Sometimes we are moving along in our business and we think things are going mostly okay, but there’s this nagging question… am I missing something? Am I on the right track? What if I’m not doing what I should be doing in my business right now?
I have felt this way more than once in my own business journey… and the truth is, sometimes I was missing something! In this episode, I want to help you determine if there is something truly missing in your business, or if you may just need to stop second-guessing yourself and take action.
Before you determine if something is missing, it’s helpful to know what should be there. While this is not a comprehensive list, I’m going to walk through a few key elements you need in your business at different parts of your journey. And although I am sharing about these in a linear fashion, please note that business is almost never a linear journey.
How to Determine if Something is Missing in Your Business
What You Need in Your Business All the Time
- Confidence grounded in God’s truth
- Clarity about your calling
- Courage to take action
Ask yourself: do I have these 3 things: confidence, clarity, and courage?
These are foundational to every Christian woman entrepreneur because there are days when business is hard and you won’t feel like moving forward… and so you really need these 3 things to ground you and help you continue.
If you find that you are really struggling in one or all 3 of these areas, my course Confident Leader Catalyst is designed to help you with this. It’s not a business course at all, but it really helps you work through the Biblical perspective on these 3 issues and develop the courage you need to step into your calling.
Remember: you will never “arrive” with these 3 things – it’s an ongoing journey and a continual process.
What You Need to Get Your Business Off the Ground
There are 5 foundational elements to your marketing strategy that I believe you need to get your business off the ground.
This is what I call the Confident Marketing Method:
- Clarity about your ideal business and life
- Confident Offer
- Communication
- Create Marketing Assets
- Captivate
In addition, you need the mortar that holds all 5 of these things together, and that is Connection. I share about this in episode 33, and I also teach how to create and implement all of these things in a step-by-step way in my course Shine Online.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do I have clarity about my ideal business and life?
- Do I have a confident offer – at least one thing someone can purchase from me that I know will help them and solve their problem?
- Do I have clear communication about what I do and who I help?
- Do I have marketing assets like a website, email list, and content?
- And I am captivating my ideal person through social media?
- And most importantly, am I building real relationships with those who are in my ideal audience so that I can serve them in the best way possible?
Remember: you may be at a further stage of business and still need to update and refine these elements.
What You Need To Become Established and Have a Thriving Business You Love:
- Marketing Strategy that fits your goals, your business model
- This includes making sure your offer(s) are aligned to your gifts and skills AND to your ideal audience (i.e. a value ladder that makes sense)
- You have a proprietary process that helps you up-level your marketing
- You have a sales funnel that is consistently working to bring in leads and clients or customers
One key is to learn what these things are and how to implement them. And the other key is having someone you can turn to with marketing questions–an outside perspective and someone who can give you a bird’s eye view of what you are doing and how you can tweak or change things to be more effective.
- Business Mentoring & Training specific to your stage of business and your unique situation
- This means training that is appropriate for your stage of business
- It also means mentoring that takes into consideration your personal goals and situation rather than giving you cookie cutter solutions and answers
Your mentor doesn’t have to have the exact same business model as you, but it is really important that they understand online business and the type of business and life you are trying to build so that they can help support and guide you along the way.
- A Community of like-minded Christian business owners who are there to support you and hold you accountable
- This often looks like having a group of women who you can turn to for support
- It can look like a biz bestie or a group like a mastermind who will be there to cheer you on when you need it and hold you accountable to what you are trying to accomplish in your business
So now if you are at the testing or established phase of business, I want you to ask yourself:
- Do I have a clear marketing strategy?
- Do I have business mentoring and training that meets me where I’m at?
- Do I have a community of trusted biz friends who can support me and hold me accountable?
If you don’t have those 3 elements, you may find it tough to move your business forward at the rate you want to. You may find it hard to really create a business that is aligned with your gifts, your skills, your experience AND that helps you create the life that you want.
These are the 3 pillars that I have built my program upLIFT on. I wanted to create a program that includes marketing strategy, business mentoring and training, and community support.
It’s like having a coach, a course, and a mastermind all in one.
Plus you have the added benefit of our shared faith and values, which means we are praying for one another, cheering each other on, and finding ways to collaborate.
If this sounds like something you could use in your business, then I want to invite you to learn more about upLIFT. Join my info session where I’ll be sharing how you can thrive in business, up-level your marketing, and build faith based connections. This is THE place to get the details on this program and learn how you can be a part.
Faith Focus:
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Shine a Light Segment:
Barbara Carniero is the founder of Word Revolution, which helps churches and nonprofits grow in reach, generous giving and committed volunteers. They offer Church & Ministry Communication that pulses with the Gospel.
If you know of a church or nonprofit that would like to reach more people, then be sure to check her out. You can find her at https://www.wordrevolution.com/ and on Instagram.
Barbara is a part of my upLIFT Mentormind for Christian women, and she is such a valuable member of our group. I love the value she shares with us and I love being a part of her business journey and growth!
This episode was sponsored by my UpLift Mentormind program, for Christian women in the testing, growing, or established stages of business who are ready to streamline their business, and grow together to reach their goals and thrive. Click here to learn more about upLIFT.
