Thinking about starting an online business as a digital entrepreneur?
Or maybe you started your online business but can’t seem to grow your followers, reach your revenue goal or make any money online, for that matter!
I completely GET IT! I have been there, too!
As a new digital entrepreneur myself, I made plenty of mistakes when I started that stopped me from reaching more people on social media and making money online.
However after doing these 5 things, I now make a full-time income through my Instagram and digital business.
Here are the top 5 mistakes digital entrepreneurs make when they start out and how to avoid them:
Digital Entrepreneurship Mistake One: You are NOT niche enough
I know, niching is possibly the hardest thing to do as a digital entrepreneur, however it is necessary to succeed in the online world.
Let’s break it down.
A niche is an area of focus or segment of the market that your product or service occupies.
Initially, you might be thinking “I do not want to focus on one thing, I’m good at multiple things and I don’t want to limit myself”
Trust me, you are not limiting anything but your income by not picking an area of expertise for your digital business.
There is a good reason we pay specialists more.
How to pick a good niche?
- Pick something you enjoy doing and can do for a long time (your zone of genius)
- Choose something that the market needs and is missing
- Select something you can continue to monetize and expand on
When I made the decision to shift and start to focus on social media branding for online business owners, these things happened in my business:
- I saw an increase in my income
- The number of clients I was retaining was also increasing because clients were able to refer me out for a specific service
- The type of people I attracted to my business was much more aligned with me
So by niching down I am now seen as an expert in my field.
Digital Entrepreneurship Mistake Two: Researching ways to procrastinate
Do you find yourself downloading and signing up for freebie after freebie “to learn more”?
Do you feel you need to research “one more thing” before you launch your brand?
But all that time spent researching could have been spent doing the damn thing!
I truly wish that I didn’t waste as much time researching as I did in the beginning.
A much more productive use of our time would be to start putting in the work to create more valuable content that will help build traction and increase our visibility online.
Instead, we are so stuck in our own heads, waiting for the perfect time to create perfect content so that we can seem to be perfect and all knowing….
But watch out because that is our EGO!
Your ego is stopping you from reaching your greatness and full potential. It’s constantly telling you that you aren’t ready enough or not good enough.
How can you crush this ego?
You can start by shifting your focus from yourself onto the people you can help and serve through your expertise, experience, and knowledge as a digital entrepreneur.
Spend some time in reflection, and then ACT ON IT!
Digital Entrepreneurship Mistake Three: Not knowing who you are serving
AKA your target audience!
For some time I was struggling with defining who my target audience was. Like you, I thought I wanted to work, talk, and engage with anyone and everyone.
But you can’t be talking to everyone because not everyone is your type, sort of like dating.
You need to really hone in on your ideal client, audience, or customer and create a specific message just for them.
How can you start defining your target audience?
- First think about who you would enjoy serving with your business.
- Then think who needs this service.
- Lately define these things:
- what are their values
- what is their background
- what do they like
- what do they dislike.
Then you open up a Google document and brain dump everything about this ideal audience.
Get all your thoughts out and then go back and make some changes once you have a better understanding of who and what you want to attract.
Once you have this step completed make sure you are creating content that is directly talking to this ONE person.
Remember, you are NOT talking to everyone.
No one will find you that way, not everyone is your person. Now go out and find your ONE.
Digital Entrepreneurship Mistake Four: Not investing in your business early enough
A major mindset shift I had to consciously work through when I started my online business was—to start investing in my business before I felt ready to!
I know a lot of people think investing means hiring people onto your team or business, and for some it does.
But, I am talking about investing in terms of putting in the time, passion, self-work, and skills that your business deserves to GROW.
From experience, I can tell you that the return on investment is HUGE!
I was able to two times my income all because I invested into a business coach.
This is the biggest mindset shift you need to understand.
When you invest in your business, you are NOT spending money you are investing, which means that you will be getting a return on that investment. PERIOD.
My advice is to really invest in your business in whatever capacity this means to you.
And make sure to do this BEFORE you are ready because you will never feel ready, you will always feel like you never have the money.
So invest now.
Digital Entrepreneurship Mistake Five: Defining your WHY
To do that you can begin by asking yourself the following:
Why did I start my business?
Why am I running a business?
Why am I posting on social media?
Why do I want to do this?
Why am I spending my time sitting here reading this blog post?
Why am I a digital entrepreneur?
There has to be a good reason why you decided to start a business in the first place.
Because if not then you will soon be finding yourself feeling burnt out and your marketing efforts had no purpose.
You might eventually start feeling sad because your content isn’t reaching enough people, not many followers are engaging with you on social media, you aren’t hitting the number of calls or bookings you had hoped for.
All this can be easily avoided when you know and define your why!
You must realize you are helping someone, but this realization only occurs when you know you are speaking and connecting to a specific person.
When your ideal client receives your purpose-driven message you begin changing their lives.
Livin Vivaciously wasn’t changing lives until now.
Today, I get a lot of messages from followers and my clients telling me how I’ve inspired them to take steps towards building their dream lives and brand.
These messages are what keeps me going. I know I am changing lives, even if it’s a single person through a single blog post.
I know why I am running Livin Vivaciously, do you know why you are running your business?
Now that you know all the mistakes I made early on in my business, you will hopefully be able to take away lessons from them towards success in your online business.
What big mindset shifts do you think you need to make to get to that next level of your business?
If you’re an entrepreneur ready to bring your big brand vision to life, the Social Media Branding Package may be just what you need. This is a one-stop shop service for building a cohesive, stand-out brand AND content strategy that work hand in hand.
If a brand refresh could bring your brand back to life, these customizable branded Canva templates to make content creation a breeze!
If you want to find your authentic brand strategy, check out this brand strategy quiz I created to help you understand how to show up in your business in alignment with your unique energy, personality & Human Design.
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