Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast

Business Strategy With Flexibility In Mind

There are so many different ways to grow any business. We will be talking specifically about online business here, since that is the goal of so many moms today. There are so many benefits to having an online component: flexibility with your schedule, time freedom, scalability, and countless options for how to structure your business.

For me, having an online business made the most sense because I wasn’t exchanging time for money and I was able to do it from home. I do love getting dressed and going to a coffee shop or an office to work when I can. I started this business because I needed to be at home. That is part of the flexibility in it all.

How Do I Grow My Business?

The information you find when you do a Google or Pinterest search for “How to grow my business” can get overwhelming. It’s also not all quality information. There are a lot of coaches out there that are going to guide you in a direction that is not sustainable and won’t work long-term.

When I was trying to figure out what strategy I was going to use to grow my business, I found Melyssa Griffin and her blogging course a long time ago. That program is now retired but it is where I began. It literally taught you how to do email sales through emails off of your blog that you got off of Pinterest. It was working well for her at the time.

Choose The Business Strategy That Works For You

So I began my business by blogging, it was the idea that I had subscribed to at the very beginning. I was still pretty fuzzy on what my actual business was but I started. I quickly realized that the blogging strategy was not going to work because it was taking me so long to write blogs. The turnaround time for actually getting people on my email list from Pinterest was so pretty low.

The Power Of Sharing

I will never forget, I was folding laundry in my closet. I remember very vividly seeing when I looked down at my phone somebody had tagged me in something on social media. So I looked at it and ended up opening my Instagram stories. Somebody had shared a screenshot of Stefanie Gass’ podcast episode. That moment is why I’m sitting here right now.

It could be the reason why somebody else’s life changes when you share information that you hold. Information sharing is what has kept our tribe of motherhood literally existing in the human race. So be sure to share what you love and what you know, whether it be this blog post or a different one.

Sometimes Change Makes Sense

I clicked on her show and I skimmed through her episode titles, and I was like this is literally what I’ve been missing for so long. It felt like an eternity because I had been searching for what I was going to do. I just couldn’t quite figure it out. I was listening to every blogging podcast episode I could possibly find. I had gone through YouTube, Google, Pinterest, everything. It just was not doing what they said it had the potential to do. I knew there was potential, but it just was not working.

Podcasting Became My New Business Strategy

So I tried it. I was terrified of starting a podcast. I’m still using the exact same mic that I started with, a white Yeti off of Amazon. I used my husband’s laptop. I recorded in Garage Band in the beginning and actually still use it to this day.

Showing Up Anyway

During the first year, I had a Facebook group and offered a couple coaching sessions. I got on a zoom call or phone call. I started offering my coaching in exchange for very little money. Some of them were honestly for free because I wanted to learn and wanted to be able to help. I started doing that for a while and that is what evolved into actually growing an audience of people. They needed my help and that was the whole point of the entire thing.

I really wanted to be able to help as many people as possible and I still absolutely do. The podcast has been truly my number one source of generating leads for my business. That’s what I focused on. After having a podcast in place for quite some time I ended up creating Systemize Your Life. I did that without changing strategies. 

Business Strategy Tip #1 – Stay Consistent

The number one problem that I see people make: changing their strategy too often. You may be guilty of this. When you change your strategy too many times, it doesn’t leave room for growth.

I chose podcasting and went all in on it. Like we talked about in Part 2 of this series, staying consistent is huge. I didn’t rebrand, didn’t change, didn’t do any of that willy-nilly stuff. It’s tempting to think changing strategies completely is going to work better. You have to stay in it and stay consistent. If you’re changing your strategy all the time, you’re not going to be consistent.

“The number one problem that I see people make: changing their strategy too often.”

Let It Be Simple

What has my strategy looked like over the last 3 to 4 years, in order to grow my business with just a few hours a week? Podcasting. It is the easiest thing in the whole entire world. You can sit behind the microphone in your pajamas if you want. It’s such a unique way to reach people you never otherwise would be able to.

Keep Going

What happens between the mic and what goes into the earbuds of your listeners is absolutely magical. I am obsessed with podcasting. I remember the first one that I listened to. I just pour into podcasting.

Obviously I have courses that I sell that drive revenue. I also do some coaching, reserved strictly for my students. My goal from the beginning was to do this business in about 20 hours a week. I was determined to keep the ball rolling and I have.

I’ve shown up every single day on weekdays and sometimes on Saturdays. I burn out very very quickly, so I make sure to have at least one day off per week. However, for the most part, I am not working on Saturday or Sunday. I won’t answer my phone or even really look at it on the weekends. That is the beauty of this strategy.

Business Strategy Tip #2 – Find Someone To Guide You

I’ve had two coaches that have coached me very specifically. One of those coaches was Stepfanie Gass, and the other one was Haley Burkhead (who’s no longer providing coaching). These are the only two people that I ever worked with. I went all in on both of their methods and did exactly what they said.

Stefanie taught me how to have a really successful podcast as the foundation of my business. It’s really not that complicated. Honestly, it’s been pretty easy. Hitting record in GarageBand, editing it a bit, and hitting the publish button.

Drive Sales From Leads

The podcast is what drives sales. How does a business work? A business gets leads and makes sales from those leads. For example, if you own a hotdog stand, you need people that are hungry that want your food and then they need to buy it from you and you give them the hotdog and you take their money.

Growing a business is having leads and turning them into sales. Once I got all of that figured out, I decided to keep it simple. I love to bring everything to the podcast. I’m obsessed with podcasting. It is my bread and butter. I am so thrilled that the podcast has done as well as it has. I’m committed to continuing to show up.

Have You Found My Private Podcast Yet?

I have a really fun surprise in the works with a private podcast. It is available right now. If you have taken the quiz, you probably got access to it already. It’s private and hidden right now and you can only get access to it through chelsijo.co/quiz. It is a podcast that is 100% focused on my business systems, called Systemize Your Biz.

Once you get to the point where you’re all in on your business, this podcast will help with your systems. It is specifically for those who are growing businesses, those who want to bring on their first person, or for CEOs that are already running a team.

Business Strategy Tip #3 – Keep It Simple

The system I used to grow my business is the same type system I use to manage my home. Soon, we will be launching a program specifically for CEOs who are also moms, called TOBOS. It is an operating system for CEOs so they don’t give up on their business, so they can get their life back.

I like to keep things simple. The only way I was able to get where I am in my business today is a well run system. I kept my head down and haven’t looked up. I focused on one strategy: get in, dive in deep, get super clear on what I needed to do, knowing what my “thing” was going to be (systems). Pour into that podcast and do everything I could do to grow that podcast.