Episode 15

Expanding her customer base by creating non-1:1 offerings with Kristen Ricupero

Kristen Ricupero, a business and personal financial coach, had more leads coming her way than she could handle. That, coupled with an even larger demand due to covid, led her to create her first signature course, Path to Profitability. Learn how she created a big course, then some smaller offerings after the fact.

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Overcast
Pocket Casts
RSS
YouTube
More

Kristen is a business & personal financial coach & who specializes in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs develop and strengthen their money management skills, eliminate debt, and create cash flow systems to maximize profit and ultimately build wealth. By developing specific action plans that are tailored to each client’s needs, values, and goals, it allows them to live and retire in ways they only thought they could dream. Kristen is a Master Financial Coach, Certified Profit First Coach, and recipient of the Pittsburgh Professional Women 2021 Influential Leadership Award.

Kristen is fueled by her passion to help others succeed, make impact in their communities and become financially free. In her spare time, she is an avid runner and lifter. She lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and two children.

In this episode, Kristen and I discuss:

  • Her first digital product, Path to Profitability
  • How her product is for people who aren’t ready for a 1:1 commitment
  • Building on the Profit First framework, plus mistakes Kristen made
  • The customer transformation
  • What’s next for people who have finished the course, including Kristen’s membership
  • The ladder and Kristen’s philosophy
  • Wanting to serve more people who came along (plus more mistakes Kristen made)
  • How she actually created the course
  • Beta testing and feedback
  • What Kristen learned and what she would have done differently
  • The Small Biz Starter Bundle, plus her ebooks and lead magnets
  • Leveraging an existing book, Profit First
  • What Kristen recommends for people creating their first digital product

Find Kristen and her offerings at financialfitnesscoaching.com and follow her on Instagram.

Continue the conversation in your inbox

Share a link to this episode 👉 https://yfdp.show/ep15

[00:00:00] Rene: Hey everyone. Welcome to Your First Digital Product, a show that helps maxed-out service providers create their first digital product so they can gain an additional income stream, grow their impact without increasing one-on-one work and experience more time freedom. On the show, I talk to business owners who have launched digital products and dig deep into how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. I’m your host, Rene Morozowich. Let’s go.

[00:00:28] Hey everyone. Welcome to the show. I’m here with Kristen Ricupero, and Kristen is a business and personal financial coach who specializes in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs develop and strengthen their money management skills, eliminate debt, and create cash flow systems to maximize profit and ultimately build wealth.

[00:00:49] Ah, I love it. Thank you so much for being here, Kristin.

[00:00:52] Kristen: Yes. Thank you, Rene. I appreciate you having me.

[00:00:55] Rene: Yeah, I’m so excited. I’m going to try not to talk all about just this, like what you actually do, because I do wanna talk about your digital products, but this is a huge interest of mine. Um, but just tell us a little bit about yourself.

[00:01:08] Give us a, give us it, your bio, in your own words, I guess.

[00:01:12] Kristen: Sure. So as you mentioned, I’m a personal and business financial coach. Um, I am married and have two little ones and a puppy dog. And, um, so first and foremost, it’s just my entire business is about helping people. At the end of the day, it’s about making sure that business owners know how to pay themselves.

[00:01:30] It’s about making sure that they remain profitable so that they can grow, so that they can be in business, so that they can have the flexibility and the freedom for their families. So many people get into business for the right reasons, but kind of forget that along the way and end up with less freedom and flexibility than they had going into it.

[00:01:48] And so my entire passion is just around making sure that they have a better life so that they can create a bigger impact so that our kids can get a bigger impact out of it. And all the way trickle down.

[00:01:58] Rene: Yes. Oh, I love it. Oh [00:02:00] my. So, so, so many things and I’ve, I’ve heard those things and experienced those things, um, in my own journey as well.

[00:02:05] Um, yeah, there’s no no sense in doing this if you can’t pay the bills. Like, you know, it’s, it’s, the money part is so important. Yeah. So you work with people individually in groups, um, as I saw on your website, and you have a couple of digital products, and one of those you said is your first product. So tell us about your first digital product.

