The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
Mastering Content Selling Techniques in a Non-Spammy Way
Are you ever struck with the fear of sounding too "salesy" when marketing your business or product? Tracy Beavers, a seasoned expert in marketing and sales growth, joined me to reassure you that selling doesn't have to feel spammy. With over 20 years of experience, she shares her wisdom on creating high-converting offers and using content, email lists, and even your podcast to sell without feeling guilty.
As we delved deeper, we discussed the challenges of building an online business and how the power of human connections can be a game-changer in sales. Tracy also shared the secret to growing your email list and creating a fruitful online community using Facebook. She revealed her strategy for creating 90 days of content in one day – a major productivity hack you can implement immediately!
Finally, we broke down the walls of perfectionism as Tracy opened up about her journey and how focusing on service first helped her succeed. She also gave us a sneak peek into her upcoming masterclass designed to help you grow your business.
Tune in to this enlightening conversation and learn how to navigate sales and business strategies, overcome perfectionism, and build value for your audience. Your path to mastering non-spammy selling techniques starts here!
Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
Looking for a podcast community that supports you on your journey? Check out Podcasters Connect today.
How are you supposed to sell stuff in your content? How do you do it without feeling spammy or annoying your audience or saying the same thing over and over and over again and just driving everybody crazy? These are the questions that I get asked so much behind the scenes, and I get it for good reason. Most of you listening to this podcast you're trying to create something that feels unnatural for how you communicate with people. Let me give you a for instance, because I know people in this community that are creating podcasts about health and wellness. Or you're creating about how you're going to teach people how to eat better for their family, or midwifery and being a doula. There are things that you are teaching in your content or talking about in your content and on the back end, you want to sell stuff. You want to sell coaching, you want to sell services, you want to sell digital products and you're like Crystal, where is the natural segue? Where am I supposed to go from? I'm teaching, I'm the authority I'm educating you to oh and, by the way, I have something to sell you. It feels weird, it doesn't feel natural, because you are really good at what you do, but you don't really think of yourself as, quote, the salesperson that is just crushing it online. I get it. I totally get it.
Speaker 1:I actually wanted to share a story. I've talked about this before, but I will never forget back in. Oh gosh, I should have thought about the year before I started recording this, but it was actually around 2010. We were living in the Dallas Fort Worth area in this little tiny apartment and I was trying to find a job and I was so desperate. It was like right after Thanksgiving and I was like, okay, I'm just, I'm going to go find a job. And I found a job at this local gym and it was a big gym, like one of the franchise ones where they pay really well, and it was like had a lot of perks and it was super fun. It was super fun. I was like I'm going to love this job and I went in and my job was to be a salesperson.
Speaker 1:I was trying to convert you to a buying client. I got to sign you up for a membership in kudos to me if I got you to sign a year long lease on this gym membership for you to come in every single day and bonus brownie points if you paid in full upfront. This is what the manager told me. There were many other conversations, I will give it to him. He was an incredible salesman. He sold me that position so well, but in the end I was not that kind of salesperson because what I was told to do is sit down and make phone calls over and over and over and over again until I closed the deal. And guess what? I lasted seven days at that job before I said nope, not going to happen. This is not for me. But thank goodness you don't have to have that same approach in your content and I actually have a special guest with us today that's going to share all about selling in your content, selling in your business and just what it is like to actually have high converting offers in your business that make a difference.
Speaker 1:I have Tracy Beavers on the podcast today and Tracy is the CEO and founder of Tracy Beavers Coaching and she has a proven track record in marketing, sales and business growth. For over 20 years she's helped hundreds of entrepreneurs from everything from overcoming the fear of sales to growing their business visibility through organic marketing strategies. She's a public speaker and a published author and she's been featured on Top Business Podcast and has been a regular contributor to one of her hometown premieres TV shows. She's the creator of two online business programs Business Visibility Made Easy and Be a Confident Entrepreneur. Tracy just shared so many incredible nuggets. I cannot wait. So, without further ado, let's learn some sales tips from Tracy.
Speaker 1:Let's get right to it. Welcome to the Profit Podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Prophet, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we All? Right Profit Podcast listeners, we have a special guest today. Tracy is in the house. So happy to have you, tracy. Welcome to the show, thank you so much, Crystal.
Speaker 2:I am so excited to be here. I really am.
Speaker 1:This is so much fun. So I feel like we've known each other for a while now. We've been in the same circles probably for at least the last 12 months, I don't know if it's been longer than that.
Speaker 1:It's been at least the last 12 months. I've seen your name pop up. I see that you are so engaged in a lot of the communities that I'm a part of and you do something really well that we need to talk about, and that is selling, selling, selling, selling and just showing up and adding so much value. And it's funny because this is a compliment that I used to get in the beginning of my journey, so I feel like it's very aligned. And why we get along so well is people would always say you offer so much value. This is what you do, and I want to talk about this because I think that you do offer a ton of value without expecting anything in return. So can you talk about that and then, after you explain that, tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so thank you so much for that compliment, and I do think that's why you and I get along so well. For me, my nature is to serve. My nature is what can I do for you, how can I help you? Because it is so much easier for me to focus on somebody else than on myself and so selfishly I'm being a little selfish. That way I'm like it's easier for me and more comfortable if I can focus on Crystal and what is Crystal need and how can I help her? And who do you want to be connected with? And what can I do for you than to say I need you to buy something for me or I need you to connect me with so-and-so or whatever.
Speaker 2:And so that's the way I've led, that's how I've been successful throughout my corporate career that we'll talk about in marketing and sales and everything else. It's ingrained in me, it's the only way I know how to be, and so I'm glad it's resonating. But it also just makes my heart so freaking happy. I love people. I love to connect with them authentically, very genuinely. What are you, what's you got going on? What are you building? How can I help you? Because if I can connect, if I can help somebody, that makes my day feel like it's like I've done my job for the day, and so I really bring that into building this online business.
Speaker 2:The way that I figured out I would be successful is, I thought to myself the more people I help, the more success I'm going to have, Because if we go forward in service, the money will come, and if we worry about the money and we lead with the money and we lead with the, I want you to do this for me that's not going to bring us the blessings that we're looking for. So it's just, it really just kind of comes naturally to me. I'm a talker like you are. I'm a natural cheerleader. I've heard you say that before about yourself. I'm like every time you say that, I'm like yes, we do.
Speaker 1:I love that so much and I actually like I'm curious if there's something that like has to do with our genetic makeup. But I get like a dopamine hit whenever I am standing like cheering for other people. I'm the same way. I remember in the very beginning of my journey I was really active in Buzzsprout's Facebook group and that's kind of how I got noticed by the team there. They're like oh man, she's just coming, she's helping these people. We're not paying her. Like who is this person? What is she doing? But what was really happening on the back end of that was I was either going through self doubt Like what am I doing? Like what am I on the right path? Like should I even be doing this? Or I felt unqualified. But I would see people asking questions and I was like well, I may not know everything, but I can answer this person's question and it's just like such a rush.
Speaker 1:Is that kind of how it is for you?
Speaker 2:Yes, the other thing for me is that I, much like you, I work from home. All these, you know, podcasters and online entrepreneurs we all work from home. There is nobody here but me. Yes, I used to be out, you know, in corporate land, boots on the ground, belly to belly, doing the coffee chats and taking people to lunch and doing the dinners and all the stuff. And then, when I became an online entrepreneur and I started working from home, I was looking around, going well, this is lonely.
Speaker 2:And I got you know I can't go out into my. I mean I could do local networking, but truly, because my audience is global, that doesn't serve. That's not a super great use of my time right now. And so I start. My world started getting smaller and smaller, to the point where my husband was like, are you going to leave the house? And I'm like I need to do something.
Speaker 2:And so what I ended up finding was Facebook groups. There's people in there that need us. I need them, you know, and so it just became this natural way of me networking and connecting with people. So for me, we feel less lonely when I can go into a group and see what everybody else is doing and maybe get a great idea or an inspiration about or learn something that I didn't know before. That happens all the time, and some of the groups that were in, some of these people that are in there, are such professionals I'm like holy cow, I didn't know that tech tip Okay, and that also helps me be a better coach for my clients when I can really get that bird's eye view. Yeah, but again, selfishly, it's like I'm lonely and I need people to talk to.
Speaker 1:And this is how I'm going to make it happen. I think that I mean us podcasters, we're talking a bunch Like we need, like we would talk to the wall.
Speaker 1:Literally, if you're doing a solo episode. You are talking to a wall. Wherever is your voice is eventually going to hit a wall, and so it's so good to hear that that connection is just something that can be so powerful online. But what did you do before in corporate, because I know you were saying that that's what you did before. So were you doing like sales in all of your positions? Marketing like what is your background in?
Speaker 2:So my very first job ever out of college. I have a marketing degree, but I went to work for State Farm at the claims investigator, interestingly enough and so I did that for 12 years. But then after that is when the marketing and sales really started, and then really during that time I had side businesses, so I've always had something going on just to keep me busy. My dad worked for himself, my sister and her husband worked for themselves, and so it's kind of in our family Always had something extra to do just to keep busy. So after that job ended and it ended in 2005, I was raised that you go to high school, you go to college, you get the job, you stay there for 40 years, even if you hate it, you suck it up and you stay in the cubicle and then you get a gold watch and a retirement party and a pension.
Speaker 2:And in 2005, that whole shifted because that's when corporations started to restructure and downsize them right size and I literally called my mom and I'm like I just got restructured. Nobody told me this was gonna happen, but that was the first pebble that was thrown at me from, I think, the, I believe God, the universe, that said, hey, you might wanna think about doing something else and then fast forward through the next 20 years 18 to 20 years of being in sales and marketing and different roles in banking and real estate and title insurance, and always being charged with growing the market share, growing the portfolio. So I was growing a million dollar portfolios. On the banking side, I went into the title insurance company that I worked for grew on 86% the first year.
Speaker 2:I was there just really having great success, and people throughout that time would come to me and go how are you so successful and how have you grown these companies so much, just like in the first, within the first 12 months that you're there, and I just didn't even. I didn't even know how to answer them. I was like, well, it's just sales, it's just I just do it. And they're like no, we don't like sales and you like sales and this is weird and you need to teach us how to do this. And so, throughout all those years and then fast and throw along the way, more pebbles were thrown at me Some toxic bosses, some jobs where I felt like I was wearing a jacket that was just too tight it just never, you know and it just kept bumping my head up against the swimming pool. You know of corporate America. Until I finally, it was, oh gosh, about seven, six or seven years ago. I've lost. The pandemic makes everything blurry.
Speaker 2:So I've been these six years ago, seven years ago I was working for. The final straw was that title insurance company that I had worked for. The CEO was gonna monkey around with the commission structure for the people in the sales department and basically rewrite it in a way that benefited the company. And I was like, okay, God, okay, okay, universe, can't do this, don't I? Just, what do I need to be doing? And I knew that I had something inside me that was bigger than what I was doing, that I needed to use it sounds so cliche to use my gifts and talents in a way that I felt like was more in alignment with what I was supposed to be doing here and through some really great women in a mastermind I was in.
