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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 make more money without selling your soul with myself. Polly Lavarello, everyday sales expert and cushy business pioneer.

and today we are talking about the sales activities inside your business that you need to be doing if you want to attract everyday sales. I just used the word need there. I don’t like using the word need you want to be doing.

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There’s nothing you need to be doing ever in business. FYI, anyway, let’s get into this now. I think it’s first. It’s really important to talk about very briefly, because I know I touched on this in the last episode, that there is a difference between marketing and selling. Marketing is the kind of stuff we can do passively. We can schedule it. We don’t actually need to have any conversations with anyone while selling does actually involve looking at data, having conversations, making in person invitations, and being proactive about creating relationships with leads. Okay? Because where do sales come from? Relationships and marketing can only you know marketing will attract people into our world. It will certainly nurture people. It will make them feel excited, and there will be some who won’t need any more to say. How do I work with you? Here’s my card details. However, as I touched on in my last episode, where we are not also being proactive, and when I say we being proactive, I am catering this episode to you, whether you are a solopreneur or whether you have a team. Ultimately, it either needs to be yourself. And if you interested in sales, by the way, you must listen to the episode where I had the guest on Charlie Charlie Day, she was talking about sales, and we talked about the importance of, you know, if you don’t have a team. If you are not a company, if you’re in a company, you would have a marketing department and a sales department. You would never have a small business or a company and go, Oh no, we’re just going to have one or the other. You would just win. You will always have both.

And so when you are a solopreneur, you need to understand that you cannot simply just roll with the one that feels most comfortable to you. And honestly, in my experience in online business, that’s what I witness all the time. I witness as a person who’s like, oh my god, yeah, get me in a room with someone. I will close that deal. I will shut that baby down, or whatever. You could tell I’m not that person, but you know that they will be really, really confident about their ability to make a sale once they’re in a room and having a conversation with someone or on a zoom call, but they hate marketing, or the person me, with my 15 years or more than that of digital marketing experience, who loves marketing can pretty much write a really compelling piece of copy in her sleep, but doesn’t really enjoy sales calls, and that actually is one of my biggest motivations to be good at marketing. Because what I find is the better you are at marketing, the less I mean, I don’t even say convincing. There’s no convincing required on a sales call when your marketing is really good, where your marketing is not really good, where it’s not clear what problem you solve where it’s not clear who you work with, your sales calls will feel a million times heavier. So in the ideal world, you want to have potent messaging that it’s so clear who you work with, who you don’t work with, so that you are never on a sales call where you’re like, how the heck did this person think this was a good idea, right? Like, and we all have that. I mean, I say we all have that. I certainly had that really early on when I started my own online business, because I didn’t quite yet have the coconuts to be able to be really clear about who I love to work with and who I didn’t. So selling is really, really important. And while I myself will admit to potentially being a bit lazy with proactive sales, because I enjoy marketing, and marketing feels a lot easier, there is no denying that when I am proactive about selling, I probably make three to four times the sales. So it’s really.

05:00

Really important. So similar to the last episode where I talked about the marketing you need to do to attract everyday sales, today I’m going to be sharing with you the three things you need to be doing. No, sorry, want to be doing to attract clients every day. Okay, so one of them I’m going to start with number one, I’m going to start with the one that people are most uncomfortable about, I’m not even just follow up. Actually, I was gonna start with following up in terms of, you know, if you’ve had a sales conversation, if somebody has downloaded your freebie, you know, follow up with them. But it’s much more than that. It’s actually about, you know, if you’ve been at a networking event on the train on the way home, you know, finding everyone who’s been tagged, finding everyone you could see, who’s attended, and simply reaching out to them, going, hey, you know, sorry I didn’t get to know if you didn’t get to say hi to I’m sorry I didn’t get say hi to you at the event this weekend. How did you find it? And just open up the conversation. You guys immediately have something in common that you attended event, you know? And if they’ve shared a story, or if they’ve shared something from the event, you can simply go, Oh my God. I really loved what she had to say about this. What did you find the most helpful?

