to make you do anything your accountant or banker would make you do.
“How to Have an Indestructible Business” 8-Week Course
• as a small group, we’ll have time to dig deep into very focused content
• a total of 16 interactive group sessions
• one content webinar and one open Q&A webinar per week for 8 weeks
• exercises and worksheets for each of the 7 Pillars
• we’ll interact and work through your individual questions, worksheets, and challenges. You’ll have a chance to work on your business and get my feedback as we move through the course. Because the group size is limited, interaction will be maximized
• each participant will receive one 60-minute private coaching session with me to use as you like
• all sessions, webinars, and private coaching calls will be recorded for your use, so if you can’t make all the sessions, you can catch them on your own time
Class is limited to 12 people
Bonus #1: A second 60-minute private coaching session with me for the first 5 who sign up
Bonus #2: Private “Marketing Psychology” training class for those who pay in full*
Course runs January 25th – March 18th.
Tuesdays and Fridays 10 am PST / 1 pm EST to 11:30 am PST / 2:30 mp EST
Tuesdays: Training class
Fridays: Open Q&A class
Q. What if I can’t make it to all the classes?
A. While I encourage you to clear your schedule for this important work, I know that things come up when you run a business. That’s why all the sessions will be recorded. You’ll be able to listen to the webinars and work through the exercises on your own.
Q. How much work is involved between classes? I’m pretty busy and don’t know how much time I can commit.
A. I hear you, and I don’t have a lot of time to do homework, either. It’s my goal with this course to give you tools, not busy work. The worksheets and exercises I’ll give you will be things you’ll want to do, can put to use in your business immediately, or will understand their usefulness for later. I promise not to make you do things that are not either immediately useful or really valuable and fun.
Q. My business is brand new. Is this program good for me?
A. The “Indestructible Business” Course is an all-encompassing business education, valuable to business owners at any stage of business — whether you’re just starting, or have had your business for many years. The common denominator is whether or not you have the building blocks to run your business, as well as the skills to serve your clients. With this in mind, I think the class would most benefit a business owner who has already had the experience of being in business for awhile and has realized that things are getting out of hand, or have completely stalled.
X Yes! I want an “Indestructible Business!” Sign me up.
One payment of $897 for the 8-week course *(choose this and qualify for the Bonus private “Marketing Psychology” training class)
Two payments of $448.50 each
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Three payments of $299 each
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If you sign up for this course and after our first session decide that it’s not for you (or you do not want to continue for any other reason), I’ll return 100% of your fees, no questions asked.
Questions? Email me and let’s talk. marcia/at/hoeck/dot/net
