WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 -->
00:00:04.559I call myself the Jewish Mother Dominatrix because you're gonna do it.
00:00:05.040 -->
00:00:14.720Leah Fish is the founder of CEO Rise and a leadership coach for entrepreneurs, from professional organizing to coaching seven-figure business owners.
00:00:15.199 -->
00:00:17.679Clutter is a decision delivery.
00:00:18.640 -->
00:00:20.719This is her story on the System I.O.
00:00:20.879 -->
00:00:21.280podcast.
00:00:21.600 -->
00:00:27.199Hi, I'm sitting down with Leah Fish with CEO Rise and a couple of other endeavors.
00:00:27.280 -->
00:00:30.559I'm gonna let her lean into her nonprofit work as well.
00:00:30.879 -->
00:00:33.840And uh Leia, thanks for being here today.
00:00:35.920 -->
00:00:37.759I'm excited for this conversation.
00:00:38.079 -->
00:00:52.719All right, Leia, we were chatting on the here offline before we jumped in, and you gave me, you know, the spiel on all the things that you've been doing through the years, starting in 2002 with professional organizing, building out your own website, SEO.
00:00:52.960 -->
00:00:59.439And I think the people listening will probably love to hear how you've grown through the years, you know, you've been in the game longer than most people.
00:00:59.520 -->
00:01:07.840So, how did you get your first start with just business in general and led you to becoming an online um business leader?
00:01:08.319 -->
00:01:10.560I think it's a pretty good story.
00:01:10.799 -->
00:01:22.079Um, I had always traveled a lot, and in January 2002, I had just come back from living abroad and I was trying to figure out what to do.
00:01:22.159 -->
00:01:27.280I had worked as a photographer in Dominican Republic and lived there and all different things.
00:01:27.519 -->
00:01:34.400And my mother called and she said, I've been listening to the radio, I figured it out, you're gonna be an organizer.
00:01:34.560 -->
00:01:40.799And this was the beginning of 2002, and I was like, sounds great, what's that?
00:01:40.959 -->
00:01:47.200Um, because back then, professional organizers, even though they existed, it really they weren't really a thing.
00:01:47.519 -->
00:01:57.200So um she had been listening to an interview with a professional organizer, and the person said, clutter is a decision delayed.
00:01:57.439 -->
00:02:01.280And my mother thought of her daughter with a degree in philosophy.
00:02:01.439 -->
00:02:03.599She was like, Oh, that is so Leia.
00:02:04.079 -->
00:02:06.000And she was right, it was so Leia.
00:02:06.159 -->
00:02:08.400I was fascinated by the concept.
00:02:08.719 -->
00:02:17.199And two weeks later, she had gotten me my first job uh doing an estate cleaning for some friends of the family who'd passed away.
00:02:18.240 -->
00:02:22.000And everyone was like, How do you know how to do this?
00:02:22.159 -->
00:02:33.759You know, I was cleaning the house, preparing it, meeting with realtors, all of these different things, getting a dumpster, um, arranging with the family what things they were keeping, having lists, all these things.
00:02:34.000 -->
00:02:36.080And I was like, Well, what do you mean?
00:02:36.159 -->
00:02:38.879Like it's just what you you said you want to sell the house.
00:02:38.960 -->
00:02:40.400This is what we need to do.
00:02:40.560 -->
00:02:43.439And they were like, Yeah, this isn't obvious to everyone.
00:02:43.680 -->
00:02:47.599And so they referred me and it just became a referral machine.
00:02:47.840 -->
00:02:54.080Um, fun fact, I started charging$40 an hour back then in 2002.
00:02:54.560 -->
00:02:57.199Uh, and I would go to people's houses, take taxis.
00:02:57.360 -->
00:02:59.360When I look back, I'm like, how was I doing this?
00:02:59.439 -->
00:03:14.879I was going to strangers' homes that I'd never met, and you know, um, and then I started to transform the way that I worked, um, basically realizing that it worked better when I did less for people, unless it was in estate cleaning.
00:03:15.680 -->
00:03:27.840And anyway, I ultimately ended up specializing in working with hoarders in uh threatened with eviction in New York City and was ultimately featured on the show Hoarding Buried Alive.
00:03:28.000 -->
00:03:38.719I don't recommend anybody watch that episode, but I was, and um and and you know, we were talking about SEO, which just as a sidebar I'm very interested in.
00:03:38.879 -->
00:03:55.680And the reason the producer found me was because I had taken some lessons in 2007 about SEO, and so I worked on the SEO of my website a lot, and that and and when you put back then professional organizer NYC, I was the first one who came up.
00:03:55.840 -->
00:03:59.759So definitely recommend SEO for everyone's websites.
00:04:00.319 -->
00:04:01.280Excellent, excellent.
00:04:01.360 -->
00:04:09.599And I think a question here do you think SEO has died in the recent years or it's still just as alive, but it's a different type of game?
00:04:10.639 -->
00:04:12.319I'm no expert at it.
00:04:12.400 -->
00:04:14.560I'm just very interested in it in it.
00:04:14.639 -->
00:04:17.199Um, but SEO definitely hasn't died.
00:04:17.439 -->
00:04:23.360Um, you know, 92, I think, percent of people don't go past the first page on Google.
00:04:23.519 -->
00:04:26.240Most people skip the sponsored results.
00:04:26.480 -->
00:04:36.639Um, and then they look at the top, like, you know, three, four or five of results that come up, um, unless they're looking for something very specific.
