Ep. 151: Breaking Business “Rules” & Finding Greater Success
Online business can be fraught with frustrations over what we “should” be doing if we want to be successful, but what’s really true? Who made these rules and are they mandatory? What happens if we break them? Will we be liberated and happy or will our businesses fall apart?
In this week’s episode I want to address some of the most common ones, if they are really necessary, and what some alternatives might be. Hopefully this helps to bring you more peace from week to week, and more success too!
Links:
Rebellious Success: https://erikatebbens.com/rebellious-success
-
Welcome to the sell it sister podcast. On this week's episode, I am talking all about rule breaking, specifically, breaking certain. Commonly held beliefs and rules when it comes to running an online business. Um, and this was actually inspired by a client of mine. Recently, he was talking about, um, wanting to do a group program and she was launching a group program.
And, uh, she was talking about her business model and kind of what she wants for herself. And, uh, she had mentioned. The like big kind of like in part of the larger conversation, she had mentioned that, uh, like the common belief around you shouldn't have a group program until you're all booked out with one-to-one clients.
And I was like, Hmm, that's interesting. Like, and it, it made me really think about like, oh yeah, that that's right. That is, that is a thing. Um, that is. Said, right. Not just by one person, but by many people that, you know, you just, you there's like a certain order that you quote unquote should follow, which is, you know, you like have, uh, you get fully booked on one-to-one and then you either like do a group program or you do a course, or, you know, you do some sort of one to many, but almost like you.
That privilege until you've learned how to become fully booked with your one-to-one. And I'm like, yeah, but why? Right? Like when you really step back and think about it, that makes no sense. Like, I, I understand that the reason why it may have. Become a thing in the first place. Right. But when you consider the fact that like, you know, uh, like some people have in-person businesses and then they learn how to make a course and they create a course and maybe they have like a pretty big following already.
And then they put out that course and it does really well. Right. And they're not necessarily. Quote, unquote booked out in person before they make that course, but they just realize that they can reach more people with a course than who could ever work with them in person. Right. So that's just one example.
Um, also the first group program I ever had, which was, um, I started at Q4 of 2018. Um, I was not booked out at the time. I was actually doing a bunch of, um, I, I like I did a. Whole push for free strategy consults. And then we're at the end. I would tell people how they could work with me. And, uh, I had a lot of people who were like, yeah, this is awesome.
Like, I would love to work with you someday. I just, I truly cannot afford it right now. And I had so many of them that I was like, what if I just created something and like set a minimum. And we, if we were together in a group, then. I could serve them all. And. Reduce the price. And I did, and I didn't even have like a formal launch and I sold it out and it was awesome.
I loved it. And then, uh, I ended up, I like, I kept the program for like, through all of 2019 as well. And it was fantastic. Right. So that's just, that's just one of them. And you probably have some that you have heard that you either, uh, Are like, feel like, you know, they must be true because everybody says them or you're like, I think that's a bunch of BS and like, I'm not following it.
Right. But I wanted to cover some of the most common ones today because I don't want the. Things to hold you back. And really like the people who I work with, they want to do things differently. Right. They want to do things differently in their industry. They want to do things differently when it comes to business in general, they want to do things differently in their lives.
And they don't like. Put into other people's boxes. Um, but sometimes like if you've never run a business before, or you've never run an online business before, and you see people who are making lots and lots of money saying these things, it's really easy to. Not be able to know like, what is true and what isn't true.
Right. So I want to do a little status quo shakeup in this, in this episode. So, uh, I posted in my stories over on Instagram. I'm Eric, Tobin's consulting over there, if you don't already follow me. Um, but I, I posted over there, the question sticker in stories. So it was like, please tell me what is like, uh, uh, should or rule.
In business that you hate and like, just want to be done with. Right. And I got some really, really great feedback. And one of the main ones had to do with sales goals, revenue goals. Right. So these very like arbitrary numbers. So I feel like it used to be six figures and now it's like gone up it's like seven or even sometimes eight figures.
