86: Crossing the million dollar mark: 7 unconventional success strategies for entrepreneurs
I am very very close to hitting an important milestone in my business - crossing the million-dollar mark in lifetime revenue.
It’s a pretty big deal for me. I think it’s so important to see examples of women building wealth with big businesses that make a big impact.
But I also think it’s equally important to see examples of those of us who are building small, secure, and steady businesses that are sustainable, enjoyable, and still generate good revenue and impact.
While building my business to what it is now, I realized there are a few things that have really helped me build a successful business, and I want to share those with you today.
In this episode of ill communication, I want to share 7 unconventional success strategies for entrepreneurs who are ready to hit that million-dollar mark too.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The power of seeing women in business succeed
The small trick I do in the mornings to help me become a successful entrepreneur
The support I needed to achieve this success
Why having fun in business is so important for me
Why I never go for quick wins
So there you have it! Those are my seven unconventional success strategies that have helped me reach $1 million in lifetime revenue in my small business. I hope this episode inspired you and gave you some ideas of things you can do to reach this milestone in your business too.
I would love to hear your feedback on this podcast! Please share your anonymous feedback on this episode at www.kimkiel.com/feedback.
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[00:00:03] Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and change makers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hello. Hello my sweet friend. And oh my gosh, I have mixed feelings about this episode I'm about to share with you. In fact, I've Oxford a few trusted friends to see if I should record an episode on a topic I'm about to share, and they all overwhelmingly said yes. And also, I've learned over time to pay attention to the ideas that come to me and to trust they come to me for a good reason. So here we go. I'm very, very, very close to hitting a really important milestone in my business.
[00:01:27] Are.
[00:01:29] I'm about to cross the million dollar mark. And I'm clearly emotional about it. But before we get all crazy here and I can calm myself down, I want to clarify. I'm about to cross the million dollar mark in lifetime revenue. Hoke did not expect this to happen.
[00:01:52] Huh?
[00:01:53] What this means is, in the 6 to 6 and a half years that I've been an entrepreneur, consultant or copywriter, I've generated $1 million in revenue over that whole span of time. And what's important and what I want to talk about today, is that I have not been an overnight success. We hear so many messages and marketing about coaches talking about how they have half $1 million launches, or make tens of million dollars in revenue per year or $1 million a year. And I think it's so important to see examples of what's possible, especially when those success stories are women. But I think so often those become a seven figure business owner like me. Messages oversimplify what it takes to build and sustain that level of success. Those seven and eight figure entrepreneurs deal with a lot of complexity in their team, their tech and their back end systems. And if you've been paying attention over the last year or so, there have been a surprising number of these so-called success stories shutting down their businesses, shrinking their teams, uh, because that level of overnight success isn't easy to sustain. And so I'm very proud to have slowly and steadily built a business that's right sized for me as a one woman show. Could I have grown faster, generated more revenue each year? Probably, but I don't know. It would suit this season of life where I'm firmly sandwiched between caring for my kids and caring for their grandparents, as well as caring for myself and my business.
[00:03:30] I do think it's important to see examples of women building wealth and big businesses that generate big revenue and big impact, and I think it's equally important to see examples of those of us who are building small, secure and steady businesses that are sustainable, enjoyable and still generate good revenue and impact. Six and a half years ago, when I left my nonprofit day job, I had no idea what kind of success I'd have. But here I sit, about to hit an amazing million dollar milestone that would have taken at least a decade or more if I hadn't started my own business. And at the same time, some businesses never reach the level of success I achieve. 88% of women owned businesses don't reach $100,000 in annual revenue. And I'm super aware that many copywriters struggle to build businesses that generate decent revenue. So as I was thinking about this, I realized there are a few things that have really helped me build a successful business, and I want to share those with you. And full disclosure, these are not conventional business building strategies. You can go somewhere else to get those. These are the unconventional, surprising things nobody or very few people talk about. And so I share them with you in case you get a takeaway that you could apply to your own business.
[00:04:55] So here are seven unconventional things that help me see success in my business. Thing number one. I have always gotten fully dressed with hair and makeup every morning. Now I know we all hear about the laptop lifestyle or being able to stay comfy and do the work. However, I learned very quickly from home that not getting up, showering, and dressing was going to be a problem for me. So getting dressed, doing my hair, and putting on a little makeup, even if I don't have any zoom meetings scheduled, is a little cue that I'm ready to work on my business. I'm taking myself and my business seriously, and as weird and silly as it sounds, I do believe this simple practice helped me become a successful entrepreneur. Thing number two, which is very similar, is I have always had a dedicated office space. In our last home, I had a desk set up in a little corner of the living room, and in this current home I have an actual room dedicated as my office. Even though I could move my laptop around the house, I rarely do because in my office I'm able to put my head down and work. I'm not distracted by the piles of laundry or dishes lying around. Would I like to take my laptop to a coffee shop? Sure. But because I write all day, I like to use an external keyboard and two screens.
