Online entrepreneurs are really making it look easy aren’t they? They make it seem like this online business thing is something that just about anyone in the world can do.
And you’re sitting there like…“What secret do they know that I don’t? Why am I not seeing success? What book should I read next? What course should I take?”
One minute they’re broke and then the next – they’re announcing they’ve reached 7 figures in their online business. Seems like overnight success – to someone watching their Instagram feed.
Nope sorry – it didn’t happen overnight – it probably took 3 or 4 years…maybe more.
You didn’t really see behind the scenes (except for those cute shots when they were working from that local coffee shop and making it look all-so-glamorous.) I’m not writing this because I think running an online business is a struggle or “harder than it looks” or any of those thoughts that might hold someone back from doing the work. Running a successful online business is actually easy IF you decide you’re all in when it comes to DOING THE WORK AND you’re laser focused on making success a reality.
Here are 5 things that might be missing from your online business plan that are holding YOU back from hitting your financial goals:
1) A plan
Every successful business starts with a plan. I mean an actual old school business plan. The market research, the cash flow statements, the marketing plan – every single piece of the plan needs to be looked about before you do all that fun stuff like creating a logo, starting a Facebook page etc. You need to know if this business is going to have a chance at being successful before you quit your day job and start investing in marketing your online business.
2) Your ideal client or customer profile
If you really dive into the step above – you should uncover this one in the process – however – I think it’s important to REALLY focus in here – especially if part of your plan is to use platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to connect with them. Where do they hang out? What do they like to do? What do they struggle with and how can you help them? These types of questions will help you connect with your potential customer/client and ultimately – make a sale.
3) Consistency
You’ve been posting on Facebook & Instagram for a couple of weeks and aren’t seeing any results – so you stopped for a week and are now thinking about taking a course on how to get followers on Instagram. *STOP* that course MIGHT help MOTIVATE you to get back to doing what you were doing before – which is showing up – posting, sharing, engaging with your audience even when it seems like they aren’t there. KEEP GOING because you are silently disappointing your audience AND yourself when you give up. Keep adjusting your strategy – changing up posts based on which ones your audience ARE engaging with. Stop telling yourself there is a magic trick somewhere in a course or blog post you haven’t read yet that is going to make you lots of sales or land you lots of clients – because TRUST me…hashtags, posting times, and all that jazz only do justice when you are putting meaningful, engagement worthy content.
4) Delegation
If you SUCK at something – find someone else to do it for you. And maybe you ARE good – for example, at creating graphics for use on social media – your time is likely better spent doing things that ONLY YOU can do. Your role in your business shouldn’t be to wear all the hats – so please – seriously consider finding someone (perhaps a Virtual Assistant?) to take these tasks off your plate!
5) Failing forward
I’m sure you’ve heard that one. I’m living it every day my friend. When you get laser focused and create an amazing product…you launch it out into cyber space and ….*crickets* Then you start looking for day jobs again because this just isn’t working out for you. Dial it back – try again with a new approach.
Hope you found these 5 items you might be missing from your online business plan helpful! If you did – press the button below and save it to a Pinterest board (if you don’t already have one – name it “Online Business Tips” or something you can easily remember for the next time you are looking for motivation in your business)
Also – feel free to join the discussion in the comment box below – I’d love to hear from you!
