You feel like you’re working hard in, and on, your business, yet the revenue just isn’t there. You’re not making the revenue everyone talks about and which seems so easy for them. So what’s going on?
I’m going to be blunt. The answer typically comes down to a few things:
- You either haven’t earned, or kept, the trust of your readers.
Let me explain. If your website indicates that you send out a weekly newsletter and you send it out every other week or “when you get to it”, you’re telling (through your actions) your readers that you’re not credible and shouldn’t be trusted.
It’s simple. If I can’t trust you to send out a newsletter (or even a one paragraph tip) when you say you will, why would I ever trust you to do anything else you say you will?
And a special note here…the “fault” may not be yours. You may be doing all the work and your team (virtual assistant) may be inadvertently making mistakes with how new prospects enter your community or how your newsletter is sent (this recently happened to a client of mine as her VA “thought” she understood the system and didn’t).
2. You’re working hard, but not smart.
You’re in your office working more hours than you, or your family, think you should be for the amount of revenue that’s [not] coming in.
You think you’re doing all the right things – in reality, you’re likely using a mishmash of strategies and techniques with no unifying plan.
In addition to the lack of consistency and cohesion, if you’re not sure what your business truly does and has to offer, your prospective clients will be confused and a confused person never purchases and certainly doesn’t see working with you as an investment.
- You’re busy, not truly productive.
Like #2 above, you’re in your office working more hours than you think you should be – especially given all the “I work part time and earn 6 figure” stuff that’s out there.
Unfortunately, if you were to honestly (brutal honesty here) review everything you’re doing on a daily basis, you’d find that you’re busy. . .not productive.
How many of your activities track to revenue? Or to building your community? Are you consistent? Do you find yourself saying “there’s not enough time” or “I was too busy to do X”?
- Your business is an expense.
Prospective clients need to see what you do and what you offer as an investment — in themselves, their businesses, their mindset, something which will “pay them dividends” over time.
How does what you do save your clients time, mo.ney, or effort? Or how does it help them be happier, live a more fruitful life, etc.? Become an investment, not an expense.
If you’ve resonated with any of the above, or become irate and wonder “How dare Sandy say I’m inconsistent, not productive, etc.?”, you’ll want to take a close look at what you’re doing in your business and the results you’re getting.
5. You’re overwhelmed.
You’ve got a list a mile long and not sure where to start so you procrastinate and do other things (see #3 above) while those things which bring you closer to revenue are neglected.
Also under this category is when you’ve spent so much time getting ready for a new program or product launch that by the time you’re ready to announce it to your community, you’re overwhelmed and/or bored with it. Your campaigns aren’t campaigns, they’re single announcements and you’re wondering what happened and why people aren’t investing.
And if you’re not sure what to do, check out my upcoming course on How to Create Engagement, and Paying Clients, through Nurturing — for less than $70 and happening this Friday.