Brave Biz Lab 2024 05 03

Hello. Hello.

Happy Friday.

Happy Friday. How's it going?

Katie, how long does it take you to get to where you're traveling to?

I have an eight hour drive today.

Oh, my God. How many hours left?

Six. I'm driving from Cape Cod to Lose Delaware.

I have no idea.

Possible it's like this far on the map.

So. Yeah, I'm breaking up the trip back, though. I'll be doing stopping off in Philadelphia for a couple nights and then stopping off in New York for a couple nights, so it won't be too bad on the way home. Anyway, Happy Friday, everyone.

I'll go first.

So far, I have not died from posting on LinkedIn, so I immediately want to throw up, but nothing bad has happened. No rashes, no death. So I'm good.

I'm so, so happy to hear that. Yeah, I was gonna be really upset if anyone died during this challenge. I should probably have, like, a disclaimer for the next one. I don't know.

I did have to talk about it, though.

Awesome.

So congratulations. What else are we celebrating?

I. I fixed my. My. My workout mirror. I have one of those mirrors that has the classes where you work out with people.

Like, what, tonal or one of those?

Yeah, kind of like that. Yeah, it's a Lululemon one. So this whole week it's been on the fritz and I've been wanting to get it to work, especially for the 6am classes so I can, like, wake up. And so today I finally got it to work and I was more awake today.

Good, good, good. Yeah, a little movement does help. And Dina, what about you?

So I had three discovery calls, right. With the Lithuanian client today I had with the Thailand workshop and with the NGO with Hope 4. And now I have also booked the fourth one, also with an NGO, not pro bono, but with the same lawyer that now I started working on, you know, with the agreement. So, you know, very miraculous. Like, a lot of miracles are happening.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Yeah.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

And Carrie. Hi. We're just celebrating. And I know you have something to celebrate too.

Was just finally. I know something for sure when you ask me that question. Usually I have to dig a little deep. I was booked on the Today show to. Thank you.

Oh, my God. So you are famous again.

Go on.

I was booked on the Today show to talk about. Well, this month, May is small business awareness month, so. So I'm doing a segment on how to overcome your fears of speaking on camera, on and on stage. So as a business owner, you can create sales and marketing collateral, whether it's speaking engagements or social media content or whatever to market your business. And we'll tie a little bit of that into some of the stuff going on with Tick Tock and, you know, either sell or ban and how that makes things a little more urgent. And then Katie has helped me put together or I still. We're still sort of fleshing it out, but. But a new program that is related to media appearances. So media training and then also coaching people through how to pitch to the media. So, like, how to start establishing the relationships, craft the page, when to send it, who to send it to, leverage, leveraging the experience, all that other stuff.

So.

So if you don't. Who needs help with that? Send them my way. What's that, Dina?

When are you enrolling it? I want to sign up.

I mean, I, I could start taking one on one clients now. I have all the content, but. So we could certainly set up some time to talk if you want to. I also have it as a. I would like to also have it as a group program.

I know.

Sort of Katie's philosophy is like, don't cannibalize your one on ones for group, but if I can get.

You know, a group of people together.

Who are interested in joining it all at once, and I don't need to, you know, really go out and market the group program as opposed to the one on one, then I could, I could absolutely do that. And there's a digital thing that will.

Go along with it as well.

So.

Thank you. Amazing.

The crazy thing is, just as another sort of side note, I do this show. It's a TV show that's based in New York. Like an actual TV show, not a podcast. It's all about the job hunt. And I don't. That's not my jam. But I like doing the show and sometimes I get good introductions from clients and stuff through it. And I came across this woman who, she calls herself the fairy job mom. I don't know if you follow her on LinkedIn. Her name is Alexis Rivera Scott. She's a great follow. But anyway, I interviewed her and.

And.

The day show was interested in a pitch that I sent them about her as well as it relates to like, the college protests and, and how it might affect your job opportunities and like how to sort of navigate that whole thing. So anyway, yeah, it's like a lot.

Of cool stuff going on this week. That's so cool.

Yeah.

Congratulations.

Thanks.

And then, Lauren, we're just celebrating. Did you want to throw a celebration in there?

Oh, sure.

So I Am I'm packing for a trip to Delaware.

We're going to this really cute bed and breakfast and we're having like a retreat weekend.

Nice. Why we were not invited.

This is what happens when you work with me for like three years. Yeah, yeah.

Yep.

It turns into friendship.

So. Yeah.

So I'm packing for this trip and I'm excited and. And I'm excited to play.

Yeah, me too. I'm celebrating. I have like a nice weekend vacation plan, so that's exciting.

Awesome.

So much good stuff this week. What questions do you all have?

I have a question related to content and specifically pictures. So how related do they have to be? I know that they. You could just like throw a crazy random ferret, obviously, because that's, you know, what we have to do if we don't do a post. Like, I try to make the pictures as related to the posts as I can, but then it's like that itself gets stuck in my head.

