Maybe you’ve started or want to start an online business.
I know what you’re thinking. And guess what, it’s not a fancy website or a pretty logo. I speak from experience. I had a website and a program and NO ONE TO SELL IT TO.
First off, you need to
#1 – Solve a problem
What is the problem you solve? You 110% cannot move on from here if you don’t know what problem you solve for people.
How do you make your client or customer’s life easier? Where do you bring value to it? How do you bring joy where joy was absent?
I suggest making an ONLY statement. This is your tagline and it runs it’s string through everything you do. Dr. Sean Pastuch of The Active Life helped me create mine when I was having a mid (super early)-business life crisis.
I am the only strength coach inspiring you to learn as you train without asking you to figure it all out for yourself. This applies to Built By Annie and my one on one programming. My audience expressed that they feel unsupported, or un-informed when it came to fitness training programs. I made a point to change that. THAT is the problem I solve. Not weight loss, not muscle gain, not even strength. Those are bi-products to the real problem I solve.
Create you ONLY statement. What is the biggest emotional hurdle your customer has? How do you fix that?
Your company is the only one ___________ without ___________.
The Active life is the only company in the world helping thousands of people get out of pain without seeing a doctor or skipping the gym.
Solve a problem, create an ONLY statement.
You must know this. Through content and copywriting you will show your tribe how you solve this problem and why they should give you their hard earned money.
Hard to do if you have no humans to sell to…That’s why you need to:
#2 – Build an audience
Who the frick are you going to sell to if you have no humans who KNOW, LIKE, AND TRUST YOU?
It’s not as simple as being popular. You don’t want to be popular, you want to be profitable, as Instagram Expert Hilary Rushford would say. So you’re not trying to attract everyone. You want to attract humans who will eventually want to pay you money for the product or service (VALUE) you provide.
This was a huge mistake of mine when starting out. I had no ICA, no audience, and NO ONE to buy my personalized programming. Which also meant I had no income. Not ideal for a business amiright?!
So how do you build this audience?
#3 – Create content for your NICHE
Yes, you need a niche. Unless you want to be like everyone else, then have it sister. But my gut tells me you don’t.
This is where your ICA (ideal client avatar) comes into play. You need to combine two things here. Who you are talking to. Not a group of people, not an idea. Your ICA is ONE FREAKING HUMAN. Your perfect dream client. THAT’s who you create content for. I am honestly still working on honing in on my content creation. But I have my ICA down like the back of my hand.
If you have no idea who your ICA is, pick up my ICA Creator here.
Even if you know your ICA, you have to then take action and create content for them!
So this is part two.
What type of content do you enjoy creating?
Videos? Writing? Speaking? Graphic design? If you hate making videos, then being a youtuber is probs NOT the path you should take. And let’s stop right here to say IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR INDUSTRY ARE DOING! If you don’t like it, don’t freaking do it. Choose something else! Choose something you’ll enjoy creating. Because you’re probably going to spend a decent amount of time creating this content.
Now to keep yourself accountable, get yourself an ICA, create content for them (where they hangout – pinterest, instagram, podcasts, youtube, facebook?) and make yourself a posting schedule. BE CONSISTENT. This is so important. You’re building trust and credibility with your audience. Be present, provide value, be honest and show up consistently. Remember that.
And the last two, which are the shortest. They are the tip of the iceberg if you will.
#4 – Have a kick ass – tested product or service, obviously.
All of this leads up to the actual gem. Your baby, the problem solving in action. Your product or service that you’ve spent months preparing from ground zero. This is the trade of values that happens between you and your ICA.
So, you need a product or service, a way to deliver it and you can figure out the rest later (email drips, a website, up-selling, cross-selling, creating more products [which I don’t always suggest], upgrading that product, membership options etc).
You can create landing pages easily without having a website. You can also have a simple WordPress or Squarespace site with sign up forms. Just chose one that is easiest for you and fits your style. You can upgrade later.
Do not stress about what is not essential in the beginning. You’ll always be improving and learning, and upscaling. Make sure your product is kickass and overdelivers. Have a way to deliver that to your ICA. That’s it.
Number five is controversial in the world of business. Do you need a mailing list? I say 100% YES.
#5 – Have a way to collect emails and pitch the sale.
Marie Forleo and other millionaire, self-made girl bosses like Jenna Kutcher teach – you don’t own social media. They change, the disappear, they waver. You own your freaking mailing list. PLUS you can be more intentional with these humans. These are people who choose to sign up to be a VIP, in your tribe. They want to hear from you. They said, take my name and email address, and send me the goods. This is where a newsletter or blog link or promo codes come in. Hello more content creation. P.S. if you want to join MY mailing list, you can do so here.
You get to choose how often you contact your mailing list and with what content. If you’re sending blog updates, obviously that means you are blogging as well. You don’t need to have a blog to email your list. As long as you’re sending value, and being consistent, you’re doing just fine.
I suggest mail chimp as it allows me to automate, you can have multiple lists, it’s super easy to use and their customer service is great.
THAT, my friend, is all you need to start an online business. You also need a business license and legal docs depending on the product or service you plan to provide. That all depends on where you live. So, make sure check into that with your city and state.
- Solve a problem, make and ONLY statement
- Build your audience
- Create content for your ICA
- Have a kick ass product or service and a way to deliver that
- Collect emails to further build trust and pitch the sale.
Need a community of other fit-biz entrepreneurs? You can join my Naked Excellence [uncensored fitness entrepreneurship] here.
