Good Marketing, Good Business
Have you noticed so much business and marketing content out there is so abstract and airy fairy - what they’re saying sounds good, but what do you actually need to DO?
That’s where the Good Marketing, Good Business podcast comes in, this is where I share practical strategies to help you grow your service based business. Everything from exactly where to find more clients through to how to follow up properly without pestering.
Your host, Shannon Stone is an award-winning business and marketing consultant and for the last 10+ years she’s been diving in deep with small business owners, helping them to make more sales and get more done in less time.
The Good Marketing, Good Business podcast is here to make your life and business a whole lot easier as long as you’re ready to put in the work - if you’re a good-hearted business owner who wants to grow, this is the podcast you'll want to call home.
Good Marketing, Good Business
072: 9 Lessons From 9 Years In Business
In the Spring of 2015 I took the skills I had and attempted to create a job for myself, that was 9 years ago and in that time I went from freelance marketer, to agency owner, to consultant - and I’m pleased to say that I created that job and then some.
By listening to this episode you’ll hear nine lessons as I reflect back across personal, client and business, sharing some standout reflections that have helped both me and my clients.
Enjoy!
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If you’d like to work together with me as your 1:1 business and marketing consultant, book a call here.
Have you noticed? So much business and marketing content out there is so abstract and airy-fairy Like what they're saying sounds good, but what do you actually need to do? That's where the Good Marketing, good Business podcast comes in. This is where I share practical strategies to help you grow your service-based business. And, in case we haven't met yet, I'm Shannon Stone, award-winning business and marketing consultant, and for the last decade or so, I've been diving in deep with small business owners, helping them to make more sales and get more done in less time, and today's episode is no different. Enjoy, hey and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Super excited to jump into this episode today. It is a little bit of an extra special one. It is my nine years in business this month. I started my business in October of 2015, and I thought why not take the opportunity to celebrate a little bit and share nine lessons from my nine years in business? These are categorized into three for personal, three for business and three client lessons as well. The true A-type Virgo in me has to make sure we're highly organized, but I am very excited to share these lessons. But also, I think it's great for business owners to reflect on their time in business. It's almost like a birthday in a sense, if not something greater, because we work incredibly hard for the businesses we build and continue to build. So that's why I wanted to come on and share some of these with us here today, to give you a very quick glimpse into my business journey.
Speaker 1:I started in 2015, like I mentioned, and I started as a freelance marketer, as someone who had come from a complete marketing background in all regards. I was an intern, I had been working as a marketing specialist in an internet marketing company, I had done events and activations for a marketing agency, I had also been a marketing manager, I had done everything that you could attach the word marketing to, and so I thought I would take my skills and see if I can create my own job that can work for my needs, my desires, particularly as a single mom. I needed and wanted that flexibility that I sometimes found it really difficult to get in that traditional workplace environment. So I took the skills. I had thought let's see if we can make my own job out of this, and, nine years later, I think it seems to be working out okay.
Speaker 1:So let's jump into these nine lessons that I have for us. So we'll start with the personal lessons first. So lesson number one is the rewards are beyond financial. So when you work for yourself, there are a variety of rewards, but I think one of the big motivators for people is that financial security as well as that financial prosperity and abundance as well. But I also think and I'm absolutely for that I also think as well and have experienced just an array of different rewards that I think are just invaluable Things around just freedom and flexibility. And you know times when my daughter's been unwell and not just like a one or two day thing, for you know some significant periods of time where she's missed a term of schooling. So they're the rewards that have always been very strong for me and nothing could ever replace that.
Speaker 1:So lesson number one is that the rewards are beyond financial, and I will mention with this it's been amazing actually reflecting on these nine lessons, because it's given me a chance to just think about, well, what have been some of the big things that I have learned, whether it's myself or through my clients, or observing, I guess, on this business journey. But with this lesson, the rewards are beyond financial. Not all pieces can feel like rewards if you don't allow them to be, and what I mean by this is, for example, in business, a lot of people put so much into it that they end up with burnout, and that's definitely been me. I've definitely had burnout, definitely once, but maybe three times. But at the same time, now that I've learned from that, I reap the rewards of taking care of my health because of my business. So sometimes when you've got these, I guess, problem areas in inverted commas and they just don't feel like business is even worth it because you're carrying these way to this pain and these problems, you can absolutely turn it around. So that is lesson number one. The rewards are beyond financial.
