Brave Biz Lab 2024 04 26

Hello. Hello. Hello.

Oh, my gosh.

Like, jingle now. You know.

Inside joke Dina had.

What is it?

Sumo?

Yes.

She made jingles about my business and them to me, and they're. They're like, I was crying, laughing. They're so funny. They sound pretty good, though. AI is incredible mindblowing.

I mean, it takes literally seconds. Seconds.

What.

What's the app called?

Asuno.

Yeah. S U N O, I think.

Suno.

Yeah.

Like Sumo with an N. Exactly.

Yes, exactly.

Yeah, I think so. There's so many people get so flipped out about AI and they only think of it in one way. Right. And, yeah, applications. Like, I discovered this application called Julius AI, which can help with spreadsheets. Like, it's incredible.

Like, yeah, it depends. I think people are threatened by it because they're worried it's going to take jobs, but you forget that, like, it doesn't have a human brain behind it. It needs creativity. It needs someone to, like, ask the right questions. Right. And so we just have to continue to, like, ask the right questions and. And we can utilize it, but I don't think it's going to take anyone's jobs anyway. But welcome. We have some familiar faces, some old faces.

Hello.

Not to call you old, Mark. I just haven't seen in a long time.

I'm an old face.

You are an old face, Mac. More than one way.

I'm a little bit old, Katie.

You know that.

It's all good, though.

I'm young at heart, so.

You are young at heart.

Yeah.

It's good to be back. It's good to have you. Welcome. Thank you. Happy Friday. If you haven't been to Brave Biz Labs before, welcome. This is an open Q and A call. I like to also refer to it as a lazy webinar. So feel free to utilize this. This format for yourselves. It's really helpful to give people, like, an experience of you and to also kind of give back to your community, to those who, like, maybe aren't ready to work with you or, you know, aren't sure about working with you yet. They need to have a little more experience with you anyway and. Hi, Amanda. Welcome. I'm Katie McManus. Obviously, you know me. You have to. To have ended up on this call and just a couple designs. There's no. No judgment here.

Okay.

If you have a question about your business and you're like, oh, God, this feels way too beginner. Ask it, ask it. I guarantee you someone else in this room needs to hear the answer. Okay. If you get intimidated by someone asking a Way more advanced question. Just know that they've been in my world for a really long time. Okay. And what else? Yeah, don't. Don't be shy. If you don't. If you don't want to ask questions, you don't have to. This is not like an obligated participation thing. What you'll want to do is at the end, I do have everyone do a main takeaway. That's the only time that, like, you might be called on if you don't want to speak. You just log out at that point. Okay. But welcome. It's so great to have you here. And another note. I do this every fourth Friday of the month. It's open to the public, so come to as many of these as you want. All right, with that, let's dive in. What questions do you have today?

Well, I'll start. I have many questions, but I'll start. Which I think is. Is kind of a mindset question. But I've just really started my business. You know, I lost a really big job about, I don't know, year and a half ago, and then I tried to get another big job, and then I was like, this is crazy. I'll just start my own business. So, you know, I finally got the website up. The name of the company is called Herd H E A R D. And the website's Herd to Grow. And it's all about helping women, female founders and women entrepreneurs and business owners. And I did a big announcement on LinkedIn with a little video I created and told people I was giving, you know, like, a free strategic 45 minutes. I got a fairly good response, blah, blah, blah. And then in the call itself, I. I asked some questions up front, and I feel like I delivered tremendous value, you know, from their reaction, kind of prepared. And then I followed up with all my information and slides, but this is my problem. I'm such. I feel like I can't get out of this, like, uber helpful mode, and I can't get into the. The business mode.

Like.

Like, I should be. I should be paid for my advice.

Right?

I'm just. It's compulsive and it's a problem, and I want to help people so badly that I don't have a boundary around that. And it's me, and that's my. That's my big question.

Yeah. Okay, cool. Want to just ask who else has. Has a struggle around this of giving too much value and getting weird about asking for the business? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Maggie, you're not alone. This is one of the main things that I train on in, in all my programs because, you know, first and foremost. Have you ever done sales before?

Yes, but not for a while. I did it like in the very first part of my career and then I moved into marketing, so I've got to access those skills again, I guess.

Well, and I want to name even my clients who come from a sales background, like directly from one. I have to retrain on how to do a sales call for your own service because it's a very different, energetic exchange. Right. So I'm curious, like, what was. So you got great feedback from the people on the call. What were the next steps you gave them?

I said I was going to send them what we had talked about in a deck for them to follow up on.

Okay, cool.

And I did that. And then they, and then I followed up again to see if they wanted to work and they were like, oh my God, I have so much to do now based on what you gave me, I'll circle back when. When all my assignments done or something like that.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. This is such a great lesson. Okay, so this is what happens when we give too much value. This is what happens when we give too much value on like a sales call or a strategy call. This is what happens when we do too much value in a webinar. People are like, oh, cool, you've given me everything I need to do. I'm going to go and focus on this. And this is why I, I strongly advise against free sessions. Okay, okay. Because you give too much. You give way too much. No one's hopping on a call with you, assuming it's not a sales call. Right. Also, do you, have you ever played tennis even remotely? Like.

Yeah.

Yeah, I used to play a lot of tennis.

Yeah?

Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. So if you hit the ball over the net to the other side of the court, do you have any control over it?

Well, yeah, it's where you hit the ball.

No, but it's on the other side of the court.

Oh, no, no.

Well, so what you did was you lobbed the bulb over to their court. It's all in their control now. Right. So one of the things that I train on in BYOB and with my one on one clients is the yes, no call. So you do. You do what I called. Yes, no call.

