This document outlines essential steps for building a successful business, emphasizing the importance of having a clear strategy, organized workspace, effective marketing mechanisms, and strong customer retention practices. It highlights the significance of understanding your target market, creating a sales funnel, and providing excellent customer service to foster relationships and repeat business. Overall, it serves as a comprehensive checklist for entrepreneurs aiming to transition from hobbyist activities to sustainable business operations.

1. From Mindset to
Manifestation:
The Nuts and Bolts Checklist

2. What are your Metrics?
•At its most fundamental level, you are
providing a good or service in exchange for
someone’s money.
•If you are not generating revenue, then
you have a hobby, not a business.

3. What Does It Take
to Have a
Thriving
Business?

5. The Nuts and Bolts Checklist
1. A Strategy for Finding and Attracting
People to your Business
2. Being Ready to Sell
3. Having an Organized Office
4. An Effective Marketing Mechanism
5. A Feedback Loop that Resolves Problems
6. A Mechanism for Customer Retention

6. A Strategy for Finding and
Attracting People to your
Business

7. Start with a Plan
•Your X Factor (unique
selling proposition)
•Your target market
•Your sales projections
•Your sales funnel
If you create a plan before you start, you will increase the likelihood of being able to
sustain your business over time.

8. Your X Factor
The X Factor in business is the ability to
find a way to add intangible value–value
that goes beyond what anybody can really
measure. It’s the ability to find a way to do
more for your customers than absolutely
anybody else and to consistently maintain
that standard.
Tony Robbins

9. Who Is Your Target Market?
• Gender
• Age
• Education
• Lifestyle
• Interests
• Income Level
• Types of Pain or Challenges They Have
Find a Picture of your
Ideal Customer

10. What Are Your Sales Projections?
List every expense you can think of and
then work through how many sales you
will need per month to first: cover your
expenses and taxes and then: move
into prosperity and financial freedom.
Example:
I need ______ clients per month
who pay me _________,
so that’s ________ per month in
gross revenue.
So, I need to market to ______ Leads
Who will result in _______ Prospects
and ______ New Customers.

11. Your Sales Funnel
• Ways to acquire leads: social media marketing, e-mail
marketing, cold calling, attending events, advertising,
and word of mouth. Start with ONE!
• How you make people aware of your business really
depends on the product or service you are selling and
your comfort level.
• To attract leads, you need to think about why people
need your product or service and target specific
types of people.
Either you can learn how to market and do it or you can hire someone to
do it for you.

12. Sales Funnel Terminology
1. Lead - someone who becomes aware of your company via an Internet, word of mouth, or
someone you deliberately pursues through advertising, social media, or e-mail marketing.
• You capture the leads and put them into a contact manager (a CRM) or list and follow up
using e-mail, phone, and/or social media.
• A small percentage of those leads will end up being prospects.
2. Prospect - someone who has either talked with you, gone to your website, attended a
webinar, or replied to an e-mail.
• A small percentage of people who are interested will actually make a purchase and become
a first-time customer.
• If you have more than one product or service, you can continue to communicate with your
customers and turn them into repeat customers.

13. Why They Need Multiple Exposures
It’s not on their radar
• It’s not in their timing.
• They are not interested right now.
• It’s not important enough right now.
It takes 7-15 Exposures to make an impression

14. Sales Funnel Example
1. They opt into your landing page (a web page exclusively geared toward
marketing your free offer, called a lead magnet) and fill in their information
to receive it.
2. They receive the lead magnet via e-mail along with a thank you e-mail that
links them to your product or service and that gives them an option to
purchase.
3. They receive additional content-rich emails from you to create familiarity, so
they come to Know, Like, and Trust you.
4. They purchase a smaller item from you e.g., e-book, e-course, or book.
5. They receive additional promotional emails designed to upsell them to your
other products or services.
6. They purchase a high-end workshop, coaching package, or master mind.

15. My Product or Service is
Ready to Sell

16. This might seem obvious, but when you think about it, if
you aren’t prepared with a finished product, you have
nothing to sell.

17. My Office or Studio is Setup

18. •To Do List
•Files
•Receipts
•Contact Lists
•Follow up List
Where did I
put that?
Who Should
I Contact
Next?
What’s on my
calendar?
An organized work space will help your mind
feel less cluttered, freeing you up for more
creativity and productivity.

19. Does the IRS Think it is a Business?
A separate, physical location, even if it’s in your house.
• Tax deduction
• It’s separate from your family, your recreation, and your personal life.
A way for people to pay you and for you to track expenses.
• PayPal account or online shopping cart.
• A checking account in your business name
• A bookkeeping system or software.
• An account with UPS or Amazon if you are shipping physical products. You might also
need a business license.
Set aside a percentage of your revenue for tax purposes.
An inventory of products and marketing materials and business cards.

20. An Expanding Marketing Platform

21. • Events
• Workshops
• Local Meetups
• Clubs
• Expos
• Media & PR
• Guest blogging
• Press releases
• Radio and TV
• Newspapers and mags
• Online Communities
• Forums
• Interactions
• Website/blog commenting
• Social Networking
• FaceBook
• Twitter
• Linked In
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Pinterest

22. NETWORKING
PROMOTION
FOLLOW UP
ADMINISTRATION
WORK
PERSONAL
GROWTH

23. Your platform might include:
• Posting blog entries that offer free advice
• Getting mentioned in the press
• Meeting potential clients on Facebook and Twitter
• Ensuring people can find your content in search
engines
• Publishing articles on other websites
• Creating strategic partnerships
Without a platform, your business will not grow past trading
time for money.

24. I Have a Feedback Loop that
Resolves Problems Effectively

25. You are Your Customer Service Department
Rules for Awesome Customer Service:
•Listen without judgment. Most people simply want their concerns acknowledged or to
be heard. Say, “I understand how you feel.”
•Express gratitude for their time and effort. In fact, say, "Thanks for bringing that
problem to my attention."
•Do not blame them. Your role is to hear them out and help continue their relationship
with you and your organization, if possible. Say, “Let’s see what we can do to
resolve this.”
•You might be in the wrong. Often, people will settle for an apology or ask for very little
if you listen with compassion. Say, “I apologize for that misunderstanding.”

26. I Have a Mechanism in Place
for Retaining My Customers

27. Create Repeat Customers
• Send out a series of auto-responder e-mails every few weeks that contains
good, informative content to maintain a relationship with you.
• Put people into a contact manager software system and call them every once in
awhile to check in and see how they are liking your product or service and then
tell them about the latest “good news,” which will do essentially the same thing,
but better.
• Keep track of the birthdays and send them a free offer or discount.
• Be sure your e-mails or phone calls provide information about other products or
services you offer, along with incentives to purchase, like contests and discount
coupons. This is where you can up-sell and offer higher-ticket items.

28. The Daily Activity Tracker
Download yours
for FREE
www.CarolMerlo.com

29. www.CarolMerlo.com
•Complimentary Strategy Session
•Coaching
•Workshops and Speaking