While you may know Amy Porterfield as a fast-rising success story, Amy shares that her journey didn’t begin that way. In fact, she started out with a coaching/consulting business she absolutely hated. She’s transitioned her business several times to find her business sweet spot, a place where she feels good about what she’s teaching and building. On Empire By Design Episode 60, Amy goes deep into her experience and what helped her find her way to the business she loves today. We can all follow in Amy’s steps and create our own sweet spot in the business we have or in the business we’re creating.
1. Accept that your business has to change
Amy’s journey to a business she loved was not fast at all. ‘It’s been a struggle at times,’ Amy shared. She had created a business she hated. Clients demanded her around and she ended up working more than she did in corporate. Finally, she had to admit to herself that she had created a business she didn’t like and she had to change it.
If you’ve found yourself far from your business sweet spot, Amy suggests re-evaluating what you’re offering. What can you do to get closer to what you really enjoy? Start experimenting and transitioning, and don’t let fear deter you from making changes to your business.
2. Expand on Your One Thing
One of the best ways to build on a business sweet spot is to look at what success you’ve seen in your business already. Whether it’s a product, online training programme or service, look at what’s performing and decide how you can optimise that. Taking the one idea that’s worked for you and making it better and better can be a fast track to profit and passion. Amy had a successful online program that made $30,000 one year. Instead of sitting back, she continued to improve it and several years later made just short of a million dollars on the programme.
‘If you stick with what you know and what has worked well and make it better, you’ll be amazed with how profitable that can be,’ Amy related. As entrepreneurs, we always have new ideas, but at times building on one idea that’s already worked is what we really need.
3. Find People to Support You
Amy is quick to count masterminds and business coaches as part of her success. When she first started her business, she paid $17,000 per year to be in a year-long mastermind with entrepreneurial women. While that kind of money was daunting, she knew she needed to be surrounded by other people who were building businesses online and would keep her accountable. Later, she found masterminds that she didn’t have to pay for with peers who were creating similar things and living with similar values. Amy even found her business partner in a mastermind. Whether you pay for a mastermind or put together a free group with your peers, their support and accountability can do so much for your business.
As her business grew, Amy felt pulled in a million directions. She started feeling like she was working every minute of the day and that’s when she turned to a business coach. Having a coach helped Amy focus on what was really important and spend her time in the work she was best at. When your business starts feeling overwhelming and there’s so much going on that you hardly know what to do, getting outside help to set priorities and build in an efficient, strategic way of business can be so helpful.
4. Get to Know Your Audience – It’s a Must!
As you starting bringing your business to a place you really love, you might start thinking about creating a course or signature service. These programs can really take your business to the next level, but you need to make sure you have one thing done before you start. Know your audience and what they need! Amy believes that it’s absolutely essential to know your audience intimately. You should be able to explain your ideal audience in a few sentences, as well as their needs, wants and challenges. If you’ve got that, Amy says you’re ready.
Amy started her courses with a introductory Facebook 101 course for $97. With that, she learned even more about her audience and decided to created a signature course based on that knowledge. What does your audience want? What do they need? What keeps them up at night? What do they worry about? Where do they want to go? What is their vision? You can get real answers to these questions by getting on the phone and calling people who represent your audience. Do tons of surveys, even if it’s not the most fun thing to do. Amy advised, ‘Really get out there and understand this audience. It’s not the most fun part of business, but it does say you’re ready to create a course that you can make money with over and over again.’
5. Move Toward the Things You Love
It’s true that you’re going to have to do things in your business that you don’t love. But if you’re spending more time in the things you don’t love, something needs to change. Stop what you’re doing and have your team do it. Change your business model or the way you do your business. Your business will flourish as you focus and do what you’re best at. Amy insists that this is crucial to the longevity of your business.
One way Amy solved this problem for herself was by creating ‘Tiger Time’, a time that she was fiercely loyal to from eight to noon every day. The only thing she does during that time is create content because that’s what she’s best at. Although it doesn’t always work out perfectly, it helps her focus. ‘I had to create that for myself because I was feeling stretched in a million directions and spending way too much time on things I shouldn’t have been touching in my business.’ Letting things go and doing what you do best in your business is an important practice.
Listen to Amy Porterfield’s complete conversation on Empire By Design Episode 60.
Link to MP3
Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS