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In this episode, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the mindset shifts I made to sell out my 1:1 coaching services – including the thoughts that were keeping me stuck and how I coached myself through them.
I talk about the evolution of the offer, what changed once I shifted into self-trust and why selling from sufficiency made all the difference.
This episode is for you if you’ve been holding back from selling because you’re worried you won’t make sales or feel like you need everything perfectly figured out first.
The Perfectionism Quiz: Want an easy way to find out if perfectionism is stopping your business from growing? Take The Perfectionism Quiz today – it’s free, takes less than 3 minutes and gives you a personalised report that lays out the simple steps you can take to get out of your own way. Take the quiz now at samlaurabrown.com/quiz.
Work with me privately: If you’re interested in working with me privately then I invite you to sign up for the waitlist for my 1:1 coaching services. Go to samlaurabrown.com/coaching to join the waitlist today.
Join my program for perfectionist entrepreneurs: Inside Perfectionists Getting Shit Done (aka PGSD) you’ll master our simple, proven process for getting shit done without burning out so you can finally get your business off the ground. To find out more and join the waitlist today visit samlaurabrown.com/pgsd.
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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Hi, and welcome to another episode of The Perfectionism Project. A podcast full of perfectionism advice for entrepreneurs. My name is Sam Laura Brown, I help entrepreneurs release their perfectionism handbrake, so they can get out of their own way and build a fulfilling and profitable business. I’m the founder of the Perfectionists Getting Shit Done group coaching program, which is otherwise known as PGSD. And for even more perfectionism advice to help you with your business, you can follow me on Instagram @perfectionismproject.
Sam Laura Brown (Intro to the episode)
Okay. So since there are so many people who love listening to my behind the scenes episodes, I wanted to share one with you this week. It’s a bit of a compilation of a few updates that I did relating to selling out my one on one coaching services. So that is something that I did at the end of last year. So the end of 2024, I launched one on one coaching services for the first time in five years.
And then this episode is me documenting the ups and downs of selling that out and the mindset shifts that I needed to make to be able to sell out those coaching spots. So I hope you enjoy listening to this episode. And I’m just thinking, what is the context that you might need to know so that it all makes sense? So I think I might mention this in the episode at some point, but I was wanting to have five one on one coaching clients. That was the capacity of coaching clients that I was wanting to have.
And I made adjustments to the coaching offer as it went on. So I talk about that in this episode, but initially, it was a five month offer to have it go up until just before I was gonna give birth to my son Liam who has been born at the time of recording this. So for those following along, he is here. He is happy. He is healthy.
So I’m about two weeks postpartum at this point. Anyway, my coaching services, that offer was gonna go up until the April. And then because I didn’t sell it out in the time frame that I had anticipated, I ended up adjusting that offer to have it be a three month coaching offer, and we actually ended up having one person who signed up for four months. So, anyway, in this episode, I talk about the evolution of what that offer was, and it was so powerful to evolve the offer. And I wanna make sure you hear about this kind of thing because you can look at things from the outside and think, oh, they just how did it always be that way?
And then it worked for them. More often than not, when you actually launch something into the world, you then either if you have self awareness, also if you have a coach or if you’re in a program like PGSD, that you then have either through your actions, you’re able to see, like, oh, actually, this isn’t going as I planned it to because I’m getting in my own way in some way and then I need to solve for that. Or I’m not getting in my own way, but people aren’t having the reaction that I thought they would and so something needs to be adjusted. And for perfectionists, we love to just have a lot of ducks in a row because we think once they’re in a row, that’s that and then it’ll work. Whereas, actually, in business, it’s really important to be able to make your best plan that you can, have a great hypothesis, and then actually get to the point where you launch it into the world, and then you’re able to iterate on it and evolve it.
So in this episode, I talk about what that looks like. So when I recorded this episode that you’re going to hear, I was actually planning to record multiple updates and put them all together for you in this episode. I only ended up recording one update, which you’re gonna hear, and I think it captures everything perfectly. So with the context of this introduction and that I did end up selling out the one on one coaching services, you are going to hear behind the scenes of me in the thick of that process, not yet knowing whether or not it would for sure sell out, having doubts, having to work through things. So I hope you find it incredibly helpful.
