← Woman of Influence
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- [00:00]
Julie Solomon
Marketing is not saying a thousand different things once, it's saying one thing a thousand times. And that is really what allows sustainability, and that is what allows growth.
- [00:11]
Teresa Heath Waring
Welcome to the Influencer Podcast. I'm your host, Julie Solomon. If you found yourself here, it means you are ready to unleash the powerful visionary that lives inside you, turning you into an authentic leader who creates influence, impact and change. Let's get started. Hello my friends and welcome back to another episode of the Influencer Podcast. And welcome to our summer show Flip series. If you are new here, let me tell you what this series is all about. Over the years, I have had the honor of being a guest on some incredible podcasts hosted by fellow thought leaders, experts, entrepreneurs. And some of those conversations have just been too good not to share with you. And that's where the summer show Flip came about. It is a curated series of my most powerful guest interviews, flipped right here on the Influencer podcast so that you can soak in the insight, the strategy and the transformation from all angles. And what is really special is that this gives you an opportunity to hear more from me. Obviously, on this podcast, if I am not doing solo episodes, I am interviewing all of these amazing guests. And so this is where it's kind of flipped. On the opposite side, I am being asked those questions and it's really fun. I have done this over the last couple of years, so you've probably heard of these flips before. But this week's flip is extra special. I am sharing a conversation that I had with a fellow online business expert, Teresa Heath Waring, on her podcast, your Dream Business. We're going to link those details down below if you want to check that out. But Teresa and I, we actually go.
- [01:53]
Julie Solomon
Back about a year or so.
- [01:54]
Teresa Heath Waring
We met through our mutual friend Amy, and we really enjoy diving into this episode. We dive into two things, things in particular that I believe are non negotiables for online business growth. That is messaging and that is the right audience. Because let's be real, if your message isn't clear, as we know, you're not going to be calling in the right people. You aren't going to essentially have the business that you are wanting to scale without that. And so in this conversation, I open up about what is actually working right now in my business, behind the scenes of my strategy, what I've had to let go of, and how I'm helping my clients adapt to a fast changing online world. I also share one of my favorite favorite low cost visibility tools that work really well and are working really well for us right now to apply to your business as well. So whether you are working on visibility or not, and you're just looking for more clarity or burnout, there's something in this episode for you. So with that, let's get started.
- [02:52]
C
There are two parts of an online business that can really make or break your success. Those two parts are the two things that I am talking to today's guest on the podcast about. Judy Solomon joins me and discusses the two main areas of messaging and audience that are crucial to growing an online business. I. E. If you have not got the right message, you are not attracting the right audience, which means you don't have a business. Not only does she give us some really valuable insight to this and how we can do this in our business to make sure that we are choosing the right messaging that is attracting the right people, which in turn will just make us more visible, but also she shares insights after being in the industry for over 10 years. We talk about how the industry's changed and what is working for her right now. And she talks us through one of the strategies that she's currently using, which I think you'll find so insightful. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the YOUR Dream Business podcast with your host as always Theresa Heath Waring. And today I am interviewing the the very lovely Julie Solomon. If you don't know Julie, she is a personal brand coach, a best selling author and a chart topping podcast host and she's empowered lives for over 15 years through her In Demand classes and Mastermind. With a background in public relations for some of the world's most influential music acts, thought leaders. Julie launched her online course and coaching mastermind in 2016, mentoring thousands of leaders and creatives around the world. Her passion is helping women turn message into movements and empowering entrepreneurs and creatives to successfully build, grow and scale their business. Recently named one of the top 100 leaders in influential marketing, Julie's work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Weekly, Business Insider, Success and People, among others. She is the author of a best selling book, get what yout Want, how to Go from Unseen to Unstoppable. Julie has been in this industry a long while, which was what made makes this conversation so fascinating because I really enjoyed picking her brains around the online business, what's working now, how it's changed over time and then we really get into some great great content around messaging, how to ensure that messaging talks to your perfect customer and how to use that messaging to get visible. And you will know if you've listened to the podcast a while that I am big on vis and making sure that we are all being as visible as possible because if people don't know we exist, they can't possibly become our customers. And this is what this whole conversation is about. So I think you're going to get so much good stuff from it. Also, one of the things I love about this episode is that we dig into what Julie's currently doing now in terms of promoting her own business and what strategies are working for her now.
- [05:46]
D
Okay, without further ado, here is the.
- [05:48]
C
Very amazing Julie Solomon.
- [05:50]
D
Julie, I am so excited to welcome you to the podcast.
- [05:53]
Julie Solomon
Teresa, thank you so much for having me. I feel like when we got to meet in person, so lucky to have you on my side of the pond. It was like this instant kind of connection. We. We vibed with our stories, our histories, our. A lot of stuff in our personal lives, our humor, like, all of it was just great. So it's so great to be here with you.
- [06:11]
D
It was. It was so, so lovely. It was a great evening. We met at Amy's and Julie amongst us. Other things that she's amazing at was are like aficionado for caviar tasting. So is that. Is that just a little hobby or is that something you're really good at or.
- [06:29]
Julie Solomon
Well, you wouldn't know. I mean, if you're actually. I don't know if you're seeing this or hearing this. Those that are tuning in, but if you're seeing this, you're probably like, she doesn't look like she would be a caviar nada with her hat on and her and her sweats. I've had sick kids at home, but it's something that I do love luxury and I love the finer things in life and I love things that make me feel fabulous and Parisian and that's one of those things. And I just make no bones about it. So. Yeah, I love caviar. I love the. The just. It's. They're really good on a baked potato. You've ever.
