Welcome back to the show and let’s talk about retiring existing offers and closing old programs even if they are working well, earning you money and helping people. It could also mean not offering a service anymore, completely changing the direction of your business, re-structuring your product suite and not knowing what’s next.
A lot of mixed feelings come with this and there might always be self-doubt even after the action is taken. But if that’s something you’ve been thinking about for some time now, it’s probably the right next step for you and your business, and it can lead to your next evolution.
Listen to the episode or read the transcript below:
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Transcript
I wanted to cover this topic now as I’ve decided to retire one of my courses – $1K Blogger.
If you have enrolled, you will still have access to the content, but the program won’t be available for new students to join anymore.
If you’re an affiliate of it, you might want to remove the links mentioning it or link to Blog to Biz System instead (which is my signature blogging course).
I like keeping you up to date with what’s going on around here, so here are the reasons why I’m doing it.
Why I’m closing down one of my courses
Having many offers, even if they are automated, can turn into energy leaks. Meaning your precious energy is going in multiple places and that prevents you from giving your all to one thing and making it as good as you can.
It’s confusing to have two blogging programs that teach the same and explain the differences, so by removing the offer I’m simplifying my offer suite.
That one thing I’ll focus on in this case is Blog to Biz System, my first course and my biggest one for bloggers. $1K Blogger was created as smaller and more affordable version of it and since then thousands of students have enrolled in it. But it doesn’t feel aligned anymore.
I’m currently in the process of updating Blog to Biz System. But I won’t be doing the same with $1K Blogger. It takes a lot of work to update a course, improve its quality, and keep it up to date. So my energy will go into the more important program and the doors to the other one will be closed.
I also want to turn Blog to Biz System into more than it is.
It will become a more actionable course than it currently is, I wanna make it easier to go through. I want you to go through the ‘create your blogging strategy’ and ‘start your blog’ (which are the first 2 phases of the whole process) as quickly as possible so you can get to the real deal – blog traffic, content creation, and monetization. These are the things that will move the needle forward.
Too many aspiring bloggers stay stuck in the phase of picking a niche, or a blog name, or choosing the right hosting provider, or designing their blog. No. None of that matters that much, it shows mental blocks that you aren’t willing to overcome.
The sooner you go through that, the sooner you’ll get into the real action and that’s where your real education begins – optimizing and publishing content, building traffic, monetizing, tracking how all that goes and taking next steps based on what the numbers are saying.
Blog to Biz System is the go-to place if you wanna learn everything about blogging. I am also adding new lessons, there will be a Tech Vault inside with step by step tutorials for anyone who doesn’t wanna figure out the processes and technical stuff alone.
And there’s a lot of potential there. I might add a community, there might be new workshops added to the program instead of offering them as separate products.
This is for serious bloggers only and it can provide the accountability, the safe space to discuss ideas and share wins and losses, the strategic information that can’t be found anywhere else. It’s also where I will be sharing any new strategy that works for me in terms of traffic, content and monetization.
To be able to do all this, I’ll let go of $1K Blogger.
Also, due to it’s lower price, and while making it affordable offers inclusivity, this wasn’t the best way to serve you. It means more people enroll in it but don’t take action. Don’t do the mindset work, don’t hold themselves accountable and quickly forget about the course soon after joining it.
This is not what I want, it’s not why I create content and release programs. It’s a relief to close the doors to this one and focus on the more important one.
Read also: The Dream Offer Method [High-Value Offers Audiobook, Part 2]
When is the right time to retire an offer
Maybe you too have been thinking of the same – to remove one or more of your offerings. It’s not always an easy decision.
It might mean leaving money on the table, feeling uncomfortable, disappointing some people from your audience. It might mean having doubts even after removing the offer, but that still doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right decision.
The right time to retire an offer is usually when you’ve known it for some time, when you and your business have evolved and this no longer feels aligned. When you have bigger things to offer to people but first need to let go of the kind of work you did so far.
