How I Grew My Business

In this video, that I recorded a number of years ago, I talk about some of the key milestones I passed during my first two years in business – some are relevant to anyone starting a business, others are specific to the fact that mine became focused on group programmes.

As I looked at those milestones I couldn’t help notice a bit of a theme developing – an important theme that was key to all of that early progress and success, and that I see that a lot of business owners around me are bypassing completely – often in favour of “more complicated” things, or things that work but take a lot longer to see results.

Watch the video or scroll down to learn more.

There are certain milestones we typically all hit when starting a business.  Some of these milestones might not feel significant at the time but when I look back I can see that they were all important stepping stones to where I am now.

With the benefit of hindsight here are some of the major milestones on my business growth journey.

All of these happened within the first 2 years:

• Getting started with my first practice coaching clients
• Getting my first paying coaching client – it wasn’t very much at all (in fact embarrassingly low) but that was definitely a milestone moment!
• Running my first few small workshops to teach authentic sales
• Getting amazing testimonials for my 121 sales coaching & VIP Days
• Signing up to work with my first business mentor
• Beta-launching my first ever online programme – 20 people joined!
• Doing my first “proper” launch of my online programme a few months later – 81 people joined
• Launching and selling out my first group mentoring programme

So how did each of these milestones come about?

This is where you’ll notice a bit of a theme that I think you’ll find useful to observe.

In order for any of the above to happen I needed other people to come along – people to practice with, people to work with for free, people to recommend me and help spread the word, people to sign up for my launch, people to buy from me.

So where did these people come from?

Working for free with my first practice coaching clients.  
I emailed everyone I could think of to tell them that I was training as a coach and did they know anyone who would like 6 sessions for free? I filled all the places within a week.

Running my first few workshops to teach authentic sales.
The founder of the coaching school where I trained agreed to email his list of qualified coaches and sold 13 tickets at £47 each.  After room hire we split the profits.  It wasn’t the most profitable of ventures!  But it did get me started – and though I didn’t know it at the time it was actually my first “joint venture”  (aka collaboration).   It came about because I’d developed a good relationship with him while I was a student on his course.

Getting testimonials for my 121 sales coaching work & VIP Days
To get these I offered to work with 3 people for free in return for testimonials.   Two were people I’d met at a conference, and one was on a mentoring programme with me.  Of the first 2, both were so impressed by my work that they later became joint venture partners who enthusiastically promoted my online course. One of them became the biggest JV partner I’ve had in my business to date.   I know that many of my clients are reluctant to work with their first few clients for free, but it has paid off for me over and over again, in numerous ways.

Signing up to work with my first business mentor
I found her because I attended a conference where she was a speaker and was so inspired that I found myself at the back of the room signing up to her programme – that also marked the beginning of a long and fruitful business relationship that is still in place today.

Beta-launching my online programme
I was gifted an established networking group of 300 members and gave my first talk there, selling 13 places on my programme.   I was also invited to give another talk (incidentally, by one of the people I’d worked with for free).  At that talk when I arrived and saw that there were only 4 members of the audience my heart sank.   But I sold 6 places on my programme that day because 2 of the organisers signed up too!  Which just goes to show you shouldn’t be too proud in the early days – even the smallest opportunities can be great opportunities.

The first “proper” launch of my online programme
Before this launch I’d started work with another new business mentor who was recommended to me by a friend.  He encouraged me to formally adopt “joint ventures” as a strategy for this launch.  But I was highly resistant – I just didn’t feel comfortable asking someone to promote it for me, and also I couldn’t think of anyone I could ask!

But of course, for the previous 2 years while I’d been struggling, failing & learning I was attending lots of conferences & seminars, networking events and masterminds.   I was meeting a LOT of people.  I was also booking speakers for my networking group and would get to know them over a drink afterwards.  Once I realised that I did know more people than I thought, I actually adopted a more formal “JV strategy” that year and grew my mailing list from 300 to 1800 in just 3 weeks. As a result I sold 81 places on my programme! (Asking them still wasn’t comfortable, but I managed to do it anyway!).

Selling out my first group mentoring programme
All the people who joined my first higher-priced mentoring programme had just been through my online programme.  About 70% of the members of that first group had come via just one joint venture partner – the one who I’d met at a conference and then offered to work with for free.

I think you’re probably starting to see the pattern…

All of the significant growth I’ve seen in my business over the years has come as a result of personal connections with people in real life circumstances.   People I met at events or on courses, people I met online and made an effort to meet offline, people who joined my course and recommended me to others.

And how did I make those connections?  Mostly got out and about attending networking events, workshops, training courses and masterminds.

I also did quite a lot of networking online using Facebook – but that’s all I did with Facebook  for the first few years – I didn’t try to “broadcast” or advertise or shout about myself and hope that someone would notice.  Instead, I quietly and diligently made personal connections and built lasting relationships.

Over the years since I’ve added in online marketing to the mix.  This his has including content marketing, a youtube channel,  social media (ranging from intermittent to non-existent!), Facebook ads (that have never been profitable) and a free Facebook group (now dormant).

But I was doing a consistent 6 figures in turnover for 3 full years before I adopted online marketing approaches – and when I did I did it in a strategic, consistent way rather than a “hit & miss and hope something sticks” approach.  I also understand that online marketing is a “slow burn” kind of strategy, rather than a “quick win” because it takes that bit longer to build trust and nurture relationships online.

So here’s the point I’m wanting to make today:

Don’t underestimate the power of “people” and building real-world relationships to take your business forward.

And it’s so easy to do.  Do what I did – get your shoes and coat on and get out of the house!
Attend networking events, conferences and seminars, workshops and masterminds, talks and social occasions.  Follow up on social media and keep in touch.  Above all talk to people.  You simply never know who you’ll meet.    I couldn’t have known that day when I got paired up to do an exercise with a woman at a conference, or when I sat down next to a chap at an NLP course and discovered he ran a coaching school, or when I saw another woman speak and then joined her mentoring programme, that I was meeting 3 of the people who would have the biggest impact on the growth of my business over the coming years.

Even now, nothing I’ve done online even comes close to the impact of these personal connections.
Of course, this may change over time but even in a recent (record) launch, 74% of all the sales came either via referrals from happy clients or recommendations by joint venture partners.  In other words – people.

And only 26% of sales came from “online marketing” in its purest sense – i.e. getting the attention of complete strangers out there on the internet.

Hope you enjoyed this video and blog.  And remember, a business is only a business if you are actually meeting and talking to the people who need your services, who are willing to pay for them and actually work with you. 

Join me for Create a Business you Love Week!

Starts Monday 1st June

Join me for one week where I will take you through a process of designing a business you can fall in love with – and stay in love with.

There will be a daily training, a task to help you apply what you are learning and mentoring/Q&A sessions with me. All of it designed to give clarity on what’s working for you, and what to change and add to create a business that actually works – so you can love it for the long term.

It’s also a great opportunity for you to get my personal guidance on YOUR business – for no charge!

Click here for full details and to register

(And if you’re interested in joining my Business from the Heart membership for longer term business support it will be opening for enrolment from 3rd June)