Over my 17 years in business, I have worked with thousands of entrepreneurs and one of the biggest differentiators I see between those who build a rapidly, wildly successful business, and the ones who don’t, is having clarity and having a solid foundation in place.
The business owners who don’t succeed and don’t build a multi six or seven-figure business are often the ones who have indecisions around
- who they serve
- what they want to do
- how they want to show up in the world
If you want to build a multi-six or seven-figure business, it’s time to get clear and get the foundation in place to build and scale your online business successfully.
First Essential Business Element: Have clarity on who your human is
The first and most essential piece is to have clarity around who your human is when it comes to your products and services. This is an area that gets glazed over by a lot of people. They don’t necessarily do the research that they need to do to really dig deep into who their human is.
My recommendation: Take a pen and a sheet of paper and spend some time digging in and researching who that human is for you.
The most important thing to understand and commit to when building an online business is who your human is. What is your human? Some people refer to it as your ideal client, your ICA, or your avatar. I like to think of it as your human.
- Who is it that you are marketing to?
- What keeps them up at night?
- What are their fears?
- What are they motivated by?
- How do they want to show up?
Oftentimes we don’t dig deep enough when it comes to our ideal client. We often glaze over this research, or we’re afraid to truly commit to a niche person because we’re afraid we’re going to leave somebody out. We might be afraid that if we get too specific, there won’t be enough people. I would contend, this is a place where you want to really dig deep. Do your research. Understanding this person with great specificity is of great importance. You have to dig deeper than just the demographics of who this person is.
Second Essential Business Element: Your Offer
The second essential that you need to have in place when it comes to building your online business foundation is your offer. Oftentimes when people start to market themselves in the online space, they won’t have a clearly defined offer that helps their human create a transformation in their world. Having a clearly defined offer is essential if you want to have success. Not only do you want to be able to easily repeat what it is that you are doing and create systems and standards around delivery because it is going to save you tons of time when it comes to marketing and delivery of this program. It will also save you a ton of time when it comes to proposal writing, especially if you are a service provider or you’re new to the online space.
My recommendation: Have one signature offer.
People will often have multiple offers and that can get really confusing for your ideal client and create a sense of overwhelm. Overwhelm can lead to indecision and ultimately that client won’t move forward. They’ll find somebody else who makes it easier to buy from. Remember, people love to buy, but they hate to be sold.
It’s super important to get really clear on that offer and make it very easy for people to buy from you.
Third Essential Business Element: Lead Magnet (aka Opt-in)
The third essential that you need to build a solid foundation in your business is a lead magnet, also known as an opt-in. When it comes to an online business, I truly believe that having an email list is essential in 2021 and beyond. It’s the only thing that you “own” in your business.
You sort of lease those email addresses from the owner of the email address, but you don’t have any control over your Instagram account. Instagram could take your Instagram account away at any for any reason.
My recommendation: Start with a lead magnet sooner than later and grow your email list.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to a lead magnet is meeting that human where they are with the problem, they believe they have. What do I mean by that? You will hear people say, “I want to have a six-pack! What workouts do I need to do to get that six-pack?” Many fitness professionals know that most of the time a six-pack is actually made in the kitchen. But if your ideal client doesn’t believe that a six-pack is made in the kitchen, then you have to give the workout tips to meet them where they are. Once they are on your email list and in your ecosystem, that’s when you start to educate them. “Well, abs aren’t really made by doing hundreds of sit-ups they’re made by doing all of this stuff in the kitchen.”
If I have any regrets in my business, it’s not having started and focused on creating an email list when I started 17 years ago! I started about five or six years ago and I truly believe that I would be in a completely different position today if I had focused on that initiative. So, get focused on creating a really amazing lead magnet that meets the client where they are.
Fourth Essential Business Element: Macro Content and Social Media Platform
The fourth essential to building your online business foundation is picking what type of macro content you want to do and then selecting two social media platforms that you want to commit to.
For me, macro content is a long-form content such as:
- a blog
- a YouTube video
- a podcast
These pieces of content have a long lifespan and they are assets in your business. They will pay you dividends for a great period of time versus a social media post that only has a short lifespan.
My recommendation: As part of your business foundation pick a type of macro content that you want to commit to and two social media platforms that you’re going to commit to. Then commit to doing them and doing them well.
I often see people make the mistake of being on every platform. As a result, they don’t do any of those platforms well or to the fullest extent of their ability. With everything that you do in this foundational phase, implement it really well! I know that might seem a bit extreme, but these elements are going to pay you assets if you fully implement them.
The Fifth Essential Business Element: Your Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is one of the most essential elements to getting your business foundation in place. 10 years ago, I would have never believed this. But a growth mindset is key to continuing to grow and scale your business. If your business is always growing, you will always have to grow your mindset because otherwise, the limiting beliefs that you face with your mindset will stunt your business growth.
My recommendation: As one of the foundation and essential pieces that you do as part of establishing a foundation for your business is creating a practice for yourself where you work on your mindset.
What do I mean by that?
- You can read a book or listen to podcasts
- You can focus on meditation or doing some breath work, which has been a game-changer for me and my business.
- You can do journaling
- You can just make sure that you’re exercising and staying positive and practicing affirmations
I share this with you because the growth mindset is one of the key things that I see stunt people’s growth, except for the other four elements. You need those four essentials (clarity about who your human is, your offer, your lead magnet, macro content, and social media platforms), but you also need the underlying growth mindset to continue to grow and scale your business to multi-six figures and beyond.
If you haven’t already, it is time to take action and get on my waitlist for my new program The Foundation. I have never offered anything like this before. It is a 12-week program where we go through and plan, productize, prioritize, package, profit, and get all the essentials that you need in place to grow and scale your online business.
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These are awesome tips! and yes, mindset keeps the business growing, and innovating regularly is a must to keep the business going. I have read an article on things you should know before entrepreneurship. If I may share it here https://www.leahcanseco.com/5-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-entrepreneurship/ Thank you and Cheers to online entrepreneurship!
Thank yo so much for the feedback!