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Business Blasphemy
Sarah Khan, Chief Ease Officer, is calling B.S. on the hustle-focused status quo of online entrepreneurship and getting real about what it takes to grow a business that doesn't become a statistic. In each episode, Sarah helps navigate the rampant B.S. that permeates business strategy, marketing, operations, and mindset that has business owners hustling and pivoting themselves into burnout. She cuts through the noise and gives you guidance on how to view the status quo with a more discerning eye. If you're ready for success without the B.S., buckle up for hard truths, fun rants, terrible puns and (more than) the occasional curse word.
Business Blasphemy
EP68: Do You Want Sexy or Success with Kimi Brown
Do you want sexy? Or do you want success?
Kimi Brown, the Sales Success Doctor for solopreneurs, is here to help tear apart the myth that big numbers are the only way to measure success. We get real and talk about not only what is behind those flashy success claims, but what it actually take to get success that is sustainable (because that's what is really sexy, right?)
Not everything that glitters is gold, and we're here to set the record straight. We'll talk about the importance of consistent financial success and how to blend genuine human experience with AI without overdoing it on the tech -- among other things. It's about finding the right balance, avoiding quick fixes, and building real connections with your audience.
We'll wrap up by redefining what success means for you, aligning your business with your personal goals. Kimi shares her own story of chasing financial milestones and the toll it took on her personal life. We'll also cover the art of delegation, avoiding becoming the bottleneck in your business, and the importance of keeping it real in your marketing.
Tune in for an episode that's more than just talk—it's a bold, honest look at what it really takes to succeed in business.
Guest Bio:
Kimi Brown, known as the Sales Success Doctor, is a beacon for solopreneurs navigating the challenging "messy middle" of online entrepreneurship. The 4-figure heroes! With a unique blend of passion for genuine connections and a knack for crafting bespoke strategies, Kimi transforms the business trajectories of those disillusioned by cookie-cutter promises. Kimi stands alongside her clients in the trenches, armed with strategies as distinctive as their personal visions, driving toward success that is not only achievable but deeply fulfilling, and is dedicated to growing her clients leads and sales to have a proven, repeatable and sustainable 4-figure business.
Connect with Kimi:
https://www.instagram.com/salessuccessrx/
https://www.kimibrown.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimibrownkajabistrategist/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/salessuccessrx
Connect with Sarah:
- Tired of being the "best kept secret"? Download the FREE Thought Leader's Playbook for 5 essential steps to to ignite your influence and get noticed! Get Your Playbook HERE
- Follow Sarah on Instagram (instagram.com/corporate.rehab)
- Learn how to work with her HERE (getcorporaterehab.com/services)
The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Corporate Rehab® Strategic Consulting.
Welcome to the Business Blasphemy Podcast, where we question the sacred truths of the online business space and the reverence with which they're held. I'm your host, Sarah Khan speaker, strategic consultant and BS busting badass. Join me each week as we challenge the norms, trends and overall bullshit status quo of entrepreneurship to uncover what it really takes to build the business that you want to build in a way that honors you, your life and your vision for what's possible, and maybe piss off a few gurus along the way. So if you're ready to commit business blasphemy, let's do it. Hello, hello, blasphemers. We dove right the fuck in today. We actually started without you. Right, we started with a hundred percent. We started without you because I want to introduce you to my sister from another Mr, my lover from another mother. Uh, I don't even know if that's a thing, but we're going to make it a thing. That's the thing now. It's a thing now.
Speaker 1:Ms Kimmy Brown. Kimmy is the sales success doctor. She's a beacon for solopreneurs navigating the challenging, messy middle of online entrepreneurship. This, the four figure heroes right, Because we don't talk about them enough. Like, come on, does everybody have to be a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 figure?
Speaker 2:No, we're the messy middle, damn it Exactly.
Speaker 1:With a unique blend of passion for genuine connections and a knack for crafting bespoke strategies, kimi transforms the business trajectories of those disillusioned by cookie cutter promises. Amen to that. Her journey through the ups and downs of digital business has not only honed her skills but fueled a profound understanding that success is a deeply personal endeavor, and we're going to touch on that in so many ways today. Kimmy's approach transcends traditional consultation, offering a partnership that tackles the root challenges of her clients' growth. She stands alongside her clients in the trenches, armed with strategies as distinctive as their personal visions, driving towards success that is not only achievable but deeply fulfilling. Can I just get a moment of like deep, profound silence here? Because amen, amen, amen, amen. That's right.
Speaker 2:All right, yeah, I'm a bullshit buster of the myths. If you build it, they will come, oh please.
Speaker 1:I mean, and this is why we belong- so well, right, right.
Speaker 2:I mean, that is the biggest piling steam of unicorn poo out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that that's like people talk about oh, I don't do templates and I don't do cookie cutters and I don't do blah, blah, blah. But the reality is, when you look at a lot of what people are doing, it's like here, do this and this will fix your business. This will fix your business. And I remember growing up I grew up in a very small town in northern Canada and we had just a handful of doctors and we had this one family doctor and I swear to you he was. I don't know if he was getting kickbacks from the drug companies or what, but it didn't matter. If you had colon cancer or a cold, he was already writing amoxicillin on the pad before you even sat down. Right, right.
Speaker 1:And I feel like a lot of business coaches, a lot of business consultants, are kind of the same way. It's like yesterday I had a conversation with somebody. I can't even remember what we were talking about, but it was this idea of oh well, if they have this problem, it's probably a leads generation problem. And, like I had only just described, like this was the challenge they articulated oh, it's all lead generation, it all comes down to lead generation. And I get that. There are people who have a specialty and that's what they lead with Correct.
Speaker 1:And I think now the onus really has to be on the business owner to do the work of figuring out, like, what do I actually need? And talk to people like you and me right, you and me who are going to sit down and say I'm not here to sell you any one particular solution. We need to really figure out what the heck is going on in your business, look at the gaps, look at what you've already done, et cetera, et cetera, and then devise a framework or a plan or just something to say well, actually, this is what your problem is.
Speaker 2:How do you know unless you take the time to diagnose that specific person in a deeper way in conversation? And that's why, yeah, the programs may be called something, but the framework inside is going to be different depending on who you're talking to Exactly. And half the time, what you're purchasing is what worked for someone else and it's not a good fit for you, or it's that band-aid, or it's that magic pill that you're hoping will work. And here's the reality. It takes a lot more work than, oh, go get a list, go put it up online, start selling it and, yeah, you probably might see. Maybe.
Speaker 2:I mean, some people are lucky, they might see some success, but they can't sustain it. They can't. They're not going to beat those statistics. And when you just post about some of those statistics that are out there, I want to get people past those statistics to where. What does that success look like for them? And then not only success, but let's go in and take a look and ask those questions and decide what do we need to fix next? And that's the book that actually I have behind me you can't see it because we're on a podcast Fix this next. That was such an eye-opener to. Really this is not a book on. Okay, here's the formula. All right, let's diagnose, let me ask you questions, let's dive deeper and then go directly to the thing that needs to be fixed. Yeah, often so different than what you think it is.
Speaker 1:I don't think I've ever, in my 20 plus years of just being in business period, have I ever seen oh, if you have this problem, this will work Like there has never been a. If X, then Y, right, it's always well. If X, what kind right it's? It's always well. If X, what kind of X? Like a serif X? Is it a Sam serif X? Is it like bold? Like you have to understand, my analogies are weird, but like you have to really understand, everyone's X is going to be a little bit different, so the Y has to be tailored, and I think this oh, people are going to get into a stink about this, but I'm going to say it anyway, because why the fuck not, right, I think, a lot of coaches and consultants and people in the online space. Because they don't have business acumen, they don't have business training, they don't have business experience and, again, this is not a blanket statement. So, please, you know Correct, Weed yourselves in and out. Yeah, get a glass of milk, sit down, have a minute.
Speaker 1:If we step on toes we'll have a prayer service afterwards. But like they don't have the experience in business to be able to say here are the multiple strategies, let's figure out which one we can tailor to work for you, they have, like you said, experience in one specific area, right, whether it's mindset or sales or marketing or lead generation For one specific funnel. Oh yeah, oh yeah, exactly For a specific platform, right or methodology Correct, correct.
Speaker 2:Oh, gorgeous.
Speaker 1:Right. So that is what they're teaching you because it worked for like you said, worked for them or that's the only one they know. And how are they going to get business? By telling you that it's going to fix whatever your problem is Correct, and you see people investing so much freaking money and not getting a return on it. And what I love is we had a conversation, because we've been trying, I've been trying to get you on the podcast for ages and you just you're so popular and so in demand. Yeah, we're going to say that's the reason why we had this conversation and I love what you said.
Speaker 1:First, I want to share some of the stats because I do think it's important to contextualize what we're talking about. And again, if you want to know, like Sarah, where did you get these stats? I pulled them out of my ass. No, I didn't. She did, she did, I watched her. You can Google them. If you just do a cursory Google search with the right words, you will find these numbers. These are not agencies and sources that are dealing with business and entrepreneurship. So less than 12% of coaches 12% less than are making 10K per month. I want you to think about that. $10,000 a month. Less than 12% of coaches. 76% of coaches are not making a full time income and less than 1%. Okay, so if there's a hundred of you in a room, only one of you is making a hundred K or more a month.
Speaker 2:And we don't know their story, their journey, what they did to get there. They didn't start out that way.
Speaker 1:No, and you know good for them and whatever. But when you hear all of the rhetoric and when you hear the marketing of everybody's making six figures and I work with exclusively six figure entrepreneurs and I'm well, there's only a handful of them out there.
Speaker 2:And they're all chasing that elusive dream without a true strategy that's personalized to them to get there. They're buying, they're the person who's selling its dream.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and my experience in the backend of businesses has been yeah, some of them are making six figures, but they're also spending near on six figures to get the six figures. So what are they actually taking home? Because that's the number that matters, it's not the number that you know. Oh, I can show you my, I can show you a screenshot of my sales, absolutely. But then people should really be following up all of that with a screenshot of their expenses or their P&L, right Like, here's what I'm spending to make that money.
Speaker 2:Did I tell you one of the things that I do? Yeah, so when someone puts out there like I've made this or they're guaranteeing other people do it, you will see me in the post go. I would love to see a year's worth because now you did it once back in 1984 of you doing this, understanding that there, yeah, there's some ups and downs, but I want to see your your either your tax return and you can take out all the other information with your expenses and what you brought in. I want to see it prove to me. And so the people that I work with but one. I don't say stuff like that, but I also.
Speaker 2:One of my other businesses is the heart centered apprentices, where I'm teaching amazing women just because there's no guys yet that have applied how to become Kajabi specialists and actually have a business that thrives and survives so they can get to comfortable, regular income a month that's full time. Yeah, every year I'm showing them my numbers. Meg shows them numbers. We talk about the reality, the good, the bad and the ugly, but we're not up there saying, oh, you can 12 times your income. Well, let me show you. And also, we're in the trenches as well with our own businesses. So I'm really big on vetting when people start pulling out numbers and show me or show me what your clients have done.
Speaker 1:Even more important, I would love to know how many people have actually responded to that question when you posted? Not one single person.
Speaker 2:Big fucking surprise. Not once, not once. And so whenever I get on a soapbox, the HCA is in my own Facebook group, the Sales Success Rx can tell, because all of a sudden I'm getting real transparent. I just asked this person this. I'm going to share it with you guys. You know the realities.
Speaker 1:I understand why people are so afraid of that. Like, how does their buyers? Well, they are, I mean.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I'm being blunt. I'm being blunt. Is this not the business? Blasphemy, let's call it absolutely can blaspheme against the status quo and that's not even blaspheming, that's being honest, because what happens when someone doesn't withholding information is just like telling a lie.
Speaker 1:Particularly if it's manipulated to make you believe an outcome that isn't possible. Correct If it's part of their sales process.
Speaker 2:if it's part of their promised outcome, they better be able to show and back it up, and that's where social proof comes in handy. You know where their clients are saying, and not just oh that was a great program, but listen, I was here and now I'm here.
Speaker 1:That's what you need is social proof to showcase the best parts of ourselves, but I think more people need to talk about typical results versus atypical results. We always feature the star student right. We always feature the A++ Dean's List, honor roll graduate and not like the 17 students who are pulling a C average. And that's real life, that's real life.
Speaker 2:I'm struggling, but you helped me move in this one area. That is beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm working with a coach right now and she's fantastic and I've been wanting to work with her for a while and you know, she she says like, if you want to see phenomenal results, you got to do X, y, z every single day. Ask Sarah if Sarah has done it every single day. No, I'm sorry, have you done every single day? Sarah's got issues right now with with just shit. Um, no, my own coach.
Speaker 2:My own coach Cause okay, that's another thing. People who are coaches, who don't have coaches red flag so. But my own coach has to. I mean what I work on with my clients. Why do I have like the worst car on the block If I was the mechanic? Because we don't often focus on ourselves. We're really great with our clients, we can get them results, but what about ourselves? And I love my coach. She kicks my butt in love every time and she's like but are you doing X, y, z?
Speaker 1:And I have to be like no, I didn't do that this week and I mean she's wonderful about it and she's also very transparent. Like there are women in the in the program right now who are doing X, y, z every day and they're seeing freaking, phenomenal results, and so I know her method works and I'm holding my hand up and saying it's not working as fast for me because I'm not doing the work the way I should.
Speaker 2:Correct, but at least you recognize. It's you, not the program.
Speaker 1:Well, that's the other thing, there's so many people who don't want to acknowledge their role in something. Right Like the number of people that want you to be responsible for their success, whether you're a coach, a consultant right Like. We've ragged on coaches, now let's rag on clients. Right Because and especially now when everything just feels really hard I've been talking to a lot of people and they're so done with learning. They want implementation, support or they want-.
Speaker 2:We're done with knowledge. We have enough knowledge.
Speaker 1:We do, we're like. What did I used to say back in the day? I used to call it educational constipation.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God, I love you. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Right, right. We've stuffed ourselves full of knowledge to the point where we are stuck and we don't know how to move.
Speaker 2:We don't know which direction to go in because we have so many, so much knowledge, and I agree with you. That's where I'm starting to put on my page. Here's how I'm different. It's not a group coaching. There's no course you have to go through Hand in hand in the trenches. Let's take action. That is resonating right now with people, but again, the client drives how they buy and how they learn. It's not a traditional funnel anymore. It hasn't been for years. The client drives it and in 2024, it changed to trust. Too many people jumped on the AI bandwagon and I'm not dinking AI. It is a tool but a lot of people went and said I want to be a coach, or I want to do this, or I'll do that, help me do my program and they're out there. So a lot of people have been burned and not cool, and so the difference is that human element. Can we work hand in hand in the trenches without you having to go through another course or something like that? And let's take action. You have the knowledge. Let's take action.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's funny you mentioned AI. One of my clients right now she's been posting about an event that's happening and it's all about like deeper connection with people, and somebody's AI bot commented on it about how he sells AI programs to like human connection programs done through AI. I couldn't even wrap my head around just how ridiculous it was. That is what we call. What is that?
Speaker 2:again An oxymoron.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like inception level bullshit right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Exactly Human connection through artificial intelligence.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's say that in a sentence and really hear what you're saying. Well, I mean, and I, like you said, I don't have a problem with AI. I use chat GPT. We call him Edwin in our house that's his name and he responds with kind regards Edwin, all the time. Time. It's wonderful, um, but you know, like I said, using it as a tool, as a brainstorm tool, um, to help me, I'm stuck getting unstuck uh, brainstorming names things like that, right and then you have to go in and actually do the thing.
Speaker 1:I am so wary of programs that are being developed by ai, because what exactly are they teaching people? Okay, can we just throw a blanket? Don't buy a program that was created by an AI, please don't.
Speaker 2:And ask the questions Was this created by AI? Was it you put in an idea and it created? Versus you do your brain dump of all your things and saying help me organize this into what could be a course or what could be something. There's a difference than just what's out there now of I just put in this. It created this wonderful thing. You need that human element. You need the experience, the experiential nuance that AI can bring. So no, I agree with you. I ask a lot more questions and so let me just get a little bit of my AI thing here.
Speaker 2:Anything created by AI is owned by AI. That's not your intellectual property, and they can probably stole from somebody else's intellectual property If they were building theirs inside AI. Even when you go and put all of your brain dump in there and it creates something, it now owns it and until it is actually highly legislated because it's still in the courts, it owns it. Any title it comes back to it owns. Any copy it owns. It is not your content. So please be aware of that.
