Did you know that women get paid $.79 cents for every dollar a man earns?

That means if a man earns $65,000 annually, a woman in the same role earns only $52,000. If a man earns $100,000, a woman in a similar position only earns $80,000.

The pay gap is a big issue.

The solution? Start your own business.

Women are now starting businesses 1.5 times faster than men. Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the best ways to close the pay gap and get paid what you’re worth.

Women are rising up all around the world to claim their value. We also want the freedoms that come with having our own businesses: setting our own schedule so we can work from home and be there for our kids; replacing a crazy commute with a walk down the hall to our home office; and being the visionary who calls the shots.

Women are not victims any longer to the pay gap. We have the opportunity right now to start businesses that are financially successful and an expression of our passions and our purpose.

I went from being a schoolteacher in Iowa to building a million dollar company. I know it can be a scary and exciting leap. And it is one worth making.

One of the biggest challenges most women face in building their own business is selling their services. When I first started my business, I hated selling. I almost threw up before my first enrollment conversation. Yet I quickly realized that in order to be successful, I had to find a way to embrace sales. I had to get over my judgments about “selling” in order to earn the income and make the impact I desired.

I trained with amazing leaders and adapted all that I learned to create an approach to sales that works, and is based on feminine principles. I’ve now earned millions of dollars and reached over 100,000 conscious women entrepreneurs using my 5 Principles of Feminine Business.

If you’re thinking of starting a business, or already have, and you hate sales, too, these are for you. I believe these principles will make all the difference in your ability to change your mindset about sales and fall so deeply in love with marketing that you’ll become a feminine sales ninja!

Feminine Business Principle #1: Honesty Sells

The absolute secret to becoming effective and authentic at selling is to be honest and up front. If you’re already in business for yourself, or you’re about to be, acknowledge that you are a professional. You have products and services for sale. There’s nothing wrong with this, so tell the truth about it.

Potential customers don’t get offended because you have something for sale. They get offended if you’re pushy or unclear. If you’re unsure of yourself, your potential customer could lose trust in you. Minimizing yourself and your services doesn’t help. Your potential clients want to know that you believe in your product and that you think it’s great. They’ll respond when you’re honest, straightforward, and confident.

Feminine Business Principle #2: Sales is About Service

Conscious selling is an energy exchange between two people who trust each other’s inherent goodness. When you approach sales as a service, you can bypass the slimy salesperson story. So, anytime you’re preparing to share what you do with someone at a party or BBQ, or when you’re stepping into a selling conversation or putting together your marketing materials, ask yourself, “How can I be of the highest service to the people on the receiving end of what I’m creating?”

Feminine Business Principle #3: To Ignore Urgency is to Serve Fewer People and to Sell Less

As women, we don’t want to force or push people into anything, and we know that as consumers, we don’t like having time constraints when making a big financial decision. Yet, how many times have you made a buying decision because there was a deadline, discount, or special of some sort? We’ve all bought because of special incentives; human nature is simply programmed that way.

If the incentive hadn’t been there, you might not have bought at all. That’s because none of us like to change or evolve. We’re more comfortable with what’s familiar. And when we invest a large amount of money in something, it’s a big change that takes us out of our comfort zone.

If you want to grow a successful business, you need to embrace urgency. Remember: That isn’t the same thing as stress or pressure. It’s simply an incentive to try something new.

Feminine Business Principle #4: Selling Can Be a Sacred Form of Self-Expression

Selling really can be an art form and an opportunity for you to put your creativity into your marketing materials in a nourishing and joyful way. It’s your chance to design, choosing colors, fonts, and graphics. Make it fun, and make your marketing a reflection of your soul.

Whether you work with a photographer to create great images of your products or infuse your materials with your favorite inspirational quotes, selling can be a sacred form of sharing more of who we are with the world.

Feminine Business Principle #5: “Conscious Saleswomen” are Deeply Present

A conscious saleswoman is intuitive and committed to her clients/customers. She’s in it for the right reasons, and her customers perceive her level of integrity. It makes them want to buy from her and refer other people to her.

The conscious saleswoman takes the time to get to know her customers, ask them questions, and find out what they truly want—in their words—so that she can serve them better. Remember, it’s essential that you offer what your customers really need, not what you think they need.

According to Harvard Business Review, “women now drive the world economy.” Simply put, we are the economic engine of the planet.

Remember that when we buy something, we do it to improve our lives or create some kind of change, whether it’s organic herbal shampoo that makes our hair feel and look amazing or a coaching program that helps us finally turn around those niggling bad money habits and grow our wealth. When we sell something of value, it’s an opportunity to improve the lives of our clients/customers.

You can think of it this way: To hold back on selling your own services or products is a selfish act. To sell is to change lives. And you are here not only to close the pay gap, but to change lives, including your own.

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For more information on how to build your business using feminine principles, check out Sage Lavine’s #1 bestselling book, “Women Rocking Business: The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guidebook to Create a Thriving Life Doing Work You Love,” on her website here:
https://womenrockingbusiness.com/
Or on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/WRBBook

Author's Bio: 

Sage Lavine is #1 Best Selling Author of Hay House book, WOMEN ROCKING BUSINESS, and the CEO of the Women Rocking Business Training Company teaching over 100,000 women entrepreneurs around the globe to scale to six or seven figures as they leverage business as a way to create world change. Sage has shared the stage with Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsch, Jack Canfield, Janet Attwood, Marcia Wieder, and many more. Sage has raised over a million dollars for philanthropic women's organizations around the globe.