THE MOST TOP SECRET WAY TO RUNNING A BUSINESS WITHOUT A WEBSITE

Yes it’s true my friend! You can actually have a business without actually having a website. I know you are are probably thinking, that’s not possible but the truth is there are so many people running a successful business without having an actually website.

My job today is to reveal to you, the top secret way for you to do the exact same thing. This works perfectly for entrepreneurs on a budget, less tech savvy, or just not ready to invest in an actual website. Okay so without further ado, let’s get to it.

Business Basics

It’s important in today’s world to have your business to have some form of online presence especially if you’re not going to have a website. Therefore if you are not on social media, you should join now.

Because you are thinking about not having a website, it’s important for your customer to have another way to contact, connect, and communicate with you.

Please understand, just because you don’t have a website, doesn’t mean you get to slack off. In fact, you are going to need to be more active on social media and share your product or service as well as adding value to your audience. 

Related: 19 steps to becoming an entrepreneur 

What’s Needed to Run Your Business without a Website

Here’s the top secret you have been waiting for.

The way for you to run your business without a website is by using a landing page. Yes, it’s shocking I know but it’s so easy to do and it’s truly the only thing you need to run a successful business. 

The reason that people get websites are for blogs, contacts, to sell products or services, and social credibility. All these reasons are great but if you can’t afford it, a landing page will work just fine.

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TWEET IT: Good News: A website is not necessarily needed to run your business

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I previously started a business selling mugs and graphic t-shirts without a website and it was very lucrative and you can do it too. 

What is a landing page

A landing page is the section of a website accessed by clicking a hyperlink on another web page meaning that a landing page will take you somewhere that the business wants you to go.

This works perfectly for you and your business because starting out, you may just want to sell one item or service. You can create your landing page to promote your product or service which then will allow your customers to purchase from a secondary site such as Paypal. 

How I did it

When starting that mug and graphic t-shirt business, I had limited funds and getting a website just wasn’t on my list of things I could afford. I immediately found Leadpages and created my landing page. 

Here's how you can do it

1. Set up your account

Leadpages makes it pretty simple to set up your account. It quick and easy just as a opening an email account. Select "Get Leadpages" in the righthand corner to get started.

You have 3 options to choose which plan works best for you and your budget. The prices are a lot less than what you would pay to have a designer to create your unique website. I based my plan selection on my previous monthly expenses budget. If you do not have a plan, I suggest creating a budget now to ensure you stay within your limits.

2. Scroll to the top and select "Templates" to get access to a variety of premade templates for your landing page. The great thing about this is Leadpages previous researched all the templates and gives you the option to select the most converting pages. Awesome sauce!

3. After scrolling through all the selections ranging from webinar templates, giveaway, and opt-ins, select the template that works best for you and what you will be offering to your customers. 

4. Edit the template by adding your brand colors, pictures, and font selection to tailor it just for your business. Remember the colors, font, and branding you are using on your social media platforms. It's important to stay consistent with your brand throughout all things related to your business. 

5. When you have completed, your template, be sure to add the payment method link to the template so that it's simple for your customer to pay and collect their items or service. 

You're done! Just that simple. After you have click publish, copy the link and add it to your social media accounts that you are active on. 

Related: Use Instagram Content Plan to Grow Your Followers

Each platform allows you to add a link for free. Also I use Bitly to shorten my web address to make it easier to use on your social media post and if you haven't guessed already, it's free. 

See, eazy pleazy! You're well on your way to make bank without break it! 

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HAVE YOU HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH LANDING PAGES? IF SO, HAVE YOU USED IT IN THE PLACE OF YOUR WEBSITE?

HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATING AND GET MORE PRODUCTIVE

Picture it (in Sophia voice)…you just found out that your favorite show is now on Netflix and you can beige watch it all day.

You just stocked up on popcorn and wine (thanks to Olivia Pope) and you can spend the day to Netflix and chill.

But you just remembered you have a list of things that need to be done that you haven’t started. Your schedule is pretty clear so you have the option to make it happen or mellow out. 

I’m sure it’s safe to say that we all, yep Im guilty too, have made the choice to mellow out. Not just on this one particular day but many days.

Especially, if you have a full-time day job and come home to a side hustle. Your life may already be chaotic and adding on another task would be entirely too much. Your productivity might not be as at level that it should be. 

Not sure if you're really a procrastinator? See if you relate to any of the following:

SIGNS THAT YOU ARE A PROCRASTINATOR

• Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List.
• Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you’re going to do with them.
• Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee or check your phone.
• Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it's important.
• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list.
• Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task at hand.

If you said "yes that's me" then you may have some procrastination tendencies. It nothing to worry about because it can be fixed in no time. 

First, let's figure our why your procrastinating. 

CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination can stem from a variety of reasons but there are usually three procrastination triggers. 

1. This task it too large and you don’t know where to start
2. Fear that you won’t do a good job
3. Fear of what comes next. 

Once you figure out which one is the reason for your procrastination, you will be better able to address it. 

