On 6-14, Linchpins gathered in local cafes, bars, and bookstores across the globe. Inspired by Seth Godin and his latest book of the same name, the gatherings were a way to connect with like-minded people ready to make things happen — things that matter.

The Linchpin Meet-Up was billed as “… the first ever unofficial official Seth Godin Linchpin worldwide Meetup.  A completely non-commercial chance to find and connect with other members of Seth’s tribe, an opportunity to talk, challenge, and inspire your fellow travelers.”

Read the write-up from Sandra Walker about the Linchpin event in Chicago on 6-14. (There were others happening locally too. Suburbs split off. The Chicagoland metro area covers quite a bit of territory.)

When I find people on Facebook or Linked-In or some flavor of a Ning site, I usually comment that there are so many ways to connect.  There are membership sites growing like crazy. I awoke this morning in a panic about all the circles that I have chosen to belong to, all the classes that I’m still committed to completing. The overwhelm is palpable.

With so many ways to connect, online conversations and tribes can be in some ways easier to manage. You can draw from the entire world to attract your people who resonate at the same frequency.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Linchpins event. People self-selected, people who like Seth Godin’s work, who think like Linchpins, who are determined to do work that matters. It was nice to connect face to face for a change.

Chicago, Facebook, Linchpin, Linked-In, Meet-up, Ning, Sandra Walker, Seth Godin, Tribes

You remember Goldilocks,
the girl who was looking in the Bears’ house
for the “just right” porridge, chair, and bed?

What will Goldilocks find if she comes to
your home or business? When she looks
at your client relationships, will she see
the people who fit “just right?”

Who Are Your Just Right People?

The first 30-day blogging challenge
again brought me face to face with an ongoing
question that most of us self-employed folks
grapple with regularly:

Who are my clients who fit just right?
Who are the people in my just-right tribe?

Do you ever ask yourself similar questions?

With so many ways to package ourselves and our
services, so many venues and outlets, so many
ways to communicate and connect, how do we
decide where to start, what to do first, and most
importantly — WHO to connect with?
WHO most needs and benefits from our services
and products?

Need Just Right Clients? Check in with Goldilocks!

I recently finished Molly Gordon’s Goldilocks
Strategy class all about getting clients who
fit just right. I came out with a clear picture of
my just-right client, the words those just right clients say
when looking for services like mine, and stepping stones through
the many ways my clients can choose to work with me.

Molly has repackaged her particular brand of
gentle magic and has a special D-I-Y [Do-It-Yourself]
Home-Study version of the Goldilocks Strategy
for Getting Clients That Fit Just Right course –
the one I just completed this past spring.

If you’ve ever longed to be able to identify
who are the “just right clients” (or readers,
or customers, or circle, or tribe, or audience,
or buyers, or viewers, or participants in your groups…)
then this program may be a great fit for you.

You can read about it and get the details at:
Get Your Just Right Clients

OR go to this link. Just copy and paste it into
your browser bar:

http://budurl.com/JustRightClientsBJM

I’ve gotten great results from my work
with Molly in this course. And if you’re
anything like me,  if you’re a conscious creator,
an artist, healer, writer, or coach who is looking for ways
to authentically connect with “just right clients,
I bet you will too!

The Goldilocks Strategy shows you
step-by-step how to:

*Recognize your just-right clients
so you can focus on them and not
on some amorphous “public.”

*Find out exactly what they
want so you can honestly and
simply address their needs.

*Design products and services that
practically sell themselves.

And you’ll know how to do all
that and still be yourself.

You CAN learn to consistently get clients,
and not just any clients.
Clients who fit just-right.
Clients who hire you or buy your
products again and again. Clients who
tell other people about you.
(Can you say “word of mouth”?)

The Home Study Version of “Goldilocks”
ships on June 21. Check out this link:

http://budurl.com/JustRightClientsBJM

I so believe in Molly, her Authentic Promotion approach,
her business philosophy, what she teaches and how,
that I give my strongest possible recommendation.

