I’ve been tracking the stats on these changes, and while I’m happy with the progress we’ve made, and now it looks like it’s time to start the re-fresh here. But a question came at me, that I thought would be valuable to answer here for everyone.

What if you’ve been blogging for a while, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest (not many comments) from readers? Should I consider a re-fresh/re-launch or just scrap the entire thing?

In my online history, I’ve built dozens of sites under my own business umbrella – and chucked a few, too. Some get a re-fresh, but others, quite frankly, are not worth the time and effort to try to salvage, so they get cut. Here’s the short list of criteria I use for deciding what to keep and what to scrap:

1. Do I truly enjoy this topic?

Whether or not I get a lot of comments, if I really enjoy writing about the topic, I may hang on to it and try a different approach to marketing/increasing readership. I’ll also try other mediums: video, podcasts, guest posts, etc. When I have a passion for the topic, it’s much easier to stay determined. On the other hand, if I am getting burned out, don’t seem to be able to come up with “inspiring” things to write about, or feel exhausted from trying to attract readership, it’ll probably get scrapped.

2. Is it a technology issue?

Sometimes a site just gets clunky and difficult to navigate. If the interface needs a refresh, that’s one thing, but if the entire platform you’re running on is cumbersome, it may be a good time to scrap it and do something else. One of my first sites was a makeshift blog that I cobbled together. It worked for a while, but when I discovered Blogger, I jumped ship. Later, when WordPress developed import capabilities for Blogger, I jumped again, leaving the old site in the dust.

3. Am I giving it the time/focus it needs to flourish?

Different niches have different marketing demands. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to marketing the site, you may need to outsource content development, marketing, or both in order to keep it afloat. If you can’t take the time to invest the resources in that, it needs to go.

4. Is it just ugly?

Sometimes you and your audience gets tired of looking at the same old boring theme. Sometimes you’re feeling a bit of website shame. When we did our refresh, I wanted to put video front and center on the home pages of the new sites. We don’t have a lot of video at Business Action Hero, and I worked hard to create my background photo, which I still love to pieces. But I’m tired of the Adventure Journal theme and a handful of clunky issues I have with it. So I want to try some new things and “pretty up” the place a bit. Plus, I’ve got some new ideas for categorization and navigation that I’d like to test behind the scenes before I unleash it on the world. That’s not a reason to scrap the site, but it’s certainly a good reason to shut things down for a bit.

On the other hand, if the site was beyond help, or if the domain name was rotten, it might be a good idea to close permanently.

5. Can I afford professional help?

If you’re like me – with an armload of ideas for blogs I’d love to see come to fruition – it’s next to impossible to build them all yourself and feel good about how they all turn out. Richard Branson didn’t launch all his Virgin companies at the same time. He took them on one at a time and brought in qualified professionals to run them.

Whether you’re looking for a designer, a VA, a coach, or guest bloggers to help lighten your load, before you go website crazy, you need to check in with your budget. What exactly can you afford? If you’ve got more time than money, a little DIY can go a long way. If you’ve got no time and no money, you may need to curb your enthusiasm a bit and focus on one small tweak at a time.

6. Where’s my revenue coming from?

If I’m relying on this site for my major source of income, you’d better believe I’ve got a vested interest in keeping it running until I can transition that revenue to another site. In December, I did that with the launch of my Real Results program, which picked up the financial slack while Direct Sales Classroom was under renovations (and unable to produce any revenue while down).

Time was of the essence however, so we kept the site offline for no more than a week, and welcomed everyone back as quickly as possible.  If the site isn’t producing revenue, this isn’t as much of an imperative. However, if it is going to be a major piece of your revenue generation machine, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a transition plan in place so things move effortlessly from one site to another.

These are the major considerations I take when I’m looking at making modifications to my online presence. This doesn’t just apply to my blogs, but also my social media presence on various sites as well. Anywhere that I’ve got a business presence, I look critically at how it’s serving me (and how I’m serving my clients) before I decide what to keep and what to scrap. Sometimes, it just needs a little spit and polish. Other times, it has to go.

Whoa. Hold up a minute. Did you say “Lionel Richie”?

Indeed I did.

So on a “whim” I decide to put in my application.

“They’re not asking me to sing yet, they just want some background info. I probably won’t make it past the pre-screening, but what the heck? If I don’t at least try, I’ll kick myself for years.” I say to myself.

After all, this isn’t like American Idol, where there’s some arbitrary age restriction. It’s not “The Voice” where you’ve got a singing “death match” against your other contestants.

