Y’all. Can we PLEASE get one thing straight?!

If you are pivoting in your biz—whether that means selling a new type of offer or switching into a totally new line of work—you do NOT have to burn everything to the ground in order to do so.

I KNOW it feels like you do.

I KNOW your brain is telling you you do.

I KNOW that in the near-panic your brain occasionally puts you in about the whole topic, that seems like the ONLY OPTION.

But it’s NOT.

Let me say it louder for the person with the currently panicking brain and body: BURNING EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION.

Sorry, you’re panicking, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.

Let’s try this instead:

• Go do something to calm your nervous system and body right now, something that gets you into the present moment. Some of my faves include: yoga, shadowboxing, a walk sans headphones, meditation, breathing exercises/pranayamas, drinking a cup of tea. Do what feels good to you.
• Then, quietly say out loud to yourself: “burning everything to the ground is not the only option.” Say this to yourself as many times as you need to. Let your voice be as quiet or as loud as you want it to be. Stare at yourself in the mirror as you say it. Notice if it brings even the tiniest sense of calm, and if so, where that feeling of calm is happening in your body.
• Then, continue on with this blog post.

Ready?

 

Whenever a client (or even I) starts to think that there’s ONLY ONE OPTION about anything, I usually start by inviting them to ground into the present moment (as mentioned above). Then, we talk about alternative solutions.

So today, I want to share some alternative solutions to having to “burn everything down” just because you’re pivoting or growing or expanding in the various areas of your business.

Because YES, there are always other solutions. Always.

Alternative Solution #1: Start where you are, share where you want to be.

Since starting to share about my upcoming Pivot Into Sustainability workshop, I’ve heard from SO MANY ENTREPRENEURS that their biggest obstacle related to pivoting some part (or even all of) their business is some variation of the question, how?

I want to stop using Instagram, but I need to think of a strategic way to make that shift.

How can I tell my audience that I’m no longer doing done-for-you work, especially when that’s what so many of my leads want?

I was selling [insert one type of services], but now I’m selling [insert totally different type of services in a totally different industry]. But how do I make that shift? It’s so abrupt!

How do I stop creating customized packages for every single client, and only sell my normal packages?

I want to stop speaking in X language and start speaking in English-only in my marketing. How do I tell people I’m doing that?

Over the years, I’ve become known for X thing, but it’s so limiting. I don’t want to be “The X Person” anymore. But how do I get out of that?

Here’s the deal: you’re asking that how question because your brain is wanting to keep you safe, so it’s giving you any reason it can think of to stay exactly where you are and not do this new thing.

But the truth is: the answer to all of the above questions/predicaments is some variation of, just do it.

 

With your current audience or whoever you currently have in your world as a business owner, just tell them that something is shifting. Put it out there. Seriously: just say it.

By telling them that something is shifting (& clarifying what exactly is shifting)—maybe in a post, or a story, or a single email—you’re going to feel 100x better (an approximate figure lol) and freer because now you’ve “officially” made that shift. And that can help you finally feel unstuck enough to take the next step forward.

You can tell them the whole story of how and why you came to this conclusion. Or, you can say, “Hey y’all! I’ve made a decision in my business: [share decision]. I’m so excited, and can’t wait for you all to see what I’ve been cooking up behind the scenes!”

End of scene.

 

It gets to be simple.

Start where you are, and share where you want to be.

 

And if that feels hard, I talk about some of the mindset pieces that go along with this toward the end of this post.

 

Alternative Solution #2: Give yourself a head start.

When you’re pivoting or trying something new in your business, one of the scariest parts in going out and actually doing that is the question of, “But will I make money?”

Understandable, right? Brain wants you to be safe. It’s just looking out for you!

So what if instead of jumping “blindly” into this new thing (like a new type of offer, or a totally new arm of your business), you gave yourself a head start?

