Why You Want to Be Social Media Optional as a Chronic Illness CEO with Kirsten Roldan

Y'all, y'all, y'all, I am so excited to have my coach, one of my coaches on the show. Her name is Kirsten Roldan. She is the founder of Kirsten Roldan Coaching with her signature programs Million Dollar Email and Million Dollar CEO. She specializes in creating social media optional via email and helping CEOs to create a strong team system and systems to allow their business to scale in peace. And that's literally her vibe. That's what she's about. And obviously you guys know I'm about that life. I'm about making your business work for your life. And she is the bomb diggity queen when it comes to emails. She will help you unlearn all the things that keep you stuck and confused in email to creating a simple, easy deliverable way of creating emails. And you guys know it's, it's a bane of my existence. As much as I have come to like respect email because of working with Kirsten, it's still not my favorite thing. And it's probably the thing that I will constantly and continually work on as a skill in my business. I've been social media optional ever since I started my podcast. So when I started to incorporate email, this was just another leverage that I could use in ability to grow my podcast. And so that's why I invested in working with Kirsten. At the time when I first started working with Kirsten, she had a program called Finesse Your Funnel, which was all about funnel building. And it— but really the center of that was about being clear on your offer and being able to deliver that over emails. And that program has been around, so I'm an OG of that program. And she's just been a really great coach to get to know and grow. And she truly understands what it's like to grow a business that serves your life versus takes you away or creates more drama in your life because of your business. And because she's in launch right now for Million Dollar Email, we thought it would be great to talk about why being social media optional as a chronic illness warrior is vital. It is an absolute need to have for your life and your business. So if you're interested, by the way, in joining Million Dollar Emails. She is currently enrolling. This is why this is a bonus episode. You can go to the link in my show notes to sign up for the waitlist so you can get all her amazing emails. And yes, she sends lots of emails because it's a program about emails, and I just love how she does it in such a beautiful way of helping you have wins even when you're not working with her yet. So worth that alone if you just want to like see how she make email different and easy. So be sure to stay tuned, we're going to talk about this, we're going to talk about some of her frameworks inside of that program that will help you, that have helped me, and just the importance of being social media optional as chronic illness warriors. So stay tuned.

Welcome to Crafted to Thrive, the globally ranked podcast for entrepreneurs living with chronic illness. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and after being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses myself, I figured out the surprisingly simple missing links to growing a profitable business without compromising my health. Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same. If you're ready to own your story and create a thriving business that aligns with your health and wellbeing, you're in the right place. Together, we're shifting the narrative of what's possible for entrepreneurs with chronic illness. This is Crafted to Thrive.

All right, y'all, I am so excited to have Kirsten back on the podcast. It has been a minute since she's on, and It hasn't been a minute for me. She's been in my life like ever since she was on the podcast. Yeah, but I'm so excited to have her on. Kirsten is the email queen and I'm happy to have her here. So please tell anybody who's new to me and to you where you're at and what we're going to be talking about today.

Yes, my name is Kirsten Roldán. Thank you so much for having me. And I've just been like adding a caveat right before we started recording. If anyone's watching the video of this, I'm like cozy in my sweatshirt because It's freezing in Texas right now, which sounds counterintuitive, but for me it's very cold right now. And so yeah, that's, that's— but it's New York or nowhere. It's my New York or nowhere shirt. So I'm always repping. But anyway, I'm Kirsten Roldán. I am a business coach for coaches and service providers, and I have two programs, Million Dollar Email, which helps coaches and service providers make social media optional. And then I have Million Dollar CEO, which helps coaches and agency owners to make themselves CEO optional. And I'm all about peace and peaceful business, uh, building. And so today we're gonna be talking about why it's so important to have a social media optional business, especially when you have a chronic illness.

Yeah. So y'all know, like, my business has always had to be social media optional cuz I started my business with multiple chronic illnesses. And so I've always kind of lived this life. But when Kirsten started using this messaging more and more, it was like— it almost felt like I had a whole new community of people who felt like this was like, oh my gosh, that's possible. I never did not know this, right? That's why I started my podcast for me, because it made social media optional. But Kirsten came on the show years back now talking about marketing and funnels and emails. And she was doing all this still being social media optional even back then before this became like serious messaging. So tell us a little bit about that transition journey real quick because that's a thing.

