The Ali Dee Show

Why you're stuck at $2k/mo in sales (and how to fix it)

• Ali Dee • Season 1 • Episode 92

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Ready to smash through that frustrating sales plateau? This eye-opening episode tackles the three most common barriers preventing product-based businesses from scaling beyond $2-3K to reach consistent $10K months.

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Speaker 1:

Today, we're gonna talk about three reasons you're not hitting 10K per month in sales yet and how to fix them. Are you ready for this? Welcome to the Ali D Show, the show for product-based business owners who are ready to turn their passion into profit and build a brand that actually sells. I'm your host, ali D, and I've sold millions of dollars in products and currently have my brand in retailers across the globe. Now I'm teaching you to do the same Each week. We'll dive into real talk, proven strategies and behind-the-scenes tips to help you grow your sales, scale your systems and create the business and life you've been dreaming of. If you're ready to go from overwhelmed to sold out, you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Ali D show. Today, we're going to talk about three reasons you're not hitting 10K per month in sales yet and how to fix them. Are you ready for this and how to fix them? Are you ready for this? So 10K per month in sales is probably one of the most coveted milestones when you've established your business, especially when you kind of get stuck in a rut, which usually happens in like the 2K to 3K per month in sales mark, because to get to 2K per month in sales. Really, what you need to do is just be super scrappy, like you need to be willing to show up and put in the effort and not have an issue with being consistent, not have an issue with you know, showing up and putting in the work. You're definitely not like a lazy girl business owner if you're getting 2k to 3k per month in sales, but you can get stuck in this zone for a really long time when you don't have these three things going on. And I'm going to break them down in today's podcast episode because these are kind of the most common things that I see that really hold people back. So, for example, when women like if I book like a one-to-one strategy session and they're wanting to scale from like 2K to 10K per month, almost always these three things show up as major blind spots that are going on in their business. So I'm going to break down what these are today on this podcast episode because my goal is really for you to be as successful as humanly possible and we need to get you out of this 2K per month zone Because I know listen, I've been there.

Speaker 1:

I remember it could feel like you could do everything under the sun and not get past this, and with just some tweaks that we're going to talk about today, you really can start making some progress on crushing that ceiling that you feel like is just like made of cement. You're like punching it with your hands, getting bloody knuckles. You're like, oh, let me just get through this 2K ceiling. So now we're going to use tools, we're going to use I don't know a jackhammer, but something cuter than that, to bust through that ceiling so you could actually start getting the sales you feel like you deserve and putting in effort and seeing the results that you want. Because that's another frustrating thing right when you show up and you're putting in the effort and you're like, listen, I have posted 162 times and I have like two sales to show for it. That can be a very exhausting place and I don't want you to get there. I don't want you to feel burnout. I don't want you to feel exhausted. I want you to feel invigorated and excited about running your business, because that's what this is all about, after all. Right, so let's get into the three biggest mistakes that I see that are holding you back from hitting that 10k per month in sales.

Speaker 1:

So the first one in this one is so important and I talk about this one almost all the time because it's literally that important is that you still have no clear target market. So you may think you have a target market. You may think like well, I know I want to sell to women in their 30s that like trendy products, or you know women in their 40s that like candles, or women in their 50s that you know want to be comfortable, or whatever the case may be, and this is most often what I hear. So, whether it's like a boutique owner or a brand owner, someone that's curating products, manufacturing products or even creating products, it usually comes down to there is no clear target market. And you've been posting this content, thinking that you're actually going to be able to reach the right person, but if you're not in that 10k per month zone and you're stuck in the 2k to 3k, you're kind of just getting lucky, which is great. Again, being scrappy will get you some luck with sales, but it's not going to get you that big payday that you want. So you really need to start looking at your target market.

Speaker 1:

I have a full training inside Trendsetter where we break down exactly how you can do this, but one way that you can do this today is get out a little journal or a piece of paper. I just bought a new journal. I'm like a journal, like I love to buy journals, but then I don't really use them for journaling, I just jot like random notes in them. But this one in particular that I got at HomeGoods a couple of days ago, it's super cute. I'm going to use it as a real journal. I'm going to start tonight.

Speaker 1:

Okay, mark my words, but what I want to say is get out a piece of paper and write down the lifestyle of your target customer. That's it. I don't want you to get into age. I don't want you to get into, like, the city they live in, or what their you know income is, or anything like that. Usually, the typical things that we use to kind of dissect to our ideal customer is all I want you to do is write down their lifestyle. This is going to be game changing for you. So what do I mean by lifestyle, right? Okay, well, I'll just use myself as an example.

