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AMY PORTERFIELD: “What would you do if you were brave? What would you do if you were not leading from fear? What would you do if you would not let the worry or the unknown lead you in your decisions? because strong entrepreneurs that make it through recessions and really tough times, they are scared, but they still move forward. It is not an option to not launch, guys. Yes, you launch. Yes, you get it out there. And you may not hit your goals. I'm going to talk about me not hitting my goals and how I'm so glad I launched, in a minute, but you still launch. It's not just to make money, although that helps, and that's what I want you to do. But there's a psychology around launching in scary times that makes you a stronger leader and a stronger team and show up for your audience in a bigger way.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-million-dollar business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, money, and time to focus on growing my small-but-mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and helps you create a life you love, you're in the right place. Let's get started.
AMY PORTERFIELD: So, welcome, everybody, to the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast. I am live in my Facebook group, answering questions in real time. But of course, this is recorded. It will get on the podcast, and that's how many of you are listening to it now. So we’re shaking things up, doing things different, which in a time of a pandemic, when the world seems like it is going crazy and everything seems different than we know, why not shake things up and do business differently? And a lot of the questions I'm going to answer today relate to that. How do I pivot? How do I do things differently? And so I thought I would just dive into a bunch of questions that my Online Marketing Made Easy podcast listeners inside of my free Facebook group have asked me. So I thought, well, let's just answer them in real time and then get these Qs and As onto the podcast as well. So if you're listening on the podcast, they came from the Facebook group. If you are not in the Facebook group, then join us. Just look for Online Marketing Made Easy on Facebook. It's a free group, and I'd love to see you there.
Okay, so here we go. This first question is from Erica. And Erica says,
“I have yet to launch my course. Do you feel this is a good time to do so, or should I stay focused on list building and relationship building with weekly content?”
I wanted to start out with this question because I think a lot of us are saying, “Maybe I shouldn't sell. Maybe I shouldn't launch just yet. It seems insensitive to sell,” or “it seems insensitive to launch right now. People are struggling and suffering, so maybe I shouldn't make money in my business right now. Maybe I should just focus on list building and relationship building.” And a lot of people like Erica, who haven’t ever launched anything yet, they're saying, “Well, now's not the time to do it, so I should probably wait.”
And my answer to you is do not wait. So the reason for that is you have no idea how long you're going to be waiting for, and we do not want to stall or pause our business during this time. It's not good for your business. It's not good for your livelihood. It's not good for the economy. And if you have something that your audience truly needs or wants, it is your duty to get that out into the world. And so with that, Erica, I want you to launch.
Now, if you're in Digital Course Academy®️, I did a free masterclass for you all about how to presell your course before you actually get it done. I want to see all of my Digital Course Academy®️ students presell instead of waiting to have your course finished. Then you can deliver your course week by week by week, as you create it.
So for those of you who are not in Digital Course Academy®️, we will open the doors again in September 2020. I hope you'll join us because we're redoing the entire program and adding a very big element of preselling to the Digital Course Academy®️ program. But for all my students that are already in the program, I did a free training for you. It's in the Insiders Club, and you can get access to that.
So, Erica, I want you preselling your course. That way, you can start to generate revenue as well as making sure that your business is continuing to move forward.
Now, if you don’t have an email list, yeah, you need an email list. So for the next thirty or sixty days, if you feel like you need to grow your email list and then launch, I support that. But I would have supported that before the pandemic. I'm all about growing your email list. I always say let's try to have 250 people on our email list before our first launch. That way, you have an audience to sell to. So get serious, guys. If you're not list building, there's no better time than right now to list build. More people are online, people are spending way longer online and paying close attention to what they need most, and they're looking online for the answers. So list building has never been more important. It's easier now than it's ever been. So everybody should be shining a light on list building, but also launching. And preselling is one of the best ways to do so.
Okay, this next question is from Jack. A little bit similar to Erica’s, but Jack is not brand new. He’s already launched, it sounds like. He says,
“Thanks to your podcast and guidance, I've been crafting and getting ready to share my business with the world. And then COVID-19 hit.”
