EP # 196 - Inside the Diamond Effect Group: How We Turn Side Hustles into Sustainable 5-Figure Businesses

In this episode, Maggie pulls back the curtain on her signature program, the Diamond Effect Group. She shares the story behind its creation and how it helps service-based business owners create sustainable 5K+ months without burnout.

Key Highlights:

• The origin story: How Maggie's corporate burnout led to creating a program she wished existed when starting her business
• Why does the program run for 12 months, and what is the strategic reasoning behind each quarter's focus
• The four key components that make Diamond Effect Group unique: • Personalized implementation through weekly coaching • Leadership identity development from day one • Strategic network building and win-win relationships • Recession-proof business skill building

Success Stories Mentioned:

• Stephanie: Excel expert who built a successful business through strategic networking
• Paola: Event decorator who scaled her business while maintaining work-life balance
• Glory: Therapy practice owner who successfully expanded her team

Program Structure:

• Quarter 1: Foundation building and fast growth
• Quarter 2: Marketing mastery and consistent lead generation
• Quarter 3: Sales optimization and systems development
• Quarter 4: Sustainable scaling and legacy building

Investment: $2,500 for 12 months with payment options available
Success Guarantee: Additional 3 months of support if needed

Resources Mentioned:

• Website: https://www.stairwaytoleadership.com/diamond-effect-group
  
  
• Frameworks included: • DREAM-PLAN-DO coaching model • Time on Demand Framework • Strategic Consistency Method • Premium Pricing Formula • Client Attraction and Qualification Process • Relationship Ripple Effect

Ready to transform your side hustle into a thriving business? 

Visit https://www.stairwaytoleadership.com/diamond-effect-group to learn more and book a free consultation with Maggie.

#DiamondEffectGroup #BusinessCoaching #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #BusinessGrowth

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello everybody. Welcome to the next episode of Diamond Effect Podcast. And over the past few weeks, I've been sharing with you stories of my clients, those who are part of Diamond Effect Group. I've been sharing with you some concepts that can help you grow your business. Whether it is Time on demand formula or marketing sales concepts. 

Today I want to share with you more information about Diamond Effect Group. What it is. The clients who are in it, they had some great stories and how they grew, and you might be curious, I want to know more about the program. I want to share with you why I started it, and also how it's structured and the why behind every part of that structure, every decision that I made. I'm pretty strategic in how not only I build my business, but how I structure things to serve my [00:01:00] clients. Because everything has a purpose and that purpose is to help my clients get better and better results on their terms. This is what today's episode is all about.

Okay. So what is Diamond Effect Group all about? About two years ago, I was still corporate leader managing a 30 people team, where we supported the operations of 450 people spread across North America in the field, and my team was making sure that these individuals knew exactly what to do, when to do that.

They did it at the highest level of service for the clients, not only for the clients who were getting that service. But also we made sure that they met contractual obligations that the company I worked for agreed onto. [00:02:00] 

And with another promotion on the horizon. I had six figure salary and benefits. I was building my dream on the side because there was a point in my life, four years ago, when I experienced a burnout and that situation made me realize that corporate career wasn't for me anymore. That I wanted to build something of my own where I could make my own decisions. Where I could create the impact that I truly wanted to create in my life.

So I was quietly building my coaching business on the side. While, juggling the corporate career and also doing an executive MBA. Something I always wanted to do. And that was my dream of creating meaning on my own terms. 

I remember when I started my business, I realized that there were things that I needed help with, like networking skills, like sales skills, like social [00:03:00] media marketing.

And I couldn't find one place where I could get all of it. I had to go to different courses or places to learn those skills. 

Another thing that was missing in many of those, materials or trainings is that nobody helped me how to apply whatever I was learning to my particular situation, to where my business was, to my skillset, to the life situation that I was in.

When I was not able to network during the day, or I was super shy; and I didn't know at first, how to make posts or videos and all those things. I didn't have that personal touch. 

Now, of course, I figured it out, but I think it took me so much longer. I made so much more mistakes. I could have progressed my business faster if I only had that personal touch.

