1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,759 When you're busy and you don't have enough time to do everything, you have 2 00:00:02,839 --> 00:00:07,160 to prioritize. But the problem is, I see so many online business owners 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:12,039 prioritizing the wrong things, the things that feel really easy to do. Engaging 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:17,399 with people on Instagram, spending an hour writing in Instagram caption, spending two 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,000 hours editing a reel. Those things, Yeah, like they feel like you're 6 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:25,120 doing something, but they're not going to actually move the needle. They're not 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,920 the best use of your time. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,520 For years, I read all the books, downloaded all the freebies, 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,119 and did all the courses, but it wasn't until I started taking imperfect action 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:44,759 that my business had its first million dollar year. Imperfect action is about doing 11 00:00:44,799 --> 00:00:51,079 things before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward 12 00:00:51,439 --> 00:00:55,240 even when you're not sure you're doing it right. On this show, you 13 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:00,320 can expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips and strategies to build a business that 14 00:01:00,359 --> 00:01:06,200 brings you more profit, more freedom, and even more joy. Are you 15 00:01:06,239 --> 00:01:08,640 on the list to get my daily businessters Every day, I'll send you a 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,879 bite sized prompt designed to help you grow your business in a more intentional way. 17 00:01:14,239 --> 00:01:17,920 Sign up at Steph Taylor dot com, forward slash DBB, or at 18 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:23,239 the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome back to My Perfect Action. 19 00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:29,239 This is episode eight hundred, which is honestly a little bit wild. 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,439 I always joke that I'm like, this is the most committed I've ever been 21 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:38,280 to anything ever, this podcast three times a week for five years now, 22 00:01:38,519 --> 00:01:42,400 six years, six years. Started this on the first of May twenty eighteen, 23 00:01:42,239 --> 00:01:47,680 and now we're at eight hundred episodes and six years. So for this 24 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,640 episode, I am going to do a special episode, well this episode and 25 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,000 next episode, where I'm going to highlight some of the biggest takeaways, lessons 26 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,680 and tips that I've shared in the past eight hundred episodes. The things that 27 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:02,760 I'm sure sharing in this episode are the things that I have personally found have 28 00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:06,799 moved the needle most in my business, or the other things that have had 29 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:12,039 the biggest impact on our listeners. Because I often get some of you message 30 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,599 me and leave reviews and things that's letting me know what's impacted you, and 31 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:19,120 I love all of those. Even though I might not be the best at 32 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,240 replying to messages, I do read them, so I do appreciate all of 33 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,840 the messages and all of the reviews. Okay, so number one, the 34 00:02:27,879 --> 00:02:30,680 first takeaway, if people aren't buying your offer, it doesn't mean that nobody 35 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,400 wants it. If they are looking, if they're shopping but they're not investing, 36 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:39,120 or if you've launched something and nobody bought during your launch, it's not 37 00:02:39,199 --> 00:02:45,039 necessarily a flop. There are seven reasons that I shared in a previous episode. 38 00:02:45,039 --> 00:02:49,520 There are seven reasons why somebody might look but not by Firstly, they 39 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:52,719 might have no money to spend. And it's not somebody saying, oh I 40 00:02:52,719 --> 00:02:54,560 can't afford it, but it's actually like they literally have no money. I 41 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,599 talked about this in the last episode as well, where you need to pick 42 00:02:59,599 --> 00:03:01,719 a niche that has money to spend. So they might have no money to 43 00:03:01,719 --> 00:03:05,479 spend, and that might be why they're not buying. Maybe they're not the 44 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,599 right people for the offer. Maybe they're not ready to solve the problem that 45 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:13,360 your offer solves. Maybe you just don't have a big enough audience to reach 46 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,400 that arbitrary goal number that you have set. I see this quite a lot 47 00:03:16,439 --> 00:03:20,280 where somebody's like, well, I want to have a fifty thousand dollars launch, 48 00:03:20,759 --> 00:03:23,039 and then when you actually work backwards and you look at it, how 49 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:24,479 many they have to sell to hit fifty thousand dollars, and you look at 50 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,639 how many people are on their email list, you think, well, actually 51 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,560 you won't hit fifty thousand in this launch. You might hit a smaller goal 52 00:03:32,599 --> 00:03:35,879 this launch, and then you need to reinvest, You need to grow your 53 00:03:35,879 --> 00:03:38,560 audience a bit, and then you can launch again and again, and then 54 00:03:38,599 --> 00:03:42,599 eventually you will get to that goal. Then other reason might be because they 55 00:03:42,599 --> 00:03:46,280 don't trust you enough yet. Maybe you haven't been showing up, sharing content, 56 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,919 emailing them enough for them to trust that you are the right person to 57 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,759 solve the problem they have. Maybe there's no reason for them to buy right 58 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,560 now, there's no deadline, there's no incentive for them to act today, 59 00:03:57,639 --> 00:04:01,520 so they're going to put it off. Or maybe they have unanswered questions questions 60 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,039 about your offer that they're not sure if it's going to be the right one 61 00:04:05,039 --> 00:04:09,520 to get them the results, so they're not buying. I broke each of 62 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,400 these down a little bit deeper in episode four hundred and seventy four, which 63 00:04:13,439 --> 00:04:16,000 was a long time ago. So to save you having to scroll back through 64 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,959 the feed to find it. You can send me a DM on Instagram. 65 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,600 I'm there at Steph Taylor dot co. If you send me the number four 66 00:04:21,639 --> 00:04:25,959 seven four, four hundred and seventy four, just that one number, then 67 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,279 I will send you a direct link to listen to that episode. Okay, 68 00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:34,279 The second big takeaway content marketing is still a super effective way to grow your 69 00:04:34,319 --> 00:04:39,279 audience and nurture them to be ready to buy from you, but you have 70 00:04:39,399 --> 00:04:44,600 to be consistent. And being consistent is easy for the first few weeks when 71 00:04:44,639 --> 00:04:46,879 it's all fun and it's shiny, but then when you get busy, it's 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,000 a lot harder. So you have to make consistency as easy as possible, 73 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:56,560 otherwise you just won't be consistent. And it's very easy to say, well, 74 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,920 I tried showing up on Instagram, or I tried showing up on tick, 75 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,800 or I posted a few times to LinkedIn and I just didn't see results. 76 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,480 Or I started a podcast and I shared episodes for four weeks, but 77 00:05:05,759 --> 00:05:10,439 then I just stopped because I wasn't seeing results. And it usually takes a 78 00:05:10,439 --> 00:05:14,079 little bit longer than four weeks before you start to see the actual return on 79 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:16,240 any of the time that you're putting into these things. So yeah, you 80 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,920 do have to make it as easy as possible, otherwise you're going to struggle 81 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,680 to be consistent with it over the long term. And you know, I've 82 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:28,959 stuck with this show for eight hundred episodes, which is incredible. If anybody 83 00:05:28,959 --> 00:05:30,279 who knows me in real life will be like, how on earth have you 84 00:05:30,319 --> 00:05:34,120 stuck with one thing for so long without getting bought? And that is because 85 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:39,079 I've made it as easy as possible to be consistent with this show. So 86 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,959 back in episode five hundred and seventeen, I shared five ways that you can 87 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,000 make content creation less time consuming, and I'll give you the quick overview. 88 00:05:47,399 --> 00:05:50,680 So firstly, you can survey your audience to give you content ideas. That'll 89 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:55,839 save you time in coming up with ideas. Secondly, work with your strengths 90 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,639 rather than what you think you have to do. If you hate being on 91 00:05:58,759 --> 00:06:01,480 video, don't try and do Instagram reels because you're not gonna be able to 92 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,680 stick with it. It's going to take you a lot longer. You're gonna 93 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,800 hate it, you're not gonna be able to stick with it and be consistent. 