00:04:36.800 -->
00:04:41.519If I were searching your name and you didn't come up, I would search continue to other pages.
00:04:41.839 -->
00:04:45.600But those top three that come up, that's SEO.
00:04:45.759 -->
00:04:55.120And now there's this whole thing of you know, SEO with AI, um recommended, you know, by by whatever AI you're using.
00:04:55.439 -->
00:05:04.639So having a, you know, a website with a good authority score, ranking for keywords, this is all very, very valuable.
00:05:04.879 -->
00:05:13.519And yes, like I was telling a client, it's something kind of like investing in a bank that you do the investment and then it grows on its own.
00:05:13.680 -->
00:05:32.160You know, you there's there's things you can always be doing, but your authority score is going to improve over time when you have a fast uh loading speed and things like that, versus if you don't, and then you're there, you know, the the search engines want to give their customers a good experience.
00:05:32.319 -->
00:05:39.519And if your website isn't good, they don't want to show you because it makes them look bad, like any referral.
00:05:39.759 -->
00:05:54.399So there's there's a lot of things, but really, well, I I get so excited about it, and it's not even my business, but just a lot of people make a lot of mistakes with SEO a lot, and most of them are very easy to fix.
00:05:54.720 -->
00:06:02.399Um, my assistant is an SEO expert, and we do that with some of my clients, and it's just amazing.
00:06:02.560 -->
00:06:16.560We'll look at like really big websites and just for fun to learn things, and they have such like basic errors going on, it's pretty amazing, but you know, their reputation makes up for their website errors.
00:06:16.800 -->
00:06:24.160Anyway, it's pretty fun if you're into a thing, and I highly recommend you know doing SEO for every website.
00:06:24.480 -->
00:06:24.959Yeah.
00:06:25.199 -->
00:06:29.680I well, I I love that that can be a springboard, you know, for your journey.
00:06:29.839 -->
00:06:36.639You wanted to get online, you know, start marketing yourself, you used SEO to get there, and you're still in the game today.
00:06:36.720 -->
00:06:42.560And so uh you started doing the the hoarding and the decluttering and the being a professional organizer.
00:06:42.720 -->
00:06:46.959Uh, what led you to you know client relationship management systems?
00:06:47.040 -->
00:06:50.000Because I believe that's how you use system.io, right?
00:06:50.079 -->
00:06:52.560Like doing is as a CRM program.
00:06:53.439 -->
00:06:56.319Well, um, I started teaching online.
00:06:56.560 -->
00:07:00.000I went from doing very, very hands-on professional organizing.
00:07:00.079 -->
00:07:09.279Uh, actually back in 2013, I was using a program called Fuse, precursor to Zoom, uh, to teach online courses.
00:07:09.439 -->
00:07:28.240Because what I realized was that so much back then it was I was teaching organizing courses, um, which I still very much use in specializing with neurodivergent people, what I call ADHD-ish, because people can have many of you know, difficulty focusing, uh, overwhelm, negative self-talk.
00:07:28.879 -->
00:07:43.439There's so many things that people associate with ADHD, but there's, you know, my clients have had, you know, brain injuries or menopause or like traumatic, you know, different things that appear like ADHD.
00:07:43.600 -->
00:07:53.439Anyway, the point is is that um, and what I realized was that people needed to be in their environments to actually do the organizing.
00:07:53.519 -->
00:07:56.319And so I started teaching online in 2013.
00:07:56.800 -->
00:08:26.720Um, rather than going to each person's home or office, this gave me the opportunity, as they say now, one to many, to take the distilled principles that I'd gotten from all of these thousands of hours of working with people and teach people simple tools to organize and to get out of their own way, their own overwhelm, to break through really the emotional blocks and the confusion and overwhelm to actually start organizing.
00:08:26.800 -->
00:08:36.480And it just made more sense to me to do it online so that everyone in the class could be in their own homes doing the work in the sessions.
00:08:36.639 -->
00:08:52.799Um, and so that transformed over time um to be doing what I'm doing now, um, because over time, um, sidebar, I know this isn't answering your question about community management, but this is how I went online.
00:08:52.960 -->
00:08:53.919So anyway.
00:08:54.159 -->
00:09:07.279Um but um and and when I started teaching online, I had um gotten involved with Infusion Soft, a back-end system that I had learned about because I was starting to learn about teaching online.
00:09:07.759 -->
00:09:10.480And so they were like, you have to have a CRM.
00:09:10.799 -->
00:09:16.000Um, and Infusion Soft at the time was kind of the number one.
00:09:16.240 -->
00:09:16.480Yeah.
00:09:16.639 -->
00:09:18.960So I thought, oh my gosh, things are going so well.
00:09:19.120 -->
00:09:20.399I have to get the best.
00:09:20.639 -->
00:09:23.759Um, and I was actually with Infusion Soft for 10 years.
00:09:23.919 -->
00:09:26.240I've now been with System for almost three.
00:09:26.799 -->
00:09:30.960Um, and I never used most of their features.
00:09:31.120 -->
00:09:34.559I really wasn't an online entrepreneur, I was just teaching online.
00:09:34.879 -->
00:09:42.879It's with System now that I've started to do some online things, uh, like ads and funnels and that kind of thing.
00:09:43.039 -->
00:09:49.360Um, but whatever kind of business you have, it's important to have a way to charge your customers.
