10 things to remember as you build your biz
in the past few weeks i have come across a number of articles harshly criticising various women in business. regardless of the niche – health, wellness, nutrition, life coaching, business coaching, online biz in general – the theme is the same.
who are these women to…
share their opinion publicly. question the status quo. learn from the “university of google”. make money doing what they do. charge what they charge. sell what they sell. build a large following of people who love what they do. block people who don’t (and tell you all the reasons why.)
it’s hard to read that sort of criticism of other women in biz and not take it on ourselves.
it’s hard to read all of that and not wonder “are they right? am i wrong to do this?”
now, i will note, that i do think we need to consume information with a critical eye. i think it is good to question and debate and discuss and hear differing points of view. i don't have a problem with those who look critically at what other people are doing.
but the overall tone of some of these articles was really getting me down: the ridicule and the judgement. ugh.
and whenever i seem to get the same message in my feed over and over again, i figure that there is something i am meant to learn from it
so i sat down and thought about what i could learn from all of this and what i wanted to remember moving forward.
i wrote myself a list of *rules* for online biz owners - keys that we need to keep in mind as we put ourselves out there, as we shine our light, and as we possibly face criticism for doing do.
here are 10 things to remember as you build your biz:
1. authenticity
be you. everywhere. all the time. any time people see you, hear from you, or hear about you, it should all match up.
2. alignment
you lose trust when what you sell doesn’t match up with who you are or with aspects of your message.
3. integrity
don’t exaggerate, be misleading, falsify information, fear monger, engage in click bait. always ask yourself – if someone were to see behind the scenes, would i be fine with it?
4. transparency
be upfront about who you are, how you make your money, your qualifications, your level of expertise, your relationships with those you recommend.
5. responsibility
“with great power comes great responsibility.” remember that real people follow what you’re saying, so always consider any ramifications.
6. compassion
don’t bash on others. don’t ridicule. don’t be a hater. build what you love, while also being compassionate for what others love.
7. keep learning
everything that triggers you is a learning opportunity. don’t get off track, don’t quit, don’t compare. just ask, what would you have me learn from this?
8. keep building
strive to keep getting more excellent. strive to do better than those that did before you. fix your mistakes. keep adding to your skills. raise the bar.
9. block it out
sometimes, haters gonna hate. you just have to take the bit that will help you and then block the rest out. not everything is about you.
10. focus on YOUR people
you won’t ever be for everyone. (and you shouldn’t be!) sometimes the criticism has nothing to do with you or the people you are here to serve. focus on them. be of service to them.
will some people criticise you? probably.
will you get it wrong sometimes? probably.
but if you can honestly say that you are coming from a place of love, that you are doing what you do to be of service to others, and that you do it with integrity, compassion, authenticity, transparency and everything else we’ve said here, then i think you’ve got to just keep going... keep shining.
don't let anyone dim your light.
what do you think? are there some *rules* that we could add to this list?