Yeah, it's a whole thing. Yes. So I started in the industry as an online business manager. I was a service provider doing done-for-you work., and I was— I am still a wife. I am a volunteer. I'm very active in my community. I also was working full-time. Like, I was busy while I was side hustling, and my business was growing because of the marketing strategies that I was using with email. And, you know, I still though was very much, I would say, still social media reliant. Like, even though I had, you know, the ability to make money off social media, I was using email marketing, I still was like very much attached to social media and thinking that it was required in order for me to connect with my ideal clients and grow and all that stuff. And being someone that on top of all the busyness of my personal life, I also live with depression that is year-round all the time. And so just managing everything was a lot. And adding marketing on top of that was just like not it for me, just not it. And so when I really transitioned was when I asked myself, could I do this without social media? Like, I love just being able to be— and this is so on brand, the fact that I'm in a sweatshirt today, because like, I love being in a sweatshirt having just a little bit of makeup on, a little no-makeup makeup look, hair up, and like being able to write emails and that's it. And nobody has to see me, nobody has to see my face. I love that. And so at that time I asked myself, can I just do that? Like, is that possible? And I was blessed in that I had, you know, a 9-to-5 covering the majority of my personal bills. And so I was able to do a lot of testing in my business. And I will never forget telling my coach, who was very social media heavy in her strategy, telling my coach, I'm gonna try to just do email for a month. Like, I'm gonna see how that goes and I'm gonna tell my audience I'm only emailing and see what happens. And I did that and it worked. And I made more money through email than I did on social media. And I was like, okay, this— all right, so I could take a little hiatus. That's good to know. But like, I'm still a skeptic. It's so funny. My clients don't think— they come to me very skeptical and they don't think I was ever skeptical about it. I'm like, no, I was just as skeptical as y'all. Like, I was— who knows? So I kept doing that. I kept testing it. I'm like, what if I do 2 months? What if I do 3 months? And I was making more money. And so then at that point, it was really exciting because I actually like social media a lot. That's a common misconception now that I'm so big on social media optional. I love— I'm, I'm a blogger baby. Like, I grew up in the blogger era. Like, I love social media for, for like authentic storytelling and sharing. And I loved at that time that I could— it could be a happy bonus that could be fun and silly. And like, if I remember, you know, if I want to sell my offer, I could do that there too. But it's also detached and peaceful and doesn't feel you know, like the algorithm, like I don't have to feel any type of way when I get 3 likes on my post, which I still do, right? And so I was like, I'm moving all in. I wanna make social media a happy bonus. So that was the transition story. And now, now that's, that's where I am still today. I still love to use it as a happy bonus. I have some clients that are totally off. They're like, get me out. I don't wanna be perceived. I don't wanna be known. Get me off social media. I don't want any presents. That's totally cool for them. And I still like to use it as a fun, happy bonus to this day. So yeah.

Yeah, it's so interesting hearing the story. I feel like y'all know I talk about Kirsten all the time about things on the show. So this isn't brand new to y'all. Between you and DL and then my other health coach, y'all like life, like on business life, like, OK, this makes sense, right? What I love about this story is that we have these rules that we have, like, like the only way business can work is if we're like on quote unquote line, on social media, like running ads and all of this stuff because there's so much noise around this and I have seen it.

You are—

you have seen it, you have lived it. Like, that's not true. Like, it's just not true. But there's so much noise out there saying that that is true. And so what I loved about when you started pivoting into— like, you were straight up, you were like, look, I ain't gonna be on— I am not gonna be on social media.

I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm scared for you. Like, right?

And I love how you just kind of like had fun with it, like playing with it. There wasn't any pressure on either of these options, right? And I think that's why I like that you call it social media optional, because it's not an either-or. You can choose, right?

Options are so important to me. I've realized that it's a very core value for me, uh, just having choices. And for me, that's, that's why I started my business. I wanted the option to have a flexible schedule and to be able to do, you know, XYZ, right? Options is a very, very deep core value for me. So that's why the optional, you know, I could have gone the route of like completely erase it forever for good, only make money with email. But for me, like, that's why optional is so important is because I like the— that we have choices that we can make at any given time. So yeah, yeah.

So let's talk about that for a second, about it being an option, right? So from— for the ladies and folks that listen to the show, y'all know we're always like, flexibility and freedom is the core reason why we have businesses. Like, that's— I have never— like, when people are like, oh, I don't know if I could do that, I'm like, I literally got into this business so I can have that option. Like, right? I want to be able to like have— well, this is me, so y'all know I will sit on a Zoom call with a client from bed, and I don't feel no kind of way about it.

Like, nope, in a sweatshirt. I just did it in a sweatshirt. Yep, just did it.

Don't care.

Don't care, right? So why is social media optional for chronic illness warriors a requirement? I really do feel like it's a requirement, but why is it needed?

