106. 4 Important lessons I've learned since starting my online business. [QUICK MINUTE]

In this episode, I share 4 big lessons taught to me by four different mentors I've had so far in my business. Each time I choose to invest in myself I get something valuable for my growth in return. Today I share 4 of the more pivotal lessons of the MANY I've learned.


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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hey everyone. Welcome to the dream Hustle podcast, this show that shares authentic and unfiltered advice on how to build and grow a successful dream business online. I'm your host Shana recker. I'm a business, an online entrepreneur and I love helping women bust through the fears and find strategies to make their dream business come to life. My guests and I keep everything super real here for you guys with our stories and tips for success. So let's dig in to today's episode. I want to share one of the five star reviews that came into the dream hustled podcast. And this one release review was by Nwm friends and it says, I never miss an episode. Love Jeans, podcasts. They speak to me no matter what the topic is. She is a real and authentic. It's like you're sitting down for a cup of coffee with her and she is the best at teaching entrepreneurs how to run an online business and how to mind your mindset, which is the most important part of business. She will leave you all fired up and feeling awesome. Love you Shayna, love you to network marketing front. And thank you so much for that five star review. You guys, if you want to leave a review on the dream was podcast, just head over to Itunes, I you can do it on your iPhone or you can go to Sheena rack about common looks like instructions on how to do it. These reviews mean the world's view guys, it helps me know that what I'm doing is helping and serving you. So thank you so much for doing that. And I'm going to be featuring all these reviews on upcoming podcast. So thank you so much. And now on to today's episode. Hey everyone, welcome to this quick minute with Shana. And today I'm going to share with you guys

Speaker 2: 1:33

for things that I've learned from mentors and masterminds that I have been a part of. And actually I just recently got home from California where I had my last weekend retreat with uh, Chris and Lori harder and they're fast foundations mastermind. And I learned so much from those two and everybody that was in that group a way too much to share in one podcast episode. But today, um, I am going to be sharing a little bit from what I've learned from them, but also some of the other mentors in my life and how they've helped impact the growth of my business. So I want to just thank everybody for being here today and let's dive into this juicy, juicy topic. So first of all, um, just to, just to, just to the, the first thing that I want to share with you guys that I ever learned in my business for my very first mentor or when I started to grow my coaching business was not in, and I mean this is not about, you know, the basics of getting started. Like you need a website and you need this and all those things. This one was, um, that I needed to create and grow an email list. And you guys have heard me talk about email lists before and how important they are. Um, but this is, was instrumental for my business because when I first started my business, one, I didn't have any contacts. I didn't have any followers on Instagram or Facebook and I needed to build that. And what I've learned over my time in growing this business is that your Instagram followers, your Facebook followers as well as, you know, we don't own those, those followers, they come and go. Um, some of them are, you know, our ideal clients, some of them are absolutely not. Um, but when you grow an email list, um, you grow by creating an opt in that is, um, something that is going to help your ideal client. So whoever your ideal client is, whatever they're struggling with, you're going to create a free piece of information that they will, that they will give you their email address in exchange for. And I was given that advice when I first started my business. And within about six to eight months, I had grown an email list of about 2,500 people. And that was because I offered a piece of information at that time. Uh, it was how to do a Facebook live, become a Facebook live superstar was actually the, the document. And that was at a time when Facebook live was first coming out. So it was a, a good piece of valuable information that had to do with um, you know, growing your business using a new tool on social media. And that lead magnet that opt in is what drew me a list of, of at that time my ideal clients, cause they were business owners, a lot of them were network marketers who are looking to gain exposure, who wanted to grow a following. And I was teaching them how to do that using Facebook live, which was new. So they were looking for this information and I'm, so that was a crucial piece of information in those emails. Subscribers that I started growing four years ago with that opt in are still some of my most loyal clients today. Um, I can't necessarily say that for all of my Instagram and Facebook followers, but I definitely know with my email list, those are people who want to hear from me. Those are people who are expecting to hear from me at least once a week with an email, if not more. And so those are contacts that I own. Those are, you know, they, the Instagram doesn't own how many times I can email them. It's not, um, it's, it's all controlled by me, not algorithms. And so that was a really important piece of information that I learned right off the get go when I first started building my business was to create a document, a piece of information and opt in that um, helped my ideal clients solve a problem that I would put out there for free in exchange for their