Finding “True North”: How to know when your funnel business is headed in the right direction.

Have you ever felt lost or confused about the direction for your business? Have you ever wondered if you’re heading in the right direction?

When a new opportunity or problem presents itself to you and your marketing funnel business, do you clearly and precisely know what to do about it?

In this post we’re going to give you confidence in the direction you’re taking yourself AND your business.

Funnel niche

If you’re ready to take your funnel business to the next level, you need a niche. Successful funnel businesses that have a well defined, profitable niche grow faster than those that don’t. BUT – if you think a niche is an industry, you’re wrong. Get your free funnel business niche training below and we’ll find you a funnel niche today.

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Turn your back

Running a funnel business can seem like a labyrinth at times. You have 101 ideas in your head and there are new tools, systems, coaches and opportunities every day.

Then there are the days when everything goes wrong and you ask yourself “am I doing the right thing? Should I continue with this?”

How do you know when you ARE heading in the right direction? How can you confidently turn your back on new offers, products and tools without a fear that you aren’t going to miss out on something?

How do you know that you should persevere through your immediate problems and keep at it?

We call the solution to this problem, True North.

 True North

True North is about finding the direction that you’re going to face. You might have a purpose, but it’s going to take more than that to achieve everything you want.

How do you know you’re going in the right direction? Are there multiple ways to get to your purpose? If your purpose is to help people become financially independent and pay off their mortgage, HOW are you going to do that?

The values that you hold close in your heart at what guide your True North. You already have an internal compass which knows how it’s going to get there, you just have to listen.

We want to find the direction that you’re going to take your funnel business, and life. We have an end goal in mind, or a purpose. But we have to know what it’s going to take to get us there.

One of the biggest pitfalls that people fall into, is having their purpose clear in their mind, but they haven’t thought about the journey it takes to get there. If your goal is to generate a ton of income, are you going to do that through gambling or building a business?

Cap’n

We’re the Captains of our own vessel. As trite and overly poetic as that sounds, it’s something you need to bear in mind. The concept of running a tight ship stands true for our own businesses and lives too.

Captains have to make tough calls and difficult decisions. Choosing one person to contact over another, or leaving an opportunity on the table.

Imagine navigating to your purpose as a voyage on the open ocean. We’ve no maps, this is all uncharted territory. Our values are our compass and we know that great riches lie to the North of our position.

Some days, it’s plain sailing. Wind in our sails, bright sunlight and all seems well. We’re moving fast and it feels like nothing could slow us down.

However there are going to be times when islands appear, loaded with opportunity and distractions. It’s up to us to decide whether we follow our True North or plot a different course for a new heading.

As the Captain, you’ll have to decide which path to take. And it isn’t always easy. Threats and distractions can be disguised as opportunities. What look’s like an easy win and an obvious choice, can turn into a mirage. A sandbank and shallow waters that holds your ship and journey hostage.

The metaphors are a little on the nose and I apologise. But at one point or another we’ve all played pirates and it’s something we can all envisage. You could be a pilot, explorer, diver, space marine, captain or whatever you want.

We need to know what we’re willing to compromise on and what vehicles we’re going to take, to achieve our purpose. Our True North is going to become more important than our purpose at times and even, more important than the purpose in the long run.

Are you willing to wake up earlier every day to write a book? Are you willing to cold call people for your business? What do you believe your purpose requires of you and others, that others should know? These are all parts of our direction that we need to write down and commit to, in order to reach our purpose.

It’s also incredibly important to share your True North with other people. For example a good friend of mine runs a very successful website design agency. But he has two “no compromises”. Gambling and alcohol.

He’s been offered a lot of money to design websites for lots of companies including Formula One racing events, large SaaS companies, but he isn’t willing to build sites for gambling businesses and alcohol businesses. He isn’t willing to compromise no matter how large the pay-cheque.

Funnel niche

If you’re ready to take your funnel business to the next level, you need a niche. Successful funnel businesses that have a well defined, profitable niche grow faster than those that don’t. BUT – if you think a niche is an industry, you’re wrong. Get your free funnel business niche training below and we’ll find you a funnel niche today.

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Vision and values

You have values and truths that need to be adhered to when plotting new territories. Your True North will act like a compass and a guide. A local who knows what animals and plants to avoid or pick up.

When we get started on our journey to fulfil our purpose, it’s incredible how quickly we’re distracted. From writing our new book to starting a $10 million business. The first day will be loaded with distractions and other chances. We have to remain steadfast and hold our bearing. Keeping to the direction we’ve laid out in our True North.

How often have you procrastinated over starting a project. Telling yourself “I must get started today. Or tomorrow. Well…tomorrow is Tuesday and I’m better mid-week. But then it’s a weird time to start so I’ll start on Friday for a head start on Monday. But Friday is so busy and I’m so tired so I’ll crack on on Monday….”

That’s our compass going wild. We know deep down we should just sit and carve out a 30 minute block to start our tasks. But we’re distracted and we’re not listening to our True North. We’re not reminding ourselves about our goals and purpose. We’re not sticking to True North.

When distractions arise, it’s easy to be motivated to move past them sometimes. But there are times when motivation isn’t going to be enough. We have to be disciplined to stick to True North and ignore the distractions that come our way.

Look at large scale and small scale. Distractions can be on a micro scale, from mobile phones, email, Facebook, the washing machine beeping. Or larger such as projects that don’t really suit our purpose or nights out with friends that should be spent writing or creating or you KNOW will result in a hangover that stops you from working.

These are all things that are within our control. Emergencies happen, sure. But they seldom happen and most things are avoidable. There will be detractors and “Zeds” that tell you to take a break and stop.

“Rest up!” they say “it’s not all work.”

“All work and no play…” they’ll sanctimoniously quote, despite the fact that you never preach about your work ethic to them.

Everything is a potential distraction and without understanding what we could face, it’s easy to fall of course.

I don’t know what my purpose is…

I hear this a LOT which is why I’ve written about it before here and here.

A vital part to any funnel business is to uncover your deeper purpose. Your purpose isn’t to build funnels. Your purpose is to help people. Help them make money, help them become financially free, help them reach more people.

When you understand your purpose, your True North will be easier to uncover.

Funnel niche

If you’re ready to take your funnel business to the next level, you need a niche. Successful funnel businesses that have a well defined, profitable niche grow faster than those that don’t. BUT – if you think a niche is an industry, you’re wrong. Get your free funnel business niche training below and we’ll find you a funnel niche today.

Mike Killen

Mike is the world's #1 sales coach for marketing funnel builders. He helps funnel builders sell marketing funnels to their customers. He is the author of From Single To Scale; How single-person, small and micro-businesses can scale their business to profit. You can find him on Twitter @mike_killen.