I— yeah, I believe it's a requirement too. I'm not someone that has a chronic illness out, you know, I have depression, I have mental health stuff. However, so I'll speak for myself, but I'll also speak for my clients who do have chronic illness. And honestly, it's necessary because you just don't know when you need to be out and you need to still make money. You need to still make money even when you're down for the count. And I've seen that with my depression. I've seen where I'm like in order for me to balance the most important things in my life, which is my marriage, my community, my spirituality, all of those things, in order for me to balance those things, sometimes I gotta take something off the plate for a week, you know what I mean? But I also still need to be able to make money. Like, that's just the reality. And so for me, it was so important that I could make money when I was down for the count. And I found that with my, uh, chronic illness clients, those who have chronic illnesses, so many times they're like, I don't know when I have to take— when I have to go to the clinic that day, or I don't know if I suddenly, you know, have to take a full 2 weeks off. I just had a client who had to take a full month off unexpectedly, had all these medical bills come up unexpectedly. But because they were social media optional, they weren't worried about paying their medical bills. They weren't worried about the fact that they could take off and still make money and enroll clients and all those things. And So I think like it's— yeah, I see it as a necessity.

I really do.

I see being social media optional as a necessity for that reason. And I will speak to as well last year, the way I was so sick last year. I don't know if it's because we were like coming out of isolation or not, but for years, but I was constantly sick, but ill to the point where I couldn't even work from bed. There was no working that could happen.

Mm-hmm. Right.

We talk a lot about like, I love being able to work from bed, but also there are times where you can't work at all.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

And that happened with me multiple times last year for weeks on end. And I still made money and I still had my highest year and my clients were still served. That's actually why, like, I really combine— I consider a peaceful business, one that has both email and team and systems. Because having those 3 things, that allows you to be able to step away and still run your business and still have the income that you need.

Yeah, it's so true. Something that you just said is kind of like one of my core principles of why I run business the way I run business and why I work with coaches who feel the same way is because as chronic illness warriors, there's a lot we don't, quote unquote, have control over. Not that any of us really actually have control. Right. But if I can create safety, like if I can decide to create safety, so the way I market, the way I have help in my business, the way I have systems and stuff like that in my business, so that on those times where I am literally doing nothing, all of that stuff is still serving me even in like out time. That's safety I cannot get when I'm dependent on social media and a Facebook page or Instagram that might like glitch today, or I'm glitchy.

Yeah. Or if we're being specific, like where we don't have to show our face or we don't have to make a whole graphic and the caption and edit it or a reel and edit it and get it done. Like being able to not show our faces and still make money, I think is the most valuable part of being social media optional and also having such an easy marketing platform specifically. And that hasn't really changed that much. You don't, let's say you were out for a week. You come back. I— this happened to me. I was out for a week. I was so deprived. I was out for a week, come back, Reels rolled out, and I'm like, that's mass— that's a massive change to the platform that I now gotta learn and figure out and all these things when— and it's like, no, you actually never— you don't have to now. You can, you can play with it as, you know, it can be a happy bonus, but it's not a requirement to learn in order for you to make any sales. I think that's just invaluable. Just invaluable.

So you're a blog girl. Yes, I'm not. I am. I'm the podcast girl. Okay, y'all, because y'all know I cannot— I tried blogging and it was a horrible fail into the podcast. But email is— I've always thought of email as like a long-form strategy. I just said something like this the other day. People always say that's such a long game. And I always say like, Aren't you in business for the long term? Like, right, like, it's a— it's important. But you talk about this in your coaching around how email is about filling out versus filling in, right? And how that makes it sustainable for a peaceful business. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Oh yeah. Oh, you're going into like the deep cut frameworks. I love this. Yes, I have a framework about like filling out versus filling up. And basically a lot of times when we're marketing, we're so focused on how can I get as many people as possible this month, right? And so when we send an email and we don't make a sale right from that email, we're like, email's a long game. It's a long game, right? And it's like, no, email's actually the shortest game you can ever have. I can go, I can nerd out on like the deliverability. You get seen by so many more people faster. If you're writing good emails, you can convert faster. But you know, when it comes to making a sale and, you know, getting frustrated because you're not getting as many people as possible, it's very easy to see email as long game. But the way I like to teach my clients is all of your marketing is filling out your pipeline, right? So you, you fill up with clients, right? So you make us, you know, you enroll whatever amount of clients you wanna enroll that month with email, but then all the emails you wrote are also capturing the attention of, let's 5 other people that are going to come throughout the rest of the year, right? And seeing it that way is so much more peaceful than being like, I gotta make sure that I get as many people this month because that energy doesn't actually create the outcome that you want ever. Anytime a client is like, I have to make this much, otherwise I'm gonna be in financial ruin. That never helps you get out of quote unquote financial ruin, right?

So, so like, It makes it worse. It's like build—

it's like digging a tunnel. It makes it so much worse. It makes it so much worse. Right? And so when you can really get yourself in the energy of, oh, everything I'm doing is just filling out my pipeline, you actually end up making so much more than you, than you realize. So that's what that concept really is all about and all about the emails that we write this month are also creating the upcoming sales that you're gonna make next month. And I think about when you're, launches, for anyone in the audience that launches, for myself, I now get around 80 clients a launch, right, for Million Dollar Email. And I didn't start that way. And I still have people that will tell me, I've been watching your launch for 4 launches.

