3 Must-Haves for a Mission-Driven, Magnetic and Money-Making Business

Marketing TipsBusiness Tips and Tools

Sep 30

Written By brandmerry

3 Must-Haves for a Mission-Driven, Magnetic and Money-Making Business

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

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Inside of this episode, we're going to talk about what every successful entrepreneur has to start with in order to create major momentum in their business.

We're going to talk about how to cultivate expansion, AKA scalable growth in your business so you don't plateau.

We're going to talk about the single piece most entrepreneurs miss that's keeping them from attracting their soul clients, and the exact three pieces needed to create a business that's set up for success from the start and continues to support you in your dream life of freedom.

As you know, this is such a driver for me and has always been the motivation behind my business, the motivation to support women specifically in creating these freedom-based businesses that allow them to experience whatever freedom looks like for them.

Whether that's traveling the world as a digital nomad…
...being able to pay off their bills
...retiring their husband
...being able to send their kid to the best school there is,
...to just being able to go to happy hour every single week because you freaking want to.

Whatever freedom looks like for you, that's always been the mission.

And I really believe that when we start our own businesses, whether we're doing them full-time or part-time or side hustle or whatever that looks like, we are giving ourselves such an opportunity for expansion and growth, and we're giving ourselves an opportunity to really evolve.

And from that, from the extra income, let's just call it what it is, we're able to do really cool shit.

So this post is all about that.

We're going to talk about those three must-haves that I have used in my own business, that I teach all of my clients in order to create a mission-driven, magnetic, and money-making business.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BRAND MISSION AND BRAND PURPOSE

The number one must-have that you need to have solid in your business in order for this entire thing to work is a clear understanding of your brand mission and your purpose.

Often we hear a lot about the idea of why or the power of why. Maybe you've completed a workbook or a free guide or attended a training where they've told you to get in touch with your why.

I want to go a step further because, in my own journey, I quickly realized that the why that I was coming up with wasn't enough.

When things started to get a little rough there in the beginning and I started to really question if I wanted to keep doing this, I had to dig deeper. Because the why that I was providing myself, the why that I had come up with was really surface level.

It was all about being able to travel full time, which is pretty cool, let me just say.

It was about being home with my son. It was about having money to shop at Whole Foods. But when things started to get difficult in running my business, that why was really easy to dismiss.

It was really easy to be like, "Oh, that's okay. We don't need that right now. Oh, that's okay, I'll go get this job. And that'll allow us to do that."

What I needed to get in touch with was my purpose. Your purpose is a step further. And this is why I love the work that Simon Sinek does because he talks about going further than the why, the purpose.

Why are you doing what you're doing?
What is the true purpose behind your brand and your business?

Now I want to take a second and look at the nonprofit sector. I grew up in the nonprofit world, volunteering, doing community service every freaking weekend.

My family actually owns our own nonprofit that we started when I lost my brother to childhood cancer. And I worked professionally in the nonprofit sector for years.

One of the reasons that I'm so driven to that industry, and I bet you are as well, is because everything is surrounded around their mission. The very first thing that you have to do when you are creating a nonprofit or filling out a grant is tell them your mission.

This is what builds community around an organization. This is what allows them to effectively communicate what they do with their community.

So I want to know what is the mission of your business?

Have you taken the time to identify what you're actually doing?

What is the purpose of your business? Not just what you provide, not just the services that you have, not just the transformation that you want to provide your clients, but the mission, the heart of the brand, and the business.

This is what will keep you going.

This is what will sustain you because running a business, it's not all butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns.

I know it's easy to think that because everyone's showing you the bright, shiny stuff in the online space, but it's going to take hard work, and it's going to take that word that I personally love, which is hustle.

I think hustle is a really, really strong word.
It means you're in it to win it.
You're in it for the long run.
You know your purpose.
You're going to put in the time and the energy because you are clear on the outcome.

Hustle ain't bad and you're going to need it.

The only thing that is going to keep you going is a connection and grounding to your purpose and your mission.

So I want you to get clear on that before you do anything else moving forward. In a recent podcast episode, I shared more about building your brand mission.

I have two questions I want you to ask yourself over the next 24 hours.

The number one thing I want you to ask yourself is, "What impact do I want to have? What impact do I want to have in this world?"

The second thing I want you to ask yourself is something that I realized shortly after losing my brother to childhood cancer. And that was, "What do I want to be remembered for?" When I answered this question, my entire life changed and as a result, my business was born.

So I want you to think about that. At the end of it all, what do you want to be remembered for?

