122 – May 2
“Winning is not a sometime thing—it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time.”—Vince Lombardi
People often ask me, “How long do I have to send out ships?” I answer, “How long do you want to eat?”
You can’t ever stop sending out ships. The Universe, that big “Yes” machine, gets confused if you do. It thinks you don’t want any more good to come into your harbor, so it stops sending ships in if you stop sending ships out.
For example, let’s say you are madly sending ships out every day. You’re working in the flow on a daily basis. You send out ships—then send out more ships. The next day, even more ships. Every so often, you check the horizon for ships coming in. But no ships. So, you go back to work sending out more ships. Again you check the horizon: No ships. You send out ships, send out ships, check the horizon: No ships.
Don’t get depressed—get angry! You’ve been doing your part. You’ve said your affirmations every day, you’ve been taking positive action and you deserve to have a return on your investment. Now, demand your good from the Universe.
And the Universe sends it. All of a sudden, the Spanish Armada, the Royal Navy,the Merchant Mariners and Stanley Cup ships are sailing into your harbor. And you are feasting! “Oh my God,” you might think in shock, “How am I ever going to unload all these ships?!” Then you’ll want to slam on the brakes and stop sending out ships so you can unload the ships that came in. The Universe gets the message not to send any more ships into your harbor, shrugs and says, “Okay.”
Meanwhile, you are frantically unloading ships and finally, you unload the last one. “Whew!” you exclaim, “That was a lot of work!” After a moment’s respite, you look around at the empty harbor and say, “Where are my ships?” You tell the Universe, “I’m ready for more ships now!” But the Universe has been sending ships into somebody else’s harbor. You haven’t been sending any out—there aren’t any ships in the pipeline. So you have to start all over again, building the ships, hiring the crew, storing provisions, and setting the ships a-sail. During this time, there are no ships sailing into your harbor—famine.
The lessons of feast or famine are:
Send out ships every day.
When a lot of ships come in at once, hire a crew to help you unload.
Send out ships every day.
Today’s Affirmation:
“A lot more money is coming to me today—and I deserve it!”
Like most speakers, teachers, and seminar leaders, I just adore doing the work, speaking to people who are hungry to learn and improve their lives, watching them try new strategies, helping them past the rough parts, and succeed in accomplishing their dreams. It’s heady stuff!
Like every entrepreneur who wants everyone to buy their product or service, every workshop leader I know hungers for full classes. But it doesn’t happen by magic. Engaging with the public, public relations, advertising , marketing and sales are what fill workshops and every business with customers. This is the real work of any business. I call it “Sending out ships.”
It’s easy to be excited and think if you just place an ad in a newspaper or online, or go to a networking group and pass out your brochure, that soon your phone will be ringing off the hook with people clamoring to buy your offering. But it’s a cumulative effort over time that fills your client list and your coffers.
In one telecourse, I had a total of 17 people enrolled. It’s instructive to see how they first heard about me:
5 through speaking engagements
5 through my book The Wealthy Spirit
2 through networking groups
5 through a referral.
Most of them are on my email list, and 3 read my blog and let me know they were interested through Facebook. I closed one by email after I gave a free teleclass; everyone else I closed on the telephone: 7 called me and I called 9 (more than once).
Time from first contact to sale: 6 within 1 week, 4 within 3 years, and 7 after more than 3 years!
One woman called me the night before the workshop and introduced herself saying that she had met me 8 years before at Women’s Referral Service (a fabulous networking group in the Los Angeles are that I have belonged to since 1986. www.wrswrs.com) and asked if I was still teaching that workshop? Yes. She and her husband signed up and started the class the next day!
Consistency is everything. Never stop sending out ships. Your ships are still out there, circling the harbor. Maybe they were delayed by a hurricane, or becalmed in still waters. Maybe they got lost or sprung a leak and had to make repairs.
But one day they’ll come sailing in, laden with treasures to unload at your dock. So don’t give up the ship!
