2021 in a word was all about figuring out what I want to see happen in the future.

Whereas 2020 was a breakthrough year in terms of revenue and trying new things, 2021 was about refining and figuring out how do I really want things to run. I am a huge fan of optimizing, experimenting, and more.

I also was looking for alignment with the structure that will help me get to my vision for the type of business I want.

Because of all of this, I ended up launching much less – I only did two launches for my high ticket group coaching program in 2021 (both launches happened in the first six months of the year). I also stopped running ads to my book funnel as the ad costs increased and the funnel ended up not being profitable on the back end.

I did however start doing some things instead that worked really great, I’ll share about that soon. But first…

Lessons learned from 2021:

Lesson #1: Energy is everything.

If I feel discouraged, I get discouraging results. If I feel inspired, I get inspiring results. I slipped a bit on working on my mindset and energy in 2021, and because of it, I found myself doubting my ability to succeed. I needed to refocus and get very curious about why this was happening and how I can shift it.

I realized that how I feel about my program, how I feel about my price, how I feel about myself – it all makes a difference. If I feel like the program isn’t really fully aligned or maybe it’s not positioned in a way that makes sense for me, I won’t put the energy into selling it effectively.

 

Lesson #2: Leveraging paid traffic is amazing when it makes sense for you.

In 2020 and 2021, I really leaned heavily on paid ads. I had zero energy or desire to do a lot of organic marketing, so I posted on social media very little outside of in my paid student groups. In fact, I posted a total of like 18 times on my older Instagram account in all of 12 months. I didn’t get a lot of action from there. Pretty much all of the clients and customers came from either my current audience (via my email list) or from paid ads.

I do also believe running paid shouldn’t be rushed into without a strategy, and sometimes it’s more a longer-term play. Sometimes it works right away, but other times, it can take a little bit for a person who came from ads to convert. That’s normal. That’s why I do still believe it’s very important to make sure you are nurturing your audience via email and social media, especially if you don’t have the budget to spend on ads.

When it mathematically makes sense, running paid traffic consistently is honestly a really big sigh of relief and I love doing it. It is a big thing I help my private clients with when they’re ready to scale.

In 2021, I spent a total of $17,633.59 on Facebook and Instagram ads. 

 

Lesson #3: It’s ok not to charge very high ticket prices when it feels better to do otherwise and the math supports it.

I’ve sold things at many different prices. I’ve worked with private clients for $25K in a 3-month container. I’ve worked with clients in a $10K VIP Day. I’ve sold masterminds that were between $10K and $20K. It was all great. It was also when I was primarily focusing on organic marketing.

Now that I’ve leaned into using more paid ads, I’ve actually found that my programs priced at around $997-$2500 sell with a LOT more ease – and a lot more profitably – than when trying to sell programs to colder audiences from ads at $10K. It takes less effort, I don’t have to get on the phone to get the sale, the launches feel easier, it’s just all overall feeling better.

I’ve tested one program being sold at $997, $1500, $3800, and $4800 – and to be very honest, I ended up making MORE total profit when I charged less because I got way more sales. It is also because of the positioning of the program (targeting newer entrepreneurs), as well as my overall willingness to sell it in the way that would be required to get a $5k sale.

With that all said, after 6 years of selling high ticket and doing sales calls, I am shifting in 2022 to be a lot more limited in my phone selling and focusing on lower ticket, higher volume programs. Meaning, I need to get MORE sales to hit my financial goals because I am charging less, BUT I get to get those sales with way more ease because I don’t need to hire more team to make these sales happen, I can convert cold leads way easier, and more.

Keep in mind, this is all because of my context – I am mostly running paid traffic ads rather than getting leads organically, meaning the people who are buying may not know me that well (if at all). So there is much less resistance to buying at a lower price point. For organic-only launches, I would prefer to still do sales calls and high ticket programs.

 

Lesson #4: I am allowed to do things in a way that aligns with MY vision for a business I want, and not get distracted by what other coaches are doing.

Throughout the year, I found myself comparing myself to others. There are many people out there who are wildly successful and I’ve found myself feeling a bit resentful. Like, why am I not there yet? What’s wrong with me? Then, naturally, I began thinking that I needed to structure my business like they were. That means, selling a new offer every month, sometimes more often than that, showing up on live video all the time, and just seemingly being present and “on” all the time in general.

