How I turned an idea into a $37K profit

My husband and I were chatting this past weekend about our first jobs.  (That tends to happen more when I am off social, that is probably an entirely separate episode, but if you haven’t taken a social detox, DO IT!) Mine was with Accenture out of college. I busted my butt for 4 years double majoring, paying for my own college, and finally, it was paying off. My starting salary was $40k. Now I know this is not a small number, but in the consulting world trust me when I say you had to work for it. I was basically trading my life for an income, but at age 22 it seemed pretty amazing. 

Fast forward to today, I am sitting here a month from being 42. Like most do at the end of the year, I was adding up my expenses, revenue, and all the things. (Truth be told I hate talking about numbers but wanted to have a head start when we started to think about taxes in 2021). I scrolled through my spreadsheet (yes, that is my system, so far it has been simple and works for me) and I almost fell off my chair. I knew what to expect from my Network Marketing business as I have done it for the last 5 years, but with the coaching business that I launched with the Crush the Rush podcast in March, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. 

If you are new here, I started the Crush the Rush podcast and brand in March of 2020. I knew that I wanted to create courses and teach somehow but wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like. I started with the podcast and simply sharing questions people asked me. I then took the next 2 months and developed my methodology: what I wanted to teach (at least an idea) and how I wanted to teach it. The trick here was I didn’t know all the answers, but I was putting in the work of brainstorming, asking questions, asking for feedback, and even taking on a few 1:1 clients for free to work through my ideas. The other key here was taking most of my income to date from my networking marketing and investing it back into a mastermind. I was using one business to fuel another, but also needed a community of support. I had NO idea how to launch a course, create a brand, figure out how to do all of this while working full time. Social media is a lot different than the corporate world and while my strategic tactics could be applied, I had a lot to learn. 

In parallel, while I was “slowing down” as most would call it, even though I felt like my schedule was packed and I didn’t have any products yet,  I was fueling all this content and feedback I was receiving from my research back into the podcast and my Instagram. I had two platforms that I went all-in on. (I am going to share more about this next week!) I created a schedule so that I could show up consistently with those and when I was ready, launch my next steps. 

Long story short, I didn’t bring in any income until the end of May 2020 when I taught my course live. It was to 5 people. And let me tell you if you are one of those 5 people and listening, you basically got what is now an entire brand, free! I gave them 120% of what I had. And they get all the upgrades today! (My business model is to create a crap ton of value!) 

After May, I hit pause again, asked for more feedback, and then in September (this was a long pause) created my Crush the Rush Facebook community. Along the way, I taught the course again LIVE and picked up a few more 1:1 clients. Finally, in October I launched what you see today. But that is after I invested back into the business the building of a formal website, course platform and outsourced my podcast editing, along with a few more business mentorships (to help support me). 

My point of the story (and yes, I will give you the bullet point summary you all know and love) is that “Creating a Course” or whatever your goal is, is not what is seems. There is SO much behind the scenes. And if you are doing it right, A LOT of updating, fixing and course correcting. 

In the end, my journey created an extra $37K in income in 2020. I fell off my chair because I honestly had no idea. (Note to self in 2021, one of my goals is to be better at this!) Because my business plan was to scale fast, once I hit my expenses I re-invested. Since having my signature offering down, I can now break it up, scale it, re-purpose it and 75% of the work is done. 

I am also sharing this because if you help one person. That is a win. 

If you change one person’s life. That is a win. 

If you teach one course, that is a win. 

I always say progress over time combined with consistency will always get you to the next level. So that is what I did.

Here are your bullet points:

• Create a methodology you can teach consistently
• Teach it live. Gather feedback. Repeat. 
• Give away as much value as possible. I gave away as much free content as I possibly could (and still do) on my schedule. Podcasts, blog posts, community training, free workshops. That is my passion. And deep down inside, I know that if you know me, once you see the materials you actually pay for, you will be blown away. 
• Gather testimonials. 
• Market the course before it is done. Use it to build your structure.

I ended the year with 1,500 new email subscribers, a FB Community of almost 500 (so close), and over 40+ women who have taken my courses. It is only going to get better! Because now I am starting the process all over again….

Teach. Feedback. Incorporate into the brand. Repeat. 

If you are in a season of slowing down, know that slowing down to speed up is something I will always support. And if you are in the FB group, come tell me what you need help on! Whether it be guest training through the new mastermind OR upcoming products (yes a planner is in progress), I do all of this for you! 

Let's set up a chat and see what we can do together!

https://calendly.com/hollymariehaynes/quickchat