- [07:01]
D
I know doesn't quite seem like something they normally serve it with, but.
- [07:06]
Julie Solomon
Right. But it's really good. So, yeah, there's all different kinds of ways you can enjoy that. But no, I didn't grow up eating caviar, but I definitely have loved it in my adult life.
- [07:14]
D
I love it. But that was such a cool evening. It was really, really good fun. And like you said, it was so good to share stories and have conversations and. And I think doing that person is. There's just no way we'd have made the connection and on with an online thing. And obviously this is a personal thing anyway. But that's why, even though it was over in Nashville and I'm here in England, coming over and doing those sort of things are kind of non negotiables for me in terms of spending time with people. Because you just can't replace it, can you say?
- [07:41]
Julie Solomon
But any camp.
- [07:42]
D
So I. We have so much good stuff I want to talk about and so much that you're expert about. But the one thing I wanted to start us off with is the fact that you are like an OG in the online space. And that actually is quite rare. I would say there is probably a handful of people that I have known about for a really long time that have been in this space and I'm interested to see what you. What your take on it is now. Because obviously the online world, just to kind of put it in perspective of people, they're probably, you know, they want to be in it. People want the online business, they want their work from the beach, make money when you sleep, dream. Don't we all? How is that changed and what does it look like now?
- [08:26]
Julie Solomon
Yeah, so I, I started in this online industry in 2013, not with the business that I have now. I actually started as a blogger and what we would now call content creator. And that was my thing for about three years. I really focused in on how to monetize my content. So I would. My background is in pr, so I knew how to pitch. So I came into the online space pitching my heart away, like, can I pitch myself for a media opportunity? There wasn't even podcasts really back then. I mean, it was just like Amy and Dave Ramsey. So I wasn't pitching myself a podcast, but for media opportunities, contributing posts. That's really how I started to gain, if you would say, some sort of kind of visibility for my website. I would pitch myself for contributing articles and I would write them. I would also pitch myself for brand deals and brand partnerships and sponsorships. And so that's how I started in this industry. And then when that started to kind of take off, because I am really good at messaging and, and pitching. Pitching is just a form of, of messaging. I had people starting to ask me, like, how do I do this? And people would come to me because they would say, julie, I don't mean to sound rude, but you have like no following and you're monetizing your content better than I am and you're getting the. This media and you're getting these brands to pay you money about their products and services. How are you doing this? And so in 2016 is when I really kind of stepped more into the online education space and I created my first course which was teaching people how to pitch themselves to get brand deals and media opportunities because that's what I had been doing successfully for three years prior. And then from then I really kind of built the online education business that people now see. I started my podcast in 2017 after that course really took off. It became a seven figure course in a matter of a year. I started to create more courses, masterminds, higher ticket coaching programs and, and then that's evolved to now which is, you know, what year is it? 2025. Where, where are we? So I have been in this game for a long time and I've also been a part of the evolution of myself in this game and in this game in general. And so to answer your question about really what has changed? You know, I didn't really realize it at the time, but I feel like not a whole lot when you compare it to, I compare things to pre Covid and post Covid when it comes to this online industry. And when I really think about 2013-2020, a lot had changed in my business because of my growth. You know, I became a seven figure online education business. I had started a podcast. And so there were evolutions with the opportunities that we who were in this game early on had to get more reach, get more visibility, get out there more. But really during COVID is when we saw this just massive insurgents of everyone and their dog wanting to kind of dip their toes into this industry. And I think that's a beautiful thing because I believe that that shows that there's abundance in this industry. There's money to be made, there's collaboration to be made. People want to create an. The competition is, you want competition in an industry that, that shows that it's, it's a healthy market. You don't want to be in a dying industry. But with that did come challenges, you know, and the way that I kind of put it as simply as I can, and this is no judgment to anybody, I think this is just part of the evolution of an, of an industry that's so in its infancy. But I think during that Covid era, I think that a lot of people came into the industry and kind of got lost in the glossy glamour of, oh, laptop lifestyle. I can work from anywhere. Da da da da da. And that's really why they were interested in Being this industry, it wasn't that they were really interested in being a coach or being an online educator or creating curriculum and support that really help a client get from point A to point B. They just wanted this freedom of. Of kind of the shiny things that a lot of us, including myself, market. Right. Because that. That really is and can be one of the results of, you know, having an online business is that you do get to work from anywhere. But because of that, you had a lot of people that either had no business being coaches coming in and saying, I'm a coach now, because I took a course for three days that told me that I was. And so now I'm gonna start this coaching business or I'm gonna create a course or whatnot. And I think that you had a lot of people, consumers, if you will, that really had no business being consumers of the online industry that started to consume a lot of that. And so what happened is that it. It left a lot of people with like, a sour taste in their mouth, you know, a year or two after the COVID boom, so to speak, in the online space is the first time, Teresa. And I don't know if. If you recognize this either, because you've been doing this for a long time as well. It was the first time I ever heard people say, like, online coaching is a scam. It's a pyramid scheme. It doesn't work. These people don't care about you. They don't create anything of value. Because when I came into the industry in, you know, 2013 and 2016, and. And there were, you know, people like Amy and, you know, at the time, I remember, you know, Marie Forleo on YouTube and these women who had really built these incredible businesses that not only gave them maybe, quote unquote, a laptop lifestyle, but it. It gave them this ability to create impact for a community. And also, as I got into the industry and I really started to invest in the industry and learn it, because