Ep. 144: The #1 Reason for Growth Plateaus (& What to Do About It)
Time and time again when I work with clients who are stuck at a growth plateau it’s not that they aren’t smart enough, or that they aren’t working hard enough.
In fact, they’re usually working way harder than they have to be!
In their frustration many have said to me, “I just want to do what I do and not have to do all of the business stuff!”
However, we all need to market and sell if we want to keep doing the work we love.
Thankfully you don’t have to be an expert at sales and marketing in order to be successful!
You simply need a few skills and a solid plan. In this episode I’ll explain how to stop chasing trends and start selling smarter.
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This episode of the sell it sister podcast is one that I am really glad we'll be living out in the ether because it is something that is incredibly important.
And so after you listen, I would really encourage you to share this with a business friend as well, who also needs to hear this because the reason why it's incredibly important and it's something that needs to be talked about is because what I'm going to share with you is the number one reason why I see.
Business owners not only stagnate in their growth, but it can also be an entire business killer. And that is a real shame because the people that I work with and the people that I know they are smart, they are savvy, they are hardworking. They may, might not feel comfortable calling themselves experts at what they do.
Um, but I certainly see them as experts, valuable experts in their field. And they also have a really humane approach to their work. So the people that I work with are people who they want to transform the world some way with their work. Right. They don't just want to be. A copywriter. They want to change the face in their own way of copywriting.
As we know it, they want to make it more compassionate, more humane. As I already said, uh, you know, less, less manipulative or sleazy any of those things, right. They want it to take, uh, a human first human centric approach. And that is really, really, really important. And our. World and the other people, you know, who we serve with our businesses.
They, they need our magic. They need what we are, are doing with our businesses. And yet a lot of times due to a lack of understanding around sales and marketing is, is really what it boils down to you. Is that these businesses that really deserve to thrive these entrepreneurs who want to thrive, who deserve to thrive, who can make true lasting impact, both with their clients, with themselves and with their communities, their growth plateau.
And I hate to see it. And it's why I'm so passionate about the work that I do, because I believe fundamentally I have a recent episode about what to DIY and what to get help on. And I, and I fundamentally believe that if we know how to drive revenue in our businesses, right. If we know how to continually grow our revenue in a sustainable and even regenerative.
Way, then we have the means to get help with all of the rest of it, right. Even to be able to get help with sales and marketing. Right. So, uh, when, when you know how to bring money in, then you can leverage that money to keep growing without it, meaning that it's going to take you personally a ton more time and energy.
And when I started Eric consulting in 2017, a big reason, it was born out of the fact that I was seeing these incredible women all around me who had these businesses that were just not making enough money. Right. They were making some money, but it was, it still felt a bit too much like paycheck to paycheck.
Right. So granted they did have the freedom to do their own thing. And that was. But it wasn't expansive. They didn't, they couldn't like solely live off of their business income. Let's say they couldn't give as generously as they wanted to either or grow in the way that they, that they wanted to, um, inside their own business and with their business.
And I started to get curious and I realized that the reason this was happening is they did not understand. Fully the fundamentals of sales and marketing. And I was like, well, I actually know how to do that. And I'm good at it. So I wonder if I could help fill that gap. And lo and behold, I did and I have, and it's what I do today.
And while I am a super, super geek for sales and marketing, I I'm always learning. I'm always curious about new trends and, and things like. I don't expect my clients to be the same. And I also know that they don't have to have that level of love for it in order to be able to understand it and utilize it to their advantage.
They just need to know enough so that they aren't always sitting around waiting on. The next referral or they aren't, uh, putting out offers that absolutely work them to the bone for not enough money because they know how to better structure their offer suite and price it and sell it accordingly. So what I often notice is that, and, and how I've sort of boiled this down in my mind is that.
In order to have a thriving business. You not only have to be good at the thing that you do, right? The thing that people pay you for, but you have to be good at business, right? It's not an expert at business, but you have to be good at business. And this is where a lot of people get hung up because they're like, I, I just, I just want to do the thing I want to do.
Right. And, and I get it right. I, if like clients were just knocking at my digital doorstep, You know, five days a week. Uh, and all I had to do was just sit back and coach and strategize and teach and make buckets of money. I mean, that would be fantastic. But the bottom line is that no business ever gets to a point where marketing becomes entirely obsolete.
Uh, if, if growth is, is involved in the equation, right? So. And the United States, the Superbowl just happen and Pepsi was the sponsor. Now, I don't know how many millions of dollars they paid to be the sponsor, but I'd be willing to bet that most of the people in the world who live somewhere, that they could potentially purchase a Pepsi, have heard about Pepsi.
They are aware of Pepsi and yet Pepsi decided to sponsor the super bowl. Right? Put a lot of money behind it, just so their logo could be on every. I mean, Oprah, everyone knows about Oprah. Oprah still got to do marketing, right? I mean, yes, she has a team and that's awesome, but she still has to be the one to do the photo shoots.
Right. She still has to be the one to do press. She has to write. So she gets support. She has support and yet. She's still involved, somewhat in marketing, which includes content creation. Right? So, uh, that, that is just a fundamental and here is an example I want to give to very clearly illustrate exactly what this breakdown looks like.
Uh, for most entrepreneurs, uh, who are not. Who do not have a fundamental understanding of what they need to do to move the needle forward. As I like to say in their business and are chasing different tactics, trends and strategies, all of the time, hoping that they work and exhausting themselves in the process.
So I kind of view it as like a lottery, right? Playing the lottery, or like chasing a dream. So, what I mean by this is that, you know, a dragon, like in mythology, they sit on like a big pile of gold and gems and everything. And that is what a lot of these tactics and trends that come out. That's what they look like.
Right? Because somebody is, somebody has done something. Somebody has gotten creative, somebody who likely knows a lot about how to drive revenue in their own business. And they're like, Ooh, I figured out how to do this one thing. Right. Uh, I figured out that I made this offer type and I tried it and I had really great results.
And I want to teach it to you. I want you to, uh, I'm either going to teach it to you for free or for, you know, a, an investment. And then there are people who, you know, they try it, they get good results. That person gets testimony. And then they say, Hey, I have this program. That's going to teach you how to do this one offer type and look at all these people who had a lot of success with that offer type.
Now this doesn't mean that those people are bad people or they're wrong, or they shouldn't do that. I don't mean that at all. What I mean is if you have not developed a filter where you can look at that and go, is that right for me now in the future or. Ever and if so, like, how am I going to utilize it so that it makes the most sense overall for me in my business and where I want to go, if you don't have that and you just see, oh my God, that, okay.
Well, I mean, it sounds kind of interesting and, uh, you know, these other people have had success, so maybe I need that too. Right. So it's like a, it's like a dragon city. On top of like shiny jewels, right? So you're like, okay, I'm going to chase. I'm gonna chase that dragon. I'm gonna do it. I'm going to enroll in that thing.
I'm going to do that thing. So like, I don't know. I'm just going to make up a random example. Could be a course that teaches you how to have, um, profitable Facebook groups. Let's say. Sure like awesome. I'm already on Facebook and I'm going to do this course and I'm going to learn, and then I'm going to, um, start a Facebook group and I'm going to monetize it.
I'm going to use it to help me grow my business. Well, if you haven't fully considered it for yourself. If that is what you really need to get the same result that you're after or what you would really want to do, then it doesn't matter that theoretically, you could have success with it. It's like, this is where I go back to.
Like, it's like playing a lotto, right? It's not that nobody ever wins the lotto. It's it's like a, like a slot machine, right? Sometimes slot machines, they pay. But other times, slot machines, like sometimes they'll pay out big. Right? You fully get the jackpot pays out really big. Right. That might happen. You, you might realize, oh my God, Facebook groups.
Yes. Like this was the missing link in my business. This is so great. Uh, I'm just, I'm, I'm crushing it. And my business is thriving and that's all amazing. Or, you know, sometimes the slot machine, like it'll just do like a tiny payout or it just won't, you won't get anything right. So if Facebook groups are not the right fit for you, now you have spent money on that program or you've spent time in that training, whatever it is.
And you're like, oh, shoot. Well now, like, Now that's, that's gone. Uh, and I'm also not further along. I'm not, I'm not ahead. I'm not where I wanted to be. And I could have been doing something else in the meantime. And the, the image I always get in my head because, you know, Facebook groups is just one example is it's almost like you're standing in a hallway and there's like hundreds of doors.
There are all these options, right? All these marketing options, all these. Like offer type options, all of this stuff. And you're like, well, I know that there's like potentially gold behind any of these. Right. I just, I don't know which door to open. I don't know which dragon to chase. Right. And, uh, and the sort of the blessing and the curse of the online world is because it's so easy to share information.
