3 Crippling Mistakes That Are Shackling Your Business To The Ground, Destroying All Hopes For Growth
I have a question for you.
What made you get into business?
My guess is that you wanted to be free from the constraints of an average life.
Free from financial worries.
Free to travel anywhere in the world without having to ask your boss for permission.
Free to focus on what YOU care about.
None of this is possible without breaking the chains that are crippling your growth and holding your business hostage.
Until you have the ability to consistently make progress and capitalise on every opportunity available, you will remain shackled.
In this blog post, I’m going to uncover 3 major traps that are keeping you tied down while your competitors sprint to freedom.
It’s time to unshackle yourself.
Let’s get started.
The ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ attitude
A common theory most people have in business is if a tactic or system is producing results, it should be left alone.
If it’s consistently drawing in new leads and making you money, why mess with it?
Here’s why you should.
Let’s say you have an email sequence for new leads that’s producing a 15% conversion rate to your entry level product.
It’s doing well and drawing in a profit each month.
You don’t make any alterations to it and it continues at a steady 15% conversion rate.
What does that look like for your business after a year? How much have you grown?
The question you should be asking yourself is how you can improve upon this promising source of income.
What would your business look like if you could increase that 15% conversion rate to 30%, 40%, 50%?
Identify what is making this system successful and look for new ways to maximise it.
Always double down on what works.
This is what separates the opportunists from those who are content with playing it safe.
You will never grow if you do not take calculated risks.
Not analysing your target market frequently enough
The online space is constantly shifting and evolving.
As a business owner, you need to be able to shift and evolve with it.
In its most simplistic form, your role is to solve a problem that a particular group of people have.
The way you solve that problem today could be entirely different to how you would solve it a year from now.
It’s crucial that you are paying attention to these shifts in the market and adapting to them as soon as they happen.
Most business owners will keep an eye out for any major shifts of course, but the gold is found in the details.
Those of you who focus on the micro shifts and nuances will ultimately come out on top.
The best way to look for these micro shifts would be to analyse the top competitors in your space.
What are they doing differently to you?
Where are they investing most of their effort to gather new leads?
What is their top performing product or service and why?
You’ve got to stay on the ball with this if you really want to advance forward.
You’re too comfortable
Comfort is possibly the biggest factor holding most businesses back.
Some people are simply too comfortable operating within what is familiar to them.
The way you’re running your business works and you’re bringing in money.
That’s great.
Continuing like this however, is not going to get you to where you want to be.
It’s daunting to take risks when you have something that already works, but it’s so necessary if you want to get to that next stage in your business.
You cannot grow without sacrificing the present for the future.
If you want to get something you don’t have, you have to be willing to go somewhere you’ve never been.
Discomfort is where you grow.
Fortune will always favour the bold.
Conclusion
This was just a quick overview of 3 crucial mistakes that a lot of business owners tend to forget about when they’re trying to grow.
Some of these traps may be familiar to you already.
Some may be more prevalent than others.
If you keep these 3 points at the forefront of your mind and utilise them daily, you will grow significantly.
Sales Funnels : The Airtight System To Stop 85% Of Your Leads From Slipping Through The Cracks.
Chasing leads can be utterly exhausting.
One minute you’re within arms reach of a promising new client, while the next minute you’re watching them slip through your fingers.
You’re able to magnetise your followers in with engaging content, but the number of people investing in your dream just doesn’t add up to your expectations.
It seems like they resonate with your message, but just not enough to open up their wallet and part with their hard earned cash.
You shouldn’t have to waste your fleeting time scrambling to convince a lead that you’re the right choice for them.
You should be able to put your focus entirely on creating an exceptional product and changing your audiences lives for the better.
How can you free up your time and create a vehicle that will launch your leads to the exact place you want them?
The answer to that can be found within an elite sales funnel.
In this blog post, I’m going to give you all the tools and knowledge you need to build a funnel system that will take your business from functioning to thriving.
Once you reach the end of this page and implement everything I’m about to share, you will never lose another nights sleep over converting leads again.
Let’s get started.
WHAT IS A SALES FUNNEL?
What exactly is a sales funnel and what makes it so effective and converting leads into life-time buyers?
You probably have a basic idea of what a sales funnel is.
It’s the path you guide a person along from the first point of contact to becoming a high paying customer.
A funnel normally starts out with a low ticket product between $0 to $100 and gradually moves up to the highest ticket product or service you offer over $1000.
When configured correctly, a sales funnel can help your business grow exponentially without the need for you to be constantly involved in each step of the sales process.
The issue a lot of funnels face however, is an inability to actually hook people in and keep them around for the long run.
Even if you have a functioning funnel that draws in leads, weaknesses along the chain can ultimately destroy your chances of client retention and growth.
This is down to a lack of understanding of what your customers specifically care about and what motivates them to take action at each step.
Let’s talk about how you can ensure maximum success with your sales funnel.
UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER
One of the first ways you can give your sales funnel a cutting edge over the competition is to really understand how the average person thinks.
Human beings are complex creatures.