[00:06:24] And so it makes working at a coffee shop actually seem really restrictive. So typically, after I finish getting dressed and ready for the day, I eat my breakfast and I go to my stand up desk in my little office and I get busy. The third thing that's contributed to my success is that I have a spouse and partner who was willing to take the risk with me so I could go all in on my business. If we didn't have his steady, modest income and health plan, it would have been a lot more scary. If I'd been the sole provider for my family. I probably would have attempted to scale back my day job and build my business on the side, and then try to build it even faster. So I have no doubt that the privilege of being a two income household was instrumental in giving me the space to take a chance on becoming an entrepreneur. Also, he's an active parent, he's a great cook, and he's an awesome cheerleader for me, which gives me a lot of space to focus on my business. Related to this is I also have a squad of hype women and biz besties who encourage me and cheer me on, and these are essential ingredients in my success. The fourth thing I do is I give myself permission to work when I need to work. If that's on the weekends or evenings, that's okay.
[00:07:45] I generally stop working around 330 or 4:00 most days. I take my kids to their dental appointments or like the other day, I stood in line at the passport office to review our passports for 4.5 hours. So if I need to make up time on the weekend, I do, and I don't feel guilty about it. I sometimes also do a little work when I'm on holiday because I want to and I choose to. The benefit of being an entrepreneur is you get to decide when and how you work. The fifth reason I believe I've been successful is because I started my business a little later in life, when my kids were a tad older, a little bit more independent, and in school I had a few hours a day where I didn't have to parent my children. I see a lot of younger women entrepreneurs navigating their pregnancies while running a business, or figuring out how to have maternity leave and take some time away from their businesses. We're having a baby and toddler running their business. Honestly, I can't imagine trying to run or grow a business while being sleep deprived and having such little kids that require so much from you. So if that's the stage in season you're in woman, I tip my virtual hat to you. I know a lot of my success has been because I've had a little more freedom from my family due to this season of life.
[00:09:08] And speaking of this season of being a Gen X, sandwiched between a lot of responsibilities, I've had to build my business to fit into my lifestyle, to accommodate my kids orthodontics appointments or my parents cancer scans. Keeping a lean small business allows me to attend to those needs. The sixth thing I've done is that I approach everything in my business as a fun experiment. One of my top values is having fun and going on adventure. So when I'm thinking of launching something new, I look at it through the lens of how can I do this simply? How can I let it be fun and easy? It can be super overwhelming to think you have to set up your business the way all the gurus tell you, with complicated funnels and complex systems, but I call bullshit on that. I am always looking for the easiest. We're the laziest way to do something. I am seldom perfect in my own business. I want to enjoy my business and my clients. And aside from the normal ups and downs, I really do genuinely enjoy my business and I love my clients. The final thing that's contributed to my success is that I have played the long game. I have never gone for the quick win. I've always had a long terme vision. I've trusted that doing great work, creating and delivering great experiences will bring the best clients to me.
[00:10:37] I have a strong referral and follow up game. Sometimes clients will work with me for years and some will take years before they actually do finally work with me. But I don't give up. I touch base and follow up, hopefully without being too annoying. So my friend, those are my seven unconventional success strategies that have helped me reach $1 million in lifetime revenue in my small business. Maybe you heard something in there that will inspire you to try something a little different, to maybe see a little bit more success, if that's what you're looking for. Or maybe by me sharing what's worked for me, you'll give yourself permission to claim what's working for you, even if it's not the quote unquote real way to grow a business. There is more than one way to grow your business, and even if you're not an overnight success, it doesn't mean you're not successful or not delivering value or not changing people's lives. Life is tough enough to feel like we have to fit a mold or hit some revenue milestone right out of the gate. The reality is we are each on our own journey, and success will happen as fast or as slow as it happens. Now full transparency. I feel really weird recording this episode, and I really didn't know I was going to cry at the top of it. But I would really love to know what you thought about this episode.
[00:12:04] If you have time, would you please share your feedback with me? Did you like this episode? Did you kind of hate it? I'm a big girl and I can take it. Please share your thoughts about this episode or any of the content or things I share over at Kim Kilcommons feedback. Completely anonymous. Just a little form. You can put your comments in there and it helps me know what's resonating, what's not hitting the mark. So I really appreciate your feedback. Again, that's Kim Kilcommons feedback. And I want to thank you so much for joining me today. And every Wednesday here on the Ill Communication Podcast. Thank you for helping me celebrate this incredible milestone. It means a lot to have you as part of my squad. I'll see you next week. And that's a wrap on today's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I would love if you would leave a rating and a review to let me know. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss out on the tips, prompts, and strategies I share in every episode. They're designed to make you an ill communicator too. As always, you can check out all the links and resources from this episode on the web page. Just head over to Kim Keel compered cast. I'll chat with you again next week.
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