Oh, okay. So he also hasn’t launched. He said,
“Should I postpone launching my business and sharing it with others until we start to see some normalcy again?”
Exact same question, like Erica. So, Jack, I want you to continue to move forward. But what I didn't say with Erica’s because I was saving it for your question, is that when you do launch, Erica, Jack, anybody else listening, when you do launch, you can't launch business as usual, meaning your messaging has to reflect what's going on in the world. Nobody, in my opinion—this is a strong opinion, but I really stand behind it—nobody can launch in quarter two of 2020 without at least mentioning or relating back to COVID-19 and the quarantine and the pandemic and possibly as it relates to what we're seeing in the economy, with places shutting down or the market or whatever relates to it. You don't need to get into all of it if that doesn't relate to what your audience wants to hear from you. But you cannot pretend like it's not happening.
So with Jack and Erica, the fact that you haven't yet launched your business out into the world, wouldn't it be so very cool—I was just talking to a friend about this—a year from now, you look back and you say, “I could do anything, anything I put my mind to because I launched my business, I launched my course during a pandemic. Bring it on. I can do anything after that.” I really do believe we should be thinking about what will make us stronger. How do we come out of this even stronger as an entrepreneur, with our confidence and just with how we do business?
So yes, you launch. And yes, you make sure that your messaging or your offer or even your pricing has been reflected with what's going on in the world. So messaging is just talking about it and relating to whatever you’re selling back to how you can help them even in uncertain times. Your offer might be you add something to what you were already going to sell.
So, for example, when I launched Momentum, my membership experience, which I did, literally the first week everyone was sent home from their jobs, we launched Momentum to Digital Course Academy®️ students only. So it was a really small launch. And when we launched, and that's a $300-a-month program. It's a membership experience, really elite, really incredibly valuable, but it's expensive. And when we launched, I added to the offer. So for thirty days, I am live every morning with my Momentum members, talking about how to pivot your business during a pandemic. So they get way more of me. And then we changed the April training to reflect how to support them during these times as well. So we pivoted the offer, but we still launched the membership.
And so in addition to pivoting your messaging, pivoting the pricing, messaging, and the offer—I said that wrong—you also want to think about pivoting the pricing. Now, you've already heard me say this: do not drastically discount. Do not give away your paid stuff for free. That's not going to help you or your team members or the livelihood of your business or the likelihood of your business being around or the economy. However, you can offer a longer payment plan. You can, if you have a membership, offer one month free to get people in the door to test you out. You can offer a discount, just not a steep one. These are my recommendations for tweaking the pricing. We were going to increase the price of Momentum. We decided to keep it as it was, and we did a different payment plan than we typically do. So definitely addressing the pricing issue without deeply discounting or giving away for free is a really great idea.
Okay. Next question’s from Melissa. Melissa says,
“I was going to live launch last week, with a second round starting this week. It's highly profitable that I contracted COVID-19, so I'm not physically feeling up to going live on video, but I still want to launch. In this situation, is moving to evergreen okay?”
So, Melissa, it's all about your health first. And so in this situation, first, you have to make sure that you're taking care of yourself. Whether that means you're going to the doctor, you're staying quarantined, you're getting tested, whatever that means, your health has to come first and the health of those around you. So I'm pretty sure you already know that, but I just wanted to put that out there.
And if you are not feeling well, going live on video a bunch is not a great idea. One, your energy is going to be low, and that's going to be reflected in your message. And two, just don't do that to yourself. And so, yes, going evergreen, taking your product evergreen right now is a great idea.
And so what I tell my students typically in Digital Course Academy®️ is that I want you to live launch two to three times before you ever go on evergreen, because the lessons in live launching and the revenue that you can generate during a live launch is, to me, so much more attractive than an evergreen offer. However, if you can't live launch right now, going evergreen, selling it through Facebook ads, putting it out there so that they can buy it anytime is a great idea. If you're a Digital Course Academy®️ student, then get the evergreen bonus in that program, because I teach you how to evergreen with urgency and scarcity. You have to have urgency and scarcity in an evergreen offer, and I teach you how to do that inside of the bonus in DCA if you need it.
