Episode 311
3 things that actually grow your business (and what’s just a distraction)[Ep. 311]
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Feeling like your business is just a tangled web of chaos? Well, let’s cut through the noise! Today, we're diving into the magic of simplification.
Spoiler alert: there are only three things you need to focus on to actually move the needle—aligned offers, lead generation, and converting those leads into clients.
That’s right, all those fancy systems and content plans might just be distractions keeping you busy but not productive.
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Here's your Next Steps:
- Take the "Where's the Gap in Your Business Strategy" Quiz
- Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn or Facebook
- Visit my website to learn more and apply for the Focused Visionary Accelerator
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Transcript
Hey.
Speaker A:Hey.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So if business is feeling super complicated, like you're doing all the things and you're not seeing any results, or you're not seeing the results that you would desire, this one's for you.
Speaker A:Because what I am seeing a lot of is over complication, right?
Speaker A:Over complicating, doing too much, trying to do all the things, implementing too many strategies.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And in reality, there are really only three things that actually move the needle in your business, right?
Speaker A:When you strip down all the fluff and everything else, it comes down to three things, right?
Speaker A:Aligned offers or an offer suite that feels good.
Speaker A:Lead generation, AKA marketing and sales, right?
Speaker A:Clients.
Speaker A:That's it, right?
Speaker A:Everything else is a bit of just a distraction, right?
Speaker A:And if you don't have these three things working, no amount of systems, no amount of content or fancy funnels is going to fix it.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:So we're talking about simplification today.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:That's the key.
Speaker A:Simplification.
Speaker A:You ready?
Speaker A:We're diving in.
Speaker A:Okay, here we go.
Speaker A:Three things.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:An aligned offer or offer suite.
Speaker A:A consistent way to bring in leads, and a process to convert them into paying clients.
Speaker A:That's essentially the only three things you need to grow and scale your business.
Speaker A:And if one of them is off or one of them is missing or.
Speaker A:Or one of them is not executed on, again, all of these other things aren't going to fix it, right?
Speaker A:We are just constantly in a state of overcomplicating things.
Speaker A:There's new softwares, there's new programs, there's AI.
Speaker A:There's just.
Speaker A:There's so much, right?
Speaker A:There's always a new CRM.
Speaker A:There's these all in ones.
Speaker A:There's branding, there's website, there's all these things, right?
Speaker A:And so it makes it seem like, oh, if you automate all of these things, your sales will run on autopilot.
Speaker A:Well, your sales can't run on autopilot if your offer freaking sucks, right?
Speaker A:Your sales can't run on autopilot if there's nobody coming to even see your product, right?
Speaker A:Or your offer, right?
Speaker A:Like, you can't automate people.
Speaker A:You can't automate humans finding you.
Speaker A:I mean, yes, you can run ads, and there are certain things that you can do to make things easier.
Speaker A:But again, like, even if you run ads, if you run ads to an offer to things that people don't want, it's not going to sell, right?
Speaker A:So that's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:Like, there's so many things that are super over complicated.
Speaker A:And this chasing of new platforms, tweaking your branding, changing your messaging, building out these complex workflows, right.
Speaker A:All is really just a distraction from doing the thing that's going to move the needle forward, which is marketing and selling, right?
Speaker A:And we talked about that in a couple episodes ago about getting new clients.
Speaker A:Like if you want to get clients, you've got to do it, right?
Speaker A:But the thing is, is there's this illusion that by doing all of these said things that are busy work, that we're making progress, right?
Speaker A:And I am a firm believer in automation and that is something I have been really working hard on this year is making sure that things are done correctly, making sure that they're done right the first time and making sure that they are automated, right?
Speaker A:So like when somebody signs up for a program or joins my email list or Back Pocket Insights, right?
Speaker A:Like you get an automated email that gives you access to it and you get emails that check in.
Speaker A:You know, there are things that make it easier, right?
Speaker A:But again, if the offer itself isn't selling and you don't have an audience of people, then none of those things matter, right?
Speaker A:Like it just doesn't.
Speaker A:You have to have people and you have to convert those people into clients with an offer that they want in order to automate, right?
Speaker A:And so that's it.
Speaker A:That's the simplification of it.
Speaker A:Like it sounds, I'm like, that's it.
Speaker A:I could end the episode right here, four minutes and I, you know, end it.
Speaker A:But we'll dive a little bit deeper into it.
Speaker A:I'm not going to end it.
Speaker A:But the thing is, is like most people know that one of those three things is off and they are resisting simplifying it or moving or spending more time on it or actually putting more effort into it.
Speaker A:Because it means you have to let go of the things that are fun, that are keeping you engaged, that are keeping you in your creative zone, right?
Speaker A:Like they are keeping you in your comfort zone.