While I got distracted by that for a while, I had to remind myself that showing up in this way was EXACTLY the reason why I burnt out so badly back in 2016-2017. I was launching all the time, selling NEW offers all the time, being “on” all the time, and I began to feel like if I stopped, my business would collapse without me. That is what I am seeing a lot of people are doing now, and while it is effective in making great money – I know back then, I made GREAT money –  I also know that I do NOT want that for myself. That model does not align with me, and I have no desire to run my business in this way.

And that is OK. I am allowed to listen to my vision and do things that work for ME even though it’s not what most people are doing. I know that I desire a SIMPLE model, and an easy way to run my business. A business that can easily continue to run and grow even if I want to take two or three months off. That’s what I want. EVEN if it takes more time for me to get there.

And it’s ok to unfollow anyone who does things differently so that I do not get triggered or distracted.

 

Lesson #5: Not everything that’s high ticket is high value. 

In the last few years, I have invested in several $10,000-$15,000 programs focused on many different things, of most of which the value did not match the price. I said what I said. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe if I was a newbie, it would have been valuable.

Unfortunately, many of the programs being sold out there (at least the ones I’ve signed up for) overpromise and underdeliver. This is part of the reason why I truly feel that not everyone should be charging high-ticket. I’ve signed up for so many $10K and up programs, and very few actually felt like a good investment – they were basically a course with Q&A calls and I still was unable to get my questions answered or get any real support or feedback. It’s like, really?

There WAS however one high ticket program I joined that felt really good. One program was like $9K for a year of access and felt SO supportive, the training in the curriculum felt so step by step, that I honestly felt like I could not fail. And I had a great result. The reason why is because the program actually included feedback and real support from coaches who actually knew what they were doing in the program. The funny thing is, the person who created the program was not even in the program all that much, but it was so well-run and so well-structured that it honestly felt incredible. Now THAT’S a program that I would NOT have been mad to pay $15K+ up. Haha.

Now, anytime I am tempted to join another high ticket ($5K+) program, I ask myself some questions:

• Question 1: Does this person’s philosophy match up with mine? Do they have a business model I want?
• Question 2: Is the way they coach or teach aligned with the way I like to learn? For example, I don’t really care to be in a program “just to be in someone’s energy.” I find value in detailed, step-by-step processes that I am implementing and getting feedback on. Also, if the program is 80% newbie stuff that I already know and have implemented successfully – when all I care about is the advanced strategy – maybe it’s not a good fit for me with where I am in business.
• Question 3: How much feedback am I getting on what I am doing? Sadly, most group programs provide ZERO feedback or support, or if they do, they get support from someone who is frankly unqualified to teach it (like a newbie coach, NOT someone who’s already gotten results with the method). It’s rare to find someone who either has actual associate coaches who are experts OR provides access and feedback on their own. So the question is, if that’s the case – am I okay with that?
• Question 4: Is it better to join a program to learn this stuff or would I rather just hire a person 1:1? For example, if I am new to something, I prefer to learn it by taking a program or course so I can get at least a base knowledge on the topic. Once I have experience with the topic, I more value getting direct and personalized feedback and coaching from a real human who has the experience to tweak and optimize what I am already doing to make it more successful.
• Question 5: Is spending this high ticket amount (say $10K) going to give me at least 2X value? Financially, emotionally, spiritually, whatever. Is it ACTUALLY worth it? And, how can I ensure that I will get the money I paid for it back and more WITH MY OWN INTENTION? Like, you get what you want out of any program. And I will also say that some programs I paid $10k and did not show up at all, because of some of the things above (such as I was learning stuff I did not actually care about).
• Question 6: If I join a high ticket program with a limited amount of access to support, can I start implementing right away? Am I really ready for this? I say this because one program I joined was for learning YouTube ads. I was told that I am a great fit. I expressed my concern that I didn’t have an evergreen webinar for it and wanted to use it for launching. They said that’s fine. But when I join, they switch their tune and say I should NOT be using it for launches, the best way to use it and get better price points is to use it for evergreen funnels. I spent the whole 3 months of the program building an evergreen webinar. Once I was done, I had 2 weeks left to run ads – they didn’t work, and I was left with zero support to fix them. So, I was NOT really ready and should have joined AFTER I created my webinar. I wish they would have just told me this on the sales call.

