The Only Thing That Matters When It Comes to Growing Your Business, Part 1

A while back I was speaking with a young lady who is a fitness consultant and owns a fitness studio. She was so frustrated with the amount of money she had spent on social media advertising without getting any meaningful results. After we had been speaking for about 45 minutes or so, I gently asked her what she thought was the biggest reason she was not getting customers. And she answered, "I don't think people like to pay for fitness."

This sounded ridiculous to me given how much money I spend on fitness services and products every year. I am sure you are as surprised as I was at that statement. Not only is that statement far from the truth, but is to some extent, an insult (though not intended) to the millions of dollars that people are spending every year on gym memberships, yoga classes and weight loss products, etc.

Instead of just trying to convince her from my head, I went online, did some research and dug up some numbers just to show her how much the fitness and wellness industry has grown over the years. To many people (including me) fitness has become an obsession. This is a billion-dollar industry.

After looking at a few numbers together, she finally realized her biggest problem was not that people don't want to pay for fitness, it's her growth strategy that was fundamentally flawed.

She had no idea who her ideal customers really were and what they wanted the most. She was spending all her time just posting pictures online of how beautiful her fitness studio looks instead of finding authentic ways to build a community and get people talking.

I have no problem being online as long as there is a purpose behind it. Most of her target customers were spending time offline, in neighbourhood coffee shops, office buildings, community centres, and supermarkets, and if she could find a way to connect with these people where they were and bring them together and start building a real community first, then she could have a chance.

I told her, I would rather have people take pictures of themselves working out in my fitness studio and then sharing them with their friends online than me spending all my money online promoting an empty studio. It doesn't make any sense if you ask me.

What has this story to do with your business? Everything.

I recalled this story when I was thinking about all the entrepreneurs out there who are struggling to grow their businesses and anyone looking for customers right now. This story got me thinking. Customers have tremendous value in the entrepreneurship space. The million-dollar question is: What really turns your audience into buyers? What makes them say, “Yes, I want to buy from you”?

This is a great question to ask yourself because in my experience - and yours too, if you really think about it, there's only one thing that really matters. It doesn't matter if you've got a great website. It doesn't matter if you've the cheapest product or service, or are a good person, or if you're better in any way. It doesn't matter that you've the best social media strategy.

The only thing that matters the most in my opinion is this - how badly does your audience want what you have?

Trust me, it’s not an easy question to ask and many entrepreneurs skip through it because the answer can be really uncomfortable.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve the best discounts. It doesn’t matter that your site is fully automated. It doesn't matter if you've the best qualifications. It doesn't matter that your professional experience is fully relevant to the target customers you want to work with. It doesn't matter how cool you are or your business is. If your audience don't want what you have, nothing you do really matters.

So, it stands to reason that instead of listening to so-called marketing gurus or social media experts and trying to design the perfect social media strategy, obsessing about designing the perfect LinkedIn profile or website, or learning everything about SEO, or learning better ways to trick and manipulate our audience, we'd better focus on one thing - making our audience fall in love with what we're offering.

In this four-part series, I want to introduce you to a new way of looking at your business. Entrepreneurship isn't really about you. It's not about your products or services. It's about your audience. Your audience is the most important part of your business.

You've to move beyond just trying to get customers to something that I call Becoming a Willing Student. Becoming a Willing Student is using your unique voice to start genuine conversations that actually add value to your audience and makes them want to be part of your team. This is why just looking merely for customers is a terrible idea.

The real reason you're not getting customers is not because there aren't enough customers out there. It's simply because there aren't enough people talking about you. The fastest way to get customers is not to look for a customer, but to get the audience you already have to start talking about you.

You don't get them talking by just creating social media campaigns or marketing strategies, but by making a difference in their lives and helping them succeed. You get them talking by changing who you are being. Becoming a Willing Student is a frame of mind, a holistic framework that encompasses how you think, speak and act as an entrepreneur. It's about who you are being. Yes, it starts with you, but doesn’t stop there. Your audience is the most important piece of the puzzle.

Whether it's 5, 10 or 100 people, if they've ever listened, bought or engaged with you in the past or if they're paying attention to you right now, you need to help them succeed. Because if you can help the audience you have right now succeed, they'll reward you by talking about you.

In part two, three and four of this series, I’ll share the three things or qualities you need to start demonstrating to get your audience to fall in love with you and buy from you. I call these Willing Student qualities.

If you are ready for more as an entrepreneur and want help building the joyful, passionate, and profitable business you deserve, book a free consultation call with me. I’ll help you get clear on who you really are as an entrepreneur, be more confident about your unique brand voice, and empower you to expand the quality of your presence and influence in the global marketplace. You’ll know how it feels to build your business differently and pursue the right goals. You’ll stop wasting your time on people who don’t value you or people you can’t make a difference to.