Three Entrepreneurs Who Wish They knew from the start
What experts would have knew before becoming entrepreneurs--they learned through trial and error so you don't have to.
The content was adapted using a prior year's Think in Color. You can sign up to receive the replays on demand here!
Here are a few aspects that our three event presenters would like to know prior to starting their own businesses. They learned it by doing it the hard way, so that they don't need to.
Establish a foundation through the creation of an "signature offer"
"Go full-time on your signature deal (aka your most popular course)! In the beginning, I stretched myself too thin trying to market multiple classes, digital items along with various packages of services. I felt overwhelmed, angry, and struggling to meet my goals for revenue. I was hesitant to switch to one-off offers because it didn't make sense to me that having ONE offer could produce greater results. It was an unfounded belief that held me from achieving my goals.
When I came up with my signature offer, sales skyrocketed, and I grew my company from nothing to six figures in one year. Today, I have a diversified product suite However, this only works due to the solid base with my signature offering ."
Concentrate on the present and continue to make plans to grow in the future.
"What I learned from selling online courses and digital products is that you're constantly growing your audience, especially if you're leveraging advertising. Each of them has their strengths, but maximizing your audience 24/7 is key. It is important to keep expanding and have follow-up processes to strengthen that relationship online, but you also need ensure that the course is appropriate for the demographic of individuals you're hoping to reach.
Looking back at day one I would have mapped the long-term and short-term goals rather than focusing solely on quarterly revenues. It is important to think ahead and identify where you want to allocate your funds for infrastructure, building out organic traffic, etc., so that you are growing your company in a manner which allows you more flexibility and room. If you invest in both (short-term as well as longer-term) it will allow you to create more space and continue to build on the foundation you have from day one ."
Be focused on how you can add value to your customers but recognize your worth
"I would like to know that my path to success as an entrepreneur would not be like the other people's. Through selling my courses, I've learned that my knowledge is extremely important, and that customers are willing to buy what I've learned, even if I can't always be able to see the value. The first day I'd say to myself: focus on creating value, pricing premium, and getting a solid plan of sales for my courses. The creation of the course is only part of the challenge however, marketing and selling the course is equally vital!
One of the biggest errors I've made was to pack the TON of value into a course and attaching an extremely low price point to it. There are two ways to market my content online. (1) I offer low-cost digital courses with bite-sized information that help my viewers to achieve their goals, and (2) I offer high-end classes that assist my customers to get the best results and also provide extensive training."