Speaker 2:Originally, I started out as a life coach because I was the person everybody always came to. I mean, I don't know about you, but if somebody got dumped at the sorority house or somebody's you know, they just got grounded for whatever. People were always coming to me throughout my whole life asking for advice. What do I say? What do I do? Do I take the job? Do I date the guy? Do I get married? Do I get the dog, you know? And so I thought life coaching. But then a few months into that I was like no people are still asking me about sales and marketing. I need to be a business and sales coach, and so that's kind of how it happened and I thought I don't know about you. But I thought, oh, I'll build an online business. I can do this. I've been, I'm good at that. Oh, this thing is hard. This building an online business thing is tough.
Speaker 1:And it's stuff that you don't learn. Even so, I want to point this out to what Tracy just said building an online business is tough, but she said it earlier, she has a business degree, she's been in marketing and sales. I have a business degree, I've been in marketing and sales. This having an online business stuff is tough. It's not something that you know, you or I ever learned in school, but social media was barely even around and it was just like. It was just something that, like you, didn't even like I think. I still remember the very first day that I had access to LinkedIn and I'm like what is this? What are what are we even supposed to do on here?
Speaker 2:And I just remember thinking, oh, you should just put when you graduated college awesome, like that was lit and if you're looking for a job, exactly like it just was like oh, okay, Like it's, and I think that it gets lost on people, Like all the different pieces that go into a business.
Speaker 1:Today it's not how it's always been and I think that you know you are so fortunate to have had experience before having an online business, because you know how to navigate some of the human to human connection that you can really make, and those are the things that matter.
Speaker 1:Those are the only things that matter. You could strip everything else away. And if you can just get in a conversation with someone, being able to have those deep, meaningful, intentional talks with someone and figuring out exactly what they need, I think that this is so great. I was gonna ask you do you know your Enneagram number? I'm so curious about this, have you?
Speaker 2:ever done any.
Speaker 1:You're a three. Okay, awesome, awesome, because I'm a three as well and I have an aunt in my family. She's always been in sales and she is, I think it's an eight. So for any of you Enneagram eights out there, she is so direct, she is so very clear and what she wants, how she wants it to be. So that's why I was like, okay, you're either a three or an eight, and I was really curious to see what it was, because it's just something. She has it Like the sales gene. She has it and you have it as well. Do you know exactly what people qualify your it? Like? What is your it when people say, tracy, teach us it, teach us the sales? Like what is it really that people are trying to distill down what you do?
Speaker 2:I think they're wanting to understand the words that I say and the framework of what I do, and if there's a strategy behind it. And that's what's difficult for me sometimes to articulate, because to me it's not a strategy. To me it's not. One of the things that really grosses me out is when people say they have to use psychological tactics or sales scripts gross.
Speaker 2:And I remember I was working at the bank and there was this one guy who's a commercial loan officer and I couldn't get away from him fast enough because he would wanna practice his sales techniques on all of us and I was so grossed out I thought how in the world have you closed any deals? I was just like ugh. So that's what makes it hard, though People will say what is it? And so I've had to do a lot of reflection on it, and I truly believe it goes back to what you said about the human to human connection, with intentional conversation, and for me, when I try to help my clients and students overcome their sales roadblocks, I talk about I want you to learn how to sell without selling, and I want you to take the word sales completely out of your vocabulary. I want you to take it out of your brain, take it out of the equation of what you're looking at, because the human being that you're connecting with is not a transaction. This is a warm, kind hopefully warm kind human being that's just like you, that has family, hopes, dreams, all the worries that you have, and by connecting with that person in that way and leading from a focus of service to that person, the sale happens automatically. The transaction will happen. So you don't focus on oh, I gotta close them and have them agree to buy my $4,000 thing. No, what you do is you meet them where they are, either in person or on Zoom, and you have a conversation, because for me, I have to be able to sleep at night. So my one-to-one package is a $4,000 investment and before somebody I allow somebody to give me that money, I'm gonna have a chat with them on Zoom and I'm going to ask them okay, I want you to give me the rundown of your business model. I wanna see what they've been doing, what they've not been doing, what's working, what's not working, because before I agree to take that person from here to where they wanna go, I've gotta make sure I can do it and I'm the right fit. And that's the other thing that comes in to this. It thing with sales is putting the other person before myself, just like I talked about. It's easier for me to focus on you and helping you, but if you think about the more people you serve, the more people you help, the more the transactions will just happen.
Speaker 2:So I had a client that has an amazing ADHD practice up on the East Coast and they help parents of children that have ADHD. And she was really, really blocked on sales. And she said, tracy, I just don't know, I don't know how to talk to people, I don't know how to close these transactions. And I said, well, we're not closing transactions, we're gonna talk to parents, we're gonna find out what's wrong and then, if you are their best solution, that's when you're gonna share. Hey, you know what I've got this thing I want you to look at to see if it's a fit for you. It sounds like it will be. This is the detail of it and here's the price of it.
Speaker 2:Do you have any questions? And so you know, when I talk to somebody about my one-to-one services, it's okay, crystal, you know you're telling me that you wanna launch this program, but you don't know how to get through pre-launch to launch to post-launch. Your social media marketing is all over the place, and so you need a plan for that, and your email list growth is stagnant and you need somebody to roadmap that out for you. Okay, those are all things in my wheelhouse and I would love to help you. If you think it's a good fit, you know what are your questions?