Speaker 1:Lesson number two is that we have the power to choose everything, and this is probably a blessing as much as sometimes it can be a curse. I remember when I very first started my business working from home, I had the power to choose when I worked and when I didn't work and how close I sat to the kitchen and kept grabbing snacks and all the things when you work from home, versus working in a normal workplace where you typically wouldn't do that. But we do have the power to choose everything and we can choose our goals, we can choose our schedule, you can choose who you work with, the type of services that you sell, how you package it, your prices. You get to choose all of it and that is more of a blessing, I think, than it is a curse, and I think we have the opportunity to see it that way. But that is amazing, it's an incredible lesson and I think we have the opportunity to see it that way. But that is amazing. It's an incredible lesson and, I think, a great reminder to ourselves that we do actually get to choose all of this. So the power in that is, if you don't like something, if something's not working really well in your business, change it. It's all up to you. That is lesson number two.
Speaker 1:Lesson number three is the gift of working two seasons. I am someone who, like rides hard for seasons. I think there's a time and place for everything and every type of way of working, and there's a time when we want to hustle and we want to put all that exciting work in, and then there's times where we want to free up our schedule a little bit or lighten the workload a little bit, and it can be for an array of different reasons. One of the seasons that I went into a few years ago is when my daughter was going from primary school to high school and I was, I guess, forward planning that transition personally at home and what that would look like, and then I matched my business to that. How can I arrange my business in a way so that it matches how I want things to be at home as we go through that transition? And that is the gift of working to seasons. You've got that opportunity that it's not always the same every day, every week, month or year. You can work with the flow a little bit, you can work to how your life is and how you want it to be, and you can change things based on that.
Speaker 1:One thing that I realized as I was thinking about this as a lesson is when we first start a project or business, we're often in that really exciting energy where it's like go, go, go. Like you are so ambitious, you're like doing all the things, probably meeting all the people, like saying yes to everything, and that is one season and you can go really far, really fast in that type of mode and I'm absolutely here for it. The other end of the spectrum is, I guess, the further on you get say nine years in my case you can go just as far, if not further, but you can do it with less because I would imagine you are wiser now. You've gone through so many things You've made. I wouldn't call them mistakes, but you've made decisions and choices that you would probably choose differently, you know, next time around. So just, it doesn't matter what season that you're in. Sometimes it's not about speed.
Speaker 1:Just wanted to kind of share that, as we talk about seasons and how that I guess the level of patience can come with the different seasons that you're in and it doesn't have anything to do with the speed. So patience sometimes doesn't have to do with how much effort and work you're putting into it. If you've started to become that really established business, a lot more seasoned, you can still go really far because you're making much more intentional decisions. So that is lesson three, the gift of working to seasons. Okay, lesson four, five and six are client lessons and then we'll get on to the three business lessons. So, client lesson.
Speaker 1:So lesson number four is there is no one right way where people will ask, you know, like, should we be doing sales calls or proposals in our business, or what type of content should we be sharing, or should I do a funnel, or like should I do a webinar funnel or should I do a XYZ funnel? Whatever it might be? Should I sell high ticket? Should I sell low ticket? All the different things. And the truth is, and the lesson here is, there is no one right way of doing things. All of them are absolutely right. And when I say that to people or to my clients, it's like you see the light bulbs go off. It's like, oh, like yeah, I can actually just choose the way that I want to do things. Maybe I do love doing sales calls and I will continue to do them and I'll continue to get better at them.
Speaker 1:Or someone else might do another form of having a sales process, but the idea is there is no one right way for anything and absolutely goes in business. You could Google the best marketing ideas or the marketing campaign to grow a real estate business, for example, and it would come up with like the opposite of it might say, no, you have to do networking. And for someone else, it might just say you have to do all the digital stuff. Like there is no one right way. Whichever way you choose and whichever way you are, I think you can get more behind. You're more aligned to, you're like more excited by doing that and you feel like those particular strategies and steps and ideas are more doable for you. I think they're more of the ones to go with. So lesson number four is there is no one right way, there are multiple, and sometimes that's a little bit of a blessing and a curse, because then you're exposed to unlimited options, but definitely a good one, okay.
