What things are holding you back from becoming a famous, multi-millionare, Queen of the Universe? For my own story, I think it boils down to the fact that I am afraid to fail. I ask myself every, single, day, "What if it doesn't work out?" And gosh it is exhausting. The truth is, I do fail. A lot. But failure is such a large part of growing and learning, and I let the fear of the FEELING OF FAILURE, control me. 

Obviously, I am self-aware enough to know what one of my biggest chackles in business is, and I still let it hold me from time to time. Why? Because changing is very hard. My self-awareness though, has allowed me to see the world in a new way this last year, and I have tried to lean into the fear, every chance I got! And it's paid off, big time! 

It is important for me to note, I am not "cured" of my fear, not even close. But I see it for what it is. And I make decisions to push through, even though I am afraid (most of the time--sometimes I still chicken out--but we're focusing on the positives today!).

My Personal Revalation:

A few weeks ago, as every nearly 30, just quit her full-time job that she thought she'd be doing for the rest of her life to pursue a dream, slightly chemically imbalanced women does, I had a melt-down. I realized that doing what I am doing, just wasn't filling my heart, and my wallet, the way I wanted it to. So I spiraled. Looking for every open position near me. And then had another meltdown because there was no way I would like doing ANY of them, more than I did teaching. So, that meant, I probably made an earth shattering mistake quitting my teaching job. It's not easy, being this talented at overthinking, I can assure you. 

So as I was in this full spiral downwards, I started asking everyone I could, for advice. I started listening to podcasts instead of sleeping, because obviously the advice from others was more important..jokes. But in the midst of the chaois, and the 2am podcast sessions, I found the Boss Babe podcasts, and a little piece of their advice stuck with me. If I couldn't get out of bed, because I was too afraid of not knowing all the answers, there was no way, a customer was going to make it through check out if they didn't have their questions answered. They didn't put it exactly like this, but it was the version I heard. 

So, I have started trying to incorporate more Q & A's with large projects because I don't want people to feel uncertain about the product or services they are getting! This is a challenging process; I know everything there is about each of my products, but I have a really hard time seeing them from the customer's perspective. It is interesting, this is a skill they taught us as teachers- Answer the questions for the students before they ask them, in order to avoid worries and confusion, and it makes sense. Anyways, I have started posting prompts on my IG stories, and Blog posts about "Ask me questions about this", as a way to get the juices flowing! As I said last week, always turn to "your people" and serve their needs! 

Using Q & A's to Help your Customers Reach the Finish Line:

As I stated above, often times customers will find a product they like, get all the way to check out, and then abandon their cart. And from a small business stand point, it is so frustrating! Most of the time, we will never find out why people do this, but I do know that one of the biggest reasons: because they have unanswered questions. 

I recently polled some of my friends to find out why they abandon carts, and here is the questions they had: 

1. What is the return policy if this doesn't work out for me? 

2. What does the item fit like? I'm between sizes and never know. 

3. What kind of paper material is this product made of? I prefer thicker paper, and can't tell from pictures. 

4. What size is the product? The listing doesn't say. 

5. How long is the processing and shipping time for the order? 

6. What do certain pages look like? I want to know this will suit my needs. 

7. Why is shipping so expensive? 

These are just some of the questions we came up with--but they're all valuable points! Now ask yourself, what kinds of questions might your customers have that is stopping them from checking out? If you aren't sure, ask them! 

Once you have your questions, you can use them in a couple different ways. 

 Make a Q & A Page on your Website: 

This is an effective and relatively easy way to answer common questions! My advice would be to start a running page of all of the questions you have gotten asked over 3 times. As more questions arise, add them to your list! 

I use this especially with returns and shipping questions!

Add Common Questions to each Product's Listing: 

 Various products will have different questions (a Tshirt is going to bring very different questions from a custom planner). So adding all of these questions to your main Q&A Page, might not work best. 

I try to address common questions in my product descriptions. I often won't phrase them as "Q&A's" but I am putting the answers to questions, right in the descriptions. I also will include shipping variations, for that product, if it is different than the typical product. 

Most important, just be aware that your customers are leaving potentially, because they aren't sure if the product will work for them. So, to combat that particular reason, I suggest incorporating your answers, wherever you can! 

Answering Questions About The Saddle Shoppe Talk-Small Business Workshop:

I would expect there to be a lot of questions in regards to the workshop I will be hosting in April--Lord knows I have them! But I want to do what I can to help ease some of those concerns for you! It is important to me that you feel both excited and safe in your registation; I know it is my first time hosting a small business workshop, but it is no where near my first time creating a "lesson" and delivering it to a group--you are in capable and excited hands! 

What's Next?

I was in a real story telling mood today, if you couldn't tell. I hope that my personal fears and confessions, allow you to see me for what I am: A passionate, quirky, persistant, and authentic person who wants you to feel UNDERSTOOD and WANTED here! Because you are! 

So what is next? Well, the only thing left to do, is ask yourself: Do I want to take the chance, to grow, learn and make connections through The Saddle Shoppe Workshop? What if I succeed because I continue to push myself into the fear? 

If the answer is yes, Thank you. It means more to me than you will ever know that you are ready to take this leap with me! And don't forget registration tickets go on sale Friday the 17th at 5pm--I don't want you to miss out!