832: The One Principle Every Entrepreneur Must Master to Maximize Results

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2:01Here's where I want for you to really understand when it comes to content and engagement, there are likely a few things that really resonate that you are known for, that people follow you for, that you can double down on, that you can repurpose, that you can recreate in new ways to maximize the results that you are getting. I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a$300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a seven figure online business that feels even better than it looks all from my house in small town, Minnesota with my family.

2:41Here we value time as our currency. We mix the woo and the work, and we are in the pursuit of building businesses that give us the freedom to live lives that we love. I've always loved turning big goals into reality, and I'm here to help you do the same. This isn't just a peek behind the curtain. Come along with me and my guests as we tear the whole curtain down. Every week we tackle practical, no fluff marketing strategies and host honest discussions on what works and what doesn't. Join me and my expert guests for actionable insights to help you grow your dream business with confidence. Pull up a seat and get ready to be challenged, inspired, and empowered.

3:20This is the Gold Digger Podcast. We've all heard the advice to work smarter and not harder, but what if there was a hidden key, one simple principle that could completely change the way you approach your business? As I was diving into audits and plans for next year, I kept seeing this one principle popping up everywhere. It was like a light bulb moment and it inspired this very episode because if it's showing up for me, there's a really good chance it's impacting you too. Imagine if just a small fraction of what you do could drive nearly all of your results, giving you back time and energy, all while amplifying your success.

4:00Today, I'm diving into this surprisingly simple rule that could help you 10x your business, covering everything from revenue and audience engagement to daily productivity. Grab a notebook because I'll show you exactly how this principle can help you zero in on the work that truly moves the needle. Ready to see a little business magic in action? Let's dive on in. Picture this, you're at a party and someone asks you what you do as a marketer. Like how do you even begin to describe it. You have to generate leads, score them, contact them, create content, gather data, and tomorrow you have to do it all over again.

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5:16That's HubSpot.com slash marketers. Before we dive in, let me take you back, like way back back to college, because that is where I first learned about this principle. It's one of those rare concepts that has only grown more relevant with time. And with so many options and demands today, so much information out there, the importance of focusing on what really drive results has never been clearer. So what am I talking about? What principle is this? It is Pareto's principle. It's also known as the 80-20 rule. And it's this idea that 80 % of your results come from just 20 % of your efforts. This principle was originally discovered by Italian economist Vildredo Pareto, who noticed that 80 % of Italy's land was owned by 20 % of the population.

6:04Since then, it has become a go-to framework in business, in productivity, and heck, even in your personal life. At its core, Pareto's principle is about identifying and amplifying the high impact 20 % so that you can maximize results, streamline your workload, and cut out distractions. So with that in mind, let's dive into the five key areas in your business where the 80-20 rule can make a massive impact on your success. The first one is offers and revenue. So when we think of this 80-20 idea and the insight that it brings, about 20 % of your offers are likely generating 80 % of your revenue. Now, we actually see this in a few different spots within my business.

6:47When it comes to affiliate partnerships, we can easily see that 20 % of our partnerships bring in about 80 % of our revenue. This was something we discovered a few years ago, and it really helped us focus in on going deep and not wide. Now, this doesn't just happen in my business with affiliate partnerships. The same goes with my business structure and our offers. And while I am someone who now at this stage of business has many different revenue streams, 20 % of our offers bring in over 80 % of our revenue. So it is at play in our business in so many different areas when it comes to offers and revenue.

7:26Now, here's something I want for you to hear loud and clear, because I know a lot of my audience is multi-passionate like me. We're excited. We're creative. And a lot of times that can lead to us wanting to create new things all of the time, right? It's really easy to get tired of having the same offer and putting it out into the world over and over and over again. But let me tell you, I have not created a new offer in over four years and I have not created a new core offer in over six years. If you dig into your sales data, let me tell you, you are probably going to notice that just a few of your products or services consistently bring in the most revenue.

8:07This is a classic example of the 80-20 rule in action. About 20 % of what you offer is probably driving 80 % of your income. So what does this have to do with creating new things? Well, first off, if you think about it, diluted focus gives you diluted results. And if you are someone who is constantly creating new offers, you're not actually letting this principle be at play in your business. Again, it's this idea of going deep and not wide. And a lot of times new entrepreneurs are constantly throwing spaghetti at the wall, creating new offer after new offer, never giving them the amount of time and energy that they require to grow legs and actually get you results.

8:49So here's the key of what I want for you to be thinking about. Instead of spreading yourself thin, trying to create new things, trying to promote everything, what I want for you to do is first understand what are your top performers. There's probably a good chunk of my audience who can't speak to what is driving the revenue. What are your top products? So first things first, take a closer look at what is the spread for you and where the majority of your revenue is coming from. And then dig in to understand what makes them so successful. Are they maybe solving a specific problem for your audience?

9:27Do they stand out in the market? Once you identify what your best sellers are, think about how you could maybe double down and scale them or promote them more effectively. When I think about my business, I think about how it has been this beautiful rinse and repeat model for the last six years. And guess what happened six years ago for me? I finally became a mom. And so this model is something that a lot of times creative people have a challenge with because it can feel boring, right? The rinse and the repeat, let me tell you, is the gift. It is not the burden. It is the gift that keeps on giving.

