Full Transcript: MOTM #450 The Key to Starting a Successful Online Business

[Transcript starts at 1:12]

Hello friends, Maestro here and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. So right off the bat, thank you. You folks listen, you share, you put reviews up, and I, it's really important to me that I express my gratitude, do that right off the bat. Um, I like to do it at the end of the end of the episode as well, but I just, I am extremely grateful for every single one of you. You're watching on YouTube now as well, and just like, thank. Truly. 

So, uh, in today's episode, we are gonna talk about what I consider to be the single most important thing to focus on if your goal is to start a successful, that's the, the caveat there, I guess, a successful online business. Um, but before we jump into that, quick reminder that tomorrow, February 17th, the Fri, it's a Friday, it's the final day to register for round 13 of my Instagram Intensive.

Right. The Instagram inten- the Instagram Intensive is a six week online group coaching program that teaches health and fitness pros, exactly, I'm gonna say it, exactly how to use Instagram for online business. Been talking about it all week. It's been in socials all week. If you haven't seen it, I'm sorry.

We're talking about it now. If you got any questions, comments, concerns, first, go to the show notes. You can check out the link that's gonna take you to the info page slash registration page. Literally all the stuff is on there. Uh, the FAQ section is very extensive, so check that out. If you still got more questions, shoot me a DM @themovementmaestro.

Shoot me a text, 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. I will get back to you. Uh, if you're thinking you wanna level up your Instagram game, I would love to have you and I will not bullshit you. If I think you're not a good fit or is there something else that's better for you, I will also let you know that. 

All right, so let's hop on into today's episode and chat about what I consider to be the key, the most important thing when it comes to starting a success, a successful online business.

When we look at this, uh, online business, it's very easy for people to get caught up and focus on what I call fixed outcome items. I first introduced this concept of fixed versus open outcome items in episode 4 42. Thank you for linking that, Courtney. Uh, but what I mean by this is when people are first starting this bit, their businesses, they get focused on or caught up on, um, or readily enamored by with website, and the name, and the- should they get an LLC, and what colors, and the fonts and things like that. Those things are important. An LLC is less important though I will say that. We'll, maybe we'll do another episode about kind of the logistical stuff. Um, while those things are very important, what will ultimately determine your success as an online business owner and an in-person, brick and mortar business owner, is your ability to get results. 

That is hands down, the most important thing to be focusing on if your goal is to run a successful online business. If you just want an online business, you're okay if you make any money, you're just like, I just wanna have something, then fuck results. Do whatever you want. But if you're actually trying to run a successful business, turn a profit, you gotta be able to solve problems. You gotta be able to get results for people. Danny Matta says it all the time, I borrowed it from him and I will borrow those phrase for the rest of the time: businesses are built on solutions to problems. AKA if you can't solve problems, you don't have a business.

Yes, tangentially, the experience that you create absolutely matters. But in my opinion, a large part of like creating this experience falls under marketing. Right? It's just storytelling. James Clear, I say this quote oftentimes, and I'm gonna say it loosely. Clever marketing can sell once, but only a good product can sell twice. AKA you could be smooth talker, do all the bells and whistles, but if the person doesn't leave the thing that they want, they won't come back. Alright. 

So I'm thinking about my haircut. Actually, if you were watching the video and you can see you got the ooh, high and tight going on. Got the high and tight going on. Uh, and I go to a place called Falcon Barbers.

They do both exceptionally well, right? They give me the outcome, aka I get a good haircut and they have a really cool experience. Like they have like a bar there if you want, but it's not like over the top cuz you're like, I can only drink, you know, if you're gonna go over there, like you can't really drink while you're getting a haircut.

The hair falls in the, the drink, but it's there just in case you're waiting. But they don't have you waiting for a long time. The barbers run on time. You can schedule your appointments online, you can pay with the credit card. So the experience and like the actual, the place looks and the music that's on, the experience is great.