Speaker 2:If you use AI at all in your business, you better be disclosing that to your clients. So, for example, I work with them and I do an interview style to find out really about them, their audience, everything to help them realign their messaging. I suck at headlines I really do, and that's what people read, so I will, we'll, we'll do all of their stuff and we'll put all of that in and I'll come over and I I worked through a different program that doesn't use the traditional AI route. So it is gate, it has a gatekeeper and I'm like I just want a sexy title here. What should it look like? So that's where we plug it in, but it's all me, it's all me doing that front end, but it's helping with titles. But also it depends on the program you're using and there's some really good ones out there that are not on the chat GPT platform, that do keep the intellectual property.
Speaker 2:I'm just putting that off there really quick, but you have to mention it, you have to put in there. There may be and this is in your contract, this is in your proposal. If you do proposals, this is even in your terms and conditions you need to be placing. There may come a time where AI is used and here's how it will be used. Here's how I won't, what I won't do to protect your IP. You need to show it, even if you didn't even plan on using it. You need to disclose, because what happens if you build out something I'm just gonna talk to a service provider or you coach somebody to go to their website and to make some changes based on what AI returned and eventually they get sued. Yeah, you didn't tell them. They think it's coming from you and your brain.
Speaker 1:People do what's right. That is probably going to start becoming an issue. Ai is still relatively new, but it's not going to get any worse than it is today. It's just going to continue to get better and better and better and more and more savvy. I mean, I've even noticed from when ChatGPT was first released till now how much more evolved it feels right and this is going to start becoming a big problem, particularly in the coaching space. And there are too many people in the business space in general, I guess, but there are too many people who are ready and willing to take shortcuts without thinking about the long term ramifications of what could happen.
Speaker 2:I can give it a perfect example and I'm not going to say this is wrong. I'm just saying be mindful of how you use it so you can program as best as you can chat GPT to almost be like your audience, to where you can interview and ask it questions. Here's what happens. It's not your audience, it's not living that pain point, but it's enough to get you started. But it is no substitute for you doing the hard work, getting out there and serving and connecting, without selling, to find out about your audience and what is top of mind and what they are saying and their words, and ask them the questions to help you then create your messaging and your product. So again, I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying which do you think is going to work better for you?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know how many Gen Xers or millennials are out there listening to this, but remember when Wikipedia first came out and maybe you were still in school and Wikipedia was like cause I was teaching and I remember being very straight with my students. Like, wikipedia is a starting point, it is not a resource, right?
Speaker 2:It's not a it's not a valid source. And then you found out it was just humans internet, which I know.
Speaker 1:No, it's like this is not a valid source, like you can go down to their sources and then use those as sources and, like kind of like, reverse engineer it from there and it's a great starting point, but it is not just like. Ai. Please use the AI as a starting point and do your own fucking research.
Speaker 2:I totally agree, but that's part about I think we had talked about in our own conversations and a couple of posts that we've done. Do you want sexy or success?
Speaker 1:I was just about I was calling. That's what I was looking for here. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about it. Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:We can talk for hours, which is hysterical.
Speaker 2:I know we're going to be all over the place in this podcast people, so we're just, we're just freestyling. Buckle up bitches, Right? That's right, babies.
Speaker 1:That's right, all right, talked about well, we were talking about my workshop, and then we were talking about I'm looking at our chat history in case you're oh, you can't see what I'm doing. So I'm telling you, um, be honest about your journey and what you experienced in empaths. And we talked about, oh gosh, a little bit we were all over the place.
Speaker 2:They were all over the place.
Speaker 1:I'm just trying. I wish the chat had like a control f, command, f, like a search. So we talked about, you know, the fact that people are struggling financially right now, they want the get rich quick hacks and they don't want to do the work it really takes, and that it isn't popular or sexy messaging. That's what it was. We were talking about the fact that there's still a large subset of the population in the business world who doesn't want to hear things like because we're talking about messaging yeah, messaging. And it was all about because I was feeling really frustrated around the fact that, like, I'm very honest in my messaging about if you want X, it's going to take work Like nothing. You do with Sarah Kahn is easy and sexy. Right, it's simple, but it's not easy.
Speaker 2:And there's work involved.
Speaker 1:There's a difference. You have to show up business owner Exactly, and I was sharing with Kimmy my frustration around all of these people who share the quick, easy, sexy side of business seem to be and again, this is my own projection as well, but there is mine too that they seem to have it easier in terms of getting clients or, you know, getting followers or getting engagement.
Speaker 1:And because I don't want to blow smoke up your butt and I'm very honest about it's going to take work, like we're going to have to do some hard shit and you know, this is where we, I think we moved into, like do you discount your prices? Like, how do you attract those people? And I think we came down to this idea of maybe those aren't the people you need to attract. And it really does come down to if someone's looking for a quick fix or something sexy, they're not that, they're person, they're not for me, and embracing that is really hard. And you coined this wonderful phrase do you want sexy or do you want success? That's 100% going to be the title of this episode of the Like, do you?
Speaker 1:want sexy or do you want success? Because there is a huge difference. And then I love how you kind of turned that on its head and said that true success is what's sexy. But true success has so many layers to it.
Speaker 2:It does. It's not like an easy definition. You know why it's as different as a fingerprint. It's as different as we are. You know why it's as different as a fingerprint. It's as different as we are.
Speaker 2:What does that success look like to you? Then let's figure out how to engineer a strategy that gets you to whatever that definition is, but being honest also about expectations. Your capability is not a reflection of your capacity either. So I love when people come and be like I can make a million dollars in a year. And I'm no, I'm not this blunt, but it's like did you make a million last year? Yeah, so what are we going to do different and what are you willing to do different? And that means I go back to you as a business owner. What are you unwilling to give up in this business? Is it family time? Is it your mental health? Is it that you only you want Fridays off to hang out with your spouse? So I'm going to take a quick back step.
