Online business can feel like you’re climbing Mount Everest for the first couple of years. There is so much to learn in the day-to-day operation not to forget building a brand’s profile with your target audience. It’s an extremely important stage and one that is essential to a long-term presence online.
Brand building, in its simplest form, is about creating a reputation. It’s what consumers think, feel and associate with your business. And whilst it’s extremely important at the beginning, it’s most definitely something you always have to work on.
From the beginning. I’ve focused heavily on growing a community and building out social platforms. Connecting with my tribe has been key to establishing a foothold online in my market and to be honest, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I’ve since realised that to achieve growth financially, I now really need to focus on revenue and pivot my attention to two key areas of my business.
When you look back on the first couple of years, you’ll be able to analyse your business from a different perspective. This is the time to start laser focusing on what your target audience needs.
Laser focus
I know this is something that is hard to comprehend at first, especially when you are running a one-man-band. You have to become a master at removing distraction and narrowing down your time to focus on revenue.
Revenue is the first step towards a profitable business but if you don’t laser focus you will be consumed with distraction. Here are my tips for switching on your laser powers.
- Review all your business activities and remove or reduce time-consuming non-revenue generating tasks. This could include writing weekly blogs, creating endless videos, weekly newsletters, constant social media posts, checking emails all day etc. Your business is not going to fall over if you leave it for a period of time.
- Schedule social media posts and then shut down the social media mouse-wheel. Even go as far as removing the apps from your mobile.
- Focus entirely on revenue. Everything you are working on has to have something to do with revenue.
- Work early in the day when you have the most focus and fewer distractions. Work when others sleep. Productivity is higher when there are fewer distractions and this means you can do other things later in the day that aren’t work-related.
Shifting your mindset
Your mindset is everything in this stage. You need to turn your laser powers on to be able to identify the revenue opportunity inside your business. When you use your powers to defy distraction you’ll realise revenue isn’t in the day-to-day tasks.
Be ruthless, let things go and learn from your audience what they need. When you get in a flow of no distraction it unlocks so many ideas and allows you to work solely on them. Some might not work but you have allowed yourself time to explore them and narrow your choices to the ones which do.
The shift in gears from building your brand to creating revenue is an exciting time and plays a vital role in reaching that profitable goal we all strive for. Give yourself a clear path for revenue-generating ideas, by switching on your laser focus.
Rebecca Searles, Founder, Family Garden Life
