The Backstory:
This month is my sixth anniversary as an online freelancer / self-employed business owner. When I started in 2017, I was just an hourly marketing assistant for a realtor. I was mainly doing social media management, graphic design, and, when I could convince my client, some web design work too.
Back then, I had NO CLUE what I was doing. Looking back on it, “that business I was running” feels like a completely different business, and that’s because it was. For one, I am doing entirely new services now. I was still in the employee mindset when it came to pleasing clients, and I needed to do way more to grow a sustainable business.
Now I am FOREVER grateful for my first client taking a complete chance on me, but if I could do it all over again, I would have flipped a switch in myself and my business way earlier; several, actually. I let four years go by without taking the reins in my business, and ultimately, the lack of funds in my bank account reflected that.
The Purpose of This Post:
This blog post is all about what I would have done differently in my business if I knew then what I know now. Everyone has their entrepreneurial journey, and mine isn’t glamorous. Sometimes I am embarrassed to think it took me so long to wake up and figure things out, so if I can help just one person not make the same mistakes I did, this post is worth it.
I will lay out the things that, ultimately, I KNOW for a fact enhanced my success. The ones that, in a heartbeat, I would have done differently or done earlier. By my conservative estimation, if I had done these items, I could have made another $500,000 – $700,00+ over the last six years in business, which is a very tough pill to swallow.
Here are the 6 things I wish I had done differently in my business so that I could be farther along and more successful than I am now:
#1 – Outlined My Goals & a Full Plan On How to Reach Them From the Start:
Sure, I had goals of the money I wanted to make during the years I barely got by. But I had zero plan of how I would make that money. At the end of 2021, I finally laid out ALL the goals I wanted to accomplish in 2022. I am talking about the big, the small, and the scary ones, and then I went on to make a complete plan on how to hit all those milestones.
Having this plan in place was the moment my business changed. Creating a proper plan for myself and my business was the focus I needed to get on track and start being proactive in my business. I have outlined that entire plan in my Lead Generation Action Plan masterclass that you can watch for free here if you want to see how it all came together!
#2 – Hired a Business Coach who has Been in my Shoes Years Earlier:
I quickly realized that with four years of serving clients yet still needing a sustainable income to show for it, I needed help in figuring out how to make this business work. So I found a business coach who was once a successful web designer, now teaching other web designers to do what she did. I loved that she had been where I was striving to go and could teach me the shortcuts to get there. I hired her because she knew how to position myself and my services to sell high-ticket packages easily. She taught me how to frame my business to serve me just as much as it did my clients.
I paid her $7,500. That was about half of what I made the year before in my business. That number was terrifying. But I jumped off the cliff, paid for the program, and made the money back in less than two months! I ended up making over 11X that investment in the first year. I should have asked for help and guidance sooner. I should have invested in myself sooner. I should have known that I didn’t know everything and needed to learn what I didn’t know to succeed.
#3 – Hired a Marketing Coach to Learn How to Grow an Audience Immediately:
Between working with my new business coach & a huge light bulb moment, I had while working with an influencer on her blog (I share that full story in the Lead Generation Actionplan Masterclass), I realized I needed a larger audience, and I needed one ASAP! Just posting on social media was not going to cut it. I needed to find a way to connect with the masses to find the people who would need my help or would want to work with me. So I set out to learn how to grow a Facebook group and email list by enrolling in several courses and memberships.
As the number of members in my group started rising and the number of people registered to be a part of my email list grew, so did my income. I was utilizing free offers to initially connect with people, which led to me making passive sales for my low-ticket courses that primed my customers to go on to pay me high-ticket for my 1:1 done-for-you services. I now had a system to connect with leads, get them to become paying clients, and eventually premium paying repeat clients. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t hired a marketing coach that helped me focus on growing my audience. So again investing in myself was worth it and I wish I had done it sooner.
#4- Ran My Business Like a Business:
Until I started working with my business coaches and mentors, I waited for leads and jobs to fall into my lap. I was posting on social media once a day to show I was “open for business” and just waiting for things to happen. THAT DIDN’T WORK. I repeat, THAT DOESN’T WORK. This reactionary mentality was what held me back from actually being successful. I used to blame it on not knowing any better, but now, thinking about how that was four years of not knowing better, I was likely also somewhat lazy.
I had to do more in my business for my business to grow. I had to be doing daily business-building tasks for it to pay off. I had to dedicate hours to developing myself and my business, even when I wasn’t being paid for it, for things to take that upward swing. Being a business owner is not for the faint of heart. It is a roller coaster. You have to go out there and grind sometimes when it feels impossible. You can’t make excuses. If you want it and are willing to invest the time, money, and energy it takes, you CAN do it.
So that action plan talked about in item #1 above, I got busy implementing it and refining it with the help and strategies I learned from my coaches. Day by day, things got easier. I started seeing results. I got faster at getting things done. I became more organized. I began to have clear processes that worked, and I became a legit business owner making legit money.
#5 – Avoided Inconsistent Cycles:
Consistency is critical. For this item, I will use social media as an example, but it can be true for any business-building activity you are doing. So whether you post on one social media platform or 5 for your marketing, the more you stay consistent with that presence, the more social media algorithms will reward you, and your audience will see you as dependable and trustworthy.
I fell into nasty cycles in the beginning that I would post all the time until I got a client. Posting was the only thing I was doing then, so it was the only lead-generation tactic I had going for me. When I would finally land a client from the posting I was doing, I would then shift my focus to serving them and neglecting the audience I was building. I stopped showing up, which means new clients also stopped showing up. So when the first project was finished, I didn’t have the next lined up.
That cycle is ugly. To avoid it, push through and be consistent. Even when you get “too busy,” I promise it will be worth it when you have a stable income to fall back on. I truly believe the content you are creating now will pay off in 3+ months. If you take 2+ week breaks from making that content, your income will too. So no matter what, you have to do your business-building tasks at least five days a week to see the results that you want.
#6 – Nurtured My Audience From the Start:
As my email list & Facebook group grew, I knew I was sitting on a gold mine that could massively help stabilize my business and increase my income. But once you get the audience, you must do something with it. You have to show up for those who have told you they are interested in what you have to say.
So I started sending weekly newsletters and hosting regular masterclasses in my Facebook group. These continual touchpoints are what build the know, like, and trust an audience needs to become raving fans and paying customers.
Now this step has to come after growing an audience, but I want you to remember that sales can start coming as soon as they start showing up and you start nurturing. So don’t think to yourself, “I need to hit X amount before I can host a masterclass or start sending out weekly emails.” Whether you have 25 or 2,500 in your audience, it is never too early to build rapport, but it can be too late if you neglect them and let them forget that you exist.
In conclusion:
Reflecting on where I have been over the last six years is eye-opening. I have grown so much and have come a long way. My husband read this blog post about 75% done and worried that I was too hard on myself. I want to assure you, too, that I know everything happens for a reason, and there is a natural growth curve every business owner has to go through if they haven’t been in the business-owning realm before or even been exposed to it. I know my journey wasn’t supposed to be an overnight success, and I want you to know that 99% of businesses are not.
But what I wish I had back six years ago was someone who had laid out what needed to be done to get the results I really wanted. Someone who shared the lessons that truly changed the trajectory of their business. So that is what this post was made for. I hope to be that person for you now.
If you want to know even more of the finer details about how I got to where I am and what I did to get here, the Lead Generation Action Plan Masterclass is the best place to start. Watch it below for free!
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