Elevating Entrepreneurial Success: Strategies and Insights with Emily Aarons

Speaker: 00:00:01

Catharine O'Leary: Hey everyone, and welcome back to kickstart the conversation. I am your host, Catharine O'Leary. And I am very pleased to have Emily Aarons on today, Emily and I met recently and we completely geeked out over a number of things that we're going to talk about today. But it's going to be a lot of fun. So I can't wait to dig in with Emily. But just so you know, who we're talking to. Emily is a leading educator to spiritual entrepreneurs, renowned energy healer, and business coach with over two decades of experience blending both that spirituality and business, Emily's mission is to help outstanding practitioners to build a successful and sustainable business because we all know that, you know, the spiritual reality that that, you know, we all want to give away things and that's not going to make for a profitable business. Emily is here to help with that. So her dedication to excellence and setting a gold standard for the healing and coaching industry, you know, being a business as well as a spiritual practice. So Emily, welcome to kick start the conversation. I'm so glad you can make it today.

Emily Aarons: 00:01:09

I'm happy to be here with you today, Catharine, and thank you, for all the listeners who are here with us.

Emily Aarons: 00:01:14

Catharine O'Leary: Perfect, well tell us a little bit more Emily about, you know, maybe expand a little bit about what you do and who you serve. So

Emily Aarons: 00:01:20

I have been doing energy healing professionally for the last 24 years. And in the last I started in a brick and mortar and trading individual sessions. And started my first business when I was 22 years old, had a Wellness Center. And I had to write a business plan. And I had to figure out how to make a business at a pretty young age. Even though at that time, I felt behind because my friends had gone off to college and I had been studying healing. And then I went to college after so I felt like a little bit behind and which is sort of a reoccurring theme of my life of feeling like I'm behind. And for about 15 years, I really struggled as the broke healer, who could I had a vision to help lots of people. And yet, I was only helping people individually. And I was really committed to serving but I only knew the strategies that have been passed down before me that kind of look like put your business card up on the cork board at the local coffee shop and pass out flyers on windshields that people are going to throw away. And, you know, it was the time before there were any social media outlets to freely promote myself on. And so I really had to figure out how to be more strategic and over 15 years I was serving, but I never felt that satisfaction of making the impact that I was here to make. And after having my first son, I kind of hit a rock bottom where I was praying for a way that I could be of service and also contribute more financially to my family. And I found myself taking online business courses and realizing my potential to help serve many people through an online business. And so about eight years ago, I started to transition my brick and mortar business into an online business where I was helping people with energy healing, virtually, I had been trained how to do this. And yet I wasn't doing it online. And so bringing it online, I found I'm actually helping a lot of entrepreneurs right now I'm helping them to clear their energy blocks. And I'm finding in their energy centers how they can be more successful in their business with simple shifts. And that kind of grew into now I'm helping outstanding practitioners, not just to learn the energetics of their business, but to learn the strategy of running a business as well. Because I find a lot of people were just like me, and you learn the skill set of coaching or healing or massage or whatever it is. But that's all you don't have anything else. And you know, we're not instinctually knowing how to market ourselves and have a strategy and have a goal and achieve those things and push ourselves and do the mindset work. We're not really built that way. And so that's part of what I love to help people to do is really blend both and even for folks who've come to me who aren't necessarily considering themselves a spiritual business. I love to help them to bring in that component of connecting in with their own intuition and connecting in with their own instincts and start to really honor those rhythms. And I find that even folks who are really successful come to me because you know, they've been pushing, they've been running in their masculine energy for so long and not really able to fully embrace their intuitive side and their feminine energy and really blending the two together so it kind of makes me a unicorn because I don't really fit And with just the healers and I don't really fit in with, like the business strategy, you know, strategic folks, I'm this little blend of both. And that's what I love to geek out about blending both of them together.

Emily Aarons: 00:05:14

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah, and I think that I've been talking a lot about how the industry is changing how people are reacting to this, you know, the scarcity, this lack this push energy of, you know, get it before it's gone, I'm never going to do this again. And until 12.2 seconds later, when it comes back, you know, people are a little cynical about that. And the way that we need to be doing business going forward, especially as entrepreneurs, I believe, is really about, you know, building those communities, building those relationships. And that comes with more of that feminine energy more than intuition, more of that. And I think that, like, regardless of who you are, I think that that's what what, if you're tapping into that, that's going to serve you very well, going forward to the next in the short term, even

Emily Aarons: 00:06:06

I agree. And you know, one of the biggest compliments I get, well, the two biggest compliments I get is one, I love your energy. And the second one is, you're so authentic. And that is because I am primarily focused on my energy, I'm focusing on making sure that I am serving from this place of who I am and how I'm here to serve and who, who I'm here to serve, when your energy is in that state of alignment, and you are giving from that place doesn't matter if you have the perfect hair and makeup, because your energy is exuding and you become this beautiful magnet that draws people in. And I think the problem with the old school way of marketing was was very inauthentic. And I think that there's a way that you can create scarcity, timeliness, in a really genuine way that doesn't have to feel so forced and fake. And, you know, that was the benefit of you know, the pandemic when people were forced in their houses. And then they were mass consuming all these online products and programs and workshops and free this and for that and they started become more savvy. Whereas before that point, and I mean, I had the pleasure of being online before the point people would buy anything for $3,000. And they didn't even know you until they saw your ad and then they're in your workshop and boom, they're they're dropping cash. Because people have become so savvy to that. Now they're going wait a minute, I need you to prove that you are who you are, you are who you say you are, you can get the results you say you can get, and that you're going to be really here to serve me not just dangle this carrot, and make me feel like I'm less than a person. And by from that place of lack, you know, we're looking towards shifting into aspirational goals versus like, here's where you are, you're broke and you're penniless. Doesn't that suck to be you, you should take this course. So you don't have to be so broken, penniless. It's it's a whole different style of messaging, it's a whole different style of integrity. And the people who cannot successfully do that, even if they're the big names, and I've seen some of the really big names really attempt to be authentic. And it's like, they broke, they can't, they can't. And I've seen people who are really big names, running ads, and you're like, I just can't connect with you, I can't connect with your messaging because you're trying to talk to this different level of person. And you're so used to the old programming that it's almost looks like it's hurting you, it looks like you're in pain, trying to be authentic.

Emily Aarons: 00:08:39

Your your, your mindset is totally different. Well, I

Emily Aarons: 00:08:43

Catharine O'Leary: think that, you know, we get trained a little bit to expect people to do one thing. And then once you get burned by by something you're like, not like lesson learned, like I'm I'm moving on. So I think that I think that and I don't mind that people are more savvy. Yeah, I don't like I think that's great that like, you know, don't just give $3,000 to somebody from a, you know, you know, for like, at least don't just give it to me, because I want you to, like I want us to be a fit, like I want to, like, you know, make sure that we're going to work well together. Because I've had to fire clients before both in corporate and in my own business. And, you know, like, that's like, you know, you don't want to have to be in a position to do things like that. So I love that I love the way that you're talking about magnetizing people to you. One of the things that I talk about a lot is with quizzes, and you know, kind of magnetizing your ideal client. And I know that you've had some experience with with quizzes and with with that kind of, you know, conversation starter, I guess. So. You know, like from your point of view is, is being able to do a quiz like can you be authentic in that in that model?

