The Truth About Why Your Business Isn’t Successful (Yet)!

Hey Friend!

Today we are going to go over the truth about why your online business isn’t successful. Whether you aren’t getting leads, don’t have consistent clients, or aren’t making money. Maybe your business is causing you to feel drained, overwhelmed, or stressed.

Here are three reasons why you’re business may not be successful, as well as simple solutions for how to reach your business goals. You will learn to transform the trajectory of your online business so you can actually make money in less time so you can go out and do the things that God has called you to do.

Your Business Isn’t Successful (Yet)

While coaching some women recently on their business goals, I realized that so many of these incredible women had the dream and the drive to create profitable businesses, but they weren’t successful. I recognized a recurring theme as I was coaching these women on what the actual problem was. 

We are going to go through these issues and if you are in this same boat, take some time to reflect and think about where you could have gone wrong. Retrace your steps back to ground zero where you can follow a systematic path to success.

Reason # 1-Your Niche is Too Big

The first mistake you might be making is: your niche is too big. You cannot start a successful business if you are talking about too many things. This will not attract people and bring in leads that turn into clients.

Someone coming for fitness is not going to stay if you’re talking about building a business. Similarly, someone who wants to learn how to repair their broken marriage is not going to stay when you derail and talk about raising a toddler.

Choose Your One Thing

I want you to do some homework. Write it down in your notes and answer this question:

• What is the one thing I have done in my life successfully?
• Right now if I look backward, what do I think I can teach other people or help other people with?

If you cannot choose just one thing look for the common denominator. What’s the thread that goes through all of these things? There is something in there that God has walked you through, on purpose so you can help other people through it.

Maybe you have an idea that you want to help people start a business. That’s too broad. What’s one specific thing that you’ve done? Let’s say you built a six-figure photography business. Then that’s the thing you will do. It’s the thing you’ve already done. This will help you eliminate and cross off so many extra things that you wanted to talk about. Because it’s not about where you’re going, it’s about where you’ve been.

Your niche might be too big. You will expand your online business over time but you have to start with something really niched in and specific. One specific thing, for one specific person, based on one specific problem, with one specific offer.

Choose Your Long-Form Content

You always start with top of funnel. You must begin with long form content. Imagine an upside down triangle. How will you get leads? My favorite way to do it is with podcasting. It is the cheapest and the fastest. I teach my students to podcast in less than two hours a week. It has the deepest conversion rate that is the actual quickest of all the long-form content. Focus there first.

Next, build nurture which is the middle of the funnel. This is your Facebook group, email list, or whatever community you build. Then, the bottom is your one core offer. Why one offer? Because if we give people seventeen options they do nothing. A clear example of one core offer is: You are going to start a podcast so you can get leads in less time in your business.

Reason #2- You Are Focusing on The Bottom or Middle of The Funnel Instead of The Top

The second reason your business isn’t successful yet is that you are focusing on the bottom or the middle of the funnel instead of the top. Picture the funnel I mentioned above, the upside down triangle.

The right way is:

• Podcast at the top (Or whatever your long form content is ) 

• Nurture in the middle (This is your Facebook group/community, and email list)

• One offer at the bottom 

Often people aren’t having success because they are focusing on the bottom two pieces of the funnel. This is a mistake because if you don’t have leads who trust you, no one will buy your products. Don’t waste time building something that you haven’t proven. You don’t know if it’s something that your audience actually wants. You haven’t tested it because you don’t have leads coming through the funnel in an organic and consistent way.

Start From the Top of the Funnel

What you want to do is build the top of the funnel, start getting the leads, start growing trust, start producing content that’s sticky. You’ve got to focus on top down. Build your long form first. Make it clear and niched in. Then build a community and email list. Lastly, build an offer that makes you money. If you go down up, you’re going backward and you will have to redo your work. 

What you will discover is that it’s maybe not what they wanted, not what they are calling it. Maybe when you coached three people you realized that they were saying it in a different way. The thing you thought was their pain point was something they didn’t care about at all. Don’t waste your time building the things until you have the people to build them for.

Reason # 3 – You’re Looking For Leads in All The Wrong Places

The third reason why your business may not be successful is you are trying to get leads from the wrong places. You are focusing on producing content in places where content doesn’t convert.