[00:02:25] Kristen: So the very first one I did, I did the Path to Profitability. Okay. It’s actually my biggest one. I would think that, you know, some people would say that that’s like your like enterprise course or whatever. Um, or flagship, they’ll call it.

[00:02:40] Rene: Signature.

[00:02:41] Kristen: Yes. So I, I didn’t know what I was doing, Rene, when I started. I mean, I was coaching people and I, you know, I was like, well, if I can take what I’m doing with people on the one-to-one and it takes up so much time and all these things, and we go through a lot of the same steps, we have the same framework for a lot of things just to break down.

[00:03:03] I can put this out there as a digital course. And you know, magically you, if you build it, people will come. Is that?

[00:03:09] Rene: Yes?

[00:03:09] Kristen: Yes. what they say? It doesn’t work that way. Right. Yeah. So wa wa wa.

[00:03:14] Rene: Yep. Uh, but

[00:03:15] Kristen: that was my first course and I still have it. Um, it has gotten better and better over time. It’s something, one of the things that I have learned from some of my mentors is that, you, you always have to go back and improve your courses.

[00:03:31] You have to keep them up with the dates and up with the time. So there is, again, no such thing as that truly passive income that we’re all dying to have on that end of it. Um, so I have gone back though. I created that I think about three years ago. Okay. Um, I, it’s gone through several updates, um, as we’ve gone on.

[00:03:48] So every time I update something in what I’m doing with live, uh, whether it’s a group coaching program or with clients, if I have like a better system or a better, um, you know, diagram or something, I pop it into the [00:04:00] course as well.

[00:04:01] Rene: Oh, I love that. Okay. So it’s something that you’re already doing, uh, like you said, live or with groups, and it’s something for is, is this just for another set of clients, maybe people who can’t afford your groups, or maybe people who can’t afford to work on you one on one.

[00:04:13] Is that how it’s, it’s kind of priced in that kind of ladder?

[00:04:17] Kristen: Yes, it is. Okay. It’s definitely for people who aren’t interested or are not in like the right category or the right budgeting area for the one-to-one coaching, um, as well as just a smaller business. If somebody’s looking to, you know, the way that in my mind it goes is if somebody’s a startup, they’re, they’re definitely, they don’t even know what they don’t know yet.

[00:04:36] So it’s a great place to get started. It’s absolutely for, um, a whole different person. It’s, you know, a different business owner than mm-hmm. My one-to-one clients.

[00:04:47] Rene: Okay, great. Tell us, like, so what problem does it solve for people? What is it that they, well tell us like the structure of what it is, like what they’re getting, and then yeah what problem it solves for them.

[00:04:58] Kristen: Sure. So the Path to Profitability, it is. It’s using the framework of Profit First. Right. So I am a certified Profit First professional, and it’s something that people often will read, put the book down, and not go any further. Mm-hmm. Because there needs to be a little more clarification.

[00:05:14] There is always, still systems are awesome. I love systems. That’s exactly what I do with money. But systems need to be tweaked per person, and so people need a little bit more oomph about how can this work for me. So if you are a service-based business or a, you know, a, uh, retail shop or whatever. So the framework, it’s structured to be as, basically, I run it also as a live six week program.

[00:05:39] So it’s structured out to kind of go week by week. Um, in the course, that was one of the mistakes that I made. I had to change that instead of having like a drip set out mm-hmm. so that people couldn’t get further, so they could jump around and get to exactly what they wanted to get to. Because that’s, I think, the difference of when I wasn’t putting myself in this ideal person’s spot [00:06:00] of they have a problem they want addressed immediately. Um, and they might be familiar with Profit First in and of itself. It’s more than Profit First, but we are using the primary framework. Um, and so. I had to make that flip and that change and take it off of the drip. So it is structured as six modules now.

[00:06:19] Um, with Profit First being the main framework, but we also attack the mindset, the goals mm-hmm. and other questions that they need to be really digging through to be a profitable business moving forward.