There’s actually an opportunity to sing with AND learn from your super-talented musical partner.

This is Music Biz 101 right here, folks!

And guess what happened?

I got asked to submit a video!

Yeah. Kind of freaked me out, too!

That’s when I realized there’s no such thing as “on a whim,” but that’s a post for my other blog.

I spent the weekend scripting/shooting and obsessing over it. I submitted it this morning.

And that’s all I can say for now. I’ll be charting my progress over at my personal site, but as I come up with useful business nuggets, I’ll be sharing those here.

The first thing I can say is this: You’ve got to be willing to put yourself pretty much through a wringer to be on a show like this. I’ve talked with my friend, Fitarella, and she offered some great advice about handling the criticism and downright venomous responses that can come from the public when you take on something like this. She said that it’s key to be able to let it roll off your back and not lash out, or try to talk back. She was the top vote-getter in Oprah’s OWN network contest a while ago. I figured, if I’m going to do something like this, I should talk to someone that’s been there, done that, right?

So now, it’s just a wait and see kind of thing. They may not even call me back. But if they do, you’ll be hearing from me!

Sometimes, it’s a good thing to set goals.

Other times, it’s better to not. A recent post by Carol Roth led me to reconsider the drive to set goals – not because they’re not important, but because we can often use our “best efforts” as a cop-out for not achieving them.

See, sometimes, we work really hard at something, and it isn’t working. It’s sweaty, nasty, and even painful. It’s downright hard. So hard in fact, that no one would fault you for quitting.

“Heck, look how far you’ve come!” people will say. You might even say it to yourself. I know I have.

I used to take pride in doing things the hard way. Then I learned that there’s a time and a place for effortless as well.

The trick is figuring out which is which. Sometimes, to achieve real success, you need to throw the goal away, and keep striving. Put on a blindfold to the rest of the world and just do that thing you are “giving your best” to – and assess the outcomes later.

Sometimes, that means deleting and unsubscribing from all the newsletters that dump into your inbox every week. Sometimes, it means clearing your calendar, your home, or just getting away from all the distractions so you can focus on that thing you’re about in the world.

Sure, goals still have their place, but they should never be used as a guidepost (or excuse) for mediocrity.

Do you want to quit on the 50 yard line because that was your goal, or do you want to be in the end zone – where the points are made?

No, not every at-bat is a home run, but if you never swing for the fences, you’ll have a hard time hitting a homer. And that takes practice.

Practice at setting and achieving goals – not at giving up half way there because it was hard.

This is a voice of experience, mind you. I’ve seen a failure or two in my recent past. It’s rare for me to quit. Even when it’s hard. I’m more likely to stand over the dead body and keep trying to revive it than I am to quit “while I’m ahead”.

My experience has shown that while it can be incredibly painful to have a loss, persistence and patience are strong indicators of your ultimate success.

What are you willing to stick with – no matter what?

Before I added my embellishments, it summed up exactly how the entrepreneur’s journey can be. Afterwards, it cleared up in my own head where and whymy business has been stalling.

On any hero’s journey, you hit a wall that I call “The Faith Crisis” it’s the moment where you surrender yourself and Divine Intervention  can finally happen.

For months, my coach has been sharing the “IAMNOWHERE” concept with me, to the point that now, when I look at that phrase, I don’t see “I am now HERE” or “I am NOWHERE”, but instead I see it as “I am now WHERE?”

Because that phrase has caused me to question so much of what I thought to be true. It’s also the ticket out of the stuck spaces and into higher velocity, more meaningful projects.

See, without the x on the map, you could be anywhere on this path, stumbling, bumbling, and even re-tracing a bit, THINKING you’re doing it all wrong, not knowing that you’re doing things exactly on schedule.

Of course, we’d all love a shortcut, and easier path, right? For most of us, we can’t just jump out of the maze.

I was talking with the super-smart @rhiannon_z this afternoon, and I asked the sage one if this was more common than we might think. Turns out, it’s very common to feel this tangled up mess going on. So common, in fact, that someone on facebook posted an image to illustrate it. But as Rhiannon pointed out to me, so few people talk about it because it’s so personal, that they often feel like they’re the only ones going through it.

Thus, the red x.

You are NOT alone in this. You are not the only one who faces moments of doubt, struggle and question whether or not you’ve got something worth pursuing. That’s just “I am nowhere” talking.

In fact, chances are pretty good that if you’ve come this far on the journey, if you’re standing in the middle of the maze where the red x is located, that you’re so much closer to success than you believe you are.

