Episode 53: Why Time is Our Only Teacher & Our Biggest Shepard to Success

Time is a relentless teacher, shaping both personal growth and business success in ways we rarely anticipate. As I navigate the joys and hurdles of being a first-time mom, I see the same principles at play in entrepreneurship. This journey demands patience and a long-term perspective to truly flourish, much like the story of a client who bravely transitioned into an educator role. Overnight triumphs are rare, and building something lasting requires understanding the rhythms of time, the seasons of business, and the necessity of consistent marketing efforts to lay a foundation for enduring success.

Consistency is the unsung hero of transformation, whether you're molding a business or reshaping personal habits. Just as in fitness, where commitment over time leads to visible results, the same applies to marketing and business strategies. Prematurely abandoning efforts due to a lack of quick wins is a common pitfall, but true success often emerges from the slow, cumulative power of persistent action. Join me as we explore how the steadfast commitment to regularity and the wisdom to appreciate the passage of time can unlock extraordinary growth in both personal and professional realms.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the Vicki Kotris podcast.
I am your host, none other thanVicki Kotris.
I'm a retired corporate girly,two-time six-figure founder
who's obsessed with brandbuilding, sales generating and
digital marketing.
My mission with this podcast isto share the lessons I've
learned, to help you make moremagic and money with your own
marketing efforts, and to feelinspired to continue on your own

(00:28):
journey as a creator andentrepreneur.
Here I'll share real lifestrategies, marketing tips and
mindset shifts that have helpedme go from cubicle to creator.
This podcast is for businessowners, creatives or those just
looking for a little moresparkle in their day, so let's
kick off this week's episode.
Hey guys, welcome back to thepodcast.

(00:52):
Today I want to talk aboutsomething that has me all in my
feels and maybe you can relateto it in some way, but it is
something that I cannot stopthinking about and I think it is
so topical and relates so muchto marketing strategies and
building businesses.
It is time.

(01:14):
The reason why I'm in my feelsright now is because I had a
baby last year and we are comingup on the first year of his
life, his first birthday that weare celebrating, that I am
planning a party and probablystressing out way too much and
overthinking way too much, butit's because I just want it to

(01:38):
be such a special and importantmemory, which it is.
And one of the things that Ilook back on this past year has
nothing to do with my son.
He is wonderful and smart andfunny and cute and everything in
between Everything.
A little chubby 11-month-oldshould be.
But when I look back, what Ireally start to think about is

(02:02):
what I have learned and what Ihave gained in the past 12
months.
I'm not that same person that Iwas 12 months ago.
At this time, I even rememberhaving a breakdown right before
he was about to be born, becauseI didn't think I had enough
clothes for him to come home, towhich there was such a simple

(02:24):
solution.
But I just felt wildlyunprepared and that was the one
thing that I picked out as towhy I wasn't fit to be a mother
because I didn't own enough longsleeve onesies.
So, again, I could also talkabout the lies that we
systematically orprogrammatically tell ourselves
through just the loop of our ownminds, but instead I'm going to

(02:44):
talk about the interpretationof time and how it applies to
business.
So when I look back on my timegrowing as a first-time mom and
my son and how many first-timeexperiences he has.
I look back and say, wow, Ihave learned so much along the
way that I am no longer the sameperson.

(03:06):
He certainly isn't he has atooth poking through that.
I'll tell you that little gummybear didn't have 12 months ago.
He still looked like a littleturtle from when he was born,
and so that's a really beautifulthing, and it's crazy to me how
fast time goes and how slow itgoes.

(03:27):
There's a saying for parentsthat the days are long but the
years are short, which is sotrue, because when you're in it
some days you don't know howyou're going to get through it,
and then you look back and awhole month or year has passed,
which is truly how I feel, andthat is the same with building a

(03:48):
business.
I'll tell you my recent example.
So I'm working with a clientand she is branching out into a
new world.
She is moving from providingservices directly to into an
educator role, where she'sactually teaching and educating
other people on the service thatshe's offering, and so

(04:13):
something that's new is buildingout a long-term strategy.
So she is offering theseeducational courses.
She is brilliant.
She is wonderful and socaptivating when people are
consuming her content or talkingwith her directly.
So it's not her that's theproblem.

(04:34):
What becomes the problem inevery business is figuring out
how to scale, and I think thatwe all have these giant
expectations that things aregoing to change overnight, that
we are going to flip a switchafter we've created a product or
launch our service and now thatit has launched itself and

(04:57):
unleashed itself into the wild,everyone is going to buy it,
everyone is going to love it andwe are millionaires overnight.
I love that story.
I love that story for you, Ilove that story for me, I love
it for my clients and anyone whohas tried something new, who
has created something and put itout into the universe.
What I know to be true is thatthat is not true at all, and I

(05:23):
hate to burst everyone's bubble,but from someone who is a
three-time founder, what I knowis that things do not change
overnight and no matter how muchblood, sweat and tears you put
into a launch of a product, anew service, a new product, a
new course, whatever it is, fillin the blank.