Mm-hmm.

So a lot of my, like, launch numbers are actually coming from the pipeline months ago.

Right?

And I think like that's so important. Just like you can start to see as you, as you think that way, you see the results stacking. Okay, so it's not like you're getting the sporadic here and there. No, the results are actually stacking when you think that way.

So yeah, and social media doesn't work like that, right? Yeah, I think we both could talk about like how that is a much more sustainable model than you post something and it disappears in like 15 seconds, right? Like, it, it's not the same. You don't have control over what that algorithm is doing. You have control of how many people are going to see your email because you're doing that. But I want to talk about something that I feel like lots of people talk about, and I think the thing that I love that you talk about, about social media optional— I think in social media we're so fixated on how many people are seeing our thing on social media, how many followers and all of those things, and the quality of those people versus when you use something like email. Or in my opinion, it's like any long-form content can create this kind of result for you. You don't need 6,000 followers to make that much money, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, you don't need to one, produce as much— I feel often that you would have to in order to attract that same amount of people in your social media marketing versus in your email, or for me, in your podcast? Like, how can you have a small audience and like don't even care that on social media you only have 600 people?

I have a very, very small audience for my income. So I'm at a million a year. I have— I think I now have like 2,600 followers maybe. On Instagram and I have less than 1,000 email subscribers. And whenever I talk to people in that income range, they are floored by that. Like, they're like, that's impossible. That's impossible that you make that much. And it's truly because since the beginning, since I had 100 followers, I was like, plenty, plenty. Like, I only want 5 clients. At the time, right? I was like, I've got 5 clients, there's 5 clients in this 100 people. And because I had that thought and that like belief, I've carried that with me throughout the years where I'm— because I'm not so pressed about growing my audience, it almost— it just has naturally grown very organically and like authentically and easily. You know, I mean, just last year I was at less than 500 subscribers and the way I grew it, like, I didn't go on like any major, you know, summits or podcasters or anything like that. It's just that I got, you know, I just kept being good at what I did and I got referred and people found me and it was a lot of that. Some collaborations maybe, right? But overall affiliates, but overall, like, I, I wasn't focused on lead subscriber generation necessarily. And so I say that to say you, you grow with a super small audience by believing that that super small audience is filled with clients. And that's really how I did it and how I still do it. I mean, I could easily be like, okay, I want to grow, you know, to 10,000 or 5,000 followers, let's say. But I'm also like, yeah, but I probably have 80 still in this audience to convert, right, for my next launch. So yeah, that's kind of how I've always approached it.

I think that talks a lot about mindset. I talk— we talk a lot about mindset on this show, especially for chronic illness warriors. There is this feeling that chronic illness limits your ability to articulate what it is that you really can do. And I think something that I've heard you say in like another podcast episode about like living with And like, this is— I think this— everybody can relate to this. Like, when you're dealing with mental health challenges and trying to convey something that you love or you kind of do, like, you kind of— how do you distance yourself being like, this is just an email? This isn't like— you know what I'm saying? Like, I think a lot of us sometimes like get wrapped in our head like, my whole life story needs to be in this and I need to like make this sell. And it's like, I just need to write an email. Like, that's what I've come to learn more about. I'm just writing an email. How has that happened for you? Like, how did you do that?

Yeah, the number one way I've been able to run my business with all this depression— that's what I always say, all this depression— the number one way I've been able to do it has been actually— this is gonna sound— it's gonna sound harsher than I mean, but it helps me, and it's like, it's not that deep. Like, it's an email, Kirsten. It's not that deep. It's not that hard. It's not that bad. Because I could easily be like, I'm so sad. I don't want— I don't have the energy. I don't have the capacity. I'm not able to— I'm not able to think straight today. Like, I can absolutely spend all my time in my brain on that. Or I can just say, you're a little sad. Yeah, that happens.

Yeah.

Welcome to always. And it's just an email. And something that has helped me a lot is like making it a job has helped me a lot too, making my business a job, uh, in the sense of, yeah, you were depressed and you still had to go to your 9 to 5, like you still had to go, right? And so sometimes you just gotta go show up, write the email. So that's how I do it from the standpoint of getting myself to do it on a very low energy day. And then when I'm actually in the process of it, yeah, just making it not that deep where I'm just like, I'm just a girl on the internet selling services and I just have to tell people that they have this problem and I can solve that problem and that's it. Hey, name, you're dealing with this. I help you with this is how I help you book a call. It could be that simple and that helps me tremendously. And those are usually the emails that sell the best. I love that. Every time.

