How To Grow A Training & Mentorship Business In A Bad Economy

Grow A Training & Mentorship Business In A Bad Economy

A rising tide lifts all boats. So in a rising economy, you can make some mistakes and still grow your business.

Why?

Because there are more people that are willing to spend money. So even if you are bad at lead generation and don't do much to earn the trust of your customers. Some people will still buy.

In a bad economy. You don't have that luxury. You must focus on the marketing fundamentals or you will get crushed.

Here's a reminder of the marketing fundamentals.

1. Find your ideal customer - someone that needs your help and is willing to pay for it.
2. Earn their trust
3. Make them feel good about buying

Let's look at the first and most important step...

Lead Generation / Find Your Ideal Customer

If you want to grow your business. Then you need to find more people to help. It's as simple as that.

But...

You need to find people that are able and willing to pay for your help.

Finding people with no money is easy. Finding people with money to spend is harder. Finding people with money that are willing to invest in themselves is harder still.

So...

What lead generation are you doing on a regular basis?

If the answer is nothing then how do you expect to grow your business?

What are the lead generation sources that you should use? Here's a shortlist...

1. Google Adwords
2. Google Display Network
3. Facebook Ads
4. YouTube Ads
5. Email
6. Business partnerships / Affiliates

Before you start saying I've left newspaper and magazine ads off the list. It's worth saying that this is not a complete list. It's also worth saying that I don't know anyone that is doing everything on this list.

In fact, I don't know a single training company that runs YouTube Ads... even though... there is the least competition... so you should get the lowest cost per lead.

Why isn't anyone running YouTube Ads? Because they are difficult to do. Because it means learning a new platform. Because there is always an "entry fee" when learning something new. Because the inertia of change keeps people doing what they have always done.

So, let's talk about the elephant in the room... Facebook Ads.

That's what everyone is using right? Or that's where everyone wants to go for leads. Would you agree?

Well...

5 years ago, running Facebook ads was easy and cheap. Today, that's not the case. Today, Facebook ads are a lot more complicated to run than Google ads... and more expensive.

Plus... Facebook is squeezing out the small advertisers by shutting down their accounts. I had my account shut down at the point where I had an ad that consistently generated a great cost per lead. It complied with Facebook's advertising policy. And it looked like I had a winner that I was going to run in the background for £100 a day or more, for the next 12 months.

Then...

Facebook banned my account!

Not the add. My account.

So, everything stopped. No more fresh leads. No more new customers.

Why did my account get banned?

For repeatedly violating their advertising policies. At least that's the reason they gave me. Even though, when they banned my account all my ads were approved and getting great results.

So, Facebook holds all the cards. And if you are going to use this as a source of leads (which I think you should) then what is...

The ONLY Facebook Ads Success Tool You Need To Know!

As I've already said. Running Facebook ads is much more complicated than Google Adwords. And a lot riskier. And it's a fast way to reach a LOT of people, instantly. Which is why it's worth using for lead generation.

When you strip away all the complexity there's only ONE the thing you need to remember...

Facebook Ad success starts and ends with the copy!

If your ad isn't working then you need to re-write the copy. If you've got a good ad and you want to make it better then you need to re-write the copy.

And...

Good copy means...

Long copy.

I'm talking 1,000 words or more.

Why?

Because you've got to tell a story, illustrate your point and then make an irresistible offer. And you can't do that in 50 words.

Before we dive down the rabbit hole of Facebook Ads copy. Let's focus on growing a training and mentorship company in a bad economy. You need to find your ideal customer. That's someone who needs your help and can afford to pay for it.

So...

How do you find people with money?

You state up front that you've got an amazing opportunity that isn't for everyone... in fact, it's not for most people. Why? Because it requires an investment of time, money and enthusiasm.

Remember that a good headline attracts your ideal customer and turns everyone else away.

That is the same principle with Facebook ads.

So...

If your only success metric is Cost Per Lead. It's very easy to write a headline that will attract more people to reduce your cost per lead. All you need to do is say that you can [get rich/ thin/ happy] without any effort or any money.