So [00:04:00] when I created Diamond Effect Group, I created it for people like me who are in the beginning stages of building their business. And maybe they, their business right now is a side hustle like I used to have, and they're trying to juggle a nine to five, kids in school, or other obligations. Maybe have a young family. So their time is also limited to what they can put into growing their business. And yet they still want full-time income out of it. Or they still want to get it to the place where they feel financially comfortable. 

And also it's for people who are in early stages of their business and they're trying to learn many different skills, and they find themselves lost and they're not sure what is relevant for their business; what they should be applying; what they should avoid, and just need that support.

 As [00:05:00] I grew my business, and then when I created Diamond of the Group, which has been in place for a few years now, so there is a lot of alumni and there's clients who got results. We really created frameworks and tools and, blueprints for these entrepreneurs who are building their dream, want to create something of their own, but they have a lot of other things going on. 

The goal of all those frameworks is really to help ambitious business owners, ambitious service providers create sustainable 5K and more months of income without burning out. 

So whether you're balancing nine to five for your, like just first few years of your full entrepreneurship. Diamond Effect Group gives you those proven systems, supportive community, and strategic guidance on how to apply things in your particular [00:06:00] situation.

So you don't lose a lot of time and effort trying to figure out everything on your own. You're not wondering, okay, what's next? Maybe I should be doing this, maybe I should be doing that. And you're not doing it alone because also what I found with me and clients who are already in diamond of a group, sometimes the beginning of entrepreneurial journey can feel lonely.

Why? Because your network so far might have consistent just with corporate people. Or people who've been in public service and never had a business, or maybe you were a student and you just have friends who on a party and now you're on that new path and nobody around you actually understands what you're going through.

In Diamond Effect Group we have that community aspect where people are building their dreams. They have similar goals to you. They understand what you're going through. They already might have a little bit more experience and they can help you, or [00:07:00] whether they just become your entrepreneur or friend, or each other's clients as well.

And because I truly believe that when I'm in charge of building something and I'm in charge of all the decisions, I can create life that I want. That I don't have to compromise my personal values and things that are important to me with my professional career and another part of my life that's important to me. Which I didn't find was possible in a corporate world.

So that's why I'm so passionate about helping my clients also create that work-life harmony that they want. Because with your own business, when you are making all the decisions, it's a hundred percent possible. You can do it when you put intention and strategy to it.

So let's get down to detail as to what Diamond Effect program includes and how we operate. 

It's a 12 month program. The first thing that really makes it stand out [00:08:00] from any other coaching program is that we have personalized implementation. We don't give you just information or teach you things. And then tell you, okay, now you have to figure it out on your own how to apply it. Because I've seen too many business owners actually get lost in programs like that. We give you personalized feedback on how to implement. That happens through weekly coaching sessions. We have two coaching sessions a week at different times of day, so in the evening and in the morning.

So then no matter your schedule, you can make time to come to at least one of those sessions. And they're so flexible that one week you can come to the evening session. One week you can come to the morning session, and you didn't lose anything. During those sessions I coach you one-on-one.

So even though there's a group of people when it comes to me coaching you, I coach you on your [00:09:00] strategy, on your plan, on your business. That's how we personalize that coaching. So you come out of this session knowing exactly what to do. Knowing exactly how to implement it. And also learning from others because of course, as I'm coaching others and you're participating and listening, a lot of the things that I'm helping others with applied to you. Whether it's your mindset, whether it is a particular strategy. 

You have this benefit of being in the group and learning from others, but also one-on-one coaching for the time when I'm coaching you. I will give you an example of how that works.

So personalized coaching means, for example, different marketing strategy for different clients. Stephanie, who is an Excel expert who works with businesses, her strategy right now in terms of marketing is networking with other business owners [00:10:00] who she can help and build partnerships with. Also be present on LinkedIn.

She's not present on Instagram or TikTok or doing million things. We just developed a system where she is very active in certain networking groups that really work well for her and on LinkedIn, and that's how she's generating regular leads and clients interested in her work. And then build the relationships from there.

Or for example, Paola, who is in more event decor space. And her clients could be individuals, but also corporations and businesses that have events. Her strategy is Instagram and building relationships and reach out to corporations. She actually doesn't network. She is not on LinkedIn or TikTok.