that meant that was important to me. I also realized that this laptop lifestyle just doesn't come like, you have to work really, really strategically, really smart and really hard, especially during those. Those growing phases. And I just think that because people either didn't want to do, didn't know how to do that, they kind of chalked the online coaching industry off as being this, you know, scam. And. And since then, I think for the last few years, what we've had to really bear witness to and really kind of be work through, even if I wasn't part of the whole scam Language, myself, me and my business, we had to kind of wait out for that dust to settle, so to speak, and really to. For the cream to rise to this to the top and kind of the, the universe if you of took care of maybe some of those people that had no business being here in the first place. And so cut to 2025. I think that hopefully, even though this year has started out come really weird, especially here in the States with the fires in Los Angeles and you know, we had an election several months ago and I mean, there's just been a lot of crazy stuff happening globally obviously. And here in the US it started a little unstable. But I just do. Teresa, I have this really good feeling about 2025 and this really good feeling about. I think that consumers of the online coaching space are very, very discerning with who they work with right now, as they should be. And I think that the market has. Getting has gotten more sophisticated, thank goodness, because we want that. And so it's, it means that coaches and online educators like you and myself, we have to be really flipping good at what we do and we have to really care about the results of our clients and we have to be able to be resilient and be adaptable and to meet clients where they're at, because it's not a one size fits all. And I think that for those listening, if you're in this space or want to get into this space, that's really the biggest gift that I could give you is to, to, to come in it, whether you're refining or whether this is your first time in the game, to really be honest with yourself about your intentions and to really be truthful with yourself about why you're here, who are you meant to serve, and how do you do that in the most impactful and effective way possible to really help that person get a transformation. And so I'm excited for that. I think the discernment's a great thing and I think that we're going to see just a beautiful evolution and strengthening of this industry as a whole.
- [16:53]
D
I mean, I feel like I could just go, thank you and goodbye. That was like so good. And I agree with everything you just said. I feel like you're right. People came into this industry just to be in the industry. Whereas the likes of you and I, we had an expertise and we started teaching or doing that expertise and then started going, actually, I can help more people. We love what we do. And I think that's the other thing. Like if you're just coming into this space just to be in it and make money. You're not probably going to make money quick enough to warrant the work that you're going to put it in. And that's the truth. Like, this thing takes time. And I think what would be interesting for me to hear and for other people to hear is I think also as well, people think that when you hit a certain level and people will look at you, you've got a really good following, you're really credible, but that's. That it becomes easy for you. I wish then you're going to say it's not like, because that's what people think happens. You get to a certain level and it's like, oh, no worries, you're fine. But I'm assuming you have seen big shifts and, and also the, the like optics are just different. Like, yes, someone is going, I would love to have her. I would love to have your following in your audience. However, your optics are different to my optics. So I'm assuming that you're not just that on the beach now, permanently enjoying yourself.
- [18:17]
Julie Solomon
No, I mean, it's like, I'm still looking around, being like, when, when, when does that laptop lifestyle start? Like, maybe it's too. It's because I'm a mom, and so, you know, I, I have a home and I'm more structured and I, I don't travel as If I was 21 years old with, you know, nothing but freedom on my tail. But, you know, yes, but it's like there, there are so many gifts that this industry has given me and, and freedoms that this has given me. And I would not. This is why I got into this industry, because I did not want to be chained to someone else telling me, yes or no, you can have a paycheck. But that also means that I have to be the one to create that paycheck, not just for me, but for my family, for my children, and really for the lifestyle that we have built. And it is a lot of work. But I think one of the things that really allows people to stand the test of time, if you will, in this industry is that differentiation piece. And I think one of the flaws that I see, because clients come to me, this is one of the things that I help them with when it comes to offer and messaging, refinement. They'll come to me and I'll ask them a really simple question, which is, what do you specialize in? And they can't answer it. And the reason is, is because they, they have a specialty, they have some kind of background or expertise, but because they've never really tapped in or tuned into it. What they did is that they came online, they took a course on how to create a course, then they created that course, and then they're like, oh, now I'm an expert in how a course, because I've created a course. So now I'm going to go and I'm going to teach people how to create a course. And it's like, that's not. That's not your expertise. Or, oh, I launched a podcast. So now I'm an expert at launching podcasts. And it's like, that's when we kind of get. That's when you start to blend in. That's when you don't stick out among the saturation, when you go and you learn something. And then you're like, because I've built a funnel, I'm now a funnel expert. It's like, no, what was your thing before you came into this space? And I think that that's, you know, I'm not special and I'm not, not better than anybody else. But the one key thing that I always stay true to, Teresa, is that before coming into the online space, I had 10 years of PR experience. I have a degree in journalism and marketing. I have a minor in communications. I am a messaging expert. That is what I know. That's what I live, that's what I breathe. If I wasn't in the online space, I would be somewhere doing something around marketing and messaging. And that's what makes me not better, but that's what makes me different, is because I have honed in on that. Now, again, I'm not the only person with a PR background either. But it's about really giving yourself the permission to own that, to own what it is that you specialize in. And that is, I think that is really the fastest way of being able to stick out among the saturation in this industry and really have that longevity that you were talking about. It's the ones that don't really give themselves permission to either figure out what that is or to just own and honor what that is. That tend to have a really hard time kind of spinning their wheels for years and years.