And giving up now will only force you into another maze – or worse – to re-trace your steps out of the maze and start over.

Only to face another maze in the future – a pattern you’re kind of “doomed” to repeat until you finally decide to push through the Faith Crisis.

But that’s another post for another blog of mine.

For now, get clear on where you are in the maze. Look around, and realize you are NOT alone. There are other folks on this walk, too. No one can walk your walk but you, but you do get some company along the way. That’s “I am now here” talking.

Get ruthlessly honest about your situation. Remove the judgment, because that’s not helping.  Be okay with being uncomfortable for a bit. Mazes aren’t supposed to be easy. If you can jump, go for it, but if not, stay the course, and keep untangling yourself until the exit becomes clear.

Surrender what you think you know (I am nowhere) for what is waiting on the other side of The Faith Crisis (I am now here).

It’s really that simple shift in perspective that makes all the difference. But here’s the catch: you have to make that shift every day for a while. You have to keep reminding yourself for a while, until the old habits (I am nowhere) are supplanted by the new ones (I am now here). There’s no magic pill here. It’s a practice thing.

Here’s to more practice!

• They don’t know it exists
• They don’t read your posts
• They aren’t compelled to comment
• They think it’s too hard to comment

There are likely other reasons, but overcoming these four hurdles make it much easier to get people to comment on your posts.

So how, exactly do you get more comments on your blog?

Well, instead of talking in theories, I’m going to share with you specific examples from across the blogosphere that worked like gangbusters. Ready?

1. Get Other People Talking About It. My friend @mrsfatass (we went to high school together, so I mean a REAL friend, folks) became part of the #ashamed revolution that’s been making waves in the recent past, and not only did her post about the Georgia billboards stir up comments on her blog, it got a quote from that post on the front page of CNN.com, as well as HLN, and The O’Reilly Factor. You can read about the hulabaloo here. She’s also added a follow-up post that got additional comments and awareness for the cause.

2. Make It Controversial. In addition to what @MrsFatass accomplished on her blog, have a look at what TMZ has posted about Whitney Houston’s ex, Bobby Brown. Fifteen pages of comments in less than 24 hours. Especially on a high-traffic blog, it takes powerful headlines to garner that kind of commentary in such a short period of time.  Powerful headlines compel readers to engage with your writing and speak out (as an indicator, I don’t read TMZ, but did a google search for blogs about Whitney Houston. Even her own website ranked lower than the TMZ article.)

3. Bribe Them. @Sarahrobinson, curator of several powerful blog series, including her latest, 28 Days to Building Fierce Loyalty, kicked off her blog series by giving away a copy of a book by one of her guest contributors. A bribe shouldn’t be used regularly, however, or it loses effectiveness. Sarah brings in great minds to contribute on a galvanizing topic that stirs her readers to comment. The ‘bribe’ is just to prime the pump, so to speak.

4. Bring In Reinforcements. In the spirit of Sarah’s blog series, reach out to your network, and ask other people to contribute to your blog. It’s not as easy when you’re first getting started, but if you’re building relationships with other smarty pants folks, you can find people that would love to write for your blog. My direct sales blog has a collection of regular contributors, and I’m a regular contributor for @carlayoung‘s MOMEO community.

5. Remove The Captcha. If you want it to be easy for folks to comment, stop putting up barriers to entry. Captcha codes are designed to eliminateMy own blog uses disqus, which brings the blog to the commenters. If someone leaves a comment, they get an email when someone replies, keeping them in the flow of conversation. @unmarketing wrote an entire rant on the woes of captcha codes a while back. It’s even more relevant in the hustle and bustle, noisy environment of today’s blogosphere.

Make it easy for people to comment. It’s the first “barrier to entry” most prospective clients will encounter. Before they’ll fork over an email address or any cash, chances are good, they’ll first try to leave a comment on your blog. Don’t make it TOO hard for your future clients to do business with you.

6. Make It Personal. One of the most commented posts in my own Be Your Own Guru blog series was my husband’s story of putting his first child up for adoption. He didn’t open a vein, but he certainly shared in a way that deeply touched my community of readers at that time. As I continue writing about my spiritual journey on my personal blog, I get a lot more comments on the intimate stuff than I do the basic, how-to stuff. Looking around the blogosphere, that’s not an uncommon trend. Guys like @JohnnyBTruant took his book marketing strategy and made it personal. There’s always a way to make a topic personal. You may have to work a little, but it’s doable.

