November 26, 2024 • 43 mins
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If you’re a service provider, imagine being able to sit down and complete a project in one day that would normally take weeks. Or, if you’re a client, how would it feel to hire someone to create a sales page, update your website, or whatever else you need, in just 24 hours? No more endless back and forth communication and waiting. This is all possible with VIP days!
I started offering VIP days a few years ago, and when I did, it completely simplified how I run my business. My own VIP day mentor, Sarah Masci, is here to talk all things VIP days. We’ll discuss what makes the VIP day model so great for both service providers and clients, what to consider when adding them to your services, and tons of advice for getting started.
Whether you’re thinking about adding VIP days to your business or you like the idea of hiring someone to knock out a project quickly, this episode is for you! If you’re ready to get started with VIP days, I encourage you to try it out for yourself. And if you have a website project you need completed, check out my VIP day offerings!
02:14 - An overview of what a VIP day is and why it’s a great offer for both service providers and clients
07:49 - What a VIP day (or week) could realistically look like
12:13 - How to execute a seamless VIP day, and what needs to happen behind the scenes
17:47 - Common objections that service providers have about moving to the VIP day model
29:31 - Which kind of clients are a good fit for VIP days
35:22 - Sarah’s best advice for getting started
Links & Resources:
- Learn about my VIP Days
- Know you need some help, but not sure exactly what?
- Episode 122, Is Offering Services the Right Move for You?
- Follow me on Instagram @kristendoyle.co
- Check out my Everything Page: a one-stop shop for savvy selling!
- Join my private Facebook community: Savvy Teacher Sellers
- More resources for growing your TPT business
- Rate & review The Savvy Teacher Seller on Apple Podcasts
Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode123
Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business.
Get more freedom and less stress ➡️ watch now at kristendoyle.co/training
Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristen Doyle (00:00):
Have you ever felt stuck waiting for a project
(00:03):
that you had hired someone forto just be finished already? Or
maybe you're the serviceprovider, and you've been on the
flip side of that coin,wondering when your client is
ever going to get you those lastrevisions or those last files so
you can wrap up their project.
Imagine skipping all the backand forth and just getting it
(00:26):
done in a single day. In ourlast episode, we talked about
the possibility of adding someservices to your offers, and
today, I am diving into my veryfavorite way to both offer
services to my own clients andto get services done for my
business when I'm the client.
(00:48):
Today, I'm introducing you toVIP days. I've invited my VIP
day mentor Sarah Masci to joinus. Sarah teaches service
providers how to create VIP dayor VIP week offers that are a
win win for their clients andfor the service provider too.
(01:08):
Whether you're thinking aboutadding VIP days to your business
or you're curious about maybehiring someone for a VIP day to
knock out a project quickly,without all that back and forth
waiting. This episode hassomething for you. Let's get
started.
Are you a digital product orcourse creator, selling on
(01:30):
platforms like teachers payteachers, Etsy or your own
website? Ready to grow yourbusiness, but not into the kind
of constant hustle that leadsstraight to burnout? Then you're
in the right place.
Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'mKristen Doyle, and I'm here to
give you no fluff, tools andstrategies that move the needle
(01:50):
for your business withoutburning you out in the process.
Things like SEO, no stressmarketing, email list building,
automations, and so much more.
Let's get started y'all.
Hey Sarah, thank you so much forbeing here.
Sarah Masci (02:10):
Hey, Kristen, I am so excited. I've been looking
forward to this.
Kristen Doyle (02:14):
Me too. So let's dive straight in, because I know
we have a lot to talk abouttoday. Let's talk about what a
VIP day actually even is. Whatdo we mean when we say VIP days?
Sarah Masci (02:28):
This is such a good question. So many people are
confused about what a VIP dayis, and I find that I have to
explain it like more than Ithought I would. So I'm glad
we're kind of kicking right offwith that. But essentially, a
VIP day the way I teach it, andthe way, you know, my students
and everyone runs it, it's a,usually a virtual day, or it
could be a half day where youare providing some sort of a
(02:51):
transformation for your clientin a very focused and efficient
block of time.
So instead of taking atraditional project that might
take a couple of weeks to finishwith a lot of back and forth
check ins. Over time, we justcompress everything down into
one day and get it all done. Soat the end of the day, you can
cross it off your list and bedone working with that specific
(03:13):
client.
Kristen Doyle (03:13):
Yeah. And as you know, I shifted over almost
completely to working in VIPdays several years ago, 2020 I
think, or 2021 it's been areally long time when I first
took your course, and I havefound I knew that there were
going to be benefits for me asthe service provider for VIP
days, because it solved so manyof the struggles that I was
(03:35):
having with projects draggingout so long.
And then, of course, whathappens then is all the clients
whose projects you're workingon, they all want you again.
They're all ready to work on itat the same time. So then you're
overwhelmed, and then a weeklater, it's dead again, because
no one's responding to you. Andthen you're overwhelmed.
And I just I knew this was goingto solve a big pain point for me
(03:57):
as a service provider. But onething I learned is it actually
is so much better for clientstoo, on on their side of things.
Sarah Masci (04:06):
Yeah. I mean, I very quickly, once I started
doing my own VIP days as aservice provider, and realized
like how amazing it was for me,I quickly became a fan of being
the VIP day receiver as well.
And now, whenever I hire anybodyfor any kind of services in my
business, I go for the personthat can get it done in a day.
(04:28):
Always. Copy, social, Facebookads, anything that I need to
done, done to hire out I want itdone in a day.
Because, I mean, we even as therecipient of the services we
want. We want it fast. We don'twant to wait six weeks for our
project to be completed. I lovethe fact that I can I know we're
(04:51):
going to start in the morning,and by the end of the day, my
project's going to be completed.
And typically, I have found thata lot of times it's almost more
affordable just to get it donein one day, versus paying for
that big project.
Because I do think a lot ofservice providers account for
the length of time that aproject takes, and so the price
is higher, whereas if they knowit's going to be done in one
(05:14):
day, they can make it a moreaffordable option. So I feel
like it's more affordable. Ilove the efficiency of getting
my results in one day.
Kristen Doyle (05:22):
One big thing for me as a web designer is, instead
of juggling four clientsprojects this month, I'm working
on one a week. And so it reallyhelps me narrow in, just in my
brain, on their brand, theirbusiness, and just focus on
nobody but them for that daythat I am working on their
(05:43):
stuff.
And even the lead up in thatweek, the days prior to the VIP
day, I'm already starting tothink about how I'm designing
things on their side. I'mrolling those ideas around. And
it's not getting muddled becauseI'm working on several projects
at a time. It's very focused inon that one person and what they
need.
Sarah Masci (06:00):
And the other thing that I personally found as a VIP
day, like when I was doingtraditional projects, and all
those projects were lingeringand dragging out, and I felt
like I was working on five orsix or seven clients at any
given time, I wound up findingmyself to be resentful towards
all of them.
By the time we got to the finishline, I was so like, sick of
(06:23):
working on all those projectsthat I was feeling kind of like,
just resentful towardseverything. And when I
compressed everything, westarted working with clients, in
just one day, the clientrelationship was so much better,
because that client knew thatthey were getting your undivided
attention, like you said, allfocus was on them, and they
(06:44):
could have a conversation withyou and know that, like, like,
we're making progress. We'regetting this done, and it was
just a much better relationshipoverall.
Kristen Doyle (06:53):
Yeah, and I've had that same experience.
Actually, one of the things thatreally pushed me into VIP days
was a specific client rightbefore I took your course, I
think it may have actually beenthe client that prompted a
friend of mine to tell me aboutyour course, to say, you need
VIP days here. Go look at this.
I had a client who the projecthad dragged out. Not my fault,
(07:14):
not their fault. It just had.
This is how they they work whenyou don't have that deadline at
the end, and the project haddragged out, and by the time we
got to the end of it, I was kindof tired of the project. I was
over it, but you could tell theywere too.
The client wasn't even excitedabout their brand new website
anymore, because they had justdragged out so long that
excitement was gone. And it's somuch better doing it in a VIP
(07:39):
day where we're working reallyfocused for a shorter amount of
time, and everybody's excited atthe end of it.
Sarah Masci (07:46):
Yeah, there's so, yeah, I totally agree.
Kristen Doyle (07:49):
So let's talk about what a VIP day might look
like, because we're calling itVIP days, and when I do them,
they are typically one day ortwo day projects. But it doesn't
always have to be a single dayto still fit that same model. So
let's talk about some of theoptions for people listening who
maybe are thinking aboutimplementing some VIP days in
their business.
Sarah Masci (08:10):
Yeah, we there's so many, and one of the kind of the
one of the more popular ones, isto do a VIP week. So if you feel
like you want to do this VIP daymodel, but there's no way that
you can get everything done inone day. Then you could start
with looking at what a VIP weekmight look like.
And that doesn't necessarilymean you're working every single
day for a whole week, but youtake one project and you figure
(08:34):
out the hours that you're goingto work Monday through Friday,
or maybe you're only going towork three of the days in the
week, but you call it a VIPweek, and you can provide that
same transformation just spreadout over several days.
That seems to work for a lot ofpeople who are just getting
started with this model andmaybe just don't have the
confidence to work reallyefficiently and quickly and get
(08:55):
it all done in one day. It alsoworks really well for people who
might have a full time job or aday job, and can only work in
the evenings, like I know youand I have had that conversation
about teachers, for example,wanting to do this model, but
not being able to do it, youknow, during the day because of
their other their day job. Sothat's an option.
(09:16):
Another option is a split day.
So it's really, it's kind oflike you price it the same as a
single VIP day, but you're doingtwo half days, so maybe you're
doing, like, three or four hourson Monday and three or four
hours on Tuesday.
Kristen Doyle (09:31):
I typically do a full day VIP day. I start in the
morning my time. I end aroundthe time my kids are getting out
of school, and that works greatfor my schedule, but I have had
clients on the other side of theworld who want to book a VIP
day, and because I need to beable to communicate with them
throughout the day. You know,we're not sitting on Zoom or
anything, but we are textingback and forth throughout the
(09:53):
day.
I'm asking questions, I'mshowing them what I'm working
on. And so for those clients, alot of times what works,
depending on what part of theworld they're in, is to do maybe
two mornings back to back, ortwo late afternoons back to
back, so that it's in theirwaking hours, but it's still,
you know, within my workday aswell.
Sarah Masci (10:13):
Yeah and one thing I have actually done for that
situation when they're on thecomplete opposite side of the
world, like 12 or 14 hours aheadof me, typically, if it's an
Australian client, is I will getup and like will almost like
compromise. So we'll do half ofit really in my super early
morning and half of it in theirsuper early morning.
(10:36):
So neither one of us are like,having to get up at 5am two days
in a row, but like, I might getup, you know, four or 5am work
for three or four hours, andthen we put the project to rest
while they go to sleep, and thenthey wake up, and it's my
evening on the same day, andwe'll wrap up the project and
(10:56):
evening.
So I'm still getting it donefirst thing in the morning and
at the end of the day, and thenI still have my whole day in the
middle to work on whatever elseI need to do. So yeah, there's
that option, there's there's somany others. Some of them, I
actually had one. I hired a VIPday for someone to have some
work done for me, and it was a24 hour turnaround.
So we kind of started at likethree o'clock in the afternoon.
(11:19):
She was also in another timezone, kind of pretty far away.
So we started at three o'clockin the afternoon, my time. I
don't know what time it was forher, but we wrapped up around
three o'clock the following day,and both of us got our sleep in,
both of us got our family timein, and the work got done.
Kristen Doyle (11:37):
That sounds like a really good compromise, too.
So really, I guess what we'resaying is a VIP day doesn't
necessarily have to be a day.
It's really more about justhaving that scheduled, set time
in the calendar and having someboundaries around that time.
Sarah Masci (11:52):
Yep, exactly. And just being really clear with
when you decide what the hoursare going to be and what your
structure is going to be, justmake sure that you're clearly
articulating what that is inyour terms and in your
conversations with your clients,so everybody's on the same page,
like Kristen said, like so ifyou have strong boundaries
around that time.
Kristen Doyle (12:13):
So a big question I get when I talk about VIP days
with other people is, yeah, buthow? How do you build a whole
website in one day? And itreally comes down to something I
learned from you. So I'd lovefor you to expand on it a little
bit. It really comes down tohaving solid prep work and
strategy and communication inplace before the VIP day.
(12:37):
Because there is, I mean, thereis literally no way that I could
pull up somebody's website forthe very first time, log in and
make them a website in one day.
That's not going to happenthere. There does have to be
some communication and planningbeforehand.
Sarah Masci (12:49):
Yes, okay, so the first thing I will say to this
so is, the more you do VIP days,the faster you're going to get.
So if you've never done onebefore, you have to keep your
expectations for that day prettysmall. So when I first started
off doing website in a day, itwas a like two-three page max
(13:09):
website in a day, because that Ihadn't done it before, and I
didn't want to over promise andnot be able to fulfill on the
promise.
So I started out with smallerexpectations and also priced
accordingly, smallerexpectations. It was a much
cheaper VIP day. It was $500,$750, you know, I kind of raised
my price a little bit right atthe beginning. But $750 for a
(13:31):
very small, little website,which eventually, over time, I
got more efficient. I gotfaster. I had tips and tricks
and things that I could pullfrom to create a much larger
site in a day, and that's whenmy price went up to like $3,000
per day.
So all that said, that's onething to keep in mind when
you're starting, but also, likewhat you said, Kristen, is
(13:52):
making sure that you have everysingle thing you need in order
to do the job that you need todo before the day starts.
So what I found worked for mewas to have very clear like,
instructions, expectations,everything the client receives
all of that right when they booktheir day and they know that if
(14:15):
it's not done, either the day isnot happening or there the day
will still happen, but they'renot going to be happy with the
result, because you're justgoing to make the best of the
day with whatever they've donefor pre work.
So you have to be really, reallyclear and setting those
boundaries and expectations whatthe pre work is when it needs to
be done by and then having akickoff call or a strategy call
(14:38):
or something, a few days beforethe actual VIP day to make sure
that everything is done andready to go. Because if it's
not, again, the day is eithernot going to go well, or you're
going to cancel the day andthey're going to lose their
deposit, basically.
Kristen Doyle (14:55):
And you know, one thing I've actually started
doing recently, and I don't knowif I've even told you this yet.
Yeah, but instead of doing onekickoff call right before my VIP
days, I actually split it intotwo. So it's still it's the same
amount of time I would havespent on my one call, except
instead of doing it all a weekbefore the VIP day, what I was
(15:16):
finding was sometimes peopledidn't ask for everything they
wanted on their website, or theydidn't tell me a really
important piece of informationuntil a week before our day, and
then I'm kind of scrambling atthe last minute.
And nobody likes that feeling.
So I split it into two calls,So I'm going to get everything I
need to make this site that youand I do one at the very
beginning, a week or two afterthey book, and we go ahead, and
that's our strategy. That's ourplanning. Let's talk about all
(15:38):
the things you want on yourwebsite. Let's make sure we are
I have your prep work created.
want and to include all thethings that you want on it, and
then that our more traditionalkickoff call, like right before
the VIP day, is almost just aquick check in. Let's make sure
(15:58):
we've got it all. Everythinglooks good, last minute
questions, that sort of thing.
And that has helped me so muchwith just not getting to that
point where you're almost at theVIP day and you suddenly realize
they want something they haven'tasked you for yet.
Sarah Masci (16:12):
Yeah and I've heard, I've, I think you have
told me that, and I've heard afew other people are also doing
kind of that strategy on thefront end, with the smaller,
little kickoff call closer tothe day, and it seems like it's
working. I never actually didthat, but it seems like everyone
who's been doing it has reallyloved it.
And I think that's the otherbeauty of this model, is it's so
(16:33):
versatile, and you can reallymake it whatever you want. And
at the end of the day, whatmakes a model so great, it's not
the VIP day that makes it great.
What makes it great is you goingall in on one core delivery
model that you can thenstructure all of your terms
around. You've got boundaries inplace, systems to support that
(16:56):
one core model.
You know, you've got your emailtemplate, you have everything
ready to go because you'reselling the same thing over and
over and over, and you don'thave to reinvent the wheel and
have do custom proposals andcustom invoicing and check where
this client is, and havingprojects at all different sizes
(17:17):
and scopes.
When you have everything reallystreamlined into that one core
offer, you can then build almostthis like productized system
around it, and whether itincludes two kickoff calls or
one kickoff call, or 10 days ofpost-intensive support or 30
days of post, it doesn't matterwhat all of the little things
(17:38):
are. What matters is that youcreated a system around that one
core offer, and the VIP day isjust, it just works.
Kristen Doyle (17:47):
And I love how much it has just simplified
everything about how, how I runmy business. And I've had
clients where I've done as muchas, I think, four VIP day
projects. But it's nice that wedon't have to, I don't have to
try to figure out how to quote agiant project. I think about it
in terms of the container Ihave. I think, Okay, here's what
(18:09):
the client wants. Now, how muchcan I get done in one day?
Okay, I'm going to do this parton day one. I'm going to do this
part on day two. And sometimeseven for the client, it it makes
it a lot easier to do bigprojects, because we might need
to do days one and two now andwait a couple of months for them
to be ready for day three, andit just lets us space it out,
(18:30):
schedule everything and plan itout in the way that's going to
work really well for them too.
Sarah Masci (18:35):
I'm glad you mentioned that, because one of
the big objections that I hearfrom people about not wanting to
do VIP days is they think thatthey're going to have to sell
to, like, 150 new clients a yearin order to meet their revenue
goals, in order to sell thenumber of days to meet their
revenue goals. Some peoplearen't factoring in that one
(18:58):
client is multiple days.
Typically, like on average, myclients were two to three days
each, because they wanted somuch more than what we could get
done in one day.
So like you said, we just bookedthem for multiple days. I had so
many come in and book me forthree days, you know. Or we'd
start with two days, and then amonth later they would come back
(19:19):
needing whatever a funnel setup.
And so we would do another day,and then two months later they
would come back for another day.
So I always had clients kind ofcoming back for additional
things.
And that's where the beauty oflike having a flexible framework
comes in. You want to havealmost like you don't have to
what I'm I guess what I'm sayingis it doesn't have to be just
(19:40):
one thing that you do. So ifyou're multi passionate or
you're good at a lot of things,you can still do all of those
things.
You're just going to sell daysand do the things in days,
rather than custom proposals andprojects and packaging and
hourly and all of those otherthings. Just have your array of
like your your buffet ofdeliverables that they can
(20:03):
basically pick and choose from,and you can do in a day.
Kristen Doyle (20:06):
And I've done a lot of repeat VIP days. Most of
my people who come in, they getone, maybe two VIP days to begin
with. But what I get a lot ispeople whose business is
growing, and so the first day weeither build their first website
or redesign an existing one, andit's a pretty basic website. I
do a lot of websites for peoplewho write blog posts, so I do a
(20:28):
lot of setting up their blog ontheir website for them.
But then, you know, six months ayear down the road, they come
back and they say, Well, I wantto add a store to my website, or
I started a podcast. What's thebest way to put my podcast
episodes on my website? And sowe come back and we do another
day, or sometimes even just ahalf day, depending on what they
need, so that we can add totheir website. And I just love
(20:51):
having that flexibility. And Ithink part of that too comes
down to making sure you buildthe website in a way that you
can add to it, that you're nothaving to start over every
single time, too.
Sarah Masci (21:00):
Yeah. And the other thing, as far as the flexibility
of it goes, it's, like, notreally related to having one
client come back multiple times,but for you as a provider, if
you're doing VIP days, it makesyour business and your life so
flexible, because you can chooseexactly what days you're going
to work and like, let's say youwant to go on a family vacation.
(21:24):
You don't have you're not goingto lose any income.
All you're going to do is takethe one or two days that you
might have done that week, andyou're going to plop one of them
into the week before and one ofthem into the week after. And
now you have a whole week offthat you can go do whatever you
want, but you're still going toget paid for, like, an extra
day, maybe on the week beforethe week after. I used to do
that all the time, especiallyleading into summer, when I knew
(21:46):
that my kids were going to behome and I wasn't going to want
to be working very much.
I kind of like front loaded allof my client work into, like,
May and early June, while thekids were still in school, so
that July and August were veryflexible and open. And then
anybody who came to me in Julyand August wanting work, if it
(22:07):
was possible and if the timingwas worked for that client, we
were I was bumping them intoSeptember, so I had a busy
September and a busy May.
But I always keep my summers asyou know, light as possible, and
this model is what really allowsyou to do that and still feel
like you can predict how muchmoney you're gonna make every
(22:27):
month.
Kristen Doyle (22:28):
Yeah. I really love having that flexibility,
and also just the flexibilityto, like, maybe I decide I need
a little extra income thismonth. Okay, open up another
day.
Sarah Masci (22:39):
Yeah, yeah. I love people are like, Well, I wanted
to go. I wanted to take myfamily to Universal Studios. So
I just sold a VIP day to buy thetickets.
Kristen Doyle (22:48):
I love that.
Sarah Masci (22:49):
mean, I remember we planned family trips. I'm like,
Okay, well, that trip, you know,the Airbnb is $5,000 so I only
need to sell two VIP days, and Ipay for the Airbnb for a whole
week with my family. Yeah, yeah.
I love it.
Kristen Doyle (23:02):
I do too. So you mentioned one objection that
sometimes service providers havea little worry that they have,
but another one I hear a lot isfrom service providers who are
worried about the deadline andthey're worried they won't be
able to perform to deliver thething in that one day. What's
(23:22):
your advice for those people?
Sarah Masci (23:24):
So you will quickly realize what you're capable of
and how much you can get done ina day. And as with anything
else, the way to find that outis to test it and try it. And so
every single person that Italked to about wanting to do
VIP days, the very first thingthat I have them do, and even,
like in our programs and in ourcourses and even my workshops
(23:45):
and everything that I kind ofcreate for helping people with
this model, step one is to testit.
You have to just do a few betatests to see what's possible,
what you can actually get done.
You know, what works, whatdoesn't work, what you enjoy
doing, all of that. So Irecommend everyone test with
three to five beta clientsbefore worrying about a sales
(24:06):
page and having all the systemsset up and having a framework
set up before any of thosedetails. Just test it out with
anyone. Anybody on your warm youknow, if you have a warm lead or
a small email list, find a fewpeople who are willing to be
guinea pigs and test it out withthem.
Kristen Doyle (24:28):
Yeah, that's what I did, too. I when I first
started offering VIP days, I hadsome clients who had already
paid deposits. They were on myschedule for a traditional
project. And the first couple Ikind of sneakily, did a VIP day.
I did it in a day, but I didn'ttell them I was going to do it
in a day. It was just like,Okay, let's see how much I can
(24:48):
do. Let me time myself and seehow fast I can get this done.
And that helped me a lot. Andthen I was able to reach out to
some people and say, Hey, I haveyou scheduled for a VIP day and
or for a web design project inNovember or whatever, and I'm
trying something new. How do youfeel about Are you okay with
(25:09):
being one of my beta testers forthis? And they were great. They
were, I don't think anyone toldme no. They were all like, Yeah,
sure. Sounds great.
Sarah Masci (25:16):
I mean, why would they? Why would they say no?
Like they everybody wants itdone fast, right?
Kristen Doyle (25:22):
In those first couple, I definitely walked all
over the boundaries of time. Iprobably went over on every
single one of them, because Ihad sold them a certain
deliverable, not a day of work.
And so obviously I'm going todeliver the whole thing, whether
it takes a day or two orwhatever. But it helped me so
much to just hone in thatprocess and figure out what I
can do in a day, and how can Imake this faster? What should I
(25:44):
do before the day?
Because there were some steps inmy process that had me kind of
sitting around waiting on, likea tech thing, a process to
finish running. And if I do thatthe day before, then I'm not
wasting time on the VIP day. Solots of little, small things
like that that I learned.
Sarah Masci (26:02):
Right. I mean, there's so much learning that
happens in those beta days, andI'm so glad you mentioned that
you tried to put a whole projectinto one day, and quickly
realized it doesn't work thatway. And so that's why, and and
what I teach is you cannotguarantee, like, very specific
deliverables.
Of course, you can still say bythe end of the day you'll have a
(26:25):
website, but we're not going tosay by the end of the day you're
going to have a six page websitewith this many words and this
many images and this, theseintegrations and this and this
and this and this. You can't getthat detailed with a VIP day,
because so many things couldhappen if, like, what happens if
the client does disappearhalfway through the day and you
(26:45):
can't get like, you needfeedback on something, or you
need a password to get intosomething?
Let's say you promise them thatyou're going to set up their um
email integration, and you go tolog into their their Mailer Lite
account, and it's two factorauthentication, they're not
available, and so you're sittingthere and can't do it well now
(27:06):
it's not your fault, right? It'snot your fault that that's not
done.
Kristen Doyle (27:09):
I think really the biggest thing there is
having that clear communicationwith the client about how
available they need to be, howyou're going to communicate all
of those things I tell myclients early on, like this part
of the day, I probably won'tneed you, but if I need you
first thing in the morning, it'sbecause I can't get logged in
(27:29):
and I can't do anything untilyou get back to me. So please be
on your phone. Please payattention. Get back to me as
quick as you can.
And I think just being reallyclear about how this works and
how the client can make the mostof the day as well has really
helped. And I will say, I knowwe don't guarantee anything,
(27:51):
because I am a good student andI have learned about boundaries,
but I really am four years innow I am at the point where I
probably could guarantee what Ican deliver for you in a day,
provided that you respond toquestions when I have them and
your like, your web host doesn'tcompletely go down for the day
or anything crazy, some crazytech problem.
Sarah Masci (28:14):
Exactly. And that that's exactly what it comes
down to. Is because you're fouryears in, you've been doing this
a long time, your prep work isnailed down to a science, like,
everything is perfect at thispoint. But when you're first
starting off and things are kindof still like, kind of willy
nilly, and you don't, you know,not everything is refined and
optimized, and as efficient asit can be, it's it can get kind
(28:35):
of tricky, but that's the otherreason why I have everyone do
these beta tests, because thosebeta tests are going to give you
social proof and portfoliopieces and examples that show
what's possible.
So even if you can't guaranteedeliverables, you can still say,
I don't guarantee deliverables.
But here's four examples of workthat I completed in one day
(28:56):
because that client wasprepared. They did their work.
They were attentive to my needs.
They got back to me right away.
If you can be that good of aclient, then you can also have
this type of transformation,right? And so that really is a
big reason why that beta is soimportant.
Kristen Doyle (29:14):
Yeah it is, for sure. So one other thing I have
learned is that VIP days aren'tjust about whether I can perform
in a VIP day and whether I cancreate a website in my case. In
that day, it also is aboutmaking sure you pick the right
client to work with in a VIPday.
I have had situations where theclient was not a good fit for
(29:34):
VIP days, especially early onbefore I was able to recognize
that in talking to a client. Sowhat would you suggest we look
for in clients who are a goodfit for a VIP day, whether it's
a service provider who's lookingfor those clients or maybe
somebody listening, who'swondering if they would like
hiring somebody for a VIP day.
Sarah Masci (29:54):
Well, what I have found personally is that VIP
day, clients, the good VIP dayclients have more money than
time. Okay, they're they'readvanced in their business.
They're not brand new. They'renot sitting around every day
like trying to figure out theirbusiness. They know what they
(30:15):
do. They're clear in theirmessaging.
They they have a good idea aboutwhat they're doing, because
clients that are brand new, theykind of have time to DIY and
they'll sit there and pickthings apart, whereas clients
that have been, you know, inbusiness a little while, they
just want it done. They justwant it off their plate. They
would rather just have it done,and that therefore they're
(30:37):
they're kind of transitioningthe decision making over to you.
They're giving you more controlas the provider to just get the
job done for them.
Kristen Doyle (30:45):
You know, I also find, I think, that people who
have been in business longer,who are more established in what
they're doing and what theirexpertise is, tend to trust you
as the expert more as well.
Sarah Masci (30:57):
Yeah, 100% and then the other thing, and these are
just some red flags. So if youget on a call with someone and
they bad mouth with theirprevious designer, or they tell
you they've had the most awfulexperience blah, blah, blah,
there's a good chance that itwasn't just the provider that
created that bad experience.
(31:18):
They might not be a very goodclient. They might not they
might be difficult to please.
They might not know how to makequick decisions. They might try
to micromanage everything. So ifthey come into a discovery call,
kind of complaining aboutprevious situations, then that
could be a potential red flag.
Then I did have another client.
She actually was a friend ofmine. Knew what I did, loved my
(31:40):
work, booked me for a day, butthen felt like she could just
keep emailing me, like 10 timesa day with questions about, what
do I think about this? What do Ithink about this? What do I
think about this? Like, it wasvery like she just walked all
over those boundaries of like,how this day works, and she she
was trying to do her pre work,and she couldn't make up her
(32:05):
mind on certain aspects of thepre work.
And I just knew right there, Iwas like, if she can't make up
her mind on this pre work, thereis no way we're gonna get
through her whole website in oneday. And so I refunded her her
deposit, and I sent her to aprovider who I knew would be
able to take more time with herand hold her hand and spend a
(32:27):
month or two, who knows how longthey ended up spending together?
Yeah,
Kristen Doyle (32:30):
and I think it's just so important to recognize
that kind of thing. And I knowsome people that I have worked
with, they offer VIP days, butalso offer longer projects, and
sometimes it means knowing whichperson to move to a different
service that you offer, or justbeing willing to let go of a
client and send them to somebodythat's going to be better for
them.
Sarah Masci (32:49):
Yeah. I mean, that's really what you have to
do, and it's hard, especially ifyou're just kind of getting
started with your business. Andyour VIP days are your, kind of
your main thing now, and youreally want to do your VIP days,
but you have clients coming inwho need something that is just
so big.
I had one lead. We had adiscovery call, and the project
(33:10):
she wanted was massive. Shewanted everything you could
think of, from branding to webdesign to collateral to building
out a course platform toeverything, right? An ecom
store, who knows, but it waslike a $20,000 like project, and
I had been doing my VIP days. Iwas in, you know, in a really
(33:32):
good groove with my VIP days. Iwas loving them. I had just
wrapped up all of my bigprojects, and then I had this
discovery call.
And, you know, I'm sitting therelike, Okay, well, I could, I
could pitch, I could quote a$20,000 project. But do I want a
$20,000 project? Do I? Because Ihad done big projects in the
past that dragged on for over ayear. They were big, high paying
(33:56):
projects, but at the end of theday, I spent, you know, 12,18,
months on them, so the profitmargin was like zero, you know.
And so it was learning how to beokay, saying no and turning down
the work that's not a good fitfor your model.
Kristen Doyle (34:10):
Yeah. And I think that's so important for all of
us. It makes us enjoy our jobsmore, and it also is just so
much better for the client. Ifthey are not a good fit for the
way that I work, then I kind ofowe it to them to tell them that
and to refer them over tosomebody that's going to do a
better job for them.
Sarah Masci (34:26):
Yeah, and you'll and, like I said, it is hard at
first to turn down that kind ofmoney. You know, basically when
you're first starting out,you'll take anything. People
will pay you for it. You'll takeit. But that's how you end up in
the situation that Kristen wasin and that I was in before
doing VIP days, where you hadall these projects at all
different levels, paying alldifferent things and
(34:47):
overlapping, and you were justmiserable because you took on
everything that someone wouldpay you for, and there was no
organization, and there was nostructure in managing it.
And so that's kind of the bigtakeaway here. Is that if you
have this really dialed inprocess with a VIP day,
everything is very organized,very structured. It makes your
(35:08):
life so much easier and so muchmore enjoyable. But you've
gotta, you have to have themindset to stick with it and see
it through, because it's soworth it in the end, it's just
hard at the beginning to wrapyour head around it.
Kristen Doyle (35:22):
Yeah, it is definitely worth it. So if
someone is thinking about maybetesting out VIP days for the
first time, what advice wouldyou give them? What is one
action step that they couldtake?
Sarah Masci (35:35):
Don't overthink it.
That's the biggest thing is thatso many people will sit on this
idea. Sounds like a good idea.
Maybe I should try that. Well,let me go and figure out all the
things you don't have to figureout, all the things you just
pitch a VIP day to your nextwarm leads someone who maybe
comes to you wanting somethingfrom from you that you think is
(35:56):
doable, even if it's like a halfday, a half days worth of stuff,
or two days worth of stuff.
Pitch one or two days. My firstone was a client who came to me
with a punch list of randomthings that she wanted done.
She didn't come to me saying, Ineed a website. She I had
already done her website, andshe came back meeting me to
change out this image and to adda blog post and to connect to
(36:22):
her Active Campaign, and to dothis and this and this, and it
was all these little things. AndI said, How about you just pay
me for a day and and I'll getI'll just go through your list
and we'll get it done.
And I charged her $500. I wayundercharged, but it was like
the turning point for me. I hadnothing, no preparation. I
(36:43):
didn't even know what I wasdoing. I just said, How about
you pay me for a day. We'll getit done, and then look at what
happened. So I guess my adviceis, if you want to do this
really, truly, don't overthinkit. Pitch a day to the next
person that comes to you needingsomething from you, and see how
it goes.
Kristen Doyle (36:59):
Yeah, I mean, you really don't have to plan it all
out and change your wholebusiness model in order to start
offering VIP days. You can justtry one and see what happens.
Sarah Masci (37:08):
Yeah and I'll also say, and I know there was a
transition period for you,Kristen, but like for me, when I
did my very first one inFebruary of 2018 and I still had
a ton of projects and retainersand maintenance clients. I had
all this other stuff that Istill had to fulfill. So I
fulfilled on all of thoseobligations while trying a few
(37:30):
VIP days here and there.
And it wasn't until December ofthat same year, so 10 months
later that I kind of wrappedeverything, all those other
lingering things, up and wentall in on this model. So it took
me about 10 months to transitionfrom the old way to the new way.
Kristen Doyle (37:48):
Yeah, and my transition was definitely
faster, but I had help, becauseI had my course, I had someone
to tell me how to make thishappen. So my transition was a
little more like I very quietly,without telling anyone, tested
it out on a couple of clientswhose websites I was working on
right then, and just to timemyself and see how it went.
(38:10):
And then I kind of soft pitchedit to people who were already on
my list. Like, is it okay if wetry this out? They had already
paid me for a website, and ifthey had said no, I'd have stuck
with what they had paid me forinitially, and I obviously
didn't change what I chargedthem or anything like that. And
then by the time I had done afew of those, I was pretty
confident to start bookingpeople at the time that I was
(38:34):
going to be wrapping up thoseprojects, because then I could
put an end date on thoseprojects, because I knew that I
was going to get them done.
I had put them on my calendar.
So then I was able to startbooking actual VIP days with
those first few clients. I thinkI started this. It was in the
fall. I think I started thisaround August or September, and
by probably November, I was onlybooking VIP days.
Sarah Masci (38:56):
I remember, I remember that. I remember that
season, though you came into thecourse, a whole bunch of other
people that are still in therecame in, and it was fast for a
lot of you guys. And I think, Ithink the fact that it was 2020
and for everyone, every businesswas just hopping in late 2020
people were just makingdecisions and moving and, you
(39:17):
know, grooving, and it wasgreat.
But I remember how fast it wasfor you. I think we did a do it
messy challenge, and you bookedlike five or six of them in that
one week. And that was kind of arecord for for anybody that had
been through the course.
Kristen Doyle (39:31):
That's the most clients I've ever booked in a
week.
Sarah Masci (39:34):
Yeah, it was awesome. It was fun. A lot of
fun. So, yeah, that's my that'smy advice. Is just do a messy
try it out. Let's see how itgoes.
Kristen Doyle (39:43):
I love that. Well thank you so so much for being
here and for having thisconversation with me today. Will
you tell everybody where theycan find you and where they can
learn more about VIP days fromyou?
Sarah Masci (39:54):
Yeah, everything's on my website so they can go to
sarahmasci.com. There's ahandful of options for kind of
learning about it, you know,learning more about the model
for free. I've got a couple lowticket things on there.
My course is all on there. Andif you ever want to connect with
me, Instagram is the best place.
I'm @sarahmasci on Instagram,and my DMs are always open.
Kristen Doyle (40:15):
Thank you so much, and we'll drop links for
those in the show notes soeverybody can find you. Thank
you again, so much for beinghere and for chatting VIP days
today.
Sarah Masci (40:24):
Thanks everybody.
Kristen Doyle (40:26):
Thank you so much for listening today. If you are
a service provider and you'reinterested in learning more
about Sarahand her VIP dayprograms and coaching, check out
her links in the show notes. Andif a VIP day website project
sounds like the perfect fit foryou, whether it's building a new
(40:46):
site, redesigning the one youhave, or maybe making some
updates you've been putting off,you can find all the details
about working with me in a VIPday in the show notes as well.
I'll talk to you soon.
Have you ever felt stuck waiting for a project
(00:03):
that you had hired someone forto just be finished already? Or
maybe you're the serviceprovider, and you've been on the
flip side of that coin,wondering when your client is
ever going to get you those lastrevisions or those last files so
you can wrap up their project.
Imagine skipping all the backand forth and just getting it
(00:26):
done in a single day. In ourlast episode, we talked about
the possibility of adding someservices to your offers, and
today, I am diving into my veryfavorite way to both offer
services to my own clients andto get services done for my
business when I'm the client.
(00:48):
Today, I'm introducing you toVIP days. I've invited my VIP
day mentor Sarah Masci to joinus. Sarah teaches service
providers how to create VIP dayor VIP week offers that are a
win win for their clients andfor the service provider too.
(01:08):
Whether you're thinking aboutadding VIP days to your business
or you're curious about maybehiring someone for a VIP day to
knock out a project quickly,without all that back and forth
waiting. This episode hassomething for you. Let's get
started.
Are you a digital product orcourse creator, selling on
(01:30):
platforms like teachers payteachers, Etsy or your own
website? Ready to grow yourbusiness, but not into the kind
of constant hustle that leadsstraight to burnout? Then you're
in the right place.
Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'mKristen Doyle, and I'm here to
give you no fluff, tools andstrategies that move the needle
(01:50):
for your business withoutburning you out in the process.
Things like SEO, no stressmarketing, email list building,
automations, and so much more.
Let's get started y'all.
Hey Sarah, thank you so much forbeing here.
Sarah Masci (02:10):
Hey, Kristen, I am so excited. I've been looking
forward to this.
Kristen Doyle (02:14):
Me too. So let's dive straight in, because I know
we have a lot to talk abouttoday. Let's talk about what a
VIP day actually even is. Whatdo we mean when we say VIP days?
Sarah Masci (02:28):
This is such a good question. So many people are
confused about what a VIP dayis, and I find that I have to
explain it like more than Ithought I would. So I'm glad
we're kind of kicking right offwith that. But essentially, a
VIP day the way I teach it, andthe way, you know, my students
and everyone runs it, it's a,usually a virtual day, or it
could be a half day where youare providing some sort of a
(02:51):
transformation for your clientin a very focused and efficient
block of time.
So instead of taking atraditional project that might
take a couple of weeks to finishwith a lot of back and forth
check ins. Over time, we justcompress everything down into
one day and get it all done. Soat the end of the day, you can
cross it off your list and bedone working with that specific
(03:13):
client.
Kristen Doyle (03:13):
Yeah. And as you know, I shifted over almost
completely to working in VIPdays several years ago, 2020 I
think, or 2021 it's been areally long time when I first
took your course, and I havefound I knew that there were
going to be benefits for me asthe service provider for VIP
days, because it solved so manyof the struggles that I was
(03:35):
having with projects draggingout so long.
And then, of course, whathappens then is all the clients
whose projects you're workingon, they all want you again.
They're all ready to work on itat the same time. So then you're
overwhelmed, and then a weeklater, it's dead again, because
no one's responding to you. Andthen you're overwhelmed.
And I just I knew this was goingto solve a big pain point for me
(03:57):
as a service provider. But onething I learned is it actually
is so much better for clientstoo, on on their side of things.
Sarah Masci (04:06):
Yeah. I mean, I very quickly, once I started
doing my own VIP days as aservice provider, and realized
like how amazing it was for me,I quickly became a fan of being
the VIP day receiver as well.
And now, whenever I hire anybodyfor any kind of services in my
business, I go for the personthat can get it done in a day.
(04:28):
Always. Copy, social, Facebookads, anything that I need to
done, done to hire out I want itdone in a day.
Because, I mean, we even as therecipient of the services we
want. We want it fast. We don'twant to wait six weeks for our
project to be completed. I lovethe fact that I can I know we're
(04:51):
going to start in the morning,and by the end of the day, my
project's going to be completed.
And typically, I have found thata lot of times it's almost more
affordable just to get it donein one day, versus paying for
that big project.
Because I do think a lot ofservice providers account for
the length of time that aproject takes, and so the price
is higher, whereas if they knowit's going to be done in one
(05:14):
day, they can make it a moreaffordable option. So I feel
like it's more affordable. Ilove the efficiency of getting
my results in one day.
Kristen Doyle (05:22):
One big thing for me as a web designer is, instead
of juggling four clientsprojects this month, I'm working
on one a week. And so it reallyhelps me narrow in, just in my
brain, on their brand, theirbusiness, and just focus on
nobody but them for that daythat I am working on their
(05:43):
stuff.
And even the lead up in thatweek, the days prior to the VIP
day, I'm already starting tothink about how I'm designing
things on their side. I'mrolling those ideas around. And
it's not getting muddled becauseI'm working on several projects
at a time. It's very focused inon that one person and what they
need.
Sarah Masci (06:00):
And the other thing that I personally found as a VIP
day, like when I was doingtraditional projects, and all
those projects were lingeringand dragging out, and I felt
like I was working on five orsix or seven clients at any
given time, I wound up findingmyself to be resentful towards
all of them.
By the time we got to the finishline, I was so like, sick of
(06:23):
working on all those projectsthat I was feeling kind of like,
just resentful towardseverything. And when I
compressed everything, westarted working with clients, in
just one day, the clientrelationship was so much better,
because that client knew thatthey were getting your undivided
attention, like you said, allfocus was on them, and they
(06:44):
could have a conversation withyou and know that, like, like,
we're making progress. We'regetting this done, and it was
just a much better relationshipoverall.
Kristen Doyle (06:53):
Yeah, and I've had that same experience.
Actually, one of the things thatreally pushed me into VIP days
was a specific client rightbefore I took your course, I
think it may have actually beenthe client that prompted a
friend of mine to tell me aboutyour course, to say, you need
VIP days here. Go look at this.
I had a client who the projecthad dragged out. Not my fault,
(07:14):
not their fault. It just had.
This is how they they work whenyou don't have that deadline at
the end, and the project haddragged out, and by the time we
got to the end of it, I was kindof tired of the project. I was
over it, but you could tell theywere too.
The client wasn't even excitedabout their brand new website
anymore, because they had justdragged out so long that
excitement was gone. And it's somuch better doing it in a VIP
(07:39):
day where we're working reallyfocused for a shorter amount of
time, and everybody's excited atthe end of it.
Sarah Masci (07:46):
Yeah, there's so, yeah, I totally agree.
Kristen Doyle (07:49):
So let's talk about what a VIP day might look
like, because we're calling itVIP days, and when I do them,
they are typically one day ortwo day projects. But it doesn't
always have to be a single dayto still fit that same model. So
let's talk about some of theoptions for people listening who
maybe are thinking aboutimplementing some VIP days in
their business.
Sarah Masci (08:10):
Yeah, we there's so many, and one of the kind of the
one of the more popular ones, isto do a VIP week. So if you feel
like you want to do this VIP daymodel, but there's no way that
you can get everything done inone day. Then you could start
with looking at what a VIP weekmight look like.
And that doesn't necessarilymean you're working every single
day for a whole week, but youtake one project and you figure
(08:34):
out the hours that you're goingto work Monday through Friday,
or maybe you're only going towork three of the days in the
week, but you call it a VIPweek, and you can provide that
same transformation just spreadout over several days.
That seems to work for a lot ofpeople who are just getting
started with this model andmaybe just don't have the
confidence to work reallyefficiently and quickly and get
(08:55):
it all done in one day. It alsoworks really well for people who
might have a full time job or aday job, and can only work in
the evenings, like I know youand I have had that conversation
about teachers, for example,wanting to do this model, but
not being able to do it, youknow, during the day because of
their other their day job. Sothat's an option.
(09:16):
Another option is a split day.
So it's really, it's kind oflike you price it the same as a
single VIP day, but you're doingtwo half days, so maybe you're
doing, like, three or four hourson Monday and three or four
hours on Tuesday.
Kristen Doyle (09:31):
I typically do a full day VIP day. I start in the
morning my time. I end aroundthe time my kids are getting out
of school, and that works greatfor my schedule, but I have had
clients on the other side of theworld who want to book a VIP
day, and because I need to beable to communicate with them
throughout the day. You know,we're not sitting on Zoom or
anything, but we are textingback and forth throughout the
(09:53):
day.
I'm asking questions, I'mshowing them what I'm working
on. And so for those clients, alot of times what works,
depending on what part of theworld they're in, is to do maybe
two mornings back to back, ortwo late afternoons back to
back, so that it's in theirwaking hours, but it's still,
you know, within my workday aswell.
Sarah Masci (10:13):
Yeah and one thing I have actually done for that
situation when they're on thecomplete opposite side of the
world, like 12 or 14 hours aheadof me, typically, if it's an
Australian client, is I will getup and like will almost like
compromise. So we'll do half ofit really in my super early
morning and half of it in theirsuper early morning.
(10:36):
So neither one of us are like,having to get up at 5am two days
in a row, but like, I might getup, you know, four or 5am work
for three or four hours, andthen we put the project to rest
while they go to sleep, and thenthey wake up, and it's my
evening on the same day, andwe'll wrap up the project and
(10:56):
evening.
So I'm still getting it donefirst thing in the morning and
at the end of the day, and thenI still have my whole day in the
middle to work on whatever elseI need to do. So yeah, there's
that option, there's there's somany others. Some of them, I
actually had one. I hired a VIPday for someone to have some
work done for me, and it was a24 hour turnaround.
So we kind of started at likethree o'clock in the afternoon.
(11:19):
She was also in another timezone, kind of pretty far away.
So we started at three o'clockin the afternoon, my time. I
don't know what time it was forher, but we wrapped up around
three o'clock the following day,and both of us got our sleep in,
both of us got our family timein, and the work got done.
Kristen Doyle (11:37):
That sounds like a really good compromise, too.
So really, I guess what we'resaying is a VIP day doesn't
necessarily have to be a day.
It's really more about justhaving that scheduled, set time
in the calendar and having someboundaries around that time.
Sarah Masci (11:52):
Yep, exactly. And just being really clear with
when you decide what the hoursare going to be and what your
structure is going to be, justmake sure that you're clearly
articulating what that is inyour terms and in your
conversations with your clients,so everybody's on the same page,
like Kristen said, like so ifyou have strong boundaries
around that time.
Kristen Doyle (12:13):
So a big question I get when I talk about VIP days
with other people is, yeah, buthow? How do you build a whole
website in one day? And itreally comes down to something I
learned from you. So I'd lovefor you to expand on it a little
bit. It really comes down tohaving solid prep work and
strategy and communication inplace before the VIP day.
(12:37):
Because there is, I mean, thereis literally no way that I could
pull up somebody's website forthe very first time, log in and
make them a website in one day.
That's not going to happenthere. There does have to be
some communication and planningbeforehand.
Sarah Masci (12:49):
Yes, okay, so the first thing I will say to this
so is, the more you do VIP days,the faster you're going to get.
So if you've never done onebefore, you have to keep your
expectations for that day prettysmall. So when I first started
off doing website in a day, itwas a like two-three page max
(13:09):
website in a day, because that Ihadn't done it before, and I
didn't want to over promise andnot be able to fulfill on the
promise.
So I started out with smallerexpectations and also priced
accordingly, smallerexpectations. It was a much
cheaper VIP day. It was $500,$750, you know, I kind of raised
my price a little bit right atthe beginning. But $750 for a
(13:31):
very small, little website,which eventually, over time, I
got more efficient. I gotfaster. I had tips and tricks
and things that I could pullfrom to create a much larger
site in a day, and that's whenmy price went up to like $3,000
per day.
So all that said, that's onething to keep in mind when
you're starting, but also, likewhat you said, Kristen, is
(13:52):
making sure that you have everysingle thing you need in order
to do the job that you need todo before the day starts.
So what I found worked for mewas to have very clear like,
instructions, expectations,everything the client receives
all of that right when they booktheir day and they know that if
(14:15):
it's not done, either the day isnot happening or there the day
will still happen, but they'renot going to be happy with the
result, because you're justgoing to make the best of the
day with whatever they've donefor pre work.
So you have to be really, reallyclear and setting those
boundaries and expectations whatthe pre work is when it needs to
be done by and then having akickoff call or a strategy call
(14:38):
or something, a few days beforethe actual VIP day to make sure
that everything is done andready to go. Because if it's
not, again, the day is eithernot going to go well, or you're
going to cancel the day andthey're going to lose their
deposit, basically.
Kristen Doyle (14:55):
And you know, one thing I've actually started
doing recently, and I don't knowif I've even told you this yet.
Yeah, but instead of doing onekickoff call right before my VIP
days, I actually split it intotwo. So it's still it's the same
amount of time I would havespent on my one call, except
instead of doing it all a weekbefore the VIP day, what I was
(15:16):
finding was sometimes peopledidn't ask for everything they
wanted on their website, or theydidn't tell me a really
important piece of informationuntil a week before our day, and
then I'm kind of scrambling atthe last minute.
And nobody likes that feeling.
So I split it into two calls,So I'm going to get everything I
need to make this site that youand I do one at the very
beginning, a week or two afterthey book, and we go ahead, and
that's our strategy. That's ourplanning. Let's talk about all
(15:38):
the things you want on yourwebsite. Let's make sure we are
I have your prep work created.
want and to include all thethings that you want on it, and
then that our more traditionalkickoff call, like right before
the VIP day, is almost just aquick check in. Let's make sure
(15:58):
we've got it all. Everythinglooks good, last minute
questions, that sort of thing.
And that has helped me so muchwith just not getting to that
point where you're almost at theVIP day and you suddenly realize
they want something they haven'tasked you for yet.
Sarah Masci (16:12):
Yeah and I've heard, I've, I think you have
told me that, and I've heard afew other people are also doing
kind of that strategy on thefront end, with the smaller,
little kickoff call closer tothe day, and it seems like it's
working. I never actually didthat, but it seems like everyone
who's been doing it has reallyloved it.
And I think that's the otherbeauty of this model, is it's so
(16:33):
versatile, and you can reallymake it whatever you want. And
at the end of the day, whatmakes a model so great, it's not
the VIP day that makes it great.
What makes it great is you goingall in on one core delivery
model that you can thenstructure all of your terms
around. You've got boundaries inplace, systems to support that
(16:56):
one core model.
You know, you've got your emailtemplate, you have everything
ready to go because you'reselling the same thing over and
over and over, and you don'thave to reinvent the wheel and
have do custom proposals andcustom invoicing and check where
this client is, and havingprojects at all different sizes
(17:17):
and scopes.
When you have everything reallystreamlined into that one core
offer, you can then build almostthis like productized system
around it, and whether itincludes two kickoff calls or
one kickoff call, or 10 days ofpost-intensive support or 30
days of post, it doesn't matterwhat all of the little things
(17:38):
are. What matters is that youcreated a system around that one
core offer, and the VIP day isjust, it just works.
Kristen Doyle (17:47):
And I love how much it has just simplified
everything about how, how I runmy business. And I've had
clients where I've done as muchas, I think, four VIP day
projects. But it's nice that wedon't have to, I don't have to
try to figure out how to quote agiant project. I think about it
in terms of the container Ihave. I think, Okay, here's what
(18:09):
the client wants. Now, how muchcan I get done in one day?
Okay, I'm going to do this parton day one. I'm going to do this
part on day two. And sometimeseven for the client, it it makes
it a lot easier to do bigprojects, because we might need
to do days one and two now andwait a couple of months for them
to be ready for day three, andit just lets us space it out,
(18:30):
schedule everything and plan itout in the way that's going to
work really well for them too.
Sarah Masci (18:35):
I'm glad you mentioned that, because one of
the big objections that I hearfrom people about not wanting to
do VIP days is they think thatthey're going to have to sell
to, like, 150 new clients a yearin order to meet their revenue
goals, in order to sell thenumber of days to meet their
revenue goals. Some peoplearen't factoring in that one
(18:58):
client is multiple days.
Typically, like on average, myclients were two to three days
each, because they wanted somuch more than what we could get
done in one day.
So like you said, we just bookedthem for multiple days. I had so
many come in and book me forthree days, you know. Or we'd
start with two days, and then amonth later they would come back
(19:19):
needing whatever a funnel setup.
And so we would do another day,and then two months later they
would come back for another day.
So I always had clients kind ofcoming back for additional
things.
And that's where the beauty oflike having a flexible framework
comes in. You want to havealmost like you don't have to
what I'm I guess what I'm sayingis it doesn't have to be just
(19:40):
one thing that you do. So ifyou're multi passionate or
you're good at a lot of things,you can still do all of those
things.
You're just going to sell daysand do the things in days,
rather than custom proposals andprojects and packaging and
hourly and all of those otherthings. Just have your array of
like your your buffet ofdeliverables that they can
(20:03):
basically pick and choose from,and you can do in a day.
Kristen Doyle (20:06):
And I've done a lot of repeat VIP days. Most of
my people who come in, they getone, maybe two VIP days to begin
with. But what I get a lot ispeople whose business is
growing, and so the first day weeither build their first website
or redesign an existing one, andit's a pretty basic website. I
do a lot of websites for peoplewho write blog posts, so I do a
(20:28):
lot of setting up their blog ontheir website for them.
But then, you know, six months ayear down the road, they come
back and they say, Well, I wantto add a store to my website, or
I started a podcast. What's thebest way to put my podcast
episodes on my website? And sowe come back and we do another
day, or sometimes even just ahalf day, depending on what they
need, so that we can add totheir website. And I just love
(20:51):
having that flexibility. And Ithink part of that too comes
down to making sure you buildthe website in a way that you
can add to it, that you're nothaving to start over every
single time, too.
Sarah Masci (21:00):
Yeah. And the other thing, as far as the flexibility
of it goes, it's, like, notreally related to having one
client come back multiple times,but for you as a provider, if
you're doing VIP days, it makesyour business and your life so
flexible, because you can chooseexactly what days you're going
to work and like, let's say youwant to go on a family vacation.
(21:24):
You don't have you're not goingto lose any income.
All you're going to do is takethe one or two days that you
might have done that week, andyou're going to plop one of them
into the week before and one ofthem into the week after. And
now you have a whole week offthat you can go do whatever you
want, but you're still going toget paid for, like, an extra
day, maybe on the week beforethe week after. I used to do
that all the time, especiallyleading into summer, when I knew
(21:46):
that my kids were going to behome and I wasn't going to want
to be working very much.
I kind of like front loaded allof my client work into, like,
May and early June, while thekids were still in school, so
that July and August were veryflexible and open. And then
anybody who came to me in Julyand August wanting work, if it
(22:07):
was possible and if the timingwas worked for that client, we
were I was bumping them intoSeptember, so I had a busy
September and a busy May.
But I always keep my summers asyou know, light as possible, and
this model is what really allowsyou to do that and still feel
like you can predict how muchmoney you're gonna make every
(22:27):
month.
Kristen Doyle (22:28):
Yeah. I really love having that flexibility,
and also just the flexibilityto, like, maybe I decide I need
a little extra income thismonth. Okay, open up another
day.
Sarah Masci (22:39):
Yeah, yeah. I love people are like, Well, I wanted
to go. I wanted to take myfamily to Universal Studios. So
I just sold a VIP day to buy thetickets.
Kristen Doyle (22:48):
I love that.
Sarah Masci (22:49):
mean, I remember we planned family trips. I'm like,
Okay, well, that trip, you know,the Airbnb is $5,000 so I only
need to sell two VIP days, and Ipay for the Airbnb for a whole
week with my family. Yeah, yeah.
I love it.
Kristen Doyle (23:02):
I do too. So you mentioned one objection that
sometimes service providers havea little worry that they have,
but another one I hear a lot isfrom service providers who are
worried about the deadline andthey're worried they won't be
able to perform to deliver thething in that one day. What's
(23:22):
your advice for those people?
Sarah Masci (23:24):
So you will quickly realize what you're capable of
and how much you can get done ina day. And as with anything
else, the way to find that outis to test it and try it. And so
every single person that Italked to about wanting to do
VIP days, the very first thingthat I have them do, and even,
like in our programs and in ourcourses and even my workshops
(23:45):
and everything that I kind ofcreate for helping people with
this model, step one is to testit.
You have to just do a few betatests to see what's possible,
what you can actually get done.
You know, what works, whatdoesn't work, what you enjoy
doing, all of that. So Irecommend everyone test with
three to five beta clientsbefore worrying about a sales
(24:06):
page and having all the systemsset up and having a framework
set up before any of thosedetails. Just test it out with
anyone. Anybody on your warm youknow, if you have a warm lead or
a small email list, find a fewpeople who are willing to be
guinea pigs and test it out withthem.
Kristen Doyle (24:28):
Yeah, that's what I did, too. I when I first
started offering VIP days, I hadsome clients who had already
paid deposits. They were on myschedule for a traditional
project. And the first couple Ikind of sneakily, did a VIP day.
I did it in a day, but I didn'ttell them I was going to do it
in a day. It was just like,Okay, let's see how much I can
(24:48):
do. Let me time myself and seehow fast I can get this done.
And that helped me a lot. Andthen I was able to reach out to
some people and say, Hey, I haveyou scheduled for a VIP day and
or for a web design project inNovember or whatever, and I'm
trying something new. How do youfeel about Are you okay with
(25:09):
being one of my beta testers forthis? And they were great. They
were, I don't think anyone toldme no. They were all like, Yeah,
sure. Sounds great.
Sarah Masci (25:16):
I mean, why would they? Why would they say no?
Like they everybody wants itdone fast, right?
Kristen Doyle (25:22):
In those first couple, I definitely walked all
over the boundaries of time. Iprobably went over on every
single one of them, because Ihad sold them a certain
deliverable, not a day of work.
And so obviously I'm going todeliver the whole thing, whether
it takes a day or two orwhatever. But it helped me so
much to just hone in thatprocess and figure out what I
can do in a day, and how can Imake this faster? What should I
(25:44):
do before the day?
Because there were some steps inmy process that had me kind of
sitting around waiting on, likea tech thing, a process to
finish running. And if I do thatthe day before, then I'm not
wasting time on the VIP day. Solots of little, small things
like that that I learned.
Sarah Masci (26:02):
Right. I mean, there's so much learning that
happens in those beta days, andI'm so glad you mentioned that
you tried to put a whole projectinto one day, and quickly
realized it doesn't work thatway. And so that's why, and and
what I teach is you cannotguarantee, like, very specific
deliverables.
Of course, you can still say bythe end of the day you'll have a
(26:25):
website, but we're not going tosay by the end of the day you're
going to have a six page websitewith this many words and this
many images and this, theseintegrations and this and this
and this and this. You can't getthat detailed with a VIP day,
because so many things couldhappen if, like, what happens if
the client does disappearhalfway through the day and you
(26:45):
can't get like, you needfeedback on something, or you
need a password to get intosomething?
Let's say you promise them thatyou're going to set up their um
email integration, and you go tolog into their their Mailer Lite
account, and it's two factorauthentication, they're not
available, and so you're sittingthere and can't do it well now
(27:06):
it's not your fault, right? It'snot your fault that that's not
done.
Kristen Doyle (27:09):
I think really the biggest thing there is
having that clear communicationwith the client about how
available they need to be, howyou're going to communicate all
of those things I tell myclients early on, like this part
of the day, I probably won'tneed you, but if I need you
first thing in the morning, it'sbecause I can't get logged in
(27:29):
and I can't do anything untilyou get back to me. So please be
on your phone. Please payattention. Get back to me as
quick as you can.
And I think just being reallyclear about how this works and
how the client can make the mostof the day as well has really
helped. And I will say, I knowwe don't guarantee anything,
(27:51):
because I am a good student andI have learned about boundaries,
but I really am four years innow I am at the point where I
probably could guarantee what Ican deliver for you in a day,
provided that you respond toquestions when I have them and
your like, your web host doesn'tcompletely go down for the day
or anything crazy, some crazytech problem.