Emily Aarons: 00:09:59

Yeah, absolutly and I love this is where we started geeking out the other day is that I really, I really love feedback, I really thrive with feedback, because what it tells me is that I can do better. And here's the ways that I can do better to do right by you. And I genuinely care. I genuinely read every single survey, every single quiz, I want to know who I'm talking to, on a much deeper level. And back in February, there was this instinct that I had that said, You know what, it's time to adapt your training, because it feels like you're pushing the pain. And the the the workshop was called breaking up with broke. And it was around ushering in a new era of profitable, successful practitioners. While the premise was let's shift out of that mindset out of that model out of that paradigm, and the story was my own my own story of how I shifted out of that broke healer who could and into this profitable successful having a sustainable business having time off, that's paid, you know. And while that intention was pure, the title of it wasn't working for me, all of a sudden, I was like, there's something that's off about this. And I feel I could just change the title, because I had done a workshop around money blocks, and it has been wildly successful. Of course, everyone's like, I got money blocks. And of course, we all got money blocks, we all have our own stories. And that was sort of the first tipping point where I was like, they're really pushing into this particular topic. They're really lean and hard. They're, they're saying, Yes, I like this. Yes, I need this. So I created a survey. And I just said, Hey, you know, I'm looking for some feedback for people who had already been to that training, who people who were thinking about going through it, and I so I really niche down for who I invited to the survey just to say, like, you seem like you're the most interested. And you could be, you know, the people who would give the most qualified feedback. And what came back was 100 responses that basically told me, here's what I need. And here's how I need it. And by the way, these are the things that are keeping me up at night. Could you also please talk about this. And I had one of these moments in Canva, because I was having these light bulbs and I was making, I was sort of sorting out the information and categorize it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, there's three things that I could teach them here. Okay, they're raising their hands, and this is what I need. And I started to just like, adapt my previous slides and adapt it and I went, Oh, God, I've gone too far. I didn't duplicate my slide deck, it's gone. It's completely original version is obliterated. I had one of those moments, I'm like, well, there's no turning back. Now. Here we go. And it was all for the best, right? Because I'm not going to ever teach that old one again, which is fine. But for my like, little OCD of like, I should have all the data, it was it was gone. And what's interesting is that my intention was to change the title. But what ended up happening based on the results, and the feedback was that the entire presentation was altered minus I think, like three slides, which is like you're either one of these three people that stayed the same, but everything else was adapted. And it was more in the energy of storytelling. And in the energy of, you know, here are these three things, you might be missing one, two, or three, or, you know, but but here's how we can overcome this. And here's some next steps. And the whole process was essentially not following the traditional model of have a free workshop picture thing on it, I didn't pitch it all on it. And it changed the results at the end of it as well. And so just by listening to what people were saying to me, and sort of like, like you said, geeking out about the information that was coming back to me, I was able to take that and run with it. And I think that it's something that I feel like a lot of my clients really struggle if they have a great product, a great service, a great program, but no one's buying. It's because they haven't fully assessed their customer. They haven't fully taken them through that understanding them and what they need and want phase if they're brand new, and they're like I'm building the community. I'm building a product and program I don't know what to do. It's the same exact step as the other folks. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's what's what makes quizzes. And surveys so valuable, is when you can really ask those questions that gets people to share what's on their heart. And like you said the other day around the 3am question, yeah, I love how you put that, like, that's so perfect. But when they can share, and you can genuinely Listen, it's like, that was one of the first light bulb moments for me when I transitioned into the online space, and one of the programs was basically teaching you ask them what they want, and then give that to them. And I was like, Wait, what's up? Because it was it was black, why not? I also have a degree in Public Relations and business management. And for some reason, they left that part out of my education. It's like, how simple how straightforward. And all the while I had been been creating offers, but just discounting them because I thought maybe that would sweeten. And maybe that's what make them wanted, it was that I was just making them up. without anybody telling me yes, I want that. And then saying, I'm gonna actually not just say I want it, but I'm gonna put money down and really prove that I want that thing that you have going on. I'd never done that before, then.

Emily Aarons: 00:16:17

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah. And I think what what I love about this, this example is that you didn't just put the questions out to, you know, get one or two answers, like you You hadn't you had strategy behind it, you knew what you were asking. So you had intention behind the questions, but you also used the information. Because one of the things that drives me bonkers with quizzes is that it's a, it can be effectively a really fancy email capture. If that's all that people use it for. And that's, like, That's tragic, because you are actually missing all of that good, juicy information, that for you changed that whole presentation, changed the whole way that you talk to your people in the front of, you know, at the beginning of your, your conversations with them, and change the back end to a little bit, I think, oh, yeah,

