In today’s episode, we’re bringing you the first of our three-part mini series on how to make money in your business! We’re kicking it off with a conversation about making money with YOUR OWN product and/or service. Then we’ll finish the show with a weekly actionable tip.

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Welcome to Driven; a show about business, life, and wellness from two confident, curious women who are pulling back the curtain on what it’s like being an entrepreneur. Each week, join hosts Diane Sanfilippo and Cassy Joy Garcia talk about being your best, showing up for your dreams, and kicking self-doubt to the curb.

Diane is a business whisperer, best-selling author, and plant-hobbyist based in San Francisco. Cassy Joy is the founder of www.FedandFit.com, best-selling author, and casserole enthusiast. She calls San Antonio, Texas, home.

Cassy Joy: In today’s episode, we’re bringing you the first of our three-part miniseries on how to make money in your business! We’re kicking it off with a conversation about making money with your own product and/or service. And then, as always, we’ll finish off the show with a weekly actionable tip.

Topics:

1. What’s on my plate [2:24]
2. Shop Talk: How to make money with your product [17:12]
3. Shop Talk: Products and services [27:02]
4. Shop Talk: Creating your own [41:31]
5. Shop Talk: Building free content [52:14]
6. Shop Talk: Rapid-fire [59:01]
7. Tip of The Week: what can you offer your audience? [1:05:23]

Cassy Joy: Today’s show is brought to you by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants by focusing on bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes a whole-food, properly prepared, and nutrient dense diet as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s innate ability to heal.

Throughout their programs, students learn a wide range of educational tools and techniques to identify and correct nutritional imbalances and deficiencies in their clients, and to launch a successful career in holistic nutrition. The NTA produces like-minded practitioners and consultants that we endorse and consider colleagues in the health and wellness space. Registration for the February class is now open through January 31^st. And seats are already filling up quickly. You can learn more, and save your seat by going to www.NutritionalTherapy.com. Don’t forget to mention our name, The Driven Podcast, on your application.

1.  What’s on my plate [2:24]

Cassy Joy: What’s on My Plate. In this segment, we talk about what’s happening in our businesses, and our lives this week. Diane; what’s going on with you this week?

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh; big news. We just wrapped the team Balanced Bites San Francisco retreat. So for those of you who don’t know, I’ve got 5 women who work on my team consistently. Sometimes there are a couple of others who do a little bit of work here and there. But 5 women came into San Francisco from all over the country. A couple in Portland. One that just lives a little bit north of the city. We’ve got one from Houston, and Denver. And we got together. Had lots of time for team building and bonding. Reflection on 2019. A bit of planning for 2020, and I’ve been doing a little bit of that on my own, just independently, too.

In hindsight, admittedly, we did run a little short on some of the 2020 planning time. But we have planned out calendars and launches and things before this whole team of women. And I’m actually less concerned about getting things on the calendar while we’re sitting together than I am about getting that team building done. Because, obviously, we can’t do that when we’re scattered remotely. But we can hop on a Monday team call like we always do and look at all of our calendars and say; ok, here’s a good time to launch this. Here’s a good time to launch that. Here’s when someone is going to be away for two weeks for their wedding, and honeymoon, and all of that.

So, really fun. It was such a great time. We have one new team member in the last few months. Her name is Candace. And that was great to be able to have her sit with everyone else who did know each other for a long time, and have her kind of assimilate. And she said something last night at dinner. She was like; this is the first business trip I’ve been on where I’m leaving feeling more rejuvenated. And I was like; yes! {laughs} And also I’m sure they’re all stuffed to their eyeballs from eating. {laughs} For two full days with me at the helm.

Cassy Joy: You took them to Lamar, right?

Diane Sanfilippo: I took them to Lamar last night. that was kind of our nice dinner. We hit all the hot spots. We hit all the DS hot spots. We went to Little Gem, we went to Rome burgers. Blue Barn. We got Souvla salads delivered. I cooked breakfast both days because I thought that would just be nice to kind of have a chill working breakfast. Yeah, it was great. I mean, it’s just so nice to have that time to connect. And a lot of the team members have; quality time is a language of appreciation. That’s kind of the work element, or work side of it versus love language. And quality time is up there for a lot of us. And I think it’s something that, when you do work remotely, it’s important to find time to get together.

And you and I have talked about this part before. Oftentimes, a very short amount of physical time together is more impactful than you think it will be. And actually, it almost always is. And I think I heard Gretchen Rubin maybe talk about this on the Happier podcast. But just one to two days together, you create memories, you share experiences. I know you and I have had this experience on Beautycounter trips. Obviously we were on a book tour together for what, three weeks. And that was a lot of time together.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: But it’s almost like that short trips are just as impactful for our relationship as the longer ones. Because it’s just a shared experience. So, it was great. We had a pretty good agenda. I’m just going to go over it quickly, because I know that people are interested, and I know not everyone is catching things on social media when I’m sharing. So, I just want to give people a quick overview. Maybe we’ll share it to Driven Podcast social media, as well. But just from a high level; we had all of our meals together. Which, in the past I think I’ve given them a little more independent time, and I could do that in the future. But it was really nice to pull everyone together. Especially because I had space in my house to do that, this time.

But on the first day, we did a lot of review around enneagram and strengths finder. And really talked about our own personalities, and how we interact together, and how we see that unfolding. And the strengths finder was really interesting to note where there was crossover, and also note where somebody had a strength that really no one else had. Interestingly, the team; there’s a lot of similarities within my team. Currently there are two enneagram 6s and three enneagram 9s. And then me, as the 8. So for those of you familiar with the framework; 6s are known as the Loyalist; 9s are known as the Peacemaker, and it is so true.

And I looked around the room and I was like; look. Who knows who will enter this team at some point in time? We’ve had 1s on the teams before. We’ve had others, you know. But I recognize that my energy is often so big that if I were to surround myself with a whole bunch of 3s and 7s, it would just be a conflict all the time. Cassy is a 3; we’re great as colleagues and friends. And obviously, we’re working together on this podcast. But, I don’t know if we could have each other on our teams because it would be too much head butting, you know.

Again, not to say that you can’t ever have teams made up differently. But when I looked around the room in my living room, I was like; these women all feel grounding to me. And that’s really important. That was just such a cool thing. I was able to also, not only recognize it, but honor it. Because I think sometimes people feel like if they’re not this bold and bossy personality type; I get the sense that people feel it’s not powerful or contributing in a positive way. And I’m like; you guys, you wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t powerful to me. That’s what I need. I need that grounding and someone that I can really count on to just kind of show up. Calm and confident.

