[Transcript starts at 1:22]
Hello, hello, hello, my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. In today's episode, we were talking about what to do if you've got an online business and you're like, I want to burn it all down, want to burn it right down to the ground. So this episode, if you're listening to it or watching it when it drops, it is Monday, July 1st, happy July.
June has come. I didn't do any pride swag this year. I was, I was a bad gay. Maybe next year. Uh, but summer is summering and I am doing everything I can to not make every single piece of content that I make just about summertime. So I will say one thing about summer, uh, which is, uh, lean into the summer things, right?
Say yes to the summer things that are happening right now because summer will be gone before you know it. I'm already seeing people complaining about the heat, right? Not so much in SoCal, but on the socials and stuff and such. Just because, you know, people live in colder places, I get it. And then they're like, but I want to be [00:01:00] warm.
And then summer comes and they're like, Holy shit, it's hot. And it's eleventy billion degrees. And I'm like, well, you kind of asked for it, but say yes to the summer things because summer is going to be gone before you know it. So lean in. Um, if leaning into the summer things is not a possibility, well then let's do what we can to make it a possibility next year.
Right? So write it down. I always say this. I'm going to keep saying it right down how you're feeling right now. Write down what you want to be doing and maybe you can't be doing. And this way next year you can plan for it. Maybe whether that means, you know, in my audience, in this audience, many of you, perhaps, hopefully, I don't know, have an online business or have your own business and so ideally you have a bit more control over your schedule and, you know, when you're offering things and when you're making money and so we can look to front load the year so that we can have them.
Um, more time to do nothing during the summer. Okay. All right. So let's talk about the main topic today, which is what to do if you want to burn it all down. All right. This episode was inspired by a question in the Mafia where one of my dope [00:02:00] Mafiosos asked how often, I was going to read the question. I'm like, wait, I didn't write the question down, but they asked how often folks look at the core structures of their business for an audit, uh, and how often folks make fundamental changes.
My answer for this, I actually really liked the question, and my answer for this was never. I don't I don't do that ever. I I think that there's a few reasons why one of them is just kind of inherent to me of this like I am at a place where I Can, I'm really able to live in the moment be in the moment. I do think that it takes time and resources and then some luck and you know action to get there where like every decision you make it's it's the decision you want to be making.
So there's no regrets. There's no like looking for the future or living in the past because you're just like, I'm in the moment and the moment is great because it's what I want to be doing, right? So that is definitely one reason that I don't look to change a bunch of things within my business. And I also just don't have that like ideator bone in me, which we're going to talk about in a little bit, right?[00:03:00]
But as it relates to online business, I think it's important to identify what exactly you want to burn down. So if this is you, you listen to this episode and you're like, yeah, I have said this before, I want to burn it down. Okay. My question for you is what exactly do you want to burn down? I believe that there's three phases, three main integral, important phases for online business that we're kind of constantly in one of these.
It's attracting attention, it's listening, and then it's productizing, right? Attracting attention, audience building, it's brand building. It's getting people's getting, yeah, getting the correct eyes on you. From there it's listening. Super, super important. What do people want? What are they asking for? What are they interacting with you about?
And then the third one is Productizing, right? And within productizing, I'm also going to include selling this thing, right? So productizing means, means taking this idea and making it into an offer. I make it into a service and then selling it. We're always in one of these three phases. And then with the productizing phase, that can be, you know, iterating [00:04:00] too.
We're like, okay, I'm changing this, I'm changing this, but it's the, the actual, you know, having the actual offer there. Um, I think that most folks are focused on the productizing side of things and that's what they want to burn down, right? The actual offer, um, oftentimes their operations, um, the service structure.
That's fine. But in my opinion, business success is largely dictated, determined, predicated on the first two, right? Which is attracting attention and listening to the people whose attention you've attracted. Like I was saying earlier, I consider myself fortunate in that I am not some multi passionate ideator that's always intrigued by something new, right?
Once I'm on something, I'm like, all right, that's it. It's good. It's working. I'm going to leave it literally forever. I am that person that gets so mad at Nike. I'm like, why don't I just keep making this the same thing? Why are we changing it? It's actually fine. Like, maybe you should listen to your people.
Maybe you should ask me. I'm going to tell you, don't change it. I feel literally zero need to change things. My Mafia, my Maestro Meetings, [00:05:00] my Instagram Intensive, they've all largely stayed the exact same, like the exact same since I started them. The price has changed largely because my hourly rate has changed and that's the most objective way to kind of price anchor things.
Um, but I believe that they haven't changed largely because my first two conditions or the, excuse me, the first two conditions or the first two parts of online business, right? Which is, uh, attracting the audience or attacking the attention and listening. Those conditions were met, right? I attracted the right kind of attention for a long fucking time.