Here are some productivity tips to help you stop procrastinating, be more productive, and get it together.

HOW TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE

Write it down

I know, I know it's so cliche, but it’s so true, yo! Writing down what you need to do will help you stay focused on the big goal. Plus it will help you stay organized which is the key to all success.

It took me awhile to grasp on to this because I was the queen of remembering. I just kept a little notepad in my head that helped me remember everything that I needed to do. I’m not ashamed to say that it was the biggest lie I ever told myself. Out of sight, out of mind, right?! If I didn’t see it, it didn’t exist. Which is why I HAD to implement #2.

Make it visible

In my opinion, this is the single most overlooked productivity tool that anyone can use and don’t. I believe that people don’t value what a visual cue can help them accomplish.

A recent study by Harvard Kennedy School, recommends an approach called reminders by association. Reminders by association is said to help you remember things on your to-do list for example seeing Fed-Ex on the frig will remind you to mail that package. Find ways to use visual cues throughout your home and office to help you stay focus on your goals.

Give it a deadline

I talk about the steps to do all this in my book, and this is one of the topics I discuss. Isn’t it ironic that we are willing to go out our way for other people but not for ourselves? 

For example, if you’re manager gives you a deadline to complete a task, you will do everything in your powers to meet or beat that deadline. Or if a friend or family member ask you to do something for them by a certain time (return a movie, exchange a gift, make cookies for a party), you make sure that you do just that.

However, you give yourself a task and some how never get it done. Are you telling yourself, you aren’t as important as everyone else? Of course, not. You are your #1 priority so treat yourself as such. Give you task a deadline and stick to it, my friend!

Eat the frog

Not literally, eat the frog but metaphorically, eat the frog. Eating the frog is a term coined by Brian Tracy in his book 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating. This metaphor refers to simply doing the things that you don’t want to do but need to do first to get it out the way which are the "frogs".

They're ugly and probably taste bad but once you eat it, it's over. By eating the frog first, you allow yourself to do the other pleasurable things for the remainder of the day.

Research has shown that your brain is more productive in the morning, empowering you with strength to just get it done, instead of waiting until mid-day when you tend to slow down. Set a schedule to get things done in the morning and reward yourself with doing other things you enjoy doing in the afternoon.

EXAMPLES OF THINGS YOU CAN GET DONE IN THE MORNING:

Meetings, Important Calls, Writing Your Blog, Scheduling Services or Accounting for your business.

Make yourself accountable

I also discuss this in my book about making yourself accountable. Yes, you might tell yourself that you have to complete a task by a certain time but if you don’t do it, it’s no big deal amiright?!

Well that’s why you have to make yourself accountable by telling someone else what you have planned to do. That tends to light a fire under you to get going if someone else knows what you’re suppose to be doing and actually ask you did you complete it.

Don’t have anyone that will hold you accountable or rather not tell anyone what you’re working on. No prob! Join the Facebook tribe of Entrepreneur Masterminds and get held accountable for what you need to do. Each week as a tribe, we will list what we are working on and hold each other accountable. 

Now that you know what you need to do to stop procrastinating and be more productive, get to it. 

Have any suggestions to add to the list? Are you already doing the things listed in this post? If so, are they helping you or did you find something else that works better?

Let me know in the comments below. 

6 MISTAKES TO AVOID IN YOUR START UP

If you’re reading this, then I would like to congratulate you for taking the path of entrepreneurship! It’s obvious that you have taken the step towards freedom and creating your own extraordinary life. Good for you!

With hard work and dedication, I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll be swimming with the big fish of entrepreneurs soon!

If you’re reading this, then I would like to congratulate you for taking the path of entrepreneurship! It’s obvious that you have taken the step towards freedom and creating your own extraordinary life. Good for you!

With hard work and dedication, I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll be swimming with the big fish of entrepreneurs soon!

For those of you who can’t swim, um….well…(thinking of another analogy)…oh how about, you’ll be stomping with the big dog entrepreneurs? Too dated?! Oh well, I tried…I digress.

FIRST, let’s talk about what NOT to do.

I have coached and consulted with many first time entrepreneurs and have previously started two business on my own that were a flop (womp, womp).

My job is to make sure, you start out ahead of the game and dominate this business, entrepreneurship, branding thing a lot quicker than I did when I first started. 

I’m sure right now you are UBER excited to get started that you are just itching to go out on the corner and shout from the top of your lungs... 

“HEAR YEE, HEAR YEE, COME ONE, COME ALL - MY BUSINESS IS OPEN.”

You know what you have to offer, everyone wants and the flood will start any minute. That sounds great and I’m glad that you have that motivation because you’re going to need it. I can identify with your enthusiasm to getting started but like the saying goes, “this is a marathon, not a race.” 

I, along with many other entrepreneurs, learned that the hard way. Rushing to start a business is not the way and half-assing won’t get you to the top.

What will help propel your entrepreneurship is consistency and knowledge. I believe...well I KNOW the GREATEST step I took in my business was knowledge.

The more I knew, the better I was at all aspects of running my business. It changed me tremendously.

