Hey Mosaic Soul!

Today I wanted to help you gain clarity on the 5 simple steps to finally launch your online business. I remember when I was first getting started online and I was in a complete frenzy, full of 80 million and one ideas, excitement for launching something, not knowing what to start with first, and just a brain full of scatter and confusion. I just started with something and at that time I started with health coaching.

I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and started working on my health coaching certification, because at the time I was a complete health nut and just loved sharing my journey with others and helping them get healthy. One of the mistakes that I made that I want to help you avoid was that I just launched something with no clear vision of what I wanted for my business and how I was going to get there.

And I don’t want you to go through that, so after gaining massive clarity and working in my own business as a brand strategist and business coach I’ve had some time and experience to really help me get to a place of service, fun, and excitement in my business. And I wanted to share with you how I did it, and how I help clients do it as well.

So here are the 5 simple steps you can take to finally launch your online business.

STEP ONE: Clarify your vision.

So what do I mean by that? The first step before you launch anything is to really know what you want in your life and business and why you want that. So let’s say for instance you want to be a freelance event coordinator for small businesses and corporations. Before you go off and start doing all this stuff to “make it happen”, ask yourself these questions:

• What do I really really want? For my life? For my business at this time in my life?
• Why do I want to do this?
• What will it bring for me?
• How will it make me feel day to day?
• What kind of lifestyle will this support for me?
• Is it in alignment for my life and business goals for the next 6-12 months?

These questions should help you gain clarity on your “why” as I like to call it. Because when you don’t know why you want to do something you may find yourself doing something for the wrong reasons like purely for money, or to please other people, or because you can’t see how what you really want to do can work. So it’s very important to clarify what you want first because this allows you to move forward with a clear plan and confidence.

STEP TWO: Know what you do and what you are selling.

Now this may seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how many Mosaic Souls don’t have this step clear. Often times because they have millions of ideas like I did, so I totally get it! But the reason this step is so crucial is because you can’t achieve your vision (what you clarified in step one) without knowing what type of business you’re in, what you actually do for people, and what you actually sell. So whether that’s a product (physical or digital) or a service (one-on-one or group), you need to know what business you’re in. One of my specialties is helping Mosaic Souls get really clear on their “what” so that the next few steps flow like water – with effortless ease.

I find this to be the most difficult step for Mosaic Souls because of your big heart and your many passions you find it hard to answer the infamous questions “so what do you do?” with confidence and direct clarity. So before you launch anything clarify your “what” so that you can confidently and clearly state what you do for people and what business you are actually in.

So like in the example above of a person wanting to be a freelance event coordinator for small businesses and corporations, they would actually be in the services based business model and be selling one-on-one services or group services to help business owners create smashing events. Now this can incorporate many passions, talents, and skills like designing the promotional materials for the events, or being the MC for the events, or even offering photography or other creative services for the event, but at the end of the day none of those would be your “what” in the eyes of your customers. Your customers would see you as an event coordinator and for the health of your business that is they way you’d want them to see you ;).

STEP THREE: Know who you serve.

I know so many newbie entrepreneurs who gloss over this step and it’s why some businesses come and go in the blink of an eye. If you don’t know who you specifically serve with your products and/or services you won’t be able to connect who you are with what they are happy to pay you for. Now take this example: As portrait photographer, Mary can shoot almost anything. But time and experience has shown her that she doesn’t like to shoot everyone, and what she most enjoys is shooting newborns and toddlers.

So Mary is not going to target actors or business professionals, she is going to target new moms and new families just getting started or parents with small children. What’s even more key is that Mary likes to be more candid with her photography so she’s not really into the whole “posed” look for her portraits. She likes natural and beautiful candid shots of the babies with their moms or the toddlers playing around and doing their own thing. So she knows she doesn’t want to target people who are looking for a stark posed type of photography, and that she’d rather target those who appreciate her style and tastes.

Now you see how I helped to narrow down Mary’s niche and target audience? When you get really clear on what you love to do, what you are really skilled at doing, and who you would really love to work with then you’ve got super clear clarity on who you actually serve with your business.

STEP FOUR: Be very clear on how you do what you do.

This step is all about logistics it’s about knowing the ways that you deliver your product or service. If you’re an infopreneur then maybe you’ve created DIY informational products that you’ve created for people to purchase through your website. If you’re a service professional it’s about knowing your packaging and pricing and how you actually will deliver your client’s desired end results. If you are a physical product based business it’s about delivering a great shopping experience for your customer so they know who you are, what they are buying, and why they are buying what you sell; which has to do with your “business why”.

For a service based business consider these questions to get you started:

• What container do you offer your services in? A 1 month package? A 3 month package? A 1 day VIP experience? Something else?What end results do you help deliver through your packages?
• How do you logistically deliver your services? In person? Over the phone? Online?
• Do you offer supplemental materials like workbooks, pdf’s, video trainings, etc…?
• What is your enrollment process?
• What is your good-bye process?

For a product based business consider these questions to get you started:

• Are you a completely 100% online business or do you attract locals for your business as well?
• Does your shop exist in person or does it also have an online component.
• Do you hand-make your items one-by-one or do you go through another manufacturer?
• Do you ship packages yourself or do you have an outsourced solution?
• Do you have guarantees, shop policies, FAQ’s, and return/exchange policies in place?

For an infopreneur based business consider these questions to get you started:

• Do you sell DIY courses or downloadable resources like workbooks or guidebooks?
• What results do your courses or downloadable resources provide?
• How is your product delivered? Online? In person? Through live mediums or recorded mediums like webinars?
• What type of support do you offer your customers who purchase your products? A free support group? Office hours? Unlimited email access?
• Do you offer any bonuses? If so what are they?
• What are your guarantees or refund policies?

So those questions should really get you headed in the right direction for knowing your “how” Mosaic Soul!

STEP FIVE: Know where you will market your business and when you will launch.

This step puts all that other work into action! This is all about launching baby, and utilizing the right avenues for your business to help you become visible to your right customers and/or clients. Now there are many pieces to this puzzle but the core ones to consider are:

• Where do you want to market your business? Online? Offline?
• How do you want to market your business? Social Media? Paid Advertising? Guest Posting? Partnerships
• When will you launch? What’s your timeframe or deadline?
• How will you launch? With a website full of valuable blog posts to your target audience? A free challenge? A webinar? A video series or teleseminar? A live event?
• What will you do to keep the momentum going after your launch?

Now those questions should definitely help to consider all the moving parts to launching and marketing your business. Too often Mosaic Souls start without a plan, and because of their multidimensional nature they will sometimes get scattered and burned out before they actually see any results. So don’t let that be you! Have a plan. Have fun with your plan. And ultimately have fun with your life and business because really and truly it’s all a playground and a game of the soul.

So there you have it Mosaic Soul! The 5 simple steps to finally launching your online business. Now if you’re like me or some of my other clients then you’ll actually want some one-on-one help with this. So if that’s the case then book a complimentary breakthrough call here.

In these sessions I walk you through this process in a one-on-one 1 month incubator and help you to finally go from scattered and confused to clear and confidently launching your online business. If you know that you have a gift to share with the world and those around you, but you just feel overwhelmed with all the many pieces and want some help getting started then definitely book a call here.

Now it’s your turn! Which of these steps do you need the most clarity on for your own business!

Share in the comments below!