Speaker 2:For me, and that's kind of the conversation I have is hey, let's talk about what's going on, let me see if I'm the solution. If I am, how dare I not say that? You know, I've said to some of my clients before my client who helps the parents with ADHD, I said how dare you not tell them? Because what a blessing you could be for these people and if you don't say something, you can't be a blessing to them. So if we take the sale just out, forget about it, forget about the transaction, forget about the money, forget about all of that and just think to yourself how can I help this other person in front of me? That's when it happens.
Speaker 1:That's the it factor I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:Well, especially with you describing it as these are real people, because what I have noticed and maybe it's the ads that I've fed on social media I get some crazy ads because I do content creation. So I get all these content creators that say all these wild things. I need to sit down and start recording them and do like a myth busters episode of like don't listen to this, please. It's terrible advice, but people get so sucked into the numbers, the metrics, the followers and what I like to do. And this goes back to if I'm like, in this stage of like, I need validation that I'm on the right path. I like to go into my locations. So if you go into BuzzFriot this is my podcast hosting provider I can see the locations of all the people that have ever downloaded an episode of my podcast and when I see that it solidifies it into this is an actual person and not just a number, because I can see they're in, you know, cyprus, texas. They're in Dallas, texas. They are in Little Rock, arkansas, like I can see all of these different people and it's just like, oh yes, like we need those reminders because in the digital space, I think we get so caught up and you need more followers, you need more subscribers, you need more cash, like you need all these things.
Speaker 1:But I love how you articulated. It was like I'm gonna talk to you before you even give me your money. I don't want it to be this like empty transaction where you're just going to be upset and refund. You know I'm going to have to refund your money because we're not a great fit, like. I don't know if you could speak about that too, but I think that that's something that happens all the time is, people aren't great fits and then they're frustrated, they're mad at the person that they gave their money to and I don't know. Have you had any experience with that?
Speaker 2:Well, I did with the very first coach I hired and if I feel like if she and her team had been more focused on what I needed, they would never have let me into that program, yeah, and to this day I will never hire them again. And if anybody asks, I will not badmouth anybody publicly ever. But if somebody came to me and said, hey, did you ever hire so-and-so, I'm going to go, yeah and I'm. You know, this was my experience. Yeah, and so that can backfire on you if you're not careful. You know bad reviews are real. I would rather have no reviews than yes.
Speaker 1:Bad reviews yes.
Speaker 2:And I don't ever want to frustrate someone to the point where I've made their life worse. That's not the point. But back to your point about how I love how you said you go and look at the locations. I was having a conversation on another podcast earlier today and I love the way the podcast has said this. She said there's a reason why boats and airplanes call their passengers souls Mmm, all those souls on that plane.
Speaker 2:And because we were talking about the email list and how it can just sound like, oh, I have a whole bunch of subscribers. And she said I don't like to think of it as subscribers. They've subscribed, but it's people on my list. And I was like, yes, and then we started talking about how their souls on your list, hearts on your you know, warm-blooded human beings are attached to those numbers, and the same goes for followers. I think you know and I said this to her too I would rather have a really engaged audience of a small number than reach 100,000 followers on Instagram when 75% of them have no clue what I do and will never it will never translate into money or transactions or me helping them. Yeah, but if yeah. So this is what she said about the souls and the hearts and I was like, oh, that's really good, that is really good.
Speaker 1:And I love how well, I was going to say I love how you were talking earlier about taking sales out of your vocabulary. It's like it's we're not even going to use that word. It's not an option. We have to come up with some synonyms or something, but you cannot say the word sales. It is stripped from your vocabulary because it does challenge you.
Speaker 2:Well, it has such a bad connotation. Yeah, I mean, you say the word sales and most everybody goes, oh, and it's because of all the snake oil things and all the people that have been sleazy with us and the but wait, there's more, and you know what I mean and all the scam stuff that's going. You know, that goes around and it just makes people fearful, and so let's just call it something else. Yeah, let's call it building a relationship, let's call it making a connection, let's call it sharing and learning and seeing where you can be of service, because that's what sales is Right, and so, and that's where the success is going to come from.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love the, the connection, the networking and just being super intentional with being like I love the humans and the hearts and the souls. I love it. It's so beautiful and it's absolutely a way like it immediately sounds so different when you think about the number of people downloading your thing or watching your thing or following you, like it's just, it brings a levity to it. That's like oh right, we needed a reminder of. This is what the social aspect of social media is about and that connection can help you so so much Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, we're not just collecting people out here.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:We should not be just raking them in. Like you know, we're not hurting sheep, I love that so much.
Speaker 1:We are not absolutely like not hurting sheep. I love how you said that. Well, I wanted to go back to a point that you and I had talked about before we started recording and I told you I was like, tracy, so many people on my list, or my, my list See, now I'm like caught up in my list, my subscribers, so many souls that listen to this podcast, is what we're going to say. They struggle with selling, in that this is not their main thing.
Speaker 1:You and I have a business background. We have marketing like chops, like we have, you know, cut our teeth on so many different. You know trial and error and fails and ups and downs of our journeys. But for the people that are listening that are saying, okay, I want to use my podcast, I want to use my email list, I want to use my content to sell, but I don't know how to sell, or I feel bad for selling, or I feel like this is free, I shouldn't sell, I shouldn't do the thing, and they don't really know where to get started. What advice would you have for them?
