March 25, 2025 • 18 mins
Discover how to redefine success on your own terms as I sit down with Laura, a corporate finance veteran who became a trailblazing business strategist.
Laura's Business Breakthrough program is designed for mid-career women ready to leverage their corporate expertise and venture into successful independent businesses. Through her unique journey, Laura shares the strategies and insights that empower women to turn their professional experiences into personal fulfillment and financial independence.
Transitioning from a structured office environment to the unpredictability of entrepreneurship can be daunting, but fear not—Laura shares practical strategies to navigate the early hurdles of building a business.
From acquiring the right clients to mastering social media and prioritizing tasks, she emphasizes starting with personal, unscalable interactions to truly understand and meet clients' needs.
Whether you're an aspiring solopreneur or a seasoned professional seeking new opportunities, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you build a successful and marketable business.
Connect with Laura:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura (00:00):
I would say that as an entrepreneur, you need to define
success for yourself.
So there's a lot of gurus andninjas and gladiators out there
and they're going to try to tellyou that they're like it's some
number of dollars a month andthat if you're not there in six
months you're doing it wrong andthat you need to pay them a
bunch of money so you can dothings their way.
Do not listen.
Alyssa (00:18):
Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes
you behind the scenes of some ofthe most inspiring digital
products created by solopreneurs.
Just like you, I'm your host,alyssa, a digital product
strategist who helps subjectmatter experts grow their
business with online courses,memberships, coaching programs
and ebooks.
If you're a solopreneur withdreams of packaging your
expertise into a profitabledigital product, then this is
(00:41):
the podcast for you.
Expect honest conversations ofhow they started, the obstacles
they overcame, lessons learnedthe hard way and who face the
same fears, doubts andchallenges you're experiencing,
from unexpected surprises tobreakthrough moments and
everything in between.
Tune in, get inspired and let'sspark your next big, brilliant
idea.
Hey everyone, welcome back toBrilliant Ideas.
(01:02):
I'm thrilled to welcome Laurato the show.
Laura is a corporate financespeak turn business strategist
for Gen Xers and the creator ofBusiness Breakthrough, a program
designed to help you build afulfilling client, getting
business on your terms.
If you're listening right nowand you're just starting out
with building a business, laurahas insights you'll want to hear
.
Welcome to the show, laura.
(01:23):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks, alyssa, awesome.
So, just like you, I'm aprofessor myself and I've been
doing that for almost a decade,and then, before that I was
working in an admin role for upuntil, I would say, about 2020.
And then that's when I jumpedinto my own business.
And for a lot of women who'vebeen in corporate careers for
(01:45):
many years sometimes I would saydecades and they come with all
this experience, skill set andjust so much talent, but they
don't really know what kind ofbusiness to create.
And for myself, I remember thatI've created, you know, I've
made a lot of changes, pivotsand mistakes in my business
myself, and that's when I waslooking at this business
(02:06):
breakthrough program that youoffer and I feel like it's so
life changing for a lot ofpeople who maybe or were like me
in corporate careers or intraditional roles, and they're
starting to think, you know, Icould actually do a coaching
business.
And so what I really want tohear from you is kind of tell me
a bit about your backgroundbehind the business breakthrough
(02:29):
and what led you to doing thiswork.
Laura (02:32):
Well, thank you.
Well, you know, I call myself acorporate finance escapee turned
serial entrepreneur and, likeyou, I'm actually also a former
professor of entrepreneurshipand now I think of myself more
as a business strategist and Ihelp women capitalize on what
they already know to build theirown businesses, as a coach or a
consultant or an independentexpert.
(02:54):
And I think the mission thatreally led me to doing what I'm
doing now is that I used to workprimarily with venture-backed
startups, but around the time ofthe pandemic, I started
noticing that so many mid-careerwomen the exact same thing, you
noticed women with tons ofexperience and expertise were
either getting pushed out orpushed aside from their
corporate jobs, or they werefinally at a place where they
(03:16):
had the time and the bandwidthto re-engage with meaningful
work in a bigger way.
So maybe they're empty nesters,maybe their kids have gotten a
little older and thecorporations just weren't
interested.