Sam Laura Brown
Today is December 4, and I have decided that I really wanna do an episode documenting behind the scenes, me selling out my new one on one coaching services that I’m offering. So on the podcast, I have documented before my launches for my program, Perfectionist Getting Shaped Done. They are well loved episodes that so many people find incredibly valuable, and I thought it’s just such a great opportunity for me to also document, now that I am selling one on one coaching again, for me to document going from not having any clients to being fully booked with one on one coaching clients. So long story short, essentially, to get you up to speed, so a couple of weeks ago now, I launched one on one coaching services. And what I did was I made it a five month program.
Before this episode is released, I will have announced that I am pregnant with baby number four, a little boy, who is due in May. And so I made the coaching package five months so that it would be wrapped up by the April, and it would start in December. And then what happened was I essentially launched that, and I didn’t really sell it very much at all. I and I’ll talk about mindset things in a second, but I was like, I don’t know what the demand will be like. I put together the offer.
Did I have it reviewed in the mastermind? I don’t think I did before I announced it. Anyway, got things set up on the back end for onboarding one on one clients again and having that process so that it’s not having to do everything from scratch every time. And I launched that. I had one person immediately sign up for that.
So just so you know as well for context, five months of coaching with me, 8,000 US dollars is the investment or five payments of 1,650. So someone immediately signed up before we even opened it because I sent two emails out to PGSDers. One saying, in twenty four hours, this is what’s happening. These coaching spots will be available. And then someone replied to that and said, I’m interested.
I replied and said, okay. Do you wanna sign up now? Like, here’s the application. They filled in the application. We sent them the payment link.
They signed up. Very straightforward. So that was the first client. So I have one spot already booked, and we are actually starting our coaching calls tomorrow. And then what I found really interesting mindset wise and perfectionism wise is just thoughts of, like, kind of like entitlement.
Like, I shouldn’t have to work so hard to sell coaching. I haven’t sold it for so long. Kind of like, I’m beyond selling like, just really interesting thoughts like that that then stopped me from really actually, like, telling people about it. So I sent two emails to PGSDers, and then I think I maybe sent one more when I got more specific with the offer. And then I sent maybe two to three emails to our entire list talking about making a full time income from your business and that general premise and general promise with the coaching.
I hadn’t updated the sales page for it, so I just sent it directly to an application form. And then I haven’t emailed or sent any communications about it. Since then, we had one person fill out the application form besides the person who has already signed up, and then someone else reach out to me as well for more information. And what I am doing now is changing the offer to be for three months so that I can continue selling it without it then running into my time off to have another baby. I’ll probably wrap up start wrapping up mid April.
I’m gonna be having an elective Caesar, so I should assuming I get all the way to that date, I should be able to know, like, what date the baby is coming and reverse engineer from there. And, obviously, with giving birth, you never know exactly when that’s gonna happen or what things will come up. Just like life in general, you never know what exactly is gonna happen. But you can plan and then adjust the plan and have workability in the plan. So what I am doing and, like, I just literally went on a walk.
Well, okay. Backing up. This morning, I was like, I need to clean up my thinking around selling what I’m on coaching because I can feel, like, not even, like, resistance as such, but, like, I have the awareness that I don’t have helpful thoughts about it. I have thoughts, like, no one wants to sign up for this. Like, is it even gonna be worth it?
Like, just thoughts that I don’t actually believe, but I found myself thinking. And it was just really interesting. I think part of it is just feeling like kind of like a thought of, like, I’m going backwards, selling one on one coaching and things like this. So just a lot of thoughts like that that I don’t even, again, believe, but I was thinking them and thinking them enough that they were creating the feeling and then the action of me not selling, of me focusing on other things instead, of me overwhelming myself with, like, what’s the offer gonna be and things like that when I was thinking about it. So I spent a couple hours this morning self coaching on that, cleaning up my thinking, finding believable thoughts that help me sell.
And I’ve done a lot of work on and this is part of what I need to be coaching people on when I do one on one coaching. But I’ve done a lot of work on my mindset around money and sales, and so there are a lot of helpful thoughts that are already believable to me. And I already have about launching, and I previously had about one on one coaching, or just the belief I have in the results I can get for people with one on one coaching. And with group coaching and with coaching in general, I believe I can coach anyone and help anyone and different things like that. So I mined my brain for all the helpful things I do believe and brought that to the surface.