So we did all of that. Some lunch. We also did a lot of reflection on last year, and kind of what we felt worked and didn’t. And a little bit based on timing, and the way that we launch things. Would we have wanted more time for somethings? What went well. What we feel like we can do better next time. And that’s a really important thing for me to do. And it’s hard to do that in the moment. Because sometimes in the moment it feels like a hypercritical attack on; oh, this didn’t go well. One person feels the responsibility as opposed to; as a team being able to say; we felt good about this. Or we felt like we could have been better prepared for this or had more time for this, or something along those lines. And I like doing that in a macro way, kind of looking back.

What else? Just creative ideas heading into next year. We talked a lot yesterday morning about the mission that we have a company and how that relates to my personality, and my goals as a person, and how that translates into my brand as Diane Sanfilippo. But also my brand as Balanced Bites and the 21-Day Sugar Detox. We’ll talk more about this on the next episode. But I took another personality test that a friend of mine, Naomi, told me about. It’s called the Fascination Advantage, and that was very illuminating into this whole idea of how do I show up to; it’s not just to lead.

But basically what makes people out there at large interested in me and my brand. And for a long time I think I’ve been resistant to own the thing that people are drawn to me for, because a lot of folks out there in the world who have the same type of personality, it can very easily tip to a negative place where the people become guru status or very self-important as opposed to serving a community with that power and confidence and things like that. Anyway, if anyone has seen the Bikram documentary on Netflix {laughs}.

But I’m just hyperaware of how this all can turn negative if I’m not using my power for good. Anyway, we’ll talk about the Fascination Advantage in a future episode, but I was able to look at how who I am will impact and affect the language and the brand story that we’re telling. Not only for Diane Sanfilippo, but for Balanced Bites and 21-Day Sugar Detox, as well. And those are kind of our three overarching brands.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a little reflection on that. When we talk about what’s on my plate, our intention with this segment is to give you a peak behind the curtains at our own lives and businesses. Because as entrepreneurs, we know that our advice that we give you is important, and it’s based on insight that’s based on experience. But what’s also important is just hearing our story of the things that we are doing. And as an entrepreneur when I hear other people’s stories, I like hearing their past stories. But I also like hearing; what are you working on this week? That inspires me, so we just wanted to be able to share these things of what we’re working on in this segment so you guys can get a little pull back the curtain moment.

So what’s going on over there, Cassy? I know you’ve got lots going on this holiday season.

Cassy Joy: We do! And I’m so glad you updated on your retreat. I was going to ask you about it before we started recording, and I restrained myself. I’ve also already Googled Fascination Advantage {laughs} because I want to take that test and be prepared for our chat about it.

So this year, where I’m at right now in the season of my business is; 2019 has been a real scramble. It’s funny; I talk to folks; readers, folks that maybe are following along on social media. Maybe they have a copy of the book. I don’t know; maybe they’re friends, or just casual acquaintances. And they’re like; wow, it just seems like everything is running together so beautifully and perfectly! {laughs} And it just doesn’t really always feel like that. It’s really been a challenge.

My team; I’m so proud of them. The Fed and Fit team has been really scrapping in closing out this year with a bang, and I’m just really excited. We’re ending on a high note. Finally able to execute on things that I’ve wanted to do for years because we have the bandwidth and the manpower to do it. And so, I’m just really excited about how we’re going to finish out 2019.

And then 2020 is just the year that it feels like it all comes together. This is just such a micro example; but I’m sitting in my closet right now recording this with Diane. I’m literally sitting on the floor between my shoes and my dresser. I have my hand in my shirt to hold my microphone at just the right position. Just because this is the best possible sound situation for these recordings. And next year, by about the middle of the year, I get to sit in an actual egg crate room with a real mic. It’s just going to be so exciting.

But about this year; what we’re focusing on right now. I’ve always wanted to do this, Diane, and I haven’t ever been able to pull it out. Because as you know, and many listeners know; Q4, the fourth quarter of the year, is a wild time for, especially, online content creators. And folks who are selling things online. Which is what we’ll talk about in this miniseries that we’re kicking off. But it’s just been wild. We are white knuckling through this, trying to make the most of the season without overwhelming our readers. Being really intentional in trying to enrich people’s lives. And there’s not a whole lot of room and bandwidth for extra. But we’re doing it. We’re gifting. It’s the year of gifts.

I’m finally able; we’re sending out gifts. Not only to; let’s say Beautycounter, for example. Of course. My best Beautycounter clients are getting gifts. Great ones. And through a couple of different tiers. And we looked at who has been purchasing throughout the year. Gifting my entire Beautycounter team. So we’re able to really do that. And then we’re also going to gift the people who have helped Fed and Fit this year. And part of that; I’m going to spoil a little bit of the surprise. But part of that is; I don’t know if gifts is one of my love languages necessarily, or languages of appreciation. But I think that really thoughtful, I see you type gestures are important, and that’s important for me to be able to do that. So for example, we’re going to bake a bunch of cookies. A bunch, a bunch, of cookies. And send those out to folks. I’m ruining one of your Christmas presents, Diane. {laughs}

So, to send out to folks.

Diane Sanfilippo: Here for it.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Yes. Who have helped us out; friends of Fed and Fit. Whether that is a colleague, like Diane and myself are colleagues. Or companies. I’m thinking of Siete family foods; I’m thinking King Arthur Flour. Pride of Bristol Bay. People who we’ve just come to know and support over the years. So that’s going to be really exciting. I’m excited to be able to get those out and feel like I was finally able to check it off my list, 8 years later.

We are so close; and maybe by the time this episode is live, we’ll have it live. But this is the big reveal. I’ve talked about this a little bit in the past. But we’re finally close to launching what I was going to do as a side sort of content stream for beauty, skincare, self-care, wellness. Different from food and fitness, which you’ll find more of that and wellness and home stuff on Fed and Fit. But a place to really deep dive on self-care. And we’re finally going to launch it. If it’s not live yet, it will be live soon, so keep your eyes peeled. But we’re going to do the self-care club. Actually called My Self-Care Club. And it’s going to be a private Instagram account. We’ve been spending a lot of time making sure this is going to be super exciting, really worthwhile. And I’m just pumped to finally get this out in the world.

