I wanted to use what I learned as a bank trainer to show people who are paying bank fees how to avoid them and also how to maximize their banking relationship. I joined EPM to develop a program about becoming successful with banking. I realized that it was not easy, and that it could be done. My result was belief in myself and my skills and joy in the decision I made to take the chance.
Your GRADUATION Story
"I've always been drawn to helping people improve themselves, whether correcting an ESL speaker's grammar, helping a coworker learn new skills, or offering a small business owner a bit of advice on how to improve their business. I was challenged by how I might monetize my skills, experience and education into a stream of income.
I wasn't sure how to monetize my ideas. I tried a coach and several other online courses. I believed I needed a full and complete product before I could market my course. I spent several thousand dollars and a lot of time spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.
When I joined EPM, I was at first skeptical, once bitten twice shy. Soon though, I realized how the program works and builds on itself to arrive at a product I can market and sell but is not yet perfect. This was a real game changer for me. I am an advocate of learning things in small steps, the EPM program fits right in.
I went to work on my idea, got sick for a few weeks, fell behind a bit but caught back up. At some point I realized the Guarantee didn't mean anything - it was the results I wanted! So, I dug in and pushed harder. Listened to the modules while driving in my car, listened again with the course materials in hand and made good use of Ainslee. I now have a product I know I can sell and more importantly - improve other's businesses and also their lives.
"
Your MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Story
"I am having difficulty in connecting with business owners to even begin a dialogue. I joined 2 FB groups for business owners, posted a few comments and offered some advice, and posted the opportunity for a Curiosity Call. To date, I've received 1 communication.
At this point, I've decided to mount an email campaign to former business acquaintances and look at some of the material in EPM on marketing. I know I can help small businesses grow and prosper. I haven't given up yet!!
As part of my EPM journey, I've been encouraged by the stories of others. The Wednesday pod calls were great, they offered a lot of different ideas and encouragement. Eventually, the one contact I received via FB agreed to a Zoom call. The call went well, I received neither a YES nor a NO. We will see.
Ultimately, this call was good practice for future sales calls. "
I've reduced the complexity and added the "on boarding" sequence. Other than the increased self-esteem from finishing the course and learning something new, nothing yet. That it is possible to launch a product without it being fully developed. I may be able to quit of full-time job and concentrate on improving other's lives.
Your GRADUATION Story
I have been doing private coaching with a few classes for 20 years and wanted to branch out into delivering an online program, but nothing I created was really taking off. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. I joined EPM thinking to increase engagement for the programs I had already created for a 1:Many business model, but soon realized in EPM that I had not received training on the 1:Few business model from other programs I had purchased in the past. Marisa's training has been very educational and has helped me pivot into a 1:Few model that helped me gain more clarity on what my clients wanted most from an online program and feels more authentic to me and where I want my business to be right now. I'm excited to grow this stage of my business with the tools she has given me.
I have gotten more clarity on my "client roadmap" and the programs I want to create from here. Listening to others strive to verbalize their product's mission and what they do has reassured me that it takes lots of tweaking sometimes to get the language right. My confidence in my ability to figure out the marketing piece has grown. Own the "earn while you learn" mindset and be unapologetic that more feedback can change the trajectory of my product. Reach more people with an introductory product that prepares them for my membership program.
Marisa was so spot on verbalizing some of my pain points. It reassured me that I wasn't the only one struggling and that I could figure it out.
"When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear.
I have been running in-person writing classes for five years with little or no traction and not earning the income I wanted. In the five years, I have taught 400 students. However, very few of them went on publish their books. What has kept me going has been my unwavering commitment to my work.
When COVID-19 hit in 2020 and the world went into lockdown, I froze. My business had been solely built on in-person meetings and now it was not possible to run the classes. That meant that an important part of my income stream was affected. So, I toyed around with taking my classes online. I reached out to friends of mine in the creative writing space in universities around the world to ask about how they were doing their virtual classes. Their needs did not meet mine. The students enrolled in their classes had writing knowledge and their sessions were mostly story workshopping. My ideal clientele are people without a writing history who want to document their authentic stories in book form, so I needed to teach them the writing basics. I wanted an online class that was as engaging as a live class. I did run a few online classes, but I was not sure I was getting the right of input and I believed I could do better. I was looking for a class that would teach me how to create and market online products.