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, you can absolutely take a fresh picture for everything. Be like, here's me today and have that just be your thing. You can also, I don't know, I. I kind of have some irreverence when it comes to sharing pictures. So, like, if I'm telling a story about a specific time in my life, I might not have a picture from that day, but I'm. I'll have a picture of like me around that time within that year. And I'll sometimes just share a picture from that year, like, oh, here's a picture of me around that time. I also once shared a post, I can't remember what it's about, and I shared a picture of tacos, like tacos that I had for dinner once, and they were just really pretty. And so I took a picture and shared it. And I literally said, here's a picture of tacos, just because I like tacos. It had nothing to do with the post. And the post went like, kind of exploded because people really like tacos. I mean, it's up to you and I think it really reflects your personality, you know. So like I kind of have that like, like goofy or irreverence, like ADHD squirrel brain. So people kind of accept it. For me, if that's not who you are, then, you know, you get to figure out kind of what your picture sharing strategy is going to be more in alignment with your personality. But I mean, it can be anything. You could go, if you collect like Harry Potter figurines, you could just take a picture of one of them. Like you Know this, this post was written while under supervision of Hermione, you know.

Okay.

Yeah, you know, we're not so worried about marketing correctly. We're worried about being memorable, you know, and sometimes just doing something that's a little besides the point and like, has people have question like, why is there Hermione Lego figurine or why is there this? You know, just make them have some curiosity enough to, to actually read your post.

So if it doesn't directly tie to say, like the headline or that first.

Sentence, then yeah, but you, you can. If it doesn't directly tie, you kind of need to like point out that it's a besides the point kind of thing. Like not make a nod to the fact that you're doing this on purpose.

I think, because I was working on today's post and I don't know if it's just because my first sentence is way off. Like the picture matches the overall vibe. But like, my first sentence is just, I need to work on that.

I think.

What's, what's the post? Do you have it in a Google Doc? I do. Share it with the group and I can give you some feedback. I'm just going to turn my car on. The sun came out and all of a sudden it's warm in here. I need to buckle up.

Sorry.

For the sound. Okay. And if everyone wants to open this up so I can. So you can kind of follow along with my feedback. Okay. So right off the bat we kind of have some logic jumps wanting so bad that it makes you queasy. Like, that gets me thinking. Like, I don't know if I've ever wanted something that bad that makes me queasy. But now I'm thinking about that. And then we go into your clients wanting a job in data. They don't know where to start. Like, that's a different topic. And for me as the reader, like, okay, and then we go into horror movies. So with, let me see, I think.

The first, I think the first sentence, I just need changed maybe.

Okay. And you also change the, the question at the bottom.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I would actually simplify it. What makes you feel better when you're scared? Okay, yeah. And then. Yeah, and then I would just have that be the top question. What makes you feel better when you're scared? Okay. And then I would simplify the next sentence and make it more about like, my clients are doing something really scary with their careers. They're doing something they've never done before because then it's more general and it's not about data. If it's, if it's just about data, then you lose people like the people who would engage, who aren't your ideal client, who may promote this post, you know, and. But it kind of brings them along for the ride to understand all this, like what your clients go through and then get clearer on what it is that you help them do.

Okay.

And then I much more clear that your clients like the reason they hire you is because they're afraid and they want someone to make it less scary. And then, I mean, you could do a bunch of different pictures here. You could do a picture of, of like the COVID of your favorite scary movie. You could do a picture of like you said, ouch.

So I have a, I have a picture, picture of my kitty while I'm watching a movie. Yeah. So I had that like, tie into the theme.

Okay, awesome.

I like calling it out at the bottom like you do. Like picture of yada, yada, yada. I like that. So I said, I started doing that.

Yeah, yeah. But I think if you just make those tweaks, I think it makes a lot more sense. Easier to engage on.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, yeah, of course.

I have a follow up on that if I can. You touched on a very important point because when I, for example, write about investor relations, so some of my other readers will, will drop off because it doesn't relate to them. So just like with data. What did you say? How to make it.