Okay.

Fly or die call. You can call it whatever you want. And it's basically you, you have the initial sales call and if they need to think about if it's not like a. For sure yes or for sure. No, you're saying. Okay, awesome. So how many days do you need to think about this?

Cool.

Let's do this. Let's book a yes, no call. And on that call, you'll tell me yes or no. And if it's no, you know, you can always come back. You empower the no. You make the no.

Totally. Okay.

If it's a yes, then we will just hit the ground running. We will get you scheduled. We'll start diving in and doing this work. Yeah, right.

Can you elaborate a little bit on how to word it on for the. For the yes, no.

Yeah. How I always say it is, you know, what I like to do, because this is my. This is my house. You came into my house asking me for help. This is my time. Like, you know, I deserve a yes or a no. You deserve a yes or a no. Right.

How do you explain that to them? Yeah.

Yeah. So I say, you know, what I like to do is next step is let's book a yes no call. And on that yes, no call, if it's a yes, then we can hit the ground running. If you still have questions, I can answer them in that call. If it's a no, then there's no weirdness. Because you know that feeling when, like, you forget that you, like, don't want to tell someone no, and then you of put it off and then you forget to get back to them, and then a few months later you're like, oh, my God, they hate me. Like, it's so awkward. They don't want to hear from me now. So even if you want to work with them later, you assume that they think you're an right.

Actually say those words to them.

Yeah, I'll say exactly that.

Okay.

You know, and I just say, like, I don't want that for you if it's a no, I want you to be able to say it and then know that you can always come back and there's no weirdness. You know, And I always like to say, I love a closed loop. You know, you make it about their comfort and their ability to live their life stress free, you know, and it's a gift. It's a gift like when they. When they're able to say no. Because here's the thing. All of our clients, it doesn't really matter what you're doing. All of our clients are about to do something really brave. One of the bravest things that we have to learn how to do with people is say no to things and be comfortable with hearing no back. Right. If they can see that there's a safe environment where they can say no to someone and they're not a bad person over it. Like, imagine what that's going to shift in their life where they're able to be more comfortable hearing no, because it wasn't a world ender for you. It didn't end the relationship. It didn't make anything weird. They know that they can always come back. Oftentimes when I have that conversation with folks and they decide, you know, it's just not the right fit or it's just not the right time, or I just don't have the funds to do this right now. I'll get referrals from them, you know, because they understand deeply what I do, who. Who I'm best for, and also, like, the price range that I charge. So they may not be able to afford me yet, but they can absolutely send people my way. So, Meg, I.

Anyone say no to you? That's what I want to know.

If they do, they usually come back. Yeah, right.

You should immediately. Don't think twice. Say yes.

Does that help, Meg?

It does.

Thank you so much.

Yeah. You know, and the other thing is, you want to remember understanding what the problem is and understanding, like, what parts you need to do to be able to overcome those problems. That's valuable. You don't have to tell them how to do it. They understand that's what you do for work. Right.

I have other questions, but I'm going to.

I'm gonna.

No, I want to let other people ask their questions, and then I don't want to, like, have it be the Meg show. So I want to let other people.

All right, well, thank you, Meg. That's. Did I. Did everyone find that helpful?

Very. Yeah.

Okay, cool. Let me see. Amanda, what did you say? Remembering we don't get to decide where others find value is so big. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. You know, we all know the experience of, like, being on a client call, and we're like, this is going terribly. They hate me. This is not good. I'm not really helping them with anything. And then we get a text from them two weeks later, and they're like, it finally hit what you were telling me on that call. It makes sense now. Like, it's completely changed the game for me. We don't get to decide what that is for our clients. We don't get to decide what that is. Like in this setting. I can't decide what's going to be valuable to you. I'm usually shocked at the end when I'm like what's your main takeaway? And sometimes people will say this like one little thing that's completely besides the point of what we were talking about, but it's a great takeaway. I'm like, holy shit, I never would have thought of that. Right? Amanda, I think you've done this multiple times. Anyway, what other questions do we have today? Yes, Maria, it's good to see you.

I have two questions that come to mind and I don't like, I don't. You'll probably find a way to relate them and just knock them out of the park. But I have like, you know, I'm sure a lot of us here sometimes like oh, just stick to one offer because you don't want to confuse the buyer. But then there's like other ideas for collaborations and like really good kind of smaller packaged like bite sized things that in my mind are not only providing value but are also like a way to create revenue and offer something like really action packed and like small for somebody to like instantly action. So, so what, what are your thoughts on that? And then the other component of that is what are your words of advice? Slash like do's don'ts with regard to collaborations where you're not like creating a new entity together, you're just collaborating like within your two businesses.

Okay, two really good questions. Okay. Smaller offers, I'm all for them. When you're first starting your business, however, smaller, it's really hard to launch a smaller offer so that it actually makes you a full time income. Right. So I always. And there's a whole lot that goes into it. So like your fastest path to cash is always going to be one on one clients. Right. And that's going to be your fastest way to build up to a full time income. Once you have that however, and once you have like an email list that has over a thousand people and once you're like have a pretty robust social media following. Absolutely. Build in some smaller offers. Absolutely know that like there you're not going to post it and like make a thousand sales right away. Right. And there are a few different ways you can do this. You could do group programs that like have a start and a finish. Right. And it could be for people who are like too early in the process to work with you one on one or maybe don't have the budget to work with you one on one. So it becomes either like a downsell or it becomes like an expensive lead magnet it to get into your one on one. You could also do something that's really low ticket. That's more of a digital product. Right. And those are really list builders. Right. So anything that's like between 27 to $97, it's something that people like an ebook or a course or something, it's something that people buy. They typically don't even read them. They typically don't like, they might like listen to them, but they're not taking action from them. But what it does is it gets them into your world and once someone spends money with you once, they're far more likely spend money with you a second time and a third time and a fourth time. So I'm all about it. What, what kind of product are you thinking about launching?

