Launches

How to Quickly Bounce Back From Failure

Notice how beautiful and perfect everybody’s life seems online?

It looks like everyone’s “killing it” all the time. We don’t talk about failure, or how to deal with it.

So today, I want to share with you how I personally deal with failure (so it doesn’t knock me off course).

#1: Learn From Mistakes

This seems obvious, right? It’s how you avoid more problems down the road.

But… how often do we REALLY take time to self-reflect?

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Life gets busy, and we end up forgetting to do it. Or, we look at our mistakes in a general way, and fail to dig into where EXACTLY we went wrong. Those details are like a roadmap helping us avoid failure in the future!

That’s why I have processes for learning from my mistakes, and they’re built directly into my business so it always gets done no matter what.

For example, after every single launch or promotion here at ASK Method, we put together what we call a Launch Debrief.

What’s a Launch Debrief? Well, it means we analyze every part of the launch we just finished… and we ask ourselves a lot of hard (sometimes embarrassing) questions. We don’t just look at what went well, but where we messed up!

By the time we’re done, we have insights into where we did well and what we need to improve for next time.

This isn’t a quick analysis either. Every Launch Debrief is a detailed, password-protected document… accessed only by my senior team. You can look at it and quickly see a bird’s eye view of what happened and why.

THIS is the kind of self-reflection I’m talking about. It’s not hard. And in the long run, you will save your business so much time and money from dumb mistakes you’re not even aware of.

You don’t just have to learn from your own mistakes, by the way. What about other people’s mistakes?

I’m always looking at what my friends are doing. I’ll even ask them. I don’t ONLY want to know their successes… I want to hear about the mistakes they made and lessons they learned.

Why? Because then I don’t have to make them later!

This kind of knowledge is so important to me, I joined Jeff Walker’s $40K Mastermind so I could compare notes with other people just like me. This has gotten huge results for my business, and saved me so many headaches.

#2: Don’t Take Failure Personally

Failure hurts. It’s rough when things don’t go the way we planned… and if we’re not careful, we’ll let failure stop us in our tracks.

That’s why it’s important to know failure doesn’t mean anything about you as a person. Failure has no consciousness to it. It doesn’t pick us out of a crowd. Failure is the direct result of our actions. No more, no less.

And while WE may feel emotional when we fail, failure doesn’t feel one way or the other about the things we’ve done.

In a way, failure’s almost doing us a favor. Because it’s impartial, it serves as a good measuring stick to let us know what’s working and what’s not.

That means we can use failure to our advantage to grow faster. I used an example above about our Launch Debriefs here at ASK Method, and how we use them to learn from our mistakes. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple (the same company he founded – ouch!) and used that time off to start Pixar.

Fact is, nobody ever built anything worth building without failing… a lot. When you see a final product you love, you never think about the hundreds (or thousands) of rounds of development it went through before its release to the public.

That’s why I don’t view failures as, well, failures. Think of them as a test. Tests help you refine your ideas and build better products.

And a year from now, you won’t be making the same mistakes, because you’ll have learned some hard lessons and improved your game.

And that’s something you should be proud of.

Want to see a great example of these launch lessons put into action?

This is your last chance to check out Jeff Walker’s free workshop on how to run your very own launch.

This video goes much deeper into some of the points I’ve touched on here:

plf-launch-lessons

Catch Jeff’s free Launch Workshop by clicking here

Now, I’m curious:

How do YOU bounce back from failure (or avoid it altogether)?

Leave a comment below and let me know!

Ryan :-)

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Launches

How to Work Smarter (and Get MUCH Bigger Results)

There’s a funny habit I see among business owners … when we want to grow a business, we instinctively start working harder!

We think what worked in the past will get us more results today, so we double down.

But you only have 24 hours in a day. There comes a point where you can’t do one more thing. You don’t have time …literally!

You started a business to be free. So it makes no sense to work harder, especially if you’re not getting the results you want.

That’s why I disagree with the idea of working harder. Instead, I believe you need to focus on the #1 thing that will move the needle in your business TODAY.