Yeah, so we want to, we want to make the content. We want to start with a story. We want to start with something that, like, it's kind of a crowd pleaser. And let me, let me clarify this. There are two types of content, okay? So there's a content that gets ton of engagement, and that's a crowd pleaser. Everyone has something to throw in. You know, you get comments, you get likes, all that stuff. And then we have sales posts. Okay, Sales posts, because they're speaking to such a small audience, you're not going to get a ton of engagement on them. You know, over time, as your writing gets better, you may get a lot of engagement on them. But if you go. So for instance, if you go back through my feed, like, there are some posts that I do that have like hundreds of likes and over 100 comments and all that stuff. And then there's sales posts that have like 20 likes and five comments. Right. That's expected. So we want to oscillate between the two. That's why I really like the 60, 40 split for some people, for. Especially when you're just starting out, because you do get to grow your network that way. But we always want to start our posts, like, detailed, but vague. Like, detailed in the feelings, detailed in the story, detailed about us, detailed about the conversation we're having, but vague about where, like. Like what it is that you do and, like, what you're selling. Like, we don't want people to feel like they're being sold to. Right. So an example of this would be, you know, I mean, Carrie. I'm going to pick on Carrie because it's a very easy one. You know, the fear of speaking publicly, you know. You know, you could. She could totally write a post like, oh, Dave was really worried about being on. On national tv. And so we worked on this, this, and this. And if you want to be on national T, I can help you. Or she can say, you know. He explained to me that he'd spent so many hours in Toastmasters and he'd sweated through numerous shirts while he was practicing getting better in front of a crowd. And he worked himself up to the point where he was so comfortable doing standups for his company in front of 200 people. But when he got the news that he was supposed to be broadcast to thousands of people at the sales forum on camera, he about had a heart, a heart attack. Like, all the old fears, he came flooding back, like he wasn't even on stage. And he started sweating. You know, he just imagined needing to, like, panic, pee right before getting on stage. And he had this moment of like, oh, my God, what if all the work I did, like, is just going to be undone? What if I get up there and I really embarrass myself? You know, it's a story. It gets like, even if you don't have a fear of public speaking, you. You understand what it's like to have those emotions, right? And so you're kind of invested in the story of, like, what happens next. And of course, it's. It leads towards, you know, and we work together. And by the time we were done, he was so comfortable doing this. So comfortable, in fact, that he got booked and as a keynote speaker that he got booked on the Today show, he got booked here, blah, blah, blah. So we're pointing to all the emotions, and we're kind of telling the story of the thing, and then we're pointing to the result or the benefits of having worked with us. Dave's a badass.

If I. If I. Conti, can continue with my questions.

Yeah.

So I need your Help again about pricing, you know, so.

Well, hold on. I just want to make sure we don't have any more questions on this topic. Monica, you good?

I just wanted to add the whole, like, queasy, scared thing. I was trying to work on the whole emotions and what you feel. So when I'm scared, I feel sick. So I think I just need to still play around with that. Yeah, so.

So it's funny. There are some feelings of emotion, like body feelings that are universal. Sweating when we're nervous, hands shaking. Feeling, like, the red heat come up your neck and into your face when you're furious. Right. Being queasy when you're. When you're afraid isn't a universal feeling.

Okay. Okay. All right.

I didn't know. I thought it was.

No, totally. It's a great thing for you to share. Like, oh, my God, when I'm really afraid of something, I actually feel like I'm gonna throw up.

Okay, so make it more like me. Okay.

Yeah.

It gets to be your story, you know?

Okay.

And then. And then you can genuinely ask people what. Like, what happens to you when you're really afraid?

Okay.

Like, I get mean when I'm afraid. If, like, someone almost hits me, I get. I get really, really scary.

So.

But I like, being nauseated is not anywhere near what happens for me.

Yeah, you can put a possum on the page. They. They foam at the mouth and faint when they're scared.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we want to think about what are the universal sensations that people experience when they're having an emotion? And. And you know what? Like, pop it into heartbeat. Ask everyone, you know, what do you feel when you're worried about something? What do you feel when you're. This.

Yeah, okay.

Right.

I might.

Yeah, I might need to do that because I. I have. My feelings are odd. I think that's part of my adhd. I just have abnormal feelings.

I've never thought about doing this, but it might actually be a really funny thing to do. Like a shared word doc that we all have access to where it's, like, the emotion and literally what happens to our bodies when we have that emotion. So that way we can reference it as we're going through and writing this stuff. When I get to Delaware, after I have dinner with Lauren, I will. I'll try to put something like that together because I think that would be a pretty cool resource. Right. Anything else on that topic of content?

No, this makes sense.

Thank you.

Okay, cool. All right, Dina, your pricing question.

So, as discussed, in, you know, in the beginning the pricing is very tricky for me. And then again for a new product. So it's not investor relations advisory. It is for the workshop in Thailand and I still have a follow up call just after this one and they have a full week of like speakers. They meet for the first time face to face with the whole company, 100 employees. And it's still not very, I mean I understand their goals after the having the discovery call and I said that I will put together a few options. So let's say it's a combination of, because I do the strategic thinking master class as a product and a strategy workshop. And what I see, it will not be a full strategy workshop because it's in May, in few weeks. So we'll not have time and this is not your priority. In their space. They want somebody that will facilitate to, to do something in between. Somebody who will come and I'm gonna pause you here.

How much, how much time do they need you to fill?

They left it up to me and when I asked them what is the budget, they didn't know. They left it up to me. About external person is the last minute.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when, whenever there's this much travel involved. How, how long is the flight to Thailand for you?

I haven't checked, but probably eight, 10 hours.

Cool. 18 hours.

Eight.

Eight or eight hours. Okay, cool. So we're talking at minimum three whole days that you're going to be out of office.

Yes.

Right. And that's assuming there's no like multiple day stuff. You know, I like to base it off of like how much money could you make in a single day if you were working? So, and also what is, what are they expecting to pay? So I would charge, I would charge 20,000 for the whole thing, not including travel and it would be 10,000 for the day you're there because you can't do anything else for that day.

Yeah.

Right. And then let's just like say let's assume it's a half day travel on either end.

And I think there will be more even because it's five days. Yeah.