Speaker A:And so we keep changing things, we keep pivoting, we keep trying.
Speaker A:Because also too like just calling a spade a spade.
Speaker A:And I've been guilty of this, so I'm talking to myself here too.
Speaker A:It's easier to blame a system that failed or a program that didn't work the way you thought it would versus just actually reflecting and looking within and saying like, no, I actually just didn't do the work, right?
Speaker A:Like it's easier to be like, oh, well, that that glitched and that's why it didn't work or there was a, you know, technology failed me.
Speaker A:And so that's why this didn't stick, or people didn't stick with it because my technology wasn't up to date and yada, yada, yada.
Speaker A:No, I mean here and there.
Speaker A:But most of the time, if the offer is really good and people are really invested into you, they'll put up with technology glitches, right?
Speaker A:Like, we're used to it, we'll put up with it.
Speaker A:We're aware of it.
Speaker A:So you can.
Speaker A:We can say it, and it makes us feel good in the moment, but at the end of the day, it's really just an excuse because we don't want to, like, blame the fact that we're actually just not doing the work.
Speaker A:We're not talking to people, we're not going out there, we're not talking about our offers, right?
Speaker A:And so it's just easier to keep adding to our plate, right?
Speaker A:Because it makes it feel busy, it makes us feel productive.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:Guess what happens when you actually simplify your business.
Speaker A:Guess what happens when you focus on and you get simple is you get clarity on what's actually worth your time and what's draining it.
Speaker A:And that right there is gold, right?
Speaker A:Because you're going to see when you simplify things that you don't need to be creating content for 10 platforms.
Speaker A:Not that there is 10 platforms, there's what, five, whatever.
Speaker A:Either way, even if it's creating content for three platforms, if you simplify it and you start getting results because you're putting a lot of effort into it and you're actually really showing up and you start to see results.
Speaker A:You can see that all the rest of this stuff was just fluff, but you were feeling busy and it made you feel good, right?
Speaker A:And you can also see what's like, draining your energy.
Speaker A:So if you start getting results by simplification, you can see like, holy crap, look at all this time I have, like, I.
Speaker A:You mean I didn't have to be on all the things.
Speaker A:You mean I didn't have to create content and repurpose this six different ways.
Speaker A:I could actually just share it twice and feel really good about it, right?
Speaker A:And that's what is so powerful about simplification, is that you can really see what's working and what's not.
Speaker A:And you can make better decisions because you're focused on the results, not all the trends, not all the shoulds, right?
Speaker A:And you also start to create momentum, and then you can keep the momentum and Then you can amplify the momentum because your business is designed to work for you and not against you.
Speaker A:And you're also just not wrapped up in a bunch of bullshit that's not moving you forward.
Speaker A:Okay, so here's a few ways to know if you are focused on the wrong things.
Speaker A:If you are not really working on the three things that you need, right?
Speaker A:Like do you have an offer?
Speaker A:Do you have a way to bring people to the offer?
Speaker A:And do you have a way to sell people into the.
Speaker A:So number one, are you avoiding selling because you feel like you're still working on your funnel?
Speaker A:I actually just had this conversation prior to recording this episode with a client inside of the fea.
Speaker A:She's getting ready to launch a new membership and she said, well, I just feel like it's not all done right.
Speaker A:And I gave her a hard deadline to get it out there to the world.
Speaker A:Like just start telling people about it, let people know it exists, stop hinting at it and just start telling people don't.
Speaker A:That it works, right?
Speaker A:Or that it's there.
Speaker A:And she was like, yeah, but I got to get all this done.
Speaker A:It's like, no, you only have to stay one step ahead, right?
Speaker A:Like you need to know that when people sign up, they get a welcome email from you and you're one step ahead.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:They're really.
Speaker A:Your funnel doesn't have to be complete unless it is something that you know.
Speaker A:Obviously again, you want to do things right the first time.
Speaker A:You don't want to like cob job them together.
Speaker A:I'm not sitting here saying cob job it together, but how much of the funnel again, if it's a brand new offer and you don't know and you're going to get feedback on it and you've never done the thing before, you're probably likely going to make changes to it.
Speaker A:So your funnel doesn't have to be perfect because it's probably going to change, right?
Speaker A:So right now your biggest goal is to sell the thing, get some feedback and then you can really work on making sure that everything is kind of up to date and there's a little bit more automation.
Speaker A:Automation in it, right?
Speaker A:So are you avoiding selling because you're still working on your funnel?
Speaker A:Number two, are you tweaking your offer every week instead of just testing it with real people?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I have seen this and what I mean by that is how many times do you put something out there, it doesn't sell and so you tweak it and you tweak it and you tweak it and every.
