Know EXACTLY How Many SALES to Expect Every Month

Sisters,

Frustrated with the sales (or lack of) in your online business? Feel like you’re doing everything right, yet not seeing the fruits of your labor?

In this episode, I will lay out for you the SIMPLE formula to use to know EXACTLY how many sales to expect every single month. It will also give you realistic expectations of where you’re at. This calculation will also show you where you should be focusing to increase sales.

For the past 3-4 years, this formula has shown me where I am in my business so that I can forecast what income to expect, my weak spots, and how to grow and scale based on what is working and what’s not!

If you’re ready to stop wondering why you’re not making sales as an entrepreneur, this one is for you!

If you know a Christian entrepreneur, please take a minute and share this episode with them!

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):

Hey friends. Welcome to episode 199. Say it ain’t so. No, say it is. This is super duper exciting. I can’t believe it. Today you are going to be learning all about what to anticipate as far as sales expectations in your business. How many of you were like, I dunno, shouldn’t I be making money by now? Shouldn’t I be bringing in the dough? I mean, I’m showing up, I’m doing all the things.

(00:48):

Here’s the situation. If you don’t have this one thing, then you are not going to be able to have sales in your business. I’m going to teach you my super-secret, amazing proprietary formula for calculating this one thing that’s going to help you anticipate how many sales to expect every single month. You are going to love this.

(02:06):

As you know, your girl is not a lawyer. Thank goodness, because you guys would be in big trouble. If I was a lawyer while I can slay on some business and we can talk about some Jesus up in here, the legal stuff has me just blacking out. I hear you guys. You’ve been asking me all these questions about legal, trademark, and contracts. Oh my.

(02:31):

I knew I had to find you someone that I personally trusted to help you. Now while legal sounds super scary and expensive, it does not have to be either of those things. I have partnered with the Contract Vault. Your instant, all-access pass to reliable contract templates that are specific to your industry.

(02:54):

On top of the contracts, you also get access to a members-only Facebook group where Andrea Sager, the founder, teaches live every single month about legal stuff and answers your questions.

(03:06):

She’s literally amazing. Also, with those contracts, it goes over any industry. If you’re in the coaching industry, if you’re in the podcasting industry, if you are doing fitness or health, it has all the contracts that you need for your industry. Seriously.

(03:22):

I was able to download every contract that I personally needed from the vault, from one-on-one coaching to podcasting, to course terms for my courses and beyond. Plus I get Andrea’s monthly in the Facebook group where I can ask her all of my questions. It’s crazy. Legal made easy.

(03:44):

If you need help with contracts, and I think all of you probably do. Let me tell you what the Contract Vault will arm you with the protection that you need. Plus it’s crazy inexpensive. I mean, crazy inexpensive. Go to thecontractvault.com. Use my coupon code, Stef Gass, to save 20% off.

(04:13):

You are going to love this. You’re going to love the price point even more. Thanks, Andrea, for hooking up my girls.

(04:21):

Okay, so let’s talk about anticipated sales. Shall we? Here you are. You’re showing up. You are probably podcasting. If you’ve listened to me for any length of time, right?

(04:33):

Maybe you’re blogging. Maybe you have a YouTube channel, but you’re for sure showing up. You’re doing your social media posts and dabbling on Pinterest. You’re like, “Stef I’m everywhere, but yet I’m not making any money.”

(04:47):

I actually did a poll over in my Facebook group Mompreneur Mastermind. I discovered that 90% of the people that answered that poll, Lola, maybe one of them was you, said that you are not yet profiting at all in your business. The other 10%, most of which said they were profiting under $3,000 a month in their business.

(05:10):

Here’s what I want you to understand. Followers do not equal true fans. Okay? I’m going to introduce you to a concept that I came up with called the Super Fan Calculation. Now this is something that I personally came up with. I’ve been using it for, I dunno, three or four years in my business. It’s always rang true for me.

(05:35):

This is how I anticipate how many true fans, super fans, people that love you, are in your little tribe or your corner. Whatever you want to call it, right? The people that are like super fans, literally of what you stand for, what you teach, and who you are. We care so much about how many people are actually super fans because until you know that number, your super fan number, you don’t know if you have a big enough audience to sell to.

(06:06):

Let alone if you have enough people to do a launch or create a passive product for. I think maybe many of you are still in the position of building out the super fan base so that you can make some money in your business, but you don’t know that. I was under the impression that I had a hundred thousand people in my community, right?

(06:31):

If you look at my email list, my Pinterest stuff, and my website, and recurring views. Then you go and you look at my Instagram and you look at my Facebook group. You add it all together, it’s over 100,000. I was like, oh my gosh, I have so many people that are in my “community”. Yeah, but the sales weren’t adding up to that number. This was a while ago, but I’m using this as a visual for you guys.