And you know, they may choose to ignore you. I never, ever, ever chase but I will share openers. I think the really important piece here with people I’ve worked with over the years. I’ve got some people who in my world who have been very happy to kind of not do the spray and pray approach, but to kind of play with strategies like engaging with people on social media, people who they think could be a good match, and then starting conversations from there. I’ve got others who find that deeply uncomfortable, and instead, would prefer to create a many chat prompt, sharing, you know, a word underneath the post, because they want your freebie, and then continuing a conversation in the DMS over there, continuing, you know, so that that person has made that initial outreach. But the most important piece here, as I say to all of my clients, is don’t let your resistance to what you don’t like get in the way of finding what you do feel comfortable with, because ultimately, social media is so busy, your post is there and then it’s gone. The thing that will stay with your ideal client, you know, and your leads, I hate to use that word. I much prefer to use ideal client, but the thing that will stay with them is their relationship with you. There are so many people in my world that you know leads and ex clients or current clients with whom I nurture those relationships, so that the moment they think I really want to attend a mastermind day, I really want to go on a business retreat, I think I want to join another mastermind, they reach out to me and say, When are you doing this next if there’s not something already immediately there and obvious for them to jump into, which most of the time they do, but that is because I maintain relationships now that for me comes really naturally, because I really I care about the people in my world. I always say to my clients, once a client, always a client. You know, I always invested in them and their growth and how they’re doing. And I’m naturally an inquisitive, sociable person, but this is where I talk about, you know, when it comes to growing a business, we need to be consistent. If you do something that feels out of alignment, that feels really gross, you won’t do it at all. But I do also really like Charlie day’s approach to, you know, getting comfortable with hearing, no, I’m not going to go too much into it in this kind of episode, because if you do want to learn more about selling. I would definitely recommend going back to that episode with Charlie, because she’s definitely a million times more qualified talking about selling than I do.

But I will share something from my own personal experience when I have a new program coming up, like next January, I’ll be running my double your leads, double your sales accelerator. That’s a 90 day program I did before I started sharing about it in my emails, reach out to people who’d previously bought my low ticket offer, who’d recently downloaded my freebie, people who’d inquired about working with me but hadn’t converted, and anyone who I just knew of in my world who I thought, I think this is a really good fit for and simply just opened The conversation and said, Hey, I’ve got something new that I’m working on, like that, I’m launching in a new year. I feel like, from the conversation we had about and I would be specific about what they shared, you know, like our conversation, where you said you’re working on this, but you’re not quite ready for that, but you know, you need this. Well, I think this could be the thing. Would you like to hear more about it? I did not kind of cold pitch them. I didn’t just like slap them in the face with it. I simply alluded. I’m always using the word alluded. I simply spoke to something that they shared with me to show that I’m interested in them. I’m not just randomly reaching out to people and then invited them to learn more about this new thing. And some people ignored me. Some people said, Oh, I’ve just joined another mastermind. Otherwise, I’d love to hear more. And a few people said, Oh my gosh, yes, tell me more. And last week, my calendar was fully booked with sales calls off the back of me simply reaching out to people and asking them like that. And there’s a little secret between you and I the.

10:00

The only coaches I’ve invested in over the last two, three years are people who reached out to me with a similar invitation, because I am lazy and I am overwhelmed by all the different types of invitations out there. And there’s only really a few times, maybe once or twice in a year, where I’ll maybe be proactively looking for something, and usually it’s because my existing contract is coming to an end and I’m thinking about who’s the person who’s going to be able to best support me with my next level up? And it’s rarely because I’ve seen a bit of marketing that day, and more often, because someone can show have a conversation with me and show a level of interest and attention to detail to me and my particular predicament, and share with me that they have a solution they can tailor to what it is that I’m seeking right now and that I value my kind of professional relationship with them enough that I think you seem trustworthy. You seem to be walking the talk. And yeah, the familiarity part of me, the part that’s familiar with them, so therefore feel safe, and the lazy part of me is like, well, I could either sign up to this or I could spend hours trying to find someone is going to go for the familiar. Now I’m sharing this not just because this is my story, but I’m wondering if you’re listening to this, nodding along, thinking, yeah, actually, that’s similar to me too. So this is why people who’ve got selling as a core part of their strategy, really succeed and do really, really well. It’s because they’re having conversations, they’re creating those relationships. They’re capitalizing on the familiarity that breeds, and they’re able to tailor their offer to the person they’re speaking to. Rather than inviting people to slip slide and shape shift into what they’re inviting them into they are helping the person they’re speaking to understand why what they’re offering is the perfect fit for them in a language that makes sense to them, speaking to the priorities that they have. It’s really, really powerful.