So I'm collaborating with a therapist and we're going to do like a four part, like extensive communication course with like, like the personal. Like, what is it? Like, how do you really define like the what, what? Like, how do you get really clear on your why, like why is it this thing? Why now, whatever. And then how to actually communicate it, including how to like the role that your own emotions and ego plays in it all. So it's just supposed to be like to your point, really quick.

But what.

So it's meant to be like a list builder, get us out there, give them like great value. So I was going to do kind of like your framework sort of where it's like a free webinar. They get some value and then they purchase a paid course for like very little money that gets more extensive and gives them a lot more actionable stuff and understanding and basically do that like four times over and then eventually like maybe turn that into a digital offer where they, where it's like self paced if they want or like maybe offer them the bundle of like you, you can purchase all of them at once and then just attend.

Yeah.

So how much are you charging for them?

So we're just going to do like 29.95, of course.

Oh, okay, great. So what I would recommend, and we have David Fryman here on the call who absolutely can help with like contracts and stuff. You want to make sure you have all your eyes dotted, T's crossed. Because people don't go into business with people that they hate or that they just trust and yet shit still goes wrong. Right, right. So having like whatever agreement you need to have in place so that everything's crystal clear. Who's bringing in the money? How is the money getting dispersed? How are you dividing the information that they give? Like, are you each getting their name and email on Your respective list. Is there an individual list, all that stuff. You just want to have all of that in writing if you're not doing a proper partnership. Like, one of the things that I think is, is fairly easy to deal with is like one of you kind of incorporates it in your business and then you 1099 the other one. But of course, David would be able to answer this better. You know, you want to make sure that you're both clear on who's doing the pri. Like the mo. The. Like what the split is on marketing. Right. Because it can get to a point where maybe you create it together, but only one person's marketing it and they're using all of their bandwidth to market this low ticket offer and it's benefiting both of you. But because you're doing all of your time on promoting this offer, you're not promoting your one on one, which is where you make most of your money. Right. So you want to be very clear about the specifics and talk it out with whoever you're partnering with. Yeah. Does that help?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah. David, would you add anything here?

Yeah, I'll just add. I mean, I agree. I, I think the most important part is the intentionality. It's actually very uncommon for two people in a joint venture to be like. Exactly. Contributing the most anything, the most out of it. So either I would either build that into your model where, you know, maybe a commission model, maybe a split with various perks for your businesses. But whatever you do, be super intentional about it because you don't want to create a situation where there's resentment later or where somebody's kind of looking for an out, or somebody has buyer's remorse but doesn't quite want to say that. So instead they're just going to drag their feet because they have better things to do with their time. And so, you know, work out a detailed agreement. This is what I'm contributing here and this is what I want out. And the same for the other person. And then make sure it's documented somewhere and you know, is. Is just clear and transparent. And then, you know, if you do it that way and everyone kind of knows what they're going in and expectations are managed, it can be great, it can be super lucrative. And I'm a big fan of partnerships and joint ventures and scaling that way. But just be super intentional about it.

Yeah. And you could even have it be like there's a code for when they buy it through a link you share versus her. I assume it's a her.

Yeah.

Yeah, where like if they're buying it through your link, you get 70%, she gets 30 and vice versa. You know that's also an option because it like you do want to pay attention to how much time you're spending marketing it versus your one on one or your other offers.

Is that okay to ask a quick follow up question related to that, do you have a suggestion for like a very like low cost like effective tech option where we'd both be able to and also create like the necessary pixels like to your point to track like who, right. Like who is bringing in the traffic, etc. Etc.

Yeah, I mean so there, I mean so to host the course, there are so many options here. Coursera Kajabi thinkific. What I recommend is find the one that's most intuitive for you to use. Kajabi. For me it breaks my brain. For other people it's super easy to use. But find the one that's easiest that because you're not going to be hiring someone to manage it for you.

Right. Tech. Like, like we were pretty much going to do it over Zoom, but we just need like a place to land. So like one thing we're considering is like a meetup or like something along those lines. So like really, really simple for now and then we can always move to one of those other platforms.

Yeah. And then the other thing, I mean there's absolutely a way to do it. I mean you could have a discount code that they use that's your name versus hers. You each just have that respective and then you just divide it. You do the math at the end of the month. It depends on the platform but there, there are absolutely ways to, to figure that out.

Yeah, awesome. Thank you so much.

Yeah, of course. Big questions. All right, Dina.

So I had my second call today with my.

How'd it go?

Oh, it went good. And immediately when we hung up, I start criticizing myself and then I stopped myself immediately as well after he actually said that, that me and you are on the same boat. So we found we connected on a pain in investor relations and he said himself on that very first call that we had for five minutes. So it went well. We scheduled on Monday to do the proposal right once to hear about now I think there are things that I could have done better for sure. And now I don't know how to package my offer. Yeah, I need your help guidance on that.

Yeah. So because you're in byob, obviously you can draft this up and I can look at it later today.

Okay.