Full disclosure:
As an affiliate, I will receive
a referral fee if you click my link
and you do choose to purchase.

You can read more about it and get the details at:
Get Your Just Right Clients

Or copy and paste:

http://budurl.com/JustRightClientsBJM

Here’s to all of us attracting an abundance of our
clients who fit just-right!

30-day-blogging-challenge, Authentic Promotion, Goldilocks, Goldilocks Strategy for Getting Clients That Fit Just Right, just right clients, Molly Gordon, self employed, tribe

The prior post suggested that readers build a bridge from their vision to their tribe. On the one side, you have your vision, your creation or your business. Then there are the people you serve.  I characterize the “bridge” as the message of your vision or business, put into irresistible marketing language (that also embodies the authenticity of YOUR voice) then opens the way for your perfect tribe to hear it, take it in, and take action on it.

My friend from #blog30, Melanie Kissell, noted in her comment on the post Build a Bridge from Your Vision to Your Tribe,  “Take your vision, go find a guide, and build your bridge!” And Rob added to the comments saying he was still looking for his guide.

Inspired by the comments from my companions on the #Blog30 challenge (for June) along with a recent conversation with Tomar Levine, I realize that many people seem to be wandering in a never-land, looking for a guide, not fully trusting those who so seductively say, “Follow me.”

If you are wanting a magic bullet, but don’t really believe in magic bullets, but (darn it) you still want it anyway, and you find yourself with a raging case of sign-up-itis…Not trusting yourself, thinking you need to learn more, hoping that this next one will be IT…

Well, I know how painful that can be. Realistically I know the temptations that lurk with every magnified online make-a-quantum-leap-in-10-seconds-or-less-while-on-a-private-jet-and-making-millions offer. I have also learned that, while such programs may actually be a good fit for some people, they have never been effective for me.

It’s OK. And there’s nothing wrong with YOU if some of those hyperinflated sales page claims strike you as a bit, um, unrealistic. Tempting, but you know better. Even with the other guides who are realistic, hard-working, diligent teachers and coaches, even with “the good guys” so to speak, even within that group, not every guide is a good fit for you, your vision, and your creation!

Think back about all the times you’ve heard certain pieces of advice. You’ve heard the basics over and over again. Yes, part of it is repetition, a proven way to learn. But another part is how one person may say something just a little bit differently, and BOOM! That person’s expression of the same advice really hits you, really sinks in.

This is an example of what my friends, coaches, and mentors Jan Stringer and Alan Hickman say, “The people who need it most, and they can only hear it from you.”

For your tribe, who are the people who can only hear it from you? Who are the ones listening intently for your voice? Is your voice out there? These are the people waiting for you to build your bridge. Are you doing what my friend Tomar says, “focusing on what is mine to do?”

(Such an exquisite turn of  phrase and so crucial that I’m planning an upcoming post just focusing on that.)

Who is your right bridge-building partner?  Because the essence of building that bridge is taking action, stepping out into the void to create the connection between your vision and your people.  Here’s how I’ve painted the picture of the people who might best hear it from me. If you resonate, be in touch!

And if you’ve found your own right guide to help you build the bridge and open up the path for your just right perfect clients, share with us  how you found this person and why they’re a good fit for you! It’s useful for all of us to see and hear about successful connections.

#blog30, Alan Hickman, Jan Stringer, Melanie Kissell, Tomar Levine

How do you connect your venture, creation, business, project, or book — your brainchild — to your perfect audience, tribe, circle, or community?

You need a bridge. You need a strong bridge that weaves together:

~the heart of your vision, its benefits, how it will change the corner of the world you are intending to change.
~the authenticity of your voice, the integrity of your heart, the power of your soul manifesting through your intended creation and its message.
~the clear expression of how you can solve the problems or help your people overcome the challenges or deal with the issues you address.
~the longings and yearnings of those people who can only hear it from you — your tribe, your community, your readers, your clients.
~the words that create the connections, the written words that weave all these elements together so that all the pieces stand together as something brand new and stronger than any one of the items alone — i.e., synergies.

