16 Jun How to Move Your Small Business from Stuck to Soaring

Someone e-mailed me a link to a short video called the 212 movie that is going viral. This inspiring video pointed out that at 211 degrees water is merely hot, but at 212 degrees it’s boiling and able to create steam which can actually make a train run among other things. Just one degree makes all the difference.

Just at the point when your frustration level is high because you’ve been working hard, doing all the “right” things and yet still not making the income you want, you may feel like quitting. But that may be just the point at which you’re about to reach the boiling point. Sticking with it for a little longer or trying one new approach can catapult you to a whole new level where you start to easily make more money than ever before.

There are times when you need to stop doing what you’re doing and change directions. When you’ve tried to market a product or service and no one is buying you absolutely need to take a good hard look at the product itself or your marketing to see what’s not working. However, in many cases a few tweaks and a bit more persistence is all you need. Try asking yourself what strategies you’d be using right now, and what actions you’d be taking if you already had a million dollar business. Wouldn’t you be thinking bigger? I see people all the time who settle for so much less than they’re worth and it’s keeping them stuck. Here are some tips that will help you move from stuck to soaring.

Create a Product Funnel from your Personal Process

A common mistake that I see often is when you create a single product, like a $27 e-book or a $19 a month membership program and think you now have a business. You need to create a branded process that you teach your clients or take them through that will move them from problem to solution. Take this process and create a series of products and services that go from the most basic information about your process (lowest priced) to a very in depth, hands on solution (highest priced). Now you have a funnel of products, so that once someone buys from you, they will want to become a fan and buy from you again and again. Having just one or two products is a dead end street, since buyers come in and quickly exit your pipeline so you’re stuck constantly trying to find new buyers.

Push Yourself outside Your Comfort Zone

What do you see other successful people in your market doing that you secretly want to do? What action could you take that’s bold and a little scary? Well it’s time to take that action. If you continue doing only what is comfortable and safe you’ll stay stuck. Maybe you need to get out from behind your computer and do a live workshop. Maybe you need to pick up the phone and start calling prospects and talking with them about your services. Maybe you need to master some aspect of technology that you know would increase your income, but that you’ve avoided out of fear. Or maybe you need to stop agonizing over every small detail, give up perfection and increase your speed of implementation. Every time I’ve moved outside my comfort zone or I’ve pushed one of my clients to do so, amazing things have happened. This is how you put the message out there that you’re playing a bigger game. You’ll feel much more empowered and confident that you can have what you want.

Make Strategy and Planning a Priority

Without strategy any action you take in your business is random and random just doesn’t work. Every marketing activity and product you create needs to be part of a strategy. Whether you’re doing a live presentation, spending time doing social media, promoting a tele-class, or introducing a product you need to create a flow chart to see how you can position your actions to get the biggest return on investment. For example, that could mean planning to introduce a new product by planning out and writing all of your marketing messages and activities with a clear timeline, adding an up-sell to your product, and planning how you’ll market to people who are interested but don’t buy immediately. Every marketing activity needs to have a call to action and that needs to be planned before you do the marketing. Marketing is not a passive activity. Whether you’re sending people to a blog post you’ve written or sending them to a website landing page to learn about a product or sign up for your mailing list, you need to have a plan. For each action you take in your business ask yourself “why am I doing this” and “what is my ultimate goal”?

Think bigger, act bigger, have a strategy and a plan. Just these simple changes can move your business to the boiling point!