How I Would Build a Successful Online Business from Scratch
What would happen if I woke up tomorrow and my business was gone? Here’s how I would build a successful online business from scratch if I had to start over!
So, I’ve been a digital marketing agency owner for over 20+ years, and needless to say, my business has changed so much in the last two decades. What worked for me fifteen, ten, or even two years ago doesn’t necessarily work today. I’m constantly looking at my business and trying to optimize, refresh, and revamp my current sales funnels, and I always recommend that my clients do the same.
But I was thinking the other day, what if I lost my entire business, all the contacts, all the automation, and all the sales funnels I’ve created for it? What would I do to start from scratch and rebuild my successful online business? With my marketing agency, I help new (or relatively new) online businesses do that all the time. So today, I will take you on that theoretical step-by-step journey of building a successful online business from scratch. Let’s get into it.
Content Overview
–Play Detective
–Identify the Solution
–Reverse Engineering
–Setting Up the Logistics
–Building Visibility
–What’s the Catch?!
Play Detective
We’ve frequently discussed ideal client avatars on the blog for the last few weeks because this vital information is your business’s cornerstone.
So, starting from scratch, I would create my ideal client avatar (ICA). If you want to hear more, please return to the prior posts after this one.
The second thing I would do is start playing detective and find out what makes my ICA tick. What do they like? Which kind of language do they use? What kind of media are they consuming? What social media platforms are they on?
But how do you play detective? Start talking to people who fit your ICA, at least the main points. You can usually find them in networking, people you know, or even Facebook groups. Ask them simple, direct questions, and keep track of their responses (or even create a quiz they can take with Google).
The next step is looking at their online behavior. Which questions are they asking to other businesses in the same industry? What do reviews say they loved (or didn’t love) about those other businesses? What are they searching for when they log onto the internet?
These are all questions to which you can find the answer FOR FREE with some effort and paid programs if you don’t want to spend time searching.
Once you’ve played detective, it’s time to identify your solution to your ideal client avatar’s pain points.
FREE RESOURCE: Write Your Own Business Plan
Identify the Solution
To move to this step, you must know and understand your ICA because it’s like a map for a road trip. If you don’t know where you’re starting or where you’re going, you’re going to get lost and end up somewhere else, right?
So, I would ask myself these questions:
- Where are they starting (and why do they not want to be there)?
- Where do they want to be (and how do they want to get there)?
- What can my business do to help them achieve their ideal situation?
Then, once I had an idea of how to solve their problems and bring them closer to their desires, I would start formulating offers by reverse engineering the ultimate solution down to the very first steps.
FREE RESOURCE: Customer Avatar Worksheet
Reverse Engineering
In most sales funnels, there are four or five tiers of offers of varying price points, each designed to lead to the next step and solve another piece of the puzzle for the ICA.
If I were to try to explain sales funnels step by step on this podcast, it would probably be two hours long, so the simple version is:
- Lead Magnet: A free, high-value resource (like an eBook, checklist, or webinar) designed to attract and capture potential customers’ contact information.
- Low Ticket Offer: An affordable, entry-level product or service that provides quick value and builds trust, often priced under $50.
- Middle Ticket Offer: A more comprehensive solution or product that offers greater value and depth, typically priced between $100 and $500.
- High Ticket Offer: A premium, in-depth product or service that delivers substantial transformation or results, usually priced at $1,000 or more.
Although the price ranges can differ from industry to industry, each offer should be connected and built on the others.
Once I’ve created the offers, I’ll want to establish a strategy for nurturing leads between each tier of the funnel, gently guiding them toward the next offer. Typically, this takes place in a strategic email nurture sequence.
When I have my funnel offers mapped out and a plan to nurture the leads from each level of the funnel- it’s time to start setting up the logistics to deliver these offers to my customers.
Setting Up the Logistics
This is a tech lover’s dream and a tech non-lover’s nightmare. But I’m a big believer that things can be simplified when you want them to be, and it’s a matter of finding the right automation and software for your business needs.
In short, you’ll need:
- Social media accounts
- Software to deliver landing pages
- Software to deliver email marketing
- Online payment processor
- Customer management software
- Storage account for deliverables
I couldn’t possibly give specifics here because the type of offers and funnel you’re creating greatly affects the choices you make when making these tech choices. But for most situations, these 5 software programs will get me on my way to delivering my offers to new customers and building my successful online business. But now, I need to get these offers in front of my ideal clients by building visibility.
Building Visibility
This is a hot topic in the marketing industry right now, as well as the ongoing battle of organic versus paid marketing. I believe in using paid marketing only when there’s a strategy behind it.
You can post on social media as much as you want, tell your friends and family, do everything, and create sales. However, organic social media posts don’t generally target a specific audience like an advertisement.
So, in this journey of creating my successful online business from scratch, the next step is to create a compelling, engaging ad that stops the audience’s scroll and immediately shows them what they will gain from my offers.
I first start with ads for the lead magnet to frontload the top of my funnel, build an email list, and give us a base of target audience information.
“But Jennie, my lead magnet is free. Aren’t I losing money by running ads for it?!” No way, Jose! Marketing is an investment, not an expense, and the business owners who understand that concept are the most successful in building online businesses (I’ve seen this for myself).
I’ll also run ads for the low-ticket offers when I’ve established that the marketing I’m using for the lead magnet is converting into leads. But building a business is a long game, and I’m not interested in sinking my entire budget into ads that I’m not sure will work yet.
FREE RESOURCE: Facebook Ad Workbook
What’s the Catch?!
So that’s it! You create your ideal client avatar, figure out what they want and what bothers them, create offers to solve their problems, build visibility with organic and paid traffic, and then nurture them between each step of your funnel to guide them to your next offer. Rinse and repeat. Easy, right?
And if you’re thinking, “Jennie, that sounds awfully… simple. What’s the catch?” Fair enough. This is a simplification because I could honestly talk about this subject in intricate detail for days.
The missing piece in this general outline is the strategy that goes along with it. Understanding how to analyze the market for your specific industry, operate these moving pieces and technologies, and combine marketing concepts with tried-and-true practices while being innovative—THAT’S the catch. It’s the strategy that is the backbone of this plan.
So what are your options? Well, there’s a few.
- You can try to DIY this whole thing. I’ve seen many businesses do this and “fail forward,” learning as they go. They invest lots of their time and effort in the process but can eventually get to the point where they can outsource the marketing for their business.)
- You can hand off your business marketing to an in-house team member with experience with marketing strategy, or at least with some marketing components, and hope they know the right strategies to move your business forward.
- You can hire a full-service digital marketing agency with a large team of experts with the proven methods and action steps to grow your business, whether starting from scratch or ready for a marketing revamp.
Which one will you choose?
If you choose the first option, keep tuning in to my social media posts, blogs, and podcasts because I provide free, actionable weekly value on growing your online business.
Suppose you choose the second option and want a second set of eyes to examine your marketing strategy before proceeding. In that case, I offer marketing office hours where you can ask questions, gain perspective and insight, and feel reassured about your strategy.
If you choose the third option, I have just a few openings with Jennie Lyon Digital Marketing Inc. for new clients. We can do everything from social media management and ads to email marketing to website building and e-commerce—you name it, we have an expert for it. You can schedule a free consultation call with me to see how we can work together to build your business into the business of your dreams.
Links for This Episode:
–Marketing Office Hours
–Discover Your Digital Marketing Success Path
–How to Use Our Digital Marketing Team
–Schedule a free call with Jennie today
Get in touch with Jennie:
-Free Consultation: https://jennielyon.com/chatwithjennie
-Website: jennielyon.com
-Social Media: @jennielyonmarketing
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