3 Reasons Your Business Is Growing So Slowly
Posted November 19, 2007 in Marketing 23 Comments »
We’d all like to believe that getting a full docket of clients and customers is as easy as flipping on a light switch.
But in real life it ain’t that easy… or is it? If you want to quit limping along the slow path, here are 3 smart tips to short-cut your way to the big time.
Reason #1: You’re Fishing For Customers, Instead Of Going To The Fish Market.
You could spend all your time looking for customers (rather than doing billable work for them), but ‘looking’ doesn’t put bread on the table. Instead of calling out into the world, waiting for a reply, why not find out who already has access to your customers, and strike a deal with them?
That’s what freelancer Chistine O’Kelly did when she sent her $100,000 email. Check out what she did and see why her strategy is so infinitely do-able for your business.
Reason #2: You’re Using People Nobody Knows As Your References
When I started coaching entrepreneurs, I would use my successes as case studies. That worked … but not that well, because the people I helped didn’t have the influence to spread the word about what I did. When I got sick of busting my hump to get the phone to ring, I tried a different tactic: I decided to call up a few well-known marketers in my niche and give them some on-the-house coaching.
A few solid successes later, and they’re spreading the word for me better than I could ever do on my own, and my coaching card is full. (You don’t have to give the goods away for free like I did, but start setting your “reference customer” sights higher and network the right way).
Reason #3: You’re Not Charging Enough (And Justifying Why You’re Worth It)
With rare exception we tend to undercharge for our products and services because we’re worried about people who shop for price. We don’t price according to the value a customer gets, rather than the price we think people are willing to pay.
Case in point: A few years ago I was trying to figure out whether I should price a product at $24.95 or $34.95, depending on what I thought the “market would bear”. But after I really thought about it, I realized that the product had a long-term value to the customer of thousands of dollars. So I priced it at almost $100 … and it sold well, with zero returns (and I hit my profit goals 4 times faster).
Ask yourself, “Why should my clients pay 2x (or more) than I currently charge?” Ask it over and over again until you get an answer you can really communicate, and hit your profit goals faster as well.
Bonus Reason #4: You’re Not Leaving Your Best Tip In The Comments Below (So You Get Tips In Return)
Hey, you want even more tips to grow your business faster? Leave your top success tip below, and it will encourage others to leave theirs. Subscribe to the comments and you’re likely to get a steady stream of tips that you can take all the way to the bank.
So don’t miss your chance to make more money – add your prized tactic to the discussion below. (And don’t forget to tip our server with a well-appreciated Digg).
Keep it rocking,
Dave
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Dave Navarro is all about helping you get more done faster. Pick up your free “More Time” kit at your30hourday.com.
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About the author: Dave Navarro is a business productivity coach who loves showing freelancers how to make more money and have more time for themselves. Get more of the good stuff at Rock Your Day or follow Dave on Twitter.
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23 Comments
Anja Merret
November 19th, 2007 at 5:55 amExcellent advice again. Each one of the points is valid and should be noted by anybody wanting to grow a business.
Aaron - Personal Development Partners
November 19th, 2007 at 6:30 amReason #5: You have a “lack” mentality because you think that there are only so many customers to go around. In all actuality, your customer base grows by tens of thousands of people every day, so there is no such thing as a “saturated” market.
As long as you think that there aren’t enough customers, you will consciously or unconsciously find a way to prove yourself right.
Dave Navarro
November 19th, 2007 at 6:46 amAaron –
That’s absolutely true. On top of that, small companies can always capture the customers of larger companies, even when the market seems saturated. Thanks for your comment.
Susan
November 19th, 2007 at 7:20 amReason #6
You’re pouring your effort into customers that are driving you crazy, who usually happen to be the ones that are underpaying you. If you have a client that’s completely sucking up your time, examine what (if anything) you’re getting out of it.
As freelancers, it’s tempting to hang on to every client we get. But think about how much more profitable it would be to ditch the one and acquire two who might be easier to work with and who you can set a higher price for.
Bottom line: Don’t waste time with high-maintenace clients that aren’t worth it. There is ALWAYS more work out there, so use your time finding those clients instead of toiling away on a painful one.
Dave Navarro
November 19th, 2007 at 8:44 amGreat point, Susan. It’s not easy “firing” a customer, but sometimes you have to move on.
Naomi Dunford
November 19th, 2007 at 9:19 amI’m going to second Susan on the 80/20 rule issue here, but don’t worry, I’ll add my own. (You’re dirty with the comment seeking, Dave. Very dirty.)
This may sound antithetic to your first comment, but here goes anyway.
You’re spending too much time working.
When you feel like you’re slammed (usually with completely useless busywork), it seems like wasted time or effort sending those emails that say, “How are you doing? Need any more work done?” or hitting that networking event.
At the end of each day, I try to send at least five emails to people who might hire me. Sometimes I’ll outright ask for work, sometimes I’ll just ask about their kids. Either way, I try to keep in contact really, really often.
Now granted, I work in marketing, so marketing for me is well, work, but I think the sentiment gets across.