Only one? Maybe this sounds counterintuitive, especially if you’re used to a day job where you’re expected to look busy all the time.

But we’re not interested in appearances here. This is about quality over quantity, and getting bigger results.

Frankly, many of us focus on tasks that don’t matter, because we confuse being busy with being productive. That’s why you see so many new business owners running out to print new business cards when they should be looking for customers.

Often, #1 things come down to:

  • • How do I get customers?
  • • How do I get MORE customers?
  • • How do I create more value for the customers I already have and multiply the results I’ve already gotten?

Ultimately, it means looking at WHICH parts of your business generate 80% of your results.

Not every part of your business matters as much as you think it does. If one area brings in more revenue or growth, then that’s where you need to focus the majority of your time …at least, until you get bigger and can buy back your time by hiring outside help.

Corporations know that not every customer is created equal. Every company has a few diehard fans who make up the vast majority of business, and that’s where smart companies concentrate their efforts.

So, what could the #1 thing look like for YOUR business?

  • • It could mean setting aside an hour today to write that Deep Dive Survey and send it to your list (no matter how small that list is).
  • • It could mean getting feedback on a proven product so you can make improvements for your next sale (versus launching a brand new product).
  • • It could mean asking your family to help around the house so you have more time to focus on product development.
  • • It could mean setting aside some time to learn a new approach to generating leads and sales… to find those die hard fans for your company.

If you have no idea what your #1 thing is, ask a trusted friend or advisor for feedback. Or look at where the majority of your results are currently coming from in your business.

Want to see a great example of these launch lessons put into action?

This is your limited chance to check out Jeff Walker’s free workshop on how to run your very own launch.

This video goes much deeper into some of the points I’ve touched on here:

plf-launch-lessons

Catch Jeff’s free Launch Workshop by clicking here

Now I’m curious…

What is your biggest takeaway from this post? And how will you use it in your next launch?

Leave a comment below and share your wisdom!

Talk soon,

Ryan :-)

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Family, Uncategorized

Meet The Queen of Sales Conversions…

When it comes to the success I’ve achieved in my business…

I attribute a LOT to mastering the skill of presenting my offers to an audience (both in person and virtually).

From back when I offered high level consulting…

To presenting The Ask Method to thousands of people all over the world.

But what a lot of people DON’T know, is there is one person who has helped me with my presenting and speaking in major way.

Her name is Lisa Sasevich.

In fact, she’s been one of my most important mentors for presenting my offers for over a decade.

And recently, I had a chance to talk with Lisa about her latest speaking and conversion strategies…

You can check out our talk here:

Click Here To Check Out Lisa’s Free Training

Enjoy!

Ryan :-)

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Uncategorized

How to Avoid the “Holiday Shutdown” and Set Yourself Up for Your Best Year Ever

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“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

When December rolls around, people start thinking about WHAT their New Year’s Resolutions are going to be…

And while on January 2nd the gym is full of motivated people burning off those holiday calories…

Come back a month later and most of those people are back to their old habits.

And if you’re an entrepreneur, maybe you’re busy setting strategic goals for your business this year.

So the question is…

How many of your goals will you actually achieve?

How do you avoid “repeating history” and making the same mistakes?

How do you set the RIGHT goals that you’ll actually follow through on?

And the answer is by making a shift in the way you plan and set strategic goals.

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There are a few steps to the way that I do this in my business.

The first step is reflection.

This is where you take a look back at the past 12 months to analyze what went well, what fell short, and what your biggest takeaways are.

I do this every year, and I present my “Top 10 Lessons Of The Year” to my Next Level Mastermind.

Here are some things you want to focus on:

  • • The 10 biggest wins in your business in the last year
  • • 3 top lessons you’ve learned
  • • The greatest influences that have had an effect on your business in the last year
  • • The smartest decision you made last year
  • • The biggest risk you took
  • • One word that best sums up and describes last year’s experience
  • • Three things you need to do less of in the next year
  • • Three things you need to do more of in the next year
  • • Three things you need to stop doing altogether in the next year

For example, in my business, one of my top lessons last year was do LESS, but BETTER.