You always say that, you're like, write boring emails, like, do not overcomplicate this, right?

Write boring emails. Don't try to— I would say don't get cute, be clear. Like, you don't have to get cute with it, just write a boring email. That's the best way to get yourself actually doing it consistently as well.

So this is a question about— if you kind of touched on it, but as someone who lives And on— just to put on a side note, and for everyone, because I've said this to many people on the show, mental health, when you're dealing with it for just from a standpoint of the ADA book website, anything that inhibits or challenges your cognitive or physical ability to do something just in general for more than 3 months is a chronic illness. So depression is chronic illness. Yeah. So for you, from a mindset, because you run a million-dollar business, two businesses— one is— I mean, it's not two businesses, two offers, I should say. How are you doing this from like a holistic point of view? I know you're all about the peace and having the systems mindset, but how did you get to knowing like, this is how it's gonna have to work for me versus like, versus I have to sacrifice this. This is— that's the thing I'm talking about. Like, so many millionaires that I've talked to on this show are like, yeah, but sometimes you just gotta sacrifice it. I'm like, I don't want to sacrifice anything more than I already have going on in my life. Like, I already have enough stuff. I don't want to sacrifice the stuff that actually makes me want to still be here, right?

Literally, literally. Yeah, for me, honestly, I've always run my business through the filter of a part-time schedule. Because that is necessary for me with all of the things that I do in my personal life. And so that's what's really helped me is honestly, I've always had this filter slash requirement where it's like, if it's not part-time, I can't do it. And that's just what it is. Like, there's no— it's a non-negotiable. And so for me, running my— running every business decision I make through that filter is important. Now also, I love to make money. So because of that, what's helped me is really thinking about my business through how can I still make more money but still have a part-time schedule? And that's— I'm running everything through that filter. And then it's like, okay, well, if it, if it's gonna require more of me, then that's not gonna work. So what's another way And I think I'm saying that to say you have to decide your filter.

Yes.

Like, you have to decide your filter. And if it's, you know, dinner with the kids every night, that's a non-negotiable, or a date night every week with my partner, or if it's, you know, having a part-time schedule, whatever it is for you, you have to decide your filter. And I'm so thankful I've had that filter because it is first of all, it's lowkey built my brand because that's what my whole thing is about. But also I've skipped so much like burnout and heartache, and I've burned out before too, but like I've skipped so much of it because I've had that filter. And anytime I've, anytime I've tried to go away from that filter, anytime I've tried to bypass it or like like, you know, take it up, speed it up, take it away, anything. It's never worked out. So now I'm like, oh no, this filter is a protection for me. And because of that, I've continued to make more and more, but within my, uh, within my values, within my values at the same time. So I think you really just need your own filter. Yeah, filter.

I want to say, if y'all haven't figured it out yet, this is why Kirsten is one of my coaches. Like, it's like, it's the thing that I like to say, like, you can find a coach who will say literally the opposite of this. Yeah, like, they will push you past your values of the boundaries because they can only see it through the filter that is their own. Right, right. And I have— I just found like what I love about all the things that you do in marketing. It's like you live those values. Like it's not like just to be cute.

Like, and you can tell and you can always tell too when it's to be cute. And I'm like, no, this— I'm about this.

Yes, right.

My coaches joke with me that I don't work. They're like, you never work. You don't even work. And I'm like, that's right. That's right. You are so right. Yep, I don't work. I do, obviously.

I work.

Yeah, I would say I work very hard on part-time hours, very hard within the hours I'm working. I'm working very hard. But other than that, like, you know, and so that's a running joke with my coaches. They're always like, you barely work. You never— I'm like, yep, that's the goal.

That's something to say. Something to say to that, to me, when I hear that is you're okay taking your time. And I feel like so many people are in a rush to get to where they see, like, where you are or where their coaches are, that they're trying to, like, sidestep it. And one of my thoughts that I think is like, it will take how long it takes, and I'm fine with that.

Yeah. And I think that— I know that I have evidence. It's so counterintuitive. It doesn't make sense to our brains at first. But you always make more when you're not in a rush. Like, when I was rushing to get to a million at one point, I literally did not make any more money. I actually made the same money that I made the year before. But when I finally was like, it'll come when it comes, it was within 2 years, like, very quickly. That's very quick. And so, yeah, you just— you always end up making more. You always end up making more. And I'm just such a— it really all goes back to options is such a core value for me. I'm just such an 'and' girl, meaning how can I do this and— and I always ask my clients that. My clients are like, well, I don't have— for example, I don't have time to write emails because of this. Okay, how can you write emails and do that? Like, how— always asking the 'and' question, I think helps too with the rush in its own way, because you're asking yourself, how can I hit a million, for example, and do it in a way that feels really sustainable, peaceful, good? And that is what's going to get you there faster than like, how do I do it? I'll do it any way someone tells me, you know what I mean? Like, that's, that's a much different energy.

