We like our comfort zones and strongly resist anything or anybody that will challenge or upset them.  We want our routines of everyday to stay more or less the same and tonight when we get home from work for example (for those who go to work!), we want to mozy into our comfy slippers, flip on the TV or stereo and get dinner cooking.

Anybody or anything, such as an unforeseen emergency or unexpected event that mess with that, and we’re grumpy and unsettled. Face it, we humans are extremely resistant to change…hate it actually.

That’s why it is so crucial to realize the hazard this resistance can pose to your business. Business is all about moving forward, but strange as it may sound, this resistance can actually slow down all your efforts toward improvement and profit.

Facing change in whatever form, inevitably confronts you with the choice of either dealing with it and gaining from the experience, or freezing and losing out. The motive behind failure/unwillingness to deal with change is mostly fear.

Three of the most common ways this fear manifests itself, are briefly discussed below. In each case, the way the fear specifically manifests, some consequences and some remedies are given.  Just note that a full treatment of the subject is impossible due to an obvious lack of space and the help of a professional should be sought if needed.

Fear of man (FOM)

Manifestation:

The thought, albeit unconsciously, “what will the people say/think/do..?” rules all else. People’s opinions /actions become the deciding factor to whether one pursues/does/says…something or not.

Consequences:

• Indecision. Decision making becomes impossible.
• Ineffectiveness. Preoccupation with what others think and losing sight of the real focus result in becoming unproductive.
• Dishonesty. People wear masks because they think it too risky to be themselves. They say/become anything in an effort to fit in and consequently live a lie.

Remedy:

Accept yourself for who & what you are and do not attempt to change anything to fit in with others. Self acceptance frees you from the controlling fear of what others may say, think or do. We can’t expect others to believe in us, if we don’t believe in ourselves.

Fear of failure (FOF)

Manifestation:

Atichyphobia, or FOF, can be very mild with no symptoms. It could also be severe with symptoms like having obsessive thoughts, bad images, chest pains and feelings of terror and can even lead to incapacitation.

It’s often linked with early childhood causes like demeaning parents or siblings, or the trauma of embarrassment resulting in heaped-up fear as childhood progresses. Perfectionism can result and “the person with atichyphobia won’t try until perfection is assured”See (1) below for more info.

Consequences:

• A drop in self-confidence & motivation

• Depression
• Inaction & Apathy – the sufferer is unlikely to try anything new.
• Becoming unproductive
• Curtailed life experience.
• Significant crippling of potential realization.

Remedy:

“The best way to treat FOF is to face the things you fear gradually, accepting that failure is necessary for success. Break the fearful activities down into small, manageable pieces and do more and more of them until you’re relatively comfortable…then move to the next larger fearful step…”  See (1) below.

Fear of the Unknown (FOU)

Manifestation:

It is a rare person that is not apprehensive of the new or unknown. It can evoke “familiar symptoms like rapid heart rate, dry mouth, trembling…anxiety attacks…”

Never forget: you’re not the first or last person to experience this!

Some thinks this fear is inculcated by the restrictions placed on us by our parents for our safety during our growing years. See (3) below for more info.

Consequences:

^“In reality…FOU is one of the most common reasons for resistance… because it stops you taking any action at all.” It goes hand in hand with anxiety, self-doubt and guilt and “operates under the radar convincing you that it’s there to protect… and keep you safe.” See (2) below for more info.

Remedy

Self help techniques are the best way to combat this fear. It can restore lost self confidence and help to build a positive mindset. For more, see (3) below.

*****

Just imagine what havoc and destruction fears like these can unleash on your business!

So, what’s keeping you back? How often don’t we really want to do something and then end up not doing it, because we’re letting fear stand in our way! Fear of what the people will say, fear of the unkown, of  failure of whatever…I say, bunkum! Deal with the fear and…well…just do it!

To great achievement without fear!

*****

Elmarie is a wordpreneur for theEntrepreneurialBusinessSchool(Pty) Ltd and also a freelance creative-, web- and copywriter.

For more info see the following resources:

1.         E-home Fellowship.  Atychiphobia-Fear Of Failure . Accessed 9 February 2012.

    http://www.way2hope.org/Illnesses/atychiphobia-fear-failure.htm

2.         Change-Management-Coach.com. Exposing fear of Change.  Accessed 13 Feb. 2012

    http://www.change-management-coach.com/fear-of-change.html

3. Morpeus Institute, Jan Heering. Do you suffer from fear of the unknown?  Accessed 13 Feb. 2012

     http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/fear-of-the-unknown.html.