Like you know, I heard thesestories of these incredible
women sending out all theseresumes and just hearing nothing
back or going to the interviewand then, like, getting down to
it was like them and one otherperson and the corporation hires
(03:37):
somebody who's like 15, 20years younger, and it just seems
to me that if I could help themconsider entrepreneurship as a
way to share all of that talentand innovation right, it not
only helps, like all of theirpotential clients that are out
there, but it creates thepotential for more financial
power for women, and that isjust something I'm really
(03:58):
passionate about helping makehappen.
Alyssa (04:00):
Wow, that's such a refreshing way to look at it,
and I love how you've taken kindof your own experience.
You know, teachingentrepreneurship and then
turning into something that youknow helps people or women carve
out what they are really meantto do as well, and I think it's
so important, especially forthose that are leaving the
corporate world and trying tofigure out kind of what is my
(04:20):
next step.
And this brings me to my nextquestion, because let's be real,
even with a solid skill set,building a business isn't always
smooth sailing, and I know thatyou've worked with solopreneurs
over the years, and so I wantto know kind of what are the
hurdles that you see very oftenthat tend to shock people in
those early stages of business.
Laura (04:42):
Well, I don't know if these are particularly shocking,
but I will tell you.
I think the challenges are,first of all, not having enough
clients or not having the rightclients, because if you don't
have the client inflow, if youdon't have people paying you,
obviously your business is notgoing to be sustainable over the
long term.
The second thing is I thinkit's the time suck and just the
straight up awkwardnessassociated with social media and
(05:04):
sales.
You know, I think people get inthere and they're thinking you
know, you know I'm going to beable to do this or I'm going to
be able to figure it out, andit's just such a morass and it's
getting more complicated, notless complicated, as sort of the
channels fragment, right.
And then, finally, I think, nothaving the clarity to
prioritize the right things.
Having the clarity to prioritizethe right things and you know I
(05:26):
don't say that in that you knowpeople you don't always have
the skill set.
So I think people don't alwaysrealize that the skills that
make you a great coach orconsultant are completely
different skill set than what ittakes to build a great business
.
You know, and the good news isthere's like straightforward
fixes for everything I just said.
Right, you can build a programthat people want to buy, and
(05:50):
there are ways to find outwhether or not you're creating
something that people want tobuy.
Right, you can create a revenueengine that gives you an
authentic way to market and sell, and, if you know where you're
going, you can create a paththat will help you make sure
you're prioritizing and workingon the right things.
That will help get you there,and so you're not spinning your
(06:11):
wheels, and you can do thatwhether you're trying to make
fifty thousand dollars or fivehundred thousand dollars or five
million dollars.
Alyssa (06:17):
Right, the process is the same I like what you said
about that, with the right pathand doing the right things.
I think that there is thisultimate fear that's going on,
you know, when you are workingin corporate, because what
you're used to, this structuredcorporate job, it's very
predictable.
Everything is mapped out foryou, you're running your own bit
(06:37):
and then and then you go torunning your own business where,
like now, you're making all thecalls and it's suddenly become
more complicated.
It's a whole different vibe.
I mean those two are one.
It's from one end to the otherend of the extreme.
And so I know, for me, likecorporate felt, this it's very
predictable routine.
You know that it's a nine tofive.
(06:57):
You know what you have to do.
And then suddenly I felt likewhen I jumped into my own
no-transcript, when I wasstarting out, I was the boss and
I was just trying to figure outhow to balance all of the tasks
I was supposed to do gettingclients, marketing, selling, and
then, at the same time, alsobeing vulnerable and relatable.
(07:18):
And so I honestly I think oneof the biggest questions that
people hear all the time in theearly stages is where do I even
start?
Because they have this business,they, they are.
You know, say, I want to create, I want to be a coach, and so
okay, should I be creating anonline course?
Should I be doing somethingmore like hands on, a, you know,
(07:40):
one-to-one program?
You know there's so many thingsthat you could be doing, and I
know that they're afraid ofdoing the wrong thing, and then
what do you do then?
So it's like, so I would loveto hear from you, like, what
would you say is the mostscalable right out of the gate?
Is it the online course?
Is it one-to-one?
(08:01):
Is it a membership?
Is it something else?
What's your take on that?