Yes.

Yes.

So let's talk about mindset because you're another mindset queen.

Yep. All about the mindset.

All the thing. So, and I know you have clients, obviously you have clients that live with chronic illness and you're living with chronic illness and we, that's my people. What is the one most sticky mindset for the ones living with chronic illness that gets in their way that creates that self kind of sabotage of them getting to where they're actually trying to get to?

You want me to be honest?

Be honest, girl.

Go ahead. You know where I'm at.

I'm going to get real, real— it's a little spicy. And I even say it myself sometimes. It's a variation or a flavor of, I'm not someone that can do that. That doesn't work for me. I'm not someone that can do— my body can't do that. My brain can't do that. I'm not someone that can do that. And it all goes back to— and I find this happens in coaching relationships as well, where a coach will— like, let's say you have a coach that's super, you know, all about like pedal to the metal, let's say. You'll say, I can't do that. That's not me. My body can't do that. I need something else. Instead of saying, How can I? Like, how can I? Or how would I if I were thinking about it through, you know, the way I live my life or the way the things that I need or whatever? I've had those, those kinds of coaches, for example, and I've been incredibly successful in their containers because I've made it my own instead of saying, nope, I can't do that, no, that's not something for me, or whatever, and then sabotaging yourself and slowing yourself down because you're just blocking everything people tell you. You literally have to make it your own. You have to. Nobody's ever gonna tell you something perfect just for you, you know, even if you're right one-to-one, face-to-face, customized. No, you're still gonna have to interpret it for yourself and like, and do that. And so that's the number one thing I've seen is, I can't do that, my brain can't do that, my body can't do that, that's not for me, instead of Okay, this is what I currently deal with and how can I do what you're saying or take this piece of feedback or whatever in a way that incorporates that into it? I mean, that's the key. And I do that, I did that a lot when I first, a lot when I first started, I was like, no, nope, that's not gonna be part-time. So no, I can't, no. Like I did that. All the time, or like, no, that's not— I don't believe in that. That's, that's not, you know, whatever it was, right? Instead of like, oh wait, like, how does this make sense for me? How can I make it make sense for me? I think that's the most self-sabotaging thing that happens, especially when we have actual physical and mental limitations.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's the thing. I love that you said that. And I would agree. I think that's probably in my top 3 of those thoughts. It's the thing as a coach that's the hardest thing to help a client to say, like, You don't have to do it my way, like, literally. But how can you do it?

Right? But why don't you try? Why don't you try? And how can you do it?

Right, right, right, right. So this is—

I'm getting into a whole other conversation right now, but I joke all the time, like, we all want a proven process till we get a proven process, right? And then we're like, no, no, no, no, no.

Oh my gosh, that is so true.

Everybody wants a framework till they get a framework, right? That is so true. So I'm very, I'm very like blunt with my clients a lot where I'm like, okay, like figure it out for you. Like figure it out. You can, you can figure it out. You can, right? You can figure out a way to make anything work for you. And so yeah, that's the biggest, that's the biggest.

It's so funny that you say that, Kristen. I had someone say, but this is not the framework I wanted. And you're like, but you bought this framework.

Yep.

So it's the thing I like to say is like, you, if you're going to invest in coaching, if you're going to do any kind of program, you have to have some self-awareness of yourself, of knowing who you are and how you bring you to the container of that coaching, right? Because I'm not gonna be Kirsten, I'm not gonna be— I'm gonna do it my way, but at least I have some guidance, some guardrails to know where the heck I'm going. Yeah, right. So email marketing, what's 3 myths you want to bust right now?

Oh, only 3?

I mean, I'm just trying to, I'm trying to, I'm trying to like keep it because I know—

reel it in.

Yeah, I, I have a lot of opinions about email marketing. Number 1, I promise you can have a teeny tiny list and book out with email. You can have— I'm talking like 10 subscribers. I even have my lowest subscriber-to-sale amount for my clients is 2 subscribers. I had someone that had 2 subscribers and made a sale. You can have a teeny tiny list. So whenever people— and I do teach people how to grow their lists, but whenever people are like, like, you know, I need to grow my list, I don't have that many people, da da da, and that stops them from writing. I'm just like, you do not understand how small your list can be and you can make sales. So there's that. I think another thing is unsubscribes. Unsubscribes are not a problem. Unsubscribes are good. And unsubscribes— and this goes into actually really what the myth I want to bust is you can't annoy your audience if you write good email. And oftentimes we think an unsubscribe equals annoyance. I annoyed people with this, and some people you did, whatever. But overall, the number one reason why people unsubscribe is your email just wasn't relevant to them. They either aren't ready to buy something that you're offering, or it's not really what they're looking for. It's not the pressing problem that they wanna solve right now. And so they leave.