You'll start to discover that this is a lot deeper than, "I want to shop at Whole Foods." Or, "I want to buy that new car." Or, "I want to pay off my student loan."

This is the stuff that gets your community to come to you.
This is the stuff that gets people to trust you because they're so connected with your mission and your message.

So ask yourself, brainstorm, do a little work on those two questions.

Just to remind you of my own mission, it is to empower women, to uncover and own their story, and share it with true authenticity through their profitable business.

Every single thing that I create centers around this mission. Every program that I put out there connects to story.

My brand, what you see on my website, my social media platforms, all connects to story.

I have a clear linear connection through everything that I create and as a result, no matter what happens, I keep going. And that's where that resilient mindset comes in.

CULTIVATE EXPANSION IN YOUR BUSINESS

Number two is all about cultivating expansion in your brand and your business. Now the key to cultivating expansion, the key to any successful online business is the power of creativity.

I don't know about you, but the desire to create keeps me going all the time. It is the reason that I actually wanted to start this business in the first place.

I love creating new content.
I love posting pictures on Instagram, recording videos, writing emails, writing blog posts, collaborating, and having conversations with people.

The idea of creativity and the power of me actually creating content lights me up.

And that is the thing. You've got to be inspired if you want to inspire other people.

Content creates community and a community is so, so important because it is where the money comes from. That's where your clients are. If you weren't focused on creating content at the very beginning of your business, I'm talking like day freaking one, you are missing out on some crucial time when you can be creating brand awareness.

Having this content allows you to build community. It allows you to pull people in, to serve them, to provide your story, to tap into their story, to provide tips and tools, and transformation that allows them to trust you.

When you can get your audience to trust you, through the power of content, through the power of you showing up, that's when you create a community of true fans, rather than just followers.

Once you have your mission established, you are light years ahead of a lot of people in this industry who are focused on the wrong things when they start out.

Because of that, you should feel really inspired to show up and share that mission with your audience. That is key. Content comes from tapping into where you are now.

So I have three questions that I want you to write down on a piece of paper and start brainstorming these different things. I promise you you are going to have exactly what you need to show up for your audience right now.

Number one, what inspires you?

Gosh, it seems so simple, doesn't it? But we forget all the time.

What do we actually like to do? And I’ve got a little secret for you. You're starting your own business, or you have your own business, you're scaling your own business, you're the CEO of your own business. You get to show up and talk about things and create content around things that you actually enjoy.

You don't have to work for someone else anymore.
You don't have to create content for someone else anymore.
You get to show up as you.

So let's start with that. What actually inspires you? What do you love talking about?

Now, let's take it a step further with question two.
What could you talk about for hours with your friends?

Remember, we're setting out in the online space to create a community of fans.

Your community is your friends. I can't tell you how many members of my community and my clients that I am friends with, that I enjoy talking to and hearing about their life. So why would you show up and talk to your community about something different than you would maybe talk to a close friend about?

Now, I understand some of us have friends who have no idea what we do. I love my friends forever and ever, and they're trying to understand day after day and they're getting awesome.

However, I get there's a little bit of a disconnect. But let's just imagine that you were talking to a very best friend who understood what you do and what you're building a business around. What could you talk about them with for hours? Write that down.

And the third thing I want you to uncover is what do these friends and family members come to you for advice on?

It's already happening around you and you're maybe not paying attention to it, but the second you start paying attention to it, you're going to be like, "Oh, wow.”

I started to realize that people were coming to me to talk about public speaking. Those people were coming to me to ask questions about showing up on video. People were coming to ask questions about communication and social media.

And that's where I started my business. That's what I taught in the beginning. That's what I would show up and share content around. So start looking at what your friends and family are already giving you ideas around.

The key to consistent creativity and therefore consistent content comes from where you are right now. When we start reaching for an unattainable, meaning like what is Susie doing on the internet, what is Susie talking about, and we start talking about that too, there's going to be a disconnect.

When there's a disconnect, we aren't feeling creative and we aren't feeling inspired.

And when we aren't feeling inspired, you guessed it: we can't inspire our audience.

When you tap into your knowledge and your inspiration, expansion is inevitable. When you are constantly coming from a place of inspiration and you are sharing that with your audience, that can be in the form of, your story, valuable posts, tips, tools, tapping into their story, understanding where they are.

These are the key pieces of really strong content. There's no right or wrong way to create content, my friends. I know it's really easy to fall into the idea that there is a template for everything. And there are some really cool tricks, but really just starting and doing the work now and testing and tweaking and figuring it out as you go is how you create authentic content that resonates with your audience.

And that will allow your brand to continue to grow and expand.

