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If you know my history, you know I started my business as a customer without a journey. I’ve told stories about investments I’ve made (to the tune of almost $10,000) that didn’t lead to any valuable results.
But there have been some big wins. Programs and resources that have caused me to think differently and opened up even more opportunities for me to serve.
Read on for my debrief on a few of my favorites and how they’ve helped me grow my business.
Summit in a Box - The Lead Generation Process that Compounds with Time
I planned and executed my summit in 30 days using Summit in a Box.
Before I go any further I want to note that this is totally not recommended. The standard runway for a project like this is 90 days. My timeline was much shorter because I noticed a lot of business owners closed up shop when the pandemic first started, but a select few remained who were making a lot of money. I wanted to do my part to share what these leaders were doing to remain functional (and even profitable) during such an unprecedented time.
In some ways, I almost feel like Summit in a Box launched my business. It was the first time I spoke about the customer journey on a large platform. And even though I put myself in the middle of the speaker lineup, a lot of attendees actually pointed to my training as their favorite. That was when I realized I had something of value to share in this space.
What's happened since the summit
From a revenue perspective, I actually broke even on my event. However, I grew my list size from 0 to 500, gained a network of impactful collaborators, and joined the summit and podcast speaking circuit. This allowed me to spread my message even further (without paid traffic), grow an engaged audience, and get top clients of my own.
Logistically, I liked Summit in a Box because it was jam-packed with resources. It removed the overwhelm of logistics and tech and allowed me to focus solely on the program and the transformation. Being a part of the VIP group also gave me a place to ask questions, get feedback, and learn best practices from Krista and peers who were doing the same thing as me.
Considering a summit?
A great first start to exploring whether a summit is right for you, download the free resource 12 Secrets To Your First Profitable Online Summit.
I think this product works best for people who:
– Are interested in a singular lead generation approach that has a large payoff in the end
– Are looking to expand their network of collaborators (not just for the event but for future projects)
– Can commit to showing up and hosting a transformational event for 3 to 5 days
Done in a Day - Dependable Framework, Repeatable Transformation, Scalable Income
As a full-time corporate leader, I was looking for a way to package my offer without burning myself out. I was getting more responsibilities at my full-time job but I also wanted to continue delivering transformation to my clients. I actually found out about Done in a Day from a friend I made through the summit I hosted (thanks again, Summit in a Box!), and I trusted her insight on how the program could help me achieve my goals.
Joining Done in a Day was the first time I bet on myself to get results. The level of investment that was required was a little outside of my reach in my business, and I think I held my feet to the fire a little bit when it came to buckling down and recouping the income.
What I felt wasn’t really desperation, it was more an unwavering belief in myself and the value of my offer. And perhaps being someone who was already successful in the corporate world, I was committed to creating an offer that would be “worth my while” to sell. Something that would match what I was making in corporate to motivate me to continue developing and selling it.
The Power of A Valuable Framework
Done in a Day gave me the tools I needed to create a framework for what I offer and to articulate the transformation in an industry where what I offered was not being commonly discussed.
Before then, I found it difficult to share how I helped people without spending 30 minutes and a lot of words describing the process, or inadvertently providing the full transformation without first asking for payment. After all, who would be interested in customer journey design without a full done-for-you service if I didn’t “preview” what their customer journey could look like if they worked with me? Unfortunately once I shared the preview, they could just take that design and give it to another person to build it out, therefore cutting me out of the equation.
In my time in Done in a Day, I got very good at articulating my offer, stating the rate, and then shutting my mouth. I was confident in my process because I had accidentally given it away so many times and had seen people win with “advice” they got from me for free.
5 Figures and 5x My Investment in 60 Days
Turning what I did into a repeatable process with a predictable transformation made me feel like I had already won even before I had sold my first VIP Day. The framework I designed was the foundation of a coaching program that I launched less than a year later and then refined into my new coaching program, Anonymous to Authority™.
That said, I am happy to report that with my new network that I got from Summit in a Box, I hit my first 5-figure month and had 5x’d my investment within 2 months of joining the program.
Considering VIP Days?
You can get started by taking the quiz to figure out what type of VIP Day to create or downloading the free VIP Day roadmap.
I’d recommend Done in a Day to people who:
– Want to create a high ticket offer but are struggling to replicate the transformation — may benefit from having someone help you outline your framework
– Are searching for some time freedom and interested in transitioning to or adding an offer that frees up your schedule and maintains or increases your monthly revenue
– Are experienced at selling products and services, but are now interested in learning how to deliver transformation to premier clientele, you guessed it, in a day.