I will say, I don’t hesitate a lot when investing in programs that are under $2K when they are teaching me things I want to learn. I absolutely love investing in my education and knowledge. At this point, I am continuing to invest in great courses and workshops, and then investing more in private support on very specific things to help me grow. There are also some fantastic high ticket programs out there that I am very excited about because they meet all of the above.

But the key is always:

• Do I want to learn this?
• Why do I want to learn this?
• Is this a distraction or will this help me move forward toward my main goal?

That’s that.

Now, I want to share three intentions for my 2022.

 

Intentions for 2022

Intention #1:

Simple structures.

My goal is to simplify my business a LOT, which means not selling as many things, but laser focus on selling one or two core programs, the main program I will be focused on selling in 2022 is the Serve to Sell Launchpad. This is the container that people need to be in to know how to consistently book clients, and in order for them to move forward with launching, ads, or scalable offers – they need this information and action first. Period.

This also means that instead of launching intimate containers like masterminds, I actually will be focusing on working with 1:1 coaching clients again and capping my maximum capacity at 5-7 clients so that they can get supported in the best way. The most successful clients are usually private clients because they invest at a higher level (my monthly rate right now is $2500/mo for 4 months) and therefore show up more, commit more, listen to my coaching more, and actually move forward faster.

I also like working with clients over an extended period, so while my packages will remain at four months for now, I may increase it to six-month minimum in the future. Ultimately, I much prefer to work with clients for a year or more, as it’s in the compound action that we see most results – not as a quick fast bandaid. And I love seeing the transformation that happens over an extended period of time.

If you’re interested in becoming a private client, here’s the information on that.

 

Intention #2:

Scalable engaging launches.

I like launching. I get bored easily. And to be completely honest, most of the time I am not doing all that much in my business, and I know that I need projects to stay engaged and like I’m doing something. My business has been automated to a decent level right now and my systems are getting me sales every month without doing anything extra, however, I want to do a boost – plus interact with my people. I will focus on mostly doing paid launches in 2022 in a way that is scalable and repeatable, with maybe a few exceptions. We’ll see.

I have found that I must be protective over my energy and I want to serve people who WANT to be served and commit to showing up. Given that I have a pretty solid ad budget and an email list of nearly 8,000 people, I feel confident that instead of doing free challenges like I have done in the past, I want to focus on doing the same two or three low-ticket paid bootcamps and workshops instead over the course of the year, and the topics I feel most aligned with and get the best results with, I will rinse and repeat.

This way I can provide more value without worrying I’m giving away too much, people who feel complete can feel good moving forward on their own, and those who want more help can move into Serve to Sell Launchpad or into my 1:1 Monthly Coaching container.

 

Intention #3:

Traffic mastery.

In 2021, I really laser-focused on paid Facebook and Instagram ads, and have gotten great results with that. My goal in 2022 is to increase my paid ads budget with what’s already working (Facebook and Instagram Ads), as well as learning new paid ads platforms to leverage. I am wanting to try using YouTube ads again (I tried for a brief moment in 2021 and did not see good results) particularly for the funnel that I already am using that’s working.

I also want to potentially try doing Pinterest Ads at some point. (edit: I already started trying some Pinterest ads so far, I am underwhelmed. So we’ll see about that)

Another traffic piece I want to focus on is organic marketing, particularly getting very consistent on Instagram, as well as prioritizing YouTube. I’ve tried this before and keep falling off, although I have felt pretty proud of myself with Instagram these last two months. YouTube is another story. Editing takes me forever, so hiring a new video editor will be key for me to get consistent with that. I’ve already begun searching for a new one.

Lastly, as my new website just got unveiled, I will also be prioritizing making blog posts to take advantage of SEO as I did with my health blog back like 8 years ago. It worked well then, I know it works still, might as well try seeing if it can work again 🙂 Takes a long time though, so I probably will need to hire someone else to help with this as well.

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I am excited for what’s to come this year to create a more streamlined profitable business.

I’ll keep you posted!