If you want to see how I plan 90 days of content ideas, check out this video here.

BUILD AN ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR YOUR BRAND

Community is necessary. I repeat you can not build a business, a profitable business without a community.

How do you expect to sell things if you have no one to sell them to?

At the end of the day, I am telling you, those high-level entrepreneurs that you see making six figures, seven figures, and beyond in their business, have a community of people who are interested, intrigued, and magnetized by their message.

And because of that community, they are able to consistently sell and hit their goals in their business.

Now, I see this all the time in the online space and it breaks my freaking heart because I did it too. I created a program, I created a course, I created the website and I put it out there and nobody came.

Maybe you've had this happen in your own story as well where you created a course or a program and you promoted it and you did all of the things that you were told to do, and you didn't hit your goals.

And it comes back to not having people to actually sell that to.

So when entrepreneurs come to me, they're really stressed out about this, they're feeling discouraged, they don't really want to do it anymore and we always look at the community.

Who's there, and how are you showing up for them?

At the end of the day, I cannot stress enough that community really, really matters. And you need a community of soul clients. Soul clients are those people who are invested and interested and believe in you, your mission, and what you are building.

One of my favorite quotes that I have ever heard that has shaped my entire business is from Zig Ziglar. And it says, "If people like you, they'll listen. If they trust you, they'll do business with you."

Trust comes from creating a community of people who are interested in what you have to say, and for you showing up with content to build that trust for them.

To make them understand that you are there to support them through their transformation, that you are the missing piece or the key that's going to help them to get from where they are to where they ultimately want to be. So not just creating a community, but creating that community of people who are genuinely interested.

Now, a community can be formed anywhere you want. It can be in person, it can be done on Instagram, Facebook, you could create a community on Pinterest, LinkedIn, it doesn't matter.

But what I really encourage you to do is go a step further and create an online community via your email list. Now, at the end of the day, we don't own Facebook or any of those other cool platforms.

What I'm saying to you is that it's easy to hit like. It's a little harder to say, "Yes, I want to hear from you so I'm going to provide you with my email address."

This extra step allows you to prime your community and pulls in those people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. You might be sitting there thinking to yourself, "I don't have a community or maybe I have a really small community and I'm not sure how to grow it."

I'm going to share with you the simplest way to get started.

START BUILDING YOUR EMAIL LIST

Step One: Ask yourself where your audience hangs out online.

This should be where you're hanging out online. If you are hanging out in Facebook groups and your audience isn't on Facebook groups, then your content's probably going to fall flat and you're not going to get engagement. So be where your audience is, that's number one.

Step Two: What does your audience need right now?

Now go create that. Seriously. What do they need right now?

Go write it down, create something really quickly and put it out there online. Give it to them as a gift. Now here's the key: in order to access that gift, they must give you their email address. This is how it all starts. This is the baby step of building a list. Yeah, there are a ton of cool things that you can do with list building.

I geek out about them on the regular, but I just want you to get started. If you've already started creating lead magnets and building your community, but you're not seeing the numbers, then I want you to ask yourself again, "What does my audience need right now?" Create that and start pulling in your soul clients.

Build a strong community over time.

You're not going to wake up tomorrow to 500 subscribers, so don't come and say, "Michelle, I did your freebie and it didn't work." It's working. Depends a lot on you and a lot on your consistency.

But when you are doing this, when you are focused on consistently showing up and building this community, it is the number one way to profitability.

Let me remind you: you cannot sell if you have no one to sell to. So focus on building community and the sales will come.

From the beginning I started to get people onto my list and I just continued to show up for them.

With just 10 people, I signed my first high level client.

And with less than 100 people, I hit 15K cash in my business.

So I'm telling you, this is where it lives. This is where profitability, strong brand, a strong business, and success lives. It lives in your community.

CONCLUSION

This is the foundation or three pillars of a sustainable business and the foundation of what we teach inside of Roadmap to Freedom.

This 90-day group program opens once a year in October and doors are opening soon.

You’re ready to be your own boss, leave your 9 to 5 or side hustle and go all-in on your business

You’ve got dreams to travel the world and don’t want to compromise your love of travel for your career.

You’ve got BIG money dreams and you know that by stepping into the abundance of cash and experiences you can make a difference in the life of your family and the world!

You want to show up fully for your family, while still pursuing your mission-driven work.

You know you can impact thousands of people with your voice and story, you just need the platform!

You want the freedom to use your time and finances in whatever way you freaking please, without feeling restricted by how much you can earn.

You can no longer deny the fire inside to be more and do more in the world.

Then I encourage you to learn more about R2F and join the waitlist.

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com