Launches

Alex Beadon 0:00
You’re listening to episode number 27 of on purpose with Alex Beadon. In this episode, I share how I booked two coaching clients this week and how I created momentum in my launch. 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.

Hey, friends, I’m so excited for today’s episode, because today I’m going to be talking to you all about how I’m feeling behind the scenes of my second launch of Grand Slam. And I’m also going to be sharing with you my process of bringing onboard some new coaching clients. So if you are someone who is a coach yourself, or if you’re someone who’s into sales, and you’re always trying to learn more, if you’re someone who’s about to launch something of your own, and this is definitely a great episode to listen to. Let’s dive in. So first of all, I’m so excited because if you’re listening to this, as this episode just went live, it is October 8 2018. And that means that my five day free Instagram Stories challenge called double down on your DMS is live, if you haven’t signed up, you are missing out today’s the very first day so you, you really won’t have missed anything. And even if it’s day three, four or five, like still sign up, because you’re still going to have the option to catch up and see all of the previous content. But definitely go to gram dash lab.com forward slash podcast and you can sign up there. As soon as you sign up, you’re going to get an invite into our Facebook group, the fun has already begun. So go sign up, join in on the fun, we are really focusing in on engagements, and how to get more direct message responses from your Instagram Stories, which really is the whole point behind creating Instagram stories. You want to build a know like and trust factor with your audience. Reason being that when you create a know like and trust factor with your audience, people are far more likely to trust you enough to buy from you. I always say people buy from people that they know like and trust. And Instagram stories are a great way to cultivate that relationship with them. And it’s also a great way to encourage them to start a conversation with you. There’s such a different feel when someone reaches out and messages you as opposed to you reaching out and cold messaging them. And so that’s really the premise behind the entire challenge. Also, because I hear from so many people who say that they want to be creating more Instagram stories, but they’re not really sure what they should be posting, when they should be posting how many different times they should be posting. So I wanted to create a challenge that would really encourage people to get out of their comfort zone by ditching the excuse that they don’t know what to post. Basically, when you sign up every single day, you’re going to get an email straight to your inbox that gives you a prompt, right and this prompt is going to be basically a topic it’s going to be like yo, this is what I’m daring you to do. This is what I’m challenging you to post your Instagram stories today. So it’s very simple and straightforward. You’ll know exactly what to post. And my favorite part of this entire experience I already know is going to be the community. The fact that there are as I’m recording this, it’s currently Thursday, and we already have 3000 entrepreneurs signed up. So by the time Monday comes around, there’s going to be even more 1000s of entrepreneurs who have signed up. So having the opportunity to go through this as a group as a community is something that is super special. At the end of it all I am going to introduce you to my signature program called Grand Slam but there is zero commitments like you absolutely do not have to buy grand slam you can go through this entire free experience without paying a single cent and get a lot of value from it. I only do this a few times a year so I highly recommend that you hop on board at Graham dash slam.com forward slash podcast. Okay, so I want to share with you my experience this week. So a few weeks ago, Laura and I decided that it would be a good idea to make available some one on one coaching calls, mainly because I like to listen to the universe and I was getting a lot of direct messages in my Instagram inbox from people who were like, Hey, are you offering one on one coaching? Are you offering one on one coaching? Hey Alex, are you offering one on one coaching So I was like, okay, life, I can take a hands, I feel like it’s a good idea to offer this one on one coaching, it will be a nice way to bring in a little bit of extra cash right before the launch, so why not? Right? So I put it out there on the podcast. And I was like, Hey, guys, if anyone’s interested in getting some one on one coaching with me, you can sign up at whatever the link was, I think work with me dot Alex beadon.com. And we really went from there. And it’s been super interesting number one, because let me explain the kind of the process what happens is, throughout