The Cost of Not Starting a Business and Not Going After Your Goals Now
Learn about one specific section I like to include on a sales page that can inspire the visitor to take action and actually do something to change their life a year from now. Also, see how you can use this same powerful exercise for your business and personal goals so you choose short-term discomfort over long-term regret, and access a next level of growth and turn your vision into reality.
Tune into the episode or read the transcript below:
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Show Notes:
- my new book
- a powerful section you can add to your sales page
- what makes this a genuine sales technique and how it can create impact
- the regret of spending one more year not acting on your goals
- the excuses we make and how that’s a mindset problem
- a mindset trick that works for me
- how what you fear and want to avoid might be your next best move
Transcript
Welcome back to the show. I have an exciting announcement today and the topic of this episode is inspired by it. My new book is out and it’s also my first ever business book.
It’s called High-Value Offers: How to Create Desire and Turn Your Course Idea into The Dream Offer for Your Ideal Student. The title pretty much says it all – this is a guide to nailing all the key elements of your paid offer so that your launch can be a success, your can create massive impact, and actually turn that into a full-time digital product business.
By the end of this book, you’ll know exactly what course to sell and how to validate the idea in more than one way, how to name it, set the right price for your product with one quick exercise, create bonus material so good that people buy now because of it, figure out who your ideal student is and what their challenges are, how to handle their objections, what guarantee to add to the offer, what to include on the sales page, how to overdeliver, enhance the value of your offer in multiple ways, and much more.
If you aren’t planning to start a course business and are instead interested in selling another digital product, all of the information in this book will be beneficial to you so feel free to use the same approach.
As long as you have an offer to sell, you can trust the principles outlined in High-Value Offers and add the elements to it that will make it valuable and desirable. It’s available as eBook and paperback on Amazon as well as on other big publishing platforms.
If you’re a student of my program Bold Business School, you’ll get a complimentary copy of the book as it’s based on the content covered in one of the modules there.
Now, let me talk about today’s topic.
So one of the many things I teach inside High-Value offers is how to combine all the parts of your offer and turn them into a sales page that makes your ideal student say ‘I’m in!’ There’s also a template you can follow and plenty of examples to get your creative juices flowing. And one of those sections that I like to add on a sales page is about the consequences of not solving the problem now, not taking action now, and basically not enrolling in your program now and working through it. Here’s what I mean by that.
Every product solves a problem. It’s your job to get very clear about that and know exactly how your ideal customer is feeling right now, how their current life looks like, and what they want to change about it.
These can also turn into powerful sections on your sales page and I walk you through writing them inside them book. I help you define who your course is for and who it’s not for, as that’s equally important. I help you get to the bottom of the problem you’re trying to solve and address the biggest pain points and the deepest desires of your ideal student.
After that come the consequences. This is where you describe the picture of how their life will look like if they don’t buy your course now. Because buying it means doing something about their problem, finally taking responsibility of it and deciding to make a change.
That’s the first step of many, of course, because they need to actually go through the content after that, do the work, overcome mental barriers and challenges, be patient, and make some mistakes down the road. But you can’t do that on their behalf. What you can do is give them access to the best course you could have created on the topic and share the tips and strategies they can use to make their journey easier.
But what happens if they spend yet another year without solving their major problem?
They will probably keep feeling stuck, be exactly where they are today, have regrets, feel like they’ve wasted all that time. This isn’t a positive scenario but it’s a realistic one. You bring awareness to the issue and make people consider the consequences, which is a powerful exercise and can offer a whole new perspective that can then inspire action.
So this can work as a smart sales technique on your sales page or as part of any other marketing material related to your offer. At the same time, it’s what your audience needs to hear, you’re helping them consider all possibilities, both the good and the bad, so they can make an informed decision.
You give them a reality check, you make them realize how bad they want the solution. And this can be enough to turn a Maybe into a Yes in terms of investing in your program.
We aren’t doing anything tricky here, though. This is natural. It’s sales psychology, sure, but you don’t want anyone who isn’t ready to buy to do it.
You just want to reach your ideal customers and help them realize why this product can change their lives. You are selling the offer, you position it in any way you see fit, and you’ve probably been where your customer is and know how they feel and what they struggle with. So that makes you the best person to talk to when it comes to the issue and potential solutions.
A year from now…
But there’s another aspect of this. We’ve all been there. We know what bothers us the most, what we crave the most. And yet, month after month, year after year, we don’t do much about it.
We might think about it all the time, read about it, do research, talk to other people about it, make plans, and take the first step. But we also don’t feel fully ready, we make excuses, we think now is not the right time. We want to first read another book on the topic, or work with another coach, or wait for something else to happen before we take action.
So a year later we are still feeling like that problem owns us, but we have more regret because we’ve let it continue for one more year.
This situation involves a lot of internal struggle, pain, and feelings of unworthiness. You touch on these wounds when you describe that picture to your potential student and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Even if they don’t buy your course now or ever, their desire to solve the problem probably won’t go away. And of course there are many other reasons why your offer isn’t selling and why that specific person isn’t buying. Even if your product is great and even if your messaging hits home.
It takes practice. It takes thinking and writing copy and editing it and getting feedback from your audience and learning from it. But that one small section on your sales page can be a game-changer.
The regret of spending one more year not acting on your goals
With that being said, I want to mention one specific scenario. It applies to my courses as they are business programs and usually the person reading the sales page really wants to start that business, make money online and live life on their own terms.