Emily Aarons: 00:17:13

I mean, I was converting around 1%, from my previous workshop, they came to the workshop, then they applied for the program, we took a call with them, yes or no, then they sign up for the program. That was the previous method. And we changed it. So they took the first workshop, no pitch whatsoever. At the end, there's an invitation if they want to learn more, to go to the information session. And then the people go to the information session, and then from the information session, they have a choice of gun, if they want to book a call, they are in control the entire time. Now, of course, I dangle a little carrot to incentivize them to take action. But the people who don't want to take that action are not penalized in any way. It's just go as far as you want to go. And let's sort of see the conversation. So the other really interesting component, which I didn't mention was that to get the information session, they have to fill out another form. Yeah. Which is basically an application without like, telling me how what payment plan you would like to be on and like, the kind of fluff that gets you to be in the mindset of investing. You know, it was totally, yeah, pitch free. Just like tell me where you're at? What's going on? What Where does it hurt. And yeah, and so when people got to the call, 100% of the calls, were people who wanted to be there, they wanted to be in the program. They were perfect candidates, and they believed in themselves. And so it made it an easy conversation. And that's why we closed 100% of the calls. And then from the very beginning of the funnel till the end we were converting are converting at 3% So that's a huge increase as an evergreen platform to sell a $7,000 Plus program. So it speaks for itself.

Emily Aarons: 00:19:10

Catharine O'Leary: Oh my gosh, so there's so many golden nuggets in there. So first of all, it's a high ticket offer. Yes. Second of all, it tripled your your conversion rates, and it's evergreen. So like it's it you know, you're and what I love about the Evergreen part of it is that you're collecting the information. And now you get to step back monthly or quarterly or you know, bi yearly whatever works for your business and start looking at the trends and start seeing Oh, you know what, like last you know, quarter you know our results, you know on these questions were this this is going down now. Huh? Okay, wait, there's a trend going on are starting I need to watch that. Because if it continues, I may need to pivot again. So now you're collecting that information to actually Yeah, like, you know, from a strategic point of view, like actually give you the information to, you know, have those ideation and innovation conversations going forward, based on consumer data?

Emily Aarons: 00:20:12

Oh, yeah. And it's, like I said, we we are seeing so much more information coming back. Because when somebody just signs up for your free training, it could be anybody, you know, and you don't know, I mean, you hit the right marks, you see the conversion rate going into the workshop, like, okay, the sales page that you know, the opt in page is converting, hi, people are coming in and watching, and you know, that not everyone is going to buy. But what's interesting with the information session data is you're seeing who they are as a person, and you're seeing commonalities within them. Yes. And so there's, what's interesting is, because we're running Facebook ads, and Instagram ads, you know, you could be getting anybody, but the commonalities are screaming at us around the story that I just shared about myself. practitioner certifications, don't know how to monetize it. And so that also leads me to Okay, so ultimately, if I can share this information on my social media platforms, and in my emails, I'm helping to nurture people so that they know like, and trust me, and eventually, they're going to see sort of themselves in my story, they're going to sort of see the way out, they're going to start getting solutions. And I can drop solutions all the time. Sometimes it's those little easter eggs that you get along the way that like, oh, that's the one I needed. That was the one and it's going to be really helpful. And the other thing that we're about to implement is that we created sort of a secondary training it came through this month, and also from all this feedback that people were saying, I need this thing. Because I shared, I have a I have a private podcast, it's a paid private podcast. And we did a q1 sort of recap, because at the end of 2023, I, I transitioned from a lunch model style business to an evergreen style model. And I shared what that was going to look like in December. And then I did a recap of what it actually like, what are the actual results so far? What's what's happening? I love to pull back the curtain and like, just share all this stuff. And people were like, their jaws were on the ground, like how but teach me how do you do this? And after the the training, I was like, you know, what you do you teach a class about how to build a funnel, because we're so good at building these models. And then I was being bombarded with people asking me, how do you build a funnel? So, you know, I think it was both intuition and instinct, but also the people were demanding this thing of me. And so I created a program, which Funny enough, I had created two and a half, maybe three years ago, I created a program around how to grow your email list in 30 days. And at the time, I did the first part of it and everything and he was like, Don't do it spirit was like, No, it's a hard no right now. So I put a pause on it. That if I had gone through, it would have resulted in about a $250,000 revenue stream annually. And I said Please, no. So you know, and I didn't know what was coming. I had no idea what was coming, I just knew was a hard No, at that time. What ended up coming through was my certification. But I would have had the space for that if I were running that other group program. So fast forward now a couple years. That launch I just told you about is selling the certification. Now I'm teaching funnels, based on how that all it was like very meta. So I created this funnel program. And I thought, You know what, this is a really great offer for people who aren't ready for the big step. Yeah. And so now there's a nurture sequence in place. So folks who have come to the free training but aren't ready yet, for that next big step. And for the certification, we can offer them that training for under $300 versus a $7,000 investment. And we can offer them other things along the way to nurture them so that they're not just like, Oh, I did that. Now. She doesn't want to talk to me anymore. You're we're creating that, that connection that and nurturing people along the way. And I feel this nudge to tell you about this program called Hi rose. Do you ever have you heard of high ROAs? No. Okay, so my prior Facebook ads guy told me about it. We ended up investing, it's about $300 a month. And it's a system that can tell you your lifetime value of your customers. And so it's really helpful if you're running ads and you're like, Okay, so this person just bought this program, but where do they act? usually comes from so you can see the lifetime of all of the things that they have purchased, and where they came from and what they clicked on and what they're looking at and where they're spending their time. So that's been a really huge valuable tool since becoming evergreen as well. So I can see the data, it's right in front of me, okay, this person came from that free thing, and they ended up buying within two months at that high level thing. Okay, that's really great information. So it's been very insightful.

