If you believe all the online noise out there, the route to success is all about...
- posting a three times a day,
- spending lots on advertising,
- running endless webinars,
- writing daily newsletters,
- going live every day
... and falling in an exhausted heap on the floor as you have been running round like a headless chicken!
Crazy right?
And it's totally unsustainable.
And it's a sign of the butterfly business (more on that below)
You don't want to be that and do that.
In all honesty, no-one does.
Now don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of work involved in setting up a business, and that is no different whether it is bricks and mortar or online.
The business fundamental holds true regardless of the year.
And this is one such fundamental that the great Zig Ziglar is often quoted saying...
"You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." - Zig Ziglar
And the route to online success starts with doing things The Introvert Way®
To grow a business for success, you need to start with getting your offers right.
If you start talking on social media without knowing where your real value lies, you will not only be wasting a lot of energy and time, and maybe money too... but you will also be guilty of adding to all that online noise.
Content needs to be purposeful.
Content needs to be relatable.
Content needs to bring value.
And the best content that you create needs to guide people to the solution that you provide. The solution you provide, is what I call your Signature Offer.
This is the offer at the heart of your business,
The offer that you want to get known for.
The offer that brings in 80% of paying clients to your business.
The offer that you connects all the dots in your business, and magnetises people in as they desire the solution you provide, as you and no-one else gets them in quite the same way.
So way before you look at building your following, growing your newsletter subscriber list, you need to have established what your signature offer is, so you know which direction to create all the other elements of the business in.
And how we do this, is by following The Introvert Way®
As introverts, we are superb at listening, noticing, reflecting and responding
These are the essential traits for carrying out market research, where we ask questions and listen to the answers we get to validate our business ideas.
We then take these findings and look into how we want to serve our clients, what is manageable, sustainable and scaleable?
What is the best container to share our expertise in?
How does our audience like to consume content? Are they readers, watchers or listeners?
Are they highly motivated, self-led learners, or do they need interaction and engagement?
What length of time does it take for all the elements to come together so the client feels satisfaction of a job well done?
Then, we ask ourselves, what are all the possible objections someone may have that would stop them taking part in our offer?
How can we answer these in a way that then turns the decision from a "no" or a "I'm not sure" into a "Yes!"
Bringing together all of these answers, will lead to your Signature Offer format.
The next stage is learning the tricks that enamour, engage and enlighten our clients.
And remember
People do not buy the information we know, instead they buy our take on it, how we explain it, the way we serve it - Susanna Reay
Think back to your school days, and you will know this to be true when you think of your favourite teacher, the one that lit a fire inside of you of curiosity and engagement for their subject.
But this does not come naturally to all, and there are tips and tricks we can learn along the way, processes that we can follow that can guide our growth.
A client relationship starts before the first sale and finishes long after they have handed over their credit card. If you wish to grow your business through referrals and recommendations which is the long established route to success, then staying connected and engaged with your clients is key.
The start of being a good leader, trainer, coach or teacher is holding onto that fire in your belly, the passion that stays within, what I like to call the "Owner's Spark".
When you create your business, it is like a baby that you need to nurture and grow, and give guided advice to. The only way we can grow and scale online is to listen closely to our people, listen to their needs and wants, then bring them the solutions in only the way you can.
The 4 essential offer types
These offers are best thought of in the following 4 essential offer types that every business needs in their portfolio, though not all maybe in the shop window:
- Touchpoint Offer - answer the first key question people always ask of you
- Entry Offer - provide a quick win solution that gets results for top level issues
- Signature Offer - deep dives into your core area of expertise
- VIP Offer - bespoke packages for the top 5% of clients
Together these create your offer pathway. They help your clients get answers to their most urgent questions at the start and then as they work deeper with you, their eyes will get opened to all the questions they didn't even know to ask.
And at this point rather than having clients feel they are like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into wonderland, you want to guide them gently to the finish line, as their trusted expert.
And then, once you have your offer pathway lined up, with a clear direction established, is it time to start creating the content, with purpose.
And if your posts are high quality, engaging, educational, valuable... them your audience will respond and engage and your business will grow.
It all starts with getting your offers right.
Skip out on the fundamental offer creation step, and you will suffer from being one of the many butterfly businesses that I see online today.
You know the ones... the owners that fly from one training to the next, buying into amazing deals and latest tech, racing from one dazzling flower to the next... without a clear direction.
So one day they collapse as it's all too much. Their business life is short.
Instead, grow your business, The Introvert Way® - plant the seed to become the established expert who underscores everything they say and do with integrity and authenticity.
It is possible to have success online, without running around like a headless chicken. Stick around and I'll show you how.
