You just can’t skip steps! The Exact Order In Which To Build Your Service Business

Attract More Clients, Business Foundation Skills

Can I tell you what breaks my heart?  The number of women who are beginning business owners (with no list and very little client experience) who call me and tell me, “I just want to launch products and do large group programs today. In fact I have a product and I don’t know why it isn’t selling and I only had 3 people interested in my last group program.”

Ladies, please know that  just like any other business, there’s a model to the service business – meaning there’s a certain sequence of steps.  If you follow these steps, you’ll succeed.  If you don’t, you won’t get the numbers that you are looking for.  And here’s the kicker – the thing that drives me crazy – in the marketplace there are people that are telling you that you can rush through all these steps in 3 months.  But it’s just not true.   Please don’t believe that.  Furthermore, do not be hard on yourself if you’ve been at it a couple of years. It takes years to build a full business with multiple streams of income.  That is normal.

Here’s the sequence of steps to launch products (and large group programs) in your service business (yes, breathe that sigh of relief).

1. Start by working with individual clients.  This is especially true if you need money yesterday.  You can go out and meet these folks by doing workshops, networking and meeting referral partners.  Note that these are OFFLINE marketing activities.  You can meet someone today and have them become a client tomorrow. I find that off-line marketing activities allow you to convert clients much more quickly than online.  It’s simple, if someone meets and likes you in person, they are going to buy from you faster.
2. Keep working with some individual clients to build your confidence and your expertise.  This will help you hone in on the best information to put in your products and groups.  It will also build testimonials that you can use later.
3. Begin to build your list online.  Build your site, choose your newsletter software and write your free gift.  I suggest 1-shoppingcart or Infusionsoft, but there are many others. The first 200 people on your list can be friends, family, co-workers etc.  That way you’ll have someone to send the newsletter to.  Then you’ll begin to engage in online business building activities.
4. Add everyone you meet offline to your newsletter list.
5. Start sending your newsletter out CONSISTENTLY every month, two weeks or week.  It doesn’t matter when you send it – as long as you stay consistent.  The newsletter helps you to build a relationship with your clients online.  If you put out an offer and you haven’t built a relationship with your list over time, they just aren’t going to buy.
6. Once you get your list from 400 – 1000 or more, AND you’ve been sending out your newsletter and other special gifts consistently for at least six months – now you have a list that is willing to buy from you.  Now, you’ll have much more success selling group programs and products.  For some of you, your list will buy very quickly and you’ll have a few great sales.  For others, your list will still need more time with you and only a few will buy.  But keep going and don’t be discouraged.
7. Keep growing your list with joint ventures, teleseminars, workshops and the like.  And keep creating a relationship with your list through content-filled newsletters and special gifts.  Give yourself a couple of years to grow a list of 5,000 – 10,000 folks who like what you do and are very happy to purchase your high-quality products.

You see, it’s not rocket science!  But it does requires knowledge of the right sequence, consistent focus and persistent effort.  Many people who come to me have wasted a lot of effort in building their business in the wrong order or by buying pieces of the process.  For example, they focused solely on social media.  Or they focused only on doing teleseminars.  What you need to do is create a solid foundation – step-by-step building of your business where you understand all the marketing vehicles offline and online and you put every piece into place in the right order at the right time.   You can’t skip steps!

The truth is that if this process were overnight, wouldn’t everybody be millionaires?

I hope this helps those of you that are struggling out there with seeing how the pieces fit together.  Let me know where you’re struggling in the comments below; I’d love to help.