Robert Allen, one of my writing coaches in the past, had said this to our class in 2013: when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the teacher is ready, the student will appear – it touched my core. So, during this time of wondering where to get the best coaching to help me pivot into the online space, I got an email from Brain Tracy on October 8, 2019, titled: The truth about info products. It was an introduction to Marisa’s EPM webinars. I signed up and invited a friend to also sign up for the free webinars and that is when I got hooked and paid for the EPM 2020.
I am glad I did. EPM helped take a closer look at my business model and helped me address the lingering question in my mind: what do I have to do to ensure more student success in writing books and publishing them? I discovered new concepts which I have used to design my classes. While at the start of EPM, I run an advert for my first virtual writing retreat which was priced at $512. I did not expect it to make any sales. Two weeks to the deadline, I started implementing some EPM lessons and got four students who signed up and that was my first Mission Accomplished. I earned $2,048.
My EPM Product is called the Savvy Writer Masterclass which I specifically designed after implementing lessons from the classes. The product launch date was 8 January 2021 and would run up to January 25, 2021 for the class to start 5 February to 6 August 2021. The class is a beta product and is priced at $1997. My main marketing campaigns were chatterbox and perfect email campaign.
Using the Perfect Email Campaign, I decided to make this an exclusive invitation only product and from my mailing list of 1,000 people, I selected 150 people to whom I sent out the marketing letter. I used Marisa’s email template because the story resonated well with me and I was sure it would resonate well with the readers. I then went on Canva and created personalized fliers for each recipient and then pasted the marketing copy under the flier. Creating the fliers took me three-days but because of the price point I had put it at, I knew the investment was worth it. It meant looking up their pictures of Facebook or LinkedIn to download and prepare a flier like the one below.
I manually sent out these invitations which also asked the recipients to recommend someone else who would be a fit for the programme.
It worked.
I started receiving responses from the prospective clients I had reached out to.
In addition to the Perfect Email Campaign, I also used the power of celebrity leverage. The CEO of our national paper reached out to me and I chatter boxed him about the upcoming Savvy Writer Masterclass. He signed up. He has a twitter following of 195,000 strong. I asked him to tweet about our class, which he did and that brought in several prospects but also the second sign up student to the class. The CEO has committed to documenting his writing journey on twitter for the duration of the class- that is 24 weeks of being endorsed.
Sometimes, everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Eight days after my product launch, we had an internet blockade. January was election season in my home country Uganda where the incumbent President who has led the country for 35 years whose strongest contender was a 38-year-old musician turned politician who appealed to the youthful generation. Campaigns had been held online because of COVID-19 restrictions. The internet in the country was shut down for 7 days and that is a lot of time in the world of marketing. Some clients on my list were from other countries in Africa.
I froze.
Again.
I had to quickly pivot to alternative ways of getting my message out and find new clients during the internet shutdown.
One Sunday while listening to a radio programme called Desert Island Discs, where prominent Ugandans are interviewed, the guest on the show said he wanted to write a book. I reached out to the interviewer the next day to ask him to make an introduction to the guest and I chatter boxed about the Savvy Writer Masterclass. The interviewer promised to make the introduction, which he did, and asked me as a guest on his show to which I agreed. It is a popular programme among the elite in my country, who are the target market for this product. I also spoke to the guest who has signed up for the Savvy Writer Masterclass. My hour-long interview on my personal story was broadcast on radio, in print and shared on Youtube.
Once the internet was turned back on, I sent the video to all the prospective clients on the targeted email list of 150 people when I sent the next email. I also realized that I would need to improve on my live version of the class, so I am able to make changes and fine tune it in order to upload my materials on Xperiencify for the next time. This is the way forward for me as an African entrepreneur to have my online classes hosted outside my country because I see more incidents of rising internet shutdowns, yet I am trying to grow an online business.
I followed up on the old prospects who have started signing up and we used the old school payment method of EFT because this amount of money and based on my market, many are more comfortable doing bank transfers. So as of writing this email I have signed up 6 students which will make me $11,982 once their payments reflect on my account. I am still waiting for more sign-ups so the number will go higher. EPM helped me develop a product that would have fewer students but bring in more income. It was a EUREKA moment for me.
