00:00

Welcome to Make More Money Without Selling Your Soul. The podcast for bold entrepreneurs ready to simplify scale and reclaim their time. I’m Polly Lavarello, Evergreen scaling strategist and cushy business pioneer. Join me and my occasional guests as we explore the themes of wealth, selling and well-being, because building a business that works for you changes everything. Let’s dive in.

00:37

Hello and welcome to the show.  I am excited to record this episode as always came up as I was doing my makeup, and I was like this. This is the framing that I want to bring to this episode, because I have a message I want to convey, and I want to convey it in a way that really, really lands, and this feels the best way to do it. So one of the brilliant and slightly dangerous things about social media is that you could technically go viral overnight, right? Maybe not millions of new eyeballs, as I’ve kind of referenced in the podcast title, but 1000s very possible. And of course, millions are possible too, just, you know, maybe not so frequently. But the real question is, would that actually help your business, or would it expose the gaps? That’s what I want to talk to you about today, because it’s such an important theme. Last month, I had quite a few people talking to me about the mini offer system, which I’m now offering as a premium, done with you service. And someone asked me a really good question, how do I know when I am ready? Ready for visibility, ready for scale, ready for more eyes on my business. And I actually have a whole freaking graph of where you’re at, what you’re earning, what you should be focusing on, inside the free resources, inside cushy HQ, so if you’re not already inside there, simply DM me circle on Instagram, and I will make sure that you receive an invitation. If you are a visual girly or boy or man, or they them, who prefers to have a visual representation of what I’m talking about today. And actually it goes into a level of depth that I will not be going into, because really what I want to focus on today is what a million eyeballs highlight, which is this. It will either help you make loads more money, like it did for one of my clients, Kelly, who kind of filled her launch pretty much off the back of not just a viral post, but the ripple effect of that virality, which then continued to increase her reach with her content. Obviously, it gave a huge learning as to what really resonated, and her team were able to build upon that, and so that really did make a huge difference for her business. However, she was in a position to succeed with it. Why? Because her positioning was clear. Her offer made sense. It was a validated offer, an offer that was already selling people could understand the problem that she solves and why she is the person to solve it, why she is a unique authority, incomparable to anybody else out there. They’re not thinking, Oh, this is brilliant. This is something I need help with, Dot. Dot, dot. They’re thinking, how can Kelly help me? I’m going to join a waitlist to find out. And that’s how simple it gets to be. When you have those pieces in place, visibility will convert to inquiries, clients and growth and community, right, which obviously feeds the three above as well, right? It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. 

However, there’s another scenario where it wouldn’t do jack beat me out, and that is where people watch, listen like and move on, not because you’re not brilliant, but because the foundations aren’t doing their job. You don’t have the clear positioning, you don’t have an offer that necessarily makes sense, and people don’t understand the problem you solve and why you are the person to solve it. It could be that in your content, for example, you are not meeting that gap that people have in their understanding that they desire to fill. You’re not helping them understand how you are going to close that gap for them. And give them that desired result. So I want to give you a really good example of this in real life, outside of the what if you were to go viral overnight? Because here is an example of where people are putting the horse before the cart, and are then surprised as to why they aren’t getting anywhere fast. And I just realized I said the horse before the cart, which actually, I mean, hold on a sec, is the cart before the horse right whichever way around the one where the cart is in front of the horse. You know what I’m saying? Be kind to me. I’m very unpausal. Okay, so let’s talk about this, because this is something I really had to learn to be good at to ensure that I bring good guests onto my show, and unfortunately, there have been two or three guests I’ve had to come back to and say, I don’t feel it would be of service to you to publish this episode, because these pieces aren’t in place. Let me help you figure out how you can get them in place, and then come back on and record with me, because I’m not a meanie here. I’m not here to make anyone feel bad. I’m here to elevate voices, and I want to ensure that when I elevate that voice, that voice is going to you know that that episode is going to result in inquiries for them. It’s going to help elevate the work that they are doing. But sometimes that visibility is doing nothing for you. So okay, there are two types of podcast guest. And I’m kind of guessing here that if you’ve kind of followed the Kelly analogy, well, not the example of Kelly, then you might understand what I’m about to say here. But we’ve got, you know, so one type of guest will come on. They’re the interesting guest. They talk about a fascinating topic. Do they have a depth of knowledge on this subject? Boy, do they have a depth of knowledge, sometimes even to the extent that actually, people struggle to follow what it is that they are talking about, because the depth is beyond their comprehension. They’re thinking, wow, that person’s brilliant. I could never understand all of that.

