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Welcome to Make More Money without Selling Your Soul with me Polly Lavarello, evergreen marketing expert. This podcast is for you if you are an online entrepreneur who is looking to simplify their business to scale.  On this podcast you can expect to hear regular talk about wealth, about selling and about wellbeing. Because I believe these three core fundamental things are pivotal to your growth moving forward.

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Hello and welcome to the 99th episode of Make More Money Without Selling Your Soul. 99 episodes. And you know, what’s super exciting is that we are back in the British entrepreneurial charts. We’ve also been featured in the Portugal entrepreneurial charts here and there across the last couple of years. So thank you, everyone in Portugal who’s been listening. Grateful for you, but grateful to all of you, grateful to those of you who are tuning in, feeling the momentum towards what next week’s a 100th episode will be.

But for today, I have decided to get on my soapbox and talk about if you are feeling like burning your business down. Listen to this first now. Why am I talking about this? This week? I’m talking about it because last week there just seemed to be a slew of statuses on Facebook because I’m connected to a lot of business mentors there. I don’t actually follow a lot of people in the similar field to me on Instagram, because I find it distracting. But on Facebook, literally, as I scrolled one after another, there was one announcement after another of people talking about either streamlining, simplifying or altogether walking away from various parts of the businesses that they were building. And there was so much of it, I couldn’t ignore it. Now I’m recording this in october 2024 but the truth is, you know, I’ve been in online business long enough that this is not my first rodeo seeing those kind of announcements. I see them all the time, and we see it in more subtle ways, when we see someone announcing a pivot or a new niche or a whole new way of doing business. Now, to a certain extent, people do that as a marketing strategy to re engage you. You know, if they feel like you know, people heard the same thing enough times, they’ll find a new way of announcing it, but the majority of times, people genuinely are reinventing themselves, what they stand for, their business, their offering. And it’s all part of the same thing. It’s all symptomatic of one tiny piece, and it comes back to the concept of when you believe more is more, it will never be enough.

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And I’m going to repeat myself here, because I really want this to land. When you believe more is more, you will never ever feel like you have enough now, what happens when you believe more is more? What does that actually look like? Okay, because I know I’m being a bit conceptual here. When you believe more is more, you will notice that your competitor has just published a book, and you’ll scurry to find a book mentor for yourself so you can get your book out there, so that nobody else is ahead of you on that or you’ll see that somebody else in your space is running a summit. Oh, all successful mentors or coaches or business owners run summits. I must run a summit too, that part of my business is ticking along a bit too easily. Let’s make life a little bit more difficult. But hey, if that’s going to get me closer to a seven figure business, let’s do it. Okay. Auntie Polly is in full force here today. But I really, really, really want to emphasize this piece, and I’m also not going to say this from, you know, a place of impunity, where I am absolutely perfect, and I have never been distracted, and I’ve never made declarations like I am going to be running a seven figure business I want to have 100k months. I’ve been guilty of it, too. If you get yourself in a room with a certain type of person, it can, you know, it can influence you. We’re human, right? Of course, we’re, you know, we are affected by the people who are around us, and we can find ourselves feeling like we want something just because we’re like, why not? You know, I’ve made the joke in the past forever the bride’s made, never the bride. In regards to the fact that I have supported so many people at this stage to get to.

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Seven figures in their business. But I haven’t actually done it for myself. And of course, there’s been a lot of kind of consideration around why is that like, what is it? What is the resistance in me holding myself back? But actually, I’ve learned to reframe that another way and recognize that actually, you know, many of the reasons why I’m not pushing myself to get to seven figures is that I know what’s enough. I know what makes me happy. I’m a very, very contented human being, and I don’t see the need to hit an arbitrary figure to be able to say I’m a seven figure business, if that means compromising on certain things that I hold dear to me. Now, it’s not to say that I don’t believe it’s possible for me to be a seven figure business, because I know currently, I’m building highly scalable foundations, which could very well take me there, but I am not going to sacrifice my sleep, my well being, my gym habits, my family time, my clients, delivery and my client experience, to be able to kind of stand in a room in a mastermind to say, Oh yeah, I’ve got a seven figure business. Because who is that actually for? Who is that for? Is that for them, or is that for me?