Melissa, get well. We'll be thinking about you.
Crystal says,
“I have a photography business, and I cannot currently operate my business right now. I have postponed all of my sessions for the coming weeks and was nowhere near my goal of filling my Easter sessions before COVID-19 hit. What should I do now?”
So when people ask me this, a few people send in questions like, what do I do? The first thing you do is you get creative and you ask yourself, what are my options? So instead of—and I'm going to help you, Crystal, so don't worry. But this is for everybody, not just Crystal. When your whole business has changed like that, the first thing I want you to do is turn inward and say, what can I do? And you brainstorm every idea you have. We all have to look inward first and say, what do I think I could do? What are my options? Where's the opportunity in this? And you might say, “There is no opportunity, Amy. I'm screwed. I can't do anything.” Push past that. That's just your lizard brain being so, so fearful that you're not even allowing yourself to have ideas. So we've got to push through that. Sometimes even ten minutes of meditation or getting quiet can help there. But then to say, but if I knew what I could do, if I knew some opportunities, what might I think about?
And so I want you, Crystal, and anybody else listening who doesn’t know what to do, turn inward first. Everything you need is within you now. Everything. You just are not allowing yourself to go there because you're scared or fearful, and I get it. Of course you are. Of course we all are.
And so the first thing is, Crystal, I want you to go to your reserves. Ask yourself what you think you should do. And then from there, I'm so glad that you asked this question of me, because I've got some thoughts.
And I'm looking at my notes right now, because the first thing is I have a friend. Her name is Britt Seva, and I'll talk about her a little bit later, so I'm going to save her story. But basically, Britt, she serves salon owners and hairstylists, so she supports them in growing their business with marketing and sales. Their salons are shut down. They are not making money right now. And so with that, she launched her course, and we'll talk about that later. But her messaging that's really resonating with them is that you may not have the gift of revenue right now, but you do have the gift of time. And all of us, one way or another, might feel the sting of not as much revenue coming in. I shouldn’t say, “all of us.” Some of us might feel the sting of not as much revenue coming in before this all happened. But we all have the gift of more time. We all are not getting on a plane to travel wherever we were planning on traveling. Many of us are no longer commuting. We're not even going out on the weekends or nights to meet friends or networking events. All of that has stopped. We all have the gift of time.
And so for you, Crystal, this might be a time where you finally rebrand your business. You finally restructure your offers and packages. You finally get organized on the back end, and you put together some new opportunities in your business that you've been dying to put together, but never have time. Every one of us needs to ask ourselves, what is that thing that we said, “I really want to get to, but I never have time to do it”? That is where you should be spending your time in order to make your business stronger so that when this passes, which it will, you come out of this even stronger. So what do you need to do right now to make your business stronger in terms of marketing and sales? The things that take time to set up? Maybe it's a new funnel that you create to get more people in the door. Maybe it's rewriting all the emails that you've been using. Maybe it's creating a new Facebook group that you're going to open up when you're ready to. You could open it up now. Whatever it might be. Maybe it's a branch of your business that you've always wanted to start, but you just didn't do it; maybe you start that branch of the business now. You may not have the gift of revenue, but you have the gift of time. So that's one thing, Crystal.
The other thing is that you have talents that you could use in other ways. So when I said maybe you want to start a different branch of the business, maybe it's something that you've been dying to do online, that doesn't require you to be in person with people for Easter sessions, but instead it's something you could do online. Maybe you've been dying to teach your photography techniques and talents and strategies you use with budding entrepreneurs. And so maybe it has to do with that. Or maybe there's some ways that you shoot your settings that you can teach other photographers. I don't know what it is, but you have talents and knowledge that could translate in different ways in photography. So maybe it's time to put together a really simple offer and float it out there and see what people think.
