what I did this morning to kick off the year

{NAME}, I spent this morning doing something a little different (for the first working day of a new year). Even though my plan was to clear my inbox, I got totally sidetracked reading over emails and journals I wrote myself throughout last year. Two hours later, Falco’s still curled up like a fuzzy black teddy bear next to me, while I’ve been very productive—having compiled a full-page list of the areas where I fell short of my goals in 2021. And guess what? As usual, I missed more of my biggest goals than I hit. Which, around here, is a good thing. Because it means I really stretched myself. And, even more importantly, because I know exactly why I didn’t hit them. For example… Last year, sales increased by almost 40% over 2020. Which is pretty impressive. But not my “best” goal (in terms of good, better, best goals). I know exactly why I didn’t hit it though. Because of another goal I missed… Audience growth. As in, year over year new leads didn’t grow as much as I would have liked. Again though, I know why. I didn’t expand my traffic sources or scale my existing channels, and, being brutally honest with myself, exploding my traffic wasn’t a top priority last year. I actually realized this towards the end of the year, so I took action… Knowing that this year, one of my priorities is getting serious about my Youtube channel, I hired a few top Youtube consultants to help me identify what’s not working, and what I need to shift. The good news is…despite my not prioritizing traffic growth this year, my audience grew by about the same amount as the year before, which tells me that my existing traffic systems are rock solid. Another cool tidbit… Revenue from all of my different product classes increased by about the same amount. Which means healthy growth. (No one category is dying or weaker than the others.) And what people call increasing revenue with “ease.” Especially considering that for the majority of my products, they require a lot less work to sell, maintain, and deliver, after the upfront work of creating them. Lots of takeaways here for how I think about, and grow, this business. The coolest part, for me? Is knowing exactly why something isn’t working as well as I’d like, and what to do to fix it. Because it definitely wasn’t always this way... I remember in the first few years, throwing everything I could think of at a problem, reworking my marketing and sales until 2am in the morning, buying every course and coaching program I thought might have the solution, obsessing over the people who seemed to have it all figured out, and wondering what was wrong with ME that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted… And getting really frustrated that nobody else seemed to know what I was missing either. Turns out, back then, I—and most of the coaches and consultants I hired—just didn’t know enough. About the industry, marketing, sales, or business. After all, most of them hadn’t themselves built or run a multiple 7-figure business before. Point being… If you’re trying to hit your next goal of $20K, $30K, $50K, or more, per month, and you can’t seem to get it? There’s a reason. (Actually, it usually comes down to just five factors.) And if you’re tired of trying to figure it out on your own, and want someone who has actually done the things you want to do and knows what you need to get there… And more specifically, you want that specific person to be me in your corner, helping you make 2022 the year you hit those goals… I’d love to support you in getting to those consistent $20K, $30K, $50K, or more months in my EMPIRE coaching program. You can apply here: [luisazhou.com/coaching]( And if you want to make sure it’s the right fit for you, just DM me on Instagram: @luisa.zhou Luisa [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Unsubscribe]( Zhou Ventures, Inc. P.O. Box 2545 New York, New York 10163-2545 United States