Hey Mompreneurs,

If you're anything like me, you have been working away to build your business and put together offers and the skills and strategies you have learned and can now share. We're entering this incredible time where bits of paper aren't worth as much as real-life experience. People want results, and they want them now. But being an entrepreneur, looking at the various methods and ways to showcase and package your ideas as offers means you get bombarded by advertisements like:

'Learn my 3 secrets to make more money.'
'Wanna know how I made X dollars in a single launch?'
'How to grow your following fast.'

Do any of these sound familiar? And are you sick of it?

I know I am, and I think many people are. We know the tactics, yet we pause and wonder if this product, service, or strategy will help us share our knowledge with the world. We deeply want to help people and make their and our dreams a reality. We're working late, getting up early, and doing all the things we can think of to launch our offers. Still, we wonder if we could be doing more, if there's some better way or secret strategy we don't know that all these different people seem to talk about.

Many self-proclaimed gurus assert that their program, book, course, or method is the key to success, promising that you'll thrive if you adhere to their specific process. They often employ persuasive language and NLP techniques to captivate you, making you believe that their product is the sole path to a prosperous business. Whether intentional or unintentional, it's crucial to decipher this language and determine if a product will truly yield the desired results. The use of these persuasive tools is acceptable if the claims are genuine and the promised results are delivered.

The language I am talking about is the use of:

Universal quantifiers include always, everything, everyone, no one, and nothing. These words are universal generalizations or symbolic, but they can often be misleading out of their mathematical context (i.e., the strategies everyone is using, nothing is better than getting your first high-paying client, etc.)
Ultimatums (i.e., you have two choices: you can forget what you learned today, walk away and be the same person next year as you are today, or you can take a leap and go all in on this X program)

Of course, the use of the language above is to persuade you to buy a product. The person selling hopefully believes enough in their own product that they believe you will get the outcome they have promised, and so now they're asking you to take a chance, to believe in this product or service, and give it all you've got to make it fruitful. This is not necessarily a bad thing if it's true, but there will always be a percentage of people who don't do well, who the system doesn't work for. If you've tried programs and strategies in the past and they didn't work for you or bought programs but never put anything into practice, it's okay and totally normal; it bears no weight and is no indication of whether you'll make your dreams happen.

It's time to expose the scam of businesses helping people create businesses that help people build businesses.

What a mouthful!

I'm not talking about the people who built legitimate businesses where they sold products or services not related to building businesses and then went into helping people build businesses. Or the people who help businesses as coaches or consultants for brands and companies. I'm only talking about the coaches and people who started a business to help other people build businesses that build businesses from the start. There are a few people at the top, in the middle, and many at the bottom. The people at the bottom are trying to claw their way to the top while dragging more people under them to get higher. This is what we call a 'pyramid scheme' in the business world, and so many people are kidding themselves into thinking that they're adding value and helping people by doing this.

Nope.

In our society, what we truly need are genuine businesses run by real people with real dreams and skills, adding real value to the world. We don't need an abundance of business coaches and gurus who, in turn, assist countless other businesses in creating more businesses. Where's the true value in that? Can you tell me?

It's absolute madness.

The thing to look out for is how this coach or guru made their success. Did they do it through the practices they are telling you will help you with your business? Or did they make a successful business and then move into the coaching space? Do they help companies and brands build their businesses, or do they mainly help people learn how to get clients who want to build a business of getting clients? When evaluating a business coach, consider their track record, the success of their clients, and their own business practices. The fact is everyone wants to make money and be able to afford things, and those who don't have high-earning businesses are usually desperate for change. Selling something that tells your potential clients that it will make them money isn't a hard sell. It isn't niche, either.

I admit that sometimes, these gurus have good tips or ideas to instill into actual businesses with useful services and products, but that's when they stop just being a business helping people make businesses and become a business that helps brands and companies.

Let's take a look at some ways a business helping businesses can add real value:

Organization systems can help you streamline your work and household practices. These systems might be digital filing systems using software like Notion, Dropbox, and the cloud; they might be masterminds or digital courses that walk you through the organization process in your business, office, or home life to make it easier to do all the things you need to do in a day.
Public speaking gives people the clarity and courage to speak about their services, experiences, and what they have to offer the world. Many people find public speaking hard, which affects their relationships and lives. This kind of service could be offered as a 1:1 video call service, group call, or video series. Of course, the opportunity to speak on camera would be a better way to build confidence than a self-paced course.
Software for businesses could be platforms with digital graphics, website builders, or network marketing tools. Unfortunately, if you build it, they won't come; you need to get people to see what you sell or do so they know it exists. Software services can help make businesses more visible and accessible to clients and customers.

Overall, we are seeing many software companies offering videos and courses to help people use their services effectively in their businesses. These courses also cover topics that don't necessarily relate to the software but will impact a person's entire business. We're also seeing more high-level coaches offer tangible services like organizational strategies and processes. Of course, there are other services people could offer, but these are a few that add value.

It's important to note here that it's not just about the services on offer it is also about the way they're offered. Often, coaches and gurus position their product or service as the only or best solution. Many also offer free content and give you some ideas to help you move the needle forward, but they still use the language necessary to build a need for their 'done-for-you' services in your head. With phrases like 'plug-and-play', 'done-for-you.'

The real truth is that consistency is what actually wins. I have spent a lot of time researching business practices and how people become successful. There is no specific way or secret. That is why there are so many mixed messages and gurus saying different things; different things have worked for different people. Not everyone is good or confident on camera. Not everyone has the desire or capacity to write a ton or speak without a script.

​​Whatever you do in your business, do what you love, do what you enjoy, and do it consistently. Sure, take classes and watch courses to grow your skills and give you more ideas and strategies, but know that the strategies that work for you probably won't be the same as the strategies that worked for them.