As you know my word for this year is LESSONS.
And I want to share a big lesson that I teach, but also that I had to relearn on my most recent launch!
ALWAYS DO THE 20%
For those of you that have followed me for a while, you will have heard things like – Your business is a MARATHON, not a SPRINT, and Take the path of least resistance in business. These are key phrases I like to use with clients as they go through the Blueprint to Business Program.
And this is something that I still something forget in my own business.
When we sprint, it is more about speed then form. It is more about getting it done, then getting it perfect. And in some instances this is exactly what should happen. In the Blueprint to Business Program I very much help client focus on building the 80%.
Going through the weeks, they build the 7 core containers that build a wonderful customer journey and help customer purchase from you. And in the last week I show them how to do the 20%
So what is the 20%
This is the part that makes the most difference. When setting up an online business, the biggest failing people have is not sticking with a plan. If you sell a program, you need to sell it 5 times before you get consistent results. If you promote services or have products, the same applies.
But most people go through the process of creating something, trying once, not making as much as they hoped. And then throwing it out the water and starting again.
I want to share my personal journey. As you will know I lost my 6 figure business (read about that here) and then spent a period of time figuring out what to do. Officially I started coming up with an idea for my online business in March 2020. I officially sold my first place on a program in May 2020. I had been doing 1:1 work, and working with old clients. But let’s just look at my income from the Blueprint to Business online program
May 2020 – Official launch 1 – £3,150
August 2020 – Launch 2 – £4,500
November 2020 – Launch 3 – £6,300
February 2021 – Launch 4 – £14,077.50
Before I tell you what the 20% is, let’s look at what was different!
So what was different from 2020 to 2021?
The biggest difference is in 2020 I was building the 80% and then in 2021 I was doing the 20% that makes all the difference!
So the 80% is all the stuff you need to run your business – for me it looked like this
- A website with a membership portal to hold the course (3doors build)
- Mailchimp
- Landing pages – email capture, sales, thank you – all the things!
- Lead Magnets
- Webinars (slide and content)
- Blueprint to Business outline
- Blueprint to Business recorded training
- Content for Social media
- Learning how to tell my business story
- Getting branded by Hollie (sharing SOOO soon)
- Building good habits around showing up
- Building good habits around taking care of myself
I was building all of the things, learning a bunch of great stuff and starting to become the online business owner I needed to be. This was a big learning, as I had already run my own business for 3 years before this. But it was eye-opening to go on the journey.
So what is the 20%!
I hear you screaming at me! Just wanting to know. So let me break it down for you.
In the first launch I built my 7 core containers – which I teach clients in the Blueprint to Business program. The initial build is the 80%, after that, I reused the pages for a few more run throughs. At the end of 2020, I decided to actually do the 20%. I felt I had enough from past clients to really start to shape the information.
And the 20% is about fine tuning ever piece of the process. So taking each landing page, lead magnet, email, social media post. And really looking at the finer points. Like:
- Do I have a clear message through my whole customer journey?
- Do I highlight my customers pain points and how I help them?
- Is my lead magnet something my customers truly want?
- Am I using the language my ideal customers would use?
- Am I showing up in the all right places, with all the right content?
- Do I open up enough sales conversations?
- What are my insights for social media?
- Or my open rate for my emails?
- And my bounce rate for the my landing pages?
You see all of this was stuff that I couldn’t do while I was trying to do the 80%. These are the reasons so many people stay stuck. Because they aim for perfection before just getting the bulk of the shit done.
My lesson for you?
Do the 80% as soon and as quickly as you can. Do the learning, do the creation, and show up. Even if it is not perfect, it will get you moving.
Then once you have all the core containers in place, and you have earned some money. Get those customers to give you feedback, listen to what language they use to explain problems. Keep a black book of the questions they ask you.
And then revisit all your containers with fresh eyes and so all the tweaking you need! This will evaluate. It will give you more confidence in the work you do, help you talk directly to your ideal clients, and honestly make the shift to earning more in your business.
If you want to get the 80% done in the next 3 months, come over and see if there is still space on the next Blueprint to Business program!