Fresh Start, No More @$#%# Action-Faking!

[JustKris]

Had a bit of a scare a few days ago. Our little girl had a 100.6 fever, which is extremely dangerous for a newborn. So we spent the night in the ER, waiting on blood tests and X-Rays and a million other things. Thankfully, everything came up normal and her temperature went down quickly.

The past two days have been getting back into the swing of things. I feel a really good flow to the work now---not the incredible strain at the beginning. Now I'm just in motion and capitalizing on the momentum.

Sales pages are DONE. Automation sequences are set up---got a lot of really cool stuff here.

Now I'm just writing my email drip sequences, then it will be time to start driving traffic.

One thing I never thought would happen is having my real personality in my money-making work. With the exception of some acting/screenwriting gigs, I've always had a huge wall between the "day-job" (what I did to make a living) and my "real work" (what I did to be alive).

But these days, there's no barrier. I'm having fun and creating a system where I can create value without sacrificing my authentic self.

 

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[JustKris]

Email sequences are done. Man, I can't believe how much work they took. No bullshit, I've written pilot scripts in less time than it took to write these emails. But it was worth it.

Also took a bit longer than expected to build out the pages and get everything set up (silly stuff like Stripe/Paypal, lead scoring, etc).

Doing the audience research now and writing ad copy---will be ready to start running ads in a few days.

And that's when the REAL work begins.

 

[fhs8]

Is there a squeeze page asking for an email? People now don't like to give out emails because they know they'll get spammed. Also marketing emails are auto filtered by many email providers. Why would someone use your service if they can get something similar for free elsewhere?

 

[JustKris]

Is there a squeeze page asking for an email? People now don't like to give out emails because they know they'll get spammed. Also marketing emails are auto filtered by many email providers. Why would someone use your service if they can get something similar for free elsewhere?

Yes, there is a squeeze page and a whole lead scoring sequence. Also, LOL at people not opting in with emails.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[JustKris]

And the Facebook ads...are...LAUNCHED!!!!!

Whew. The last month has been a crazy amount of work (and there is still plenty of work to do). But it feels awesome to actually put a product out and get out of my silo.

Thank you to all the beta users and your feedback.

I'm nervous, excited, relieved, and hopeful all at the same time. There's still plenty of work to do, but today feels like a big milestone.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

Is there a squeeze page asking for an email? People now don't like to give out emails because they know they'll get spammed. Also marketing emails are auto filtered by many email providers. Why would someone use your service if they can get something similar for free elsewhere?

Dude...

You are seriously the most depressing, negative person I've seen on this forum. Literally, every post you write is "blah blah this doesn't work, no one would buy that, snark snark"

You lose ALL credibility in all your answers ever when you say "No one puts their emails in because they are afraid of getting spammed."

Are you $&%&% kiddin'?...

You have obviously never built an email list. Or you tried and really sucked at it.

Carry on @JustKris , don't listen to this garbage. You're doing great.

 

[JustKris]

Mini-update.

Did a 2 day Facebook ad test at $150/day. Now I'm pausing to recalibrate and optimize things.

The Good

The opt-in rate was pretty crazy, like 90%. Basically, if you clicked on the ad, you are going to sign up.

The engagement with the email drip has been really good so far. People have been clicking on the emails, replying, etc. Gotten opt-ins from all over the world, which is cool.

The Bad

Not nearly enough clicks for the money. Even with the high opt-in rate, the cost-per-lead was WAY too high---over $10 per email. (This ranged from $7 per lead to $43 per lead, depending on the ad/targeting.)

And not all of those people clicked on the confirmation email, so the true cost was even higher than that.

Something also went screwy with my automation. People were confirming their emails as normal, then I get a message from a guy that the confirmation link doesn't work. Not sure if it was his browser or what. Hopefully that was just an anomaly, since other people opted in after that.

(I was tempted to have a "The Ugly" section as well, but that's just so hack.)

What's Next?

I suspect one thing is my targeting. So I'm going to go through that, as well as writing some new Facebook ads.

I had 3 different ads, targeting 3 different customer profiles. It's funny, the ad I liked the most had the WORST engagement out of all of them. And the ad that I liked the least had the best engagement.

Not worried. I figured something like this would happen.

It's very strange, but it feels drastically different doing this all for my own business. I write Facebook ads all the time at work and it feels detached. "Oh, that ad campaign was $40/lead? Oh, well. Let's try something new."

But when it's my own money, my own product---the urgency is significantly higher.

Skin in the game. It's real.

 

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[Raleighwood]

What's your sales conversion rate from facebook traffic?

How much is your course?

Sometimes you've got to spend $$$ to get some traction.

 

[JustKris]

Got my first sale!!! And I haven't even launched my new (and improved) set of ads---this was from the initial 2 day test.

So even with my horrendous CPL, it's still broke even.

Had some technical mishaps this week---funnel pages breaking, issues with Paypal. But those are all fixed now, as far as I can tell.