The last thing I'll say is that the people that are waiting for you to do sessions with, you super serve them. So I do want to encourage you to think of, the people that are on my books but I can't meet with them yet, or people that really wanted an Easter session, which, likely, they won't get one, how can I put together an opportunity for them that they could take advantage of and possibly buy now or just have it ready for them when we come out of this that they are still going to want to do photo sessions, but maybe not related to Easter? Like, what kind of really cool package could I put together for them, or how could I serve them right now? I don't know what that looks like, but how could you serve the people that are waiting to have sessions with you? What do they need or want right now? And if you don't know, ask them. So super serving the people that have paid you that are waiting for your services, or people that are in your membership and you want them to continue, or people that are just your clients, how can you super serve them right now and ask for nothing in return, or put together something new for them so that you keep them engaged? So these are all the things you want to think about.
The last thing I'll say to you, Crystal, is there's two words I want you to think about: getting scrappy and getting creative. Getting scrappy and getting creative. These are things you would have never done before, but the times call for it now. Allow yourself to dream a little bit, experiment a little bit, think outside of the box a whole heck of a lot, because that's what these times are calling for.
Okay, Joey says,
“These days it feels weird seeing an email or social-media post that is not mentioning the pandemic. How have you adapted your marketing and communication?”
So, Joey, we are not going 100 percent only talking about COVID-19. And the reason for that is what I teach is tried and true, whether it's in a pandemic or not. I teach how to grow an online business, how to create a digital course, how to launch with webinars, how to grow your email list. Whether we're in a pandemic or not, these are tried-and-true strategies that help you build your online business, help you make more money, help you grow your audience. So whether I mention COVID-19 or not, they still apply. However, I can't be tone deaf, so I've erred on the side of mentioning it a lot, but still teaching what I've always been teaching. And so I pivot my message, and I do mention it. And sometimes it's just, “Hey, I know we're in crazy times. I know this is scary. And here's how what I'm going to teach you still applies.”
So let me give you a very specific example. I batch my podcast episodes. And so I had, like, five or six in the cooker already ready to go before COVID-19 hit. So I went back in studio. This is my studio. I have a different microphone that I use for my actual podcast. Right now I'm doing a live video for this, so you're not seeing the kind of set up. But I do it here. And I recorded a pre-roll, a pre-roll, which basically comes before the podcast starts. And I did one for Jennifer Allwood. She had a brand-new book coming out. I had interviewed her way in advance in order to get the message out about this amazing book, which is perfect for this time. It's all about having courage. And so I said, “Hey, guys, I recorded this podcast episode with Jennifer before COVID-19 hit. However, here's why this podcast is more relevant now than it's ever been.” And then I talk about that. And I do it within, like, one or two minutes, just really short, but I address it.
So to answer your question, Joey, I am leading with it, but I'm not letting it dictate everything I do. And I already mentioned this on the podcast, but you might have missed it, so I’m going to mention it here again. I have a good friend, Kat—Kat Harris—she's a photographer, but she also teaches Christian women how to date in the modern world. And she talks about intimacy and love and sex and dating on apps and all this stuff. So she has two different businesses. And she went to the Christian women that she serves, and she said, “Do you want me to give you tips and strategies to get through this time of quarantine, or do you want me to continue to talk about the stuff I always talk about?” And they're like, “Please talk about the stuff you always talk about. We want to hear that. We want just normalcy.”
You have to ask. The theme of all these questions is if you don’t know what to do, ask your audience what they want from you most. My audience would not tell me, “Just be normal and not talk about it.” They want me to address it because I'm helping them build their businesses in a time that the economy has taken a big shift. So I've got to talk about it, but not everybody has to. Ask your audience.
Brenda says,
“COVID-19 is causing a lot of panic in my state, so I'm wondering if I should not start my pre-launch plan scheduled to begin tomorrow. I had everything mapped out over these next two weeks, but now I'm questioning whether I should move forward. Any advice?”
Move forward.
