Scared to Invest in Yourself? How Allison Launched a Course, Paid off P2P, and Hit the Top 2% in Under 5 Months

Hey Friend!

Are you overwhelmed by the thought of investing so much money and time in yourself, not knowing what the return might be? In a conversation with Allison Jordan, we talk about making the decision to invest in herself. Allison shares what is hard about investing in yourself and the decisions that it takes to do so. 

She also tells us how investing in Podcast to Profit, my six-month mastermind program, helped her to launch her course and pay off that investment in 5 months while hitting the top 2% of global podcasts. Her investment will continue paying for itself over and over again. And she has made such huge strides that she is joining us again! There is always room for growth and Allison knows that another round of Podcast to Profit can help her take her business even further.

Taking the Leap to Invest in Yourself Gets Results  

Stef: Before we start, tell us who you are and what you do.

Allison: Sure! I am a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and a cranial sacral therapist. I help women with bloating and constipation. I’m the host of the top 2% global podcast, the Better Belly Podcast. I’m also the author of a book called ‘Stop Stomach Pain: How to Heal Your Gut and End Food Restrictions’.

Stef: Allison and I have a deep history but Allison, please tell us how you found me and what the evolution of working with me has looked like.

Allison: I remember preparing to launch a podcast but I can’t quite remember when it was. I just remember that I was in a different mastermind course at the time but I was listening to your stuff. I wanted to launch my podcast as best I could and I could tell you were a phenomenal wordsmith. One of the incredible things you give to your clients is seeing into their hearts, seeing who they are, and then giving them a word for it. 

I knew that I wasn’t very good with words so I thought ‘I am going to jump in with Stef’. I got a one-on-one coaching call with you. You helped me to workshop my podcast. We got my TSO down, got a description and intro, my pillars, and my first five episode titles.  After that call, I had 40 000 downloads in my first year! And I had clients immediately coming to me from the podcast.

That was in about July 2020. In January 2023, this year, I joined Podcast to Profit and took that podcast to the next level, learning so much that I am going to be joining Podcast to Profit again for a second round!

Inviting God and Others Into Your Investment Decision Can Clear Roadblocks and Open Doors

Stef: Talk to me a little bit, then, about what happened for you before you invested in yourself and joined our mastermind. You had invested in other programs before. Did you have any fears or roadblocks to joining us or had your experience with the other programs been so good that you were ready to jump in and spend the money?

Allison: There were a couple of things going on for me then. Firstly, I knew I wanted to be podcast focused when I joined Podcast to Profit where other masterminds had different focuses of growth. And I remember thinking that your program was such a steal compared to other programs I had been on.

For those who have never invested in themselves before, and never shopped around for other masterminds and courses, it is definitely daunting. We might not be used to spending that amount of money on ourselves. It is ok to spend that on something house-related or car related but not on ourselves. However, I was used to investing in myself and could tell that the value I would get from your program was very well matched to the price you were asking for it. 

Despite this, I was also three to six months postpartum when I was considering joining you so my cash flow was really different. I had paused my business and had just restarted it. My client list was short and I had been paying myself cash out of the business on maternity leave. 

I often get excited and want to commit to so many things, finding that I can’t do them all.  So I really try not to overcommit. As such, I thought that if I was going to join Podcast to Profit, I wanted the timing and the money to be right.

We were not in a great place financially at this point and this is where a God thing came in. I was considering joining the program using my credit card. I was going to intentionally say that I was giving myself x amount of time to make it back. Although I only incur smart debt, it’s not my favorite thing to do so I am careful about it.

I was on a walk with a friend telling her about this and she just said ‘I will lend you the money’.  We talked about it a lot and prayed about it. I had to re-crunch my numbers because this loan meant more to me than if it had come from a bank.

This made me realize that other people do exist. It’s not just me in my little bubble on my own. So if you are reading this and you are in that place, whether or not you have invested in yourself before, maybe there is a friend or a family member who believes in you. The great thing about this investment is that we are doing it to make money. We are not just buying a couch or an oven. We are actually learning to build wealth in Podcast to Profit.

Investing in Yourself Encourages Focus and Forward Motion

Stef: That is so special. I love how God works to open doors where you don’t expect them.

So tell me what it was like.  Having been through other programs, I would love to know your experience. What did you expect and did it meet your expectations?

Allison: It was different. I think that there are pros and cons to different ways to run masterminds. The biggest difference was that you drip out content on a week-to-week basis. I remember initially being so frustrated because my time flows differently! Sometimes when I am really excited about stuff, I just want to be able to eat all the content and then move forward and do stuff.

