Going into emergency mode

So my car died yesterday. At least I think so… I have to get it towed to the shop to be sure, but it doesn’t look good – or cheap – either way.

I was waiting for Susan Johnstone‘s weekly Wisdom of Your Resistance call to start when I learned that said vehicle, driven by my son, had died on the freeway. He’s okay but the car is not, and I freaked out because I have no way to pay for what looks like a very expensive repair job.

In my panic, I completely forgot about the call. Too bad, I could have used Susan’s calming voice.

Now I’m trying to use this minor crisis [and I know it's minor as crises go: no one is dead or in the hospital] as motivation to push through my resistance/fear and do whatever it takes to earn enough cash, fast, to get my wheels back. [If I was younger and healthier, I'd go back to riding the bus and my bike -- did that for 7 years -- but I'm just not up to it physically any more. Not to mention that I'm still on crutches after re-injuring my foot last week.]

Last night, I was all gung-ho.

I contacted a few people, tweeted, brainstormed, and came up with a plan. I felt confident that I can do this.

But this morning? Not so much. I’m back in panic mode and my mind is going off in all directions at once.

I need a road map of the exact steps required to solve this problem.

That would calm me down a lot and help me resist tempting distractions and going off on unproductive tangents. [Some resistance is a good thing!] So here are the next steps I need to take:

1. Record a voice coaching video that includes everything I’ve been saying in my coaching sessions, minus the personalized stuff.
2. Record half a dozen or more MP3′s of vocal exercises.
3. Create a PDF tip sheet.
4. Set up a voice coaching mailing list, and contact all previous clients to ask them to opt in.
5. Rewrite my sales page to offer two tiers — the recordings and tip sheet for DIY’ers at a lower price, and the whole package including a session with me for a higher price.

This is what I’ve been procrastinating about for several weeks now, but I no longer have time for angst. Time to get moving. I’m setting a deadline for myself of this Monday, August 30.

After I finish all of that, I’ll need to promote it — hard.

Another opportunity for epic procrastination! But no time for angst now. Here’s the general plan for promotion:

1. Ask everybody I know to help. Help!
2. Contact bloggers with bigger lists than mine [um, that would be everybody] about doing a JV [joint venture], where they would offer my services to their lists in return for an affiliate cut.
3. Promote my services in the Third Tribe forums [which, ironically, I was planning to cancel to save $ -- good thing I haven't done that yet!]
4. And [gulp] start doing guest posts like crazy. I think this one scares me the most.

One really good thing about all of this?

Being forced to face these fears at last is kind of a relief. I’m even looking forward to it, almost. Sort of. I know I’ll regret saying that, but it’s true. Kind of.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention my target market, which my Group Mentorship forum buddies helped me finally figure out last night: coaches! Of course! Who else do I hang out with? And don’t coaches, um, use their VOICES for a living? Yup. Perfect.

So, what do you think of my plan? Any and all ideas, suggestions, criticisms and encouragement gratefully accepted.

Photo by Cindy Siegle

LaVonne Ellis

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