I'm not usually one to focus on the negatives but sometimes the need to get the point across requires it.
Typically I'd title a post something like "3 Ways to Succeed As A Female Entrepreneur" etc etc, that's the way I usually like to roll but this stuff kinda is life or death for your business and I felt it needed gravity and so '3 Reason's You'll Fail' it is.
Moving on...
When a woman comes to me because her business is failing it's usually because of one or a combination of these 3 things.
EVERY -- SINGLE -- TIME.
You simply cannot succeed in business without them.
1: You Don't Have a Solid Lead Magnet That Your Market is Dying for
Leads are the life line of your business. Without a good lead magnet the leads don't come and without leads you don't have clients.
It doesn't matter what you're selling, but ESPECIALLY if you're selling something service based and TENFOLD if it's a high-end offering, whatever you sell, you need leads because it's unlikely people are beating down your door to throw money at you simply because you opened your doors.
Your market needs to test the waters and experience what it is you have to offer, they want to try you on for size before they jump in the deep end and invest their hard earned cashola.
The best way to do this is via a Lead Magnet that is exciting and interesting to your market.
So how do you create a Lead Magnet your market will love?
Well to begin with you have to put yourself in the mind of your market and ask yourself the following question.
What is the biggest struggle my market is dealing with right now and how can I help solve this?
You can't skip this part, it's important to really, really dig deep to find the gold.
If you create something valuable and useful to your market they'll be all over it.
Tips For Creating A Kickass Lead Magnet.
2: You're Not Confident and Visible
I belong to a lot of Group Pages on Facebook and it astounds me when women pop up and say "Oh, I've been in this group for 3 years and this is the first time I've posted"???!!!
What the hell??
Being visible doesn't mean obnoxiously pushing sales post after sales post, but offering support to others while at the same time showcasing your expertise.
You will never grow your brand if you're hiding under a rock, you have to get amongst it and make yourself known.
Facebook Groups, Networking, Submitting articles, making contact with other female entrepreneurs and establishing a network are all ways to gain more visibility.
It's your job to promote your business far and wide and gain visibility for your brand so get on that!
Action Steps For Being More Visible.
3: Your Brand and Offering Are a Mess
Nothing drives me more crazy than a great business concept with a cheap looking, crappy brand that is a hodgepodge of thrown together ideas.
Brand consistency is KEY people!
Good quality logo's cost peanuts these days so there really is no excuse for boring branding.
God, if I have one mission in life it's to eradicate beige branding!!
Now branding is not as simple as picking a name and a colour you like, you must ensure you capture your true Brand Essence.
You're brand must sing and it must be the very best reflection of what you and your brand stand for in the market.
It's nice to love your brand but it's more important that your market loves your brand.
I always get feedback on my branding from my market and if there is a resounding result for the one I like the least, that's the one I'll go with.
Back in the day I was stubborn and always went with what I loved (not always smart).
It can feel like moving a mountain to get your branding right but once you do it, should appear effortless.
I don't reckon Sir Dick even gives the Virgin logo a second thought these days, it just is.
Do the grind up front to get it right then once you've made your decision relax and let it be.
Just on that....
Please DO NOT hang on to branding because "I spent so much money on that" or "it's such a pain in the rear to change everything".
Business and brands evolve and sometimes that means rolling up your sleeves and doing the icky stuff like rebranding.
If you're brand no longer reflects where you want to take this empire of yours then it's time to suck it up and get it done.
A simple and clear offering will get you results.
A confusing or too hard to work out offering will keep you poor.
Be sure that when anyone lands on your site they know what you do and what to do next to get sum-oh-dat!
People don't want to work too hard to figure out how to buy from you so keep your offerings and the process to purchase simple, clear and easy.
Tips For Creating A Kickass Offering
If you can take care of these 3 HUGE elements of your business you'll be ahead of the game.
Tackle one thing at a time, start with number 3, move on to number 2 then get yourself visible.
Michelle xo
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Typically I'd title a post something like "3 Ways to Succeed As A Female Entrepreneur" etc etc, that's the way I usually like to roll but this stuff kinda is life or death for your business and I felt it needed gravity and so '3 Reason's You'll Fail' it is.
Moving on...
When a woman comes to me because her business is failing it's usually because of one or a combination of these 3 things.
EVERY -- SINGLE -- TIME.
You simply cannot succeed in business without them.
1: You Don't Have a Solid Lead Magnet That Your Market is Dying for
Leads are the life line of your business. Without a good lead magnet the leads don't come and without leads you don't have clients.
