Last week I outlined the ways that soul-inspired entrepreneurs in stage one and stage two of their businesses get super busy. Today I want to share with you the key areas that you should be focusing on so that you can actually move your business forward from where you are to the next stage.
For those of you in stage one, it’s super important for you to be focusing on revenue generating activities. Yup, making money. It’s so interesting to me how many people who are building their businesses do not do this–and then they wonder why they are struggling trying to make things work. Let me explain this a bit.
If you are in stage one, that means you are building your business up to about $5,000 per month in revenue with 60-70% of your client base full. That’s the criteria. It’s not whether you have a website, or how many people you have on your email list, or how many hours you are working, how many programs you’ve taken, or how many teleseminars you’re listening to this week. It’s none of that.
The criteria are how much money is being made through your business, and how many clients you have. That is what you need to focus on 100% at this stage.
Now, does your clarity of message affect your ability to create this income–absolutely. And that’s why with all of my clients we go first to message and work there. We’ve spent the first two classes of my Creating Money Program on your marketing message, and my last two VIP Days largely focused there. So yes, message is critical.
Why? Because your marketing message is your understanding of who your people are, what they need and want, what they are looking, and what they are willing to buy. It’s actually not much about you at all. Now when I teach about this, I include a whole Soul Signature Process that enables you to get in touch with who you are doing what you’re doing, why, and what you’ve got to bring to the table. That becomes the foundation for your identity as a business person, and informs “your WHY” about what you’re doing in the first place. But it’s not what you go around talking to people about when you first meet them. It’s not the frontline of your message, it’s the ground, the foundation, the place from which you work. Okay, enough on that.
Stage one focus: Revenue generating activities, and enrolling clients.
So what does this mean? It means putting yourself in a position to connect with and speak with potential clients and customers on a regular basis, preferably every day. And asking them to work with you.
How do you do that? This is where the clarity of your message comes in. Because when you know what your marketing message is, you know who your people are, you know what they are looking for, and these are huge keys to where to find them and how to speak with them once you do find them.
For example, let’s say you are a coach who helps parents with their relationship with their teenage children. In particular you understand, because you’ve been there yourself, the challenges of supporting your kids’ growing autonomy, and setting appropriate boundaries that help keep them safe, and that give them a container in which to grow and something to push against. The pains, problems, and issues that arise for your clients show up as power struggles, fighting, not doing well in school, challenges associated with their growing sexuality, possibly experimenting with alcohol and drugs, etc. The solutions they are seeking are better communication with their kids, more cooperation and mutuality, teenagers’ development of self discipline, doing well in school, finding and engaging with activities they love, having good relationships with friends, and having safe sex if they are sexually active.
Once you have this clarity, you can focus your efforts on finding your people and talking with them about how you can help them the solutions they are looking for. Going to a networking meeting is not the number one place for someone like this to go. Can you see that? This coach needs to find the places where parents like this hang out. She would do better to attend high school sporting events, and talk with parents on the sidelines, than she would in a networking event. Does this make sense?
I know that might seem like an odd recommendation, but I give it to make a point. You need to know who your people are, and where your people are, so that you can connect with them in their environment and help them with what’s troubling them.
If you expect them to come to you, either in a networking meeting, in your office, on your website or to your Facebook page, you could be waiting a really long time.
Your priority? Go to where your people are, listen, support, and enroll. Everything else is secondary.
IMPORTANT: If you are in stage two, then your situation is different. Tune in next week when I cover what the issues and priorities are for stage two, soul-inspired entrepreneurs.