Hi Reader,
I talked with an RD last week. She has a good-sized email list, but she's not making any money with it.
โ
She was afraid to send too many emails. She didn't want to annoy her subscribers, and she didn't feel comfortable asking for money in exchange for her services.
That's a feeling many of us know, but it doesn't serve us, and it doesn't serve our potential clients, either.
What's inside
- Why struggling to sell isn't a clinical failure
- How to make the mental move from clinician to business owner
- A five-minute way to practice the ask
This Week's Edge
I love a good hobby. Some of my favorite hobbies are practicing yoga, baking, and reading thriller novels.
My hobbies bring me pleasure without bringing me income.
โ
Sometimes RDs enjoy writing and growing their email lists, but they really don't enjoy selling their services to the people on the list.
โ
A business is an entity that exists to make money in exchange for the services it provides to its clients.
Growing a newsletter without seeling your services to your subscribers is a hobby masquerading as work.
You can be an excellent clinician and still struggle to sell. Those are two different skills.
You might feel guilty about selling your services. You might struggle to say your rate out loud. You might feel on a "clarity call" like you're being interviewed for a job you already have.
None of that is a failure of clinical competence. It's a business problem, and business problems can be solved.
There's a difference between seeing yourself as someone who helps people and seeing yourself as the owner of a business that sells help.
A business can't stay viable without sales. And when a business isn't viable, the people you could have helped don't get helped.
We have an obligation to our businesses. To make money, you've got to send emails and make offers. You've got to sell your services.
If we want the reward that comes from making offers, we have to be willing to tolerate the vulnerability that comes with making them.
The ask doesn't have to be loud. It can be one plain sentence: here's what I do, here's who it's for, and here's how to book.
โ
โYour Turn
โ
โWhen you picture asking someone to pay you, what feels hardest: the words, the rate, or something else? Hit reply and tell me.