Speaker 1:

If I was your target customer, okay, here's my lifestyle. I'm a work-from-home mom. I'm obsessed with family. I don't like feeling tied down to schedules. I love being comfortable. I love wearing easy clothing that I could throw on in the morning and not have to think about it. I love, you know, trying to integrate self-care into my life. I love trying to be healthy and trying to eat healthy. I love spending time with my family over like girls nights. I don't. I'm not in like girls night out. I'm not into partying, I'm not into drinking, I'm into just family life. Like this is my lifestyle. So that would be an example for me. Now someone else. I'm sure there's more exciting, interesting things about my lifestyle, but it's hard to like. Think about yourself sometimes and go, okay, what is my lifestyle? But that's it pretty much. Right, working from home, raising my children oh, also a mom of toddlers right, they're three and five years old. So that's my lifestyle right now. You don't find me partying in the honky tonks down in Fort Worth. Okay, those days are over. So I'm in a different lifestyle right now.

Speaker 1:

Now, another example of this could be you know someone who is, let's say, they're like early 20s, they just graduated college, they go out on the weekends, they love their girl time, they love getting manicures and pedicures and having brunch and talking about like the cute guys they met the night before and like how funny things happen when so and so like got a, got a little too tipsy and you know all the things. Like that is another lifestyle. Right notice, I'm not being rigid on this. I'm not like she's 22 years old, she does this, this and that she no. I want you just to be loosey-goosey, like I'm dancing a little bit right now as I'm recording this podcast. Just like, loosen up your shoulders, get loosey-goosey, like I'm dancing a little bit right now as I'm recording this podcast. Just like loosen up your shoulders, get loosey-goosey.

Speaker 1:

Think about the real person. Who is your target market? What is their lifestyle? Now, when you connect with someone on a lifestyle level, that's when they feel like you are the go-to person for whatever it is that you sell. So I don't care if you sell clothes, I don't care if you make candles, I don't care if you make jewelry, whatever it is that you do over there. When you can connect at the lifestyle level, you will change your entire business forever, period. So stop thinking that it's so rigid. Stop thinking that like you're clear on who your target market is, because I can almost guarantee you have not done this work if you're still stuck in the 2k to 3k per mark zone, because that's the scrappy zone. We want to get you out of there.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so that's the first thing. The second thing is posting content without a strategy. My love, my girl. You could post 122 times, you could post three times a day, you could post seven times a day, but if you don't have a content strategy, your content will not do its job, which is bring in new customers and convert them to buyers. That's what your content is meant to do. It's not meant for you to try to be you know the next big thing, the next Alex Earl, and try to get brand deals and be an influencer.

Speaker 1:

And so many of you are posting like that. Well, actually, there's two styles. You're either posting like that Well, actually, there's two styles. You're either posting like that, so, like you're obsessed with trends, you're obsessed with following business gurus, you're obsessed with the girls that are trying to teach you, like, how to grow on social media right, which is usually like influencer based, so there's that side. Or you're over here in I'm a business and I'm shoving products down your throat every single post over here in. I'm a business and I'm shoving products down your throat every single post, so it's usually one or two.

Speaker 1:

That I see is either you're like full on trying to be an influencer, doing all the trends, and like maybe you go viral once in a while randomly and you're like I don't even know how that happened, but you certainly didn't get any sales from it, or you're just posting about your products 24 seven. Here's a new pair of earrings that I just made. Here's a new candle we just came out with. Here's a new pair of jeans we just got in and I hate to say it, but either way, nobody cares. Nobody cares.

Speaker 1:

Your content must be posted with a strategy. And listen, you're going to be able to post way less when you have a strategy and get way better results. This is why people they join Trendsetter, they go through the Trendsetter content strategy, which is the three Bs the be seen, build trust and buy from you content. They start posting that and immediately start seeing results and also feel way less stressed the F out about content, because now you're not schooling, you're not feeling like you're too salesy, you're not trying to like guess what to post. There's no guesswork with my content strategy. None, zilch, it goes out the window. You will know exactly what to post. So your content must come with a strategy. If not, again you're going to be stuck in the 2k to 3k per month in sales and we're trying to get you into the 10K per month zone. Okay, that's when you can like give your boss the middle finger on the way out. No, I'm just kidding, don't do that. But you know what I'm saying. If you're still working a corporate job and you're over it and that's why you're starting your own business is because you're done having to like answer to someone else's time schedule. You got to.

Speaker 1:

And then the third thing that I see is your website is not built to convert. So here's what I usually see Either one, you paid someone a zillion dollars to make you a super cute website and, yeah, it looks great, but it's got a lot going on and it's not built to convert. Or, number two, you made your website yourself and you used 800 different fonts. You got all these colors going on and you're like Allie, but those are my brand colors. Like, I want my background to be hot pink and I want my font to be turquoise. Okay, that's another issue I see.

Speaker 1:

Or the third thing is it's just too plain, jane, and not in terms of graphic design, but in terms of positioning your products and the messaging. And not in terms of graphic design, but in terms of positioning your products and the messaging. So none of those areas and again you probably fall into one of those categories None of that is going to get you sales on a website. What is is clarity. So the only thing you should care about with your website is is it crystal clear when someone clicks on a link maybe it's my link in a bio, maybe it's a link on an IG story but when they get to your website, it is crystal clear that the place they have visited, your website, is for them. That's it. We're not trying to show off. You know how, like fancy schmancy, your business is okay. We're trying to speak to your customer and get them to buy, and so many people position their websites from the business standpoint like this is my website and this is what I have for sale and here's my new stuff, and it's like no, your customer needs to get to your website and immediately feel connected. And you know what. Simplicity is great, but clarity needs to be married with that simplicity, so they're not just showing up to a generic, simple website. They're showing up to a simple website that is steeped I don't know if that's the right word Steeped in marketing and messaging that is clear and concise, because that's what converts.