(07:00):

Now I know exactly how many of those people are super fans. Why? Because not everybody that checks out Stefanie Gass or hits up my Instagram is an avid follower of me, right? I’m not for everybody. Those 100,000 they may be a cold market that’s coming to check me out to see what I’m all about. To see if, you know, they may resonate with me. It doesn’t mean that they are super fans.

(07:28):

So what I did is I came up with a calculation, a specific calculation, to figure out how many people were super fans. Then what I did is take that super fan number, and I multiplied it by my average sale’s price times a 1%-2% conversion rate to figure out how many sales I could anticipate. Then I did the homework to see if this made sense.

(07:58):

You guys, this is like clockwork. I ran the test on the last six months of my business, just to be super sure that this was still working. I’ve been loosely using this for years, but I didn’t fine-tune it until this last mastermind Podcast to Profit. I was helping my students do this. I tested it for the last six months. This is exactly what has happened in my business.

(08:21):

So crazy. To give you a visualization, what I did, and then I’m going to teach you how to do it, is I took all of my platforms, the places that I show up, and I asked myself how many people were in that number that were recurring.

(08:41):

For example, here we go. Let’s go through each of the platforms for me so that you guys have a visualization. Then I’m going to give you the formula for you to calculate your super fan number. I’m going to tell you what to do with that number.

(08:54):

Because based on where you are, you’ll have a better expectation. Stef, should I just double down on my podcast? Should I double down and trust tier your one right now? Or is it time to monetize and to go full-force into creating a product or a launch? Or am I at tier three and I need to create a mastermind or something like that?

(09:12):

You got to know this number, ladies, and you need to recalculate it every single month, because it’s a moving target.

(09:19):

Here we go. For me, the very first thing we’re going to look at is my podcasts, because my podcast is where I am showing up all the dang time.

(09:30):

Okay. If we take a look at my podcast, let me pull up my numbers here. My podcast listeners. If you take my entire download number for six months, so you’re going to add up six months worth of downloads, then you’re going to divide it by the number of episodes in that six month timeframe. You’re going to get a number.

(09:56):

For example, if you had 10,000 downloads and you had 10 episodes, then you would have 100 recurring listeners. Does that make sense? Total number of downloads for six months or less, if you’ve just begun podcasting, take what you have, but at least six months, if you have that data. Total number of downloads in six months divided by the number of episodes in that six month timeframe.

(10:21):

For me, I have roughly, and this was based on last month’s numbers, but just to give you guys a visualization, I have 1,744.

(10:31):

So 1,744 people are recurring. Relistening to every single episode. That’s my first super fan number. Write that down. That’s number one.

(10:44):

Number two. The second thing you’re going to look at is your engaged Facebook group members. You’re going to go into your Facebook group. If you guys don’t have all of these, that’s okay. You take the ones that you do have and write that number down. All right.

(10:59):

Go into your Facebook group. Change it back to the classic view because Lord knows I can’t find my way around this new Facebook view. Change it back to classic.

(11:07):

On the left hand side of your Facebook group, click group insights. Then you’re going to scroll over and you’re going to click on engagement details. Scroll down and it’s going to show you the number of actively engaged members. That is a live number.

(11:28):

Take that number and write it down. At the time of doing this, my super fan number in my Facebook group was 878, but it is now 2,200. Which is so crazy! My super fan number has grown exponentially in just 30 days.

(11:47):

But anyway, you’re going to write that down cause that’s a big win for us. Cause we’ve been working in that Facebook group, you guys. If you’re not in my group, come on. What do you mean you? What are you doing? Get over there. Come on, Lola.

(11:58):

The third number you’re going to write down is your Instagram story viewers. If you don’t show up on Instagram stories, you can use your Facebook stories number. How many people on average are watching your Instagram stories? Write that number down.

(12:14):

My number is 405. The next number that you’re going to write down is your email list openers. Go into your email list. If you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just put zero for this one.

(12:30):

I have people ranging from like one super fan to 4,000 that I coach. You guys could be anywhere and it’s okay. We all started from zero.

(12:40):

So you’re going to go into your email list, write down what is the total number of list subscribers that you have times your average open rate over the past six months.

(12:51):

For example, if I have 6,000 group members, list people, and I have a 20% open rate. Then what does that equal? That equals 1,000. So you’d write down 1,000. As a visualization, I have 1,193. That’s it.

(13:12):

Now those are the places where you’re really able to connect with people super deeply that I used.

