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How Are You Going to Fund the Transition?

I run into so many people (both online and offline) who tell me they want to build business models that scale.

You are likely bombarded with messages that tell you the path to success is a scalable business.

You likely have seen loads of Facebook ads telling you that your next step is to create a course, launch an online program, create a digital product.

That your path to a life of success is to make money while you sleep, selling your information and knowledge. Passive revenue, multiple revenue streams, the dream come true!

And, because I am committed to you building your life and income awake, aware and on your terms, I’m here to tell you the truth and help you make the best decisions along the way.

I wish I had had someone to help me do more of that along the way myself.

So, yes, you can totally build a business that scales, if you are fully, 100% committed to spending a lot of time behind your computer, managing teams, of people, learning to become a leader, building systems and writing a heck of a lot of copy. And, investing big time, energy, attention and money (TEAM resources) in all of it.

In our Money Map system, this is the Star Guide and Star Creator archetype paths. And with eyes wide open, you can do it.

But, where do you start? And how will you fund it? And what are the steps along the way.

In most cases, it all starts with you creating a Sage Guide business model that actually works

All too often, people want to skip this step and get right to scale.

I get it.

The marketing gurus out there almost encourage it.

But what the heck are you scaling?

Before you can scale, before you can transition to the next level, you need to have mastered the prior level. Then, you can “transcend and include.”

That means that you take what works from the prior level as you move to the next level, leaving behind what doesn’t work, and always keeping what does.

So what is the prior level to master on your way to a business that scales?

GENERALLY speaking (all caps because I acknowledge this is a generalization and not always true), the level prior to scale, or programs, or courses, or products involves you providing a 1-1 service that truly delivers a valuable outcome.

That one to one service is the thing you do that provides tremendous value to people, you love doing, and before you transcend it and go to the next level, you create a sustainable income model around it for yourself.

So that looks like an enrollment process that works for you and the people you serve.

Packages and a fee quoting system that allow your prospects to choose the best way to work with you.

And THEN, once you’ve got that rocking and rolling, marketing strategies (oftentimes programs, products and courses) to keep your pipeline full.

And finally, if all goes well, maybe you can scale those programs, products and courses so you can drop the one to one work altogether. But that’s a seriously long road and one I think far too many people are anxious to get to far too quickly.

It’s an expensive path to scale.

It requires serious capital investment. It requires serious time, energy and attention focus.

It will take everything you have. Read this article about Elon Musk and what it’s taken even him.

And the best way to fund it?

If you aren’t going to seek venture capital, or other outside investment (including credit), you can fund it with a 1-1 service that you can deliver consistently with an enrollment process and packages that work well for you and the people you serve.

If you are a lawyer and you want to learn to create that in your law practice, sign up for my next training on how to create your own client engagement system.

If you are not a lawyer and you want to create an enrollment structure that leads to yes nearly every time, you want to get Bill Baren’s reports that he is coming out with this week.

You can get Bill’s report “The Yes Blueprint: Your Step-by-Step Method for Turning Conversations into High-Paying Clients” plus two other amazing reports he created here.

Alright, I need to run now — my team is waiting for me to run a sales/support meeting with them. Part of “scaling” is leading teams. Leadership stretches me far beyond what I ever imagined.

I’ll be back with a message about that tomorrow.

Love to you on your journey,

Ali

PS — On July 7, I am hosting a live webinar (my first in 6 months) to help you choose the right income model for you, identify where you are now, get clear on where you are going next and stop the mind spin of wonder, worry, stress and strain. We’ll send sign-up info soon.

A Peek Behind the Scenes of a Launch that is Breaking All the Rules

Online marketing is an interesting beast…

On the one hand, the internet provides an incredible vehicle to distribute content that has the ability to impact thousands. When you have a mission, there is no better way to share it with the planet than online marketing.

On the other hand, this industry is rift with terminology and tactics that are used to manipulate human behavior. The formulas have been essentially the same for 20 years, with nuances here and there, but in many (not all) cases are designed to manufacture scarcity and fear.