00:09:49.440 -->
00:09:53.200That your customer buys something, they get an email right away.
00:09:53.360 -->
00:09:58.159There's a thank you page after their card is processed.
00:09:58.320 -->
00:10:11.440You know, these are basic things that, you know, when I talk to beginner clients, a lot of them have uh have had businessers or or been charging people for many years, but they don't even have that really simple thing set up.
00:10:11.679 -->
00:10:17.039And it's not to throw shade at them for not having it, but it just makes it so much harder for them.
00:10:17.279 -->
00:10:27.039So the reason that I started with Infusion Soft even before I was making six figures was because the idea was that it would be easy.
00:10:27.200 -->
00:10:32.159It would be easy to scale, it'd be easy to grow to not have to think about all these little things.
00:10:32.320 -->
00:10:40.159And that's really the idea of any CRM with a million bajillion more things that you can, you know, do if you want to.
00:10:40.240 -->
00:10:49.919But the basic idea is that you can automate simple things like a customer purchasing something and then getting the information or the access to a course that they need.
00:10:50.639 -->
00:10:51.919Okay, okay, yeah.
00:10:52.080 -->
00:11:00.960And so you you were a professional organizer, and then uh when did you segue into being like a leadership coach here, where you all those principles and you distilled it?
00:11:01.039 -->
00:11:06.960Like what was that catalyst year that kind of shifted into being a coach for business leaders?
00:11:07.519 -->
00:11:23.519So I actually went through a very dark time uh myself personally, um, where I had started to build a lot of business success, and actually I was making more uh than anyone I knew per hour.
00:11:23.679 -->
00:11:30.720I went from earning$40 an hour to$275 an hour, you know, over a decade ago.
00:11:30.879 -->
00:11:39.600Um, but it started to really highlight the difference of, you know, I was like, wait a minute, I just kind of out of nowhere was able to build business success.
00:11:39.919 -->
00:11:47.120But that deep dream that I'd had all those years of having a foreign husband and children, I couldn't do it.
00:11:47.200 -->
00:11:49.279Um, I could not make it happen.
00:11:49.360 -->
00:11:55.840And here I was helping all my clients achieve, you know, these wild goals of whatever it was.
00:11:56.000 -->
00:12:01.840And so I went through this period where I kind of shut down and I was gonna give up completely.
00:12:02.399 -->
00:12:06.480Um and I was like, well, I just can't leave a mess behind.
00:12:06.559 -->
00:12:20.399You know, I had helped so many people with estate cleanings, I knew that the effect on the family going through an estate cleaning is often many, many, many times more difficult than the actual death of the person.
00:12:20.480 -->
00:12:23.039It's super intimate, super overwhelming.
00:12:23.200 -->
00:12:27.519You know, we don't think about how much stuff we have, but we have a lot, every single one of us.
00:12:27.679 -->
00:12:36.639Um and to think about someone else, whether it's a stranger or your family member, going through every single thing, I was like, I don't want that for my family.
00:12:36.879 -->
00:12:43.919So I started doing that for myself, going through everything, making those delayed decisions, right?
00:12:44.080 -->
00:12:45.360And it was really hard.
00:12:45.519 -->
00:12:50.799And you know, before it had been easy helping others do it, but for myself, of course, it was harder.
00:12:50.960 -->
00:12:56.720Um, and and that that whole process was what got me interested in neuroscience and psychology.
00:12:56.960 -->
00:13:00.080Um, and I started learning a lot more about all this stuff.
00:13:00.320 -->
00:13:09.919Um, but because I was in this like, I don't care period, and I wasn't looking for clients, I wasn't in a like, I have to get clients, I have to grow my business.
00:13:10.080 -->
00:13:17.279I was really just kind of pulled back and doing my own thing, which little did I know was really changing my identity.
00:13:17.600 -->
00:13:26.960And people started reaching out to me who were business owners of much bigger businesses, they weren't people looking for hoarders, you know, for help with hoarders.
00:13:27.360 -->
00:13:40.799Somehow, as my identity changed as someone who like didn't care, um, but was also cleaning up the clutter of the past of my life, I was making it possible for me to be in a new future.
00:13:41.039 -->
00:13:42.960And so people started reaching out to me.
00:13:43.039 -->
00:13:43.919They were business owners.
00:13:44.080 -->
00:13:45.039Oh, I heard about you.
00:13:45.200 -->
00:13:47.840They would often say they heard about me from people I didn't even know.
00:13:48.000 -->
00:13:49.919I was like, oh, great, you know.
00:13:50.240 -->
00:13:57.600Um and um, and and they were owners of in the beginning, really seven-figure business owners.
00:13:57.840 -->
00:14:17.279And when I started working with them, I was like, okay, so I started working um with a few, and I realized that it was the very same principles because when you're working with people who kind of are in their own way, and many of them did have at what at the time it was all ADD, it wasn't ADHD.
00:14:17.519 -->
00:14:33.120Um but um some of them said, you know, I have ADD and I heard that you could help me, and I realized it was those very same principles, you know, hoarding is a very extreme case of something of being in your own way, not being able to make decisions.
00:14:33.360 -->
00:14:45.840But ultimately, I was helping them do the very exact same thing of achieve goals, of handle all those details that were overwhelming, of clarify what they were trying to do, and then ultimately achieve it.