Here are a few practical ways you can give yourself a head start:

1. Pre-sell the new offer. Before you actually do the work to create the new offer, sell it. Use this to gauge interest and to understand if it’s something your audience wants or is looking for. However, this can only work and only provide valuable intel to you if you’re actually committed to actively and intentionally selling said offer, and you give it a fair go. I’d generally define a “fair go” as talking about your offer daily for at least 2 weeks, and not just in a “value-based content” way, but in a, “Hey y’all if you’re this type of person looking for this type of transformation then I have this offer and here’s what’s included and here’s how you sign up” type of way. Without a “fair go,” you might find yourself in a pity puddle saying, “No one wants what I’m selling” when you only shared about it once as an afterthought in one of your “normal” email marketing newsletters (I know how you do lol). I share exactly how to convert directly through your content—no sales page needed!—inside my program Marketing, Magnified. Send me a DM on Facebook if you’d like more information or to sign up.
2. Reach out & sell individually. Even if you are completely switching industries, I bet you have people in your audience and/or world that would be a perfect fit for your new thing. Reach out to them (I always like to individualize reach-outs with a couple personal connection sentences at the beginning) and give them the high level of your offer, ending the message with, “Is this something you’re interested in?” Asking a direct question like that helps to “bookmark” the email/message in their brains as something they want and/or need to respond to, meaning you’re more likely to hear back from them. Of course, FOLLOW UP. The money is always in the follow up. In your first email: give a deadline of when to make a decision by (my general go-to is 2 weeks). Halfway between initial reach out and deadline, reach out again if you haven’t heard from them. A day or two pre-deadline, reach out a final time. p.s. with this being a bit of a “secret offer,” you can also totally use a beta price point and/or position it as a beta offer if you want to, as sometimes that can help you feel safer selling this new thing.
3. Sell a small version. A big mindset obstacle that tends to come up when you’re switching into a new way of doing things (or even an entirely new thing) is the fear of, what if I’m not actually good at this? If that’s the case for you, getting your feet wet with a small version of the thing you’re wanting to shift into can help to solidify your own understanding of your expertise, at a lower stakes than if you tried to immediately jump into the whole thing. This could look like selling a one-off coaching session, or a small package of 6 sessions. Or it could look like running a 2-hour VIP Day versus an entire Brand Identity package. Or a 4 week live course, rather than full 1:1 coaching. Or a one-off group workshop versus a mastermind or any done-for-you package. Hopefully you get the idea.

 

There are many ways to gradually shift into doing work you love doing, in the way you love doing it (a key ingredient in Sustainable Success), and therefore make the “jump” in a way that feels safe.

Take a look at the ideas above, and see what they spark in you. Remember the WholeCo Motto: “Look external for ideas, but internal for answers.”

 

Alternative Solution #3: Go all in.

I’m going to tell you something that might feel a little wild, but if you want to do something in your business, you can literally just do it.

Like, you are the only one telling you that you can or cannot do something, because you are your own boss. So…if you want to do something, what if you just allowed yourself to do it? To go all in with it?

 

To one day be selling business coaching and the next day start selling life coaching, and to run a whole launch for your life coaching services?

To one day be selling done-for-you work, and the next day start selling exclusively group programs and workshops?

To one day be selling 4-figure, 4-week packages and the next day start selling 5-figure, 6-month packages.

 

Nothing is stopping you, unless you want it to stop you. And if you want it to stop you, then there’s likely some inner work that needs to be done to support you in feeling safe to make this shift (see the very bottom section of this article).

 

Your Next Step

Now that you’ve come to realize that you probs don’t have to burn everything to the ground, you get to choose how you want to make this shift in your business.

If you want to make this shift or (any type of) pivot, and you want to be successful in this pivot (aka make sales!!!), then you need to know how to:

1. Talk about your pivoted offer effectively & intentionally in your marketing content and sales conversations
2. Audit and align your pivoted offer with the Transformational Journey, so it becomes an “easy yes” for your audience (regardless of the fact that they’re used to seeing something else from you)
3. Quickly & simply launch your new work so you can have people in your new offer/s & be making new money from your pivot in as little as 1 month
4. And potentially even design a Conversion Event that actually converts into your pivoted Offer, so you can spend less time marketing, create a list of warm leads, and quickly discover what your audience actually wants (aka get paid to do market research!), meaning you can iterate and adapt quickly and make money in the learning and growth process

 

Lucky for you (wow, it’s almost like I was leading up to this all along), that’s exactly what you’ll learn how to do inside Pivot Into Sustainability, a 2-session live workshop helping you launch your new services so you can start making money right NOW from your aligned pivot.

 

The last day to sign up for the live workshop (& get in at only $200) is Friday, April 1, 2022.

After that, you’ll be able to catch the replays for $400.

Have questions? Send me a DM on Messenger and let’s chat.

Otherwise, if you’re ready to step into your new thing in business, and start actually doing work you love doing, in the way you love doing it, sign up for Pivot Into Sustainability here.

Before you go, there’s some inner work that probs needs to be done.

What you believe tends to influence your actions, thoughts, and feelings. Which is why doing inner work around your beliefs can make a huge difference in your ability to actually do the things you want to do.