But more importantly, the outcome is great. And I will tell you, and if you have short hair, you know, it is hard to find a good barber. If you have long hair maybe you feel the same way about finding a, a hair stylist, but when you have short hair, you need to get your hair cut more often. And so you're like constantly reminded.

I, I could go every two weeks. I know my guy, Sean Pastuch Dr. Sean Pastuch, goes every week. If you have a bad person, that person that can't cut your hair, like that is just a reminder every single time. So it is hard to find not only someone that's good at that craft and can cut your hair well and knows what they're doing, knows how to use, you know, clippers, and knows how to actually use a straight edge or straight razor, but to have the second part as well, they actually run the business well. And I will say, and I think I speak for most people, that I will be more lax and more lenient on how well the business is run. Like, can I make appointments online? Do I have to wait? I'm more forgiving with that if I know I'm going to get a great haircut, because it's hard to find people that are actually good at delivering that end result.

But yes, ultimately the person who's able to do both, in this case, Falcon Barbers, they're going to win. And you'll see that, I know I said before that, you know, we're more forgiving if the experience isn't as good, but you will continue to be reminded if the experience isn't that good. And eventually you may go and look for someone that can give you both the outcome and the experience.

But what we're gonna start off with and what we're gonna focus on is delivering that outcome. Getting results for your people. I truly believe that if you are obsessed with your craft, right, you get so into it and you become the absolute best that you can be at your craft, you will always have clients. Always. 

If you're watching the video and you saw my eyes dart to the dart up to the sky there, the blimp is out. If I could turn the camera around and show you, I would. So little side note, little random tangent here. Uh, the Goodyear Blimp, it is still in existence and it's actually the official bird of Redondo Beach.

It's the official bird. So I can see it from my window and it just makes me happy cuz I know that it means it's nice outside, it's warm outside. And it just went by the window. So, okay. 

Back to the episode. So we're talking about the importance of getting results and the fact that a successful built, wow, a successful business is built on whether or not you can get results for your people.

What I want you to understand with this is that however long it takes to get those results will influence, will, will directly influence, I should say, will directly influence how quickly you get new clients. So this is a saying like, yes, I can get results, I'm good. If we take that part outta the equation, how quickly you'll get new people, based solely on your results, is dependent upon how long it takes to get those results.

Because certain things take longer. Like a haircut takes 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and then I can walk out and have a haircut. Whereas we go to, to, uh, physical therapy, that doesn't take 45 minutes. One session does, but like actually getting better, feeling better, moving better, that takes longer. So we need that transformation to occur so that the person can go and talk about it.

Or even better what Kathy Sierra calls, word of obvious, people can see that this person has undergone a transformation and they're like, I want that too. Where did you go? What have you been doing? So we understand. If it's just a haircut, something quick, cool. Then you may get new clients quicker than something like physical therapy where that transformation takes longer.

So if you are just starting out, your focus simply, solely, should be on getting results. That's it. I actually just did a post about this on Instagram not too long ago and I said, stop trying to scale before you serve. Results both precede and beget reach. It's wordy a little bit. I understand that. But the whole concept there is that people, especially when it comes to Instagram, they think like, oh, I should have a million people. And I'm like, you don't deserve a million people, cuz you can't help one person. Focus on the people that are in front of you. The people who show up, your early adopters, live on, live on them, love on them. Get the best results that you can for them, and you'll see that they will spread your message farther and faster than you ever could.

So what should you do then, if you're just starting out online? How do you actually get these results? I have always said, I truly believe that the best, easiest, fastest way to start an online business is in person. I actually just spoke about this. Uh, I was on, uh, Dr. Sean's podcast again. I love that guy. I just, I love him.