94 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,240 Number Three, you don't need to be on every single platform. Just 95 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:15,439 pick one and do that one consistently, rather than taking the broad scattergun approach 96 00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:18,120 and trying to be on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, all of 97 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,720 the places. Just pick one and do that one really well, and do 98 00:06:21,759 --> 00:06:28,560 it consistently. Repurpose every piece of content. So all of these podcast episodes 99 00:06:28,759 --> 00:06:33,399 become snippets for my daily bizbooster emails, they become Instagram reels, they become 100 00:06:33,519 --> 00:06:38,360 all of the different pieces of content, so that we're squeezing maximum juice out 101 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,839 of the time that it takes to create one piece of content. And then 102 00:06:41,879 --> 00:06:45,759 finally ask yourself, what would this look like if it were easy? So 103 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,279 that's a great question that I love from Tim Ferriss's book Tribe of Mentors. 104 00:06:49,519 --> 00:06:51,439 What would this look like if it were easy? Like, what is the 105 00:06:51,519 --> 00:06:57,639 simplest way that you can do it? For example, I do Instagram reels, 106 00:06:57,639 --> 00:07:00,800 but I know for me remembering to make up a camera and record myself 107 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,519 talking to the camera and sharing that as a reel, that's a lot of 108 00:07:03,519 --> 00:07:08,360 work. So for me to make it easy, what I do is sometimes 109 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,639 when I'm recording a podcast episode, I switch by webcam on I record the 110 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,319 video of it, my team splits that into little reels they edited, we 111 00:07:15,399 --> 00:07:18,199 schedule it, they go on Instagram. So very very minimal amount of work 112 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:23,399 of extra work for me to create a reel from a podcast episode if you 113 00:07:23,439 --> 00:07:27,560 want that whole episode on how to make content creation less time consuming. And 114 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,600 I go a little bit deeper into each one of those tips, send me 115 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:32,519 a DM on Instagram, send me five, one, seven, five hundred 116 00:07:32,519 --> 00:07:38,519 and seventeen. I'm there at Steph Taylor dot co. Okay, number three, 117 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,560 You can have a super profitable launch with a small audience. So when 118 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,000 you are launching a course, program, membership, any kind of digital product, 119 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,759 basically any kind of online offer, it can still be profitable with a 120 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,240 small audience. It just might mean that your first launch is a little bit 121 00:07:54,279 --> 00:07:58,360 smaller than your expectations. But launching is something that you do more than just 122 00:07:58,399 --> 00:08:01,040 once. It's not something that happens the first time you put your offer out 123 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,720 there. It's more of like a limited time campaign, a limited time push 124 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,959 to sell an offer, than something you just do the first time. Now, 125 00:08:09,079 --> 00:08:11,879 launching to a small audience is much much better than not ever launching, 126 00:08:13,399 --> 00:08:16,839 because if you keep waiting around for your audience to be big enough to launch, 127 00:08:16,399 --> 00:08:20,920 you'll probably never end up launching the thing. Once you have that small 128 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,360 launch, the first small launch, now you have a little bit of a 129 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:30,519 cash injection that you can potentially reinvest into rinsing, repeating, scaling it because 130 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,720 now you know that it converts, so you can grow your audience a lot 131 00:08:33,759 --> 00:08:35,039 faster because you now have a little bit of budget that you can put into 132 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:41,679 Facebook ads or Pinterest ads or Google ads or hiring a marketer, whatever, 133 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:46,399 you can reinvest and that allows you to grow a little bit faster. In 134 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,360 episode five hundred and nineteen, I shared five things that matter more than your 135 00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:56,080 audience size in a launch. These five things are how nurtured and engaged your 136 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,399 audience is, so how much they know you, like you, and trust 137 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,600 you. How well they under stand the problem that your offer solves or the 138 00:09:01,639 --> 00:09:07,080 transformation that your offer delivers. How well they understand the solution, so, 139 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,120 how well they understand that your offer delivers that solution to their problem. How 140 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:16,519 well you how well you address their hesitations, because if they still have hesitations 141 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:18,759 that are not addressed, they are not going to buy. And then, 142 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,480 lastly, how well you show them why they need to prioritize spending money on 143 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:28,519 this thing right