Fear Less, Brand More Jennifer Anastasi

I spend a lot of time playing Legos with my 5-year-old daughter.  Recently, with some advice from my coach Pia Silva, I had the realization that service providers should build their packages like Lego houses.

Some clients just need a little shack, and they would need your "small" package.
Some will need a farmhouse, and they would need your "medium" package.
Some will need a castle, and they would need your "large" package.

Definitely list your prices on your website, but don't box yourself in or exclude potential clients by making an exhaustive list of every service included in each package.  Every project will look different, but you can think of it in terms of how many Legos you need.

Schedule your Clearbrand Interview here: https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrand
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When building and running your business, it's important to understand why you're even doing it.  But often, people will stop at wanting to make more money as their reason for running a business.

Is that really the reason, though?  What will that 6-figure income allow you to do?  What do you hope to get out of it?  Why don't you want to be back in the corporate environment?

I promise, it's not all about wanting more money.

Clearbrand Interview Information 
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One of my favorite topics is software tools.  As a software engineer and brand and website designer, I live and breathe software.  It's easy to get excited about new, shiny tools, but before making the leap, think about a few things first:
Does it fit into your budget?  If the tool costs more than your revenue, don't get it!Are you going to use most of the features? Is it going to make your experience better? What about your client's experience?How is the tool when you use it?  Is the interface intuitive to you? This is when it's a good idea to use the trial to get a feel for it.How's the support system? There are going to be issues. Do they have helpful documentation?How well does the software integrate with other software?Take the time to write down your flow, your customer journey map, and map out where you would use which tools.  It's also a good idea to audit your tools occasionally, when you have time to look at them and try out some new things without critical client deadlines.  Is your current tool stack working? Or does something need to change?
There's no one tool that's going to solve all the problems in your business.  There's no silver bullet.

Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrand
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How many coaches have you hired to help you in  your business?  Coaching is HUGE right now and I've hired a few coaches myself, but I've noticed some disturbing trends in coaching.

There's a major focus in marketing, growing, and scaling - which is an important part of running a business - but many business coaches are really just marketing coaches.  They don't do much when it comes to actually running your business. 

As service providers, especially when you're only working with a couple of clients at a time, marketing to more clients isn't going to help you.  If you're charging a premium rate for an outstanding service, you should be spending your time providing that amazing service to your clients rather than worrying about marketing so much. The referrals from customer experiences will do much of the marketing for you.

An ideal coach for a service provider is someone with real world experience who understands your particular service-based needs and what is going on in the current climate.

Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrand
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Do you remember when you first got into your own business and the excitement that came along with it? Mine started with custom crafts on Etsy.  Then, I stumbled on Dotcom Secrets by Russel Brunson and I felt like with the right funnel, anything was possible.

Now that I've had some experience with funnels as a service provider, the "standard" funnel isn't as simple as seems.  Collecting leads with a free or low cost offer then moving them through to the highest cost offer isn't the way it really works with service providers.

I've found that it works much better for me to send every lead through my Clearbrand process before they can purchase an Actionbrand service.  That seems pretty linear, but they don't always behave that way.  People can be unpredictable, and your service offerings don't have to build on each other the way funnels do.

You don't need the complicated funnels. There's no silver bullet.

Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrand
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Do you ever feel this insane pressure as a service provider where you have to grow your business and the only way to do it is by creating some type of agency? I know that's how I felt for a really long time.
When I started my business as a web designer, I saw all of these messages out there by coaches saying I really needed to find other people that could do the client work for me and create an agency.
Rather than spending time doing client work, I should only be spending my time marketing and selling my services, which is the way to grow a service-based business. There were so many coaches and messages floating around on social media, that I felt that the only way I could be successful was to follow that route.
To be honest, I wasn't really happy with the direction that things were going in, but I was told that this is the way that things are done. And then COVID-19 happened.
All of a sudden, I found myself in a position that I never thought I would be in. I had no childcare. My husband was deemed an essential worker and he carries our health insurance so my business had to take a giant backseat. I had several clients I had made commitments to and I was determined to meet those commitments.
So I started working every weeknight and every weekend. I hustled my behind-off, but there was no additional time for me to market my own business. I had no bandwidth to take on additional clients. Since I didn't have any money coming in, I didn't have the ability to pay these three people that were working for me.
I really wanted to be working directly with clients. I wanted to be putting the websites together. I wanted to talk about more than just the websites but also about the strategy and the branding. I took the pandemic as a way to see what would make me genuinely happy day-to-day, in a way that I hadn’t been in the past.
The conclusion I came to was that I needed to ditch the agency model and it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be able to grow and scale my business.
We need to normalize the idea that as a service provider, it’s okay for you to be the only person providing the service. If you’re able to get better at providing that service with more experience and with the goal of investing in yourself, the better clients you'll be able to attract.
If you attract better clients, it’s easier to raise your prices. Having a higher price point means that you’re able to scale your business in a whole new way.
As a result, I'm able to make a larger impact on the businesses that I work with. I'm able to see their growth and that is something that gives me a sense of fulfillment.
I am so much more comfortable with this business model and much more comfortable by not having to manage a team that is working to provide services to my clients.
I'm now able to be in control of the whole process, including what the client sees and when they see it.
Do you need help figuring out your own business model? This is part of the clarity that comes with working together in the Clearbrand. Learn more about this service.
The Agency Business Model: Is it Right For You? https://smallbusinessboss.co/the-agency-model/

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