One of the hardest parts of growing a business is staying in the game after you’ve made a mistake. Mine was totally rooted in the fact that I never went to business school.
Here’s why I went into business anyway…
#1 I’m an entrepreneur's daughter. My day told me every day on the way to school. “You don’t want to work for anyone else, work for yourself.”
#2 My social media followers asked me to write for them and…
#3 I’m a Type-A success junkie and I have already traveled around the world twice AND found the love of my life. I needed a new mountain to climb.
From day one I had some pretty out there parameters.
I wanted a business that could:
Travel with me wherever I go
Allow me to attend doctors’ appointments for my kids and…
And provide full financial security
I had read a couple of books and heard this was…
The Only Marketing/Sales Strategy GUARANTEED to Work
Get a client by hook or crook. Give them the best possible results and hope they’ll tell a friend or come back to work with you again some day. Honestly I chose it because that was the only marketing and sales ploy I understood. To this day it has brought me my best clients and I’ll never let it go.
The reason I partner with exceptional women is because they are easier to get great results for. I know they’re going to show up and do the work, plus I get to hang out with cool people that make me feel smarter by association.
It all sounds beautiful so far, right? Where was my mistake?
I chose a success method that primarily focuses on the long game.
For the business nerds:
My current key economic indicator is life-time spend per client. I learned this concept from this book Good to Great. That means my focus is helping my clients become successful with my partnership so they can continue to afford my services and we grow together. Maybe I should have named my business Let's Write OUR Future because I want to succeed in community and see all my clients at our Legends dinner party at the top.
The problem was I’ve ONLY been planting oak trees. Here’s what I mean:
Acorn to Oak Tree a Massachusetts Girl Metaphor
I grew up in New England jumping in leaf piles and making mudpies adorned with acorn nuts.
So whenever I envision my business I see an oak tree. It started off as an acorn small enough to fit in the palm of my one-year-old’s hand. And one day it will grow into a tree strong enough for tire swings and picnics. It may take some time, but it won’t be blown over by the occasional hurricane or nor-easter. It’s solid, that's what I wanted my business to be.
The problem is…
Until that oak tree is strong and sustainable you need a bit of grass. Which to me is the work we do while we wait for the next dream client to walk in the door. .
Perhaps it’s writing for tourism boards or partnering on an event. Maybe it’s consulting with medical companies to help their professionals get camera ready. If I’ve learned anything from my one wild life you don’t have to know exactly where you’re going to take the first step.
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