Speaker 2:That's an excellent question and it goes back to what we talked about selling without selling, and so, when it comes to a podcast, the call to action is very important. And well, let me back up for a second. So it also kind of goes back to how dare I not share? So if you, if I encounter you out on the street and you are completely dehydrated and I've got a bottle of water, I need to give you my bottle of water, right, not sell it to you, but give it to you, be of service. And so I want people to start thinking about that of how dare I not share my information, my gifts and talents, because that there are people, souls, hearts, listening and subscribing to their email list that they can help, and so on the podcast, when you're giving value, it is absolutely okay to then transition into something really easy, like if you're loving this content and you feel like like for me, if you're loving this content and you've been looking for a great coach to hire for one to one work, reach out and book a free info call with me, let's talk about it, let's see if we're a good fit for each other. That is sort of a soft sales approach for me. It feels better when I say it that way than hey, I'm the answer. I'm the coach you need to hire. Come, you know, just sign up for my one to one services. Click on this link. That feels gross, yeah, but if I say, let's see if we're a good fit for each other, by any chance, are you looking for your next coach? Or I know one of your, one of your podcasters, is a doula and offers midwife services, and so that's an easy transition to hey, if you're, if you're learning from this content and you're interested in what I do and how a doula works and how it would fit into your birth plan, book a free info call with me or download my checklist for how to know if you're right, how to know that a doula is a right fit for you. And so you're giving them something where they're either going to book the call or they're going to land on your email list. And if they book the call, that's your opportunity, like we talked about, to listen to that other person, because they're going to tell you exactly what they need and then you can say you know what, based on everything you're saying, I think we're an excellent fit for each other and if you think we are too. I'd love to take the next step, which is talk about how you know we can work together. Yeah, and it just sort of, once you start practicing it how to say it it becomes part of you and if you just focus on I'm going to find out what this person needs so that I could potentially change their life, that's how, to me, that's how you overcome that sales roadblock.
Speaker 2:But on the podcast, you want to do a good call to action and then and that's what I do with my live videos that I do every week is a call to action. And then on social media, again, you want to have a call to action of you know, sometimes you do need to be as blunt as hey, you know, this is the result I got from my client. If you would like to have a five figure launch, let's talk about how this could work for you too. Book a free info call. Sometimes we do have to kind of put on our big girl pants and just tell people look, this is what I've done for these people, I can do the same thing for you. Book an info call or contact me and let's talk about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just thinking like yes, that 100% helps. But I was just thinking about the immediate question because I feel like a version of that is what we've talked about on the podcast. And the next immediate question, because I get this question all the time and it's a version of exactly what you just said. And then the next immediate question is yeah, but how much is too much, tracy? How much is too much? Because when the podcast, like, do I do this in every episode? Do I do this in every other episode? Do I do this, you know, twice a month? Like it's like everyone and this goes back to the intentional, like talking to humans and talking to people People want to plug it into a formula and it spits out like this is the path to a million dollars.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's what everyone wants, so what would you say to that question to someone that's like well, how often do I do this, and is it necessary in every single piece of content that we create?
Speaker 2:So, from my opinion, is in every single piece of content we create and you know this because you teach the spider web technique so in every single piece of content we create, we need to send that person to the next thing they need to do with us. And I love the way you teach it. It's like okay, if you're already on my email list, okay, check off that box. Crystal's on my email list now. She's one of the souls on my list and so I send you an email. I need to think to myself what's the next thing I want you to do? Is it book an info call? Is it join my free Facebook group? Is it listen to my latest podcast episode, so that you stay, as you teach, caught up in the spider web of my content, to deepen that no liking trust factor. So, for me, I teach that we need a call to action on everything.
Speaker 2:Now, sometimes a call to action is for engagement. Like I'll post a quote graphic, like I could say keep it up, we all have to start somewhere. By Crystal Prophet, and that would be my quote graphic. And then in the copy I could say something about how we all think you know we're going to go from zero to a million in the first month in our business, and it's so frustrating to start at zero, but we all have to start somewhere, and the call to action on that could be tell me how you feel about starting out on something.
Speaker 2:Did you feel this way too? That's a call to action. That is a way to engage your audience without asking them to do anything, but staying connected with them and deepening that no liking trust factor. But then the other calls to action need to be something that's either going to grow your email list or lead to them booking a call or checking out your program, getting on your waitlist. And how much is too much is really hard to answer, because what I'd love to say is trust your gut. But for those introverts whose gut is saying I'm not going to do this at all, that's not going to work.
Speaker 1:I was going to say I just immediately saw someone say oh, I don't have to do it at all, but that's what my gut is screaming Right, right, right, because my barometer, I can trust my gut on it.
Speaker 2:When I start to feel like I'm being a little too pitchy, then I'm like, okay, tracy, dial it back a little bit, but that's because you know, that's because I know that I'm still going to do it. Yeah, so for those in the audience that are like they don't want to do it at all, yes, what if they started with two times a week on social media? What if they started with if they have four podcasts a month? What if they started with two podcast episodes per month? You know what if we baby stepped this thing and got their feet wet and got in use to it? Because the more you do this, the more conversations you have with people that lead to sales, the more it has become a part of you. You're going to get comfortable with it. You're going to find your right words. You're going to find your right phrasing. You're going to find all the ways that feel good to you. But until you get started and try, you're not going to know what those words are and that phrasing is and all of that.
