#025 – Launching Your Product/Service like a Boss with Alex Beadon

Alex Beadon 0:00
You’re listening to episode number 25 of on purpose with Alex Beadon. Today I’m going to be talking to you guys all about launching, I’m going to be sharing my launch lessons with you, I’m going to be helping you learn what it is that you need to know in order to launch your products and services in the future. So hopefully that’s super helpful for you. I also talked about what the New York City meetup was like. And I share the number of DMS that I get every single day and the major realization that I had after having discovered that number. I talked a lot about setting boundaries for your business in this episode, and I also dive into the Kavanaugh Lacey hearing my thoughts on that, along with sharing my favorite finds from this week. I think this is an epic episode. And I hope you enjoy it. This is on purpose. Do you ever feel like you’re trying to balance it all? nourishing your health while growing your business and living a life well lived? And no matter how hard you try, sometimes you slip from purpose driven into autopilot. Take a deep breath. Relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong. On purpose.

Hello, friends, it’s your girl Alex, you’re listening to episode number 25 Can you believe it? 25 episodes of on purpose. I can just imagine you’re doing like a hand wave in the same way that I am. While I was doing that celebratory little mini screen. I’m so excited. And I just want to say thank you for all of you loyal listeners who have been on this journey and lasted 25 episodes with me even if this is the first one you’re listening to. I appreciate each and every single one of you. Okay, so today’s episode, I have so much to talk to you guys about. I feel like so much has happened since we last spoke. And I’m just I’m excited to be sitting here speaking into the microphone, because I’ve got a lot to share. Okay, so firstly, I’m so excited. As you’re listening to this, it’s a Monday. Well, it goes live on a Monday. So if you’re listening live, it’s Monday. And it is what is it? I think it’s October 1, let me just double check that date. Yes, it’s October 1. And there’s one week until the five day challenge that I have put together for you guys that I’m so so so excited about. It’s called double down on your DMS. And I think it’s going to be so much fun for everyone who gets involved. It’s like I said, a five day free Instagram story engagement challenge where basically 1000s of entrepreneurs have already signed up, we’re all coming together for five days to put our tools to the test and to really strengthen our ability to connect with people using Instagram stories. And the reason why I call it a double down on your DMS is because let’s be real. When I sit down, I look at Instagram stories. I’m like, okay, you know, what is the benefit here? What can people what is the result that I want people to walk away with? I want people to feel like they’re getting more engagement from their Instagram Stories, right? That’s like really a good test of whether you’re making stories that are engaging to people or not too engaging to people. And as you kind of flirt with the idea of getting more and more engagement, you learn what’s hitting home for people and you learn what’s not. So the entire challenge is really just there to encourage you to double down on your DMS and really start creating the type of content that’s getting a response from people, I walk you through the entire process from start to finish. If you read my recent Instagram post that I posted on Friday, there’s a picture of me with like a bubble blower on the beach, if you want to go and read that post on Instagram stories. But basically, I thoroughly believe in creating experiences for people and allowing people to get a taste of your authority before you necessarily ask them to buy anything from you. You guys know that I’m an authority, because I’m going to show you that I’m an authority in this subject area through the experience of double down on your dance, right. So I’m so so so excited to be creating this experience for you guys. Right now I have the bet. Well, by the time you listen to this, I’ll be much further along but right now I have the outline of what I want it to look like. I’ve started coming up for ideas of videos. And as you listen to this, if you’re listening to this next week, I will probably actually have the videos ready and things will be a little bit more concrete but I’m just so excited to experience this with you guys. I think it’s going to be a once in a lifetime, incredible, like heartfelt opportunity for all of us. So I’m really looking forward to it. So since I’m going into this launch. And since I recently this week, I did a lot of one on one calls. By the way, for those of you who are interested in one on one calls, if you go to work with me dot Alex beadon.com, you can go and sign up for the waiting list. Normally, what I tend to do is just let my waiting list know when there’s available spots for coaching. But so yeah, this week, I’ve had a few coaching calls. And one of them in particular, she was talking to me about the fact that she wants to launch a brand new offering, like, in two weeks time, and I was like, Girl, oh my gosh, like, you can’t just launch something in two weeks time, she’s like, Yeah, I’m just gonna kind of, you know, throw it out there and see what happens. And it just reminded me that this is where I see so many entrepreneurs really shoot themselves in the foot. I mean this in the kindest way possible, when you have a product or you have a service, and you want to do the best with it that you possibly can, and you want to get it out to as many people as you possibly can. The way that you launch your product or service really, really, really matters. And so I’ll tell you guys, the exact same thing that I told her and it’s also very relevant for me right now is that the entire launch process, like leading up to launching your product service, and then actually asking for the sale, that should all feel like a really special experience for the person who is on the other elements, right. So for your ideal clients, you want them to be able to go on this journey with you. And you want to have thought about as much as you possibly can every single step along the way. So that’s why like this week has been so busy for me, I just flew back from New York City for an impromptu trip there. For those of you who don’t know, maybe don’t watch my Instagram stories, but my I tried to do a bank transfer when I was in Colombia, and it came up as suspicious activity. So they wanted me to come into a bank to prove my identity. So that’s why I ended up having to go to New York City. But these last few weeks have just been so busy, because we’re trying to get as much ready as we possibly can for this upcoming experience that I’m crafting and creating for all of you to double down on your DMS challenge, right. And a lot of people may look at me and be like, you’re crazy, you’re putting in so much effort and energy like way before the launch is even happening. And the reason why we do that is to try and make it so that we are we’re covering as many bases as possible. And we’re showing up to provide as much value as we possibly can. And so, obviously, like I say that and things are 100% not perfect and 100% not going to plan. This is Laura’s first launch with me since our previous launch together, which you would have heard in Episode 24. We spoke about when we launched feel good bonding together, which I believe was in 2013.

Or yeah, I think it was 2013 or maybe 2014. And so this is her first launch in the business with me. So she’s learning a lot as we go. I’m also like it just my normal self, when it comes to launch, I’m doing the best I possibly can. I’m really good at launches. And I think the reason I’m good at them is because I know the path that I want to take my audience on leading up to the sale. And I know how important it is to give them that experience where they really feel like, like they understand the value that I’m providing. And that’s what makes it safe for them to actually buy whatever it is that I have to offer for them. So I try to get as much done as I possibly can. But more often than not, most things don’t get done. Which then means it comes down to like really figuring out what are the essential things because I don’t want to have a perfect launch. Because a perfect launch is not possible. So really, it’s about figuring out like what are we capable of? And how can we push the boundaries without burning out? Super, super important. So for me right now, what that means is like literally trying to get through my to do list as quickly as I possibly can, without rushing things and without the quality of whatever it is that I’m offering actually being there. Does that make sense? So when I was on my coaching call, and I heard this girl and she was talking about how she was struggling with this launch, because well she doesn’t even know that she’s struggling with it. She was just saying that she was going to launch in two weeks, I was like girl, you need to give yourself some time. I started breaking down for her like the types of things that I’m thinking about during my launch. And I thought as I was telling her all of this, I was like this is perfect podcast content. So that’s what I want to talk to you guys about today, in large part is just launching what the launching process is like what you should be considering whether you’re releasing a new, maybe you’re doing one on one coaching or maybe you have a service that you offer, or maybe you have a product or maybe you have an event that you’re trying to get people to come to this launch formula can really be applied to a variety of different industries. So take what I’m saying I Ask yourself, if it doesn’t apply to you. How can you make it apply to you? I trust that all of the listeners hear all of the purpose seekers, you guys are intelligent human beings, you guys are 100% capable, I know that you can listen to what I’m saying and translate it. So don’t be lazy. Don’t hear what I’m saying and be like, Oh, that’s irrelevant to me. That’ll never work for me. Like, actually listen to what I’m saying. Try it, put it to us and see how it goes. Okay, so the first thing that you want to do before you launch something, is you want to start getting people excited about whatever it is that you’re launching. So for example, when I was launching Grand Slam, for months before, I’ve been telling people I’m working on grabs on Hey, guys, I’m over here, just doing some work on Grand Slam. Hey, guys, I’m coming out with this product very soon. I’m so excited to share it with you. Like just dropping little hints along the way, right? So this happens. And this is why I think it’s so important to get a good handle on Instagram stories, because Instagram Stories is such a natural way to communicate with your audience and drop hints and get people interested and excited without them even knowing that what you’re essentially doing is prepping them for the sale. Right. So just dropping those hands casually. And thing is you’re not lying, you’re not. You’re not tricking anyone into thinking you’re working on something when you’re not working on it, like you actually legit are working on it. And you’re just sharing, you’re just letting people in behind the scenes. So as you’re going through your day, ask yourself like what is something that I can let people in behind the scenes to kind of spark a little bit of anticipation and excitement. Another thing I did that worked really well for Grand Slam is I don’t know if you guys remember this, but on my Instagram stories, I basically, I let you guys pick the name of the course. So I narrowed it down to I think four different names. And I was like, send me a direct message and let me know which name do you think is the best. And we did a whole voting process. And that’s how I came to the Grand Slam. I actually was not like Grand Slam was not one of my personal favorites. Like, that was not a name that I wanted to choose. I put it out to you guys. And you guys chose overwhelmingly Graham Cena, which is oftentimes why it’s so good to pull your audience because many times we think we know best we think we know what our audience wants, but open up that conversation with them. And not only are you building up anticipation, but you are also educating yourself on what’s going to convert better and what’s going to do better. So that’s a really interesting thing to do as well as actually use them as a part of the process. What question can you ask them to help make them feel like they’re contributing, like they had something to do with this with this product or service or offering. So that’s the first thing. The next thing is you want to think of something that you can do that’s going to give them a taste of what it is that you offer. So before people make a purchasing decision, really what’s going on in their head is Is this something that I want? Is it something that I need? How is this going to affect my life? So in other words, what transformation will I have when you look back and you think of the last three major purchases that you that you made and it may not have to be major like maybe it was just the three last little purchases that you make? What were the feelings behind each and every single one of those purchases? Right so I just went to Sephora, I needed some new foundation and concealer and I ended up buying this awesome Fenty lip gloss camera, what it’s called, but basically the Rihanna brand of makeup and I was like Oh, I really want to try her lip gloss. So I bought it looking at a purchase like that and asking yourself like where did it Where did my knowledge of this product come from? Why do I feel like I want to try this? And looking back it’s because of a mixture of things. Number one I’ve heard I’ve seen on Brianna’s Instagram stories I see her putting on this lips this lip box all the time, and I think it looks so good on her so there was a curiosity of like, what would it look like on me. I’ve also read like a lot of articles that talk about the shade and basically say how this one lipgloss looks good on a variety of different skin colors, different types of people like it she literally has one lip gloss and the reason being that it looks good on everyone. So it’s almost like a challenge. Like I want to see what it looks like on me I want to see if it looks good on me. I want to see if this is the one lip gloss that I need and go no further because let’s be honest, I don’t like wearing the gloves right? Also the sticky factor like that when you try on. For me I don’t like wearing lip gloss because it’s super sticky. And I like that this one does not feel as sticky and like just not fun to have on your lip. So going through the process of why did I decide to buy this lip gloss and then really breaking it down and asking yourself okay, what are all three of those things? So the objection I had an objection I don’t want my lip gloss to be sticky. So when I tried it on I was really asking myself is this sticky? You know and I first I put a lot on when I tried on the the lip gloss in the store. And I was like it does feel a little bit sticky. Like I’m not sure if I want to wear this. And then the person helping me was like okay, But what if you tried like, just putting a little bit on, so I took it off, and then I just put a little bit on, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is perfect. It doesn’t feel too sticky. It feels like I really like the shade. I was able to try it on in the store. And that’s what ultimately, like, yes, the the anticipation and the tips from friends and whatever, like those things definitely had an influence on me getting to that stage. But then once I got to that stage, it was really like, am I going to use this? You know, is this a good experience that I’m having in this test phase? And that’s what that’s the experience that you want to create for your clients before they buy your new product or service. You want them to have that test phase, right? Where they’re like, is this a good fit for me, it’s not a good fit for me. So. And what’s interesting as well about the test phase is a lot of times, or at least the way that I do it is that they might not even know that I’m leading them up to a sale. I’ve basically pitch something to them. And they’re like, oh, I want to give that a try. I want to try it out. They go through it. They’re like yes, this is awesome. I’m ready for the next step. And then I offer them the sale. Right. So in that way, it’s a little bit different than the Fenty beauty experience. But like I said, we all need to take this and convert it so that it fits whatever industry that we’re in. Right. So in my case, I have a an online course called Grand Slam. It’s a very short, bite sized, but super detailed course on how to create Instagram stories that make you stand out from the crowd that allow you to build your brand and your influence and your authority online. And really, the focus is on being able to tell your brand story and your brand message in a way that makes it feel addictive to keep watching your stories and feel invested in your journey, right. Because when we have people who are invested in our journey, they’re way more likely to pay attention to what we’re saying they’re way more likely to actually want to buy from us because they already know like, and trust us. So that’s what my course is all about.

Hi, Friends brief interruption into the middle of my very own podcast to let you know and remind you that the double down on your DMS challenge is starting on October the eighth. Please take a moment to write that down on your calendar. Because trust me when I say if you want to up your authority and your influence on Instagram and build a strong brand over there, this is a challenge you don’t want to miss, you can sign up 100% for free over at Graham dashlane.com forward slash podcast, I’ve been working so hard behind the scenes on everything that you’re going to receive in this challenge. Like I said, every day for five days, you’re going to be receiving a small but doable challenge from yours truly, that has to do with your Instagram stories. And the whole goal is that we’re going to be boosting your direct messages. So definitely you’ll learn something from it no matter what I’m making this to be as jam packed with value as I possibly can head on over to Graham dashlane.com forward slash podcast to sign up for free. And I will see you guys on October 8. Okay, now back to the podcast carry on. Now, in order to get people to understand that I’m good at what I do, I want to create a free experience for them so that they can try it on so to say, right, so in this case, what I’ve done is I’ve created this five day challenge to double down on your DMS challenge, right. And this experience is a free five day experience, where I’m basically going to pour my heart and soul into giving them the best time of their lives that their internet, Instagram story lives. I want them to see results. I want them to be a part of the community like I want them to really have such an epic time with this challenge that number one, it’s unforgettable. Number two, it changes their business regardless of if they ever decide to buy from you or not. And number three, they walk away feeling like wow, Alex Beadon gave me so much value 100% for free respect, right? That’s really the reason behind why I do and create these free challenges and experiences. I do them at least a few times a year, every single year because I want people to know that I know what I’m talking about. And I don’t want them to just take my word for it. I want them to experience it. So the hope is that they will go through this experience. They’ll go through the five day free Instagram story engagement challenge, they’ll feel the power of having more knowledge in their mind. They’ll know what it’s like to work with me, they’ll get a taste of what to expect in Grand Slam that by the time the challenge is done. They’re ready to join Grand Slam they can see the benefit. I don’t have to convince them anymore because they’ve already experienced it. So when you look at your industry, really ask yourself how can I make this apply to me? How can I give people an experience of what But my cupcakes are like, How can I give people an experience of what my videography is like, and that’s going to look different for each and every single person. But the important parts is that you understand that you want your clients to feel like they got free value, you want them to feel like you gave them something, that there’s that reciprocity factor, right? You gave them something, and now they’re more likely to say, yes, I want to hire you. Okay, so for me, that’s the challenge that’s experienced that I give everyone online. Now, before the before that challenge even happens, I’m building up momentum and excitement. So about three weeks before the challenge, I started saying, Guys, Something’s coming. Something super exciting. Keep an eye out for it. About two weeks before the challenge. I’m like, Guys, the challenge is happening, you can sign up for free here, tell your friends, and I start building that buzz and momentum. Right. And then about a week before, so right now, as you’re listening to this, we’re about a week before, if you’re interested in launching, really start paying attention to my posts. So watch and learn. Because what I’m doing this week is really just educating people and preparing people to understand that investing in their Instagram stories, and investing and creating meaningful relationships with people online through through their DMS is very worthwhile. And I will do it in subtle ways. I will do it through storytelling on my feet, I will do it through talking to them in my Instagram stories, or maybe through an Instagram story live to me Instagram is like my home hub. So that’s where I’m at. If you’re on Facebook, you can make it work there too. But you just want to prepare people and ask yourself, what are the fears that people are going to have going into this challenge? How can I address those so people are excited and not fearful? So one of the fears might be and I’ve had a few people message me this if I don’t have a big enough following for on Instagram, is this challenge still going to be applicable and helpful to me? And the answer to that is yes, absolutely 100% Because regardless of how many people are watching your story, you need to be able to learn how to have those conversations with your ideal clients, how you can start attracting those ideal clients is by actually positioning yourself as someone who’s having those conversations, even if right now you’re having zero conversations, a lot of times I have clients come to me, and they’re like, they don’t really have that much of a following. And the content that they put out there doesn’t get that much of a response. And I’m like, Yeah, that’s because most of the people following you are your friends, they’re supporting your new business. They’re not your ideal clients. And they’re afraid to reach out to you and respond to your, your polls and your direct messages and your questions. Because it’s not, it’s not cool to be like too deeply invested and to be vulnerable, and to put yourself out there and show someone that you’re watching them, that can be a really intimidating thing. So in order to make that more and more accessible, and in order to attract people who are not your