00:00

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.

00:44

Hello and welcome to make more money without selling your soul with myself Polly Lavarello, evergreen marketing expert and cushy business pioneer.

And today we’re talking about when is the right time to hire a business mentor. I’ve felt so relevant to talk about that this week. Because over the last week to two weeks, I’ve had various inquiries popping up in my DMs, from people who were keen to explore what it would look like to work together one to one. And one of the things I absolutely loved about these exchanges was the clarity these women all felt around what it was that they needed right now. And I could only wish that everyone had those levels of discernment and clarity around what it is that they need for their business. So I figured, let’s record a podcast where I can help you gain that level of clarity around what support is going to be best for you right now, where you’re at in your business, because I believe that group programs have their own benefits as does one to one mentorship. So what I would say when it comes to whether you need a one to one business mentor, or whether you need a group program depends on where you are at in your business. I believe when you’re in the earliest stages of building an online business, it’s actually incredibly powerful to be in a group program. For various reasons. One of the reasons why I think it’s really powerful is it connects you to other people who are on a similar journey to you, it really normalises a lot of the feelings that you could perhaps feel some shame around the wobbles and the fears that can come up when you recognise that other people who also appear to have their stuff together and worrying about the same thing. It can really normalise all of that, which can then make it much easier to progress and move forward. It’s also wonderful for collaborations, it’s wonderful for other opportunities.

So I think group programs really really serve their purpose, really early on in the business. And similarly, when you have a really clear sense of direction in terms of a particular area that you really want to nail in your business, for example, where I continue to support my clients inside skill with the power one, with turning that high ticket offer evergreen, that’s a really specific outcome which a group program is totally perfect for. And again, a really great opportunity to connect and collaborate with other like-minded, established and advanced entrepreneurs. However, when it comes to one to one, it can really serve a purpose, I would say, when you have a business that you feel you are too close to look at it with an objective I and perhaps you’re doing really well, you’ve got some kind of relatively consistent sales coming in. You love what you do your clients are getting amazing results. And perhaps you reach the stage of scaling where you’re like, do I need advertising? Should I be focusing on PR? Should I be instead focusing on my systems and hiring my dream team? Should I be writing that book?

Should I be creating a funnel the low ticket offer and making loads of money that way? Should I be funnelling people to my high-ticket offer? Should I be focusing exclusively on collaborations or automations, or AI, or live launching are evergreen or passive I mean, is your head hurting already mine is a little bit. And they’re just so many different directions you can go in, once you’ve kind of got your feet under the table of your new online business, that it can be really overwhelming. And of course, any PR account you follow will say the most obvious and sensible thing you should be doing right now is PR. And similarly if you follow anyone whose expertise is automations, there’ll be telling you, it’s never too soon to be focusing on automations. And I’m pretty confident if you followed somebody who supported with writing your first book, they’ll also say it’s never too soon to write your first book. But which one do you do? First? It’s very hard to see that with an objective. It is very hard to look at your time realistically and understand what kind of time do you have to invest in these kind of activities? And which one is really going to move the needle in your business and create that consistent revenue that you’re requiring? And ideally scalable revenue that you’d really like to be having? What order does it make sense to do all of these things?

And this is where a one to one business mentor can be amazing because they can look at what you already have. And they can look at where you want to be. And they can create that bespoke roadmap for you, which is going to help you get to where you want to be. Because what I can tell you as someone who supports people to create group programs is while of course, there’s a huge element of flexibility, according to whoever comes into the group program. Ultimately, one of the reasons why group programs are effective is the fact that the majority of it is kind of systemized in terms of the roadmap and the process that you’re inviting people through. Now, what’s powerful about that is that it’s tried and tested, and therefore tends to generate incredible results. What’s disempowering about that is there can be a hesitation or a reluctancy, or perhaps even a resistance to supporting clients to approach things from a different way.