Laura (08:06):
Well, scalable.
Scalable, I think you knowyou're definitely talking about
things where you have to workonce and then you can sell it
multiple times, right, soscalable.
But I think when we start, wewant to do things that are
unscalable, because that isgoing to give us the greatest
amount of learning.
So my feeling is, if you haven'tdone this before, if you
(08:29):
haven't worked deeply with yourtarget audience before, then I
would say one-on-one program,and here's why those
conversations with your clientsare going to form the foundation
for your business and they aregoing to act as like a natural
protection for you going out andspending a lot of time or money
building something that nobodywants to buy.
(08:49):
Because they're going to helpyou answer kind of these three
fundamental questions, right,what problem are you solving,
who are you solving it for andwhy does it matter to that
client to get the problem solved?
Like, what is the urgent thingfor them?
What's the thing behind thething?
What do they really want?
Because once you know that,once you really get that, then
(09:11):
you can use that information toinform your online course or
your signature program.
That is scalable, and so Ithink getting real clarity
around those questions isactually what's going to make
your online course that muchmore marketable and successful?
Alyssa (09:24):
I love that.
I think so many of us canrelate to that, to that feeling
of uncertainty of what to startwith first, but I like that you
use the word unscalable I'venever heard of that and I think
I agree with it.
So much is that you know thatstarting out with having those
conversations and we do not dothat enough we need to be having
(09:45):
more conversations with ourclients and finding out the root
cause of their issues, and youcan really only do that
one-to-one at the start, andthen, once you have a method or
a framework in place, I can seehow then you can turn that into
a course or something that'smore evergreen.
And, yeah, I love that.
(10:07):
And so, yeah, so for so many,you know, for solopreneurs,
especially those just startingout, you know, the thought of
putting themselves out there andasking for the sale can feel
awkward, intimidating anddownright scary.
I mean, I've had to really teachmyself the selling techniques
(10:27):
and strategies that I preferethical strategies.
To be honest, I am not aboutFOMO tactics or anything like
that or forceful sales and I dothink that there is this nagging
worry with you know what if Icome across as like too pushy or
like what if no one buys and Iknow that.
I know a lot of my listeners,you know they struggle with this
(10:48):
a lot and I hear this all thetime the fear of promoting
themselves or their offers thatwill, you know, that feel forced
and not authentic.
So how do you think people canstart to feel more comfortable
with marketing and selling,especially when it doesn't come
naturally to them at all?
Laura (11:04):
I agree with you and you know, I will tell you, it
doesn't come naturally to meeither, and this is just
something I hear from women overand over again and I don't know
, you know, if it's somethingabout our conditioning or sort
of.
You know, I think you're rightA lot of fears around sort of
putting ourselves out there andreally, when you're selling and
(11:25):
when your product is, you rightit really that is scary and I
think we have to acknowledgethat.
But I'll say that I have acouple of thoughts Right now.
What I'm recommending and it isa long game, but it's using
content to showcase your thoughtleadership, and you do not have
to be a world-renowned expertto make this work.
(11:46):
What you do is you base yourcontent on your expertise and
the one thing thatdifferentiates you that no AI
can copy, and that's yourexperience.
Because if you're constantlysharing your ideas and your
unique approach to solving aproblem and somebody finds you
that has that problem, then youdon't have to sell them.
(12:10):
They're going to hire you.
So I do want to offer asolution that people can do in
the short term, like if you'rein this now, right, and you
wanted something that you couldstart doing tomorrow.
I think the best thing you cando is kind of a reframing
exercise that shifts yourmindset from I'm selling people
(12:30):
my thing to I'm helping thisperson solve a problem.
And let me give you an example.
So not long ago I had a problemA water pipe burst in my house.
There was water pouring throughthe ceiling all over my
downstairs bathroom.
There was water all over thefloor.
It's seeping out under the door.
This is not good, so I shut offthe water.
(12:52):
Okay, now what am I going to do?
I texted a couple of friends.
Does anybody know a plumber?
Somebody sends me back thenumber of a plumber.
Okay, I make the call.
When I get this person on thephone, I am not haggling on
price.
I am not asking you to sell me,sell them to sell me.