[00:06:31] Rene: Yeah. That, that sounds, uh, fantastic. And I’ve heard that same thing from other people where they have, you know, created something, what, you know, whatever it is that was meant to be consumed in a linear fashion.

[00:06:43] And people are just not consuming content that way now. Right. They, they have, like you mentioned, a specific problem, a specific question, you know, that needs an answer and they will jump to module four. I, in my mind that’s like, wait, wait, wait. No.

[00:06:57] Kristen: You don’t do that. I know that’s wrong.

[00:06:59] Rene: I have to go through the first three.

[00:07:01] But yes, there are people out there I’ve heard who will just want to jump to module four or whatever, get their question answered and move along their day. So, um, I think that is, uh, really interesting, you know, about adapting something that you do in person for kind of an online, um, space.

[00:07:17] Okay, so what did they do at the end? Right? So they, at the end of the course, they have fully implemented Profit First. They, what is that.

[00:07:25] Kristen: They have. They fully, by the end of the course, they have fully implemented Profit First. They have their numbers in place. They have a plan in place on how to achieve their next goals to achieve what we call their TAPS.

[00:07:36] Um, they also have, you know, questions that they, are, they, well, a step back, they have their personal and business finances separated. That’s something that mm-hmm you know, again, the book doesn’t get into as much detail as something that I do with clients on a one-to-one basis. Mm-hmm. So I had to add a lot there.

[00:07:53] Um, they have questions that they are asking themselves before making purchases. They are digging into their pricing. I have a pricing [00:08:00] module and there is a bonus. Um, so they have all of Profit First in place, but so much more. They are paying themselves on that regular schedule and basis, which is something that needs to be broken down further for somebody compared to what they might just read.

[00:08:16] Mm-hmm. So I feel like I took Profit First and basically will say, put it on steroids. Mm-hmm. Um, into a little bit of like early business coaching in what everybody needs to have.

[00:08:27] Rene: Nice. Nice. And so is there anything, um, you know, just no right or wrong, um, but like anything after, like they finish the course and then do they, can they get on your email list to kind of, I feel like, you know, some of these things we learn and we need to be like reminded of them or something.

[00:08:44] Is there anything like later, you know, yes. Three months, six months, a year later.

[00:08:49] Kristen: So there is, and there always wasn’t. Okay. So, um, this came out of, again, trial and error and, and default, or not doing enough pre-work of asking the right questions to the ideal audience. Right. Um, so what they. They didn’t have, but they have both options now is one, they can jump into my live group program at a fraction of the cost.

[00:09:11] And so they have, they’re armed with the information. They may have already gone through, but now they can get the access to me, they can get the live group coaching calls. They can get our, you know, one-to-ones that I offer within those live, the, the live group. They get to make sure that they’ve done it right or make any adjustments in occurrences throughout so they can start with,

[00:09:30] and this was my intention here of they can financially handle something even smaller. They can make enough room in their budget to understand what they’re doing, to open up, to make a little bit better of an investment into themselves so that they can make greater changes as well. Um, so that is one option that was not always there.

[00:09:50] And I actually get quite a few of those people. They’re like, yeah, you know what? I just need some more accountability with this.

[00:09:55] Rene: Oh!

[00:09:56] Kristen: I thought that I could do this, but I’m a serial course taker. [00:10:00] Yes.

[00:10:00] Rene: Oh, okay.

[00:10:01] Kristen: We all know those people.

[00:10:01] Rene: Yes. Mm-hmm.

[00:10:03] Kristen: The other option is that now they can also join our Financial Fitness Academy membership.

[00:10:08] And so the membership is an ongoing membership for anyone who’s already has the basics of finances. Like they have to have their groundwork and their foundations laid. So it’s for people who have been through my group coaching program for what’s next, for people who have been through the Path to Profitability.

[00:10:27] And even my one-to-one clients sometimes will go into that as like, I just wanna maintain some level of growth, accountability, have you access to ask questions. And so in that, there’s monthly live masterclasses on all sorts of financial topics with financial experts. And, um, I have open office hours and I have huge plans for that to grow.