Okay, back on it. So Whenever we're proposing to a company, this is not something we do with one on one clients. But if we're selling B2B, we want to give them three options. Okay. Option one is like the beater car that you buy for the 16 year old that you really don't care if they crash as long as they're safe. Right. It has their basics. It's not a whole lot, but it's a little more expensive than you would think. Right. Because we don't actually want them to go with that. Option two is the thing that we want them to go with. It's the thing that's going to check all the boxes for them. It's like a reasonable price. It's like moderately more expensive than the first option. So it's kind of like the no brainer. And then we have like the Aston Martin, it's like the super expensive like way over the top package that is more expensive. Like they can go with that and you'd be delighted if they signed up for that. But you want them to go with option two.

So I, this is how I used to do it and now when I brought. So I'm just reminding that they were looking for internal IR and I approached him and asked if they will be open. He said yes. They're incredibly small team, they outsource a lot. So he's really, he understands that I have the expertise, the experience, the probably nobody will bring because there are no experts in the field in Lithuania. Yeah. So now I mean I want to charge. I mean he, the, the range that he posted for that vacancy was up to 400, €4,500amonth.

Okay.

So I, if I think it's too little. So let's say I charge 5,000amonth. But I'm not full time dedicated. However I do the IR strategy which includes a lot, it's questionnaire, the interviews with several individuals and then two workshops where I would have to come there and it would include the investor relations investor kit, which includes the investor presentation. But then we need to make sure that the whole corporate and the brand is aligned with that because then we have the database, the targeting which will be ongoing and maintenance of the investors and on demand. So, so to do that, the, the strategy and the investor kit and that's the starter. It's like there is no meaning.

How long would that take you to do in a, in a few months? Like how many hours? If you were to do like 10 hours a month for a few months, how long would that take you to.

Do So I mean it depends on their availability as well. But usually it takes up to a month to come up from the day we start with the process and do the workshops. Okay, so that's a month, that's one month. Then the investor presentation and alignment with the brand. Again, if everything goes smooth, up to three months.

Yeah.

But I want a commitment for 12 months. Yeah.

So here's, here's what I would do is I would say here's what this typically takes. And of course it's if everything goes perfect, you know, nothing goes perfect.

Nothing. I know, I know.

Nothing goes perfect. No, no, no, no, no, no. I would say, hey, listen, so the.

Beginning portion, so, so sorry, just. I wanted, so I looked at it as layers for the first time and the, the options in three tiers that you mentioned. The only thing that I could come up with is whether they want to commit only for six months versus 12 or not to move from that minimum 12 months commitment and then say, so.

Here'S what you're going to do. So option one is they get three hours with you on an advisory basis per month for €3,000amonth. Option two is $5,000 a month retainer where you're doing a lot of the stuff with them.

Okay.

Okay. And that's what you're describing here. And it's a, and really like you kind of like say, here's how much time we'll need for this and here's how much time we'll need for this. And that's, that's giving you some leeway to have to iterate. Because it always has to be iterated.

Yes.

Right. And then like how to follow through. And as you go, you're creating a standard operating procedure so that they understand how to do this in the future. And when they do bring someone in full time to do this, they'll understand what to do.

They already have a person for ir. That's the funny thing.

Yeah. Well, she or he obviously doesn't know what the they're doing.

And there is mixed.

Yeah.

So like the whole time. Okay. So the whole time you're also training that person and you're liaising with them and you're walking them through how to do this.

Right. And then the third option would be my involvement with one on one meetings and road shows and conferences. That is the.

And I would charge, I would charge $10,000 a month for that, plus 10 from now.

I mean. Yeah, okay. Okay. So again, 3,000.

3,000 where you're just doing three calls a month with that person and the CEO like, but together. And you're just like laying the strategy. Because 3,000amonth is still great.

But I don't do my process of the questions and, and, etc.

You'll guide them through doing it, but they have to do it on their own. They're not gonna know the difference. Like, they're just like, I would say, like, here's if you're really tight on money, but for 5,000, you would do it per month.

Okay, Right, right, right.

They're not, they're not bringing someone in forever. It's for a year.

Right. So in any case, the same minimum 12 months commitment.

I would say minimum 12 months. And that's what you allow them to negotiate on. You don't negotiate on the price. But if they're like, oh, like 12 months feels like a lot. Can we bring it down? You say, okay, I'm willing to bring it down to 10.

Okay.

And lowest is eight.

Okay. Or nine. Yeah, whatever. Okay. And 10,000, it's a month. So then it will be. And again, I have to put a cap of hours that I'm doing the actual meetings, but the time spent in the beginning, even the 5,000 will be really high and then it will drop. And we. I need to say that on the.

Call, lay all this out because it's going to be very confusing for you and I to talk about this right here. So you need to lay it all out in a document today so that I can look at it by tonight.

Thank you so much.

Of course, Dina. All right, awesome. What other questions do we have today?

I'll jump back in. And yeah, I realized that.

My offer.

Is just so undefined. I mean, I put a lot of work into it, but nevertheless, I think it's. Well, it is, it's just under undefined. And I'd hope to really just focus on strategy and less implementation. But here's the thing that I've discovered, like, is a big pain point. As I talk to people, it's not really exactly strategy. What I hear all the time is problems around technology in particular, like websites and building funnels and, and automations and all that stuff. And I have deep, deep experience with that. I've done it for, you know, big companies. And I sort of wanted to get away from doing all of that technical stuff. But I'm wondering if that is the need for a lot of people, like women, businesses, Right. That don't have that. It's so confusing or they don't know where to start. Like, how do I, how do I Incorporate that or do I pivot to that? Or am I just have add brain and I think of a new business like every 30 seconds in the shower, I'm like, oh, I should do this. Oh, I should do that. You know, like, when is enough enough? That's. I really have a hard time. I see a lot of possibilities, but my focus.

Yeah, welcome to the club. Yeah. So a couple things here.