- [21:25]
D
And I can firsthand talk about this because that is what I've done. Like, as we, you know, said, I've been in this world for a long time. By eight years, however, my messaging was not clear, has changed and has changed again. And when I look at where my business is compared to some of the people that I either consult for I work with, Like, I help. Like, my business isn't where it should be because of that reason, because I came in from like, you. We're so similar. My background is marketing. 10 years. Got degree in it.
- [22:00]
C
Did my 10 years.
- [22:01]
D
Went started as a marketing person in this space, helping small businesses in marketing. I mean, could I get any more broad if I tried? And then because of my own personal journey, because of getting sober, I then started dabbling down the mindset thing. I certified as a coach. I put that into the thing when really I didn't need to and didn't want to. But obviously at the time, I needed it, like, personally, right? Needed that so much. So therefore, now I look at it, in hindsight, I'm like, well, that makes perfect sense. Why suddenly I was talking about mindset all the time? Because I was in such a place where I needed it. And then from, I guess last year, I spent the year going, though, what is it I am really flipping good at? Like, yes, I know I've done every type of marketing out there other than TV advertising, which I was adjacent to some colleagues at Land Rover that did that. But I have done everything else. But what am I really good at? And what I'm really flipping good at is launches and funnels and selling. Like, that whole, basically, you want to launch something online, you want to do a webinar, a bootcamp, a challenge or whatever. You want the funnel coming into it. And that's what people, when I consult, that's what they consult me for. And they'll go, can you look over my launch and tell me where we're going wrong? Like, that's my genius. Like, that's the stuff that I. I mean, I opt in for people's launches. Like, people watch Netflix. Like, it's embarrassing, you know, Like, I love this stuff.
- [23:25]
Julie Solomon
That's how you learn.
- [23:26]
D
Like, honestly, I am like, oh, look at that. Look what they did there. Like, it's embarrassing. But I didn't do. You know, I've been doing this for. I've been in business for 10 years, nearly 11 years. I've been in the online space for eight years, and I'm only just getting clear on it. So let's help people not make the mistake that I made.
- [23:45]
Julie Solomon
Well, and it's. I don't want to, like, I don't want to use the word mistake because I think it's part of a lot of people's journeys. I think where it can get. Get into being a mistake is when there's a subconscious belief that you're not worthy of the things that you want. And so you don't allow yourself to own your brilliance. You don't allow yourself to own that authority. You have this scarcity mindset that if you specialize in something and say this is what I do and this is the specific person that I do it for, you're somehow going to miss out on this windfall of money that if we're being honest for a lot of people, is not coming right now when you're being a generalist. So like, let's just go ahead and like allow ourselves to audaciously own our brilliance. Like that is really the first step because that when you give yourself permission to own it, that's when the clarity comes. It's not, it's not like I'm going to get clear and then I can own it. It's like, no, you've got to become that person and own that first. Then the clarity comes.
- [24:48]
Teresa Heath Waring
When I first launched my online coaching business, I was juggling everything like so many of us. Writing the content, managing the DMs, setting up the offers, doing all the backend funnels, figuring out how to make it all look and feel aligned not only from a brand perspective, but from a customer experience perspective. And honestly, it was so overwhelming. I remember thinking back at that time how I wish that I had had a business partner that could really support the backend while I focused on what I do best, which is messaging, strategy and serving my clients. But as we know, being able to do our best requires us to have a lot of systems and processes to support that. And that is why I love to recommend Shopify. Shopify powers millions of businesses globally, including coaches, service providers and creatives. Building personal brands and businesses with beautiful, ready to use templates and very smart AI tools that write product descriptions and headlines for you. Shopify makes it really easy to build a brand, a line storefront that actually sells so you can focus on what you do best. Turn your big business idea into.
- [26:01]
Julie Solomon
With.
- [26:01]
Teresa Heath Waring
Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.cominfluencer go to shopify.cominfluencer shopify.cominfluencer.
- [26:19]
E
You know when I started my business it wasn't because I wanted to be a full time marketer. I just wanted to do what I love and help people. But nobody tells you how much time marketing will take or how hard it can be to get it right. And that's why I'm so glad I found constant contact their all in one Platform makes it so easy to manage everything from emails to events to social all in one place. No more tech Overwhelm and their AI tools. It is a total game changer. I can create campaigns that look and sound just like me in seconds. Marketing used to feel like a full time job, but now it finally supports the work that I actually want to be doing and helps me expand on the marketing that I've already done. I'm so glad I found Constant Contact and cannot wait to help you get started. Get a free 30 day trial when you go to constant contact.com you can try constant contact free for 30 days@constant contact.com. that's constant contact.com.
