Jenny Shih

Success On Your Terms

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Ask Jenny Anything: November 2024 Q&A

It’s time for our next Q&A!

Today I’m covering finding perfect clients, testing business ideas, contending with AI-generated content, and so much more. 

Want me to answer your questions? Subscribe to my emails, and you’ll get the link to do so.

Now, let’s dive in. You asked …

I only have 10 hours/week to grow my business.

Q: I work full time and have 10 hours a week for my business. How do I market effectively, sign my first client, do non-sleazy DM outreach, and choose the right free gift to grow my email list?

You’re wise to consider the most effective ways to start building your business while working a full-time job.

The first thing I’d suggest is to review My Seven-step Plan for Growing a Successful Online Business. This will give you the overview of how I recommend folks start out selling their services, regardless of how much or how little time they have.

There, you’ll see a lot of useful links, including how to create an initial offer, how to market your services, and how to sign your first client. (I personally don’t recommend DM outreach, though I know it’s a strategy others teach.)

In terms of marketing, pick two or three strategies that feel manageable, and stay consistent with them. Steady, intentional action will help you gain momentum over time. Here are 21 ways to get clients.

For a more comprehensive, step-by-step guide, including exactly how to spend the 10 hours you have available to build your business, I recommend my course, Starting and Growing an Online, Service-Based Business to Six Figures and Beyond.

As far as list-building, here are a bunch of list-building resources to get you started:

I don’t know how to find my ideal client or grow my email list.

Q: I’m leaving my job soon to become an instructional design consultant. I want to help health and wellness professionals teach others but struggle with finding my ICA and growing an email list. What do you recommend I do?

It sounds like you’re stepping into something new and exciting. When defining your target customer, one thing that folks often worry about is getting it perfect from the get-go. In truth, that rarely happens. Start with the best guess you can make for now, then adjust as you work with clients, learn more about them, and learn more about yourself.

Here are some steps you can take to define or refine your niche.

Once you have a good-enough idea of who your target client is, the next step is to start investigating where they are online. There’s an exercise I’ve used with clients for years called “the circle exercise,” and it walks you through how to start figuring out how to reach your target clients online.

Once you have an idea of where they are, your next step is to start doing “client getting activities,” or things that get you in front of your target clients. Here are 21 ways to find clients. Choose a few approaches that you will commit to learning to do well and do consistently.

As far as list-building, refer to the previous question for list-building resources to support you.

How do I find an audience for an in-person service business?

Q: How can I start and market an in-person service business without formal training or much financial investment? How do I find my audience?

The good news is that formal training isn’t always essential, depending on the service you’re providing. What really matters is your ability to deliver results.

Getting started with services, especially when a dedicated office space isn’t required, has a very low financial barrier to entry. What’s required is an investment of time. Sure, you’ll want a website and business cards, but relatively speaking, those don’t have to be expensive, and you can do them yourself.

Make sure your website showcases your work, even if it’s personal projects. Share photos and testimonials, if you have them, highlighting what makes your approach unique. You don’t need to appeal to everyone—just the people who appreciate or value your style and expertise.

How do you find your audience? You start figuring out where they are and go to them. You look for complementary businesses to collaborate with. Look for local events, community groups, physical bulletin boards, and even online groups for your local area. Word-of-mouth referrals can go a long way.

At the beginning, it might feel like a lot of “throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.” This is normal. Trial and error is a big part of getting started, finding your people, and figuring out what works for you as a business owner. The key is to stick with it, keep experimenting, and keep looking.

Once you start seeing what works, consistency will help you grow. Lean into the approaches that feel relatively enjoyable and sustainable.

Although my expertise is in online, service-based businesses, a lot of the same ideas apply. The one distinction is that in cases where I suggest folks go to where their people are in the online space, you’ll go to where your people are in your local area. Other than that, the same approach works.

How do I get more consistent consults and client sign-ups?

Q: I’m experiencing inconsistency in my coaching consultations. I had 12 consults and 8 new clients in August, but only 3 consults and 2 new clients in September. I’ve learned to accept these fluctuations, but I’d appreciate any advice on how to create more consistency.

It sounds like you’ve noticed the ups and downs in client consultations, and you’re ready to create more consistency. One helpful approach is to adopt a scientist’s mindset—get curious, investigate, collect data to see what’s really going on, create a hypothesis, test it, see what happens, and repeat.

Start by tracking specifics in your marketing and consultation process. Record the marketing activities you’re doing, the time spent doing them, where new clients are coming from, and how they’re finding you. For each consultation, note the details about those who sign up to work with you and those who don’t. What commonalities do they have? Also note of how you feel during consults and while working with each client—your energy and engagement could reveal valuable insights.

As you gather data, form hypotheses and experiment with small adjustments. You may start to see patterns that point you toward strategies that work best for you and your clients. This process takes time, but as you keep investigating, evaluating, and adjusting, you’ll likely start to notice trends that you can rely on more consistently.

Over time, these efforts should help you focus more energy on what works best, allowing you to create more steady results.

I’ve lost my mojo. How do I get it back?

Q: I certified as a coach a couple of years ago and have tried various marketing strategies, but I haven’t gained any clients. I’m feeling exhausted and have lost my “mojo” for coaching. How do I get my mojo back? I’ve gone back to my WHY a few times and that helps sometimes but not long term. Any ideas? It’s also possible that I haven’t been as effective with my marketing due to lack of clarity in my message and if so, how do I improve that?

It sounds like you’ve been putting in a lot of effort, and it’s completely understandable to feel drained when you’re not seeing the results you’d hoped for. Losing momentum after trying multiple strategies is rough, especially when coaching is something you once felt passionate about.