Emily Aarons: 00:25:28

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah, and I think that that's, you know, like, from a business standpoint, I think that people tend to forget that they need to know those metrics. They need to know the lifetime value, they need to know how long it takes them to get to the average revenue of each person. These are all, you know, KPIs or key performance indicators that business owners that are scaling or growing. They you need to know that in order to have conversations with JV partners, and, and even just for forecasting, and for, you know, growing your business, you need to know which levers to pull, I guess, yep.

Emily Aarons: 00:26:04

Yeah, yeah, we're figuring it all out. And it's, you know, we had our growing pains to it's, you know, making that transition, it's, it's not easy, and there was a huge dip in revenue when you're like, I'm gonna not do a launch. So, you know, so we're figuring it all out. But you know, the numbers speak for themselves. So that's, that's the good news is that things are working. And I really think that the emphasis is on that beginning first step, like where do I focus? How do I? How do I, how do I spend all my energy and focus when I want to fill my program? Well, you have to focus at the beginning of the funnel, how can you nurture people? How can you listen to people? How can you take them through those little bite sized steps and give them what they need at that right time? And I think that's part of observing the buyer patterns changing? And yeah, we'll spend I've, what's what's interesting is like, you know, I can have a brand new customer who will spend $1,000, but they want to do it in like six transactions. Hmm, that's fine. That's what you need. That's what makes you feel good. Great. You know, I'm here for the long haul, I'm not going anywhere. And all my stuff just gets better. So enjoy along the way.

Emily Aarons: 00:27:18

Catharine O'Leary: Exactly. Exactly. Did you have any, any other metrics or anything to share? Or did you want to go through that? If you want to

Emily Aarons: 00:27:29

know we were talking about that? So I was going to share just a snapshot of of this, can I share my screen? Yeah, I can. Alright, so this was just, yeah,

Emily Aarons: 00:27:41

Catharine O'Leary: we'll talk through this for the thing in the car.

Emily Aarons: 00:27:44

Yeah. So this is like a geeky spreadsheet. That's all you got to know. So we're looking at industry standard rates compared to what my rates and my conversion rates are. So I'll just go through a few highlights. And I have just a highlight reel over here. So when we look at things like attendance rate, so that is people who signed up and actually attended. What's interesting is on evergreen, we had a 50% attendance rate. Whereas when I was running in live, I would get like 20 to maybe 25%, show up, right? So I'm already doubling my show up, right? That's like more people in the room, the better. My Landing Page Conversion of getting them in was 42%. And then what's interesting is the information session. So if we go to information session, landing page conversions, that was actually 65%. But what was that 40? Was it? Yeah, 65% was the landing page conversion, which was outstanding, we can look at the Evergreen webinar attendance, right. So it was 10 to 20%. Industry standard, I've had a 50% conversion rate. Overall funnel sales from your funnel is one to 3%, we were averaging 3% conversion, again, when I was doing it live, I was averaging around 1%. And our call conversions are 100%, which is outstanding. So I just like to look at these metrics. And that's part of what I consider is tracking, which is one of the four key principles for really doing this the right way tracking. And if you're not tracking these numbers, you have no idea. So what I share with folks is these four principles, which is brainstorm, which is that serving, listening, creating the thing, then building the technical building of it, executing, putting it out there, seeing what works, what's not working, having fun, you know, seeing if social media is being your friend that day or not. And then the tracking and so if folks, when I walk them through all of the things that I do in the amount that I do them I asked simply, which of these are you doing full out? Most people say nothing. And so that's why they're getting the results that they're getting based on. Oh, I'm doing a little bit of this. And I'm doing a little bit of that. And I'm not, you know, I may have surveyed them. But did I make the thing that they said they wanted? No. And how am I? Did I create it? No. Did I get it out there? No. But I am randomly posting on social media. Yeah, it's like, yeah, okay. Yeah. Well, that's why you're aware.

