e171 3 Things We've Been Told Are Non-Negotiable To Grow Our Businesses, That Really Aren't
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to Rewild Your Business, the podcast for women doing the work, their soul intended by being wholly themselves. I'm your host, Gill Moakes, and today I wanna talk to you about three things. Three things you have probably been told on non-negotiable when it comes to growing your business, but I believe are actually not.
These are three things that not only are they not non-negotiable, but actually trying to force these three things might even be holding you back from growing your business. So we're gonna talk about these three things. We're gonna reframe each of these kind of rules, and we're gonna explore what actually matters so that you can let go of what doesn't serve you, what isn't really fitting in your business, and go deeper.
Into what does [00:01:00] belong. Let's get into it. Welcome to ReWild Your Business, the podcast for women doing the work, their soul intended. I'm Gill Moakes. I'm an international business coach and I'm a guide for women doing the work that matters. Rewilding your business means cutting away what doesn't belong to allow, what does to thrive.
Finding simplicity in your work, and it's about bringing the whole of who you are to the table, whether you are building something new or finding your way back to what really matters to you. I'm so glad you're here. The first thing I wanna talk about is consistency. How many times do we have it rammed down our bloody throats that we have to be consistent?
I get it. Don't get me wrong. Consistency builds trust. Definitely. And a regular presence can absolutely build momentum. I'm not [00:02:00] trying to say that consistency in that way doesn't matter, but I think that the way. That consistency is taught, or the way that, like I say, we have it drummed into us all the time that we must be consistent is actually completely detached from reality to be quite honest.
Like we're told, you know, you've gotta show up every day. You've gotta stick to this very rigid content calendar. You can never disappear, God forbid that you go on holiday and, and don't have all of your social media posts scheduled before you go. You know, like you've gotta be the algorithm's pet. You're a slave to it in some way.
But you know what? I really believe that life, especially if you're living a good, full rich human life. Doesn't run on a fixed publishing schedule. It doesn't work that way. Doing meaningful work, the stuff that [00:03:00] really matters to us, it isn't congruent with having this rigid view of consistency. And honestly, I dunno about you, but I definitely did not build my business to try and replicate a machine.
And I sometimes feel like with the growth of AI and the sophistication, I guess, of the online marketing world, it leaves me questioning, what are we aiming for here? Are we aiming for a business that literally behaves like a faultless machine? Because I know that's not the kind of business I wanna build, and I know that that's not the kind of business that I'm attracted to.
If I'm looking to hire someone to work with, whether that is a coach or a teacher, you know, whatever role I'm looking to hire in my business, for example, you know, I'm not looking for some kind of [00:04:00] abnormal. In organic machine type business. I'm looking for humanity. I'm looking for personality. I'm looking for organic truth in a business.
So I think this detachment from what real life real business can feel like isn't doing us any favors. So I wonder what it would feel like if we reframed consistency and if we looked at it more in terms of consistency around our message, consistency around the way we make people feel, right. I think if we can work into our business, a rhythm that genuinely reflects our own energy and our integrity, not what someone else expects, not the way [00:05:00] someone else does it.
Particularly if you are trying to emulate someone else's business, who's got a massive team, who can, you know, create this incredible amount of content and consistently put it out there every day, I still personally don't think that that is the goal. Certainly not for me, but particularly if you are on your own in your business, you are finding your voice, you are putting your message out there, you are refining the way you wanna serve your clients, then.
I don't think that's where your energy should be. I think it's absolutely okay to allow consistency to mean I'm gonna be super consistent in putting out the same message. Whenever I do put something out, I'm gonna be consistent around how I want to make people feel when they consume my content. Right. I think this is about being trustworthy rather [00:06:00] than necessarily perfectly timed because.
Trust is garnered in in a lot of different ways, and it isn't just about meeting an expectation of cadence, of the regularity of showing up. It's about being consistent in your message, in your voice, in your values, allowing your values to show up in your work. It's about showing up whole. The thing I keep talking about recently, you know, bringing the whole of you to the table, the more radically authentic you can be in your business, the more consistency will be a side effect of that.