[00:10:48] Um, but I recently just added that maybe six months ago.

[00:10:52] Rene: I love that. I love this ladder. Um, but not only just the ladder of like what you are offering, um, but that you have the, the people, your, you know, your, your customers and potential clients in mind of their ability to afford,

[00:11:08] you know, these services and greater, greater things. So I just think that’s like, that’s perfect. Like I, I just think that’s amazing.

[00:11:15] Kristen: I think it’s probably, I mean, it’s in my mind obviously quite a bit with what I do because one of the things I’m always coaching people too is we have to do what we can do when we can do it.

[00:11:24] Sometimes that’s DIY, sometimes it’s hiring coach, sometimes it’s done for you services. Um, but different phases of our business and our life, we have different, you know, affordability options that make the most sense for where we’re at. And so I like to be able to offer a little bit of something to everyone, um, and that will help them no matter what.

[00:11:46] Rene: Right, right. Yes, yes. I love it. I love it. So, okay, so tell us, you mentioned, you kind of hinted at, uh, this was, uh, maybe, uh, you took off maybe more than you can chew at the, at the beginning. So what, what [00:12:00] problems did you have whenever you created like, Why did you want to create one? Like just one day you were like, I need a course, or like, where did that come from?

[00:12:07] And then, yeah, what obstacles did you run into along the way?

[00:12:11] Kristen: Yeah, so I mean, it came from not being able to serve all the people that were coming my way. Um, some were not good financial fits as far as where they were in their business. Again, they were like more of a startup. Um, and I just, everybody gets to make the choices about what they invest in.

[00:12:26] I believe that people invest in what they value and what they believe, but not everybody feels comfortable with that as well. So I wanted to have something on that lower level. Um, I definitely, what was the second part of that? My mistakes is what I’m hearing. Like I, cause I made mistakes,

[00:12:46] um, but within that, it’s why I felt that I had to have a product. I wanted to have those things to be able to serve them. But I went about it really wrong, to be honest. I mean, I bit off more than I chew. Yes, I. It took me way longer to record everything. Mm-hmm. than I thought that it was going to take. Way longer.

[00:13:06] Mm-hmm. and then I’m not a tech person. Like I’m, I’m horrible with this stuff. So learning the back platform, right? Mm-hmm. That was a challenge for me as well. Um, editing, and I did it all myself. I was a big DIYer at this point. Mm-hmm. Still it’s what my budget allowed for. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, so many hours of sweat equity was poured into this.

[00:13:28] If I could go back over again, I’d probably make some investments into at least an editor. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, at least some parts of that. Um, or somebody to help me put things in or make, make sure that it was structured right. Three years later, I can say that I feel really confident with creating my courses now.

[00:13:45] Mm-hmm. But, um, it took quite a bit there and. Yeah. I will say it took me months to create this.

[00:13:51] Rene: Yeah. Did you have a timeline? Did you have a goal? Like did you just kind of get to it? Did you get, like, some people kind of get in their head along the way. I have some clients who [00:14:00] are like, oh, well, what if we do this different thing halfway through?

[00:14:04] You know, like, how did that go? Or were you, you were just like, I know I need to offer this. I’m just gonna create it. But it just took a long time.

[00:14:10] Kristen: Yeah, so I was actually running the bootcamp at the same time, and so I was using, and I, I run that as pre-recorded. It’s a, it’s a half and half, so it’s a pre-recorded video module where they get to learn on their own time, mm-hmm, and then we get together for the open office hours and for the group coaching and those types of things. So, um, I was already creating these videos and using them in a whole different manner. Mm-hmm. So that part was, you know, step one and part one of it, but, it also happened to be during Covid. So I already had the group program running. Covid hit about four weeks in, maybe three weeks in.

[00:14:47] And so I created this during the summer of 2020 is when the Path to Profitability came as its own course because so many more people I was getting, I was doing a lot of open office hours for free all over the place. Just, you know, hey, come on in, let’s talk. Yeah, let’s do these things. Um, and I just.