And that creates a stream of leads that keep growing her business. And of course, because all my clients are amazing, [00:11:00] they have returning clients. So this is how you can see how we personalize strategy, how we personalize feedback, and also how to implement it based on your skill level, based on your strengths.

Another thing we focus on, and I'm a huge believer on is building your leadership identity from day one. Because I want my clients to know and feel like there are business leaders regardless how big their business is. Regardless if they have employees or not. Because once you shift your identity into that of a leader. Of the CEO of your business, the way you make decision changes, the way you act, changes how you see opportunities changes.

When you grow, your business grows. I truly believe that your business cannot outgrow you. So because your business is [00:12:00] really the outcome of your decisions and actions that you take as a result of those decisions. So the sooner you shift the thinking from that of being an employee in your nine to five, to being a leader of your business, the transformation is incredible. 

And even if you go back and listen to the episodes with Stephanie and Paula, or Lina, you'll see and understand more why it is important, because they definitely talk a lot about that shift. And we start on coaching you on it from day one and then the third part.

The third key component of Diamond Effect Group is the network and creating win-win scenarios. So learning how to build strategic relationships in your business, but also building relationship with the community that we have. When I started my [00:13:00] business, I realized I did not have a network due to different circumstances.

The fact that I am an immigrant to Canada. The fact that I went through the force at some point and lost a social network that was really tied to my ex partner, ex-husband. Then the fact that I didn't really network that much in a corporate role, and when I started my business, I realized, oh, I don't know anybody.

And it takes a village to grow a business the same way it takes a village to raise a child. So that first network is there for you already with the other members. So members support each other, celebrate together, they become each other's. Friends or accountability partners, but also each other's clients.

Then with our curriculum, we also teach you how to build strategic partnerships. How to collaborate with people. I am introverted and naturally shy, and I had to figure out ways how to. Get out there and meet [00:14:00] people and build strong relationships, even as a shy person. So all those tools are there for you, to utilize to the benefit of your business growth.

The fourth part of Diamond Effect is recession proof, business skills building. I am a huge fan of investing in yourself and your skill building. When you look at all successful CEOs and entrepreneurs out there, they're all highly skilled. They really understand the business, marketing, sales, operations, people, leadership, and this is the only way I believe you can economy- proof your business. 

When you are highly skilled, you will see things happening in the economy ahead of time. You'll have ideas and understanding how to shift your business, how to innovate [00:15:00] in order to not only stay relevant in any economy, but keep growing because you keep helping your clients, you keep understanding them, you keep understanding the economical situation that you're around.

I want my clients to be highly skilled. I want you to be confident in building your business. And that comes with skill building. We have a business skill learning portal that we make available to all our members. Those are very practical videos. They're short. They're teaching you what you need in order to understand why you are doing certain things in your business. Where are the strategies coming from. How it's going to work for you and so on.

Not to mention that we even teach you some basic financial skills. I call it managerial finance, meaning you don't have to be a bookkeeper or CFO, but as the leader of your business, you need to understand your finances at the [00:16:00] level where you can have a very educated. Good conversation with your bookkeeper or your accountant, where you are the one making decisions.

You can ask questions that help you make your decisions, so we teach you that as well.

To recap, what do we have as part of the Diamond Effect program? Personalized weekly coaching sessions. You have two sessions every week to choose from. You can come to any of them at any time. One week, it can be an evening session, one week it could be a morning session, and you have that for a year. In those sessions, you get individualized coaching that helps you apply whatever strategy you have and skills you're learning, so then you are not stuck wondering, what do I do with it? We have the diamond effect frameworks and tools that are unique to this group.

Those are, the DREAM-PLAN-DO coaching model, the Time on Demand [00:17:00] Framework, the Strategic Consistency Method, the Premium Pricing formula. Client attraction and qualification process, teaching you natural sales conversations and even Relationship Ripple Effect. They're all tested in proven methodologies that you won't find anywhere else that we teach you, so that you keep scaling your business, keep growing that income.

You have a private community and network, as I said, where you find. Friends, collaborators, clients. 

And the business skill learning portal. So you truly become a highly skilled business person.