Dave Navarro
November 19th, 2007 at 9:21 amNaomi –
I’m not playing dirty! :-) Just doing my daily ***-kicking to get things in gear.
(I’m STILL laughing every time I think of your wine box post on ittybiz, BTW)
Thanks for your addition to the comment thread!
Daniel Sitter, Idea Seller
November 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am#5. Focus.Focus.Focus. Narrow your selling focus. Forget the shotgun approach.
We seem to grab anything that comes along. We have a tendency to want everyone’s business and right now. What are you really good at? What is your area of expertise? What is the real opportunity cost associated with a new prospective customer?
We must learn to be more selective, as some customers are certainly more costly than profitable.
Dave Navarro
November 19th, 2007 at 10:23 amDaniel –
Good point – just because the work’s available doesn’t mean we should jump at it. Thanks for the contribution to the thread.
dtrav
November 19th, 2007 at 10:26 amJust a quick other-side-of-the-coin comment … we do wish to pay the bills, no doubt, but approach growth with caution. All sorts of adjustments are needed … fitting more work into the schedule, maintaining quality of product and of client contact, and that ever-dangerous erosion of free time. Not to mention the spectre of Hiring Someone Else, gah.
Madeleine
November 19th, 2007 at 12:16 pmI agree with Susan! It’s far too draining and, for lack of a better phrase, a total buzz-kill to work with clients who are overly demanding or disrespectful. If you cut them out, the time you spend with quality clients will be much better, and they will be more likely to spread the word!! Not to mention that you’ll be reminded every day exactly why you chose to do what you do…
Naomi Dunford
November 19th, 2007 at 12:17 pmdtrav – Hiring someone else before you’re ready is MURDER! That should be in every small business start-up kit in big, bold, letters. Growth is not always good.
Sometimes growth leads you to burn out, run away with your secretary, and buy an ill-advised sports car.
Dave – that blog post will live on in infamy. I love it. If that’s what it takes to get me famous, I’ll take it. :)
Arturo
November 19th, 2007 at 12:20 pmReason # 6:
You’re not reading this Blog!
Jim
November 19th, 2007 at 12:46 pmI especially like the tip about not charging enough… often times people get caught up in this but often times it’s not about being the cheapest since someone else always can beat you at that.
-Jim
Grace Smith
November 19th, 2007 at 2:16 pmReason #7 – Your not getting involved in the online community and building relationships!
This touches on No.1 (with Christine’s excellent example), but concentrates on making your voice heard in the niche that your experience lies in. Writing well thought out comments, becoming involved for example in group writing projects, guest blogging etc can give you an entirely new and active audience and garner you clients!
Ray Grieselhuber
November 19th, 2007 at 3:40 pmThis is one of my favorite topics. I run a startup that deals in search and social media optimization.
The best piece of advice I can offer anyone delivering high tech solutions is to read and re-read “Crossing the Chasm” until your marketing strategy is razor sharp and you know exactly who your target customers are. Then deliver the world on a silver platter to them.
Signature Chatter
November 19th, 2007 at 6:03 pmI think alot of it also has to do with don’t go into a market that’s oversaturated – too many businesses start up in sectors where certain companies/sites/organizations already have a foothold that is too trusted and accepted. Unless you have a really good product that can shape up that industry, it’s best to not further saturate the market with a redundant or worse product.
Christine O'Kelly
November 20th, 2007 at 12:27 pmReason #8: You didn’t set your profit margin high enough to scale up. For example, now that I’ve got more work than I can handle, my role has moved more into a copy consultant and I need to depend on freelance writers to do some of the writing or the research.
If you don’t set a price point that allows you to outsource some of the tasks and still make a profit – there’s no room to grow! For products, this might mean setting a price that allows you to offer an affiliate kickback to other resellers to help spread the word about your product.
Thanks for the mention Dave!!!
:) Christine
Kelly
November 26th, 2007 at 7:59 amYou are IT in a game of blog tag! Find out the details of the game by visiting the post that you were tagged in http://www.shakinstyle.com/2007/11/i-was-tagged.html
Looking forward to seeing your blog tag post!
ProBlogReviews
November 28th, 2007 at 6:00 pmRemain flexible to change – when I started my company, I was focusing on targeting everyone that would listen and only offering one service, as time went on and I learned where most of my business was coming from, I changed my marketing tactics to only target that group of people and I started getting 1 new client out of every 4 people I spoke with versus 1 out of every 200 I saw with my old method.
When asked by a client if I could provide a service I had not been providing, I stepped up to the plate and started including that as a service my company did provide and saw another large increase in business.
Remaining flexible as to what I need to do has helped my company succeed.
Sarmonster
January 31st, 2008 at 5:02 pmWord of mouth gets me better customers than anything else. Socialize, tell people what you do, have a blog, join discussions in online communities, go to events, have a great time.
People are proud to say “Hey, I know someone who can help you.”
Carry business cards EVERYWHERE. I’ve had people ask for my cards in the middle of a lake, camping, or just walking to my car at the market.
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