But it is so good that you do that. Where some other masterminds work on more of a month-to-month ask or flow or rhythm, Podcast to Profit is more intense. I really had to be on my A game and had to be kept accountable for that week and not the next week or the week after.

This really made me mad at the beginning! But it was important because it is a lot of work. It was really intense compared to other masterminds. I can’t remember a time when I felt ‘I need to take action this week or next week will suffer’. I appreciated that it really accelerates things if you stick with what is going on and keep up the pace. This pace wasn’t something I had experienced in other programs.

Stef:  It is a fast pace! There is a little bit more leeway on this in the new six-month program but there is more content so I am teaching more in the longer time.

You Can Go Deeper and Move Further When You Do the Hard Work

Stef: I have had students get mad at me about dripping content out week by week. I tell them I know that we continuously want to learn. We don’t want to go backward and do the work because we think we have already done it all. We have already launched our podcast.

But what Podcast to Profit does is make you go back into the yucky weeds and the things that you already think are perfect. It makes you find out how you can optimize these things even further. I am forcing you to stop and do whatever it is I’m asking you to do that week. There is one focused thing you’re going to get done before I allow you to look at next week.

This is not the way we’re used to doing things. We’re used to continually consuming and then deciding what we’re going to actually do about it. But that’s not why you paid this money. You paid the money to actually get a result. And this is the way we get a result. Even though you want to move faster, trust me through the process. I also know that everyone will have a stretch week at some point where it feels like too much and they want to give up.

Allison: Yes, I had mine!  And I am a seasoned business owner.

This course is a great entry point for people. And it’s also a great way to add to what you already have. This was where I was and it helped so much. For example, one of the best parts of the whole program was the market research, something I struggled with.

I had heard so much about market research but I wasn’t taking action on it. You gave me so many tools that helped guide the market research, breaking down that barrier to something that actually determined exactly what course I was going to build and why.

It was the area where I had a sticky spot. I didn’t want to do it. I had all the reasons justifying why not to do it. But it was the reason I was being held back. With the information from my market research, I built and launched my course and sold 15 spots because I had done the hard stuff.

Stef: Yes, there is hard stuff to do and it is a commitment. You are investing the money as well as the time. In the six-month program, we ask for about three to four hours a week which can be spaced out however you need. We now have four weeks of leeway baked into the end of Podcast to Profit so you have a bit of time to catch up if you need it! But it is an investment of both time and money.

Investing in a Seasoned Guide Saves You Time and Money and Gets the Results You Want

Stef: What was your favorite part of the program?

Allison: The modules were my favorite thing in Podcast to Profit. I got much of my clarity because of the way you present the course. You narrow down so much information succinctly and clearly. I have been to so many other masterminds that have been dancing around similar information like, for example, what the next step is in your business.

You lay it out so simply. If you are at zero to 10k downloads, focus on this. If you are at ten to 50k downloads, then this. Or 50 to 100k downloads, then this. I was able to keep focused on where I was. I could be aware that this thing wasn’t perfect yet but I didn’t need to worry about it because I wasn’t at that level yet.

You broke things down so clearly in really succinct videos. I would sometimes laugh when there was a 10-minute video. ‘There’s no way she’s going to change my life in 10 minutes’ I would think. I was used to masterminds that had hour-long videos. But in 10 minutes, you gave me the information so clearly and had broken it down so well that you got what you needed to be done in that time done. I was blown away.

The other thing that your program gave me that I wished I had got from other mastermind coaches was the systems. These systems helped me figure out what I could say yes to in a given quarter or in a given month. I also have a list of things I want to do and I revisit this as often as I need to. It helps me to determine my focus for that period and stick to it.  

Rinse, Repeat, and Reap the Return on Your Investment

Stef: Allison, can you tell readers whether it is worth investing in yourself with a program like Podcast to Profit. Is it worth the time and the money? What happened for you?

Allison: One hundred percent. I am able to make money in a different way that doesn’t require as much of my one-on-one time. As I have mentioned, I sold 15 spots in a group coaching program that is running right now. Those spots literally paid for my place in Podcast to Profit.  

There are so many things about group coaching that I took from Podcast to Profit. There are many other things that I took like how to run a Facebook group. I am able to serve a lot of people and they are able to get it at a better price point.

You are not just spending money. You are investing and when you invest money, you expect a return. I always say that if I am investing in my business, I want to see that money made back. And then doubled. With Podcast to Profit, it was in May when I made it all back. And that was from January. So in five months, I made it back and now everything will be profit from here.

