033 Trading hours for Dollars

08/12/21 • 17 min

As a general concept, I agree that you shouldn’t trade hours for dollars. Unless of course the dollars you’re charging mean you’re making the income you would like. But, if you’re having to hustle to fill your client slots and you’re charging a low hourly fee, that’s absolutely a burnout model. I know, because I’ve been there. In this episode, I share that less than 10% of women make 6 figures in their business and don’t make enough money for the lifestyle they would like. The reality is that 6 figure turnover is equivalent to a salary of 50k or 60k, so we need to make money. It’s important to understand that there is no more time, money and effort involved in having big financial goals than tiny ones. If you have modest goals in your business, there is no problem with that at all. The problem is that when women play small because some kind of fear of failure is holding them back from having the goals they really want. But when you realise it is no more work to have bigger goals, everything can really change for you. Only 2% of women hit 7 figures in their business. It may not be a goal for you. I have a lot of clients who are on their way to creating a 7 business, but most will have 6 or multiple 6 figures dreams. You can totally do that, but you have to have the vision first. To get to either of those goals means moving past trading dollars for hours to the 1: Many Method. With this way of scaling your business, you are serving more people, making more money in fewer hours and moving you past the time for money trap. Can you relate to this? Are spending all your time, energy and money pursuing 1:1 clients, perhaps charging a small session fee or a small bundle of sessions when you could be creating higher-priced sessions or a higher-priced program?It is no more effort to enrol clients in a group program than it is to find 1:1 clients. I like to teach an ongoing enrolment process, which takes away the stress of enrolling a lot of people at any one time. If you’re enrolling 2/3 people a month into your signature program, it’s not that hard to have 10k months. This way you get clients who pay in full or pay by instalments. It’s great to have full payments, but also great for cash flow to have monthly payments coming in as well.I have a vision of helping 1000 women to have 6 and multiple 6 figures in their business by 2025. For me, it’s not just about the money, it’s about the impact I am making. And the impact my clients and team are making. This method helps us to work with much more ease and to help more people. But it’s so important to show up. Your business can’t outperform your ability to lead it. Business is a roller coaster and I help my clients to even out those ups and downs, but they have to be there to help us to grow along the way. Personal growth will still be needed along the way. It may feel hard, but that’s ok because you come out so much stronger at the end of it, and hopefully a lot more money too! If you would like to have a look at your business model, you can book a session with one of my Success Mentors to get their help to plan out your business. They are experts in creating Signature Programs and would love to help you. They will look at where you are now, where you want to go, and see if you are dreaming big enough in your business. We will help you to step into your vision and be part of that 10% with a 6 and multiple 6 figure business and create that vision you really desire.Book your Consult Call with a Success Mentor here while they are available: https://thesarahleather.com/consultcall/

Previous Episode

032 Kickstarting Your Signature Program

If you know anything about Sarah Leather, you know she is all about Signature Programs. Whether that is 1:1 Signature program or a 1:Many Signature program, it’s the transformational process that you take your clients through, to go from where they are stuck, to where they want to get to.

In this training, Sarah will take you through all the steps the Kickstart day that Sarah uses with her clients to give the participants a real deep dive into it. This is a pivotal part to her Signature Program School and super important to get this mapped out whether you are new to business or have been in business for a while and want to map out a new income stream, or have an area of your business that doesn’t feel in alignment.

Today’s podcast talks through the tangible steps that you can start doing now, and how you can do this in a day yourself:

