7 Productive things to do as an Entrepreneur

Not sure how to keep productive while trying to build your business as an entrepreneur? Well in this article I'm going to be talking about some key steps in order for you to stay productive and really utilize this opportunity during this pandemic. 

Productive planning

If you read my previous article on how to stay productive as a millennial, then you'll understand that developing some sort of primary aim and twelve-month goal is crucial for your success. Why do I say this? Because let's say, for example, you're trying to make 100K in 12-months, you need to be able to track your progress. And so progress is only tracked against a plan against a baseline. I would suggest having quarterly, monthly and weekly goals, because that way you can see whether you're improving or needing to change your strategy. If you need a business plan template to support this, click here to access it. 

Build your funnel

The next thing I'll say is to make sure that you work on your funnel. Now if you don't know what a funnel is, it's effectively the customer journey that a person goes through once they opt into some sort of offer or lead magnet. They essentially are exposed to different levels of your value ladder (products and services) when they become part of your ecosystem.

So the funnel is from when they opt into your free offer or whatever offer you're offering them up until they become a customer. Here is an example of a simple funnel: 

1. Weekly Educational or empowering Instagram Lives
2. Direct people to a free offer via the link in your Instagram bio
3. They register via email to receive that free offer i.e. a free web class as an example. I call this a signature video and can be live or automated. You can learn more about them here.
4. There is an opportunity for them to book a session over Zoom to talk to you more about how you can help them achieve a specific desire
5. They are convinced you can and so pay and sign a new coaching agreement with you

So this one funnel you can use to potential work with your ideal client. Now, I haven't talked about the ins and outs, but it’s crucial that each piece of your funnel is connected efficiently. Understanding your funnel and how you attract and acquire customers is fundamental to your success.

Traffic Traffic Traffic!

The third thing I'd say is to make sure you try to solve the traffic problem. Here are some questions to consider:

• How do people actually come into your business?
• Is it through social media?
• Is it through speaking engagements?
• Is it through your podcast?
• Is it for YouTube?
• Is it through writing?
• Is it through cold calling?

If you don't have much money, maybe Facebook and YouTube advertising is not for you. From a long term business perspective, especially as a personal brand, it makes more sense to go all in with organic content marketing. If you think about it, it shows that you actually have some sort of demand and traction. If that is the case you are onto something. It is very likely to take longer but it will end up being cheaper.

The Signature video

The next thing I want to talk about is creating a signature video. As mentioned in the ‘building a funnel’ section, a signature video is so crucial because it helps close the bridge between your audience wondering and knowing that you are an expert in your field.

Let's say for example you're a life coach. You know that your clients are trying to overcome confidence. And so based on what you know of your clients you focus on developing a video that goes through some steps that enables them to overcome confidence at that moment. In the video you don't give them the whole shebang, because it would take too long, but you give them enough that makes them feel helped. You can’t help everyone but you will help the few that feel engaged. 

Maybe you're in the health space and you know that your clients want to lose body fat. And so you give them key tips in order for them to lose weight by themselves. Even though the information you give them is super helpful, you let them know that your specialist knowledge and accountability will get them to their goal faster and at a higher quality. Definitely think about developing a signature video if it fits your business model. 

There are different ways you can host your video such as with:

• YouTube (I wouldn’t recommend)
• Amazon S3
• Vimeo
• Wistia
• And other equivalents

There are also so many ways to create an accompanying video page with a simple scheduling button underneath. You can use pretty much any CMS like WordPress, Wix or SquareSpace to do this, provided you have the right themes and plugins. You can also create surveys and scheduling systems using a mix between Google Forms, Calendly and Book Like a Boss as examples.

Content Strategy

The next thing I'd like to say is to make sure that you implement and develop a solid content strategy. Here are some questions to think about: 

• What content do you want to produce?
• Are you developing content in batches?
• Where will this content be housed?
• Where will it be distributed?
• Is your content dependent upon engagement or search? Or both?
• Are you going to be doing Live frequent content?
• How will you convert your audience into leads?

It’s very important to understand how you are going to plan, create, schedule and distribute your content for maximum effect. It would make sense to develop a solid content strategy and plan that you can implement, especially during a time when so many people are on constantly on their phones.

Build your Community

The next thing to do is to make sure that you build a tribe or a community of individuals that you can actually help. This is best if you have formed some sort of relationship with them. Of course, this can be done in so many ways, but it is crucial you build your tribe through email. You would need to have an email autoresponder to capture, store and send emails. You can use something like MailChimp, Send Fox or Convert Kit to get started. Building a community is some form of validation that people in some aspects of what you are offering. Remember people buy into people, not businesses. People buy into things that support them and their biggest challenges.

Recently Clubhouse has come into play and is a perfect opportunity to build a community of people; especially if you have something to say. Instagram and Facebook Lives are not redundant by any means, and are still useful for connecting with your audience. Separate webinar sessions hosted on platforms such as Eventbrite are also a great way to build your tribe progressively overtime.

Collabs

The last thing I'd suggest is to make sure that you set up some sort of collaborations with other individuals. So don't be scared to message people on Instagram and say, “Hey, I hope all is well? Loving what you are doing? It would be great to an Instagram Live together at some point!” Obviously, the more interaction you have had with them the more likely it will happen. Make part of your plan to message people and set up collaborations, even if it's the same people. Remember you are exposed to their audience as much as they are exposed to yours.

It's a win-win situation. If you're trying to get more traffic as an example, maybe you want to partner with someone who has more of a following and maybe you do more of the work, and they get more of the money; it all depends on the nature of the relationship and the set up. But in essence the biggest reward is that you get part of their list or audience. It does not matter how small the numbers are it is important to follow through of the agreement you make as collaborators.

So think about doing collaborations and working with other people. Also, think about PR and marketing, and other opportunities out there that will help you stand out. 

Conclusion

Hopefully this stuff has really given you some food for thought. As you can see, there are some productive things you can do as an aspiring entrepreneur or established entrepreneur in order for you to stay productive during this time. It's really important that you don't lose your mind during this pandemic, because again, people need you more than ever. I haven't gone deep into everything, but I've got an online web-class where I talk deeply about how you can create a presence as an expert to attract the right level of people and build your business online. If you're interested in this, make sure to access the web-class here.

You can watch the video associated to this article below.

The original article can be found here.