In a recent interview, (The first one- 12:58 minutes long) Melody Ivory asked me a great question— “What do I have to give up, in order to make money?” What?? You mean, we don’t get to have it all? Nope, we don’t. I always think of the saying: You can have anything you want. But you can’t have everything you want.

I told her that I’ve had to resist becoming scatter-shot in my business offerings. I’ve had to hone my message and develop a more laser-like approach to my marketing. This is hard because there are many things I like to teach and write about.  For example, I could teach seminars on how to get out of debt, or how couple’s can communicate about money better. I have done these things and I do offer seminars on them sometimes. But these topics don’t come up in my primary marketing message. If you are seen as a “jack of all trades” you are not perceived as a specialist or go-to-expert for help in a needed area. You water down your message.

I think this is very hard for women .We have so many interests that we worry we will become bored with a single topic. And we naturally gravitate to being multi-dimensional since we seem ready made to multi-task. (Yes, I really can cook dinner, pay bills and supervise my son’s homework while talking to my mom on the phone! And I know you can do this too.) 

But if we practice a scattershot approach in our work and constantly change what we offer, we will confuse our audience and target market.

I had a colleague say to me, “I really admire that you can still focus on one topic. I get too bored to do that.” Well, first of all, it helps that my “topic” of women’s money and earning issues is very complex. It keeps me interested, to be certain. And if I did change horses (now I am the get-out-of-debt expert, for example) then what would become of my marketing from two years ago? I can’t tell you how many times people call me up for help and say, “I heard you speak three years ago…” What if I’d moved on to a new service? As much as we don’t want to hear it, it takes time to build a business. Don’t be scattershot. It just doesn’t pay as much.

So what have I given up? I’ve had to put a lid on some of my professional passions and interests. But I’ve learned that  if I target my meta marketing message, I still have room to offer other things that interest me, to my audience. But I don’t confuse my audience. And you shouldn’t either. If people are not crystal clear about what you do and what you offer, they will simply move on. That sounds harsh, but that is what everyone does. One of the keys to earning your worth is focusing in on what you offer. Trust me. You’ll make more money. (listen to Mikelann’s 12:58 minute interview)

The word “recession” is in the air and lots of people are nervous. Businesses are reporting that new business is down and current clients are taking longer to pay. What is a small business gal to do? First of all, don’t panic!! This is normal. Yes, it is normal. The economy goes up and down, and business slow downs are a normal part of life. And I know you may be tempted to discount your services, but resist. Remember, you are charging people for the value you bring, not the exact amount of time you put in.

One key to surviving a recession is to focus on your current clients. It is far easier to sell to current clients than it is to bring in new clients. Bringing in new clients takes time and money. Marketing is expensive, even if you shoe-string it. And remember, your time IS money. (I am not saying to stop all marketing. No, no, no. You want to keep your pipe-line full. )

A former client emailed me to say that she is picking her 10 most high-value clients and taking them out to coffee or lunch, one per week, to thank them for their continuing business and referrals. Since she has more time on her hands due to business slowing down, this is a great way to spend it. But she is not discounting her services for these people. They know her and like her.

Instead of discounting, can you find a way to add more value to your current clients? (The woman above took them to coffee or lunch!) Perhaps you can offer an additional service to your current clients, with their pocket book in mind. In my case, I run groups. It is less expensive to attend my groups than to work with me one-on-one. I’ve had some clients cut back their one-on-one time with me and attend these groups. This way, they get lots of value and pay less.

Stay focused on your current clients and take good care of them. But always go the added-value route. Not the discount route.

A dense fog surrounds some of us—a money fog. This fog wraps us in a fuzzy embrace, whispering that perhaps everything is ok. Maybe you have enough money. Maybe everything will be just fine. Maybe. But an ever-present anxiety seems to go hand in hand with this fog.

When you don’t know exactly how much money you have, how much money you owe, or where all your money is going, you are in a money fog. It’s that last one that is a particular problem when it comes to earning enough money to live the life you want.

Think of it this way—if you don’t know where all your money is truly going, (not what you THINK you spend) do you really know how much money you need to earn?

Of course this gets complicated fast because many of us are uncomfortable with where some of our money goes. And some of us feel that there is not enough money to begin with, so looking at our financial lives feels depressing. (We just know we need to earn more….) But this leads to vagueness and stress. If you walk around saying “I need to earn more money!” this will likely lead to free-floating anxiety. It is simply not very helpful. How much more do you need to earn, really?

I had one client track where all her personal money was going. (Gulp!) After a few months, the money fog started to recede. She got clear about what she actually needed. (And yes, she did make some spending changes when she saw what was actually happening.) Then, when we looked at her small business, we were able to see exactly what she needed to earn. We broke this down into how many more clients she needed to see. I had her raise her rates. We started planning her business spending. And one day, she realized that that ever-present anxiety was gone.

Here are the common signs of being in a money fog:

• You don’t balance your bank account
• You don’t know where all your money goes (both in your personal life and in your business)
• You don’t know what you owe in debt
• You are not clear on your investments
• You have no plan for how you want to spend your money in your personal life and your business life.

If you identify with any aspect of the money fog, start by picking ONE action you can take. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Do you know a friend who regularly balances her bank account? I suspect she would be happy to share with you how she does it. Can you pull out your credit card statements and write down all the balances on a sheet of paper?

If you are feeling foggy and overwhelmed, try this: print out your on-line bank statements from the beginning of the year and write down all your income deposits on a sheet of paper, by month. You will see what you are earning each month. Do this for June also, and you will have six months of data to look at. (If you divide the total by the number of months worked, you will have your average monthly income.) Then double this six month total. If you continue to earn at the same rate, this is how much you will bring in for the year. How do you feel about this? (Is it time to charge more money?)

Coming out of the money fog is a process. It takes time. But when the fog clears, you can see your life ahead of you. Possibilities take shape. You are in control and life is good.

I recently flew down to San Francisco and stayed with my mentor and colleague Karen McCall for two blessed days. Karen is the pioneer of Financial Recovery Counseling and introduced me to this awesome field. It is she who introduced me to the concept of “underearning” and the importance of getting out of the money fog. (And staying out!)  In fact, I dedicated my book to her.

 It felt sooo good to share my business and my business numbers with her. I spend a lot of time in other people’s small businesses (and personal finances), coaching them on underearning and spending issues etc. But sometimes I confess that the phrase “physician heal thyself!” or “the cobbler’s children have no shoes” drifts through my head. What about me! Sometimes I think we are too proud to ask for help in what is supposedly our own area of specialty.

To make a long story short, she asked me what I was charging private clients. This was after she listened to me be-moaning my tight schedule and my desire to free up time for the other aspects of my business. I don’t want to give up private clients. But I am also running several business support groups for self-employed women. And I want to write more. (Oh, and did I mention I have a family??)

In her oh-so-tactful way, Karen says to me, “You know, I just read this great book on how to set and raise your fees”. I rolled my eyes. (It is the workbook I wrote, in case you don’t know.) Then she told me to charge more. According to my very own guidelines, I am niched, experienced and have too much pressure on my schedule. Oh, and I’m not experiencing enough price resistance. Damn. So I took her advice. I guess that means I took my own advice!