Speaker A:You're constantly changing it, but you're changing it based off of your own opinions, your own emotions, your own.
Speaker A:But you've never gotten feedback from somebody because you've never actually sold the damn thing.
Speaker A:So you don't really know that it needs tweaking, but you're just constantly in this state of tweaking because it feels good, right?
Speaker A:Like, it feels productive of, like.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it didn't sell.
Speaker A:I put it out there.
Speaker A:I think it needs this change.
Speaker A:I was really thinking about this.
Speaker A:And one of the things I get myself wrapped up in this, too, right?
Speaker A:Like, constantly wanting to change an offer, even with when I was getting ready to launch Back Pocket Insights, which, by the way, if you're not there yet, there's a fun episode around momentum, keeping momentum and creating momentum.
Speaker A:Anyway, go link in the show notes.
Speaker A:The tweaking it.
Speaker A:Like, I didn't even launch it out.
Speaker A:And I was like, yeah, but what if I do this?
Speaker A:Wait a second.
Speaker A:No, I think I could do this.
Speaker A:Wait, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:I think I want to do this.
Speaker A:I'm not sure I want to commit to that.
Speaker A:Do people really want that?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, this is what I'm talking about by tweaking.
Speaker A:And I'm not sitting here saying that I don't do this.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I do catch myself in this, like, forever.
Speaker A:And especially now that we have chat GPT, we can ask it a million questions and it gives us a million ideas.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And so we talked about that on the Back Pocket Insights, too, about AI being a distraction, friend and foe.
Speaker A:But that's the thing.
Speaker A:Like, are you tweaking it before even testing it?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like, just get it out there, sell the damn thing, get some feedback, and then you can tweak it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then are you creating more content than actual conversations?
Speaker A:This was also a conversation that I just had.
Speaker A:Inside of it was our monthly reflect and refine meeting.
Speaker A:So we were doing a lot of reflection on what worked and what didn't work.
Speaker A:So that's why this is coming up all the time.
Speaker A:But it was like, you need to be focused more on conversations than content.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because she knew and she had data that supported that said the more conversations she has, the better conversion she gets.
Speaker A:So getting herself wrapped up in creating all this content is not necessarily what needed to happen, is that she needed to have more conversations.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Again, the conversations are what sell people.
Speaker A:The conversations are what get people to say yes, right?
Speaker A:The content might be drawing people to an offer.
Speaker A:It might be creating leads.
Speaker A:But again, if you're not actually, like, moving people to the next step or reaching out to them or engaging back with them, you're not doing anything.
Speaker A:So even if you want to just sell through content, because I know that there's people out there that sell through their content, they're having conversations.
Speaker A:They're just having conversations in the.
Speaker A:In the comments.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:But they're still having conversations.
Speaker A:So where do you need to have more conversations versus just creating more content?
Speaker A:All right, if you are doing any of those three things, then you're really kind of like, keeping yourself busy but probably not growing and seeing the results.
Speaker A:And that's why, right.
Speaker A:You're doing the things that are not designed to drive revenue.
Speaker A:All right, so here's what you need to do.
Speaker A:You need to get your offer dialed in clear outcome, one price, one buyer.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Who is the buyer?
Speaker A:What price point is going to be in alignment with you and your buyer?
Speaker A:And what is the outcome?
Speaker A:What are the results of this, this program or offer or product or whatever it is?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like, what is the offer?
Speaker A:Is it clear or is it really wonky?
Speaker A:Like, if you join this, like, you're going to get this, but you know you're going to get that.
Speaker A:Like, I'll give you a super good example of this.
Speaker A:Somebody posted that she was getting ready to create a community, and it was like, super low price, founder rate.
Speaker A:I was literally just thinking about this is.
Speaker A:It sounds really good.
Speaker A:But she sent me the Google Doc about it, and it's like, here's the things that are still on my mind.
Speaker A:And it was a page and a half of things that she's thinking about adding on to this offer.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I'm out.
Speaker A:This looks so freaking overwhelming.
Speaker A:Like, you talked about doing this one thing, and now it's like all of these other things.
Speaker A:There's all of these different results.
Speaker A:Like, there's no clear outcome in this.
Speaker A:Like, yes, the outcome is still on community.
Speaker A:That was her big thing.
Speaker A:But it's like, now it's trainings and it's workshops and it's this and it's visibility and all this.
Speaker A:And I'm like, what is this?
Speaker A:Like, too much.
Speaker A:I don't care.
Speaker A:Even if the price is right, the outcome is so unclear that I'm not buying it.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And I'm gonna give her that feedback and say, like, this.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm super interested, but this feels so freaking overwhelming.
Speaker A:Then I'm out.
Speaker A:So anyways, get your offer dialed in right again.
