Why its important to read what pops up

I am a firm believer in the Universe putting things in front of you when you need it the most.

I have begun a journey of personal development in this last couple of weeks because of a part of my life that I am tired of, and I finally realised that it’s my fault and if I’m going to change it, I’ve got to do the work.

I am sure it’s going to take me to some difficult places, but I’m so done with it, I’m ready to go there and just get through it.

Anyway, here I am on a Sunday afternoon, hiding in my office because it has air conditioning and just flicking around facebook, twitter etc and happen upon this article written by Bernadette Jiwa:

“Why you should never work for coffee.”

So, I know when something has resonated with me, I feel dizzy or in extreme cases I feel sick in the belly.

This one made me feel sick AND dizzy.

I had the AHA moment I’ve been longing for about why I am so busy, why I have less outcomes than I desire, why at the end of my coffee meetings I feel so washed out.

I talk too much….aka I’m great at giving and shit at receiving.

I should have cottoned on a long time ago when one of my coffee meetings of a “second cup” origin commented that they felt ‘dumb’ because they forgot their notepad and I paid for the #$%^ing coffee!

**sigh**

I should have also cottoned onto the fact that people know that I have something valuable to share, because of the quantity of coffee meetings I’ve had over the last two years.

**double sigh**

Bernadette Jiwa in one document of approximately 250 words summed up how easy it will be for me to turn my life around in my business.

It’s not like I haven’t received all the knowledge and tools so far.

Key things I’ve been taught:

A good (sales) person will ask six questions to every one of a mediocre (sales) person.
You were given two ears and one mouth for a reason.
Do you listen to listen or do you listen to answer?
Your time is valuable.
Your IP is valuable.
There is no value if there is no value.

“Your knowledge and gifts are significant too. You should never value them at $4.”
Berndatte Jiwa

I recently was fortunate enough to be interviewed by the local daily in my city about my life with social media and what I’ve been doing to help business:

The journo described me as:

“The driving force behind the social media revolution in Ipswich…”

Yes…yes I am.

The article was my last ‘wake up and smell the flowers lady’ or in this case because Bernadetta Jiwa’s article has changed everything, I can smell the beans roasting in an organically produced fair trade coffee plantation in Brazil…

Obrigado e aqui estão as minhas tabela de honorários.

5 Comments

Nicole on 23 November 2011 at 12:16 AM

Hi Amanda, what a great article. I think most business owners would be able to resonate with this in some way of form.

I know I was like you, I was so busy but couldn’t work out why I wasn’t getting the returns I wanted. And it is because I was terrible at actually making people see my value. My business coach actually told me to do a list of things I am doing above and beyond for customers and see in writing how much I was losing out by just doing a few extra things (which I was doing for most clients). It was a scary moment to see how much of my time I was giving away for free.

People would call and ask me questions to ‘pick my brains’ and then half an hour later they have had a heap of free information, that has taken me years to learn and fine tune… not only that there goes 30 minutes of time I could have been using on paid work.

It was such a big moment to realise that and want to turn it around. It is going to be hard work and also take a lot of time on my part to change it but I think worth it in the long run.

Amanda Foy on 24 November 2011 at 7:45 AM

Thanks Nicole…I learned from my accountant that small businesses GIVE AWAY $224,000.00 in chargeable hours during their life of being in business – on average – EEEK! I have a solution to exactly what you detailed here with the ‘pick your brains’ concept – jump on http://www.foysters.com.au and you’ll find it. I would recommend setting up one too. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. Amanda

Pauline Ferguson on 17 May 2012 at 9:31 AM

Nicely done there, Amanda. I love it. 🙂

Krishna Everson on 17 May 2012 at 12:48 PM

Yes, yes, yes….totally hear you! I’ve stopped doing coffees. My time is too precious. I only have school hours for face to face appointments (after 8pm for skypes), so the days of the ‘free’ coffee consult are well and truly over. Burnout material. Frustration too. Of course, there are many requests for them. The way I handle it is by letting them know that I’m not in a position to catch up for ‘coffee’, but would they like to come to a network I am attending that I think they will benefit from, and that we could ‘catch up’ there. It keeps it social, and they can’t bleed me dry, plus they benefit from new connections. I have 3 regular networks, and filter all my prospects through there if I can. They benefit, and I benefit by the strong relationships that have been built, and by the number of existing clients I work with that are in the room, who can speak on my behalf. I love this principal of net-webbing! Quite frankly, if they are not prepared to put in the effort of ‘putting themselves out there’ at a network, they definitely don’t deserve a free coffee with me!Just sayin…. xx

Sharon on 17 May 2012 at 1:29 PM

Thanks Amanda – fantastic blog. Krishna, love the way you handle things!! xxx

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Nicole on 23 November 2011 at 12:16 AM
Hi Amanda, what a great article. I think most business owners would be able to resonate with this in some way of form.
I know I was like you, I was so busy but couldn’t work out why I wasn’t getting the returns I wanted. And it is because I was terrible at actually making people see my value. My business coach actually told me to do a list of things I am doing above and beyond for customers and see in writing how much I was losing out by just doing a few extra things (which I was doing for most clients). It was a scary moment to see how much of my time I was giving away for free.
People would call and ask me questions to ‘pick my brains’ and then half an hour later they have had a heap of free information, that has taken me years to learn and fine tune… not only that there goes 30 minutes of time I could have been using on paid work.
It was such a big moment to realise that and want to turn it around. It is going to be hard work and also take a lot of time on my part to change it but I think worth it in the long run.
Amanda Foy on 24 November 2011 at 7:45 AM
Thanks Nicole…I learned from my accountant that small businesses GIVE AWAY $224,000.00 in chargeable hours during their life of being in business – on average – EEEK! I have a solution to exactly what you detailed here with the ‘pick your brains’ concept – jump on http://www.foysters.com.au and you’ll find it. I would recommend setting up one too. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. Amanda
Pauline Ferguson on 17 May 2012 at 9:31 AM
Nicely done there, Amanda. I love it. 🙂
Krishna Everson on 17 May 2012 at 12:48 PM
Yes, yes, yes….totally hear you! I’ve stopped doing coffees. My time is too precious. I only have school hours for face to face appointments (after 8pm for skypes), so the days of the ‘free’ coffee consult are well and truly over. Burnout material. Frustration too. Of course, there are many requests for them. The way I handle it is by letting them know that I’m not in a position to catch up for ‘coffee’, but would they like to come to a network I am attending that I think they will benefit from, and that we could ‘catch up’ there. It keeps it social, and they can’t bleed me dry, plus they benefit from new connections. I have 3 regular networks, and filter all my prospects through there if I can. They benefit, and I benefit by the strong relationships that have been built, and by the number of existing clients I work with that are in the room, who can speak on my behalf. I love this principal of net-webbing! Quite frankly, if they are not prepared to put in the effort of ‘putting themselves out there’ at a network, they definitely don’t deserve a free coffee with me!Just sayin…. xx
Sharon on 17 May 2012 at 1:29 PM
Thanks Amanda – fantastic blog. Krishna, love the way you handle things!! xxx

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