Speaker 2:I've got my you know. You and I talked about how I make lots of connections in the DMs on a daily basis. Yes, like today, I'm in Facebook DM jail because I've had too many DMs and Facebook said no one, tracy Beavers. And I'm like I'm going to start some conversations with people. But you know I've. But it took me a while to find my footing in the DMs because it felt weird. I was like I'm used to meeting people in person and now I got to talk to them through this little box with some words and some emojis. But the more I did it, you know and you know this, the more you exercise, the more you run, the more you meal prep, the more you do anything, the better and better you're going to get at it. So what if we just baby stepped them into it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Couple episodes a month. Yeah, and I love that you said that, because that's exactly the thing that I was hoping you would say is it's not a formula, it's not a do this and you're going to, you know, hit this target. It's really the going with your gut and understanding and this is specifically what I've told people before. It's like you know your audience, like I Tracy doesn't know your audience. I don't know your audience and we can't tell you specifically, like you're the one that's going to have to make those decisions and you may mess up and that's okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like you'll, you'll see, and I've actually gone back into my podcast and like and I can see in my stats where I was having like a bunch of promotions or I was talking about a lot of things that were it was an affiliate launch and it was things that I don't typically cover on regular episodes and I was like, oh, I saw a huge dip in my numbers for like a 30 day period. And I went back and looked and I was like, oh, that's why I need to have a new approach going forward. I didn't beat myself up about it. I didn't sit there and say, oh, you're a failure. Oh, my gosh, is there something that you like? Did you ever have really bad sales advice? Or did anyone like, did you have a mentor along the way that they were like Tracy? Just do this one thing and you'll like what is the worst bad advice you've ever gotten for sales and so much.
Speaker 2:So much, so much, Like there was this one person that was almost like the boat weight. There's more guy, yeah, and the just so salesy and pitchy and aggressive and oh, the worst sales advice I ever got. Oh, you'll love this, Okay. So when I first started building this, when I decided to leave corporate, I built three businesses alongside my full time job, because I was determined to get the heck out of there. One was the coaching Well, four actually. One was also I'm still a consultant for the University of Arkansas Small Business Development Center.
Speaker 2:And then I had two small network marketing companies. Well, I will not name those companies. They were great, they were awesome, they got me where I needed to be. But one of them, the and this was years ago. The method was make a list of 200 people and this take the, take this message, this copy, copy this message and paste it into the DMs for 200 people. And I, literally I did. I could kick myself because I looked at that message and I thought it doesn't sound anything like me. Second, this feels gross, but this came from people who were having five figure months with this company. They were earning the cars. They were earning. You know what I mean. They were successful and I thought, okay, I've never built in the online space. I didn't even have the internet going through college. What do?
Speaker 2:I know, you know, I thought maybe this will work. Worst ever I burned so many bridges I'm surprised there were people that were still speaking to me after that and I finally learned. That was a really good lesson for me, to learn that I needed to follow me. And so from then on, I built my business in a different way than everybody else in that company and I was just as successful as they were, but I got there in a way that felt good yeah, oh yeah, that was the worst I've ever got. Yeah, boy.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, apparently I blocked it out of my brain. It took a minute for that to come back.
Speaker 1:But I love that you brought it back and you're just like you own it, as like it was a terrible experience, but I learned so much. I think that those are the lessons that we don't forget, because you know you will never repeat that mistake ever again. It's just one of those that, even if it comes into your peripheral as like an ad and someone else is saying that you're like, oh my gosh, do not do this, Like let's shout it from the rooftops. Absolutely, it's a terrible way, Don't do it.
Speaker 2:Burn all the bridges and if anybody listening is somebody that I DM'd that way, I just apologize now. And could we send fences and do friends please?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I don't have my students ask me can you just tell me what to say and I'm like I can. However, then you need to tweak it and make it yours. Yeah, I can help you, but this has to be your words.
Speaker 1:Yes, Because I don't understand, you know, and I feel like we could do a whole episode just on bad sell scripts, because I had the same thing. I had a job. I was working for a gym. I lasted a whole seven days okay, seven days right before January too and the manager told me he was like it was the right. I think it was a week after Thanksgiving. He was like if you can just hang on until January like January is it you're gonna be overflowing with signups and all these people coming in.
Speaker 1:But I was reading this script, I was calling, I had my leads list. It was like 50 people. They were like well, here, these people, you know, they left their name, call them. And so I was calling them, tracy, like every day when I went in and I was like, well, I hit my 50, I did my calls and they were like we'll call them again. And I was like, oh God, you want me to call them again. And there wasn't like texting or anything.
Speaker 1:So it was literally legitimately, I got a hung up on so many times I'm sure I was on like on a blocked list. And then they were like oh, and go to the ball across the street where it explicitly says no soliciting, no selling anywhere, and I want you to hand out flyers. And the guy that took me, my trainer that day, was like we're not really supposed to do this, but what I'll do is you do that. And I was like so go back to the gut. Like you have to go with your gut, Like everything inside of every cell in my body was screaming don't do this, run the other way.
Speaker 2:And finally- Is that a real name? We don't make the most calls or did you make up a fake name?
Speaker 1:I can be a real name. I didn't know any difference. It was like 100%, it was me. I was very naive and I was like, oh, I could totally do this. I was an athlete in high school. I could do cells in a gym, I could abs. Oh my gosh, it was awful, awful, terrible. So, yes, all of our PTSD. They were just in a therapy session about bed cells, so this is a whole other topic for another conversation another day. We'll put a pin in that. Tracy, this has been so helpful and I know that you have an upcoming session where you're gonna walk people through some of your best selling techniques, but can you just talk about some of the successes that you've had in building your online business and some of the things that people can expect?