I’ve definitely been there. Now I feel that for every new idea I feel inspired by but which I don’t act upon.
My audience is full of people who have wanted to start a business for many years. Who open my weekly newsletter, listen to my podcast or read my articles, have downloaded my freebies and maybe even enrolled in a training or two.
They often reach out to me and ask questions or tell me how bad they want to create something online and earn money from it. It’s usually one or two emails and then I don’t hear from them again.
Some contact me again a year later. They’ve kept checking out my weekly updates and learning from me, they kept having the desire to start a blog or create a course, or finally monetize their website or publish a book.
But they didn’t do it. In fact, often absolutely nothing changed since the last time they emailed me. And I don’t need to point that out. I’m still encouraging and being helpful when I respond to them. But they know it.
They know they spent one more year not acting on their goals, not going after what they are so sure their heart desires, not listening to their intuition guiding them, not getting out of their comfort zone, not implementing what they learned from a course or free resources.
That adds up over time and brings us down. Especially when we see stories of successful business owners online all the time. They are there to inspire us and show us it’s possible. But if we are not acting on our goals, we see it as proof that others can do it, but we can’t. Then we start wondering what’s wrong with us. We start feeling sorry about ourselves, maybe even feeling some anger, some resentment.
We love ourselves a little less every year because of this. We feel less worthy.
We start coming up with new excuses as to why we can’t do it now. Such as saying that we haven’t done anything about this for so long, that it’s too late. Or that there’s a lot of competition now. Or the economy isn’t doing well. Or that others are more advanced at this somehow or there’s just a reason why we don’t have the skills or qualities or background necessary to start a business.
The excuses we make and how that’s a mindset problem
All these are excuses, my friend. And they are all a mindset problem. That’s why most of my free time is dedicated to the inner work, and that’s why most of my content tackles exactly that. It’s all about uncovering the limiting beliefs that drive our actions, and replacing them with new ones.
First come the beliefs, then the thoughts, then the feelings as a result of what we think and believe. Only then do our actions change and that eventually creates a whole different reality.
But it will take time. First you can start thinking like the version of you who has that business and is even running it full-time.
That person isn’t spending hours on a sales page wondering if they should buy this course or not, or feeling sorry about themselves, or thinking that any outer factor can stop them from working on their business.
No. They are confident, they’ve already created something online and are now growing it. They don’t overthink ideas, they act on them.
They wake up and work on their business first thing in the morning. They take courses and learn from different sources. They create content and build their brand. They feel down and pick themselves up again because there will always be negative emotions to manage as a business owner but that doesn’t affect your identity or the work you do.
Working with the worst case scenario
A mindset trick I love and that really works for me is to imagine the worst case scenario.
Where would you end up if you don’t do anything about your dreams today, or in a year? What are the consequences?
Often they might not be that bad, but think about how you’ll feeling. After all, anything we do in life is pretty much with the goal of avoiding certain emotions or feeling specific ones.
You want to start a business so you can quit your job and work for yourself, and feel free and own your time, and not feel stressed anymore or like you are exchanging time for money.
Not wanting to have a day job has always been one of my main motivators. And avoiding pain is a bigger motivator for people than seeking pleasure, it’s just human nature.
So you can bet I will be working on my laptop today and saying no to distractions the whole day, if the other possibility is to move back to my home country because I can’t afford to live in the one I moved to anymore. Or to have to answer to a boss and do work I hate. Or to wake up early and go to an office and spend my best years in an environment that doesn’t give me any joy.
But if you’re started your business and are doing something about your goals often, then there might be another obstacle. Making those same excuses I mentioned but about smaller things.
Such as posting regularly on your blog, or starting a podcast, or increasing your rates, or setting boundaries with your coaching clients so you can have more energy in the day, or investing in a business program so you can learn from those who know the ins and outs of your business model.
Whatever it is, you know deep within it’s exactly what you need to be doing right now. Any time is later. It’s probably not the end of the world if it’s done later, but you’re going against your nature. You’re telling your higher self No when its job is to guide you to what you fear and wanna avoid, but which will bring you the most growth.
Sometimes it could be to retire an offer that’s making you money, or to cut an income stream you’ve had for years, or to stop working with your highest paying client. It doesn’t make sense, it means leaving money on the table, but it’s somehow related to your evolution and the next stage in your business.
So you gotta follow that desire. Desires are your soul’s roadmap. If one exists in your heart, it’s there for a reason. It’s part of your path and you’ve chosen it. Now you just have to follow it.
Everything I shared so far shows you how I like to combine my most favorite things in life:
- business, and in this case selling the product you believe in and creating a sales page that best describes it
- connecting with your potential customers and truly wanting to help them
- shifting your mindset around something and helping others do the same
- covering topics you deeply care about and making all this part of your mission
- and using your experience and growth as a way to resonate with your audience.
Do you see how it’s all connected?
And all this was about one small section of your sales page. There’s a lot more like this inside High-Value offers, together with exercises and sales techniques and step by step processes.
So my question to you today is: what are the consequences of not solving your biggest problem or of not doing something about your main goal? Can you find a consequence strong enough to inspire you to take action right now?
Once you successfully complete that exercise, do the same for your ideal customer as it relates to your main offer and the problem it solves. Then turn it into the perfect addition to your sales page and let it do its magic.