Speaker 1:

By the way, I am in the middle of revamping Trendsetter. I'm about to launch Trendsetter 2.0, which is going to freaking change the game for our industry. This new Trendsetter is going to have a 16-week course, so it's an A to Z course, like how to go from zero or 2K per month in sales to 10K per month in sales and literally every single thing you need to do. 16 weeks worth of trainings on how to make that happen for you with zero fluff, like everything is very actionable, very strategy, and one of the trainings that I just finished recording is how to make sure your website is set up to convert and it's not rocket science and you can do this and don't think you have to.

Speaker 1:

Number one, hire a website designer. Or, number two, buy some weird Shopify template that, like the help desk, is overseas and you're never going to get a straight answer on, like how to move a picture from here to there. Ok, you can use the Dawn template, which is, I think, what we use for almost all of our e-commerce sites. We have four or five. It's a free theme and it's very easy to alter to make it clear for your messaging and your positioning of your product. So, inside this training, I go through top to bottom exactly what the format of your website needs to do that you can freaking, do? You do not have to be techie at all whatsoever. If you can use Shopify. Basically, then which you, by the way, need to at least know how to do if you're going to own a business that sells through Shopify, you need to know the basics. Okay, they have tons of great help videos on there, but just because they have help videos doesn't mean that they're telling you how to convert. So that's what I do in this training that's going to be launching soon.

Speaker 1:

If you want to get into this new Trendsetter 2.0, I'll put the link in the show notes today to join the waitlist. I haven't announced when it's going to be opening, but it's going to be sometime in August, I'm pretty sure. So it is literally like every single time I finish a training and, by the way, I'm just gonna tell you real quick, I did another training called powerhouse products, and this is where I tell you exactly how to create, curate or manufacture products. Depending on what style of business you have product based business you have exactly what to do to make sure you are set up to sell the F out. To sell out, it is literally worth a zillion dollars. The best training ever, okay. So if you want in on any of this, just click the link in the show notes. It's going to take you to the wait list. That way, when it does launch or when it's getting ready to launch and I do like a pre-launch with super fun bonuses you'll be on the list and you'll be able to access it early. Okay, you can also go to my Instagram. It's AllieDCEO. Those link. That link is in the show notes as well and it'll be in my link in bio there. It'd also be in my TikTok link in bio, so you can also DM me and just be like Allie what's the link for the waitlist and I'll send it over to you.

Speaker 1:

So those are the three big mistakes that I see that really keep people stuck in that 2K to 3k per month zone. So again, it's not having a clear target market, it's posting content with zero strategy and it's having a website that's not built to convert. That's too confusing. Clarity sells. Confusion sits right. So we just need some clarity, we need some strategy, we need some alignments in our lives, okay, but what I want you to also know is that where you are right now is a very admirable place. So don't poo-poo yourself, don't go. Oh, I can't believe I'm over here stuck. No, you're in a great place, you're doing it, you're getting sales. You've already got some momentum. Now it's just time for you to sharpen your skills.

Speaker 1:

So now it's stepping out of the like beginner business owner, baby business owner mentality and going okay, you know what I want? A real business, a business that does 10K per month, a business that does six figures per year. I got to get better at some shiz, right, it's not about attacking ourselves or putting ourselves down. It's just recognizing that now's the time we step in to our new you, our 2.0, right. Just like Trendsetter, like whoever you are out there listening right now, it's you 2.0. That's what we got to step into.

Speaker 1:

You're going to learn so much like, whether it's from my podcast or on my TikToks, or whether you decide to go in Trendsetter, or even if you decide to book a one-to-one strategy session with me and you're like Ali. I just want to talk directly to you about my business. You can do that as well. Just DM me about it. But no matter what the case is, I want you to just take a second, celebrate yourself. You've already come so far. There's so much more for you to learn, and this is part of the journey. Learning is part of the entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 1:

Listen, I still learn every single day on how to be a better business owner. Remember, I said I was going to use my journal tonight. It's because I'm trying to get better at making sure I'm setting myself up to be the person that can do eight figures in a year. Right, we're settled in on the seven figures. I want to go to eight figures. So the same person that I am right now is not going to be the same person that takes me there, and I'm fine with that. Just like cute Allie that started her business that was like excited about $500 sales is not the same Allie that's doing five figures in a week. Right, I had to learn, I had to grow, I had to figure it out. That's what we're doing here, baby. That's what this podcast is about.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so pay attention to those three mistakes. If you're doing them, you need any help on them. You know we got you covered in our programs Always. You can shoot me a DM and I could direct you to which one might be the best fit for you. I love you. Have a great day. You got this 10.