With Q4 and the new year right around the corner, it's time to Lean Out and optimize your offers - i.e. your products, programs, services, etc.
The Fall is a great time to take a close look at all of the offers you have in your business as well as do a general validation of everything you have "active" - from opt-in offers, to links and forms on your website, to social media bios and content.
It gives you the opportunity to do some clean up so you are ready to start the new year off right - further claiming your niche and upleveling your business and brand positioning.
It also gives you the opportunity to leverage the holiday season and end of the current year to move product/services and increase revenue and profitability.
This is a 2-part series. Part 1 focused on your offers and auditing your business. Explore part 2 for how to take your offers and leverage strategies for holiday promotions that work well for service based businesses that.
What you should be thinking about NOW to set yourself up for a successful start to the new year
Let's start with your offers.
Just as I recommend you leverage CHuCK to evaluate the activities you do in your business, you should also leverage it to evaluate your offers. CHuCK stands for (C) CUT, (H) HOLD, (C) CHANGE, or (K) KEEP.
When you look at your offers, you will want to consider:
- ROI: Are you seeing a good enough return on the financial, time, or mental energy investment from your offer? Are your clients getting the value they expect from it?
- ALIGNMENT: Is the offer still in alignment with your next-level vision and the specific goals you are focusing on in the new year? Is it serving your IDEAL target market?
- FULFILLMENT: Is it something you still enjoy doing, or are you starting to dread it like your corporate friends dread Monday mornings?
- INVESTMENT: Is it something that will "pay off" and benefit your business in the future - i.e. is this offer paving the way for a next level offer?
Here is what you will likely discover:
- Aligned Offers:
- Some of your offers will be in alignment, provide value, and be fulfilling.
- Those are keepers, however it is always good to look at how you can optimize them which can include potentially increasing the pricing.
- Misaligned Offers:
- Some of your offers will no longer be in alignment.
- They may serve a target market that is different than who you want to work with in your next level, or they don't generate a good enough ROI, or you have lost your fulfillment in offering them.
- The right answer is typically to cut these offers. By evaluating them NOW, that gives you the time to phase them out before the end of the year and create space for something new, or to amplify your existing offers that are in alignment.
- In some cases, the right answer is to keep but change them so they provide more value, profit and fulfillment. Again, by evaluating this NOW, it gives you the opportunity to make the changes before the end of the year.
When it comes to your offers, less is more. Your goal should not be to have a lot of different offers for a lot of different people.
You want a few highly targeted, well-performing, offers that make it clear what you do and who you serve.
If that's not the case, you may want to cut some of your offers, even if they are working. It is always better to lean out. It may not seem like it, but your customers will thank you (and so will your bank account).
Fall is also a great time to audit your business
Next, let's look at everything you have 'active'.
I recommend you do what is basically an audit twice per year, typically in the Spring (spring cleaning) and Fall (fall lean out).
You will want to look at your online presence with fresh eyes.
- Open your website in an incognito window, click on all the links, sign up for your freebie, ensure everything works. Go through every piece of your site and ensure it is both functional and aligned with your next level.
- Check the emails you receive and validate they are still communicating what you want communicated, links are working, etc.
- Then look beyond your website at social media and anywhere else you have a brand presence and do the same.
- Look at your sales funnels and your paid ads and confirm they are still working as expected, driving the desired result, and targeting the right things and the right people.
This is your opportunity to make sure you are positioning your brand and your offers for your next level and to clean up and change up anything that isn't in alignment, plus to fix anything that's broken.
I always recommend everyone commits to at least 1 hour of optimization activities per week. This audit exercise usually generates a healthy backlog of optimization opportunities.
A few other optimization opportunities I recommend you do each fall include:
- Dive into your analytics and look at what's working - what are your top sources of traffic, what are your best performing blog posts, etc.
- Then look for ways to further optimize what is working; for example:
- Take your top 5 blog posts that receive the most traffic and add in a free download / content upgrade that someone has to opt-in for so you are growing your list; and look for patterns and create new posts that have the same characteristics
- If podcasts drive a lot of traffic to your site, look at how you can get on more podcasts, or have a special landing page with an opt-in that would be of high value for those who find you from a podcast interview
Your goal with both activities is to identify and optimize what's working and lean out and cut what isn't.
Explore part 2 of this series for how to take your offers and leverage strategies for holiday promotions that work well for service based businesses that don't involve discounting.
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
