Leaning into a 2-Pronged Approach to Growth

Grow by Doing

Growing a business is a long-term thing. Like, you will be in some sort of growing phase the entire time you are running your business. Even businesses that are humongous and have been around for a very long time are still promoting and growing and evolving their businesses, think Coca-Cola, Apple, or McDonald’s, to name a few.

As a solopreneur, your growth routine has got to be sustainable and sustainability will be different for everyone. If you are working a 9-5 job while you start your business as a side-hustle or are caring for family or both (or have some other combination of non-business-related activity in your life, and who doesn’t?), sustainability means that you are able to make your routine consistent. Lots of gurus who are further along this path will tell you consistency is one of the most important habits of successful solopreneurs. They are right.

Bamboo grows slow at first, but once it starts…look out!

So, if you’re ever going to get over the hurdle of making your business ‘go’, the tools you use to grow have got to be sustainable. They’ve also got to give you feedback so that you can adjust and keep moving forward.

None of that is news.

But how do you apply this? How do you create something that’s sustainable and gives you feedback?

A simple 2-pronged approach is a great way to get started with something sustainable and feedback-able.

Writing is the important first prong

In a 2-pronged approach, where you are writing and selling, the writing prong is going to take a while to bear fruit. It takes time, but this is the prong from which you’ll be able to build your own email list and longer-term stability in your business.

However, for a while, you may will likely not get any engagement from this prong. You’ll feel like you are writing into the void. As I mentioned last week, that’s fine and it’s okay to go out of the gate with zero audience and to be talking to no one at first. Everyone, I mean everyone, starts at 0, so don’t feel like you are alone on that!

But, it’s also important to acknowledge that you are creating a business, one that you want to be prosperous and profitable, so it’s also important to understand what people actually find valuable in your niche and will purchase from you. And, for most of us, this writing prong will not get us there very quickly. It takes time to get going and build an audience that is listening. This prong may not feel very rewarding or worthwhile…at first.

Which brings us to that second prong

Last week, I referenced a second prong. The second prong is about offering your product or service using some sort of marketplace or freelancing platform.

The cool thing about these places is that they already have an audience, and that audience – importantly, very importantly – is there to buy something. People visit the platform because they have a problem to solve and know they can purchase something from that platform to solve it. That’s straight up, buyer intent.

These are platforms people are visiting for no other reason than to buy something. Think about how different this mindset is from when people visit your blog in order to read and learn something.

Of note, blog visitors in this day and age will at some point expect you to promote your product/service and I really don’t think people are offended by in-blog offers, but their primary reason they click on your link is to read and learn and get to know you. All very important, it’s just a different intent.

Also of note, the same people who visit your blog are the same people who visit platforms and marketplaces to buy things. So, they are not two separate audiences. They are the same audience at different buying stages.

Getting started with the second prong

Some solopreneur businesses are best suited for freelancing platforms. Others are best suited for marketplaces. At some stage of your journey, you might use both.

My first recommendation is to do some thinking about what you are either currently offering or plan to offer. Keep it simple. This would be a first product or service that you can pretty quickly and easily create for either a freelancing platform or a marketplace.

If a product doesn’t come to mind, your first offer might be a service or vice versa. This isn’t necessarily a product or service that you will offer for the life of your business, so try not to get hung up on creating the perfect thing.

Also, this first version of your product or service may not fly. I repeat, it may not fly. The sooner you get comfortable with this idea, dear entrepreneur, the quicker you’ll be able to iterate and get to what does fly! Consider this first version of your product/service market research. It can teach you a lot in a short amount of time, which is time well-spent in my book.

Setting up Prong 2

Prong 2, Step 1:

First of all, get clear about what you want to do and who you want to offer it to.

To do that – and keep in mind that this can/will adjust as you go – work through the 4-Step Define Your Wedge framework (new name, new iteration…see how that works?!). Subscribers get a free version, but an upgraded version with some extra tools and video guide is also available for sale for $9.

By the time you get to Step 4 of the Define Your Wedge framework, you’ll have a clearer idea of where to start and the first definition of your Wedge. Progress!

Don’t worry about getting it exactly right either though. You are looking for short-term clarity here because the best way to fine-tune is to start doing.

Once you’ve got your wedge statement and some initial clarity about whether you’ll start with a product or service, start investigating different platforms.

Fiverr and Upwork come to mind when talking about services or a more traditional-looking freelance start-up.

Etsy, Amazon, and ebay come to mind when talking about offering a digital or physical product.

Your investigations on these platforms will help you figure out what to create. You’ll see what others are doing and how they are doing it. You aren’t copying exactly what they are doing, of course. In the Define Your Wedge framework, you’ll learn about applying your own experience and expertise to find your unique place in the market. Your competition is just inspiration.

What’s next?

There are a lot of other platforms/marketplaces. I’m working up a larger list and will have it for you here in the coming week!

Stay tuned,

Julie

P.S. If you are ready to get started, get the full version of my 4-Step Framework: Define Your Wedge. It’s quick and simple and will help you get clear about what you offer so you can start offering it! The Framework package includes a video instruction and tracking spreadsheet that go along with the main workbook for $9.