Heather Holtschlag Case Study: Heather and Jaime Tardy Call #1

HEATHER & JAIME TARDY CALL #1

This video is part of a series of case studies featuring Heather Holtschlag. If you’re just joining us, I recommend you start here.

When I talked with Heather in our introductory Skype call, we talked about her challenges in attracting her ideal client, and creating a business plan that would work as a freelance mom.

Fortunately, Jaime Tardy, who is an amazing business coach and owner of Eventual Millionaire, agreed to meet with Heather to mentor her around these important areas. Here’s the first of their two phone calls.

Jaime definitely understands Heather’s challenges – she also started her business when her children were young, ramping it up into full time when they started going to school. I knew the two of them would have a ton to talk about!

This call is packed with advice for anyone starting a business, but it’s especially helpful for those of us freelance moms who are strapped for time.

One question people ask me and I hear often is, “What can I do when just starting out that will allow me to get ahead quicker and make income faster?”

If you’ve ever wondered that, this call is for you.

If you listen to nothing else in this call, at least tune in around the 35 minute mark to get Jaime’s biggest tip on time management for freelance moms!

Watch the call

Watch as Jaime addresses Heather’s challenges around her specific business needs and helps her develop a solid foundation and understanding of her:

  • Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
  • 90 day goals and 1 year goals
  • Ideal client and how to find them
  • How much income she needs and wants
  • And MUCH MORE….

Defining your vision for your business

How often do you think about where you want to be in five years? In one year? At the 6 minute mark, Jaime talks about how important it is to envision where you want to be in your business in order to set goals.

Jaime challenges Heather to dream big, but also stresses that Heather (like all of us moms!) needs to set realistic goals for herself so she doesn’t get overwhelmed and succumb to “mommy guilt.”

The theme of figuring out your business vision is a big one for this call, and at the 24:30 mark, Jaime asks Heather to hone that vision for the long term, thinking about how big of a company she’d like, how many employees, and what she’d like her client list to look like.

Identifying your ideal client and USP

At the 12 minute mark, Jaime and Heather dive into who Heather’s ideal client is: a private practice general practitioner who would have need of regular PR and marketing work.

Heather has a great idea of who she wants to work with and of what services she’d like to provide, and at the 17:30 minute mark, Jaime helps her redefine the services she offers in terms of what results the client wants.

Heather wants to offer PR and marketing services, but she often runs up against the problem of prospects who don’t know what that means, or don’t know why they need something like that. Jaime suggests that Heather talk instead about what her prospects want, which is “more patients”.

This is something that every businesswoman needs to remember – to define what you offer in terms of the results it gets your clients/customers. Defining your unique selling proposition (USP) will help you get to the bottom of this question. That’s something Jaime gets into more at the 23:30 minute mark, when she talks about the importance of picking a niche.

Your Homework:

To get your freelance business started on the right foot you need to know:

  • who you are targeting
  • how you will find your targets
  • what you are selling
  • how you will make money
  • why your “stuff” even matters

If you have these areas taken care of early on, then that will help you hit the ground running quicker and you will see income faster and more consistently, because you know EXACTLY where to spend your time.

Define your ideal clients, just like Heather did at the 12 minute mark. Pay attention to how detailed she gets, and try to match that when coming up with your own ideal client.

Define your USP. What makes you unique? If you don’t know this yourself, you will never be able to explain it to your customer!

Here are some tools to help you develop your USP and identify your ideal client.

Write a business plan. When I first started my business, I went straight into tactical mode (big mistake!) for the first six months. I didn’t even think about who my audience or clients were, how I would find them, how I could best serve them and how I was going to make money.

I have found that without a solid plan, your business will have challenges thriving in the long-term, so….

Why not get that part taken care of today so you can concentrate on building your business and having more time to spend with your family and other interests?

Here are some resources to help you: