Business Tao with George Kao

Tia Ma, a member of my MasterHeart business community, discusses how she brings authenticity to her content. Be sure to watch the last 5 minutes of the video (below) for a quick Qi Gong exercise that you can enjoy from wherever you are sitting!The Video: https://youtu.be/9c8gciWJXs0Check out Tia's content:FB Page -- https://www.facebook.com/qigongwithtiamaInstagram -- https://www.instagram.com/qigongwithtiamaWebsite -- https://tia-ma.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

I’ve been able to accomplish a lot in my business because I create even when I don’t feel like it — I work on a regular rhythm. (And I honestly don’t feel like it most of the time.)Similarly, I’ve learned to rest myself before I’m tired… to rest on a regular rhythm, whether or not I feel like it.**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1178024079226820 **Several times I’ve nearly burned out. (Maybe I did and eventually recovered.) Painful experiences — emotional lows, lack of motivation, lack of hope, physical exhaustion — something I hope to help others prevent.I now know how important it is — for health and for a sustainable business — to rest before I need to.By the time I’m really tired, I’ve rested too late.The more addictive our technologies, the harder it is to remember to take breaks.So it’s more important than ever to make it a conscious practice of taking frequent breaks. To make resting a key discipline in our work.The reason for our breaks isn’t just a physical one, it’s also to rest from the emotions and mental states of working: various degrees of tenseness.Staying healthy — and growing strong — means to have a healthy rhythm of stretching (working) then relaxing (not working).I have several ways to rest. As you read about these, ask yourself whether (and how) you can implement this into your own life too…MicrobreaksFor several months, I’ve been practicing taking a micro-break every 15–20 minutes during any work hour, and it’s been very helpful to maintain joyful productivity and well-being.My micro-break takes about 30 seconds and goes like this:Taking a few deep breaths…and while I’m doing that, my hands move off the keyboard and I drop my arms to my sides, and gently close my eyes.I thank God for having brought me through all the work thus far, and give thanks that I’ll be brought through the rest of it. I then do a very quick energy reboot (breathing in Love, out Security, in Wisdom, out Thanks.)Then, I open my eyes, look into the distance and do a quick arm stretch, yawning or sighing as needed.Then I finish by reminding myself of what time the next micro-break is.To be able to do micro-breaks requires that we have time-consciousness: being very aware of the time. Too many of us haven’t practiced this, and it gets us into trouble. We’re at the computer, in a trance, for too long.Because I glance at the clock every few minutes while I’m working, I’m aware of taking a micro-break every 15–20 minutes.I’m not perfect, and sometimes I catch myself 45 minutes or an hour later without having taken a microbreak. The key is not to punish oneself but to treat it like a meditation: “Ah! I’m glad I caught my wandering mind” and gently do a microbreak at that time.Mid-Day BreaksI never work more than 2 hours before a large break. Such breaks last 30 minutes to 2 hours. (As mentioned above, I also take many micro-breaks during those 2 hours of work.)Two of these mid-day breaks are just 30 minutes each:Snack if I need to.15-minute nap. (I usually don’t fall asleep, but simply relaxing, laying down, helps a lot!)Two of the mid-day breaks are 90–120 minutes:Snack and nap.Walk my dog.Maybe run an errand e.g. go to the post office or store.Evening BreakOf course, it’s also important how we... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

