By Nicole Liloia
“Hard” is the one word almost everyone uses to describe business. At first, it seems impossible to sustain a business that’s all your own.
I’m a business strategist who helps women entrepreneurs build bigger businesses and create consistent income growth. I love helping them create multiple income streams that allow them the freedom to work less while still making more money.
Can you really make money doing what you love? You’re ready to commit to the entrepreneurial life, but you might wonder if it will stick. As an entrepreneur who has been in business for multiple years, I can say that I’ve been there. I’ve felt the exact same way.
I’m going to take you through the strategies that completely changed my entrepreneurial journey. I had to do them myself in order to grow my business and my profits. These three strategies got me out of the fears and doubts – bringing me into the success that I wanted. Are you ready to see more success come out of your hard work?
Strategy #1 – Talk to Potential Clients (A Lot!!!)
When I changed my business model, I made assumptions about the problems my clients had. As a result, things weren’t clicking for people. I knew I could solve their problems but I wasn’t presenting it in a way that solved the problems they knew they had.
When things really shifted for me, I talked to over 30 people in one month. Some of these calls were over an hour long, but I was willing to give a lot in order to get clear on who I was helping the most. This is why you have to talk to potential clients as much as possible.
People are scared to talk to their potential clients (and so was I), but because of that fear, I wasted time with services that people didn’t need. Take all the opportunities you have to talk to your potential clients, especially in the beginning.
You’re going to get to that point where things tip for you because you’re talking to people.
Always talk to people no matter what level you’re at in your business. You have to find out what kind of help people need to grow your client base. You’ll create services they adore because it’s like you’ve read their mind – when in reality, you’ve actually just listened to them.
Strategy #2 – Use Focused Goal-Setting Activities
Knowing what success is for you and getting super specific about goal-setting is the foundation of everything. This was a huge turning point for me. When I decided that I have to figure out who I wanted to work with and what I wanted to do, I decided to start setting goals. And it worked.
If you’re not focused on one specific goal, you’ll actually accomplish little of what you wanted to accomplish. Your goal shouldn’t be to add 500 people to your client list or to create a new course if what you really want is to start making money. Your goal needs to have an impact on your cash flow if that’s what you want right now. If you already have money coming from a big launch, it’s ok to focus on audience-building and other activities that don’t make money. Your goal needs to fit where you’re at.
If you’re working on building your list one day and the next day writing a blog, you may be all over the place. You have to stay focused on goal-setting activities. If I’m working on selling out my academy, the blog I write needs to be focused on getting people into that course. There has to be intention with all of your activities. Each day I set a daily action related to my major goal and that is really important to make my goals happen.
Strategy #3 – Take Action
This is the biggest thing you must do if you want to grow your business and profits!
I see so many people stuck in learning mode and not in action mode. As a result, it negatively affects their business. Sometimes, when we’re learning and gaining skills for our business, we forget to make money. Certifications and training are fine, but how are you going to use them to make money today?
A lot of actions we need to take are ones that we avoid and these are often related to visibility, investments in business and asking for the sale. There are many fears that come up around these areas so we find other things to keep us busy.
Don’t just take sporadic action. It’s important that everyday you take action for your business. If you’re spending time on Facebook, don’t just scroll through your newsfeed. Use it to reach your goal of finding clients. If you’re trying to use Instagram for business, but you’re going on and posting pictures from your life not related to your business, then focus on using it as a business-building activity. In order to reach your vision of success, you need to take focused and consistent action to get there.
These three strategies are the real deal! I’ve used them to create a business I love with freedom to travel, be with my friends and family and put money in the bank. I know that you can achieve your own version of success by first, deciding what that is, and then putting these strategies to work.
Nicole’s first business was a counseling private practice but she quickly added in multiple income streams so that she could travel more while still running her business. She got her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and has contributed to Forbes, Huffington Post, Mind Body Green, and more. Nicole always says yes to tacos and loves Apothic wine. You can find her online at www.nicoleliloia.com and download her free tool, the Consistent Income Generator, so that you can create a personalized plan to have consistent income growth in your own business at nicoleliloia.com/consistentincome.
