The Cinderella Guide to Radically Transforming Your Business

The Cinderella Guide to Radically Transforming Your Business

Reader Comments (64)

  1. Pamela:

    What do you know? This piece is very interesting. Imagine putting wisdom you find in classics like:

    1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill or
    2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

    Then popping that advice within the wrapper of a fairy tale like Cinderella?

    And there are other fairly tales you could have used:

    1. Perhaps the boy crying wolf (i.e. look at my great products)?
    2. Or Chicken Little baking the bread (i.e. the chief worker on an Internet joint venture product)?
    3. Or the Pied Piker playing the magic flute, to entice the rat away. (i.e. he never got paid for his services from the big, bad company).

    The list is endless.

    Great imagination and creative writing in today’s piece.

    Randy

    • I agree with you Randy this piece is very interesting. Pamela inspired us by making us look back into the story of Cinderella with new set of eyes and relate it to our to our business.

      In one of my blog entries, I encourage inspirational speakers (and leaders!) to choose stories that breathe life. This is true for bloggers. This is true for anyone who intends to realize his or her purpose in life.

      And Thank you Pamela for sharing your beautiful thoughts today.

  2. This is such a good post Pamela! “Cinderella approached the prince anyway.” I love it! Does this mean there is real value in fairy tales after all! Certainly there is with the interpretation you gave this one! Bravo!
    Lori

  3. Take charge and say i am going to make it no matter what I face..Yes the road is tough and people are in your way of success..but you have motivation and that’s what counts..

    BTW Brian..Can you can contact me on my contact page..Its very important..I need your help.

    “Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”

  4. I believe in the Cinderella story and I think that with hard work and determination, you can achieve anything you want.

    Eugen

    PS: Such a great post, Pamela. As always.

  5. Interesting post. Transformation is hard is a very good point, but then Cinderella didn’t work for her transformation – she just waited until it was handed to her on a plate…

    That said, your interpretation is far more inspiring than mine (and it’s been a long time since I’ve read Cinderella!), so I’ll go with it!

    • She didn’t work for it? You do need to go back and read the story. She slaved for her step family, but never gave up her dream. I think she more than paid her dues.
      And I loved the post. Thanks Pamela

  6. Fantastic interpretation and interweaving of motivational, inspirational thoughts! I loved that you turned the Cinderella story into something very that was fun to read!

  7. Thanks for the gerat post Pamela! My husband and I just started an e-commerce business and we can always use great advice-and when it’s wrapped up in a great package like the Cinderella story…well, I just can’t resist it!

  8. One other common interpretation is that beauty is more than skin-deep.

    Underneath those rags and that filth, Cinderella was hot.

    All of Pamela’s advice will come to nothing if your product or service is still just an ugly sister’s pimple…

  9. Is viral marketing about how to make a glass slipper?

    On behalf of my fellow princes, we object to the parenthetical expression in your final paragraph.

    Jack

  10. Your overlay of a fairy story on the possibility of “Dream and Do” in business inspires me. I am wearing a new pair of TOMS shoes today. I’ll pretend they are my glass slippers and go to the ball now!

  11. Great post! I really need to hear this today and be reminded of the goal! (Glass slipper AND the prince!) 🙂

    Also, the ‘don’t give up’ part,….seems things aren’t happening as fast as I would like,….but all great things take time, right?

    Thanks again!

  12. I really like the part about “Perception can create reality.” In the communication world, people tend to go further and say that perception IS reality. This is a great advice, especially when you look at it both ways.

    If you act as a sucessful person, it will automatically affect positively your own attitude. This in turn, affect positively the impression people have of you. It’s a win-win-win-win-… situation.

    Great post Pamela!

  13. I think it’s true that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. It gets better from there. You don’t have to get it right (right away) but you DO have to get it going. From there, proceed in small stages. I like to look at this entire endeavor over a 3 to 6 month period of time – anything longer is too long (because the internet just moves to fast), and anything short of that may be a goal that is to big to do alone (assuming you’re going it alone).

    Just like in Cinderella, the process of transformation can undergo distinct stages, and it might be good to view your business the same way (or create your own stages):

    Humiliation (unhappy cinderella) – think of this as “My business is going nowhere,” or “I don’t have a business (yet).”

    Transformation (the magical effects of wanting something really badly) – think of this as the “real work” that is to be done. There is no magic involved, but in hindsight, it’s your story, you can rewrite it replete with magic. It’s your game to create 🙂

    Excitement (the vision of dancing with the Prince) – think about your master funnel plan: great content, traffic, leads, sales, authority. That gets me excited. You?

    Happiness (Cinderella reunited with her true love & whisked away to a wonderful life) – It’s your story, how does it get written?

    Nice post Pamela. Thank you.

  14. Enjoyable post Pamela.

    I have mixed feelings on the whole Cinderella story. The Cinderella mindset can be a trap. Many people see themselves as noble and heroic figures based on good intentions. The universe doesn’t reward good intentions.

    Maybe I’m a grumpy old codger, but it seems many of today’s youth have been raised on fairy tales and see themselves as deserving of that happy ending. Some remain stuck living in the middle of the second act of a three-act hero’s story, feeling resentful that things aren’t going any better.

    Anyways, loved your positive spin on Cinderella and your messages of determination, presentation and defiance of limitations.

    Joe 😀

  15. Interesting parallel to a story that everyone knows from childhood, even if you can’t personally relate to the story. Transformation requires commitment but the end result makes the work worth the dedication. Thanks for the reminder!