7. Leave A Gap And Let Them Fill It. As you’re about to see in this post, sometimes the best way to get comments is to ask for them. Sure, you can just say “hey, leave a comment” and that can work, too. But if you’re serious about getting folks engaged, try asking them to finish a list with their own ideas, or better yet, to shoot holes in your theory, if you’ve got one.

I’ve only hit on a few of the ideas that I’ve been testing for the last few months – because I could point to some substantial evidence you can steal and use right now. What about you? What are your ideas for getting more comments on your blog?  I’d love your thoughts and comments. And if you think I’ve got it all wrong, I’d love to hear that, too. Speak your mind in the comments – no captcha required!

Well, usually. In this case, I’m making an exception, because as action-oriented entrepreneurs, I think we all need to practice a little self-love every now and then. Specifically, I’m thinking of that character that lurks inside you: your Nemesis, your Shadow Self.

Also known as your Inner Critic.

I’ve been slowing down the writing on this blog because I’ve been doing some exploration of my more “touchy-feely” emotions on my personal blog. This isn’t the place for that kind of work, thus, you’ve seen less content in recent weeks. That said, I firmly believe that the nature of business is such that the outer work is a mirror to the inner work. So for all the tough stuff I’ve been dealing with on my personal blog, it’s all creating some juicy, helpful stuff that I can use over here.

Today’s case in point: Recently, I shared deeply about my own experience in discovering and building a relationship with my Inner Critic (I call her “The Devil Inside Me“). I’ll also be sharing more on my direct sales blog, but for now, I want to tell you that this doesn’t have to be a painful, arduous experience. In fact, it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Now that I’ve got a grip on my own Inner Critic, I’m still boggling at what’s been happening. Here’s a short list of what’s been going on just since Friday:

• I received an acceptance for an interview from someone whom I’ve admired for months. We’re now making plans.
• I finished the first draft of my new book and sent it to my editor.
• I connected with a screenwriter who’s ready to take my web series project idea and turn it into something we can film.
• My son graduated from camp, and when I was asked to speak to the audience, I kept it short, sweet, and to the point.
• An unexpected check came in the mail today.
• An opportunity to guest post for a very powerful blog series was presented yesterday (and I said YEAH!)
• I’ve set new boundaries around my personal time, work time, and family time that are serving everyone involved.

And that’s just since Friday, when I sat down to go through Andrea Patten’s Inner Critic to Inner Ally program. What I thought would be brain surgery wasn’t. It was easy-peasy, and wasn’t even a teensy bit painful! Here are the five steps that I took to finally tame The Devil Inside Me once and for all:

1. Name it and Claim it to Tame It. I learned that when I give my inner critic a name, I have a way to interact with her. I can talk to her like she’s a real person, instead of dehumanizing her. Without a name, without accepting her as truly a part of me, she became this dominatrix or inhuman machine that just ran things. Now, as a more personable character, I can converse with The Devil Inside Me and get to the root of the problems that are causing her to rear her head.

2. Give it a voice. I found that as The Devil Inside Me became more human, she was more fragile, with her own faults, flaws and weaknesses. She not only became easier to tame this way, but also became easier to relate to. What surprised me most about Andrea’s exercises was that they caused me to realize that The Devil Inside Me is actually pretty likeable, and the source of several of my more positive traits – like getting stuff done, and being able to get over tragedy and trauma when it happens in my life.

3. Let it be heard. It doesn’t matter if you name it and give it a voice if you choose to ignore it all the time. I had a habit of pretending that my inner critic didn’t exist. Trying to shove it into a corner, and keep it on mute. The more you try to ignore the elephant in the room, the worse the problem gets, they say. So I’m giving her time and space. Kind of like “scheduled worrying/kvetching/what-if-ing”. I give her time each day to have her say, so she doesn’t feel like the little kid that nobody every listens to.

4. Set boundaries. Like the little kid, however, I don’t have to do everything she says. I mentioned on my personal blog that I’m the Chief. She needs to follow me, not the other way around. Yes, sometimes she’s giving me useful information, but she’s the product of thousands of years of living in a fear-based paradigm. That’s a paradigm I am trying earnestly to shift to a paradigm of love.I can’t do that if all I ever hear is her voice. I’m setting boundaries and clear goals, then consulting her so that she has her say. Beyond that, I get to decide, not her.

5. Recognize the value. Your inner critic is actually a throwback mechanism in your brain to help keep you safe and stable. Sometimes she’s incredibly helpful. As I’ve mentioned, it’s her relentless pursuit of forward motion, not standing still, and getting stuff accomplished that has helped me to achieve as much as I have in my short time on this rock. She’s helped me not dwell on painful stuff like deaths, divorces, separations, my kid being away at camp for 25 months, rocky bumps in the marriage, etc. She’s also been instrumental in keeping me from celebrating some of my wins, so it’s up to me to seek the balance. Recognize that like any good friend, there are some things for which she’s very helpful, and other things I’m better off trusting to other people.