Emily Aarons: 00:30:29

Catharine O'Leary: When you look at that, that funnel that you've got the Evergreen funnel, so many people out there? Where does the quiz or the survey come in? So the the quiz

Emily Aarons: 00:30:41

came in at the very beginning. So where I was, it was in February, it was asking people initially, what was going on? Did they need this, this this. And so the results when I got them back, you can see like these the data that's screaming, like this big red eye chart, you know, it's screaming at me, like, here's what I need. Also, I struggle in these arenas. So it was prior to building out the training, activate your abundance mindset. Then

Emily Aarons: 00:31:19

Catharine O'Leary: they did go to that session, that workshop and then have an info session. So they

Emily Aarons: 00:31:27

were promoting through ads through social media through email list, they come to activate your abundance mindset training, they have the option to get the information session, after the information, they book a call from the call, they are admitted into the program.

Emily Aarons: 00:31:47

Catharine O'Leary: And is that information session a, like a discovery call?

Emily Aarons: 00:31:51

The information session is a pre recorded 20 minute long walk through around the dire need of qualified practitioners and why right now as well as the logistics of what is the integrated energy alignment practitioner training? What is it? What do you get? And how long does it take? And what is the cost? So that's everything from why you need it to what's inside of it. I

Emily Aarons: 00:32:20

Catharine O'Leary: love that. I love that. And then that's why it works evergreen is because the the mindset workshop goes into the session to say okay, you know what? This is for me, but tell me more? Yeah. And then it goes into a sales call, which then you're super qualified to be on the call? And is there a form to actually there's a form to fill out before you get on the call as well. It's

Emily Aarons: 00:32:43

just a very simple form of their contact information. And do they want any other information like about the retreat? Or are they applying for a scholarship? That's it?

Emily Aarons: 00:32:54

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah. Okay, perfect. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Emily, for sharing all that. And congratulations, because I don't think that 100% conversion rate that you can do much better than that. So I'm loving that 100% conversion rate. I think that we would all like that. I would. How do how do people get in touch with you? Or actually, I think you have a free gift for us today?

Emily Aarons: 00:33:18

Yes. So it's almost free. It's a $1 meditation. It's a $1 meditation. So you can check out Emily Aaron's dot com, it takes you right to my main home page, and there's a sale so you can try out the energy healings and they are specifically for entrepreneurs to clear your energy blocks and help you to magnetize attractive soulmate clients and, of course, grow your business. So you can pick whichever one you like. Of course, we have a bundle if you're interested in that as well. But it's just a way to start to look at other ways to address your energy, your energy is everything and, and right now, it's really important that as entrepreneurs, we pay attention to our energy as well as our mental health. And these are tools that really help us to succeed.

Emily Aarons: 00:34:05

Catharine O'Leary: Yes, I completely agree with that. I've always said that entrepreneurship is the biggest personal development course that you'll ever take. And I think along with personal development, I think that we need to layer on more of that mindset, more of that wellness, more of that self care and, and to make sure that we're taking care of ourselves as we're building our empires, as we're building you know, out the, you know, the legacy that we want, and having the impact that that we we desire to have. So, thank you, Emily, for being on kickstart the conversation if you want to leave us with one or two words or a sentiment, go ahead. My

Emily Aarons: 00:34:43

sentiment would be this is whether you're starting out or you have got some stuff going for you is every day just connecting with your heart and asking how you can serve at your highest level.

Emily Aarons: 00:34:54

Catharine O'Leary: Nice. I like that. Well Thank you Emily for being on. Everyone did $1 meditations and connection to Emily will be in in the show notes and for all of you out there keep asking questions and keep the conversations going thanks Emily thank you