I don’t RECOMMEND never having a coach, AND I know that Facebook DOES NOT appreciate “teaching” posts.
STILL… there is so much noise out here that truly exceptional coaches, service providers, therapists, attorneys, independent physicians and more are STRUGGLING financially in their business and THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE.
There is too much noise, too many voices, too few PRINCIPLES being used in the business development matrix. Complication is starting to override common sense….
So, if you are UNDER the $400k mark in your business, THIS simple guide will help you decide what to focus on, what you really NEED and where to go next. (It will also expose which COMPONENT or STEP has been left undone and needs your attention for the greatest income gains.)
STEP ONE: A compelling customer avatar.
NOT a silly demographic with a fake name. “Joe, age 38 programmer from Detroit.” lol… Demographics do not buy. Fake people do not buy. BUT someone has bought from you. I need to know what these people have in common.
There is a WRITTEN exercise I had ALL of my private clients do back in the day and it literally allows them to SEE their avatar come to life on the written page.
Message me to get that “assignment” as well as a CHEAT CODE you can use with CHATgpt to help you get uber clear on your avatar.
This matters because you want EVERYTHING to speak to THAT one avatar. Others will buy… because they RELATE, but you want to talk to that primary avatar SO PRECISELY, SO INTIMATELY that they hear you above everyone else.
“She who knows her market most intimately…. wins.” is a decades-old quote of mine and it IS a hill I’ll die on. 😊
STEP TWO: Have a “BIG IDEA.”
I stole this from Craig Ballantyne, admittedly. His formula for a “big idea” is clear and concise. Have a big idea that YOU believe in, that is CONTRARIAN (it sets you apart) and is specific and short.
In other words, what do you offer that your market is HIGHLY UNLIKELY to get elsewhere??? What sets you apart?
Business gets hard when you are “just another option” for your people to consider. It gets EASY when you are the CLEAR option because no one else is doing “It” quite like you.
It can be a PROMISE: Domino’s Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free was HUGELY BIG AND CONTRARIAN at the time. My “Project $10K” where you generate $10K of NEW income in six weeks or you get your entire tuition back was powerful. (I only ever had to give ONE refund, and even THAT student had her best month EVER. She just barely missed the $10k.)
It can be about SPEED or BEDSIDE manner. It can be about your SYSTEM (carbs, no carbs… gym or home workouts… meds or no meds)
but you MUST have something that differentiates you.
STEP THREE: A SALES ENGINE.
I don’t want to be insulting but a lot of businesses conflate marketing and sales. They keep posting stuff, keep focusing on the algorithm and expect sales to be a natural by-product of being seen. This is hardly EVER the case.
Being seen IS a a process and Sales is an entirely DIFFERENT PROCESS. Sales should be a DEFINED process. The first question to ask yourself is how do you WANT to sell?
In person 1:1 sales is fine. In person one-to-many sales is fine. Digital presentation sales is fine. Phone sales is fine. Direct mail selling is fine. Holding up physical products on TikTok in an auction-like environment is fine. All of these can work.
I chose to focus primarily on PRINT sales, ie. selling through copy. It just fits my lifestyle goals and personality.
One engine isn’t necessarily better than any other, but it’s about what works BEST for you and also CHOOSING that primary sales engine. It’s important to choose because you will want to GO ALL IN ON THAT PRIMARY ENGINE.
how will you FUEL it? (Ads? Social Media? Traditional Media?)
how can you Optimize YOUR ability to sell in that engine?
To get to that $400K mark, all you need is ONE primary sales engine that YOU commit to getting better at every single day.
**Most people who are lingering between $80K and $120K annually are stuck because they have NO real defined sales engine or process. Sales are often a delightful surprise or a result of manual pushing and prodding a market. An engine — predictable, reliable, etc — changes everything. **
STEP FOUR: HABITUAL VISIBILITY.
People making less than they want (or need) in business OFTEN say that they are always selling to the same people… This is not good because new leads are the LIFE BLOOD of a healthy business.
Financial pressure / stress GOES AWAY when you have more DEMAND for your work than you have the TIME or inclination to deliver.
And creating steady and increasing DEMAND for YOU and whatever you do isn’t a mysterious process. You need to be CONSISTENTLY in front of new audiences, bUT as a WELCOME guest with real and relevant credibility.
I choose media and distribution for this. Magazines. Interviews. Podcasts. But also industry journals, association and membership newsletters (print and digital.) EVERY MONTH hundreds of other businesses share my content. New audiences, always.
But if you have the budget for it, ads can also work… building credibility through testimonials rather than association.
Either way, if you are NOT where you want to be income-wise, make a LIST of where you are showing up every month. It should be long, it should be varied, and it should be a natural extension of the way you do business. Visibility is NOT optional. Grant Cardone was right: Our top challenge in business is OBSCURITY.
Where will you be seen today? Tomorrow? Next week?
**NOW, which of these four things is WEAKEST in your business? And when will you begin strengthening it?**