Like I said, it’s going to be a private Instagram account. Everyone is welcome. All you have to do is click follow. We’ll be happy to approve you and put you in there. We’re going to do some self-care challenges. We’re going to approach self-care from the vantage point of; it’s not something else to stress over. It’s something to feel good about. And I’m of the belief that sometimes the right self-care is; maybe it’s not washing your face before bed, and it’s just going to bed. Giving yourself that option to do it. It’s not feeling guilty about the fact that you didn’t do your 7-step routine before you went to bed. I think that’s the opposite, right, of true nurturing self-care. And I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of that conversation going on right now, and I wanted to create a place for it. So My Self Care Club. I’m so excited about it. It will be really great. All kinds of really fun things in there.

And then we’re just casting visions for 2020. We get to meet with; on a personal note. We get to meet with our architect tomorrow, and chat about plans for the house that Austin and I might build next year. That’s about it. Just a couple of things.

Diane Sanfilippo: That is so exciting.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Truly. I’m not physically moving with my excitement, because I’ll mess up the microphone. But I’m pumped.

2.  Shop Talk: How to make money with your product [17:12]

Cassy Joy: Next up is Shop Talk. In this segment, we talk about topics that are on both our minds and yours. We’ll cover all sides of the issue, and hopefully land somewhere concise, actionable, and helpful. Today we’re talking shop about how to make money with your own product and/or service. We’ll cover what to make, when to offer it, how to build free content that supports it. We’ll also chat about; if it’s easier to monetize a service or a product. And, how do people who sell a product also start to sell a service, and vice-versa.

Let’s kick it off, Diane. I know you have a lot of thoughts about this.

Diane Sanfilippo: So I want to lay a little bit of groundwork, first. Because when you and I started our businesses. And when lots of folks started their businesses that are in our sort of; I don’t know, school, or cohort of bloggers and authors and entrepreneurs, and influencers, etc. By the way; we started our accounts and didn’t intend to be influencers. Anyway, a little bit of background on this. Because I think there are different ways to approach providing free content, paid content, etc.

The analogy that I like to give people is thinking about the network television model or the network television/basic cable model versus premium cable; something like HBO or a streaming service, like Netflix. So there are a couple of different ways you’ll approach how you’ll make money selling your content. And these models are a good example to just kind of use as some theoretical; ok, I get it. This is how I consume content here versus here. This is who I pay or not.

So in the network TV or basic cable model, what’s really being sold primarily is ad time. Not the content itself. So, you watch the thing. And as the user, you could just be watching network television somewhere. You’re not necessarily paying NBC. But someone like Kraft foods or whoever is advertising on that channel is paying for that content to get made. They’re the ones that are paying all the salaries, all the actors, etc. Everything that’s happening at the networks, everything that is happening for that is being paid for by advertising dollars and revenue. You’re not paying for that content itself.

Even basic cable, these days, kind of falls into that category. Because we do pay for the service; right? We pay so that we can see Bravo and E and all those channels. But we’re also being served ads. So that’s kind of {laughs} they kind of got in there with a little bit of a hybrid model. Which is great, too.

In the premium cable or streaming model, you’re paying for a membership. So you are paying directly as the user for the content itself. We’re not getting commercials, and we’re not getting any ad content, really. We’re just able to watch that whole thing through. Because we’ve said we’re going to pay X amount per month and have this content.

So if you think about that as somebody who consumes programming content, I think that helps you to understand; this is how we consume content. And somebody has to pay for it. Somebody always needs to be paying for it. Whether it’s going to be the advertisers or your end user, or a combination of the two. And it’s totally up to you. Does that make sense?

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: For example; a very classic blogger model is much like network television or a basic cable kind of thing where you have a ton of content. There’s way more to watch on network and basic cable than there is on something like a streaming service. Obviously it’s growing now. But the user consumes it, essentially, for free or very, very cheap while the advertisements and paid placements are what’s paying the bills for that content. And in an alternate model, which is kind of the one that I took early on.

And we’ll talk about kind of why you might do one or the other or who which way is better for. You may create some free content, not a ton, as much as the classic blogger type of model might be. But you offer a premium product or service that the end user will pay for. For me, that was things like the 21-Day Sugar Detox was an eBook very early on. And then I did also have services that I sold, like one-on-one coaching and seminars that I was traveling the country teaching. So I did combine all of these things a little bit, and kind of made a hybrid model. But I think that understanding this approach; it can be one or the other. It can be hybrid.

And in today’s modern world, I think that a hybrid model does seem to be the best, because of what the user or the consumer, we can say. The consumer expects something for free. And so if you’re not delivering some kind of value for free, then it is hard, in today’s world, to only do something that’s paid for. Especially for those of you listening; we know most folks are health coaches. Some of you might be in a network marketing business. Or you might be someone who does just have a product or a service that you’re selling; and to this point, you’ve not considered how to give people value before or around when they might purchase your product or service.

Does that kind of make sense to you? I can imagine there is somebody out there who would have, let’s say a food product. And they might not need to create a ton of free content in order to generate buzz. But most food companies these days, you’ll notice. They’re putting recipes online. They’re sharing ideas. They’re reposting other people’s content. They have a website or a blog. Do you know what I am saying?

Whereas, back in the day, you might have had some of these food companies make a little cookbook or something just because they needed to show you how to use their thing. Because people didn’t know what to do with it. Like a Campbell’s Soup cookbook or something like that. But there was not this ongoing onslaught of content. Because people didn’t expect that. And these days, people really do expect that. So we have to find ways to deliver that. If we are going to sell a product or a service, we do have to also provide something that gives value to people, even outside of just the product or service itself.

So that’s a little bit of background. And I wanted to share that. I’ll share my decision-making process around this early on. When I looked at what it would take for me to commit to the classic blogger model of probably minimum of three posts a week in order to drive a ton of web traffic to generate enough revenue through advertisements on the website. I just knew that for me, and my personality, and the way that I work and operate, I couldn’t do it. And I knew that I wouldn’t be able to operate under sponsorships on the blog, as a consistent revenue source, because I just don’t play that well with others. I don’t want some brand telling me what they want me to do. And I have a list of deliverables. I don’t feel the freedom to express my endorsement in the best way possible in that model.