email address. And then he also taught me how to talk about it all the time, like to mention it in my videos to make sure I had links to it everywhere, um, to make sure that everybody knew that I had this document. And um, that's what I did. And it was a really crucial thing for me in growing my business is having that email list. And even today, like I do a lot of talking on Instagram and Facebook about, you know, what I do and how I help people start businesses and, and all the things that I do. But at the end of the day, I believe most of the transactions that happened in my business happen because of the emails that go in and out of my inbox. And so just so you know, I truly believe that email is not dead. I think that email is absolutely something that everybody should be growing an email list. And even if you're in network marketing your email list, you could be growing an email list of potential clients and business partners for your business by having an opt in that has to do with whatever your company has to like. So if you're in health and wellness, you know, you could create an opt in that has to do with health and wellness and those are potential clients for your products, right? So, um, definitely something that I totally recommend. It was the first piece of business information that I was given and it has absolutely been instrumental in growing, um, in growing my business. And it also creates no like, and trust, right? When people download these options, they see the information, the value you're giving, and they say, hey, this girl knows what she's talking about, right? This person knows what they're talking about. This information helped me. So now they have a, when they trust that the information that you're giving is, is valuable. And a lot of those people will tend to be followers for life if they found your information useful. And it gave them a quick win. So you don't want to make your optins super long and drawn out. You want it to be something that gives them an opportunity to do something pretty much right away if they could and, uh, and shows them how to do it or how to figure something out or how to overcome something fairly quickly so they can have that quick win. So that's number one. Number two was from the very first mastermind that I joined, and this was a piece of information that this was, uh, this was something that was given to me. You know, I always find when you join these masterminds, I'm sorry, I'm switching gears. When you join these masterminds, there's always something that you need in them for you, like whatever it is that you need at that time, it will find you. And it's funny because I joined this particular one, uh, looking for something different and this is what I got from it and it was actually a really key piece of information that really helps me grow my business. And that was the advice that I am not my company, I am not, I have two businesses. So then I was not either of those businesses that I was Shana recker and entrepreneur and I, those were those businesses that I had were things that I did. Those are, those were things that I do, but they didn't make me who I was that I was an entrepreneur and I had multiple streams of income and I wasn't, my identity wasn't attached to what I did because I had been in networking and marketing for nine years and at this time it was maybe about seven years. My identity was really strongly attached to my company and it was a real hard transition for me to open up another stream of income and start becoming a coach when my identity was so wrapped into my network marketing company. And it took me a little while to unravel that. I, that, that attachment to that. And, and I, I'm so grateful for the, the way that this was shared with me was that my identity is me. I am Shana Recker and I am an entrepreneur. That's, that's, that's what I do. I have businesses, my own companies, and um, those companies are things that I do, but they are not who I am. And I think that's so important because when you are creating your own online business and you're creating that own brand around yourself, one of the key elements to making that brand successful is to 110% show up authentically as yourself. You have to be you. You can't copy other people. It's not going to work. You may get some small wins here and there, but to really be truly authentic or to really be truly successful and have long lasting success, you have to show up as yourself and you have to be truly authentic and you have to let your traits and quirks and things like that out of the bag because that's what's going to attract the right people to you and that's where your energy is always going to be high. When you're, when you are in alignment with yourself and you are being yourself a 110% and you're showing up and you're sharing the value that you truly believe that is helpful to your ideal client and you're doing the things that you love when you show up in that way, it's easy, it's easy, it feels good. You want to do more of that when you are trying to copy somebody else when you were trying to be like somebody else and hair. Here's the thing, we've all been there, we've all done that. Um, I've done that multiple times where I felt like, oh, I have to do it like she's doing it or I have to show up like this person's doing it or have to be like that. And that's just not how it works. That's not how you're gonna, you're gonna find that that takes more energy for you to try and emulate or try and copy somebody than it is to just show up as yourself. And so learning that that, that I had to be me and allowed me to come to the table and that these things that I'm doing, these businesses that are creating were just things that I did, was really instrumental for me in my success because I was able to let go of my attachment to my network marketing company and allow Shana to show up. Hello Shana, to give value LF Shana