Discover how to identify your unconscious financial ceiling and raise it so you can stop sabotaging your success and start experiencing more prosperity in life and in your small business.
Key Takeaways
2:00 Your financial ceiling is a lot like a limiter in a car, it’s the level of success you believe you can’t get past.
3:04 Melanie reflects on a common sign among her clients of a financial limiter kicking in is that the person sabotage sales opportunities by not following up on leads. She then covers other signs you have a saboteurs kicking in.
4:08 Gay Hendricks calls this an Upper Limit Setting in the book, The Big Leap, which is like your comfort zone around money and success.
5:45 Melanie reveals how her own upper limit problem kicked in and how what she learned about resistance helped her break through it.
10:02 Often times the unconscious financial limiter kicks in after a big win; and is preceded by breakdowns, such as a big fight with a business partner or losing clients.
12:18 Melanie discusses the neuroscience behind financial self-sabotage and hitting an upper limit around money.
14:30 Melanie shares a few resources that help you learn how to recode your money mindset and remove your financial limiters.
15:30 Melanie shares a simple exercise to identify where your financial ceiling is set at.
20:35 The steps to shifting your mindset starts with awareness. If you aren’t, you’ll solve all the wrong problems.
23:50 Melanie provides a simple exercise to start recoding your neural pathways to achieve your big money goals.
Mentioned In this Episode:
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks
Collaboration is a powerful way to accelerate results – as well as access innovative trends and solutions in the marketplace. In this episode, Melanie explores how collaboration can be used in a small business as well as some of the common pitfalls of this type of team effort that you can avoid by being aware.
Key Takeaways
1:04 Melanie shares what collaboration is and how it works inside a small business, non-profit or association to accelerate results.
3:40 Melanie explores how collaboration can elevate community and speed up results for non-profits and associations.
4:50 Melanie believes that Collaboration is better than competition. For instance, “two heads are better than one – and seven minds can propel you even faster." More effective problem solving happens as well as higher level innovation through collaborative mind sharing.
6:00 A collaborative team often uses the power of friction, but if you don’t understand how this messy energy pays off, you may implode the team efforts.
9:02 One of the challenges that can surface with a collaborative workforce is the “stray cat syndrome” when a leader is frustrated trying to herd independent professionals.
15:05 A collaborative skill sharing environment can elevate your ability to serve your client. Example is shared, Contemporary VA.
16:52 If you are a non-profit, association or are community-centric in your business, watch what Women Speakers Association is doing to grow quickly via a collaborative team.
20:53 A pivot point for an entrepreneur can be entering into a collaborative partnership as it can open doors to new markets as well as overcome weak areas. An example of a powerful collaborative partnership, Leaders to Luminaries, is explored.
23:00 In order to harness the power of collaboration, Melanie covers a few do’s and don’ts so you can avoid common pitfalls. Be sure to catch the tip on how to re-ignite the passion for a collaborative team member who is not following through on their role assignments.
Mentioned In this Episode:
Melanie breaks through an insidious habit that causes many people who make big money struggle to make ends meet: spending it all at once! In this episode, you will hear a coaching session between Melanie and Joanna Vargas, with techniques to save but still allot money to spend, as well as changing your mindset about what it means to save, and take ownership of the financial aspect.
Key Takeaways:
[1:15] Melanie gives some background on Joanna’s business, situation, and celebration, before she dives into the coaching session.
[4:20] Joanna is struggling with ravenous spending when she gets a surge of income. How do we allow ourselves to spend, without being self-conscious about it?
[5:56] Melanie talks through some reasons for overspending: is it trying to create an experience to fit in or be seen in a certain way, or a starvation, where we feel relief when we get some money, and feel like we need to “catch up?” In some instances, it may be a matter of buying your way into importance, or spending your money to get back to a sense of normalcy.
[7:50] Commit to creating your own personal financial reserves. This can create a mindset of comfort, because you always have money.
[8:33] “The Bucket Philosophy”: When people feel starved for money, and put themselves in a state of restriction, when they do get money, it leaves so quickly, because of their being frugal for so long. The Bucket Philosophy is a saving strategy that allots the money for different funds.
[9:21] Five buckets: life needs, discretionary spending, short-term savings, long-term savings, and “the play fund.”
[11:23] This allows you to ensure that you are saving the money you need, but also allowing yourself to set aside some money that you can feel good about spending.
[15:00] Is there a stigma around people who save money? Joanna opens up about her struggle with what saving money means.
[18:21] There may be a feeling of losing the ability to feel valued and important, and feel in control. One of the ways to be in control is to take ownership of the financial.