10:03But how do you build a business that allows for it to be rinse and repeat? It is understanding Pareto's principle and doubling down on your marketing efforts for those high revenue products or even creating interesting offers around them so that you can promote them in many different ways. And it doesn't feel like you are constantly saying the same thing over and over again. If you are able to focus on scaling what is already working, I promise you, promise you, you are going to free up so much time and so many resources that would otherwise be spent on lower impact offers. And it's interesting because even as I say this with such conviction, we can get caught up in this, even in my own business, where we double down on something that we thought maybe would do better than it did, or we are spending our time and energy and our marketing on things that are underperforming.

10:59And if we stop doing that, not only are we going to have more resources to go for the things that are actually working, but we will grow faster with less effort and stress. So here's what I want for you to ask yourself, what are the offers in your business that could make the biggest impact if you focus just a little bit more energy on them? Think about like lighting a match and putting gasoline on the fire that is already burning. So here's what I want for you to do with this idea of your offers and revenue and Pareto's principle impacting them. First, take some time to really investigate your numbers.

11:35I often talk about the show Shark Tank. I love the Shark Tank. I recently got Coco interested in it. And it's like the best thing as a mom. But get Shark Tank ready with your numbers. Really understand your numbers. Imagine standing in front of Mark Cuban and him asking you, which offer of yours is driving the most revenue? And what does that look like? See which offers are bringing in the most revenue results for your business. And then make sure you schedule your time and your energy and you put your resources towards what is already working. So make sure that the way that you are setting up your marketing, the way that you're spending your time, the way that you're spending your money is actually moving the needle on the thing that is already working.

12:16Oftentimes we get so swept up into the areas of our business that we forget aren't actually delivering results. And so whether you need to do a time audit or a money audit, make sure that you are giving the right offers, the time and the energy that they need, and also giving them the space on your marketing calendar that they deserve. So this is where the audits are going to come in loud and clear. Look at your offers and revenue. See if Pareto's principle is at play. And if it is, focus on going deeper and not wider. And if this is a reminder for you that you don't always need to be creating new products and new offers.

12:53Instead, you could be doubling down and getting really good at selling things already working. Well, the offer is out. Your invitation is sent. I hope you RSVP. Yes. Okay. The second place in your life and business where Pareto's principle is likely at play has to do with your content and the engagement it is getting. So get this, roughly 20 % of your content is likely going to drive 80 % of your audience engagement. Now, one of the things that I have really recognized is that a lot of times with social media, again, it's like a spaghetti at the wall experience for a lot of us. And if you have not done a social media audit lately, I am linking up an episode from earlier this year in the show notes where I walk you through the exact process of how to do an audit of what results you will see through the audit and how it is going to save you so much time and energy and frustration, especially when it comes to content creation.

13:51So if you have ever actually taken a step back to do that audit or to analyze your content, you probably started to see patterns. And I love when I start to see patterns in my business. It helps me to understand and reverse engineer and systemize how to leverage those patterns to get maximum results. And so maybe the pattern was noticing a small percentage of your posts or videos or long form content or articles are likely driving the majority of your likes, shares and comments. This is true no matter what industry you are in. So what does this mean for us? How do we use this to our advantage?

14:30First, it is so important to identify those high performing pieces. And one thing I want to note here is that a lot of times when we do audits, we're looking at things like reach and views and likes and comments. And while those might be performing well in terms of engagement, I want to stress the importance at looking at what is actually high performing in terms of real results, whether it is email subscribers or sales or new clients or new contacts like those to me actually speak way louder than the high engagement pieces that are just fun for people to look at, but don't actually inspire them into action.

15:12But you want to identify, okay, what are the high performing pieces? And if it were me, I would be looking at both engagement, but also at results. And then really start to understand what is actually resonating? Are there maybe specific topics or formats or styles that seem to strike a chord with your audience? Maybe it's educational tips. Maybe it's the behind the scenes glimpses. Maybe it's personal stories that consistently get your people talking and sharing, but you are likely going to see patterns and trends that are going to help you as we move into the new year, understand what you need to be talking about and how you need to be sharing.

15:48And here again, once you identify what is already working for you, this is where you are invited to double down on it, create more content in that style, cover similar topics, or even repurpose your top posts in different ways to reach new audiences. By leaning into the type of content that is already grabbing people's attention, you're not just increasing engagement. You're also amplifying your reach and reconnecting with people who are more likely to stick around and become loyal followers. And beyond that, likely move into other places that you own and can control like your email list or onto your website.

16:24So one thing that we're doing right now in my business where we definitely saw Pareto's principle at play is we are analyzing my blog. If you didn't know this, I have literally been blogging. I basically started my business from a blog back in 2010. And so right now we are looking at what pieces bring in the most traffic, what areas can we update? How can we improve our top performing content? And let me tell you, to me, this is so nerdy, but it is so exciting. And it's a lot more inviting to me than just analyzing social media, because I am going to swear by this for the rest of my days. Long form content is queen.