00:14:46.000 -->
00:15:08.720And I have a number of pretty impressive uh transformation of business owners, some of whom people have heard of, um, where they were doing what they were doing, and then after a work together, they were able to really explode, you know, what they were doing because things were automated, they were clear, they weren't in their own way, you know, all of all of that.
00:15:09.200 -->
00:15:09.519Okay.
00:15:09.919 -->
00:15:11.200Wow, that's phenomenal.
00:15:11.279 -->
00:15:13.120I'm like, okay, when can I book you?
00:15:13.360 -->
00:15:16.000Um 41 diagnosed with ADHD.
00:15:16.480 -->
00:15:17.279Book a call.
00:15:17.519 -->
00:15:18.399Yeah, exactly.
00:15:18.559 -->
00:15:27.279I I was diagnosed with ADHD at 41, and um, I can definitely see how your work is definitely transforming people and helping people.
00:15:27.519 -->
00:15:34.320So let's talk about the back end and how you're using you, you know, you shifted from um that software infusion software to system.
00:15:35.039 -->
00:15:40.000How is system helping you operate in this business, the CEO rise?
00:15:40.960 -->
00:15:51.600So most of the work that I do, it's in a way, I'm still I'm moving out of that, but I'm still in the situation that I was in where I'm really serving clients very, very deeply.
00:15:51.759 -->
00:16:02.799I'm not doing massive scaling, um, which I'm interested in, but I've always come from a, you know, each customer is super important perspective.
00:16:02.960 -->
00:16:22.720My grandmother was a self-taught entrepreneur, um, and she had the number one uh jewelry store where she had no experience with that, but she became a jewelry designer and own a jewelry store owner, um, an immigrant in this country, and you know, learning English taught herself everything.
00:16:23.039 -->
00:16:25.120And how did she become number one?
00:16:25.200 -->
00:16:35.840The mayor went to her of Indianapolis because you know, she gave great customer service and um she was known for, you know, she would make the customer happy.
00:16:36.080 -->
00:16:42.639Um and so that's more the philosophy that I come from than you know, massive scaling.
00:16:42.879 -->
00:16:47.679So my business is still much more around actual customer experiences.
00:16:47.840 -->
00:17:04.799We meet live, my sessions are live because live accountability for people who struggle with overwhelm and um you know clutter, not moving forward on their dreams, not launching that program, not sending that email, not sending that proposal, that's my specialty, right?
00:17:05.039 -->
00:17:07.599And and live support, there's just nothing like it.
00:17:07.759 -->
00:17:18.960And there's it's great to have accountability partnerships and all of that, but you know, I call myself the Jewish Mother Dominatrix because you're gonna do it if you want to, and you're in my world.
00:17:19.119 -->
00:17:21.599Oh honey, we're doing it.
00:17:21.920 -->
00:17:30.960So um, but see uh the CRM side of it, so we have you know automated um the ability to send emails.
00:17:31.119 -->
00:17:37.759I don't really use CRMs uh in the way that they're capable of being used with a lot of you know decision diamonds.
00:17:37.839 -->
00:17:40.079If someone has this tag, send them this email.
00:17:40.240 -->
00:17:42.160If they haven't done this, do that.
00:17:42.240 -->
00:17:50.799Like there's a lot of capabilities about CRMs that I definitely understand, but I don't take advantage of because that's just not how my business is.
00:17:51.039 -->
00:17:55.599However, in the last uh couple of years, I've started toying with ads.
00:17:55.680 -->
00:18:21.039I've learned a lot more about ads, and I'm in the process of meeting new people and offering them things and have been, I have one funnel built out with, you know, order bump, upsell, downsell, um, so that you know, there's more opportunities to increase the, you know, uh how much the client is paying when they meet you to offset your cost of um of the ads.
00:18:21.200 -->
00:18:28.319So that's something that I'm I'm new to, um, but that's something that a CRM is absolutely key to being able to do.
00:18:28.559 -->
00:18:36.880And I don't know about now, but you know, not all CRMs offered uh order bumps, upsells, down sales, not everyone did.
00:18:36.960 -->
00:18:40.400I can't speak for every CRM, but System definitely does.
00:18:40.720 -->
00:18:45.519And um, because of that, I've been able to learn and start tinkering with that.
00:18:45.839 -->
00:18:46.160Okay.
00:18:46.480 -->
00:18:49.039And uh you're mentioning the upsells and downsells.
00:18:49.119 -->
00:18:54.079Would you be willing to show the back end of your dashboard showing us one of these funnels that you've uh built out with System?
00:18:54.480 -->
00:18:55.359Yeah, sure.
00:18:55.519 -->
00:18:58.640Um, I only have one that's fully built out like that.
00:18:58.799 -->
00:19:03.839Let me share screen here that is fully built out like that.
00:19:04.000 -->
00:19:08.319So this is the ADHD Entrepreneurs Kitchen Reset.
00:19:08.799 -->
00:19:14.240Um, and so you can see, so I'll open the um the page here.
00:19:14.640 -->
00:19:22.480Um and this is uh the page and system really is great.
00:19:22.720 -->
00:19:27.759Um, for this is me on uh recording by data live that I was just mentioning.
00:19:28.480 -->
00:19:35.759Um and so you know, building out the page is something that takes effort uh as well.
00:19:36.400 -->
00:19:40.799So you have the page and then there's the upsell page.
00:19:40.880 -->
00:19:51.519So this is something that you're offering them that is a great uh um, you know, they can add this to their order or they can skip it, right?
