On Redefining Business, Lessons Learned And A New Direction

Building a business isn’t just about getting the clients and making the money.

Really, what if you’re unhappy doing all that?

What if you become successful building a business you don’t really like?

What if you attract a large audience, build all the connections, make all the money and then the next thing you’re asking yourself is, “what have I done?”

In my opinion, that’s disastrous!

So, I sat down confused with my mobile phone in hand staring at the Google homepage. I was about to do some research on the kind of audience I wanted for my business, but I just didn’t know where to start.

I didn’t know how to describe them. I knew the people I wanted to speak to, but knowing where they were was a huge bottleneck.

And half the time, I was staring at the huge Google logo, expecting it to start giving me answers without me typing in any keywords.

Like that would happen!

After “conjuring” some courage (yes, I had to conjure it), I entered the first keyword, and then the rabbit hole research began.

30 minutes later, I was still sitting in my chair, staring at my screen…

But something was different. I felt different…like I had finally found something. My heart wasn’t beating with confusion.

It was beating with peace.

Redefining Business

Everyone is driven by something…I’m driven by fulfilment. So regardless of whether a business will make me lots of money or not, if I don’t like it, I won’t build it.

That’s just something I noticed about myself.

For me, every successful business should give you the entrepreneur three things:

1. Satisfaction

This isn’t with respect to lots of money, or a lifestyle of weekly vacations. That could take years to accomplish. If your satisfaction is driven by that, then what happens in between?

I define satisfaction here as a happy feeling you have because you’re doing something awesome! It could be providing the right need or helping the right group of people.

So many people are helping the wrong set of people. Not that it’s not right to help them, but that’s someone else’s assignment, not yours’.

When you help the right set of people (that is, those you want to and should help), money is second thought. Impact comes first.

What set of people are you helping?

2. Money

You’re not running a non-profit, so why offer your service for free? Regardless of whether you want to make impact or not, you have to make money one way or the other. If you don’t, how would you eat?

But I agree, there are exceptions to offering free service.

3. Influence

Influence comes in different ways and is sometimes not determined by the kind of money you make. It’s the people you surround yourself with and the people who listen to you – your audience.

Every business has a level of influence. If this wasn’t the case, then a lot of businesses won’t make any sales. Every day, businesses influence customer behaviour so they can continue to make those sales.

But for a creative business like yours’, your level of influence should go beyond your clients. In fact, your business should be a source of inspiration to people who have never bought a single thing from you before.

Lessons Learned

I only started this blog early this year. Since then, there’s only one thing I’ve been trying to build…

My discipline.

There’s also one thing I wanted to get right…

My audience.

I don’t know the number of times I trashed article drafts for guest blogs. This is because my only conclusion after drafting them was, “I’m going to attract the wrong set of people to my blog.”

The truth is we all have to focus on a niche. But niche here refers to a group of people who have the same world view or are involved in the same thing as you.

Your niche only defines the people you want to talk to on your blog. It defines the people you want to help. Depending on your business model, it defines the people who may not necessarily hire you, but would seek your advice and purchase your courses.

But it does not necessarily define the clients you’ll get.

So here’s the first lesson I learned:

Now this should not be an excuse for delaying progress. In fact, I recommend that you start getting the audience, then be flexible and change along the way.

After doing some research, I realized I had stumbled on something.

The thing is, I’m surrounded by really creative people who struggle to get an audience of people who could hire them.

And even though I’m no expert at the topic, there’s always a longing to help.

Do you have a longing to help someone? That’s probably who your business should be focused on.

And here’s my second lesson:

A New Direction and The Way Forward

First off, I’ve changed my lead magnet. I wanted something actionable that you would really gain a lot from.

Providing a blueprint of 20 ways to generate leads (my previous free report) would take some people several months to follow and accomplish.

Lately, I’ve said a lot about getting more clients through content. So, my new report is titled, “Get More Clients With Content Marketing (A Guide For Creative Professionals).“

In it you will discover;

• 8 reasons why people fail at content marketing (so you don’t make these mistakes).
• 8 great content marketing myths that are limiting you.
• How to avoid the 4 biggest content marketing rip offs (you’ll save money with this one).
• 4 Case studies of creative people who used content marketing to grow awesome profitable businesses.

So if you write, design or are just so super creative and you sell services, you’ll need clients to hire you so you can build a business that rocks!

Simply enter your first name and email address in the form below and you’ll gain instant access to the guide as well as actionable tips on content marketing right in your inbox.

Secondly, I’ll continue to refine my strategy and carve out my audience to a select group of people whom I know would greatly benefit from what I have to offer.

As I’ve always said, content marketing is not ground in stone. It is agile and adapts as growth occurs. So if you’re not following a content strategy for your creative business, get started. If you want more clients, then your next step should be to get the guide.