So I mean it would be $10,000 a day that you're there. If they want to negotiate you down, like, like that's up to you. But that's what I would quote.

Well, it's too much now. I mean that's my first reaction. Okay. No, okay.

I mean they're, they're wanting you. You are the entertainment and you're helping them with strategy and stuff. Going to help their Thing, how much is that going to impact them in the long run?

A lot. Yeah.

How much money could they possibly. Could they potentially raise?

It's actually only strategy related, not. Not fundraising.

Okay, but I mean, how is that going to impact their, their bottom line?

A lot. A lot. Yeah.

Yeah. And the only reason I'm, I'm not telling you to charge more is because you're gonna throw up if you ask for more.

I'm already throwing up. But I thought 10,000 for the whole thing and now you're telling me a day.

Well, okay, yeah, you know, but like, here's the thing. If they're like, whoa, that's too much, we can't afford that, you're gonna say, okay, cool, like, I'm willing to negotiate a bit. What can you afford? Right, right. You know, and here's what I want you to remember, all of you as you're doing work with businesses. Their job is to negotiate the lowest price. And it's not like it's their money. It's not like it's, it's the money that they're either going to spend on you or their groceries. Right. And it is a negotiation tactic to not name the number first.

And it's through a friend and she's the event organizer, so I can have a more open conversation with her first. This is what I'm planning to do today to touch.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have an open conversation with her. But yeah, it.

But she probably also relies on me. She. And can I send you again the draft before I share it to them today?

Yeah, if you just post it in Heartbeat.

Yes. Again, about pricing, I have a discovery call with another ngo, so it's not, it's not going to be the same corporate pricing, but they need also a strategy workshop. So how much to charge them?

How much is. So how much are you charging for your strategy workshop right now? What would your, what would your, your business price be.

Again? It's just in the beginning, I think around 50 or 60 thousand dollars.

And strategy workshop, walk me through what's included.

So it will include the onboarding. I will send you a questionnaire, ask you to fill it out on yourself. Then I will. And that's intentional. But I'm thinking maybe to change that. Then I will interview you and I will. It depends on the organization and how big is the team. I might interview other people as well. Then I will go back to my lab and I will do market research and competitive analysis and then I will send the agenda and then we will meet for strategy workshops. And in that strategy workshop, I. It's not me who is answering the question, but I'm guiding you to answer five questions to create that strategy.

And how long does it take for you to do this?

It depends.

So what's the range?

So it can take one day with three and a half hours, one session, or it can take couple of days and usually, you know, in off site. But I didn't have enough of mileage in experience in doing that. So it's a new product. Okay.

I think you need a better title for it because a strategy workshop, when I hear it, is like a one hour training.

Okay.

So I would, I would rename it like a strategy audit. A strategy audit and redesign.

Strategy audit, redesign. Okay. Yeah.

And redesign. That includes workshops.

Okay. Okay.

Because I mean what you're doing is you're basically giving them a business strategy.

Yes. But I don't say it because McKinsey charges half a million dollar for one presentation because majority of that goes to insurance. So I, from legal perspective and insurance perspective, I. And even if I was a McKinsey, as I see, I cannot tell SEO what to do, but I can ask them question and direct them to make effective decisions. So they're the one who's making the calls.

Why, why is all that relevant?

Because I don't. Otherwise I could have said I'm doing a strategy advisory or I'm building your strategy, but that's not the case. I mean, I am building, but they are making decisions.

Yeah, but I mean I'm, I'm, I'm uncertain where the fear is coming from.

You hear fear?

Yeah. I mean, so McKinsey is a, is a what, multi million, if not billion dollar business. How much is McKinsey worth?

Yeah. Billions. Yeah.

Yeah. So, yeah, like people are gonna like any excuse to sue them. Let's go. Right. And also a lawyer can draft a contract saying that you're not liable for any, any things that go wrong. They can either choose to take your strategy or not.

Right. Okay. Okay. So strategy audit redesign or strategy redesign or strategy audit. I like, I like it.

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I honestly like depending on. And I would make, I would make two or three tiers of it. You know, you have like strategy light and it's that kind of afternoon, four hours, you do a little bit of pre work, but otherwise you're really just facilitating a conversation with them to figure out what their strategy is. I would charge $10,000 for it. Even for NGOs, they still have money and if they can't, then they can't afford you or they can negotiate you down. But here's the thing. If you start low, they're going to negotiate you lower. So I'd rather you start high and have them negotiate you lower. All right. And if. And then you have a middle tier, and then you have a top tier. The middle tier, I would have be like 30 or $40,000. And then the top tier. Have it. Have it closer to 80 or 90. Honestly.

Yes.

You want them to go with the middle tier? You always want them to go with the middle tier.

Yes. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. That's been very helpful. So I will just send it for today. And one last question on acuity. I have problems a lot. Is there somebody in your team that I can ask why my calendar is not syncing?

There's me. Why don't we. We'll talk about that at the very, very end. Does that work?

Thank you.

Awesome. What other questions do.

You.

