Quality over quantity: 5 reasons why playing big doesn’t always mean more money for your biz
My husband Adam and I play on a sand volleyball team every Tuesday night at a bar in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, about 20 minutes from our home in southern Indiana. It’s a hobby that we decided to pick up right after we got married and were settling into a new life and routine together. We play on a small team with friends and it’s just for fun, but of course I’m too competitive (with literally anything that I do in life) and it’s definitely not fun to lose, right? A couple of weeks ago, our team of five (we didn’t have six that night) found ourselves facing a team of only three. I secretly thought to myself, after we had been on an endless losing streak, that we HAVE to be beat these guys. There are literally only three of them. We outnumber them and are obviously the bigger team with more manpower. This shouldn’t be a problem — we are finally going to win a game!
Big mistake. That team of three definitely kicked our butts the entire match (ALL THREE GAMES!) because there was more strength, strategy and experience that they all held together over our team of five, which is a mix of a little experience, inconsistency because we sometimes have different players playing each week and no strategy at all with our plays and positions. Again, we play just for fun, but this was a good lesson and reminder to me about how it’s not always the bigger number (or person) that wins. You can be small, but mighty, especially in your business, if you have the right ideas, systems and practices in place. Remember the biblical parable about David and Goliath? Exactly. The little guy can definitely win.
Everyone has heard the phrase “quality over quantity” — but what does it really mean? Wouldn’t you think that the bigger you play, the more premium services and products that you sell and the bigger that your audience is would automatically equate to more income? Maybe in some cases, but not always in others. Sometimes, it’s OK to not have a following in the thousands, it’s OK to only focus on a couple of services that you’re truly passionate about and really benefit your client base — and it’s OK to not be a jack of all trades and a know-it-all expert. Sometimes, if you just focus on what you’re good at and spend your time nurturing the specific audience that’s going to actually buy from you and not just follow you online for no reason forever, you will find more success and consistent flows of cash finding a home in your bank account. Here are five reasons why “big” and “more” isn’t always better and the benefits of being specific and playing a little smaller can definitely win out in the long run:
1) If you’re everything to everyone, you will be exhausted and not provide good service at all.
If you service a niche market/audience, they will buy from you, whether it’s now or later. You have to nurture them and form meaningful relationships with them and allow them to find trust and transparency in you, so that they will always find themselves thinking of you and coming back to you. They need to find value in what you say; they need to be able to know that will always receive value from you and that you want the best for them. If you know who you are, they know who you are and you service them for exactly what they need, you will absolutely find more success — even if it’s not immediate. Be patient. The sales will come and your clients will love you.
2) You should focus on just the social media platforms that truly benefit you and your followers.
If your followers and potential clients are primarily on Twitter or Instagram or Pinterest, hang out where they are. Don’t worry about being everything to everyone and posting several times a day in each platform. Post 3-4 times a day in at least 2 of the platforms that will benefit you the most. Even if there is only one platform that proves to generate more for your business in the way of engagement, driving traffic to your site and eventually sales, just be present there! Don’t waste your time hanging out in the gym, if your client base is running outside on a nice day.
3) You need to use the few systems that truly keep your business running.
Again, if you have 2-4 platforms or apps that keep your business on track each day, hold you accountable and allow you to stay better organized, utilize them! If you’re using a program that you don’t truly love and you end up spending more time in each day than you really should, drop it. Stick with what helps you work the best and most efficient. If you don’t have time for certain tasks like email management, blogging or social media posting, outsource that work to a VA. Fill your time with meaningful work and tasks that you enjoy and bring you money. Don’t waste your time working in programs or crossing things off your list that don’t allow you to be super productive and enjoy the work.
4) Experiment with selling no more than 3-4 services.
Once again, you don’t have to do “all of the things.” Stick to what you’re good at and sell services based on that, only what your audience really needs and what will ultimately generate the most income. If you sell 5 different services and an additional 5 different products, it will be hard for your audience to keep track of what’s coming, what’s going and what they truly need to buy from you. Focus on just what you need to that will benefit your clients the most. Plain and simple.
5) Remember that your email list doesn’t have to be huge.
Everyone would love a list that is miles long, with 50 new subscribers each day, but it doesn’t always happen that way. While a big email list can have its benefits and you’re certainly popping up in a lot of inboxes each week, how many of those people are actually reading your emails, clicking through to your offerings and going to buy from you? As I’ve mentioned before, I would rather have a list of 100 people that I know truly enjoy following me and will eventually purchase something, rather than 1,000 other people who can’t even remember why they’re still on my list and don’t even open my emails.