Money Mindset, News

Yes, But Is It Growing Your Business? How to Quit B.S.ing Yourself with Busywork, Identify the 10k An Hour Musts, and Earn an Extra 500k This Year!

500kyr blog

 

Okay chickadee, I don’t know about you, but I’m about sick and tired of the BS you’ve been spinning about how damn hard you work, how much you get done, and why DESPITE all of this you’re not yet making the money you want to make!

I mean c’mon –

Serious question now –

When was the last time you completed a full day of work that was ACTUALLY GREAT WORK?

Yes, yes, I know – you work hard all the time! You’re a powerhouse! A machine! You get shit DONE baby, and then some!

I know.

I hear you, I recognise what you’re saying, and I won’t argue with you that you’re busy as all get out, but let me ask you –

Is it growing your business?

And you KNOW that when I ask that I’m talking, specifically, is it increasing –

Your list
Your reach
Your income

DIRECTLY, I mean.

I’m not interested in your fancy-schmancy explanations of how the 2 hours you spent investigating website themes is essential to ultimately creating the income you desire …

I don’t wanna hear about the time you spent stuyding online marketing and sales, learning about SEO and how to apply it, finding the exact perfect font for your name because you KNOW that’s gonna make people hand over their credit cards …

And I couldn’t give two hoots about the WEEKS you took to perfectly polish and prettify your optin so that, by golly, it’s simply the most BE-A-YOO-TI-FUL thing I’ve ever seen (aside from all the other beautiful women entrepreneur optins modeled on each other of course) and it is therefore GUARANTEED to create you a multiple-6-figure per MONTH recurring income!

I mean REALLY, for how much longer are you going to keep kidding yourself about this shit?!

You wanna make more money, you want every hour to count, you want to make a bigger DIFFERENCE, have more time for you and your family, and ultimately go to bed each and every NIGHT knowing that you DID GOOD WORK, that you had an IMPACT, that you followed your SOUL PURPOSE and that you, oh what was that other thing we’re aiming for here? Oh yeah –

BANKED SOME FREAKING CASH?!

Then listen up, and listen good beautiful, because these are the ONLY 2 things you need to be doing if you want to grow your business –

1. Find more of your ideal clients to help

2. Help ’em!

Now you can take my tone however you like but please know that when I kick your ass I’m always ALWAYS kicking mine about the same stuff first and foremost and that’s why I KNOW you need yours kicking too, so I’m going to do BOTH of us a favour and run through the stuff you KNOW you’ve been shirking away from in the midst of those busy, busy, but oh-so UNSATISFYING and ultimately UNPRODUCTIVE days of yours.

Before you get your knickers in a knot, no, I don’t actually think you’re completely unproductive, in fact I think you wouldn’t be in my community or reading my stuff at ALL if you weren’t already the 1%. You’re here because you’re a kickass woman entrepreneur, an achiever, you get more done before breakfast than most women do in a week, you are in fact a MACHINE and you REPEATEDLY do what most won’t so that you can live a life they can’t.

But I guess despite all of that or perhaps IN spite of it the only thing that REALLY matters is this –

[pq] Yes, but is it growing your business AS FAST AS YOU WANT IT TO? [/pq]

And if the answer is any sort of version of well, no, actually, and if there is any part of you that yes, actually, would like to make MORE money, FASTER, and with less time input and running around as well, then you’re going to love what I have to share here.

Because really, why be the 1% when you can be the 0.0001%?! Or something

So, without further ado, here is my very own PERSONAL list of ‘must do’ tasks to grow my business and my income every darn day. The concept of the ’10k an hour’ task is that in each of our businesses there are some tasks that we really should NEVER be doing personally that we should be paying someone like $10 an hour to do, other tasks that are a little more important (and where we tend to get stuck a lot of the time) that are worth maybe $100 an hour to the business, others still that we easily KID ourselves relate to growing the biz that are maybe $1000 an hour tasks, and then there are the really really freaking POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT tasks that ACTUALLY GROW YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR PROFIT FAST, and these are your ’10k an hour’ tasks which are also WHERE YOU SHOULD BE SPENDING YOUR TIME.

Of course if you’re anything like the typical so-called busy woman entrepreneur, yes even the 1%ers, your time is a mix of the VERY occasional 10k an hour tasks, a bunch of 1k an hour tasks MAYBE, but mainly $100 an hour tasks that allow you to grow your biz at approximately the rate of a snail crossing the Sahara, with a bunch of $10 an hour tasks thrown in just to ensure that your every possible energy resource is as drained as possible by the time you get there. Yeah, you definitely CAN get there this way in the end, but I dunno – if you have the choice of just jumping on a jetplane and just freaking GETTING there or else crawling along until you eventually land SOMEWHERE unless you don’t first DIE of complete depletion along the way, which, let’s face it, is the path of MOST entrepreneurs, then wouldn’t you just choose to make life EASY on yourself?

I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.

Anyway, enough chit chat!

The 10k An Hour MUSTS To Make You an Extra 500k This Year!

So, first up, just so you know, this is not just a random idea, the idea of making an extra $500k a year.

