Today we’re talking about what I think every only business owner should consider investing in during their second year of business.
So as a side hustler, what I want for you to have the ability to be strategic about how you grow your business, and have the choice between investing time and investing money not coming from a place of fear like I had, but from a place of confidence and knowledge.
So in my first 6 months, I invested as little money as I could and as much time as I could in my business.
At the time, I told myself it was because I wasn’t sure if WP+BFF was going to be a success so I didn’t want to sink a lot of money into it, but I now see that was my fear of failure guiding my decisions, not a strategic decision based on reality.
1: Professional Photography
My first big investment in my business was a professional photographer (shout out to Benjamin and Jennifer at DerksWerks). In the free 5 Day Website Challenge I tell you how important the know, like, and trust factor is, and knowing who you’re buying from is paramount. I knew I had to do a better job of showing who I am, and iPhone selfies just weren’t going to cut it anymore!
2: Graphic Design
I love me some Canva, but I’m no branding expert so Kacie Erickson of I Killed the Joneses was my next big investment – and I’m in love with what she created for me. I created my own graphics when I launched and people still signed up for my training (so my amateur stuff was totally good enough), but I just couldn’t get onto Canva what was in my head. Kacie’s an artist, and she pulled my ideas out of my brain and organized them into pixels!
Two years later, I invested in a big branding overhaul with Braid Creative who helped me blend who I am with what I do and helped me conceptualize how I can promote my packages and services online.
3: A Premium Online Course
People were signing up for the free 5 Day Website Challenge faster than ever, but they weren’t buying my advanced course. I came to the realization that giving people a ton of value to get them on your list wasn’t going to get them to buy anything from me. I needed to figure out how to SELL my services.
I’m really good at giving stuff away for free, but I recognized that I needed to be okay with asking for money in return for my expertise. I don’t know where that insecurity comes from, but admitting you have a problem is the first step to solving it.
So I invested in Sales School by Kendrick Shope, and it was a fantastic 6-week course packed full of valuable information. I immediately recouped my investment just by tweaking a few key things in my business, and really started to internalize that selling is helping and it can be done in an authentic way.
I also invested in Amy Porterfield’s Webinars That Convert to help me understand better how to craft a webinar presentation and sell online.
4: A Mentor
After Sales School, I realized that I had all the tools that I needed in my tool belt, but I was still unclear on the vision, the path to get me from teaching WordPress as my side gig to a WordPress empire that empowers thousands of entrepreneurs to start a business online. And I knew just the person that could help.
She was a star student of the 5 Day Website Challenge, and she has sent hundreds of entrepreneurs to me to learn WordPress. She saw that her clients needed some web services that no one offered and reached out to me to create them, and has been so amazing in sharing her ideas and giving me encouragement.
When I realized I needed someone to help me get to the next level, the perfect person was right there waiting for me – Vicki Fitch. Vicki has helped me with my confidence, pricing, products, sales techniques, and strategy. She sees the larger vision and is great at helping me get out of my own way.
If you’re in need of some direction, some vision, some clarity and all the steps you need to take to get to where you want to be, schedule a free 20-minute consultation with Vicki. This is hands-down the BEST thing I’ve done for my business so far.
5: A CRM
After 10 months of small consistent actions daily, I’ve reached the point where I’m running out of time. Still working my day job and while helping thousands of small business owners learn to build their own website for free, and I was floundering.
I’ve got information in 5 different systems. I don’t know who is likely to become a customer. I’m missing all kinds of opportunities to connect with people who need what I have to offer.
That’s where Infusionsoft comes in. Just like with Mailchimp, you can set up automation and kick off certain actions based on the behavior of subscribers – but Infusionsoft lets me track interactions with you guys, schedule follow-ups, tag you based on certain actions you take and target you for certain products you might be interested in. It also has e-commerce functionality and so much more magical stuff that saves me a ton of time. It’s like my personal assistant/private investigator!
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!
Then you can sign up for my Free 5 Day Website Challenge at www.shannonmattern.com/5day and I’ll show you step by step how to get started building your new website for your side hustle.