Right. And that, that should be the goal. Right. Seven figures at a minimum should be the goal. And there are still a lot of people who talk about six figures as well, you know, should be the goal. Um, But when you really think about it and actually I'm going back not too, too long. When I had Stephanie Cleary on talking about money baggage, we talked a little bit about this in there about like setting goals that feel like it's, you know, to have plenty, right.
Uh, so not, not some random arbitrary number, but to really look at your life and look at like your personal goals and like lifestyle goals, giving goals, things like. And create, uh, uh, a monetary goal, a revenue goal around that, so that it actually is more meaningful, right. Because a lot of times what ends up happening is.
Pluck these goals out of the air. And we're like, yeah, I guess is what I should be going for. Like, if I want to be serious or I want to be, you know, uh, like a good entrepreneur, like a smart entrepreneur, like this should be the goal. And on a personal note, I actually just decreased my revenue goal for 2022 because I realized myself I had fallen into this trap.
I had picked a goal that felt like the next. Logical goal in the online space. If I want it to be super quote unquote successful. And then I was talking to a friend and realized I was like, wait a minute. Like, I, this is like something that like, I had lost track of myself. Um, and so I actually did this for myself and I.
Oh, it's way. It's like way less than that. Like, to like live, uh, like very comfortably, like at a new level. And like with my giving goals and just other things, I was like, I actually don't need to make that much this year. Like maybe in a future year, um, like I can strive for it, but like this year I actually don't need to.
And that felt really liberating, but again, like, I mean, this is what I do. I'm always talking about, you know, like, like my, my program is called rebellious success. Right. And net still, it's easy to fall into these, these beliefs. Right. And these sheds, uh, so yeah, uh, just straight up, I wanted to include that in there.
Um, some other things around link, like having like one perfect goal that says, like you've won. Right. Um, a lot of the things that people mentioned that come with. Or things like scaling, right? That you, you have to scale, like that's your goal to like when it entrepreneurship should be scaling as much as you possibly can, as fast as you possibly can.
Um, some other people talk about, you know, selling your business, like getting your business to a point where you can sell it. And I do actually have an upcoming episode. That talks about like selling your IP and things like that with a really, really smart person. Um, but what I like about that is my guest actually goes into it and explains it a little bit more.
Right. A lot of times, like what some people told me, I was like, people will just say these things, but then not really tell you how right. They're not really telling you, like why or how. That is one coming up, but also you don't ever have to sell your business if you don't want to. Um, and also one person was telling me, you know, that, uh, some of the people who are preaching these things, they don't have to class jump, um, in order to make them happen.
Right. So they are saying, oh, these are certain things that you have to do to be successful. And yada, yada right. Maybe for them going up, you know, it, a certain revenue amount, right. Was not out of the realm of. The norm for, you know, how they grew up or the people they're friends with and things like that.
And aren't really taking to account that. Uh, for some people, it, there might be a lot of other, uh, challenges in the way, even if it is, even if we're just talking like mindset right around trying to strive for something that is suddenly. You know, so many levels above what feels comfortable in your body because of what you are accustomed to again, go back to the episode with Stephanie Cleary, um, sweet.
She touches on a lot of like, like body money versus bank money. And so that's a lot of what that is. Um, some other rules were around like rustic, restrictive content plans, right? So. Uh, people who are like, you know, make like, you know, make reels like every day or preplan your content for 30 days or do X amount of lives or whatever it is.
So not people who are like, Hey, I'm going to help you do this. Like, if you want to do this, I can help you. But people who are really like you should be putting out this much content all of the time and in these specific ways, Not only does that just not work cause we're all different humans, but also depending on the type of business you run, it might not even make sense from like a sales and marketing point of view, right?