Now I'm ready to push some new ad sets with more refined targeting. The real goal is to get the CPL down to $2-3. Then we'll be in business.

 

[JustKris]

Crazy couple weeks. Evacuated out of our place due the wildfires getting a little too close for comfort. (Plus, our house smelled like a campfire even with the windows shut and the air purifiers on)

Lead cost is getting better. My best performing ad is running about $3.50 per lead. Some days it's been under $2, which is the real sweet spot.

It's been great getting feedback from the new students---clarifying topics, coming up with new modules, and being able to provide actionable game-plans for their launches.

Also have some good appointments set up for some big consulting clients this week.

What else...

Reading this thread was eye-opening: Not Fulfilled? Depressed? Maybe You Need An Alignment

Taking a more holistic look at how I spend my time and energy. I've been extremely out of alignment---not exercising, eating poorly, and not doing anything creative. It's definitely taken a toll.

 

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[JustKris]

Hustling. Doing lots of content creation, sales calls, ad campaigns. It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not hamstrung by other people's processes and systems.

I've had to turn down a couple of clients, which was a strange feeling. They were really interested in moving forward, but they just weren't a good fit. One guy wanted a million hits/day on a free app and I just said "Try SEO, influencers, and paid traffic. I don't think I can help you."

(Who gets into business to say no to money? Me, I guess.)

On the ones that are a good fit, it's really a matter of determining if they're a better fit for the online course or a consulting package.

Reading 80/20 Sales & Marketing by Perry Marshall. Absolutely terrific and has shifted my whole paradigm on where to focus my efforts. (I've been doing a ton of freeform, individualized videos for prospects and the results have been outstanding.)

A really cool part of the book is the Marketing DNA quiz you get as a free upgrade. Just got this email---

You are an Impromptu Orator - Wordsmith

Kris,

You were created for public speaking, moving the masses, leading people, shifting the culture, improvising and advocating grandiose ideas.

I don't know about "moving the masses", but "Impromptu Orator - Wordsmith" is by far the best description of my sales/marketing strengths. (Or maybe I'm just lazy and hate to prepare, hahaha)

Looks like that 20 years of improv comedy finally paid off.

 

[JustKris]

Hey Fastlaners,

Been a while since I've been on here. Just wanted to check in.

I've been consulting in addition to my Slowlane job. And I'm setting up a consulting arrangement with them. So in 3 weeks, I'll be fully location independent. (Which is great, since we are moving out of state.)

What's especially cool is that the consulting clients have not only paid well, but the work is really interesting and fun. I get to concentrate on my strengths (copywriting/content marketing) while getting rid of tedious corporate busywork.

Very thankful for all of the stories and lessons on this board and out there in the "real world". It's been a very eventful few months.

 

[JustKris]

After six weeks of running around like a madman, I finally have some time to hop on the forum. I missed reading all of your threads!

The TL;DR version of events:

My family and I moved cross-country. It's been an amazing change from the grind of LA. (Probably a lot like how MJ felt moving from Chicago to Arizona)

I feel like I can breathe here. Plus, our four bedroom house costs less than our crummy 2 bedroom apartment.

I'm consulting with a few different companies, one of whom is a former employer. I also have calls this week regarding another potential offer.

It's been a dramatic shift. Today I worked for a bit, ran errands, took my son to soccer, then worked on my novel. No hour-long commute, no boring meetings, no work drama.

I realize this is the decompression zone between the Slowlane and Fastlane existence. It's not the end game. You can't get rich earning a hundred bucks an hour, even if it is in your boxer shorts on a Monday evening.

But for me, it has been a necessary step. Just the mindset shift---not just intellectually knowing, but having a visceral understanding that it's possible to live life on your own terms---has been incredible.

Now it's time to build something that scales and leverages systems instead of my individual effort. No idea what that is yet. I'm just staying open and paying attention.

 

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[JustKris]

Time is flying! Quick check in:

Consulting is going pretty well. I signed a number of new clients in the last couple of weeks. And I had some really good sales calls in the past few days, so October is looking very promising.

I see how the Scale part of the CENTS equation is missing with consulting. I've moved from hourly to retainer-based contracts, which focus on the value delivered.

The problem is—all I own is my labor. I'm the one writing copy, launching ads, building automations, and creating campaigns. I could farm out some of it, of course. And I'll need to staff up pretty soon, if things continue at this rate.

But it's all just labor. Even when it's something really easy for me, like writing an ad. I'm like the analogy in MJ's book---the brother who lifts the stones to the pyramid himself. I don't have a machine yet.

I'm thinking of relaunching my course once I have some more case studies from these clients. Getting DEEP into the nitty-gritty of every single step.

The other options? Branch out, once things stabilize a bit with this work. E-commerce and SaaS come to mind. E-commerce because I can outsource the product creation, which is my biggest challenge. And I've spent the last several years marketing SaaS platforms, so I have a good handle on it.