(13:18):

Now, if you have a YouTube channel instead of a podcast, well, figure out that number for your YouTube channel. I don’t know how to do that cause I don’t have a YouTube. But this is how me and my students calculate our super fan number.

(13:32):

Based on my number from 30 days ago, because yes, things have changed. But based on 30 days ago, when I ran this calculation in my mastermind group, I had 4,221 super fans. Awesome!

(13:46):

Now, believe me, my students in the group ranged from one or two super fans. You know, mom, hubby, you know, all the way up to like 3,000. You can be anywhere in that spectrum, and it’s normal. We all started somewhere.

(14:03):

So what is your super fan number? That is extremely critical.

(14:08):

Step two. You can anticipate a 1% to 2% conversion rate every month. So if I take my 4,221 times 2%, I can anticipate 84 sales per month. Wow.

(14:28):

If you go back and look at my average sales every single month for the past six months, most of the time I am somewhere in the 65 to 90 sales per month range. This is people buying my courses, doing coaching with me, masterminds, recurring payments. It’s the whole shebang.

(14:46):

If I did a 1% conversion on my number, I would have roughly 42 sales. You need to do that for yourself. Take 1% times your super fan number and write it down.

(15:00):

Take 2% times your super fan number and write it down. That’s the range you should be selling every single month. The number of sales.

(15:11):

Step three. What is your average sales price? My average sales price is $500. So if I take $500 times my minimum anticipated sales, of 42 sales, that is $21,000 a month.

(15:31):

If I take the high number, what was that, 84 sales times 500, that’s $42,000 a month. Whoa! Write that down. Now you have a range.

(15:41):

Now, you guys do I have $42K every month? No. Have I? Yes. I’ve blown past that number, but I’ve also had months that are below $20K. It’s a guide. So you’re going to use that just as an expectation. But if you take my entire six month income and you divide it by six, I am right smack dab in the middle of that range. It’s exactly where I expect to be in my business.

(16:06):

So if you have, let’s just do one more example based on I think where a lot of you are going to be. Let’s say that you have 100 super fans. Multiply that by 0.01%. That’s one sale a month, right? Or two sales a month. If you’re hitting the 2% conversion. One or two sales a month.

(16:26):

How many of you have one, based on that super fan number based on my calculation? And you’re thinking that you’re supposed to be making $3,000 or $4,000 a month. Unrealistic.

(16:37):

You’ve got to know this. You guys can not be living with your head buried in the sand and have crazy expectations and crazy goals about where you want to go if you’re not growing the super fan number.

(16:48):

That is literally the most important thing in your entire business is to grow tier one, your super fan number because that’s where the sales come from. I’m gonna tell you how to build that in just a minute.

(17:00):

If you have one or two sales a month, then you’re going to multiply that by your average sales price.

(17:06):

If you’re new in business and you just have a mini-course and it’s $97, right? One sale times $97 or two sales times $97, you’re going to expect to make one to $200 a month.

(17:19):

Guys, this is the reality of building an online business.

(17:24):

Let’s do another example. Let’s say that you have a thousand super fans. If you sell 1%, that’s 10 sales a month. If you sell 20, that would be 2%. Very, very realistic. But you got to grow the super fan number to get there. Let’s run the math on that. Shall we?

(17:44):

So if you have 10 sales and you have an entry-level product at $97, that’s $970 in profit every month. If you have 20, which would be your 2% conversion, you’d be making almost $2,000 a month.

(17:59):

How many of you are trying to scale to that place? If you’re trying to scale to $1,000 to $2,000 per month, and I think most of you are, your goal should be roughly 1,000 super fans. Then thinking about, sure you have entry-level products, but is there another product that you can create that might be closer to that $300 to $500 range?

(18:22):

Why? When we have a small audience, we make fewer sales. But if we have a better way for them to implement and get a transformation, we can charge a higher price and you can get to that number a lot quicker.

(18:35):

I hope I haven’t lost you guys. Just a quick recap. Then I’m going to tell you how to grow your super fan number.

(18:42):

Recap time. You ready, Freddy? Write this down. Your homework, which I hope you come and share in the mompreneur group with us in the Mompreneur Mastermind group on Facebook.

(18:53):

Part A. One, calculate your super fan number. How do you calculate your number? You find your recurring podcast listeners, take your total number of downloads for six months, divide it by the number of episodes, and that’s going to give you your average listener base. Write that number down.

(19:10):

Number two, you’re going to calculate your engaged Facebook group members. Go to Facebook, change it to the classic view, on the left click group insights, click engagement details, scroll down, and take your active group member number. Write it down.

(19:27):

Number three. What are your Instagram story views on average per day? Or if you don’t use Instagram stories, what are your Facebook story views per day? Write it down.