    Deborah 🙂

  16. I started my blog about 2 months ago and I was searching for who to follow and where to sample ideas. Heaven knows the long hours i spent searching. Thanks to one of those encrypted comments by people or machines (I deleted the comment because it made no sense). I don’t know why I bothered to click on the available link but – it led me to Tony D. Clark’s blog last week. Immediately, I knew that I had found my gold. It’s from that blog that I registered with copyblogger and here I am.

    Just finding you guys makes me to know that I will make it. Thanks for the Cinderella story. If you know where Tony is, my regards to him and I would appreciate it if he would drop me a line. Thanks Tony and I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet you and maybe the team one day. I’m using your tips to restructure my blog.

    Margaret

  17. That’s a great metaphor. You are right, one of the biggest mistakes people do that prevent themselves from achieving their goals is not willing to make temporary sacrifices.
    Keep up good work,
    Greg

  18. Hey I love the post, headline really caught my attention and the read was great. But seriously reading the real points in the post, its what we all know but sometimes forget. The going without and sacrifice bit is just so true.

  19. Pamela, aloha. Loved what you did with Cinderella and the analogy for business. I am busy sharing it with the world. Twitter and facebook already have it; off to LinkedIn. Mahalo. Janet

  20. Thank you for this inspirational interpretation to remind us beginners that determination goes a long way!

  21. Great contrast, Pamela. Having faith in yourself is one of the harder things to overcome. I was primed for disappointment when I first started out, buying into every ebook that promised to make my life easier, and then didn’t. It took a while before I realized this is actually hard work, but when I started seeing my business as an actual business, the things that used to disappoint were suddenly rewarding. It’s a transformation that happens with perspective.

    @Margaret

    I share your sentiment. If I had found this place 3 years ago, I might have saved myself a lot of time. As long as most of us end up over here in the end.

    • “When I started seeing my business as an actual business …”

      Isn’t that the truth! That’s the moment when everything starts to move in the right direction. Until you treat it as an actual business it won’t be one.

  22. I agree; the battle first begins with that space between your ears. How bad do you want it? Once you have determined that either go for it or save yourself some heartache.

  23. Pamela, your point about perception and reality, reminds me of something a friend said to me the other day: you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

  24. “Once upon a time, there was a great blogger named Pamela Wilson. . . . . . . and she lived happily ever after.”

    I wish I’d written this post. Brilliant.

  25. Most people are lost in terms of starting an online business. They miss the most important parts in not doing the research about their industry and not being passionate about the business that they start

  26. Thanks Pamela for a great post. Most of us think fairy tales portray women as passively waiting to be rescued by the handsome prince…but you’ve shown us how assertive Cinderella actually was and that she exemplifies having self-belief and a ‘go for it’ attitude. That’s a great lesson for young (and old) women everywhere. I’ve never thought in terms of the ‘prince’ being a metaphor for a ‘goal’, so thanks for that shift in perspective.

  27. I love the line “Cinderella approached the prince anyway”. It reminds us that we need to grab open the door of opportunity when it presents itself, and the only way that you can dare to do that is to start believing in yourself, because if you don’t you’d probably see it even if it’s already right under your nose.

    -Angela Giles
    Social Media and Publicity DIVA

  28. I think the key is to realize that you are only limited by your thoughts. What is so encouraging with our industry at the moment is there are no limits and imagination is King…or in this case Queen! Thinking outside of your box that we all have created is the first step, I believe in mastering yourself and your business. The future is certainly exciting.

  29. I’d say this is an excellent blog!. It is content and execution done wonderfully. I can probably say that for you to be rich, you have to “dress the part”. However, if i throw in a little story by the side such as the ever popular story of Cinderella, it takes the “ho-hum” out of the article and makes it a more interesting read.

  30. I love the imagery of this. I think another aspect of Cinderella’s story is that she utterly delighted in the process. She truly appreciated being at the ball and had a childlike eagerness about it. She wasn’t pushing against or MAKING anything happen. She was just allowing it to unfold. I think that chilled out attitude is a big help in succeeding at anything.

  31. Hi Pamela, the title tells everything you have written in this article. Wonderful article I must say. Running a business is not an easy one, we will face many obstacles. But if we stand strong then our growth is inevitable.

  32. hi Pamela

    As a lover of childrens stories, a great analogy here.

    I think you point the make about “wanting a change” is possibly the most important of all the aspects you’ve considered. Unless the desire to change is there (and it doesn’t really matter what needs to change – personal, business) – the status quo will remain in place and nothing will ever get any better.

    The best way, for me, of addressing this reticence to change is to break it down into “baby steps”. Trying to take one big leap from where you are now to where you want to be is difficult and daunting. Having the baby steps means that you achieve things faster and can see results.

    Thanks for sharing.

    • Very true. There wouldn’t be much of a story if she’d accepted her fate and plugged away at cleaning the cinders from the fireplace every day, would there?

      I agree with you on the baby steps concept, too. It’s something I’ve had to re-learn many times.

      If I look at my projects and goals in their entirety I feel overwhelmed pretty quickly. But when I break projects down into manageable tasks, a lot gets done.

      Thanks for the comment, Barney.

  33. Love it, love it, love it!
    I think this is my favourite blog post ever!
    I don’t have my own business and I’m blogging for fun at the meoment but I can still identify with the story and the transformation advice and apply to other areas of my life not just business.
    thank you, look forward to reading more of your work soon!

  34. Using an alaogy to bring your point across is a great way for educating people. I for one get it. Truly an inspiring post. Thank you

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