I didn't put an offer in front of anybody for four years and I attracted this audience that was super engaged and they were other providers and they wanted to learn about what I was teaching. And then I listened to what they were asking about and also paired that with what I was interested in because I was also sharing what I was interested in.
I'm seeing what's resonating, what was resonating with them. And then I built breathing with the Maestro. I made that thing. So that is how I did the rest of my offers with, you know, the Mafia and Maestro Meetings and things like that. And I haven't had to change them because the first two conditions were [00:06:00] met.
Right. So back to some action items. We're like, let's get into some action items for what to do if you want to burn it all down. Right. We said that first part is going to be identifying what exactly It is that you want to burn down. I do not think that we necessarily need to ask why we want to burn it down.
You can if you want, but it's probably because you're not making enough money. All right. I would say, ask what outcome you want, right? What is going to be accomplished by burning, burning it down? Cause my guess is that you're then going to look to build something else. So what is that outcome that you want from there?
Let's get objective, not emotional. You can have your emotions, but let's not act from them. Let's get objective. And then let's reverse engineer what we need to do based on those three parts of online business, right? Attracting attention, listening, and productizing. Again, my guess is that you want more money, which is not a bad thing.
I say that in like the most like neutral way, you want more money. Yes. Cause this is a business that means more clients. And that typically means that you need to work on the first part, which is attracting [00:07:00] attention. Do you have enough eyes there? More specifically, attracting the correct audience. If that's the case, and you're like, yeah, that's actually it, then go do that.
Of note, you're going to need a solid niche, niche, however you want to call it, and then you've got to decide, do you want to go the organic route or the paid traffic route? I will always be an advocate for going the organic route first, get proof of concept, and then you can go and put money behind it.
All right. I'm thinking of someone right now. She listens to the episode, to the podcast. I'm not going to throw her name out there, but she's ready to move into this phase. Cause yes, sometimes you just, you put in the work for a really long amount of time, that organic approach and you get some traction, but just like, you're like, I just need more eyes.
This is the thing. When I get in front of the right people, they buy it. You know, the conversion rates make sense. I just need more people. Cool. Then we go the organic route. Excuse me. Then we go the paid traffic route, right? We go and look into ads. Absolutely. All right. So if you're saying to yourself, I want to burn it all down.
First action item is not to ask why you want to burn it down, but what outcome do you want? Right. And then we reverse [00:08:00] engineer based on identifying those, which of the three parts of the online, of an online business we need to be working on. All right. Attracting attention, listening, or productizing. From there it's about expectation management and giving things the time that they need.
So tying back into the title, which is what to do if you want to burn it all down. Uh, again, I typically hear this from people when things aren't quote unquote working like they want or like they believe they should be working.
So the expectation management piece here is from a time perspective, shit takes as long as it takes. But if you want to give a number, give things at least 18 months of consistent, that's the most important part, consistent concerted effort before deciding if it's quote unquote worth it or if you want to go in a different direction.
Again, big emphasis on consistent. If you change directions during that time, when I say change directions that means changing niches, niches. Alright, if you change during that time, the clock starts at zero. If you change directions after that 18 months, the clock starts again, once again, starts at zero, okay?
So, [00:09:00] big emphasis when it comes to expectation management on giving things time. This is where it is tough. If you are that ideator and you're like, Hey, look at this. I'm interested in this. I'm interested in this. You know, and you're Roomba ing around. I call it Roomba ing because it's, you know, think of a Roomba and it like, goes to that corner, hits the corner, and then it goes in a different direction.
And it hits that thing and it goes in a different direction. And it hits that thing and it goes in a different direction. Right. We got to stay going in the same direction for at least 18 months and not to say that at 18 months you're going to blow up. I'm thinking about my girl, Traci, who hit that 18 month mark and was like, what's happening?
Nothing. That's what's happening. Took her, you know, I think maybe she's had two to three years and she's like, I had to keep going. It's at that 18 month mark where you can say, do I want to keep going? Does this feel like it's worth it? Not at all to say like your bank account is booming and, you know, all these things are happening, but it's like, is it easier to make this content?
Is it easier to show up? Is this, does it feel good for you? Are you like, yeah, this is what I wanna be doing. Cool. Then you can make your decisions. Right.
The second part is expectation management piece is that you got to understand that just because you [00:10:00] value something doesn't mean others value it, right.
Or that they will value it enough that they want to pay you, right. Or that enough people fall into either of these groups in order for you or that will allow you to make this like a financially viable thing. We got to think from a, from a percentages perspective. All right. When it comes to conversion rates, one to one to 5 percent of cold traffic typically will buy an offer.
Right? So that means if you have a hundred people who you like, Oh, they don't know. You're not familiar with your brand and you put, you have running ads and you put this thing in front of them maybe one to five people will buy. Typically it's, it's much lower than that, right? Typically it's on the low end.