Right?

And that's it. And how many times do we do that as consumers? Like, we just unsubscribe because it's just not relevant for us right now. And they may love you, they may love your content, but it's just not relevant. I can't tell you how many people have rejoined my list after unsubscribing, how many people have unsubscribed and still join my programs. Like, it's very, very common. And so, like, unsubscribes don't equal you being annoying, and you won't be annoying to your audience if you actually, uh, if you actually write good emails. Because if you're writing good emails, you're solving a problem that's exciting for people to receive. Which then brings me to my, one of my spiciest takes, which is one email a week isn't enough. Like, that's it. Like, it's just not enough. And it's not necessarily a myth. I guess the myth that I'm busting is that like one email a week is good, or one email a week every once in a while is okay. No, you have to send more emails. You have to send more emails because more emails equals more questions being answered for your audience equals more conversions. So if you want more conversions, you send more emails. And so whenever people are like, oh, well, I send a weekly email and it's usually like a dear diary, you know, or, or, uh, here are the podcasts I love this week, or here's who I've been listening to, or here are some business lessons I've had. I don't wanna say nobody cares 'cause that's not true. People love lifestyle content, but you're not gonna make a million dollars sending newsletters every once in a while, and you're not gonna be social media optional, right? In that, from that standpoint. And so I think those are the biggest one. You have to send a lot of emails, more emails, sell your offer. And, and I wanna be clear too with that. I wanna add a caveat. I'm not saying that you have to do more to make more. That's not the principle that I'm trying to, to communicate. It's more that a lot of you just aren't selling enough in general. Mm-hmm. Just in general, all the things you're currently doing, you're not selling enough within those actions, right?

Mm-hmm.

That's what I'm saying. You're already probably selling 3 to 5 times a week on your Instagram or on your LinkedIn or wherever you are. But you're not doing that in email, and that's why you're not going to make email sales.

So I'm going to add some more spicy to this real quick. Yeah, I don't think people— and I specifically think my, like, my, like, the chronic illness clients that I've worked with and the people I— they don't actually even sell that much. Like, like, like, like, resistance I often get about, like, including sales invitations, right? Like offers is like, well, 3 times a week is too much. I'm like, why are we doing this?

Right, right.

So I think to your point, it's not that they're not doing more, like they need to do more. They need to take advantage of the things they are doing. Like, if you're going to show up, sell, right? Right. There's a lot of resistance in my— I, I— why is there resistance, Kirsten, to selling?

I think there's a few reasons. There's the actual, like, lack of confidence, of know-how, right? It's like, I don't know how to sell well, right? Is usually the, the concern is like, well, I don't know how to sell well, and that's— I don't do well with that. And then also it's a concern around why I have to give value before I sell, and then I show up and I give value, and then I'm tired, and then I don't sell, right? And so So there's that. I think also there's just depending on who you are, there's fear of— there's a little bit of like a humility mindset around it where it's like, oh no, like me selling equals me not being humble, or like me talking about my client results or me talking about all the things that I do for my clients equals lack of humility, and that's bad, and I don't want to do that, right? And so I don't want to look egotistical, I don't want to look some type of way. I think that stops a lot of people as well. I think the number one is the value piece though. Usually people really think that they need to provide a lot of value to earn a selling moment, and I just don't believe that or subscribe to it at all. I'm like, I'm a business. I don't ask Target to hold my hand and walk me through the aisles before they offer me a bag of chips. Like, no, I walk in, I'm sold to every step of the way. The moment I walk in that little dollar section, I'm obsessed with this. Sell me right away. Like, I want that right away. And so I think, I think we just are really convinced that we need to earn our, we need to earn our sales moment, and we just don't. We don't. We're businesses.

Yeah. And I think honestly, social media created more of that. Thought process, right? Like, social media started this whole idea of like, in order for people to buy from you, you have to show and educate, and like, you have to do all of this stuff before you actually ask them to book a call with you. And I think that definitely became like, when it came into the world of online marketing, I definitely saw that shift of the narrative of like, you have to show value before you can pitch someone to drop into a conversation with you. And honestly, I do believe that's a social media issue. It's a social media issue, right?

Yeah. And like, the— in the— we are in an educational industry, right? Well, like, we're in an information-based industry. But I, I just remember like this moment I had with myself a few years ago where I was like, you know, me just saying, this is your problem, this is how I help, book a call, is valuable. That inherently is valuable. And I remember like on the, on the weeks where I was super low energy, couldn't get anything out, I would just repost a picture that said, this is the problem you have. This is, you know, it's like a screenshot. This is the problem you have. This is how I solve it. Book a call. And I would just repost that and that made me sales.