[00:15:04] Businesses were going under one after another, or people were folding in, you know, folding their cards and just saying, you know, photographers and event planners. Mm-hmm. And, you know, a lot of wedding personnel. And I was working with a ton of people in that category at that time. Um, so I just really felt that there needed to be something on a lower level.

[00:15:23] They can say, hey, you don’t have to fold your cards. We, we can do this. We just, you need better. If you would have had this stuff before, not to like mm-hmm. We don’t wanna drive a drive a wedge here, but if you get this in place now, if you get your money separated, if you learn how to become profitable, you adjust your pricing, you will pull through this.

[00:15:39] Mm-hmm. Um, and so that was, you know, during the summer I did some beta testing. I gave it away for free, everybody that I knew that would needed help. Um, in order to gain their testimonials, their feedback, how can I make it better? What do I need? All of those kinds of things. Um, and so that was really powerful that I got to help people with this process and [00:16:00] then, you know, turn it into a course that would continue to help people as well.

[00:16:03] Rene: And I think that feedback is so important. I think a lot of people develop their courses or their products or whatever, like in, in some kind of bubble in, in their own mind bubble. Um, you know, a lot of people don’t, don’t finish or, you know, they have, you know, great intentions. But for the people who do finish, I think that feedback is really important.

[00:16:20] Like, let people tell you exactly what they want and you can tailor what you’re making specifically for people what they want. Like assuming that you know is never a good idea. Like I just feel like we’re never going to know, um, unless we actually hear it from people. And I bet those testimonials were helpful in your sales process too, like in your sales pages and and like advertising and stuff like that.

[00:16:42] Kristen: Yeah. Well, that was another one of my mistakes. So I didn’t do a sales page. I mean, I literally just again, create a course, they will come, Hey, I can help you. Right? Yeah. Um, I mean, there is one now, of course.

[00:16:52] Mm-hmm. But it, it took a while until I decided that that was a missing link that I needed as well. Mm-hmm. But they were, they were powerful. And then I really had some great, honest women who gave constructive feedback and criticism on what they loved, what they would’ve changed, what they think would help somebody else.

[00:17:10] And one of those women in particular, she was the very first one who I literally fed her video by videos. Mm-hmm. I was recording. Mm-hmm. Cuz she called me crying. Um, she has had an incredible turnaround and basically went from having to work several jobs to being in her business full-time within 20 months.

[00:17:26] Rene: it’s amazing. That’s awesome. Yeah. Oh, credible.

[00:17:28] Kristen: She’s the ultimate testimony. Yes.

[00:17:30] Rene: Wow. Yes. Yeah, that’s great. That’s, that is fantastic. And, and like you mentioned, like knowing that you can, that you’re helping someone, I think it just makes it all, like, everything that you’re doing, like so much more rewarding and yeah.

[00:17:42] Kristen: Absolutely.

[00:17:43] Rene: Um, okay, so if you had to, just to kind of recap like what you learned, if you had to do some things differently, which any more specifics on what you learned from the process.

[00:17:55] Kristen: Yeah, so I, I mean, a few things that I could say, and I don’t even think I mentioned [00:18:00] this, but I would’ve done more of a, like a stepped up trip wire, I think is the right word, but okay.

[00:18:06] More of a step up basis. So I went straight from nothing to, I just want you to pay, you know, almost $500 for this course. Mm-hmm. Right. Okay. Um, so backend, I created some things that are like, oh, here’s some things you can do and here’s like, you know, a very, very inexpensive thing. And then if you want more, we can do this next product.

[00:18:25] Um, but I would’ve created more of a ladder going up to the product that I did because it was more of an intense, full on program. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, secondly, I probably would’ve done more of my market research earlier. And so just in a little bit backwards of way, instead of asking people to test out what I already created, I would’ve asked little bit more feedback from my ideal audience about exactly what they needed before I went ahead and created it.

[00:18:53] It would’ve saved me a ton of time. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It just.

[00:18:57] Rene: And where, where exactly is the audience that you asked? Like, do you have a group? Do you, you know, is it just social media, your email list? Like where, where did you get the feedback that you, um, that you did get?