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If I believe financial security is in having a seven figure business. Is that true, or is that a story I’m telling myself? Is it security, if what I’ve built to get there is entirely unsustainable? Is that the truth? If the if I’ve seen seven figures as a destination and not as a way of working long term, because if you see it as a destination, and you’re not building your business in a way that can also support you long term, you’re going to get there and think this isn’t worth it. Okay? So this is what I’m speaking to when I say that wanting to burn your business down, constantly coming out with new names, constantly updating your bio on Instagram, is all symptomatic of not really knowing what you want and not understanding what is actually going to get you there, and probably not having your business blinkers on which I talk to my clients about all the time, and therefore getting distracted by what you see everyone else doing. To give a personal example, I am so desperate to write the cushy business book. I mean, I can see the cover already. I can think of the stories I want to share, but I also trust there’s a little bit more of this cushy business life I want to live before I actually have a full book in me. Like I don’t want to publish a book for the sake of publishing a book, because I know when I publish this book, this book is going to be amazing. It’s going to be a game changer. And I don’t want it just to be another of those books that’s gathering dust on someone’s shelves. I want it to be the book that people want to pass around to everyone else. And when my time is ready, my time will be ready, but I also know what I need to prioritize, to maintain my cushy business standards and to also create those strong foundations which I want to scale from. And ultimately, my life situation right now is that I am kind of redesigning my funnels, and I know that that requires patience, and I know that that’s not an overnight transformation. And I’m also up leveling my client delivery experience in terms of the sheer amount of resources and tools my clients can now get access to, which I’m refining and updating to ensure that the learner experience is as accessible and like just amazing as possible, basically, to make it industry leading experience, and that’s my priority right now.

And yes, I know I’d get more PR with a book. Yes, I know it would look good to be a published author. Yes, I know I’d get to probably stand on stages a bit sooner if I had a published book. But it’s simply not my priority right now, because I know what foundations are required to get to where I need to be. I know selling is the easiest part. Okay, so enough about me. Let’s get back to you, and how do we ensure that you are not going after things just because, just because somebody else said, Oh, it all gets easier at 10k months, bullshit. Or it all gets easier at 30k months. It’s a bit like raising children. You’ll still have your challenges. There’ll be just a different type of challenge at each different stage, you know? And of course, there are certain things that become easier, like the longer you’ve been in business, you have that delicious compound effect of, you know that long standing authority that has people reaching out to you, saying, I want to work with you. Want to work with you tomorrow. Where’s, where’s the link? Where do I sign up? I’m in. You know, that’s, that’s gorgeous, okay? And we get more and more of that the longer we’ve been in business. But one of the things that enables that to be a thing in business is banging the same freaking drum.

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For a long time and not making all these dramatic announcements all the time. Can you imagine going to, let’s say, your auntie’s house, and you go in there and oh my gosh, she’s painted the walls bright pink, gorgeous. She’s come in with some snazzy little kind of retro glasses, and, heck, she’s even got Invisalign. Invisalign is like the ultimate sign that you have made it in business, because you are spending money on your teeth. My friend, they’re gonna be on Instagram that often. Let’s make sure they are straight. Okay. She’s made it. And you’re like, Oh, cool. She’s this quirky. Made it in life person. Then you go back next month, and actually, she’s painted all the walls dark green, and she’s like, arming and chanting in a corner, and she’s asking you to all be very quiet and gentle and guard your nervous systems, you’ll be like, what’s happened to auntie? This is still kind of cool, but you’re having to wrap your head around it. And let’s say, a month later, she’s kind of, I don’t know, done some demure, pale pink walls. Everything is very cutesy. They’re kittens all over the room. I mean, it’ll be a fun experience, but you’ll be like, okay, is Auntie okay? Like, it’s kind of impressive that she can do all of this every single month, but does she need to be doing all of this? And what does this say about her and her, you know, her mental kind of security in herself, and her trust in herself, and the sense of stability I’m going to be having when I’m inside my aunt’s house, like, is she going to be decorating the walls all the time? Because I don’t want to be looking at that. Now this is a bit of a random analogy, but genuinely, this is what I see when I look at business owners who are continuously reinventing themselves, reinventing their office suites, reinventing all the pieces. The thing that gives me that sense of, you know what I’m going to jump in with that mentor, because I trust them, it’s staying power. And a lot of people think, oh, staying power. That sounds really boring. Why would I go work for myself if I always did the same thing? Well, that’s a whole other conversation, and I’m going to do a whole podcast episode about the freedom it creates for you when you do have that consistency piece that enables you to have fun in all the other areas of your life, that allows you to create levels of depth and experiences in your offers that are well beyond the kind of spit it out, let people experience it and then spit out the next thing approach to business. But let’s get more back to on track, to the whole piece of like, how do we ensure that you don’t become that erratic business owner who inadvertently is losing trust and therefore losing sales. So firstly, one of the really important things that you need to be aware of is, what, how much money do you actually want to be making? Now, one of the things I encourage my clients to do, I’m actually about to release a mini course on this inside cushy HQ, because it’s such an important piece. And by the way, guys, if you want free access to cushy HQ, you can sign up at any time. Not obviously there are paid elements that are locked, but there’s a hell of a lot of great resources in there. I want people to be able to go in there, get some really valuable learning under their belt and get a sense of what it would look like if you were ever to be a paid client in my world. But back to where we were. I want you to know what your enough number is. We get clear on that not just by thinking about what your current expenses are, but being really realistic about, you know, are you happy with your child’s schooling? Are you happy with, you know, the way the groceries you have right now?