Our brains have evolved to process information and quickly decide what is useful to us, while discarding what is not.
This process has sped up drastically with the evolution of technology and other sources of quick dopamine, causing our attention span to drop to a mere 3 seconds.
As a result, the window of opportunity to grasp someone’s attention is very narrow.
What can you do to stop them from scrolling and get them laser focused on your message?
You need to create an airtight passageway to take your leads down without any gaps that would cause them to lose interest and drop off.
A direction you can guide them towards that will build trust and reassurance that what you have to offer is worth their time and commitment.
Think of this passageway in terms of a river.
Water will always take the path of least resistance.
They key is to create a path of least resistance within your sales funnel that will allow your leads to naturally flow through.
A path that has no awkward corners, obstacles, or uphill climbs.
The entire journey from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ needs to be as simple and rewarding as possible.
An effective entry level is crucial to making this work.
By developing an irresistible entry level you will eliminate all indecisiveness from your leads and give them a clear understanding that you have exactly what they need and you know how to get them there.
Ensure you leave a lasting impression right from the beginning if you really want to excel.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE KING
The very first point of contact with a lead is where you have the chance to show them what you’re really about.
This is where they decide whether to jump on board, or go back to scrolling for that next dopamine hit.
You need to convince them to give you that first commitment as you guide them through a long journey of success and fulfilment.
An easy ask that once completed will offer them something much greater in return.
What can you offer them that will make them hungry for more?
This is a question you will need to keep asking yourself throughout every stage of your funnel.
There is always something more you can do to enhance the experience of your new client.
Let’s take a look at two of the main options you have to secure that first ‘yes’.
Free Information Product :
The first and most common option you have is a Free Information Product.
These are worth their weight in gold as they cost nothing to make and can be easily distributed online.
You can utilize anything from a simple email sequence to a fully comprehensive E-Book.
The best way to structure this is to find a common problem people face within your industry that can be fixed relatively quickly.
By fixing this problem completely free of charge in little to no time, you will build immediate trust and authority with your lead.
The more effort and value you can pump into a Free Information Product, the greater your return will be.
One of the most common issues people run into when creating one of these is that they purposely make it a lot less valuable than their paid services.
They think that because it’s a free product they need to hold back significantly on the quality.
This is a big mistake.
While you don’t want to give them all of your trade secrets for free, you want to make them feel like they have received something of significant value, beyond what they expected.
If you don’t solve their problem or you underdeliver, you will lose them.
Do not be scarce with the value you offer.
Secure their email address in return for the product and you will gain a promising lead with endless potential.
Taster / Trial of a High Ticket Product
A less common but equally effective offer at your disposal is a Taster / Trial of a High Ticket Product.
This option can work particularly well if you are involved in a coaching or personal training business.
It can be used to secure monetary commitment faster than the previous option, by offering a free trial that leads directly on to a paid service.
Although it can bring about a faster return on investment, free trials can be a lot more difficult to close people on if you do not deliver a great experience before the payment begins.
For this to work you will need a to have an exceptional high end product or service that will guarantee success if the individual follows your guidance.
Blow them away with the trial and make the thought of sticking around a no-brainer.
These are just two of the options you have to stand out from the crowd and really enhance the relationship with your audience.
Do not fall into the trap of “I’ll just throw a 10% discount in here and hope for the best”.
Do not be like everyone else.
Take time to strategize new and exciting ways to draw leads in and your business will thrive.
MOMENTUM IS FUEL FOR SUCCESS
So you’ve got a killer lead magnet.
People are being pulled in by your incredible offer and have decided to give you their email address.
You delivered above and beyond what you promised and now they know you’re the real deal.
What’s the next step?
It’s time to ascend them up the ladder.
Too many businesses are content with just having someone on their email list.
They think that just because they’ve got the person through the door and maybe even got them to purchase, their job is done.
Of course, most businesses will continue to follow up with these clients after a sale.
They will send out emails and display updates on other products and services they offer, but for the vast majority of them it ends up being very passive and far too late.
In order to achieve the best results for your client and offer them the most value possible, you need to upsell them immediately after the purchase or acceptance of your free gift.
You’ve just helped that person improve their current situation significantly.
They are grateful for your help and are optimistic about their future with you.
Why stop there?
Why not offer even more value while they are winning?
You need to keep the momentum going.
You owe it to your audience to provide the best possible solution to their problems.
You do that by giving them every possible tool you have at your disposal to achieve success for them.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Sales funnels are an essential component to any business.
Anyone who isn’t putting this at the forefront of their business is putting themselves at a severe disadvantage.
If you wanted to travel hundreds of miles you would get in a car and drive.
You wouldn’t walk.
Funnels are no different.
Use this vehicle you have at your disposal to cruise all the way to freedom and success.
With this overview of how a thriving funnel functions, you now have the tools to build one yourself.
There is only so much I can explain in a general sense however.
Everyone’s business is unique, no matter what space you operate in.
If you’re looking to really refine your funnel and create a system that works specifically for you, drop me an email and we can map out a battle plan for your future.