Email Marketing Fairy/Love Your List - From Easy Yes Offers to Sold Out Pre-Sales
I honestly don’t even remember the time BK (you know, before Kate Doster). But I can honestly say that Kate Doster is an absolute genius when it comes to email marketing.
I got her product Email Marketing Fairy on a whim because I hadn’t emailed my list in about a month and was completely stuck on what to send. The product has 25 pre-written newsletters so I figured I’d grab one and be on my merry way.
Lazy as I was, I picked “Email #1: You good?”
I wasn’t ready for what happened next.
After more than 30 days of radio silence with my audience of over 1100 people, my open rate was 43.3% and I had 13 replies from my newsletter audience in 48 hours.
That’s almost half my list engaged after no contact.
I was in awe.
Something for Every Scenario
Shortly after, I invested in Kate’s mega product, Love Your List. It is the most comprehensive email marketing product you will ever need, and I say that with the utmost confidence.
LYL has a solution for every scenario including when you return from ghosting your audience, when you want to break up with cold subscribers, and even what to put on your Thank You page to make sure that your list is even more excited to hear from you.
I find myself going back into either Email Marketing Fairy or Love Your List at least once every couple of months, and definitely once a quarter. There’s always something in there that I can pull from to help me continue adding value to my email list.
Even her bonuses have proven valuable. I used the sales series from her Black Friday SOS kit (a bonus for Love Your List at the time) to sell out spots in my coaching program during Black Friday even before the coaching program was created.
Considering Email Help?
With these resources, I no longer overthink what to send my email list. There’s always something to inspire me or help me send better emails to complement my customer journey.
Get started by downloading two years worth of weekly newsletter emails completely free.
I’d recommend these products to people who:
– Have a love/hate (okay, hate/hate) relationship with their email list
– Often don’t know what to send to their list without risking being a bother
– Get tripped up and stuck because they don’t feel like they write a good email series (welcome series, sales emails)
– Whose idea of email marketing is more like: start writing emails, hit the backspace button to erase everything, say forget it, then get up and walk away
– Actually finish the email but don’t send it because they don’t think anyone on their list would find it valuable
Profitable Live Trainings - Always Get Paid For Your Ideas
One of the reasons I admire Lizzy Goddard is she has built trust with a community of people who value her expertise and pay her for what she calls her “thoughts on things”. Her experimental approach to business building allows her to test different approaches and report back on her experience. This has led to a playground of sorts with offers for everyone fueled by her uncanny ability to execute very quickly on ideas that she has.
The one product that has been transformational for me is Profitable Live Trainings (PLT). PLT helped me step outside of my comfort zone to not only offer a paid workshop but to change the workshop into a standalone mini-course. Releasing a PLT gives me an avenue to share my thoughts on something outside of my signature offer, or teach a soft skill that I feel is essential to business development.
More than a Penny for My Thoughts
This course taught me to stop overthinking my process and ship things faster, well before perfectionism has its way. I learned to rely on the people I’m serving more to tell me what they want, instead of assuming that I knew and creating a product that was ultimately not valuable (or overvalued).
I made about $2,000 from the first PLT I ever released, and since then I’ve turned many of my one-off trainings into mini-courses that I can include in summits, bundles or other collaborative projects.
Considering Paid Trainings?
You can get started by watching Lizzy’s free lesson on choosing your PLT topic.
I recommend this for you if you:
– Have a lot of things you’d like to teach on but aren’t sure how they fit into your signature offer.
– Don’t know what your audience wants to learn from you and you want an avenue to find out (and still get paid in the process)
– Want to beta test a concept or framework by teaching it first and getting testimonials before you invest even more time and effort developing it into something larger
Lessons Learned
As I reflect on the timeline over the last few years, I realize that what I gained from the most transformational programs I’ve invested in is different from what they were ultimately designed to do. Not because their transformation isn’t valuable, but because I ultimately determine the course of the business. I feel like an active participant in getting my results instead of a passive bystander wishing and hoping it all turns out for the best.
And that’s what I want for you too.
So when you consider your next investment, know the reason you want to take this next course in your business and own the responsibility of making sure you get the results you desire.
Resources
Regardless of what strategy you use to grow your business, the number one key to your success is you.
Join me inside the Journey to Fans Collective to learn how to master your sales and marketing plan and convert your top, most profitable clients.
This is a great read. Lots of insight to think about. Thank you for sharing.
So glad it was helpful!