And we shifted our focus in the business to reflect that, doing fewer promotions and emails but making them better value.

And this is just one example.

Once you’ve taken an honest look at the past year, it’s time to take those lessons to plan for next year.

And the BEST way to plan your year is in CHUNKS.

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Yes, you want to have a 3 year plan, and a 1 year plan.

But when it comes to getting things done and achieving big goals, I’ve learned a lot from my friend Todd Herman, creator of the 90 Day Year program.

Todd is a big advocate of planning in 90 Day chunks, and here’s why.

The great thing about 12-week planning is that it’s short enough of a timeframe to stay focused and not lose sight of your goals, and a long enough time to execute and get a lot of work done…

Because you’re aware that the deadline is around the corner, you’re almost always on high gear focused on executing your most important activities.

3 Reasons Why 90 Day Planning Is Better Than Annual Planning

 

  1. 1) It’s more predictable – Can you honestly see what’s going to happen 6 months down the road? You only have assumptions. Annual planning is objective-based, while 12 week planning is action-based. For the next 12 weeks, you can specify with high certainty the actions you need to take to achieve your goals.

    2.  

  2. 2) It’s more focused – You don’t to have a dozen of objectives to achieve, you’ll only focus on few goals (3 or less).

    3.  

  3. 3) It’s more structured – You’ll actually IMPLEMENT the stuff you plan for, instead of just saving it in some document and forget all about it.

So here’s my challenge for you:

What are your top 3 goals for the next 90 Days?

And what will it take for you to make those goals a reality?

Todd has a very specific system to making these 90 Day sprints work…

And he lays them out in his new free workshop (including WHY so many people never reach their goals, despite their best intentions).

90dy-workshop

If you want to have a more productive year, you NEED to watch this video series.

It will change your perspective on productivity and achieving goals in your business FOREVER.

Set aside the time right now to watch. You won’t regret it.

Ryan :-)

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Email Marketing, Uncategorized

Black Friday Promo Template: “OMG! I Just Made $17.3K”

Black Friday, for many business owners, is a bit of an afterthought.

But when done right, Black Friday can be the biggest day of your year.

This is a huge opportunity not just for traditional retailers, but for online entrepreneurs as well.  

Why?

Because this is the one day of the year that your customers are expecting you to sell them something.

Think about it: you have the best excuse in the world to make an amazing offer…but you have to do it right.

And if you do, you can get results like this:

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Or this:

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Or like this:

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Or this:

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And there are a few different ways to do this.

Just using the words “Black Friday Sale” is a surefire way to take advantage of low hanging fruit.

So my question for you is this:

Do you have a Black Friday promotion planned already?

If the answer is yes, good for you!

If the answer is no, keep reading because there’s still time to make it happen (and I’ve even given you email templates to make it easy).

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The thing to remember with Black Friday is that people are not only buying stuff for themselves, they’re also stocking up on holiday gifts.

So if you can position your products as a great gift opportunity, along with some kind of special offer…

You increase the chances that they’ll buy.

I like to do this in 3 different ways…

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If you sell something that people traditionally buy for themselves, think about how you can position what you sell as a gift for someone else.

A great example is the Kolbe profile test (We talk a lot about the Kolbe test in the Next Level Mastermind).

So here’s how you could position it to your previous customers.

Feel free to swipe the email below and customize it to fit your promotion:

Hey First Name,

Can I ask you a question?

Take a minute to think about the impact the Kolbe test has had on you and your business.

With the holidays coming up…

Now’s a great time to be asking yourself,

“Who in my life would benefit from the Kolbe profile test, which has been so influential for me?”

Think of three people, and write them down.

Congratulations!

You’ve just solved the hardest part of the holidays—finding the right gift for the people in your life.

And with our “buy 2 get one free” Black Friday promotion, you can now cross those people off your list.


Using a version of this email is a great way to position a Black Friday gift promotion.

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Another great way to position your product is what I like to call the “You Deserve It” promo.

I’ve used this successfully many times across my businesses, and it goes a little something like this:

(This was specifically for a female audience)

Dear First Name,

The holiday season is a busy time.

If you’re like most of us, you’re busy planning holiday meals, parties, and shopping for friends and family…

And you deserve something for yourself!

So with the holiday season coming up, take the time to treat yourself…

With XYZ discount on ABC product.

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The “Bring a Friend” Promotion

This is even MORE powerful (especially in certain niches like weight loss and fitness).

This is where you offer a “buy one – get one free at a discount for a friend”, and the positioning is something like:

Hey there,

With the holidays coming up, it’s that time of year when everyone is making resolutions.

And I truly want this upcoming year to be your best year EVER.

We know that trying to reach your weight loss goals is easier when you have support from your friends and family…

So I’d like to invite you to take advantage of our special “Bring a Friend” offer…

If you join/buy XYZ program, you’ll get a membership for a friend for free!

So bring along your partner, or your best friend…

And not only will you give them a great gift…

But you’ll be giving yourself a valuable gift as well.


These three offers are a great way to position your Black Friday promo (or any holiday promo, really).

Announcing Our Annual “Black Friday Workshop”

And if you’re super-motivated to take action on this…and potentially do several thousand dollars in sales (or more) in just a few days…

We’re about to run our annual “Black Friday Workshop” in the Next Level Group Mastermind, with a step-by-step training, a full set of email swipes, as well as feedback on your promo.

The first year we did this, the overall results looked like this:

Last year, we blew that number out of the water with a total of $685,000 in revenue from Black Friday Promos:

2016-11-16_10-41-14

If you want to get in on this, it’s starting Monday, November 21st.

You’ll need to be an NLM member to get access, so if you’re not yet a member, you can sign up here.

Now I’m curious…

Are you running a Black Friday promo? Which of these strategies are you most interested in using?

Let me know in the comments below…

Ryan :-)

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Business, Launches, Uncategorized

7-Figure Launch Strategies to Take Your Launch to the Next Level

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Recently, at a meeting of Jeff Walker’s high-level mastermind group, we did an exercise where we went around the room and shared our best 7-figure launch strategies.

And while I can’t list everything that was shared in the room here…

Today I want to share with you some of MY biggest lessons learned from our $3.3 million launch of the Ask Method Masterclass.

Use any one of these strategies (or all of them) on your next launch to take things to the next level:

#1: Get Everyone Involved

Be sure that you have a role for each of your team members during the launch, and that everyone knows what their responsibilities are.

During our first internal launch, I didn’t involve everyone on the team, so while the launch was going on…

…some team members were alienated.

They didn’t feel like they had a part in the success because they didn’t participate.

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We made up for that during the partner launch a few months later by making sure that everyone had a part to play in the launch…

Which meant that everyone was able to share in the success.

#2: Eliminate single points of failure

I’m a big believer in having a core evergreen funnel that brings in steady income.

But I ALSO believe that launches are a powerful way to give your business a huge boost, bring the team together, and create a buzz around your business.

That said, there are many things that can go wrong during a launch, and your job is to minimize the risks as much as possible.

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The key word to remember here is: redundancy.

      1. • Make sure that you have more than one email service provider so that you can continue to send emails if one of them goes down

        (we use Maropost with Infusionsoft for backup and Aweber as super failsafe backup)

      2. • Be sure to have multiple shopping cart/form/checkout systems in case there’s a glitch with one of them

        (this actually happened during the launch where we had a glitch with our Infusionsoft Custom form and because we had planned for this, we were able to keep taking orders using our GoSpiffy forms)

      3. • Have more than one Payment processor: Stripe, Chase, PowerPay, and PayPal are the ones we use.

      4. • Assign “pinch hitters” on your team who can execute a contingency plan if one of your key team members becomes unavailable for whatever reason

        (James Schramko calls this the “Noah Principle” – always have 2 of everyone, so if someone is sick or leaves, there is a backup to fill that role).

In short, always have a backup plan.