friends, and who are actually your ideal clients. And so in order to get ideal clients to actually start speaking to you, what we need to do is show them that this is a safe environment in which I actually embrace conversation. And in which I actually encourage conversation between you and me. That way people feel so much more safe when they actually come around to having that conversation with you on Instagram. Right? So I want people to know and understand that you’re gonna see a lot of my contents will be revolved around issues like that, where it’s not necessarily directly me sitting there being like Georgia challenge during the challenge during the challenge. But I’m going to be slowly but surely breaking down whatever objections people may have to joining the challenge. So you might, you might hear me talk about like, you know, if you don’t think you have enough time, here’s why you definitely do have enough time. It’s not going to take more than X amount of time per day, etc, etc. So really just like prepping your audience, making sure they know something’s coming up. And this you know, even for events, if you’re hosting an event, this is something that’s so important. I think so many people are afraid to use social media and to use these tools to actually get people excited in the know about what’s happening. And it’s a real shame, because what ends up happening is like this same girl was on a coaching call with, she will end up launching, and if she launches in two weeks, like she plans to do, you know, she’s not going to do as well as if she had implemented all of these three strategies, right? So this is the type of stuff I mean, as you can tell, I can talk about this forever and ever. And depending on what your business is, there’s so many different strategies that you can apply. And there’s no one size fits all. I’ll repeat that there is no one size fits all, which is why it’s so important to really know what you’re doing so that you can apply these strategies and tips and tools in a way that works for you and your audience. For a way It works for you and your clients. So keep that in mind when you’re launching. And also know that like, it takes launching multiple times, in order to really start learning how to do it right, don’t be afraid to mess it up. Don’t be afraid to have a launch that failed.

Because as long as you’re launching and you’re learning, you’re good to go, something I would highly recommend actually guys. There’s a man called Jeff Walker, and he has a product called Product Launch Formula. And it’s a fantastic framework for for launching. So if you’re interested in learning more about that, definitely go check him out. I highly recommend him he’s, he’s how I actually am teaching Laura how to launch I’m like, Okay, this is a really good place to start. Another thing I want to bring up that might not be applicable to all of you, it’s particularly applicable to those of you who are trying to sell coaching or trying to sell, you know, one on one or anything like that maybe online products don’t focus so much on getting actually a day back. This can apply to anyone, don’t focus so much on getting more and more and more and more and more and more followers and leads, etc. If you’re not already converting your existing followers and leads. This was actually a point that was brought up recently to me by Amanda bond, who is my Facebook ads queen and expert and I adore her, you should definitely go check her out Amanda bond. She was actually in the spark lounge with me, which is like my little mastermind group. And it was really interesting, because she was talking about how people have such an obsession with growing their numbers more and more and more and more and more. She’s like, what people have not yet figured out how to actually convert what they already have. So she’s like, basically, there’s no point in spending money on Facebook ads, there’s no point in obsessing over your Instagram followers and growing, growing, growing, if you’re not already converting the people that you already have into sales. So this like all of this launching stuff, I can tell a lot of people it sounds really, it sounds really unsexy. And it sounds like something that’s not fun. And it sounds like oh, there’s so much to learn. There’s so much to do. But it’s like yeah, but once you figure it out, like you can actually just this the system and the framework becomes so back of mind that you can start having fun with it and be creative with it. And you you don’t feel bogged down by it because you know that it works and you know that, that you’re communicating effectively, everything that you need to communicate in order to get people to ultimately be able to best decide if the product or service you’re offering is a good fit for them or not. So before I know a lot of you guys are probably like any more followers than me more this no focus on the quality of content that you’re putting out to your existing followers, and learn how to convert your existing followers. That’s my two cents on that. So as I mentioned, I went to New York City this week. I had an amazing time, I got to see my cousin, I got to see a lot of Nick’s family, we got to spend time with Laura and Scott, we got to meet xhale Laura’s new dog. And also I got to see Laura’s apartment for the first time since she moved and it was super comfortable. Laura has the best shower on planet Earth hashtag best shower on planet earth. Because it just is like that it has so much pressure and has a nice temperature. I don’t know why I felt like I had to bring that up. I just did I love brainstorming in the shower. I love doing visualizations in the shower. And that challenge is such a great shower. So goals, get a shower like that one day. But anyway, the point of me bringing this up is that when I was in New York City, we hosted a New York City meetup, which was so much fun. The last time I did this was two years ago, I think I believe was April 2016. And I did it in New York City. And it was so much fun to meet people who have been