Here's a great question I have for all of you. If you're asking, “Should I start? Should I actually launch this? I was going to do a podcast. Should I really put out a podcast right now?” and my question to you is, what would you do if you were brave? What would you do if you were not leading from fear? What would you do if you would not let the worry or the unknown lead you in your decisions? because strong entrepreneurs that make it through recessions and really tough times, they lead with bravery. They are scared, but they still move forward. It is not an option to not launch, guys.
And I know I’m taking a big stance, and typically, I’m a little bit less opinionated with stuff because I want you to do what you feel is right. But right now I feel like I have to be a stronger leader in this and say this is not the time that you don’t prelaunch.
Yes, you launch. Yes, you get it out there. And you may not hit your goals. I'm going to talk about me not hitting my goals and how I'm so glad I launched, in a minute, but you still launch. It's not just to make money, although that helps, and that's what I want you to do. But there's a psychology around launching in scary times that makes you a stronger leader and a stronger team and show up for your audience in a bigger way. I’m going to talk about that in a moment. Brenda, yes, you still move forward.
Okay, Tammy says,
“What are the best small-business resources to lean on during this crisis?”
So, I'm going to be a little bit selfish here and tell you, Tammy, that this podcast is a great resource. It has just become more valuable for you. And here's why. I'm actually going to tell you guys the episodes we've already done or that are coming down the pipeline to serve you around COVID-19. We're calling it the COVID-19 Series. And although we're going to continue to put out other episodes that aren't 100 percent related to these questions, like today, we are doing extra episodes.
So, number one, we did “Five Ways to Navigate Your Business Through Crisis.” That came out on March 21. You could look for it in the podcast lineup.
Number two, “Everything You Need to Know About Working From Home (But Were Too Afraid to Ask).” This is an episode I did with Rachel Hollis. It was on her RISE podcast. We, then, put it on mine. That came out March 28. And so it's not just for people that are working from home for the first time. There's some tips as to what to do now that your kids and husband or spouse are home. And in addition to that, we talk about if you are an owner and you have a team working from home now or if you just are a one-woman or a one-man show or if you used to work in an office and you just came home. So there's something for everyone there, and it's really fun. The beginning of that podcast episode, Rachel and I are just talking off the cuff, so I think that's my most favorite part of the episode.
Okay, let’s see. Today’s Tuesday. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I have a podcast episode coming out called “The Stimulus Package.” So I know when this episode goes live, it won't be tomorrow. So let me give you the date on that one. April 1. So April 1, it's called “The Stimulus Package: How to Take Advantage of $350B Earmarked for Small Businesses.” So with this episode, it's all about not about the $2 trillion stimulus package, but just the $350 billion dollars earmarked for small businesses. And specifically, if you work with a contractor or contractors, or if you have anyone on payroll, you must listen to this podcast episode. So if you pay contractors for web design or for copywriting or a V.A., you want to listen to this episode. If you have people on payroll, you must listen to this episode. So that's the stimulus-package episode. Comes out April 1.
Then we have an episode coming out April 3, which is “Five Ways to Pivot Your Business in a Crisis.” So what we did is we went to my audience and said, “How have you pivoted to make more money or to grow your email list?” And I give you, actually, six because I snuck in a bonus one. Six different ways you can pivot your business with real-life examples from my students. So that comes out April 3.
And then episode 310—we're actually putting it into the rotation for next Thursday, so it would be April 9—”Take Your Brick-and-Mortar Business Online, with Stacy Tuschl.” So that's the Stacy I talked about earlier on. I I think I mentioned it here. I might not have. It's all blending together now. But Stacy has a brick-and-mortar business and an online business. And she's talking about what you could do with a brick-and-mortar to get it online faster. So that's on April 9.
And then this episode actually will air on April 13, so we’re doing it on March 31, but because we have so many episodes in the cooker right now for COVID-19, this will go live on April 13. Still be incredibly relevant. If you’re listening to it on the podcast, well, then, it’s April 13 or beyond.