- [27:24]
Julie Solomon
And so I think that that's, that's a big thing for people. And when I'm working with a lot of clients, for example, yesterday I was talking to a client of mine and she is 53 years old. She's been living with Hashimoto's for the last 15 years. She has her license in Pilates physical therapy. That's what she did. You know it before the online space she was a physical therapist that specialized in Pilates and, and she has this, this keen understanding in this methodology and this accreditation in Hashimoto's not only because she's lived with it, but she's actually gotten a lot of tools and, and accreditations to specialize in that. And she's, but she's over here talking about I can help women over 50 feel better and balance their hormones. And I'm like, what does that have anything to do with what it is that you specialize in? And then when we started breaking it down, that was the thing. She was like, well Julie, I guess I'm just afraid that if I, if I go all in on the Hashimoto's, that means that I, that all these other people that don't have Hashimoto's are not gonna think that I can help them. And I'm like, you can't control that. That does not have your name on it. What has your name on it is what you specialize in. And if other people drop in, then they drop in. You know, for example, I mostly market to women, but it doesn't mean that I won't have men coming into my programs, but I'm still gonna really get specialized in exactly who I'm talking to. And once you do that, this beautiful thing happens which is then consistency. Because marketing is not saying a thousand different things once, it's saying one thing a thousand times. And that is really what allows sustainability, and that is what allows growth. It is saying, even if nobody's listening today, even if only five people are listening, even if you think that you have said the same thing over and over again, and it's like beating a head against the wal, all that's what you want to do. It is about saying the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. That's what really allows people to understand your expertise. And so that's really, I think, the first step into owning that. And like, what you said, Teresa, which I think is so important in the evolution of Journey, is that we're going to have life experiences. Right. You know, whether that's someone going through sobriety, a divorce. You know, I, I had a, an instance that really catapulted me into the online space when my husband found out I was hiding $30,000 of credit card debt from him. And that really put me on a path of really getting clear of like, what are, what are my addictions? What am I running from? What am I hiding from? And so I had a lot of financial stuff that I had to work through. Now, it doesn't make me a financial expert, far from it, but it does allow me to infuse, like, what did that experience teach me? What did that experience help me step more into? And it does allow me to infuse a lot of that mindset work and that worthiness work around claiming what it is that we are brilliant at, even though I specialize in messaging. And so I think that's, that's really that first piece that people have to just start to unabashedly own. And, and that's where that mindset work comes in.
- [30:30]
D
And that is scary. Like you said, it's scary first because suddenly we think we're cutting off a huge percentage of the market. Like I said, a percentage of the market who aren't buying from us, by the way.
- [30:41]
Julie Solomon
Right. They're not buying from you anyway.
- [30:43]
D
If the money was rolling in, you wouldn't even be thinking about this. But, like, you instantly think you're going to put people off or you're, you know, you're going to stop that money coming through. I had the problem that I had built this beautiful community, and I do have a really lovely, loyal community base. And my concern was that I was saying to them, you're not my people anymore.
- [31:05]
Julie Solomon
And I, I'm leaving you. Yeah.
- [31:07]
D
Like, I don't want you because you're not this type of business. And I had to have, like. And I had really personal Conversations with them on calls and things. And I was basically saying, listen, you will see me outwardly talking about this because this is, you know, this is the audience I'm trying to attract because this is my zone of genius. This is where I can do this stuff in my sleep. However, it doesn't mean I don't want you in my world and it doesn't mean that I won't serve you. Well, like you said, it's not that you're not saying you'll never work with a man or you'll never work with someone who is a slightly different business. If they deem you the right person for them, then great, you're the right person for them. But it's that whole thing of having to go, now, I know you're already in my world, but I'm now not going to try attracting people like you. And there's nothing about you. And I'm really sorry about that. And then I think the final piece that you said, which is, is owning it and is saying, no, I'm really flipping good at this. Like, this is the bit I'm really, really good at. So let's say they've done the work and they have decided, okay, this is who I want to serve. This is where I really, you know, and like I said, some of those niches are so niche, but so they should be in some cases what is the next step for them in terms of kind of going out there and the messaging and, and I really want to get to the visibility bit because one of the things that everyone needs to focus on is that visibility piece and growing that audience. So how do we take, how do we take that step and get to the other side?
- [32:33]
Julie Solomon
Yeah, well, there's, there's one way that they kind of like meet where the visibility meets with really going micro and like instead of casting a wide net, it's about going narrow and deep into that specializing piece. And I always first love to say like, like, you know, let's say that you had, let's say that you had Hashimoto's. We'll just use that example because I brought it up earlier. Would you want to go to like the town practition or would you want to go to a doctor that specializes in Hashimoto's? Obviously we're going to pick the specialist and because of that that specialist gets to charge a premium. Yes, because they have spent years specializing in this one thing and guess what? That specialist is not sitting around being like, I don't have any clients, I'm not making any money. You don't have to be for everybody. You only have to be for your corner of the Internet. And there is more than enough to go around. And so if that's true, I also think about visibility and really the client journey as if you think about a diamond with all the different facets that it has, it doesn't. The client journey and really meeting someone where they are in your specialty doesn't mean that they have to identify with every facet of you or with every offer that you have, or with everything about your life. They don't even, a lot of times have to relate to you personally. They just have to see themselves in just one facet of that diamond and know that you can give them the transformation that they're looking for. And so I really like to focus on first, what do I specialize in? And then really getting clear of, you know, what is that sweet spot between the. This is the thing that I do really, really well. This is what I specialize in. And this is also the thing that I get clients, the results with the fastest. Like out of all the things that I have helped my clients with, when I really think back to my ideal clients, the ones that I enjoyed working with, the ones that didn't have that heavy energy, the ones that weren't asking me to discount my price, like the ones that came in, they did the work, they got the transformation, and it felt so light and good and in flow. What was that thing? What were we working on? What were we doing? What were the conversations that were being had? And then from there you can start to find the, the, the through line, the invisible thread, if you will, between what that was and what you're really good at. If you're someone that