The 1% own more than 40% of the world’s wealth.The accumulation of assets in the hands of the few erodes democracy, as societal power becomes concentrated in the hands of a few.Knowing this, anything we can do to support small businesses will not just help those entrepreneurs survive, but will support more democracy, creativity, and true livelihood in the world.Similarly, the 1% most famous people own a huge share of the consumer’s attention.**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2548686211913259 **Influencers like Gary Vaynurchuk, Marie Forleo, Brene Brown, Joe Dispenza, and other celebrities own a disproportionate amount of our content consumption time.The accumulation of attention in the hands of a few will erode the diversity of creativity, true livelihood, and authentic business.Where is your attention going?Attention, like time, is limited. We ought to be more mindful of where it goes.I encourage us to start giving 10% or more of our attention each day to small creators: bloggers, video makers, podcasts, websites, or social media pages that get few comments on their content.(By “small creator” I mean “small business”, not that they are small thinkers! Their hearts are much bigger than their numbers.)You can still spend the vast majority of your media time giving attention to big influencers, thought leaders, and to Netflix and the major studios. Let’s just mindfully spend 10% of our content consumption time gifting a bit of our attention to small creators because it makes such a life-changing difference for them… for us!When your comment is one of the only comments that a small creator gets, for them it feels like finding water in a dry desert.It feeds their hearts and supports their passion.Your supportive comment helps them power through the many times they experience silence (zero feedback).On the other hand, when you “like” or comment on a popular creator’s post, it’s like a drop in the ocean, making almost no difference to them.Let’s be more mindful content consumers, and care for our fellow small creators!There are 3 things we can do in our 10% time…1. Engage.Find a small creator (blog, Facebook page, Medium page, Youtube channel, Podcast, Instagram, etc.)Look for a post that has few comments, and be one of the only commenters for them. It makes such a difference… Your comment could make their day, and inspire weeks of energy!What to say in your comment?What you like about that piece of content. Even if it’s not the most brilliant thing you’ve ever seen, there’s still something good about it — call out the good. If it’s a piece of writing, highlight a sentence or paragraph. If it’s a video, say what you liked about their presence or message.What can be improved — it’s super helpful for content creators to get feedback about how they can improve. You might want to do this privately, though. Praise publicly, critique privately. Tell them what you’d love for them to create content on… what topics interest you, that might be in their field of expertise?If you really liked that piece of content, go the extra mile and share it forward!2. Buy.Each week or... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

The first in the series I'm calling Progress & Learning, where I bring on members of my MasterHeart business community to share lessons that we can all use to help grow our authentic businesses in a joyfully productive way. Enjoy :)In this video, Tara Whitney and I discuss Joyful Productivity, Authentic Content, and Light Launches:https://youtu.be/rX5g2yM8PBo This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

I see a lot of aspiring business owners doing this:You’re waiting until you’re “ready” before you take the leap.A dear client asked me about the “thin line between readiness and procrastination.”After coaching hundreds of business owners, I can tell you this: ​Chances are, you are being fooled by your own brilliant mind. Feeling of “lack of readiness” is usually procrastination.**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2714183308801995        **Here’s the truth:I rarely feel “ready”.When I started writing this article, I felt maybe I wouldn’t have enough to say… maybe I should do more research or journaling or give it a few more days (or weeks) before I’m ready to start writing this.When making a video — at the moment I press “record” I feel like I could’ve spent another hour thinking about the topic.When I launch a course, I know I could spend several more months (or years!) researching the topic… but I remind myself that whatever I already know will be helpful to the students. We are usually much harsher on ourselves than our students / clients are.The founder of Linkedin, Reid Hoffman, famously said this:If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.I feel embarrassed often… because I create often.Every book that I publish, I feel slightly embarrassed by… but the reality is that if I waited until a book was “ready” I might never publish. Thankfully I do publish, because book after book, each one is getting better. I can always re-publish and re-launch a 2nd edition later… and I am already planning for it!Every course that I teach, I’m embarrassed by, but I also get feedback that makes the course better, year after year.I’m doing this for the long term journey of growth, not just short-term experiences of posting, publishing, launching.The creative process, the reality of building an authentic business, requires this continual practice:Transform fear into Love.I feel that we are being called by Spirit to recognize when we are feeling afraid in the creative process, and instead, reinterpret that emotion. Turn “fear” or “lack of readiness” into one or more of these…ExcitementPassionServiceCurious self-explorationAdventureTransform hesitation into Action.If I am creating something, and I feel hesitation, I now interpret it as a signal to take action, to just do it. To take the next step. To write the next sentence. To click “record” on the video. To press “publish”.Transform embarrassment into Surrender.After putting your work out there, you may feel embarrassed by it and want to delete it. Don’t.Practice surrendering to the process and you’ll grow a bit stronger, more confident, each time.I recently had this kind of experience: being embarrassed by something I put out there, and after confessing my feelings about it (while not deleting the embarrassing thing) I found that people didn’t judge me the way I had judged myself.It is a daily creative practice: transmuting fearful hesitation into loving action and surrendering to the process. Bit by bit, piece by piece, we become more courageous. We get wiser through action and experience.A little-known fact is that the creative person’s doubt... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