It's easy to be consistent when you are being radically authentically yourself. You can't not be consistent in terms of your work and your message when you are being consistently yourself. So [00:07:00] that is the first thing that I think we are really almost bullied into this feeling of, I've gotta show up consistently.
Oh my God, I've missed my Wednesday post. You know, the, the world's gonna stop turning. We've gotta move.
What consistency in terms of our presence means when we do show up, not how often we're showing up or how regularly we're showing up because I know which one is more important. The second thing that I think we have been led to believe is non-negotiable, and it's almost a shock to people when I say to them, well, you don't have to do that, and that is social media.
I think this one gets positioned as completely essential to your business, and if you don't do it, [00:08:00] your business is gonna evaporate or something. But the truth is social media's a tool like lots of other tools that we have at our disposal. Social media is not your business. Social media is not your message.
I've worked with women who have successfully built thriving businesses almost entirely offline. And I'm not saying that that is the goal, because I certainly want an online business because I wanna work with people around the world. It wouldn't be practical for me to say, I'm gonna work entirely offline and you know, I'm just gonna work locally because that's not the kind of work that I do.
If it's the kind of work that you do. Okay, that might be something you wanna consider. And of course, for some people, they love doing social media. They absolutely love it. And for those people, good on you, do it and do it well. Don't overwhelm yourself. Don't burn out by your attachment to it. But if you enjoy it, [00:09:00] my goodness, why wouldn't you use it?
It's free advertising. There are not many free ways to advertise your business, but social media is absolutely one of them. It is not non-negotiable, right? I have seen launches that have been successful without a single reel ever hitting Instagram, and I've seen communities that have grown through one conversation, one real relationship at a time, not through, you know, consistent content calendars on social media.
So I think it's about. Being honest about how social media makes you feel, if it energizes you, if it brings you connection, and if it gives you that creative joy. Brilliant. Absolutely use it. But you know what? If you are one of the people, and I know there's a lot of people out there who feel this way, who feel like social media drains them.
They feel like it [00:10:00] distracts them from what they're trying to achieve with their business, and it just feels too performative, right Then you don't owe it anything. You don't use it. And I think actually. Something that we tend to overestimate is the effectiveness of social media. Experimenting by changing the way you do social media might be a great place to start.
It might be that you think about detaching a little from that rigid consistency of posting like we just talked about, and. Post just when you are called to share something that's real, rather than racking your brains to come up with something interesting to share. Real connection is gonna beat any kind of visibility metric on social media every single time.
And honestly, a really clear message. You know, like one [00:11:00] powerful idea that you express really well. Be worth more than a hundred or thousand, kind of generic. I'm doing this for the sake of doing it posts, and I think the goal for all of us is to create a really nourishing marketing ecosystem, and social media can be part of that.
But you've also got lots of other options to think about and to lean into email marketing is, you know, I, you know how much I believe in email marketing. And certainly for me, social media only has one goal as far as I'm concerned, and that is to share things that are interesting enough, like, for example, this podcast.
So that someone is going to opt into my newsletter or to a freebie that I offer to get onto my email list to become one of my inner [00:12:00] circle, which is how I view my email list. That's the only goal of social media for me. So you've got emails, you've got podcasting like this. If you've listened to me for any amount of time, right from, you know, the heads together days and now into your business, you'll know that.
I believe that we as business owners need to have our own thought leadership platform. Whether that is a blog or a podcast or a YouTube channel, you know, somewhere where you are creating original thought content every week. And I don't just mean a post on LinkedIn or a post on Instagram, this is longer form original content, full of value.
Actually speaking to your ideal clients, just like I'm speaking to you now. So you've got that. You've got in person work, you've got networking events, you've got industry events that you might wanna go to and meet people in real life. I know [00:13:00] radical right? Something that a lot of the women that I work with are definitely leaning more into now.
You know, we've gotta let go of this almost excuse that the pandemic gave us of hiding behind our laptops and working in our pajamas. Let's get back into the real world. Let's do real things with real people in real time, right? You've got collaborative work, you've got referrals to be gained. You can hold workshops, you can go to workshops.
