The Important Thing to Be Aware of When Seeking Guidance to Get the Most Out of It

INTRO: After generating over a million dollars in sales and selling one of her businesses with a single email, your host, Kathryn Thompson, takes an unconventional approach to marketing and sales. So if you're ready to tap into a more powerful way to be seen, heard, and a sought after entrepreneur in your industry without having to spend endless hours marketing your business and chasing clients, you're in the right place. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast is here to help you ditch the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to marketing and use your unique energy to effortlessly attract the most aligned clients. When you do this, you can spend less time marketing your business. And more time doing your soul work and enjoying the richness of your life. Welcome to Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. And here's your host, Kathryn Thompson. 

Kathryn Thompson: Hey, hey, super stoked that you're tuning in this week's episode. I cannot wait to dive in today's topic [00:01:00] because I want to share with you a sort of reflection that I've recently had and something that I really want to share with you, because this particular thing really dropped me off.

I was observing a conversation that was sort of happening in the online coaching industry. And I just think it's a really interesting perspective and a really interesting reflection that I think will be really helpful for you as you navigate your business. Whatever that might be, if you're selling products or services, it doesn't matter.

This is really going to be helpful. especially if You're somebody who wants to do things differently, go against the grain, maybe even challenge status quo, disrupt the industry that you're in, um, and really just do things differently. So, I'm going to share a little bit of a story with you because I think this happens quite frequently, to be honest.

I see it a lot, um, but it didn't really hit clearly, um, until this last couple of weeks. Week or so. [00:02:00] So I was in this community of other coaches who I've met some of them in person. They're all amazing. They're all brilliant at what they do. I adore them all. And so what I'm about to share is of no judgment whatsoever.

It's just really an observation and a reflection and something for you to sort of take away. in your awareness, uh, if you want to. So somebody had asked a question whether they should do a webinar or whether they should do a downloadable as their lead magnet, quote unquote. And if you're unfamiliar with the term lead magnet, it really just is an opt in where people can opt into your email list and experience you and your work in some capacity, right?

So free trainings or masterclasses or webinars or workshops or whatnot are a way to do that. But you'll also see things out there like quizzes. I have a quiz. You'll see things out there like ebooks or downloadables or checklists or diagnostics or whatever. I mean, the sky's the limit on what you can [00:03:00] really create.

But essentially, this particular person was asking, like, what lead magnet should I create? Um, In my business, like which one is going to produce the best results? And by results, she was meeting sales, right? So we don't create things, obviously, for the sake of just having people opt into an email list.

Ultimately, if you're in business, you're doing that. to eventually sell to the people that are opting in, right? You're using it as a way to build your know, like, and trust. And so she was asking, like, which one should I do? Um, and she was selling her program sort of off the back end of it. And what was interesting is, is I actually didn't see the question for a few days.

And so by the time I kind of got to the question, there were a bunch of responses already. And what I found really interesting about the responses were, there was a lot of certainty that people were sharing. And I totally get it, but I'm going to share with you why this can be problematic. But there was a lot of certainty about which [00:04:00] one was the best one in order to create the results that this particular person was asking about, right?

sales in her business. How do I sell? Um, and which lead magnet is the best way to move someone down that customer buying journey from cold to sold faster. Now, again, like I said, lots of people were responding like masterclass is the best way. That's the best way for someone to really get to know you, like you, and trust you.

And that if people are opting into things like quizzes or, uh, an ebook or a diagnostic or a downloadable, they don't have the intent And they're not at the stage of purchase. They're too soon in the customer buying journey. So that was the essence of the responses. And there were a few responses like that, right, in their own sort of way.

And then people offering their input, like I have found, you know, for me, this is what has worked, right? I run a quiz to a master class or webinar. and then I sell off the back end of that and [00:05:00] that works. But anytime that I've done a downloadable, that doesn't work. Or I start with a low ticket and then I use the low ticket to upsell into a higher ticket because I found that it's easier to sell low ticket first and then upsell into the high ticket, uh, in order to really build that know, like, and trust.

And what I found really interesting about these comments, which I see pretty often, pretty much all over the internet, is that there was a lot of certainty, like I said, in what was right or wrong, what was the best and worst way to do it. And why this is problematic is because that wasn't my experience, right?

Yes, I have Selling the Invisible, which was a masterclass, Some of you, or maybe all of you listening here today, maybe have watched it. I have a beautiful quiz that I believe is the best quiz on the internet, uh, but I'm a little bit biased, but there's so much value in that quiz. Um, so I'm not saying that these methods don't work, but I started to test and experiment with some different [00:06:00] methods.

I'm somebody who's constantly saying there's got to be an easier way. There might be a more efficient way. There might be a better way. And so while I created those, and I still think they're absolutely beautiful, if you haven't done the quiz or you haven't watched Selling the Invisible, I highly recommend you do both of them because there's so much value in them.

