When growth feels slow in our business, we often start looking around for something else to try. We’re trying to find that quick, easy fix. The “thing” that is going to make all the difference. 

When in reality – there’s no such thing.

And then? We end up half working through different tactics and strategies, never really making much progress on any. 

Because as entrepreneurs – we have no shortage of ideas – so sometimes the discipline is in reining these back.

And we can feel disheartened and look around feeling as though everyone else is so much further ahead than us. 

Because as we all know, nothing good compares from comparing!

Not to mention the overwhelm and analysis paralysis that can follow.

First things first, we always need to take responsibility for our results. 

Get out of the victim mindset, wondering why “everyone else” is having success and why “nothing” is happening for us. And even blaming others for our lack of ‘success’.

And instead know that our actions will create our reality. And often, the reason we’re not where we want to be? It’s because of us – as hard as that pill is to swallow!

So if we are in control of our results, then what is it we can do?

Well your luck is here today, because I’m thinking about this with YOU!

1. Take stock of what is working. 

This comes down to knowing your numbers and having measures in your business. If we look at my business, and my online marketing program, The Modern Marketing Collective, I knew that there were three core ways new students were finding me. 

The first was through my podcast. 

Often, they had listened to a few episodes, and then followed a call to action from my podcast to go to my Instagram or my website, where they would find out more about working with me. 

I was publishing one episode every week on a Tuesday. 

The second was through my Instagram account

Another big way that my customers find me is through my Instagram account. This might be that their friend has mentioned me to them, or tagged them in my content, or sent them one of my posts. I may have come up as a “related” account to someone else they are following, or we may have otherwise connected through the platform.

I was sharing Stories most weekdays and posting a couple of times a week tops to my profile.

The third was via my online advertising – Facebook and Instagram ads

I had set my ads up myself and was managing this myself. I was getting quite a good return when it came to return on ad spend, but I hadn’t scaled the ads up to the extent I knew they could be.

I was reaching people who I knew might like to learn more about Instagram marketing, and inviting them to my free online training.

So now I understood where my customers were coming from, what happened next?

2. Do more of what works

The most simple strategy there ever is for more success is, wait for it!… Doing more of what works!

So here’s the experiment I tried. 

My podcast editor and I agreed that I would move to publish two weekly episodes. It was something I had considered for a little while but I knew it would require more time from me and certainly a big commitment. It was time to try this out. 

So we added a new weekly episode to the mix, making my podcast now come out every Tuesday and Thursday. We also planned out content based on our best performing episodes yet, with me booking in future guests based on these and outlining topic ideas based on these.

Next, I knew Instagram was working really well for me to attract and nurture my customers and also my wider community who refer people to me. I truly believe I have the loveliest people who follow my account and I so appreciate all their comments and messages!

So next, I hired an assistant to help. Starting small, I knew what I wanted to be doing to reach more people, but it was time to bring in someone to dedicate the time to doing so. I’ve worked on my messaging and content to make this better and better.

Soon, my exposure on Instagram was growing even faster, with more people discovering my business and because my profile is designed to connect and convert, this led to a direct follow-through to new students. And I can see this in the insights inside Instagram, where I can see clicks to my website – which is my call to action – growing weekly!

The third part of this puzzle was another investment in my team. This time, it was by hiring a Facebook and Instagram advertising expert. After managing my own ads since I’d started my business, and despite enjoying learning all about them and testing different things, I was ready to hire someone to make this their one thing, rather just one of the many things I was managing. After interviewing several different people, each with their own great set of expertise in different areas, and actually across all corners of the globe, I found someone that I felt was a great fit for my business and make the commitment to go ahead.

3. Measure the results

Several weeks now into the experiment of doing more of the things that work, and the growth in my business has been hard to believe. The revenue had doubled. I actually had some moments where I felt emotional and to the point of crying happy tears. It felt as though everything I had been building, all the months and years of work, all the times I felt like things weren’t moving fast enough, that it was really happening. The momentum felt huge.

And this was:

• Without launching

• Without creating anything new to sell
• And without adding brand new strategies.

But let me tell you, just like every entrepreneur, the things that you dreamed of achieving, and the stages in business you work so hard to reach, once you’re there, they do become your new normal and the goalposts quickly move again, just like they have for me!

So what does this experiment tell you? First, understand your business. Where are your customers coming from? If you’re blind to the data in your business and your marketing, it’s going to be very hard to grow. Next, make a plan. How can you double down on what is working? I know if you’re earlier in business and without the data, this is harder, but use what you have now. How can you do it more intentionally, more regularly, or hire an expert to help you do it even better? Third, measure the results. What is working? What needs tweaking? What can you test to optimise your results even more? 

And finally, don’t break it! This makes a whole new podcast episode in itself, but it’s so funny that when you reach your new level of success, or something feels easy, you start thinking about how you can change it. This happens to me a lot and I know my business friends too. And so we have a bit of a joke about breaking something as soon as it starts working really well. Keep that in mind and don’t do that! It might be time for a new project for you to focus on building up from the start instead of breaking what you’ve built that works.

If you’re interested in learning how I’ve taken my business from completely client-based to being an online business, and how I scale my business each month, then you’re going to want to register for my free live training that’s coming up! In this brand new training, I’m sharing the steps I’ve taken to scale my online business – and how you can do the same. To register for one of the live classes, go to emilyosmond.com/scale and choose your time!

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• Register for my class to learn the Six Steps to Start & Scale your Online Program – without a big audience or relying on launches emilyosmond.com/scale 

• Join the free online Instagram class at emilyosmond.com/free 
• Let’s connect on Instagram @emilyosmond.