Soul Proprietor - The return of the one-on-one

Go big. Bigger. “Leverage your time” with group programs. Get rid of dollars for hours. Be unapproachable. Get a virtual assistant and turn all of your communication over to her. You don’t have time for the little people.

No, this is not Leona Helmsley – it’s standard advice given to online entrepreneurs (well, maybe not the little people comment but you get the gist).

It may indeed be good advice…for some.

In my line of work though, it doesn’t really wash. I pretty much dismissed this advice but watched plenty of other people go on to create “signature programs” where they could charge top dollar and have as little face time as possible with individuals.

These big group programs mushroomed and blossomed.

People seemed to love the group interactions – and in some cases, these groups became lively hubs of social interaction with strong networking. Some people came out of those online classes and went on to create…more group programs where they sold the same stuff and spoke the same lingo. It became hard to tell them apart.

Six figures and fifty thousand dollar launches later….and a funny thing begins to happen.

Groups started to lose their allure. Instead of feeling like “community”, they became hotbeds of “political” activity with too much self-promotion. Often the loud and the whinier people would bogart all the precious little time in the “group call sessions” which left introverts like myself sitting back and getting very little. I would simply go off and work through the program material myself without participating. I wasn’t the only one.

Behind the scenes, people were grumbling. And investing less of their money.

These bigger programs were becoming harder to sell. Some were struggling to fill their programs. Instead of selling out, they were barely filling those spots. With so many other people offering the same thing, potential clients were overwhelmed.

What was selling: more one-on-one work. INTIMACY. Smaller groups. Boutique businesses that catered to the individual. Offerings created specifically for the needs of the client. Customer service that really cared. Coaches and teachers who made that extra effort to reach out rather than passing people off to some assistant. Small is big now and one-on-one is returning with a vengeance.

Why? It’s because people are craving that personal touch. They want to be SEEN and heard and cared for – not just some number in a room too crowded to breathe.

For those of us who never gave up on one-on-one, we’ve got work coming out of our ears. Not kidding.

My advice for those who are still running the big group format, rethink your method of operation. Have your signature big dollar group programs if you like but step forward and be more personal.

Be intentional.

Be intimate.

BE PRESENT.

Offer more of you to a smaller circle.

Intimacy is the new black. Pass it on.

Blessings,

Theresa