maybe you haven't had a lot of clients yet, I want you to think back in your life to what do people naturally come to you for that you can help them get the transformation the fastest when people lean on you, or maybe it's been in a past corporate experience or agency experience. What was that thing that you could do really, really well that people also got results from? And the reason why that results piece is so important is because that's what you can put a price tag on. So it's not just about what you do really well, because like you said earlier, Theresa, there's a lot of things that we could do well, but what do we do well that someone would find so much value in, so much so that they would be willing to pay us for that. And that's where you can get really clear on that piece. I think that that one is, is one that people can tend to get lost on. But if you give yourself the permission to do that and really hone in on that, that's when you can start, you know, focusing again on that visibility piece. And that's where it's not about meeting your client on every part of their journey necessarily. So I'll give you an example of. I had a similar situation that you did with, you know, I was just, I was outgrowing the former version of my business and I made that mean something about the people in my world at that time. And I made that mean, like, I must be bad or mean or this terrible person because I feel like I'm leaving them. But as I was able to do a little bit of work around that and really got honest with myself on like, no, like I am outgrowing a former version of myself, which I should want to do that as I evolve and grow as a business leader and as a human being. So if that's true, it's not that I'm leaving these people behind. They just didn't want to come or they can't come because it's not part of their path to come along. But I have got to continue to move forward and continue to evolve so I can really step into that next version of leadership and, you know, excellence that I am meant to do in this world. And so when I allowed myself to do that, I also started to get really clear on who my ideal client was. And this is when the visibility kind of started to become easier because I was clearing out the clutter, so to speak. So one of the things that I did when I decided to move forward and there may be people in my community that don't stay because I may not be the right fit for them anymore. I may not have the right offers for them. I have to just let. Let what happens gonna happen. But I started to get really honest with if. If they're not for me, who really is for me? And when I started to put myself in the position of my ideal client, I would ask myself, like, what is she doing when it comes to messaging, which, which is my specialization, what is she currently doing or not doing right now to get that support? And I started focusing on what is she not doing? Because sometimes it's hard to figure out, well, what are they doing right? How do I, how do I, how do I become more visible? How do I meet them, where they are from a marketing perspective? So what is she not doing well. The first thing that came to mind was like, if I'm really being honest with myself, my ideal client is not sitting around downloading freebies. Yeah, she's just not like, she's, she's past that because she's not a beginner. She's not just sitting around downloading checklists. And she might have done that several years ago, but she's not doing that anymore. So if that's true, then I am not going to create freebies anymore because it's going to be a waste of time and all it's going to do is just get people on my email list who are not my ideal clients. So I'm going to let that go by taking that off my plate. It allowed space and room to then fill in with the things that were actually going to be helpful for her. So if she's not creating downloadables, what is she doing or what else is she not doing? Well, she's also probably not attending a five day boot camp because why she ain't got the time. Like she's, she's trying to grow her business, she's trying to get clients. She doesn't have time for that. Yeah, okay, well then if that's the case. If that's the case. So I just started running through a list of like, what is she not doing? And then from that I started to see the gaps and the holes of like, well, if she's not doing this, then what is she probably doing? And what I discovered is if I'm being honest with myself, she's probably wanting to get some kind of high ticket but low, some kind of high value but low barrier. Right. High value but low ticket taste of what it's like to work with a specialist. Because this is not her first time around the block. She's been doing this for a few years. She's probably been burned by some, you know, courses or coaches. She's probably already tried everything by herself. She's not, as we said, she's not downloading the freebies, but she's willing to invest in herself. And I said, okay, so if this is true, if she's looking for a high value, like quick, tangible way to see what's possible for her, is that something that I could create? So instead of creating freebies, I started to create these low ticket but high value trainings that would give my ideal client a taste of what it was like to work with me, to work with my frameworks, work, work with my strategies. And really where I got the idea from, this is you can't really tell right now, but I am. I love my beauty and my skincare.
- [40:02]
D
And one of the things as I was thinking about all the things I'm going to say to you, like, apart from being a caviar connoisseur, you, you also have the best skin in the industry. I'm not kidding you. And it is as flawless and beautiful in real life because, you know, obviously we're, you know, thank God for seltzer sometimes.
- [40:19]
Julie Solomon
Yes.
- [40:19]
D
Like, honestly, when I met Julie, it literally is like, oh, my God.
- [40:23]
Julie Solomon
God.
- [40:24]
D
How does your skin look? That flipping good. It is amazing.
- [40:27]
Julie Solomon
All the peels, all the lasers, all the stuff. But one of the things that I know is that if I walked into, you know, Harrods and I wanted to buy a $250 face cream, the likelihood of me buying, because I don't know if it's going to work for my face, but if the woman or the man at the counter said, hey, well, why don't I give you like a $20 taster of this, you can take it home, see how it fits. Now, the likelihood of me getting an actual taste of the cream for $20 versus some free watered down version of it, yeah, I'm, I'm less likely to go back and buy the thing if I get some kind of low value, free, watered down version of it versus the actual, like a taste of the actual thing for 20, 30, 40 bucks. So I took that analogy and I started, started creating these lower ticket, but super high value, quick, tangible wins for my ideal clients. And that's when visibility started becoming easier. Not necessarily more, because it's not about quantity, but easier in the sense that the quality of people that were then able to see me because I supported clearing out the clutter first, allowed that to happen. So that's just one way that I do it with how I market my offers. Now, the other way, of course, is with pitching. Like I talked about at the beginning of this conversation, again, having the audacity to put yourself out there, to learn how to effectively articulate very simply, very simply, who you are, what you do, who you serve, and why that matters. It's really just those four things. And if you can clearly articulate that over and over and over again, you can pitch yourself for any kind of opportunity, whether that's speaking on a stage or getting on a podcast, or being able to network in the rooms that you're trying to get into. And so I really kind of leveraged my expertise in messaging and pitching along with really just getting honest with myself about the, about where my ideal client is today and the things that she's investing her time in versus the thing that she's not. It allowed the visibility to come easier for me instead of me feeling like I was having to push the visibility boulder up a hill.