Like, yes, if you, like, if you, if you were to sell like a physical product, you need a different kind of. Plan and like a higher frequency and different type of visuals and all of that. Then if you sell a service or consulting or coaching, like I do. And like most of my clients do. Right. So each person's content plan is going to be different and that's okay.
Um, also. Rules around how to market yourself and that it must be done all one way. Right. So kind of like having the one perfect goal to win at entrepreneurship that in marketing it's like. You have to do these exact things or you will never be successful. So things like, you know, like you have to have a like beautifully branded website and you have to have, um, like an opt-in you can download and you have to have a weekly newsletter and you have to have social media and you have to have a perfect list of hashtags.
And again, you have to have, you know, Content and some very like, uh, specific strategies and essentially just that, like it's, it's boxing you into again. What, uh, what somebody else is saying is a should or a must when, again, it's not, it doesn't necessarily matter. I, I have a lot of very successful clients.
Who were like, yeah, I just haven't got around to setting up like a proper, uh, like email lists. Right. Like they have already been able to get clients. They might even be selling from like a Google doc sales page. Right. And they still are like, yep. I, I don't email my list every week or like I barely have a list or, um, I was talking to somebody the other day on Instagram.
I was, I had put up a post about planning and what feels hard. And she said, you know, like, oh, like refreshing, um, hashtags. And I was like, oh yeah, I'm not like, I'm not always great at that. Like at like formally sitting down and like going in and research, like I put them on my posts. I think about them in the context of like good hashtag strategy.
But I like for, I used to be really great about like creating hashtag banks and I'd copy and paste, whatever. I'm just like lazy now. I don't, I don't do it. I was also talking in rebellious success. Um, last week, uh, one of the clients in there I had asked about. You know, how do I get more, um, downloads for my opt-in?
And I was like, oh, just put it in your regular content. Like, have that be your call to action. And I even said, I was like, and this is a good reminder to me. I forget to do that all the time. Like I do other things that build my email list, but I have. Amazing free downloadable resources. And from time to time, I will remember them and I'll post about them.
And they're always like, you know, at the link in my bio on Instagram, and there's like a page on my website and stuff too. So they're they're available, but I don't always think to talk about them. Right. So it's like we each can only do so much. I'm going to have another episode coming up by the way.
That's about like, How everyone thinks that, like, we assume that everyone else has it more together than they do or that like other people are killing it because they must not have like limitations and things like that. When the reality is like the vast, vast, vast majority of my friends and my clients, like current and former.
We all have just life things that get in the way, right. That, that make it so that like, we are not having, you know, perfect 10 weeks, week after week where we are just frickin, nailing everything. Right. It's all a process. It's all growth. We have different seasons as we've talked about in other episodes before, but just know like, like, I, I.
I love that. I will say I love I'm fascinated at how, um, you know, like others might perceive me or make assumptions, uh, and you know, not in a bad ways, right? Like in really positive ways. And then I, like, I, you know, hear that, hear like feedback and hear. People's like, uh, how they view me or, or things that they think that I'm doing or, you know, whatever.
And, um, somebody said recently, like, it just seems like you're never stressed and I'm like, oh, bless it. Bless your heart. I, because that couldn't be further from the truth, right? Like at any moment, like for all of the balls that I can juggle, like there are still things like remembering to regularly, uh, Like direct people to free downloadable resources, like as a call to action.
Like I just, for whatever reason that falls out of my brain constantly, does it mean that my business is falling to pieces because of it? No. Right. Like if I miss. Emailing my list for a week. Like, does it mean that the, you know, everything is just going to go to hell now? Right? It's it's okay. Like we, we literally do not need to be juggling all the balls perfectly all the time, truly.
Um, like I said, right at the top of this episode, I sold out my first group program. Literally it was like, Uh, it was like a paragraph and then like a few bullet points and the price like it was so no-frills like, it wasn't even a Google doc. It was just texts that I was like sending to individual people, like truly, right.