I. I probably know the answer to this already, but I just wanted to check with you from, like, writing articles and other things. I've always used professional photos, and I think from posting, I need to just get comfortable posting shitty personal photos.

Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. LinkedIn operates best. I mean, all social media operates best when it operates like a. Like a neighborhood. Right. And when there's authenticity there, it doesn't necessarily have to be you looking your worst, but your neighbors don't know you when you have, like, full makeup and your hair is done, you're wearing, like, the most perfectly pressed outfit. Like, they see you, like, taking the garbage out in your pajamas sometimes.

Yeah.

You know, they see you, like, having thrown on whatever with dry shampoo in your hair when you're taking the kids to, like, soccer practice. You know, actually just saw a tik.

Tok where a woman was saying a kid at her school said, where's so and so's other mom?

And he's like.

She was like, what do you mean, other mom? And he's like, well, he has two moms, you and the pretty one who picks him up from school.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So just being more.

Okay.

I need to get used to just posting my own pictures versus, like, professional photos.

Yeah.

I. I mean, that right there is a post, though. Yeah.

You.

You being like, oh, my God. I've been trained my whole life, you know, working in corporate and being in HR to only post professional photos. And I'm, you know, I'm wrestling with, like, sharing more personal photos. And it reminds me of the story that I heard on. On Instagram or TikTok and share that people think that's hysterical. Yeah. That poor woman. Okay, yeah. What else?

This isn't a question, more of.

I don't know if I need a.

Pep talk from this or what I need from this, but I sent in the general channel on our Heartbeat yesterday. I realized that I was on LinkedIn for way too long and accidentally made like four different things were happening. So I had my 31 day challenge post, my podcast episodes stream on Thursdays. And then since this is the beginning of the month, I had my newsletter go out. And then when my newsletter goes out, I also have an office hours event go out. And I was just like, did I just like completely tank my LinkedIn? Like, I don't know. I don't know if I'm an overachiever, if I'm just a bad planner. Like, it was a lot yesterday.

Yeah, I mean, that happens from time to time. It just happens. I mean, it's that you noticed it. So maybe for the challenge, you don't worry about posting a challenge post on Thursdays, going forward for the rest of the month, you know, because you have it covered in spades. Right. And also just know, like, you, you didn't break anything. LinkedIn is, is going to forgive you. You're not like on the shit list now. But LinkedIn doesn't like it when we post too much, you know, So, I mean, yes, your engagement for the post may not be great, but it didn't break anything. And you can always repurpose that post four months from now. True.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. LinkedIn is kind of a. It's a very janky machine and I hope we all take from it. Like, if LinkedIn can be as successful as it is, being as janky as it is, like, we don't have to be perfect to be successful.

So.

But one of the things you want to remember when you're creating content there, you want to give it like at least six hours between posts. So if you're going to post two times in a day, totally fine. I do it sometimes. But you want to post like 7:00am and then. And then no sooner than 1:00pm yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I think all of this happened before lunchtime as well. And I was just like so exhausted by lunch and I did a reflection, you know, and I was like, oh, well, it's because I posted like four times on LinkedIn. No wonder.

Yeah. So it's funny. So linking groups. This is one of the reasons why I don't I don't advise, like, being active in the groups when, say, you're a member of seven different groups, and so you post something on your feed and you kind of repost it in the seven different groups. LinkedIn will actually shut you down because they'll think you're a bot.

Okay.

And it just kind of views that as you're being a little too active and you're spamming people.

Okay.

Yeah. So. But I think you're fine. Don't worry about it. You're. You're great. You just had a lot going on yesterday.

You did? Yes.

Yeah. I would look at it this way. You gave people a lot of ways to act with you and to experience you. Yeah, right. Like, you had your podcast go live, you had an event. Yeah. Just a lot of ways to access you, which is really good.

Okay.

You know, as a general rule, when we're. When we're creating content, when we're putting ourselves out there, why don't you just imagine that you're on stage, you have thousands of people in the audience, and they can't see you because there's a big canvas in the way. And so your job is to just chop as many holes as you can in that canvas so that they can start seeing you. Okay. Okay. What other questions do we have today? Anyone?

I guess I kind of have a pricing question.

Yes.

So I'm doing. This is not something I normally do, but my neighbor, who happens to be a lawyer, so it's like this good person for me to work with, and they're quite lovely, wants to start a podcast. And he. I mean, that's. I know how to start a podcast because I've started my own. So he. Actually, we. We all went out to dinner last week because he wanted to, like, sort of talk a little bit about it. And he asked me to send over this sort of, like, you know, what's the. What's the process? So I sent him over this document that, like, walked him through the steps generally, not stuff that he could just.

Do on his own.

Anyway, so he wants to talk today. We are talking today, as a matter of fact, at 12, about how I.

Can help him do this.

And basically, I, you know, I'll walk him through, like, whatever questions he has about the document, but then I'm going to offer him, like, three ways to basically, you know, I can either do this for you. I can do it with you, or I can coach you through it. So, like, sort of three different price.

Points and one option.

Give him one option.

Give him One option.

