When I built my first business (A Dog’s Best Friend Magazine), it was simply that; a business. Working from anywhere with a laptop and internet connection, I built a cash-generating machine that allowed me to live the life I want. I quit my corporate job, traveled through the U.S. for two years, being found anywhere from Scottsdale, Arizona, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder, Colorado, you name it…
When I built my first business, it was all about me.
I just turned 30 years old.
This morning, I woke up to a “Happy Birthday!” message on Skype from a person I don’t remember talking to. She was nice, friendly, and cared enough about me to wish me a happy birthday.
The only problem?
With my Skype chat history cleared, I don’t even remember who she was…
After messaging my business partner, he reminded me she is an up-and-coming entrepreneur from New Zealand, who invented a very cool product in the dog niche. She sent my business partner free samples of her product, and she even was an advertiser in our magazine.
I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t even remember, but lately, I’ve been working on fixing a lot of the flaws I had in myself and my business for a while, and this was the main one.
We put out a great product, with great articles, pictures, content, etc.
But I didn’t really care for the customer.
Now, with my current business; I work with founders, CEO’s, and professional athletes to release the mental and emotional blocks that hold them back from success using Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).
For example, if a startup founder is scared of rejection when they are about to make a sales call, or even scared to email another blogger to form a partnership, it’s that emotion that they feel which holds them back from even trying.
Using emotional release techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or Timeline Release, they can release the negative emotions that have prevented them from taking action, and they finally begin to get the results they’ve been looking for.
Unlike the dog magazine, the work I do with clients is one-on-one, and face-to-face. By taking the time to really understand my customers’ problems, and empathize with the struggles they are going through, this level of genuinely caring for them allows them to know that I’m not starting this business simply to turn a profit.
At the core, entrepreneurship is about solving problems in people’s lives and by genuinely caring about solving the problems for my clients, not only do they have better results, but the number of referrals my business gets increased tenfold.
Simply because I genuinely care about my customers.
And after putting this to use this morning with the dog product owner who wished me a happy birthday. I took all of 10 minutes to get to know her, empathize with her struggles, and offer my genuine help. When I mentioned that I am in the process of selling the magazine to a new owner, she returned the favor and said she knows two brands that might be interested in buying my first company.
All because I genuinely cared…
Now take a look back at yourself and your business. Understanding that, at the core, you are solving problems for your customers…how can you genuinely care about improving their lives, not only for the benefit of your business – but for them as well?
I’m beginning to learn that it makes all the difference.