It can like things don't always have to be perfect and shiny all the time in order to, for you to be successful. Um, bottom line, at least in my world is. The one, like the one way to market really well. Like if, if you're just like, I don't know, marketing is so overwhelming and everything it's creating relationships.
Like it's all just based on creating relationships. It's what I've always done. It's worked really, really well for me. Uh, and then like all of the rest of it is just. It's like supportive, right? Like all of the other, like marketing things are supportive, but it's really about being intentional about creating relationships.
Um, couple of other ones are that I got and we're, um, focusing on only one offer. You don't need to do that. I mean, it wouldn't be great if you, if like every time you posted content, you were like, Hey, I have this and I have this and I have that like, you know, directing people to a million different things.
Like it is, uh, just from like a peace of mind, point of view, just from your ensuite, it doesn't feel overwhelming. Like. It's great. If you're, if you're content that is like sales content is directing people to a single thing most of the time, even if you don't have like formal launches, but if just in your regular content, you're like, okay, this week, you know, like for the, for these two weeks, I'm going to talk about this offer.
And then the next two weeks, like I'm going to make sure that I have content that talks about this other offer, like that is helpful, but, and you could certainly have just one offer if you only want one offer. But if you. Only want one offer. You can have more than one offer. The only thing I always tell my clients is just remember, like, whatever offers you have, you just have to have a marketing plan for them.
If you want them to sell, unless you have something that is like a level two, right? If you're like, well, people can only get this offer if they've gone through that offer. Okay, well, you don't need like a formal marketing strategy then because you're only ever going to be pitching it to people who've already gone through.
Like the first thing. Right? So it's, you kind of have a marketing strategy, but now it's, it's super low key, right? It's literally more of just like a remembering to tell those people, oh, Hey, now that you've done this, you can do this other thing. Like, are you interested? Um, but yeah, and, and of course, like from time to time, I'm like, go for it, make a post, or send an email, do something where it lists like a whole overview.
Like I just did this on Instagram. Recently, like whole overview of your offers, who they're great for, and then just direct people to like a sales call or your website, whatever your, whatever your sales process is. You can totally do that. Um, and lastly, the one, uh, one, another one that I got, um, is the rule around, like, not sharing your personal struggles, uh, When I was messaging the person who sent that in, um, she did say she was like, you know, I am, I am comfortable with it.
I think it's, you know, good to show like the real human side of things, like, you know, without going too over the top or being like, you know, uh, like excessively sharing, right? Like, um, But she was like, yeah, but I, I, it feels weird that people say that you shouldn't and I was like, yeah, I, I totally totally agree.
Um, I, I think even if we take struggles out of this, like just not sharing about like our personal stuff, like, even if we don't take it all the way to like, struggles, because you might be like, yeah. You know what? I just don't feel comfortable, like being vulnerable in that way. Like, regardless of if it's okay to do it or not, I just, I would really like, rather not because I'm a super private person.
Totally cool. But I have found part of how I get the best clients is that I share parts of myself that aren't just related to my business. Right. So I've told stories before about how I've got clients through people who love. It's Florida, the rings and the Hobbit or true crime, or, you know, um, roller Derby.
I used to have a client who has a really cool program for people in roller Derby. And. Like I got those clients in part or be well, because I mean, eventually, like they, they wanted to work with me because of the results. Right. But what made them pay attention was, or in what made me stand out from the competition is the fact that they knew like, oh, this person and I have something in common, right?
Like it there's like an instant affinity there that. Allows the people who are really going to resonate with you to pay attention, to want to learn more. Right. And so, again, I don't think you need to like put it all out there, you know, 24 7, 365, but think about some things that you want to infuse into your marketing, even, um, like a totally ridiculous, funny one is that.
My friend, Jess, who runs backbone business, like she and I both love possums. And we started, um, sharing in like 20, 21. We got to meet in real life. We're talking about possums. So we started sharing funny possum stuff in Instagram stories, and we would tag each other and then like, People would see us like boasting.