Stef: And now you know how to rinse and repeat, how to launch, how to do sales. We have optimized your sales page and fixed your copy. You are set to show up and repeat. This is the point. Do the hard work for six months and then you are done. You can look up and see that this is actually working and you have your time back and have profitability.

Tell us a bit more about some of your other metrics.

Allison: For some reason, I had not been able to pass 4 to 4500 downloads and then I had my first 5k download month. I have actually passed 6k this past month so that’s a new update. In May, I went from the top 3% global podcast to the top 2% global podcast. And I am inches from 100k downloads so that’s super fun!

Stef: Yes! I know that some of you who are already podcasting think that you will never hit 100 000. I know Allison probably thought 100 000 seemed really elusive. But it shows that with 100k, making a profit like this is possible, and inevitable if you stick with it. I don’t know the time frame but God knows it if you just don’t give up and you dig in.

Allison: And the other thing is it doesn’t matter if you have 100 000 downloads or not if you are getting clients! As you get more downloads, you see a higher number of people wanting to work with you. You see your ability to increase your rates go up. The 100k is just proof that you are doing something.

The other thing I saw was that my podcast was in the top 100 in the US, Canada, Ireland, UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Thailand, India, and Saudi Arabia as well as others. In some of those, I have been in the top 50 or top 25. So these are some of the practicals.

The other huge benefit has been that I have clarity on the main problem that I solve and who I help. I now know from my market research, and can be really confident in, who I am helping. What’s interesting is that this was the main problem I had myself. But I had never had the confidence to say these were the people I was working with and this was their struggle. This really watered down my marketing. I am now also really clear on the next steps in my business.

Why You Should Invest in Yourself and Join Podcast to Profit

Stef: For anyone who is struggling with the decision to join Podcast to Profit, what would you say to them about this decision to invest in themselves?

Allison: A lot of time, the feedback you might get is ‘If you are thinking about it, do it’. If you are like me, you are thinking about a lot of things. I believe you really want to be able to focus on whatever you choose to do. Realize that if you say yes to one thing, you want to say no to something else. If you are thinking about three different programs, pray about those three programs and ask yourself which one you want to focus on.

And then do that one thing. You don’t want to pay that money and then waste it because you are doing other things. Plan it and get it on your calendar. Don’t let other things consume you. If your business is really something that is a focus for you, dive in. We were not born knowing how to do business. You have to spend time learning it and that’s when you reap the reward.

Stef: You mentioned earlier that you are going to be going through Podcast to Profit for a second time.  Could you explain why you would want to invest in and go through this process again?

Allison: We are not one and done. There was only a certain amount I could ingest in Podcast to Profit the first time around which I am taking the time to apply. I intentionally said no to rejoining initially because I needed to focus on applying what I had learned.

But for me, we never stop learning and we have never fully learned things. It seems obvious to me that you would never need something once. With every other mastermind, I have only done it once because either the coach didn’t have more for me or I didn’t really like it. If I do something again, it’s not that they didn’t teach me enough the first time. It’s because it was so good, I want more. I want another slice of that cake!

Stef: Allison, thank you for your insight today. I think it will help so many people who are considering investing in themselves.

Tell us where everybody can go and listen to The Better Belly and find out more about you.

Allison: You can check me out at The Better Belly Podcast on Spotify or Apple. You can also go to my website, betterbellytherapies.com, and see the podcast there at betterbellytherapies.com/podcast. But I would love it if you would come and hang out with me at the Better Belly Podcast.

How You Can Invest in Yourself and Get Results as Allison Did

Stef: If you have been inspired to invest in yourself, go right now to podcasttoprofitmastermind.com. Check it out. Read the page, and see the testimonies. Think about it. Pray about it. If it’s on your heart, and you are still listening, that is not by accident. I would love to guide you the same way that I helped Alison walk through this. And she enjoyed it so much that she’s joining me again. So hey, who knows you’ll probably be in Podcast to Profit with Allison. How fun!

If you’re willing to do the work to get to where you know you’re called to go, I truly believe in this program with everything that I am. If you want to use podcasting as the method of growth in your business, this is it.

We’re going to have so much fun together because I know that when we bring God into our business, we can do really super powerful things. We can impact our own lives and the kingdom of God, for God, with God, and by God. I truly believe that when powerful people come together with that same mission, the same goal, and the steps to actually get there, they’re unstoppable.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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