Spending the day at the Rhyll trout farm with the family inspired me to write today’s blog. Fishing is a great metaphor for many things in life. As I thought about it more, I believe it’s a wonderful metaphor for how we must approach business if we are to reach our goals and achieve the success we have visualised from the beginning.
There were 5 key things I noticed are super important when fishing just as much they are key for business success:
1. The right Hook and Bait – without this you are unlikely to catch any fish or attract them closer to you. In business we see so much generalisation and owners wanting to attract ‘anyone’ because of fear that they will get no one. Instead what happens is they get no one as the ideal person cannot recognise the callout in the pitch to them. If you have ever heard yourself say ‘I work with men, women, oh pretty much anyone really that has this problem’, you may be in danger to not being heard and less likely to hook in your ideal client.
What is Your HOOK? In our business Ultimate 48 Hour Author is the hook, we certainly teach a ton of marketing under that umbrella but we don’t talk about that at any stage in the initial stages. We use the bait of writing a book in just 48 hours and attract our ideal clients who have this lifelong dream and desire to become a published author and are looking for a quick way to do so. When they start working with us they realise that 30% of the process is about getting the book done and 70% around what you do with it and how you use it to leverage your business.
2. Positioning in the right Place to catch the most Fish – today particularly we had some luck in our first place, but then nothing for ages, so we decided to move to a new location where we caught a new fish with a few minutes. We then went to the easy fishing spot where we caught the last 2 so we can have our lunch.
Where you hang out to find your ideal clients is also key in business. Looking for one client at a time can take some time, its hit and miss and it can be frustrating after the initial months of excitement around our business pass. So where are the easy fishing spots in business? Knowing where your ideal client hangs out or Who advises your ideal client is KEY. You will find yourself in a position that is hard to keep up with the influx of business. When I started out with my Ultimate 48 Hour Author retreat, I networked at all sorts of business networking events and got lucky from time to time to discover my new authors. One day a fellow business colleague told me that I should attend the Professional Speakers Association and hang out there as all Speakers need books or are looking to write one.
I decided this was a great idea not just for meeting more of my ideal potential clients but also for my speaking career. It was a win win win situation. This year I was their Major Diamond Sponsor of their convention and have helped so many from the Association achieve this goal through my retreats so far. I continue to build and nurture my relationships and the results grow exponentially. I also know that those that advise wanna be speakers, coaches and trainers are also the people I look for form alliances with.
Who advises your ideal client has the most power to refer those people to you. Make the time and hang out with them and where your ideal clients hang out!
3. Seek Local Advice – going fishing in different places has different tricks to becoming successful. The locals know their area and the type of bait to use. They are the best people to ask for advise and follow to be successful. Fastest way to success guaranteed. We had a boy by the name of Toby today helping out around the lake. He had amazing customer service skills and was so willing to educate and help the patrons coming in. He was welcoming, he asked questions, instructed and educated those that needed it and helped each time someone caught a fish on how to get it out of the water without losing it.
Toby was our mentor for the day, always there to tweak our moves for success, he gave ideas and suggestions but didn’t do the work for us. I hired my first mentor 3 months into starting my business and on this journey I have had 3 mentors as well as Niche focussed mentors of late. They coached, mentored and trained me as I needed their help to figure out how to get from A to B the fastest way possible. I didn’t do any of the work for me, I moved my own mountains and took responsibility when I failed or succeeded. The most important thing is I didn’t go on a guessing frenzy which I see a lot of people do. I see them say when they get a few clients, they will get a mentor, if this happens then they can work with someone. What BS, the mentor is the person that will guide you to those new clients faster and easier than waiting ten times longer on your own. I have seen quite a lot of people in the past 6 years that have been around in business for so long trying to do it alone, they either stay at a certain threshold that they can’t break through or go back to a day job as they can’t sustain their live any longer. HIRE A MENTOR AND DO WHAT THEY SAY!
If you do hire someone, put the blinkers on and don’t listen to other mentors or experts. The other mistake that occurs is this – as there are many different ways to skin a cat, listening to different people will not serve you, it will confuse you and ‘A Confused mind always says NO.’ Do yourself a favour, save time and money and stick with one path when chosen.
4. Conditions – fishing is not always successful. There has been many a fishermen that came home with no catch of the day on many occasions. The weather can be rough, the fish not biting, the ability of the person not up to scratch.
The conditions in running a business are similar. Even if you have achieved some success or lots of success, the conditions can change, something that was once working may stop working and the key here is to learn to have behavioural flexibility. In business we must train ourselves to think quick, solve problems and change our strategy to grow and excel at different levels. What works when you are earning 5 figures in your business, does not work at 6. The type of thinking required at 6 figures is different to the type of thinking at 7 figures. There also will be seasons in business where its dry and cold and other times where everything heats up and blossoms to allow you to reach the next level. Learning to navigate the seasons and conditions in business is essential to remaining on the ride for as long as possible.
5. Patience – last time we went to trout farm we caught 4 fish in less than 5 minutes in the challenging section of the farm. Apparently no one caught many fish there. We actually were disappointed as we had to keep them and pay for them so our entertainment lasted only 5 minutes. Today we took over an hour and a half and enjoyed a great half day outing with the family.
The destination is important but the journey is a fun one to enjoy. Often we get to certain goal, feels great for a few moments or a day and then we look to set the next stretch. I find the ride of the journey more exhilarating and varied which makes the outcome that much more special. Aside from the journey, the patience required to acquire certain skills, network and infrastructure is essential to see success. Many business will not see any positive movement until year 2 or 3, yet very few stick it out this long.
Success will take you 10 times longer than you originally thought. I thought I would make 100K in 3 months, it took almost 30!
So there you go, to become a great at fishing you must go and do it many times. My husband is our mentor when we go out as a family and look to him for support, encouragement and guidance. If we didn’t have him we would feel lost and hopeless. He allows us to get the fish and celebrates with us. He is happier to see we are having a great time and achieving success than himself. He has been there, done it for himself and now is spreading the ripples to us….
I love doing this for my fellow new authors to be. I love seeing the looks on their faces when they hold their book for the first time, when they get huge speaking gigs, when they quit their jobs because the book has helped grow their business to the next level, the list goes on and on….
How do you do this for your clients?
Love Nat x
