By Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

Last week I had the honor of having SmartWoman Guides critiqued by a high level professional blogger. I will be sharing that audio interview with you very soon, but I wanted to share some of my take-aways from it. It was a little scary, but very helpful.

Much of what was said during my blog critique felt uncomfortable. I was encouraged to take a more prominent position in my niche marketplace, to become a full-fledged voice in the female entrepreneur community. I was, in the language of my beloved mother, encouraged to stop hiding my light under a bushel. Let it shine, he told me, let it shine!

I was also told that my current blogging approach and layout is unlikely to actually accomplish my mission of empowering and facilitating the beginning female entrepreneur. Ouch. My mystery blogger friend said my content is great, but the attention path of my blog is too unfocused to walk a new entrepreneur through an organized learning process. Okay, praising the quality of the content made it sting a little less, but still….ouch.

Am I the only one who squirms when they have to put themselves “out there”? Am I the only one who chooses to hide behind community building rather than become a pronounced leader? Am I the only one who desires something so passionately yet doesn’t relish the idea of being so forward?

The greater question, is this  – am I going to let my discomfort stop me from achieving my mission?  And, I can say definitely, NO. My website design is already under way, including development of a custom, SmartWoman product series, and I am using what I was told to grow and improve.

What about you? Are you open to honest feedback? When you get it, do you linger in the negative, hurtful side of truth telling, or do you use it to improve? Oh, we all say that we’re open, but do you take action on your newfound insights? Or do you perhaps say that you are going to keep doing what you’re doing, hoping for a different result.

Action is the true litmus test of whether you take feedback and use it effectively. To be able to take action on the feedback you receive, there are a few important things to consider.

First, you need to work with someone you trust as an authority, who is compassionate and respectful.  Feedback doesn’t come out of a bashing session. Helpful feedback reflects the upside of what you are doing and highlights ways to improve. Anyone who berates your personality, ridicules your ideas, or fails to recognize and encourage the quality of your efforts and sincerity is not a coach – they’re an abuser and need to be avoided. “No pain, no gain” doesn’t really apply. Sure, you might feel some emotional discomfort because your familiar comfort zones are being examined, but the feedback should not be outright painful.

Second, you need to listen to and trust your own intuition. If the suggestions you’re given don’t quite resonate, try to distill down the essential idea out of the suggested solution and find another way to implement it. Creativity can do wonders if you are open to alternatives. Rejecting a thought out of hand just because the approach isn’t quite how you’d do it shuts down creativity. Strive to respond to new ideas with more of a “That’s interesting…how could I best apply that idea?” mindset.

Third, take action! Use momentum in your favor. A body in motion tends to continue moving, so get moving! Talking and thinking about it must lead to doing. Don’t waste time examining why you didn’t think of that, or how you could have missed something so obvious, or any of that second guessing we all tend to do to ouselves. Take the feedback gift you’ve been given and let it help you. Allow it to change you.

I will publish the audio as soon as I get it and reveal my mystery blogger friend.  Until then, enjoy your business and enjoy your life! Watch for the new SmartWoman Guides redesign coming soon.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me at http://twitter.com/smartwoman

As a professional entrepreneur, it’s important to hear what your market is telling you. Even if it hurts your feelings, or is an unexpected reaction, or you don’t quite understand it, you have to listen and respond as appropriate. Your audience knows what they want and you must respect that.

For the last week or so, I added an opt-in gift report for female entrepreneurs. Many clicked on the link to see it yet very few downloaded it. Several women who did have told me they enjoyed it very much, but I feel disappointed that so many didn’t even try it. 

For the record, I believe in a zero tolerance SPAM policy. I do not share, sell, or rent my contacts. I am a die hard advocate for permission-only based marketing. I do not want you to feel anything other than confidence, joy and anticipation when you visit this community.

So, why did my report not get downloaded?

• It could be a matter of trust–perhaps I have not built enough trust yet with my audience for them to believe I would not mishandle their personal information.
• It could be a matter of value–perhaps the perceived value of the offered gift was not sufficient to compensate my audience for what they felt were giving.
• It could be a matter of relevance–perhaps what I was writing wasn’t pertinent to those visiting.
• It could be….something else that I have not identified.

Truth is, I don’t know for sure. But, I know I need to do something to fix it. And, I would highly recommend that, if you have a product, service, or offer that hasn’t worked out like you’d hoped, that you take a moment to adapt to what your market is telling you and fix it as well.

To be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to ask the tough questions. Even as painful as it might be to see something you created fail, you have to be willing to respond to the feedback you receive. You are doing yourself and your clients a great disservice if you don’t.

In the spirit of building trust and providing value, I have made my report available without having to provide your name and email, in case that was a contributing factor. Simply click on the link below to read the report.

The Emerging Woman Entrepreneurs Top 10 Questions to Ask (and Answer) Today 

I hope you enjoy it. I intended it to be useful. I sincerely hope it adds value to your experience, but you’ll have to decide that for yourself. I am open to hearing all feedback. Let me know what you think so I can grow, ok? I’d be grateful for your help.

Thank you for visiting here. I could not do what I do without you.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

p.s. If any of the readers here went to the report page and decided not to sign up, I’d be delighted to know why. You can email me privately or post here. It’s important to me that I provide trust, value, and relevance here. Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged.