March 4, 2025 • 31 mins
Ever feel like you're drowning in work but barely keeping your business afloat?
Mike Moll did too—until he cracked the code on simplifying, scaling, and actually enjoying solopreneurship.
From burning out in his agency to traveling 38 cities in 10 countries while running a wildly profitable business, Mike spills the secrets to working less, charging more, and ditching the overwhelm.
Plus, the eye-opening pricing mistake that could be costing you thousands. Don’t miss this game-changing episode!
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
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Episode Transcript
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Carly Ries (00:00):
Are you running your business, or is your business
running you? In this episode ofthe Aspiring Solopreneur, we're
sitting down with Mike Moll, aformer marketing agency owner
who traded burnout for freedom,and he's sharing exactly how you
can do the same. Mike spills thesecrets for scaling without
stress, why most solopreneursundercharge by 50%, and the
number one mindset shift thatcould change the game for your
(00:23):
business. So if you want to knowthe real reason your pricing
isn't working and how to fix it,be sure to tune in. You're
listening to The AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship.
My name is Carly Ries, and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your
(00:43):
guides to navigating this crazy,but awesome journey as a company
of one. We take pride in beingpart of LifeStarr, a digital hub
dedicated to all aspects ofsolopreneurship that has
empowered and educated countlesssolopreneurs looking to build a
business that resonates withtheir life's ambitions. We help
people work to live, not live towork. And if you're looking for
(01:05):
a get rich quick scheme, this isnot the show for you. So if
you're eager to gain valuableinsights from industry experts
on running a business the rightway the first time around, or
want to learn from the misstepsof solopreneurs who've paved the
way before you, then stickaround.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Well, Mike, Ijust love your story, and I feel
(01:27):
like we should just start withthe beginning. Why did you
decide to transition fromrunning a successful marketing
agency to coaching solopreneurs?Kind of a different stick.
Mike Moll (01:41):
Passion. Passion. Passion. I built my agency out
of this desperate need to leavethis corporate environment that
I was in. I didn't even reallyknow what I was gonna stumble on
until I found it, and I ran itfor a total of thirteen years.
And, honestly, by year eight,nine, like, I was kinda done,
(02:02):
and I had employees who were,like, my significant other and
my family members. So I kept itlonger than I wanted to, and I
just had no desire, no passionto keep running it. But you
know, the coaching thing kindareally lit me up, and finally, I
had the courage to separatemyself and move out of it.
Carly Ries (02:22):
And was that because you yourself had burnout, or did
you just lose interest in themarketing world? What was it
that you were like, time to go?
Mike Moll (02:31):
Yeah. I think as a marketing agency, you're only as
good as your best performinglast month. You know? And I
think the other thing is thatwith the market being so flooded
with vendors, not to say thecoaching market's not saturated,
but with marketing, it's like,oh, well, this person told me
they could do this for me onTikTok, and then this person
(02:52):
said I could blow up on myYouTube. And there's only so
much budget and bandwidth thatpeople have for marketing.
So there is this constant,fighting off of other ideas even
when, we were very calculated inhow we showed profitability and
performance. So, we are makingpeople money, and they were
still like, well, I saw thisvideo, and I think we gotta move
to TikTok now. And, I just kindagot exhausted by the
(03:14):
conversation, to be honest.
Carly Ries (03:16):
Yep. We agree with that. Well, so we're joking
because you're like, well, it'snot that the coaching world
isn't saturated, but youobviously have something that
sets you apart, which is whyyou're continuing to do this
now. So what strategies do yourecommend for solopreneurs who
want to scale their businesseswithout compromising on that
work life balance I was alludingto? And how do you help them
(03:39):
avoid burnout?
Mike Moll (03:41):
I think it starts with vision. I think a lot of
problems with solopreneurs isthat they worked at a company
before, and they took thatcompany's formula and made it
their job now. Or they looked ata competitor, and they're like,
well, this is how they do it, soI just do it in the similar way,
then I have a business. And alot of people don't start with
how the business can serve theirlifestyle, and they don't even
(04:04):
really think about, what do Iwant this thing to look like?
And so what ends up typicallyhappening is we convolute our
service in a massive way. Well,I should add these extra things
and these bonuses and theseguarantees, and it's gonna make
me do a whole bunch of extrawork, but maybe people won't
leave. And the truth is you cando a lot less and charge a lot
(04:26):
more with your current service.I've audited thousands of
different offers in my day, and,most people are undercharging by
50% and doing 30% more work thanthey need to. So for me, it's
starting with that.
It's like, let's actually justmake the current thing simpler
and more profitable before youdecide to scale. Because the
(04:46):
truth is, when I was doing salescoaching primarily, people like,
oh, everyone's telling me togrow as fast as possible. The
money will take care of it all.But I'm like, you're not
motivated to sell more of thiscurrent thing. You don't even
really like the current thingyou're selling and the way
you're doing it.
So, let's fix that first. Andthat's been just a huge game
changer for me.
Carly Ries (05:05):
Yeah. Absolutely. We always say there's difference
between running a successfulbusiness and one that you enjoy,
and it sounds like you have agood, idea of how to kinda merge
those two.
Joe Rando (05:15):
And I love how you started with how people don't
think about what their goals arewhen they're starting the
business. you know, as I've saidnumerous times, I have been in
the unenviable position ofrunning a business that I
started that I did not likerunning, which I think you
obviously did too from what youjust said. So it's not a good
place to be, and it can feellike having a tiger by the tail.
(05:37):
So starting with that just makesso much sense.
Mike Moll (05:40):
Yeah. I mean, my 2022 is a perfect example. I was in
38 cities in 10 countries onthree continents, and I was
just, like, wherever the heck Iwanted to be all year. Now I was
exhausted for that for thetravel reasons, but, like, I
just got to crack open mylaptop, take a few meetings a
week, and, it was amazing to goexplore the world like that and
(06:02):
to to build that. But, thatdoesn't come if you're on one
hour meetings with every clienttwice a week.
You know what I mean? Like, youhave to really design how you're
gonna operate or else, you'renot gonna have that flexibility.
Joe Rando (06:16):
Right.
Carly Ries (06:16):
I have to ask. What was your favorite place that
year?
Mike Moll (06:20):
Budapest or Cape Town, South Africa. Both great
for different reasons.
Carly Ries (06:28):
My sister-in-law did a remote year and traveled
everywhere, and Cape Town was,the top of her list too. So
Yeah. Submitted it to my list,you guys.
Mike Moll (06:37):
Do it.
Carly Ries (06:38):
Well, it sounds like you had clear goals. Travel was
one of them. Can you share apivotal moment in your career
that shaped how you approachbusiness and how you advise
others?
Mike Moll (06:49):
Yeah. Absolutely. So this is 2018 or '19. I was still
in Toronto, so somewhere aroundthere. A friend of mine who I
consider to be more successful,he was like, pick something to
launch, and he was monetizing itwithin a month.
Like, this guy is just amonster. And we were out just
walking around near thedistillery district. I'll never
(07:11):
forget it. He was doing a halfday workshop for a big
organization. Office Depot wouldbe the equivalent in The United
States.
And he was training, like, 30people on how to use LinkedIn
outreach for basically buildinga pipeline and doing it in a
unique way, in an interestingway. And it was a half day
workshop, big group, and he waslike, yeah. you know, you would
(07:35):
typically charge, like, 1,700,but, I'd love to get it to,
like, 2,200. And my brain justwent, wait.
No. That's missing a zero, bro.What are you talking about?
Like, to a company that size? soI took a step back, and, again,
this is someone who I thoughtwas, running a killer business.
And he's my best friend to thisday, but I said, well, what
(07:56):
happens if, 10% of the peoplethat come to this thing pay
attention to you, and then theydeploy just 25% of how what you
teach them?
He's like, probably, a hundredto 175 thousand in extra
revenue. I'm like, cool. So whyare you $2,000? How are you not
10,000 like, the price is ajoke. And, I said it with love,
(08:18):
but you know, he repriced it at9,500, and they were like, oh,
yeah.
Of course. I'm like, it wasprobably still too little, but
it was that moment of, oh,people that are, selling a lot
of stuff don't have a vision of,how to charge or how to create
value or express the value ofwhat they do. And I did like, I
picked it apart in one minute,and I was like, oh, I guess
(08:39):
that's because I've worked withpeople with offers for as long
as I had with, a little bit of,strategy work and the agency.
I've seen so many offers. So Ithink to share that perspective,
I was like, I bet you there aremore people like him that are
not doing the pricing right.
Carly Ries (08:54):
Well, so let's piggyback off of that. What I
mean, that is one of the numberone things we hear is people
don't know how to price theirservices. So now that you have
that information, you have thatexperience, what do you advise
solopreneurs to do in terms ofpricing?
Mike Moll (09:09):
Yeah. I mean, every different service prices
differently. Like, obviously, amarketing engagement is
different than building awebsite because you can attach
different KPIs and differentresults. But here's where you
have to start and where mostpeople neglect. If you don't
believe that your product andyour service is worth more,
like, really, really, reallybelieve it, you can't change the
(09:31):
price.
So most people will be like,okay. Well, it's that time. I
should, increase my price by10%. That's the thing we do. But
in order to make a bigdifference, I like to say, what
does this look like if we doublethe price right now?
Because a lot of people arereally that low. And the problem
is you can't just be like, yeah.I'm gonna do it. Mike told me to
(09:52):
do it, so I'm gonna do it.Because subconsciously, if you
don't believe that there'senough value in it, that will
come out. your subconsciouswill block you in your sales
conversations from being able tocreate those transactions.
So you actually have to have abelief. You have to have a
moment where you're like, oh,wow. I'm way undercharging. And
so the way that I do that, I'lltake thirty seconds. I'll give
(10:13):
you the Coles notes version ofthe exercises.
I make this chart. It's likefour vertical lines, usually
curved, but for the simplicityof listening to this vertical
lines. And in those columns, youhave one month, three month, six
month, twelve months. And I wantyou to close your eyes, and I
(10:34):
want you to picture what happensto this organization that you're
gonna sell your service to ifthey don't solve the problem
with a vendor who's great atwhat they do just like you in
those periods of time. Right?
So how does it impact them,like, financially, from a
confidence, from an operationalstandpoint? There are a lot of
different categories we thinkabout. And so, what you realize
(10:56):
is after half a year, aftertwelve months, if they didn't
find the right vendor, maybethey hired the wrong person
three times, and now they haveno belief that it can be fixed,
no progress. it's still aproblem that's hampering them,
or they don't find anybody andtheir growth stalls. And now
they don't have anypredictability in their revenue
(11:17):
or, you know, million differentthings come up.
But actually envisioning, a yearfrom now, if this person doesn't
solve this problem that I solve,what happens to the business?
And the impacts are profound. Asthe time goes on, this gets
worse and worse, and it gets tothe point where, some people
just go out of business becausethey haven't solved it. So when
you realize the prolonged painthat comes with not solving this
(11:39):
problem, it really, illuminates,well, if I'm great at it and if
I can fix this thing in thirtydays, like, I'm gonna stop all
these future problems for theperson. That usually is a big
spark to create that belief.
Joe Rando (11:52):
Now I have a question because I think that's really
cool. I love the thinking, andit's something, certainly, a lot
of solopreneurs aren't doing.But it seems to me there's
another step which is makingsure that the prospect
understands these kinds ofthings. Right? So it's not just
(12:12):
getting them in your head.
It's then getting in your headand getting it into their head.
Any thoughts on that?
Mike Moll (12:16):
Yeah. So part of the process that we do is a series
of exercises that unpacks thewhat the WTF moment in you. And
then the next thing is, okay.What are the most hard hitting
things? How do we expand onthem?
And then how do we express themin marketing? For example, you
can't say, well, if you don'tsolve the marketing problem,
you're probably gonna take thisstress and frustration home.
(12:38):
You're gonna lose sleep. Youmight not be as connected to
your family. You might be alittle bit distracted from
parenting.
You can't be like, hey. If youdon't solve this marketing with
my service, you're gonna be abad dad. You can't do that.
Carly Ries (12:52):
I mean, you could.
Mike Moll (12:53):
I don't think gonna work. You could try. So what we
do is take those expressions,which are truth, but we tell
them in the fashion of, howother people would experience
it.
So, stories about how otherclients experiences, whether
it's through, a case study or atestimonial. So some of the
stuff you can't directly putinto the marketing, but you
(13:15):
could say, hey. I've worked withpeople just like you, and what
they found was they got thisresult, but they also realized,
hey. When I was at home, this iswhat... so you can tell that
story through how other peoplehave experienced it, and that's
usually, enough for them toconnect the dots. I'm like, oh,
I don't wanna be like that guythat you
were working with. but, yes, thepoint is we do try and find the
(13:37):
top five future pains, and thenhow do we express those in our
marketing, whether
it's something
we could just put there, like,hey. if you don't have
consistent leads, you're notgonna be able to predict
revenue. You're not gonna beable to, you know, grow the
business. Like, those are veryobvious, but the ones that are
more nuanced and more personal,we tend to tell those through
(13:58):
the stories of others.
Joe Rando (13:59):
Yeah. I'm just curious because I found that a
lot of solopreneurs, becausethey're very good at what they
do, but they're not necessarilysalespeople and maybe have never
done sales, but they're veryuncomfortable with kind of
bringing up pain points becausethey feel like it's mean or
something, I don't know. And doyou find that a lot of them need
(14:21):
to be coached into going intopain points with prospects?
Mike Moll (14:25):
Yeah. So here's what happens with people. They attach
sales to this, like, what yousee in the movies, or, these bad
reputation,
Joe Rando (14:35):
these car sales. Always be closing.
Mike Moll (14:37):
They associate it with that, and so they think
that having the person expressthese pain points is a form of
manipulation. So that's wherethey go. And so, my counter to
that and it's hard to dive intoin thirty seconds, but if I were
to summarize it, it's like, ifwhat you do solves those future
pains for somebody and yougenuinely know that you're good
(15:01):
at that thing, it is yourresponsibility to get the person
to move forward with you. That'show I genuinely feel. And
because if you don't, whathappens? Because especially in
marketing, we have people cometo us when we had the agency
that were like, listen. I'vetried three different companies.
We did three three monthcontracts. We're down 15. I
don't even know if I believethis can work anymore. Well, if
(15:23):
you know and if you vet theclient properly and you know
what you do can fix that, thenit's your responsibility to not
let them drift off to the nextproblem because someone will
sell them something. So knowingthat, it becomes your
responsibility to chime in andhelp. Now if the person doesn't
align perfectly with, your idealcustomer or the type of person
you're great at working with,fine.
(15:44):
Then let them go. That's alsoyour responsibility is not to
sign people you can't help, butequally when you can, you gotta
move forward. So that comes withpeople need to feel like you
understand them, and they needto feel like you know, they need
to express if you can get themto, like, say out loud something
that they didn't really wannatalk about, and they're like,
(16:06):
oh, man. This person understandsme. People buy when they feel
understood.
Right? And so you expressingthat you understand where
they're at through differentmechanisms is very powerful in
sales.
Joe Rando (16:18):
Absolutely. I always think, if you're driving down
the road, you see somebody withone of their tires is wobbling
on their car, you go, well, Idon't wanna bring up bad news to
them. You know? It's like, ifyou're a good person, you try to
get up next to them and go, hey.Pull over. Your wheel's gonna
fall off. but people see peoplein this situation in their work,
in their lives, or whatever andfeel bad about about bringing it
(16:40):
up. So I love this. I love whatyou're saying, all of it.
Carly Ries (16:44):
Mhmm. Well and you talk about, we were just saying
you need to have an offer thatactually solves the problems of
your audience that other peoplefailed their responsibilities
in. I'm not sure if I said thatsentence right, but you get what
I'm saying. So how do you helpyour clients develop a dream
offer, let's say, that attractstheir ideal customers so they
(17:05):
can move forward with that,response?
Mike Moll (17:08):
Yeah. So the offer itself, I think, actually comes
secondary to defining who it isthat you're going to help. And I
think where a lot of people getstuck is they're like, well, I
know how to do Google Ads. Sosomebody that needs Google Ads
is my person. Right?
So that's how we're gonna do it.And never I've never been a
(17:29):
proponent of, you need to nicheit down to, like, you don't have
to be the Google Ads guy forplumbers, but you should be, the
Google Ads guy for, home servicebiz , so I was the Google Ads
guy for boring businesses. So ifyou didn't need content and if
you didn't need a brand to selllike, law firms fell into the
same bucket as roofers becausenobody cares the about story of
(17:52):
the law firm. It's like, I needa divorce attorney. Are you
that?
Great. I focus on Google Ads forboring businesses, but it's
really important to make surethat they're the right type of
person that you can help. And sowhat I do with my clients is I
have them define those in atleast a 10 checklist. So for me,
it's like, do they evenunderstand the back end? Are
(18:14):
they even capable of getting newleads? a lot of home service
companies, I'm like, cool. If wewere to double the amount of
phone calls that you get, whatwould happen? And they're like,
they'd all go to Jim's voicemail. Cool. when you get a lead
now, where does that go?
Oh, it goes into Tony's Gmailaccount. Like, who's tracking
this? Is there a CRM? Do we knowwhat would happen right now if I
(18:35):
tripled your leads intake in,volume right now? And a lot of
companies, they couldn't handleit.
And so for me, it's like, yes.You could do it, but is it
actually gonna benefit them? weactually have a vetting process
for, let's make sure that thisclient is someone that you can
actually help and that theirexisting infrastructure is set
up for success. Because ifyou're not gonna build them the
(18:56):
CRM and you're not gonna traintheir sales team so there's, you
know, selling more than 5% ofdeals, like, what are you
getting in there and doingmarketing for? So I actually
think that's more important.
Joe Rando (19:07):
That's awesome.
Mike Moll (19:08):
Yeah.
Joe Rando (19:08):
That's awesome. Because you're so right. It's
like if the infrastructure isnot in place, you're just
spinning your wheels and thenyou don't look good.
You don't look good to thecustomer because, well, the
sales didn't go up. So great.Yeah.
Mike Moll (19:21):
And a byproduct of that is when you actually ask
them these questions and they'relike, oh, no. I don't have that.
I don't have that. I actuallysay, hey. Listen. I don't think
that you're ready for this.Here's why. I'll do it in a very
kind way. if you can go fixthese two things, you can come
back and almost, reapply to workwith us. And what happens is a
lot of solopreneurs with aservice look up to the climate,
(19:46):
like, oh my god.
Please say yes. don't reject me.Say yes. let me in. And when you
start making your client applyto you, for the benefit of both
you and the client, it actuallychanges the dynamic.
A lot of my customers have theirclients at the end of the call
say, like, hey. I would love towork with you if you'd take me
on, if you would have me. Theclient is saying that to them.
Right? And it's again, peopleare like, oh, is that
(20:08):
manipulative?
No. Because if you jump into aworking relationship with
someone and they're not set upfor success, they're gonna blame
you, and they're gonna be aheadache, and they're gonna be a
lot of extra correspondence andwhere it's not fun. So, why are
we doing it?
Carly Ries (20:24):
Yeah. Well, so let's say you've identified your
audience. We're talking aboutjust creating that dream offer.
So once you have them, how doyou advise, create that once
they know who they'respecifically targeting?
Mike Moll (20:38):
Absolutely. To keep it concise, whatever the
shortest point from a to b is.So from I am stuck on this thing
to I now have the outcome that Iwant. Most people get stuck
listing a whole bunch ofdeliverables. Well, here's the
30 things.
We're gonna do the keywordresearch, and we're gonna set up
the account, and then we'regonna cook up the analytics. And
(20:59):
that I mean, nobody cares.Right? So you need to develop a
three to five step process, andthat process the name of each
process needs to be number one,benefit to the customer. This is
how we do it.
And that needs to take themthrough a very simple way that
they understand within their ownecosystem of how this is gonna
(21:19):
work for them. So if you'respeaking in your own jargon, in
your language, like, you know,we're gonna set up the Google
CPC campaigns. They're like, Idon't know. I don't know what
that is. Right?
But, what is the outcome for thecustomer, and let's label that
with a step, and it should be athree to five step process. And
so the offer itself should be astory. It should be these are
(21:44):
the three step you can brand it.You should brand it. Process
from getting you from here tothere.
And when they hear it, it shouldbe the natural progression for
them in the way that thecustomer would need to
understand it. That's what itis. I think where a lot of
people get stuck is, oh, well,these other people talk about, a
(22:04):
guarantee or, you know, goinginto the ad account, seven days
a week and doing all this othercrap. Like, the person buying
from you only cares if you'regonna get them to the finish
line. So what is the four stepprocess that takes them to the
finish line and nothing else?
No more. As simple and linear aspossible.
Carly Ries (22:25):
Yeah. It's so smart. You seem like you have so many
processes in place. You'vethrown the word out a few times.
You've alluded to it in sales,marketing.
What processes do solopreneursneed to put in place to be more
efficient with their businesses?
Mike Moll (22:40):
Every single one. So I have a video that shows every
single thing that I do, and thenmy VA, like, my VA runs my
entire life now. And so here'sthe truth. There are going to be
within an ecosystem of yourbusiness, there's gonna be at
least 50 different things thatneed to be done to make it
function. Right?
(23:00):
And the likelihood is thatthere's gonna be three or four
that you're gonna be great at.And there's gonna be a decent
amount that you're mediocre at,and there's gonna be a lot that
you're crappy at. So if youdon't download your brain, if
you don't record these processesand then start to delegate that
work, you're just gonnaconstantly be slowed down by
tasks that you wannaprocrastinate on or that take
(23:21):
you way longer than they should.So I actually think the easiest
way to do it is, the next timeyou're going to do a process,
okay, this is how we uploadeverything into the client
portal. This is how we fill outthe contract and send it off.
This is how we just record it.Even if it takes forty five
minutes of you on Loom or onwhatever tool, just record it
(23:43):
and talk out loud as if somebodyis, learning from you, and just
let that forty five minute thingbe your process video for now.
That's not ideal. You want it tobe more concise, but just get it
out of your brain so thatsomeone else can come in and do
it if you suck at it. That's,the most basic way to start.
And a lot of people are like,well, then I gotta, make sure
(24:04):
everything's aligned and get allthe screens ready. I'm like, no.
No. if you're paying somebody,especially from overseas, like,
a smaller amount of money perhour than you, if they have to
watch a one hour long video andyou droning on explaining how
something works, they're gonnalearn all of your thought
processes and how everythingworks from that. It doesn't have
to be a concise five minutevideo.
Just get it into a video so thatyou can get it off your plate.
Carly Ries (24:27):
You are not the first person that has talked
about how VAs have changed theirlives and made their businesses
the most efficient. Do you haveany quick tips on how you can
find a VA for people that arelistening?
Mike Moll (24:40):
Yeah. So I think and any anyone can tell you the
different websites. You can findthem. My advice with VAs is
there's no such thing as aunicorn. So there's no such
thing who's your creativedirector, and your video editor,
and your copywriter, and yourcalendar manager, and your
inbox.
It's not a thing. So if you tooka list of every single task that
(25:04):
you do, and you were to assign avalue to them, whether it's a $1
value task, $10 value task,hundred dollar value task, a
thousand dollar value task, thehundred and the thousands ones
are probably the stuff that yougotta keep doing. But, following
up with this and filling in thisdocument and booking your
flights, those are all 1 and $10tasks related to how they move
(25:26):
the business forward. You needto bucket those by category. Is
it an administrative thing?
Is it a finance thing? Is it acreative thing? Is it design
thing? And you need to find allthe ones that you hate the most
and where which bucket do theymost fall into. For me, it's
detail oriented administrativethings.
Like, when I'm left to book myown travel, I show up to the
(25:49):
airport on days where I don'thave a flight. I'm terrible at
that stuff. When I follow ups inmy calendar, filling out forms,
chasing down documents, all thatstuff is, like, I'm very bad at
it. I'll do one thing one time.I completely forget it exists.
you're not gonna have someonewho's good at managing your
inbox and someone who's good atediting videos. It's highly
(26:13):
unlikely. So find the bucketthat's giving you the most pain
and make sure all those tasksare similarly aligned so that
when you bring someone on, theycan succeed in that role. That's
how I would think about it.
Carly Ries (26:28):
Yep. That's really good advice. wasn't planning on
asking you anything related tothat, but it seems like
something people ask about alot. So, if you could help
solopreneurs create asustainable long term business
strategy, what piece of advicewould you give them?
Mike Moll (26:47):
Make your current service as profitable as
possible, both financially andon time spent. So extract the
value and charge what it'sworth. I hate that word. Charge
a premium price. If you're greatat something, you should be
charging a premium price becauseyou're probably solving a
premium problem for somebody.
(27:07):
And then operationally, back endwise, you should ask yourself,
what would every task that I dolook like if it took half the
amount of time and half theamount of energy? I think what a
lot of people do is they try andgrow, grow, grow, grow, grow
without simplifying how theyoperate, and then they get burnt
out because, well, if it's gonnatake me thirty hours a month to
manage each client. How manyclients can you take? Whereas,
(27:31):
if you can get that down to tenhours per client, even if it's
just you, that still gives you alot of bandwidth. Right?
So get to premium pricing,simplify your back end first
before you worry about scale,and that's where I'd start. And
then you can kinda decide. Like,a lot of people that I work
with, you know, I had a guy thatwas charging, $1,300 to do 12
(27:54):
emails a month plus theautomation plus he was
basically, in charge of thecompany's marketing, email
marketing, like, split testing.I mean, what he was doing was
crazy. And so we just got him toa point where, like, cool.
Instead of 1,300, it was 6,000plus 3% of top line. So he
actually cut his client base inhalf and quadrupled his revenue,
(28:17):
and he's like, okay. That's itfor me. Like, I don't need more.
I don't want more. we built italready. He's got four kids. You
know? He wants to hang out withhis kids.
But it also in saying that, youknow, it starts with the vision.
Why are you chasing scale?Because that's what you hear
people talking about. what doyou want?
How do you wanna spend the time?And then building out something
(28:38):
that actually makes sense withthat.
Joe Rando (28:40):
Amen.
Carly Ries (28:43):
And that was a correct answer, Mike. well,
Mike, I feel like we couldlisten to you talk all day. I'm
so excited that you're coming onfor our next solopreneur success
session, Shameless Plug.
Joe Rando (28:54):
Probably be over by the time this is aired, though.
Carly Ries (28:57):
Oh, shoot. Right.
Mike Moll (28:58):
Go watch the replay.
Carly Ries (29:00):
Go join one of our premium platforms and watch the
replay. But selfishly, I'm justso happy you are doing that.
Mike, what is your favoritequote about success? We ask all
of our guests this question. I'mso curious as to what yours is.
Mike Moll (29:16):
Yeah. I think success is super, widely and
subjectively defined. So thething that I always lean on when
it comes to building offers,when it comes to deciding on
what I'm gonna do, it's aroundselling. And I mentioned it a
little bit earlier, which ispeople buy when they feel
understood, not when theyunderstand you. And it's a
(29:39):
critical reminder even with me,like, when I'm launching
something new or I've got a pagegoing up, I'm reading through
it, and I'm like, is thiswritten in my language or in
their language?
Are the benefits written so thatI sound super smart, or is it
written in a way where it'sgonna be like, oh my god. I need
that. I want that. And you know,it spills over into so many
(29:59):
different facets. So for me, theone I focus on.
Joe Rando (30:03):
This is my one of my Post it notes.
Carly Ries (30:06):
What's in it for them?
Joe Rando (30:07):
What's in it for them? And that's, something that
we have to remember. And peopledon't. they know it, and then
they go write something, andit's from their perspective,
it's so hard.
Carly Ries (30:18):
It is. Well, Mike, I feel like you've dangled a
carrot in this episode. Thereare probably some of the
listeners that are like, okay. Ineed more from this guy. Where
can people find you if theywanna learn more?
Mike Moll (30:29):
Yeah. Absolutely. Best place would just be my
website, mikemoll.co I've got apodcast and a newsletter and all
those things, but, you know,people consume in different
ways. And so if there'ssomething that seems interesting
or attractive to you over there,that's where you'll find
everything.
Carly Ries (30:44):
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the
show. This has been wonderful.
Joe Rando (30:48):
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Carly Ries (30:50):
Listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As
always, we would love that fivestar review. Please subscribe on
your favorite podcast platform,including YouTube, and we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur. You may be
going solo in business, but thatdoesn't mean you're alone.
In fact, millions of people arein your shoes, running a one
person business and figuring itout as they go. So why not
(31:13):
connect with them and learn fromeach other's successes and
failures? At LifeStarr, we'recreating a one person business
community where you can go tomeet and get advice from other
solopreneurs. Be sure to join inon the conversations at
community.lifestarr.com.
Are you running your business, or is your business
running you? In this episode ofthe Aspiring Solopreneur, we're
sitting down with Mike Moll, aformer marketing agency owner
who traded burnout for freedom,and he's sharing exactly how you
can do the same. Mike spills thesecrets for scaling without
stress, why most solopreneursundercharge by 50%, and the
number one mindset shift thatcould change the game for your
(00:23):
business. So if you want to knowthe real reason your pricing
isn't working and how to fix it,be sure to tune in. You're
listening to The AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship.
My name is Carly Ries, and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your
(00:43):
guides to navigating this crazy,but awesome journey as a company
of one. We take pride in beingpart of LifeStarr, a digital hub
dedicated to all aspects ofsolopreneurship that has
empowered and educated countlesssolopreneurs looking to build a
business that resonates withtheir life's ambitions. We help
people work to live, not live towork. And if you're looking for
(01:05):
a get rich quick scheme, this isnot the show for you. So if
you're eager to gain valuableinsights from industry experts
on running a business the rightway the first time around, or
want to learn from the misstepsof solopreneurs who've paved the
way before you, then stickaround.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Well, Mike, Ijust love your story, and I feel
(01:27):
like we should just start withthe beginning. Why did you
decide to transition fromrunning a successful marketing
agency to coaching solopreneurs?Kind of a different stick.
Mike Moll (01:41):
Passion. Passion. Passion. I built my agency out
of this desperate need to leavethis corporate environment that
I was in. I didn't even reallyknow what I was gonna stumble on
until I found it, and I ran itfor a total of thirteen years.
And, honestly, by year eight,nine, like, I was kinda done,
(02:02):
and I had employees who were,like, my significant other and
my family members. So I kept itlonger than I wanted to, and I
just had no desire, no passionto keep running it. But you
know, the coaching thing kindareally lit me up, and finally, I
had the courage to separatemyself and move out of it.
Carly Ries (02:22):
And was that because you yourself had burnout, or did
you just lose interest in themarketing world? What was it
that you were like, time to go?
Mike Moll (02:31):
Yeah. I think as a marketing agency, you're only as
good as your best performinglast month. You know? And I
think the other thing is thatwith the market being so flooded
with vendors, not to say thecoaching market's not saturated,
but with marketing, it's like,oh, well, this person told me
they could do this for me onTikTok, and then this person
(02:52):
said I could blow up on myYouTube. And there's only so
much budget and bandwidth thatpeople have for marketing.
So there is this constant,fighting off of other ideas even
when, we were very calculated inhow we showed profitability and
performance. So, we are makingpeople money, and they were
still like, well, I saw thisvideo, and I think we gotta move
to TikTok now. And, I just kindagot exhausted by the
(03:14):
conversation, to be honest.
Carly Ries (03:16):
Yep. We agree with that. Well, so we're joking
because you're like, well, it'snot that the coaching world
isn't saturated, but youobviously have something that
sets you apart, which is whyyou're continuing to do this
now. So what strategies do yourecommend for solopreneurs who
want to scale their businesseswithout compromising on that
work life balance I was alludingto? And how do you help them
(03:39):
avoid burnout?
Mike Moll (03:41):
I think it starts with vision. I think a lot of
problems with solopreneurs isthat they worked at a company
before, and they took thatcompany's formula and made it
their job now. Or they looked ata competitor, and they're like,
well, this is how they do it, soI just do it in the similar way,
then I have a business. And alot of people don't start with
how the business can serve theirlifestyle, and they don't even
(04:04):
really think about, what do Iwant this thing to look like?
And so what ends up typicallyhappening is we convolute our
service in a massive way. Well,I should add these extra things
and these bonuses and theseguarantees, and it's gonna make
me do a whole bunch of extrawork, but maybe people won't
leave. And the truth is you cando a lot less and charge a lot
(04:26):
more with your current service.I've audited thousands of
different offers in my day, and,most people are undercharging by
50% and doing 30% more work thanthey need to. So for me, it's
starting with that.
It's like, let's actually justmake the current thing simpler
and more profitable before youdecide to scale. Because the
(04:46):
truth is, when I was doing salescoaching primarily, people like,
oh, everyone's telling me togrow as fast as possible. The
money will take care of it all.But I'm like, you're not
motivated to sell more of thiscurrent thing. You don't even
really like the current thingyou're selling and the way
you're doing it.
So, let's fix that first. Andthat's been just a huge game
changer for me.
Carly Ries (05:05):
Yeah. Absolutely. We always say there's difference
between running a successfulbusiness and one that you enjoy,
and it sounds like you have agood, idea of how to kinda merge
those two.
Joe Rando (05:15):
And I love how you started with how people don't
think about what their goals arewhen they're starting the
business. you know, as I've saidnumerous times, I have been in
the unenviable position ofrunning a business that I
started that I did not likerunning, which I think you
obviously did too from what youjust said. So it's not a good
place to be, and it can feellike having a tiger by the tail.
(05:37):
So starting with that just makesso much sense.
Mike Moll (05:40):
Yeah. I mean, my 2022 is a perfect example. I was in
38 cities in 10 countries onthree continents, and I was
just, like, wherever the heck Iwanted to be all year. Now I was
exhausted for that for thetravel reasons, but, like, I
just got to crack open mylaptop, take a few meetings a
week, and, it was amazing to goexplore the world like that and
(06:02):
to to build that. But, thatdoesn't come if you're on one
hour meetings with every clienttwice a week.
You know what I mean? Like, youhave to really design how you're
gonna operate or else, you'renot gonna have that flexibility.
Joe Rando (06:16):
Right.
Carly Ries (06:16):
I have to ask. What was your favorite place that
year?
Mike Moll (06:20):
Budapest or Cape Town, South Africa. Both great
for different reasons.
Carly Ries (06:28):
My sister-in-law did a remote year and traveled
everywhere, and Cape Town was,the top of her list too. So
Yeah. Submitted it to my list,you guys.
Mike Moll (06:37):
Do it.
Carly Ries (06:38):
Well, it sounds like you had clear goals. Travel was
one of them. Can you share apivotal moment in your career
that shaped how you approachbusiness and how you advise
others?
Mike Moll (06:49):
Yeah. Absolutely. So this is 2018 or '19. I was still
in Toronto, so somewhere aroundthere. A friend of mine who I
consider to be more successful,he was like, pick something to
launch, and he was monetizing itwithin a month.
Like, this guy is just amonster. And we were out just
walking around near thedistillery district. I'll never
(07:11):
forget it. He was doing a halfday workshop for a big
organization. Office Depot wouldbe the equivalent in The United
States.
And he was training, like, 30people on how to use LinkedIn
outreach for basically buildinga pipeline and doing it in a
unique way, in an interestingway. And it was a half day
workshop, big group, and he waslike, yeah. you know, you would
(07:35):
typically charge, like, 1,700,but, I'd love to get it to,
like, 2,200. And my brain justwent, wait.
No. That's missing a zero, bro.What are you talking about?
Like, to a company that size? soI took a step back, and, again,
this is someone who I thoughtwas, running a killer business.
And he's my best friend to thisday, but I said, well, what
(07:56):
happens if, 10% of the peoplethat come to this thing pay
attention to you, and then theydeploy just 25% of how what you
teach them?
He's like, probably, a hundredto 175 thousand in extra
revenue. I'm like, cool. So whyare you $2,000? How are you not
10,000 like, the price is ajoke. And, I said it with love,
(08:18):
but you know, he repriced it at9,500, and they were like, oh,
yeah.
Of course. I'm like, it wasprobably still too little, but
it was that moment of, oh,people that are, selling a lot
of stuff don't have a vision of,how to charge or how to create
value or express the value ofwhat they do. And I did like, I
picked it apart in one minute,and I was like, oh, I guess
(08:39):
that's because I've worked withpeople with offers for as long
as I had with, a little bit of,strategy work and the agency.
I've seen so many offers. So Ithink to share that perspective,
I was like, I bet you there aremore people like him that are
not doing the pricing right.
Carly Ries (08:54):
Well, so let's piggyback off of that. What I
mean, that is one of the numberone things we hear is people
don't know how to price theirservices. So now that you have
that information, you have thatexperience, what do you advise
solopreneurs to do in terms ofpricing?
Mike Moll (09:09):
Yeah. I mean, every different service prices
differently. Like, obviously, amarketing engagement is
different than building awebsite because you can attach
different KPIs and differentresults. But here's where you
have to start and where mostpeople neglect. If you don't
believe that your product andyour service is worth more,
like, really, really, reallybelieve it, you can't change the
(09:31):
price.
So most people will be like,okay. Well, it's that time. I
should, increase my price by10%. That's the thing we do. But
in order to make a bigdifference, I like to say, what
does this look like if we doublethe price right now?
Because a lot of people arereally that low. And the problem
is you can't just be like, yeah.I'm gonna do it. Mike told me to
(09:52):
do it, so I'm gonna do it.Because subconsciously, if you
don't believe that there'senough value in it, that will
come out. your subconsciouswill block you in your sales
conversations from being able tocreate those transactions.
So you actually have to have abelief. You have to have a
moment where you're like, oh,wow. I'm way undercharging. And
so the way that I do that, I'lltake thirty seconds. I'll give
(10:13):
you the Coles notes version ofthe exercises.
I make this chart. It's likefour vertical lines, usually
curved, but for the simplicityof listening to this vertical
lines. And in those columns, youhave one month, three month, six
month, twelve months. And I wantyou to close your eyes, and I
(10:34):
want you to picture what happensto this organization that you're
gonna sell your service to ifthey don't solve the problem
with a vendor who's great atwhat they do just like you in
those periods of time. Right?
So how does it impact them,like, financially, from a
confidence, from an operationalstandpoint? There are a lot of
different categories we thinkabout. And so, what you realize
(10:56):
is after half a year, aftertwelve months, if they didn't
find the right vendor, maybethey hired the wrong person
three times, and now they haveno belief that it can be fixed,
no progress. it's still aproblem that's hampering them,
or they don't find anybody andtheir growth stalls. And now
they don't have anypredictability in their revenue
(11:17):
or, you know, million differentthings come up.
But actually envisioning, a yearfrom now, if this person doesn't
solve this problem that I solve,what happens to the business?
And the impacts are profound. Asthe time goes on, this gets
worse and worse, and it gets tothe point where, some people
just go out of business becausethey haven't solved it. So when
you realize the prolonged painthat comes with not solving this
(11:39):
problem, it really, illuminates,well, if I'm great at it and if
I can fix this thing in thirtydays, like, I'm gonna stop all
these future problems for theperson. That usually is a big
spark to create that belief.
Joe Rando (11:52):
Now I have a question because I think that's really
cool. I love the thinking, andit's something, certainly, a lot
of solopreneurs aren't doing.But it seems to me there's
another step which is makingsure that the prospect
understands these kinds ofthings. Right? So it's not just
(12:12):
getting them in your head.
It's then getting in your headand getting it into their head.
Any thoughts on that?
Mike Moll (12:16):
Yeah. So part of the process that we do is a series
of exercises that unpacks thewhat the WTF moment in you. And
then the next thing is, okay.What are the most hard hitting
things? How do we expand onthem?
And then how do we express themin marketing? For example, you
can't say, well, if you don'tsolve the marketing problem,
you're probably gonna take thisstress and frustration home.
(12:38):
You're gonna lose sleep. Youmight not be as connected to
your family. You might be alittle bit distracted from
parenting.
You can't be like, hey. If youdon't solve this marketing with
my service, you're gonna be abad dad. You can't do that.
Carly Ries (12:52):
I mean, you could.
Mike Moll (12:53):
I don't think gonna work. You could try. So what we
do is take those expressions,which are truth, but we tell
them in the fashion of, howother people would experience
it.
So, stories about how otherclients experiences, whether
it's through, a case study or atestimonial. So some of the
stuff you can't directly putinto the marketing, but you
(13:15):
could say, hey. I've worked withpeople just like you, and what
they found was they got thisresult, but they also realized,
hey. When I was at home, this iswhat... so you can tell that
story through how other peoplehave experienced it, and that's
usually, enough for them toconnect the dots. I'm like, oh,
I don't wanna be like that guythat you
were working with. but, yes, thepoint is we do try and find the
(13:37):
top five future pains, and thenhow do we express those in our
marketing, whether
it's something
we could just put there, like,hey. if you don't have
consistent leads, you're notgonna be able to predict
revenue. You're not gonna beable to, you know, grow the
business. Like, those are veryobvious, but the ones that are
more nuanced and more personal,we tend to tell those through
(13:58):
the stories of others.
Joe Rando (13:59):
Yeah. I'm just curious because I found that a
lot of solopreneurs, becausethey're very good at what they
do, but they're not necessarilysalespeople and maybe have never
done sales, but they're veryuncomfortable with kind of
bringing up pain points becausethey feel like it's mean or
something, I don't know. And doyou find that a lot of them need
(14:21):
to be coached into going intopain points with prospects?
Mike Moll (14:25):
Yeah. So here's what happens with people. They attach
sales to this, like, what yousee in the movies, or, these bad
reputation,
Joe Rando (14:35):
these car sales. Always be closing.
Mike Moll (14:37):
They associate it with that, and so they think
that having the person expressthese pain points is a form of
manipulation. So that's wherethey go. And so, my counter to
that and it's hard to dive intoin thirty seconds, but if I were
to summarize it, it's like, ifwhat you do solves those future
pains for somebody and yougenuinely know that you're good
(15:01):
at that thing, it is yourresponsibility to get the person
to move forward with you. That'show I genuinely feel. And
because if you don't, whathappens? Because especially in
marketing, we have people cometo us when we had the agency
that were like, listen. I'vetried three different companies.
We did three three monthcontracts. We're down 15. I
don't even know if I believethis can work anymore. Well, if
(15:23):
you know and if you vet theclient properly and you know
what you do can fix that, thenit's your responsibility to not
let them drift off to the nextproblem because someone will
sell them something. So knowingthat, it becomes your
responsibility to chime in andhelp. Now if the person doesn't
align perfectly with, your idealcustomer or the type of person
you're great at working with,fine.
(15:44):
Then let them go. That's alsoyour responsibility is not to
sign people you can't help, butequally when you can, you gotta
move forward. So that comes withpeople need to feel like you
understand them, and they needto feel like you know, they need
to express if you can get themto, like, say out loud something
that they didn't really wannatalk about, and they're like,
(16:06):
oh, man. This person understandsme. People buy when they feel
understood.
Right? And so you expressingthat you understand where
they're at through differentmechanisms is very powerful in
sales.
Joe Rando (16:18):
Absolutely. I always think, if you're driving down
the road, you see somebody withone of their tires is wobbling
on their car, you go, well, Idon't wanna bring up bad news to
them. You know? It's like, ifyou're a good person, you try to
get up next to them and go, hey.Pull over. Your wheel's gonna
fall off. but people see peoplein this situation in their work,
in their lives, or whatever andfeel bad about about bringing it
(16:40):
up. So I love this. I love whatyou're saying, all of it.
Carly Ries (16:44):
Mhmm. Well and you talk about, we were just saying
you need to have an offer thatactually solves the problems of
your audience that other peoplefailed their responsibilities
in. I'm not sure if I said thatsentence right, but you get what
I'm saying. So how do you helpyour clients develop a dream
offer, let's say, that attractstheir ideal customers so they
(17:05):
can move forward with that,response?
Mike Moll (17:08):
Yeah. So the offer itself, I think, actually comes
secondary to defining who it isthat you're going to help. And I
think where a lot of people getstuck is they're like, well, I
know how to do Google Ads. Sosomebody that needs Google Ads
is my person. Right?
So that's how we're gonna do it.And never I've never been a
(17:29):
proponent of, you need to nicheit down to, like, you don't have
to be the Google Ads guy forplumbers, but you should be, the
Google Ads guy for, home servicebiz , so I was the Google Ads
guy for boring businesses. So ifyou didn't need content and if
you didn't need a brand to selllike, law firms fell into the
same bucket as roofers becausenobody cares the about story of
(17:52):
the law firm. It's like, I needa divorce attorney. Are you
that?
Great. I focus on Google Ads forboring businesses, but it's
really important to make surethat they're the right type of
person that you can help. And sowhat I do with my clients is I
have them define those in atleast a 10 checklist. So for me,
it's like, do they evenunderstand the back end? Are
(18:14):
they even capable of getting newleads? a lot of home service
companies, I'm like, cool. If wewere to double the amount of
phone calls that you get, whatwould happen? And they're like,
they'd all go to Jim's voicemail. Cool. when you get a lead
now, where does that go?
Oh, it goes into Tony's Gmailaccount. Like, who's tracking
this? Is there a CRM? Do we knowwhat would happen right now if I
(18:35):
tripled your leads intake in,volume right now? And a lot of
companies, they couldn't handleit.
And so for me, it's like, yes.You could do it, but is it
actually gonna benefit them? weactually have a vetting process
for, let's make sure that thisclient is someone that you can
actually help and that theirexisting infrastructure is set
up for success. Because ifyou're not gonna build them the
(18:56):
CRM and you're not gonna traintheir sales team so there's, you
know, selling more than 5% ofdeals, like, what are you
getting in there and doingmarketing for? So I actually
think that's more important.
Joe Rando (19:07):
That's awesome.
Mike Moll (19:08):
Yeah.
Joe Rando (19:08):
That's awesome. Because you're so right. It's
like if the infrastructure isnot in place, you're just
spinning your wheels and thenyou don't look good.
You don't look good to thecustomer because, well, the
sales didn't go up. So great.Yeah.
Mike Moll (19:21):
And a byproduct of that is when you actually ask
them these questions and they'relike, oh, no. I don't have that.
I don't have that. I actuallysay, hey. Listen. I don't think
that you're ready for this.Here's why. I'll do it in a very
kind way. if you can go fixthese two things, you can come
back and almost, reapply to workwith us. And what happens is a
lot of solopreneurs with aservice look up to the climate,
(19:46):
like, oh my god.
Please say yes. don't reject me.Say yes. let me in. And when you
start making your client applyto you, for the benefit of both
you and the client, it actuallychanges the dynamic.
A lot of my customers have theirclients at the end of the call
say, like, hey. I would love towork with you if you'd take me
on, if you would have me. Theclient is saying that to them.
Right? And it's again, peopleare like, oh, is that
(20:08):
manipulative?
No. Because if you jump into aworking relationship with
someone and they're not set upfor success, they're gonna blame
you, and they're gonna be aheadache, and they're gonna be a
lot of extra correspondence andwhere it's not fun. So, why are
we doing it?
Carly Ries (20:24):
Yeah. Well, so let's say you've identified your
audience. We're talking aboutjust creating that dream offer.
So once you have them, how doyou advise, create that once
they know who they'respecifically targeting?
Mike Moll (20:38):
Absolutely. To keep it concise, whatever the
shortest point from a to b is.So from I am stuck on this thing
to I now have the outcome that Iwant. Most people get stuck
listing a whole bunch ofdeliverables. Well, here's the
30 things.
We're gonna do the keywordresearch, and we're gonna set up
the account, and then we'regonna cook up the analytics. And
(20:59):
that I mean, nobody cares.Right? So you need to develop a
three to five step process, andthat process the name of each
process needs to be number one,benefit to the customer. This is
how we do it.
And that needs to take themthrough a very simple way that
they understand within their ownecosystem of how this is gonna
(21:19):
work for them. So if you'respeaking in your own jargon, in
your language, like, you know,we're gonna set up the Google
CPC campaigns. They're like, Idon't know. I don't know what
that is. Right?
But, what is the outcome for thecustomer, and let's label that
with a step, and it should be athree to five step process. And
so the offer itself should be astory. It should be these are
(21:44):
the three step you can brand it.You should brand it. Process
from getting you from here tothere.
And when they hear it, it shouldbe the natural progression for
them in the way that thecustomer would need to
understand it. That's what itis. I think where a lot of
people get stuck is, oh, well,these other people talk about, a
(22:04):
guarantee or, you know, goinginto the ad account, seven days
a week and doing all this othercrap. Like, the person buying
from you only cares if you'regonna get them to the finish
line. So what is the four stepprocess that takes them to the
finish line and nothing else?
No more. As simple and linear aspossible.
Carly Ries (22:25):
Yeah. It's so smart. You seem like you have so many
processes in place. You'vethrown the word out a few times.
You've alluded to it in sales,marketing.
What processes do solopreneursneed to put in place to be more
efficient with their businesses?
Mike Moll (22:40):
Every single one. So I have a video that shows every
single thing that I do, and thenmy VA, like, my VA runs my
entire life now. And so here'sthe truth. There are going to be
within an ecosystem of yourbusiness, there's gonna be at
least 50 different things thatneed to be done to make it
function. Right?
(23:00):
And the likelihood is thatthere's gonna be three or four
that you're gonna be great at.And there's gonna be a decent
amount that you're mediocre at,and there's gonna be a lot that
you're crappy at. So if youdon't download your brain, if
you don't record these processesand then start to delegate that
work, you're just gonnaconstantly be slowed down by
tasks that you wannaprocrastinate on or that take
(23:21):
you way longer than they should.So I actually think the easiest
way to do it is, the next timeyou're going to do a process,
okay, this is how we uploadeverything into the client
portal. This is how we fill outthe contract and send it off.