And there is nothing wrong with those approaches. And they work beautifully and extremely well for a lot of people. And in hindsight, I feel like I would have been way better served to build a website that drove a lot more traffic to it. But I just couldn’t do it personality-wise. It wasn’t for me. I knew that I would fail if I set myself up in that way, because I would constantly be resisting that system. So for me, it worked better to say I’m going to have a product and service that I’m selling, and it’s on me to sell it. But that’s something that I was really comfortable with. And I think for other people, asking for money for something is hard, but delivering content isn’t as hard. And letting advertisers pay feels easier for some people. I don’t have to ask my reader for their money; that feels easier. And I was like; I have no problem saying; this is what this thing costs.

So, that’s a little bit of background on that. Where do you want to dive in?

Cassy Joy: I think that was a great overview, Diane. And a great introduction. Especially to this miniseries. Because that’s really what we want to cover. There is; especially in this episode, we’re going to deep dive on your own products and services and what that can look like. The next one we’ll talk about other people’s products and services. So kind of what Diane is mentioning; the sponsorships. The advertisements. The affiliate programs. And then in the third episode of this series, we’re going to talk about how to strike that balance. And it looks different, for yours and mine organization. And I think we’re going to have a really good variety to present to folks and a few different options.

But I think that’s great. You did a really great job. I love that analogy of network versus paid programming, because it really helps me wrap my mind around; really what it does, this is something to do with, I don’t know, the intricacies of my own personality, but it tells me; how can I pioneer an avenue between the two of these.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: It’s just a very exciting opportunity.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. And I actually feel like we already both do strike a balance between them. Because we have products and services that are in this more, I don’t know, premium avenue, and then we still have that free content as well where it’s being paid for another way. We have sponsors for the podcast. That’s been a place I’ve always had sponsors. And somehow I’ve felt ok about that and that’s worked for me. But I think that we are kind of in a place that’s in the middle, and I think it can be confusing for people to feel like they have to do one or the other. So I think us being able to share our different balance; because your business tips differently than mine, at least in this moment, and it may not for forever. But I think that’s something that people need to kind of; I don’t know, figure out for themselves. And yes, personality wise is a great basis for seeing how we can make those decisions that fit what works for us.

3. Shop Talk: Products and services [27:02]

Cassy Joy: Absolutely. OK, so today we’re going to deep dive on your own product and service. And some of you listening may already have one in mind. Maybe you’re a few years into a product or a service. Or maybe you’re just getting ready, you’re just getting started, and you’re trying to figure out how the heck am I going to monetize this thing. I know that I have a business possibility. I can see where I could possibly take this. But I need to figure out how the heck am I going to build reliable revenue stream.

So what we’re talking about today is your own product and service. The next episode we’ll talk about affiliate sponsorship and ad revenue. Essentially selling things that are not your own. But today is all about the things that you own. And we wanted to kick this off as the first part of the series because; I mean, this is the revenue option that we have the most in our control. This is the thing that you can dig into the earliest in your career. You can start building this. If you go back and you listen to our prior miniseries about proof of concept, that was all about a book. But it’s true for anything you’re going to build. Any kind of thing that you’re going to sell, because a book is a product. So it’s very similar. But as long as you’re proving that concept, and you’re getting started in this work, you can get started on your own program or service.

And so, I want to quickly; I have a few bullet points here of examples of products and services. So what could you possibly make or offer? One example I have here is a program. If you are a health coach listening, this one is a really obvious fit for you, because let’s say it’s some sort of a 30, 60, 90-day wellness program. That’s your signature. It has your stamp on it. Your individual take on wellness. Things that you have done the work on proving the concept, right? You’ve figured out what people need. You’ve figured out the question, the pain point, and the market. And how you can uniquely answer it for them. So you can turn that into a succinct program.

Another product or service that you can own is a widget. And by widget, it could be anything that you’re selling. Maybe it’s a book. Maybe it’s a pop socket. Maybe it’s a spice blend. Maybe it’s a frozen meal; hat tip to Balanced Bites. Right? So it could be anyone; it’s a physical thing that you sell. It’s not a service.

And then the last one I have here is a little bit of a weird; I mean, you could argue that there’s really only two categories. Programs/services or a product/widget. But I think the subscription model is a strange third dinner guest at this unique table. {laughs} Because, for example, in the blog content world, you could, if you wanted to, create your website as a subscription access only. So this is a little bit more of, to Diane’s analogy, that paid program. And so what you would do is you would say; and we’ll talk more about this balance, like I said, later. But you can access 10% of the 3,000 recipes on my website for free. Or you can access all 100% of the recipes with a $20 a month subscription program. And that really works well for some people.

A subscription box is another example of a subscription model where you’re not necessarily reselling every time. You don’t use up a thing; whether it’s a meal. You don’t eat it and need another meal delivered to you. It’s not a program that you finish, and you’re done. A subscription model you can tack these onto either a product or a service. So if it’s a wellness program that you invented, then after they finish the wellness program, you could tie that into a subscription that goes on and bleeds on.

Anyway, we don’t have to deep dive on subscriptions, I just wanted to acknowledge that that’s a huge potential revenue earner that can be blended in with either of those other two options.

Diane Sanfilippo: For sure. Yeah. And that actually requires kind of to the point of it being a hybrid there; it requires delivery of a service or a product and then a follow-up on that. Either, again with the product, or again with your service or attention or time or what have you. So, it’s like, there’s recurring billing happening, but there’s also a recurring effort in some way. Whether it’s the product and its effort in terms of money that we spend on that inventory and product. Or it’s effort in terms of time. Maybe it’s a monthly call that’s being hosted for people in a membership site, etc.

So, typically that’s kind of what’s happening. And for something like Netflix; that’s what we’re talking about, where they have to constantly be delivering new content. Because you’re not going to stay subscribed if there’s not something new that comes in at some point.

Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm. And I would actually almost argue that the smartest; I would say the business models, the revenue models, that I would think are just the most brilliantly executed and planned are the ones that start off with a succinct product or service that then do graduate into some sort of subscription. Because that way you don’t have to essentially resell into that audience over and over again.

So an example of an option that that’s not available to is a book. We write a book, and you buy the book at Barnes and Nobles, on Indigo, on Amazon. And there’s no way that me as the author can reach you and set you up on something. I have to do that work in another avenue on my website, capture emails in another way. And so that’s not an option.

But if you do sell some sort of a service, a health coaching service. Maybe you sell flowers; maybe you own a floral shop. I think the smartest way to go is to offer some sort of a way to continuously support that same customer at a frequency with which they want. So maybe it’s a small floral arrangement delivered every month to whomever they want. Or to their own house. I think that’s just; I would applaud that business model. It just seems really smart and efficient.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. We could go on and on. But we can definitely dive deeper into each of these over time as well, because I’ve got lots of thoughts about the subscription model. Because I’m in it.