00:19:51.759 -->
00:19:57.920So I'm sure most of us have gone through some kind of process where they're like, but wait, would you like to do this?
00:19:58.000 -->
00:20:00.880This will make your experience so much better.
00:20:01.519 -->
00:20:06.319Um now at the time I was also offering another upsell.
00:20:06.480 -->
00:20:10.720Um, so you can do as many upsells as you want here.
00:20:10.880 -->
00:20:13.039Um, this one actually doesn't have a downsell.
00:20:13.119 -->
00:20:15.200That's something that I'm just learning about right now.
00:20:15.440 -->
00:20:18.640But so basically, you know, there's the sales page.
00:20:18.880 -->
00:20:23.759Um you can offer an upsell where it's like, would you like to add this?
00:20:23.920 -->
00:20:25.519Would you like to add this?
00:20:25.920 -->
00:20:28.240Would you like to add this, right?
00:20:28.400 -->
00:20:29.519Would you like to add this?
00:20:29.680 -->
00:20:40.079Now, some people get annoyed with them, but um, you know, I'm learning more um about online entrepreneurship of uh reaching cold audiences.
00:20:40.400 -->
00:20:51.200And even if people don't buy your upsells, which ideally they do, like I said, because they're paying more, but ideally they're getting a much better experience, they're still learning about your offers.
00:20:51.279 -->
00:20:59.920They're learning it, you know, having upsells as a way to teach people about different things you offer, where someone might be like, oh my gosh, you're you're doing a live event in Manhattan.
00:21:00.079 -->
00:21:00.640That's cool.
00:21:00.799 -->
00:21:04.799Oh my gosh, available that day, but like I'm gonna keep this in mind for the future.
00:21:04.880 -->
00:21:13.839Or they're like, oh my gosh, I'm free, like I'm coming, you know, where they were just meeting you to learn how to clean their kitchen in a compassionate way, you know.
00:21:15.519 -->
00:21:25.759And then you can also, like I was saying, do down cells, which I'm only just learning about right now, where someone maybe doesn't want this, you can say, okay, if you don't want that, what about if you did this?
00:21:25.839 -->
00:21:33.920And the down cell could be the same thing for a smaller price, or it could be a smaller version um of what you're what you're offering.
00:21:34.240 -->
00:21:38.480So uh yeah, and then at the end, you know, there's the thank you page.
00:21:38.640 -->
00:21:43.599Um, and and system has a cool thing where let me see if this one has it on it.
00:21:43.759 -->
00:21:54.480Um no, this one doesn't, uh, because this is an older, we worked on this in the back, but um where you um can see what you uh paid for it.
00:21:54.720 -->
00:22:01.200It's just something that you add on uh to the thank you page and it shows your paid, which I think is great.
00:22:01.519 -->
00:22:07.119You know, most things that I've purchased online, it just says thank you.
00:22:07.279 -->
00:22:15.680It doesn't, and sometimes, you know, you've gone through the the um upsells and you've added things, and then you're like, wait, how much did I just pay for this thing?
00:22:15.839 -->
00:22:18.480And sometimes there's a delay waiting for the receipt.
00:22:18.559 -->
00:22:22.799And as someone with ADHD myself, I can be like, oh my gosh, what what did I just do?
00:22:23.039 -->
00:22:29.920You know, so it's it's great to be able to see what you paid right there on the thank you page, and that is something that System offered.
00:22:30.160 -->
00:22:42.640And so, and something that's great that System has that not all pages have is that you can add to the thank you page what the total cost of their order was, um, and they can see what they actually purchased.
00:22:42.720 -->
00:22:52.400And as someone with ADHD myself, and I buy things online and I buy upsells, and sometimes there's a delay getting the uh receipt, and then I'm like, wait, what did I just buy?
00:22:52.480 -->
00:22:53.200Did it go through?
00:22:53.279 -->
00:22:53.680I don't know.
00:22:53.839 -->
00:23:00.319And so having that right there on the thank you page, what you purchase, it's like okay, good, I'm good.
00:23:00.640 -->
00:23:15.200Oh yeah, that's that instantaneous of like, okay, it's gratification, but also okay, knowledge, bank that away, make sure I can file that because yeah, and you know, we get that whole like girl math and we forget that we order something five days ago and it pops up, and we're like, what was that for?
00:23:15.440 -->
00:23:16.640So I appreciate that as well.
00:23:16.880 -->
00:23:28.240And it's also good to take a thank you, to take a screenshot of the thank you page, because sometimes I've had I have had issues with online, you know, people I don't know, the whole point of ads, right?
00:23:28.319 -->
00:23:34.240Of meeting code cold audiences, where I said, you know, I purchased this and they were like, we don't have a record of that.
00:23:34.319 -->
00:23:40.079And luckily I had a screenshot of the thank you page, and they were like, oh my gosh, let us find your order.
00:23:40.480 -->
00:23:40.880Yeah.
00:23:41.200 -->
00:23:41.920Okay, yeah.
00:23:42.079 -->
00:23:47.519That's very helpful as well, being able to use that as like a documentation support ticket system.
00:23:47.839 -->
00:23:53.920Um, I I'm all about documentation and being able to track your steps through that customer journey.
00:23:54.079 -->
00:24:01.359Now, there's also something else that you mentioned about like the lifetime value and leaning into that customer service of using something like System.