Always be thinking, “And what do we do if…” and have that plan in place before the launch.

#3: Have a Partner Success Strategy

For anyone who hasn’t done a partner launch before, this may come as a surprise, but it’s a general rule of thumb for launches that the majority of your sales will come from your top 5 partners.

That means that the more time you spend working with your key partners to help them succeed, the better.

So not only should you give your JV partners access to your product…

Do what you can to help them achieve success, so that they have that personal experience and the results to share when they promote.

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And of course, make things easy for them by providing swipe copy, running Facebook ads for them, and being generous with your time when it comes to collaborating on bonus packages.

#4: Combine Ask Method with Product Launch Formula

A product launch is something that lends itself really well to the Ask Method.

And I’ve been developing several advanced tactics to layer ASK and the Product Launch Formula which I’ll be talking more about soon.

One easy thing you can do is to run a Deep Dive Survey before the launch, and use the natural customer language from the survey in your launch videos and other copy.

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If you want to take it a step further, you can break your audience into buckets and segment them during the launch, and create separate follow-up messaging for each bucket.

#5: Plan for Success

Sometimes, we’re so worried about what can go wrong, that we forget to plan for success.

What if everything goes RIGHT?

What if you double or even triple your target?

Take some time to think about how to shift into high gear if it looks like things are going better than expected.

Will you have to hire more staff? Increase video bandwidth?

Make sure your server can handle the overload?

On our recent launch we exceeded our targets, and needed to swiftly bring more Ask Specialists onto the team.

Because we had a documented “Success Plan” with a short-list of possible Ask Specialist candidates and an accelerated training and onboarding process…

We were able to execute this plan, and bring on six additional specialists in time to kick off the program.

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Had we NOT planned for success, we would’ve been vastly understaffed and scrambling to add to the team.

Planning for success not only means you’re prepared, it sets you up to rise to the challenge and blow past your goals.

Want to see a great example of these launch lessons put into action?

This is your last chance to check out Jeff Walker’s free workshop on how to run your very own launch.

This video goes much deeper into some of the points I’ve touched on here:

jw-workshop

Catch Jeff’s free Launch Workshop by clicking here

Now I’m curious…

What is your biggest takeaway from this post? And how will you use it in your next launch?

Leave a comment below and share your wisdom!

Talk soon,

Ryan :-)

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Business, Family, Uncategorized

Why I Don’t Believe in Work-Life Balance

The idea of having a strict separation between work and the rest of your life is an idea that’s widely popular.

But I totally disagree with the concept.

My idea of work-life balance is a little bit different.

Watch the video below to find out why:

Now, I’m curious:

What do YOU think the ideal work-life balance looks like?

Leave a comment below and let me know!

Ryan :-)

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Family, Uncategorized

Meet The “Launch Legend” Who Helped Me Earn $3.3M In 5 Days (While Adding Over 60,000 Names To My Email List)

When I say the word “launch” what do you think of?

If you’re like most people in our our industry, then you probably think of the man himself…

Jeff Walker and his Product Launch Formula.

He’s the guy who literally INVENTED the formula on how we launch products online.

He’s also someone I’m fortunate to call a friend and mentor.

In fact, for the past couple of years he’s been one of my trusted advisors as the Ask Method has spread across our entire industry.

And recently, I got the chance to talk to Jeff about the future of product launches and MUCH more.

You can check out our talk here:

Now it’s your turn:

What’s your biggest challenge or concern when it comes to doing your next (or first) product launch?

Leave a comment below and let me know!

Ryan :-)

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Consulting, Uncategorized

The Two Words That Will Transform Your Consulting Business

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In Part 1, we talked about two words that I used to build a consulting business: Wait list.

Now I want to reveal the OTHER two words that are crucial to getting results as a consultant or agency.

One of the biggest traps that consultants and coaches fall into…

Why they don’t make the money that they want to make…

Is because of two simple words: OVER DELIVER.

(More specifically, getting into bad habits when it comes to over-delivering).

What do I mean by this?