Last year my business made $492,000 give or take. And, productive powerhouse as I might be, I worked out (roughly) that across the course of the entire year I spent maybe 60-90 minutes per working day TOPS on PURE CREATION of awesome shit to sell.

It really doesn’t sound like much, but seriously – how much time each day do you actually spend CREATING? Versus fiddling, tweaking, trying to get things working, researching, planning, re-writing, social media, admin, etc etc. You get the point.

This year I set myself a goal to at least DOUBLE my creative output each day, essentially to double this and other 10k an hour tasks, and the result (surprise surprise) is that my business is ALSO doubling. I’m on track to this being my first million dollar year, which is super exciting! Of course I know that many other factors come into play here, like leveraging my existing funnel for example, but truly and no matter which way I might try to play it the MOST powerful thing I can STILL do to grow my business is –

1. Find more of my ideal people to help

2. Help ’em.

So regardless of where YOUR business is right now what I’m about to share with you is an EXACT plan of how to make an extra 500k this year. That’s good stuff!

Anyhooo … I do get there eventually … here we go!

Oh okay, just one more thing I wanted to say! These are NOT mindset tools and strategies for accountability/getting your head in the game this time. Usually my posts include a ton of that as I firmly believe that success begins in your MIND, but THIS list is 100% ‘exactly what I actually DO’ with my time; what I prioritise when I actually WORK. I hope you find it helpful! And I hope you ACTUALLY THEN BLOODY WELL GO AND DO IT!

I’ve put these in order of what I feel is most important for ME, factoring in which items are essential for me on a ‘soul creation’ level (i.e. writing/creating) as well as of course which ones directly impact my income the most.

1. Write and Publish

For me the #1 activity each day, after I spent some time in morning reading/journaling/me time, is writing.

This is without fail my first ‘work’ item, and I dedicate an hour to it, regardless of what deadlines I may be on or even of how limited my time is for work that day.

If I only HAVE an hour, it will be all writing. There’s always time to do things later that really HAVE to be done, but the ‘important yet not urgent’ items that actually GROW YOUR BUSINESS AND FEED YOUR SOUL so easily are pushed aside if we prioritise those things we THINK we have to do first.

My writing is generally for whichever of my many and ever growing stable of Amazon books I’m working on, and I re-purpose it also into blog posts, sales emails, newsletters. It’s rare that a blog post or newsletter or even a sales email I write is NOT also used for part of a book, or at least for SOMETHING else. One of the reasons I do get so much done is I re-purpose a lot.

2. List Growth

List growth and the tasks associated with it, is not something I consider mega fun or soul based. But it’s damn essential.

Each email on my list paid me $35 in 2013, so the very FASTEST way for me to grow my income, assuming I changed NOTHING about my funnel and created NOTHING new (ha!) is to add more emails. You should work out what each email on your list is worth, but even if you can’t, recognise that the more people you have to sell to, the more awesome stuff you can sell them!

List growth activities include creating optins, landing pages for optins, follow on email campaigns, participating in telesummits or giveaways, setting FB ads and checking on them.

For example. Many days all it takes is 5 minutes on List Growth, i.e. checking on my FB ad numbers, but somedays I need to dedicate an entire hour or more to it, depending on what’s going on. Regardless, this is item #2. On occasion it crosses over with #4, below.

3. Daily ‘Invisible Selling’

I make a conscious effort to refer daily to my products, programs, offerings and services. I usually do this on Facebook, but if I’m sending an email or newsletter of course it goes in there.

I call it invisible selling because it’s usually not overt promotion, although direct promotion when I’m doing it (usually once a week in my newsletter, more if doing a special sale or launch) would come under this category on those days.

Ways that I do my daily ‘selling’ is for example to hashtag something like my tribe if writing on Facebook, or perhaps do a subtle call to action at the end of a post like this, or to add a link in the comments, to share a client success story, or even to just talk about (and hashtag) what I’m working on for let’s say my www.katloterzo.com/thetribe gals or my inner circle ‪#‎society‬ ladies.

4. Content Creation

I dedicate an hour a day, assuming I have more than 2 hours (my typical work day is 4-5 hours, spread over the day) to content creation. This is a MUST, and something that took me quite a while admittedly to get on the ball with.

But if I had to highlight one thing that has had the GREATEST impact on my fulfilment as well as my income in the past 6-12 months, it’s spending more time creating. After all, the more I create, the more I have to sell, the more people I can serve, well, the more value I deliver both free and paid, the more I spread my reach and people come to know and love me, and the more money ends up in the bank.

Plus let’s face it – time is so much more fun to spend on creating the stuff you are meant to create rather than on business busywork and admin!

My creation hours in the first few days of the week are typically for my programs such as my #thetribe, and once that’s done for the week I might work on a new optin, or even a new product idea.

5. Building Out Funnel

One of the very BIGGEST mistakes I made in the first (ahem) 7, which yep brings us to THIS year, years of my business was not having an auto-responder email funnel for when people subscribe.