00:24:02.079 -->
00:24:15.759And can you talk about how you're able to retain clients to create such a high lifetime value for your um, you know, clients, your customers, and ultimately the people you care about working with?
00:24:16.319 -->
00:24:33.759Yeah, my I have, as every coach I've ever worked with, I'm really big into hiring coaches because being around people who know more than us, I think is really important, as well as having the support, but the ability to learn from people who've gone before us and have done it.
00:24:34.079 -->
00:24:58.079And um, you know, I I am into Alex Hormosy and Layla Hormosy, and I've seen inner or you know, uh their events that they do at acquisition.com where people are talking about their lifetime value of a customer, um, and sometimes they're$69 or$47 or$80.
00:24:59.119 -->
00:25:03.839And the lifetime, the average lifetime value of my customer is around$6,000.
00:25:04.799 -->
00:25:09.599I don't have a huge audience space, but I take really good care of my customers.
00:25:09.680 -->
00:25:16.640I give them great value, and they are able to continue to get value from the work that I offer.
00:25:16.720 -->
00:25:29.279Um, the average client has been with me for seven years, not because it doesn't work, but because, for example, in my program house have done my signature program, shameless, uh, shameless mention right there.
00:25:29.519 -->
00:25:38.319Um, you know, people are at whatever point they're at and they're like, oh, I need to declutter this or I need to get my taxes in order.
00:25:38.400 -->
00:25:41.119It's a huge thing that I help my clients with.
00:25:41.359 -->
00:25:46.240And they're really stressed and overwhelmed, and they think, let me join the program and just handle this.
00:25:46.400 -->
00:25:51.359But then they do that, much to their own surprise, usually much faster than they thought.
00:25:51.519 -->
00:25:54.640Not always, sometimes it's more complicated than they thought.
00:25:54.799 -->
00:25:59.119And then they think, like, well, now I kind of want to do this other thing.
00:25:59.279 -->
00:26:04.240And having the live accountability and support is what keeps people there.
00:26:04.480 -->
00:26:11.039I pay attention to people when people say, Oh, I'm working on this, or I have to finish because I'm going on vacation.
00:26:11.200 -->
00:26:12.880I teach my programs live.
00:26:12.960 -->
00:26:18.160So when they come back, I mean, there is an online component that they can go through on their own time.
00:26:18.480 -->
00:26:23.119Um, whenever they want, they can use the sessions that are recorded.
00:26:23.440 -->
00:26:28.240Um, but when they come back, I say, like, oh, how was your vacation, Holly?
00:26:28.480 -->
00:26:30.160You know, and that matters.
00:26:30.319 -->
00:26:33.920You know, I've learned a lot about, you know, paying attention to people.
00:26:34.079 -->
00:26:45.279If you read the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, the number one book besides the Bible that ever sold, um, you know, it that one and you know, think and grow rich.
00:26:45.359 -->
00:26:54.720Like, they're about like both of those are about, you know, clarity, having good relationships with your customers, with people, right?
00:26:54.960 -->
00:27:04.960And I think a lot of the the modern way of influencers and this and that is to not really have relationships with your customers.
00:27:05.119 -->
00:27:15.920I was just watching Mark Manson, who I think is really brilliant, and I watched his video and he was talking about the science behind being the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
00:27:16.240 -->
00:27:17.680And it was so sad.
00:27:17.759 -->
00:27:23.680There were like 56 comments, and most of them were, well, what if I spend all my time alone?
00:27:23.920 -->
00:27:32.079You know, and it's like people aren't really getting the interactivity, the important human connection that they need.
00:27:32.240 -->
00:27:41.599So with all of this, you know, I'm a 20-year-old YouTuber with 20 million subscribers making a gazillion dollars a day, like that's great.
00:27:41.680 -->
00:27:43.039But a couple things happen.
00:27:43.200 -->
00:27:50.720One, people feel like their business sucks because they're only making$80,000 a year and like they can only feed their family.
00:27:50.960 -->
00:27:54.160Hello, like that matters, you know.
00:27:54.480 -->
00:27:54.960It does.
00:27:55.200 -->
00:28:08.720Um, but also, you know, the whole idea of what a successful business is has been totally blown out of proportion because I think a lot of people are going for the volume when they don't even have the backend set up.
00:28:08.799 -->
00:28:14.079They can't even, you know, look at a customer's profile, like, oh my gosh, you didn't get the email.
00:28:14.160 -->
00:28:15.839Oh my gosh, the email wanted to spam.
00:28:16.000 -->
00:28:17.279Let me resend you that email.
00:28:17.359 -->
00:28:21.599Like there's so many missing pieces of actually caring about the customers.
00:28:21.759 -->
00:28:25.039Um and so no one wants to feel like just a number.
00:28:25.279 -->
00:28:31.440And so in a lot of these programs, you know, it's all on the customer to do all of the work themselves.
00:28:31.599 -->
00:28:34.079There's not, in a lot of them, there's not a live component.
00:28:34.240 -->
00:28:37.920Sometimes there is, but um, it's with massive volume.
00:28:38.079 -->
00:28:45.440Um, and I think especially for people with ADHD like ourselves, um, it's important to feel like somebody cares.
00:28:45.519 -->
00:29:11.759You know, I think that's true of every human, but it's important to feel like somebody cares and somebody understands, you know, how hard it can be for us, like the the negative spirals that we have to get out of, like you were saying, you have to get out of that, take your kids to school, show up, do a podcast, like you know, while while simultaneously perhaps not saying that you are, but like dealing with like deep overwhelm that day, you know.