We can often. Completely overwhelmed with these options. Right. So before it might've been like, oh, you know, if you just had like a local business or something, you may have had three doors that you could choose. Well, now in the online space, there are like already a hundred doors and. You know, week after week as people experiment and try new things and new technologies evolve, a new platforms come about, it's more and more doors, right?
So this is, this is why I say, like, if you're smart, you're hardworking, all of that. You can still get really overwhelmed by all of these choices. If you don't know which ones to choose, if you don't know which ones are best for you and then shut down. So going back to the dragon, you know, there are some friendly dragons out there, like puff the magic dragon, right.
But a lot of dragons, they, you know, if you mess with them, you're going to get burned. Right? So this is why I think of this as the analogy. Because again, it's not that these things are wrong. They are not wrong. There are people who are making money, lots of money. You know, you could pick literally any marketing strategy out of a hat and find someone who's making a ton of money off of that.
You could pick any type of business model out of a hat or offer type. You would find people making tons and tons of money with that who are very, very happy with their businesses. They are thriving, but when you keep chasing those dragons, when you keep, you know, pulling that, uh, that lever on the slot machine, when you.
Trying to go down that hallway and spend time in each room and like randomly picked doors. You, you will burn out. So even if you're not like working 60 hours a week and your body physically gives out a lot of times, what I've seen happen is people get so mentally and emotionally. Exhausted that they're like, I just don't want to show up at all.
Right. You might even, this might be you, you might be nodding along. You might be there right now where you're like, yeah, it makes me just not want to show up because I feel like I am never actually getting ahead. I feel like I'm never fully proactive. I feel like I am never the one in control of my business and I'm constantly having to, like, I just, I finally get comfortable with one thing.
And a new thing comes along and now it's like, oh crap, I have to do that too. Because if I don't, I'm going to miss out. Right. I'm going to be leaked. You know, like the proverbial, like leaving money on the table is what's going to happen. Uh, and so that is why it, it ends up that so many people who.
Absolutely want success so badly and are willing to do the work and they are excellent at what they do and the world needs their work. Their clients need their work, why they decide I'm just going to settle it. For less because I cannot possibly keep this up and not, and like, not just absolutely hate my life.
Right. Like I, I'm just going to settle for less. I really, really wanted this school, but now I'm going to, I'm going to move that bar down. Um, because I I'm guessing that if I want to make. A lot more money than I currently am. It means I'm going to have to do a lot more work, right. Because theoretically you, it would make sense that if you were making, you know, 50,000 a year, uh, and you wanted to make a hundred thousand a year, if you want it to double your revenue.
That you might have to double your working hours, because if it were possible to make double the revenue in your same working hours and you are like giving it your freaking all week after week, then why the hell are you not there already? Right. If you're here, if you're listening to this, you're like, yeah, I'm frustrated.
I'm pissed. I'm annoyed. I hear you. I totally, totally. And so the, the antidote to this, because again, good news, bad news situation. There will always be new things that come out right. There will always be new, um, marketing trends, offer trends, um, tactics, platforms, strategies, all these things there always, always, always will be.
And it will, uh, we will see them in our feeds because. We are in the online space and we are witnessing what other people are doing. Right. So that's good in the sense that like, there might be something that comes along that when you are like, oh yes, like I totally know what moves the needle forward. I feel really good.
I feel really confident in my business. I am making more than enough where something comes along and you go, oh, that looks really cool. That seems totally like me. I absolutely want to do that. Right. So like, um, like a newer one is like private podcast, right? I I'm a member of hello, audio. I love hello audio.
I use it for my rebellious success program. All of the modules are on there for people who want to like learn on the go. Uh, and that is a thing where, you know, I was seeing a lot when they were coming out and getting traction. Um, where people were like, oh my God, do you know private podcast? Do I need a private podcast?
Should I have a private podcast? All of this stuff? And it's like, okay, well, I mean, maybe like, maybe you could write, like I could write now for anyone who came to me, that they were like, I want to do a private podcast in my business. I'd be like, cool. Let's, let's whip up a plan. Like let's strategize on this.
I could do that. But it doesn't necessarily mean that a private podcast is the right fit for every business or every business owner. And even if it is the right fit, right. Even if you're like, oh my God, I love, I love talking. I'm totally comfortable talking. Uh, it feels really fun for me to be able to utilize that.
If you don't know how it's actually, again, I'm going to use this saying, move the needle forward in your business. If you don't know how it moves the needle forward in your business, it just becomes a time suck. Right? It just becomes this. This thing where you like, eventually what would happen is you're like, I, I put all this time and energy into it, but it doesn't actually seem to be doing anything for me.