Speaker 2:I was hitting the $10,000 a month. That was what my goal was. My goal was only money. So I'm seeing success right. Then why did I want to burn it all down to the ground? Why did I want to walk away and run, because I looked back and I had a wasteland of relationships. My marriage was on the rocks. I was five more minuting my kid into not knowing them. I'm losing hair, I'm losing sleep, but I'm seeing success. What's wrong? Because I didn't start from a me first, and saying no is saying yes to you. By the way, I could go on a whole different thing on this one.
Speaker 1:This might hold their soapbox.
Speaker 2:But coming back around to that, okay, so this is your definition of success. Let's talk about the milestones that you're also looking for Now. Let's look at your true capacity. How do you keep all of those things that are important to you? And let's talk about what's important to you. How do we keep that intact and hit whatever those goals are? So either expectations need to be adjusted it's going to take longer or things are priced different. What does that look? And that's part of that whole strategy. So a lot of people fix the symptom because it's what's presenting. What is the root issue? And let's heal it at the root issue. But that takes time to uncover it. I'm also really I'm going to step on some toes.
Speaker 2:There's outsourcing for the things that you don't want to do and don't let you up, and it's powerful and important, but of course, it has to be strategic. There's a difference between outsourcing and abdicating the throne. Oh, say that again. There's a difference between outsourcing and abdicating the throne. Do not be an absentee landlord in your own business, and that is painful and you need to ask yourself if that's you. You need to be an active participant in your business, especially when it comes to your marketing, especially when it comes to making connections, especially when it comes to you being in your business. This is not something that you just say hey, I really want a paid ad agency to take over. I'm going to hire a social media marketer and they're going to just go repurpose content. No, no, no, no, no, no. That might be a piece of it, but do not say that that's it. That's your job. Your job is to go post those and get engagement.
Speaker 1:No absentee landlord, get your butt back in your business. There is no set it and forget it. I love that and I want to. I want to actually flip that on its head. There's also don't just like don't. I used to say don't hire people if you're not going to delegate, because then you're just paying for a captive audience to watch you work.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that was me, though that was me in the beginning.
Speaker 1:It takes a special level of internal personal growth to be able to take your baby and let someone else take care of certain aspects of it, like I don't know if you know how many parents are out there, but we can both relate to this. Like the first time you left your kid with a childminder or a child care, right, it's like they are never going to do it as well as me. I mean, heck. I still feel that way when I leave the kids with my husband. He's never going to do a job as me.
Speaker 2:It's not just a childminder. Your husband, your spouse, your partner, you know, what they becomes. Did anybody die, and then no, and then they're fine? Exactly.
Speaker 1:But I see so many business owners who will outsource or have huge teams and then not let the team do their jobs. Not let the team do their work.
Speaker 2:There's trust, but verify that still needs to be there. Yeah, I don't think it's even really a trust issue.
Speaker 1:It's more like they just feel either A it's my business and I should be responsible for everything, and I feel, you know like if I don't, then I'm not a legitimate business owner, and then, b they don't actually know what to delegate. That's the more common one. Right, I have a team because I'm supposed to right? Yeah, right, I did this thing, I checked the box, I have a team. Now what? I'm a success, but I'm still doing everything and I'm the bottleneck and my team. I'm paying the number of consults I had earlier in my career as well in the online space, where business owners are coming to me and saying I've got a VA, I've had a VA for three months, but she always has hours left over at the end of every month and I don't know what to delegate to her and I think I hired the wrong VA. I'm like no, you probably didn't hire the wrong VA, let's have a look at what you're delegating. And nine out of 10 times, it was the business owner, not the team, that was the problem.
Speaker 2:Totally agree. But that's also as a business owner. You have to be willing to be coachable and look. So, now that they have that, let's just say you work with them on that. Did they make any changes? So again, is there a mindset? What's their roadblock? If it's still, then then who is the person that needs to get them past it? Do they need to hire you to work past that mindset? Is it somebody else they need to work through? But that's also the hard part.
Speaker 2:So, coming in as a coach or a consultant, so talking about those of us who do that piece, when you do hear, well, the strategy didn't work, or this didn't work, and it's like, well, let's take a look at that, let's look at numbers. So let's not go based off of feeling, because I felt like I didn't make any money last year and I blew myself away. So let's just not go by feelings but um, but same thing in their business. So let's really take a look at this. And oh, business owner, I think this is your piece. You know this.
Speaker 2:There's, there is something some onus on you, but who's it easier to get upset with? It's? Well, the strategy didn't work. Well, based on what? And of course, it depends on what you consider strategy as well, and how long ago the strategy was and have things changed. So there's so much more that takes work and that's what's hard and I'm getting better at setting expectations. Now and this could be a missing piece for a lot of you is when you are a coach or a consultant. So I love being a consultant because I am not comfortable asking a lot of questions just because of my past and everything.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to tell you what you need to do.
Speaker 2:See, and I like to tell people, I am really good, it's my superpower. I can dive in and look at all the chaos and be like, based on you, based on what you've told me, this is your best path forward. Does it resonate? Let's start moving forward. However, business owner, I can create with you this amazing Lamborghini, amazing, gorgeous, high-performance car. You are still the gas and the driver. You drive sales, you drive results. I can set you up for success like nobody's business, but you still have to be involved. So I'm getting better, because a lot of times when they hire a coach or consultant, they want to hand everything over to you and you go make it work. And so really, what are you saying you do for people? Coach or consultant, be very careful in your wording.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so true. I will never forget. I don't get very many men asking to work with me. I wonder why.
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 1:I love it oh really, I've often been told I'm intimidating, I'm also scared.
Speaker 2:Is that the best I know? Right, it's so good.