(05:43):
Whatever it is that you areputting out into the universe
overnight you may see some rocksturn over.
So in my client's case, she hadan incredible amount of people
on a wait list who thenconverted as soon as she
launched her course Incredible,but it does take strategy to

(06:04):
keep that going.
It doesn't happen overnight.
You can't stop the wheel.
So in her case, what we'redoing is we're looking at a
communication and digitalmarketing strategy that extends
just that, you know, one monthlaunch period, because any
business owner will tell you,anyone that owns a large scale

(06:26):
organization I'm not even goingto say large, I'm going to say a
business that continues toconsistently make revenue.
It doesn't mean there's notseasonality in every single
business.
We all weather the storm.
Sometimes our sales are higherin the summer versus the winter,
sometimes in March versus April.
I'm not saying that thosethings are not completely normal

(06:47):
, because they are, but what I'msaying is that the businesses
that thrive are the ones thatunderstand that seasonality and
put a foundation or a plan inplace so that they can better
weather the storm.
And that fun little word iscalled marketing.
If you are living in today'sworld, you better be on social,

(07:10):
you better have a Google listing, you better have some kind not
even a website, but you betterhave some kind of online
presence to better connect withyour audience that is searching
for you today.
And so when I talk a lot aboutdigital strategy, what I'm
talking about is understandingthat it is a long-term play and

(07:33):
it always will be.
And the reason why I say thatis because even in the viral
world or universe that we livein today, where you could post
something on your phone thismorning and then by lunchtime, a
million people can see it,those million people that are
seeing it may not see ittomorrow, may not continue to

(07:54):
follow that content, and so itis up to you to continue to put
things out there that createengagement, that foster
community, that educate peopleon your products, or else you
are just going to be a flash inthe pan and it's easy to blame
everything else on the outsideoh, this didn't work, this
didn't work, and that's okay.

(08:15):
But as long as you arecontinuing to talk about your
products, to talk about what'scoming up, you will be able to
weather those storms and createa long-term sales strategy,
sales and marketing strategy.
I think it's also reallyimportant to put achievable
goals in place so that you don'tget discouraged when you don't

(08:39):
see things changing overnight.
For example, if your focus isthat you want to get two new
clients by the end of the year,then I would work my way
backwards and say what cansupport that?
Do you have an email list of300 people that you can
consistently send emails andupdates to every single week?

(09:00):
Black Friday is coming up.
Do you have a service orproduct that you can include in
a promotion that's going out?
Are you posting on social mediaoften enough to where new
customers can find you, orinterested parties that maybe
didn't purchase before can seewhat you've been up to and we
can convert them into customers?

(09:20):
Setting those goals foryourself are going to give you
that inspiration that you needto continue to grow your digital
marketing strategy.
And when I say digital marketing, I talk about what is email,
what is social and what do DMsall have working for you to
convert followers or prospectsinto actual paying customers?

(09:45):
And for some of you that arelistening, you might say Vicki,
I mean I am fine, we are good,we have customers, I feel great.
I have never met a businessowner who says I can't do a
little bit better or doesn'thave expansion goals into a new
market or a new product group,or maybe would be transitioning

(10:06):
from a service business todirect to consumer, or however
you that you envision yourbusiness.
There are always ways that youcan use marketing strategies to
help you get there and helpconnect you with the right
audience right?
So when you look at the idea ofmarketing, of a sales plan, of

(10:30):
growing your business, I reallyencourage you to make realistic
goals for yourself of what feelsgood, what would make you
motivated and continuing to growyour sales or marketing channel
.
That could be number ofcustomers, that could be number
of followers, that could begrowing that email list.

(10:50):
And then let time do its thing.
Let all of your efforts compoundinto some serious, serious
growth.
Don't knock your head up againsta wall.
If it doesn't happen overnight,it doesn't happen next week,
next month or next year.
You have to stay focused on allof the things that you're doing

(11:11):
on a daily or weekly basis toget you there, and then you will
start to see those rocksseriously turn over and continue
to grow your customer base.
The worst thing that you couldpossibly do is stop your efforts
because you feel like they'renot working.
That goes with anything and Iguarantee you even anyone who's

(11:33):
ever gone on a workout plan or adiet plan and you're like, oh
gosh, look, I've been workingout nonstop, every single day
for a month and you're like Idon't even see that scale move.
And then all of a sudden, it'slike your metabolism changes,
your body changes and you reallystart to see some of those more
physical changes in yourself.
I think this is marketing,reflecting physical shape,

(11:59):
physical life, because certainlywe can see the same in business
strategy.
So go out, get there, keep atit and very excited to watch you
continue to grow.