You Don’t Need a Ton of Content, Simplify to Amplify

Marie, thank you so much for joining us.

Come on, come on. This is such a party. It's such a great time. I adore you. I adore Mighty. I adore this whole conversation. I'm here for it.

You have been doing this for a while. You have been a coach. You have been a teacher. You are an educator. You're a searcher. In ways that are truly inspiring. And you and I have met and known each other for a very long time, which is one of my favorite things in the world. How do you see your business evolving? Like, where have you been? Where are you today? And what are the questions or the ways that you are the most excited to help people from here? And maybe we can just start there.

Yeah. So I mean, starting back in like 1999, 2000, it's like, OMG, right? So none of this existed back then. You know, email newsletters, it was like, wait, what? And me selling my first PDF that was, you know, full of hot pink and highlighters and lots of exclamation points. As a human, I am basically a walking exclamation point. So I've always had a a lot of energy. And as a coach, it was just like, that was my thing. How do I help people change their lives? And this was this new kind of profession at the time that didn't really exist. I thought it sounded cheesy as all getup, but I also loved it. I was like, this is what I am born to do.

When did you look at it and say, wait a second, no one's doing this, but I wanna do this? 'Cause I think this is one of the fundamental challenges of this moment is that there is like, there is stuff out there that says, if you don't do it this way, You're an idiot. And fighting that is something that takes a lot of courage.

Yeah, I mean, so for me, you know, I had stumbled upon this article in 1999 about a new profession at the time— new, I'm doing bunny ears for those of you who can see me— about like coaching and how you could actually work from anywhere, this location independence thing. Again, you got to place this in context. We also had flip phones. during this moment, right?

Mm-hmm.

And that you could actually help people, that it wasn't therapeutic. It wasn't like diving into their past and like, oh my God, your parents screwed you up and it's never going to be okay. It was all about strategically supporting people into a bigger future. And I was like, this is like custom-made for me. But I was also 23 years old at the time. And I'm from New Jersey, so I'm very sober to the fact. I was like, look, you've failed at a bunch of jobs, Wall Street, magazines, this and that. You're in debt up to your eyeballs. You're 23 years old. Who's going to hire a 23-year-old life coach? Like, you haven't even lived life yet. Like, this is— This is stupid. But so no one was thinking of this, but I couldn't deny that on a soul level, and I think some people might be able to relate, when you know that it is your time to expand, to make some type of transition, to step into a bigger or different chapter of your life, you just know it. Even though it's terrifying, it makes no sense to your brain, your heart. And for me, I lit up like a Christmas tree and it was like the clouds parted, little angels and cherubs, oh, like, Marie, this is what you're meant to do.

Right, right.

So yeah, it was terrifying. Nobody was really doing it. The only person that was really— so there was like 2 folks that I could look to at that time. And it was Deepak Chopra, because I had taken this class about the 7 spiritual laws of success in college. And then there's Tony Robbins. I was like, dude, friggin Tony, you know what I mean? But I didn't really see a lot of females in the space. And also, I adore both of those humans. They, you know, have taught me so much. But I also noticed as I started to get into the world of personal development and success, that everything was very serious. You know what I mean? And it was very, ugh. And I was like, that is so not me. It's like not how I'm built. And so I think some of the important parts are, you know, where I started, you were asking me like, where were you? How are you thinking about it? Like, where's it going? For me, it's always been about the people. How do I use whatever my gifts, my insights, my talents, my abilities are to help others?

Yeah.

And, you know, I think our society in general doesn't really give us a lot of training on how to do that effectively. So most of us are kind of reaching around in the dark and blind, and you know what I mean, trying to find our way.

Yeah.

And I think what's so exciting about Maite, and so excited about the platform, and for all y'all, as Gina said, we go way back. My first ever one-to-many program— so to put this into context, as a one-on-one coach, I used to work with people individually, helping them get results in their lives. And very soon, I'm also a woman who loves money. I love creating wealth for myself and other people. I saw the ceiling on that. And you got to get, while I was building my coaching business, I was a bartender, waiting tables. I was just at dinner last night in New York City and someone I used to bartend, they're like, Marie, is that you? I was like, yes. And it was a waiter who I used to work with and he's like, oh my God, you look the same. I'm like, thank you. And hi, because it wasn't that long ago that I was bartending all around New York City in restaurants. All this to say that I saw a possibility to say, oh, If I can help people create results in a one-on-one format, I can do this one-to-many.

Right.

How do I do it one-to-many? I tried to build my own membership site. Gina, I think I might have told you this story, but I tried it. And this was probably in like the early 2000s.

Yeah.