Let's talk now about the length of the program. Why 12 months? I believe that in the beginning, when you are just starting to grow the momentum in your business, that's when you need the most support. It's like business is a baby. If you think about the innocent baby that can [00:18:00] do anything for themselves within the first year, it starts walking and talking.

And as it grows, it can fend for itself. As a business owner in the beginning, you need most support. That's when you need to develop more critical skills where building momentum can feel hard. When you have that support, it goes so much faster. So what do we focus on in each quarter, within those 12 months, it's also strategically chosen.

The first three months we really build foundation and focus on fast growth. Because what I want you to do is establish a strong foundation. Like you don't build a house by trying to do finishes first. Because if you try to put a tile or nonexisting floor, it's not gonna work.

And it's the same in business if you're trying to start somewhere where an established business goals like, branding and bells and [00:19:00] whistles, it's not gonna stick because it has no foundation. 

We need to establish that foundation. We also want you to start growing as fast as possible, making money, because that will of course help you stay in business and then be resourced to keep reinvesting in the business. But also be able to, pay your own bills and live. We create immediate revenue opportunities. We identify those opportunities and help you go after them. Set up essential business system like client attraction system, revenue generation system help you figure out the client delivery system.

Them because that's what allows you to retain the clients and refer others to you and then them coming back and return to you. That's when in the first 30 to 90 days, you start seeing results from being in the group and then just keep. Growing and so then quarter two [00:20:00] or months four to six, we start getting better and better in marketing.

That's when you start mastering marketing, building consistent lead pipeline, mastering your messaging. So now you're converting more people. Of course you're gonna make more money when you convert from 20 leads to 10 clients rather than 20 leads to two clients. So we wanna start working on that.

We want to establish your market presence, maybe expand in some of your marketing activities, and also develop your unique positioning, meaning how do you stand out from the competition. So it's easier for the clients to choose you, not just because you know you have more attractive pricing, that's not what you want to compete on.

Then the third quarter we start diving deeper into your sales and systems. So cleaning up some of your pricing strategies, creating effective sales process, because [00:21:00] now you're having more and more leads. You want to streamline the sales process so you're not spending all your time maybe dealing with, non-ideal clients. And you wanna spend more of your time on VIP clients or clients who need more attention because their projects are bigger, or whatever the case might be.

We're helping you automate certain things. We're getting into systems, so that will allow you to scale your business. And then months 10 to 12, so the last quarter, that's where we, now that you have the income generated, more and more leads, more and more clients. Now we're scaling and wanting to scale sustainably.

We're optimizing your business model, creating lasting growth system, different lines of revenue generation. Thinking about establishing long-term legacy. And as we do that, we also coach you on personal development. Help you get really good with your time, get [00:22:00] really good with boundaries, delegation. 

You might need to start incorporating team members, just like my client, Paula, who in order to protect her family time, her business was scaling, had to start hiring people. So we helped her with it and now she has a team of three in the truck and streamlined her systems. So then her business keeps growing while she's still working part-time hours because her young family is growing as well.

As you can see, everything in Diamond Effect is thought through. Every component has a specific reason, and that's based on my experience in working with business owners, working and scaling in my corporate world, also growing my business.

I want to send you also to my website, StairwayToLeadership.com 

from there you have link to the Diamond Effect group that also talks [00:23:00] about client success stories and testimonials. So you can see that different clients from different industries and different life situations are creating great results with the support of the group. We have frequently asked questions on that website as well. 

While the website covers some frequently asked questions, I do want to address some of them here in this podcast. For example, you might be thinking, okay, maybe I'm not sure if my business is established enough for to join. Maybe I just started my business and I made my first sales, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to go into a program like this.

Diamond Effect group is specifically designed for side hustlers or people early in their business, early stage entrepreneurs. It's designed for people who want to keep growing, who wanna take this business further.

Just like my client, Paula, who had first started her business as a [00:24:00] hobby, but then realized that this hobby could be so much more than just a hobby. 

And that's why she joined. Or my client, Stephanie, who at first had a side hustle but was dreaming of this lifestyle where you could work anywhere from the world and that side hustle business could be that. But she needed to bring it to the level where she was comfortable in quitting her job the same way.

I had to bring my business to the level when I would be comfortable quitting my job. And that's what I did. And that's what Stephanie did. 