the year, I only open up one on one coaching a few times, right? So maybe once, maybe twice a year. And the reason behind that is because most of the time, I’m so focused on my online experiences. So like creating grab slam, I work on the school of color impressions, and I really enjoy doing those group experiences. But sometimes it’s so nice and refreshing to have that one on one time with people. So I decided this time, it was time. And I was like, Cool. Let’s do it. So the process is that you sign up at work with me to Alex beadon.com, to basically alert me that you’re interested in working together one on one. And then from there, whenever I’m actually offering something, what I do is I email that list first and I say Hey, guys, so you sign up to this email list because you wanted to be the first to be notified when I had a one on one coaching available. And lucky for you, I finally have one on one coaching available. If you’re interested, all you have to do is tap here to apply. So I alerted that list of people who said that they were most interested. And then I also I believe we put it in the podcast. And I think we put it on like two podcast emails at the very bottom saying like PS, I’m offering one on one coaching, here it is. Now from there, what they do is they click that button, and it takes them to an application page. And what I’ve learned through offering one on one coaching is that number one, one on one, coaching is a significant investment, right? It requires money in order to make it happen. And also it requires a certain level of

like, you have to be the right fit. Okay, so in other words, I there’s so many business owners who listen to me and who get value from my podcasts and my free content. But I’m really looking for a specific type of person to work one on one with, and I have a certain set of requirements of the person that I know I can help the most. So the reason why I have that application process is basically just to go through and be like, are we a good fit? Or aren’t we a good fit? If you are someone who is trying to do something, and I don’t feel like I’m the best person for the job that I’m going to tell you, Hey, I don’t think we’re a good fit. Thank you for applying. But I don’t think I’m the business coach for you. Cool. So we go through the application process. And really and truly, I had a goal in mind that I wanted to bring on board to coaching clients alike. That was the number that I was aiming for. And so the way that I worked out how many calls I would have to get on, is I know that normally I have a 25% close rate, which means that if I get on the phone with four people, I statistically, will sell to one of those four people, right. I’m not sure what the industry average is. But I did some research on it a while ago. And I believe that that is around the industry average. But if you’re lower than that, and you you don’t have a lot of experience with selling over the phone, then just know that it’s something that you can work on. It’s something that you can improve on. But I know that my closing rate is about one in four. So I knew if I wanted to sell 10, I should probably get on the phone with eight people. And I was like, You know what, let’s make it 10 Just to be safe. So we went through the application process and basically chose the first 10 Good fits and sends an email to those 10 people were like, hey, you’ve made the final cut. Alex would love to get on the phone with you to just make sure that you’re a good fit. And if you are then she’ll be making the offer to you over the phone. So what ends up happening is that I get on the phone with these people. And one of two things happen. I either get on the phone with them and I realized like okay, this person I thought was a good fit from their application, but listening to them. Now I realized that they need something totally different than one on one coaching. In which case I will tell them hey, I actually don’t think that we’re a good fit. This doesn’t happen very often. It does happen it has happened where I’ve been on on calls and I’ve had to tell people like actually, you I would more recommend that you do this. Like if you want to experience success like this is your next best step. I’m not your next best step. But I think the reason why it’s quite rare is that for the most part, people who sign up for one on one coaching, they are ready for one on one coaching. So most people who sign up are a good fit. So if they are a good fit, and we go through the call and I realized that like yes, their challenges are something that I can help them overcome. And their goals are things Is that I have accomplished myself, that I feel much better about being like, okay, cool. Let’s move forward. And let me let me introduce you to the offer that I have on hand. So then I talked to him on the phone, I introduced them to the offer, I let them know everything that they will be getting everything