Speaker 2:Oh, you mean in the masterclass, yeah, yeah. So the masterclass that's coming up starts October 12. You can go to traciebeaverscom forward slash masterclass to grab your spot and I'm teaching four simple strategies that you can use to grow your email list without paid ads and without creating a truckload of lead magnets. The sales that we've talked about all along come from those people on your email list nine times out of 10. They're not gonna come from a massive social media following. We don't have any control over the algorithm. We don't have any control over if your best friend sees your post or not zero control. But what we do have control over is having those people want to join our email list and be a heart on our list subscriber so that we can share more of ourselves and more of our value and make more sales that way, deepening that low like and trust factor, because it all starts with the foundation of the email list. And so in the masterclass, I'm gonna teach them four simple strategies that they can take home that very day. One of them is like a lot of my clients ask me they struggle with being consistent in making their social media content, and I know you hear this a lot too, because we get going and we get excited and then, two weeks in, we're exhausted and we're like this stinks, nobody's paying any attention to me, and they wanna know how they can be consistent with it. Well, I've developed a strategy where I can teach you how to create 90 days of social media content topics in only 30 minutes. So we're gonna do that. And then we're gonna talk about how important it is for you to make sure your Facebook personal profile grows your email list. I'm gonna show you the secret strategy to do that. Also, your Facebook business page. We're gonna talk about Facebook groups If having your own is right for you and if it is awesome. We'll talk about how that can grow your email list, because my free Facebook group grows my email list by hundreds of people every month, and it is such a joy because, as we talked about, it's an easy.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm not selling them anything. I'm just inviting them, an online entrepreneur, into my Facebook community where they can promote themselves anytime and they can get help and support on anything they need. And it feels great to me because I'm literally inviting them into a big cocktail party where, oh, you need help with your podcast. Okay, crystal Prophet is a member and she's over here and I'm gonna tag her. Or hey, you need help with that WordPress website, let me tag so-and-so, because they're a WordPress expert. And then along the way they get to know me too, and so it does grow my list and it does grow my conversions, but it doesn't in a very heart-centered, warm, kind, human being kind of way. So that's what we're gonna talk about in Masterclass. I'm excited about it because they're gonna walk away with stuff they can use that same day.
Speaker 1:I love this so much and I like every time you say hearts and souls, now like I'm thinking in emojis and like it's just, it's making me so happy, it's making my heart all warm and fuzzy.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to do yes, like they're just going.
Speaker 1:It's like all of the little hearts, like all the people. So I will have links to everything that is for Tracy's Masterclass and her Facebook group. We're gonna put all of that in the show notes as well as other ways for you to connect with Tracy. But we have to transition and I know you're. You know this because you listened to the show but we have to like I feel like you're cheating because we're gonna go into our rapid fire questions.
Speaker 1:So I hope that you didn't prepare too much. You know what I should have and I did it, and I can kick myself, Okay. Well, the first one is what piece of advice would you give to a brand new podcaster? Oh wow.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it goes back to what we were talking about with trusting yourself and your voice and your authentic way of being in the world, and not and so this would go for somebody that's podcasting or somebody that's just starting out in the online space. It's so important. There's so much noise out there and there are so many opinions out there about everything. There's an opinion about everything. You know. A client or a student will ask me a question. I'm like well, if you ask so-and-so over there, they're going to tell you this. If you ask so-and-so over there, they're going to tell you that. And so you got to just decide how do I want to show up, what do I want my show to be about? What do I want my, what is my voice? And then trust that. You know that's going to help you not make some stupid mistakes that I made in the beginning.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's so special, like I feel like the title of this episode is going to be trust your gut, just trust your gut, and go with your instincts, except if you're an introvert and you don't want to do sales, then you can't trust your gut and you need to call me call Crystal will help you, tell you what you're supposed to say Trust your gut, except you introverts, you need to talk to us.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's fantastic. So my next question is what is the dream podcast you would love to be on and who is your dream podcast guest you'd love to interview?
Speaker 2:Okay, so the dream podcast that I would love to be on I was kind of on, but not as a guest expert, so it would be Amy Porterfield's online marketing. No, online marketing made easy. Oh my God, my brain shut off halfway through that. I was like, yeah, because you know that I'm in her world just like you are, and she's been such a help and mentor to me that I would love to be a guest expert and talk to her about all things sales and email list building and all that stuff and just nerd out with her on that. And then for a podcast guest, I would love to have Amy when I actually have an actual podcast. And so now, as you know, is a live weekly training in my Facebook group and my YouTube channel, and I did get to interview her recently for the promotion of digital course Academy, which was really exciting. But other than that, you know, I think I've always loved Edmai Let. But then I would love to talk to Jason Bateman, will Arnett and Sean Hay.
Speaker 1:Yes, I mean, how much fun would that be. Oh my gosh, because you're Tracy. You're Tracy, I mean, does that throw you off when they say Tracy all the time?
Speaker 1:Yes, Every time Sean says Tracy, I'm like he's talking to me it's like it's like when you're in a big crowded room and you hear your name, yeah, and you go wait a minute, like wait, wait maybe you were halfway paying attention and they say for Tracy out there, you all have not listened to the show, you have to go listen to it. It's like a whole bit like Sean's sister, her name is Tracy and it's like, oh, it's a whole thing, but it's just, it's just funny, his mom with the glass eye and then to you say, oh, his mom had the glass eye, so bad.
Speaker 1:Oh, and the father that, like, abandoned him. Like it's wrong. It's so wrong and hilarious the way that they razz each other so much. Like it just it's why I love it. It's why I love it so much.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I liked it, although it would be a runaway roller coaster, of you know you would black out, totally, I would black out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wouldn't say word, exactly. Okay, my last question is do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Speaker 2:Oh, that is the third question. So I used to boy. Was I good at it too In my twenties? Oh, crystal, I was so good at it. But I'll tell you what sucked it right out of me was having kids. Yeah, yeah, that'll do it.
