This is probably the first time I’ve done a more in-depth year in review for our business and wow, SO HELPFUL. Here’s what we found, our takeaways, and what we’re focusing on moving forward.
WE SET OURSELVES UP:
One of the best things I did at the beginning of this year was begin tracking our numbers each month. The best part is I also took notes at the end of every month about what happened and how I was feeling emotionally. It gave me tremendous insight!! I found that the months when I was resistant to growth, comparing myself to others (therefore trying to be like them, not me), or focused on what I was doing wrong/missing…were our lowest income months.
On the flipside, when I embraced growth, got excited about what we were doing, and fully showed up without getting in my head (as much) about what others would think…we doubled our income and everything felt so much more in alignment.
WE’RE NARROWING OUR FOCUS:
When we sat down and mapped out where our income was coming from, we (unsurprisingly) found that the majority of it stemmed from branding, boudoir, and coaching.
However, our passive offers (courses, masterclasses, workshops, etc.) didn’t bring in very much at all. While that’s not always a bad thing, we realized that for us we want to narrow our focus a bit more going into 2022.
Next year we’ll primarily be focusing on branding & coaching, and Jo will continue to offer boudoir (see our new Insta page @boudoirwithjo)!
We won’t be focusing on creating any new online offers like courses or guides, however the ones we’ve already created will be available anytime via our website (you can shop all our current courses and more here)!
This will allow us to show up even better for our 1-on-1 clients without feeling stretched thin in the process! When the time is right and we’ve reached both capacity and more demand for passive offers, we’ll revisit. (Also, this gives Jo more time to write her book which will be VERY helpful).
HOW OUR CLIENTS FOUND US:
This was a super interesting find for us! For years we’ve known that Instagram is our highest lead source however when we looked more closely, we found that our most valuable leads come through our website (huge shout out to @rootingforyoustudio for setting it up for us) and our highest conversions come through our website, referrals, and via google.
So, while Instagram remains a key marketing source for brand awareness, we’ll be doing a full audit on our website to ensure everything is still accurate (including our SEO) and buckling down on referrals.
A BREAKDOWN OF OUR BUSINESS GROWTH THIS YEAR:
- We expanded our team: we hired Taylor to manage our content earlier this year and are so beyond grateful for her! Then we brought on a photo editor to edit client galleries, and finally Lyndon joined the team full-time in August as my co-coach, business consultant, and more.
- We did the inner work: Reflecting and digging into some of those mental blocks that popped up became even more important. As I began to look at next year there were a couple of things that popped up: Why am I resistant to paying off debt? Why do I feel like making a million dollars is out of reach? What do I need to release before I can receive? Brain dumping answers to all of those questions brought so much clarity and allowed us to let go of those mental blocks so that we can continue to grow and expand in ways that are beyond our imagination.
- We launched a YouTube channel: Lyndon + Jo. I love that we’ve started doing YouTube videos because it gives you an even better view of our personalities! We share content about our travels and behind the scenes of our photoshoots on the channel. It would mean so much if you check it out and subscribe if you enjoy the content.
BIGGEST LESSONS LEARNED:
- I cannot do it all: Expanding our team has been one of the greatest gifts in the world and also one of the biggest challenges as a leader. Learning how to delegate, explain things concisely, and let go of control is definitely a learning curve. We’re also in this unique transition where I can see where I want Jo & Co to go (my primary role is the visionary), and part of that is transitioning some of our language to “we” versus “I’. Obviously there are some exceptions (like this blog post), however its something that I’m learning and I’m SO GRATEFUL for our team!
- Your environment matters: As you may have seen, we moved away from Chicago about a month ago (our most recent home base) and we will be traveling full-time indefinitely. A big part of that is because living in the city wasn’t great for our mental health. While we loved the people we met, being in the city was bringing more stress than we wanted. We found that when we were in nature we felt so much more alive and carefree. This also applies to who you surround yourself with. There were some connections that we stepped away from this year because they were affecting us in a negative way. Knowing how your environment is affecting you and taking appropriate steps to remedy if needed can make a huge difference on the way you show up and feel.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US IN 2022:
I’m writing a book and I’ll be sharing more about the process with you on Insta!
Lyndon and I will be doing a weekly Instagram Live where we’ll answer your business questions, which we’re pretty excited about!! We’ll be kicking this off the first week of January.
We’ll be expanding our team even more.
Each Tuesday, we’ll be sending out an email to our list filled with resources and business insight we’ve been learning lately. You can sign up for the email list here.
We’re so grateful for all of our clients and those who have supported us this year, on every level. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Here’s to a new year of growth & expansion! Cheers!!
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