that it costs, I answer any questions that they have, I give them the price. And so basically, we had 10 calls, and we split them out over a three day period, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So on Monday, I had four calls. And all the calls, this is the weird thing. And this is what I think can be so demotivating to people who are trying to convert coaching calls is like, you know, if you have a one in four conversion rate, that means you’re getting on four calls with people, and three of them are going to say no. So it’s like you have to detach from the expectation that every single person is going to say yes. And I when I speak to my clients, I realized that that is one of the number one things that slows people down and makes people feel like they’re not good coaches, or they must be offering the wrong thing is because people like not every single person is buying. But the reason why I’m sharing this with you is because I’m trying to let you know that it’s 100% normal for most people to not buy, the important part is not taking the knows, personally. So if someone says no, it doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it, or that what you’re offering is too expensive or whatever. It just means that it’s not a good fit for them in that moment. And that couldn’t have been more the case over the first two days that I did interviews. Every single person said no, I interviewed seven people. No, no. Did I 1234567? No, I interviewed six people. I was supposed to interview seven in that first day, but one woman completely forgot about our call. So I was supposed to interview seven people in the first two days, I interviewed six. And I made the offer to all six of them. And all six of them said no. Right? And it’s hard. You get to that point, like I woke up on Wednesday, which was yesterday. And I told Laura I was like, Dude, I don’t know if we’re wasting our time, like I’ve never tested this offer before. Like, I’m just not really sure what’s going on. Like maybe the offer isn’t good enough, whatever, whatever. And she was like, listen, we have decided that this is our plan, we’re going to stick with it, you have three more interviews, you’re going to take them today. So on Wednesday, I did three more interviews. And I sold two of the three, which means that I sold two of my nine sales calls. One person, like I mentioned, cancelled her call. So that just goes to show that like, don’t give up until it’s at the like, you can’t, you can’t stop to examine what’s happening until the very end. The only thing I will say that I did differently on the last day as like differently from the first two days is that I was more flexible with people about what it was that they wanted. So for example, I offered them a price. I offered them my offer. And they were like, Yeah, you know, this is I really want to say yes to this. But my concern is that I there’s not going to be any follow up or that I’m not going to follow through. So I was like, Cool. I’m gonna throw in some accountability calls. Is that a good offer for you then? And then they’re like, yeah, oh, my gosh, I’m so happy with that cool, I’m in and they and then they buy? Right. So like, I think on that last day, the only thing I did differently was I was a little bit more I gave I gave a little bit more leeway than I did in my first two days of calls. Now, what’s interesting is when someone has like you have that call with someone, and they’re like, Yes, I’m interested. And I’m like, I’m 100% in and today, I’m gonna get the money for you today. I don’t celebrate a single sale until the money is in my bank account. Because too many times that I’ve done calls with people to work with one on one. They’re like, Yes, I’m in. And then I’m like, Cool. Here’s the link. Awesome, awesome, cool, bye. And then they go away, and then they end up never buying, right. So that’s another lesson is like Don’t count your eggs until they have actually hatched. Now, I’m really happy, obviously, that I sold two spots out of the nine people that I interviewed that’s very on par with what I was expecting to do. So it feels good. But if I hadn’t, then the next step after I’d finished those nine calls would have been to really evaluate why did these people not join? So I probably would have followed up with them and be like, hey, totally cool that you didn’t join. That’s fine. But I’m really trying to make this the best offer that it can possibly be. What could I have added that would have made you say yes, that’s a perfect question. Because it’s kind of opening it up to them to decide what what you would have had to have included in order for them to say yes. And from there. Let’s say that they come back and they’re like, well, actually, I need accountability. And you’re like okay, cool. I’ll give you some accountability calls. And it’s going to be an additional whatever number you decide that you want to add to the final cost. Right.

