#15 - 3 unexpected ways funnels have changed my life

I just thought that, you know, I just run out, like literally that I'd run out. I didn't realize that the thing that was stopping me from being creative was that my brain was just burnt out, it was tired, it was running all the time, trying to think of too many things. And most of those things were how will we make more sales? How will we make more money?

This is the Doing it online podcast with your host, serial entrepreneur, 6 and 7 figure funnel strategist and super nerd Kate McKibben. Where every week we're here talking nerdy and sharing the things that actually work to help you do what you do online. But better, easier and with a ton more profit too. Are you ready? Let's do it.

Hey. Hey guys. It is Kate McGivern here and this is episode 15 of the Doing It Online podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. Today I am going to be chatting about three unexpected ways that funnels have changed my life. So this episode is actually in celebration of the fact that we are running a very special live round of my 5K funnel formula program in October. Something I haven't been able to do pretty much since I created the program because I was pregnant and sick. And then there's baby and then there's Covid and no childcare. But we are making it happen and it's going to be so much fun. We're going to be spending four weeks helping you all to create, test and automate your online course sales in in a funnel. So yes. So to celebrate that, I wanted to share three unexpected ways that funnels have changed my life and may change your life when you get your setup. Because there are the obvious ones like earning more money. I shared exactly how much I've earned from my funnels in last year back in episode nine, go check that out. If you didn't listen to already, obviously having more time because you're not having to launch all the time or stress about making sales, it just sort of runs in the background and that is been super important with a new baby but just generally with life as well having less stress because I feel like my business is, you know, this well oiled machine now that can run with or without me. And that's a big load off my mind, trust me. But there were other unexpected benefits of funnel life as well. The first one which, and this one really surprised me was that having a funnel up and running have knowing that sales are just sorted and taken care of, it's actually made me more creative. So I used to say to Friends that I felt like I was out of words. And what I meant by that is, you know, since my first, you know, I used to be a journalist, so writing, I was a writer monkey for many years and you have to churn out words there. And then I started my business, which was a publishing based business. The blog dropped a gorgeous daily and we were doing like five to ten articles a day. So there was a lot of writing there. Even though I had a team who did most of it. And then, you know, these, you know, secret bloggers business and this business and doing regular content and blog posts and I don't know how many blog posts I would have done over the years. It is a lot. And how many social media posts and how many emails. Like it's a lot of writing. And I, a couple of years ago I just said, I'm just out of words. It's just like getting blood out of a stone. Like I'd sit down and try and write something and I would feel sad for the people who'd have to read it because I'm like, this is so dry and boring. But I just, I had nothing creative left to give. And you know, and I remember reading like going back and reading old emails and going, who was this person? Like they was, you know, they were so funny and creative and they had all these, you know, pithy ways of saying things and phrasing things. I'm like, I'm not that person anymore. I felt like the well had run dry. And the weird thing was I, I just thought that, you know, I just run out. Like literally that I'd run out. I didn't realize that the thing that was stopping me from being creative was that I, my brain was just burnt out, it was tired, it was running all the time, trying to think of too many things. And most of those things were how we make more sales, how will we make more money, you know, how are we going to grow, how are we going to fix this problem? And until I had that funnel in place and a few other things that the funnel allowed me. So because I had, you know, a funnel set up and running and I had scouted to a certain point and I was able to then get a couple of extra team members on to help out with some of the more day to day stuff, you know, those couple of simple things took so much stress off my plate, so much day to day of the monotonous work off my plate that it, you know, it wasn't instant, but it was after maybe three to six months I found myself enjoying creating content again. This is why I have this podcast now because I've, you know, I've actually able to sit down and when I think of, oh, what will I talk about? I just come up with all of these ideas when I'm, you know, I spent half a day yesterday designing stuff in Canva to use on Instagram stories. I haven't felt like doing that in so long. And it's all because I said my brain has the space now because it's not stressing and it's not trying to, you know, it's not spending all of its time and energy trying to solve that problem. That problem is just sort of looks after itself. So that was a big surprise and a pleasant surprise because I always do think of myself as a creative person. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to get into, you know, had to have my own business was I felt like I didn't get to be creative enough in my nine to five. And then I'm like, well, I don't think I've got any creativity left. But you know, that's, it's all coming back now. So that is really exciting. And it has been over the last few years with a little bit, you know, a slight break for baby brain in between.

Hey guys, it's just Kate here. So first of all, I just had to quickly stop by and say thank you so, so much for listening to and supporting my brand new podcast. It really means the world to me. And to help kick this puppy off with a real bang, I actually have an amazing free bonus just for you guys, which is I'm giving away access to my 5 day mini business accelerator workshop worth $97 totally for free to everyone who leaves a 5 star review of the Doing it Online podcast on itunes right now. This five day workshop walks you through creating your own killer online business plan for your online course business. One that is scalable, profitable and enjoyable too. It's chock full of my very best lessons and strategies from over 13 years online and today it's yours for free. All you have to do is step one, open up iTunes, click on this podcast, click, write, review and then click those little five stars and share what you love most about the show. Step two, head to katesbonus.com that's K A T E S B O N U S.com Kate's bonus and pop in your contact details and itunes account name so we can know the review is from you and we can send you your login details for your bonus. It's that simple. Step one, leave a five star review. Step two, head to Kate's Bonus.com and send us your details. And that's it. And as an extra little thank you, I'll be choosing my favorite reviews every week and sending that lucky reviewer an exclusive I do it online mug so you can sip along in style while you listen to your favorite show. So what are you waiting for? Hit pause, go leave that review, then head over to katesbonus.com, pop in your details and claim this amazing five day workshop for yourself. I'll see you inside.