00:29:11.920 -->
00:29:25.359So having the live component helps people really um do the things in a way that works for them because they feel seen and understood and supported, and all of a sudden they go to the task and they can fly.
00:29:25.680 -->
00:29:26.240Yes.
00:29:26.480 -->
00:29:27.039I love that.
00:29:27.200 -->
00:29:30.160I love how you say they can fly because that's that's that's it.
00:29:30.240 -->
00:29:33.359It feels like you're chained to the ground and you can't move forward.
00:29:33.519 -->
00:29:36.559And you give them that the wind and their wings to keep going.
00:29:36.720 -->
00:29:38.000I appreciate that.
00:29:38.319 -->
00:29:46.480So as we um kind of land the plane here, uh, because you got to go coach, you gotta go be live with those um students and the customers.
00:29:46.640 -->
00:29:50.960Uh, I'd love to know what is the gift that all of this has given you?
00:29:51.119 -->
00:29:52.079Entrepreneurship.
00:29:52.240 -->
00:29:54.240What is the gift that it's given you?
00:29:55.279 -->
00:29:59.759I mean, as they say, entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart.
00:30:00.000 -->
00:30:01.839Um, it is hard.
00:30:02.480 -->
00:30:06.480It is um constantly teaching you new things.
00:30:06.640 -->
00:30:22.240Like I never thought that I would have to learn that if your DNS record for your email isn't properly properly set up or there's a tech glitch, your emails are going into promotions or spam, and then you wonder why people aren't opening your emails.
00:30:22.400 -->
00:30:28.079Like there's so much behind the scenes that I think can feel intimidating to people.
00:30:28.480 -->
00:30:39.920But I guess I would say two things for kind of the takeaway of the program or of this of this interview is number one, start with one thing and build it out.
00:30:40.000 -->
00:30:46.480Like if you want to have a funnel or you want to have one offer, forget all the upsells and downsells and order bumps.
00:30:46.559 -->
00:30:48.160Like you can add those later.
00:30:48.319 -->
00:30:50.000You don't have to worry about those.
00:30:50.160 -->
00:30:52.480The number one thing I teach my clients, right?
00:30:52.720 -->
00:30:58.880Hashtag ADHD is to break their their projects into tiny, tiny doable tasks, right?
00:30:58.960 -->
00:31:01.279You've heard it before, but people don't do it.
00:31:01.359 -->
00:31:03.599So people are like, I can't build that whole thing.
00:31:03.680 -->
00:31:11.039And it's like, right, because you don't even have a way to build, you know, an automated email or a direct email.
00:31:11.200 -->
00:31:12.880I send direct emails all the time.
00:31:12.960 -->
00:31:15.200You know, mine aren't pre-scheduled.
00:31:15.279 -->
00:31:16.559I don't even do that, right?
00:31:16.720 -->
00:31:19.839Many, many online entrepreneurs, it's all automated.
00:31:20.000 -->
00:31:21.759I'm sending a direct email most of the time.
00:31:21.920 -->
00:31:23.599I know it's not efficient, but you know what?
00:31:23.759 -->
00:31:26.000That works for me and my business right now.
00:31:26.160 -->
00:31:38.480And so what I say on my website, I really, really mean this from the bottom of my heart, you know, is um is are you ready to defy the odds and grow your business your weird and wild way?
00:31:38.720 -->
00:31:54.000And it's like that really, like when we can own that um we are maybe not thinking the way other people are, we're struggling thing with things that are different, doesn't mean that we can't still succeed.
00:31:54.160 -->
00:31:58.640It's just that we have to learn how we need it to be for us to do it.
00:31:59.039 -->
00:32:01.279Um, so that's one I'm gonna say three.
00:32:01.440 -->
00:32:03.039Number two, get help.
00:32:03.200 -->
00:32:09.200You know, I tell all my clients hire an assistant, a virtual assistant, two hours a week.
00:32:09.359 -->
00:32:11.759I don't care who you are, two hours a week.
00:32:11.839 -->
00:32:19.200You can find someone in another country where paying them three, five dollars an hour really makes a difference to them if that's all you can afford.
00:32:19.440 -->
00:32:28.720But having that consistency and learning to delegate, learning to understand what you do and explain it to someone else is absolutely invaluable.
00:32:29.039 -->
00:32:29.440Yeah.
00:32:29.680 -->
00:32:31.599And and and that can grow from there.
00:32:31.759 -->
00:32:37.039And that you know, that person, whether it's them or someone else, you can grow and you say, okay, here's the things I need done.
00:32:37.200 -->
00:32:44.880You learn how to build SOPs to standard operating procedures by by practicing with very little things.
00:32:44.960 -->
00:32:46.880That's how you grow in your skill.
00:32:47.119 -->
00:32:49.279Um, and number three, don't wait.
00:32:49.359 -->
00:32:55.519You know, they always say, and they've been saying for a long time, there's never been an easier time to come online.
00:32:55.680 -->
00:33:00.640But whether come online or start your business that's brick and mortar, it really doesn't matter.
00:33:00.799 -->
00:33:08.799Um, or you want to have children, or you want to take that trip you've always wanted to do, just in life, don't wait, right?