Because it means essentially having to do significantly more work. So that’s where a group program isn’t necessarily the best fit. And where a business mentor or strategist can help you get clear on where you need to be focusing. Even if following on from working with that business strategist, you then go on to hire that ads manager or that book, doula or whoever it is, it’s helping you understand looking at your business through a more zoomed out lens, to understand what you need to be focusing on now to get you to where you need to be, and what order you can then be approaching those other elements to help continue to scale and maximise upon the success in your business. Another thing I’d say in terms of whether to hire a one to one mentor, or whether to choose a group program, is to think about whether there’s much more a group program can give you right now, do you want to be spending 10 to 12 months within a group container or with three sharp, intense kind of needle moving months with a strategist working one to one on your business, be more powerful, perhaps working with a strategist or business mentor, one to one costs two to three times the price of being in a program. However, if you only need a third of the time to create those results, you’re going to be spending the same amount working with a business mentor. So that’s something to consider if you feel like you’ve kind of done the group programs and you need that bespoke advice that will support you to move the needle in your business in a shorter timeframe. That’s where one to one can be incredibly powerful. And finally, perhaps it’s just that you’re busy CEO, and you haven’t really got the time for group calls, or perhaps is that you’re in the space that you kind of feel like you’re too advanced group programs, like one of the things I regularly found myself confronting when I was in group coaching programs was that I accidentally find myself being that second coach, who was similarly answering people’s questions and helping them through things.

Probably one of the things that really motivated me to actually start my own group programs was recognising how much I just ended up accidentally becoming that coach that people came to for advice, because ultimately, the person behind the program was on a very similar level to where I was at, in terms of the strategical knowledge if not sometimes slightly behind. And in that case, that’s why for me, it felt very potent and powerful to get one to one support. And to be very specific about what that one to one support look like. But it hasn’t always been. In fact, it rarely is strategical, it’s nearly always, around nervous system, around mindsets around energetics around various things I’ve kind of alternated to be honest with you probably jump between strategy, and then MINDSET STRATEGY, and then subconscious strategy. And then nervous system regulation. And it’s been a fine mix, I highly recommend it, I definitely haven’t found working with one person who claims to do both ever very effective, I find it much more powerful to have a potent dose of one or the other in a very concentrated form than to kind of dilute the two together and try and get a bit of both at the same time just doesn’t work for me.

So these are the things that I’d encourage you to consider. Like I say, if you feel too close to your business to understand what direction to go in next, then a business mentor is somebody who can be saving you months of time and really speed up where you want to be getting to. Similarly if you feel that you’ve done your time and group programs you’re fed up of being the accidental coach on calls, then it may be that a business mentor is a better fit for you, particularly if you’re on that weird icky stage of being too advanced for most group programs. But not being quite ready to be throwing like four to five grand a month at a mastermind, then a one to one mentor can be a really good transitional investment that supports you to get to the stage where it’s a no brainer to be spending four to five grand a month on a mastermind and you’re a busy CEO who just really hasn’t got the time to be doing group calls and showing up to loads of various things and instead just wants potent high efficiency can work around you support a business mentor can be a really good investment. The other thing I wanted to kind of allude to when it comes to hiring a one to one business mentor is obviously understanding the diff prints between what it is to hire a mentor and what it is to hire a coach, because they’re both very different. And what I tend to find is what business coaches and business mentors bring to the table can look very different to both very valuable by the way, I’m not by any means implying one is better than the other. I’d like to say I blend the two together to a certain extent.

But I would definitely lean more heavily into the side of business mentorship rather than coaching, although there is a smidgen of it, because ultimately, it’s impossible to support someone with strategy without having an awareness of energetics without having an awareness of nervous system regulation. Because ultimately, very often, where people’s strategies aren’t working for them, it’s very rarely ever about the strategy and more often about where they’re at subconsciously or energetically, or where their body perhaps is telling them, this isn’t safe. So it’s valuable to be able to bring a bit of both to the table. But what I would say in terms of how I support my clients is that where I consider myself more of a mentor than a coach is that rather than say to my client, what feels best for you, and we’re looking at strategies. Instead, I lean into my experience of having supported a very large number of clients at this stage, with Evergreen funnels, with book launches, with memberships with scaling with passive offers, with all the things and can actually lean into a variety of experiences and funnels to be able to say, I think this is the funnel that’s going to support you best with a goal that you have in mind currently. And that’s where perhaps I differ from my coach who instead would probably say, what feels good to you, what does it look like? All the kinds of things that help you essentially birth the ideas by yourself, I actually think both are really powerful, and where I can lean into questions that help my clients feel empowered, where they can solution seek themselves.

