If you’re thinking about starting an online business, or you’ve already started one and are looking for some help on how to grow it to reach your income goals, this blog is for you. I’m going to be talking about some of the things that I did to grow my online business to a 6-figure business in just over a year – and these are things that you can implement too!

Want to watch the YouTube video instead? Here it is!

Why I started an online business

When I started up my online business, I had absolutely NO intention of making 6-figures, in fact it started as a side hustle. I was actually teaching English to Vietnamese kids in HCMC at the time. But teaching really wasn’t my passion and I really wanted to find other ways to top up my income and be able to travel whilst I was earning.

This inspired me to do some research and take a look at how I could earn some money online. I found a whole community of online business owners who were offering services such as Social Media Management, Digital Marketing support, Graphic design and content creation.

I have a degree in Marketing – so instantly I knew that I had some great knowledge and skills to put to good use in the online world. I started up my IG page and immediately started offering up my skills as a social media manager / marketing va

Fast forward to now and I’ve helped over 100 women grow and scale their business with the power of organic and authentic marketing strategies and I’m consistently hitting £10k months in revenue and grown to a team of 6!

Let me talk you through some of the things that have helped me grow my business to 6-figures and I hope it helps you get there too!

Create products and services that YOU love and your audience love

Since starting my business, I’ve offered many different products and services. These have included:

• Done-for-you services
• strategy intensives
• 1:1 coaching
• Group coaching
• Courses
• Bundles

Not every single product or service has worked out: either because I didn’t enjoy doing them, or they didn’t turn out quite right for my audience.

But the best thing is, is that I’ve learnt from all of them. The products and services that have been successful, I’ve kept around and made sure to focus on making improving them so that they sell out time and time again.

Having a variety of products at different price points also helps you to serve more of your audience, impact more people and maximise your income.

For example if you only had a couple of different offerings at a mid – higher price point… you then won’t be able to help and serve those with a lower budget. Look at your current products and services and see if you as if anything is missing – have a think about how you could fill that gap.

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learn to market yourself really well on one platform

One common mistake I see is business owners trying to market themselves on too many platforms at once, which means they can only put so much of their effort into each one. If you try to market yourself on loads of different platforms, you only have so much time and energy – and your efforts on each platform will be minimal.

What you should really do in your first year of business is learn to market yourself on ONE platform really well. For me, that platform was IG (follow me @claudiawoodham_) – in just over a year I’ve grown a pretty big warm audience, where I consistently generate leads for my business.

For you, you might want to focus on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, TikTok or Instagram. It’s important to figure out exactly WHERE your ideal client is hanging out and start there.

It will be way less overwhelming to learn how to maximise the use of ONE platform, rather than having to learn the strategies for many platforms.

learn to sell

You could have the best product or service in the world, but if you don’t learn how to sell – you’ll struggle to grow your business.

Sales is something that people often shy away from, they don’t want to come across pushy or annoying. I felt exactly the same way – I never used to be able to sell well, but with practice it becomes much easier and you can build your confidence.

Without sales, you don’t have a business, you just have an expensive hobby.

Selling is just a way of communicating your offer in a way that resonates with your audience, so that they feel called to buy.

If you can learn to write good sales copy, nail your sales calls and sell through your content – you will be well on your way to hitting your 6-figures in your business.

Focus on the client experience

This leads me on to my next point – which is to make sure that you are giving a great customer experience.

You don’t want to sell something only for your client to not get what they wanted and to hate the whole experience of working with you.

It’s so important that you are able to deliver on your promise and help to solve their problem – but also to make every step of the way a smooth experience.

For example giving them a great onboarding experience – first impressions really do count. Or maybe sending them a card on their birthday to show them that you are thinking of them.

It’s much easier to retain a client and have repeat custom than it is to land a new client – so blowing your clients away with a great experience is important and will help you on the way to having your 6-figure business.

Invest in your business and in yourself

There are lots of different ways to invest in yourself and in your business but it’s important that you take the time to figure out what makes the most sense for you. Here are just a few options that may help you grow your business:

Courses & Trainings

Do you have some skills you need to improve? in that case maybe you want to invest in a course where you can learn more about that specific skill. There are tons of free courses out there that will help you to develop your skills – but often you pay for what you get, so a bit of financial investment may go a long way when it comes to paying for online courses.

Coaching & Mentoring

Maybe you need more clarity, direction and accountability – in this case you might want to invest in some kind of coach or mentor. There are different coaches who specialises in different areas such as business, mindset, sales, marketing, content, IG… etc

Hiring a team

Another way to invest in your business is to start growing your team. If you feel overwhelmed with too many things to do in your business or maybe there are things that you just don’t know how to do OR don’t like doing – you can hire someone to take on these parts for you. For example you might hire a graphic designer if you absolutely hate designing graphics and it takes you way longer than it should.

Of course there are other ways to invest such as equipment, systems and tech that you might need.

I have done a combination of all of these since starting my business – I now have 6 amazing team members that help me in many different areas of my business.

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You have what it takes to grow a 6-figure business!

Well there you have it, these are the top areas that I focused on that led me to growing my business to 6-figures in a little over a year! Don’t forget to DM me on Instagram and let me know if you liked this blog!

You can also check out my Youtube channel to watch the full video on how to grow your business on Instagram from scratch. While you’re there make sure to hit subscribe for more marketing and business ideas!

Learning how to grow your business on Instagram is only one part of a great marketing strategy. Don’t forget to sign up to my free mini-course where you can get clarity on who your ideal client is and where to find them.