Episode 1: 5 Things that are Killing Your Business
Working yourself to the bone but not seeing the needle move in your business or bank account? Learn the 5 Things That Are Killing Your Business and how to fix them in today’s episode of The Ashly Locklin Show.
Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn in this episode:
Why casting a wide net is hurting your business and why niching down and having an ideal client avatar = $$$!
What you should really be posting in order to make more sales and convert more followers into obsessed customers.
The secret to building trust and authority with your audience and why going MIA is hammering the nails in your business coffin.
Why authenticity is key and how one simple shift could transform your business quickly.
What you really need in order to get people to say: “How do I pay?”
Check out The Social Sales Content Bundle here: https://www.ashlylocklin.com/the-social-sales-content-bundle
Show Transcription:
Welcome to our first ever episode! I am so excited you are here and I can’t wait to dive in and spill all my knowledge with you!
Today I am sharing the 5 Things That Are Killing Your Business...and I know that sounds a little bit harsh for our first episode, I’m usually someone who likes to focus on the positives, on the things you can do to grow, but these are common pitfalls I have seen entrepreneurs make time after time, and they’re foundational. I truly believe if you can nip these in the butt, if you can stop these mistakes that are killing your business, you will then be able to grow and scale and create the business of your dreams.
And before we dive into the meat of this episode I wanted to share that this episode is brought to you by my course: The Social Sales Content Bundle, which is your complete guide to creating posts & stories that convert followers into customers. It includes everything you need to grow your brand, business, and bank account on social: proven caption formulas & examples, worksheets, trainings and activities to help you nail your niche, identify your content pillars, have a content- strategy that actually makes sales, tips for selling on social without being salesy, and so much more…so if you are interested, check out the show notes in the description of this podcast to find more info and join.
Now let’s dive in!
Okay, the first thing killing your business is…
1. Not niching down; knowing your ideal client is
I see this so often- business owners try to attract anyone and everyone who has a pulse.
But the reality is when you speak to everyone, you reach no one. What happens when you cast a wide net, is you become too vague and general, so people are on social media and they’re scrolling, and they scroll right by your posts because your content doesn’t resonate with them. They’re like, “she’s not talking to me, this isn’t for me”
The goal is to speak directly to the person you are trying to serve and convert so that they see your post and say “Oh my gosh, this is for me!” “Oh my gosh, she’s in my head.” “Oh my gosh, I need this.”
And that can only be done by nailing your niche and getting clear on who your ideal client avatar is- and I’ll say ICA throughout the rest of this episode - so your ICA is essentially the person you are trying to attract.
So you need to take the time to figure out who your ICA really is. You want to sit down and write out her problems.
What are her problems? What keeps her up at night? What are her pain points? What are her dreams/goals?
Then you want to ask yourself how your products or services can help her and solve her problems, what value can you provide to her?
If you’re not clear on that, on WHO you’re trying to serve and WHAT she needs, you’re not going to attract the right people or convert followers into customers.
So you want to ask yourself: who am I truly trying to serve and what does she need?
Here are some examples - and I want you to notice the difference between someone who is:
Helping people have more energy vs B. Helping women in their 30s heal their thyroids with holistic approaches
Here’s another example:
Helping people have better skin vs Helping women say bye-bye to their adult acne through gentle natural remedies
Another example:
Helping people feel great vs Helping moms drop the baby weight while maintaining their breastmilk supply through 30 minute at-home workouts and balanced nutrition
So you want to be as specific as possible.
Now let’s take this a step further, here’s another example of how you can specialize in helping women lose weight but have a totally different approach than someone else:
Coach A: Helping women lose the last 5 lbs and get a 6 pack
Coach B: Helping women ditch diets and lose weight while still eating cake and loving life
Do you see the difference between those two? So you want to be really clear on what you do.
I help women have more energy.
I help women lose weight.
But what type of woman and how?
What is YOUR signature approach? What makes you different and special? Why would your ICA choose you over someone else?
So I know this is scary because you might miss that one person, that one random dude that might want to buy from you, but I promise, you’ll have much better success when you nail down your niche and you’re clear on your ideal client avatar and you begin to speak directly to her - your business will transform almost immediately overnight when you make this transition and you nail your niche and speak to who you are trying to attract.
Which leads us into #2, the second thing that is killing your business: posting whatever you feel like posting, instead of posting what your ICA needs to hear.
2. Posting whatever you feel like posting, instead of posting what your ICA needs to hear.
When you decide to run a business and market it on social media, you must transition from using your account as your own personal diary and begin using it as a platform to serve your audience.
