One of the best ways to get inspired is to learn from others’ successes. That’s why in my Elevate online training program, we spotlight one of our Premier members during our member Monthly Access Calls.
Elevate Coaches James Roche, Joy Chudacoff, and I select and interview one Elevate Premier member who is making great strides with the program.
Some successes are large, some small, but it’s all about taking steps forward and making progress.
Today, you’ll meet Elevate Premier member Wendy Darling, owner of Thumbprints International, LLC (www.YourThumbprint.com and www.LovingLean.com). She was our spotlight on our January 2013 call.
Enjoy our quick interview with Wendy below, and be sure to take notes. There are several golden nuggets you can apply to YOUR business right away!
James: Hi, Wendy.
Wendy: What an amazing treat to be able to be in the spotlight today.
James: Well, we’re happy to have you here. Tell us, first of all, about the business just briefly, and then we want to move right into some of these recent results you’re getting.
Wendy: My business is Thumbprints International. I refer to myself as a life healing coach, and where I focus now is I have a process and program called Loving Yourself Lean, because I have found truly the secret to permanent weight loss.
When I first started, I started Elevate last January, I was in a starting over mode. Even though I have 30 years of business experience, both as a coach and a consultant, a management consultant, I really wasn’t sure where to position myself.
I did the lessons. It didn’t take me long to figure out I just wasn’t making the progress I needed to make and investing in myself. The swimmer swim time, I needed to do something different. I actually made the decision to invest in myself even more and in Premier. I think that was the first step.
James: Wendy, talk about now some of the specific things that you implemented and what were the results of those.
Wendy: Yeah, I think the first thing that really helped and working with James in my Premier group was to get my focus. As I said, I could go in a lot of different directions, and unfortunately, that was interfering with me making progress. I tease James because he’s now the voice in my head. After our first group meeting, he’s like, “You are focusing on Loving Yourself Lean, right?” Because Loving Yourself Lean was actually what he refers to as my lowest-hanging fruit. I used my own process to transform my own weight, and people were showing up around that. Let’s face it. There’s a lot of opportunity out there, so that was the first thing.
Also, putting just a little bit more structure in place about the steps I needed to take. Not big steps, but small steps. The first thing was I really had to get out more. I was one of those people that was really hesitant, and I like people. I love people, but there was something resisting actually getting out and meeting people.
Because I didn’t have my website up. I didn’t have a lot of things in place. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say, even though I had already started working with people with weight issues. The real gift was just getting out and using that almost like research. Noticing what people were responding to, noticing what people were saying or even not saying to me.
I was getting a lot of immediate feedback. As soon as I started taking those steps, it was like the waters parted and miracles started happening. I thought…
James: Go ahead.
Wendy: Well, I got invited to an exclusive mastermind meeting with very successful business people. I’ve got to be honest. I was going, “How did I get here?” one of those CEOs actually hired me to coach him. I will say it was not necessarily for my focus, but because he is a CEO of a very large business development program, he has opened a lot of doors for me.
The dominos just kept on going. I even just recently had my first VIP intensive with a woman that’s over 100 pounds overweight. I suggested a two-day. She begged me for three. I thought, “This is a good sign.” It was beyond awesome and transformational.
James: So this is good. How many clients do you have now and where did you start?
Wendy: Yeah, right now I have eight clients with two more starting next month. But what I would like to add is I used to work with people for about three months, but my process has gotten so streamlined that the majority of clients are only working with me for about six weeks now.
If I could just add something that really has made a big, big difference. James suggested that for my opt-in on my Loving Yourself Lean website, he suggested using ME as the opt-in.
I created a little assessment and then the opportunity for people to talk with me. I do not have—I have a list of 950, but that’s a general list. I have a weekly e-mail that’s called “Love Notes for Loving Yourself Lean“, that does go out to that entire list, but maybe about 170 or 180 are actually reading it, which, I have to say, even surprised me in a pleasant way.
I’m not reaching a lot of people, but what I will say I had a teleseminar. I think it was in December and I had seven people on the call, but I converted 80% of them to start working with me. I have a very high conversion rate. My conversion rate, so far, it has exceeded over 80%, which is unusual.
Now, as my numbers of people that I reach expand, which is where I’m taking things next, I’m sure those percentages will change. Maybe not, but…
James: Yeah, this is good. Now, let me say this too that you really developed a really clear funnel. You start with the people having a conversation with you, and then that moves them towards them becoming your client. It’s one of the classic truest ways to pick up new clients is not to get too bogged down with all the web stuff as much as just get conversations going with people directly, especially if you’re a service provider.
That’s what you did and it’s absolutely working. I mean you’re picking up clients on a very steady basis now, and it just keeps growing largely because of that funnel, that directness of they connect with you. They click with you on the phone, and then they hire you. It’s very simple.
Wendy: Yeah, and that’s FOCUS.
James: I was going to say the other thing is that you’ve really now honed in your message from being—it was kind of abstract and kind of all over the place. Now with this: “the secret to permanent weight loss”—that’s really a compelling hook. It’s what the people are looking for.
Also, fine tuning and allowing the market to guide you as to what to say to them to start the conversation really has helped you zero in on getting these kinds of numbers and the amount of people that keep coming to you.
Wendy: Yeah, because way too many people are suffering over this issue. I used to suffer. I’m blessed that I was gifted a way to really get to the root of what’s causing people to be overweight and shift that. It’s beautiful. It’s so gratifying that then people can get on with fulfilling their mission. It’s just been amazing.
James: Well, wonderful, Wendy. Thank you so much for sharing.
Wendy: Well, thank you so much. It’s been—I don’t even have quite the adjective, but I’m really very grateful for so much of what has happened since I’ve joined Elevate.