Okay.

Which should be what?

Coach him through it. Because you're already lacking for time.

Okay.

Right. And for it to be worth your time to do it for him, he'd have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars a month.

Yeah.

And I mean, if you want, then absolutely take the money. But, you know, for everything else you're building and everything else you're putting together and like the price point that you're going to be, you know, charging for it, you're going to take them on, you're going to start resenting him.

Okay, so walk him through it and what's. What, what is. I don't even have never done this before. I mean, I know what to do.

But I know I do.

What to charge for it.

Yeah.

I mean, does he. I mean, you can give him a couple. You can give them a couple options, but you could have like, I'm going to get you up and running, and it's like $5,000 and I'm walking you through how to get it set up and do the things.

Okay.

Okay. And if he wants ongoing support and coaching to like a. Figure out topics, to structure things, you know, to problem solve, how to get more. More viewers, more listeners, depending on where he's. He's hosting it, then I would say there's a retainer of $1,000 a month. Okay. And you do two 45 minute advising sessions. Okay. And.

The get him up and running. How much of that am I? Am I, for example, in getting him up and running for $5,000? Am I, like, I'd have to outsource it, but am I, Am I getting him his podcast art?

Am I.

Writing his intro for him? Thousand. And you coaching him through doing it himself.

Okay.

And like talking him through what he needs to do.

Okay.

You know, you know, I think you. You're at the point, Carrie. You know, you've been at the point up until now where, like, business. Good. Yes. Money. Thank you. I'll take it. The point in your business where canduitis can start causing problems. Okay. Okay. So this, this might be something that you do short term. Okay. How big is his team? How big is his company?

Not huge. I mean, he does really well, but not huge. He does have an assistant. She could probably help him with some of this stuff. Although one of the things. I don't know if I'm getting a little too into the weeds here, but one of the things he mentioned during our dinner was that his assistant has been sick lately. And while he's still. Still paying her full Time. She hasn't been working at all. I, I think she has. I think she has cancer. I can't remember.

That's terrible.

But I had several large margaritas and so I don't, I don't actually know how much she's going to be able.

To help him through this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, and, and if he was getting help from in his team, it would be her. Like, there's not a separate, like marketing team or anything like that.

Yeah. And, and what's his comfort level with all the technology and stuff?

He tried to have a zoom call when the pandemic first started and couldn't understand why nobody could see him, only to realize that his computer didn't have a camera on it. So not great.

Okay. So he needs someone to do it for him.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. I'm almost saying, like, you can offer to show him how to do it or refer it out. Okay. Yeah. All right.

And are you. Do you still think up and running for five grand and then a thousand dollars a month to help him get guests, figure out how to do interviews, that sort of stuff?

Exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And also, silly question. Maybe not silly. Do I. Because he's a friend. Like we're, we're. I don't want to say we're pretty close, but fairly close. Do I offer like a friends and family? You know, even if it's just I.

Was doing thousand dollars a month and he sucks that bad at technology or offering to do some of the stuff for him. Yeah. And I would clear that you don't normally do that.

Okay.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Cool. Yeah.

You know, and it's. It goes back to that thing. Sometimes the people who need us the most are actually not our ideal clients.

Right.

Yeah. Because they need too much or, you know, they don't know what they don't know.

Yeah.

So. But yeah, especially with this new offer you're doing, we're going to want to back off the canduitis.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, cool. Makes sense. Of course. All right, thank you. All right. What other questions do we have actually.

Playing off of that, this, like, friends and family discount. Is that something, like, I always. Because I do get a lot of my referrals from, like, people I went to school with, things like that. And I always struggle with like, oh, should I just throw in like a 5% discount or something? So, yeah. Any views on that?

I. I'm not a big believer in friends and family discounts. The reason being it's your time, like, you're a friend who wants to support Your business, like, should support your business. Right? Like, if you open a restaurant, would you expect your friends to come in and just be like, well, we're gonna eat for free?

Definitely not.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, I mean, you can. You can obviously give them a little bit more care than you would your other clients. I know, I know you, and I know that you already give your clients a lot of care. You know, it makes it a lot cleaner that your pricing is your pricing is your pricing.

Yeah, no, that's how I've been feeling and leaning, but I think about a lot. And then actually pretty related to that is this idea of, like, I get a lot of people reaching out about. And I know you. You did this, had this at the beginning of your coaching practice and then ended up just pivoting, which I'm not. Not yet wanting to do that, but a lot of people being like, oh, my God, I'm thinking about becoming a coach, or I'm wanting to become a coach and like, can I steal some of your time? Etc? And like, sometimes it's people close to me, sometimes it's, can I make an introduction? And I feel, like, very torn because I feel like, well, I'm still figuring this out and I. My time is precious right now, but I don't want to be a jerk. And something I tell clients is to ask people who do the thing that they do so kind of struggling how to manage. I mean, right now, my thought is, like, I give people 15 minutes and like, I take it walking and like, make that time for me. But any other views on like, the. The general I want to be a coach networking call?

Yeah.