It’s also about boundaries. You make the decision to stop offering a product or service and only when that door is closed will you be introduced to the many new ones that open as a result of the action.
I’ve seen many people in business do that. Including my mentors and including removing offers that were earning them millions and which were changing lives.
That’s exactly when everyone will call you crazy for doing it, when people from your audience might call it unfair, when you face uncertainty. But it’s also when you enter the most powerful chapter of your business, when you trust yourself and the universe 100% and know that even if you don’t know what’s next, bigger things are coming and you’re here for it.
Not many people have that kind of courage and trust in business, and not many people are willing to play a bigger game. But your work will take you places you never imagined, and often you gotta take risks bigger than your comfort zone.
An example of retiring an offer that’s doing well
A recent example of that is one of my favorite self-made millionaires, spiritual baddies, role models and anything else you can think of. That’s Gala Darling, whose teachings have helped my healing journey tremendously and who is one of the boldest people I’ve ever seen.
She has this membership called The Vortex, which contains years of powerful content, had thousands and thousands of engaged members, led to multiple six figure launches every year, turned into in-person events that people had the time of their life at, and which became a brand of its own and new people were on the waitlist to join every year (it opens once a year). And yet, she recently announced that she’s closing it.
Here’s what she wrote in one post on Instagram:
“Today, in an email to our members, I announced that I am closing down The Vortex after 4 incredible years.
This is an enormous change, and it was not one I made easily. The Vortex has been a massive part of our lives, providing connection and encouragement and SO MUCH growth. It seems crazy to walk away from something so powerful.
But as I said to our babes in my goodbye letter this morning, we are shape-shifting. For a while now, I have felt friction around creating lessons and teachings that keep you tethered to a screen, because that isn’t what I want for you. My ultimate dream is that you take what you have learned and GO OUT into the world and live outrageously; not attend a Zoom call every week and continue with life as usual.
One of my favorite things to receive is a photo of two Vortex babes who meet each other in the wild and have a blast. It is the REAL LIFE, IN PERSON connection that I crave. I want us to hug, to laugh, to share desserts… Not chat in a little box.
We can only be in the Zoom Vortex for so long before the world starts to beg us to be part of it again.
Our work together is not over. Trust and believe THAT.
But I am ready to join the world. And I want you to meet me there. Will you?”
And in another post, she wrote this:
“I can’t tell you how free I feel to have announced the closing of The Vortex. When the time is right, you just KNOW it; it’s undeniable; you feel it in your heart and your cells rearrange themselves accordingly.
When you say no, when you walk away, when you change something, the universe steps up to meet you and weave new kinds of magic.
So I ask you: What is it that you need to stop doing? Where do you need to say no and mean it?
I am starting to realize that to create an exceptional life, the things you say no to might be more important than the things you say yes to. Take it OFF your plate, rather than constantly adding more in. Keep it simple, intentionally focus your energy, and watch your life expand.“
If you wanna check Gala out, you can find her on Instagram @galadarling.
Your turn
I can’t tell you whether you should have fewer or more offers in your business, and which ones to keep. It’s a decision only you can make.
But what I see often is business owners who choose to focus on less, give it their all, and create more results from that than they had from any previous offerings.
One product can be your way of making millions. But it has to be the right one, you gotta nail the messaging, you gotta have the audience and they gotta want it bad enough.
If you’re looking to create a new offer in your business or improve your existing one, you might wanna check out my new book High-Value Offers: How to Create Desire and Turn Your Course Idea into The Dream Offer for Your Ideal Student.
I have more ideas on offers I might stop offering but the only sure thing for now is that $1K Blogger won’t be available anymore. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right move back then, it just isn’t a fit anymore.
So, are you holding onto something that isn’t right for your business anymore? What is it costing you? It is blocking you from moving on and creating the best offer for your audience?
Let me know what you think about all this and whether it’s something you’re currently experiencing.