[19:11] Melanie talks Joanna through an exercise to help reconcile two ideas that seem like they can’t coexist. In this case, it is creating sustainable wealth, and living a fun life.
[22:38] Take a moment to sit down and think about some of these techniques and exercises, to see if you can have the same breakthrough!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Melanie’s book: Rewired for Wealth
Melanie talks about four essential shifts you can make to achieve more impact and more success effortlessly. A couple of quick shifts in who you’re being can actually power up your doing.
Key Takeaways:
[1:16] What do you do when you’re trying to break that next level of success, and it’s not working, despite feeling like you’re doing all the right things?
[1:55] “Be. Do. Have.” Concept: Doing isn’t the focus, it’s being.
[3:20] When Melanie began to break down her own barriers, she started to study what was working for other people, emulating specific aspects of successful people. The shifts occurred in four pillars: mindset, action and behavior, environment, and wisdom.
[4:39] Bold, courageous mindset: You have to be willing to do you, authentically. Don’t sacrifice the best parts of you to be successful.
[6:13] Are the offerings and the approach you’re taking aligned with your values, what’s important to you, and using your strengths?
[6:58] Balance the long-term vision with short-term action. It can be easy to lose focus on where you ultimately want to be, but it is important to evaluate where you are putting your time and attention. This can be very important for your money mindset, especially how you sell and enroll.
[11:25] Really understand the line between something that is costing you money but not bringing in return, and an investment that helps you expand your success.
[12:12] Successful people don’t let the “how” get in the way of action. Commit to the outcome, and then you figure out how you’re going to achieve it.
[13:30] Productivity and action: Are you taking actions that are producing results? Develop a timely (weekly, monthly) consistency to your highest-impact activities.
[15:05] Optimization: recognizing what you have, before you create more.
[16:52] Time boundaries are something that really sets success apart. Create time boundaries so you have clarity about what you should be saying yes to, and what you shouldn’t be saying yes to.
[18:07] Learn how to leverage other people’s talents to free up your time for what will propel you forward.
[21:11] Environment: Melanie defines environment as being made up of the people and the situations and communities that you’re spending time in. Evaluate where you get inspired. Your environment has a huge unconscious influence over your motivation and what you believe is possible.
[22:42] Melanie is a huge proponent of coaches and masterminds. If you’re not feeling inspired in your environment, you may look to surround yourself with some other people who will push you in a healthy way.
[24:36] There are some people who are lifestyle-based, and some people who are work- and achievement-based. Find the person that inspires you to be the best version of you.
[26:16] Wisdom: This pillar is vital. Melanie suggests a three-fold approach: 1) a commitment to evolving and growing, 2) understand the power of leadership, and 3) be clear about what should get your yes.
[29:13] As you move into the new year, really evaluate if you’re being the level of entrepreneur, creative, or thought leader that can propel, rather than wasting time on things that do not produce results.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Jim Palmer, a very successful marketing and business-building expert, joins Melanie to talk about how to avoid the biggest profit mistakes in business. Jim shares some personal experiences, and advice on how to invest in your customers, to grow your business and increase your profit.
Key Takeaways:
[2:33] Brief introduction to Jim, and a bit of how his dream and business has culminated in his next step ― living on a boat!
[4:18] How important was the decision point that made your dream a reality? Jim talks about the technicalities of how they transitioned from their current lives, to their new adventure.
[6:57] One of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur or small business owner can make is focusing on new sales, at the expense of keeping their current clients engaged. There is great opportunity for profit, when you find a balance between getting new clients, and keeping your current clients happy.
[9:07] Jim talks about some of the benefits of focusing on your current customers, and how to reach out and inform customers of all the different ways you can help them. It is worth exploring the value within your current client base, by creating and maintaining strong relationships with them.
[14:14] It’s ten times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a customer. If you make your customers feel valuable, they will also likely be more inclined to share your information with others.
[15:42] How can you continue to engage customers you already have, and deepen the repeat business? Jim shares several ideas about how you can interact with your customers to see how you can expand your services, and better serve your clients.
[21:05] Small business owners focus on selling more to grow; entrepreneurs are thinking of what different ways they can create and bring in money.
[22:00] It is important to know your customer base, and where the majority of your revenue is coming from. Invest in them the same way they invest in you!
[27:24] What can a simple mindset shift do to help make a huge difference in your profit?