Cassy Joy: You are. You are in it. You’re in deep.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: OK, so your own product or service. What to make and what to offer. If someone is having a hard time trying to decide; what do you think? We can use the health coach model as an example. But if someone is wanting to monetize and start a program, what do you think are some things that they need to consider before they really launch their own program.

Diane Sanfilippo: So I think; you and I chatted about this briefly when we were noodling this topic and kind of doing our offline shop talk. But I want to kind of start with what not to do. Because this is what I see so often. And this is not what either of us did, because it wasn’t available to us.

I think if you’re trying to figure out what to sell, I want you to get offline. Because when I first was building my businesses; yes, I was online. But I was offline for most of the work that I was doing that was generating revenue. So working with people one-on-one. Which was largely in person. Some of it was on the phone or video chat, things like that. And teaching seminars. And really getting in a room with people. And I think that for most people, even if it’s a product. I mean, I had a conversation the other day with someone about; would you consider going and doing a talk at this office about healthy eating and meals? Of course. Yes, I will. I will do that. That is not beneath me. {laughs} It can’t be beneath you.

And I think what people are doing so often is just looking at the landscape of either health coaches or people selling their widgets or their network marketing business or whatever it is on Instagram and social media at large. And the competition is endless. So we become so clouded and bogged down by what everyone else is doing, that what we need to do and what we forget to do in that case. So this is the; how do you pick? It’s getting quiet with, what do I want to help people with? What problems do I want to solve? What area of expertise have I started to dive deeper on? Have I started to learn about that I feel like I could impart wisdom on somebody else?

And I know that for a lot of folks, there’s imposter syndrome that comes in. You feel like you don’t know enough; you’re not that expert. I know that for some folks, you’ll get stuck in the educational paralysis, where you just go for certification after certification before you ever start anything. But this is where you will separate the people who are able to create a business and those who are not. You have to get out there and start working with people as soon as possible. Talking to people about the widget you’re selling. Talk to people about the service that you’re offering. Because that will answer this question for you better than we can.

Because if you’re out there and you’re teaching a class about how to eat a healthy breakfast, and you realize that the people around you who are coming to you for help don’t even know how to read an ingredient label; then instead of you thinking, “Oh, what I need to do is to create a 30-day meal plan for every one and put all these recipes into it.” You realize that the people who are coming to you and looking to you for advice actually don’t even know how to read a label. So you are overcomplicating things when really you need to dial it back down.

So the big lesson here on what should you create, how should you offer something; it’s about getting connected with people in a smaller way in real life so that you can figure out what it is. They will ask you the questions. It won’t be a surprise; there will be a question that will come to you and you’re like; oh my gosh. That’s what they wanted to know? Right? And here I was thinking I needed to create a whole new, four-phase liver detox program. Because when I look on the internet, it seems like that’s the only thing I could possibly create that would be different and useful. And it’s just not the truth.

I don’t know; that’s kind of where I’m coming from. I want everyone to get off their computers {laughs} to figure out what is. Because it’s too loud there. It’s too noisy.

Cassy Joy: Amen. I think that’s so true. And I want to double down on what Diane said. If you’re one of those people who takes certification after certification, and continues and tries to find the next niche, and you’ve spent three years talking to business coach after business coach without actually doing anything; it is time to log off. It is time to reduce the options, and just start using what you’ve got. Use what you’ve already learned. Use what you’re the most drawn to, and then see what you can build from there. You’re going to learn way more from real-life experience and putting yourself out there than you will from a third-party business coach or another program that might open up new doors. You don’t need new doors. You need to walk through one.

Diane Sanfilippo: And I have a little piece of tough love in this exact moment. If that’s the place where you’re getting stuck on this imposter syndrome, and you’re not taking action, entrepreneurship may or may not be for you. Because I really believe that a true entrepreneur is born and not made. I don’t think that you have to be born it to dabble and to dip your toe. But I don’t know that imparting this little sense of bravery of; I have to do this thing. I’m going to do it anyway. It doesn’t matter how many are out there.

I’m not sure how we can develop that. I’ve yet to see it be something that actually develops in people as they get older. Maybe a few, and I’m happy to be proven wrong. So come at me and tell me. You know what; I never did this, and now I did this big thing and it’s amazing and I feel great about it. Cool. And I don’t think everybody has to be same type of personality. I just think that spark of; I’m willing to do something I’m unsure about. That’s what the entrepreneur aspect is, and I don’t need six certifications to do it. Yes, they’re helpful. Yes, they build clout. Yes, I will continue to have more education. But it doesn’t stop me from starting.

I think it’s important for people to recognize; we’ll say this throughout this show. You can be entrepreneurial without being the entrepreneur that the responsibility falls on. And you can get aligned with the person who owns the business and be in a support role, where you take a ton of ownership. But you’ve got a little edge of confidence because you’re right next to that person who is just a little more willing to take the risk. Because that’s just their nature. And I just; you know, I’m cool with people stepping out of their comfort zone. But I want people to be who they are. I don’t want people to feel like; well, entrepreneurship is the thing that we should want. And so I want people to be who they are and to move in that direction. I’m getting on a total tangent now.

Cassy Joy: That’s great. I love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: Bring us back online.

Cassy Joy: Audit yourself.

Diane Sanfilippo: I get a little ranty though, you know.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Audit yourself, thank you.

Cassy Joy: Yes, I love that. Audit yourself. I think Gary V said it once upon a time, but it was; are you number one? Are you the entrepreneur? Or are you the world’s best number two. And I don’t really like putting numbers to it. We’ve actually talked about this a lot, because there’s not one that’s better than the other. Diane and I have rattled around animal analogies for these two different roles and these two different characters, in our random shop talks on Voxer, just back and forth to each other. because there’s not one role that’s better than the other. But it is important to know where are your strengths.

For example, I started Fed and Fit, y’all; www.FedandFit.com, I started sharing recipes before I was a nutrition consultant. Before I ever enrolled in school. I was happy just to do it. And when folks started asking questions that I didn’t have answer to, like they wanted meal plans. And they wanted therapeutic meal plans. I was like; well, shoot. I guess I’ve got to go learn that! So, to your point, I think that was a solid aside.