From there, I mean, you could decide to just include it in the existing price. Or you could, you could decide I’m going to charge an additional price for whatever it is that they wanted to add on, and then see if it’s still a good fit for them. So that at least kind of opens a conversation a little bit more for you to still be able to make those conversions. I would say that like, Of the nine people that I spoke to, I would say there were three others who I was like, honestly, like these people are sol, sol, sol, sol, sol, sol Sol, perfect. Like the other people who said no, when I spoke to them, and I walked through why they were saying no, like, it made sense to me. But there were a few others who I was like, it makes no sense why they’re saying no, like this would be super valuable for them, and really help them get to the next level. And so opening that conversation with them afterwards is always a really beneficial thing to do. And actually, now that I’m speaking about it, it is something that I should follow up with with them, just so that I can even if I’m not taking on any more clients, just so that I can actually know, for future how I can make a better offer. I think that’s always really valuable information. So I guess what I’m trying to say today here is don’t let the nose slow you down. Don’t be distracted or affected by the nose don’t get depressed because someone told you no. When you start getting used to people telling you no, then you can start going through nose like it’s no one’s business. And you could start getting really used to people saying no, and you can start to feel really comfortable with people saying no. And then you can find your yeses at a much faster pace. When you’re getting emotionally wrapped up with like, oh, the person said, no, why did they say no, I just don’t understand and you’re playing it over a million times in your head. It’s really, really inefficient. It’s just you’re not doing yourself any good. So that’s my two cents on the matter. And then of course, look at your conversion rate. Ask yourself if you’re comfortable with that conversion rate, if you want to improve the conversion rate, maybe look into, you know, different techniques and sales strategies that can help you be a better salesperson. And then also, I would say, just look back at the offer that you created. And if everyone said no, continue the conversation with them and ask them like, Hey, why did you say no? Like, what would it have had to have had in order for you to say yes, use everything to your advantage, use everything to keep you moving forward, use everything to create momentum. Even if it’s not immediately putting money in the bank. It’s only helping you put money in the bank in the future. I always say like, you know, the work that you’re doing now you’re planting seeds for the future, every single podcast episode that I make, I imagine that I’m putting $2,000 in my bank account, even even though I can’t touch it right now. I know that I’m building relationships with people and one day, it’s going to come back to me, right? So food for thought. Okay, so I feel like I’ve spoken to you about everything when it comes to the one on one coaching side of things. So now I’m going to move into talking to you guys about what’s going on behind the scenes of my launch. As you know, today, as you’re listening to this or as this goes live, it’s it goes live Monday, October 8, and that is the first day of my five day Instagram story engagement challenge called double down on your DMS. I have been preparing for this for the longest time. This is our first launch with me and Laura together. And just to kind of put it into perspective, I’m really good at launching, I love launching, I have so much fun launching, I’ve launched what feels like a million times. And it’s just something that I feel really comfortable with. And something that I really shine at right now, what I’m not so good at is figuring out all of the different evergreen funnels, like I’m still experimenting with that I’m still figuring out how to set that up. And that’s really what Laura and I have been working on together over the past. When she joined, she joined in June, we’re now in October. So four months, four months, we’ve been working on this evergreen process and learning together as we go. What’s interesting is like, now we’re moving into launch mode. And it’s like, I’m just so excited for her to experience her first launch. And I think it’s really interesting, because she’s going through it for the first time herself. She’s learning all of these things for the first time herself. And I’m experiencing a launch for the first time with someone else who’s helping me on a really high level scale. So on all of my last launches, I had Katherine who was helping me but Katherine was more of someone who I was like, okay, hey, I have these tasks for you go and do them. But I was really like the mastermind behind everything. I was really planning everything, thinking of everything, connecting the dots, etc. Whereas now this is my first time launching with someone who I feel like is on the same mastermind level with me. She’s helping me so much with like connecting the dots and doing all of the organizing and the thinking and the planning and I open up a sauna every day and like I trust that she has everything figured out so that I just need to focus on what needs to get done today. And so I feel like we’re getting into this really beautiful place me and Laura of like really understanding how each other works. And, and