As far as getting your mojo back, I wish I had a magic answer for you. It’s certainly something I’ve struggled with at multiple points in my business journey. So please know, this is completely normal.

Here are some things to consider:

You can look at what motivated you in the first place and see if that’s still something that is meaningful to you. Sometimes our reasons for wanting something are no longer relevant. That might change how you view your business and your goals.

My personal journey with Internal Family Systems has been incredibly useful at looking at the various parts of me that do and do not want certain things. It’s helped me investigate what’s driving my desires and driving my resistance then find a way to sort through the polarization.

Other folks find hiring a coach to be helpful.

Learning to find our way of working through difficult times is such a personal part of our journeys as business owners. Each business owner finds what works for them, and often the approach changes over time as they and their business changes.

As far as not being effective with marketing and lack of clarity in your message, that’s quite possible. Consider going back to the basics and starting with fresh eyes.

Here are some resources that can get you started:

How do I get coaching experience for my desired niche?

Q: I am training to become a certified coach. My ultimate goal is to be an executive coach, but until then, to get my coaching certification, I need 500 hours of coaching experience. How would you go about this, getting the necessary coaching experience hours? Should I choose an intermediary niche like business coaching since I have experience working with businesses as a certified accountant?

It sounds like you have a clear vision for who you want to serve as a coach. This is a great place to start coaching.

I imagine that with some executives at some companies in some situations, certification would be required, but I checked with a colleague, Mimi Bishop, who does executive coaching, and she confirmed this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are plenty of companies and executives who would be open to coaches who aren’t certified, as that’s not something everyone necessarily values or cares about.

Sure, you probably couldn’t go straight to a Fortune 500 company and offer to coach their CEO, but you certainly could start with managers and leaders in corporate companies or even small businesses. You’d be doing the same kind of coaching but for a leader at a different level. Maybe you’d call that s an intermediary niche, or maybe that’s you just doing the work you want to do at a level that you’re currently ready to serve. This will help you grow relevant skills, gain relevant experience, and work your way up the corporate ladder.

Business coaching sounds a bit tangental. As much as possible, I’d recommend coaching who and how you want to coach with the skills and experience you have today, or at least as close as possible.

AI-generated content has squashed my motivation.

Q: How do I engage authentically with people online in such an artificial world? I find myself demotivated with all of the AI-generated content out there.

I understand how it can feel disheartening to see lots of AI-generated content when you value authenticity and connection. The world is changing quickly, and it’s anyone’s guess where it’s all headed.

My suggestion is, if you want to engage authentically with people online, then engage authentically online. I know that might sound simplistic, but do what it is you want to do. The world is going to do what it’s going to do; you do what you want to do, too.

Even with AI content and artificiality, people still need and want connection with other people. So do that. Be that. AI is only going to be more pervasive. And still, people need and want people. They want and need real connection. Human nervous systems can’t regulate the same with bots like they can with other humans, even digitally. The need for connection isn’t going to go away (that I can imagine, anyway), so you keep offering that connection and authenticity that you value.

How do I better focus my marketing message and get recurring clients?

Q: I would like to know how I can focus my marketing message to attract entrepreneurs who are tired of fighting and pushing and who want a business aligned with their being.

And what is the best strategy to attract recurring clients? I haven’t been very active on social media. I don’t like Instagram much; I prefer writing on Facebook. My last blog post was in January 2021, and all my clients have come through referrals.

As far as focusing your marketing message on the clients you want to attract, notice the words they use versus the words you use. Hands down, this is the most important part of getting the right marketing message. This post on “the Jargon trap” is a great place to get started. 

In terms of the best strategy to attract recurring clients, it really is whatever marketing approaches you’ll do consistently. It’s not about exactly what you choose but about how well and how often you do it.

If clients have consistently come through referrals, then ask yourself what you can do to “turn up that dial.” Get curious about how those referrals actually came to be, who referred you, what prompted the referral, etc. Consider how you can nurture those referral sources, request those specific kinds of referrals, or encourage more through direct or indirect actions. Getting curious about how it has played out and how you can create more could be a key for you.

How do I test a business idea to see if it has traction?

Q: I would like to start a side hustle. What do you recommend to test your idea to see if it has traction before going all in?

That sounds exciting, starting something new. I’m not the person to advise you on testing an idea to see if it has traction. That’s definitely one approach you can take, and there are folks who teach it, and I’m positive you can find courses online that cover it. (I think Ramit Sethi has one, but I have zero experience with it.)

My approach has always been to follow what lights you up, because that “lit up” feeling is the one that can often keep you going even when things get tricky. Not all ideas that light you up will have traction, but it’s through the process of getting curious, experimenting, testing, trying, and serving and learning that you figure out where your excitement and potential clients’ needs meet. That’s how I advise folks to get started.

How do I find what I was made for?

Q: Find my passion after trying “all the things” for 8 yrs, what I was made for.

I wish I could help you, but helping folks find their passion isn’t my passion—or my skillset. There are lots of coaches out there who can help you with this.

My personal favorite is Bev Barnes and her Soul’s Calling Academy. She’s helped me at various points in my journey and has supported entrepreneurs for nearly 2 decades, maybe more. She has a gift for helping folks figure out what they’re made for.

That’s a wrap!

That covers today’s Q&A.

Have a question about any of what I covered? Post in the comments below, and I’ll personally respond.

Want to read previous Q&As? Here’s my first Q&A post in August 202. Here’s October 2024 Q&A.

Want to ask me a question of your own? Subscribe to my emails, and you’ll get the link to submit your own.

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