[28:28] What is next in Jim’s dream business, and how might his ideas, books, and events benefit the growth of your business?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Decide: The Ultimate Success Trigger, by Jim Palmer
Link to Melanie’s Resources: Get out of Overwhelm, Build Your Dream Team, Lifestyle Business Courses
Melanie shares some steps that she uses to stay sane in amidst a flurry of opportunity. Through these steps, she emphasizes defining your values, prioritizing, and establishing boundaries to get the most out of your time and your work. By refocusing your definition of success, and aligning your values and priorities, you can make sure you’re investing your time to create sustainable success.
Key Takeaways:
[1:09] There is usually a point in one’s aspiring career, where the hard work begins to pay off, and the opportunity starts pouring in. How do you choose between great opportunities and what could become distractions?
[3:35] Too much of a great thing can be a little overwhelming! It’s important that when opportunity starts rolling in, you are investing in the things that are valuable to your business, your clients, and yourself.
[5:22] What does success really mean to you? At what point are we satisfied with our success?
[6:37] Melanie shares some of the triggers she sees in her colleagues and clients, and her own journey, of when it might be time to reevaluate some aspects of priority management.
[7:25] Start here: reevaluate your definition of success, and at what point you feel satisfied with your success. Whatever your definition, there should be a balance between what you do to achieve success, and recognizing that you need to take care of yourself while doing so.
[10:33] How can you integrate your drive and passion with very practical steps, to let your priorities dictate your success? Be intentional about the things you agree to do.
[12:20] Step one: know your core values. What do you value about success?
[13:01] Step two: what are the burning priorities? Work to integrate your values and priorities.
[14:18] Step three: learn to say no with grace. You have to know when to say no to things that aren’t aligned with your priorities.
[16:25] Step four: build up your boundaries. Keep the negativity and distractions away, so you can stay focused.
[17:28] Step five: create a high-payoff-opportunity filter. Create a boundary system that will help you say yes to the right things!
Mentioned in This Episode:
In this episode of Amplify Your Success, Melanie focuses on three of her rapid cash techniques that she’s developed to increase cash flow in a expedited amount of time, especially for unexpected losses. With these strategies, you can create a plan to amplify your income in the coming year.
Key Takeaways:
[1:50] What happens when a business plan falls through, or we forget to plan for consistent cash flow?
[3:05] Melanie tackles the three main rapid cash techniques. Tip Number 1: Host a buzz-worthy sale.
[3:52] This technique is one of the fastest ways to get some cash flow coming through, and can be easily tied into a holiday or other event, for better marketing.
[5:07] Make your sale worthwhile! Offer a significant cut, but don’t offer it for too long.
[7:17] Tip Number 2: Point-of-Sale Upsales.
[8:15] This is especially helpful for online businesses. Offer a unique discount at the point of sale for a complementary product.
[10:42] This appeals to people who are already interested, and keeps their attention as they are making a purchase.
[11:55] Tip Number 3: Front-load payment discounts.
[12:40] Provides a big boost of cash up front that you can set aside and use some to invest in your growth.
[13:17] This tip relies on giving discounts for paying in full at time of purchase. Make sure that the discount is big enough that it’s worthwhile for a customer to invest their money.
[15:40] Get creative about ways to amplify your income, without doing more work!
Mentioned in This Episode:
This episode serves as an introduction to the Amplify Your Success podcast series. Our host, Melanie Benson, shares her experience and strategies, as well as interviews and stories, on how to create a successful, independent business, all while maintaining a passionate livelihood. In this episode, she shares a little bit of her background, as well as Seven Success Amplifiers that she’ll be teaching throughout the series.
Key Takeaways:
[2:30] Melanie introduces herself and shares her own journey, from the corporate world to a more independent, passionately-driven career. How do we combine our creative vision with logic and structure?
[5:03] Tip #1: What got you where you are right now won’t get you to your next level of success.
[6:01] Melanie shares the Seven Success Amplifiers that can be applied at any level of business success, which will provide a basis for the following episodes.
[6:20] Monetize — you can take your passion, ideas, and vision, and translate them into making money.
[7:11] Leverage — applying less effort to get more results.
[7:51] Simplify — don’t make things too complicated for yourself! How can we practice simplification for both ourselves and the customers?
[9:09] Optimize — figure out what works, and do more of it.
[10:10] Energize — this is the fuel of the entrepreneur.
[12:11] Mindset — how can we use our minds to create the outcome that we want?
[13:42] Influence — our ability to inspire action in others.
[15:23] Melanie discusses some of the different subjects that will be discussed in the following episodes of the Amplify Your Success series.
[17:40] Get connected, and let Melanie know what you’d like to hear about!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Amplify Your Success Community Follow the steps to sign up to join the Amplify Community!