Iâll never forget it. Stephen treated his parents and baby bro to a Michelin-starred restaurant â The Modern. One of the best meals Iâd ever tasted. And that was that. Or so I thought. Until a few weeks ago, years after that meal, when I heard a story from Wâs (Stephenâs brother) girlfriend⦠âW always mentions that meal at The Modern because it showed him how much more of the world he hadnât even known existed. Just as Stephen opened his eyes that way, he often tells me itâs our responsibility to do the same for my two little sisters.â I once observed to Stephen, âOur siblings are doing way better than we were at their age! Financially, emotionally, everything!â And Stephen said, âGood. Isnât that the whole point? That each group paves the way for the next? So they can have it better and easier?â I knew I married the right person. But believe it or not, my parents were NOT supportive of our relationship in the beginning. To paraphrase their reasons: They didnât think Stephen was ambitious enough, smart enough, or tall enough. (That last one especiallyâ¦Asian values, what can I say?) But then my dad had his emergency heart failure in 2013. My mom walked into the room and saw my dad lying completely still on the floor, white as a ghost. Right after calling 911, she called me, scared out of her mind. But I was working in Chicago at the time, so I asked Stephen, who lived in Houston back then, to help. Without missing a beat, he dropped everything to meet my mom at the hospital and spent the day translating between my mom and the doctors. And after the successful surgery that saved my dadâs life, he stopped by the hospital every morning to bring my mom and dad breakfast. Which meant he had to get up before 5 to be able to see them before going to work. Finally, my parents realized what Iâd known all along: When you find someone who shares your values, you treat them like the treasure they are. And not just in romantic relationships either. In any relationship. In fact, itâs a huge part of why I run my business the way I do: Iâm not trying to attract everyone or make as many sales as humanly possible. Instead, my goal is to grow through helping the right people. In this context, the right people being those who share my top values â Family. Integrity. Work ethic. Humility. Respect. Value. If you feel the same way, let me share a huge AHA that it took me years to figure out â about how to attract your ârightâ people. WHAT you do to attract your clients makes the world of difference. In my first few years building this business, we spent over 7-figures on Facebook ads. And as a result of the sheer volume of people we connected with through those ads, of course I also connected with a lot of high-quality, ideal clients. Many of whom I still keep in touch with to this day â because theyâre genuinely good human beings. But based on the amount we spent and the pure number of people we connected with, the number of high-quality ideal clients who found us through our ads was relatively low. Which meant we also had to deal with a lot more people who were looking for just a âget rich quickâ scheme â and thus didnât have the patience or willingness to actually do the work and add the value you need to â to be able to have the dream business and life you want. AKA: People who did NOT share our values. This makes sense in retrospect. Because of what people respond to in ads â itâs a split second decision based on the attractiveness of your ad, that has little to do with knowing you or sharing your values. Honestly, I just assumed that was the way it had to be. That you had to drive big numbers, to be able to connect with the relatively small percentage of people within that volume that shared your values. That is, until I started blogging and focusing on SEO. Iâll never forget the email Amy, who was managing customer support at the time, sent me. Paraphrasing from memory: âWhoa! Itâs like a completely different universe!â Because message after message was thoughtful, intelligent, and appreciative. Whether it was a short thank you for our content or a quick clarification before buying. Again, in retrospect, it makes sense. When someone finds you because theyâre actively looking for help with the thing you can help them with, theyâre already in a much better mindset to be helped. Plus, when someone is doing the work to research and learn about the thing? Itâs an indicator that theyâre willing to do the work it takes to actually get results. Not to mention all the studies that confirm that customers who are searching are more likely to buy. (Depending on which study you look at, 55% to 70%+ of customers use search to help them decide what to buy.) So theyâre also less likely to be âtire kickersâ who donât appreciate what you have to offer. The point is: If you care about creating a business you love, with clients you love â who share your values, while also appreciating and respecting you? I highly recommend using blogging and SEO as a core growth strategy. And of course as always, I walk my own talk. To this day, itâs LuisaZhou.comâs #1 growth driver. If youâd like to learn more about the strategy, start with this: [Watch a free masterclass explaining the strategy](
. Or if you already know you want to use it to grow your business: [Enroll in Clients Come to Me](
to get the full system with step-by-steps, templates, guides, and Q&A support. Or if you want us to do it FOR you: [Hire my team](
to do it all for you so you donât have to worry about a thing. (Your business does need to be at 6-figures or more in annual revenue for this option to be a good fit.) ⨠Luisa Zhou If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click here to
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