So that’s why when somebody comments on one of your posts, that’s why when someone downloads one of your freebies, that’s why, when someone responds to one of your polls and your stories and goes, yes, my Christmas tree is up, it’s really worth pausing and taking a moment to share an intentional response, not just Oh, thanks for commenting or ignoring the poll response going, Yeah, great, Scott, tree up. Take the time to develop those relationships, because those are the same relationships which make it easy in the future to come back and be like, Hey, I saw in one of your recent stories or on your recent posts that you’re doing this right now, I feel like this could be a really beautiful compliment. Now, I know this doesn’t work for everyone, so I’m going to speak to two, two other points, but the really important piece here is not just about following up, but warm outreach, finding the kind of comfortable, good way to be sliding into people’s DMS. I hate the phrase sliding into DMS, but, you know, don’t wait for leads to magically land in your app. Proactively connect with potential clients every day, a simple thing you can do. So one of the things I did, for example, with my program, I’m gonna admit I find this stuff uncomfortable, right? I have a team member who supports me with it to a certain extent, just, you know, creates the opener. But beyond that, you know, she was off recently to have a baby, if you’re listening. Em, congratulations.

13:14

And I took over, and I set myself a challenge, and I was like, let’s just write a list of 30 people I think would be interested. The first 10 came easy. The second 10 felt a little bit harder. The other 10 were like, oh, would they? And by doing that, my sales calls were like, fully booked for that week. If I’d just gone with what was comfortable, I would have maybe reached out to five of the 10 people who are obvious and then put it off to the next week. So I encourage you to set yourself a challenge. You know, another thing I did was like, I wonder what would happen if I simply spent half an hour each business day just focusing on this. So that’s something I’m planning on doing in the beginning of next year to see what difference it makes. But I mean, and even now, to be honest with you. So, yeah, do not forget, you know, like, I say sales come from relationships. Social media is increasingly saturated, overwhelming, busy. So the more you can do to actually deepen your relationships with your potential leads, that’s really, really going to help you. The second piece is, for those people who are hovering in your world and thinking, Hmm, this chick seems interesting, make it really easy for them by giving them a little taste. You know, sales don’t always have to come from one big leap. They can come from small steps. Every day people give people an easy, low risk way to engage with you. So in the last episode I shared, I talked about your marketing, making daily invitations. And I want to go a bit deeper on that, because as I shared, as I wrapped up the last episode, I felt like I hadn’t given enough examples of that. And honestly, there’s so much we could dive into, but let’s just share three really simple things you can do, which you may already be doing, but not being proactive enough about regularly making invitations. So my invitation to you is to sit down with your social scheduler, or even look at your stories and.

15:00

And commit to on a Tuesday, offering some quick 15 minute consults and saying I’ve got three available. Who wants them? Here’s the link. Commit to doing it weekly. You don’t have to say, I’ve only got three available. You can make the invitation however you desire. Chances are you will have a limit, because you’re a human being with only so much time. So I would capitalize on the fact that there is a limit, and I would speak to that limit, also to avoid anyone being disappointed when they go, Oh, you’ve got none left. But like, sorry, I only had three. They’re gone. But I will be making another invitation next week if you’re interested, or you can book in already for next week. Secondly, so one invite is the mini consult. The second one is your free resource. The amount of time people say to me, no one’s downloading my lead magnet. I’m like, How often do you speak about it or speak about your lead magnet. Find different ways to talk about why it’s helpful and why they should be downloading it. And thirdly, promote a bite size paid offer. Maybe it’s a workshop, maybe it’s a strategy session, maybe it’s a mini offer. So like in my case, I’ve got my 10 days to speedy sales. It’s usually 97 pounds, but I occasionally run flash sales on it, which make it like 60% off or something silly. And it’s also, when you go through my freebie funnel, it’s a trip wire where, again, you get a limited time discount. And if you reached out to me in my DMs and said, pretty please, Bolly, I would probably sort you out as well.

