Kimberly: What are the business tips you give your clients that are taking your classes to start their own business?

Carolyn: I was just talking to one of my practitioners yesterday, and she said she hired this coach who is pretty much hard-core marketing, ‘I know you are really successful but you are not in hard-core marketing, it seems like such a difference from someone telling me this, but I am watching you and you do not do it that way.’ My tips for people are that you have to really know yourself, be self-aware of what really fits your personality, do not try to force the river, do not try to do things just because someone is telling you that you must do it this way, this is how people market, how people get out there. I have had a lot of people telling me things, some things I  have tried and realized that it does not really gel with me. If it does not gel with me, it is like I have weird energy blocking my business in a way. Sometimes we have to read it and clear things for ourselves.

My personality does fit more with a traditional marketing style but I tell my practitioners to do it how it fits their personality so you will be joyful in what you do. If you are joyful in what you do, you cannot help but be successful. If you feel like there are all these rules you have to follow because that is what the business guru people are telling you that you have to do, that’s where people get scared, worried and fearful that they are not doing it right.

Listen to your heart, read business books, hire a business coach if you need to, but always listen to your heart first. Let that be your guide on what to discard, what may not work for you and what feels right that you know you can follow through on and it feels like that would be a good fit for you.

People are always amazed, I teach about six courses a year full, full to me means usually around 25 students. I like to keep my classes smaller, I like the personal feel, I love how they all become friends in the classes for life. I do not do a ton of marketing, I have never written a long sales page, had a sales conversation on the phone. This is what I do. I get a piece of notebook paper, I am very untraditional, and I write down the date of the class at the top then I number it down on the side. Usually, by the time I have done this, I have already gotten 5 – 6 people who have paid and signed up for the course.

I intentionally send a little mental, energetic message out and say, ‘Whoever else needs to be in this class, needs this information I am saving your place on this.’ And the orders just start coming in. I do not know most of the people in my classes, I have never spoken with them until I get to that class the first morning to teach the classes.

Kimberly: That is the way it should be. You have a beautiful talent and unique ability, that is what you should be focusing on and not worrying about editing your book and getting it out there, let someone else do that.  I know you are not techy but I have to ask a sort of techy question, what piece of software is invaluable for you and your team, if you did not have that, you would not know what you were doing?

Carolyn: One of the things we use is Central Desktop because I have five people that work for me and Central Desktop keeps everything in one place. Instead of sending emails out to different people who is working on this specifically or who has my copy for this upcoming telesummit, there is one central place that we can all go to and see where each project is at and who has worked on what. That keeps it clearer in my head and for anyone who is working for me also.

Kimberly: I am a BaseCamp girl. I don’t know what I would do without it.

Carolyn: Central Desktop is pretty much the same thing as BaseCamp.

Kimberly: Looking back on your journey, if you had to do it all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently?

Carolyn: I would have hired a virtual assistant early on. In the beginning, I was not quite sure what that was or what they did and in my mind, I thought it was easier for me to do it myself than to take the time to tell someone else how I want it done and hope that they did it to my satisfaction. Then once I finally, after a few years, hired a virtual assistant, it changed my world! I should have done that early on.

Also, right at the time, the online schedulers were coming out, there was not a lot to pick from, but once I discovered those… because I had an appointment with this lady, went on her website and was like, “This is amazing! I can just schedule it myself online, there is an online scheduler! What?!” I used to stay up until 1 or 2 AM answering emails back and forth to people who were trying to schedule appointments with me. I had to wait to hear back from them to learn what time slot they took before I could email some slots to someone else. So later, I made sure I got hooked up with an online scheduler. Using an online scheduler and getting a virtual assistant to help me, both of those I would have done early in my business. But we live and we learn.

Kimberly: I have to say that having a virtual assistant is one of the best things you can do. It’s not like you are hiring someone full-time. For just what you need them for, you can say, “I only need you for five hours a week,”  but it really hones in on your management skills. But if you have someone do a project, you get it back and it is not what you want, it is not what they did not do what you asked them, it is that you asked them to do the wrong thing.

Any last bit of advice if they are thinking of starting their own business and following their life passion? What is that one last golden nugget you can give them?

Carolyn: I would just say to always make sure they are always listening to their own inner voice, always honor your own inner skills, talents, and traits that you bring to the table instead of trying to morph into some business person you are really not. The world needs you as you are and who you are, so just always listen to that little voice within yourself and honor that.