My students were ready, and I appeared for them.
What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?
Do not be afraid to develop a higher price point. Create it and also create the value.
How did EPM help you become successful?
I was able to nail my audience, design the right marketing materials and reach out. and market.
How has EPM and your success impacted your life?
It has given me the freedom to charge higher for my classes and to believe that the right students are out there.
What has been the biggest change in your business?
Being able to attract more income from a targetted class.
What is now possible for you because of your Experience Product?
My product has opened doors to the ideal market for me which had eluded me earlier.
"I came into the program determined to do my very best, and open to whether or not I would hit mission accomplished in the time frame or not. I have enjoyed all the training and particularly as one of the other members of my coaching pod reached out to me from the get-go to team up daily to watch the training and support each other on the journey. That made the experience very real for me, I'm not a fan of social media and prefer to connect in person, I visited the Facebook page a few times but never felt part of it. But it did seem like a great resource for many people.
Making get started decisions for me was a great strategy and the iterate my way to awesome let me continue to be a work in progress. I see how making all these decisions allowed me to move forward, whereas I would ordinarily allow myself to be stuck for ages! I have a massive file with all the worksheets printed and covered in notes. The sheer volume of content was phenomenal, such value and so enjoyable, my accountability partner and I practiced sales calls, bounced ideas off each other and reviewed each other's features and benefits, etc. Coach Carolyn was great too! When I see the amount of work that I have actually completed I am thrilled. I'm almost ready to get out there, everything is coming together. Maybe I could have moved faster if I hadn't worked on the fast track too, but for me, it's been worth it even if I need a few more weeks!
It took me a while to get all the marketing straight in my head and put a comprehensive strategy in place and it was at that point I stalled and felt a bit stuck. I watched all the marketing training, the marketing mindfuck twice! haha... So, I just need to get on with it. I haven't launched yet but I know I will make at least £2000 when the time comes. I have learned a lot more about my niche in the last few months from the time that I have been investing and I think I will be able to expand it a bit to include Ph.D. students who are not only non-native speakers of English but native speakers too. My survey results were very useful.
For me the implementation Fridays were absolutely priceless, I learned so much from Mathew and Emily, they made technology so accessible. Marisa was absolutely amazing so transparent, generous and a master in her field. She inspires and leads by example!
So myself and my business have both grown, and as is the case at all significant points of graduation in our lives, I do feel this is the beginning of a new chapter, I'm excited and grateful to be here, to have been on this incredible journey, and looking forward to what the future holds."
What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?
I have been inspired by the successes of so many people. Having faith that all the small steps on the journey will lead me to my end goal, and the value of keeping it simple, I felt very supported all along the way. So being on the receiving end of the experience, definitely allowed me to know and feel why I must do the same for my students.
How did EPM help you become successful?
The trainings have all been amazing and so valuable not just for this product but generally in helping me to focus on skills and strategies around client engagement and giving people what they want.
How has EPM and your success impacted your life?
I have a clearer picture of myself, my capabilities and know that my life is on the right track. I'm more committed to the vision I have of success and what it looks like for me.
What has been the biggest change in your business?
I am more disciplined in my scheduling. My time management has become more effective and can separate out working in my business and on my business.
What is now possible for you because of your Experience Product?
I have the skills to develop more experience products, and can now see a business that is bigger that me with the potential to really grow.
