How Big is Your But?

No, not that thing you’re sitting on
The thing that’s strangling your revenue

As I work with entrepreneurs and solo professionals to develop their audio products, multimedia marketing and passive revenue streams, I’m confronted with a shocking reality:

Just about everyone has a but that is way, way too big.
And its killing their business.

Now before you write me a nasty note or reach for the protein shakes, let me explain. The truth is, some of the biggest, fattest, most troublesome buts are on folks in great shape, who can still fit into the jeans they wore in college.

The bad news is that you can’t see this big but in a mirror. Its invisible, even though its sucking the life from your potential revenue.

The good news: it doesn’t take strenuous exercise or painful dieting to get rid of your big fat but. You can lose it tomorrow.

The but I’m talking about, is the first thing out of your mouth when you tell me why you haven’t created the audio product, program or marketing piece you’ve been spewing about for years. Its the but that seems perfectly logical to you, but has everyone shaking their heads and rolling their eyes as soon as you turn your back.

Here are a few of them. (You may want to get the kids out of the room). These are really big, fat ugly buts:

I really want to make my audio product . . .

1. BUT I can ONLY write my script in the mornings, and I take the kids to school in the mornings.
2. BUT I have to do my taxes.
3. BUT I don’t know what to talk about.
4. BUT I don’t know if its good enough yet
5. BUT I have to go to the chiropractor
   
   And of course the biggest fattest, ugliest one of all:
   
   
6. BUT I just changed my mind on what I REALLY want to record (for the eighth time in the last two months).

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. These are buts of frightening proportions. And the problem is, even though they’re strangling the life from your potential profits, you’re holding onto them for dear life. From personal experience I know, you separate someone from their big fat but at your peril.

The problem with fat ugly buts is you’re infusing them with the very same energy you could be using to get past them. You’re more attached to them than to the revenue you could be make by getting over them. And your but is putting your goals in danger by:

• Diffusing the electricity and juice from your product dreams
• Giving you permission to quit.

And the real kicker: your big ugly but may be the key to unprecedented success. Simply take the energy you’re investing in your but and turn it around. Change the “but” in your excuse to “because” and you can have everything you want.

Example #1:
Your big hairy “BUT I can’t create a profitable audio because I work 50 hours a week” could become your “How I created a profitable audio product holding down a full-time job and how you can too” product.

Example #2:
Your big hairy “BUT I can’t be successful because I’m too neurotic” becomes “I can become amazingly successful BECAUSE I’m neurotic.” I can name a ton of stand-up comedians who have made a career from their shortcomings.

Example #3:
Your big hairy “BUT I can’t create audio because my voice is crummy” becomes “People will love my audio because of my crazy voice.” Honestly, would Dr. Ruth have been half as successful without that squealy accent? (Gut zecks!)

Admit it: you’re madly in love with your fat ugly but, regardless of how much pain you say its causing you. And until you become more attached to your dream than your excuses, your big but is only going to grow bigger.

Kinda like Pinocchio’s nose.

Now here’s the good news. Getting rid of your but ain’t rocket science. In fact you could do it tomorrow. Here’s how:

Cop to what you really want

Lots of folks SAY they have trouble figuring out what they want, or what product to create. I don’t buy that. You know exactly what you want. The problem is its too juicy, or too decadent or too selfish. You’d actually be good at it, and God knows, we can’t have that.

Author Rick Jarrow says (and I’m paraphrasing) a race car driver who loves what they do is helping the world more than the volunteer salving the wounds of the poor who hates what they do.

You probably aren’t Mother Teresa. Join the club. Stop pretending you want what you really don’t want. We all see through that. The only one you’re fooling is yourself.

Who loves ya, baby?

Or precisely, who loves what you love? Get clear on who they are, and where they hang out in large numbers, where you can reach a slew of them without a lot of effort. Find out what their biggest challenges are, create a product that solves them, and put it in front of this hungry horde. Once you realize just how successful this strategy will be, your but may dissolve of its own weight.

Do what you do best and love most

If you get juiced leading teleseminars, guess what? That a good clue as to how you should create your products. You’ll make more of them, and it won’t hurt a bit. If you hate to write, that’s a good clue as to how you should NOT create your products. I’m constantly stunned by folks who insist on doing painful things to create their products. And after two years wonder why they haven’t gotten anything done.

If you want to be in pain, get a job. Its easier and you can’t beat the benefits. If you’re going to be in business for yourself, you might as well have fun doing it. And you can’t do that doing what you despise.

So, if you’re still with me, and haven’t unsubscribed (and maybe smiled a bit) your but may already be half the size it was 5 minutes ago. (Check it out – we won’t look). Because the happy truth is you created your big fat but. And you can get rid of it.

Without dieting. Without exercise. Simply by getting over yourself and getting on with it. Honest.