07:09

That is the first warning sign of getting it wrong when you’re a podcast guest, bringing so much depth that people go that’s brilliant for her, I’m only understanding one in three sentences as to what she’s saying. And obviously I work with a lot of wellness practitioners and a lot of people who’ve got huge academic background, and they are particularly at risk of being that type of guest. You know, I’m also very geeky. I’ve been guilty of this in the past. Maybe I still fall into it occasionally. We’re all at risk of it. But certainly, one thing I have been proactive about, and this episode is a good example of this, right? The theme I’m talking to is broad, and my immediate question in my brain was, where can I bring a really specific example that will drive this message home? Okay, where can I bring one story that will help you really remember what I’m saying here, and really help it land in a way that if I spoke about it conceptually, it might not land as well, right? Okay, so you know they’re coming on, they’re being interesting, but that is where it ends, because the guest has never made clear what their unique approach to this work is. Do they have a unique methodology. And when I say methodology, I mean like a, b, c, when it comes to trauma, the things you need to know are, boom, here are the foundations. Boom, here are the lessons or habits that need to be, like the three to three simple things you need to do, and then boom, here’s the outcome. Like it should be that simple a methodology or framework should never be more than three to five parts, any more than that. And it no longer feels as simple as, oh, it’s as simple as ABC. You’re like, Oh, my goodness, I have to remember the whole alphabet to achieve what this person’s speaking to. And then suddenly you are no longer the obvious and convenient bridge to the outcome they desire. It looks and feels heavy and hard for them, okay? And again, this is something that a lot of my incredibly intelligent clients really struggle with, because they’re like, but there are more pieces to it, and I’m like, but when we were to look at the minimal, minimum viable bridge to get them to where they need to be, what does that look like, and perhaps where you desire for them to be, you know, like, let’s say peak health or peak wellness. Let’s dial it back a bit. You know, that’s the peak of the mountain. If we were getting them to base camp, which would still be a huge improvement on their lived experience, what would that look like? Obviously, we name it base camp. We’re not selling the peak and giving them base camp. We’re selling them on base camp, because we know when we get to base camp, they’re then going to have the confidence and the desire to reach the peak and trust you as their guide to get there. Okay, so I mean, I’m getting a bit too deep into it, but I in the context of ensuring that what we’re sharing is understood, I just wanted to kind of dwell. Momentarily on what a methodology is, because there are a lot of ways people get it wrong, but I’m sure I’ve dedicated whole podcast episodes to that. We’re close to 200 episodes, and I can’t even remember what I’ve recorded anymore, but I pretty much dived into every single one of these subjects at some point in depth. So feel free if you find any of this interesting to have a little mooch through my solo episodes, because I go into these themes a lot.