Yeah. So I used to get started lot until I started saying, yeah, it's X amount of dollars for that. Unless you want to sign up for one of my programs. I think the 15 minutes is great. You can also say, you know, I'm so sorry, I just don't have the bandwidth for that right now. You know, I'm allowed to say that. Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Sorry. I would love to. I just don't. Conversations right now. You can also. You can also introduce them to. To this call the. The fourth Friday of the month.

Yeah.

You know, like, what I love doing is I love finding resources for people who come into my world who are not my digital client, but who want to ask me questions so I can point them to that direction.

Yeah, I like that.

And so if people are interested in coaching, you know, you could even put together like a one sheet. I've, like, I've started to do that.

Where I like, kind of just copy and because it's sort of like, what program did you do? Like, all the things that you think about. So I also like to have, like, here's all the questions I usually get. Like, if there's more, let me know. But if this kind of covers your questions or like, here's the FAQs, like, I don't have time right now. I'll let you know. You know, if it frees out, whatever and then. But yeah, I do feel like those generally capture what people are. I mean, I know people also want. Want, like that human connection, but I think there's also a difference of, like, I feel like my fellow friends were also coaches and we're trying to figure this out together. I'm like, yes, let's talk. We're in it. But people are like, I'm kind of sort of thinking of maybe becoming a coach. And like, yeah, it's just, it's. I feel bad because. Yeah, it's that I want to pay it forward. I want to support people and, like, I need to protect my time better because I've had to get a little bit out of control.

Absolutely. And I mean, like, if you're friend, like you said, if your friend asked, you'd absolutely do it because they're people you don't know. Right. You are under no obligation to give your time away for free. Absolutely. You know, and. And ever. Like, if someone does not understand that you're in the midst of. Of growing and scaling an actual business and that you don't have the bandwidth for those kinds of conversations, then they're kind of an.

Yeah.

When they probably don't understand what it. They probably have that like, oh, I'm going to become a coach and then have all this time and everything's going to be easy. And it's like, no, this is the reality what happens. You get really busy.

Yeah. And it's, you know, coaching is like the new buzz thing that people are getting certified in. And I think a lot of people get certified in it because they're avoiding going to therapy. Honestly.

That's fair.

Yeah. And they need to go to therapy and they don't actually want to start a business. They're interested in, like, the personal development bit in a way that they're like, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just gonna help other people. Right.

Totally.

Or they have this glamorous idea of what it is to be coach because they're seeing all these, like, business coaches that are, like, taking pictures on private jets and they're like, oh my God, I want bags full of money like Grant Cardone, you know. Yeah, yeah. So I mean full, full permission here to, to say no.

Yeah.

You know, I, I flat out do not do networking calls. That's it. If I, if I have a connection with someone on LinkedIn, I will, you know, if we've become friends in comment sections and we have like a fun back and forth, then I will absolutely, like, let's hop in a phone call just because we're friends now. But you know, like you're allowed to have boundaries around your time. You know, you can also do with, what's his name, Jeff something. Jeff McDermott. He has a link for like a hundred dollars every half hour.

Yeah, that's. I had someone point that out to me and I was like, that's actually, that's a good. I like have it already established and then it becomes clear like that's something I coach on etc, or even just being like send FAQ and then be like, if, you know, I do help people figure out what they want to do with their careers. So if like that's something you're interested from a coaching perspective, you can sign up but make that like it clear. Like, this is what I like, not exactly what I do, but I do this version something, a version of this and it's what I get paid to do. So I can't just give my time away for free all the time.

Yeah, yeah. And part of it is if someone's really curious about talking to you because they want to figure it out. One of the things you can do is, oh, if you're interested in my coaching, here's a link to book strategy call. And then you're very intentional about the intake questions that you have. Yeah. That makes it clear this is going to be a sales call. Yeah. And then they will sort themselves out.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Thank you. Of course. And if anyone wants to rip off any of the questions on my intake form, I have fine tuned it so I no longer get people who are trying to sell me shit. I know they're trying to network with me and people know that if they no show me, there's no chance they're. That I'm ever going to book the call again with them.

Yeah, I did that. I added in a question about budget because I feel like that's a huge filter that I've been needing and so that's been really helpful.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And know that sometimes people say they're broker than broke and because They've never, like, thought about coaching before, but sometimes when they. The need is high enough, they figure it out. So you don't necessarily cancel people who. Who say that they're.

No, no, no. Totally. I feel like it's more of just, like, I can go in and, like, no.

Okay.

Money will be probably the issue or very likely. And also for me to feel like a little bit of that, you know, the no is okay. When it was clear that this was going to be too expensive for them, and, like, that's okay. And I at least planted the seeds. So when they do feel ready for the investment, they're.

They're ready for it. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. Yeah. But full permission. You get to set boundaries. It's your time. This is your life. You don't get another life.

Yeah.

Awesome.

You know, Good enough. Yes.

Thank you.

Perfect.