The second thing, which again was quite unexpected, but it's actually allowed me to have a lot clearer and firmer boundaries, which was something that I needed. So. And I think this came from making this switch, you know, stepping away from trading my time for dollars and for feeling like I had to, you know, having that, you know, you have to work harder to be able to be successful mentality that I was really stuck, stuck with. You know, once I sort of was able to realize that that wasn't true, that working harder does not necessarily mean a business that grows. And being able to see that actually I could have a really successful business, I could get people some amazing, amazing results and I could all. And I could do it all while working less. That really, I don't know, it made me kind of put my big girl pants on. I think it increased my confidence, it increased, I don't know, it just made me feel like I had a real business. And I think that because then I had a real business and I was a real business owner, I felt okay about saying no to people and saying no to things I didn't want to do anymore. And, you know, and that was a big deal for me because I am a chronic people pleaser and no was pretty much not in my vocabulary. And again, that was all adding to what I was talking about before, about how I was you know, just kind of stretched in all the directions and feeling, you know, burnt out and not creative. But by being able to say no, I value my time. I know how I show up for people. I know what I'm doing is valuable. I know the best ways for me to help people and for that to be a way that's gonna allow me to help as many people as possible, but while also protecting my energy. It has, yeah, it's been a real value, value change. It's been a real game changer for me to be able to have these boundaries and personally respect these boundaries, not just sit there and go, oh yeah, I Should have more boundaries. I should say no and then say no like twice and then go back to how I was. It's actually something I fully embodied. And when I, you know, get asked to do something that's not in alignment with my values or with how, you know, it's how I. My best uses of my time, I'm happy to say no. And, you know, obviously in a polite and respectful way, I'm never going to be rude to someone, but. Yeah, it's just, again, it's just another very unexpected but very welcome and probably very needed side effect of having that reliability in my business. Right. So number three, and this is one that I kind of guessed, but, you know, I couldn't really know until I actually saw it in practice, is having a funnel that set up and working and rolling and making regular and reliable sales. It has made me a better mom. Absolutely. I mean, I don't know what kind of mum I would have been without it because I've only been a mom with one. But I can't imagine it would have been pretty because I don't think, you know, I know personally, I never wanted to be that cranky, stressed out anyway. I'd still definitely have my moments. You can ask my partner on that. But, you know, I know that I'm not at my best when I'm stressed, but when I'm, you know, I'm absent when I'm, you know, when I'm trying to solve a problem in my business or I'm stressing about my business or I'm having to launch all the time, like me in launch mode. I'm actually best if I could just go lock myself away for the couple weeks before a launch because I'm really not fit for public consumption during that time. I'm just so focused in on what I'm doing and I didn't want to bring that to being a parent. I didn't want to, you know, add in the fact that I'm going to be, you know, have less sleep and have less control over when I can work and things like that, and then be trying to shoehorn that in to what is already me not showing up as my best self. So I knew that it was important for me to be able to not be that parent, not be that human and not just for my, you know, for my child, for my partner, for my step kids, for my family, for everyone who's around me. It's been being able to have, yeah, to be able to show up, be fully present, to just enjoy this time. To not be staring at my phone all the time to when he's awake, not be like, oh damn it, the baby's up. Be like, yay, the baby's up. Like, just it's, as I said, I don't have anything to compare it to because I've never had a kid without this, you know, a funnel in my business. I only have one child, but it has been so enjoyable and you know, there's a lot of things I was worried about, about being this, you know, turning me into this like cranky stress head and stuff like that. And that didn't happen. So I a hundred percent attribute that to the fact that I wasn't having to stress about that part of my business. I mean, no one is their best self when they're worried about, you know, whether or not they're going to be able to make enough money that month. When they're feeling like they have to, you know, take themselves away from where they really want to be, which is, you know, with their kids or their partner. Not necessarily all the time. Um, you know, no one, no one is going to show up as their best self to their family, to their clients, anywhere really. When you have, you know, you're constantly stressed about that. So having that level of reliability and that level of certainty and don't get me wrong, like it's not clockwork. Every single day is X amount of dollars. There is always, you know, ebbs and flows but the, you know, the weekly monthly average is pretty bang on and it just having that reliability, yeah, it's, it really, really opened up some things that were really unexpected and I'm super, super grateful to like three, four years ago, Kate, who decided to get really, really obsessed about these things and you know, put in the time to figure it out and to test all the things and to get a lot of things wrong and to get it all working. And of course there are, you know, I'm sure there are a hundred other ways that it's totally changed who I am and how I show up in the world as well and as why I'm so, so passionate about helping other online business owners and coaches, course creators to set up their. Because I want them to get themselves back, to get their time and their energy and their creativity back, to be able to show up as their best selves again for their loved ones and their clients. And I'm so excited to be doing it live when the doors open to the 5K funnel formula, to our special four week fast start edition tomorrow. So that's October 15th to anyone who's not a subscriber and isn't listening to this right away. So doors will only be open for a few days, guys, and we have some epic early bird bonuses for our first new students as well. If you'd like to join me and take four weeks together to get your funnel done and get that reliable revenue flowing finally, head to katemckibben.com or grab the link from the show notes and jump in before the doors close before those bonuses go away and you miss out. And I look forward to seeing you inside the 5K funnel formula very soon. Bye guys.

Thanks so much for listening to the Doing it online podcast. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your online course sales to the next level with your own six or seven figure funnel, let Kate show you exactly how today@Stealmyfunnel.com.