“Lessons learn. Wisdom Earned.” - Steve Gilliland

Introduction:

I know I am not alone here, 2020 brought my business to a grinding halt. 

After building up a successful holistic health business in 20 years and turning over $10 M in revenue during that time, the pandemic pulled the plug out of the wall almost overnight.

Choice-Point! 

Wait and see what happens or pivot!

I chose to pivot in a BOLD way, to go online AND start fresh in my true Genius Zone. Until this moment, had only been only a small portion of my business model. More on that in a bit…

But first, I had to ‘learn’ how to run an online business. Armed with enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, I dove headfirst with an open wallet into the programs and advice of marketing gurus, believing their strategies would fast-track my success. 

Two years later and over six figures later, I realized I had made significant mistakes by ignoring my intuition. 

In this blog post, I'll share the top three mistakes that took me from excited and eager to learn online business, to an exhausting, frustrating 2 year journey … 'bleeding money'…  in courses, coaches and masterminds. WHY was I spinning my wheels when I had proven I could build a successful business!!

Disclaimer:

To some reading this blog, you may feel I am just full of sour grapes and ‘complaining’ why these courses etc didn’t work for me. But the deeper I dug into online groups, and heard fellow student grumblings and pain, I realised there were many who had spent between $50K - $100K on marketing courses with no ROI.

I had personally been involved in two class actions for 'marketing coaches' who were fraudulent, with scores of students invested tens of thousands in with nothing to show for it.

My heart is so full of empathy & compassion for these good people wanting to follow their dreams, but like me got pulled into the honey pot of high ticket promises with empty baskets!

My Top 3 Mistakes & Valuable Lessons

The online marketing merry-go-round is a 'red' ocean full of marketing gurus, who are very good at hook marketing indeed, promoting their way is the best, fastest and easiest way to start making $10K $20K $30K … $100K per month etc with all the fancy funnels, tools, copy paste templates, success stories and this SPECIAL OFFER ENDS when the webinar finishes!!

Now I am no dummy, and after 20 years, earning millions of dollars and changing 1000’s of lives in my holistic health business, I finally woke up one morning and said F*#K this!! 

The solution was hiding in plane sight the WHOLE time!

I AM THE SOLUTION!! 

My eyes and ears are always open, doing the dance...in the trenches talking to people. What I have learnt is since 2020, there are tens of thousands of ‘new’ entrepreneurs are overwhelmed, confused, burned out and BROKE because this style of marketing ‘training’. It’s an epidemic.

There are ethical heart-centred marketers out their, and I am in so much gratitude for your integrity and mission.

I only have 3 pieces of advice so you can avoid making the same errors in your own journey to success. It’s a messy unregulated world of marketing mishaps. I want you to learn from my mistakes on how to stay true to your mission and your message in the face of industry pressure.

Mistake #1: Abandoning my True Core Message

Multiple ‘coaches’ came at me from different angles…. 

“Don’t go into the personal development space, too much competition” 

“Don’t be too ‘woo’, people won’t understand your message”

“Focus on women entrepreneurs with a marketing message”

And on it went…. This led to a complete overhaul of my brand messaging, which diluted the unique voice that was a strong foundation in the success of my previous holistic health business.

The Consequences:

• Loss of connection: 

I was playing in a pond that was not my strength or interest. 

When you don’t even know how to craft your message, how can you start to build relationships, followers, and add the right value?

The unique elements that set my business apart were overshadowed by generic marketing speak.

• Brand Confusion:

  Potential new clients were confused by the mixed messaging, leading to a lack of trust and decreased conversions.

Lesson Learned:

Stay true to your heart’s mission and message. While it’s important to evolve, the core values and voice that define your brand should remain consistent. Authenticity resonates more deeply with customers than a watered-down attempt to please everyone in a pond that isn’t even your pond!!.

I do have a handy dandy guide I made out of my own frustration you might find helpful crafting your message, finding your niche etc. You can grab it here >> The Heart-Centred Brand Blueprint

Mistake #2: Niching down in the WRONG audience

Following the advice to "niche down" seemed logical. However, I took this advice with the wrong audience. The marketing gurus emphasized the importance of targeting a specific audience to increase relevance and conversion rates. This strategy, while sound in theory, led to frustrating challenges.

The Consequences:

• Limited Market Reach:

  By speaking to the wrong audience with the wrong message, I excluded a significant portion of potential customers who could have benefited from my skills and solution to their pain points!!

• Revenue Decline:

  When you don’t attract the right clients, you don’t make money.

Running a business requires revenue, otherwise its a hobby or a charity!

• Operational Constraints:

  Catering to this recommended (wrong) niche required tailoring my offerings excessively, which increased operational complexity, large block of time on a project and extra costs.

Lesson Learned:

While it’s essential to identify your target market, and that may take some fine tuning, trial and error, but you have to know what your core message is first!!

Mistake #3: Creating offers outside my Genius Zone

The gurus often touted the importance of diversifying offers to cater to various customer needs and maximize revenue streams. Encouraged by this, I ventured into creating products and services outside my core expertise, believing it would attract a wider audience and boost sales.

The Consequences:

• Quality Compromises:

  Outside my genius zone is like a fish out of water!! It was hard to 'create' ideas for offers and the quality of these new offers did not match my existing high standards, which is NOT an attractive offer.

• Brand Dilution:

  Introducing products and services that really didn’t resonate with my soul was exhausting and continued to confused my brand identity and diluted the strength of my core offerings.

• Resource Drain:

  It takes time, energy and creativity to develop and market these new offers. When you are so misaligned with what you are producing, it consumed significant time and resources, diverting attention from my strengths and leading to overall business inefficiency.

Lesson Learned:

Focus on your strengths. It’s important to learn new skills, and expanding your offerings can be beneficial, but only when done strategically and within your areas of expertise. High-quality, specialized products and services will always outshine a broad array of mediocre ones.

Conclusion: Trust your Gut!!

OMYGOSH!! Just writing this took me back over those 2 grinding years. 

It was tough, I cried regularly.. And I’m a tough cookie!!

Your success means A LOT to me!! I don’t want you to run out of energy and money making these mistakes before you get to bring your beautiful business to life to serve those waiting for you!!

Reflecting on these experiences, the most crucial takeaway is the importance of trusting your intuition. Marketing gurus can offer valuable insights and strategies, but their advice should complement, not override, your own understanding of your core purpose. 

Balancing external guidance with internal wisdom is key.

That F*#K IT moment changed everything in an instant, especially my happiness!!

I can happily say I am splashing around in my Genius Zone in the right pond and have had exponential growth in my audience and income as a result. I am back and doing business the way that makes my heart sing!!

Remember:

• No one knows your mission, values or business better than you do.

• Trust yourself and let your intuition guide the way. It is a rock solid way to build a more authentic, sustainable, and successful online presence.

• Revisit constantly your Core Message so you know you are still on track

• Keep your eye on market trends with your audience, you want to stay ahead of the curve

• Be creative with offers, be known for key signature products/services, but have fun being innovative and use the internet and AI to prompts ideas

Don't forget to download your FREE >> The Heart-Centred Brand Blueprint

Watch this short video as Lisa explains her 3 BIG Marketing Mistakes

ALWAYS IN YOUR CORNER

BIG LOVE & GRATITUDE

Lisa x