Speaker 1:But I remember there was a guy I'd been in a LinkedIn group with him, I believe, and he wanted to hire me back when I was doing OBM work. He wanted to hire me as his OBM and I'm like cool, and we had a couple of discovery calls and I will never forget he asked me the question on our second call. He said so and he was standing there doing this and you can't see me but I'm rubbing my palms together like an evil criminal villain. But he said so, what are you going to do to make me money? And I said I'm sorry. And he says well, what are you going to do to get sales, because I need a hell of a lot more sales. And I kind of looked at him.
Speaker 1:I said, well, that wouldn't really be my job, like my job is to run the back end of your business and manage your team and he says, oh, but I don't want to hire any more people, so I would really like you manage the company, but also like generate sales. And I was like, and what are you going to do? Well, he was like busy with auditions and building his acting career and I was like, don't think this is going to work out. But it's like the other thing I think people need to remember or be honest about is like is this an actual business? Okay, I'm going to say something that's going to really really upset people, maybe trigger a few, and I don't know, do I? It's going to sound good, because if it, resonates, then they need to go get help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there are still a lot of people who need to decide are you running an actual business or are you play acting at being a business owner? Boom, are you playing at being a business owner?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because neither one is wrong right If you're running a legitimate business, that you want to be able to build a legacy so that you have something to maybe pass on to your kids or whatever. Or you're like no, I'm just doing a side hustle and it's just Make extra money. Extra money, that's totally cool too, but you have to decide which one it is, because the strategy is going to be different for both, Based on your expectations, on what you want Exactly. And I'm so tired of and I'm so angry at all the people who sold the dream of you just need a laptop and a glass of wine and a swimming pool and baby, you can make it too.
Speaker 2:And it's like no, not really, and you don't know their story. You know I posted as a joke, for you know April Fool's day.
Speaker 1:you know the one word email that will tell you that it was so great. It was so great.
Speaker 2:And yes, there are people who are out there and gurus who will post the nine word email that can 10 times your revenue. You don't know their story. You don't know how long it took them to get there.
Speaker 1:What if you don't know how long it took them to get there? What if you don't have a list Email's going to do shit for?
Speaker 2:you, right? Or even if you do have a list and you don't engage with them on a regular basis. There's so many other things that have to happen and that worked for them, and maybe a couple other people, but hello, you know. So, yeah, and again, that's where we're talking about sexy or success, because you and I I'm very honest on my page, I'm very honest in the content of that and it's hard. People don't want to read that. They want to read all the fun things and the million dollar, this million, then the sexy fun stuff, and so when we do post those things, or when you and I are on this podcast, being extremely honest, they want to hear the fun things. They don't want to hear. Hey, guys, it might be you, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I just I don't. I get it. I do genuinely get it on a very deep level. Right, we are all so tired and so burnt out and so overwhelmed and feeling defeated and just there's so much going on in the world. It's like do I really need to now also see how fricking hard business is? Like can something just be nice and easy? And like I totally understand the need for that, and I mean honestly, like you've seen it, the number of people that call me out for having mindset issues, because I tell the truth, like yesterday I posted on on my feed and in Facebook that my paid workshop only had two participants, despite the fact that I had marketed it for six weeks I'd been chasing up with people.
Speaker 1:I've done all the right things, yeah, all the things, and I still only had two people. I did have one hop in very last minute, bless her heart. She was apparently. Bless her heart is like passive aggressive for. It is it depends on how you're saying it.
Speaker 2:I don't mean it that way.
Speaker 1:So if you're, listening to that like I honestly bless her. She was. She's such a sweet human being and I'm so glad she hopped in. So in total, you know three people were in the workshop. I wanted 10. I would have been happy with five. I got three and the number of people that did comment like thank you for sharing this was so heartwarming. Right, and this is, this is the thing like. The truth is not meant to discourage you. It's meant to show you that when we see all of the glossy bullshit and then we look at what's happening in our own business, it is very easy to be like, well, shit, I must be the problem. Yeah, and this is how our conversation started a few weeks ago, because I was saying that to you because I hadn't I'd made one sale on my workshop at that point. Yeah, and I was like Kimmy, is it me Like?
Speaker 2:am I the problem Right? And I had said to you I had nothing crickets for three months.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but this is the reality of business, even if you are a fortune, five fucking hundred nobody has consistent upward growth.
Speaker 1:And it's just. It's so hard to maintain consistency when you don't see ROI, when you don't see any kind of like, when you don't see any kind of return right or engagement or like you feel unseen, and it's so, so easy to blame yourself. And this is when it is so important to connect with people like you and I and not the person who's because, I'll tell you honestly, when I was in that space of like, I have been selling the shit out of this workshop and only one person has signed up Facebook and Instagram. Looking up all of those six-figure sales consultants and the people who had these programs that were promising million-dollar outcomes and maybe I should go to retreats with all these people who are like high-vibing on cruise ships, and I started to have doubts about maybe I'm in the wrong spaces, Maybe I'm hobnobbing with the wrong people, and no, this is just a reality of business. It's been a hard year for everybody.
Speaker 2:And that's where, if you've been here long enough, you recognize that it's like the stock market. You just want to make sure it's kind of heading in the direction you want it to go. But it's ups and downs, it's seasonal. I can promise you it will work out. But stay the course on what your strategic getting visible plan is. And let me tell you my example. I was just posting about this, so nothing crickets for three months.