10:23

Okay, so the interesting guest has not made clear their unique methodology, their unique thinking and their authority in this space and everybody, everybody has authority with their own unique thinking when they take the time to recognize what that is okay, you know, whether it’s the years you’ve been in this space, whether it’s the number of clients you have supported, you know the or the number of patients you have supported in that time, whether it’s the person that you learned from, whether It’s the institutions that have trusted you, or the corporate companies that have trusted you, there is always, always something to highlight that will help people recognize why they should trust you, and it’s important we know what that is, and it’s important that we continue to update that as our business grows, right? And of course, beyond all of that, if it’s not really clear what valuable problem is being solved by this guest, you know, if we’re just talking broadly, let’s say about trauma, and it’s not clear what’s on the other side of that, then why would somebody feel motivated to do that? How would somebody know it was for them? Specifically, how would somebody know that you are the safe person to be trusted with that? Okay, so the audience will remember the topic, but not the expert. And the problem is, we live in a world right now which is so crazily intelligent in terms of data and retargeting, that if somebody has left and thought, wow, that’s really opened my eyes. And I’m just using trauma as an example to trauma and an area of my life that I feel I could work upon. And what do we do when we’re motivated, if they’re not interested in you, if you haven’t made yourself the missing piece to the puzzle, they’re just going to look up the subject. Then what will happen? The algorithm will retarget that person with all your competitors who have that level of clarity, who make it clear why they are the only person to trust, and then all that effort you have made to pitch, to prepare to get on a podcast is basically wasted because somebody who’s taken the time to work on their foundations, work on their clarity, is now capitalizing on the appetite that you have created and swooping in at that final moment to actually close the sale. So what’s the other type of guest? What’s a guest that I recommend you be? You need to be the guest with authority. You tell a story, probably a story that you tell a lot on many podcasts. Because believe me, honestly, now I’ve said that. Think about the amount of guests you’ve listened to time and time again, potentially on different shows, and you’ve always heard a variation of the same story, if not the very same story, because people do work on this stuff. People do work on like, what is the most relevant story that really helps highlight my rock bottom, my turning point, why it relates to my clients. And while it’s a story as old as time and a marketing thing as old as ever, it works. It really does. They share their unique methodology, their unique framework these by the way, when I say framework methodology, they are one in the same thing, they highlight the gap that they fill. They show the listener why the problem matters, why it’s urgent, and why they are the person to solve it. And by the way, can I say at no point while they are doing this are they speaking about their particular offers, because their offer is what they’re speaking about, packaged up. So all they need to do is sell people on the vehicle, on that journey, on that framework. And when people go, ah, that framework makes sense. That problem they solve is important, and I need to solve it now I’m going to go look up, let’s say Polly laverello. When they find Polly laverello, for example, off the back of this episode and go, Oh, I definitely need help with this. They are going to find my accelerator, which helps people with exactly what I’m talking about. Now, okay, so this is very meta I’m saying, if you but you know what I’m saying, the same applies to whatever you are speaking about. So yes, even right now in a solo episode, of course. Office. I am speaking about micro themes, sometimes macro themes, that I address in the in the offers that I do so that I’m not needing to be on here all the time, reminding you guys about the offers I have. I know at some point, something might land in one of these episodes that will make you feel right now is the time for me to jump in and find out more about how I can work with Polly, because this is something that needs addressing urgently.

15:25

So, you know, like I say, there’s almost a meta element to this episode where you’re seeing it in action. But as a guest, you know, as a guest, I would not be talking about micro and macro themes. I would have two or three subjects that I would offer to a podcast and and therefore those subjects will be carefully considered, where in and put into context, where I get to highlight my unique methodology, my origin story, why this matters, who I help and why the problem I solve is urgent, and who the person is that I solve it for, okay, so that people finish Listening and think I need to speak to that person. So this could be exactly the same podcast, exactly the same audience, but you’re going to get a totally different outcome. So what’s the problem I’m actually speaking about here?

16:16

It’s so important that you understand, because I see so much online talking about visibility go viral tomorrow, like, you know, grow your social media, and that’s all brilliant. And I guess you’ll probably know what I’m about to say here, when you have those foundations in place, when there is clarity, okay, visibility amplifies whatever already exists. Now, it’s really important to say in the early stages of being on social media, of course, there’s an element of suck it and see there’s an element of market research, essentially, that’s being conducted through how you show up online, you start to see what do people resonate with, which parts of my story do people connect to and and so there will be, you know, I’m not saying that we kind of hit this straight out the gate, and it’s perfect from the get go. And I’m not saying visibility isn’t valuable. Taking people on that journey with you earlier on, 100% plays a really valuable role. However, when you get to the stage where you have been on that journey with them, where you understand those pieces, if you have not taken the next step to tidy them up into a clear niche, clear intellectual property, a clear offer suite that supports them to kind of decide, am I looking for a taster in a mini offer? Am I looking for the full transformation in your core offer, or am I looking for something premium? If it’s not that simple for them, if it’s not immediately clear when somebody lands on your buyer what you’re doing, if your Instagram isn’t acting almost like this big kind of nurture factory for people coming into your world, then you’re focusing on the wrong thing. If you’re focusing on getting on podcasts, and you will find it a million times harder to be accepted as a podcast guest, or, you know, as a collaborator, or any of those things, where your niche isn’t clearly defined, and where the problem you solve isn’t abundantly clear, okay, and where you don’t have a framework, you know, of course, you know, I hear people talking about you want to be a published author, and that will get you on podcasts, that will get you on stages. Sure you know that helps. However, if you are known for solving a valuable problem, if you have a clear framework that does 80% of the work, and also if you do want to write that book, this work is also going to be the thing you ultimately put into a book later, it will be the spine of everything you do. So it is so incredibly important. And we’re not just talking a podcast. We’re talking about running ads. We’re talking about when you decide to kind of AMP up how much content you’re churning out there. All of those things are efforts in the wrong place, if the clarity isn’t in place first. 