learning how to accommodate each other how to make each other’s lives easier how to support each other. And it’s just I’m loving our relationship right now. Like, I’m just feeling so grateful to have her during this launch. And it’s her first one, like, this is the worst launch she will ever do, because it’s her first one that she’s gonna learn so much after this. So I’m just so excited that she’s on the team and like, I tell her as much as I possibly can I send her these voice notes. I’m like, Laura, I’m so happy that you’re on the team. You’re making my life so much easier. And I just, I’m so happy. So it’s interesting to be going into the launch. And like having things planned out so far in advance. I was telling her on the phone the other day, I was like, dude, like, it’s weird that I’m working on sales emails, more than a week in advance, because normally, I’m working on sales emails, like 15 minutes before they get sent out. And this is again, guys, I think there’s so many misconceptions when it comes to creating your business is like, everything on the outside looks perfect. So you’ve probably experienced my launches before and been like, wow, she really has her stuff together. Little do you know that I am behind the scenes literally like scrambling to make sure that everything’s going out on time to make sure that I’ve reread everything to make sure that it’s the best it can possibly be. And so it feels good to be getting to this next stage where a launch can be way more planned out. And like now we have affiliates. It feels like such a grown up launch thing to do. And yeah, it just feels really good. It feels it feels bizarre. I told I’m clearly losing my voice. I apologize, guys. But I was speaking to Laura the other day. And I was like, it’s just it’s a feeling I’ve never felt before to have these things so planned out in advance. And she was so happy when I said that she was like, Alex, this is what I want to like bring to the table is, is showing you that you can do things in advance and that you don’t have to like, push things off and leave things to the last minute and procrastinate I’m a huge procrastinator. And I think it’s interesting because like a lot of business owners are huge procrastinators, because a lot of business owners are creative people. But so it’s interesting now to have someone to support me with that. And to be like, Hey, Alex, it doesn’t have to be that way. And actually look how fun it is when you do things in advance. So I’m really enjoying that. Another thing that’s been really important for us is having our goal at the front of our minds. So I know the goal that we’re focused on right now is we would like 1750 people to opt in to our free challenge. We just today pass the 3000 mark, which was very exciting. I think we’re now at like 3001 50 or something. And so it’s so exciting to be watching the numbers every single day. And we’re actually tracking it really well. So it’s like this many people came from Instagram, this many people came from your newsletter, this many people came from Facebook ads. And so that’s been really fun is like having that goal at the front of both of our minds. We’re both looking at it every single day. Having a goal is so important. Because if you don’t have it at the front of your mind, it’s kind of like you’re just wandering around aimlessly and being like, well, whatever I get is whatever I get. But when you have that goal there, it’s like you’re constantly in a state of asking yourself, What can I do to get more people to sign up? What can I do to encourage people to share this with their friends, because that’s I keep telling myself I’m like, if everyone shared it with one friend, we could double our numbers. So if you’re listening to this, please share it with a friends and help assist out. But make it a good one. We’re looking for business owners, we’re looking for people who are trying to build their brand online, share it with a friend Graham dashlane.com. So yeah, so that’s been fun. It’s like having that that goal at the front of your mind. And it’s so easy to be like, Oh yeah, I know my goals. But are you really looking at them every single day? One thing I have to admit is that my journaling habit has completely disintegrated. My social life has completely disintegrated. Of course, it’s lunchtime. So that is to be expected. But it’s kind of it’s it’s sad, because I miss journaling. And journaling actually helps me so so so so much. So that’s yeah, that’s definitely a side effect. It also feels like I’m drowning into dues. And so I’ve I’ve gotten into this habit where I’m just like Done is better than perfect. If I can take that thing off my list and move on to the next thing and that’s better than making that thing 100% perfect because guess what, guys, perfect doesn’t exist. Perfect does not exist. I’ve told you guys this a million times. I’m gonna say it again. My one of my favorite quotes is by Brene Brown, and she basically says that perfectionism is just procrastination and really nice shoes. Perfectionism is just procrastination and really nice shoes. So don’t be a perfectionist. Because if you’re a perfectionist, really all you’re doing is procrastinating. And the most important thing, at least for me right now is momentum, momentum, momentum, taking action, taking things off, moving forward, moving forward, moving forward. So yeah, um,

