167 STOP IT! How to Slow Down to Speed Up

Last episode I shared how I got a Divine business correction (I was believing lies...) and immediately jumped into a new strategy - "Don't ONLY focus on the few, ALSO call the crowd."

Well, here's the update and what I am learning:

Firstly, based on a word from God I seriously embraced the change and leaned right into ALL that I could do to IMMEDIATELY adjust. I'm sure you would never do this... I signed up for a course and diligently did the homework to redefine our target customer and their pain points and our irresistible offer and the nurture sequence and where to put lead magnets... And I listened to some podcasts and downloaded an audio book and researched what was actually going on with our 'crowd' market. I stayed up late reading and writing and listening.

I forced myself to study and learn and plan rather than just dive in and execute. That's a success moment!

Then all my work was interrupted by needing to drive to Virginia for an executive retreat. My head was bouncing around all the things I needed to implement and I wanted desperately to get the strategy and get.it.done!

Then my wife, Janine, patiently and kindly (and firmly) asked me to get my head in the right space to be present for the job at hand. (Yes, I did marry exceptionally well.)

Friday morning we got everything ready for an activity where people are setup to experience God in new ways and my job was simply to be present and help out if anything was needed. I sat in a chair, closed my eyes and imagined walking up onto a porch to meet with Father God. He was sitting on a chair gently rocking. I sat in a chair next to Him, pulled out my notebook and said something like, "OK Father God, what decisions do I need to make to get this moving?"

Father simply looked at me and said, "How about we put down the notebook and connect?" It wasn't harsh or patronizing. It was humbling and kind-of-obvious, like you would say, "Ohhhh yeah... that makes sense!"

For the next hour I just sat there, eyes closed, enjoying peace. My thoughts came back into alignment and it felt REALLY good. I didn't want the 'appointment' to end. 

Oh, and I didn't write down ANYTHING!

One thing was needed and I had 'chosen' (sort of) correctly.

Some time around then a lot of floating pieces of information fell into place. I had been focused on how to better reach the crowd (for example, we have 30,000 followers on facebook.... and there are ???? MILLION people that need this message across the world). I had done some due diligence on our website analytics and discovered that 10,000 people had visited the Heaveninbusiness.com home page in the last 30 days and almost 3,000 people had visited the blog! Wow, I don't need to find a crowd, the crowd is ALREADY here!!! What if I called the EXISTING crowd into engagement?

That afternoon I went for a run in the beautiful Virginia fall. I noticed how amazing the leaves looked and the temperature was PERFECT. The run was only four miles but took me an hour because I was listening to a new audiobook and had to keep stopping to take notes on my phone.

"Spend less time on lead magnets and more time on creating memorable experiences..."

OMG this was speaking to me right in the moment!

Course correction! Don't focus on the unknown crowd in the cloud... somewhere out there, focus on the crowd that have already come to you that you are ignorant of! Give them a memorable experience that will benefit their lives and move them toward discipleship whether they choose to engage further or not.

So what am I learning?

1. SLOW DOWN to speed up - pause, not just to get the right strategy... to get the right HEART. Ask, "Holy Spirit is there anywhere I need to slow down because I am running ahead? What do you have for me in this moment? How can we do this TOGETHER?"

2. Lead magnets are awesome - learn about them AND keep the priority the people, not the number or transaction. "Is this creating an experience that will genuinely add value to this person, whether they continue with me or not?"

3. Do your due diligence - know the state of your flock. What is already in your hand that you are not paying attention to? Do you know how many people are coming through your door, or to your website, or on your email list? Are you serving them? What is important to them? What is their greatest challenge in stepping into the help or service that you can give them? Ask them! 

4. God is crazy good at leading and guiding and knows my business better than me - He truly is the good shepherd. Pause and express gratitude... you will be amazed at the traction and momentum that results.

5. Super practical - I'm working on making the HeaveninBusiness.com/free-trial much clearer and adding a free audiobook gift regardless of whether people engage or not. I have also already added an exit pop up that gives visitors a Kingdom Business one page summary and assessment and then follows up with a free video/audio session on the same topic and then an invitation to grow even more. Perhaps you can find it on the Heaveninbusiness.com home page as you go to exit! 

Finally, I am LEARNING how to do business WITH God better. It's a journey that I don't believe ever ends and I love it!