Okay, so let’s talk about the growth order like I say, I have a more comprehensive map of all of these pieces inside cushy HQ, which is my platform on circle, which it has a kind of obviously the paid area where my clients hang out, but they also has a free area with some of my kind of core resources. If you want to get access to those, DM me the word circle on Instagram, and I will get it over to you, because I’m so passionate about ensuring people aren’t jumping the gun and therefore making things a million times harder themselves. So stage one is foundations. It’s your positioning, it’s your methodology. It’s a clear offer suite, and it’s scalable delivery. There is absolutely no point trying to bring more volume into your business if you don’t actually have a scalable way to support people, if you don’t have a clear offer suite, if you don’t have a methodology, if you don’t have these pieces, it’s going to feel like you’re constantly trying to build the bus while it’s running, and everything will feel. More challenging, okay, stage two is that next level of visibility. So of course, while you’re figuring out all of those stage one pieces, you will be consistently visible on social media. I’m not taking that away. But when you’re looking to that next level, podcast tours, social media, growth, collaborations, expanding your audience with ads. You want to have stage one complete first, because then that puts you in the position for stage three, which is scaling. That’s refining your systems. It’s leveraging what you have already. It’s creating your mini offer ecosystem. It’s scalable client journeys, which we’re going to continue to improve as you bring in more and more volume.

So you know, we’ll have the basic level earlier on, and then we’ll have the advanced later on. Okay, when people reverse this order, things feel frustrating. Sometimes I have people come to me with the most beautiful systems for bringing in loads of clients to their business in terms of, like, you know, my program, it’s scalable. It’s got all these modules, all these lessons, but their social media, it’s like Tumbleweed. Ain’t nobody paying attention to all the hours and energy that’s been put into that that program, because that’s a good example of like, you know, no build the boat and they will come. Does not exist. We need to build demand. Demand is what we need to build before we start building sophisticated systems for the back end, we need to validate that they’re even wanted in the first place, right? But at the same time that demand isn’t going to happen in the first place if there isn’t clarity. And I think that’s a mistake people often make. They’re like, Okay, if we don’t, if we can’t build the boat before, you know, to bring the people, then that means I just need to focus on visibility, but then not recognizing that visibility does not equal demand unless there is clarity. And here is actually the sticky spot, right? This is the sticky spot where a lot of people will say I can’t invest in support right now, because I just need cash flow to be flowing a bit better. I just want to see that things can work better for me before I feel bold enough to invest in support, but that’s the biggest challenge, right? 

Because we’re often so close to the work we do, we struggle to find clarity, and that is the messy middle that people can like literally stay stuck in for years, sometimes abandoning their business altogether. And that’s why I’m so passionate about the work I do, because it helps people get out of that messy middle and move forward and look, you know, if you’re not in a position to invest in the accelerator, which is launching in May, by the way, very soon, then I am running a workshop next Wednesday where I will be going even more in depth about those strong foundations you need for clear clarity that enable you to create a scalable business model Beyond one to one. It’s very similar to the workshop I ran in January and September. For any of you who are regular workshop attendees, however, I will be updating it because the last workshop went down as what’s been reported back to me as my best workshop ever. So I’m going to be taking the learnings from what you loved about that and ensuring that I apply it to how I bring across the information I want to share with you next Wednesday. It is a no pitch event. It is purely there to help you feel clearer on your path forward. So if you want the link to that, the link will be in the show notes. And I hope this landed with you, because, like I say, I hate to see people you know, it’s like when you’re on a bike, you’re peddling backwards, going and going, where am I not going anywhere? It’s because you’re you’re doing things in the wrong direction, darling. So I hope this episode has been helpful. If you feel like somebody else needs to hear it too, please do share it with them. 

Please do leave a review if you haven’t already. I love a little five star review. It’s been stuck at the same number for ages now, so it would make me so delighted to see that number go up. And heck, if you could even leave a comment, that would be even better. I’ll be in yours next week with a guest episode. And if you, by the way, would like to be a guest on this show, I am forever looking for the type of guests I just described. The guest with authority, the guests with a framework, the guest who knows they have something valuable to share with my business audience, of founders, wellness practitioners and all the rest. A lot of people listening are people like myself, too. So if you have something you’d like to bring to my audience, please do email me hello at Polly laverillo.com and my team will be back in touch with you because we are looking to build a roster for the year ahead, and there is still space on it, so do reach out to us at hello@pollylavarello.com I’ll be in your ears next week.