now. Okay, number four the fourth takeaway you find time 144 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,480 for the things that you prioritize, so there's not enough time to do the 145 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,679 things you want to do in your business. It's because you're not prioritizing them. 146 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,679 And I know that sounds really harsh, but when I look back over 147 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,720 the last eight years that I've been in business, I have been most effective 148 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,000 with my time when I've been the most busy. So for example, when 149 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,399 I started my very first business, I was working full time. I was 150 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,200 working close to sixty hours a week, and on top of that, I 151 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,320 was launching a business, so I was getting up at like four or five 152 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,519 am doing it couple of hours of work on my business, and because I 153 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:05,759 only had a few hours before I went into the office each day, I 154 00:10:05,799 --> 00:10:09,759 had to be really, really intentional about where I was spending my time. 155 00:10:09,039 --> 00:10:13,279 It forced me to prioritize the important things, the things that had the highest 156 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,639 yield, rather than the things that made me feel like I was being productive 157 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,440 but weren't really moving the needle. Another time was when I was working part 158 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,879 time for a startup. I was doing client works. I was growing essentially 159 00:10:24,879 --> 00:10:28,120 what I was trying to grow into an agency, and I was also studying 160 00:10:28,159 --> 00:10:31,559 full time, so I was pretty I was pretty busy at the time, 161 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,720 and these things I had to be really intentional with my time. When you're 162 00:10:37,759 --> 00:10:41,240 busy and you don't have enough time to do everything, you have to prioritize. 163 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,399 But the problem is, I see so many online business owners prioritizing the 164 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,840 wrong things, the things that feel really easy to do. Engaging with people 165 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:54,159 on Instagram, spending an hour of writing an Instagram caption, spending two hours 166 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,679 editing a reel. Those things, yeah, like they feel like you're doing 167 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,679 something, but they're not going to actually move the needle. They're not the 168 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,480 best use of your time. So in episode five hundred and sixty, I 169 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:09,919 shared five things that I've done to prioritize my tasks and find time to take 170 00:11:11,039 --> 00:11:15,080 action on the things that matter. So these five things are Firstly, I 171 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,399 identified my queen bee role in the business. If you haven't read the book 172 00:11:18,399 --> 00:11:22,159 Clockwork, go and read it because it talks about the queen bee role in 173 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,320 a bit more depth. But essentially, it's the one thing in my business 174 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:31,519 that is the best use of my time. I've also automated nearly everything that 175 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:37,080 can be automated. I mean, our software expenses are second only to human 176 00:11:37,159 --> 00:11:43,000 expenses team expenses because the systems that we have can save so much time. 177 00:11:43,639 --> 00:11:46,799 I've also delegated more to my team. Now, if you don't have the 178 00:11:46,799 --> 00:11:52,399 budget to delegate or to invest in those systems, that is why I created 179 00:11:52,399 --> 00:11:58,240 my membership conversion campaigns, because I honestly believe that you need to start generating 180 00:11:58,279 --> 00:12:01,559 cash injections so that you can start to buy back your time through those systems, 181 00:12:01,639 --> 00:12:05,799 and that support doors are currently closed for conversion campaigns, but they'll be 182 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,600 opening up again for three days in early May. If you send me a 183 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,840 DM, send me cc on Instagram, I'm there at Steph Taylor dot co, 184 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:16,159 and I will put you on the wait list so that you don't miss 185 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:20,039 out when doors are open the next time. Okay. The next thing I 186 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,559 did to prioritize my tasks and find time to take action on the important things 187 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:30,559 was creating processes and templates for as many things as possible, and then lastly 188 00:12:30,639 --> 00:12:33,000 creating structure in my weeks, my months, and my years. So, 189 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,960 for example, we put our launchers in the calendar for the year, so 190 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,039 