Hearing What Isn't Being Said

Welcome to Week #1

Hi there ASBL friends and welcome to week #1!

This quote really clicked for me.

Much more can be heard, if we just listen to what isn’t being said.

It’s so simple, yet so powerful, and it’s something that helped me with a new phase of my business…

A year and a half ago, I started thinking about creating a membership community, for women in small business.

I wasn’t entirely sure what it would look like, but I knew exactly what I DIDN’T want-

• awkward introductions

• mandatory/high pressure networking

• long, boring presentations

• unrelatable/useless information

Now, I’ve been to enough in person and online meetings to know what all of that feels like and it’s not great - feels like you’re the new kid in class, mixed with being the last one picked for the team all rolled into one unpleasant acne-covered experience.

No thanks!

I definitely didn’t want any of my members feeling this way.

So, I did more research on what makes a good meeting, even taking an immersive 3-day course on how to conduct meetings. This course showed me that the job of a good facilitator is to make everyone feel seen and heard.

Yes!

Armed with this new perspective, I decided to make a list of things I DID want for my membership-

• everyone to feel like they have an equal voice

• to feel like they matter to the group

• to have networking happen organically, if it feels like a good fit

• to have everyone “experience” a meeting instead of just sitting and listening

• to have the information be of value to the group

• to have members feel like they belong in this group

• to dig deeper and discover the person behind the business

Yes, yes!!

This list felt like a great beginning, but I had to keep the ball rolling…

The next step in my research was talking to some friends and customers from my other business, Essential Packaging, that were my target demographic of 40+ year old women in small business.

The important thing when asking my questions was to “hear” what they weren’t saying-

• they needed someone who understands what they’re going through (lack of community, loneliness)

• they didn’t know where to look for credible information they needed (lack of support)

• challenged in learning “new things” like social media and tech (fear of being judged, “too old”)

I heard all this loud and clear and it confirmed, I was on the right track!

Then, I decided to put together a Mastermind group that’ll meet in a couple of weeks. I’ll be sharing my membership model with them and gather their responses.

So grateful for my test group!

This part makes me equally excited AND nervous - I can’t wait to show them the unique aspect of this membership community AND I hope I can clearly explain the vision that’s living in my brain.

Wish me luck!

Ok, you’re probably thinking, why is she sharing all this?

Well, there are 2 reasons-

1. Be open to “hearing” what isn’t being said - that’s where the magic is and it’s where you can make your business something truly amazing!

2. If this sounds like a community you’d like to be a part of, then I invite you to sign up for the membership waitlist!

Thanks so much for being here and taking time to read my newsletter!

You can connect with me and A Small Business Life here as well-

Have a great rest of your week and I’ll catch you here next Tuesday,

Anna