It doesn't matter what you're selling, but ESPECIALLY if you're selling something service based and TENFOLD if it's a high-end offering, whatever you sell, you need leads because it's unlikely people are beating down your door to throw money at you simply because you opened your doors.
Your market needs to test the waters and experience what it is you have to offer, they want to try you on for size before they jump in the deep end and invest their hard earned cashola.
The best way to do this is via a Lead Magnet that is exciting and interesting to your market.
So how do you create a Lead Magnet your market will love?
Well to begin with you have to put yourself in the mind of your market and ask yourself the following question.
What is the biggest struggle my market is dealing with right now and how can I help solve this?
You can't skip this part, it's important to really, really dig deep to find the gold.
If you create something valuable and useful to your market they'll be all over it.
Tips For Creating A Kickass Lead Magnet.
- Give, Give, Give!! Don't be stingy -- be generous with your content.
- Whatever it is you decide to create make it the highest quality you can afford in terms of money and time.
- Start with something that is easy for you to do with excellence. Don't choose something that will keep you in the procrastination zone i.e.: don't decide to shoot video's if you haven't ever made a video or have the equipment to do so.
- Stick to your strengths.. (again let's use video.) Some people are awesome on video and some people suck, if you suck and you're not getting any better quickly then don' t do video, do something else until you can nail it.
- Handball design to someone who can create something really beautiful, DO NOT try to do this yourself if your design skills are sub-par, you'll do more damage than good sending something out into the world you aren't proud of.
2: You're Not Confident and Visible
I belong to a lot of Group Pages on Facebook and it astounds me when women pop up and say "Oh, I've been in this group for 3 years and this is the first time I've posted"???!!!
What the hell??
Being visible doesn't mean obnoxiously pushing sales post after sales post, but offering support to others while at the same time showcasing your expertise.
You will never grow your brand if you're hiding under a rock, you have to get amongst it and make yourself known.
Facebook Groups, Networking, Submitting articles, making contact with other female entrepreneurs and establishing a network are all ways to gain more visibility.
It's your job to promote your business far and wide and gain visibility for your brand so get on that!
Action Steps For Being More Visible.
- Join 3 new Facebook Groups and introduce yourself and your business.
- Book 2 networking events to attend in the next 30 days.
- Submit 2 articles to the publication of your choice.
- Introduce yourself to 4 other female entrepreneurs who will form part of a powerful network you can both benefit from.
3: Your Brand and Offering Are a Mess
Nothing drives me more crazy than a great business concept with a cheap looking, crappy brand that is a hodgepodge of thrown together ideas.
Brand consistency is KEY people!
Good quality logo's cost peanuts these days so there really is no excuse for boring branding.
God, if I have one mission in life it's to eradicate beige branding!!
Now branding is not as simple as picking a name and a colour you like, you must ensure you capture your true Brand Essence.
You're brand must sing and it must be the very best reflection of what you and your brand stand for in the market.
It's nice to love your brand but it's more important that your market loves your brand.
I always get feedback on my branding from my market and if there is a resounding result for the one I like the least, that's the one I'll go with.
Back in the day I was stubborn and always went with what I loved (not always smart).
It can feel like moving a mountain to get your branding right but once you do it, should appear effortless.
I don't reckon Sir Dick even gives the Virgin logo a second thought these days, it just is.
Do the grind up front to get it right then once you've made your decision relax and let it be.
Just on that....
Please DO NOT hang on to branding because "I spent so much money on that" or "it's such a pain in the rear to change everything".
Business and brands evolve and sometimes that means rolling up your sleeves and doing the icky stuff like rebranding.
If you're brand no longer reflects where you want to take this empire of yours then it's time to suck it up and get it done.
A simple and clear offering will get you results.
A confusing or too hard to work out offering will keep you poor.
Be sure that when anyone lands on your site they know what you do and what to do next to get sum-oh-dat!
People don't want to work too hard to figure out how to buy from you so keep your offerings and the process to purchase simple, clear and easy.
Tips For Creating A Kickass Offering
- Don't offer stuff you don't love to do.
- Don't have so many offers it makes it hard to chose.
- Know what you're awesome at.
- Get clear on the best (simplest, easiest, clearest) way to deliver this with extraordinary results.
- Spell this out in the simplest and clearest way.
If you can take care of these 3 HUGE elements of your business you'll be ahead of the game.
Tackle one thing at a time, start with number 3, move on to number 2 then get yourself visible.
Michelle xo
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