Speaker 1:Lesson number five is business can change overnight and it can also be a slow burn. So I've seen this so much in businesses and whether it's mine, whether it's clients, ones that I'm helping, there are times where just some small but mighty changes open the floodgates for a business and things exponentially start to grow and start to go really rapidly. But at the same time there are businesses and there are seasons where it can feel more like a slow burn, and neither of them are wrong. I think it's just important to know where your business is kind of landing at the moment and to realize what is happening and why is it happening that way? So, whether business is growing really quickly because of some great improvements that you're making, or it could even be just the environment, the market, the economy could be for a range of different reasons, to realize what is happening and why it's happening. I think they're some of the things that can help us to continue to move forward in business and to not feel like it's not growing the way that it should or at the speed that you would like, and I've seen this both myself in my business and also in client businesses. It can both be the same. It can grow rapidly, really quickly, and it can also be a slow burn. So sometimes it's like an acceptance of just where the business is landing at the moment. It's like an acceptance of just where the business is landing at the moment. I think it's a really great way to just accept what is happening but to keep moving forward and to not be frustrated at any particular speed of growth. So that is lesson number five. Lesson number six is the final one in the client lesson kind of segment, but it's on you.
Speaker 1:So when I think about clients that do really well and even myself, like none of us, are excluded taking personal responsibility for your growth is so important. I think it's one of those things that I think there's three things we can't delegate. I think one is that personal responsibility of the fact that this is your business and if anyone's going to grow it, it's going to be you and you're going to be responsible for everything, down to the bottom line. And I think there's a lot of power in that. If you look at the contrast of that, the opposite of that, and you almost delegate out just the idea that no, I'm going to find this program or this book or this XYZ, this person or whatever to grow my business and it's on them, I think you lose so much power. I'd rather it be from the perspective that it's on you the growth of your business. Take that personal and professional responsibility and any expert, any program, anything that you join is there to support you and to help you, but it's not there in place of you to support you and to help you, but it's not there in place of you. So I think that's one of the big areas for people to remember when it comes to honestly doing anything. But this, I guess, is through the lens of business. But lesson number six is it's on you to take that personal responsibility and any personal development book that you open probably one of the OG ones that I love is the Success Principles by Jack Canfield and I remember it's like I think it's like 67 different personal development lessons and the first one is like take 100% responsibility, and I remember reading that and I was like I'm pretty sure I don't need to read anymore. If I just did that, then there'd be a lot of uphill, positive things from here. So that is lesson number six.
Speaker 1:Okay, the final three lessons that we have are business lessons lessons seven, eight and nine. So lesson number seven is know what you're hiring for. Knowledge, accountability, execution these are just some of the things you could be hiring for, but I think quite often people will confuse it without even realizing it. One of the great, I guess, examples that I could share this with is I see business owners, especially the ones that I work with, just incredibly savvy at what they do. They know so much, and if they would just give themselves and yourself credit for what you know and implement what you know, you'll continue to go further and further.
Speaker 1:So when you're hiring someone, are you hiring for knowledge, for knowledge that you maybe don't have, or is it that you need accountability, or is it that you need support with execution? They're different things. You have to know what you're hiring for and I think tied in with lesson number six around taking that personal responsibility, I think, in my opinion, don't hire people to pick up the slack for you. Don't hire people to tell you to do what you already know. You should be doing that I guess you'd be looking for someone for, like, an accountability coach or something like that. But like you're smarter than that, like you can definitely hire the people to hold you accountable.
Speaker 1:But if you already know certain things, when you hire people to help support you, let it be in, I guess, in the gaps, in where things are not getting done or in knowledge that you don't have. I just think that's really, really important and it will help you to go a lot further. And I think it helps you to build those muscles and that self-confidence when you say, actually I do know a lot of this and if I just put into practice the things that I know to do and in a lot of case for clients of mine who work in that B2B space, if you just do what you tell your clients to do, you would probably be achieving the goals that you've set out. So lesson number seven know what you're hiring for. Is it knowledge, accountability, execution and, just paired with that. Make sure you are putting into practice the things that you know to do, and anyone, any expert, any program, any, whatever it might be, to help you on that way. Let it be an addition, something that's there to support you, not to pick up the slack in any kind of way, like if someone answers you a question that can be Googled like do you not get frustrated at that? It's kind of like in that similar vein, okay, lesson number eight it rarely matters what your competitors are doing. Focus on your customer first. So this is definitely a business lesson.