17:02Like it is queen. And what's beautiful about it is even the other day, I was updating a blog post that we published a year and a half ago. That is one of our top traffic generators. And the traffic is likely fueled by Pinterest and search engine optimization. And it is so cool to see something that we created over a year and a half ago, getting thousands of visits every single month. And so I am like going back and improving that whereas on social media, it doesn't really make sense to go to like one of your top performing posts from a month ago and tweak it and see how you can even make it better.

17:35And that is why I will always live and die by long form content. So I just want you to understand that sometimes it's not about creating new content. It can be about refreshing long form content that's already working for you. But here's where I want for you to really understand when it comes to content and engagement, there are likely a few things that really resonate that you are known for, that people follow you for, that you can double down on, that you can repurpose, that you can recreate in new ways to maximize the results that you are getting. So as you plan your next content pieces, ask yourself, how can I recreate or build my top performing content to keep the momentum going and to engage my audience on a deeper level?

18:16Like maybe you had a post that really just kicked off on social media, but you didn't have a strong call to action that would actually invite people to either follow you or to save the post or to share it or to comment a keyword or to get onto your email list. And so maybe you can look at that and ask yourself, how could I make this even better? And then again, double down on it. So as a reminder, roughly 20 % of your content is likely driving 80 % of your audience engagement. Leverage Pareto's principle here to help you create less content, but have a greater impact and greater results with it.

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20:42That's bowlandbranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D branch.com slash gold digger to save 20 % and unlock free shipping. Exclusions apply. Okay, the third place that is likely impacted by our friend Pareto's principle has to do with your marketing channels and your client acquisition. So what does this mean? About 20 % of your marketing efforts likely yield 80 % of your results, sales, or clients. So when I was preparing for this episode, I was doing a little bit of research and studies show that small business owners spend on average 20 to 30 % of their time every single week on marketing. This is translating to around 10 to 15 hours per week for a typical 40 to 50 hour work week.

21:31So we are spending so much time on our marketing. And there's a really good chance that your marketing sucks, that it's not working for you. If I had to guess, you are probably using a mix of platforms to reach your audience. And here's the thing. I want for you to understand this. Not all channels are created equal. There is a really good chance that only a few of the marketing channels that you are creating for, and you're showing up on, and you're engaging with are consistently bringing in your highest quality leads, the ones most likely to become paying clients. And so I want for you to think about this.

22:07One thing that I've talked about on this show over the last couple of years is how much data has been a game changer for us. And I will say for about a decade of being an entrepreneur, I could not necessarily speak to the value of a follower or the value of someone coming from a Facebook ad into my ecosystem or the value of a specific email subscriber that came from a specific platform, whether it was a podcast or Instagram. And over the last few years, I've really started digging in to understand not only client acquisition, but like which platforms are actually bringing us not just leads, but qualified leads, leads that turn into sales.

22:49and what do we do in order to reach people at the most effective level so that we're not spending 10 to 15 hours a week on marketing. Like it is crazy when I think about all of the things we do. And what I often smile about when it comes to entrepreneurship is that so many of us become entrepreneurs because we are so passionate about the thing or the topic or the product that we've created. And we imagine our days are just spent in this like creative energy doing the thing when we really break it down and we look at the time that we are spending as entrepreneurs and a very small fragment is likely leveraged on doing that thing that you were so passionate about.

23:29You started your business around and we are so bogged down in the admin and the marketing and the messaging and all the other things. And so it's no wonder why entrepreneurs are getting burnt out. It's no wonder that entrepreneurs are not successful. And so when we think about Pareto's principle of the fact that 20 % of your marketing efforts are likely getting you 80 % of your clients, we have to really think about where are our sales and inquiries actually coming from. This might allow you to take a step back from a few platforms that maybe are underperforming or not working great for you and double down on where your clients are actually coming from.

24:09One thing we recently did is that I had invested for the last year on a platform. I'm not going to say which one it is, because I'll probably do a whole episode about it. But I went really deep on a platform and our engagement was awesome. We were growing our following like it was going so, so well. By all means, the metrics were looking really positive. But what we realized because of our data is that it wasn't actually translating into real business results. And so while the engagement and the followers and all that was shiny and great, it didn't actually move the needle on our business. And so what does that mean?

24:44Not only was I able to save a ton of money for my business by not investing in a team to help me with that, but I also am able to save a ton of time in my business, knowing that while that platform is great for engagement and connections, it's not actually really impacting our business's bottom line. And so again, diluted focus will give diluted results. And so the more concentrated you can get and the more clarity you have around what your efforts are actually doing in terms of results, the more that you can zero in your focus and focus on the things that matter. Because once you know where your best leads are coming from, you can refocus your efforts there.

25:24You can invest more time, more energy, more budget into the platforms that are working and reduce the time spent on those that aren't actually bringing in results. This doesn't mean that you have to cut out the lower performing channels entirely. We did not do that. I'm still showing up on that platform, but the level of investment and time and money that I'm putting into it is significantly decreased. And I want to put all of that time and money and energy onto the platforms that are working. So if you can strategically focus on your top channels, not only are you going to maximize your client acquisition, but you're not going to spread yourself too thin.