So.

Yes, canduitis is one of the most lethal diseases your business can catch. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. And no one knows what the you're doing. Neither do you. And then you're doing so many different things for so many different people. You're constantly having to shift gears and you completely lose your mind. Okay, so. But there is a point in your business where you get up. You name. Here's. Here's my niche. And you kind of get up and get a dance partner. And then the universe is either like, yes, this is your dance partner forever, or the universe is like, like, let's redirect you to this other dance partner and then this other one. This other one. I went through this when I first started as well. I started off as a dating coach for men, obviously, didn't end up with that. The universe did not want me coaching men on how to date anyway.

But they needed it probably anyway.

So, yeah, the different story, different conversation. Anyway, you know, there are a few ways you could take this like a. Like, it sounds like there has to be more research into how your clients see their problems. Right. So that you can position yourself better. This is something I do in my programs. It's like there's. You really want to hone in on how they see their problems, not what you see their problems as. Okay. But then like if there is a genuine need and they have money to throw at it and you have expertise here, there is absolutely a way for you to create a company where you fulfill that need without doing the work that you hate. And that would be to subcontract out like you are the high level strategist. You're kind of the project manager and you bring in people who have the technical ability but don't necessarily have that high level ability. And you say, great, like you're going to contract with me, I'm going to have my team work on this flow for you and these kinds of systems for the business. And here's how much it costs. And then you could have it be kind of a retainer model to maintain it and to update it and to do all the upkeep as you go. So it's a lot of work and it's very expensive up front, but you get that retainer client.

Yeah.

You know, so you have a few options here. What do you want to do?

What do I want to do? Well, I think what I want to do, I'm not sure that, as you said, I'm not quite sure that the market sees what I want to do as their problem. What I see what I want to do is to help people primarily with their positioning and their messaging and their strategy. But I'm not quite sure that's what they think. Their problems.

Yeah. So, yeah, if they don't think. Think it's their problem, they're not going to buy the solution to it. Right. I can tell you this is something everyone goes through, you know, because you're the expert. You're the expert. You see the root of the problem and it's so easy to be like, no, don't think that's your problem. This is your problem. And then you rail on about that and they don't. There's like, no, that doesn't connect with me. I don't really know.

Or putting on my marketing hat. Is it really my positioning problem. Is it really? I have to talk in the words.

That's what I'm saying. You have to speak their words.

But I still know how to like help them, you know, But I use their words.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. That's what I have all my clients learn. And it's, it takes time. You have to do a lot of interviews. You have to really understand how they see their problems in a way that, not, not the technical jargon they would use with you, but like the language they would use to. About their problems to their best friend after they've had a half a bottle of wine.

Yeah, I mean, I've done this, I've done like competitive research and all this stuff for big companies. Yourself though, it's so hard to do for myself. Right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Meg, if you want to hop on a 30 minute call with me to talk about what you need to do, like, let's do that because, you know, it sounds like you have a really valuable offer that can make you a ton of money. And like, there's just a gap here, you know, to get you there.

I'll schedule something with.

Okay.

All right, Great question though. What other questions do we have today? Oh, here, let me see. Someone can't use their mic. I have to scroll up. Hey, guys, I'm Working on discipline related coaching course revolving around getting a plan for my clients personal goals. But I'm adding science based habits so they can get mental reps. My question is finding a niche. Hold on. My mouse is being stupid. I'm a dad who developed this program based on a need to change my life. I get dads. I want to help people though. Is targeting dads limiting me? I haven't launched my problem yet or my program yet, but I'm starting my marketing soon. Okay, so Jacob, and we've talked before, right? I can't see your last name, but I'm pretty sure we've had, we've had a conversation before.

Yeah.

Okay, cool. What I'm not seeing here is what's the problem you're solving? Like changing habits. Yeah, like people will do that, but what's the habit you're changing? What's the thing that's causing them actual pain? Dads is a great niche, but like it's, it's not specific enough. You have to get really specific into what's them up and where do they feel like they're failing and where do they feel like they really want to do better and why do they want to do better? You know, habit. Like I'm trying to quit biting my nails. That's a habit. But I'm not spending $7,000 on a program to, you know, stop biting my nails. I'm going to buy, I'm going to buy bad tasting nail polish and then I'll chew it off and then repaint it every day. Right. Personal, personal struggle I'm currently going through, you know, smoking much more expensive habit. Right. It costs you money. Cigarettes are really expensive. It increases your insurance costs. It's really hard to get life insurance. It's, it's a bad example for your kids. It can literally shorten your life. You know, that's a higher ticket habit, right? Maybe like emotional eating. That's another, another one because it does impact your, your health. You want to think about what is the problem, right? Because changing habits is just too fluffy. You know, if someone wants to change their habits in a fluffy way, they're going to go and buy Charles Duhigg's hat. You know, the power of habits book and probably not do anything out of it, right? So we have to focus in on what the big problem is. And I want you all to remember, people only ever spend big money on three things. Getting laid, getting paid and living longer. And I'm not talking about like buying sex. That's not what they're Doing like, you know, people will spend money on, on, like a fitness program that'll help them get really in shape so they feel really good and sexy in their body. Okay. They'll spend money on a coaching program that will help them get that promotion so they'll have more stature and a bigger reputation, and then they'll feel more confident, and then they'll feel like they'll get laid better. Right. Or more easily.

Right.

We, we, we connect everything to sex. Getting paid. Like, we obviously can make the connection between the things that will make us more money. Right. From, like, fewer sick days out.

Cool.