You've got substack, you've got lots of different newsletter platforms that you can create long form content on now that aren't social media. You might host retreats. You can look for speaking gigs where you can get in front of people. Right? There is not just one way to.
Comes down from all of the people who work in the marketing [00:14:00] industry who want you to be addicted to social media because there's so much money for them to make inside that, but you're allowed to choose a different path. I heard something the other day actually, which I thought was awesome. You can choose the path of least distortion.
Isn't that a great quote? I'm really sorry I can't credit whoever said it, but I thought it was really great. Loved it. You know, you can choose the path that lets you show up, whole bully you, which often you can't do on social media because you're trying to contort yourself to work with the algorithm, you know, to get that algorithm to favor you.
That doesn't make for great content. So let's stop thinking about social media as being non-negotiable. Let's combine whether we do it or don't do it with consistency. And if we do want to do social media, if it does give us some energy and, and if we do enjoy that creative outlet, let's stop being a slave to some kind [00:15:00] of inconsistent, unsustainable schedule that we've told ourselves we have to stick to.
And let's get back to our message. Again, get back to who we are trying to speak to and really focus in on making it great content, meaningful content, less of it if necessary. We don't have to be on social media, either explore other ways. The third thing. These three, these three things like the first two may be a little bit related.
This one is not related to the other two, but it's something that I see again, it, I guess all three of these things are things that piss me off when I can see people feeling under pressure around these things, when in my opinion, it's not necessary to feel under pressure. The third one is.
So this is where you almost get bullied [00:16:00] into charging more than you are comfortable with charging super high ticket rates, even if your entire being is saying no right now. I wanna say something very, very clearly here. I believe in women making great money. I believe in creating great work and being well paid for it.
So don't get me wrong about that. And I also believe that undercharging is a real issue. It's a huge issue. I talk about it all the time. If you go to my website, you'll find a, I've got a Money Mindset workbook that you can download, and I'll add it to the show notes here. So don't get me wrong, I believe in charging high ticket rates for a high value service.
Okay? I absolutely believe in that. What I don't believe in is I don't believe in overriding your bloody nervous system just to chase some kind of arbitrary number that you've been told you have to charge. Right? [00:17:00] There is a big difference between expanding your capacity in terms of what you charge and ignoring what's right for you.
So charging, you know, for a package, it sounds to you. But then if that is sending you into a panic every time you get on a call with a potential client, right, that isn't sovereignty, that is not serving you, that's dysregulation. We need to stop asking ourselves, what's the most I can get someone to pay?
That is the wrong question. Instead, I want you to try asking yourself, what price feels true for me for the value I deliver? What price lets me breathe, lets me show up fully and deliver with integrity? What price would feel like a win for me and for [00:18:00] my client? That is the sweet spot. And don't get me wrong, from there you can stretch.
You absolutely can, but you'll be doing it from a much more rooted place and a much less reactive state. Right. I've been saying this a lot lately, and it's something that I've pulled myself up on because I used to talk a lot about playing bigger. I used to talk about it all the time actually. I own the, um, URL for women playing big for God's sake.
You know, this is something I used to play, uh, talk about a lot, but I've revised that in my mind to be quite honest with you. It's, you don't have to play big to prove that you're worthy, right? You have to play true to you. You have to play true to your own alignment. That's the truth. I don't want [00:19:00] anyone feeling like they have to play bigger and that if they don't, they are in somehow doing themselves some kind of disservice or they are not up to it.
In the business world, that isn't true. Real sovereignty is having the confidence.
Price for the value you deliver. So this isn't about undercharging, this isn't about playing small, but it's about truth and confidence, honestly, owning what you charge. Can you do that? Can you show up and speak really confidently about your pricing and have it feel good to you? No resentment when someone says yes straight away and suddenly you are feeling damnit.
I wish I'd have charged them more. I reckon I could have got more out of them. [00:20:00] That is just such a horrible kind of mindset to go into any kind of client relationship with. I want you to go in with a win-win feeling. So those are three things that I'm. Feeling very passionate about at the moment that a lot of people are, like I say, feeling a little bit bullied into doing that.