Don’t Waste Time Looking For Leads On Social Media

Instagram. TikTok. Facebook. Snapchat. The list goes on. There’s so many social apps today, that I don’t even know what’s cool anymore because I’m out of the social media game. I am here to create simplified businesses that are sticky, successful, and simple.

How do we do that? How do we get leads without so much time, effort, exhaustion, and overwhelm? We don’t do it on social media, that’s for sure. Because when people are on social media, when they scroll, push a button, or click, they are getting a dopamine hit. It is an addictive behavior, and people aren’t on social media to learn.

No One is on Social Media With the Intent to Purchase

You’re spending all this time building content that you think is going to generate a lead but the reality is no one is on social media with the intention to purchase something. Social media is not a place to build a successful business. While on social media, people aren’t in a posture of active listening. People are on social media because they are bored, tired, numbing out, or they just need their next hit. 

What’s happening for your person while looking at your content on their phone, is that they may see the three tips to restoring their marriage, or how to start decluttering, but they don’t really care because they just need a dopamine hit.

Compare this to: They are intentionally in a posture of learning and listening. While doing their laundry they look for a podcast to teach them how to declutter. They find your podcast and listen to you teach for fifteen minutes on how to get started with decluttering.

Podcasting is the #1 Long Form Content

They listened to your podcast for fifteen minutes! If you had the same content on social media, they would have given you just a couple seconds of their time. With podcasting your content goes across the world and is there forever. With social platforms your content is only there for 24 hours or less, it dies on the social media graveyard.

In just fifteen minutes you’ve gained a new friend. That new friend has hopefully subscribed to your podcast and already clicked over your stuff because they are interested in you. Then they hear you say that you offer decluttering coaching calls and they are praying if that’s the next right step for them.

Challenge Your Beliefs in Order to See Results in Business

We have to shift the way we get leads online. You have to start challenging the beliefs that you have around why you are doing what you’re doing. If your business is not successful today, why do you still do the same things that haven’t gotten you results? You’ve got to stop, pause, inventory, and come up with one very intentional strategy to build that top of funnel.

What’s the thing that’s going to generate leads for you? For me it’s podcasting. It’s what I teach, it’s what I’m obsessed with. I do podcasting in an hour and a half every week. I have been doing it for six years so I am quick at it at this point. It brings in about four hundred new leads every month and we make sales every single day straight from the podcast.

The Three Reasons Why Your Business Isn’t Successful

To recap, the three reasons that you are struggling to have growth in your business and to get consistent leads are:

1. Your niche is too big
2. You are focusing on the bottom or the middle of the funnel instead of the top
3. You are trying to get leads in all the wrong places 

I hope this helped and brought you some clarity. Write down the homework that I gave you, which is:

What is the #1 thing that I’ve done that I’m called to help people do?

What is my long form (top of funnel) going to be?

You have only three long form choices which are: podcasting, YouTube, or blogging. I do all three but podcasting is the #1 way. It’s my favorite. It is the quickest, most inexpensive, and highest converting. It’s absolutely incredible. Also you can repurpose your podcast on all the other platforms. 

If you need help on any of this I have a solution for you. Head to stefaniegass.com/school. I have a clarity course to help you start your business and a podcasting course that goes over the twelve steps to building a successful podcast. I also have a group coaching program called Podcast to Profit where you will learn the entire funnel, how to set up your email list, your website, your one core offer, and much more. All the details for any course be found on stefaniegass.com/school.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST

Before you go, be sure to watch the free workshop!

This free workshop is for you if you want to grow an online business in less time.

It will teach you how to explode your audience without the social media hustle, make consistent sales using a podcast, and plan, record, and launch a podcast with ease!

RELATED EPISODES:

Live Tagline (T.S.O.) Coaching! Get Clear & Niche Down on What Your Podcast or Business Promise Should Be

2 Reasons You’re Not clear on your NICHE. How to Finally KNOW What Your Calling is so You Can Start a Sustainable Online Business‪!‬

Social Media Truth Bombs You May Not Want to Know

3 Excuses You Need to Stop Making if You Want a Successful Business‪.

Want a Successful Podcast? 5 Things You Should do Every Year

Join our Facebook Community!

Online Business for Christian Women with Stefanie Gass