“I’m hoping that I can find a way to weave things together in a way that makes sense, resonates with buyers, feels enjoyable, and generates income.” — a client said.“That’s a lot of pressure on yourself,” I thought.Who says you need to weave all your interests together in a way that makes sense to anyone else, except for yourself? (You can have the most complicated vision of your work, as long as it makes sense to you.)**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2595142044033704       **What if being financially successful — and happy in your work — doesn’t require the integration of your various interests?For example, your introductory statement. Maybe you’re struggling to fit your entire catalog of passions into a short statement for your social media profile, or the bio at the bottom of your articles, or when someone introduces you on a podcast.What if you let go of any sort of perfection in that statement?There is a big difference between an intro statement, versus the descriptions of your various offerings.Your intro statement can be broad, inspiring, and short. It makes you feel good, and it gives a quick taste to the reader of what kind of person you are. But if you try to make it communicate exactly what you do (and the variety of things you do!) then you are giving yourself unnecessary pressure.How can you fit the brilliance of your infinite potential into a few words? Plus, the fact that you keep evolving!Let your intro-statement be a long-term project. Re-visit it every now and then, making a change here and there. Over the years, let it morph until you are really happy with it. And even so, it will still keep evolving!Please don’t give yourself the pressure of coming up with such a statement before you get started with creating your services or marketing your products. You don’t need a perfect statement for your website (you might not even need a website!) nor for your social media.Instead, you can have many different offerings, such as coaching packages for various kinds of client issues, an eventual catalog of online courses, workshops, etc.“If I’m feeling discombobulated in my content, then won’t those who read it feel that way too?”Most of the time, people will read your content on social media — and on social media, readers are used to a huge diversity of content. What about people who read your content via email newsletter? In their email inbox they are also accustomed to a large variety of topics. These days, people are used to — and prefer — variety. As long as your content is true to you, it will form in people’s minds a more whole picture of you, over time. As long as you share what thoughts are true to you, people sense your authenticity, and your ideal audience will like you more.In the lifetime of your business, you will have many offerings — sometimes simultaneously.For example I offer a different online course almost every month, and have a catalog of courses people can buy anytime.Another coach might offer coaching for different challenges, each one being a different package a client could buy.Again, there’s no need to try to make your entire business or brand described in one short thing — people aren’t buying your whole business. They buy one thing at a time. If you have a website, simply send different audiences to different pages on your site!Potential clients or buyers are looking at the description of the specific offering in front of them, the specific thing you’re selling. They aren’t making a decision based on your overall description of yourself.Each offering can have its own clarity: Who is that specific... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

A few years ago, I stopped marketing to the reptilian brain.My conscience could no longer tolerate it…By “lizard brain” I mean the parts within people that are governed by fear, greed, and impatience.See the image below that breaks down a real example…**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=562306474673136      **Yes, my sales cycle is a bit longer now. When people find my website randomly, they’re no longer immediately triggered or incentivized to opt-in or to buy from me. It takes them more time to get to know my values, my expertise, and my way of doing things.Yet, the clients I now get are a much better fit.And, I’m able to connect with them about my higher values, which makes our work together more fulfilling.My marketing is no longer going against the values I believe in. I’ve made the commitment to prioritize virtues above quick sales results, and to help others become conscious of the values they’re supporting so that they can be more empowered in their business.(You might get more short-term sales by manipulating people’s lower selves, but over time this erodes your relationship with your audience, eats away at your conscience, and spawns bad karma.)​Those who market to the lizard brain are breeding more lizard-brain-dominance in their audience.By inciting the people’s lizard brain, marketers (and politicians) do in fact gain more control over their audience in the short-term. It’s power-over others, rather than empowerment of others.I seek instead to help my audience grow their knowledge and ability to make good choices, not to diminish their free will for my own profit.By marketing to the lizard brain, they’re also breeding more fear, greed, and impatience in society. So what if we short-term profit if it actually creates a society we don’t want?​When I stopped doing this type of marketing, I also made the choice to stop supporting the companies that use such tactics. Therefore I don’t use some software that’s popular in my industry. (I won’t name them, but you’ll recognize them when you see their lizard-brain marketing.) Thankfully, these days there are many alternative choices. We can work with providers that do more heart-based marketing. This supports our internal alignment with our values too.There are authentic ways to make more than enough sales.I am happy to say that by prioritizing service over selling, I now have a full coaching practice, without using lizard-brain tactics. (To understand this better, refer to my articles about authentic marketing.)I am always exploring better ways to run my business that align with deeper values. I love teaching methods what I discover to be both effective and good for the heart.May we all commit to more compassionate and wiser ways of marketing, knowing that even before people buy from us, our marketing itself makes an impact!**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=562306474673136    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