Right. Kind of like with reels, how reels, like over, you know, a year ago when they debuted and people finally were like, okay, okay, we're going to do reels. And they're like, I've, I'm doing them now. I didn't really want to do them, but I'm doing them now. And then. But I, I can't tell if it's actually like, do, if it's worth it.
Right. Is it doing anything for me? Like maybe you're more comfortable with it. You're like, I'm having fun. Like it's fun. And so I guess we'll keep doing it cause it's fun. But also like, I don't actually know if it's growing my business and this isn't to say either that like, literally everything has to be.
You know, go for the bottom line and, and if it's not it like, you know, you can't just have fun for the sake of fun. Like, no, a lot of times, a lot of my content, the things I do, they are just it's me having fun, but I also know how to move the needle forward in my business. Right. So I get to have the both, and it's not the either or, and so the problem is, is when, when you don't know how to leverage those things, To a, either move the needle forward or be, you know, just have fun and have it as a way to nurture your audience, but you know, enough other ways to move the needle forward.
It creates this cycle of like just going in circles, right. You're spinning in circles. And then the, the negative side of being able to see all these new trends is that. If you're not seeing stuff that is like inspiring to you, that you want to try and you know how you can leverage it in your business.
Then it creates this energy of like scarcity, lack, FOMO, fear. Right. Which doesn't feel good. And it just makes us want to shut down as humans. Right. So, uh, and, and our, like our bodies and our, and our brains can really only take that for again, for so long before we go, like, is this even worth it? If I can barely keep up with the trends that are already.
Occurring around me, like literally, what is, what is the point? Right? It, and it becomes this shitty situation for so many people. And so I really feel like the, the antidote is to get a baseline understanding, again, not an expert level, just a fundamental understanding of. What are the things that I need to do that work for me and my business and are aligned with my values to continually keep growing my revenue in this organic way, meaning where I don't need to utilize paid advertising, unless I really want to, where you can show up who you are.
Authentically connect with the people who are most likely to pay you, where you have, where you know how to move them into your offers in a way that feels good and not manipulative, and that your offers are structured and priced and positioned in such a way that delivering on them also doesn't lead to burnout, resentment, or any of those other crummy feelings.
Right. So that. Really the foundation of my rebellious success program. It's why I do the work I do. It is the, the backbone of everything I believe about running a business, uh, in integrity. And also that feels really good and fun and spacious. And that we. No, how to grow, but we also know that we can safely shut our laptops when we want to, when we need to.
And it's not going to be at the expense of our growth. So if you're curious about it, I would love for you to check it out. It's at rebellious hyphen success.com. It's also, you can find it on my website, but rebellious, hyphen success.com. You can learn more. You can apply. We can chat. See if it's the right fit.
It's not, I will certainly give you other options to be able to meet you where you're at right now. But I really believe in this program and what it's been able to do for people. And, you know, you, you might be like, I don't know. I don't know if this is the thing for me and that's fine too. I, I, as somebody who, uh, has integrity as my highest value again, I know that the program isn't for everyone, but I would just say, if you feel like you have been chasing dragons, if you feel like you have been walking down, uh, endless hallway of doors, or like you are pulling that jackpot lever investing in.
Thing after thing after thing, and like maybe some are giving you a bit of return on your investment, but you're still not where you want to be. It's likely because there is a gap. And I don't want to make you feel bad for having the staff. This is again, incredibly common as is most of the people that I work with and we start working together that there is this gap somewhere in fundamental understanding of what needs to happen on a regular basis in a regenerative way to.
Drive revenue growth in business. There's no shame in not knowing that, uh, because where would you write if you, if you've never run a business before, or even if you re have run, um, like in-person businesses before and now you're in the online space, the online space has some different rules, right? So this stuff can be.
It can feel really daunting, especially when you don't know what you don't know, but if you're ready to know if you're ready to once and for all be like, oh, I actually do know how to grow my business in a way that feels. Amazing. And I can actually do it and it's really working and I feel empowered and I feel proud then I would absolutely encourage you to check out rebellious success.
Again, rebellious hyphen success.com. And if you got value out of this episode, please share. I love when people share, you can share it to your Instagram stories if you're there and tag me because I hang out at air cabins consulting, I will see it. I will say hi. I always love to do. Who is listening. Um, and that way, you know, somebody who follows you might, uh, might find it too and might benefit from this information as well.
And again, thank you for listening. I really appreciate every single person that listens to the podcast and as always happy. Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the, sell it sister podcast.