And so then now sometimes other people will see stuff about like possums and they'll just send it to me. Right. I always get like Lord of the rings memes. I always get like tagged and like funny, true crime stuff. Right. Like people know that that is like part of who I am and how I am. And it allows them to have like a 360 degree view of me, like a really.
Holistic idea of who I am as a person. And I, I feel more real. Like, it feels more like, oh yeah, I know, I know Erica, right? Like, yeah, I know what she does for business, but I feel like I also like know her. Um, and that's really important. Like it's part of that trust building that happens before somebody is willing to spend money with us.
That doesn't mean that all of my clients also love true crime and, um, you know, Lord of the rings, but it. They, they love that. I love it. Right. They love that I'm a super geek for that stuff. Um, and, and conversely, a lot of my clients, I know stuff that they nerd out about and I love to send them funny names or share posts and tag them and things like that.
And it just feels more like a real relationship, like a, like a real, like two sided. Relationship rather than this, like one sided, like I'm just talking about my offers and do you want to work with me or not? Right. So those are, those are the ones that I wanted to touch on today because they're so prevalent.
And, um, and I just think that they're not necessary, right? Like we can design and redesign the culture of like wherever we are. Right. It's just, it takes. Intentionality. And it takes being willing to sit with the fact that some people will say you're wrong, which honestly, as like a classic teacher's pet high achiever, I do not like, um, I've had to work really hard to like get over that.
And I will even say sometimes in certain circumstances, I'm sort of like, Ooh, maybe I'm not over it yet. Right. But in shifting the culture, it, there will be people who will say that we're wrong. We'll say that we don't know what we're talking about. We'll say, um, You know, if, if you are so smart, why, why aren't you making as much money as me and, you know, things like that.
Right. Um, but I mean, who cares? Right? We it's our business. We get to call the shots inside our own business. Uh, and if we have strong feelings about something we can. Put them out there. And I have found that there are other people, like when I do this and I'm like super nervous. I have found that actually my perfect people are like, oh my God, thank you for saying that.
Oh, I'm so glad you said that. Like, oh, it's so refreshing to hear that. Right. It they're actually so glad and grateful for it. So I hope that serves as encouragement for you. And if you're. Cool. Cool, cool Erica. But like, I feel like I don't know enough about like solid business strategy and practices, especially when it comes to revenue growth.
Like we could talk about what support around that would look like. Right. If you're, if you're like, I have thoughts on my industry, but like I, sometimes I have a hard time to searching, like what is a best practice? Like what is right? What is wrong? Uh, you know, I'm using air quotes here, all of that. That's really what I specialize in is helping my clients look at all the possible paths that they could take to achieve their goals, whatever those goals are, and then helping them navigate which path is going to be the best for them, which one or two paths is going to be the best for them.
You can always find me on Instagram at Eric Devin's consulting, or just hop on over to my website, Eric tevin.com. Reach out if this is you, we can talk. I would just, you know, I always love hearing from listeners. Anyways. If you love this episode, please share it the best way. The easiest way you can do that is, uh, sharing it like in your Instagram story.
And tagging me or wherever you are on social media, sharing it there, letting people know about the podcast. It's, uh, it's truly appreciated. Uh, I, I don't do any paid advertising for the podcast. So, you know, when, when people, when listeners share it, um, I'm eternally grateful. It means a ton. It's the, um, like best possible, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
Like, Like testimonial, like ever is like sharing it with somebody and say like, Hey, I think you'd really love this episode. It, it just, it's fantastic. So, yeah, I hope, I hope you, uh, hope you got a ton of value out of this episode. Um, feel free also. I would love to know if there is a rule, a quote unquote, rule that after listening to this, that you're like, I am going to break that rule now and I feel confident about it.
Thank you, Erica. Or if there's another rule that like you've already broken and it worked really well for you. I would love to hear about it too. So just message me, sign into my DMS over on Instagram. Again, Erica cabins consulting and as always happy selling.
