Got a business idea and looking to translate it into reality without outside investment? I have been you – twice, and so have many members of our Powerful Steps Community. When you bootstrap a business, technology will become your friend. It will save you time, energy and money when you nail the tech stack as you can’t build a team without a foundation, and you can’t build a brand without people.
So what should your first business investment be? Tech – and lots of it.
Technology has always been at the forefront of how we connect and secure business. When I created TORSTAR in my early twenties our first client was secured through technology. It was a fax that secured a supermodel and Australia’s largest retail brand. That fax sent a press release to secure that client win.
Fast track to today and you can build your brand and reputation through the power of connection with the right technology – all you need is a mobile phone, and the right apps to work from anywhere. That’s what we do with Powerful Steps, an online community empowering women in business to transform from overworked, burnt-out executives into powerful heart-led thought leaders. We buy back valuable time with apps and technology designed to power our business so that we have more time to live a life we love.
I’ve gone from having two executive assistants at one stage of my career to a calendar that is set up and automated based on the hours I want to work, which means people have access on my terms, preserving my energy rather than depleting it. This simple tech hack has enabled a transformation from burnt-out people pleaser to a happy leader, wife and mother who leads a life by design. It’s also placed valuable dollars back into our business to engage executive team members who understand the power of tech to help fuel our growth.
Your business will not get discovered or amplified without the power of Captain Google
When was the last time you googled yourself? What does it say about you? Your business? Your competition? If your name and brand do not come up on the first page of Google rankings you have a problem technology can fix. The best way to do this is to create a powerful profile on LinkedIn, as it has billions of people logging on every day, creating content, liking, engaging, and scourging for information. Your LinkedIn bio needs to be impactful as it drives your personal brand SEO on Google’s algorithms. Those first three sentences are the standout about who you are, your intent and purpose, and most importantly, what you’re capable of delivering. This also includes investing in having a photo at a brand shoot that showcases your true self and energy field for your profile shot or ad banner.
Make the effort to google images of you and see if you are happy with what you see. 9/10 people are not happy. It’s up to you to make sure the image of you on LinkedIn is a standout “look at me, this is me in my power-loving life” photo that shows the authentic, true you, which means that you have the right energy, look, feel, and representation of your brand to attract the right people and opportunities.
In your LinkedIn bio, you also want to reveal something about yourself that is not just professional and all the amazing things you’ve achieved—something that most people don’t know about you. So, for instance, when I was redoing my LinkedIn profile a few years ago, I worked with a copywriter who said, “Tory, what’s something that not many people know about you being in your forties?”
And I said, “I got married at forty-six.”
And she said, “And because of your success and survival story, this is obviously your second marriage.”
And I said, “Guess what? I did not marry the father of my daughter.” She said, “Get out of town. Everyone thinks that you did.”
I said, “No, I absolutely did not.”
I was a single mom in the purest sense. So, we wrote in my LinkedIn profile at the time that not only did Drew Barrymore empower me to end my PR career, but hey, I was a bride in my forties. Guess what happened? Other women, entrepreneurs, and hard-working leaders in corporate, who, like me, for so many years were focused on the career climb and not so much on their personal life, started reaching out to say, “Hey Tory, I read your LinkedIn bio and oh my gosh, how did you find love in your forties?” That fun fact about you is a conversation starter and will build your community and drive interest in who you are and what business you lead.
Without a database, you cannot nurture leads and you will not have a sales funnel
If you’re working from an Excel spreadsheet or a little black book of contacts on your mobile phone that is not enough. When bootstrapping a business I always recommend looking at what you do have rather than what you don’t have and let’s face it – CRM systems can be expensive to learn, manage and maintain. Linkedin makes it easy for you. The more you engage, the bigger the community of followers you build which acts as your personalized CRM system through the power of the Linkedin Newsletter feature. Use this and build your brand and position yourself as a thought leader in your chosen field. As you build this narrative you will build your community and your subscriber numbers will rise meaning more conversions if you use hyperlinks to drive readers to your website, product or services. Invest in becoming a Linkedin Premium member as you will see instant ROI as it also gives you access to host Linkedin lives and prioritizes your content in feed algorithms. If you already have a CRM system your aim should be to merge the two databases – Linkedin and the business CRM – there will be crossover and opportunity.
For any business to succeed it must blend technology with visibility. Consumers want not only an engaging experience from the brands that shape their world, but they also want a hand in creating that experience. Technology has given them that ability. In today’s fast-paced world, the stories that brands create are co-authored by the audiences that experience them.
You can learn more about the power of how our community and programs can help you by visiting our website www.powerful-steps.com.
Apps we recommend:
To buy back time and manage your calendar use Acuity or Calendly.
Create a powerful Ad banner on Linkedin with Canva
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