Picture it (in Sophia’s voice) your riding in a luxury car, fully equipped with GPS and a full tank to get to my destination. Yeah that will be you, unlike me - the girl on a bike, lost with paper map. What?! Too much? Well you get the gist. 

This series of mistakes will identify six of the most common mistakes made by first time entrepreneurs based on my experience and the reports of other entrepreneurs.

You will be so glad that you've read this because the information that will be revealed throughout this series will enlighten you about the do’s and don’ts of entrepreneurship. So without further ado…let’s get started. 

MISTAKE #1 - NOT USING DATA

If you’re anything like me, statistics was not your favorite subject in high school or college.

The only reason I was in the class is because it was required, otherwise you wouldn’t have caught me anywhere near numbers of the sort. The only numbers I ever cared to understand were the one’s in my bank account otherwise they were useless. 

By thinking this way, I did myself a TREMENDOUS disservice. Not only is it beneficial to know the numbers for my product but it can also help you earn money. Let’s discuss. 

PROBLEM: NOT KNOWING WHAT’S WORKING

Even before starting my business(es) or even thinking about venturing down the entrepreneurship road, I would tell all my clients, you can’t keep doing the same thing, expecting to get different results. Yo, you have got to tweet that!

It’s insane to think that you can but here’s the kicker….you have to at least know what you're doing is or is not working to determine if you need to change your approach.

How will you know?

Well, when I started I have to say that I didn’t ask myself this question and just assumed everything I was doing was working.

Smh! I was totally lost.

I mean I knew about data and that I probably should do it but the thought of having to read and learn how to do that was exhausting. So like many people or first time entrepreneurs who get overwhelmed, I kept pushing it back until I eventually hit a brick wall with a painted scenery. 

What Amber?!…yeah, I know…just wanted to make sure you were still with me.

Though the view was great, I had nowhere else to go and had to face the music. 

Side Note: Where does that saying come from - face the music? Like why would I face sound waves as if it was a hard thing to do? Okay, again, I digress. 

What I’m trying to say is there’s no way around it. You have to know if what you’re doing is working and the only way to find that out is by taking data *insert dread music here*.

I thought taking data was only for college and that I would rarely if ever need it in my adult life. Ha! So much for thinking.

Many entrepreneurs already know that it’s all about numbers and you have to adapt to that mindset. You will have to know if a product is selling or how many followers you acquired from a single post. 

SOLUTION: USE DATA 

Using data will help you know what’s working and what’s not instead of trying to wing it like me and several other entrepreneurs I have worked with in the past.  

WEBSITE

Creating a website is one of the first things you will do when you make the decision to move forward as a laptoplifestylepreneur - hahaha, I love coming up with these.

TRAFFIC

The second thing you should do is track your traffic. You can do this with Google Analytics. 

Google Analytics are entrepreneurs best friend. It helps you get to you know your traffic by keeping tabs on:

• how many visits you had on a particular day to your site
• how long someone typically stays on your site
• what are you best blog post  
• even let you know if you website is loading slow

Who has time to wait for a website to load? Not me!

Google Analytics does a ton of things that help you grow your business. They even have a Google Analytic Academy that teaches you how to use it and it’s FREE! Hot dog! That’s what I’m talking about.

You don’t have to pay anyone to teach you. You can teach yourself and learn at your own pace. Did I mention this service is FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! As entrepreneurs, we love the word free - in most cases. That's another topic for another time.

Here's an example of what your Google Analytics dashboard will look like once you get started. 

There’s also trackers like:

iPerceptions

GoingUp

StatCounter

SOCIAL MEDIA

Just as tracking your success on your website, you want to track your success on social media.

Yeah, it’s just social media but you still have to remember this is your business therefore you should treat it as such. Entrepreneurs, Solopreneurs, Womenpreneurs, or all those in between aren’t just posting things to post them.

They have actually taken time to think about what to post and you want to make sure it’s actually being effectively and drawing in the audience that you seek. 

INSTAGRAM

For instagram post, I like to know what my audience is responding to and what they’re not feeling. I accomplish this by using iconosquare.com.  

Here’s a picture of what my Iconosquare looks like:

It tells me how many followers I have gained and lost over a certain period of time. It also give me optimization for particular hours to post on certain days and my comment rate. There’s an entire list of information you can get from this bad boy for FREE! I love it! 

Other free options for social media include:

Twitter Analytics

BuzzSumo

SumAll

Cyfe

*Note: I am not affiliated with any those mentioned above. This is simply my go to list and a list of products I have read about or heard good reviews. 

Stay tuned for the next second mistake most commonly made with start ups and entrepreneurs. 

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HAVE YOU HAD AN ISSUE WITH UNDERPRICING YOUR SERVICES OR PRODUCT BEFORE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HANDLE THE ISSUE? DO YOU ALREADY USE SOME OF THE METHODS ABOVE? HAVE QUESTIONS OR WANT SOME IDEAS SPECIFIC TO YOU?

Get at me in the comments below.