5 Mistakes To Avoid In Your Business

Okay, it's time to have a little chat about business mistakes. And let's get real. I'm going to be sharing the mistakes that I've made in my business since starting it three years ago. Let's get into it. Hi, my name is Trena and I am a YouTube strategist who started this channel to help creative entrepreneurs like you get started on YouTube. If you haven't done so yet, just make sure you click that subscribe because that would really help me know that you like the content. Content. If you're subscribed and hit that little bell icon so that you get notified when I upload these new videos to help you. Like I said, this video I really wanted to focus on the mistakes I've made so that you can kind of learn from my mistakes. I would have loved to know more behind the scenes of businesses when I got started. Instead of the fake facade a lot of business owners kind of put on, one of the biggest mistakes that I made in my business was kind of believing what people were saying. So the thing is, when I got started, online courses were all the rage, right? And they made it seem easy and they did a really great pitch of all these courses that they had and that if you took them, you know, this would be the answer to all your prayers. And it was really, really good marketing. But the thing is, they weren't always the right answer. And I know this may be not the right thing to talk about, but sometimes we've just gotta be real about things. Some of the courses that I signed up for did nothing for me. I mean, I followed them, I did them, but I didn't get the amazing results that they said would happen. Yeah, they helped me for some things, but I definitely, you know, didn't really need that course. I kind of figured it out all on my own. Another mistake that I made was believing I had to be everywhere. So Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, you know, every single stinking platform. And the only thing this did for me was stress me out, overwhelm and burn me out and have multiple platforms that were really pretty crappy. When I realized that the platforms that were bringing me the most traffic were Pinterest and YouTube. That's where I focused my attention. I started started my business me on my own. And for two and a half years it was just me. I hired a few things out here and there, but mostly I wasn't hardly making enough money as it was to pay the automation tools that I had. So I did it all. And stressing about platforms that Just weren't working for me. Just wasn't worth it. The next mistake is a doozy and it's believing people are more successful than they actually are. Here's the thing, we all can put on a great face. I can put on my makeup, I can sit here and pretend that I have the best business in the world and you wouldn't know from the outside looking in unless I got real with you. Here's the thing, I am making money in my business. But the first two years, the first year I did not make any money. The second year I made a little bit of money. And this past year I am doing decently. I'm not making hundreds of thousand dollars. I'm not even having six figure launches. I hit my first five figure launch just this last spring, but before that I was basically breaking even or making just a little bit of money that I could put back into Facebook ads the next time around. And here's the thing, a lot of people are in my same boat and you wouldn't believe it because they put on this fake Instagram facade or fake personality. And it's not that it's fake, it's just that we want people to believe we're successful so we look like more of an authority figure and people think we're good at what we do. But we're all struggling behind the scenes. And you aren't the only one struggling behind the scenes, trust me. There are so many people that you think are doing amazing, that they are struggling just like you. So another mistake that I made was not not focusing on my one on one services. I talked a little bit about this in a prior video. I'll link it up above. But this is really how you're going to start growing. Your business is really getting to know your target audience by focusing on one on one clients and not getting sucked down the drain of online courses and passive products. It's just not going to work if you're just getting started. You've got to really love on your one on one people and you've got to give them value and see what they really love. Once you have a system going, then you can take that system and put it into a course with proven results. That's not what I did. I wish I would have focused more on one on one clients. I wish I would have just really got that down deep down, like in a system so that it was much more easier to move to a course so that people understood better. And one other mistake that I made that one of my friends, Ashlyn Carter actually talked about on her channel was kind of committing to too many coffee dates. Now I did do a lot of online coffee dates and I got to meet a lot of great people and I got to do a lot of collaborations and I met some of my best business friends. But I found myself getting stressed out over being on so many coffee dates. I would suggest maybe doing two coffee dates a month, maybe three, because you can start to get overwhelmed and not giving your clients that love or not giving your business that love. And yes, they are absolutely fantastic to connect with, but you have to find a way to fit it into your life, into your schedule. And you can go check out Ashlyn's video. I'll put the link to it down below. She really walks through how to use coffee dates the right way. The next mistake is a doozy and I still struggle with this. And it's keeping track of your key performance indicators. These are called KPIs. So tracking your growth, tracking your revenue. I mean I kept track of my revenue by looking at my bank account, but you've got to really break it out into categories and know where exactly your money is coming from. Track your email growth, see which opt ins are working, see which aren't, see how you're growing your Pinterest, see which platforms are bringing you that traffic that's really going to help you when you're growing your business. I did not do enough of this and I did not keep numbers of webinar launches and challenges and it hurts me in the long run because I don't have these stuff standard numbers that I first started out with to know what to compare my next launch with. And I'm sharing this with you because it's a mistake that I made and I'm just wanting you to all learn from me to be real and open with you because I just wish I would have had somebody online or on YouTube or social media being real about all of the behind the scenes stuff. I would love to know if you like me having this more real sit down chat with you. Let me know by saying yes down in the comments below so I know if this video was even worth sharing. And if you have not done so make sure you click subscribe by clicking that circle button of me on your screen right now and watching some more fun videos I've suggested. That's on your screen right now. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video. Bye.