These five steps, while not always easy, are the key elements of taming your inner critic once and for all. If you’d like more in-depth help, Andrea and I worked out a way to help you while helping out an awesome cause at the same time. As I mentioned, for the past 2+ years, my oldest son has been living in residence at a wilderness camp for boys with emotional problems. Andrea has graciously agreed to give half the profits of her program to the camp when you use this link. I don’t make a dime off recommending this program to you. I feel so strongly about how her work has impacted me personally, that I’m proud and even a bit excited to share this with you in such a special way. If you think you’d like to tame your inner critic once and for all – and even turn it into your ally – you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Meh.

I’m all for monetizing your list, but I figured I’d just be up front about it. Pay me $10 once and you’re on the list for life. So I made a plan, and started roll out at the first of the year. Here’s a bit more detail about my “experiment” for those interested in what my results have been so far. Warning, this might get a little “techy” so if you’ve got questions, ask. I’m happy to ‘splain.

Hypothesis: Converting my existing lists to paid opt-in will increase list quality and responsiveness, as well as revenue per subscriber. Initial list size will likely dwindle by upwards of 10%, but overall list value will increase as list quality increases. Target 30% click through on 30% open rate, and average 10 new subscribers per month.

Essentially, my direct sales list has held steady in size for a few years, while the quality of the list has tanked a bit. Open rates were in the 15% range. Even when I adjusted open rates for the holidays, I was still looking at a meager 17% open rate. Me no likey. That’s a lot of work each week, developing content, writing, and marketing the posts to attract new subscribers, only to have people not open the message.

That tells me that it’s too easy for folks to get on the list, and not annoying enough for them to unsubscribe. Since I didn’t really have plans to increase my annoyance rate (which leads to spam complaints anyway), I figured creating a small barrier to entry would do a couple of things:

1. Cause people to think twice before signing up for another list they’ll never really read in the first place.

2. Generate a higher quality list of people who want to read/act on the content I’m creating.

3. Convert more high-quality readers into paying clients.

4. Generate revenue from new list members from the onset in a non-sleazy way.

Since I’m working hard this year to build a business founded on love,  I made the decision to start one list at a time (to love myself!), and to increase the value of my content in the process (to love my clients). The idea being that if you’re willing to part with $10, I’m willing to make it well worth the investment.

In January, I rolled out this new program with my direct sales blog, and next month will launch the paid opt-in to my personal blog. In March, if all continues to go well, I’ll roll out the same idea here (you’ve been warned!).

Why $10?

Well, frankly, I know I can easily provide that kind of value to my list in a month’s time (in my experience, this is about how long a person will “tolerate” your email before unsubscribing). Presently, the $10 is a one-time-only subscription fee, but that may change in future years. I chose $10 because you can pick up a copy of the Direct Sales Classroom blog posts on your Kindle for $0.99/month right now. With their free trial, that comes out to about $11 per year. Because my newsletter offers a lot more value and additional content that you don’t find on the blog, I figured $10 would be a no-brainer. Plus, I could potentially capture the kindle readers to my own list, since my Kindle subscriber rate is increasing each quarter.

To Ease The Transition

I started the year with an offer for one of my most popular direct sales training courses for $10 – and they’d get a complimentary subscription to the newsletter. I had already promised my existing subscribers free access to the live calls, which start in February, but for $10, they could get access to the downloads, plus get a head start on the program. A healthy number of folks took me up on that offer, and less than 2% of the list unsubscribed, most of which was due to the way MailChimp cleans what they call “hard bounces” (bad email addresses, etc.). Paid opt-ins will greatly reduce the number of bad email addresses on the list in the first place. We more than met the 10 new subscribers per month goal as well. By the end of January, we were averaging a 19.62 open rate, and of those, 30.2% were clicking on the links. With the last newsletter of the month nearly 34% of the folks that opened it, clicked through.

Why Use a Special Offer?

The decision to offer a special price on Direct Sales 101 was two-fold: one, to generate revenue while there was no opt-in form available to add new subscribers. I muddled around with trying to create a workaround for the MailChimp “paid list” feature – which uses Amazon to collect payments. That took longer than I wanted, so instead, I “integrated” the mailing list into the course through the magic of Wishlist Member. That way, when people paid for the course, they’d be automagically imported to the mailing list. That kept revenue flowing while I figured out the workaround behind the scenes. Once the workaround was complete, I could turn off the special offer and go direct to paid opt-in, which I did near the end of the month. Going forward, I now have the workaround in place, so I can use paypal to accept payments for my various MailChimp lists.