4. Shop Talk: Creating your own [41:31]

Cassy Joy: Ok, bring it back. I do want to talk about, though, the importance of creating your own product or service. Because in today’s model, especially if you’re sitting here and you’re staring at Instagram. You see all these influencers and you see all these people who are creating what seems like businesses out of thin air. They’re not selling anything. They don’t own anything. Any product or service that they’re offering their readers. They’re selling other people’s stuff. And it’s tempting to look at that and say; “Oh, I’d like to do that. I would like to sell my life on Instagram and just go ahead and make a bunch of money.” Which is a little bit of a misnomer; it’s probably not that straightforward.

So whether or not you’re just getting started in business, or you’ve been blogging for 9 years and you have not yet created your own thing, I think it’s really important to consider this very strategically. Because you will, whether you’re just starting building your own audience or you’ve been doing it for years, almost a decade. I’m thinking of some really amazing people that are really getting into this. Your audience is ready, I think. And your readers who have learned your work and they’re ready for it; they’re going to want to support your work just as much as they would support the things that you’re recommending. So be bold and trust yourself that you can build this thing. And you’re going to earn way more off of it than you would off of somebody else’s stuff.

Let’s talk quickly about when to offer your product or service. Because this is a hang-up I think that trips people up. In the past, it’s something that we’ve had to ask ourselves this question a bunch at Fed and Fit. Whether it was for the Fed and Fit Project, which was a program, or a book, even. But when should you offer it? And I have it broken up into just two categories to help us talk around it.

But I think there is a rolling launch, which is an evergreen. It’s always available. You have a sales page up; anybody can go and register at any point in time, or they can buy the thing. Amazon, for example, is obviously a rolling sales point. And then there are just certain times of the year which has this feeling of rarity. Kickstarter is a one-time thing.

It’s important, if you’re early on is a certain time of the year. Or if you are running a wellness program, and you strategically decide; I’m only going to offer it twice a year. I’m only going to offer it in September and in January. So do you have any strategy around trying to choose; when do you launch this thing?

Diane Sanfilippo: Well, and I want to give another piece of foundational advice on this. Because when you first said; when to offer, I was thinking more like when in the span of your business. Like, do you wait until you’re this far into your business? Do you do it right away? Everyone can probably guess, I’m a do it right away person. Because here’s what I think about launching a product or a service. The sooner you get it out there, the more time and information that you will be able to gather to iterate and make it better. And you’ll make new decisions about it.

And I think, again, what people do is they wait to launch until they think it’s perfect or just right or they really know what they want to do. And ultimately what will happen is over a year, two years, three years, your opinion on that is going to change anyway. So you may as well launch it and then just deal with it in the moment to change the offering. And this actually feeds right into what you were saying about the timing versus not.

So, here’s an example. I have launched 21-Day Sugar Detox is something that has been an evergreen online program for years. And it’s a book, and there’s all different types of products or services that are sold along those lines. The Balanced Bites Master Class is something that we offered pretty strictly on a rolling admission, as well as the 21-Day Sugar Detox Coaches program. Sorry, on a launch schedule, not rolling, not evergreen. Same thing with the coaches’ program.

The differentiation is; how much support, hand holding, and live and active presence do we need to have to usher people through the program. And what kind of resources do we have, between time and people, to offer that support. What do we have, and what do they need?

For example, the 21-Day Sugar Detox. It’s a pretty straightforward program. People can download the rules. They can buy the book. We can say; ok, we kick off a new group every month. Just let you know, we post on social media, and as a company we kind of start this every month and you can just do it. And I would consider that evergreen kind of rolling, and you can start it whenever you want to. And that’s a low buy in in terms of price. A little bit of a lower commitment. It’s a three-week thing. And people don’t need that much live presence all the time.

If you look at something like the 21-Day Sugar Detox coaches’ program has historically been around, let’s say, a $1300 program. We run it for 8 or so weeks. So we only launch it once or twice a year. Because myself and my team are going to be active and present at different times. Somebody is going to be grading the tests that come in, making sure that people get their questions answered. Obviously, it’s a higher ticket product, and a more extensive series of content and modules. We send swag. There’s so much more involved. So we can’t leave that open all the time. There’s way too much administrative work to be offering that all the time.

Plus, as the ticket price gets a little bit higher to enter, there needs to be a little bit of exclusivity involved. And a little bit of scarcity in terms of; this is not available all the time. So do it now, or do it later. But you’re not going to be able to decide next week. And that helps people. It’s definitely helpful to get people off the fence one way or the other. You’re not always going to encourage people to do it now, because it’s not always the right time right now. But you want the right people in your program.

So consistently having something that they know; if I didn’t join it now, here’s when I need to do it again. Or I need to be ready for it. Especially when it’s higher ticket like that. Where it’s anything that’s over $300. Somebody might need to really be thinking for a while before they make that purchase; especially over $1000. And we need to honor that. We can’t just expect that that’s all the time.

Until you get to a point where maybe you have a different kind of business where a $300 product; the type of people who are shopping with you all the time, maybe that’s not something that’s as, I don’t know, intense for them. I think a business product tends to be higher ticket.

Anyway, so when it comes to the difference, we also actually have our Balanced Bites Master Class, which is a nutrition program. If you don’t know about real food nutrition. If you want to learn some science, and you want to get a foundation before you spend multiple thousands of dollars with a program like NTA or the Bauman program or IIN or any of these. We have this program that we did offer on a launch time period basis. And we did think; ok, last year, people did the class at this time. We did a survey, and we said was this a good time of year to do this program? Would you rather do this at a different time? People said, I would rather do this over the summer. I feel like I would get more time and space to complete this program over the summer.

To your point about a self-care program; if you launch some kind of self-care challenge, obviously there are certain times of year where people are more focused on self-care than others. Where they need to reign it back in in the beginning of the year, whereas come June, everyone’s like; great! We’re going on vacation! You don’t really need to inspire someone on self-care specifically at a time when, on the whole, that’s already on their mind.

So I think that knowing that can be really helpful. And then serving and asking. And we are actually in a situation now with the Balanced Bites Master Class where we may transition it from something that goes on a launch basis to something on an evergreen rolling basis. Because what we’ve learned over the years is, even though we’ve had the offering of; here’s the launch, and here are live call time periods. The live calls are tough for people to sit down and attend. And they’re happy to see it on a recording, or submit their questions in some way.