Speaker 2:Thank God, my own business coach talked me off a ledge several times because you start looking at do you discount? No, don't do that, by the way. But you start looking at all the different things that you can do, because you're looking at band-aids, magic pills. What do I do? Is it me? Is it them? Is it my offer? Who am I talking to? Is my audience? Well, if you're sold out on your audience, what you do, the transformation and maybe that's it is selling yourself every day on what you do. But here's the key piece. She's like, whether you're making a billion dollars or not, you stay consistent in whatever your strategic visibility plan is. It's different for everybody, and I did, but I didn't think I'd be as watching or seeing or do, cause nothing was moving. But I stayed consistent. I borrowed some audiences, I did what I needed to do, you know, stayed consistent and in April it broke loose. Already, by what are we the ninth? I have a total of eight discovery calls scheduled for this month which are my sales calls.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. And a coffee chat with a trusted referral partner. I'm on this podcast, hello Hi. But yeah, it just broke loose and again, that's how it works. But stay consistent. So I could have stopped and gone and taken that course or done those other things or not done those things, but sometimes it's also the universe's way of saying, because it is cyclical, is it time for you to rest? Is it still? Stay consistent with your visibility. However, maybe it is time for you to rest. Maybe it is time for you to be in your hangout with your family. Fill your well, enjoy this quiet time. Get something done. You need to get done, because it's going to get busy.
Speaker 1:You can't pour from an empty cup and if you don't stand still long enough, no one can pour back into yours. Oh, I like that one Say it again.
Speaker 1:You can't pour from an empty cup, but if you don't stand still long enough, no one can pour back into yours. And this harkens back to episode 61, where I talk about power. Right, and this is one of the five pieces of power, that support system. Like you have to have a support system that you trust, whether it's a coach, whether it's a biz bestie, whether it's a sister from another mister, whether it's a consultant, someone like anybody that you trust to talk you off that ledge. Right, and as you were talking, I had this analogy go through my head of diets, strategies like diets.
Speaker 1:You can start a keto diet, but if you don't see results in two weeks, you don't suddenly jump to the Atkins diet. And if you're not seeing results in two weeks, now I'm going to try a low-carb diet, or I'm going to go on to the Mediterranean diet, or I'm going to start a 10K training. Do you know what I mean? You got to stick to one thing until it works. Because here's the reality, you guys Pretty much every strategy will work if you stay consistent with it long enough. And 90 days is not the magic number, but it's the number we give you, because if you can last that long you're going to see some kind of movement.
Speaker 2:Well, that's why I think the strategy has to make sense to the person, or they won't stick with it. So you could come up with this amazing strategy that doesn't fit them and they're going to go, I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, they have to stick with it, and so that's why I think there is something, there's a stick with it-ness when you're running a business, whether it's part-time or full-time, give it time, and that's what one post I did was is the realities of strategy and them not working. Here's the reality, folks. You got to try some different ones on.
Speaker 1:It does have to resonate with you. I remember early on I was given the strategy of create one piece of pillar content, which is a great strategy One piece of pillar content you can repurpose all over the place. But what they said was create like a one hour training video once a week and then take that and then disseminate that into a blog post and multiple clips for reels, and multiple here and multiple there. That may work for somebody who has a team or who has time to do it themselves or whose visibility is really they want to be doing trainings. Do you know what I mean? For me at that time it did not fit. I am homeschooling one kid. I've got another kid who is a brick through a window on a regular basis. She's just. I love her to bits, but hot diggity dog, she's going to make an amazing adult.
Speaker 1:She is, she's me, but in mini form, and it's terrifying and I understand why people are like that.
Speaker 2:I used to say he's me with a penis and oh, I get it. Poor people, we were cult leaders in our past life.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure we must've been. I mean, what else could we be? Why else do we have this reality now, exactly. But the strategy itself wasn't flawed, it just wasn't right for me. And did I execute it? Nuh-uh, nope. And early on I blamed the strategy until I realized well, no, the strategy's great. But then you blame yourself. Maybe I don't have what it takes, maybe I'm not cut out to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:No, but that's the conversation. So I want to touch on this too, and again, I might step on some toes. Do it. So, those of you that are marketing a strategy or a funnel or this or that, be transparent who it's really for and what the fit is. Yeah, I had a time.
Speaker 2:Whether you do it through a fun questionnaire, whether you do it through a quiz, whether you're just like be blunt, if you're this, this and this, then it's right for you. If you're not, this isn't the strategy. Because here's what's happening to the people you sell this to it's not working. They feel like they're a failure. They either burn it down or quit and then we are robbed of what they could have brought to the world and they go away thinking they suck and that's not cool and that's not the messaging. So be honest. It's not saying those don't work, but they have to work for the right people in the right scenario. So please be more honest with upfront. Who is this really for? If you cut all four boxes, this is for you. If even one box is unchecked, this may not be the one for you, and be honest about it and what it takes, and that's what I'm not seeing out there.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of desperation breath out there and people unwilling to say no to wrong fit clients and unwillingly doing damage. That, Because here's the thing I honestly don't believe.
Speaker 2:They want to make the sale.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't believe anyone sets out to be damaging or cause harm. But when you are operating from a space of desperation, you will trample on people's toes like boys at a grade eight dance, like it's just not. Yeah, it's not good.
Speaker 2:Well, especially if you're using paid ads, you're not necessarily doing organic. Where you're serving and starting conversations. That's a little bit easier to weed people in and out and let them know expectations. If you're doing a paid ad, if you're doing something that's directly to something, then you better make whatever, sure they land on is pretty damn clear.
Speaker 1:This is why maybe having some really good support systems and connections and networks is great, because if you are not the right fit, you can refer out to your colleagues.
Speaker 2:I had two calls earlier this week, both of them. I was very honest, they're not ready for me yet. So I had two trust or referral partners in different areas that I sent them to, because I don't do retainer work on builds. So I had one specific person. I have another one that just tricks out membership sites and so I was telling them I'm not the right person right now, and so I made email introductions. They hired them and so of course I get a little bit kickback love from those people and I look like a hero to my client. And both of them emailed me back going. This is going to be done in X, you know a month. We're going to come back to you for the full.