Like we're not having a bigconversation about where did you
(13:13):
go to school for plumbing,right, I just hired them because
, first of all, their name camefrom somebody I trusted, right.
And second, because I had aproblem and they were the person
who could help me get it solved.
So if we break it down, themarketing part was just me
knowing the plumber was outthere and having a little bit of
trust that they weren't gonnascam me.
(13:33):
And the selling part was mereaching out and saying, hey, I
need your help.
And they said, yes, I can beover there.
What time right?
So I think in marketing andsales we get in our own heads
because we've all had that slimyexperience.
But the thing is you know, youknow inside you're not that
person.
So if you focus on the helpingpeople part, I think that should
(13:56):
definitely make it easier fortalking to people about what you
do.
Alyssa (13:59):
I love that analogy.
Did everything go okay?
Laura (14:03):
Yes, yes, we got fixed and we mopped up all the water,
but oh, what a mess.
Alyssa (14:09):
I love that analogy and I love how you reframe those
challenges as opportunities toconnect and serve, rather than
something to dread.
You know, if we think aboutreframing and helping, that
makes us feel like we havesolutions to the everyday
problems that people are facing,and we should be marketing that
(14:32):
because that is and we knowthat we are not the slimy
salesman or the car salesmananalogy that we hear about and I
love that and I think we shouldalways just you know, let us
let ourselves know that that wehave something to say.
We are unique.
We are, we don't do FOMOtactics, we don't do any of
(14:56):
those things, and I think thatour audience will appreciate
that as well.
And so, speaking of valuableinsights, we've now come to my
favorite part of the show.
This is the brilliant bite ofthe week.
I absolutely love this partbecause this is such a quick,
actionable takeaway to kind ofspark their own brilliant ideas,
and it's really all aboutleaving our listeners with
(15:18):
something they can put intopractice right away.
So this is like a piece ofwisdom, a strategy.
This could be like a mindsetshift.
It can help them kind of moveforward in their business.
So what would be one powerfultip or kind of piece of advice
you'd like to share with ourlisteners this week.
Laura (15:35):
I would say that, as an entrepreneur, you need to define
success for yourself.
So there's a lot of gurus andninjas and gladiators out there
and they're going to try to tellyou that it's some number of
dollars a month and that ifyou're not there in six months,
you're doing it wrong, and thatyou need to pay them a bunch of
money so you can do things theirway.
Do not listen, I doing it wrongand that you need to pay them a
bunch of money so you can dothings their way.
Do not listen.
I believe that your businessdoes need to support you
(15:56):
financially.
You absolutely deserve to makemoney and live well, and you
need to give yourself permissionto do that, and that you can
also design your business tosupport things that are
important to you besides money,like flexibility, like control
over your time, like creatingimpact for people and issues
that have meaning for you.
So set up your vision forsuccess around all of that and
(16:20):
then intentionally design abusiness that gets you there.
Alyssa (16:24):
Amazing.
That's so encouraging for ourlisteners to hear and to put
into practice Now.
I know my listeners will becurious to find out more about
you.
Where can they find you online?
Laura (16:34):
Thank you so much for asking.
My website is laurazovilsoncom,and I'll spell that Laura
L-A-U-R-A.
Z as in zebra, a, v as invictory, e-l-s-o-ncom.
And if you are at the pointwhere you're wondering if
starting a business is right foryou, I recommend you download
my Gen X escape plan.
So it is a three-step roadmapthat will help you get clarity
(16:56):
around the problems that youcould help people solve, test
whether or not that idea can getyou to that enough number that
we've been talking about, andthen figure out a plan to get
started while avoiding a lot ofthe rabbit holes and the black
holes that I see first timersget stuck in.
And it's right there at the topof my homepage.
Alyssa (17:13):
Well, thank you so much, Laura, for sharing your wisdom
today and expertise.
This conversation has been sucha gift and I know it's going to
spark some incredible ideas forour listeners Now.
Speaking of ideas, if you'relistening right now and
wondering if your next big,brilliant idea has the potential
to take off, I've got somethingfor you as well.
I have a great chat, GPT promptthat tests your digital product
(17:35):
ideas to see if it sparkscuriosity, solves a problem and
can deliver a result.