to help people in the ways that we're right in the middle alignment for Shana. Right. And so think about that for yourself. Is that holding you back because you know, losing yourself in the comparison game is just going to make your, your journey harder. I'm trying to compare and, and, and, and trying to copy other people. It makes it harder. You know, it takes more energy. It's okay to emulate something. Like if you see entrepreneurs doing something, you're like, yeah, I love that. I totally would love to do something like that. Emulate it. You know, what do you love about it? And then how do you bring that out to the world in your own special way. But making sure that you're bringing you to the table. And I love this, this is something Lori harder said, I'm at the mastermind when she says making money being you is the entire point of being an entrepreneur is you get to show up as you do the things that you love and make money at the same time. And there's no shame or guilt and making money on doing things that you love. And she's like, be you make money to give others permission to do the same. Right? And so it's, it's sometimes we have to let go in order to allow this, this alignment to who we are and what makes us, you know, unique and what makes us valuable to the world to come through. And I had to let go of my attachment to what I had built in my network marketing business in order to allow myself to come into alignment with what I really truly wanted in my life. And that was a bit of a struggle. So that mastermind that I joined, that first group mastermind that I really couldn't afford at the time, um, was super nervous about jumping into, really gave me that permission. And that's what I needed in that moment. I thought I needed more strategy. I thought I needed more like how tos, but really I needed to come into, into, um, I needed to come into myself and really, um, you know, get that information and that lesson in order for me to be able to properly apply the strategies, which I did learn down the road. Um, so, you know, really you are not your business. You, are you your businesses or just something that you do. And that was a huge lesson for me. So that was number two. Number three, a big lesson for me, I'm, is clarity is key and confusion as killer. And I learned this actually this lesson on my own. I mean a lot of entrepreneurs that I've worked with and a lot of people that I've talked to have talked about clarity and, and who it is that you are and who it is that you're serving. Um, but where I found this out for myself for Real was I started my coaching businesses and network marketing coach. I thought that's what I wanted to do because that's what I was quote unquote good at. Um, you know, I had made it so far on my network marketing business, I was earning six figures. I thought that's what I should coach because that's what I did. And I think also because my identity was wrapped into that and what I realized in that journey of coaching network marketing was that I wasn't loving it so much. I didn't, I didn't love every, I was had this like, I dunno this like weird feeling when I was going on and giving network marketing us. I was always like, well, I believed in what I was saying, but I knew that what I was saying didn't always work for every company. I mean there's so many different companies out there and so many different ways to work and there was just like an a disalignment I guess you could say with um, what I was doing. And during that time when I was feeling that, um, I know that I was, my messages was they were confusing. I wasn't showing up as much as I should. I, um, you know, I just, I was like in a weird space and it wasn't until I really started thinking about, and actually it wasn't until I actually started doing it where I started giving some friends and family some business advice. Like they wanted to start online businesses where they wanted to start some sort of a business. And when they shared it with me, I just went into this like space of like, oh my gosh, you could do this. And I had all these ideas and I was like, you can create this and then that could grow into this. And I really came alive when I was talking about that. And it was after doing that a few times that I realized that that's, that's where I needed to be. And um, and it was in the clarity of realizing that I was, I want it to be a coach. I love training, but I was just the wrong thing. And so in that transition, in that pivot, there was some confusion for what I was doing. My audience was built off of me being a network marketing coach and now I was pivoting and switching gears and talking more about online business, which still somewhat applied to north marketers. But it wasn't, it wasn't why they joined me. It wasn't why they followed me. It wasn't why they were on my email list. It wasn't why they were in my Facebook groups and all the things they were there because they want a specific network marketing advice. And during that transition my message has got money. I didn't quite know what I was doing. My program's no longer really fit what I, this new direction. So my website had some, you know, some confusing things on there. There was a network marketing course, but then there was this like mindset course and then there was like, no, I'm doing a business mastermind and everything was kind of in this space, this confusing space. And it literally, um, like I shut it, basically shut my business down for six months. Um, I didn't have any revenue coming in. I was just trying to figure out how I needed to switch gears. And it wasn't until I really stopped, it was over the summer of 2018 I stopped, I reconnected with what lit me up. I knew that I needed to make the shift. I knew where I wanted to go. And once I got clear on that and I got clearer on who my ideal client was, I got clear on what I was able to do to help and serve the world in a