Speaker 2:And then that'll do it. And then when I was a single mom so that's, that's a story for another time. But I was married to the kids dad for 12 years and then went through a very course. I don't know a divorce. It's not nasty, but I was on my own with the kids for almost four years and they were little, yeah, and I just remember thinking to myself I don't care if the towels are even folded, they could be rolled in a ball, as long as they're shoved in a cabinet, I don't care. And I don't care if your socks match. Are you wearing socks? Let's go, you know, but it just. And are you? You're eating the same lunch again today because you fixed your own lunch and that, yeah, okay, great, let's go. You're going to eat the same lunch.
Speaker 2:All year my son wore his Spider-Man costume every day of three year old, preschool and until it ripped and I had to sketch, keep selling it back together. So that sort of got the perfectionism out of me and I realized that being a perfectionist really wasn't all that much fun and it prevents you from moving forward. It truly does Like. It just stagnates you and you just can't. You're like paralyzed in it, and I see this in my clients and students and I know you do too. It's like they just really want to get it right.
Speaker 2:And what I've learned in this business is our businesses are never fully built. They are constantly evolved. Like, I thought I was going to build this online business and there it is. Isn't it pretty. It's done. Yay, I can go do something else. No, I'm not building a McDonald's franchise. I'm building an online business that's going to grow and evolve, so the finish line is always going to be moved. So I need to not try to be so freaking perfect, because what I start with isn't going to be what I end with. Yeah, you know. So that's a long way to say no, I don't think I'm a perfectionist.
Speaker 1:Oh that's. It's so good, though, Like layering in all those different pieces of your journey, I think is really helpful for people that do struggle with perfectionism and knowing that the sooner they can let that go, that there's so many beautiful things on the other side of the mistakes, of the failures, of the trial and error, of the you know, terrible sales advice that we've both gotten, that we went down that road.
Speaker 2:The copy of those messages that I've sent to 200 people, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Yes, there's so much to be learned and I feel like we could have four like spin off episodes from this today, but we have to wrap this up, tracy, and this was so incredible, so remind us one more time about your masterclass and where everybody can go to learn more about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So go to tracibeeverscom forward slash masterclass and that's Tracy with a CY, t-r-a-c-y beavers within us on the end, and it'll be four simple strategies. You'll see that there you can pick your date and time. Show up live. I've got a live bonus for you if you show up live and stick with me and I try to be funny and humorous and lighthearted, so I hope to make it worth your while and not make it so super stiff and boring, like it's a college lecture or something like that. And then, if they want to join me in my Facebook group, I would love, love, love it. It is a community of support and just kindness and it's called be a confident entrepreneur, get visible and grow your income. Everybody is welcome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome and we will have links to all of that. I'm part of Tracy's Facebook group and I love how you show up consistently for those lives and you were there. You were adding so much value, going back to the very beginning of this, when we talked about value and offering so much. You were so giving and you're so supportive of the online entrepreneur community. So thank you so much for everything that you do and for joining us here on the podcast today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me, crystal. This was really really fun.
Speaker 1:Wasn't that so good man? I was taking notes as I was re-listening to our whole conversation because, at the end of the day, one of the things that I really realized is the difference between people that can sell and have higher conversions and have just a more profitable overall business is a difference of mindset. And I think Tracy you know like we've talked a few times about how we've crossed paths in the last 12 months and one of the things that draws me to her is her willingness to help. Do you hear? I didn't say her willingness to sell and try to convert people. Her willingness to help. I can feel it and I loved all the different metaphors we used about hearts and souls and just humanizing the experience of our businesses and our content, because that mindset shift, it just makes all the difference.
Speaker 1:When I look at my numbers for everything for subscribers, for followers, for downloads, for whatever it is and I think about those are actual people that I'm getting, I get to add value to them it changes everything and I know that Tracy has, you know, her upcoming masterclass. I want you to go join, go grab it. There's gonna be a link in the show notes, so go check it out for today's episode, but I want you to go and follow Tracy. Go get in her free Facebook group and just get in her orbit, because, at the end of the day, the thing that I have really valued about connecting with her is again seeing someone else demonstrate how to add value and add value again and again and again, and people are just drawn to her. They are drawn to that, and if you start instilling those same values and principles of offering value to your audience, the same thing will happen to you. That attraction just naturally comes from you offering service, being a supportive anchor in someone else's journey, and I want you to go learn from Tracy and how you can do that. So, again, go sign up for her masterclass. You're gonna find it in the links for today's episode, but this was so much fun and I just keep thinking about how being direct and being more assertive and asking for what we want is something that all of us can get better at. So I encourage you to find people just like Tracy that can help you be more confident when you're asking. You're making that ask, whatever it is, whatever you're selling. If you're just trying to get people to sign up for your elite magnet, find a way to feel more confident behind it, because that will lead to more success in the future. But that's all I have for you today.
Speaker 1:So make sure you are subscribed or following, wherever you are listening to, today's episode and you know what. I haven't done this in a while. Why don't you leave us a review? If you are listening to this and you have found value in today's episode or any other episodes of the Profit Podcast, I want to hear from you. What other content do you want to hear on the show? Go to Apple Podcasts, spotify, good Pods, wherever you're listening, and leave us a review. I would be so appreciative, so grateful, to hear what you think about today's episode and the podcast in general. But, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.
