Want to know an unsung secret ingredient to building a sustainable, successful business that supports not only you but also a team? Patience.
Yep that’s right, it’s not sexy nor fun, but one of the most common traits I find successful business owners share is the perseverance to stay the course even when the going gets tough.
Look, I get it. There are so many shiny objects that can derail a well laid-out plan that staying patient isn’t always easy. Add in the fact that there are often much sexier things like fancy websites, complicated funnels, photoshoots and branding that outshine building (sometimes boring) business foundations, and it’s no wonder you’re raring to skip steps.
But here’s the thing – if you skip the critical steps of laying that foundation, you are building a house of cards. It may come together quickly but it likely won’t have the staying power you need for a sustainable business.
Let’s look at launching as an example.
It’s tempting to follow the build-it-and-they-will-come model of launching without an audience. But this creates a huge amount of risk.
In fact, it’s a risk many people regret taking. This is especially true of a full-blown launch with a built-out product or membership course you’ve never even tested.
In my experience, you’re setting yourself on a very rocky course by building something out completely before testing it. I’ve seen countless products or courses fail because a slight pivot was needed. When the whole framework is built out and completed before you ever have proof of concept, there’s a risk of missing the mark in a very expensive way.
Similarly, investing in a splashy launch with affiliate partners, videos, lots of Facebook ads, and huge expectations without an audience is a big risk. So many people consider the audience an after-thought but when a typical conversion rate for your list is 2% that doesn’t add up to a lot of sales with a small list. You can have the best product ever for your target client but if no one knows you, it will be so much harder to convince them to buy.
So what’s a canny business owner to do?
Build the audience, vet your product idea, and get the proof of concept first (here’s that patience part!).
Build the audience
Start by understanding your target client and how to reach them. Use your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, and/or social media to find and capture their attention. Do some math to set a goal for how big of a list you want to build before launching. Remember – you’re looking at 1-2% conversion rate so if you have 1000 subscribers that are your ideal customers, you’ll likely see 10-20 sales.
Be sure to use an irresistible free offer to help convert website visitors to subscribers and consider some method of paid advertising to help boost your list growth.
Once you have a solid opt-in, consider adding content upgrades to your regular marketing efforts. These are target downloads that are usually much more specific than your main opt-in. They can help with list growth and provide quick and dirty research paths for product or program ideas. Done right, content upgrades provide a consistent entry point for new subscribers.
With the mechanisms to convert visitors into subscribers in place, you can better leverage any guest post, podcast, or interview exposure you get. All of these methods help increase traffic to your site that now has a variety of options and an arsenal of free content to take advantage of.
Test Your Ideas
As you build your audience, you can also start to test your product, course or program ideas to see how they resonate with your ideal clients. This allows you to build stronger offers in the long run as you understand more and more what they need.
You can also use these test runs to help sustain your business in the meantime. Whether you opt to focus on services as you build your audience, or smaller and cheaper products that don’t require as much infrastructure, you can serve your audience and generate revenue too.
Plan Your Launch
After you’ve built your audience and gotten proof of concept, it’s time to plan your launch strategy. Again, stay the course and be patient here. Give yourself enough time to properly plan a launch – whether it’s a video series [link], a challenge [link] or something else entirely!
Your results will correlate strongly with your strategy and preparation, so don’t skimp out here!
With the right level of patience, you can build a repeatable, sustainable business model that you can enjoy! And doesn’t that sound like something worth waiting for?
