In this week’s How to Grow Your Business series, I’ll share with you some tips on how you can attract business from the corporate world. Don’t forget to share with me your a-has in the comments below.

Women are not taught team work. Women have looked at each other as competition for thousands of years. Men were the providers. They were in short supply. If you didn’t have one…you were worthless.

Times have changed. For some crazy reason, I wanted to write a best selling book. I set my sites on Marci Shimoff. She and I had a book that came out at the same time. We had just shot a film together.

I became obsessed, jealous writer obsessed at having my book do as well as hers. Here is the problem: she had already done Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul. She was about a decade ahead of me.

The Bad News: I checked google alerts for her every day and got depressed.
The Good News: I kept at it and actually had a best selling book.

Inner Marketing

Embrace what you are jealous of as if it were a fantastic new elixer. Examine what drives you bonkers about that person or situation. Then, get revenge. Ask these questions and implement the answers.

“How can I use this for my growth? What can I use from this to grow my business?

Outer Marketing

Instead of being jealous look at what you can learn from that person. If I had looked closely, Marci had done something very wise. She had invested in a superb mentor, Jack Canfield. She did what he said, and she grew her business rapidly.

Who is your mentor?

Are you actively investing in having someone to help you grow your business in a way you can’t do alone?

The best way to grow your business is to solve problems. The better you solve your clients problem, the bigger your business. Many business owners look at what they want to do. This is just plain selfish. Stop it! Start snooping the challenges.

Dry Bar where I’m getting my hair blown out right now solve the problem.

Problem: Avoiding bad hair days.
Solution: Dry Bar you get a great hair, feel hip and save a bundle.

Inner Marketing

Start embracing your problems. Got a muffin top from Christmas and you never wear your skinny jeans? Love it! The designer of Spanx, Sara Blakely is making $150 million from women wanting a bit less muffin top! If you are at war with your ‘problems’, leverage them to make them opportunities.

Outer Marketing

If you are talking, you aren’t marketing. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask what are the challenges they are having. Ask if there is a solution they wish they could find…and can’t. That second question is a huge money maker.

In my first month of coaching one of my Platinum clients did survey just like you are seeing here. The results were so clear. In her first month of Platinum coaching she got an extra $36,000 added to her bottom line.

Be sure to check out this week’s video message below where I answer your small business questions:

It was mind boggling to hear entrepreneurs deeply committed to building their businesses talk about the reason they were stalled. The bottom line for almost every person was that they were hiding in one form or another. What is fascinating about we humans is that we can play small…and then rationalize that what we are doing makes perfect sense.

• Are making your sales goals?
• Did your business grow last year?
• Are you helping the number and type of clients you want?
• Are you in a market or working with clients that question your prices?
• Are you considered the expert in your field?
• Do you have tangible proof that you are the expert?
• Do you love, love, love what you do?***

Women face thousands of years of programming that has told them it is not safe to stand out. This week I had the profound honor to work with a top Saudi Arabian business woman who flew to Los Angeles from her classes at Harvard University. Working with her helped me understand why women have a tough time playing big. Today, neither you, nor I, nor any woman can drive a car in Saudi Arabia. Women cannot book hotel rooms. If you are told to marry a man – that is what you do. 80% of the marriages are arranged. You must understand that in the subconscious we are all connected. You and I both still think of us (women) as second best in many ways.

Inner Marketing Success Strategies

1. Sit in the front row:
   At the next meeting or networking event, sit in the front row. It is a simple step to build your self-confidence. You’ll also be more visible to the important people talking from the front of the room.
2. Speak Up:
   Studies show that women are less likely to speak up because they’re afraid that people will judge them for saying something stupid. This fear isn’t justified. As you speak up you will become a better public speaker, more confident in your own thoughts, and recognized as a leader by your peers.
3. Focus on Contribution:
   If you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on the contribution you’re making to the rest of the world, you won’t worry as much about you own flaws. This will increase your ability to create the positive impact that is what true leadership is about.

Outer Marketing Success Strategies

This has got me so hopping mad, you are going to hear me talk about this…a lot! For 18 months I have been talking about the lack of women experts. I saw it, but didn’t have the science to back up my perception. A recent study found that women “victims” outnumbered “experts”. Male experts generally outnumbered women experts five to one. The problem is that experts in any field get to charge the premium price. If you aren’t standing forward as the expert, you have a higher probability to become a commodity and get caught in the downward pricing spiral.

1. Get yourself in the front row with journalists:
   It has never been easier to create relationships with the media. One tip is to put you in the ‘front row’ with key media. How? Consistently is the first person to comment on their column.
2. Stop running for head cheerleader:
   The media loves controversy. Many women find it tough to take a stand that might seem negative. It is time to cause a ruckus about what you do. Find the holes in what a man may have commented. Disagree. Take a stand. Burst the bubble. and back it up with science. You may find yourself with expert status faster than you think!
3. Make it about them:
   When you are creating your pitch for the media, don’t think of yourself. Concentrate on solving problems in the audience. Your pitch will be more effective and you won’t worry as much about you own flaws.

*** If you answered “No” to more than 2 questions, you are playing too small. Come and get immediate assistance in the complementary Teleseminar, “When Playing Small Is No Longer An Option.”  Click the link to register!

If are a woman that wants to have an amazing year you will have to do things differently than a man. I almost drove off the road the other day listening to NPR. They reported that only 4% of all tech venture capital goes to women.

Why? Behavior science studies show that women struggle with the C word. (Click Here for that NPR report.) Men that got a C in math would proclaim their prowess… women with the same grade would give up. If you are a woman small business owner, you need to do everything to build your confidence.

Inner Marketing

Building your confidence isn’t some mamby pamby nice idea. If you are a woman in business it is utterly essential to your bottom line. Understand that you are hard wired to see yourself in a negative light.

Studies show that women don’t risk going into business or give up before they have harvested their success by not believing in themselves.

Outer Marketing

Confidence isn’t something you think about. It is a skill set that takes action. There are simple strategies that you can use on a daily basis that have been shown to build your belief in your self.