So like maybe one person will buy at some point, right? It's not even like, Oh, right in that moment. So we have to start thinking about like, how big is the overall pool size? This thing may not be financially viable just because you value it. Doesn't mean other people are going to value it. These are the things to consider, [00:11:00] right?
It's in my mind. I'm like, it's not Ikigai. I'm thinking of like a drawing right now. I'm like, is it where there's like, it's like a Venn diagram, like an overlapping, like star and part of the legs or the arms of it is like what people are willing to pay for. Right. And this thing, you could love it, but it doesn't mean people are willing to pay for it or, you know, what people actually want. It doesn't, doesn't, they don't necessarily go hand in hand. All right. So that's something to consider.
The second big part here I said was needing more time. First was expectation management. And then the next part is simply needing more time for this thing to be successful by whatever you consider success to be.
So like I said, in that first point there, things take as long as they take. And they also require that consistent concerted effort. For my multi passionate ideators out there. And I think the person who asked this in my Facebook group is one of them where she just like has ideas and like gets inspired by different things.
And I'm like, that's great. [00:12:00] Right. Having that itch is not inherently a bad thing, but it can absolutely make it tough to get the traction that you desire. Right. From a trust perspective, people need that continue, like what continuity, like that, that repetition, that familiarity. You yourself need it. It's not a bad thing that people need it.
It creates predictability. You know, it's going to happen. That's what, you know, who is it? Seth Godin kind of talks or not doesn't kind of. Seth Godin speaks about this and he has a quote something along the lines of like, a brand is a promise of what to expect the next time you see that person or you see that thing.
And I'm like, yeah. That's, that creates trust. Thinking about, um, you know, creating this traction and the value of just continuing to show up and show up and show up and show up and show up and show up. My girl Allegra speaks about this, right? People don't need a vacuum until they need to buy a vacuum. And then they're like, I got to buy a vacuum.
We're going to buy a Dyson cause I fucking know that that's who makes vacuums because they keep showing up. I guess there's other parts of the branding and the marketing and things like that, but from a [00:13:00] continuity perspective, continuously showing up, but same thing, that's, that's the message I want to take away from that.
Speaking of Dyson, I did a little research on this and I was thinking like, maybe I'll do like, I don't know, some episodes where I like kind of talk about it, but I do, I, the thing is I have to do some research on these, so it's like extra work for me, but I'm like, Oh, this could be fun where I take a brand and then I talk about its kind of dissect its business success.
Based on my own lens, but with Dyson, I Googled this, Dyson put out their first vacuum in 1983. And this was after, he did something like 5, 000 iterations of this thing, by the way. It was this, he first noticed in 1978 that his own vacuum, the bag, it was like clogging up. And so it was losing suction. So he was like, I'm gonna make a better one.
And he had a background in like, I don't know, aero physics, whatever. Cyclone, cyclonic dynamics. I don't know. I made up that word right there, but either way, he had a background in this thing as well, right? This science. So the first Dyson came out in 1983. [00:14:00] Dyson also makes hair care products and that hair care product didn't come out until 2016.
Right. I say this because if you are multi passionate, you can absolutely iterate and, you know, move and move into different spaces. Arguably, the vacuum and the hair product are actually related from a tech perspective and at the risk of sounding misogynistic, they're also like a overlapping demographic who'd buy both of them.
But, but, but, but, the main point here is that you have to establish, it behooves you- it behooves you to establish yourself in one domain first before you go into another, right? You break through the trust barrier and then we can go into these other domains. Whereas if it's like from the beginning, we have vacuums and we have, um, hair care products, uh, you know, and we have air purifiers and all these things, you're just kind of like, uh, I don't know.
So let's bring it back so we can [00:15:00] wrap it up. Back to success, taking time. People need to hear and see things eleventy billion times. They need to be given long enough to actually have that problem and be willing to pay for a solution, right? The vacuum is a very like tangible, easy thing to understand. But for those of you watching this, that, that work on, you know, kind of the, life changes and, and, and personal personality and what am I saying?
Personal growth, right? Personal development. People got to be willing, they got to like be willing to get over their shit. They got to be like, I am so fed up with myself. I'm finally ready to make a change. That takes a long time. And if you burn it down because you're bored, people will never get that chance. They're not going to know that it's you because you've stopped talking about that thing.
All right. So if you've uttered the phrase and you want to burn it all down, go ahead. I'm not here to convince you. Otherwise you are an adult. [00:16:00] I largely made this episode because, uh, one, I've really never seen anyone actually burn it down.
They just have these feelings and that feeling seems tough and they, it kind of comes up again and again. And so I figured I'd offer up my two pennies along with some action items. Uh, for what to do if you feel like, you know, you feel this way, uh, and perhaps maybe how to avoid feeling it in the first place.
All right. All right. That's all I got for you. Keep this episode a little bit shorter. It is summertime. Go outside. Enjoy the things. Say yes to the summer things. And as always, endlessly, endlessly, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends, Maestro out.
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