You Train People How To Behave

I’ve said before that you train people how to treat you. If you tolerate shoddy work, you’ll get shoddy work. Expect more to get more. That said, I’ve still got a ways to go before I tout these numbers as “solid” by any stretch of the imagination. As the month came to an end, I did away with the special offer for our best-selling program and launched the subscription page as a stand-alone item. Within minutes of posting the page, the first paid subscription came through. I confess, that was incredibly gratifying.

Time will tell if a stand-alone option will continue to produce results. For now, it’s working, and I’ll report back in a few months with updated results.

Phase Two

I’ve already “closed” the mailing list at my personal blog, and started the Beta test for The Pancake Principle – my new course about building a business founded in love. Now that I have the workaround for MailChimp, I can go direct to paid opt-in for the new list, as soon as I have the page finished and the links live. I want the list to be live before I launch the final version of The Pancake Principle.

In February, you’ll see me doing more how-to stuff here at Business Action Hero, as I ready to make the transition to a paid opt-in sometime during March. We’re also planning to launch a podcast series here before Spring, so look for lots of new goodies that will more than justify the $10 subscription fee. By the way, if you sign up now, you’ll avoid having to pay that $10, and still get all the lemony goodness. Just sayin’.

So there you have it. The jury’s still out on the final results, but for me, and the way I do business, it’s working so far. I wouldn’t recommend a paid opt-in if you don’t have the content to back it up, though. I still think a free opt-in tool is a powerful way to spread your message. At some point, however, when you’ve created “enough” content, you might consider the paid opt-in approach.

In my time “on stage” I shared from the heart about how difficult 2011 had been for me, and yet, how changing my perspective was ultimately the one thing that could salvage my life and my business. I challenged everyone in the room to take a closer look at their motivations, and what their life/biz really meant to them.

It was met with rousing applause, and I toyed around with sharing my verbal “manifesto” publicly for a while after I came back home.

Ultimately, I shelved the idea, because I couldn’t figure out exactly the words I wanted to use.

Um, that would be my perfectionism kicking in. I didn’t want to share it until it was “ready.”

That is, until my friend Dave, a high school teacher, and would-be entrepreneur, wrote this post that riled me up enough to want to work it over again.

So here’s the gist of the “What If” speech I gave that date in Atlanta. It’s a work in progress, and ultimately, it will become something more robust, but for now, I just want to share these ideas with you. I’d love your input.

What if…?

To say 2011 was a tough year would be an understatement for me.

It sucked in so many ways. In 2010, I stood here talking about the pain of the breakdown and the breakthrough. This year was also painful, but for different reasons:

I invested a lot into this year: time, energy, money. I also lost a lot this year: closed a business, laid off my assistant, launched multiple products that “failed” (meaning they didn’t make money, or go according to my “master plan”).

People were coming out of the wood work telling me what I was doing “wrong”, telling me what I “should” do, and I stopped trusting my own instincts for a good portion of the year, because I had shifted into survival mode.

Finally, as is wont to happen when you stop trusting yourself, there came a point where I started questioning everything.

• What if this year was a waste?
• What if I’ve been spinning my wheels and ruining my life?
• What if people hate the new direction I want to take?
• What if I can’t find my Perfect-Fit Customers?
• What if I get burned by (insert scenario or person here) again?
• What if I’ll always be fat, unhappy, and… (you get the idea)

“What if.. what if… what if… What would my life be like then?”

I was hurting, and instead of taking time to heal, I was trying to play through the pain. Sometimes, pain is a signal that needs to be heeded.

So many of you are hurting in this exact same way, second-guessing yourself like I did. We ask all the wrong kinds of “what if” questions: the kind that roil our mindset and throw us completely off our track. Questions that don’t serve us, aren’t life giving, and, quite frankly, do more harm than good.

What if, instead, we chose to ask better questions?

There’s a better way to approach being an entrepreneur. Better questions pave the way. Here’s a handful of the questions I jotted down to start asking myself, to kick start my new mindset and my better direction:

“What if (Version 2.0)…?”