[00:19:08] Kristen: Yeah. So at that time I was pretty active in like the boss mom’s, like large social media group.

[00:19:15] Hmm. Okay. Um, and, uh, I’m not so much anymore, but I asked in there to for some people, but I also took every single person that was calling me and asking for help that was a small business owner, and I asked them if they would be willing to basically be a test subject for me. Nice. On this. Mm-hmm. Um, so they were already calling.

[00:19:35] They needed the help and so I had something readily available to give them.

[00:19:40] Rene: Nice. Nice. Yeah, that’s definitely good. Perfect. Um, okay, so you have that product, um, and you have an at least one other one, the Small Biz Starter Bundle. Um, so tell us about that one and or if you have other ones or plans for more.

[00:19:56] Kristen: Sure. So the small Business Starter Bundle is the one that I created [00:20:00] after as like, again, more of a lead intro of what does a small business owner kind of need to really understand before they can start making money. Like where are some of your missing links? Mm-hmm. Um, so. Looking back again, I would’ve created something like that first.

[00:20:18] But we’re here. And that’s there. So that is an introductory more, um, program. It does lead into some Profit First types of things where again, um, my ebook Seven Steps to Profitability is in there. My ebook Control Your Cash Flow is in there. So I created all these things that are things that we talk about on the deeper level what we actually implement then in the Path to Profitability.

[00:20:43] Mm-hmm and created that. So, um, I have that one. I have a free personal, uh, personal or business, it doesn’t matter, but Before You Budget, um, minicourse as well that I created in between those two. Mm-hmm. Um, just to take advantage of the software that I was using. I’m already paying for the software. I can have unlimited courses in it, so I may as well create some freebies as well.

[00:21:06] Mm. So I have that as well as one other. And then I do have bigger plans for more. I have plans for more personal, uh, finance as well. Okay. So again, not one-to-one coaching is not right for everybody. People don’t always wanna talk in groups about their money or money situations or being known that they’re in a group for these things. Trying to break that stigma, but, mm um, you know, big on my plans for this next year to 18 months. It’s not an immediate goal, but is to create a personal finance course as well.

[00:21:40] Rene: Nice. Awesome. Um, you mentioned the eBooks. Are those eBooks, do you have those as lead magnets on your site, like separately or are those just with that, I noticed you had a couple resources on the site.

[00:21:52] Kristen: Yeah, I used to, but um, when I started charging for the whole package and bundle of things together, um, plus, I mean, [00:22:00] there’s a few other exercises in there. They are not for free as lead sources anymore.

[00:22:04] Rene: Okay. Okay. But they were at one point, cuz that’s an interesting point to make that sometimes people make a lead magnet and then they make all the nice lead magnets and they’re like, wait a second, I have already made a bunch of amazing things. I’m going to bundle these and sell them. So that’s, yes. Sounds awesome. Cool.

[00:22:20] Kristen: And downloaded. So that made it kind of an easy no-brainer that they went together and it was a good natural step.

[00:22:27] Rene: Yeah, I like that. That’s fantastic. Um, so do you have, you know, in addition to these, these products that have a lot of videos in them, are there like templates, like other, like is it just, it’s kind of everything all in one.

[00:22:41] Kristen: Okay. So there’s PDFs, there’s downloads, there’s templates, there’s videos, there’s some, um, even just some videos that I find really beneficial that aren’t mine. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, and I link to, you need to watch this or, you know, this is it. Mm-hmm. I think I only have like two of those, but okay. Um. But yeah, it’s a, it’s kind of an all in one.

[00:22:59] There are workbooks. So the Path to Profitability has workbooks. Mm-hmm. Um, it’s got questions that people should be asking themselves as well as to help them kind of work through that process.

[00:23:08] Rene: Okay. And I, that’s probably good for, you know, different kinds of learners, you know, even though you do want people to watch the videos and do the workbooks, but, you know, for people who are more video focused or people who are more like, I wanna fill out a nice workbook, you know, I bet that hits a lot of, um, you know, different types of learning styles really effectively.