Speaker 1:Look, look at my whole business, because I did the right thing, but you're building that trust and credibility right and that's 2024. Trust, trust, and we are. We are missing that piece of. At first, it was authenticity. People threw that term around and they didn't really get what it meant, and there was a lot of authenticity.
Speaker 2:Same thing, same thing Through that around.
Speaker 1:Yep, and now it's integrity. People are throwing it around without really understanding what it means. Right, Like ethical marketing a few years ago. Be wary of people talking the talk without walking the walk, and I railed about this a few episodes back about, you know, for example, certifications and training programs where there's an application process. I say that in air quotes. I have asked numerous training providers like what's your rejection percentage? What's your rejection rate? None of them answered the question. I can do it. How?
Speaker 2:many people do you turn away. So, heart center apprentice, we open it up and it's going to go evergreen. But we have cohorts right now and so they have to fill out an application and the first thing we do is we look at the application and there are certain criteria that we will get back to and say it doesn't look like the timing is right for you to come in. What we would suggest is grab this free resource, get some more experience under your belt and then reapply. So there's that. Then there's on the call. If I don't feel like they're going to be a good fit for the community, I let them know it's a no, because I'm listening for things that I can't teach and that they bring to the table. So we had 23 applications and I had 20 phone calls and we said no to three of them. So people are being said no. It's either a yes, no or not.
Speaker 1:now and that's it. That's how it should be Right? Even colleges don't accept everybody.
Speaker 2:Some of these programs out there we didn't want to take their money for them just to go. This isn't a good fit. Plus, we also offer a hundred percent guarantee. So it's like, listen, if you're in and by day 30, we've even met and had a full on success session and you're like this isn't for you, no questions asked, and so they could walk away with, they could dive in, they get a wonderful consultation session with me, but out of that we don't have a lot of people that ask for refunds. But they know and we believe enough and we don't want you in a program feeling stuck with payments. You're going to resent if it's not for you.
Speaker 1:It happened to me last year a year long program.
Speaker 2:And they wouldn't let you out, and I think that's rude. Now it's different and I'll be honest, if someone's in longer past the 30 days, cause they have instant access to everything, everything so I'm talking heart center apprentice, not my own personal program they can dive in and learn everything, well then we just prorate it. Yeah, based on what they do, I mean. So there still is some skin in the game and you know, if they've taken on any bonuses and they have to make sure they pay for those bonuses because they have them other than that, nope, they get it back, but no, there's still, this was a no like.
Speaker 1:Once you're in, you, you're in and you're basically a prisoner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I don't like that. And I've had two like that now and I'm like, if that's that ironclad and it doesn't allow for you know what, this really isn't a good fit. It's not because you don't know until you're in it, dang it.
Speaker 1:Well, that's the thing, right. You do not know until you're in it and if you are even like six weeks in, right I? One of the things I encourage with my clients is definitely like have a trial period first, 30 days, whatever and you drip the content out but give them an out because, yeah, you may be getting paid, but think of all the bad mouth testimonials you're going to get. You want raving fans.
Speaker 2:You want someone who, even if it wasn't right for them, they're going to refer you. It might not have been right for them. Same thing with what I do, even with my big program. Like you, meet with me. We have. So you have a deposit that you're paying. I'm paying for the whole thing. It's a deposit because it's covering that first big deep dive session and I use that session then to go create the strategy that we'll walk through together. But after that first session you're like you know what? I didn't feel it. It wasn't really there. No harm, no foul. I keep the deposit because we had that main session. You get the recording and everything from it, but you are totally released from any future payments, that's integrity.
Speaker 1:That is, and that is what we need more of in the space Again sexy or success. Exactly, kimmy, my friend, this has been. I mean, I swear to goodness, we could just talk for hours. You're going to have to come back because there's so much more to talk about. We should do like a series Busting the BS.
Speaker 2:We should, we can, and if people want to have me back, put yes or yay, or let her know in her Facebook group.
Speaker 1:Send me a DM or hop into Instagram and let me know if you want to hear more from my sister from another mister, my lover from another mother. I love the lover from another mother. Can we tell us where we can find you and if you've got any sort of special, special treats that people can come in and hook you up? Hook up with you for.
Speaker 2:Hey, for a good time called for a good time called. Sorry, so my website's really hard to find. It's kimmybrowncom, so that's a hard one. It's k-i-m-i browncom. The reason I see that is someone with a similar name has a porn site I am not that person so I'm not that hookup.
Speaker 1:Sarah opens incognito window.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and it's a great way. If you just want to book a connection, call and we just chat bullshit, whatever, find out. Or if you want, I do have a free community where I kind of talk like this and I just show up and help and serve and that's in Facebook and it's sales success. Rx, that's what you're looking for and I'll put the we'll put all the links in the show notes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And so really, just check me out there. And what I usually do is, if I have something that if we talk that you know and you need something, and it's something, I'll just give it to you for free. It's like what do you need? So I do it more based on that, like what do people need? Let's talk about it.
Speaker 1:Y'all, Kimmy's good people I mean, she's my people, so she's going to be good people. But thank you so much for being here. This has been like the best hour ever. We're definitely going to do this again. My friends, you have seen it in action sexy or success. Because I'm telling you now, you can have success without the BS. As always, I will talk to you next week. Bye, that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to the Business Blasphemy Podcast. We'll be back next week with a new episode, but in the meantime, help a sister out by subscribing and, if you're feeling extra sassy, rating this podcast and don't forget to share the podcast with others. Head over to businessblasphemypodcastcom to connect with us and learn more. Thanks for listening and remember you can have success without the BS.