042: Proclamation of Persistence: The Busy Professionals' Guide to Triumph & Success with Kim Sutton

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Kim Sutton is the Chief Social Media Marketing and Launch Strategist at Sutton Strategic Solutions. She specializes in assisting small business owners, especially coaches, develop, market and launch their online programs. In addition, Kim leads a team who assist clients with Infusionsoft, social media marketing, and virtual assistance. Kim lives in Ohio with her husband, Dave, and five children. 

Kim was trained as an interior architect, a field she was in for 10 years. She lost her job when the economy went into recession in 2008. She got a position as an administrative assistant and realized it was something she was really good at, and she had a passion for what she doing.  Her husband lost his job as well and they decided it was time for him to pursue his dreams in becoming an independent video game developer.  He went back to school in 2012, and needing extra money for the family, Kim started looking for freelance work.  She and Dave had a dream of working at home together within 6 months, and they made this dream a reality within 8 weeks. 

“We were so positive about it that we made it happen that fast” 

Together, they grew the company to 25 members at its peak, and currently employ 7 due to the family demands they have. 

When taking on new clients while pregnant, Kim made sure they knew she was expecting.

“Building long-term relationships with my clients is always my goal; clients appreciate honesty.” 

She says that as an entrepreneur, sometimes you’ll get a client that you realize is not right for you. Kim has had these situations and doesn’t end client relationships on a bad note.

“I want them to be working with a person that’s best for them. If it’s not working for me, then it can’t be working for them either.” 

Word of mouth referrals are so important for entrepreneurs. 

“As a small business owner, it can’t be all about you.” 

Kim believes that having an “all or nothing” attitude is keeping moms from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. Kim got started by taking little baby steps.

“There is no reason when you can’t be taking a little bit of action everyday” 

Kim’s lessons in business are: 

#1 Know your value. When Kim started, she went in at too low of a price, trying to be more competitive with people overseas. 

“When you talk to prospects with confidence, then they’re going to feel it” 

#2 Know your ideal client

“The sooner you can get a grasp on who your idea client is, then the sooner you can start targeting that client through all of your marketing efforts.” 

In addition to being everything to everyone, a lot of entrepreneurs try to do everything in their business, which Kim says is a mistake. 

Kim doesn’t want any member of her team doing something they don’t enjoy doing. 

“If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, then it’s time to give it up” 

Little by little, as you get more organized, your whole business is going to come together. 

“Get the systems in place to make the big things happen” 

Kim is launching a new course, “10 Weeks to 10k”, with the “10k” referring to Twitter followers. In 7 months, Kim was able to grow her Twitter followers from 0 to 20,000, without paying for them.

Her final thought is that entrepreneurs should find a “business bestie”; an accountability partner to start working with on both a personal and professional level. 

“This person would be th