You can find that in the shownotes or on my website,
AlyssaVeloceriocom.
Thank you for listening and Iwill catch you next time on
another brilliant idea.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of Brilliant Ideas.
If you love the show, be sureto leave a review and follow me
on Instagram for even moreinsider tips and inspiration.
(17:57):
Ready to bring your next bigbrilliant idea to life?
Visit AlyssaVelsercom forresources, guidance and
everything you need to startcreating something amazing.
I would say that as an entrepreneur, you need to define
success for yourself.
So there's a lot of gurus andninjas and gladiators out there
and they're going to try to tellyou that they're like it's some
number of dollars a month andthat if you're not there in six
months you're doing it wrong andthat you need to pay them a
bunch of money so you can dothings their way.
Do not listen.
Alyssa (00:18):
Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes
you behind the scenes of some ofthe most inspiring digital
products created by solopreneurs.
Just like you, I'm your host,alyssa, a digital product
strategist who helps subjectmatter experts grow their
business with online courses,memberships, coaching programs
and ebooks.
If you're a solopreneur withdreams of packaging your
expertise into a profitabledigital product, then this is
(00:41):
the podcast for you.
Expect honest conversations ofhow they started, the obstacles
they overcame, lessons learnedthe hard way and who face the
same fears, doubts andchallenges you're experiencing,
from unexpected surprises tobreakthrough moments and
everything in between.
Tune in, get inspired and let'sspark your next big, brilliant
idea.
Hey everyone, welcome back toBrilliant Ideas.
(01:02):
I'm thrilled to welcome Laurato the show.
Laura is a corporate financespeak turn business strategist
for Gen Xers and the creator ofBusiness Breakthrough, a program
designed to help you build afulfilling client, getting
business on your terms.
If you're listening right nowand you're just starting out
with building a business, laurahas insights you'll want to hear
.
Welcome to the show, laura.
(01:23):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks, alyssa, awesome.
So, just like you, I'm aprofessor myself and I've been
doing that for almost a decade,and then, before that I was
working in an admin role for upuntil, I would say, about 2020.
And then that's when I jumpedinto my own business.
And for a lot of women who'vebeen in corporate careers for
(01:45):
many years sometimes I would saydecades and they come with all
this experience, skill set andjust so much talent, but they
don't really know what kind ofbusiness to create.
And for myself, I remember thatI've created, you know, I've
made a lot of changes, pivotsand mistakes in my business
myself, and that's when I waslooking at this business
(02:06):
breakthrough program that youoffer and I feel like it's so
life changing for a lot ofpeople who maybe or were like me
in corporate careers or intraditional roles, and they're
starting to think, you know, Icould actually do a coaching
business.
And so what I really want tohear from you is kind of tell me
a bit about your backgroundbehind the business breakthrough
(02:29):
and what led you to doing thiswork.
Laura (02:32):
Well, thank you.
Well, you know, I call myself acorporate finance escapee turned
serial entrepreneur and, likeyou, I'm actually also a former
professor of entrepreneurshipand now I think of myself more
as a business strategist and Ihelp women capitalize on what
they already know to build theirown businesses, as a coach or a
consultant or an independentexpert.
(02:54):
And I think the mission thatreally led me to doing what I'm
doing now is that I used to workprimarily with venture-backed
startups, but around the time ofthe pandemic, I started
noticing that so many mid-careerwomen the exact same thing, you
noticed women with tons ofexperience and expertise were
either getting pushed out orpushed aside from their
corporate jobs, or they werefinally at a place where they
(03:16):
had the time and the bandwidthto re-engage with meaningful
work in a bigger way.
So maybe they're empty nesters,maybe their kids have gotten a
little older and thecorporations just weren't
interested.
Like you know, I heard thesestories of these incredible
women sending out all theseresumes and just hearing nothing
back or going to the interviewand then, like, getting down to
it was like them and one otherperson and the corporation hires
(03:37):
somebody who's like 15, 20years younger, and it just seems
to me that if I could help themconsider entrepreneurship as a
way to share all of that talentand innovation right, it not
only helps, like all of theirpotential clients that are out
there, but it creates thepotential for more financial
power for women, and that isjust something I'm really
(03:58):
passionate about helping makehappen.