The way that I was taught to reconcile this as a student of internet marketing was through terms like “ethical bribery,” “tripwires” and “diminishing rewards,” and the idea that as a marketer, if I had confidence in the ability of the program, product or service to create transformation, than it was ok to do whatever it took to get people to separate money from their pocketbooks to be able to access my specific flavor of transformation.

Even if that meant tapping into fear, lack and scarcity.

These are not values that I am personally aligned with. They are not values that any of us here at Eyes Wide Open Life are aligned with.

From the very inception of discussing the strategic design of our recent launch of the Money Map, we knew that we were willing to take a risk and break these rules. We desired to create art. We desired a level of integrity, generosity and beauty that defied the old rules of the internet marketing game, after all – “it’s been statistically proven that ugly pages convert better!”… blech.

I am sharing this ‘behind the scenes of a launch’ with you because I want you to know that if you share our desire to embody your personal values in the way that you market your products and services, it is more than possible. We have some amazing discoveries and results to share with you.

Here’s a Peek Behind the Scenes of a Launch that is Breaking All the Rules:

Not everything we tried worked… our initial gateway into this launch, our much touted ‘visual meditation video,’ didn’t work. People didn’t get it right away and the average viewer only watched the first 30 seconds of the almost 7 minute video. And since it wasn’t behind an opt-in, we lost thousands of leads provided by our partners because the next step of opting in for the complete series was at the end. It was beautiful, yes. And it was not effective.

Another example is the several fairly intense debates on our daily team calls about how to complete this launch in the strongest way possible while maintaining our values.

One strategy that you’ll often see marketers use is to say that a program is closing to new enrollments, only to – surprise! – give you one last chance to allow the people who regret their decision not to join to bring in a final burst of sales. Although this strategy works revenue wise, (and we care strongly about revenue here at Eyes Wide Open – it’s the oxygen in a growing business) Amrita made the final call. We will not lie to you. We will not tell you that the program is closing when we know it’s not true.

Another often used strategy is to have disappearing waves of payment plans and/or bonuses. Nope. We’re not doing that either. We’re leaving them up until the cart closes. (Rather than give into knee-jerk reactions that cause marketers to turn up the scarcity volume mid-launch – believe me we were tempted.)

By far the boldest thing we did (near the start of the launch), with the most incredible results in terms of effecting change on the planet, was offering an Accelerated Money Map Course, which we could have easily sold for $500 or $1000 — for free. 5000 people participated and had the opportunity to get clear on their Money Map. We can see from the feedback we’ve gotten that this made a real and lasting impact on people’s lives – of course the greatest indicator of success of all… and also resulted in incredible exposure & attendance rates, and conversion of 16% on our cart open call.

Has it been perfect? Not even close. And even though we are not at the finish line yet, I am so proud to have been a part of this grand experiment.

We’ve been blessed to have two incredible assets: 1) our team. Wow. Their commitment to holding us to our highest intentions, even when we were scared and wanted to go back to playing by the old rules because, well… when it comes to making sales, they work – kept us from self-sabotaging our commitments to ourselves and holding you, our community as the dearest outcome of our work. 2) our coaches, especially Alex Mandossian, who understood what we wanted to do from the get go, and has held us to it in ways we could not have possibly seen for ourselves.

Last night Alex invited us to let go of our goals.

“The end results are none of your business,” he said. “Take care of people. Finish what you started with the integrity and commitment that you began with, and those who are meant to be with you will be.”

He asked to have the entire team share how they will be celebrating on Tuesday when this run is over.

Ultimately, we are reminded that we all show up. We all make mistakes. We all have wins that are important to recognize and celebrate. But ultimately, what matters is honoring our word, living our values and surrendering to exactly what is, learning from the experience and leveraging it to create more goodness in the world.

(Check out this post for a behind the scenes look at our launch through the eyes of our CEO, Amrita Khalsa.)

Want more rule-breaking, revolutionary, new economy launch insights? Be sure to leave your name and email below. We’ve got plenty more to share!