[00:23:27] Kristen: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:23:28] Rene: Yay. Cool. So I just wanna touch a little bit. So you took a, so you have a business that was already solving a problem for people and you had leads for people that you couldn’t help and you’re using an existing framework and you’re expanding on it. So Profit First like isn’t your own thing, but it is a thing that you kind of are leveraging.

[00:23:50] So like do you wanna talk to talk about that at all? Like you didn’t just kind of come up with everything from scratch. You, you expanded [00:24:00] on something that existed already.

[00:24:02] Kristen: Correct. And so that’s definitely something that, you know, is, comes with the territory of being a certified Profit First professional.

[00:24:09] Mm-hmm. Um, that Mike permits us to do those things as long as we are. Um, and so using that framework. One, I became certified and I did that because I was doing something similar, but I was totally recreating the wheel. Mm-hmm. And I was having to modify so many different types of things. So it was a natural

[00:24:29] thing for me to go ahead and become certified in that. Um, but with that, I would say that probably 60% of the material is, you know, all Profit First or then getting further into things that we get into with like one-to-one clients. Mm-hmm. That are, you know, he talks about, he talks lightly about how to

[00:24:47] steady out your pay mm-hmm as an entrepreneur, and that’s your owner’s pay account. Right. But getting into the, the how’s and the why’s and, you know, what does this look like? And, and giving examples. People need examples too that they can relate to. Mm-hmm. Um, was definitely a big part of kind of making that even more powerful.

[00:25:09] So, um, I would say that that course is probably 60%, uh, Profit First, 40% not, but things that need to be related that go hand in hand, that is, you know, not just discussed as a book.

[00:25:23] Rene: Right. Yeah. And the book’s only like what, like an inch thick, like, you know, maybe inch in a half at most.

[00:25:28] Kristen: A lot of good information in that inch, but yes.

[00:25:30] Rene: Yes. But yeah, when you, when it comes down to it, you sit down to do it, you’re like, okay, wait. Like, but yeah, though that’s a great, um, thing that you said about the examples. People need the, to see those examples, like real life, how do I actually sit down and implement this? So yeah, I think that’s right.

[00:25:45] Kristen: We’re peeling back the layers a little bit there.

[00:25:47] Rene: Yes, yes. Yeah. And for me, and for my industry and my situation, I think that, you know, a lot of these books are kind of very broad, um, in terms like, okay, businesses should do this. Yeah. But what about a one person business? Or, you [00:26:00] know, other things like that. Yes. Cool. Okay, so tell us two what, two to three things.

[00:26:05] I don’t know, however many things, um, for that you recommend for people who have not yet created their first product. So they’re going to sit down, they want to create their first product. What are you so glad you did? Or like, oh wait, if I had to do it again, I would do this differently.

[00:26:20] Kristen: Really good question. So, um, first, I mean, just do it. So stop, mm-hmm, worrying about your videos being perfect or you can always go back and, and update it. But people need you, they need your help. They need what you, not just what you sell, but like what your knowledge is. Mm-hmm. And you have a different way of being able to explain things to people than something else that might be out there. I do think, I mean, I know I danced around the subject quite a bit and like, why am I different? But people just relate to me differently than they relate to somebody else. So, um, I would say that’s definitely like one tip that I would have. Mm-hmm. Just get out there and do it any way that you can.

[00:26:58] Um, and you know, again, I think that one of my mistakes was it had to be so perfect. Mm-hmm. And I had to be talking just like this on video, so, looking back, you know, do some research and take some other courses as well that might be either similar or in a similar niche or serving a similar type of personnel or price point.

[00:27:20] Mm-hmm. Um, cause I could have done it a whole lot easier too, in half of the time, mm-hmm, if I had different, you know, end goal in mind, so, mm-hmm. Um, that would be another one. And I think thirdly, just think about what your long-term goal and vision is with creating a digital product. So often I think the initial thing is that I can make money while I sleep, quote unquote.

[00:27:43] Rene: Yes, yes, but.