00:33:08.960 -->
00:33:17.680Don't wait because you didn't even look at the price of tickets, you didn't even put it into, you know, Google Flights or Skyscanner.
00:33:17.839 -->
00:33:20.720Like just do that first thing and look at what it is.
00:33:20.799 -->
00:33:21.759You might be surprised.
00:33:21.920 -->
00:33:37.200I've done this with so many clients where literally it was helping them lose weight, it was helping them go on a dream trip, and they hadn't felt capable because the whole thing felt so huge, they didn't even look at the price of the ticket, right?
00:33:37.359 -->
00:33:43.039Or they didn't even, you know, I don't know, look at their schedule when they could walk for 20 minutes, right?
00:33:43.119 -->
00:33:47.119So it's like, don't wait, look for the tiniest thing you can do and do that.
00:33:47.279 -->
00:33:54.079Because once you've done that, especially if it's something you've been avoiding, you will be different by virtue of having done that.
00:33:54.240 -->
00:33:56.799So don't wait the tiniest thing you can.
00:33:56.960 -->
00:33:59.119And as I say, let's go.
00:34:00.319 -->
00:34:03.200I I mean that's full circle from the very beginning of the interview.
00:34:03.279 -->
00:34:08.320You said clutter is just delayed decisions all the way to right here.
00:34:08.480 -->
00:34:09.920Let's stop waiting.
00:34:10.239 -->
00:34:15.039And if someone is ready to fly, how can they find you after this interview?
00:34:15.360 -->
00:34:19.119So my website is ceorise.com.
00:34:19.920 -->
00:34:22.960And they can come, they can join a single session.
00:34:23.039 -->
00:34:24.239I can give you the link.
00:34:24.400 -->
00:34:29.280Um they can check out uh a session in House of Dunn.
00:34:29.440 -->
00:34:43.519As of the recording of this workshop, I have a uh of this, as of the recording of this podcast, I have a workshop coming up called Finally Do the Thing workshop, very on-brand for everything we've been talking about.
00:34:43.760 -->
00:34:46.079Um, and they can get an early bird.
00:34:46.239 -->
00:35:01.760It's three intense hours with myself and my community, where you're gonna learn a lot of things that include neuroscience, psychology that I've been working on for you know two day over two decades, and you're gonna be amazed how much you actually get done right there in the workshop.
00:35:01.920 -->
00:35:04.320So highly encourage you to check that out.
00:35:04.400 -->
00:35:06.239Um, finally do the thing workshop.
00:35:06.320 -->
00:35:12.320I'll give you the link, Holly, and you can always check out my website, um, CEORise.com.
00:35:12.880 -->
00:35:13.920Awesome, awesome.
00:35:14.079 -->
00:35:19.920And uh just because I want people to know, can you put a little plug for your nonprofit um and community center here?
00:35:20.239 -->
00:35:21.440I'd be glad to.
00:35:21.519 -->
00:35:27.119Um, my husband and I, my husband is from, you know, that that foreign husband I mentioned.
00:35:27.199 -->
00:35:32.639I did meet him, um, had the children, and uh he's from Cartagena, Colombia.
00:35:32.960 -->
00:35:43.599And when my business really started growing, um, and I did cross six figures and more, I was able to um, you know, we felt very, very grateful.
00:35:43.760 -->
00:35:58.400And so we started an initiative in 2000, uh October 1st, 2020, of just delivering meals, uh, um, of delivering groceries to people who were hit hard by the pandemic and really didn't have any way to feed their families.
00:35:58.639 -->
00:36:00.000And over time that grew.
00:36:00.079 -->
00:36:04.000And in 2022, we formally established our charity.
00:36:04.159 -->
00:36:07.199I'll um just pull it up real quick so people can see it.
00:36:07.440 -->
00:36:12.000Um, it's called Cultivar Cartagena, Cultivate Uh Cartagena.
00:36:12.480 -->
00:36:27.360Um, and and I can't guarantee it everywhere in the world, but speaking of SEO, most places in the world, uh, if you put um a charity, uh Cartagena, Colombia, uh, we do come up as number one.
00:36:27.440 -->
00:36:29.280So like I said, highly recommend.
00:36:29.599 -->
00:36:34.960Um, and yeah, we are in the process of actually building a community center uh right now.
00:36:35.199 -->
00:36:41.760So um we um provide meals to people, we do meals on wheels for seniors.
00:36:41.840 -->
00:36:57.199Um, we have the opportunity to sponsor a family so that they get um meals, uh, you know, groceries every week and um music lessons, English lessons were gonna be providing financial literacy.
00:36:57.519 -->
00:37:18.239So um it's it's really exciting, and all of that was made possible by just continuing to focus on doing what I was doing, serve the customer as best I could, um, and you know, allow people to come to me and continuing to make it easier for myself along the way allows more people to come and have a good experience.
00:37:18.400 -->
00:37:23.679So can't recommend starting today to do that thing you've been holding off on.
00:37:24.559 -->
00:37:34.159Well, Leia, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your uh success story over 20 years of being um, I guess, doing the thing, as you just said.
00:37:34.880 -->
00:37:36.719Thank you so much for having me, Holly.
00:37:36.800 -->
00:37:37.920It's been a pleasure.
00:37:38.239 -->
00:37:38.719All right.
00:37:38.960 -->
00:37:43.920And for everyone listening, thank you for um joining us in another success story with system.io.
00:37:44.159 -->
00:37:45.920And until next time, keep creating.