That's the fastest way to attract people that are NOT your ideal customer.

If you want to attract people with money then you can say, I've got an amazing way to turn £1 into £10 virtually overnight. The only problem is you need £25,000 to seize this opportunity.

Doing that immediately turns away the people that don't have £25,000 or are unwilling to invest that amount of money. And it attracts the people that do.

So, to grow your training and mentorship company in a bad economy, you need a way to find your ideal customer. You need new leads if you want to grow.

Once you've got a steady stream of new leads. You then need to...

Earn Their Trust

Before you can ask someone to go and get their wallet, you first need to show them what makes you different, how you can help them and why they should trust you.

Trust is the foundation of the sale. If you don't earn your customers trust then you won't make the sale. It's as simple as that.

This is the step that most people try and skip. They want to jump straight to the sale. That's the short-term way to look at success. It's also a churn and burn way to look at success. You see, you can get some people to buy immediately. But if you ignore the 99% of people that don't buy immediately then you are overlooking the goldmine in your business.

Your email database is the goose that lays the golden eggs. If you want to goose to continue laying golden eggs. Then you've got to feed and nurture the goose.

How do you nurture your golden goose? With these 3 tools

1. Valuable content
2. Inspirational personal stories
3. Customer success stories

Valuable Content

When you give away valuable content for free on a regular basis. You give your community a reason to stay on your list and read your emails. You are also earning their trust over time. You are proving every week that you have the solutions to their problems. And you would like to give them specific steps that they can take today to solve them.

Creating and publishing valuable content is a competitive advantage that you can give yourself tomorrow.

If you start writing a weekly blog. You will earn the trust of the people that are already on your email database. When you bring in new leads, you've got a process in place to earn their trust.

When it comes to giving away valuable content there are many things that you can do. Here's a few to choose...

1. Podcast
2. Blog
3. YouTube videos
4. Facebook Live
5. LinkedIn Live

Do you need to do all of them?

No!

That's the easiest way to overwhelm or doing nothing.

Start with one. Do that consistently and then use more vehicles to publish your content.

The good news is that once you have created valuable content you can repurpose it. So a blog post can become a Facebook and LinkedIn Live. It can also become a Podcast that you video at the same time.

The starting point for all that activity is the same...

Think in ink.

You need to get your knowledge out of your head and onto the page. Then you can start publishing it.

I suggest you start with a blog because it's the easiest way to get started.

Inspirational Personal Stories

Part of what you are selling is You. You are selling your system to solve a specific problem. And you are teaching the system. So your community need to know who you are. They need to know what makes you different and why they should trust you.

That's why you need to tell your inspirational personal stories.

If you're thinking, but I don't know how to tell an interesting story, much less an inspirational personal story. Then I've got some good news for you. You see, storytelling is a skill like any other. So, you can learn it.

There's a storytelling system that has made billions in movie box office sales. It's called The Hero's Journey. This is the storytelling system that's at the heart of movies such as Star Wars, Rocky, Avatar, Joy, Moana.

This storytelling system is at the heart of religious stories and folk tales.

I've simplified The Hero's Journey to make it easier to tell an inspirational personal story. If you'd like to learn how to use my simple storytelling system then you need to download my book Consistent Profits Pyramid. Click the link below to download your free copy now.

http://rebrand.ly/Consistent-Profits-Pyramid-Book

Customer Success Stories

Your community wants to know that ordinary people like them can succeed when they follow your system. So the more customer success stories you tell. The more trust you will earn.

How do you tell a customer success story in a way that has your community sat on the edge of their seat? You use the same system that I've outlined in my book Consistent Profits Pyramid. Click the link below to download your free copy now.

http://rebrand.ly/Consistent-Profits-Pyramid-Book

Now let's take a look at the part that occupies most of your thoughts...

Make Your Customers Feel Good About Buying

This is the easiest aspect to focus on because this is the part that makes the cash register ring.