[00:27:47] Kristen: And while you can, you have a lot of work while you’re not sleeping to create that, and you have a lot of funnels and marketing and nurture sequences and all of the things. And you know, maybe there is a [00:28:00] better way to go about what this natural progression is to sell whatever you’re selling.

[00:28:04] So I think for people just to think about what that end goal is in mind for these people, and have a little bit broader of a vision. And don’t be afraid to start small and build on that, because that is people’s natural tendency is to, mm-hmm. I’ll take your free stuff first. Right. And then, I’ll give you a little bit of money.

[00:28:23] Mm-hmm. Because I liked your free stuff, so your little bit of money better have some value.

[00:28:26] Rene: I trust you. Yeah. Yes. I trust you a little bit. Yes. Yeah. What do you have, right? Mm-hmm.

[00:28:30] Kristen: And then if that’s value packed and and full of things, then okay, now I’ll go ahead and buy your mm-hmm big item.

[00:28:36] Rene: Mm-hmm. And I think as a creator, Like, if you’re creating some free content, whether it’s even just social media posts or you have a podcast or whatever it is, if people are responding and listening and subscribing, your, your next step on the ladder does not have to be the, the, you know, the six month course.

[00:28:54] It could be the ebook. Or the template, you know, it could, you could kind of step up to this without, uh, so much friction, you know, so much like, oh, I, I have to spend so much time on this. I don’t have the time. Like, I, that’s kind of my philosophy is like we can build up the ladder to, it’s okay if you didn’t, you know, if you wanna start here, but like you mentioned, like backfilling having some things in there for people to kind of, uh, climb to that step.

[00:29:20] Um, this will be hard to envision. Well, like on the actual podcast.

[00:29:24] Kristen: It’s hard go back.

[00:29:25] Rene: I’m moving my hands up and down. Um, yes, yes, they might go back. So yes, I think it’s important and, and wherever you start, like yes, start, do the thing. I don’t think people regret it. I don’t think that, um, even if the product doesn’t sell or it fails quote unquote fails in people’s eyes.

[00:29:41] I think that people learn so much from doing a thing and creating something of their own. We’re so busy helping other businesses with their, you know, this or that or their websites or their copywriting or whatever it is. But like building something of our own, I think is so powerful. I think it feels so [00:30:00] amazing to like, I built this template, this, you know, I wrote this book, I have this product that can help people while I’m helping other people.

[00:30:08] I dunno, it’s just my soapbox here.

[00:30:10] Kristen: No, I love it. And I agree 100%. You know, at the end of the day, the businesses that are most successful is those who do place it, the focus on the help the money follows the, the money follows the value. Yes. Mm-hmm. I believe. Um, and yeah, I think that that’s awesome.

[00:30:28] Rene: Yeah. Yay. Okay. I like it. Okay, so tell us where people can find you online.

[00:30:33] Kristen: Sure. So on our website, financialfitnesscoaching.com, you can download all of the freebies that aren’t being charged for there, um, and even get a taste of the free, uh, Before You Budget one. And then I am most active on Instagram, so it’s okay

[00:30:48] financial.fitness.coaching. Um, and then we are still also on LinkedIn and Facebook with the same handles or whatever you would call them. But, um, you know, we made a big leap in transition just this year in the last, uh, six months has been in the works of, it’s no longer just me as a solopreneur that I do have a, a associate coach as well on the team who is also going to be helping to build more courses, build more programs.

[00:31:17] She’s got 10 years of experience in the field and it’s going to be awesome. So there’s definitely more things to be coming out.

[00:31:23] Rene: Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. Well, thank you so much for being here today.

[00:31:26] Kristen: Yes. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Rene. It’s always good to talk with you.

[00:31:29] Rene: Yeah, you too. Okay, talk soon.

[00:31:31] Kristen: All right. Bye.

[00:31:33] Rene: Hey, thanks for listening. I’d love to continue the conversation in your inbox. Email SUBSCRIBE to hey at yfdp.show or sign up in the show notes to get bimonthly emails about how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. Can’t wait to see you there.