Is It Time To Customize Your Business Strategy?
Do you remember when Clubhouse was all the rage? What about TikTok? Maybe in your industry it was Periscope or Vine. Or perhaps it’s still Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Listing all these social platforms makes my head spin… and that’s not even all of them. But if you listen to all the advice in the online business space, you’d think you needed to be on every single one of these platforms.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but only by a little bit.
The message for the last few years has been consistent. Do. All. The. Things and your business will grow. Be on all the platforms. Build an email list (still very sound advice). Go to all the networking events. Host a podcast. Write a blog. Be a guest speaker…
But the truth is, this is terrible advice, especially if you’re a solopreneur.
After spending the last few years working with women entrepreneurs, I’ve seen the damage not having a clear business and marketing strategy can have on your efforts to grow a business. But a one size fits all strategy won’t work. That’s why the advice to be everywhere and do everything doesn’t work. Your business is unique, from the type of clients you work with to the individualized way you offer your services to the processes you use to deliver results and the kind of customer experience you cultivate. When you lack clarity around your unique strengths and strategy, you can’t gain traction or build the momentum you need to grow.
Today, I want to share 3 ways you can begin to customize your business strategy and operate from a place that serves you and your clients uniquely.
Know your strengths
As driven professionals, we spend a lot of time trying to fix our weaknesses. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve, but when it detracts from using your strengths and keeps you in an unproductive grind, it’s not worth your time.
Focus on what you’re good at. Collaborate or hire out what you’re not good at. Whether you’re a corporate leader or the CEO of your business, your time is valuable, and it will serve you well to stay in your zone of genius.
Know your entrepreneurial type
I’ve been an assessment junkie for over a decade. There are hundreds to choose from, and while they’re all different, each one gives you a sense for what you’re good at, how you prefer to function and communicate, and teaches you something about how you can best connect with and relate to others.
When it comes to building and marketing your business, it’s imperative that you know your entrepreneurial type. When you know how you best communicate with, serve, and connect with others, it allows you to operate in your strengths and connect authentically.
In working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve seen four primary types emerge:
1. Strategist – someone who connects and serves by teaching and helping others map out their strategic direction
2. Coach – someone who connects and serves by nurturing and cultivating people to believe in themselves, be their best, and take action
3. Complementor – someone who connects and serves by creating products and services that elevate or enable others’ success
4. Influencer – someone who connects and serves by using their voice and platform to share a powerful message
You’re likely a combination of one or more of these types, but rather than trying to be all things to all people, embrace your true style and serve in the way that allows you to shine.
Know your system
Do you have a system for attracting new clients? For making offers? What about a system for creating an amazing customer experience?
Without a system that consistently brings in new clients, your business will die. That may sound harsh, but new clients equals cash, and cash is the lifeblood of your business.
If you haven’t thought about how you can captivate the attention of new people and draw them into your business (ethically and authentically), cultivate a relationship that helps increase your know, like, and trust with those prospective new clients, and convert them into paying clients, this should be your next move. All of this should be supported by a powerful customer experience that delivers real results and creates repeat clients.
Having the right strategy to grow your unique business is vital to your efforts to get clients and generate revenue. And being everywhere and doing all the things in your business is not serving you.
Take some time to examine your strengths, step fully into your entrepreneurial type, and flesh out your system. Once you’ve done that, the where becomes much clearer.
And if you want help building out a strategy that’s right for you, let’s chat! Together, we’ll dig into you big goals, craft an action plan that utilizes your strengths and taps into your entrepreneurial type, and build a client attraction system that really works!