that we know exactly this is what we're working towards at any point in time 191 00:12:41,159 --> 00:12:45,960 in the business. Now, if you want that whole episode to get a 192 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,480 little bit deeper into those things that I've done to find that time and to 193 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,519 prioritize my tasks, DM me the number five hundred and sixty five to sixty 194 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:56,600 on Instagram and I will send you the direct link so you don't have to 195 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:01,600 go looking for it. And then last the fifth takeaway for this part one, 196 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,399 there will be a part two to this episode to stick around for that 197 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,960 one on Wednesday. If you are struggling to make consistent sales in your business, 198 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,240 it's likely due to one of these four reasons. Number one is that 199 00:13:13,279 --> 00:13:16,200 you're not giving your audience enough different ways to work with you. Number two 200 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,799 is you're giving your audience too many different ways to work with you, and 201 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,039 you're letting them pick and choose. Now, the problem with this one is 202 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,919 it might intuitively seem like the more offers you have, then the more sales 203 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,480 you'll make. But if your audience is picking and choosing, they don't necessarily 204 00:13:31,519 --> 00:13:35,759 know what is going to be the right offer to solve their problem. You 205 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:37,720 are the expert you know what they need. They're going to just pick what 206 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,320 they think that they need, which is not always aligned. It could also 207 00:13:41,399 --> 00:13:46,480 be that you are trying to solve the same problem in all of your different 208 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,480 offers. So let's say that you have a course, a coaching, and 209 00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:52,559 a membership of course, one on one coaching and a membership, and they 210 00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:56,720 all solve the exact same problem. Somebody who has done your one on one 211 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,480 coaching is not then going to go and join your membership or sign up for 212 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,679 your course. Somebody who's done your course, they've ideally, by the time 213 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:05,559 they finished that course, they've solved that problem. They're not then going to 214 00:14:05,639 --> 00:14:09,200 go and sign up to work with you one on one because they no longer 215 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,080 have that problem. And then, lastly, it could be that you are 216 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,519 trying to solve all of your audience's problems in one offer. I see this 217 00:14:15,759 --> 00:14:18,840 a lot with people who are creating an online course for the first time. 218 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,039 They try and solve about twenty different problems in one course and it ends up 219 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,600 being this big monstrosity of a thing that they can never ever finish creating. 220 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,000 It overwhelms them when they're creating it, and overwhelms their students when they buy 221 00:14:31,039 --> 00:14:33,320 it, and then they're like, Ah, there is just so much to 222 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:35,159 do here, I can't do it. So I break down each of these 223 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,879 a little bit deeper in episode five hundred and sixty four. DM me five 224 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,559 sixty four, five hundred and sixty four on Instagram. I'm there at Steph 225 00:14:43,559 --> 00:14:46,879 Taylor dot co. Send me those numbers if you want those episode numbers, 226 00:14:46,279 --> 00:14:50,200 and I will send you the direct links to listen to those and tune in 227 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,559 on Wednesday four Part two. Now, if you're not already subscribed to the 228 00:14:54,639 --> 00:14:58,440 show, hit the little plus or the follow button and you'll just get that 229 00:14:58,679 --> 00:15:03,679 episode straight into your podcast app on Wednesday when it goes live. That is 230 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,279 it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you 231 00:15:05,639 --> 00:15:11,080 for listening to the last eight hundred episodes. If you have anything you want 232 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,360 to say, any feedback, anything you've learned over the last eight hundred episodes, 233 00:15:13,399 --> 00:15:18,639 I really would love a quick rating and a review in Apple Podcasts. 234 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:22,120 It takes you thirty seconds. I read all of them, and it just 235 00:15:22,159 --> 00:15:24,679 reminds me that there are real humans on the other side of the microphone that 236 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,200 I'm always talking into thank you so much for listening. Catch you next time.