I reckon I literally left HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars on the table over the years by simply not SHOWING people what I had for them! So now I spend 20-30 minutes each day building my email follow on series. I have an automated email go out every 2-3 days after people join, and at this point I don’t know how long that funnel will go for. I recommend you do at least 90 days, but start by just adding in a few emails a week.

I include a mixture of things, with the focus being on HIGH value, and getting to know me. So this means I send out previous popular blog posts, even popular ‘shows who I am’ Facebook updates, quick tips and hellos and of course I offer various things in my funnel for sale, usually with a time-limited discount.

I offer something for sale every 3-5 emails, bearing in mind that people getting the follow on series are also receiving my normal emails and promotions.

6. Client Service

A daily must, and something I look forward to almost as a bit of down-time as I find it more relaxed than pure DOING, is engaging with my clients.

I have hundreds of clients across my various programs, so engaging could be anything from hanging out answering questions or just chatting in my forums, to answering Facebook private messages (best way to talk with me if you want to know how I can help you btw), to more in-depth and tailored assistance or brainstorming with my ‪#‎societyofwomenwhodreambigandmakeshithappen‬ VIP inner circle clients, and of course also actual client calls and webinars and the like.

7. Newness/Going ‘Inside’

This is something I recently ‘added’ back in as a daily must. I realised that when my business was less successful, one of the things I most loved doing each day was brainstorming and idea-mapping.

I stopped doing that when I got super busy and super effective, and I really miss it. It sounds counter-intuitive, as obviously I wasn’t really kicking butt income wise back then why would I want to do it again?! The ‘catch’ is that everything I’ve listed earlier must be done FIRST, but something I love to then do, usually in the afternoon when I’m more tired, is take 30-60 minutes just to think, and dream, and vision.

This is often when new ideas will pop into my head, and then I slot them into the ‘structure’ and funnel creation. I really love this time and, when done in conjunction with everything else, consider it an ESSENTIAL part of business growth, or you risk getting stale and having your ideas muscle eventually wither up!

8. Connect with 2 New Clients a Day

I have a personal rule of connecting with at least 2 new potential clients each day. This could be a free strategy session, which I offer to any kickass woman who wants to PM me and see how I can help her, or it could be a FB or Skype chat, or an email convo, or whatever.

It’s just about constant contact, and being of service. I know that by speaking with 8-10 women a week I am ‘in touch’ with my audience and also it means I never have to worry or even think about where my private clients are coming from. They find me when they need me.

9. Communication/List Relationship/Value

This covers everything from social media updates, to writing blog posts, to sending newsletters or tips out, to answering customer emails.

I do have support staff who do much of my email management but something I started doing again this year after STOPPING last year, that I feel has tremendously impacted my customer relationships and just feels good, is answering my own emails when I can. I get hundreds some days, so I don’t do them all, but I do love to communicate with actual real people – that’s you! – not just talk AT YOU.

I spend time each day building my relationship with my community and giving value, anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or more. It’s one of those parts of business that can easily be pushed aside, but yet when done consistently builds you an audience of raving fans who KNOW and also TRUST you and will therefore BUY from you! Plus, who wants to run a business where all you do is send stuff out never knowing how it’s received!

10. Support!

Briefly at the start of each day, but mainly at the very end of each day, I check in with my awesome support team. I have 3 VAs now and a few more casual support staff.

I couldn’t run my business the way I do without them. I go through what they’ve done and also happily assign anything and EVERYTHING that I don’t want to do or am not best at doing over to them for the next day.

I have always hired staff- and then more staff – before I could afford them as I know my own limits and know when I am limiting my income and reach due to not having help!

 

So. I want you to take a look at YOUR day and how you are doing things and ask yourself what’s missing from the above list that really really REALLY should be there.

Are you being TRULY effective and making every hour count?

Are you doing 10 THOUSAND DOLLAR hours, or $10 an hour shitty work that you should NEVER be doing?

Are you putting off the most EFFECTIVE and PROFIT-BASED work for later that day, another day, another week altogether?

I promise you, if your business is not where you want it to be right now then try focusing on actually bloody well doing work that will grow your business, do so CONSISTENTLY, and it WILL pay off. It’s so easy to convince yourself that you’re being busy and therefore effective, but at the end of the day results talk and you have the power to CHOOSE your results, so make it a conscious choice and then take aligned action to bring it into being, yeah?

Now, if you’d like my PERSONAL help to implement your OWN version of this based on exactly what you and your business need now, and you’re ready to do what it takes to create your own 500k a year and then MILLION DOLLAR a year income, and beyond, then PM me and let’s talk!

\

3 responses to “Yes, But Is It Growing Your Business? How to Quit B.S.ing Yourself with Busywork, Identify the 10k An Hour Musts, and Earn an Extra 500k This Year!”

  1. libby says:

    you have awesome copy. Did you work with a copywriter or coach to get this good? If so, who?

    • Kat says:

      I’m a writer, it’s just me 🙂 this is what I do best, I’ve had coaching on just about everything else but never on copywriting 🙂

      • Kat says:

        PS thank you! Oh, and also I am running a Write to Sell workshop soon, so stay tuned! x