I sold a program. It crashed and burned. I was mortified. It was like such a flop and a failure. And I said, hey, wait, I can still create this transformation for people, but I need— I'm not a tech human at all. I'm a creative human and a human human. I found a little site called Ning, which I don't know, have you told everybody that?

Oh, I founded this thing called Ning before Mighty. Mighty is my second platform all around building these connections between people and enabling them to go do things together.

The reason why I'm bringing this up is because Gina and her genius and her insight and visionary-ness had created this other platform that actually was a critical part in not only my own growth, but the business that we have today, because I got a chance to connect people. Some of my top employees that I've ever had in our 23-year history came from the fact that they were my customers and clients in a program that I created on Ning. Gina and I have stayed in touch.

Mm-hmm.

And it's like, so to move this conversation forward, I have created programs like our B-School program, for instance. We've helped over 80,000 people start and grow meaningful, profitable businesses all around the world. So Gina and I are so aligned in the possibility of taking something that you have, a gift, a possibility, information, transformation, a framework, some type of thing that you know you can support people on, and then doing it one-to-many, but doing it in a way that is full of heart and value. values and connection and having people connect with each other. And I'll tell you, it was a couple years ago that I could feel another change coming on in the industry. I have been not only a fan of Maite— I'm happy to say this— I'm an investor in it. Like, I put my money where my mouth, my head, and my heart is. I knew what her and her team were building.

Right.

And I see the future of this industry, meaning information, coaching, transformation, consulting. There's so many things that have been born since 1999 when I started. But what Gina was just talking about, this network effect, this ability to bring people together in a really meaningful, focused, clear way, help them go on a journey that they want to go on, get results far beyond they could ever imagine having Done on their own. And then this is the most important part, connecting them with like-minded, like-hearted others, where they exponentially grow and develop and create these friendships and business partnerships or whatever it is in ways that would never have been possible without a network like Mighty. I'll pause there because I can keep talking because I love to talk.

It's incredible. Like, there's, there's something about building software and dreaming about how people will use it. And then they're seeing it being used in a way that lived in my head for, I mean, realistically, 6 years, 7 years. And so maybe start with like, what is Dream Club?

Yes.

Why, like, why, why was it important for you to create Dream Club. And I will also just say, I am such a proud member, and the members that I am meeting in Dream Club are incredible.

Yes. So for context, everyone, you know, where Gina came before, she was like, okay, wait, how did you get here? Just to kind of set the context, where's it going, where I see it going. And you had mentioned this before I came on, we need to simplify. So simplify to amplify is a mantra that I use in business and life, and I pass it on to other people because entrepreneurial folks Like us, we tend to be like that. We have a lot going on. We're also living in a world right now from a digital landscape perspective that is more complex than it's ever been. So how do we counteract that? We simplify. When we simplify, we amplify. What do we amplify? Our profits, our impact, our joy, our freedom, all the good stuff in life. But if you've been feeling lately, or you're like, this is too freaking hard, I'm overwhelmed, like there's too many things to To do, and there's it's just like like and then you want to give up and you want to cry and you want to quit and you think that you're not good enough. No, it is not your fault if you are feeling burnt out. If you are feeling like this is too complicated, if you've been like trying to go at it in all these different directions and you're like this is all bullshit, it's not working. It's not true. It's not your fault. It's not you. It's the world. I was like I want to bring everything over into a place. that is modern, quiet, customizable, where I can create this magical little land of Marie Forleo, where I get to pour into people in a really meaningful way, have them connect with each other on a platform that— and when I say safe, I just mean safe from a bunch of bullshit, safe from distractions and interruptions.

Yeah.

Safe from content that ain't gonna make anybody feel good or be a better person or reach their highest potential. So there was this dream that I've been hanging on to for a while. My best friend and I have these private meetings where we talk about everything. She's a New York Times bestselling author. We've both been growing our business together for, you know, probably like 15 years. We talk multiple times a week. And we just have these meetings where we have real 10/10 talk about business, digital marketing, money, relationships, sex, beauty products, skin, vacations, latest cute show on TV, what are you listening to, what are you watching, all that stuff. And we challenge each other to literally, it sounds cliché, but like live our best lives. And I was talking to Gina, because Gina and I talk, and I was telling her, I said, I have an idea for a new community that's beyond B-School, beyond Time Genius, beyond Everything Is Figureoutable, beyond all stuff I've created, where I want to bring other people together who are ambitious, creative humans who want to live their Fucking best life. Sorry, I'm sorry if this is, again, Jersey Marie comes out. I think we're all adults here. Hopefully there's no small children, so we're all good.

We are good.