You must switch from posting random pictures of your kids and the sunsets you see to creating content that actually helps your ICA.
Now there are different formulas that I teach to draw in your ideal followers and ICAs, captions that make you magnetic and irresistible, and yes, those are super important.
But you always want to show up with the intention of serving your ideal client in some way instead of just posting to post and crossing something off your to-do list.
So for example, my ICA’s name is Taylor - it’s my middle name. Every time I sit down to write a post, I ask myself, what does Taylor need to hear today? What would help Taylor? What would speak to Taylor and draw her to me?
Everything I create is through the lens of reaching Taylor instead of just posting random pictures with a quote as a caption.
You have to make an intentional shift from posting to get the most likes (to boost your ego) to posting to actually reach your ICA. And that’s hard because we as a society are so caught up in those vanity metrics, of judging our success and worth on the “likes” we get. But it’s so important to stop focusing on those metrics and focus on the IMPACT you are making. I don’t know about you, but Instagram took my likes away months ago and at first I was freaking out, but now I realize it was a huge blessing because I don’t care about those anymore. Instead, I now look at how many times my posts have been shared or saved- because to me, that’s the real indicator of impact.
Now I do want to talk about how there is a difference between posting as an Influencer and Posting as an Entrepreneur.
Influencers can make their social accounts all about them. But entrepreneurs, you ladies have to make your social accounts about your ICAs.
You don’t have to choose one or the other, you can absolutely be both. But when you’re actually trying to sell your product or service or recruit people to your team, you have to switch from being magnetic and drawing people to you TO being the authority in your industry, to serving your ICA through free value on your page, mini trainings in your stories, compelling captions that speak to their pain points and make them say “Oh my gosh, I NEED this!”
So you can go from being an Influencer and drawing people to you to putting on your entrepreneur hat and speaking to your ICA’s pain points.
So you have to be very clear on who you are trying to speak to and then you have to be very intentional about showing up with a purpose instead of just posting to post.
The third thing that is killing your business is...
3. Being inconsistent
The reality is that being consistent is the secret sauce. Are you showing up guns a blazing one day and then going into the Instagram Protection Service for days or weeks at a time? Then making a magical comeback and blasting your feed and stories with content for a few days only to disappear again?
If so, you are hammering the nails into your business coffin.
Think of it this way, imagine a coffee shop opened up in your neighborhood. You swing by to check it out, you get an amazing latte and delicious breakfast sandwich, and fall head over heels in love.
So the next day you leave extra early to make a special stop for that dreamy breakfast goodness, only to find the shop closed. You’re like WTF?! Why is this place closed?
The next day, you drive by to see if it’s open cause you’ve been craving that sandwich something bad, but still closed.
So then the next day, you give up. You make a crappy coffee at home, grab a plain bagel, and as you’re driving you see the coffee shop is OPEN. And you’re mad. You lose trust in this business because they’re inconsistent. You can’t rely on them.
That’s what it's like when you’re inconsistent on social media as a business owner. You lose trust and people will choose someone else they can rely on, someone who shows up on regular basis and provides them with value.
So I know what you’re thinking: Well Ashly, how often do I post? Everyone wants to know this.
I do think it’s important to show up 5- 7 times a week on your feed and to be honest, 7 times a week in your stories - especially at the beginning to build that trust with your audience.
But with that being said, I want you to remember that quality is always better than quantity. So if you have incredible content that continues to gain traction for days at a time, then posting 3-4 times a week is fine. Right, go back to #2- posting for your ideal client. You don’t just want to throw something up just to say “I posted 7 times this week.”
If I post something and it blows up and is getting a ton of comments, shares, and saves, I’ll let it ride for a few days before I post something else.
So you have to figure out the magic number for yourself, but you cannot go MIA when you’re trying to gain that trust and establish your authority with your audience. So the number one rule in my opinion is: being consistent.
The 4th thing that is killing your business.
4. Copying other people and being someone you’re not
Listen, you have to find your voice and embrace your authenticity.
Copying other people’s posts will not get you very far. Like what is that actually going to do for you? Are you going to copy their posts for the next 5 years of your business? You HAVE to be original and be yourself.
Along with not plagiarizing other people’s content, it’s so important to figure out WHO you are and then letting your freak flag fly.
What do you want followers to think and say if they meet you in real life? “Wow, she’s exactly like she is online?” Or “Wow, she’s a fraud!”
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve followed on social and then I met in real life and they were basically two different people - and it’s SO disappointing when that happens.