• we stopped making excuses, and start making friends?
• we decide to be our own guru?
• we chose “also, and” instead of “either/or”?
• we just want what we want?
• we listened to our own still, small voice, instead of the cacophonous noise around us?
• faith is the antidote to fear?
• we focused on excellence first?
• people spread awesome?
• we choose to spread awesome, too?
• the person sitting next to you has the gift you need and you never said “hi”?
• your solution will save the world, and you chose not to share it because it’s hard, or painful?
• we got comfortable with being uncomfortable?
• we fully lived in our bodies?
• your refusal to let your light shine actually condemns the world?
• your mission is counter-intuitive to the current culture, but it needs to be (someone’s got to shake up the snow globe)?
• you choose to value yourself?
• excellence takes more time for me – and that’s okay?
• we choose to give and receive fully – and accept that sometimes, hurting may be a part of it?
• we accept that we’ll never know it all – and we’re not supposed to?

“What if.. what if… what if… What would my life be like then?”

What if your greatest power was found in being who you really, truly are? That’s what I’ve spent the last 11 months exploring here at Business Action Hero. You can see what I’ve ventured into over at the new blog, and the work we’re doing on this new “TV” series thing. But this is just the beginning of the adventure for me. I’m finally feeling courageous enough to trust my gut again, and ask better questions to get better results. What about you? What are you doing to create the life and business to which you most aspire?

Meaning, it looks and feels like a television program, and you watch it online.

Except I have no clue how to do that. I mean, I can script a play, and I know how to act (here’s an audition video – strong language warning!) and I can sit in front of a camera (I’ve done it dozens of times here). But there’s a distinct difference between filming “talking head” type videos in my kitchen, and doing a full-blown tv show.

There’s other people involved, for crying out lout.

I’ve got to rustle up actors, and a screenwriter (because I’m not going to try to tackle a script all by my lonesome), and camera gear (because my little webcam just won’t cut it, thanks), and people to run those cameras.

Now, I could take a cue from @edward_norton, whose last film “Newlyweds” cost just under $9k to shoot (and another $100k or so in post-production), but I’m not nearly as connected as Ed, nor do I have $100k just lying around to make it happen.

So what’s a girl to do?

Well, before we go there, let’s ask a more important question:

Why in the name of all things holy would you want to make a TV show, Lisa?

Thanks for asking! Actually, the short answer is I don’t want to make it. I feel compelled to make it. In fact, I’m not even sure if I can make it. But I’ve been inspired to give this thing a go.

For a long time, I’ve believed that a compelling drama is more like Shakespeare – where there are plenty of funny moments, and even the minor characters have complications. The characters aren’t two-dimensional, and it’s more like real life.

And, of course, I wanted to do something that would benefit entrepreneurs. I wanted to create something that would actually serve the world, not just “entertain” in some mindless, Hollywood drama kind of way.

I want to create partnerships: with artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, business owners, and of course the talented folks that actually make up the cast and crew of the show.

In short, I want to create a symbiotic edutainment ecosystem: one that lives and breathes and benefits everyone involved. Where the sponsors aren’t found in commercials, but as integral components to the story line itself. Where the viewers are actively involved in shaping the direction of the show – and even appearing on screen from time to time.

I’m no futurist, but to me, this is the direction that television needs to go. So-called reality television is nothing more than a modern-day game show, and the outcomes are often a known quantity.

I want to create something that blurs the lines between reality and television so much, that you’re not quite sure what’s real anymore – something that gets you caught up in it – and you actually become a part of the show.

You know how, in the movies, a phone number it’s always “555-xxxx” because if you call the number you’ll get an automated “this number’s not in service” kind of recording? They tried to use a “real number” in Bruce Almighty – and a lot of people tried calling it, wanting to talk to God.

Well, what if we could use real numbers and have real people on the other end – driving real commerce to real businesses, and engaging people in real conversations with real people?

Yeah. THAT. That’s just the tip of the iceberg with what I want to do with this project.

And it’s starting to take shape. Kinda scary cool.

Which brings us back to the original question:

How do you make something happen when you don’t know how to do it?

Short answer: You learn. You study. You practice. And you put yourself “out there” and see what happens.

That’s what I did when I decided I wanted to record an album (I’ve done two now, working on my third). I learned how to build a synthesizer, play instruments, engineer the recording, mix the tracks, design the cover, and press the discs. And that’s a knowledge that can never be taken away from me, no matter how many discs or downloads I sell. And that knowledge is transferable to other people and situations. I learned about marketing my music, getting “gigs” and touring. All valuable stuff when you’re building a production company and getting your show into the hands of thousands of fans.