We are there to help you grow proper foundations or build proper foundations, grow faster, avoid costly mistakes, and therefore create life with that business that you want that's ideal for you.

The investment in the 12 months of Diamond Effect program is $2,500. We have payment options for those who prefer it, and [00:25:00] we do also have a double win success guarantee because first of all. Our clients see results.

All of our clients get results. Most of them get results within 30 to 90 days. And our guarantee is that if you don't see that, we will add another three months within the price that you pay for in the group for you. So then we make sure you do get results and you grow. And that's why it's structured the way it's structured with the length and the quarterly focus and how we coach you. So you do get results. All of our clients do. 

Then also consider this one premium client or one new project that from the offer that we could create together in the group could cover your entire investment. Think about it this way, when you're trying to figure it out on your own and you're struggling to make a thousand dollars or [00:26:00] even $2,000 every month, each month, you delay getting help, it's costing you $5,000 in potential revenue because that's where we get our clients to minimum $5,000 each month and then grow from there.

And you're missing out on mastering skills that will keep making you money for life. That's the beautiful thing about investing in yourself and building up skills that nobody can take it away from you. You have them for life. That's what's really, economy proofs your business because even if the technology changes, economy changes, you having strong business skills.

You will be able to solve for those challenges, and that's why you know, the most successful businesses last for long because they have people in them who have those skills. 

What about a question where, okay, my spouse, my family doesn't understand. [00:27:00] What I'm doing, how do I handle this?

I wanna say many successful entrepreneur face that situation, especially when they start, as I mentioned, whether it's my client Stephanie or Adarsh. They were in a situation where when they started the business, nobody around them understood it. They still made the decisions that felt they were right for them.

They still had this big dream of being an entrepreneur, making impact, serving clients, and they believed in themselves. They believed in their business, so they wanna support that dream as much as possible. And also I can help you communicate your business vision to those around your host, who they also understand your journey and they understand what you need to make it successful.

Another question that, sometimes we get is that, okay, I'm already busy. I have my business, my [00:28:00] personal life, my job. How much time do I need to commit? 

That's why we have very flexible schedule with the calls and also implementation focused approach.

So you are not wasting a lot of time learning things that you don't need. And with me teaching you how to be super effective with your time and becoming a high performer, I teach you how to create time on demand. You actually save anywhere from five to 10 hours a week. Not only because you're avoiding trial and error, but you are getting very effective with how you manage your time. 

So the time you spend in coaching, which is not that much, it's like an hour a week, you gain tenfold by learning how to manage your time, by getting skilled. Just imagine if I'm not skilled in playing basketball, it's [00:29:00] gonna take me a long time to score into the hoop.

If I'm an NBA player, I will score very fast. It's because I'm more skilled. So skills save your time. They make you faster in whatever you're trying to do.

The last question I wanna cover here is, okay. That's great, Maggie, but as I said, there's a ton of different programs out there. What makes this group different from other programs? 

The three key differences, there's more, but the three key differences is that we have this weekly personalized implementation, not just teaching and letting you figure it out on your own.

That's super powerful. This is one main things why our clients get such fast results. We also have a comprehensive approach that covers mindset, marketing systems and all those things because as a small business owner or solopreneur, entrepreneur. [00:30:00] You can't afford to be hiring the branding expert, the sales expert, the marketing expert, and so on.

And very often those experts operate at higher level trying to make you implement strategies that are really applicable to larger businesses that are further in their development than you. And that's why quite often that doesn't work. Here we're covering foundations of everything that you need because that is what moves you forward the fastest.

Again, you cannot put belts and whistles on a house that doesn't have a frame and foundation. You need that first. 

The third part is flexible schedule and two weekly options in small group coaching. I haven't seen anywhere else, and I am pretty familiar with a lot of coaching or training programs that are out there.

If you want to learn more, go to our website, [00:31:00] StairwayToLeadership.com/diamond-effect-group 

I'll put that in the show notes and if you want to talk about joining it, I offer free consultations. There is a link on the website that will lead you there. I'm happy to chat and help you turn your side hustle into a full-time business. And really create life and impact that you want. Have a fantastic week and talk to you next week. Bye.