And then what I did in 200 k mastermind that I’m in, I watched a couple of lessons from Stacy Bayman on different concepts and things. I was just, like, getting myself back in the flow and the vibe of selling and just being connected to what I’m doing. And I just find Stacy, just her energy, like, she’s so connected to it and just convicted about the power of coaching and selling coaching and, being able to solve for it and figure it out. Like, whenever I listen to her, I feel that energy and that conviction, and I feel like I can, not necessarily borrow it, but, like, she reminds me of things that I already believe or introduces that feel good or introduces new thoughts that I find easy to believe that feel good and help me do the things that I wanna do. So and you might find there are people like that in your real life or in your online life, whether it’s podcasts, programs, whatever.
People that you have that you like their energy just, like, gets me into such a great place myself. So listened to a few of them and applied. I did a few exercises and things. And then what I did was I just went for a walk. And I love doing this where I will kind of just, like, brainstorm actively and have the initial ideas for something, and then I will go for a walk in nature.
So I live on acreage in Brisbane, Australia. We’re in, like, a lot of bushland, and we live near, like, a a nature reserve kind of thing, a national park. And so I took Connor, my dog, and my brother’s dog who we’re looking after at the moment, Minnie. I took both of them for a walk, and I just listened to a, like, Stacy Bayman coaching call replay, or podcast episode, something Stacey related. Anyway, I was like, I’m just gonna listen to something that’s general that isn’t like you have to do this or you have to do that.
Like, nothing strategic. I find that doesn’t particularly help. It’s like when I’m just listening to something that gets me in helpful thoughts, and that is, either mindset related or just high level business related. So, anyway, listen to that, and my process is that I just listen to something that kinda, like, relaxes my brain and gets it in a great state. And then the ideas that I’ve brainstormed kinda, like, start coming together.
And then something will pop up, and then I’ll stop listening to the podcast, and it will start recording on my phone in a voice note. I use Otter.ai to transcribe it so that I can look back on it really easily. But I will then talk out with myself what that idea was. And so what came up for me today as I was on the walk, which I think is really powerful, is having the one on one coaching be focused around making a full time income from your business, which is a result I can help people create. But to have it be then a three month coaching package, it just didn’t feel aligned with that promise because I’m not promising that or we’re not even really working towards them having that result within the time we are working together.
And that what we are what we would be doing is that would be like a twelve month thing that they would be working towards. But just having in terms of, like, the believability of it and feeling connected with it and compelled by it, I was just reflecting on different things I’ve signed up for. And either and if it has a big promise, it still needs to have, like, specific things within that bigger promise that would make me feel like if I invest something and I’m not even there for enough time to achieve the thing, I’ve at least achieved a major stepping stone towards that thing. Or I have signed up I’ve loved signing up for things where, like, the result is very specific and tangible, and I believe that I can achieve it in that specific time frame. And so what came up for me, and I’m not sure the exact amount that it would be or if I need an exact amount, but instead of it being focused around making a full time income, just focusing on making more sales in your business and that being the result.
And then just from that, I was like, oh, I can think of all these specific people that I have helped make more sales and the specific thing they were stuck with and the specific thing that helped them as well as the other things that helped them along the way and just, like, different things. For example, someone who does know what they wanna do to make money and kind of have a a leap in their income, but they can’t bring themselves to do that. Typically, that’s around, like, they wanna launch an online course. They want to launch an app. Like, there’s something that has been a big project that maybe they’ve signed up for another program and, like, learned the nuts and bolts and the mechanics, but then they can’t actually bring themselves to bring it all together and launch it, and they just keep procrastinating on that.
They either haven’t started or they can’t get themselves to finish, and their sales are just being held up by them not actually having the thing for sale that they wanna be selling. Then there’s the next person who is posting consistently, or I would say even, like, the person who isn’t showing up consistently, like, they have something to sell, but they’re not really sure exactly what they sell. They’re not really feeling connected with what they sell. And they’re kind of posting sporadically, but they’re not believing that what they would post would even result in a sale. So, of course, I don’t feel motivated or compelled to post about it very often.
