Taking it back to basics…
As I write this it’s 7:35 am, I’m sitting in the retreat house (minus the guests), I can hear the others beginning to wake up and I’m reflecting on the power of taking things back to basics...
But V quickly, before I get into that I want you to be the first to know about my upcoming free challenge, the strategy to sell. In October I’ll be hosting the next round of my signature marketing programme, selling when you’re service-based and I figured it’s about time to have some fun with the launch and test out this challenge thing?!
So across 5 days, I’ll be walking you through what it takes to build an online presence which sells your services in an effective and value-driven way. It’s free to join and despite acting as a taster for the paid programme, will be packed with expertise and V action-focused, as I’d hope you’d expect. It kicks off in 10 days time so… see you in there?!
OK, SELF PROMO OVER, BACK TO THE EMAIL…
This week I’m meant to be hosting the Gather & Grow retreat - 4 days, 16 women and a blend of workshops, levelling up, cocktails and hot tubs. But, as you’ve likely guessed by my tone… and the whole global pandemic thing going on right now, that’s not the case.
Now I could use this email as a chance to wallow in self-pity and have a bit of a moan about how frustrating it all is but 1) that’s incredibly dull and 2) you’ve likely experienced something similar and can imagine said emotions without me spelling them out.
So instead, I want to share what we are using this week for.
Since our lovely (said through gritted teeth) venue owner didn’t allow us to reschedule the date and I wasn’t about to spend many thousands on a venue we weren’t using, I figured we’d come up with a use. This week lines up perfectly with the start date of my new team member (who I’m sure you’ll meet over on Insta V soon!) so it made a lot of sense to bring the team and use this week to work on the big picture.
If we’ve been connected for a while you’ve likely heard me say those two words, 'big picture’, a fair amount. And that’s because it’s something I really believe in.
You see, when your head is always in the business, having the time and headspace to step out of it, reconnect to the big picture and take things back to basics rarely feels a priority. But let me tell you - when you do it - it’s game-changing.
(That’s actually what the retreat is all about so it doesn’t surprise me that because I can’t do it for other business owners this week I’m turning it around on me).
SO, HOW'S IT DONE?
One of the biggest questions I hear around working on the big picture is - how do I actually do it?
Now there’s no ‘blueprint to big picture success’ but there is a framework I roughly follow when taking things back to basics. Here’s what that looks like…
IMPACT
What does the business exist to do?
What’s the mission statement? (The 1-2 sentence summary which makes sense to other people)
PEOPLE
Who is this business for?
Why do they choose my business?
How would they describe their: values, pain points, demographics
OFFERINGS
What are all the offerings (aka products and/or services) that make up the business?
What do they each bring to the table in terms of: impact, price point, profitability, accessibility, scalability, popularity, my enjoyment
CONTENT
What are all the ways people find and connect with the business online?
Per platform, what is their: purpose to business and value to the audience?
Those simple questions resulted in 2+ hours of discussions with the team yesterday and it was so so helpful. Some of the questions spurred a wider conversation when we realised it wasn’t clear and some were just helpful in reminding us what it’s all about.
…HOW ABOUT YOU?
Now whilst it’s dreamy, I get that not everyone has a retreat house to head to when they need to do big picture work. But the good thing is, it only requires two things:
The time to step out of the working ‘in’ your business
The willingness to push through the inevitable questions and confusion that come up when you do that
So, whatever it looks like for you, I’d really encourage you to do some big picture work on your business this week.
Take an hour out. Get some sharpies and poster boards. Push through the initial mind blank. And see what comes out of it. I’ve got a feeling it’s something you won’t regret...