Know Your Business Model – how you find clients, how you work with your clients. It could be a typical service based industry model, Sarah typically works with coaches or consultants who are working either 1:1 or already have a group, 1:Many program or perhaps a retreat, a seminar or a course. How are you going to be bringing clients into your program, Also your price point, length.. this is the framework
OPTYS – One Problem That You Solve. What is the problem that you solve for your clients, and everyone will understand this from your marketing. You may be Multi-passionate, Multi-talented and Multi-skilled.. but! Be clear about the one thing you do, otherwise it will be confusing to potential customers
Client Mind-set and Sarah’s STEAR process. Get clear on the before and after scenario. What is it they are thinking before they work with you and the tangible results they want to get at the end of working with you? The during part is your signature program, and how you get them from the ‘before’ to the ‘after’ scenario.
Your signature program. The elements of your program could include things like, coaching, teaching, implementation, accountability, resource materials, 1:1 time, group calls. These can all go into the signature program, but which elements are going to help your clients get the results they are looking for. Which are necessary and which is an extra layer of support to bring the transformation for your client?
Pricing your Signature Program. What price is representative of the value and the market that you want to market to. How do you position yourself in the marketplace?
Getting clients! There are a gazillion ways to market your signature program.. but how do you choose? Sarah talks about Signature Workshops as a simple way to introduce clients to your program and the process of client nurture around that.
Lead Generation. How you find people to fill your signature workshop and keep them engaged until they are ready to commit to your program.
How to sell... the steps to the buying process and what happens when your customer has found “their person”.
What are the next steps to make sure this all works out?

Make sure you’re signed up for the next live show and The 1:Many Method 5-day virtual retreat here:

https://thesarahleather.com/retreat/

Next Episode

034 Let's Talk about Online Courses, Group Programs and Masterminds

I am always being asked by my clients what way they should work with their clients, and how do they get the ‘holy grail’ of passive income. Everyone wants to stop trading hours for dollars, and that’s a great intention. If it is giving you the income you want, there is nothing wrong with working with just a few clients; however there is a still a lot of coaching hours in your day with this method, and the next step is to create a group program. Today I want to talk to you about the different ways to scale your business and move away from the hours for dollars scenarios. There are of course lots of ways; membership sites, retreats, writing books or selling paid workshops which all take your business from the 1:1 scenario to leveraging and scaling your business. I use the 1:Many model to help my clients fill their programs with a lot more ease and the three main ways I coach my clients to scale are: 1. Online courses. This is often what people go to first, aiming to make money while they sleep. The reality is that if you haven’t built an audience, it can be really hard to sell it, especially if they haven’t done the research to make sure you are solving a problem your audience wants to have solved and are willing to pay for. However, there is a time for it, once you have your online program running as it’s much easier to make money from an online course once you have your group program established. 2: Group programs. I coach my clients to start with a group program. Starting with a premium group program where you charge just above the mid-level is a great place to position yourself and there can be so much more ease in marketing and selling it than a low price program. Within the program you include lots of different elements like teaching, accountability, coaching, mentoring, and resource assets to help your clients get results. A premium group program, I believe, is one of the best ways to position your offers to get paid more, work less and helping more people. This is the definition of scaling. 3. Mastermind. If you look at your business model, Masterminds are the cream on the top. They have smaller numbers than group programs and attract a more premium price. The clients in my mastermind have access to my signature program so they can dip into the information they need, but people in there are at a similar level and have higher level discussions. A Mastermind is about the mastery of the mind, and developing thought leadership, and is a very different model to the group program. When it comes to stopping trading hours for dollars and filling your premium group program, what is really important is that you have a method for people to find out about you, to attract your ideal clients and that you market to just the people whose problem you can solve. I am doing a free masterclass on the 24th Of August, all about how to fill your premium group program. You can join at the link below, and we would love to see you there. You can sign up here: TheSarahLeather.com/retreat Along with this, I am offering a free consult with my expert team to see how the 1:Many method can work in your business. There is nothing like having an expert’s eye on your business and they will help you to see what is possible for you. So many keep their dreams too small because of a fear of failure or because things haven’t worked out in the past. My team will help you to step into seeing what is possible for you. I have been helping women in business for around ten years now and I can see what works. If you try to teach everything it is easy for your clients to become overwhelmed, which is why I teach one method and help other women to walk the path I have walked which is the most easeful way to set up your business. It is important that you have a strategy, that you are following a strategy and being led by someone who has walked the talk and has been in your shoes and knows exactly what works and what doesn’t. I love doing hotseat calls in my program so everyone gets a chance to ask a question and get coached on their mindset or strategy and that is vital. It is so important that you have someone to help you with your mindset, as it is often the biggest thing that stops you in your tracks so it is important to have the right support to help you to see what is possible, even if you can’t quite see it yet. Book your Consult here while they are available: TheSarahLeather.com/consultcall