And then because they’re not posting about it very often, it’s very hard to tell, like, where they’re actually in terms of sales skills, where they’re actually falling short because they’re not really practicing selling and they’re not doing enough selling, to even have enough data to see what’s going on. And so a lot of times, for that person, it is really about supporting them to be able to show up consistently and to begin selling. And there’s some, like, cleaning up of money mindset, typically pricing, like, what they’re selling. Typically, it will be they have lots of different things that they’re selling. It could be the case they haven’t got anything for sale, but, typically, they have things for sale, but, they’ve kind of just got, like, a hodgepodge of different things that they’re trying to sell.
Then I would say the other person is that they are posting consistently and showing up consistently and, like, doing the right things. They have a sales page. Maybe they’ve set up, like, a funnel or something like that, and it’s just not converting. Like, they’re not even though they’re posting every day and they have a CTA and different things like that, that it isn’t actually converting across to there being sales. And then it’s very frustrating for that person because they are actually doing the things that they need to do, but it’s not working, and so they don’t know why it’s not working.
And they feel really bad that it’s not working. They should be further along, and they oftentimes will be like, well, maybe I will sell this thing instead or that thing instead or, like, just try and change the offer and the pricing, when really, typically, for that person, the key thing that needs to be worked on is their mindset, particularly around money and around sales and believing that there are people who are willing to buy the thing that they’re selling and being a lot more convicted in their selling. Because, typically, when we dive into it, they are doing the right things and saying the right words, but the energy isn’t there. The belief isn’t there. And from their perspective, they can’t see that.
But from the outside, it’s really quite easy to spot, especially after having coached so many people. It’s easy to spot where the disconnect is and what the thoughts and feelings are creating that and how to solve for that. And so I really wanna help those people with that. I deeply believe and have helped so many people in those situations get incredible results and incredible return on their investment with those specific struggles. And there is strategy involved in certain things, but the key thing, the key area they’re getting stuck is they have the strategy.
But because of the perfectionism, they aren’t able to execute that in a way where it actually converts into sales. And so that is what I help people with. That is what, through my journey, I have had to learn myself the very hard way. And then once I figured a lot of that out, I began helping people, and then I have continued documenting so many of my lessons and things like that along the way. I am just very passionate about selling and about how perfectionism can really stop someone who has so much potential, who has got really good things going for them, but it just creates this disconnect between the strategy and the execution of it or the execution of it and the result coming from that execution or all three of those things.
And so just on that walk, I was, like, thinking about having it be specifically around those kinds of people, those three people. And within that as well, it’s, like, helping people with, figuring out what their work routine is and when like, what they’re spending their time on and, like, different things like that. There’s kind of, like, subsets of things we’d work on creating capacity, like, creating the time and energy to actually sell and, being able to follow through with the pledge for it and things like that. So, yeah, I just felt like on that walk, I was like, oh, I can feel like this I feel like this promise the reason I haven’t been feeling convicted about selling it is I feel like the promise doesn’t match the container, so to speak. Like, it doesn’t and I could update things.
I’ll be like, okay. This is what it is, and you can expect to, like, we’d walk to get we’d work together, for, like, three lots of three months or four lots of three months, and you’d be at that result. I could definitely do it that way. There’s so many options. But I love just as a client having the experience of having there being a really clear specific outcome that I’m signing up for and then actually achieving that outcome within that time period.
And so that’s what I really wanna do. And that also as well is what I have been finding with PTSD is that the, and I talked about this actually. I did a reel today, and it was really helpful just I was like, I’m just gonna, like, chat and record something. And I’ve been thinking, like, there are two main areas in business that perfectionism impacts and where perfectionists struggle, and that is taking action consistently and sustainably and sales. And then I also realized just through the recording, I was like, oh, and the next thing is team.
Like, that’s the other thing, and you work on them. Typically, in if you’re self funded business, you work on those things in that order. You’ve gotta be able to, like, take action and start doing things, and then you’ve gotta be able to sell. And then to continue scaling, you need to be able to build a team. What I’ve been finding in PGSD, my program, Perfectionists Getting Shit Done, is that essentially, the promise of that is being able to go from someone who’s not getting shit done to getting shit done.
