Episode 28: Why Your Work Isn't Selling
In this episode I want to explore some of the reasons why your work might not be selling the way you want it to. And even though it might feel like this question – "why is my work not selling more?" - has any number of possible answers to it – I want to focus down into three.
I’ve been working with hundreds of businesses over the last six years and I know how tricky selling is, especially for women, so I have witnessed first hand (and in my own business) the common stuff that gets in the way of seeing those sales come in. And so in this episode I want to offer the top three things that I see business owners often missing that are really worth a deeper consideration…
1) Positioning
2) Offering
3) Visibility Vulnerability
Listen in for practical advice on how to shift your thinking and action around these things and let me know how you get on!
If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to the footnotes from the podcast!: https://www.melwiggins.com/sign-up
AND ** I am beginning to offer FREE 20 min strategy sessions for female business owners who might want to reshuffle or build their business in ways that are more sustainable and regenerative for their energy and income. If that’s you and you’d like to have a chat (this isn’t a sales call, it’s purely a coaching call) about what that could look like in your business, the link to book a slot is here: https://melwiggins.as.me/?appointmentType=36668849 **
Feel free to get in touch if any of this connects and you want to chat more:
email: hello@melwiggins.com
+ Click here to read the transcript
Hello and welcome back to Courage Is Calling. How are you? Uh, it's likely that you are probably tuning in today because you are maybe a business owner. Uh, maybe create things. Products or services that you really want to get out there into the world, into the hands of people who will love them. And it's also likely that you're tuning in because you saw the title of this episode.
Um, and that we're gonna be talking about sales and you would love to be selling more of the wonderful, smart, helpful things that you are creating. Um, I. I reckon I am, because ultimately that is what business is about, right? Making sure that your product or service generates income. It sells well, so it can sustain and regenerate.
Profit in your business so you can pay your bills, have fun. Enjoy your life. Keep creating and keep doing the work that you love. So, so in this episode today, I want to explore. I wanna explore some of the reasons why your work might not be selling in the way that you want it to. And even though this might fail this question, this, why is my work not selling more?
It's really good. Why is it not selling? Can have. Any number of answers to it, like a whole bunch of, there could be a whole bunch of things going on as to why your work might not be selling in the way you want it to. I today wanna focus down in two three, because let me tell you, I have had front row seat.
To hundreds of businesses. Over the last six years, I have worked with so, so many amazing women creating amazing things, and I know how tricky selling is, especially for women. So I've been able to witness firsthand and because I'm a business owner myself, and I have to do this myself. I've been able to witness so many of the common things that get in the way of seeing those seals come in.
And so in this episode, I wanna try and offer my top three things that I see business owners often missing that are really worth deeper consideration. And those things are one, positioning, two offering, and three visibility, vulnerability. Are you with me? Let's dive in. Let's talk about some of the practicalities, and this is gonna be both the either stuff, stuff that's practical and the inner stuff that might be in the way of people lining up to buy your amazing stuff.
So let's first up, consider position. So when I say positioning, um, science, technical science, businessy, chat. But what I'm really talking about here is how you are framing your offers. And this takes into kind the way you are connecting, messaging, marketing, framing what it is you have to offer. You know, Megan Seals in your business is not a bike, just getting on the ground.
Putting your product or service out there, spewing off all the reams about what it is, and then crossing your fingers and hoping that someone needs it and is gonna buy it. It's not about detailing every aspect of what your product does, you know, on your website or your socials. It takes some understanding of where people are at that might be interested in or need your product to really make the connection.
It's that understanding. So for the most part, not a lot of people remember this, but when it comes to purchasing something people, us consumers are really, really interested in how something is gonna make them. So our messaging and our marketing needs to factor that in. Sure. I mean, me as much as anyone, like to know the details of the product, how much it costs, how it works, you know, all of that kind of granular stuff.
But ultimately, People connect to higher product or a service is going to change something for them or bring them a failing. So instead of selling from a place of details, try talking and sharing more about what kind of transformation your work brings. Now I know that there are lots of people out there who maybe offer more product based.
