Let’s talk about scaling (or failing in) your business. Along with funnels and ads, scaling your business is one of those things I love to talk about. In fact, I love the topic so much, I even created a quiz where you can determine if your business is set up to scale or to fail. (If you’re interested, you can take that quiz right here!)
As I was developing this quiz, it dawned on me what a BIG concept scaling really is, so, let’s explore!
What is scaling?
When I talk to clients about scaling I’m generally referring to growing their business beyond where they are today. That could be moving from $0-$50K or $50K-$100K or $500K-1M.
Most of my clients have different goals. For some, it’s increasing sales to their warm audience. For others, it’s moving from organic success to ads. And for others, it’s increasing ad spend to bring in more revenue.
Wherever you are in your business there is going to be a point where you want to begin scaling.
The top 5 elements you must have in place before you start scaling:
Anytime you start scaling there are potential pitfalls along the way. I want to highlight those and point out the key factors that you must have in place in order to scale.
A Solid Foundation
The number one thing every business owner should have is a solid foundation. This starts with proof of concept. Proof of concept means that you have a core offer that you have successfully sold and that clients are getting amazing results from. Let’s be honest here, if we don’t have a solid offer to sell, we can’t really scale a business.
Beyond the product, service, or solution that you sell, you want to have a consistent and cohesive brand. This means having a clear message throughout all of your marketing.
One of the first challenges I see with so many online business owners is to find a specific message that resonates with the right audience. It’s easy to spend time and energy trying to attract anyone and everyone and this is a big problem. The reality is when you’re trying to talk to everyone and anyone, no one is listening.
Creating a marketing message that really speaks to your ideal customer is the first step in scaling your business.
Funnels
Without a funnel, it is incredibly difficult to scale, especially to those high 6 and 7 figures. Think about it, if you are wanting to reach thousands of people, how are you going to do that manually? All of your time would be focused on that. You wouldn’t have time to actually deliver your product, service, or solution.
And we all know that sometimes people need to know you for a bit before they’re ready to buy. The easiest way to accomplish this is by creating an automated system that establishes you as the expert while providing your audience with valuable information.
Follow-ups
While funnels definitely contain follow-up, they are not the end step. Funnels bring someone onto your list. Once they’re there it’s your job to then create a system that will help you follow up with each prospect.
Connection
Make connection the goal. What can you do to deliver valuable content for your audience?
Knowing the results your ideal client wants and designing content to get them there is the inner scoop in any success story. There are so many ways to do this:
- Writing excellent content
- Finding ways to educate people that transform their thinking
- Bringing groups together
These are all effective ways to scale without requiring a huge audience.
This is where your experimentation comes in. Play with the ways you show up best and the ways your tribe most responds to.
Lead Generation
Once we have our foundation, funnels, and follow-up in place we’re better able to start generating quality leads who will be ready to take that next step with us (whether that’s through your FB lives, podcast episode, or organic traffic.) Putting yourself out there will allow you to start connecting with and generating leads that when nurtured, will turn into your ideal clients.
As you start to really scale you’re going to want to bring paid traffic into the mix, too. This allows you to really broaden your base. That being said, remember that you are generally starting with cold traffic here. This means that it’s even more important to have your messaging, funnels, and follow-up in place and be crystal clear on who you serve.
Commit to scaling!
If you’re ready to scale, make a 100% commitment to scaling. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… marketing is both an art and a science. This means that you are going to be testing and tweaking things as you go along. It can be easy to just give up on the process.
This is where your commitment must come . If you’ve never ventured out into cold traffic, know that it’s going to take time, energy, and commitment to make it successful. Creating a scalable system can take months. And once you’ve done it, your ability to grow is limitless.