Speaker A:There's always room to add it, there's always room to tweak it, there's always room for evolution.
Speaker A:But it's first you gotta just get an offer out there, okay?
Speaker A:And then pick one or two, two at max.
Speaker A:Lead generation strategies that fit for you with your strengths where you can show up consistently.
Speaker A:Now, lead generation is not all social media, all right?
Speaker A:I think too many people think, oh, I need to be on two different platforms.
Speaker A:No, lead generation could be networking and one social media platform.
Speaker A:It could be networking and email marketing.
Speaker A:It could be podcast guesting and email marketing.
Speaker A:It could be this podcast, right?
Speaker A:Like lead generation, it could be dms, it could be a million different things.
Speaker A:But it's not all social media.
Speaker A:Get all your eggs out of that basket, okay?
Speaker A:Where else are you meeting people?
Speaker A:How else are you getting people to become aware of you?
Speaker A:Social media is one way, it's not the only way, all right?
Speaker A:And I guarantee if you really sit down and think about it, there are other ways that you are.
Speaker A:People are becoming aware of you and it's not all social media, right?
Speaker A:So figure out what that is and pick one or two and then show up consistently and then simplify your sales process.
Speaker A:It doesn't need to be a 12 step process to get somebody to say yes, right?
Speaker A:Like it doesn't need to be a complicated sales process.
Speaker A:Do you have a clear and easy checkout?
Speaker A:Is it.
Speaker A:Do people know how to find the checkout link?
Speaker A:Do they know what their next step is?
Speaker A:Do they need to book a call with you?
Speaker A:You know, do they, do you send emails with follow up?
Speaker A:Do you send proposals?
Speaker A:Do you reach out in the dms, right?
Speaker A:Like what is your sales process and how can you make it as simple as possible?
Speaker A:It's remember like one step close.
Speaker A:You do not need like six, six steps because if you give them more than one step, they're out.
Speaker A:You know, you got to make this as easy as possible.
Speaker A:Like, hey, I'm going to send you the direct link to the checkout, right?
Speaker A:Here's how you pay, whatever it is, all right?
Speaker A:So make sure that you are simplifying this, all right?
Speaker A:So I want you to ask yourself, do I have one clear offer that I love and I love talking about and it gets results?
Speaker A:Do I know where my leads are coming from and do I have a repeatable way to close those leads?
Speaker A:That's it, right?
Speaker A:Like that's it.
Speaker A:That's as simple as it is.
Speaker A:Offer Leads, sales, everything else is bonuses.
Speaker A:But until those three things are really dialed in, everything else is just a distraction.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So cut the fluff, cut the distraction, and focus your energy on those three areas.
Speaker A:Offer lead generation, sales, and you may need to eliminate some things, right?
Speaker A:You may need to eliminate a few things, you may need to eliminate a couple marketing strategies that are there, but they're not working, right?
Speaker A:If they're not working, stop doing them.
Speaker A:Double down on what is working, all right?
Speaker A:That's what you're really, really focused on.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So simplifying does not mean doing less, right?
Speaker A:It means focusing on what matters the most.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:This is the core to the Focus Visionary accelerator.
Speaker A:Like, at its absolute core, everything is about simplification and strategic thinking.
Speaker A:Breaking it down to build businesses that grow without burnout.
Speaker A:Because overcomplicating things leads to burnout, right?
Speaker A:So if you're not sure how to create this or you need help creating your offer suite, or getting really dialed in and getting super focused and you need help figuring out where to put your energy and where your revenue is leaking, then let's book a call, right?
Speaker A:Book a chat with me and we'll talk about it.
Speaker A:We'll see if we can identify it.
Speaker A:And then if maybe the Focus Visionary is a good fit, maybe not.
Speaker A:Maybe there's something else that's a better fit for you, but either way, it's all about simplification, all right?
Speaker A:That's what's most important.
Speaker A:Simplification.
Speaker A:I want you to just always come back to that offer.
Speaker A:How do I drive traffic to the offer and how do I close traffic to that offer?
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Cut the fluff, get focused and simplify.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Love you.
Speaker A:Believe in you.
Speaker A:Talk to you soon.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for listening today, but remember, now it's time to take action.
Speaker A:My goal is to get you results.
Speaker A:So what is one action you can commit to taking this week?
Speaker A:Feel free to share it with me in my DMs or tag me on your socials.
Speaker A:Not sure what action to take?
Speaker A:Grab the link in the show notes and schedule a strategic power hour.
Speaker A:We can talk through it together and get you a strategic plan of action in just 60 short minutes.
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Speaker A:As with every podcast, reviews and ratings are what help us continue to show up and grow.
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Speaker A:Thanks.
Speaker A:Talk soon.