Uh, things or makers or creators that sometimes struggle with this part because you're thinking what kind of transformation is. Ceramic mug gonna bring, or this piece of art. But believe me when I say that there is a feeling transformation to be found in your product. So you're maybe thinking about how much easier this might be for people here providing services to speak to this.
But it isn't the case. Remember, people buy based on failings like . You only have to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach to say that or even think about the last thing that you bought for yourself. Think about that. Think about what was the last thing that you bought, whether it was online in a shop, and think about what failing you were after when you purchased it.
I bet that there is a failing attached to why you bought what you bought. So for me, I bought a candle the other day in TK Max because I wanted to feel cozy and warm is a and warm as the nights are getting colder. You know, if I'm not gonna put the hate on, I wanna be able to see that dance, that glow flicker on my mantle pace.
Just a signal to me that it's time to wind down, time to sit down, end of a long day like the candle I bought into the cozy kind of, um, stopping the day feeling. So when it comes to your work, how does what you make or create delight people? Or surprise them or bring pleasure or joy to them, cuz those are feelings too.
How will your food make them feel nourished or like it's a proper luxury treat that they can savor? Speak about how your pottery, or your clothes or your art brings a sense of personal or individual style, how it makes people feel satisfied or adds flare, or, uh, gives something of a sense of feeling finesse.
Or put together. This goes for product or service testimonials as well. So make sure that if you're using testimonials to talk about and validate your product, make sure when you get that feedback and you're asking those questions, you ask your customers or clients that have bought from you before to talk about this aspect.
So where were they before they had your work or your product? How do they feel now? What has shifted for them? What have they, What's the kind of process that they've gone through from before and after? Um, and, and have them talk about the feelings. Positioning means framing the feelings that your work brings in a way that people can recognize themselves in the.
Do not skip this bit. Do not get stuck in the details of the, It costs this much and it looks like this and this is what you get. Because this is how we connect and speak human to human with our customers and clients. So it's the first thing. Secondly, let's talk about offering. So when you've got your positioning right, You're speaking to the failings.
You're free in the failings so people can recognize themselves. It's time to offer. It's time to actually provide solutions to the failings your customers or clients are after. So it's one thing to understand your customer. How they fail, what kind of benefits they're after, what kind of transformation or failing they're looking for.
But now it's your job to step up to that with your solution, how you know your product or service can actually remedy that and let people have it. And what I see happening a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, is that we have these offers. We know maybe how to position them. We're doing that work and we're excited about people wanting them or needing them, and all the beauty that comes in that customer to maker or creator transaction.
And so we, we start to show up and post about it on social media or send that email and we sit back and expect the sales cart to go mad to sell out quickly. You know, this whole cell and art thing. Is actually lies that we are told by hustle culture. It is very rare that things sell out. Go viral, sales court goes mad six figure.
All of that nonsense is really rare. So, and it's really like messing us up when it comes to selling because we have these expectations or possibilities in our head. Um, or we think that people are just gonna find our stuff magically and just want it right away. But it doesn't work like this, my friends.
And unfortunately this is where often a lot of us start to lose our nerve and start doing what I call the slow tiptoe away from our offerings. Like, just kidding. And pretend you didn't see that post. I didn't really create this. Gotta go. Nobody seems to want it. Um, we cannot just post about something once or twice and expect it to sell really easily.
Um, this part of the process, this requires so much nerve holding and showing up and staying committed to this part of the work. And the chances are if you have something to offer, you are likely not talking about it. and for a whole host of reasons that I'll get into in our third point. So either you aren't talking about it enough or you're maybe talking about it a bit cryptically instead of being bold and asking people to buy from you or work with you.
So I want you to just right now, realistically count in your head how many times you have actively, boldly and clearly. Asked for the seal or asked for someone to buy from you this week on social media in your emails. And what I'm not saying when I'm saying my talk about asking for the seal, what I'm not saying, Is that you have to be pushy or manipulative or cringy here, you know, asking for the sale for the transaction.
It isn't about begging or forcing. I am not asking you to step away from what I'm sure some of your values are around authenticity or connection. What I'm actually asking you to do is to step into those values. because to know that you have solutions or something of value or something that could inspire or delight or help someone and not showing up and telling people about how they can get it, that is actually not activating your values of authenticity or connection.