I won't have to take sick time. I'll be able to, you know, use my time off or my PTO for actual vacation. And I'll be able to deliver at work. And because I'm delivering at work, I might get my bonus at the end of the year. Right. Living longer dream to making more money. You're probably able to afford working with a personal trainer, buying healthier food, better insurance. You know, if you have a partner who loves you, if you have people who admire you and really like you getting laid, you know, if you trip and fall in the woods and break your leg, you have people who are going to try to get you out. They're not just going to leave you there to die and get eaten by bears.

So.

Let me see. In my mind, it's working on consistency. Being lazy is the problem. How can I change my life? Where to start? I believe that's my problem. Okay, so here's where I want you to get out of your head and into their heads. I want you to go talk to people and ask them what their problems are. You know, back to what we were talking about with Meg. You know, you have your thing, and you're focusing so much on your thing and, like, what you think makes it interesting. And you're the expert here. It's. It's not going to be helpful in marketing it. So I want you to go and do your market research and understand what they think their problem is. Have. Have time to make some more awesome spreadsheets. God, that sounds miserable. Yeah, I don't. I mean. Okay, good. Yeah, I hope that helps. Great question, though. What other questions do we have today? I would like.

This is more of a. No. I'll ask it as a question. Will you please give a Katie McManus pep talk in the way only Katie McManus can.

Okay. Is there any, any particular flavor you want this pep talk?

I would like the pep talk of. I know you're sick of saying the same thing over and over and over, but you can do it because it is what you need to do, and it's what people need to hear from you.

Okay, cool. I just want to tell you, the feedback on your microphone is a little weird. Yeah, it's a little like, whoa, it's. Amanda.

It's.

It's fine. But it's just like. Okay, yeah.

Zoom tweaked my settings. Is it better?

Oh, there we go.

There we go.

It's better now. Okay, cool.

What is a pep talk? Sorry, before it begins.

Just, you'll. You'll understand in a second. Okay. So, Amanda, how. How many times have you changed your own life by journaling? I.

Too many to count.

Okay, cool. And how many people do you reach every single fucking day by talking about how you've changed your own life through journaling? A whole lot of people. Yeah. And for everyone who's ever been in your program or even just come to one of your lives where you journal, like, what is possible for someone when they really start going inside and delving into what's going on for them and be present and, and, and spend the time on themselves like that. Oh, my gosh.

It is amazing and life changing.

Yeah.

So if you throw a rock into a pond, what happens?

Ripples.

Ripples, Cool. So how many ripples are you having? A whole lot of ripples.

What is frustrating is that I can't collect all of the ripples. I don't know where the ripples are.

Yeah.

Okay, cool.

You're never gonna know. Yeah, you're never gonna know. When I first started my business, my dad called me and he like, in Massachusetts, you don't have garbage collection. You literally have to take your garbage to the dump.

Okay.

And it's kind of where people like socialize and like, politicians will go there and shake hands when they're running for election. And there is this woman who's son was three years behind me in high school, who was following my journey and was like watching all my stuff and she told my dad, hey, your daughter's changed my son's life. I've never, I've never talked to this kid. Right? No idea. He's never reached out to me. Never talked to him. But my dad randomly ran into his mom and apparently this has just completely changed his trajectory. Right. Each and every one of you, when you go out and you talk about what you do, you're going to have no way of understanding or, or tracking how many lives you're going to change by Sharing your story by talking about, like, the thing that you do and what's possible when you do that thing, right? You're going to have all these mindset.

Shifts.

And they're going to be people who just need to hear that word from you once. They just need to hear that message once. And it's going to change the trajectory of their life. And it could be in a small way. It could be in a massive way. Right? If you're wanting to collect more of them and have them enroll into your stuff, like, okay, cool.

That.

That's tweaking some marketing. That's tweaking some marketing. But, like, the work that you do every single day, it is changing lives. And I'm not just saying that because you asked for a pep talk. A pep talk. I know this. I've seen people in your comments. I've seen people at your events. Right. Imagine, like, one of the big life shifts that you've had. Imagine if you could gift that to a hundred people. I bet you already have right.

Now.

I will say sometimes you do some teacher energy things like Meg, and you give a little too much away. We might want to dial that back so that people want to come in and be in your world, and, like, they feel there's this energetic balance between what you're giving and what they're getting. Right. But know that the work that you're doing right now is having an incredible impact on the world and on people, and you have the power to tweak it just a little bit to bring more money in. Does that feel good? Feels really good.

And I will follow that up by saying, I sent out a marketing email to my list yesterday and had people sign up for my program just out of that email. And then I thought, why do I.

Not do this more often?

Because, like, yeah, I've got this beautiful list.

I need to really take advantage of that beautiful list that I've built. Thank you, Katie. That was exactly what I needed.

Yeah.

And just so you know, like, I teach this shit, and there's always that moment of, oh, God, I need to be doing that too, you know?

Now I want the pep talk, too.

All right, cool. We have time for probably two more questions. Who would like to go.

I think there's a market for just pep talks.

Right?

Like, so many pep talks a month, Right?

Yeah, yeah.

What's. What's that?

That app where, like, you can request a recording from a celebrity, Right?

Exactly.

Cameo.

Cameo. Probably do a cameo account.

It could be a general one, a specific one, and then, like, I don't.

Know, have an idea to do something like that.

One day I heard that there's a cameo for. I don't know if it's just data professionals or LinkedIn influencers, but there's, like, a thing that's happening now recently, so. Katie, look into that.

Well, I will, for sure. All right, what other questions do we have? Don't be shy.

