Many of my clients who have their own practices struggle with paying the bills. They scramble to create programs, market them and find new clients, and price in a way that makes sense. It often feels like very hard work.
A few weeks ago, I offered a free New Year’s Visioning Workshop. Over 50 people attended, more than any other event I’ve offered. It was great! We had such a good time, welcoming in the New Year together. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I offered it because I’d been thinking a lot about generosity, and in 2015, I want to intentionally be more generous in my life and in my business. So, I offered the workshop.
But the groundswell surprised me. You may say, well, it was free, of course it was well attended. But anyone who’s been in business long enough has offered free events that no one has attended, and has gone to events that cost thousands of dollars that were packed. So, it’s not just that it was free. What was it?
I believe it was the underlying stance: my intention to be generous, and to give something freely. This kind of spirit is hugely attractive. It was such a shift for me, I knew there was something more to be learned in this experience. This is what I think I learned:
Whether you charge something or not, it’s possible to have an inner stance of generosity that potential clients can feel. (And by implication, it’s possible to offer things that are “free” but still don’t feel generous, right?)
What does a generous life and a generous business feel like? What does it look like, and how do we live it? And, how do we make enough money so that we can pay our bills and live well, even while being generous?
Obviously, it means something different from the scarcity mentality that often creates so much suffering for people trying to build their businesses. I say that without judgment: it’s actually not very easy to have something other than a scarcity mindset in our modern culture, and it’s not something we change by just “thinking differently.” I used to be completely stuck in scarcity, and from time to time, I still see it arise in me.
Abundance mindset–or what I prefer to call “Enough Mindset”–comes from a deep, unconscious sense that I am okay, and, in the words of 14th c. female English saint Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
When clients instinctively, unconsciously feel you are well and generous–even when considering a large and expensive program–it feels good to them to think about working with you. You feel safe, and then they can ask themselves the simpler questions about fit and cost and timing, etc.
This is very deep work. In addition to all the important stuff around nuts and bolts, and steps to build a business, it’s necessary to do this deeper healing work so we can be generous and well with our clients. The good news is that when this is in place, I’ve seen over and over, the money flows better. It just does.
If you need this work, I invite you to join my next four month program. And whether you are in business or not, I am curious about your experience of generosity. I’d love to hear from you! Please post your comments and questions on my blog here.
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