But I'm somebody who's always wanting to push the boundaries. I'm somebody who's always wanting to evolve and innovate. And so recently, I've been trying something different. I've been trying little short ads that I'm running through Meta, Facebook and Instagram, short videos that are three and a half minutes long to a book a call page.

And I've had women watch that three and a half minute video. And Book a call with me and then invest in my high ticket program, Spellbound. Without watching the masterclass, without taking a quiz. What this shows me is that, well, those pieces are very great at building the know, like, and trust and moving people down [00:07:00] that customer buying journey.

They're not A one size fits all, right? There are many methods and ways that you can do that. And oftentimes we're sold the one path, right? We're sold. The masterclass is the best. You've got to, um, show up on video. People gotta hear your voice, all the sort of things we buy into that. And the problem with that is, is that we keep trucking along that path, right?

And we never really sort of push the boundaries or innovate and. Therefore, we just continue to believe that that's the way it has to be. I'm not that person, right? I am constantly looking for better, more efficient, innovative ways that I can be in communication with women that I know I can deeply support and who I want to support and guide in getting their work out in the hands of more people because their work is life changing.

And so Why I'm sharing this with you is [00:08:00] not from a place of judgment of like, these women are wrong and how dare they comment like that. Absolutely not. I'm sharing this with you because that wasn't my experience, right? I've experienced something different because I've decided to sort of push the boundaries and test something different.

Um, there was another comment in there that Leaned more to the fact that you could create a lead magnet downloadable and it be a really great performer for you to sell. Right? Which again, is like pushing the boundaries a little bit on what's possible, but why I'm sharing what I've been trying and what I've been doing, because I want to show you that.

we can push the boundaries, that you have the invitation right now, as you're listening to this, to push the boundaries, to challenge the status quo, to challenge the, you know, the right and wrong, to challenge the worst or best, right? Because when I commented and I said, [00:09:00] well, that's interesting because this is what I've done and it actually works, which sort of proves the theory that masterclasses are 100 percent the best way to sell, and that If you're not using a masterclass that people aren't in the stage of buying and they don't have the intent to buy.

I've just proven that absolutely wrong through my own experience, right? Now, I'm not saying that what those women experienced wasn't true because it absolutely is, but what I'm sharing with you is, is that one, You have the invitation to push the boundaries, you have the invitation to innovate, and if you're sitting in your business right now going, I feel like there could be a better way, I feel like I could make this easier on myself, I feel like I could go against the grain and test some things and experiment with things and play with things and see what happens, you have The utmost invitation to do that.

But the other thing that I wanted to share with you, because I think it's a really [00:10:00] interesting observation, is that we have to be really mindful when one, we're asking for advice and input and guidance that The person giving us that input and guidance is oftentimes giving it from their own lived experience of what they know is possible based on proof.

So based on the fact that that's what they've been able to create, they're not giving you advice or input based on what is possible, which to me is like limitless, right? And that what that does is it keeps us conformed in a box of What the industry has told us we can do, and what the industry has told us success is defined by, and what we've been told is right or wrong or better or worse, and I get why we cling to that advice and guidance sometimes, because we want the things so badly.

We want to get our work in the hands of more people. We want to create the results. We [00:11:00] want to build the sustainable business. We want the autonomy and the freedom to work for ourselves. We want the financial freedom, all the things that we want, we want really badly. And so it's easy to latch on to that advice and go, they must be right because they've lived it and created it.

Right, which is what we see a lot in the online coaching industry, right? We see a lot of the exact steps to take you from here to here. And it's what I've done and what I help all my clients do, right? It's a very cookie cutter model. And if you're somebody, one, who doesn't want to live in the cookie cutter, who doesn't want to live in the box, and who does want to carve their own path, that's going to require you to push the boundaries.

That's going to require you to seek advice, absolutely. I'm not saying not to have guidance, not to have mentorship, not to listen to other people. I'm not saying that at all. I think guidance, mentorship, coaching, all of that is beautiful. Um, I always have different coaches and [00:12:00] mentors that I'm working with all the time, right?

Because I'm constantly upleveling, I'm constantly evolving, and I need people in my corner. And I need people predominantly in my corner who are going to show me what's possible beyond what they've created. Right? I think that's really key. I'm looking for people that are going to show me what's possible beyond what they created because I'm a disruptor.

I'm an innovator. I'm somebody who's going to push the boundaries. And so I can't look at what's being modeled by my mentors or coaches or whatnot and say, And try to fit myself into that. I also can't follow step by step with that, which is why I've tuned out a lot of people, which is why I don't really scroll on social, right?

Because I want to be as clean of a channel that I need to be in order to get the insight that I need. need in order to follow my path, right? Which is going to be unique to everybody, which is why this is exactly what I help my clients [00:13:00] with, right? Is I'm not teaching people how to do what I do. I'm supporting and guiding people in carving their own path and going against the grain.

