It's been a while since I posted any progress. The last thread was written at a high point, spring of this year. I was averaging 12k/mo and roaming around the world. It was great!
In the last few months, things have taken a turn for the worse. I attempted to niche my marketing business into the residential construction industry. The results weren't great.
I must have talked to over 50 business owners that inquired about marketing. 4 of them turned into monthly clients but bailed after only one month. 1 of them was my fault. The results my contractor and I produced were not up to par, so I gave them a full refund. The other 3 petered out on their own accord either because of budget or lack of real vision/goals. They just weren't the right type of clients I need to be working with to grow my own business.
Losing a couple of clients wasn't the end of the world because I have a good core group of clients that pay me monthly to maintain their marketing systems. The income generated from this pays my bills, but not much more.
Things started to fall apart about a month ago. A series of 5 large unforeseen expenses have set me back to the point where I've lost all the financial momentum I had built up. With no solid sales in the pipeline, it's forced me into a corner where I have to take immediate massive action or risk losing the life I've worked so hard to build.
Being forced to hustle to get by reminds me of a few years ago when I started my entrepreneurial journey. It's equal parts excitement and fear. It's a good mixture of emotions to instigate massive action.
Here's my plan to get back on track:
With enough hustle, I know that something will pan out. If things aren't looking good in a month or so, I'm going to have to find a job to make ends meet while I continue to try and build this thing.
I'm disappointed in myself for letting it get to this point. I let my foot off the gas when things were going good and I'm paying for it now. It's a good lesson in life and business and one that I am taking to heart.
I'll do my best to share the details of this lesson as it unfolds so that you can learn from my successes and failures. I'll be vague about some details so that I can be more revealing about others.
Thanks for reading.
In the last few months, things have taken a turn for the worse. I attempted to niche my marketing business into the residential construction industry. The results weren't great.
I must have talked to over 50 business owners that inquired about marketing. 4 of them turned into monthly clients but bailed after only one month. 1 of them was my fault. The results my contractor and I produced were not up to par, so I gave them a full refund. The other 3 petered out on their own accord either because of budget or lack of real vision/goals. They just weren't the right type of clients I need to be working with to grow my own business.
Losing a couple of clients wasn't the end of the world because I have a good core group of clients that pay me monthly to maintain their marketing systems. The income generated from this pays my bills, but not much more.
Things started to fall apart about a month ago. A series of 5 large unforeseen expenses have set me back to the point where I've lost all the financial momentum I had built up. With no solid sales in the pipeline, it's forced me into a corner where I have to take immediate massive action or risk losing the life I've worked so hard to build.
Being forced to hustle to get by reminds me of a few years ago when I started my entrepreneurial journey. It's equal parts excitement and fear. It's a good mixture of emotions to instigate massive action.
Here's my plan to get back on track:
- I'm selling some stuff I don't use like my Nintendo Switch. I used my copywriting skills to make a rediculous listing on the Facebook marketplace. I talked about how I played Zelda while flying over the ocean... I posted it this morning and lined up a buyer for my asking price. Meeting him in the morning.
- I'm throwing a hail mary and going after a new niche market to sell my web design and marketing services. It's an unsexy industry and one that most people probably never heard of. To my knowledge, there isn't another marketing company that focuses on it. That could be good or bad...
Their largest yearly meetup is this week and I'm going. I've been in contact with one of the keynote speakers and he's agreed to take me by the shoulder and introduce me to a bunch of potential clients. I've agreed to help him with his website and marketing as well as explore ways to collaborate on adding value to this industry. It could be really good, or nothing. I think it's worth the risk. I bought a year's membership for the association and tickets to the event. I got an Airbnb next door to the event center to save on hotel costs and used airline miles for the airfare. Got to love miles!
- I'm trying my hand at Upwork. I've had an account for a long time and have hired a lot of people on it, but never used it to find work. I found a lot of listings for marketing and content production related to the remodeling and construction industry, my specialty. I used all my credits sending 11 proposals. I love writing and know a shit load about remodeling, so it could be a good way to make some quick $ and build a reputation for future work with these clients and others.
- I've got marketing campaigns going for my marketing business aimed at residential construction. I haven't totally given up on this but will not be spending as much time as I was before pursuing it. I've written a couple of comprehensive articles over the last 3 days that should rank well on Google with a couple of backlinks and on-page SEO tweaks. I'm sending emails to my list of roughly 150 contractors sharing these articles with some semi-aggressive calls to action trying to get the right people to contact me about marketing.
With enough hustle, I know that something will pan out. If things aren't looking good in a month or so, I'm going to have to find a job to make ends meet while I continue to try and build this thing.
I'm disappointed in myself for letting it get to this point. I let my foot off the gas when things were going good and I'm paying for it now. It's a good lesson in life and business and one that I am taking to heart.
I'll do my best to share the details of this lesson as it unfolds so that you can learn from my successes and failures. I'll be vague about some details so that I can be more revealing about others.
Thanks for reading.
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