Let me explain…

The Hidden Danger in Over Delivering

Most consultants want to over-deliver for their clients, so that they can get the best results possible.

They think it makes the clients happy, leading to better results, more referrals, and more income.

And they translate this into spending more TIME with their client.

But as a consultant, TIME is your most precious resource.

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And because time is a limited resource, the more time you’re spending on any given project, that’s time that you can’t spend on something else.

So the real way to get better results for both you and your clients?

And the REAL two words that I built my consulting practice on?

Set Boundaries

Now, I know this probably sounds counterintuitive, but stick with me.

When I first started consulting, I made all the mistakes in the book.

Clients walked all over me.

And very early on I realized that I absolutely needed to set boundaries within the consultant-client relationship.

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Here’s what setting boundaries looks like:

When someone became a client, they got access to exactly 60 minutes of my time per week.

There was no emailing back and forth in-between calls, and no requests to “take a quick look and review this.”

Instead, I requested that the client send me their agenda for the call, what they wanted to cover, at least 48 hours before…

So that I could have time to prepare and we wouldn’t waste any time on preliminaries.

And while this may seem pretty rigid and draconian on the surface, in reality, it makes every minute precious.

Clients very quickly became great at prioritizing the MOST important thing that they wanted to get out of our time together.

And our calls became much more productive as a result.

As a parent, I know that when I set boundaries for my kids they actually feel more comfortable, they feel safer knowing what’s expected of them.

And they’re able to grow and achieve more as a result.

This doesn’t change when we get older.

Being able to know:

  • • where the boundaries are
  • • what the expectations are
  • • and having a framework to work within

Is what will give your consulting relationships the focus and value that will get you and your clients results.

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So many entrepreneurs have a hard time prioritizing what’s really important.

And when everything is an urgent priority, then NOTHING is a priority.

But when you can set boundaries with your clients, THAT is what will give you the right framework to be able to overdeliver…

Because they’ll be totally focused and getting the RIGHT things done.

So Now I’m Curious…

If you’re a coach or a consultant…do YOU have a wait list?

What kind of boundaries do you set with your clients?

I’d love to know, so just leave a comment below!

Ryan :-)

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Business, Consulting, Uncategorized

How I Built a 7 Figure Consulting Business with Just One Employee

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When it comes to choosing a business model, many people decide to start out working with clients, doing coaching, consulting, or other done-for-you services.

The reason is because setting up your own business, choosing a market, building a list and a funnel, and running ads involves more moving pieces than just getting your first consulting client.

I’ve been working with clients, implementing the Ask Method, for several years.

I’ve done one-on-one coaching, consulting, “done with you” funnel implementation, and I’ve also tried the agency “done for you” model.

And if I could sum up everything I’ve learned in just two words, it would be this: WAIT LIST.

I’ll talk more about what I mean in a minute, but first let me give you some quick background.

How I Accidentally Became a Consultant

After I launched my third successful niche business, after Scrabble Tiles, the Orchid Care business, and the “Rocket Memory” business…

I started making connections within the marketing scene in Austin.

And at a mastermind event, I shared what I was doing, and someone came up to me and said, “How much would it cost for you to do what it is that you do?”

Now, until this point my plan was to launch funnels in 10 or 20 different niches of my own and build my business that way…so I turned it down.

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But that was the first time that I even considered working with another business.

The next seminar I attended, same thing.

And this time, I really considered it.

I ended up walking away from that event with my 2 first consulting clients.

Around this time, I was hiking with Glenn Livingston, my mentor, and he said, “Ryan, you know my methodology better than I know it.”

He wanted to wind things down, he didn’t want to work as much as he was working.

He said, “Would you be interested in handling the overflow of consulting clients?”

And before I knew it, I had my first 5 or 6 clients.

I was charging $297 a month, just to get my feet wet, but I quickly realized I could raise my prices…and the rest is history.

From Consulting to Agency

As the number of successful Ask Method funnels continued to grow, I began getting requests from people who wanted to know:

“Do you have a done for you option, Ryan? I want someone to build my funnel for me.”