Mm-hmm.

Because people see someone solving their problem inherently as valuable. Without me needing to have done a whole, you know, show, a whole education how-to show for them. And I think there's a balance, right? There's absolutely, uh, I, I do believe that the more value we create in the world, the more money we make. Like, I do believe that. But value, it equal that— the definition of value to me is problems being solved, not necessarily be, you know, getting out my whiteboard and teaching me, you know, this whole thing. It's like, no, value is problem being solved. The more problems you solve, the more money you make.

And your offer is a solution. Like, you know, I think to your point earlier, it's not about this ain't, but it's here's the value and this is how you continue to do this. Like, this is and, like, it's the and piece of it. And I think sometimes we just get a little scary. I think my in general, I have found my clients living with chronic illness, they're a little bit more hesitant because they feel like they're needing to prove that they are like legit and can sell and offer these things. And reality is like, you already have proven it.

Yeah, right.

So, so good. This was so good.

So good. I love it.

Tell us how—

tell us about Million Dollar Email. I could talk about it all day long. I've talked about it probably in a couple different— and my clients also be like, dang, Nikita, you talking about email again? I'm like, it's the other part of— to me, my, my thing is, if, if you have a podcast or if you have any kind of long form, it's ridiculous not to try to figure out how to incorporate email into that strategy, because then it's just this thing out in the sky. Like, this— I feel like email for me grounds my podcast, which to podcasting is my hero piece of content, and then everything kind of filters through. But I much rather send an email or record a podcast episode than show up on social media. That's just me.

Same. And I have a podcast too, and I, I— it's taken me a while to love it. It was hard for me at first, but I feel the same. I love just doing a podcast or writing an email, like that's just where I love to be. Yeah, that's where I love to be.

Yeah. So Million Dollar Email, what's, what's hot?

Million Dollar Email is an email marketing program for coaches and service providers, like I said, that helps you make social media optional. And the way we measure that is in the first 30 days, our goal is to help you replace 25% of your current average monthly income that you're likely making on social media already with email. So what that means is if you're making, I'm, I'm gonna do an easy number, let's say $10,000 a month. And you know, you're making on average $10,000 a month, at least $2,500 in email sales in the first 30 days. That's how we measure, okay, that you're on the step to social media optional. You're on the road to social media optional. And so So that's our, our first milestone for people. And from there, yeah, we help you with all of the email things. We help you with launching with email. We teach you how to create messaging that converts through email. We help you with actual writing and your writing practice and getting better at it, writing faster so you're not spending all your time writing emails, writing better so you actually convert. We help you sell on evergreen, we help you sell any offer, any price point in any niche with email. So that's like, that's the work we do day in and day out. And we are opening, we are opening on Sunday, October 29th for the last time this year. And we have really exciting bonuses. So I recommend going and checking it out at kierstenroldan.com.

Y'all, these, so her bonuses be making me mad that I'm already in the program. I actually bought last year again just so that I could It's so like, dang, girl.

Wow. I know. And we have a whole current client bonus situation happening this time too, because of that. Because all of our current clients are like, excuse me, what is going on? So we made sure, don't y'all worry, we're going to incorporate it this time for the current clients as well. We're going to give you all an opportunity to get the bonus.

It's definitely one thing that I have definitely learned in email marketing, because y'all all know it has been the bane of my existence. I have talked about that many times on this show, that I feel less stress getting ready to write an email. And that alone to me is worth the investment because I am not all in my head. I have like, there's, there's no templates and I don't feel stressed. I feel like when I look at a template, it makes me kind of stressed out when I'm looking at an email template because I'm like, I got to fit what I feel and think and what I do in this template that is not me. I'm saying this to anybody who's like, I've already bought some templates. If you feel so stressed out by those templates, you need to join the program for that piece alone.

Yeah, that's the issue. You can't write with that.

No, it's just really hard to bring you and what you offer sometimes in those things. And so if that's your jam, join Million Dollar Email. Plus it's just, you know, real people, real lives up in there. That's all I'm saying.

That's what I love about it. I love community so much. It's the only marketing community literally in the industry that's like eliminating a whole platform if they want to. I mean, that's just unreal. Unreal.

I'm really proud of you.

Thank you so much for having me again.

I really appreciate it.

So fun.

I appreciate you.

It was— I appreciate you.

That's a wrap, y'all. Thanks for tuning in to Crafted to Thrive, the podcast that helps entrepreneurs with chronic to thrive and build a holistic business and life. Check out our website at craftedtothrive.com for this episode's show notes and all the gifts and goodies. Connect with me on Instagram @thrive_with_nikita for more tips and behind the scenes and more. Tag me to share what you loved about this episode, and I'll feature you on an upcoming episode. So until next time, Remember, yes, you are crafted to thrive.