Would you prefer to be spending more on groceries? Would you do you like the holidays you’re having right now? Would you prefer to have more holidays or in more exotic, far reached, far flung places like get really, really clear on what you want your life to look like and what the expenses are that are involved. Now most people, when they do this exercise, it doesn’t, doesn’t look like seven figures, doesn’t look anywhere close. For a lot of people I work with, that actually, like, you know what 20 to 30k or maybe 30 to 50k months is more than enough. Now, I also don’t want to shame you if you are on track to seven figures, because, like I say, I’ve got various clients who are on track to seven figures, and I’m totally here for that as well. I mean, I will tell you a little secret here is, when you design your business around your enough number, you actually attract seven figures a hell of a lot faster, even if you don’t mean to, because you’re building your business from a space of alignment, because you’re building your business from a place where you feel regulated and you feel good, and believe me, that is a magnet to more sales. That is a magnet to people wanting to know more and have more from you. So don’t know. Just because we’re starting here doesn’t mean there isn’t room for expansion on the other side, however, when we give ourselves that permission piece to recognize, actually, I am more than happy with, let’s say a 200k year, or a 300k year, you are immediately taking a heck of a lot of pressure off yourself that you were unnecessarily putting on yourself before and you get to be happy in your own skin, no longer looking outside of yourself for what you should be earning or what you should be doing, and instead with real clarity around what sum of money you need to be making. Now, of course, there is a practical piece around what you’re paying yourself isn’t necessarily what you need in terms of taxes and what you need in.

15:00

Terms of, you know, your business expenses, so obviously, take that into consideration too. Now, if you don’t have a VA right now, or you do have a VA, but you’d love an OBM, take into consideration what you would want to be earning to be able to pay them comfortably, pay your taxes comfortably, and all of those pieces as well. Now I know that should be obvious, but sometimes people forget, particularly those earlier on in business. Okay, so that’s number one. The next piece that’s so I don’t hear anyone talking about, is get clear on what’s your enough business model. Some people have got huge followings, and love the idea of a membership of 100 people. I personally couldn’t imagine anything worse. I much prefer group programs. And so get clear like learn about the different model business models. Learn about the pros and cons of online courses, learn about the pros and cons of group programs. Learn about the pros and cons of one to one. I actually have a fabulous free training on exactly that. So if you dig into pollylavarello.com you will find my free training where I talk exactly about the pros and cons of business models. So go check that out if you want access to it. I mean, God, like pollylavarello, by the way, it’s very quickly.com. Is very quickly becoming a treasure trove of resources to help you on your evergreen journey. So do check in there and do, yeah, go on that journey, because there’s a lot of new things cropping up there, and I don’t need to miss them. Okay? So that’s number two, your business model, like, you know, if you’re massively introverted, a membership of 100 people will feel soul sucking, I tell you. Okay, so be clear about who you are, who you love to work with. And equally, you know, if your ideal client hates the idea of being in a container with 100 people again, maybe a membership isn’t the ideal business model for you. So get clear on that. And then the final piece to avoid this becoming an enormously drawn out episode. Is, you know, what’s your enough offer?