So all those episodes I just mentioned are already all live for you. It's very weird to do a Facebook Live for an episode that will air a little bit later, because it's like I'm in the future. So if you're listening on the podcast, all those episodes I just mentioned are already live for you now.
Okay, so let's see here. And then another great resource if you have a brick-and-mortar, for sure you need to listen to Foot Traffic. It's a podcast from my friend Stacy Tuschl—100 hundred percent, go listen to that one.
Okay, so let’s see here. This question is from Lauren, and she says,
“Have you seen anyone who has done a full-out launch since COVID-19 started? Is anyone having positive results?”
Yes, yes, and yes, yes, yes. So I was talking to Stu McLaren, who teaches people how to do membership sites. And although I can't quote his exact stories because he told me—he's such a fast talker. We were on Zoom last night, just catching up. And he was telling me about two of his students. And one of his students welcomed 400 new members into their membership. I'm like what are you talking about? Another one welcomed more than 100 during COVID-19 into their membership. The memberships are so different. One of his students teaches guitar, and his membership is exploding right now. So membership sites and courses are doing very well across the board right now because people are spending more time online, and they're more open to the idea of e-learning.
So I've already said this over and over again, but I'm going to literally drill it into your brain. I think we should tattoo this on our bodies that e-learning just became more valuable than ever before, and it will never go back to where it was, meaning we just up leveled, and we are never going to fully go back to where we were, because people who have never thought about learning online now are way more open minded to it. And right now, during quarantine, they don't have a choice.
But you’re going to see people come out of this, saying, you know what; I don't want to do such-and-such in person like I used to. I want to actually do it online. That was super convenient. We're going to see that over and over again. So I just want to put it out there that there is no better time than now to launch because e-learning is on the rise, because people are home, spending more time online. So if you needed an excuse, there you have it. That is why you launch right now, if you needed and extra excuse to do so—or I should say motivation.
Now, to get very specific, yes. I mentioned Britt Seva, one of my girlfriends, who I’m in a mastermind with. She teaches hairstylists how to build businesses, and so she does a lot of marketing and sales strategies with them. And it's a membership called Thrivers Society. And I actually mentioned this in the Pivot episode that is coming out soon. But she was going to launch a little bit later, moved up her launch, and she launched to these women who are out of work right now. But she launched to them. She sold to them even though they're out of work. And one of the messages I already told you that she led with is you may not have the gift of revenue right now, but you sure have the gift of time.
So they're doing things like learning how to rebrand their business, which they wanted to do forever. Strengthen their funnels, rework how they have their team on the inside, or rework what their business looks like behind the scenes. Find new marketing strategies; connect with their clients now so when they come back, they don't have to start over on their client list. Like, they're getting into all of it.
One really cool thing I just saw, Jasmine Star, a dear friend of mine, her hairstylist, they just met up. They did their social distancing when they made the exchange. But basically, her hairstylist gave her a kit of how to color her roots, since the hairstylist can't do it for her right now. So she bought a kit from her hairstylist—the brush, the little bowl, the solution, the instructions. It's not ideal, but believe me, as ladies especially, we’re covering that gray come hell or high water. And so these are things that you can do to get scrappy. That is scrappy and so good.
So anyway, Britt has seen one of her biggest launches she’s ever done, and she is marketing to an audience that is not making money right now. But they see the value of what they can do now so that they can come out of this stronger.
And that is what I want you all to see. What can you do now so that you are stronger in quarter three and quarter four? What can you do now so that you actually make money in quarter two and continue that throughout the rest of the year? There are definitely ways you can do so.
So, to answer your question, Lauren, yes, people are making money. We welcomed 126—I think the number’s a little bit higher now—126 new members into Momentum the week that the stuff hit the fan, the week that people are like, “Holy cow. I have to literally cancel my travel. I didn't think I would have to. I have to.” Everyone was cancelling their travel. Businesses were sending people home. The doors were shutting on all non-essential businesses. And we launched Momentum to our Digital Course Academy®️ students, which is a way-smaller group than my bigger audience. It's $300 a month. It is not cheap. We launched. A hundred twenty-six, if not more now, members joined us. That is a lot of people saying I want to learn how to thrive during these uncertain times.