following my journey and seeing my content and really just being a part of my community for the last who knows how long. And so this time, I think we had about 16 people show up, which was absolutely amazing. Because I think the last time we had about six people show up. And so it was just surprising to see that there were more people there this time. It was incredible to get to actually talk to these women. And don’t worry for the men listening, we do have a very small percentage of men in the Alex Beadon community. You are very, very welcomed here. But this time it was just all women. And I got to speak to each every single person and hear their stories and hear what they’re working on and hear their struggles. And it was really cool because we got to do like a hot seat session where like, well, there was a two hour time period so everyone didn’t get a hot seat but it was really nice seeing the women come together and support each other. And now they are all connected in New York City which is amazing. And so to be able to have that experience with them, and to be able to connect with them and and just on See, there’s nothing better than taking the everything that you’re working on online and actually seeing it all come together offline. So that really inspired me. And since that meet up in New York City, I’m now thinking, dude, every single time I travel, I should make this happen, which is a lot of times easier said than done. I always like to have an assistant there. So in this case, Laura was my fabulous assistant. And she really organized everything, and she was there as like, moral support on the day. And so I think, because Maura is in New York City, that’s why I’ve always done it in New York City. But really, I should just do it every single time I travel. So now I’m in Trinidad, I’m thinking, if you’re listening to this podcast, and you are interested in a meetup, definitely send me a message on Instagram, and let me know that you’re interested, I think what we’ll do is start putting together a list of people in Trinidad because that will definitely be the next meetup that we have happen. So just the thought of me, I’ve already spoken to so many people in Trinidad in like, in my DMs on Instagram, and I already have a relationship with these people. And so the thought of like, actually meeting these people in real life is just really exciting. And then for all of them to get to meet each other is awesome. So that is my update on the meetup. It was truly wonderful. And really, it just like, completely reminded me and put me straight back into the purpose of why I do what I do. And that is because I believe in entrepreneurship. And I believe in the power of entrepreneurship. There’s nothing more freeing than being 100% financially independent. And I believe that that is what entrepreneurship does. For so many people, it’s not the best move for every single person. But for those who feel it in their heart, and for those who feel the calling, I feel like my purpose is that I’m here to help support those people. So it’s just so wonderful to meet these people in actual person. It was amazing. Okay, what else can I share with you this week and boundaries? So interestingly enough, when we were at the meetup in New York City, someone in the group asked me a question, because at one point, we did like a little q&a, it unintentionally turned into a q&a session with Alex, which I absolutely loved. And someone asked, how many direct messages do you get every day? And I was like, Oh, I probably got like, I honestly, I didn’t know the answer to the question. But I was like, if I have to guess I’d say it’s probably about 40. And I looked at Laura. And I was like, That sounds about right. Yeah. And she was like, Yeah, that sounds about right. So when I got home, I was like, I wonder how many I do get, and I checked, and I actually get, like, 80 plus every single day. The problem is that I’m responding to them all throughout the day. So basically, if I ever post to Instagram, I feel like people have seen me online. So I should respond to their messages. And the girl who asked me this question, I believe it was Ali. But I could be wrong. And it was someone who asked me this question. She’s basically like, just gonna take up a lot of your time, you know, do you find it distracting? And I was like, Nah, I love it. Like, I think it’s great. I really don’t mind doing it. I don’t find it a distraction at all. But she planted this thought in my head. And I started to just be more self aware around it and actually ask myself, like, is this distracting? And so this week, I decided since realizing that I actually got way more direct messages than I thought I get. I’m starting to implement something where I don’t reply right away, I reply during a specific period of time, because what ends up happening is sometimes I’ll get a message, like, a lot of my messages are short and sweet. And they just reply, they just require a short reply for me like a thank you, or a heart or whatever. And those are fine. But sometimes I get messages that are super long, that require a lot of thought and energy. And that in that moment, I’m just like, I don’t have the time to actually sit down and write a response to that person. So what ends up happening is I’m like, Okay, I’ll come back to them. And oftentimes, I forget to come back. And so I think that putting this boundary in place, I mean, like, Okay, I’m only going to check my direct messages and respond when I know that I have 30 minutes to dedicate to it solely. So I’m no longer going to be checking direct messages, like in the middle of the day, that might change during the launch, just because obviously, I want to be as responsive as possible. And that’s really what I did to dedicate launch time to. But otherwise, yeah, I definitely need to set that boundary. And I’m so grateful that someone brought it to my attention because I was not even aware. So I want to encourage you guys this week to really shine some awareness on where you’re spending your time. And if there’s anything you’re spending your time on. That is maybe a little distracting. Or maybe you’re doing it like haphazardly throughout the day. Is there a way for you to set a boundary so that you can be more experienced specific about when you get this thing done? Because it has really made a big difference to me. It’s made me realize I get way more DMS that I’m aware of. Because now they they actually add up and it’s made me realize that to respond to everyone out actually takes a significant amount of time. So I might as well do it all at once and be focused on that then do it like, interspersed throughout the day. Other than that, what