This is how we just record it.Even if it takes forty five
minutes of you on Loom or onwhatever tool, just record it
(23:43):
and talk out loud as if somebodyis, learning from you, and just
let that forty five minute thingbe your process video for now.
That's not ideal. You want it tobe more concise, but just get it
out of your brain so thatsomeone else can come in and do
it if you suck at it. That's,the most basic way to start.
And a lot of people are like,well, then I gotta, make sure
(24:04):
everything's aligned and get allthe screens ready. I'm like, no.
No. if you're paying somebody,especially from overseas, like,
a smaller amount of money perhour than you, if they have to
watch a one hour long video andyou droning on explaining how
something works, they're gonnalearn all of your thought
processes and how everythingworks from that. It doesn't have
to be a concise five minutevideo.
Just get it into a video so thatyou can get it off your plate.
Carly Ries (24:27):
You are not the first person that has talked
about how VAs have changed theirlives and made their businesses
the most efficient. Do you haveany quick tips on how you can
find a VA for people that arelistening?
Mike Moll (24:40):
Yeah. So I think and any anyone can tell you the
different websites. You can findthem. My advice with VAs is
there's no such thing as aunicorn. So there's no such
thing who's your creativedirector, and your video editor,
and your copywriter, and yourcalendar manager, and your
inbox.
It's not a thing. So if you tooka list of every single task that
(25:04):
you do, and you were to assign avalue to them, whether it's a $1
value task, $10 value task,hundred dollar value task, a
thousand dollar value task, thehundred and the thousands ones
are probably the stuff that yougotta keep doing. But, following
up with this and filling in thisdocument and booking your
flights, those are all 1 and $10tasks related to how they move
(25:26):
the business forward. You needto bucket those by category. Is
it an administrative thing?
Is it a finance thing? Is it acreative thing? Is it design
thing? And you need to find allthe ones that you hate the most
and where which bucket do theymost fall into. For me, it's
detail oriented administrativethings.
Like, when I'm left to book myown travel, I show up to the
(25:49):
airport on days where I don'thave a flight. I'm terrible at
that stuff. When I follow ups inmy calendar, filling out forms,
chasing down documents, all thatstuff is, like, I'm very bad at
it. I'll do one thing one time.I completely forget it exists.
you're not gonna have someonewho's good at managing your
inbox and someone who's good atediting videos. It's highly
(26:13):
unlikely. So find the bucketthat's giving you the most pain
and make sure all those tasksare similarly aligned so that
when you bring someone on, theycan succeed in that role. That's
how I would think about it.
Carly Ries (26:28):
Yep. That's really good advice. wasn't planning on
asking you anything related tothat, but it seems like
something people ask about alot. So, if you could help
solopreneurs create asustainable long term business
strategy, what piece of advicewould you give them?
Mike Moll (26:47):
Make your current service as profitable as
possible, both financially andon time spent. So extract the
value and charge what it'sworth. I hate that word. Charge
a premium price. If you're greatat something, you should be
charging a premium price becauseyou're probably solving a
premium problem for somebody.
(27:07):
And then operationally, back endwise, you should ask yourself,
what would every task that I dolook like if it took half the
amount of time and half theamount of energy? I think what a
lot of people do is they try andgrow, grow, grow, grow, grow
without simplifying how theyoperate, and then they get burnt
out because, well, if it's gonnatake me thirty hours a month to
manage each client. How manyclients can you take? Whereas,
(27:31):
if you can get that down to tenhours per client, even if it's
just you, that still gives you alot of bandwidth. Right?
So get to premium pricing,simplify your back end first
before you worry about scale,and that's where I'd start. And
then you can kinda decide. Like,a lot of people that I work
with, you know, I had a guy thatwas charging, $1,300 to do 12
(27:54):
emails a month plus theautomation plus he was
basically, in charge of thecompany's marketing, email
marketing, like, split testing.I mean, what he was doing was
crazy. And so we just got him toa point where, like, cool.
Instead of 1,300, it was 6,000plus 3% of top line. So he
actually cut his client base inhalf and quadrupled his revenue,
(28:17):
and he's like, okay. That's itfor me. Like, I don't need more.
I don't want more. we built italready. He's got four kids. You
know? He wants to hang out withhis kids.
But it also in saying that, youknow, it starts with the vision.
Why are you chasing scale?Because that's what you hear
people talking about. what doyou want?
How do you wanna spend the time?And then building out something
(28:38):
that actually makes sense withthat.
Joe Rando (28:40):
Amen.
Carly Ries (28:43):
And that was a correct answer, Mike. well,
Mike, I feel like we couldlisten to you talk all day. I'm
so excited that you're coming onfor our next solopreneur success
session, Shameless Plug.
Joe Rando (28:54):
Probably be over by the time this is aired, though.
Carly Ries (28:57):
Oh, shoot. Right.
Mike Moll (28:58):
Go watch the replay.
Carly Ries (29:00):
Go join one of our premium platforms and watch the
replay. But selfishly, I'm justso happy you are doing that.
Mike, what is your favoritequote about success? We ask all
of our guests this question. I'mso curious as to what yours is.
Mike Moll (29:16):
Yeah. I think success is super, widely and
subjectively defined. So thething that I always lean on when
it comes to building offers,when it comes to deciding on
what I'm gonna do, it's aroundselling. And I mentioned it a
little bit earlier, which ispeople buy when they feel
understood, not when theyunderstand you. And it's a
(29:39):
critical reminder even with me,like, when I'm launching
something new or I've got a pagegoing up, I'm reading through
it, and I'm like, is thiswritten in my language or in
their language?
Are the benefits written so thatI sound super smart, or is it
written in a way where it'sgonna be like, oh my god. I need
that. I want that. And you know,it spills over into so many
(29:59):
different facets. So for me, theone I focus on.
Joe Rando (30:03):
This is my one of my Post it notes.
Carly Ries (30:06):
What's in it for them?
Joe Rando (30:07):
What's in it for them? And that's, something that
we have to remember. And peopledon't. they know it, and then
they go write something, andit's from their perspective,
it's so hard.
Carly Ries (30:18):
It is. Well, Mike, I feel like you've dangled a
carrot in this episode. Thereare probably some of the
listeners that are like, okay. Ineed more from this guy. Where
can people find you if theywanna learn more?
Mike Moll (30:29):
Yeah. Absolutely. Best place would just be my
website, mikemoll.co I've got apodcast and a newsletter and all
those things, but, you know,people consume in different
ways. And so if there'ssomething that seems interesting
or attractive to you over there,that's where you'll find
everything.
Carly Ries (30:44):
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the
show. This has been wonderful.
Joe Rando (30:48):
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Carly Ries (30:50):
Listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As
always, we would love that fivestar review. Please subscribe on
your favorite podcast platform,including YouTube, and we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur. You may be
going solo in business, but thatdoesn't mean you're alone.
In fact, millions of people arein your shoes, running a one
person business and figuring itout as they go. So why not
(31:13):
connect with them and learn fromeach other's successes and
failures? At LifeStarr, we'recreating a one person business
community where you can go tomeet and get advice from other
solopreneurs. Be sure to join inon the conversations at
community.lifestarr.com.
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