And if you want to be in business... and you want to grow your business... then you've got to ask for the sale.

The reason why I didn't talk about this first is that if you can't find people that need your help, you will never make a sale. And if you can't earn the trust of new leads, then you won't make a sale.

And...

Selling online is a complex process that needs focussed attention.

There are 2 ways to sell workshops, online courses and products online...

1. Webinar
2. Sales page

Which one brings in the most sales?

Sales page!

A sales page is a salesman in print that you can use for years. It's a salesman in print that you can send across the world to make money while you sleep.

Here's The Outline For A High Converting Sales Page

1. Headline - to attract your ideal customer and turn everyone else away
2. Inspirational story that explains how you created your system
3. Irresistible offer
4. Customer success stories
5. Guarantee
6. Call to action

I'm not going to lie. There are nuances in each of those 6 steps. Nuances that make the difference between a good and a great sales letter. And I've been learning about those nuances for 6 years... and I continue to learn about them.

And...

I've given you a simple outline to take the fear out of writing a sales letter.

The truth is that any sales letter will help you grow your business better than no sales letter. And putting an inspirational personal story in it that shows how you created your system and why it works. Will put you ahead of most people.

So don't overcomplicate it.

Get started. Take action. And watch your income grow.

The Time To Fix The Roof Is When The Sun Is Shining

When do most people think about fixing the roof?

When it's raining.

You know that what got you here will not take you where you want to go.

So...

If you want to grow your business in a bad economy then you've got to invest in yourself.

You now know the 3 steps that you must take to grow your business.

And...

If you don't know how to take any one of those steps then you've got 3 choices...

1. Work it out on your own through the school of hard knocks.
2. Learn from an expert
3. Pay a consultant to do it for you

You already know that the school of hard knocks is the most time consuming, enthusiasm killing and most expensive way to learn a new skill.

Learning how to use a proven system from an expert is the way that I would suggest. This is what I call street smarts education. This is what made the difference in my life. Learning from entrepreneurs that had been there and done it.

If you've got the cash then the fastest way to enjoy stunning results is to pay a consultant. If they've got a proven track record at growing training companies then I'm sure they can do a great job for you.

If you'd like to learn more about my proven system to grow a training and mentorship company. Then download my book How To Turn Expertise Into Cash. This takes my 7-year journey through the school of hard knocks and streets smart education and condenses it into a book that you can read in an hour. To download your free copy click the link below:

http://rebrand.ly/How-To-Turn-Expertise-Into-Cash-Book

If you'd like to learn all the How To detail then I have an online course called How To Turn Expertise Into Cash. If you'd like to learn more about it then please email me on roland.eva@rolandeva.co.uk

Now It's Your Turn

You now know the 3 things you must do to grow your business in a bad economy.

My question for you is which one of these steps will you start doing tomorrow?

Are you going to give more value to your existing database?

Are you going to grow your database?

If you want to make some money before you invest in Lead Generation then I suggest you focus on giving more value to your existing database. Give, give and give a bit more.

At the same time, you can plan a promotion. So once you have given and given and given... you can make an offer that makes them feel good about buying.

If you've found this useful then please leave a comment below.

If this can help someone you know, then please share it with them.

Until next time...

Carpe diem

Roland Eva

P.S. if you'd like a proven strategy to give your training and mentorship company a giant leap in sales then you should check out my book How To Turn Expertise Into Cash.

This book outlines the system that I used to make £672,989 in 9 days.

I know that sounds too good to be true and believe me I couldn't believe it when I achieved it. In the book I'll tell you the full story. As you'll learn this was the spectacular end to a 7 year journey of discovery.

I took that amazing result and transformed it into a simple system. A system that I've used to sell products and services ranging in price from £5 to £12,000. A system that I've used in industries as diverse as property investment, finance, business opportunity, entrepreneurship, weight loss, alternative health and technology.

To download your free copy. Click the link below.

http://rebrand.ly/How-To-Turn-Expertise-Into-Cash-Book