So the fact that, yes, it is working, yes, people are spending money when they see a desire or a need. Yes. And 126 was not our goal. We definitely had higher hopes of getting more people into Momentum. But I could have said, “I'm not going to launch now because if I launch six months from now, I know I'll make more money.” But heck, no, I'm not going to do that, number one, because I want to be an example to my audience to show them that I'm not hitting the Pause button. I want to show them that yes, you can still continue to make money when you have a product that is valuable and people need it and want it. And yes, you can pivot your message. And there was something—you know, it's funny that my membership is called Momentum, because continuing to launch and not pausing that, my team never missed a beat. I was so proud of my team. Everybody who joined Momentum, we gave a shout out to them in Slack, and we sent them virtual love. And what really happened, although we didn't meet our big revenue goals, the 126 people that joined, we saw them more as a person than we ever have before. We lead with compassion on our team. It’s one of our core values. But it's also easy to say, “Well, we sold one 126 units.” We didn’t use the word units. We said Sally just joined, Scott just joined, Kayla just joined. Literally they became more real to us because we were so thankful that they put their trust in us. In a bigger way, like it changed our perspective.
So all of you who are asking me, “Should I launch?” yes, and not just because of the money, because everything else that comes along with you continuing to move forward in your business during uncertain times. Don't make it just about the revenue goals. Of course, I want you to make money, but it's so much more than that right now. There's a bigger reason, there's a bigger meaning behind continuing your business right now. It's about the money, and then all the other stuff that comes along with it.
Okay, so let’s see here. Oh, one more example. So in the Pivot episode that is coming out soon, but those of you who are listening to this on the podcast in the future will already have access to this Pivot episode, Jamie Sears, one of my students—I’ve told this story before, but I’m going to tell you again—she supports elementary educators online, with professional development and curriculum creation. She created a six-dollar Google classroom resource to support teachers and their students with distance learning. She simply posted her low-cost resource in Facebook groups and generated $1,000 after just twenty-four hours. She then went out to her bigger group, had a 37 percent open rate on that email, made an extra $2,000.
Now, there were a few people that said, “I can't believe you're selling right now. Teachers are maxed out, and they don't need you selling. They need you supporting them.” First of all, one thing about Jamie that I love is she said, teachers are still making money right now. So it's not that their revenue has been depleted, but that's not the bigger issue. She also said, I have something of great value to ease their stress and overwhelm. She answered a challenge with a solution, and she charged six dollars for it. She kept her market in mind, in terms of what they can afford, and she rose to the occasion to solve—not answer—she solved a challenge for them.
I am so proud of Jamie, and so many of my students have done more. So that's in the Pivot episode that comes out April 3, or those that are listening to this podcast, already came out.
All right. Cici said,
“Since I had to stop my one-on-one work, I've been doing free daily videos on Facebook to keep my audience engaged. It's the first time I've offered online services, and I've been getting great feedback. How do I transition from offering free content to charging for my online services?”
So what I want you to do is put together some packages, Cici. So I want you to think, “Okay, so I can't go one on one in person with these people. What can I do online with them? What kind of packages can I put together?” I have no idea what you do. However, it could be, I'm going to give them a thirty-day package for this amount, and this is what they get. Or I'm going to do a ninety-day package, and this is what they get. Or longer than that, whatever you want. Or I'll give them one session at this price, and if they want to continue, they can get this package.
Right now putting together packages and telling people what they get is so valuable. When I was talking to Stacy from Foot Traffic on my podcast, she said she put together a package for her brick-and-mortar to keep people engaged online while they can't go into the dance studio. And she said it was like an irresistible offer. Like, there is no way they can say no to this, it's so good. So to take that a little further, Cici, how can you put together an irresistible offer that you can do online that they're like, “There's no way I'm saying no to this. This is so good”?