You can build the bridge and chart the path across the gap between your vision and your tribe. And sometimes it’s nice to have a guide to show you the way.

authenticity, connections, Synergies, tribe, vision

What will it take to bring spine tingling delight to your people, your perfect customers, clients, to your tribe, circle, audience, community, readers, viewers, listeners?

Following this Write Synergies Path, we’ve traversed the inner path of awakening awareness. We’ve added accountability, built momentum (inner and outer) for your foundation, and we’ve talked about creating and implementing.

But who is it all for? And how can you create your vision in such a way that it really resonates down to the tippy toes of your perfect people? People talk about niches, of not trying to serve the whole world. But that often feels, in particular for the heart-full soul-preneurs, visionaries and thought leaders who don’t want to leave anyone behind, that they are being forced into a box that they’ve worked so hard to get out of, the smallness box.

You don’t want to leave anyone behind, and you resist forcing yourself and your message back into a tiny, ill-fitting box.  Reflect back to your own experience working with people. You know there are certain people who are more fun to be with, people with whom it’s hardly “work” at all to serve them, to offer your products.  These are the people who need to “hear it from you,” as Jan Stringer and Alan Hickman like to point out. (You also know in your bones that there are people for whom the whole thing is just an uphill climb. Those may be the clients who need to hear the message from someone else, not you!) The people who can only hear it from you: This is the essence of a niche — your tribe.

There’s something compelling about the basic idea of like-attracts-like, the law of attraction. In the coaching I’ve had with Jan and Alan, co-authors of  BEE-ing Attraction: What Love Has to Do with Business and Marketing , and with their BEEing Attraction work, this like-attracts-like principle leads to a “trick” question. You ask, “What makes my perfect customers/clients tick?”  As it turns out, it’s probably the same thing that makes you tick.

Hmmm. So in essence you are creating your business or program or service that addresses a singular challenge or obstacle that you have somehow successfully dealt with for yourself. The delight comes, on your customers’ side, when they so totally “get it” that you “get them” and their obstacle. They see themselves reflected in the words on your site or that they hear in your teleseminar or in your conversations. They know that you have a deep understanding, not only of the pain of the obstacle, but also the solution to release that pain. That is the beginning of the delight. And there’s more.

More than even the solution to their problem or a way to address their challenge, what they most appreciate is your Presence, loving them and their problem, loving offering the solution, listening for their particular nuances.  Developing Presence in your own way, your authentic content and presentation and voice, creates a dramatic result, a Presence you can share with your customers. By taking the time to develop yourself on this inner path work, you have more to offer the people you are here to serve, and you will be serving them at an even more profound level.

Your Presence – in your words, in your articles, blog posts, videos, audios, in your conversation –  is a source of delight to the people who need to hear it from you. It is the deep listening that you bring to your client interactions. It is the deep understanding and empathy that you have for the challenges they are going through.  It is your authenticity and the love that you bring to heal the pain of the obstacle, problem, or challenge by offering your services and products as solution. And at the foundation of your products and services: It’s you. Your Presence, honed to a crescendo of power to be totally with your clients, meeting them wherever they are on their path.

Delight is a pale imitation of what they will really feel when you, your Presence, is completely in the moment with your clients.

As my mentors, Judith and Jim say, “It’s all in the connection.” Developing your Presence is the path to creating the connections that matter.

Connect with our 30-day blogging challenge on Twitter at #blog30

#blog30, 30-day-blogging-challenge, Alan Hickman, authenticity, BEEing Attraction, community, inner path, Jan Stringer, Judith and Jim, Law of Attraction, Presence, Soft Sell Marketers Association, thought leaders, Visionaries

In Connie Ragan Green’s 30-day blog challenge, the level of commitment, knowledge, and overall good vibes of all the participants  is simply stunning. So much so that I have created a new category of links on my sidebar. Check out the “Tips from my Colleagues” on the sidebar. You’ll find links to specific articles overflowing with insights and practical tools and tips. It’s an ongoing project, so check back regularly.