- [42:36]
D
This again, some really cool stuff there because you're right, I think understanding where your customer is and, and people who are ready to invest in you, like you said, are very unlikely to download a PDF or something because they've done that, they've been there, they've seen it, they are past it. So I've got a couple of questions actually about this strategy, which I think is a great strategy because one, you and I, like lots of people that we know who have been essentially a while, really do care and really do want to do a good job and therefore would struggle to not give something that isn't brilliant away anyway. How do you balance the giving a really high value thing against a low cost? Because when you work with someone. So for instance, if someone wants to work with you, do you still offer one to one?
- [43:25]
Julie Solomon
I do, yeah. At a high level I'll do VIP strategy sessions where we'll work on messaging and then we'll work on this tiny offer flow that I'm sharing and kind of how that works within their journey.
- [43:37]
D
So what would you roughly charge for 1 to 1?
- [43:39]
Julie Solomon
1 to 1 is anywhere between 15 to 20k depending on how much heavy lifting is done on my part.
- [43:45]
D
And then what would you charge for one of these low cost, high value trainings?
- [43:49]
Julie Solomon
Anywhere from 29 to $49. And Teresa, I, I have had women that will go and buy my $29 thing and then slide into my DMs and be like, how do I work with you one on one? And that $29 sale becomes a $20,000 high ticket offer or a thousand dollars mastermind experience.
- [44:07]
D
See, this is what I was going to ask because there is this thing of like, funnily enough, on a coaching call I was doing earlier today, had exactly the same conversation of like, basically someone was giving away an element of one to one in a low cost thing and then wanting to charge a lot one to one higher up. And it's like, hang on, I can't have one to one on both because that doesn't make sense. Like why would it take the high thing? So first off, let me just clarify, are the trainings like evergreen trainings that you're delivering or are they live evergreen?
- [44:36]
Julie Solomon
So it's just one, it's my top of funnel, it's, it's a $29 evergreen training that leads into a signature program that I have that's normally $2,000 when we live launch it, but in the Evergreen it's $1,000 off for 9.99.
- [44:50]
D
Yeah.
- [44:51]
Julie Solomon
So that $29 low ticket is really a taste of a piece of my signature program. Where most people get this wrong is that they are afraid to offer something of high value in a low ticket thing or quote unquote for free because they're afraid that that's going to take away from the signature offer. So what they end up doing is that they either end up offering something that's watered down and not valuable at all, or they just kind of brain dump a lot of stuff, a lot of theory and a lot of really heavy things onto people in like a $29 offer. And what happens in that case is that your ideal client at that point, even if they're investing in the 29, 29 tiny offer, for lack of a better phrase, if it's too much theory or if it's just too much stuff, it's not digestible enough, it's not quick win enough for them to say, oh my gosh, this works. This person knows what she's talking about. And if I got this much value for 29, I can imagine what it's like working with her in her signature program or working with her in a high level. So there's a lot of refinement, offer refinement and offer positioning that needs to take place with the tiny offer. And this doesn't matter if, if, if that then leads to a signature program, if it leads to booking a call for something, if it leads to an application, it doesn't matter what, what, what that journey is. But you've got to make sure that this is super digest, digestible and a tangible win cannot be theory. People don't. I get my ideal client. She's theoried out. She does not need more theory, not need more strategy. He needs implementation of how she can then take this. And so that's really where the magic happens. In a low ticket offer like this, you're really giving. And the other thing too is that depending on what it leads to, you can actually take a piece out of that thing and that becomes the tiny offer. So you're not having to create anything from scratch. I believe in, you know, having your curriculum and your methodologies work harder for you than you do for them. So for my tiny offer, I actually took out of all the messaging Frameworks that I had. I just took one that I knew was really impactful, really digestible. Just one, not 10, but just one. And that's what I give people in this training they get lifetime access to, lasts about 90 minutes. And then I do offer them the signature program at the end and they can either say yes to that or no to that. And then from there, if they say yes to that, then they're in the signature program. We have opportunities to then, you know, continue the journey and, and sell them into other things after that. If they say no to that, we ask them why, you know, we get more information and then we can either sell them into other opportunities that we have. But, but it, it that tiny offer is my top of funnel because it focuses on the one thing that I specialize, which is messaging. So I know it's calling in someone who is looking to refine their messaging. And it is a very low ticket, low barrier of entry to understand the high value that I provide.
- [47:59]
D
And I think again, so much good stuff there. And I think one of the things which you're so right, you've given them one, one good thing that works. I think one of the messages that I've had for a really long time about lead magnets and about. And I am a big advocate of them and they work in lots of different places. But one of the things I'm a big advocate about is don't try and give them like 500 ways to do something. If there's three really good ways, just give them those three really good ways. Yeah, I don't need a list of 25 different things to, to give me one solution. I just know best thing that you can do and then that'll help me and I can move on. But again, I think we do a lot of work around, you know, we. I talk a lot about, you know, your ideal customer and you know, who they are in the transformation that you're offering them. But I think you're so right in terms of, I love that question, you know, what are they? What is she doing or not doing right now? Like and, and ask. And starting with the what is she not doing? Think in terms of finding those gaps is a really good way to go. Okay, she's not downloading stuff, she's not sitting on boot camp. She's not doing that, you know, and therefore. Okay, so what would she want if I was her? Like, if I was that person, what could I provide her that will give her value? And like you said, and I have to say I did Something similar, ish, where I actually did a full day workshop. Four day. It wasn't four days, it was four sessions over four days. It was like an hour each day on how to do a webinar webinar and it was the live webinar. So when you are literally on the webinar, slide by slide by slide by slide, what do you say? How do you say it? When do you introduce the offer?
