#14 - How to know what to focus on FIRST to grow your business

For example, I hate doing sales calls. I never want to have to do them. So I have deliberately set up my business and created products and funnels that mean I don't need to do them. If I was to come up with an amazing idea or see something, oh, that sounds really cool, but it's going to require sales calls. I just would be like, well, I guess it's not for me. And I'd move right along.

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Hey. Hey everybody. It is Kateen Given here and welcome back to the Doing It Online podcast. This is episode 14 and today I'm talking about how to know what to focus on first to grow your business. Now, before we dive in, I want to ask you a super quick question. And that question is, does this sound familiar? So you started your year excited. You have your to do list, you have your plan, you know what you are focusing on. But then you read a blog post about how someone swears by a five day challenge to grow their business. And then you see an Instagram story about how you need to have a self liquidating offer. And then another person says that you need to learn Pinterest. Another says that Google is back and it's like you just can't keep up and suddenly your plans go out the window. Your to do list starts getting out of control and pretty soon it's the end of the year and you're exhausted and you don't feel like you got anything done. And of course with all of this overwhelm and confusion and feeling like you're running all the time, your business also hasn't really grown all that much. And you just wish you knew which one of the hundreds of things people keep telling you you should be doing to grow your business was actually the thing that was going to make the difference. Does that sound familiar? If it does, tag me on Instagram akemikibbon. Let me know. And don't feel bad if it does. This happens to everyone. It's super common. And in today's episode I'm going to share a really simple process I use when I am feeling overwhelmed to help me find what is really important to focus on. This is going to make sure that it is crystal Clear for you exactly what you should be doing, what should be your priorities, what you should be focusing on to make the biggest impact in your business. And the rest you can forget about because it's just white noise. Okay, so there are three steps to this process, guys, and you may need a pen. So if you don't have one, go grab one. If you're driving. I'm sorry. Okay, are you ready? All right, let's dive in. So, first of all, the very first thing part of this process is you actually have to know what type of business you really want to build. And it's not just one that makes lots of money. That's a given. But you need to actually sit down and visualize and map out and plan exactly what you want from your business. You don't need to know exactly how you're going to get what you want, but you need to know what it is that you actually want. So imagine that it's 10 years from now. Your business has really taken off. Like, you know, you've just lucked out everywhere and it's in your mind. It is a huge success. So that's really important. Okay, so it's for you, your. It's 10 years from now, and your business is your definition of really successful. And you wake up every day and you're excited and you're motivated and it feels great. So what exactly does that look like? What kind of work do you do and what do you not do that's just as important? So I want you to really sit down and map this out. So write what work you're doing, the work you're not doing. Right? Who you're working with, who you're not working with. Describe your clients. Describe the types of work that you do with them, how you are showing up, how you are delivering. Do you have a team? Do you have an office? Where do you work from? How many days a week do you work? What times of day do you work? It might sound silly to be this specific, but it is really important to get clear on this because you have to know what it is that you look that you're creating, what success means to you so you know which direction to point your ship. This is actually something I make all of my clients do on a deeper like we have a sort of a bit more in depth version that I get them to go through. And it's just so important. And the amount of aha. People get just from sitting down and actually going through this process and going, huh? I realize that actually I've been Setting up my business wrong, because it's not going to get me where I want it to go. And the reason that I say you need to do this step and you need to take the time to do it and it's so important is because to actually know what it is that you need to be doing to get you to where you want to go, you have to know where it is that you want to go first. So now that you've done this, now you know where you're going. Some of these bright, shiny ideas should automatically be eliminated because they're not going to get you there. Because doing that kind of work or showing up in that way or, you know, using that type of strategy, it's not going to attract the right people. It's not going to be allow you to live the life that you want to live. It's not going to allow you to build the business that you want to build. Some of them should automatically just disappear right off the bat. So that is excellent. So for example, I hate doing sales calls. I never want to have to do them. So I have deliberately set up my business and created products and funnels that mean I don't need to do them. If I was to come up with an amazing idea or see something, oh, that sounds really cool, but it's going to require sales calls. I just would be like, well, I guess it's not for me. And I'd move right along. So that's how what I mean by it, you need to know all of these intricate details. You need to know where you're going because you need to be able to use it as a filter for your decisions. So that's step number one, knowing where you want to go.