Now, sometimes an irresistible offer means that as the content creator, we have to show up in a bigger way. So me showing up every morning at 8:00 a.m. inside of my Momentum membership, that is a lot of work for me. I prepare for all of those morning calls—to get ready to go on video and to get prepared and change around my schedule. It was a pain in the butt and totally worth it. I think the entrepreneurs that are going to really shine through this time are willing to do what the other business owners are not willing to do. They just don't want to. I'm willing to work a little harder in order to keep the clients that I already have. And so that's something you want to think about.
Bree says,
“How in the world am I supposed to be able to focus on my business, with my kids home, trying to support them and their schoolwork, not to mention being the lunch lady and having my husband home, too?”
So yesterday I took a picture. My life isn't that different when I have an online business, so my revenue has not been hit hard, which is why we all should look at having an online business. And number two, my husband's a firefighter, so he is a first responder on the front lines of all of this, with all the other wonderful human beings doing so. And so his schedule is no different. So he's on twenty-four hours, and then he's gone twenty-four hours. And so the only thing different in my world is that Cade, my almost-eighteen-year old, is home every day. But he's also very self-sufficient. He's almost an adult. So my life doesn't feel that different. The only thing that feels different for me is that I'm working more in order to show up and do all these podcast episodes, to do more Facebook Lives, to show up for my Momentum members in a bigger way. All of that is different. But like, I'm always home.
However, I took a picture yesterday, two different times. One, Hobie coming into my office, sitting in this big chair I have in front of my desk, just wanting to chat, out of nowhere. And I took a picture of him. He’s like, why are you taking a picture of me? And I thought, I need to post this on social sometime, because all the other people that aren't used to their spouses coming home, I bet they're dealing with this a lot. Like, I'm trying to work. Why are you sitting there, trying to have a conversation with me?
And then I had my dog with this head just here, staring at me, like ready for a—I can't even say it out loud—W-A-L-K—staring at me. And I'm like, I'm sure this is what everyone who's not used to having their spouse and their kids and being home from work all the time are like, oh, my god, everyone get away from me for a minute. Like, give me a moment.
And so, although my life hasn’t drastically changed—I feel very fortunate for that—many of you, like Bree, is like, what do I do? I'm the lunch lady. My kids are home. My husband's home. I'm losing my mind. And so what I want you to do, Bree, is, first of all, take a deep breath and just know you're not alone. We get you, girl. Like, oh, holy cow. I have so much compassion for all of you that your lives have been totally disheveled because of this.
What I think is really helpful is to set some new expectations of yourself and what you can get done during this time. So for those of you who your kids and your spouses have come home, you likely are not getting as much work done; give yourself some grace, set some new expectations of what is possible, because it's almost impossible to do it all right now.
And number two, I'd love to see you rework, or create from scratch if you've never had them, morning and evening rituals. This is for everybody out there. Morning and evening rituals have just become more important. And what they looked like two months ago, drastically different today. So what can you do to set yourself up in the morning so that you feel that you're going into your day in control of what you can control? Getting up before the kids, having a quiet cup of coffee, doing a little meditation or journaling before the kids get up, like, you might have to change that when you get up in the morning, at what time. Or when do you stop working? And that's another thing you can do. You're probably going to stop working earlier than normal. That's just your new normal for now. This, too, shall pass. Give yourself some grace, set some new expectations of yourself and of everyone around you, and change your morning and end-of-day shutdown rituals so that they meet your current circumstance of where you're at right now, not the life you used to lead before all of this happened. I think that is really, really helpful.
Okay, guys. So there you have it. So many great questions. I really appreciate you sending your questions into the Online Marketing Made Easy Facebook group. We're going to continue to do these if questions continue to come in. I want to be a resource for you during these crazy times. So if you search Amy Porterfield and COVID-19, you will be able to find the podcast episodes I've done directly or specifically for the times we are living in now, and I'll continue to do so until they're not needed anymore.
So thank you so much for tuning in. And I cannot wait to talk to you again soon. Bye, guys.