You’ve been doing everything you know to do. Your SEO efforts are paying off and enough people visit your site. You’re regularly writing killer posts and guest blogging and getting some pretty cool comments. You’re building hard at that tribe and your following is coming along nicely…

But…

Nobody is buying your stuff!! You do have stuff for sale, don’t you?

Why is that you ask?

(Definition of stuff: products and / or services)

To give one possible answer that question, I need to build a case; so allow me to give you some illustrations. This post might be a bit lengthier than some others, but buckle up and hang in there please.

It just might answer your question about why nobody is responding to your marketing efforts, relationship building, heck most everything that makes up an on- or offline business!

Illustration no 1:

Imagine you lying on an operating table and the doctor walking in and snapping on some latex gloves. You’re booked for an appendectomy (eh…that’s removing your appendix surgically if you didn’t know that) and feeling very apprehensive and nervous.

You sure hope the doctor knows what he’s doing, given all the mal practise suits taking place in the world and the oceans of gripes from people complaining about the wide incompetence of the medical profession in some places and all.

After he’s snapped on the gloves, he reaches for a bottle of Vodka on the table behind him (what! In an operating theatre??!!!!…), then turns to you and forces your jaws open. Then, with the help of his assistant, pours it down your throat while you can do all not drown in the gushing torrent of burning liquid.

Gulping like mad, you wonder why he wants to sedate you in this archaic way and whether he’s ever even heard of anaesthesia. Your alarm and anxiety bells notch at max.

Still spluttering and coughing, you see him turn to a satchel next on the counter, standing close by the now virtually empty bottle while he plucks out an insanely thick text book and starts paging furiously. Your alarm and anxiety bells, previously at max, now boom off the chart, as you hear him say:

“Now lemme’ see, just  how do we do this procedure again?”

Absurd huh?

Yet, this is the tack many entrepreneurs take when confronted by knowledge that to them is boring or that they think is irrelevant to their business, but actually turns out to be critical to success.

Like that doctor who should have mastered an accurate understanding and practise of key knowledge before he tried to operate, some entrepreneurs have a hit and run attitude where they touch only on some issues like marketing and the study of keywords, then they close their eyes to everything else out there because it’s all too overwhelming and just hope for the best.

Know anybody like that?

Well, I do.

I was like that.  

Sure, I understood concepts like SEO and the use of long tail keywords etc, marketing and the absolute necessity of learning copywritingand many others and I could practise most of them. But please, never came to me with knowledge about the workings of the economy (economy savvy über führers don’t shoot me! I amended my ways since then!), because that bored me to distraction.

Yet, I was trying to perform an appendectomy from a textbook, only focussing on some parts in said textbook while ignoring the rest and hoping for the best.

And here I was, wondering why nobody was really interested in what I had to offer!

Now, lest you think I’m advocating an A-level study of economics, I’ll hasten to add: anything but!

 No, all I’m saying is that it is often part of the problem you have when your focus is not wide or inclusive enough. Well, I’m still building that case, so let’s get on with it.

 Illustration no 2:

In the beginning, Mr Caveman realised at some point that he needed help. Mr Grotto, his neighbour who slept quite close to him on the cosy bat shit, could make spears for hunting a lot better than what he could. So he decided to make a deal [always comes down to that, doesn’t it].

If he did the hunting (which he was better at anyway), and Mr Grotto made the spears for him to use, they could get to share the meat equally.

And so it was.

But that didn’t solve the problem they always had with available water. The closest stream was high in the mountains and it took most of the day just to get to it. Which was a problem, because that left very little day light for hunting.

Until Mrs Pless of the neighbouring cave one day showed up and asked whether they were interested in the water she wanted to trade with them for meat. She couldn’t hunt very well and her kids were always hungry. For that matter, so was she…

She told them she managed to build a canal from the spring up in the mountain down to the bottom close to them. All they had to do, was give her some meat and she would give them some water.

And so it was.

The biggest problem Mr Caveman now faced, was how on earth was he going to kill enough meat daily for three people plus some kids?

Obviously he needed more people. What to do? What to do?

  Mmmm…Aha! Mr Neanderthalus is also good at hunting! Maybe he’ll also be interested in the trade-off, so he’ll just ask him!

And so trading began. And networking. Based on the timeless principles of supply and demand.

