Why You Find Scaling Your Business Impossible… A Halfwit Tells All
Let’s talk about how Jamie McSloy is an idiot.
For most of the time I’ve been writing this blog, I know I’ve needed to scale, redistribute the work and all manner of things that make my life easier and my business more profitable.
And yet progress on that front has been slow, painful and barely existent.
And as regular readers will know, I’ve been examining this introspectively of late.
So let’s get to why scaling is impossible while you’re being a halfwit.
It’s Easy To Be Too Busy
So, if you’re among the copywriting folk, you’ll know that we’re in a low competition, high demand industry. You’ll know that there are literally millions of opportunities out there and you’ve got the skills to hit them all.
This is true for the other folks that stray into this little online dominion too: You’re an affiliate marketer, ecommerce guy, digital marketing girl, etc…
The internet’s the new gold rush and we’re selling people on the idea of moving to California.
Side note: If you’re any of the above and you’re not finding this to be the case, you’re doing something wrong.
And with that comes procrastination and being overwhelmed in the form of having too much to do, think on and work on.
This morning, I thought of an unexplored niche in one of the big markets (relationships.) It’s one that the classic direct marketing approach would work on – you get the email, subscribe to a physical list, get that subscription money.
But do I want to do that?
I want the money, sure, but I should probably do something else.
And that’s the problem.
Then you add to the mix that we’ve got a million traffic avenues to master: FB ads, SEO, Twitter, Pinterest, Vlogging, etc.
And you think about how to put those hundreds of pieces together along with the hundred directions you could possibly point them in…
… and you have to rein yourself back in and remember what it’s all about.
Of course, when you’re in this maelstrom, scaling is impossible.
Three Ways To Prepare For Scaling
Scaling is impossible when things aren’t clearly defined. You can hire a programmer, get him to write you a script for posting to Tumblr every day… but what is that program doing for you?
Or you can hire a VA: But what are you hiring them for?
And then once you’ve figured that out, then it’s time to think about scaling. You’ll be able to do it now because you have the clear system in place.
Then you think about the three ways you can scale effectively…
Outsourcing
When people think of scale, they think of just dumping a load of money into advertising. This is a good way to lose a ton of money if you don’t have a smart operation on the backend.
But let’s say you have thought about this. The first thing after that when scaling is discussed is outsourcing.
The issue with outsourcing is that people assume they can talk to an equal who will have equal knowledge and equal passion for the business that they’ve started as they do.
In reality, you don’t get that. Nobody is as passionate about your business as you.
And they rarely have the abilities you want. You must train them.
And you have to sort this out before you scale. There’s no sense in hiring someone to run your customer support only to find that they are unable to do it and you have a weekend of customer service to look forward to.
But at some point, you will run out of time and you’ll want to hire in people who can do work that you can’t.
For instance, you can get to a decent level at FB advertising. But at a certain point, if you want to play the dabbler and content creator/physical business guru, then you’ll want to hire people who can concentrate all of their resources on getting better at that specific thing.
Automating
Automation is another way to scale, and I prefer it to outsourcing.
Again though, you need to set up your systems long before you scale. The problem with automation is that systems can go wrong, and they don’t fix course without your oversight.
You need to start with automating the most basic tasks first, and you need to think mechanically about the processes you take.
So, you can’t really automate the major creative stuff – copywriting, web design, brain stuff – you can build systems that’ll help you, sure, but there’s a massive cognitive element to those things.
So leave those until last.
But stuff like scheduling advertising and sorting emails can be done with free and cheap software a lot of the time.
And The Real One (Probably… Doing Less)
The best way to prepare yourself to scale is to get rid of the stuff you don’t need.
Let’s face it, and I’ll talk about myself here because I’m sure none of you fall into these traps, but hypothetically speaking…
- How much do you gain from social media?
- How many times do you check your income online?
- What time do you switch on the computer and what time do you leave it?
- At what point in your work day do you achieve the major goal, the needle mover and thing that’ll propel your business?
- Do you stick to your timelines?
When I started freelance writing, I was on top of everything. I managed time effectively, cut out everything I didn’t need and didn’t do any of it until I’d made headway.
And ultimately, I scaled from earning nothing, no reputation, no particular advantages and no marketing budget up to working with luxury real estate companies and writing seven figure campaigns.
With just an email address, Microsoft Word (after six months or so) and a ruthless dedication to get to the goal.
Now, not so much. Now I’m swamped with a bunch of stupid stuff that’s interesting but wastes my time and doesn’t get me where I need to be effectively.
And that’s why I can’t scale. Too diverse a set of stuff to think about, no clear path to scaling up.
Don’t fall into this trap.
Are You Doing Everything With No Rhyme Or Reason?
The big problem here is that it’s easy to fall into the trap of make-work stuff. You’re busy all the time but you’re not moving forward.
And whilst it’s a topic for another day on how to get over this, it’s important to point out that getting past this issue is a clear priority if you’re looking to scale your business.
So if this is you, then you must take heed.
If not, bear with me while I do.