way that was in alignment with me. And I got clear on the problems and the issues that I want to help people with. That's when my messaging started to get clear. I redid my website, I took, took away programs that no longer, that we're no longer alignment with my new direction. Um, recently I even went into my email list and said, hey listen, this is what's happening. I'm switching gears. If you no longer want to be on this list, please, you know, I love you and thank you, but you can unsubscribe here. Like I really needed to get clear on where I was going in order for me to make the shift to where I needed to be in order for things to come into alignment and be in order for me to serve and you know, have the success and the income and the things that I want in my life. So, you know, just having to really get clear on that and when you're clear, you're people are willing to listen when you're confusing people, like a confused mind says no. Right? So I really had to get clear on that messaging. So clarity is absolutely key and it is something that I had just learned in my own journey of building this business. There's actually a really great book I'm going to recommend, um, which I am not affiliated at all that you can check it out on my Amazon store. Um, it's in my, at Shana recker on Instagram. I have a link to my Amazon store and this book is there and it's called, it's by Donald Miller and it's called building a StoryBrand. Clarify your messages. So customers were listened and this book really helped me get the clarity that I needed in order to start moving my coaching business in the right direction. That was right for me and I made a lot of shifts, a lot of changes in my website and the materials that I offered and my messaging and a, it's been super instrumental in helping me get that clarity. So make sure that you have that clarity in your business. So that is number three. Number four, and this is something I learned at, um, one of the mastermind retreats that I was at. And, um, this was all about knowing your value. And I've actually learned this lesson not only in this particular mastermind, but also through some podcasts in different places. I've heard lots of information about understanding and knowing your value. And I'm somebody who, and I think I'm not alone. I think most of us do this is we undervalue ourselves. We, we will go, okay, well, you know, this course took me eight hours to make a, there's three modules I had to do those things. Okay. So I've got about 10 hours into it and I think I'm about, I dunno,$50 an hour, so let's, she's charged$500 for it. But yet this course that you've created might literally changed somebody's life. Like maybe this course helps people, you know, um, helped people change their eating habits so that they can be healthier. Like that's huge, right? Like changing a habit. You know, getting rid of an old habit and replacing with a new habit is huge. And teaching people how to do that can literally change the course of their life. So when you're pricing your products, it's not necessarily based on, you know, this many hours times this dollar value that you think you're worth. Because guess what everybody is, is, is valuing themselves less than what they should be. Whatever you value you give for yourself, your product, your whatever it is guaranteed it's going to be lower than what it should be. Um, because our ego kind of steps in there and goes, whoa, Whoa, whoa. Who you know, who do you think you are? You, you can't do that. You, you have to be safe. What are people going to think? All of those things come into play, right? So your value of your product and service is based off the way that it helps and serves and transforms somebody else's life. I remember Sterling Griffin, I heard him on a podcast and he had said the trend that the transformation is in the transaction. And so when you're offering a transformation, when someone has to pay for that, guess what they do? They pay attention to whatever it is they pay for, especially when they pay higher dollar value. So I don't know about you, but how many times have you spent$19$29$49 even$199 for some things and never even opened the course because there wasn't enough of a transaction there for you to have a transformation, right? So when you're valuing like what I do is I help people basically start and build and grow an online business, a business that could potentially make the millions of dollars, right? Depending on how good they are and what they do. And so what's the value in that for the person? Like the value could be like the is huge. So yes, my, my masterminds, they cost thousands of dollars. But guess what? When you spend that dollar value on something that could literally transform your life, I guarantee you, you are going to show up for it. You're going to make sure you open that course. You're going to be on every call, you're going to book every ounce out of that thing because you put money, a good amount of money on the line. I spent 8,000 US dollars. I'm a Canadian, so we've got to add 30% of that on my first group mastermind. And I, I literally was sick to my stomach when I said yes to that, but I knew that there was a transformation in there for me and I knew that even though I didn't necessarily get out of it what I thought I wanted out of it. I got the, the, the lesson too that I gave you guys about detaching my identity from being a network marketer for nine years, and you guys, I wouldn't be where I am today. If I hadn't had that lesson, I would have been still stuck and would've been stuck in that place. So for me, that was the, that value out of that transaction was huge. My business wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for me investing in showing up and doing that work. And because I paid that amount of money, I hear, damn right, I showed up every single call, every single thing that I could possibly get to. I