To connect with me on Twitter:

@bobbyemiddendor

Darren Rowse @problogger concluded his post saying, “Short Form content is powerful in driving traffic to and building conversation and community around your longer form content.”

The community of us gathered in response to Connie’s 30-day blogging challenge is seeing this principle at work. The challenge is not only about creating 30 days of content, but also about getting in the habit of creating content. What I’ve observed after sporadically posting on my blog for just over a year: It’s deflating to just whistle into the void. And that is the amazing piece of this blogging challenge, because the third part of it is stepping into a flow of making connections, which we are doing via Twitter and also via Facebook and the Facebook Networked Blogs application.

There are just an amazing number of ways and places to connect, so it’s a challenge to keep all the pieces straight. And it’s so delicious to connect into a conversation with real people who are doing high-integrity work online, learning and supporting each other in the 30 day blog challenge. There’s great diversity of expertise, yet each colleague speaks with authenticity and authority. Check it out on Twitter at #blog30.

#blog30, 30-day-blogging-challenge, authenticity, community, Connie Ragan Green, Content, Darren Rowse, Facebook, Ian David Chapman, Networked Blogs, Problogger, Twitter

If you are a writer, author, healer, soul-preneur, or Conscious Creator with a big vision to create and a message to share, someone who is overwhelmed and daunted by the process of getting the message out and getting the words right, then you are in the right place.

Are any of these your sticking places?

• You have a draft of your project or the marketing copy, but you are struggling to find the right words for the message that really make it come alive.
• You are bumping up against the  inner voice that says, “Who do you think you are to be offering this?”
• You would love to find some support to help you get out of your own way so you can share your gifts.
• You could use regular inspiration and motivation, reminding you that the “big famous people” also started out not that different from you.
• You feel overwhelmed by all the ways to get out the message. You need a practical and doable plan.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a GPS system through all this?

Consider a personal guide and map-maker — like your own personal GPS system for your creative project and getting your message out — giving you practical and spiritual guidance for helping you get to where you want to go.

I support and mentor you — fellow visionaries, conscious creators, writers, authors, and healers — with your messages. We bring your big ideas to life and your projects and messages out to the world.

I’m using the Write Synergies Vision Quest process on myself. You’re seeing part of the process in action during this 30-day blogging challenge. I’m a writer who helps people with their marketing. Yet just like the shoemaker’s children getting their shoes last, it took me the better part of a decade as an independent writer and marketing consultant before I started my own online presence. Don’t do as I have done!

(Check out more on Twitter at #blog30.)

#blog30, 30-day-blogging-challenge, authors, conscious creators, gifts, guide, healers, map-maker, message, soul-preneurs, vision, Write Synergies, writers

Sivers (of CD Baby) reported on this band’s tribe-building experiment http://sivers.org/livecd .  In the post titled “Emphasize meaning over price = More paid sales,” he calls for others to try it and report on their  results.  While this is focused on bands, I’d say, the more Conscious Creators who try it, the better.

All Conscious Creators — including visionary writers, authors, publishers, speakers, healers, and caregivers, as well as visual and musical artists —   might glean some new marketing mojo by experimenting with this method of “connecting to the heart of your fans” for creating powerful resonance, building relationships, and building the greater community.  It might be your social media experiment in generosity. And generosity can feed and grow in myriad ways.

As the Write Synergies Guru, I have to say that building community around generosity and authenticity are the keys to generating results greater than the sum of the parts, so ramp up those synergies!

My thanks to Terry Madl, Renaissance Man Extraordinaire, of Strange Attractor Press, for bringing this link  to my attention.

authenticity, conscious creators, Derek Sivers, Strange Attractor Press, Terry Madl, Write Synergies Guru