Yes, Maria, I have a question over something that you mentioned before. So I'm a step parenting coach, which, like, you would think is, like, huge. Right. Like, so many people are step parents, but I'm having a difficult time for some reason, like, getting my messaging to be sticky, I guess, or like, creating the engagement. And I'm curious, back to your point of, like, people get paid to get laid or pay to get laid. What was it like to make that.

Paid and live longer?

Right.

And, like, I feel like kids are a huge motivator in that equation, but I don't know. Do you have any suggestions for, like, how to connect my messaging more to those specific things? I don't know.

Yeah, Well, I mean, like, what's the stress that it puts on your marriage when there is, like, tension between you and the kids? Or, like, you're not understanding where you fit into the equation with, like, the co parenting stuff? You know, what's the financial pressure when they're. Yeah. I mean, look. Look into all the ways in which, like, being a step parent, being in a. In a family that, you know, the children aren't yours, how it impacts your sex life, literally, and how it impacts the finances of the family. Right. Here you are a step parent.

You've.

You've been single, you know, you've had your career, you're making money, and now you're entering into this relationship. Are you responsible for the finances of the children as well? How do you navigate that with your partner? You know, how do you have those really tough conversations? You know, I think where. Where I think you'll get a lot of traction is with people who are, like, on the cusp of becoming a step parent. Like, there are problems that come up as you're step parenting. Yes. And I think you could absolutely do maybe some kind of support group that's ongoing rolling enrollment, lower ticket for people who are step parents, and they just need that community to know that they're not crazy for struggling with this stuff. And also there's that, you know, leading up to the wedding day, leading up to, like, making this lifelong commitment to being a step parent, you know.

You.

Know, if you wanted to make it sticky. I think because you're speaking to such a specific subset of the population, you kind of have to branch out into, like, easier to comment on stuff too. So, you know, you could absolutely do, like, who are your top favorite step parents of all time in media? Right. My favorite is this the dad and clueless. Right. There's that moment. There's that moment where she's like, why is Josh coming over again? He's like, hey, you divorce the, you divorce the mother, you don't divorce the kid. You know, but you could absolutely ask people, like, who are your favorite or least favorite step parents in movies? You know, who do you think is the worst step parent stepmother of all time, of all the Disney movies. Right. And why people have big opinions on that, especially us Disney nerds. Right. So you want to kind of oscillate between, like, the crowd pleasers that gets your message out there, that gets like, you associated with step parenting. Right. And then you want to bring it back to, like, here's this big scary bit. Scary that you're afraid to broach with your, with your partner.

Yeah, Yeah.

I just dropped in, I just dropped into the chat this Hoffman emotion list. And in all my years of, of in marketing, we always talk about, like, the emotion people make buying decisions based on emotions, you know, to avoid fear or to, to go towards it, whatever. Whatever it is. So I don't know. I just dropped it in for anyone.

Yeah.

And I would, I would, yes. And that with, you know, I. The word that I just clicked on it. I saw lethargic. You know, instead of using the word lethargic, show it, show it. You know, it's 11 o' clock in the morning and you've had seven cups of coffee already and you like, you know, you have to go to this next meeting, but you're like, my brain just isn't working, you know, and you look down, you realize you're wearing two different shoes and you're like, God, like, we're supposed to have date night tonight. And I just like, I just want to go home and sleep. And this is how I felt every single night. Because, you know, maybe the step kid is four and they're having like night terrors. And you've never dealt with this because you didn't, you didn't have this child. You don't have, you've never given birth to a child. You've never done the baby sleep training thing. So you don't have the ability to kind of push through because you've never had to Deal with this before. You know, you want to show it, you don't want to tell it. Right. This is one of the things that will completely transform your copywriting when you're doing lives. If you're able to just paint the picture of what that looks like in the real world, it'll make it so much more powerful.

But, yeah.

Thank you, Meg. I threw my pen.

Okay.

All right. Do we have a final question?

What.

What kind of glasses are you wearing? What's the brand? Those are so cute.

Thank you.

They're Warby Parker, and I actually don't need a prescription. They're blue light glasses, so protects my eyes from this, from the light of the screen. But, yeah, they're Warby Parker. I have two pairs, and then my dad got the same pair, and then we matched, and it was like, dad, you need to. It's one thing if you match with your mom, it's another thing you match with her dad. Do we have a final question? Besides accessories?

I have a question.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I am. I've been working on this PDF guide, and I've been. I wrote it out, all out, without being in Canva, and now I'm putting it in Canva, and I've. I've really kind of figured out how to use the tool itself, but then I struggle with, like, the design, and then I get really stuck in this, like, perfection mode, which really, listening to you earlier, talking about, like, how much people really pay attention to the lower price point things, it's like, okay, let's. Let's stop it with the perfectionism, because I really have it done. So do you have a recommendation as far as, like, reliable resources to find people to help with things like that? Because I find myself also struggling with, like, picking somebody to help me and really trusting that what I'm paying for is, you know, gonna get. Gonna get me what I want, but also that I just get stuck in analysis paralysis. No matter what project I'm working on, whether it be picking somebody to help me or the project itself. So, yeah, I would love to know any actual recommendations for resources.

Yeah.

So question. Are you selling design services?

No, I'm a chef. So I, I'm. I'm selling virtual course course, basically in a different way of thinking about cooking.

Yeah.

So no one cares. They care about the recipe. They care about, like, is it clear? Is it a dash or is it a pinch?

What is that?

Is that an eighth of a teaspoon? You know, like, I have small fingers. Like, my pinch is going to be way different than someone who has massive hands. Right, right. I wouldn't stress about it. You can absolutely go into Fiverr and find someone. I've never really found anyone who, who does this that I would be willing to pay for. Like, go. Honestly, going to Canva, they have so many templates for this kind of stuff for free.