Is it? So by hiding your offers, by using vague language, dancing around or tiptoeing around your offers isn't actually providing the authentic connection that you really can't provide. You can't offer and sell your stuff clearly, and with integrity every single. You can show up on social media or to your email list every day and make sure that whoever is ready or interested in your work knows how to get it and doesn't, It doesn't have to mean anything just cuz you're showing up every day with your own integrity, with authentic connection at the core.
Doesn't mean anything that you might be making it mean about you. Please, please do not ghost your community. When you think no one wants what you have to offer, show up for them. Show up for yourself and keep letting those who may need to know what you have to offer. Know, do it regularly. Do it often, and do it with conviction because you believe in your own work.
And this brings me to my final point, and this is a big one, and that is the failings that come up with this stuff. The vulnerability of the offering and the showing. It is truly hard internal work to plug your offers. It really is. I am doing this. I see this in my clients. It is the most talked about thing in my coaching sessions, and it requires a lot of risk and vulnerability.
Initially, it creates. Like risk and vulnerability to create something that you care about, you know, from a place of genuine love for your work, to have an idea and bring it up and nurture it and create it and put made on the bones of it, and then hold it out into the world. And like doing little cup tans here as I'm talking, like holding it out into the world and saying, Hey, come see this.
Do you, do you like it? Do you wanna buy? It's really good and I love it. I think you love it. You know that stuff is really vulnerable and you're, if you imagine that you have a risk aversion department in your brain, that department is going to be on high alert. It is going to be hoping that you back down your visibility and start to retreat to the safety of not being San.
To show up and sell your work or your product or service is going to require you to acknowledge that protective voice, that risk aversion department, and to recognize it when you start doing that slow tiptoe. To identify how it shows up when it comes to sharing about your work and asking people to buy from you or to engage with you.
And so this recognition stuff is so important. Uh, it's really key, um, to recognize how your self doubt shows up and what you tend to do when that happens. It's a huge component in mastering it so that you can get on with your beautiful work and that other people can have it and engage with it and buy it and love it.
So when you recognize it, and it might look like you tend to go quiet. Or you start spiraling into comparison or you start to stall because of perfectionism, or you absolutely ghost your audience, or you look for validation in the wrong places or with the wrong people, or you just numb out or. People plays or shrink back in.
Once you start to recognize your own tendencies around this stuff, then you can start to deploy some settling techniques to bring yourself back to your commitment to the work. Tend to your nervous system when this happens because it's likely to be highly activated. Reassure your risk aversion department that you know.
I'm curious about how this might actually work out for me. And you know what? Risk aversion department, you don't, you don't actually need to be on such high alert here. I'm gonna give this a go. Do the work to bring some calm reassurance. Back into your body and mind. That might look like journaling. It might look like getting into community with other business owners who are 100% likely to be feeling the same way about this, and you can find some solidarity there.
Or you could hire a coach and find that the co-regulation of having a coach and letting them do their job of helping you. Maintain your own loyalty to yourself and your work is a really great way to, um, calm and settle your nervous system around selling and showing up. So if you are finding that selling your stuff is just.
Like pulling teeth at the minute it's not working for you right now. You feel invisible, you're stuck, you're frustrated. You're starting to doubt yourself and your abilities. I want you to lean into these three things, positioning, offering, and the visibility, vulnerability, and tending to yourself and see what might shift for you and let me know if it does before I go.
I wanna let you know that for the next week. I am doing something that I have never done before. I am offering some free coaching slots, so these are free 20 minute strategy sessions, strategy sessions. It's hard to say for female business owners who. Might just wanna reshuffle or rethink how their business can become more sustainable, um, who wanna build their businesses for profit and for purpose with integrity, and have more fun and ease and enjoyment with it.
And if that's you and you'd love to have a chat. I would love to talk to you, um, about what this could look like for your business, for your setup. This is not a sales call. This is a coaching call and there are a limited number of slots, the link to big that is in the show notes. I would absolutely love to chat to you.
Uh, I wanna thank you for listening. Remember, feel free to share this episode on your own social media. Um, send it to your friend, you know, would, would love it or benefit from it, and know that until next time, I am here behind this microphone and I am chairing you right on.