I don't believe they need to do, or at least I believe they need to find the way to make those three things more their own. So if those are three things that I don't really think are non-negotiable, what actually is non-negotiable in your business? What really is Well, for me. Remember, we all get to build our businesses our own way, but for me, if I'm committed to building a genuinely soul led, genuinely aligned and profitable, let's be clear about [00:21:00] that one business, then there are definitely three things that I think are non-negotiable.
I'm saying it, you know that I think, and about this is about my business because I don't want you to feel like I'm saying this is how you have to do it. But actually, if I'm honest, I do think these three things are universally the three things that are non-negotiable. Number one, clarity. You need to know what you stand for, who you serve, what you offer, and why it matters.
You need to be crystal bloody clear about those things, what you stand for, who you serve, what you offer, and why it matters. Non-negotiable. The second one, congruence. Really important. More important than consistency. You need to let everything in your business reflect your values, your personal values, your marketing, [00:22:00] your pricing, your offers, who you work with.
Everything in your business needs to be congruent with your personal brand. And your personal brand needs to reflect your values. So if you haven't done that foundational work yet. Around unearthing your edge and really understanding. What your values are. That's something that I can absolutely help you with inside of the collective.
So I'll put the, uh, link to join the membership in the show notes, but congruence, non-negotiable when you break that congruence in your business. So in other words, if you, um, using some of the examples we've gone over today, if you decide to post something on social media because hit consistency goal.
Incongruent with your brand, with what you stand for, that is gonna [00:23:00] break trust with your potential clients quicker than anything else. That is gonna confuse people and confuse people, lose trust, right? So number one, clarity. Number two, congruence. Number three, connection. I mean, you knew I was gonna say that way.
Yeah, of course you did. You need to prioritize building real relationships with your audience, your clients, your work with yourself, with your peers. You know, connection is everything in business now, and it's only gonna get more like that. It's not gonna go back. Business will never go back to the way it was when online business first started, when it was about clever captions and that kind of stuff.
With the rise of ai, you know, there's no reward in writing [00:24:00] clever copy, particularly. You've gotta be really building deep resonant relationships. So these are the three things, in my opinion, that create genuine traction. These are three non-negotiables, clarity, congruence, connection. Don't we love three C's?
Always three C's, honestly, three C's or three P's. There are so many words that fit the three Cs or three Ps, but these three for me are genuine and it is actually a coincidence that they'll begin with C. I think these are the things that genuinely let you grow your business without burning out and without selling out everything else, honestly, optional, negotiable.
Because your business is yours to build in your way. You are never gonna have a soul led or soul aligned business until you find the confidence to put down what doesn't belong to you, [00:25:00] and to pick up and keep what does. Okay? I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Rewild Your Business. Episode has helped you to breathe a bit deeper.
I hope it has, or rethink what is really needed to grow your business. I'd love for you to share that. With me, email me because I love it. Infocom, I'll put the link in the, uh, show notes and if you feel so compelled, which would make me so happy, if you would leave a five star review and a rating on um, apple Podcast, that would be amazing.
Thank you. As always, I wanna offer you three reflective prompts to.
Listen a little bit more worthwhile. First one, where have I been forcing consistency that no longer feels true for me? Where have I been forcing consistency [00:26:00] that no longer feels true? Number two, what forms of visibility or connection feel more nourishing than social media right now? Number three, what pricing structure feels right and true for me in my bones, what feels right and true.
So grab your journal. Use those prompts, because I feel like if you could get in the habit and the rhythm of doing this every week, listening to the podcast and then journaling the prompts, what a great practice that would be to just make that little bit of progress with your business building journey every week.
I promise I'm always gonna give you things that are gonna be thought provoking to just let you have a think into and really root into what feels right for you when it comes to building your business, not necessarily the way everyone else does it. Okay, alrightyy. [00:27:00] I will see you back here, same time, same place next week.
Thank you so much for joining me again. See you then. Bye for now.