Alyssa (04:00):
Wow, that's such a refreshing way to look at it,
and I love how you've taken kindof your own experience.
You know, teachingentrepreneurship and then
turning into something that youknow helps people or women carve
out what they are really meantto do as well, and I think it's
so important, especially forthose that are leaving the
corporate world and trying tofigure out kind of what is my
(04:20):
next step.
And this brings me to my nextquestion, because let's be real,
even with a solid skill set,building a business isn't always
smooth sailing, and I know thatyou've worked with solopreneurs
over the years, and so I wantto know kind of what are the
hurdles that you see very oftenthat tend to shock people in
those early stages of business.
Laura (04:42):
Well, I don't know if these are particularly shocking,
but I will tell you.
I think the challenges are,first of all, not having enough
clients or not having the rightclients, because if you don't
have the client inflow, if youdon't have people paying you,
obviously your business is notgoing to be sustainable over the
long term.
The second thing is I thinkit's the time suck and just the
straight up awkwardnessassociated with social media and
(05:04):
sales.
You know, I think people get inthere and they're thinking you
know, you know I'm going to beable to do this or I'm going to
be able to figure it out, andit's just such a morass and it's
getting more complicated, notless complicated, as sort of the
channels fragment, right.
And then, finally, I think, nothaving the clarity to
prioritize the right things.
Having the clarity to prioritizethe right things and you know I
(05:26):
don't say that in that you knowpeople you don't always have
the skill set.
So I think people don't alwaysrealize that the skills that
make you a great coach orconsultant are completely
different skill set than what ittakes to build a great business
.
You know, and the good news isthere's like straightforward
fixes for everything I just said.
Right, you can build a programthat people want to buy, and
(05:50):
there are ways to find outwhether or not you're creating
something that people want tobuy.
Right, you can create a revenueengine that gives you an
authentic way to market and sell, and, if you know where you're
going, you can create a paththat will help you make sure
you're prioritizing and workingon the right things.
That will help get you there,and so you're not spinning your
(06:11):
wheels, and you can do thatwhether you're trying to make
fifty thousand dollars or fivehundred thousand dollars or five
million dollars.
Alyssa (06:17):
Right, the process is the same I like what you said
about that, with the right pathand doing the right things.
I think that there is thisultimate fear that's going on,
you know, when you are workingin corporate, because what
you're used to, this structuredcorporate job, it's very
predictable.
Everything is mapped out foryou, you're running your own bit
(06:37):
and then and then you go torunning your own business where,
like now, you're making all thecalls and it's suddenly become
more complicated.
It's a whole different vibe.
I mean those two are one.
It's from one end to the otherend of the extreme.
And so I know, for me, likecorporate felt, this it's very
predictable routine.
You know that it's a nine tofive.
(06:57):
You know what you have to do.
And then suddenly I felt likewhen I jumped into my own
no-transcript, when I wasstarting out, I was the boss and
I was just trying to figure outhow to balance all of the tasks
I was supposed to do gettingclients, marketing, selling, and
then, at the same time, alsobeing vulnerable and relatable.
(07:18):
And so I honestly I think oneof the biggest questions that
people hear all the time in theearly stages is where do I even
start?
Because they have this business,they, they are.
You know, say, I want to create, I want to be a coach, and so
okay, should I be creating anonline course?
Should I be doing somethingmore like hands on, a, you know,
(07:40):
one-to-one program?
You know there's so many thingsthat you could be doing, and I
know that they're afraid ofdoing the wrong thing, and then
what do you do then?
So it's like, so I would loveto hear from you, like, what
would you say is the mostscalable right out of the gate?
Is it the online course?
Is it one-to-one?
(08:01):
Is it a membership?
Is it something else?
What's your take on that?
Laura (08:06):
Well, scalable.
Scalable, I think you knowyou're definitely talking about
things where you have to workonce and then you can sell it
multiple times, right, soscalable.
But I think when we start, wewant to do things that are
unscalable, because that isgoing to give us the greatest
amount of learning.
