Diversification and Automation: The Success Story of a Leadership Development Advisor

L. Michelle Smith is a writer, speaker, podcast host, executive producer, consultant, brand partner, and executive coach. She started her career in corporate America, where she built her first product, a message board for her sorority. She later became a VP at a global public relations agency before starting her own media training consultancy. After nearly a decade at the helm of her agency, she returned to corporate America, working as a senior vice president for a global agency. She then started no silos communications llc, which offers executive and business coaching, strategic consulting, digital content for leadership eLearning, and more.

L. Michelle Smith, a leadership development advisor, faced a significant challenge in her journey from corporate America to becoming a successful business owner. Initially, she built a product without realizing its potential for monetization. Later, she started her own media training consultancy, leveraging her connections to secure clients. However, she realized the need to diversify her business to ensure its sustainability. In 2020, her speaking engagements, a significant source of income, were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, as her business grew, she found herself juggling multiple apps to manage different aspects of her operations. This was time-consuming and detracted from her ability to focus on tasks that required her expertise and creativity.

To overcome these challenges, Michelle adopted two key strategies: diversification and automation. She diversified her business to include executive and business coaching, strategic consulting, digital content for leadership eLearning, and more. This diversification allowed her to lean into other revenue streams when her speaking engagements were halted due to the pandemic. To manage her growing business more efficiently, she turned to Zapier, a tool that automates workflows. She set up 'Zaps' or automated workflows for each of her lines of business. For instance, when someone booked with Michelle in Calendly, Zapier automatically added them as a contact in Mailchimp and nudged Michelle or a team member in Bonjoro to send them a personalized video message. This automation allowed her to focus more on her clients and less on managing her tools.

• The diversification and automation strategies adopted by Michelle have resulted in significant operational benefits. Diversification has made her business more resilient, allowing her to weather the storm when one of her major revenue streams was halted due to the pandemic. It has also enabled her to extend her services for free to those who needed it during the crisis. Automation, on the other hand, has streamlined her business operations, reducing the time spent on managing multiple apps and allowing her to focus more on her clients. It has also enabled her to provide a more personalized service to her clients, enhancing their experience and satisfaction.

• Michelle's agency celebrated the $1 million revenue milestone in its fifth year.

• Despite the halt of her speaking engagements in 2020 due to the pandemic, she was able to sustain her business through her diversified revenue streams.

• Automation through Zapier led to a sharp increase in conversions.