Oh, I love this one. Again, I have a free resource that will help you with this. It’s called How to create your gold standard group program. It’s entirely free, but to give you an outline, you know, again, if you want to be banging that same drum, creating that sense of authority, being head over heels with the work you do. When someone comes to work with me, I don’t flinch, because I know the resources I have are above and beyond. I know the results I get from my clients are above and beyond. How do I know that, and how do I have that rock solid confidence in what I do and the programs I create because this curriculum, my friends, has been around since the end of 2021 and being continuously updated and improved since then, based on the feedback, based on the regular questions. So I know, and because so many people have been through it and had great results, I can stand behind it like the freaking Eiffel Tower stands in Paris. Okay, if you can’t do that with your offer, it’s probably because you’re chopping and changing too regularly. And if you’re being really honest with with yourself, you’re potentially a better salesperson than you are somebody who delivers good group program experiences. And when you know, when you know, you deliver good group program experiences, the sales just becomes like a side effect like that part becomes so easy. Okay, so get clear on these three pieces. What’s your enough number? How much money do you actually need to be making? Then get clear on what’s your enough business model. How do you actually love to work with your clients? You know, anything can work. It’s really important to say, of course, I’m a huge advocate of group programs, but any business model can work to pretty much any sum of money you desire to make. But you need to be clear about it first, otherwise you’ll just be like, Why is this not working? And then finally, like, you know what? What kind of positioning Can you hang your hat on? What do you want people to say? Oh, Polly, yeah, she’s the person you go to when you want to scale evergreen with ease when you want that cushy business. You know, I love the fact that people are owning cushy in my world, and that is again, because I found some rock solid positioning that I have positioned myself behind, which is more than evergreen. It’s a philosophy, it’s a commitment, it’s a lifestyle. Cool.

19:00

You can hear the enthusiasm I have around this, but you are working too hard to build a business that you want to burn down to the ground. When you treat success like a destination, you will always, always be seeking it. It will never, ever land in your lap. It comes back to that more is more thing. If you believe more is more, you will never have enough. When you trust that success gets to be an everyday feeling, you will create the offer. You will design the business model. You will be clear on your goals, and everything you do will be done with more momentum, more ease, more joy, and you will get to where you desire to be much faster. My proactive decision this year to not be scaling towards seven figures is the very same reason why in the next year or two, it’s going to be significantly easier for me to do that, but that’s because I gave myself the permission to not care.

20:00

About what anyone else in the industry may think about me not scaling year upon year, and instead having a year that breaks even with the same as what I made last year. Potentially at the moment, that’s where what we’re on track for. It may be high, because obviously there’s more sales to be where it will be higher, because there’s more sales to be made before between now and April. But at the same time, there was a moment where I had to switch off my brain to the outside world and recognize what do I need for my business to feel great, and for me, that meant taking some time to go inward to create an even more superior client experience that could hold more people before I could confidently run the funnel that would enable me to bring a lot more people into my world. So anyway, that is that my friends success is an everyday feeling. Lean into that. Okay, I want that for you, my cushy business friends. Now if you enjoyed today’s episode, if you’re like, oh my god, somebody in my world needs to hear this right now, please do share it with them. Please do rate it. I’m so delighted to be seeing my ratings going up week on week, my listenership going up week on week. And that is partly thanks to you, my friends. That’s down to you sharing these episodes, that’s down to you rating them, that’s down to you, you know, giving me a shout on Instagram honestly. You know, as a small business owner, I am always so freaking grateful, and it genuinely makes my heart so happy. This is my most favorite business activity, recording these episodes for you, and as the 100th episode is coming up next week, I would be delighted if you would jump into my DMs and tell me what you’d like that to be. I want it to be a celebration of this podcast. I want it to be a celebration of you my listeners. So yeah, jump into my DMs. Tell me what would you like that 100th episode to be. And well, I’ll be in your ears next week.