So my feeling is, if you haven'tdone this before, if you
(08:29):
haven't worked deeply with yourtarget audience before, then I
would say one-on-one program,and here's why those
conversations with your clientsare going to form the foundation
for your business and they aregoing to act as like a natural
protection for you going out andspending a lot of time or money
building something that nobodywants to buy.
(08:49):
Because they're going to helpyou answer kind of these three
fundamental questions, right,what problem are you solving,
who are you solving it for andwhy does it matter to that
client to get the problem solved?
Like, what is the urgent thingfor them?
What's the thing behind thething?
What do they really want?
Because once you know that,once you really get that, then
(09:11):
you can use that information toinform your online course or
your signature program.
That is scalable, and so Ithink getting real clarity
around those questions isactually what's going to make
your online course that muchmore marketable and successful?
Alyssa (09:24):
I love that.
I think so many of us canrelate to that, to that feeling
of uncertainty of what to startwith first, but I like that you
use the word unscalable I'venever heard of that and I think
I agree with it.
So much is that you know thatstarting out with having those
conversations and we do not dothat enough we need to be having
(09:45):
more conversations with ourclients and finding out the root
cause of their issues, and youcan really only do that
one-to-one at the start, andthen, once you have a method or
a framework in place, I can seehow then you can turn that into
a course or something that'smore evergreen.
And, yeah, I love that.
(10:07):
And so, yeah, so for so many,you know, for solopreneurs,
especially those just startingout, you know, the thought of
putting themselves out there andasking for the sale can feel
awkward, intimidating anddownright scary.
I mean, I've had to really teachmyself the selling techniques
(10:27):
and strategies that I preferethical strategies.
To be honest, I am not aboutFOMO tactics or anything like
that or forceful sales and I dothink that there is this nagging
worry with you know what if Icome across as like too pushy or
like what if no one buys and Iknow that.
I know a lot of my listeners,you know they struggle with this
(10:48):
a lot and I hear this all thetime the fear of promoting
themselves or their offers thatwill, you know, that feel forced
and not authentic.
So how do you think people canstart to feel more comfortable
with marketing and selling,especially when it doesn't come
naturally to them at all?
Laura (11:04):
I agree with you and you know, I will tell you, it
doesn't come naturally to meeither, and this is just
something I hear from women overand over again and I don't know
, you know, if it's somethingabout our conditioning or sort
of.
You know, I think you're rightA lot of fears around sort of
putting ourselves out there andreally, when you're selling and
(11:25):
when your product is, you rightit really that is scary and I
think we have to acknowledgethat.
But I'll say that I have acouple of thoughts Right now.
What I'm recommending and it isa long game, but it's using
content to showcase your thoughtleadership, and you do not have
to be a world-renowned expertto make this work.
(11:46):
What you do is you base yourcontent on your expertise and
the one thing thatdifferentiates you that no AI
can copy, and that's yourexperience.
Because if you're constantlysharing your ideas and your
unique approach to solving aproblem and somebody finds you
that has that problem, then youdon't have to sell them.
(12:10):
They're going to hire you.
So I do want to offer asolution that people can do in
the short term, like if you'rein this now, right, and you
wanted something that you couldstart doing tomorrow.
I think the best thing you cando is kind of a reframing
exercise that shifts yourmindset from I'm selling people
(12:30):
my thing to I'm helping thisperson solve a problem.
And let me give you an example.
So not long ago I had a problemA water pipe burst in my house.
There was water pouring throughthe ceiling all over my
downstairs bathroom.
There was water all over thefloor.
It's seeping out under the door.
This is not good, so I shut offthe water.
(12:52):
Okay, now what am I going to do?
I texted a couple of friends.
Does anybody know a plumber?
Somebody sends me back thenumber of a plumber.
Okay, I make the call.
When I get this person on thephone, I am not haggling on
price.
I am not asking you to sell me,sell them to sell me.
Like we're not having a bigconversation about where did you
(13:13):
go to school for plumbing,right, I just hired them because
, first of all, their name camefrom somebody I trusted, right.
And second, because I had aproblem and they were the person
who could help me get it solved.
So if we break it down, themarketing part was just me
knowing the plumber was outthere and having a little bit of
trust that they weren't gonnascam me.
(13:33):
And the selling part was mereaching out and saying, hey, I
need your help.
And they said, yes, I can beover there.