Also just like staying hyped, keeping that end goal in mind, knowing that we’re about to invite in hundreds, if not 1000s of new people into grandslam is so exciting and just like staying pumped about it. Also, the exhaustion, I woke up this morning. Like, I can’t describe this to, I don’t know, I’ve been working nonstop. And I get this way during launches, where it’s like, I’m full of so much energy because my eye is so like, like, on the task at hand, I’m so focused on hitting my goals with this launch that like nothing else matters. It’s a little unhealthy. I was in bed last night. And I was like, this is kind of weird that like, I, I really let myself focus so so so much on this that everything else kind of just becomes second in importance. I just kind of get I just get super focused. It’s like I know exactly what needs to get done. And I just want to work, work, work, work, work, work. And so yes, it has been exhausting. This morning, I woke up and I was so tired. Because yesterday, I had six calls, I went live three different times. It’s just been wise, I had six calls, I had three calls and three lives. So it was a lot of energy giving yesterday, and my last live was at 9pm. So like I didn’t get into bed until probably like 1030, which do you guys might be like, Oh, that’s early. No, I like to go to bed or like really early, the earlier the better. Because then I can wake up the next morning and be productive. Whereas this morning, I woke up and I was like I need to sleep. Sleep is really top priority. So that’s another thing during a launch is like finding that balance between Do you have the energy and excitement to work? Because if you do use it and work like Do you have the momentum, use it. And if you don’t have the momentum, and if you’re feeling fatigued, and if you’re feeling tired, prioritize your body, prioritize your wellness prioritize yourself. Something that’s been very, very helpful is that my mom and dad landed on Sunday, here in Trinidad, to basically like my mom was like, I’m gonna go and support Alex during her launch. And my dad was like, Well, if you’re going, I’ll come to because they both have family and friends here. So for those of you who don’t know, my family is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, we this is the southernmost island of the Caribbean. We are a couple miles off the coast of Venezuela if you’re trying to place it on the map. And so yeah, my family is from here. But my mom and dad and my sister and I, we moved around our whole lives like I literally I counted it the other day was something ridiculous. We moved, like, moved country 10 times by the time I was 15. So you can put that into perspective. But needless to say, this is their home, this is where my grand mother lives, this is where all of our cousins are. So for them to come back here is great, not only because my mom can support me, but also because they can actually enjoy being back in Trinidad. So my mom came to really just helped me as much as you possibly can. And yesterday, she came and she, she did my hair and she cooked me dinner. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this, this should be a non negotiable. Every single launch I have is like, let me just pay for my mom to come to Trinidad or wherever I am at that particular time and have her take care of me because she’s the best. So I have to say this is like I don’t think we’ve actually ever done this during lunch before is have her be there solely to support me. And it has been fantastic and magnificent and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful supportive mum. And it is such a beneficial thing to have. So it looks like translating that into your own life. Just asking yourself, How can you add more supports into your into your life, especially during a launch and it might mean like asking your boyfriend for certain things. And being like yo over these three weeks, I’m going to be maxed out. So I’m going to need your help in XYZ. It might mean having your mom come and spend some more time taking care of you. If you’re lucky enough. It might mean booking in more massages, it might mean booking a blow dry appointments that you don’t have to blow dry your hair. I don’t know what it means for you, but figure out what it means and make sure that you’re taking care of yourself because launches be exhausting. Okay, so I think I’ve covered everything with you guys that I wanted to cover with you today. Thank you so much for listening. I love each and every single one of you if you’re not already in double down on your DMS What are you waiting for, you can sign up for free free at gram dash lab.com forward slash podcast, share it with your friends, Graham dash lam.com forward slash podcast and come and join the Facebook group as well. So basically the way that we have it is that the videos and the tasks are going to be in the Facebook group every single day. And if you want the bonus worksheets and supportive, what to call them. They’re basically like supportive tools. Those are going to be sent to you via email. So you want to make sure that you join the email list and then as soon as you join the email list, the email will give you a link to the Facebook group. Definitely go and join the Facebook group. It is going to be amazing. I’m actually opening Oh, you will already know this because it’s Monday, but I’m opening up the Facebook group on Sunday. So on Sunday, everyone’s going to have to come together and really enjoy that together. So I’m so excited. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate each and every single one of you guys and I will talk to you guys again soon. Bye. 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