Economics 101: The simple version for dummies, idiots and other nerds

 Fast forward many 1000’s of years, and you still see that simple action taking place all over the globe, just magnified gazillions of times.

It’s still as simple as solving people’s problems (hallo! that’s what business is: solving problems!) and trading those solutions (your products/ and or services) where demand and supply determine the values of these solutions. It’s still about I give you something you want and in return you give me something I want at a price we’re both satisfied with and then we’re both happy…

Of course, the whole economic process globally is vastly more complicated than that, but at heart, that’s precisely what it comes down to. People helping each other by offering their talents and skills, (you variously know this as solutions or as services and products) in exchange for payment.

That’s the economy in a nutshell.

 Great, you say, “BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME!!?”

 Ok, ok!! Getting to the point right now!!

 Remember that wide all inclusive focus I referred to earlier? Well, I want you to adopt one now if you haven’t already.

Say for example many people are looking for products that will solve their SEO problems, but you’re offering your services as an orange A4 paper origami artist. If that describes you, you might as well close up shop.

It’s fatal! Because you’ll be shouting at the deaf.

See, if your customers ask for water, they’re not going to be interested in meat.

Or maybe you’re offering what some people want, but not enough people. Enough people must want what you offer for your efforts to be viable.

Jon Morrow of Copyblogger says that “you have to know what keeps your customer awake at night.”  Meaning, you have to know your customer intimately. And then ply your stuff around that.

If you’re out of feeling with what your customers want, nothing will help your plight and make the pain go away. Not even awesome sales copy. Like master marketer Doberman Dan Gallapoo told Ben Settle “Brilliant copywriting won’t sell a turd”.  Meaning if nobody wants what you’ve got, your business is toast.

First figure out what the customer wants. And whether enough people want it. Then market that and you’ll have the bees fighting each other for the honey. Don’t try and market what you think they’ll be interested in. Most businesses that struggle, lose the plot right there.

It’s as simple as that.

Aren’t you perhaps offering a product / service nobody is interested in?

Find out what they want, and give them that. Nothing else. Nothing less.

Which then begs the question: how do you find out what they want?

We’ll explore that answer together next time.

See you then!

Elmarie

PS. You have to admit that it all was necessary to make the point. The illustrations, talk about demand and supply…yep…all of it. Thanks for sticking it out!

You will realize in reading this compact article that the basic logic, which underpins the concept “marketing”, is very simple, practical and highly effective.

The concept “marketing”, in its early development stages was only build on advertising and personal selling techniques. The advertising part of the concept was derived from the fact that the human mind gets programmed into a state of belief, by a repetitive message. In other words, if you hear something over and over, you’ll start to believe that specific message is true and real.

• We should therefore realize that the effectiveness of advertising (promotion) will mainly be determined by repeating the same message up to the “belief” point. In a good advert, the content of the message should communicate a solution, for a specific problem, the potential client (target market) is experiencing. In other words, promotion is all about telling prospective customers about an economic solution (product or service) for a problem they are having, and to convince the target market that this specific product/service (solution) will solve their problem(s) This will be achieved when the advert is communicating an effective message and in repeating it over and over again. These will then engrave the solution in the sub-conscious minds of customers in the target market.

• Media advertising works best for soughed products/services, but are less effective in selling unsought products/services. The solutions provided by unsought products/services are more complex and normally aimed at providing more long-term benefits. Life insurance policies are good examples. In these cases, advertising had to be supported by “personal selling” actions. The other promotional techniques are “publicity” and “sales promotions”. The entrepreneur needs to create an effective promotional mix, by the creative utilization of the techniques as described above in order to optimize communication with potential buyers.

The other part of the marketing concept was later developed, and was built on the fact that different groups of people have different needs, preferences like’s dislikes fears and dreams. The market was then segmented (divided) into prospective customer groups (target markets) who have the same profiles. For example, women, children, old people, etc. When this was done, a specific marketing mix (The traditional 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion) has to be created. This simply means that a specific product/service, at a specific price, to be delivered in the best possible manner to optimize convenience for the customer (place). The advertising message should, last but not least, be specifically designed to optimize the communication with prospective buyers (promotion). A marketing mix specially created for every target market is therefore the core of an effective marketing plan.

In order to get the relevant information needed to create an effective marketing mix (the 4 P’s) for every target market, the entrepreneur has to do proper “market research”.

The information from market research plus creativity, logic and plain common sense is needed to build an effective marketing plan for the entrepreneurial business.