What time right?
So I think in marketing andsales we get in our own heads
because we've all had that slimyexperience.
But the thing is you know, youknow inside you're not that
person.
So if you focus on the helpingpeople part, I think that should
(13:56):
definitely make it easier fortalking to people about what you
do.
Alyssa (13:59):
I love that analogy.
Did everything go okay?
Laura (14:03):
Yes, yes, we got fixed and we mopped up all the water,
but oh, what a mess.
Alyssa (14:09):
I love that analogy and I love how you reframe those
challenges as opportunities toconnect and serve, rather than
something to dread.
You know, if we think aboutreframing and helping, that
makes us feel like we havesolutions to the everyday
problems that people are facing,and we should be marketing that
(14:32):
because that is and we knowthat we are not the slimy
salesman or the car salesmananalogy that we hear about and I
love that and I think we shouldalways just you know, let us
let ourselves know that that wehave something to say.
We are unique.
We are, we don't do FOMOtactics, we don't do any of
(14:56):
those things, and I think thatour audience will appreciate
that as well.
And so, speaking of valuableinsights, we've now come to my
favorite part of the show.
This is the brilliant bite ofthe week.
I absolutely love this partbecause this is such a quick,
actionable takeaway to kind ofspark their own brilliant ideas,
and it's really all aboutleaving our listeners with
(15:18):
something they can put intopractice right away.
So this is like a piece ofwisdom, a strategy.
This could be like a mindsetshift.
It can help them kind of moveforward in their business.
So what would be one powerfultip or kind of piece of advice
you'd like to share with ourlisteners this week.
Laura (15:35):
I would say that, as an entrepreneur, you need to define
success for yourself.
So there's a lot of gurus andninjas and gladiators out there
and they're going to try to tellyou that it's some number of
dollars a month and that ifyou're not there in six months,
you're doing it wrong, and thatyou need to pay them a bunch of
money so you can do things theirway.
Do not listen, I doing it wrongand that you need to pay them a
bunch of money so you can dothings their way.
Do not listen.
I believe that your businessdoes need to support you
(15:56):
financially.
You absolutely deserve to makemoney and live well, and you
need to give yourself permissionto do that, and that you can
also design your business tosupport things that are
important to you besides money,like flexibility, like control
over your time, like creatingimpact for people and issues
that have meaning for you.
So set up your vision forsuccess around all of that and
(16:20):
then intentionally design abusiness that gets you there.
Alyssa (16:24):
Amazing.
That's so encouraging for ourlisteners to hear and to put
into practice Now.
I know my listeners will becurious to find out more about
you.
Where can they find you online?
Laura (16:34):
Thank you so much for asking.
My website is laurazovilsoncom,and I'll spell that Laura
L-A-U-R-A.
Z as in zebra, a, v as invictory, e-l-s-o-ncom.
And if you are at the pointwhere you're wondering if
starting a business is right foryou, I recommend you download
my Gen X escape plan.
So it is a three-step roadmapthat will help you get clarity
(16:56):
around the problems that youcould help people solve, test
whether or not that idea can getyou to that enough number that
we've been talking about, andthen figure out a plan to get
started while avoiding a lot ofthe rabbit holes and the black
holes that I see first timersget stuck in.
And it's right there at the topof my homepage.
Alyssa (17:13):
Well, thank you so much, Laura, for sharing your wisdom
today and expertise.
This conversation has been sucha gift and I know it's going to
spark some incredible ideas forour listeners Now.
Speaking of ideas, if you'relistening right now and
wondering if your next big,brilliant idea has the potential
to take off, I've got somethingfor you as well.
I have a great chat, GPT promptthat tests your digital product
(17:35):
ideas to see if it sparkscuriosity, solves a problem and
can deliver a result.
You can find that in the shownotes or on my website,
AlyssaVeloceriocom.
Thank you for listening and Iwill catch you next time on
another brilliant idea.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of Brilliant Ideas.
If you love the show, be sureto leave a review and follow me
on Instagram for even moreinsider tips and inspiration.
(17:57):
Ready to bring your next bigbrilliant idea to life?
Visit AlyssaVelsercom forresources, guidance and
everything you need to startcreating something amazing.
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