was there for that six months. And so the transformation is where we value our products. That's where the value comes from. It's not necessarily how many hours you put into something. Yes, you want to take that into consideration. Yes, you want to look at all the different things that you've added to it. And if there's any hard costs, of course you want to factor those in. Um, but it's in, it's in the value of the transformation that you're giving and I guarantee you whatever price point you think your product is worth, it's, it's most likely worth more because we tend to value, we tend to undervalue ourselves. And I love this analogy, and this is just the mindset of, of the way that this works is this was given to us by, um, Kayla Craft, who was an awesome speaker at one of my mastermind where chase and she had said, you know, if you've got two courses, two courses, two different coaches, one course is valued at$1,200 and one course is valued at 12,000,$12,000 to different coaches. Which one do you think is the better coach human psychology or makes you think that the$12,000 course and coach is better? Right? So does that mean that you should make your course$12,000? No, not necessarily. Um, you obviously need to make sure that the value is there, but if you charge, if you're charging$99 for something that's a six month course that has, you know, biweekly calls and you look at the industry standard for something like that. Most people, most people are charging in the thousands of dollars for something like that. So yours looks kind of shitty compared to somebody who's charging multiple thousands of dollars for the same kind of thing. So you've gotta, you've gotta weigh out what's going on in the industry, but you also have to know the value of what it is you're offering, believing in that and knowing that there's a transformation in there. So that's one of the things I, I love that. Um, it is about knowing your value and that was something that was very valuable that I learned, uh, in one of my masterminds. So those are four kind of key nuggets for me that have really helped me in my business. Um, and that was number one, just to recap for you guys, number one was growing an email list and having some sort of opt in. And if you haven't yet, you guys, I actually have a new opt in. You can check out exactly how an opt in works. If you go to Shane and record.com you can go and download the eye GTV become an ige TV superstar where I teach you literally how to use the platform. Instagram TV. I teach you how to do the fancy covers, how to do the structure of your videos, how to create content, all those things. And then from that you'll see how that in works. You give me your email, you're going to get a nice free offer that I've put together for you in exchange for that. And that helps me grow an email as the people who are interested in what I have to offer. So that's absolutely number one. That email is just so valuable. Number two was learning that my identity was not wrapped into my business. That in my identity is me and I'm an entrepreneur and my businesses are something that I do and those can shift and change. And that was huge for me. Once I let go of my identity being wrapped into what I did as a network marketer, everything started shifting and opening up for me. Clarity, having really strong clarity. Number three's clarity is key. Confusion is killer. So you've gotta be super clear on who you are, how you serve people, and who it is that you serve. You know, creating the Avatar. It's one of the first things we do in my dream muzzle school is we get really clear on who it is that you're serving so that all your messaging is speaking to that person. And then number four is really knowing and understanding the value that you offer. You know, knowing that you you have worth, if you, if you're, if you're looking at, you know, becoming an online coach and you've been through some crazy things in your life and you want to coach and help people get through those crazy things, there's a lot of value in what you've been through and what you're offering to people. That's where the transaction is, is the transformation, the transaction, the transformation is in the transaction, is that when people pay for that, those things, they pay attention to them and you're offering them an amazing transformation. That's not something that if you gave that away for free, it would have way less of an effect on people. It would serve way less people because people wouldn't take it seriously. So knowing that what you have to offer has value. So don't forget that. All right guys. So those are a few of my top tips from being a part of masterminds and mentorships and things over the time. You guys, I can tell you right now that being a part of a mastermind has literally a mastermind or a group coaching program, um, has literally changed, changed me as a person, is changed my business. And it's not only from the mentors who are running those programs, it's also the people that you meet within those programs. So if you've ever looked at or thought about being a part of a mastermind, if you have questions about my own mastermind that I run or about Chris and Lori harder's mastermind or any of the things that I've talked about here in this, please just send me a DM on Instagram at Shana recker or you can go to my inbox. Shana is@shanarecker.com send me,

Speaker 1: 27:00

I'll be happy to share any more, any information about those, whether it be my own or ones I've been a part of. And um, I'd love to share more. You doesn't that of course I've learned way more things in those. Those are just some highlights of some of the things that I've learned that have helped me in the start and the growth of my online coaching business. And I hope you found value in skews. So thank you guys so much for being here. Have an amazing day. Until next time, we'll see you soon. Bye for now.