That’s when I decided to build an agency to build Ask Method funnels.

And while the funnels we built were successful, and there continues to be a very high demand for Ask consulting and implementation services…

Eventually I decided to scale down both my agency AND my consulting business so that I could focus on teaching the Ask Method to as many people as possible.

(That means, by the way, that there’s a HUGE demand in the market for both consulting and done-for-you Ask Method funnels).

My experience in running a consulting business and an agency has taught me a lot.

And there are definite pros and cons to each model.

Consulting: Pros and Cons

So what are the advantages of consulting?

Well, when you do coaching or consulting, clients are paying a premium for your time and expertise.

And when you work with a client one-on-one, that’s the best way to help them get results.

And yet when it comes to the implementation, all the technical details and the investment in the project, well, that’s on someone else’s shoulders.

And if you negotiate a rev-share or royalty deal, then you continue to earn money when the project is successful.

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This also says to your client, “I’ve got skin in the game, so I’m going to do all I can to make this a success.”

On the other hand, when you work with clients, you always run the risk of working with someone who’s not going to get the job done (there are ways to avoid this, which I’ll talk about in a minute).

And there are those clients who will try to stretch the boundaries of the relationship, calling you at all hours and making demands beyond what you agreed upon.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure the expectations are clear and agreed upon up front.

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Should You Start an Agency?

Come on, who doesn’t want a done for you service?

There are lots of people who are happy to pay so that they can have an expert do the implementation.

Just a few things to be mindful of:

  • 1) Have a very good timeline of how long it takes to complete a project, because small delays can add up to big costs for you.
  • 2) Put a team in place that you can rely on, led by someone who can manage all aspects of the project.
  • 3) Agency services, depending on what they are, tend to have a higher cost than information publishing or consulting. While that means you can charge a higher premium, it also means doing a careful cost-benefit analysis to see if this is the best model for you.

My BEST Advice for Consultants and Agencies

You could be the absolute best at what you do, but if you don’t know how to sell yourself, you’ll have a hard time getting clients.

In my experience, it’s not enough to be the best, not enough to be good…

You have to sell your services.

And the best way to do this is NOT to sell at all.

The best way to do this is to have people banging down YOUR door wanting to work with you.

And my signature strategy for creating this demand is by using a “wait list” strategy.

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When you’re first getting started, the HARDEST thing to do is to have a wait list.

You feel this need to accept every client who wants to work with you.

It’s easy to have a wait list when you have a line of people out the door waiting to work with you…

But it’s a lot harder when you’re struggling to cover your expenses.

Even more experienced consultants still feel the urge to say yes to everyone who comes through the door…

Resist the urge.

This doesn’t make you inauthentic. Quite the opposite.

The wait list is designed to help you and your client have the best possible chances of success.

Here’s why: If you try to play with a cat by shoving a ball of yarn in its face, chances are the cat will stick its tail up and walk away from you.

If you want the cat to play with you, you have to gently pull the yarn away from the cat.

Instantly, the cat wants what it can’t have…and as humans, we’re wired the same way.

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We tend to value more highly what we can’t have, and when it comes to consulting, if you can position it as something desirable and exclusive…

That means your clients will be much more likely to implement what you advise them on.

If something is too easy, it creates doubt in people’s minds, and they wonder: “Is this the right decision? Why is this so easy?”

And they second guess themselves.

On the other hand, if they have to wait to work with you, and if they walk in feeling that they’ve lucked out by getting time with you, they’ll be willing to work that much harder to get results…

And that’s a win-win situation for both of you.

So to sum it all up…

  • 1) Specialize. Do one thing and be known for doing that one thing (like becoming an Ask Method Specialist). 
  • 2) Create demand through your positioning and marketing. 
  • 3) Have a wait list. Just do it.

Last but not least…

I lied.

There are actually two more words that are responsible for my 7 figure consulting business, and they have nothing to do with wait list.

Can you guess what they are?

Leave a comment below with your best guess and check back for Part 2 to see if you were right.

Talk soon,

Ryan :-)

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