has been going on for me this week? I’m sure you guys, if you’re in the United States, for sure you’ve been hearing about this. I’ve been speaking to a lot of people who haven’t heard about this. And maybe you haven’t, I’m not sure if you’re international, you might not have heard about this. But Brett Kavanaugh, and Christine Blasi Ford and that entire I want to call it a saga. I I’m just I’ve been so moved by it this week. So moved. I am of course I know everyone’s like innocent until proven guilty. But I listened to this woman’s testimonial. And every part of my body just ached for her and for women around the world, because this is such a big moment of it being safe to tell your truth. And towards us moving closer to it beings even more safe to tell your truth. Because even today, it’s not 100% safe to tell you’re like we’re at the brink of this of this breaking point in in at least American history. And so it’s very, very exciting to witness and especially as a woman and you know, having more power in the workplace and having more equality. And this is I just feel like a really interesting piece of news to keep an eye on and to just see and watch how it unfolds and to be able to witness our own reactions, and to try to be non judgmental and non biased and to hear other people’s opinions with respect, and patience. And I just think it’s a really difficult time. And it’s also a really beautiful time. I listened to her and I was just like, wow, what bravery. And wow, she’s she’s definitely someone who I’m looking at two big time this week. And so I just had to share it here on the podcast, I know that there’s probably a lot of you guys who are feeling this way too, and who maybe you’ve been feeling, you know, one way or the other. But Ah, wow, I’m mad respect for her for standing up and telling her truth and for for really blazing the path for so many women to do the same. It bothers me so much. Because I know that there are so many instances. And this is the problem with not talking about it and not speaking your truth. When we brush these things under the rug. We’re telling the world essentially that it’s okay for these things to happen. And so that’s why I think it’s so important to speak about it and to say something and to really start making it not okay for these things to happen. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go and look up at it. Just Google Christine Blasi Ford, and it will for sure come up or Google Brett Kavanaugh and it will for sure come up. I would highly recommend and actually this brings me on quite swiftly to my last segment of the podcast where I’m going to be sharing with you some of my favorite finds this week. So I’ve Oh, this isn’t actually a favorite find this week. But this is something I want to share with you guys this week, because I’ve been listening to it a lot this week. And it’s it’s a podcast called the daily. So if you just go into your podcast app and search for the daily, it’s pretty much a breakdown of American politics. News, what’s going on, it’s not super International. But it’s still very informational and educational. And I like to be kept up to speed with what’s going on in the US because it does affect so much of the international world, whether we like it or not. And so for me, it’s been a really great resource. I love that it’s presented in such or what I consider to be such an unbiased way, I never really feel like the host is trying to sway me in one side or another, he really does a good job of telling both sides of the story. And so I’ve been listening to the dailies coverage of this entire trial. I also watched parts of the trial as much as I could on that particular day. And so yeah, I think that’s definitely something you should look into, especially if you live in the US these episodes will really help keep you up to speed and help keep you informed. I think it’s so important to be informed. So important. And I know sometimes the news can feel overwhelming. But I think for me where I’m at in my life right now as this version of Alex Beadon. I want to be informed and I want to take responsibility for knowing what’s happening in the world so that I can actually have a say, and if you don’t know what’s going on, then you can’t have a say. Right. So that’s just one resource for you to check out that I think you guys would really enjoy another resource. This is a podcast that I’m loving. It’s called Am I allowed to like anything by Darien Simone Harvin? This girl is having some epic conversations about so many different topics. I absolutely love it. Like I just love her interview style. I love the wide array of topics that she’s talking about. She really covers lifestyle, culture, race, really, really interesting. And what I love about her podcast is that it’s more lifestyle oriented. So guys, when you’re listening to podcast, what you really want to be asking yourself is like, what do I want to feed my brain? Probably for a lot of you guys right now, business podcasts are where it’s at, like you’re trying to soak in as much as you possibly can. But I would encourage you to throw in like, and I think this podcast is a good example. Like I really try for it not to be 100% business, because I want you to understand that your life is more than just your business, even though your business really does matter to you. And you are on the path of achieving your next business goal. It’s about