At the end of the day, I'm still grateful to be able to work where/when I want, solve problems, and get paid more than my old Slowlane job.

But I know there is something more...

 

[JustKris]

Yo, TFF!

On track for the biggest month yet, almost double what I was making at my Slowlane job. Plus I got to finally fire my old employer (it was amicable).

Really enjoying UnrealCreative's thread about creating a productized service. I've been on the same tack, honing in on the 3-4 highly leveraged services that deliver the most impact.

One of my clients even pitched me to his investor (a larger tech company) to do some work for them, which is really neat.

Also hired my first VA (virtual assistant). It's been quite a relief to farm out some of the busywork and free up time.

Holding off on going into eComm or building a SaaS for now. Scaling my fledgling agency has been yielding great results and it seems silly to change course now.

Focusing on building real processes, concrete systems, that I can use as a guide for hiring employees and eventually taking myself out of the day-to-day of the business.

The goal? To be the ghost in the machine...the machine that I built.

 

[JustKris]

Quick update. October and November were really strong, sales-wise.

This month has been fairly slow. One of my bigger clients wanted to "take off" for December and restart in January. Still have a couple of smaller clients for this month.

And some new folks should be coming on in a week or so, but it's still frustrating.

Thankfully, I kept some cash in reserve from the previous months to still pay myself well for this month.

Doing some more "me" activities, like creative writing, to stay balanced.

 

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[JustKris]

Back in the swing of things. A couple of old clients are back on for Q1 2019 and just signed another person today, which is cool.

I've made a big goal of having 100k per month in gross revenue in one year.

Obviously, it would be impossible to deliver that much work myself, so I'll need to hire people once I sign on a couple more clients. I'm writing out EVERYTHING I do and building out checklists and processes, with the eventual goal of replacing myself.

I still use some contractors for little things (design for ads, Wordpress stuff), but I would like to have an account manager, Facebook ad manager, a copywriter, and an email marketing manager in the next 6-9 months.

In non-business news, I've had an eye-opening couple of weeks simply by tracking what I do each day with an iPhone app. Suddenly, my excuses of "not having enough time" to work out or write look ridiculous. Oh yeah, I've got 3 hours to watch television (and do half-assed work), but not 45 minutes to go to the gym? Sure.

Anyway, onward and upward!

 

[JustKris]

Been busy writing down all of my businesses processes, new as they are. So far, I've made good progress on these:

• Prospecting (including sales calls, proposals, and closing)
• Client onboarding

Eventually, every piece of the business will have checklists and a knowledge base for when I hire full-time employees to replace my day-to-day involvement. Project management, client check-ins, deliverable requirements, etc.

Already, I can see some bottlenecks in the process that can be solved with automation. Because I'm a one-man band (outside of some occasional contractors), I can get away with some inefficient activity with regards to client notes and projects. With 3-4 clients at a time, I can keep them all in my head. But scaling to 25-30 clients? No way.

Signed up for Agile CRM, which I really like so far.

I also think this is documentation will help with scope creep on projects. I've been all over the place with a couple of clients and it's definitely not the setup I want to have.

My ultimate goal is to have everyone on steady monthly retainers with clear, defined packages.

 

[Rabby]

Nice. Documenting your process is going to make it so much easier to shift work around. The checklists and other controls too. Subscribing!

 

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[BigRomeDawg]

I like how you said you want to be the ghost in the machine you built.

Good for you for focusing on processes and documentation. Total game changer when we started focusing on that. I would recommend it even to the solopreneur who doesn't want employees. It saves precious brain power.

 

[JustKris]

A lot of momentum in the last couple of months. After reading Built To Sell, which blew my mind almost as much as TMF , I realized that I not only needed to standardize my processes, but also my entire service offering.

Moving to a productized service, where I can outsource 90% (eventually 100%) of the day-to-day work. I'm still running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Got the documentation in a great place. Now it's just a matter of testing it out in real life with new hires. My goal is to make the instructions extremely clear and easy to follow, onboarding them the same way I would onboard a new client.

I've got 2 clients on a pilot program of the productized service and it's going well. Also doing a bit of other client work for the time being---I don't feel comfortable bringing on too many people to the new program until it's running smoothly.

I set a target launch date of 8/15 to have 2 new employees completely up and running. And a target of 09/30 to completely phase out all unrelated client work. (Man, it feels weird to turn down money.)

 

[JustKris]

Hired my first employee!

Having an actual human to pay has been a great kick in the a$$ for making sure these processes are perfect. I'm writing out EVERYTHING---I want them to have complete clarity on their day-to-day tasks.

I'm also going to build out templates and checklists (Asana maybe?) so that I have confirmation that everything is on schedule.

Ironically, I'm not terribly detail-oriented. So this will be a good challenge...and a great thing to get off my plate, hahaha.

 

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