But we’re able to get that information and find out that that’s a possibility for us, through having offered it one way and asking questions and observing the behaviors over time. So sometimes you’re not going to launch it maybe the right way right away. You might say; ok, this is on an evergreen. And then people don’t get focused on it enough, and they can’t tell what’s happening enough, or they don’t know what’s going on. And you really need to concentrate a launch so that you have this led into it. Marie Forleo does that, obviously, with B School. Launches once a year. And she’s got 8 weeks or so that it is heavy hitting with advertisements for that program. And then that’s it. And then it launches and doesn’t come back for a year.

So, those are some examples. Something like the 21-Day Sugar Detox where people can kind of do it whenever all the time as an evergreen rolling thing, self-study, etc. Or something that requires a little more; let’s take this cohort through the program. We’re guiding you each week. Etc., etc. And usually that will be a higher price program, as well.

Cassy Joy: If I could give one piece of summarized advice to anybody who is trying to figure out; what about this thing that’s brand new? I would almost recommend that someone start on a succinct launch. What we do in our organization is we call them; oh gosh, what is it? A beta test. We do a beta launch, and then we say; we’ll be back to let you know when we’re launching it again. And even if that’s a product, or a service, either one I think you can support a beta launch. A Kickstarter could be considered a beta. It’s one time of year. It’s at one point in time.

And then, to Diane’s point; you don’t really know what you don’t know when it comes to the administrative load of, especially a service, but also a product. Don’t just assume that you can create, let’s say spices for example, and put them out in the world and wash your hands of it. People are going to have questions. They’re going to want support. They’re going to have issues with their orders. Even if you dot all your I’s and cross your T’s. So I think it’s smart to get in a little bit at a time, dip your toe into the water.

When I launched the Fed and Fit Project, we launched; I think we did two launches in a year. And then I did every single month. And then we dialed it back to quarterly. And now we’re back, probably to an annual basis. But that’s just because our business objectives have changed from supporting a totally different strategy, which I’ll talk about in the third episode of this series. But I think that was a great overview.

5. Shop Talk: Building free content [52:14]

Cassy Joy: Ok. We also want to chat briefly about how to build free content that supports your product or service. And this is really important. And this is still something that you own. This is not an affiliate type income. This is not a work product or content that you’re creating that you can directly tie to monetary revenue that’s going to be coming in. But it is going to greatly support your product. If anything, I would tell you it’s absolutely necessary to have free content around your product.

So, for example, Diane and I both obviously have robust websites with lots of information. We do podcasts for free. We share information on Instagram for free. We blog. We vlog. We do all of these things to share our best ideas in conversation. And then we succinctly wrap them up with the best, most highlighted list, in a product or a service that we’re offering. So I think it’s important to think about that. How can you create some free content around it?

My recommendation is to come up with a schedule that you can stick to. If you are someone who wants to create a lot of content, and maybe you’re more interested in the affiliate advertising model that we’ll talk about on the next episode, then you do need a lot of content. And maybe one day, you’re going to offer a product or service, but it’s not going to be your main focus or your main revenue driver. This is still really important. And I would say that your schedule here needs to be aggressive. Like Diane was saying back in the day, she could have come up with three posts in a week and built that schedule. But it wasn’t what she wanted to do. But if that is what you want to do, and you really do want to drive from those other avenues, then come up with your three days, your four days, your five days that you’re publishing content a week and you stick to it.

And then the last note I have here is offer optins and back mentions at each piece. Y’all; if you go to www.FedandFit.com. And you pull up any article. Maybe that’s not fair. The plan is that it will be any article on www.FedandFit.com, we will eventually get there. But we probably have a free download, an eBook, a guide, an Instant Pot guide, a Holiday guide, a better beauty in five days guide. We have these resources, and these email opt ins. These five-day email series. Meal prep in five days; how to get dinner on the table faster in a five-day series.

At the end of articles; let’s say it’s a breakfast meatball. It’s a meal prepped breakfast recipe, and you’re obviously there because you’re interested in meal prepping breakfast. At the bottom of that free content that we’re giving you; that free recipe, is an email opt-in customized to you. It is a free download for more meal prepped breakfasts. And then once you sign up for that, it puts you into a sequence for more meal prep tips from us. So it’s really important; this is technically free content, but in those emails we’re tying to affiliate tags. We’re eventually going to offer a program that you would be just the right person for if you get to all of the content, you read through it all and you say; oh, I want more. That’s how you really monetize your product or service through free content.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. And that is one of the biggest things that, for Balanced Bites, what we’re working on for 2020. And we’ll talk about this. Coming back to the free content that; for a couple of years, I was in a space of, I’m not seeing the value of the free content that I used to create. So in the very beginning with my blogging with Balanced Bites, the very, very beginning it was pushing people to be able to find the 21-Day Sugar Detox. And that’s what they would buy as a program. Or to come to my seminars. People would read my blog and that’s how they would learn about me and what I was teaching and my point of view. And that’s how they would decide to come to a Balanced Bites seminar or Practical Paleo seminar. Or eventually to buy the books that I was writing. So people had that, and eventually had the Balanced Bites podcast as a basis for every single week I’m there delivering, with Liz Wolfe. We are providing that value.

And I had a couple of years where I couldn’t do it. Also, rightfully, I was writing books. So it was really, really challenging to both be pouring all of your heart and soul into a book, and a blog. So, now that I’m not writing books. And we get it; the blog is really our hub for nurturing people and letting them know that we’ve got you. We’re going to help you. We’re going to help you learn some basics for cooking and all of that good stuff. And to your point, there’s something that we can offer you in addition that, when you drop your email, you’re going to get this information. And that exchange, even though it doesn’t cost you anything; it’s free. The value as the business is that you’ve got the contact information now. And you can’t get that. Like you said, Cassy; you can’t get that from a book.

I don’t have half a million people or more who own Practical Paleo; I don’t have their email address. And I can’t talk to them unless they come find me. So building a strong hub online for that. And I think we’ll get into this more in the future on the show. Unfortunately, social media, and particularly Instagram, has pulled people to a place where they’re creating their best content on Instagram and we don’t own the attention there. And we know that. So this is really important to know that we do need to create this free content. But I think we need to make sure we’re owning where it’s held, as well. And we’re cultivating that relationship with those people who come to it, so that we can offer them other things that we might have, as well.

So with you on that, for sure.

Cassy Joy: I have one more thing; I know we’re running a little long here, but I have one more thing I want to add on here. One way to create this free content at the same time as creating your own product or service, so that it doesn’t feel like a huge overload, which it can. With what we do at Fed and Fit, and I’m sure y’all do this as well. But when we’re creating a product or a service, I build into the production schedule of that thing that we own bonus content that we can use for promotion. Whether it’s published for free as a blog post. Or we turn it into an eBook. Or we trickle it into a social media campaign.