I do believe that’s a really, really important piece of being mentored because ultimately, the people I see who succeed most in business are those who are self LED. And if there’s the dynamic that one holds as a business mentor, or coach is really, really important to ensure that while yes, you’re supporting the solutions, ultimately, you’re never disempowering your client. So yeah, that was a slight tangent going off there. But yet understanding the difference between a coach and a mentor is really, really important. Because if there’s any complaint I regularly get, when people come to me and investigate working with me, is they’ll say things like, if you’re going to energetically gaslight me and tell me, I just need to feel happier, I don’t want to work with you, which they’re very happy to hear I do not do. Similarly, they may say things like, Oh, well, I really appreciate my coach trying to empower me, and telling me that it was almost I was fully committed and in love and my offer that it would sell really well. Ultimately, I still didn’t really feel I knew what strategy to be following to make that work, or if the thing I was doing was the right thing. And I didn’t get the sense that this person you were either.

So this is where coaching can sometimes leave people in a situation where it’s great. And at the same time, they’re still unsure as to what their strategy should be looking like where they should be focusing their efforts, what they should be cutting out what they should be doubling down on, where they should be safely and sensibly investing, and where they can save their money that questions like that can be harder to field, depending on how the person is a business coach versus a business mentor. So these are all things you need to think about when you’re hiring someone. And it’s really important to not be afraid to ask your business mentor or coach, how it is that they support their clients. And what that actually looks like. One of the things I often boil it down to myself is that I love supporting my clients with a having a strategy, be having systems that support that strategy in a way that feels really safe for them and expansive and spacious.

And finally, sales, how to attract those consistent sales. Because what I know to be true for my clients is they’re not attracting consistent sales, they won’t be able to scale. And if they’re not able to scale, they won’t be able to hire their success team. They won’t be able to be that CEO who has that spacious way of being who has that ability to take time off from their business. And the majority of people who come my way. Yes, they want to have a successful business. Yes, they want to create impact. Yes, they really love their clients and who they’re working for. And a lot of them have got into their online business in the first place. Because they wanted a business that was made for them. They wanted spaciousness that he wanted to be that cushy CEO. And the reality is for a lot of people when they start out in business, they go into that whole phase of the push before the Kirsch as I like to call it and they are frightened. They’re frightened of getting to a stage where they are pushing less and allowing that push to come in. And this is where hiring somebody who can help you recognise where you are unnecessarily perhaps overdoing it and where you can strategically be creating things from a more spacious place.

That’s when it becomes so much easier. So just to summarise, it’s ultimately about understanding, are you too close to your business to look at it with an objective eye? Is that stopping you from taking steps moving forward? In your business? Have you done your time and group programs? Are you fed up of being that additional coach that you never asked to be? And ready to have that one to one mentorship? Are you a busy CEO who quite frankly, just doesn’t have the time for group coaching calls? And you’d like to be less of a busy CEO? But it’s hard to make that happen when you haven’t got somebody supporting you to do that? Or is it that you’re that weird sticky point between group programs being Yeah, affordable, but inconvenience in terms of your time, and at the same time, not quite ready, like I say, to invest those large sums that those big, amazing masterminds, generally speaking, require. If you have all of those things going on, then a one to one business mentor can be the perfect fit for you. I do actually have one space at the moment. So if listening to everything I’ve shared today has you thinking I’m interested and you know what, Polly? I feel like it could be you, then do not be shy to click on the link below this episode. And you’ll be able to explore my website and see a way to contact me and we can talk more about that. But yeah, otherwise, aside from that, if it’s not me, I hope it’s helped you to select who would help you next. It’s really important to recognise, like I said that it’s not necessarily always a strategy you need. Sometimes it’s purely about leaning into the somatic work. So do Lean into what it is, you know, you need the most right now. You do have the answers in you and trust that you do.

So, next week, I’m going to be talking about mindset exercises that you can do to increase your sales. So there we have it, really looking forward to being in your ears next week. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please do not be afraid or shy to share it. I would love this to reach as many people as possible.  Thank you