Now I know this is SCARY- to be our true selves - especially as women - because for so long we’ve been taught to fit in, to be normal, to be quiet and complacent. But I’m giving you permission to be your weird self, your loud self, your intense self, your quiet self- whatever it may be. I want you to stop trying to fit in, to stop being average, and to start standing out and being you.
Now I want to give you a specific example. When I first started in Network Marketing, I followed the top coach at the time and she would get up at 5 AM and do her workout and post immediately afterwards and be so excited and giddy about it. So I said, “Well this girl is successful, I’m just going to do that.” So I started getting up at 5 AM and posting about it, but the reality was- I HATED it! I actually hate exercise and I hate waking up early.
So for the first few months, I was just trying to be like her, to do what she was doing. I wasn’t plagiarizing her words, but I was copying her style, her essence, her vibe - and it was just so inauthentic and forced. And that’s honestly why I think I didn’t have a lot of success at the beginning.
So then one day I decided, “You know what, I’m just gonna come clean. I’m gonna tell people I actually hate exercise, I hate waking up early.” And you know what- that’s when my business exploded! It literally transformed over night when I embraced who I really was. It was like I opened a door and all my people were standing there waiting for me to come clean. And then I started to attract people just like me and it was so refreshing and so fun to actually work with people who didn’t like to exercise, who didn’t like to wake up early. I didn’t have to put on this facade and pretend to be someone I wasn’t anymore.
So I know that’s scary to do, but I want you to do some soul searching and really ask yourself: Am I showing up on social media as the person I am deep down inside? Would my best friend say: Yeah, you are totally authentic on social media! Or would my best friend say: No, you are totally acting like someone else and being someone you’re not.
So stop trying to copy other people-not just their words, but their character and their essence, their vibe, and be you! That is how you’ll find YOUR people and see massive success.
And the fifth and final thing that is killing your business is:
5. Lacking confidence in yourself & in your products
People can smell your fear from 7 miles away and if you aren’t confident in what you’re promoting or what you can offer to people, no one is going to join you.
First, you have to be confident in yourself. In what you have to offer as a person. If you are constantly thinking that you’re annoying your followers with your posts, you’re probably not going to get any customers because nothing sells like confidence, enthusiasm, and conviction.
If you find a show on Netflix that your best friend would love, you would tell her “OMG you need to watch this show- you’re going to love it, I binge watched it all weekend and I know you will too!”
You have to have that same confidence in sharing yourself and your products or services on social.
If someone emphatically tells you how amazing something is, you’re gonna be more inclined to get it. But if they’re like, “I don’t know, I don’t want to bother you with this, but you might like…”
Umm no, you are not gonna buy whatever it is they are trying to sell you!
You have to BELIEVE in you and your offerings.
And sometimes you have to believe in you before anyone else believes in you- especially at the beginning. You will have doubters, and unfortunately, those doubters are most likely the people closest to you, but if you have unwavering belief in yourself, that’s going to carry through in your posts, your stories, your messages and people will be drawn to you and want whatever it is you are sharing.
You have to have belief in your product or service. If you don’t wholeheartedly believe in it, people can sense that and they’ll run away as fast as they can. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, ask yourself WHY? Are you uneducated on the product/offer? Have you not tried it or used it? Is it sketchy? Should you actually be selling it? OR is there more work to be done on your part in order to truly understand the benefits and why others would want it? Do what you have to do in order to gain that confidence and that enthusiasm for your offer. That is so important.
Now if you are struggling with your own self-confidence or confidence in general, I do have two books I recommend and I do have them linked in the show notes:
The first is: You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
And the second is: Fear is My Homeboy by Judi Holler
So to recap, the 5 things that are killing your business are:
#1 not niching down or knowing who your ideal client avatar is
#2 posting whatever you feel like posting instead of posting for your ICA
#3 being inconsistent
#4 copying other people and being someone you’re not
#5 lacking confidence in yourself & in your products
Thanks so much for tuning in! I’d love for you to take a screenshot, tag me @ashly_locklin, tell me what you thought of the episode or any requests you have!
And I’ll catch ya later! Now go out there and make some money moves!
Show Notes:
This Episode is sponsored by: The Social Sales Content Bundle
Books mentioned in this episode:
You are a Badass by Jen Sincero: https://amzn.to/3h91kwR
Fear is My Homeboy by Judi Holler: https://amzn.to/3azy93N
the social sales Content bundle
Everything you need to create content that converts followers into paying clients and randos into lifers! Proven caption formulas to grow your following and make sales, 125 Headlines, 105 CTAs, interactive content calendar, 6 exclusive video trainings to help you nail your niche & make more sales, and so much more! A must-have for all female entrepreneurs!