I put it into it. I put it into a template and now it's like spacing it out. And again, like, it's like this. It starts to go really well. Like the. Is this like well oiled machine. And then like one little thing will get me like little hangnail of an issue. And all of a sudden I'm working on that freaking issue for three weeks and I'm going, wait a minute.

Yeah.

And then I lose focus completely.

Yeah. So I mean, if there's big gaps, put a picture in.

Okay.

Oh, pictures everywhere.

Fair enough.

Food.

Fair enough.

Pictures of like, if you're making a. A dish that's from Italy. Picture of Italy. Great. Literally, the.

The issue with ebooks in Canva is that you have to go to the Documents template, not you can't just type in ebook. You have to go to Documents first.

Yeah, I did that.

Oh, you did?

Yeah.

Okay.

It's that I have other graphics and things because I'm trying to be real fancy.

Yeah.

You know, and so again, like, I'm just getting lost in it. So it's almost like I just want to hand it over to somebody and say, here, just make it pretty. Because I've got the content and I believe in the content.

So here's what I want you to go to Fiverr.

Okay.

And I want you to ask for some bids.

Fair enough? That seems like the simplest answer.

Yes.

Make it as easy and cheap as possible because, like, really no one cares. And the most important thing, like, I don't want, I don't want any of you spending a buttload of time on the behind the scenes stuff. People can't hire you if they don't know that you exist. If you're spending all this time on Canva, like, no one's saying you exist.

Thank you. I needed to hear that.

And also, don't forget, you can tease it. You can say, hey, listen, I'm about to drop this ebook. I'm about to drop all these recipes. Who wants it? Who wants it in their inbox. You get like, are you selling it or is it a freebie?

This I'm selling and I'm using it. There's other things within it that I want to sell.

Okay. Great. So you can say you get 50% off if you buy it now, and you'll first release.

Okay, great.

And give yourself that deadline. Whenever you have a deadline, you're just like, totally, totally. All right, thank you.

Okay.

Beautiful. All right, with that, let's jump into main takeaways. Who would like to go first? And we're going to Popcorn it. So whoever goes first will voluntel the next person. Who will voluntel the next person.

I'll start off. I have a random one.

Yes.

Love those.

As a. Yeah, a random one. So you mentioned that you can't gather the analytics of how many people that you're affecting in a positive way. And as a data professional, I'm like, no, but this is, like. It's good because it's like, well, there's hopefully more people out there that I don't know about that I'm affecting in a positive way.

Anything. Thank you, Monica. And I'm sorry that hurts your soul.

I need to gather all of the analytics.

Who are you picking next?

I'll pick Meg.

I.

Today was a good reminder for me that I forget a lot is that there are no unsolvable problems, and that when we think there's no. There's no way to move forward or it's too hard to move forward, that there are solutions, there are easy solutions, and it's just about finding the right people to help you. There's a great book by Ben Hardy. Like, who? Not how. It's the whole. You know, and. And there's so many smart people on this call, you know, And Katie, you're just like a sub. Excuse me. Of all these smart people. So that's what I have to say. There's unlimited love and support in the world, and we just have to get it for ourselves.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I'll pick Maria.

So there's so many. I think, like, that Katie, like, your three things that people buy are, like, my biggest takeaways.

Yeah.

But also, the, like, the pep talk was really awesome. Just, like, the reminder. Right. Like, I feel like we could always use the reminder. And, like, just because it's not necessarily immediately obvious doesn't mean the ripples aren't happening. Happening in a meaningful way. So thank you. And I do, unfortunately, have to run. Thank you so much.

Who are you picking next before you jump off?

Oh, how about.

Manny?

Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Manny, you're up.

I. I really liked the making no more comfortable.

That.

That resonated with me because it. It is a fear or it's on everybody's mind and just to step out there and discuss it and let them know that, you know, that's a possibility and it's okay. That kind of opened the door for me to feel a little more comfortable with that process. So thank you.

Yeah. Thank you, Manny. And who are you picking next?

Dina. Thank you. Well, Katie is not paying me, and she didn't ask me to say that. But while I was listening to all your questions, I was on this call, I think. I think six months ago, and I wish I joined a year ago, so don't think twice.

Thank you, Gina. Is that your takeaway?

Yeah. I love you as always, and thank you so much, because I'm learning so, so much. It's mind blowing. And I'm. Yeah, thank you so much. And I'm choosing King Pesha. Hi.

So my main takeaway is is that I really need to vocalize a little bit more when I'm stuck, because as soon as I said it out loud to you, what my problem was, it was like, oh, right, right. Okay. That's the issue. And I'm. I work from home, and I have two small kids, so it's very hard for me to, like, remember that speaking to adults is a really good idea. So I'm grateful for this.

Call once a month.

Thank you. And who are you picking?

I will pick Eric.

Eric, you there? Okay, he may not be able to go off mute. So, Eric, Jacob, if either one of you wants to name your main takeaway. Really, Jacob? Really? Define a problem, not just your own. Yes, 100%. All right. And, Eric, I'm just going to assume you're not in a place where you can speak, so thank you for being here. All right, everyone. Happy Friday. Thank you for being here, as always. This happens every fourth Friday of the month for my community or for my. For my public community. If you were to join Hyper Focus, the membership, you get this every single Friday. Or if you're in BYOB or Working With Me 101, you also get access to to this every Friday. So keep an eye out for those announcements as they come out. And I am so excited for everything you're all building. And I'll see you soon.

Bye. Thank you. Bye. Have a good weekend. You too. I'll send you the book.