So if you’re having a hard time thinking about; how do I do both? How do I create a product or a service, and also free content to support it? I think building it into the plan of your product, and it will all make more sense going together. And it will feel like one piece of work. One body of work.

6. Shop Talk: Rapid-fire [59:01]

Cassy Joy: Ok. Rapid fire; really quickly. Diane, do you think it’s easier to monetize a service or a product?

Diane Sanfilippo: Ohh! I was supposed to be rapid fire.

Cassy Joy: Save it. Yeah, not save it. Say it! {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I think a service. I think a service. I just think you have more control over it. And you can adjust. You can adjust the price. You can decide what you’re charging for your time more easily than the cost of the actual product and what you need to sell it for. And that’s a hard thing, because customer perception of what the price should be, I think on a product. I feel like you don’t get as much wiggle room sometimes. But when it comes to a service; I feel more comfortable. I will hang a shingle, and I’m offering this. And that’s the service. And I think that’s easier.

Cassy Joy: I agree. I like it.

Diane Sanfilippo: You think it’s easier?

Cassy Joy: I do. I do think a service is much easier. That’s where I started. For sure. I think a service is much easier. It offers you more flexibility. And like you said; nobody can tell you what your time is or isn’t worth. Other than you. So you better charge enough.

Diane Sanfilippo: So let me ask you; how do people who sell a product also start to sell a service?

Cassy Joy: I think that if you sell a product, it’s a perfect opportunity to offer a service. Let’s say you own a lawn greening juice. That’s your product; I’m thinking of my dad and my husband. They’re in the market for this organic natural way to make their lawn look really nice and green. And sometimes a year it can be really crispy; {laughs} this is ridiculous. I think if you sell the best product possible for that. Which they found this guru on the internet for lawn stuff, and they both love this guy. He also offers a service where he’ll consult you. {laughs} I pronounced that word. He’ll offer consultations for your yard as a service. So it’s an extra add-on.

Why are these people buying this from you? because you’re an expert, and you created a great product. I bet there’s a way you can expand on that that won’t cost a whole bunch to get a new product up and running. Was that an example that will apply to nobody? {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: I was like, Oh. Em. Gee. What?

Cassy Joy: {laughing} Oh. Let me think of another example.

Diane Sanfilippo: No, it’s…

Cassy Joy: You like it?

Diane Sanfilippo: That is Cassy. I love how quirky and into things you and your family are. It’s so endearing. I love it.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Ok, last rapid-fire question for you then. how do people who sell a service start to sell a product?

Diane Sanfilippo: I think it’s just a natural extension of the service. So this is kind of what happened with Balanced Bites. And actually, it is a little bit challenging. But it’s fine. We’re solving the challenging. We went from a company that only served to empower you to do this stuff for yourself in a certain kind of way. And basically the hardest way possible. Meaning; we’ll give you recipes. We’ll give you a book. We’ll give you the information. You have to go to the store. You have to do the work. The leg work. The cooking. The cleaning. All of that. And we will still offer that, as a service of information.

But, we will also offer products. We do offer products. We offer organic spice blends to make life easier at this middle-range price point. You grab one jar, you don’t have to crazy measure and blend and wonder what it’s going to taste like. And then we also offer the higher price, way less time involvement; we make the meals for you. It is an extension of what we’ve always stood by as Balanced Bites. Which is like, we want to give you the tools to make being healthier and having confident great choices around what you’re eating and how you’re feeling based on that. Make that easier for you. And sometimes it’s just coming in the form of information. You’re going to make those decisions for yourself. And kind of go with it.

Or we can extend that and say; you know what? Now that you’ve learned this; maybe you’ve got some money and you don’t have the time to put all this effort in. Let’s not all make our own mayo anymore. We don’t all have to do that anymore, like back in the paleo diet days, when we made our own crackers. {laughing} We don’t have to do that anymore. But you still can, if you want to. So that’s really the extension, I think. I tend to think the product is always going to somehow take it to a step easier, but tends to be the customer will spend money instead of time.

Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s kind of what’s going to end up happening. We always have to spend money or time. And if we engage in a service where you say; coach me on this, and then I’ll do the work. You tell me how, and then I’ll do the work; or, if you’re like. You know what, I’m going to pay this SEO company to do it for me. You’re either going to spend your time, or you’re just going to spend your money. So being a company that can offer people solutions at every kind of price point, to meet people where they are in terms of desire to do the work, or maybe they want that easy button and the do have the disposable income for it. And that’s what you can offer them, as well. Feel really great about the solution that you’re offering.

Cassy Joy: I love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: Not a rapid-fire answer. I’m not good at those.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} That was rapid fire for us. Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: It was.

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7. Tip of The Week: what can you offer your audience? [1:05:23]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, now it’s time for our Tip of The Week! In this segment, we give you one tip that you can take action on this week to move your business or life forward. Cassy; what do you have for us this week?

Cassy Joy: Ok. So here is your tip of the week. What I want you to do, whether you have a product or service already that you’re offering, everyone is eligible for this activity. I want you to sit down with fresh eyes, a fresh perspective, and say; what is the best possible service and the best possible product that I can offer my audience. My readers, my clients, the people who are already here, or the people who I’m trying to build. What is the best thing I could possibly give them? So try to start fresh. And if you can’t come up with just one idea, feel free to list three of each of those. That’s probably where my brain would go. I like to have choices. I want you to write both of those down.

Then I want you to think about it. I want you to talk to people about it. Talk to your audience about it. Go back and listen to our proof of concept episode. Because I think that will really help you, especially if you’re struggling with trying to figure out exactly what to do. And then put some things into action. Come up with a plan on when you can launch this thing. Because it is so important. Like we’ve said. If you’re creating a sustainable business that is going to last through the ups and downs of this wild social media landscape that we’re on, we want you to have a really solid, healthy business. And it’s important that you own a part of your business. You own part of what you’re selling. So I think this is something that everybody can and should consider. So definitely write those ideas down. Talk to some folks about it. Start going through some of the steps of proof of concept. But at least get the ideas on paper. Diane Sanfilippo: That’s it for Driven this week. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe in Apple podcast, on Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @TheDrivenPodcast. Cassy is @FedandFit and I am @DianeSanfilippo. Tune in next week for more on selling other people’s products, and responsibly choosing affiliate income streams. We’ll see you next week.