You’re showing up. You’re being able to, like, take consistent action. You’re able to do that in a sustainable way. I teach power planning, which is flexible planning method that works for your perfectionist brain instead of against it, as well as other concepts and tools specifically for perfectionist entrepreneurs to help you with productivity as a business owner specifically, and especially as a business owner who has other things going on in your life as well. And so what I have found is because it’s a lifetime access program, and currently, I don’t have, like, a next step of what to do after you’ve gotten that result, that the people who have gotten that result and gone from not taking action to taking action, they are now asking for coaching on selling related things.
I’m like, I’m taking the action, but the action isn’t creating the result I want. And how do I do that? And so I’m coaching on them on that with them and supporting them with that. And I just am excited as well to have because that, I think, is the next offer. Like, Perfectionists Getting Shit Done is about taking action.
And then the next thing is selling and having a program specifically about selling as a perfectionist creating more sales. And I love having as a process, like, doing one on one coaching to create those concepts and tools through literally supporting someone very closely through that journey and then being able to have it in a group format, which I love and my clients love too because you get to hear other people getting coached on the things you’re struggling with and you get to have answers to questions you didn’t even know you had and, like, you get to feel that sense of community and that you’re not alone and all of that. So that is where I’m at, and I’m about to go and, put together the sales page, what the sales plan is. I’m thinking at this point of saying, that we’ll begin booking in January. At the moment, it’s the December 4, so I just need to, like, have a quick look at my thoughts of why I’m thinking to say let’s start in January versus saying, like, we can start as soon as you’re ready to start.
Yeah. I would just review that because I think this is sort of that I’m like, it’ll be easy to sell, but I also think it’s such a great time to start. So I will probably go ahead with that. I’ll let you know if not. And also, just doing a bonus call, like, having a, like, a time period.
I’ll decide what it is, for people to sign up by. And if you sign up by that time, that will do a bonus, like, goal setting. Essentially, like, reviewing the year and goal setting, like, deep dive intensive call together in December. And then we’ll start together in the January or, like, if they’re on vacation or whatever, like, the second week or whatever that looks like. So that is my plan.
I’m feeling very excited about it. And, like, excited isn’t the best word. I’m feeling committed about it. And I’m feeling that just having that time because this morning, my brain was like, we don’t have time to clean up your thinking. We just need to figure out the decisions and sell.
I was just like, but I know that and I had to do initial self coaching of this of, like, but the time that I spend cleaning up my brain makes any other action I take 10 times more effective, 10 times easier, 10 times quicker. It’s not that I have to have every thought in order because probably listening to me right now, like, I don’t have every thought in order. But the main beliefs fueling me are helpful ones that have me feeling committed and convicted and willing versus this what it was like, like, that’s something I have to do and, like, I need to figure that out and just, like, my energy was in such a different place. So I had to, like, quench myself on the willingness to spend time coaching on it, and then I could actually quench myself on, okay. What are all the thoughts I have?
All the ones that are, like, petty, annoying, wouldn’t want anyone else to hear. Like, what are my actual thoughts? Even if I don’t actually believe them, like, what is going on in my brain? And doing that and just being, like, reconnected with the fact that I love selling, I love coaching. I love helping perfectionist entrepreneurs.
I wanna figure this out because I take some thoughts too of, like, oh, I should have just been able to, like, instantly book out or whatever when I don’t actually think objectively that’s the case that I should have been able to do that, but my brain, like, that perfectionist entitlement just wants to go there. Like, well, I haven’t even offered it for five years. I’m like, in that time, so many people have asked if I do one on one coaching, and I didn’t. So as soon as I do, they should just be ready. Like, should they?
Should they just be ready? I just think, like, looking at my lack of willingness to do the work on my end, to communicate the value and all the different things, I’m like, I really haven’t communicated about it enough, and we perfectionists could do that just as a way to protect ourselves and be like, yeah. But I didn’t even do a full launch. I didn’t even promote it that much or I didn’t even post that much about it. So but if I had, I would have hit my goal versus we’re scared to find out, like, I did all the things I could think of and it still didn’t work.