- [49:37]
Julie Solomon
Like so valuable because people don't know.
- [49:39]
D
No, right. And, and there is a science behind it. Like in the amount of webinars I watch, I'm like, you know, no, no one's gonna buy that because you've not even introduced it. And anyway, so I decided to do this workshop low cost, it was like $47 or something like that. I actually delivered it live because I hadn't done it before. And I'd given them a couple of extras. Like I gave them a swipe file of how to get people to turn up live. And I gave them a, an actual presentation template in Adobe and in Canva to then plug and play where basically they could just add in their bits. And I did that. And at the end of it I offered a new program that wasn't ready, hadn't been sorted, hadn't even got a sales page and I was debating whether to even do it. So, so I hadn't led up to it, I hadn't done anything, just decided last minute, you know what, I'm going to try and offer this. And I offered it and I got a 25% conversion, which is freaking unbelievable. Like, but exactly what you said. The course is called Grow Launch Sal, and it's all about growing your audience, doing the launch event and then going into like the sales page, the order bumps, the cross sells, all that sort of stuff, but basically the online stuff. And for me, like I said to them, here is one little bit. The webinar, the when the webinar, you're.
- [50:58]
Julie Solomon
Not giving them the upsell strategy, the cross sell strategy, the funnel, you're not giving them all that. It's too much.
- [51:03]
D
I'm going to tell you how to do the webinar and if you, when you walk away from these training that you've paid for, you will know start to finish how to do that webinar. On the live webinar, however, there is.
- [51:13]
C
A whole host of stuff leading up.
- [51:14]
D
To it, a whole host of stuff leading at the end of it and that's what I'll cover in the course. So I gave them really good value that they couldn't deny it was like literally gave them everything they needed in the kitchen sink and then said, and if you want help with all these other things around it, I can do that. And that converted really, really well for me. It. And it felt really good because it felt like I know I've. And don't get me wrong, I do still do webinars. I haven't done a bootcamp or a challenge for a while, but I make sure they're good as well. Like, and I think that's a thing, you know, anything that we're going to do, we're not going to waste someone's time. But being able to go, oh no, here's everything. Because I'd have tried to give it them anyway because I'm a nightmare. I think it's such a cool strategy. Out of interesting, out of interesting note, out of interest, are you running ads to that?
- [52:05]
Julie Solomon
Absolutely.
- [52:06]
D
Yeah. So you're running ads getting cold. Some cold, some warm audience in.
- [52:11]
Julie Solomon
Yes, a million percent. And I, I'm, I mean I've been running ads since 2018. I'm a big believer in ads. I'm not, I don't specialize in ads. I have an agency that, from the UK actually. They're wonderful that, that manage my ads. But I will say, you know, that's another thing too is you know, when people come to my world, especially some of my higher level clients and you know, we just start kind of working the numbers game and, and you're wondering why you can't grow, you know, and so it's like we gotta really kind of look at the machine. Not that everybody needs to run ads, but I think that if you're someone who has, you know, your standard webinar to signature course model, Facebook ads is going to be the way to, to help support you in increasing the visibility and increasing those sales. The thing with Facebook ads though, and I say this all the time, is that they're just an amplifier. They're going to amplify what's already there. So if what's already there is not working, if your messaging isn't dialed in, if the funnel isn't tiled in, if the positioning is all over the place, then it's just going to amplify what's broken. So it's really about launching organically a few times. I'm a big believer in that. My signature program, for example, the brand accelerator, I launched it a beta and then I launched it three times and then I put it on Evergreen and I ran ads behind it on Evergreen. But I gave myself those launches to work out the kinks and to fine tune the messaging and. And then that's when I knew it was ready. And so now we have that running on ads and that's the only thing that we drive ads to. I don't drive ads to any high ticket just because I use my organic audience and my email list for that. But that is our biggest ad driver.
- [53:47]
D
Love it. Love it. So good. Julie, I could honestly I said to you like 30, 40 minutes we've gone over, so I apologize. Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much for your time today.
- [54:00]
Julie Solomon
Thank you for having me. As always, thank you so much for joining me today and every week here on the Influencer Podcast. If you're wanting to dive deeper into.
- [54:11]
Teresa Heath Waring
The topics and discussions that we have here, I would encourage you to head over to juliesolomon.net and sign up for my weekly newsletter.
- [54:20]
Julie Solomon
It is in our amazing newsletter community that we are able to to really.
- [54:24]
Teresa Heath Waring
Support you on a much larger scale. And I love to do a ton of amazing things that I send inside your inbox every single week. So just head over to juliesolomon.net, you'll.
- [54:34]
Julie Solomon
See a little spot there that you.
- [54:35]
Teresa Heath Waring
Can add your information in and you.
- [54:37]
Julie Solomon
Will get on the list and start.
- [54:38]
Teresa Heath Waring
Receiving all of that good stuff.