This is an edited/shortened version of my Graduation story. I got into EPM after having just signed up for 2 other business & marketing courses. It was an affiliate of one of the other courses, but I wish I had found EPM first! Already strapped for cash, I took the plunge, signing up on the payment plan as my only option and immediately started on my journey. I rushed through the first trainings, barely able to wait until the next trainings dropped. I had a slight idea of what kind of niche I was in, and intended to create an on-line course, but I really wanted to get clarity on what course I should create. I had NO idea what I was getting in for, but it’s been great! Then I accidentally unsubscribed from the EPM emails and missed both Jump Contests and lost my way a bit. I got off track around the holidays, going over and over my bird’s eye view and features & benefits statements. I got behind on the training videos as well, but at least attended all of the coaching calls. Finally I got everything straightened out and back on track, and started watching the videos again, even if I didn’t move forward on all of the actions, but it was very late. I did put my basic course outline into Experiencify and set it up for payments but I am just finishing up the marketing preparation now and still need to get my launch plan finalized. I knew that the guarantee was over for me when I first missed a milestone due date – but I told myself – oh, well, and just kept going forward. Now, after starting with basically nothing, I have a product and I know what I need to do to move forward. I have not given up, and I know I will keep on track. This has been the absolute best course I have taken – the only one that has actually helped me move forward toward my main goal - and I do not intend to abandon ship. I know I still have a ways to go, but plan to keep on course and make MA before LYM Live. Thanks Marisa and team - you’ve been great! Onward and Upward to Mission Accomplished!
This program gave me the framework to finally create my class. Not the entirety of my knowledge but just enough to close the loop and give them success
I was having the problem of starting my own life story, I wasn't sure what to do. I had absolutely no idea where to begin with starting my own business. I joined EPM and I realized that my story was so easy to find as it was starring at me in the face all this time. I just took action wrote everything down that I could and decided to just help a few people and what I found is that once the master is ready the students appear.Today my story is indeed a Million Dollar Story!!
Your GRADUATION Story
I was having the feeling that I am stuck at my daily job, I wasn’t sure what to do so first I was joining Marisa´s course "Start with you" and came up with the idea to move from being a full-time therapist to expand my offering and coach women. I came out of the first course with a clear vision and even with my coaching firm name "Become a love expert" but I still didn´t know how to implement it all. so I joined EPM and that was the real deal kicker program. Marisa and her team were pushing us all up the hill for three months long until we had our first product up and out in the world and that is of course just the start. I feel blessed to even had the chance to work with Marisa and her team. and that I have the possibility to live my message and carry it into the world in this lifetime. Thank you all.
Your MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Story
I am a technophob, everything that have to do with technic makes me see black in front of my eyes. I was so grateful that Marisa had so much understanding and patient to my and many other technical-overwhelm. With EPM I design an MVP online course with the minimum amount of technic and now I feel confident to expand;)
Your FIRST SALE Story
"The one thing that I was taking to heart from ""Start with you"" course was to start my communication with my audience as soon as possible and ask them what they need and want and even how they want to have it.
So I did run two BETA Groups but didn´t charge any money for my services and more so I was so happy to get some people that I didn´t check if they were in the right stage in life to take my help and get into action and get results!!!
with the Chatterbox champagne Marisa is crashing all my problems and mistakes in one go. I get to find out if my prospect is ready, I mean ""really ready"" to be in action and I get to sale my course for real money. Earning while learning;)
My first three sales are referrals from one person that did do everything I was teaching and did got results!!!
If from every happy client I will get three farther sales, that would be amazing! "
What's been the biggest change in your business?
I am an introvert and I even feel shy to post anything on social media. After only working through the MVP track and starting my launch, I am ready to Chat with the world. I still feel afraid but if something changed big time is my willingness to come out of my shell.
How's EPM and your success impacted your life?
my plan is to reduce my daily job in 50% and the other 50% do my online coaching activities. and I am planing to travel more this year and work from the road more than ever. We actually just came back from 4 weeks in Vietnam. this was our firs work-cation:) That was a good start so lets see.
What's your biggest takeaway from EPM?
the MVP Mindset!!! that is the most amazing approach ever. and it is working!!! I catch myself asking myself "what would be an MVP version of my idea at this point?" Voala... and here you have it.
What's now possible for you because of your Experience Product?
I can live my message and help women to "Become a love Experts" in their own unique way. and there is nothing more amazing and more powerful than LOVE. Our world need more love! I am so committed to at list reduce the suffering in this world and this is my little contribution. Thank you guys for helping me now and in the future to make it known and running.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
"Thank You!
and...
Thank you...
and...
Thank you..."
I've wanted to create an online course for a while but I wasn't clear on my messaging. After joining EPM and receiving great support from coach Carolyn inside the program, I became very clear on my target audience, the product's mission, and its content. Because of that I can now promote the program with confidence.