The way I tend to do my own inner work around my beliefs is to:

1. Figure out what I believe.
2. Ask myself why I believe that.
3. Discover how that belief is impacting me, my reality, my community, and potentially even the world at large.
4. Choose what I want to believe.

I’ve chosen to only outline this process because there are lots of ways to do all of the above, and we’d need a whole other blog post to even begin to cover them.

 

Below, I’ve shared a few of the most common beliefs I hear from clients who are in that phase of feeling like they have to burn everything to the ground. Please note, of course, that these beliefs are written in my words, and they might sound different in your words.

Take what resonates and leave the rest.

 

Belief: “This is my one shot. If I were to pivot again, people would stop trusting me. They’ll think I’m flaky!”

Phew this is a big one! Especially because it tends to hold an identity statement in it: I’m flaky.

Any time something turns into a bit of an identity, especially if it’s an identity we don’t want to be associated with, we tend to get really stuck.

But here’s the honest truth with this one: everyone pivots. Everyone tries new things in their business, many try new things frequently. Every single entrepreneur you’ve ever encountered in these internet streets has at least one big pivot story.

If they don’t, I’ll bet they aren’t very successful just yet 😉

No matter how much of an expert you are at the thing you do, there will always be things in your business that you can only learn, realize, or discover by doing. And many of those things you can really only discover while doing them that you don’t, in fact, like doing them. Or that you want to shift something. Or that there are missing pieces of the puzzle. Or that you want to go in a completely different direction.

Entrepreneurship and being your own boss really is the wild west of work. Which is why you have to be a mad scientist* and remain committed to the journey of discovering magic, even more than you are committed to finding or creating said magic.

 

You are going to pivot and make shifts, definitely more than once. What if you accepted that as truth, and stopped making yourself wrong for trying new things and learning from them?

Oh! And your true people won’t lose trust in you when you make an aligned shift; they’ll celebrate you. And many of them will think to themselves, finally, because this new work is exactly what they’ve been hoping to see from you all along.

 

*I share more about what it means to be a mad scientist in your business and how to actually be one in Selling Chocolate Season 1, Episode 4. Tune in below.

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Belief: “Once I make this shift, I have to stick with it forever.”

Read above 😉

 

Belief: “I can’t just start doing the things I want to do, because I’ve already built up this other thing, and it would be a waste to switch now.”

This one can be particularly insidious, because logically, it makes sense.

You’ve already made some money doing what you’re doing.

You might already have clients coming to you who want what you’re currently doing.

You’ve already built up some perceived expertise about what you’re doing.

 

So why on earth would you ever stop doing what you’re doing, and do something new?

Something completely untested.

Something you haven’t already made money in.

Something that stretches beyond what you’ve already built up credibility around.

 

A 1:1 client was recently working through this, and truthfully, spent nearly a year trying to overcome this belief and fully step into what she actually wanted to do.

Eventually, it got to a point for her where her mind and body were reacting against doing any more of the work she was doing. It was burning her out. It was making her anxious. And she had to realize: either I make this shift and I go all in, and maybe I find success there, or I stay where I’m at, doing what I’m doing, and keep going down this path and feeling this way.

 

The not-so-secret secret is that when you do what you actually want to do, that is when your business takes off.

A few months ago that client dipped her toe into going all in, and she had a $17k month (her first 5-figure month), sold out her 1:1, and was blown away by how easy things had become.

However, she had a couple months of feeling stuck after that, because again, her brain was telling her she couldn’t make this shift and actually stick with it. That she’d always have to go back to what she was previously doing. And that what made her new work valuable was the identity of the old work.

 

Just a couple weeks ago she finally decided, it’s time.

She got her brain on board with the reality that when she does work she loves doing, in the way she loves doing it, THAT is when she will be truly successful, and at the level of success she wants to experience.

Her growth was stunted by her clinging on to her old work. And now not only does she feel more free, she can also finally start intentionally selling again and complete some of her foundations that have been mentally and literally holding her back, such as her very outdated website copy, her marketing strategy, and more.

 

99% of the time when you have the foundational strategy knowledge, you’ve tried to implement, and you maybe have even been working at this for YEARS, but everything still feels hard and it isn’t working?

It’s because you want (/need) to pivot and start doing the work you ACTUALLY want to do.

The moment you step into that is the moment your business takes off.

So even though it’s SCARY to take a step in a new direction…I promise you, it’s WORTH IT (for the money and the feelings of fulfillment).