He's gonna come back, come back on this podcast as well. But I was on this podcast, the Active Life Podcast. Go check that episode out. I talked all about what it really takes to build a successful, profitable, online personal brand, but I, I do believe that the cheat code there is to start in person. When I started my Instagram, I had already been treating for four or five years. I was confident as fuck that I could get results cause I wasn't a new grad. Like I had treated lots and lots of people by then and had gotten lots and lots of results and lots and lots of feedback and I was like, yes, I can do that. If you don't have that luxury right, you haven't started in person and you're like, I'm starting brand new and this is not a, you know, something I've done in person and I have no desire to be in person.

Uh, cuz I would say start in person and you have no desire. I just wanna go online. Here's what I would suggest doing. Number one, decide on the problem that you wish to solve. We talked about that last episode as relates to Instagram, bio and, and nicheing or nicheing down. So decide on the problem that you wish to solve, your niche, you need expertise in this, you need some. If you have no expertise and you're learning as you go, and you're only one step ahead of your ideal client, you're not gonna get clients that fast cuz you can't get them that results, right? You gotta be way ahead of your people. So step number one, deciding the problem you wanna solve. Step number two, teach everything you know, one piece of content at a time, and get strangers, get people in on, on social media wins for free. They will pay you in attention. They will be paying you in attention at that point. Uh, I didn't specify a platform, cuz you need to figure out what works best for you. Maybe it's a podcast, maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's TikTok, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's Twitter, maybe it's LinkedIn, maybe it's Pinterest.

Whatever else is out there, you get to decide. But you have to put yourself out there and get in front of people some way, shape, or form, and show them that you have expertise in this thing and show them that you have solutions to their problems. From there, we wait to create, right? Number three is we see what's getting traction and then we productize something typically for free. Traction, meaning it's getting likes, comments, shares, you're getting DMs about it, or this is like kinda a lesser degree, you're talking about it a lot and you're like, yeah, this is the thing. That's, that can actually really, really more so than anything help you out with point number one of nicheing down. You're like, man, I talk about this thing a lot, this just should probably actually be my niche. The productize side of this is you create either your one-on-one offer that just kind of lives in the background, so that if and when someone's ready to work with you, you have something loosely outlined there, or you create a leveraged offer and leverage means one to many.

So it's you speaking to an audience. Typically like a webinar is a great start, Instagram Live, something like that where you can help a lot of people at once with this. From there, step number four, do the goddamn most to get results for those early adopters. So you're put in content up for free. Some start things are starting to get a little traction.

People are asking you questions. Cool, answer them. Give stuff away for free. Give your time away for free. Don't ask your money yet cuz they're not gonna pay you. You don't have expertise yet. Let's get people these wins, let's get some confidence there and then we can look to, to charge. But first we're gonna look to get the traction and the interest there, and then we get those result, we get those results for those early adopters. 

Remember I did this meme talk about it from, uh, Sex and the City and when, um, Miranda is talking to, is it Miranda? Yeah, Miranda is, no, it's not Miranda. It's Samantha is talking to Smith Jared, and about his career and she's like, first come the gays, then the girls, then the industry.

For us in the online business space it's first come your friends, then your family, then your strangers. So your earliest adopters will typically be people already in your ecosystem. That's why oftentimes people do well when they first start out, if they're on Facebook, cuz their friends and family are already there.

Right. And they'll sign up for their services or you know, they'll take a chance on them. If they take a chance on you, love on these people, get them a result. Bend over backwards, do the most, figure out how to get them the result, which maybe is referring them out. If you're like, this isn't my expertise, that's fine.

But if it's what you do, get them a result. They will spread your message farther and faster than you ever could, right? Cuz they've already broken through the trust barrier with their people. You haven't. So you get to shortcut it then, piggyback on on the trust that they have, and let them go and talk about you and how great you are.

And then point number five, you gotta give it as long as it takes, right? Things that will slow you down in building this trust in getting these reps and getting these early adopters is just largely switching your niche, being inconsistent. I show up, I don't show up, I stop. I've gone away for like five months. Focusing on width, over depth.

I said that with that post where people are just looking to scale before they serve. They're looking like, oh, what about that person? What about that person? Meanwhile, they have someone right here who's willing to invest and they're willing to invest their time and their attention. That is very valuable.

