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 spending money to invest in yourself, not knowing what the return might be? In a conversation with Allison Jordan, we discussed why she took this step. Allison also shares why it is hard to invest in yourself and the decisions it takes. 

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 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 I wasn’t 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, a description and intro, my pillars down, and my first five episode titles. After that call, I had 40,000 downloads in my first year! I had clients immediately coming to me from the podcast.

That was around July 2020. In January 2023, I joined Podcast to Profit and took my podcast to the next level, and learned so much that I will join again for a second round!

Inviting God and Others as You Invest in Yourself Can Clear Roadblocks and Open Doors

Stef: Talk to me briefly about what happened to you before you chose to invest in yourself and join 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 different programs been so good that you were ready to jump in and spend the money?

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

It is daunting for those who have never invested in themselves and shopped around for other masterminds and courses. We might not be used to spending that amount of money on ourselves. It is okay to spend that on something house 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 matched the price you were asking for. 

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

Sharing a God moment

I often get excited and want to commit to many things, finding that I can’t do them all. So I 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 financial place 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 walking 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, alone. So, if you are reading this and are in that place, whether or not you have invested in yourself invest 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 learning to build wealth.

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. There are pros and cons to other 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 excited about stuff, I want to be able to eat all the content and then move forward and do things.

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

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

Stef: It is a fast pace! The new six-month program gives more leeway on this, but there is more content, so I am teaching more over a longer period.

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, especially since we have launched our podcast.

But Podcast to Profit makes you return to the yucky weeds and the things 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 I’m asking you to do, the one focused thing 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.

Market research

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. You gave me so many tools that helped guide the market research, breaking down that barrier to something that determined exactly what course I was going to build and why.

I had a sticky spot in this area. I didn’t want to do it, and I had all the reasons to justify why not. 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 invest in yourself both time and money. 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, so you have a bit of time to catch up if you need it! But it is an investment of both time and money.

Invest in Yourself by Learning Alongside a Guide to Get Results

Stef: What was your favorite part of the program?

Allison: The modules were my favorite. Your presentation of the course made everything clear. You narrowed down so much information succinctly and clearly. I have been to so many other masterminds that have danced around similar information, such as what the next step is in your business.

You lay it out so simply. If you are at zero to 10k downloads, you can just focus on this. If you are at ten to 50k downloads, then this. Or fifty to 100k downloads, then this. I was able to keep focused on where I was. I knew this thing wasn’t perfect yet, but I didn’t need to worry about that 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 your program gave me that I wished I had gotten from other mastermind coaches was the systems. These systems helped me figure out what I could say yes to in a given quarter or 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 determine my focus for that period and stick to it.  

Rinse, Repeat, and Reap the Return When You Invest in Yourself

Stef: Allison, can you tell readers why you chose to invest in yourself with a program like this? Is it worth the time and money?

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

I also learned many other things about group coaching, like how to run a Facebook group. I am able to serve a lot of people, and they can get it at a better price point this way, too.

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 this program, I made it all back in May, and that was from January. So in five months, I made it back, and now everything will be profitable.

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

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

100,000 downloads is possible

Allison: For some reason, I had not been able to pass 4,000 to 4,500 downloads, and then I had my first 5k download month. I have 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. Allison, I know you probably thought 100,000 seemed elusive. But making a profit like this is possible, and inevitable if you stick with it. I don’t know the timeframe, but God knows it if you don’t give up and 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 more people wanting to work with you. You see, your ability to increase your rates goes up. The 100k is just proof that you are doing something.

Global impact

The other thing I saw was that my podcast was in the top 100 in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. 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 I solve and who I help. I now know from my market research that I can be confident in who I am helping. Interestingly, 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 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 struggling with the decision to join Podcast to Profit, what would you say to each person 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.

Going through Podcast to Profit a second time

Stef: You mentioned earlier that you will go through my program again. Could you explain why you want to invest in yourself and go through this process again?

Allison: We are not one and done. I could ingest only a certain amount in Podcast to Profit the first time, which I am applying. I intentionally said no to rejoining initially because I needed to focus on using 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.

Please tell us where everybody can listen to The Better Belly and learn more about you.

Allison: You can check me out at The Better Belly Podcast or on my website. I would love it if you came and hung out with me.

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

Stef: If you have been inspired to invest in yourself, check Podcast to Profit. 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 Allison walk through this. And she enjoyed it so much that she’s joining me again!

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

I pray this blesses you!

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