Because depending where you’re at on your perfectionism journey, but that tends to be more disappointing. Perfectionists tend to not support themselves very well in disappointment and therefore want to avoid it. So with that said, I’m gonna get to work. It is 02:47. I’m wrapping up today at 04:30.
I need to adjust my power planning as well because my power planning today, I’m actually relatively on track. Like, I had a lot of buffer time planned for tomorrow. I wanna record a couple episodes tomorrow, so I’m actually just switching things around as I love to do. And I do actually have already time for everything that I wanna do tomorrow when I look at it. I went for my walk, so I’m just doing my little tweaks right now and looking at what I can just shuffle around.
So I’m still on track, and I still have a workable plan. And I think, like, my plan just keeps getting better and better because when I slow down and take that time to do the self coaching, then when I am executing the plan, like, even the podcast episodes I plan to record, I was like, that would be helpful, but, like, the way I was doing it because of where I was at with my beliefs was like, I wouldn’t even so I wanna do an episode. Sorry. Context. I wanna do an episode on creating the time and energy for your business as a mom and creating time and energy for your business as, someone with a full time job.
Those are things I get asked about a lot that I have a lot of personal experience with, and that I support a lot of people with as well. And so I think that all people in all different situations, they will get a lot from both of those episodes. But I really just feel like I wanna have somewhere of documenting those lessons. And even, like, when I looked at, roughly speaking, when I was planning to say, I wasn’t even gonna talk about, like, power planning when that is a key tool that I use as a mom and has helped me navigate, like, when I’d be working while breastfeeding and, like, actually being able to plan for maternity leave. Like, just so many things.
It’s such an essential tool, but I wasn’t even thinking about mentioning that, which is so interesting. And then also with full time work and stuff like that. Because when I was doing that myself, I didn’t yet have power planning. That would have been nice. I didn’t yet have that.
So, I hadn’t yet developed it. So I had other things that I did, and now there’s so many so much of that is captured in Powerplay. But, anyway, if my belief is low, then I tend to, like, do the same action of, like, record the podcast episode even on the same topic, but I won’t actually sell. And so someone can be listening to that, and they really want my help, and I have the exact thing to help them, and I don’t tell them. I don’t tell them that if they’re in PTSD, I can help them very specifically with those things.
And I can help them actually, like, work through it and then not having to be alone in it or just listen to tips and try and figure it out, but they can actually have the personal support and all the things we offer in PGSD. And also in one on one coaching, I’ll be helping people with that too. So just, like, changing my thoughts. I’m like, oh, wait. Like, I feel so compelled to make sure that I’m selling.
So it’s just it’s such a big needle with the self coaching. So with that said, I’ve got about an hour and a half. I want to I’d love to just finish at, like, quarter past four and just have, like, a minute to wind down before we go pick up the kids, from day care. So I’m gonna put that in my power planning to a little wind down fifteen minutes of clean rest before I officially finish my work day. It’s got about an hour.
I’m just gonna set a timer, brain dump it out, not try and get any words right or anything like that, and I’m gonna let my subconscious tonight keep working on it. And then tomorrow morning, I have a coaching call that I’m getting coached. Then I, am doing a podcast interview. That’s all happening before 8AM. And then I’m planning to go live on Instagram.
I wanna do that weekly, and then I’m going to, finalize the things for the offer and have the instructions to Daisy to update the page and things like that as well. So that’s, by the edit by work week tomorrow. And then I have some content to finalize as well that we created for Instagram. So it’s just it’s all coming together in exactly the right timing. And, yeah, I love the mindset work because this morning, very different place mindset wise to where I am right now.
And it’s not to never be in that place, but to just have that skill and have the support too. Like, I got some coaching yesterday that was so helpful with that. I know I’m gonna have coaching tomorrow that will help me with that too. So it’s just, like, having the support from yourself and from others in place to be able to bring yourself back to the way you wanna be showing up and also to not judge yourself for not being that way all the time because no one is nor should we be should we be. So with that said, I’m gonna wrap up.
Outro
If you’re interested in working with me privately, then I invite you to sign up for the wait list for my one on one coaching services. So you can go to samlaurabrown.com/coaching to join the wait list for one on one coaching today.