I'm supporting people in in doing it their way and pushing the boundaries because most people that come into my world are disruptors. They are here to disrupt the industry that they're in and change the way we do things. And so, This is, to me, a very interesting reflection, because I could see it so clearly in the comments from that perspective, right?

Of how easy it is to sort of buy into the message that somebody's selling us, and buy into it as the only way, and the right way, especially when we want the thing that they're selling really badly, right? And When I shared my perspective, when I said, well, this is all interesting, you've got a lot of great feedback and comments here, [00:14:00] but one of the things I could really sense in this person's question, and it's something I'm really good at sensing, when someone asks me a question, I always know, what the real question is, right?

Like the root question. And so when I shared my perspective, and then I just left the comment as, so maybe you don't need a lead magnet, question mark, question mark. Um, she commented back and she was like, thank you for that because I actually don't have the creative capacity to create one. And I said, there you go.

That's the root of the question, right? It's like trying to choose between which one is the right one. One, because she didn't have the creative capacity anyway, so she only wanted to do this once, right? So when we're burnt out, when we don't have the capacity, when we're just operating from should, I think I should do this because this is the way I need to grow my business.

We're wanting to get it right the first time because we don't have the energy and the effort in the first place, [00:15:00] right? And so, experimentation and play is a lot lighter and a lot fun, a lot more fun when you're in that energy, because, one, you know that you might not get it right the first time. But to me, we have to honor our creative capacity, and if we're not in creative flow, it's gonna make creating things difficult anyways, and what I know to be true is, is that if we're not authentic, if we're not truth telling, if we're not If we're not showing up genuinely, and if we're not showing up with that genuine passion of what it is that we created, it's going to be really difficult for that message to land in the first place.

Which is why you will often hear people saying, like, I'm efforting a lot. but seeing subpar results. When somebody says that to me, I often know, right away, that you're out of alignment somewhere in your business. You're doing some type of should in your business that's [00:16:00] creating that. Or you followed a model that's actually not congruent with who you are.

Right? Or you're thinking your way to success in some way, shape or form. And so, I want to kind of bring this back to the observation and the awareness that I think this is really vital for you in your business is to really take what people say and the advice that they give you with a grain of salt.

Right? And not as gospel, but this requires you to get really, really self aware with how you function, and not from a mental capacity, right? Not from a thinking, not from a doing, but from a full body, somatic, Place where, you know, this is the right path for me, or I can take that piece of advice and sort of make it my own.

I can take that advice and run it through my system and go, huh, [00:17:00] That landed or that didn't land or I'm going to take that but going to tweak it slightly. For example, you know, years ago I had a coach say to me that if I shared the price up front or if I didn't take payment on the sales call that I would have a hard time selling.

right? And I did it anyways. I absolutely did it anyways. And the reason I did it anyways wasn't because I didn't value my coach or mentor at the time. It wasn't because I thought, Oh, my mentor is giving me terrible advice, like horrible mentor. Absolutely not. It's because I'm self led and I took that advice and I said, cool, I'm going to probably not use that.

But I'm going to use the other bits of advice that you've given me. I'm going to make it my own. And that has drastically shifted and transformed my business now. I wasn't always this self led. I was this self led for many, many, many years of my life, and then I went through some very difficult times [00:18:00] where I trusted myself and my intuition, and it didn't pan out the way that I wanted to.

So then I lacked trust in myself, and also, made decisions that were out of alignment and I knew it in the moment and didn't trust my gut and therefore paid for it, uh, twofold. And so I lost a lot of trust in myself and so I obviously started to seek outside of myself for guidance because I couldn't trust myself, even though I had spent my whole life just following my own path in a lot of ways.

So I wanted to really share this observation with you because I think it's, uh, really important as a business owner, regardless of the stage that you're in, right? Regardless of the stage you're in, because if you're new, it can be really overwhelming with what to do, how to do it, right? This person saying this, this person saying this, it can be really overwhelming.

And I get it. I absolutely get it. And therefore you might be latching on to what this [00:19:00] person says, this person says, but finding. The finding that you're efforting a lot with subpar results or minimal results, or you feel like you're doing all of the right things and it's still not working. Or something I've seen a lot is in established business owners who have built the business.

They're seeing the success, but they're not fulfilled. They're disillusioned by the business. They don't really have the passion for it. Or even worse, you're burnt out, right? You're really burned out because you built the business is not congruent with who you are. You followed the process, you follow the steps and you created success.

And now you're seeing the success and you're going, I don't feel good in my business. I'm burnt out. I'm tethered to it. Now what? Right? Do I burn the whole thing to the ground? Do I pivot? Do I change my offer? Do I get really resentful and set really strict [00:20:00] boundaries because I'm resentful and now my clients are paying for that, right?