An audience member wrote the following to me, and maybe some of you can relate…“I long for the ability to create without any thoughts of money…to create because I love it… to take real time off when I need it… to try new things and build in more hobby time into my life.Everything I create is because I love it, but I tend to always have that background question: ‘Will it make me money?’I want to get to a place where I feel I can try things and fail and be totally fine with it…”**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=735802437184284     **There are 2 things we can create: a hobby, or a business.Hobbies can be a fully creative and personal endeavor, with no pressure for anyone to buy or even like our work.Business has the need to sustain itself, ideally to thrive, which requires enough people to buy into our work, so there’s pressure for meeting others’ wants and purchasing requirements.And yet, there will come a time in your journey of building an audience when you’ll finally have enough true fans, aka people who will buy just about anything you create and sell.Through my content and courses, this is what I yearn to help you do — create your own true fan audience — because that’s when you will have true creative freedom in your business.It takes time and sincere effort to build that kind of audience. The actions you’ll need to take consistently include: content creation and distribution, audience research, collaborations… all the things I’ve been writing and speaking about. (See the 7 disciplines of authentic business.) I’d love to see you create your freedom by having a large enough audience who genuinely loves your authentic creativity!It’s a journey, so let’s not expect overnight success. Maybe you have 2 or 3 clients who already buy much of what you create and sell. Maybe next year you’ll have 10 or 12 such true fan clients. (With diligent content creation/distribution, audience research, collaborations, offer rhythm, etc., you can speed up the process and perhaps get to 20–30 next year, maybe even faster.)Also, what is “enough” true fans to sustain your business? That will depend on what kind of income you require, as well as how you structure your business model. (For more on that, read this blog post: simple business model for solopreneurs.)While we are still on the journey toward financial sustainability, how can we relate to money-making in a way that’s not desperate?For us to really be creative and to serve, Money needs to be an afterthought.Having enough income has to be expected and stable, providing security that you can build on, to be able to then focus on truly serving and delighting your customers.It’s like the sailboat metaphor by Scott Barry Kaufman — if you haven’t secured the leaking holes in your sailboat (which is endangering your life) then it’s all you can (and should!) think about. You need to plug up the holes to secure your boat (i.e. get a secure... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