Hey guys, it's just Kate here. So first of all, I just had to quickly stop by and say thank you so, so much for listening to and supporting my brand new podcast. It really means the world to me. And to help kick this puppy off with a real bang, I actually have an amazing free bonus just for you guys, which is I'm giving away access to my 5 day mini business accelerator workshop worth $97 totally for free to everyone who leaves a 5 star review of the Doing It Online podcast on itunes right now. This five day workshop walks you through creating your own killer online business plan for your online course business. One that is scalable, profitable and enjoyable too. It's chock full of my very best lessons and strategies from over 13 years online. And today it's yours for free. All you have to do is step one, open up iTunes. Click on this podcast, click write, review and then click those little five stars and share what you love most about the show. Step two, head to katesbonus.com that's K-A-T-E-S B-O-N-U S.com Kate's bonus and pop in your contact details and itunes account name so we can know the review is from you and we can send you your login details for your bonus. It's that simple. Step one, leave a five star review. Step two, head to katesbonus.com and send us your details. And that's it. And as an extra little thank you, I'll be choosing my favorite reviews every week and sending that lucky reviewer an exclusive I do it online mug so you can sip along in style while you listen to your favorite show. So what are you waiting for? Hit pause, go leave that review, then head over to katesbonus.com, pop in your details and claim this amazing five day workshop for yourself. I'll see you inside.

Another example of this is again with me is launching. I personally prefer to only do that tops a couple of times a year because I find it really draining because I find the amount of time that you have to put into actually getting it set up in the first place takes you away from the stuff that I actually like doing. And, you know, that's just not a good fit. I'm happy to do it every now and then, but not to be doing it again and again over and over. So again that helps me to make the decisions around how I set up my business, what I prioritize, my marketing plan, everything. You have to know this part. So anyway, that's step number one, knowing where you want to go. Step number two is knowing where you are right now, funnily enough. So not everyone knows this, but there are five phases of a business growth cycle and each has a specific thing that you need to focus on and master before you can fully and properly move through to the next phase. And you want to move from phase one through to phase five because that is how you grow your business. Now, phase number one, this is the product creation and testing phase. So to move from this phase, you need to have actually created something that people want to buy and have confirmed that, you know, they want to buy it by actually selling it to people more than once. So not just having, you know, your nana buy at one time, but actually having done a couple of not, you know, even if they're not amazing, but have done a couple of little promotions or launches or you know, gone out there and through word of mouth. But you've, you've been out there, you've actively sold this product multiple times and this is actually a great segue. If you just mind giving me a minute. Is that if you're someone whose offer, if you feel like you're sort of stuck in this phase, if you have an offer and it's not selling as well as you'd like. Right now I'm actually running a free three day challenge starting on October 12th, which is just around the corner called the sold out success challenge. It's a three day live offer overhaul to take your course, program or other online offer from sort of selling to total sold out success. So if you want to jump in and go through that with me, if you want to take your offer from meh to, you know, on its road to millions, just head to Kate McKibben.com or the link is in the show notes. Sign up now. As I said, it's free, it's starting in a couple of days. It's going to be super fun and I can't wait to see you inside. So that is phase one, create and validate. Phase two. Once you know you have an offer that sells, your next focus is creating and growing reliable revenue. So yes, that's increasing your sales, but doing it in a way that means you feel safe enough to plan and hire and invest because you need to be able to do that in the following phases. So while you always be looking at ways to make more money for your business, that never stops. You will at the end of this stage have systems and plans in place that you are no longer worried about making enough money. So that's phase two, focusing on the cash flow. Phase three, this is where you go all in on building your audience. So yes, of course you've been doing some audience building before then, but hasn't been the number one focus. Making money was a number one focus and building your audience was just kind of a byproduct of that or a means to an end to be able to do that. But now that money is more certain, now that you've