And I wanted to make this community that not only was this container for people to dream into who they are becoming, what they want to create, what their dream business and life really is, because if you've watched MarieTV, our tagline is create a business and life you love. And I'm like, and I also want to give people the latest mindset tools and business tools that I'm learning in real time.

When did you first start to have the inkling that something in your, your world, your life, your business needed to go from where you were to this next chapter?

To this next chapter, meaning like having active community, being on Mighty, all that. So for me, it was really, I am always desiring Things that are simple. So like, I was getting frustrated as all get out, in all honesty, like we've built everything custom. And by the way, the reason we built everything custom was just because I started in the fucking ice age when nothing was available to you, right?

Yes.

So that's the reason why. And anyone has like, you know, technical, you almost have like technical debt. It's like a junk drawer. It's just like all the shit from the past that you gotta go clean up. And so for me, what's the most frustrating thing is, oh, we'd like to update this header. We want things to feel and look fresh and clean. And now we have to talk with a programmer, and then it's gonna— that takes three days. And like, y'all, it was—that's painful for myself and my team. I'm like, shit should not take three days. Here's a joy: when I went on Mighty for the first time and like Dream Club's alive, and we're like figuring it out, and we're doing all that stuff, I was like, oh, you know, I remember kind of talking with someone on Team Mighty. I was like, how do we do this?

And she's like, boop boop boop boop boop.

It's like a Word doc. That's how easy it is. I was like, oh, I can do that? Oh, anyone on my team can do that? Anyone who knows how to like send a text or send an email can literally make this thing look and function amazingly well. And you can update stuff. That's called simplifying. That's called, you don't need a hugely expensive dev team like we used to have where it's like, 'cause you have that. Like Gina and her team, they are the technology people.

Mm-hmm.

If you are a creative like me, You should not be running a tech company, right? Or even attempting to. So I don't know if that answered your question, but I just— I started to know that stuff was changing when I just felt so frustrated that I was going to destroy all the collagen and then burn my whole company down because it was— I was like, I feel like I'm living back in 1999 and it's, you know, 2023 and this is bullshit.

What does a day in your life look like?

Oh my goodness. They're so—

Like, you know what I mean? Like, someone on my team who I was meeting for the first time a couple of weeks ago, they literally asked me the question. They're like, so what's like a normal day for you? And I thought that that is like, it's one of my favorite questions. Is that something folks are interested in? Because I want to know, like, what time do you get up? Do you eat breakfast? Like, how do you structure your day? How do you structure your weeks? And what can we take away from you as a creative building a really successful business?

Yes.

What does it look like?

It looks different at different seasons of the year and at different stages and seasons of my life. So as I mentioned before, as a human with an ADHD brain, right, and there's a lot happening. I've also coined the phrase, I'm a multi-passionate entrepreneur. So there's a lot that I do. If I am working, for instance, during that moment, those 6 weeks where we were like, okay, Dream Club is coming to life, when I am crystal clear on a primary project that is like giving birth to a new course, giving birth to a new program, giving birth to a book or something like that, here's my go-to. I wake up in the morning. I get caffeinated because I love coffee. And then I usually have A little bit of writing. It's from The Artist's Way. If anyone knows morning pages, Julia Cameron, genius. 3 pages of stream of consciousness. Why? It is a really good clearing out mechanism. Yes, yes, and more yes.

Wow.

It is a life-changing practice. You can Google it. It's free. All you need is a note— like, I do everything in these like super simple $1 notebooks that I get at CVS, except for really mapping out my dreams. That's a little bit more like a $20 journal. We can talk about that later. But I do my journaling, I'm nice and caffeinated, and then I go into a focus block, which is typically writing. You know, it's typically writing that sales copy, mapping out what this program is, writing or scripting the actual content, something that is generative from my brain and my soul onto the page in computer format. And I do that, you know, Mm-hmm. It could be anywhere from like 2 hours to like 4 hours. Sometimes there's a smoothie. Sometimes there's an egg burrito. Sometimes there's not. And then once I can get through that core focus block, then everything else can happen, meaning a meeting could happen, going to work out, like all of the other things that must happen need to happen after, because I've discovered through painful experience that if I do it the other way around, Never gets done. So this is all—

Right.

Yes, material from Time Genius, by the way. And then all the, like, what's the rest of the day look like? Man, that is varied. And I think that this is useful, a useful takeaway for anyone here. If there are pieces of your business or your life that are repetitive that you need to do, the notion of batching is just— it's a sanity saver in our hyper-fractured hyper-overwhelming, hyper-overstimulating world, what does batching look like? Well, I'm going to spend the next few hours pumping out, you know, 5 to 10 emails on X, Y, or Z. Or I'm going to spend the next few hours working solely on our MarieTV episodes or whatever that thing is that if I could do it in a batch and not split it up in 5 different places where I'm like—

Right. Sometimes hard to remember that And I certainly struggled to remember this, that people, even if they don't take an action, just being consistent in the time or in the time of day and the day of the week that you do something will radically amplify your impact.