If you look at the posts on my Facebook Business Page (my social media platform of choice) you’ll notice that I basically post two things:1. Text-only writings, without images or links.2. Videos.In this post I’ll focus why I don’t add images to my writings on my FB business pages.**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=599283897542409    **Note -- this doesn’t apply to artists, photographers, sellers of physical products, or those whose business is very image-oriented. This does apply to anyone whose business is primarily about knowledge, wisdom, or transformation, such as coaching, mentoring, teaching, or healing.Yes, I know the common advice that adding an image will expose my posts to a lot more people. Here’s why I don’t recommend it:1. More exposure creates inauthentic engagement.2. Getting engagement by non-ideal audience members worsens our costs for marketing to those who are ideal audience members.3. Training your audience to like your images (easy to do) decreases their patience in engaging with your more thoughtful material.4. You need to keep upping the game of attractiveness to keep their attention.Let’s explore each problem.More exposure creates inauthentic engagementFor authentic marketing, we’re not just trying to play to the algorithm. We’re trying to inspire or help or connect genuinely with the people who are most meant for us. The algorithm, in fact, is trying to help us authentic content creators.So when you’re doing anything to intentionally “get more views” such as using an attractive image, you are trying to game the algorithm, and human beings will sense the inauthenticity. It’s a bait-and-switch. Sure, people will notice the attention-getting image, but if the message isn’t a right fit for them, they will feel a bit disappointed by your brand. You might actually get a lot of “engagement” in terms of photo clicks, likes, or even shares, but this increases your non-ideal audience. This brings us to the next problem. Increasing Marketing Costs to Ideal AudienceWhen you any attention-getting tactic, and get lots of attention, you’re growing a larger but less-ideal audience. Whether you use paid ads, or try to reach them organically (without paid ads), you’ll have to try even harder to reach the ideal portion of your audience. Why?If you have a larger audience that came from shallow engagement, it means the ideal portion of your audience is smaller and smaller in percentage. Therefore, a growing part of your ad dollars has to wade through a large percentage of non-ideal audience members, in order to find the ideal ones.Without paid ads (trying to reach them organically) you’ll need ideal audience members to engage with your content, to reach more ideal people like them. If instead a bunch of non-ideal audience members engage, Facebook shows it to even more people like that.Creating Shallow EngagementThe more images you post, the more you get shallow engagement with your content.What I’ve done instead is to post lots of thoughtful text-only content on my Facebook Pages -- George Kao Authentic Business Coach and Soul Gym --... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com

A common mistake that I see from aspiring content creators. Maybe you have done this too:​You have an idea that inspires you… so you think that it must also excite other people, too. Understandable!Therefore you put lots of time (and maybe money) into packaging that idea into a book… or course… or you create an amazing video after a lot of hard work.You share it with the world.What usually happens?Far less response than you hoped for…You just fell for a core human bias — to be inside your own head. You’ve neglected to adequately test the idea to see if it really inspires other people — besides yourself — before you spent all that effort.**Watch the video here:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=706941613233437   **Maybe you think it’s a visibility issue, so you try harder to promote it.Still, the result is baffling: why is something that’s obviously so good (in your mind) not a game-changer for others?Why aren’t people getting it?!You might become resentful or cynical…If you keep experiencing this, you might even decide to quit altogether, believing that it’s just “not your thing”.I hope you will always remember this:No matter what, your passion is a good idea… but how you share it will determine the response.You need to experiment with different ways of sharing the idea, in the mindset of testing, until you discover a way that other people easily “get.”In other words, I recommend the Three Stages of Content.Stage 1: Casual ContentThis is where it all starts.For example, I casually make three short videos while on my long Saturday walks with my dog. In each video, I share an idea that I think might be helpful to some clients and audience members.This very post you’re reading was inspired by one of those casual videos! See here: www.FB.com/GeorgeKao/posts/10106365973759363Update: By 2018, I’ve created so much content that, since then, most of my content creation is Stage 2 (I’ll describe that later.) I still make a Stage 1 video each Friday, from my office, as it’s become much easier to do that than making my dog walk videos.I have no expectations about how these casual videos turn out. At this stage, I spend as little effort as possible. Therefore, I am not concerned whether the content gets any likes or comments.An important distinction to make here: I care about my audience. And I care about my own explorations too, to keep making Stage 1 Content. Yet I don’t care how people respond, because Stage 1 is meant to be exploratory and experimental.The Principles of Stage 1 Content…(1) Either explore a new idea. Or try a different way of saying an old idea.(2) Test the idea with the market by sharing it on social media. Have zero expectations.(3) Minimize your energy and time when making Stage 1 Content, since you don’t know if your audience will like it, no matter how important you believe the message to be. “Casual” is the word that helps me in this situation: relaxed and unconcerned; temporary or impermanent.(4)... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit georgekao.substack.com