Speaker 1:Now you might have heard Domino's Pizza. One of the big changes they made instead of looking at all the other pizza companies, they looked at where their customers were facing friction, and one of those areas was the timeframe at which their pizzas got delivered. So that's where the I guess the birth of the idea of delivered in 30 minutes or less, otherwise your pizza is free. That's where that idea came from. Now, that's a very client or customer centric way of, I guess, improving a business and having a competitive edge, whereas if you did it based on cost cutting, that's probably just always trying to compete with your competitors.
Speaker 1:One up your competitors. So it really matters what your competitor is doing, the more you can focus on the people that you're here to help, the knowledge that you have and to support them in ways that probably no one else can like. Just have tunnel vision between you and the people that you help and just ask them the questions of what kind of help do you need? Where are your problems? What other ways can I support you? Look at it like go straight to the end user rather than looking and comparing against what other businesses similar to yours are doing, because you're all really different and you'll only be different if you look at the customer. If you're all looking at each other, then you're all going to end up looking very the same. So that is lesson number eight. It really matters what your competitors are doing. Focus on your customer first. And lesson number nine, as we start to wrap this this up and this is probably my favorite one, it is you just never know what impact one person, one event, one meeting could have, and I think it was probably two-ish years ago that this lesson like dramatically hit me on the head.
Speaker 1:It's happened many, many times where I've met people in business, attended an event, attended a meeting like and things that I like, just didn't want to go to like when it came to it. I remember one in particular. I had a coffee meeting lined up with someone and the day of the meeting it was pouring down rain, which never happens in Brisbane. My, my daughter, was homesick and, like my young little body, had this like backache as well, and I don't get aches and pains. But it all had to happen on this one day and I thought this would just be so much easier if I didn't go to this coffee meeting and I was very close to cancelling. And, long story short, I went along to the meeting and it was a brilliant meeting and the amount of things that have come from that one meeting with that one person. I got invited to an array of different events. There was definitely business growth and clients that came from that.
Speaker 1:But my lesson in that was you just never know what's going to happen when you meet one person, go to one event, have one meeting, and so it's so easy to pull out of things or try to reschedule things, but just the impact. Sometimes it only takes one one right person, one right event, one right meeting. The thing is we just never know where that's going to be, who that's going to be. So I think it's always staying open and having faith that is going to happen and that will continue to happen as long as you keep saying yes to these type of things. And I think as well, like in some regard, like people say, don't say yes to everything, like in my business, most of the time I say yes to everything and I think there's like I can definitely attest to saying that has always worked for me. There are things that you do start to become a no about and you can just easily say no to it, but I'm probably more of a yes person than a no person and it works really, really well. So it just kind of wraps up that lesson. You just never know what impact one person, one event, one meeting could have.
Speaker 1:That is what I have for you today for this, I guess, a bit of a special episode nine lessons from nine years in business. We don't have an action step, but if we did, I would love to know what has been your big lessons from business or, out of these nine, which has been the one that stood out to you the most. Feel free to send it over to me or feel free to post about it and tag me in it, but I hope you found this useful and insightful. I always appreciate other people sharing their lessons from their journey in business. I think we can learn so much from other people. It's a very much a peer-to-peer environment business. It takes one business owner to know one business owner and I think that's why you listen in to the episode and hopefully you get a lot out of it.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that is what I have for you today. I hope you have an amazing day and I'll chat to you soon. Hey, thanks for listening. If you found this episode useful, I'd love for you to send it to a friend. The best podcasts I have found have all been recommended to me. If you can spread the word by sharing this episode, I can spend more time helping you by creating episodes just like this one. Send it, text it, tell somebody about it, whatever you need to do. The more you spread the word, the more I can focus on creating needle-moving episodes to help you and your friends.