So I’m researching, asking people to point me in new directions. I’m creating a whole new academic pursuit for myself, as I learn what even goes into a screenplay (it’s not the same as a stage play, which is where I’m more familiar). I’m approaching musicians and learning about music licensing from the OTHER side of the microphone now.

And every step along the way, I’m pleading my ignorance and trusting people to not screw me over. Trusting that God’s going to point me in the right direction to talk to the right people and make the right decisions.

Without much of a net.

Wanna watch?

Every so often, I’ll be posting updates here on this crazy new journey. It’s a business, after all. We’ll explore the business elements of making this show happen – from crowdsourcing, to approaching “untouchables” and the like – I’ll be covering it here as we go. If you’re intrigued by the show, you can follow @iamthemechanic on twitter now, and see how it all unfolds. Actually, that account is for one of the characters in the show, just one of the interactive elements of the program.

I’m thrilled to be living in a time where technology makes this kind of creativity possible. I have no idea how it’s all going to turn out. This is me, crossing the threshold and trusting the journey with the friends I make along the way.

And I hope I get to include you among those fine folks.

What about you? What are you saying “I can’t” to – but only because you don’t know how? What would you do if you knew how? Why aren’t you doing it?

The irony is that this guy has at least twice as many fans and followers as I do.

But as we talked, it became clear that for Jake, it wasn’t really about getting more speaking gigs – it was about getting in front of his right people – the folks I call Perfect Fit Customers.

Who’s your PFC?

As we chatted, I shared with him bits and pieces of my Sales Cycle concept, but it felt like we were talking around the real issue, instead of getting to the meat of it. Finally, Jake made an almost off-handed comment about exactly who he’d like to work with. He said it so matter-of-factly, it almost came off like an aside.

As if to say, “I’d really prefer to work with these people, but I’m too busy doing grunt work to ever make that happen.”

Sound familiar?

Yeah. It’s that moment in a conversation that can be more telling than you even realize. That phrase that you kind of blow off as you say it probably carries more weight in your psyche than you’re willing to admit.

“Whoa… hold on.. back up a minute.” I said. “What did you just say?”

Again, Jake told me exactly the kind of client he preferred working with. It was so crystal clear, I had a hard time understanding why he wasn’t working with more people like that. I mean, it sounded like he’d put some real thought into it, not just a general industry, but a specific market within that industry.

So, because I’m kind of obtuse like that, I asked him this tough question (I’m probably paraphrasing, but you get the idea):

“If you know that you want to work with people like that, why aren’t you trying to connect with more people like that?”

…And a hush fell over the crowd.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how. It wasn’t that he didn’t know anyone. Jake had just never taken that market seriously. He was caught up in what he was already doing, and missing the opportunity to go after the PFC’s that he really wanted to work with.

How This Applies To You

So often, we go after what we’re familiar with – what we already know – because it’s comfortable. At least, that is, until it’s not so comfortable anymore. I know a guy that was comfortably making easy money with an email list. He admitted he could have stayed in his comfort zone indefinitely simply because it paid the bills. BUT because he had his sights set on something bigger, he ultimately had to burn the list (no turning back now!), retooled his marketing, and developed a killer business working with his PFC’s in a much more lucrative way.

So here’s Jake, a guy with an amazing gift for content development, marketing, and strategy, yet he couldn’t see the forest, because he had his back to it, staring at the city.

He was comfortable in his local niche, but he was speaking to the same folks month after month. People that had already heard his talk – maybe even a few times. He wasn’t generating business because he wasn’t talking to his PFC’s -nor was he really trying to connect with people in a way that would lead him to his PFC’s (because he wasn’t really considering his PFC’s seriously).

As soon as he saw what he was missing, my work was, essentially done. He had plenty to keep him busy for a month of Sundays.

The Lesson: Never Underestimate The Power of Your PFC

You may have daydreamed about a potential market, or worked briefly with someone you THINK could be your PFC, but because you’ve got other irons in the fire, you really haven’t given it a second thought. You might not think much of a market you haven’t already pursued relentlessly, even if you think you might enjoy working with them.

That kind of “non-thinking” is a sure-fire way to keep spinning your wheels, generating lackluster results.

Take some time to really contemplate/meditate/marinate on who you really LOVE working with. For me, it’s action-oriented entrepreneurs – especially creative, innovative types. I seem to have a knack for connecting the dots in a different way that allows them to see the parts of the picture they may have been missing. Those missing pieces usually translate into more money, more time or more (insert dream here).

What is that person for you? I’d love it if you’d share in the comments. Who knows? You might just find your PFC’s are reading this post looking for you!