I think we have time for, like, one more question before we move to main takeaways. Who wants it? Dina, I'm realizing that I'm on my phone. I knew this before. It wasn't a mystery. But if you're going to share your screen, it's going to be too small for me to actually be able to see it. So do you. This weekend, I'm going to go into acuity, because I'm pretty sure I know what's right happening. There's just a little thing that they've changed since I set up the videos. So I'll go in and make a little video and post it into Heartbeat.

Okay. Because if you can just say that what is happening that. I've managed to sync my calendar with the byob. So it's a second calendar. Right. And I can view both. But we. Acuity doesn't pick up your calendar. Oh.

That's not an acuity thing. So the calendar. So all these events, you have to actually go and make sure that you have a block on that time because it's not going to show as busy on your calendar.

So how do I do that?

You just make up a busy and free.

Yeah.

You can toggle it from busy or from free to busy.

Yeah. Or you can go in and do a recurring thing every. Like, whenever we have a BYOB call or this call and just make sure it's blocked so no one else can book.

So I. I should. Yeah. Because I was hoping that it will block it, but it doesn't show at all. Doesn't. It doesn't come up.

Yeah, because it's not showing as busy because, you know, like, I have a lot of calls, so that you guys can do. But if I, if I made it busy, like for on your calendar that's blocking off all your time. So it's a way for you guys to determine how much you want to use. To use this program versus I want to.

I want. I'm fully dedicated. Yes.

So just go through and block off the times that we have calls. Yeah.

Thank you so much. And can I ask once again, because of the pricey. I mean, you are the one who, on, you know, the notorious call six months ago, made me, you know, go to another planet with the pricing. I almost want to ask you, are you sure that this is the right pricing? And I know that maybe I need to just.

I mean, Dina, the worst case scenario is they're going to say, holy fuck, that's expensive. Can you do it for cheaper? Right.

And then I give them 20.

Well, how much cheaper? And you're at least getting that like the top amount that they're able to afford. Okay.

Because usually they would just walk away. No. Or it's just me.

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. You know, if they want, like they're desperate at this point. They need someone for this event. It's happening in a week or in a few weeks.

Yeah. But they can easily hire somebody else with more experience, blah, blah, blah. But I. Yeah, great.

Then they are totally within their right to do that. But they've asked you for a quote, so. And also, we don't need to discount you.

Yeah, okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'm getting there. I got there with the investor relations, so I'll give.

You course. All right. Any final words before we go into main takeaways?

I was looking at my calendar and see a new after hours thing.

Yes, Yes. I realized one of my clients who lives in Australia could never make it to anything. So I've added an after hours to Brave Biz Labs. So you guys could meet her. She's a branding specialist. She's incredible. But also she can meet you guys. So be extra fun. You can have a cocktail while we're on.

Please. Maybe make one one off in hours, but that I can attend as well to meet her. I mean, just.

You might be tricky.

We'll.

We'll have to figure that out. You two might need to coordinate offline.

Yeah.

All right, well then let's move into main takeaway. We're gonna popcorn it. So whoever goes first gets to pick the next person who wants to start us off.

I'll go first.

Monica, I have a takeaway of when.

We are writing content. We need to be Detailed but vague so that everyone can be included, but they also know what we're doing.

Yeah. And who are you picking next?

Yvonne.

All right, two takeaways. One, be really detailed about the feelings that are universal, and then just, you know, be more messy and authentic.

It's okay. Yeah. Be the other mom. Yes.

All right, Dina.

Thank you so much. I need to mantra my prices to me. I think.

We all do.

Yeah. Even to talk about it is with you all guys helps. Yeah. Thank you so much. And. And I pick Carrie.

I think the canduitis is probably my biggest takeaway. I. I know that that's been an issue for a while, but you're right. I've sort of been in, like, the I'm still figuring out exactly what I do mode because it's. It's pivoted so many times until it felt right. Yeah, that's. That's my takeaway. And I will choose Alex.

Awesome.

I actually, I will pick my takeaway from. I think the pricing one actually really hit as well of just, like, stand firm in your pricing. Because when I was hearing Dina talk about her pricing, I was like, yeah, at least 10. Like, that is a huge trip you're making. And I was recently also thinking about a workshop and similar with the pricing. And you have to think about all that time and energy. So my takeaway is like, just ask for that price that really. You're not going to walk away after and be like, oh, my God, I should have charged more, because you're going to end up putting in the work and putting in all the effort.

So. Yeah.

Thanks, guys. And I thank you.

And then, I guess, Lauren, last but not least.

Yeah.

Off camera, Lauren.

I. I think the Candidis hit home for me because as everybody was talking today about, like, different things they do and different offerings, I was like, I wonder if I could offer something like that. I wonder if I should offer this. I wonder. And then you came in with the candleitis, and I'm like, nope, we've streamlined me down to what I do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so tempting. Isn't is so tempting?

Yes.

Oh, man. Okay, awesome. Everyone, have an amazing weekend. And I'll be taking Heartbeat, but I'm going to be on an adventure, so. But you know where to reach me if you have any questions, and I'll see you next week.

Thank you.

Have a good trip.

Bye, everyone.

Thanks.

Bye.

Bye. Bye.