got these systems in place that you know that when you have get, you know, a hundred or a thousand new people into your world that you're going to probably convert X number of them either through a funnel or a launch or a combo of those. Now you know all of this. Now it's where you go, okay, let's put our foot on the gas. And so we get really serious about building your audience, growing your list. And this includes, you know, from lots of different sources. So it could be, you know, focusing on organic, on Pinterest, on, you know, doing Facebook ads, all that kind of stuff. That's phase three, phase four. It's all about systems and team so that you can keep up with all of this growth without burning out. So it's basically setting up the systems and the processes so that your business becomes this little machine that's running. And it's not just the some parts that are running as a little machine without you, it's, it's the whole thing. Which then takes you through to phase five, which is where you get to step up and be the CEO and basically remove yourself from the day to day of the business as much as possible, which then frees you and your wonderful, wonderful entrepreneurial brain up to go and do this process all over again. So those are the five stages and focuses of creating and growing a product or, you know, online offer. And while you're always going to be doing probably a little bit from multiple phases, your main focus, that main task or main priority you need to be focusing on should be the tasks that help you to complete the phase that you're in so you can move to the next one. Because that is how you grow by moving, by completing each section, by, you know, by making sure when you're in the right section, you focus on sorting that section out, ticking all those boxes so you can move through to the next one. That is how you grow. If you don't tick off a phase, you will stay stuck there until you do. So those are the first two steps. One, know where you're going. Two, know where you are right now and what your current focus needs to be. So I hope that again, this has allowed you to add a couple of filters to your decision making process. So number one is like, is this going to get me where I want to go? Number two is, is this relevant? Like the stage I'm in right now, the thing I need to be focusing on right now, and I imagine for a lot of you, that is making money and making money reliably because that seems to be the stage where most people kind of get to and get really st.

You know, that should automatically get rid of a lot of the clutter that's being thrown at you because they won't be relevant for they, you know, they won't tick those two boxes. So the final step in this process, and this might seem like this process is a little bit in Depth to be using on a day to day to make decisions. But it's one of those things that with a little bit of practice and once you sort of, you know it and you've done it a few times, it just becomes habit and second nature. So I wouldn't stress, you don't need to sit down and map this out fresh every time. It's just you've done it once you have that knowledge and it becomes this like this extra tool you use, as I said, these extra filters when you're making decisions, when an opportunity comes up, when you're trying to plan stuff out for your business, these will automatically start helping you to filter down and to get focused on what really counts. So the third and final step is it's just a slight mindset shift. Again, it's just adding another little filter and it's about how you look actually at the different ideas and strategies that are presented to you or that are on your list. And it's a really simple shift. So I want you to basically make the shift, make the flip the script from looking for short term solutions to put out current fires or short term problems and instead start focusing on building assets that will pay off and add value to your business and therefore your life for the long term. Something that will, you know, it'll make you sales or it'll save you time or it improve your client's experience again and again, not just something that may possibly add some extra sales next week. These are things that are going to pay off, have a return on investment over and over again. They are assets, they're not just ticks in a box. And how do you know when something is an asset? Well, it needs to again pass a couple of quick tests. Number one, when you're thinking about, you know, anything that you potentially want to add to your business, whether it's a marketing strategy or a product or you know, a platform that you're thinking about trying to go out and master. Just ask yourself a simple question. In two years time, will my having spent time on doing this still be adding value to the business? Or is it likely that in two years time we will completely forgotten we ever did this? We won't still be doing this, it will no longer be relevant. Number two is, is there a return on investment AKA does the effort that you put in and the any financial investment that you put in, will you get a payback, a positive return over time? Will you get back more than what you've