Okay, the exclamation point in the title is not entirely sincere. I am up early to write this because I was too tired to do it after launching the Customer Love Machine course last night. So even though I’m truly excited about beginning another challenge, I’m not quite in exclamation point mode yet. But I’m getting there.
Maybe you’re feeling the same? A wee bit nervous, perhaps? That’s good – it means you care. You’ve made a commitment to see the Customer Love challenge through to the finish, and you intend to keep it. But how many times have you made some big, public promise only to fizzle out? I know you’re worrying about that, because I worry about it all the time. I’ve been through that routine so many times I even quit trying for a while.
It’s scary to think that might happen again, I know. It might be tempting to go with the fear thing: I’m scared to death I’ll screw up again, so I’ll let that fear motivate me and hope it carries me through to the finish. It won’t. Trust me, I know. Plus: fear is a miserable emotion to live in. Don’t use it as your motivation.
Use love instead.
February is Valentine’s Month, after all (I hereby declare it Valentine’s for the whole MONTH because one day set aside for love is not enough.) Using love as your motivation will see you through the tough spots when fear is kicking your ass. Just think of the customers you love, and the business you’ve fallen in love with, and even you. Yes, you can love yourself. I give you permission.
Do this out of love for yourself.
Whenever I want to revert to my old habit of leaving the dishes until morning, I think, Do your future self a favor, LaVonne. She’ll thank you for it. And when my future self wakes up to empty sinks and clean countertops, she does thank me and I feel all warm inside. Plus I don’t have to do dishes before I can eat. Sweet!
It’s like that: Do your future self a favor.
And remember that you now have the most unbelievably encouraging support network of your life.
All you have to do to tap into the love stream is to follow the Twitter hashtag #customerlove, and use it in your tweets so others find you. Join the #customerlove tweetchats on Tuesdays (that’s today!) at 3pm PT/6pm ET/11pm GMT and Sundays at 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm GMT.
Or go check out the Customer Love Forum.
Say you’re scared, if that’s how you feel, and then sit back and enjoy the love. Say you’re having trouble with X, and watch as your fellow challengers rally around to help you. Spot someone else with a question you can answer, and answer it.
Helping others is the absolute best way to forget your fear, so do that. Your customers will love you for it.
Now go! Love your customers!
But first! Leave a comment below and tell me this: what is your commitment to yourself for this challenge? I’d love to know. 🙂
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I’m ready this time – or at least I think I am 🙂
I’m going to help anyone I can and have a great tool ready at the end of February. I’m even announcing it, in advance, in Wednesday’s post!
Go! Love Customers!
Go YOU! Can’t wait for Wedneday to find out that handy tool you’ve got planned! 🙂
The committment to myself is to crush any self-doubt that might stop me reaching as many people as I can with my February offer. I’m going to promise myself that wheneve I get a little niggle, I’m going to read the testimonials I’ve printed out from the pre-launch and realise I owe it to my customers to start spreading my message.
(I’m also going to let people know about the free goodies I’m giving away too!)
That’s a great idea, Amy: printing out your testimonials and keeping them nearby to read when self-doubt creeps in.
Ooh! Ooh! Free goodies!
My commitment to myself is to stand up and say, “Here I am!” and invite people to come along.
To cherish the flame I’ve lit and not blow it out with huffing and puffing and hyperventilating. 🙂 To build that fire and invite people to come sit around it and join in the story telling and question asking.
I love it, Susan. Looking forward to sitting around the fire and listening to the story telling and question asking. 🙂
I have to stop letting life thow everything it’s got at me this month and follow thru anyway. I don’t know how but I have to do it. I’ve been given to many chances and I NEED to come thru for me if no one else.
Kimi, I think you’re being too hard on yourself. Sometimes when life throws everything it’s got at us, we need to give ourselves the space and time to deal with that and not feel like we’re failing somehow. You can still get where you want to go, but there’s a reason for rest stops.
I am committed to 100 Acts of Love this month. Big or small, it doesn’t matter. My first act of love was to launch my free eBook on February 1. Then, I’m giving away a book a day (I’m the author of three books). And I’m going to be reaching out to people in other ways to make myself more accessible. Oh, and creating a product to launch March 1–Whew!
Go, Christy! This is gonna be an awesome month!
I made some pretty big goals for this month. They are pretty unattainable and they will devour my free time, but I have a plan broken down into tiny easy to swallow morsels. It’s so crazy it might actually come together. I am feeling like an apocalyptic biker chick from an 80’s movie and I am ready to roll.
My commitment is to love my customers, and communicate how much I LOOOOOVE to make comics for them because, well, I want to love them. My first act of love is to make a new comic every hour, in solidarity with my friends in the comics community who are participating in the Hourly Comics Day (which happens to be today.) I am gonna make my first ever comic e-book (it will be something simple) and I will do something REALLY scary: I will share it with them… in their turf. AND, I have made a pledge to read all of their HCD comics and give them feedback. After all, you need to give love unconditionally, in order to receive love, or so I’ve heard. 😀
My other goal: to have my first ever profitable webcomic-related product launch that doesn’t involve a convention, by giving people a chance to know what I am about.
No pressure. *Faints*
Lavonne – I’ve been consistently giving my future self gifts for the past week. Each time I look at my dishes in the evening I think of you … and always do them up… My morning self is so happy and relieved that even though I’m getting up early with my toddler, my kitchen’s clean.
Now – I’m clear, clean, focused for my day…and can actually give love to my customers SOOO much more easily and naturally.
Anne, that is awesome! Thanks for coming back to tell me that little trick works for you – AND it’s helping you love your customers: win-win!