that mixture and that balance. So I hope I do a good job of that. But you should also be listening and consuming content that’s not 100% business related. So find a good Lifestyle podcast to follow and keep up with I think is, is just so much fun. And it’s a really nourishing thing to have in real life as well. Hey, friends, a quick interruption to today’s episode to remind you that you’re running out of time to sign up for my free five day Instagram Stories challenge. It’s called double down on your DMS. And it was designed to challenge you to focus on creating epic Instagram stories every day for five days to boost your engagement. I run these challenges very rarely throughout the year. And people are always upset to miss them. 1000s of entrepreneurs are going to be taking part in this together, it’s going to be an epic opportunity for you. So do not put this off, you can sign up for 100% Free at ground dash slam.com forward slash podcast. See you there. Another thing that I’ve been enjoying this week that I discovered is a brand new app. And what’s funny is I actually when we’re in New York City, we went out to brunch with Nick’s family. And his cousin who I believe is 16 years old, I was talking to her we have so much in common. It’s It’s uncanny. Like, I just love talking to her and hearing what what she thinks is cool and what’s not cool. And she gave me this app, which I think I’ve heard it before, but I didn’t like it at the time, I didn’t really give it a full chance. And she was like try it out. And let me know what you think. And I just think it is so good. It’s called cu G and it basically is like a, you know, those old disposable cameras that used to be super popular before we all carried a camera almost 24/7 with our phone. It’s basically supposed to be mimicking that. So you take a picture in the app, and it develops, I’m doing air quotes here and develops the picture. And it just gives it a really cool edit and a really cool look. And so I recommend you checking out that if you’re looking for a way to take pictures that have a cool feel, without a lot of effort, it’s a great option. And then last but not least, there is a tool that Laura and I have been obsessed with this week. And it’s called proof.

If you know anything about marketing, if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I love social proof. I love being able to use other people’s testimonials as a way to show the world that I’m trustworthy. And that I know what I’m talking about, right? So whenever you have people who can back you up, or whenever there’s a way to show that other people are involved, use it to your advantage. So for example, what this app or what this tool does is it connects to your website. And basically any single time that anyone buys a little basically it basically alerts the system. And then the next time someone visits your sales page, something pops up that says, hey, Lindsay in Tampa bought this five hours ago. So you can see the last time someone bought it, it gives you that sense of like, oh, other people are buying this and they’re buying it quite regularly. So this must be a safe thing for me to buy. Just adding that next layer of trust, right, so we’ve been loving proof. You can also use it on your opt in pages, which is so freakin cool. So that people can see oh, so on. So sign up three minutes ago. That’s awesome. So that’s definitely something for you to check out as well. Other than that, we’ve reached the end of today’s episode. I’m so excited for next week. There’s only seven days left until the double down on your DMS challenge. It is going to be a life changing experience. Like I said, I pour my heart and soul into making these experiences one of a kind and to make sure that you walk away with so much free value that whether you buy grabbed some at the end of it or not, you still feel like that was way worth your time. And I feel confident in saying that I’m quite known for that. So if you haven’t signed up for the challenge yet, it’s 100% free, and you can sign up over at Graham Dodd slam.com forward slash podcast, right. And like I said, it’s 100%, free Graham dashlane.com forward slash podcast. When you sign up, you’re going to get an email that says thanks for signing up. And then you will for sure get all of the email notifications on day 1234 And five. Please note that if you’re already on my email list, you still need to sign up. Because I’m not going to be sending this challenge out to everyone. I really want to make it exclusive to those who take the action to sign up for it. So if you’re interested, make sure you sign up Graham dashlane.com forward slash Podcast. I’m so excited. There’s also going to be a public Facebook group. So make sure that when you join you when you sign up for free for the for the challenge. In the email, it gives you the link to the Facebook group. So go and sign up there. Guys, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you did, as usual, please leave me a message on Instagram, send me a DM Alex Beadon. And of course, come on over to Apple iTunes on the podcast and leave me a review your reviews really help to support the show. So head on over and leave a rating or review. Let us know what you think. I really appreciate you listening and I hope you have an epic rest of your week.

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. If you enjoyed it, I would love for you to give me a shout-out on your Instagram story or anywhere. Just letting me know what your biggest takeaway was. You guys have no idea how helpful and useful it is for me. When you message me telling me what your aha moments were telling me what it is that you took away from the podcast. It helps me understand what is most valuable to you. And it helps me understand how I can be of the highest service to you. So if you could take two minutes to do that, I would really appreciate it. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope to hear from you over on Instagram. You can find me at Alex Beadon, and I will talk to you again very soon. Bye