(19:37):

Number four. How many people on your list are actually opening the emails? Take your total number of subscribers times your average open rate. You can just take an average open rate. Okay? Write that number down. Add them all up. Add those four numbers up. I don’t care if three of those numbers are zero. Just add it up. You got to know where you’re at to know what you can and should be selling every single month.

(20:02):

Next part B multiply that times 0.01. That would be your 1% number of sales on a 1% conversion every month. The number of sales, write that down. Take your super fan number again times 0.02. That would be the expected number of sales every month at a 2% conversion rate. You should be somewhere in that range.

(20:27):

Some of you are going to be above that. Great! Some of you are going to be below that. If you’re below that, you’re not doing something right.

(20:34):

Your pricing is off. Your messaging is off. You are marketing the wrong thing based on who your niche is and what they’re asking you for. I would recommend doing a strategy session with me so we can figure that out. Okay?

(20:47):

If you have 10 super fans, or if you have a hundred super fans and you’re not making one sale a month, we should talk, because that needs to change. You have the super fan number to be selling something. Why is that not working? You just need me to audit where you’re at.

(21:06):

Last step. Part C. Multiply it by your average sales price. Now, for those of you that are like I don’t have anything that I’m selling. If you have over a hundred super fans, you should have an offer because it means you’re missing out on at least one sale per month at this point.

(21:22):

So think about if it is time to start coaching. Great. Go listen to my coaching episode. I don’t remember the number, but it’s in there. It’s in the 100s somewhere on how to start a coaching business.

(21:33):

If you want to start a course, go listen to my course episode, it’s in the 160s somewhere. You guys, everything I have for you is free for you to be successful.

(21:43):

If you’re stuck, let’s do a coaching call. I have everything here for you to be successful in your business.

(21:50):

Let’s talk about numbers based on where you are at with your super fan number we need to find out if your expectations are unrealistic. Okay? Let me see here. I have this jotted down to go over. All right.

(22:06):

Here’s my advice. If you have between zero and 50 super fans, double down on your podcast. Do two episodes a week instead of one. Focus on great juicy titles. Focus on getting on other people’s podcasts. Go live in your group. You’ve got to grow your super fan number.

(22:26):

If you have between 51 and 200 super fans, I still recommend you double down on your podcast, your Facebook group, your marketing, and get deeper with people for free.

(22:40):

However, you can and should be offering something paid as well. Because once you pass 100, you should be getting at least one sale every single month.

(22:51):

This is where I really focus on with my clients and students creating something between $97 and $397 typically as your first product. Even if that’s coaching, probably starting at that $97 price point so that you guys can get some social proof, get some results for people. We can always raise our prices, but you first have to get results for people.

(23:14):

If you have 200 plus super fans, I still recommend doubling down on your Facebook group and podcast. You guys, there’s really no point in which I don’t think growing super fans isn’t a great idea.

(23:28):

Maybe when you pass 3,000, you can be like, okay, I’m good here. I’ll scale back. But you really are in the growth of tier one right now. Most of you, 99% of you, are really in tier one of just growing your super fans.

(23:43):

But if you have over 200 super fans, you can and should be offering one-on-one coaching or have a passive product. You can even consider doing something that I like to call the soft live launch. If you want help on creating a soft live launch strategy in your Facebook group, book a breakthrough coaching call with me and we can map that out together.

(24:08):

Yeah, there you go. You guys now know exactly how many sales you should be making every single month in your business. You know exactly where you are and you know exactly what is missing, right?

(24:26):

What is missing? Is it super fans? You know what to do. Is it you’re not making money because you don’t have a product yet? You know what to do. Is it you’re not selling the product because you’re not talking about it? You know what to do.

(24:37):

If you don’t know what to do, again, I can help you. I offer clarity coaching. I map out courses with you guys and can do an audit of your sales messaging and copy to see if you are not selling appropriately.

(24:54):

If your messaging is off somewhere, that is my jam. If you guys want to book a coaching call, I have a couple left in the next couple of weeks. You can pop over an email in my VA at support@stefaniegass.com. She’ll get you all the pricing. We’ll get you on the schedule, and we can break through any barriers that are holding you back.

(25:14):

All right, friends, I love you. I just pray over you now that you are excited and fueled in your businesses. That you have clarity over what you need to do. You let go of any fears that are keeping you from taking those steps. That you know and believe that there is a solution to every single problem in your business, in your life, with distance learning, Lord help me. We can do this, mama friends. We’ve got this because God has got us. I love you. In Jesus’s name, amen. I’ll see you guys soon. Love and light, Stef.