Yesterday, I shared with you that any time I focused on making money rather than serving people, my growth totally slowed. And that’s because I didn’t fully understand the nuances of online marketing, and I didn’t understand them because of MISTAKE #7 – NOT PAYING FOR SHORTCUTS.
I have a tendency to want to learn everything about everything and do it all myself and spend tons of time on trial and error.
Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY think it’s important to learn the tech that runs your business (#duh, that’s what I teach!), but once you learn it and understand it, it doesn’t always make sense for you to keep doing it.
But if you don’t know what you don’t know, then you risk continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again.
That’s why it’s so important to invest in help. Now, I think about this in a couple of different ways.
There’s help with things that take your time away from doing the things that only you can do, but then there’s also help with things that you have no idea you’re even supposed to be doing.
For example,
I’ve been using Photoshop for a hundred years (okay, like 10), but that doesn’t make me a graphic designer. One of the most important things I’ve done for my business is to hire a graphic designer. A couple of them, actually. I can do it, but it’s not imperative to the growth of my business.
And instead of spinning my wheels and spending a ton of time on trial and error on figuring out how to write sales copy or put together packages and services, I’ve invested in courses that will help me get there faster and do a better job than I could do on my own.
And instead of trying to navigate building a business all on my own, something I’ve never ever done before, I hired someone who has done it before to coach me through it – because I would never have even known to ask the questions that I’m getting answers to with that relationship.
I know it’s scary to spend money when you’re just starting out, but you must prioritize learning the skills that will support your business as you grow and having someone help you walk through the strategy – sometimes that means paying for a course or hiring a coach to work with you one on one.
You’ll waste a lot more money and time trying to figure it all out on your own.
So I hope you’ve learned a lot from this series! I’ve certainly still got a lot to work on, and I’m sure I’ll create many more opportunities for us to learn from my mistakes as I move forward. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to screw up! You can go back and listen to the previous pep talks on iTunes at https://shannonmattern.com/itunesforsideshustlers.com/itunes.
Today’s pep talk is brought to you by Bluehost. Go to www.shannonmattern.com/bluehost and get 36 months of web hosting for just $2.95 a month. That’s less than one trip to Starbucks a month – and if you’re anything like me, you’re at Starbucks more than that!
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