I mean there's lots of things that can happen and so that's the whole other spectrum of it, right? You can create the results and then it's not sustainable and over time it will catch up with you where you get to a point where you hit a wall in your business and you could be, um, earning multiple six figures or six figures in your business.

You could be earning seven or multiple seven or eight, right? I've, I've worked with millionaires who are completely dissatisfied with their business and have a level of apathy towards it, and are so out of alignment with the business, but then go, I don't, I don't know what to do, right? Because if I pivot and change what's working, will I lose it all?

And in reality, it's actually not working because eventually, things will start coming to a head. So I wanted to share that observation with you because I want you to. Have the awareness, right, that whatever, [00:21:00] whatever people are sharing from an advice perspective, or the certainty, literally the dead certainty of this is the way you have to do it, that I want you to remember that they're sharing it from their lived experience and what they know to be true for themselves based on the proof that they've experienced it.

Right? And that there is a chance that they're also sharing it from their own limiting perspective of what's possible. And if you believe that there's something else possible for you, there's an easier way, there's a better way, there's a more aligned way, then you've got to trust that and you've got to step into that.

And you will likely want support or guidance to some capacity to help hold space there for you, because it's not easy, right? It's not easy to go against the grain. It takes a lot of bravery. It takes a lot of courage to trust yourself over what everybody else is [00:22:00] saying. It takes a lot of courage to take that illogical thought or idea that you had and trust that versus the one that makes the most sense.

Right? Um, some of my best ideas and success and all of that and biggest payoffs have come because I've trusted the illogical thing that didn't make sense, right? And even though I had people saying that's not gonna work, you know, I sold my brick and mortar the height of COVID. with a single email. And I remember when I said, I'm going to do it.

It was June 1st. I sent the email June 1st, 2020, sent the email and everyone's like, this is going to take forever. Don't get your hopes up. There's so much uncertainty. People are not buying a brick and mortar. Two and a half months later, I was out of that store and I had transferred ownership to the new owners.

Now, I knew internally and instinctively it was go time. Like, I knew, I knew well [00:23:00] before that I wanted out of that business, but I knew on that day it was go time. Like, there was no turning back, I knew. Right? And every, and again, I can't control a world event. Right? I, I had no control over that. And yet, my instincts like, it's go time, right?

The email? Send it. Send it to your list. And I was like What? And I get it. Most people are like, you're crazy. So with that, I'm going to leave you, but I want you to have that clarity and that vision and that insight and that awareness when you are seeking advice and guidance and You are and maybe you're in free communities and you're seeing comments similar to the ones I'm sharing and you're going, I have to do it this way or this is the only way that it's going to work.

I want you to remember that people are often sharing it from that perspective of what they know to be true. And that's not a bad thing, right? That's not a bad thing. But their level of certainty of what's possible is based off their own [00:24:00] living proof of what they've created. And oftentimes it's going to be coming from a limiting perspective of what they believe they can do, because most people are not pushing the boundaries.

Most people are still following this homogenized same, same marketing, right? I'm going to learn from ex guru and I'm going to just follow that. And again, there's nothing wrong with that. If that's what you want to do, absolutely do that. But if you're sitting in your business right now and you're wanting more flow and more ease, and I'm not saying more simplicity, more ease, more effortless creation, then You've got to get into what I call the slipstream, right?

I often say it's catching the slipstream, it's getting in alignment. I can feel the energy of myself when I'm out of alignment. Everything feels hard, it feels like I'm pushing a boulder up a mountain, um, You know, I feel like there's lots of resistance being reflected back to me and people that are interested in working with me.

Um, it's just, it [00:25:00] feels difficult. It feels heavy. It feels like no matter what I'm putting out and the content that I'm creating just isn't landing. And that to me is an indication like, okay, where are you at and where do you get to? Need to get into realignment or where are you evolving that you need to now sort of shift and pivot, right?

And this is like an ongoing thing in business. This is an ongoing thing as an entrepreneur, uh, this is an ongoing thing as a CEO of a company. And so I wanna invite you to. continually push the boundaries, continually question and have that level of discernment going, cool, but I think I'm going to try it this way.

Cool. That's awesome. But I'm going to take only a slight of that and make it my own. This, this takes a lot of self awareness in terms of what your body is saying, not your mind, but your body is saying, Yes to this, no to this, right? And we're all wired differently. We all have our own internal [00:26:00] compass of when it's go time, when it's right for us, if it's right for us.

And we've got to get really good at honoring that. So with that, I hope you've enjoyed this episode and I cannot wait for next week. Cheers. 

Thanks for listening. We'll see you right back here next time. You can also find us on social media at Creatively Owned and online at creativelyowned. com. Until next time.

Keep showing up as your authentic self.