put in both time and money wise through creating this thing or Focusing or spending your time and money on whatever that particular strategy or idea is. Is there a return on investment? Number three, can it be mostly systemized or automated so that you don't have to be the one physically delivering or creating it from scratch again and again and again? If it ticks all those three boxes, yes, it is an asset. So of course an obvious choice here for an example when you're thinking about assets is adding a funnel to your business. And I know you all know I'm a bit of a funnel fanatic and I wholeheartedly believe, because I've seen it hundreds of times with hundreds of clients, that everyone needs to have that particular asset of a funnel in their business as soon as possible. You really can't get to the next phase of business without having regular reliable revenue. You just literally can't get to that next phase. And as it only takes four weeks or so to create, the return on investment is huge. But it's not just funnels that are assets. You know, I'm not completely biased here. You're creating a rinse and repeat launch is actually another asset, another really important asset for people in that stage. One where you, you know, one that you have run and perfected multiple times, that has predictable results, that you have, you know, systemized and documented as much as you can so that every time you run it, it runs better and better and easier and easier as well. Another example is building an email list or spending time to build up a following on a platform that is, you know, proven to be long lasting and that is where your clients are. In fact, as you're probably already guessing, most marketing strategies can be assets. But the real difference is taking the time to first list. Number one, make sure it fits where your business is going. AKA if you don't want to have to clean up your house and do your makeup regularly, then maybe growing YouTube channel is not the right fit for you. Number two, making sure that asset you are prioritizing is the one that is appropriate for the stage of business you are in. So it's going to help you move along and get to that next stage. And thirdly, by just simply making that shift to treating these strategies as assets and not just quick fix tricks, you'll treat them differently. You'll focus on taking the time to master them, to test and to tweak and to systemize as well. Because you know you've picked your strategy and it is now an asset you're creating. It's not just this thing you thought you might try one day Seriously, jumping from shiny new marketing tactic to next shiny new marketing tactic, kind of half doing it finding didn't work that well because here's the truth, it wasn't the right strategy for your business or you just plain didn't take the time to actually master it in the first place. And then moving on to the next shiny marketing tactic that is the slowest way to grow your business. You know it's true. A lot of you probably have already seen this in real life. It just does. It's how you get nowhere fast. So switching over to creating instead to go having that focusing on building assets mindset and to instead of going from little tactic to little tactic to little tactic to actually sitting down and perhaps every quarter or every two months to be focusing and prioritizing on creating one asset for your business. While it may feel like it's a slower burn at the start, as you compound these assets on top of each other, it actually becomes much, much, much quicker to get to where you're going. This is how all of those businesses that you look at and go, wow, overnight success. No, no, no. They just whether through luck or through strategy or through experience, they spend some time and they built some key assets at the right stage and in the right order. And the thing is when you have, when you focus on assets, when you have a business that is based on assets, then that business becomes much more stable and less stressful and more enjoyable as well. So not only do you grow quicker, you'll enjoy the process. So I want you to, now that you've got my, you know, not so top secret, but I think still super important three step plan for how to figure out what your priorities are. I want you just take a second, sit down, think about it, pick what that first asset is going to be, let me know. On social, you can tag me at Kate McKibben and then get going, go and do it. And if you want some help, if one of your first things you need to focus on is getting a product that sells really hella easily, as I said, we've got a free challenge. It's kicking off in just a few days. Head to katemckibben.com you'll see all the details there. Jump in, join us, it's free and otherwise I will see you all next week. Well, I'll hear you all, you'll hear me, whatever it is. So until then guys, keep doing what you do and I'll see you on the next episode. Bye.

Thanks so much for listening to the Doing it online podcast. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your online course sales to the next level with your own six or seven figure funnel, let Kate show you exactly how today@Stealmyfunnel.com.