16:14

But you know, those are all things that we have in my business to ensure that people have different ways to learn more about what it would look like to work with me. You know, a mini free consult can feel like a big step, a big leap for someone who maybe feels a bit kind of maybe they’ve been burned by some very aggressive sales calls, and they might not feel confident to jump on a mini consult, but they may do something like jump onto one of your mini offers for a flavor of what it actually looks like to work with you. What it looks like to be in one of your paid communities, what it looks like to, you know, all of that kind of stuff. And then similarly, of course, there’s your freebie, which is as simple as them then joining your mailing list. And of course, once they’re on your mailing list, please, please, please, do not be one of those business owners that says to me, Oh no, I don’t email after that. Send those regular newsletters again with regular invitations, even if you’re just putting them in the PS, make sure people have ways to buy from you and engage with you simply committing to doing those three things and scheduling them in weekly it’s like almost impossible for you to not make more sales, because unless you’re already doing that, which I can almost guarantee You are not, because I rarely find any business owner who is but when you do do that in conjunction with all your other delicious marketing, you will get more sales, because there will always be somebody who’s at that crunch point of this program is coming to an end. Now this mentorship is coming to an end. Now, who do I go to next? I know I want some support, and honestly, not being there, not making that invitation around, then could be the only reason why they don’t choose you. And then the other thing is, you know, number three, sell directly in your content. Stop beating around the bush. So, you know, a lot of service providers think they’re selling by just posting content. Nope, you need to actually ask for the sale in your daily marketing, and here’s how so one is, you know, share a client story, a feature, a breakdown, a quick reminder about your availability. Talk about your offer explicitly every day. People so often will say to me, Oh, I don’t fully you have a business incubator. I didn’t know you had a business incubator, because that’s partly because I’ve not been good enough about talking about these things all the time, which is one of the reasons why I’m hiring someone to help me with social media, to be more repetitive on my behalf. But honestly, that’s why I’m hiring a social media manager, because I struggle with being repetitive about the same stuff. It doesn’t tickle my dopamine seeking ADHD brain, right? So I’ve hired someone who can be repetitive for me, who’s amazing, by the way. I’ll share more about that later, but you know, this is one of the things we need to do as CEOs, when we recognize we know something, but it doesn’t mean we’re doing it and we understand actually, we could either try and really force through that resistance, or we could simply hire someone who doesn’t have that resistance and does it beautifully, and just make the change, it will make all the difference. And because I know this stuff makes more sales, it was a total no brainer to hire a social media manager. The other thing is, people can get really icky with urgency, but ultimately, there’s always some kind of urgency in your offer. Will you be offering it again in a few months time? Will you be offering it in the same way? Will it be the same level of capacity, the same level of access, like, will it be at the same price point? Probably not. So emphasize whatever is authentically true to to create that urgency and help people come in and similarly, I mean, the most simple thing ever, but make sure you’re using clear CTAs, you know, ready to book. Click here. Let’s chat. Link in bio. Make it easy and alternate those invitations. Like I say, for one person who is like, yes, let’s have a conversation, there’s another person who’s terrified to have a conversation with you, but would very happily DM you so, you know, find ways to bring people in. Now, of course, alongside that, you know, you want to have funnels. When you combine all three outreach, micro conversions and direct selling every day alongside powerful funnels, it’s almost impossible not to make daily sales. You.

20:00

DMing a few people sharing a piece of content that promotes your freebie and ending with a post or email asking for the sale. This is how money flows. There is absolutely no excuses. You have really got this. You can do this in terms of funnels. I mean, I think there are various episodes I’ve done around how to create an evergreen group program. I find that to be the very best funnel. The funnel to that evergreen group program can look different. You can learn more about that actually when you download my free guide, which is linked in the show notes below. So do check out what it looks like to have that core funnel with your signature offer ticking over for you all the time alongside a funnel to your low ticket offer, which you will get to experience in a very meta way when you download my guide, because you will see the trip wire the mini upsell that happens when you download my freebie to get a flavor of what a funnel can look like. That is both making everyday sales in terms of low ticket offers alongside nurturing people towards your core program. I mean, honestly, there’s so much I could talk about here. There’ll be more coming. I hope you find these episodes helpful. If you do, please do drop a review below, maybe add a few words and share what difference this is making for you as you contemplate a 2025, full of everyday sales. How delicious does that sound? It gets to happen. It gets to be as easy as I shared today. Layer all these delicious ingredients together and you will have the perfect everyday sales cake. My friend. All right, if you found today’s episode helpful, please do like, Please well like, please do share, please do review, please do tag me. DM me. If there’s anything where you’re like, Oh, I’d love Polly to dig deeper on that, and I will be in your ears next week with another guest expert on the show. I cannot wait for it. I shall see you then you.