Yes. And I think what you guys have built here is a way to somewhat, it's like automate that, make this easy for yourself. It goes back to our idea of batching, right? So how we do it in Dream Club, like it's so much fun. I want to talk about a big mistake that I know that many people make in membership specifically around community. And this is also true in courses too, if I'm going to be honest. But I want to talk about membership specifically. You give too much.

Hmm.

One of the reasons that people unsubscribe or that people leave things, and I know this because I talk to a lot of people that have a lot of membership as a huge revenue portion of their entire company. It's people when they do their exit surveys, they're like, oh, there was so much and I couldn't take advantage of it. There was so much that they just feel overwhelmed. So one of the things that we built into Dream Club, because again, real talk 10/10, I knew that our ideal member, our ideal client, Yeah. is someone who is not looking to drown in a gajillion bajillion things. Spaciousness is like, You know what I mean? It's our core keyword. So even with the prompts, people don't need 10 million things coming at them. They already have that in their life. So it's like looking at really who your ideal member is, what do they want, and not overwhelming them. And this is a very, very hard pattern to break, especially for some of us who have been trained or who believe that the more shit you throw into there, the better. It's just not true.

Oh my gosh, I offer too much. Here's where I think it comes from. And you can tell me whether I'm, I'm, I'm on track. Here's what I've observed. In, in the most giving way, you as the host, you as the entrepreneur are like, where is my value coming from? Well, my value, the world is telling me is coming from my content. It's coming from my content. It's coming from my content. And so what, in a very natural way, do we then want to do is give people a lot of content. Now, where I saw this and the lightbulb moment for me was during COVID I was watching how a women's coworking space that was transitioning from the real world into the digital realm was focused on how do they get busy working mothers to consume 70 videos, to go to all of these events. And I, I'm like, oh my God, like, that's not the point.

I want to take a nap.

Because I, I am not a, like, working mother going through COVID, and I was tired. Yeah. And so What I think is so powerful, and I think it is a different framing, which is how much content do you need to drive relationships?

Yes.

And the reality is that we need less and less and less content. And this is what it actually ends up meaning. And maybe you can react to this. Something I hear a lot from people is, you know, especially in a membership, well, what are people paying for? Like, if they're not paying for my content, what are, what are they paying for? And nobody believes me when I, like, unless I've like hammered it into them in every interaction, which is. People are paying for the space to meet and build relationships with each other.

Yeah. And look, you know, and the way that you guys have the framework set up, it is about some content. It's not like there's nothing. You're not going to build a ghost town, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming and you don't have to bleed to death. And you, and again, it is a mistake. I've heard this from people who have memberships, you know, in different forms that are like multi, multi, multi, multi-million dollar memberships, thousands of members. And it's like the number I think the number one mistake we all make is we give too much. There's too much in there. People feel overwhelmed.

Yeah.

So I don't want to be—

Your gift becomes homework. I always think about it as like the stack of National Geographics. Like, they look nice, but like nobody's reading them. No one's reading the National Geographics. Or maybe that's just in my house that we have a lot of them and no one is reading them.

Oh, yeah. And look, for everyone here, if you're thinking like follow Yeah. And that's what Gina and her team are doing. It's like, this is the future. And I remember what the future felt like because I was at the beginning of it way back in the day. And I was really happy to be in there and be early in on it because it's, you know, you get to ride a really great wave. And I think this is the next great wave. And it's like, do not make your life more complicated. Don't cling to the past. Don't feel like more is more is more anywhere in your life. You know that that's not good. It's not true. You probably have your own experience with that. That's very, very true in business.

That is true. All right. Everybody, thank you for joining us. Marie, thank you for taking the time. I am so grateful.

Oh, we're so grateful. Mighty rocks. Everyone here rocks. Thank you for your time.

Is there something holding you back from starting a community? No followers, no email list, Not enough time or a team to do it? Well, after helping tens of thousands of people get started building communities, courses, challenges, and events, here is what I know. You need just one thing to get started. Join a community. And that's why I'm hosting the People Magic Summit on January 22nd and 23rd. This free virtual event is designed to help you build a $1 million community in 2025 surrounded by a supportive community and with step-by-step instruction that is going to make it so easy to get started. I want 2025 to be your breakthrough year and a free 2-day summit where you're learning alongside people on the same path. Well, it seems like a pretty easy way to get there. Register now at summit.mightynetworks.com.