Focus on the people who stayed. Focus on the people who are right in front of you. And another part that will slow things down is just not being that good at what you do. In the beginning, you're not, and it's okay. This is not about imposter syndrome. It's about, you know, being humble and like, yeah, I'm not that good yet.

As you get better and get more reps, things will tend to go faster, right? It, it's typically goes like slowly, slowly, suddenly, and it takes as long as it takes. Remember, circling back to what we said a little bit earlier, uh, however long it takes to get a result for your people or a transformation that will directly influence how quickly or slowly you acquire new clients, right?

People have to undergo that transformation in order for other people to see that they've underwent a transformation or for another, in order for them to go and talk about said transformation. All right. 

I'm looking at my notes and that's it. That's, that's literally it. The number one thing to be focusing on, the key thing to be focusing on, if your goal is to start a successful online business is getting results for your people.

Businesses are built on solutions to problems, and if you don't have solutions, my friends, you don't have a business. You gotta be able to solve problems, you gotta be able to get results for people. My my guy Natty, we've had him on the, the podcast twice. I think you wanna link those that'd be awesome, Court. Um, and I put that post up the other day about – stop trying to scale before you've served, and he was just like, yes, you can't scale shitty solutions. And I was like, that's it! You cannot scale shitty solutions. So you're like, ah, I don't really get results, it doesn't do that well, no one's gonna buy it. They'll buy it once. They're not gonna buy it twice. They're not gonna tell anybody else about it. Take the time to really create a phenomenal product, and for many of you listening, the product is gonna be your service.

Get really good at that. And yes, you get good at that by having, by getting results for one person at a time and giving it as long as it takes. You work with those initially adopters. You know, this is a process, realistically, folks, that can take years and usually does take years. Not can. This is a process that this is a process that takes years.

I'm gonna just draw a line in the sand there. This is a process that takes years, not weeks, not days, not months. It takes years. Give it the time that it, that it takes. Give it the time that it needs, give it the time that it deserves. 

If you're listening to this, you're watching this, thank you, and you're thinking about starting an online business, my number one piece of advice: concern yourself with the ability to get results for people, one person at a time. 

That's it, folks. One quick reminder, actually, one more thing, one quick reminder. Don't forget I'm plugging this thing because I fucking believe in it. I love it. And if you want to level up your Instagram game, I wanna help you out.

Tomorrow is the final day. Tomorrow is uh, February 17th, Friday. It's the final day to register for round 13 of my Instagram Intensive. Six weeks, group online coaching program for health and Fitness Pros and I teach you exactly how to use Instagram for online business. If you got questions, comments, concerns, check out the link in the show notes.

Uh, you can go directly to the page of the show note page if you want, on the computer. It's gonna be themovementmaestro.com/450, just the number 450. Uh, if you got more questions, you can DM me @themovementmaestro, you can shoot me a text. Seven. Nope. I almost gave you the wrong number. 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5.

I would love to have you. If the Instagram Intensive for you, that's, that's cool too. I am grateful that you listened. I'm grateful that you tune in, you share, you talk about this thing. You DM me. Uh, I got a DM the other day that yes, the show notes do show up on Spotify. Thank you for listening and responding to my questions.

I don't know, I don't use Spotify. I just kind of hope so, thank you for everything. Thank you for being in my corner and yeah, I will catch you next week.

Until next time, friends, Maestro out.

Links & Resources For This Episode:

NEW! Watch this episode on YouTube!

Join the Instagram Intensive! Doors close Feb 17th!
MOTM #442: How to Develop a Process-Oriented Mindset
The Active Life Podcast: Making your business fit your life, online with Dr. Shanté Cofield
MOTM #365: Everything You Need to Know About ACL Rehab with Dr. Natty Bandasak
MOTM #148: The Reality of Being A PT Entrepreneur with Dr. Natty Bandasack

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