Sarah Masci (28:14):
Exactly. And that that's exactly what it comes
down to. Is because you're fouryears in, you've been doing this
a long time, your prep work isnailed down to a science, like,
everything is perfect at thispoint. But when you're first
starting off and things are kindof still like, kind of willy
nilly, and you don't, you know,not everything is refined and
optimized, and as efficient asit can be, it's it can get kind
(28:35):
of tricky, but that's the otherreason why I have everyone do
these beta tests, because thosebeta tests are going to give you
social proof and portfoliopieces and examples that show
what's possible.
So even if you can't guaranteedeliverables, you can still say,
I don't guarantee deliverables.
But here's four examples of workthat I completed in one day
(28:56):
because that client wasprepared. They did their work.
They were attentive to my needs.
They got back to me right away.
If you can be that good of aclient, then you can also have
this type of transformation,right? And so that really is a
big reason why that beta is soimportant.
Kristen Doyle (29:14):
Yeah it is, for sure. So one other thing I have
learned is that VIP days aren'tjust about whether I can perform
in a VIP day and whether I cancreate a website in my case. In
that day, it also is aboutmaking sure you pick the right
client to work with in a VIPday.
I have had situations where theclient was not a good fit for
(29:34):
VIP days, especially early onbefore I was able to recognize
that in talking to a client. Sowhat would you suggest we look
for in clients who are a goodfit for a VIP day, whether it's
a service provider who's lookingfor those clients or maybe
somebody listening, who'swondering if they would like
hiring somebody for a VIP day.
Sarah Masci (29:54):
Well, what I have found personally is that VIP
day, clients, the good VIP dayclients have more money than
time. Okay, they're they'readvanced in their business.
They're not brand new. They'renot sitting around every day
like trying to figure out theirbusiness. They know what they
(30:15):
do. They're clear in theirmessaging.
They they have a good idea aboutwhat they're doing, because
clients that are brand new, theykind of have time to DIY and
they'll sit there and pickthings apart, whereas clients
that have been, you know, inbusiness a little while, they
just want it done. They justwant it off their plate. They
would rather just have it done,and that therefore they're
(30:37):
they're kind of transitioningthe decision making over to you.
They're giving you more controlas the provider to just get the
job done for them.
Kristen Doyle (30:45):
You know, I also find, I think, that people who
have been in business longer,who are more established in what
they're doing and what theirexpertise is, tend to trust you
as the expert more as well.
Sarah Masci (30:57):
Yeah, 100% and then the other thing, and these are
just some red flags. So if youget on a call with someone and
they bad mouth with theirprevious designer, or they tell
you they've had the most awfulexperience blah, blah, blah,
there's a good chance that itwasn't just the provider that
created that bad experience.
(31:18):
They might not be a very goodclient. They might not they
might be difficult to please.
They might not know how to makequick decisions. They might try
to micromanage everything. So ifthey come into a discovery call,
kind of complaining aboutprevious situations, then that
could be a potential red flag.
Then I did have another client.
She actually was a friend ofmine. Knew what I did, loved my
(31:40):
work, booked me for a day, butthen felt like she could just
keep emailing me, like 10 timesa day with questions about, what
do I think about this? What do Ithink about this? What do I
think about this? Like, it wasvery like she just walked all
over those boundaries of like,how this day works, and she she
was trying to do her pre work,and she couldn't make up her
(32:05):
mind on certain aspects of thepre work.
And I just knew right there, Iwas like, if she can't make up
her mind on this pre work, thereis no way we're gonna get
through her whole website in oneday. And so I refunded her her
deposit, and I sent her to aprovider who I knew would be
able to take more time with herand hold her hand and spend a
(32:27):
month or two, who knows how longthey ended up spending together?
Yeah,
Kristen Doyle (32:30):
and I think it's just so important to recognize
that kind of thing. And I knowsome people that I have worked
with, they offer VIP days, butalso offer longer projects, and
sometimes it means knowing whichperson to move to a different
service that you offer, or justbeing willing to let go of a
client and send them to somebodythat's going to be better for
them.
Sarah Masci (32:49):
Yeah. I mean, that's really what you have to
do, and it's hard, especially ifyou're just kind of getting
started with your business. Andyour VIP days are your, kind of
your main thing now, and youreally want to do your VIP days,
but you have clients coming inwho need something that is just
so big.
I had one lead. We had adiscovery call, and the project
(33:10):
she wanted was massive. Shewanted everything you could
think of, from branding to webdesign to collateral to building
out a course platform toeverything, right? An ecom
store, who knows, but it waslike a $20,000 like project, and
I had been doing my VIP days. Iwas in, you know, in a really
(33:32):
good groove with my VIP days. Iwas loving them. I had just
wrapped up all of my bigprojects, and then I had this
discovery call.
And, you know, I'm sitting therelike, Okay, well, I could, I
could pitch, I could quote a$20,000 project. But do I want a
$20,000 project? Do I? Because Ihad done big projects in the
past that dragged on for over ayear. They were big, high paying
(33:56):
projects, but at the end of theday, I spent, you know, 12,18,
months on them, so the profitmargin was like zero, you know.
And so it was learning how to beokay, saying no and turning down
the work that's not a good fitfor your model.
Kristen Doyle (34:10):
Yeah. And I think that's so important for all of
us. It makes us enjoy our jobsmore, and it also is just so
much better for the client. Ifthey are not a good fit for the
way that I work, then I kind ofowe it to them to tell them that
and to refer them over tosomebody that's going to do a
better job for them.
Sarah Masci (34:26):
Yeah, and you'll and, like I said, it is hard at
first to turn down that kind ofmoney. You know, basically when
you're first starting out,you'll take anything. People
will pay you for it. You'll takeit. But that's how you end up in
the situation that Kristen wasin and that I was in before
doing VIP days, where you hadall these projects at all
different levels, paying alldifferent things and
(34:47):
overlapping, and you were justmiserable because you took on
everything that someone wouldpay you for, and there was no
organization, and there was nostructure in managing it.
And so that's kind of the bigtakeaway here. Is that if you
have this really dialed inprocess with a VIP day,
everything is very organized,very structured. It makes your
(35:08):
life so much easier and so muchmore enjoyable. But you've
gotta, you have to have themindset to stick with it and see
it through, because it's soworth it in the end, it's just
hard at the beginning to wrapyour head around it.
Kristen Doyle (35:22):
Yeah, it is definitely worth it. So if
someone is thinking about maybetesting out VIP days for the
first time, what advice wouldyou give them? What is one
action step that they couldtake?
Sarah Masci (35:35):
Don't overthink it.
That's the biggest thing is thatso many people will sit on this
idea. Sounds like a good idea.
Maybe I should try that. Well,let me go and figure out all the
things you don't have to figureout, all the things you just
pitch a VIP day to your nextwarm leads someone who maybe
comes to you wanting somethingfrom from you that you think is
(35:56):
doable, even if it's like a halfday, a half days worth of stuff,
or two days worth of stuff.
Pitch one or two days. My firstone was a client who came to me
with a punch list of randomthings that she wanted done.
She didn't come to me saying, Ineed a website. She I had
already done her website, andshe came back meeting me to
change out this image and to adda blog post and to connect to
(36:22):
her Active Campaign, and to dothis and this and this, and it
was all these little things. AndI said, How about you just pay
me for a day and and I'll getI'll just go through your list
and we'll get it done.
And I charged her $500. I wayundercharged, but it was like
the turning point for me. I hadnothing, no preparation. I
(36:43):
didn't even know what I wasdoing. I just said, How about
you pay me for a day. We'll getit done, and then look at what
happened. So I guess my adviceis, if you want to do this
really, truly, don't overthinkit. Pitch a day to the next
person that comes to you needingsomething from you, and see how
it goes.
Kristen Doyle (36:59):
Yeah, I mean, you really don't have to plan it all
out and change your wholebusiness model in order to start
offering VIP days. You can justtry one and see what happens.
Sarah Masci (37:08):
Yeah and I'll also say, and I know there was a
transition period for you,Kristen, but like for me, when I
did my very first one inFebruary of 2018 and I still had
a ton of projects and retainersand maintenance clients. I had
all this other stuff that Istill had to fulfill. So I
fulfilled on all of thoseobligations while trying a few
(37:30):
VIP days here and there.
And it wasn't until December ofthat same year, so 10 months
later that I kind of wrappedeverything, all those other
lingering things, up and wentall in on this model. So it took
me about 10 months to transitionfrom the old way to the new way.
Kristen Doyle (37:48):
Yeah, and my transition was definitely
faster, but I had help, becauseI had my course, I had someone
to tell me how to make thishappen. So my transition was a
little more like I very quietly,without telling anyone, tested
it out on a couple of clientswhose websites I was working on
right then, and just to timemyself and see how it went.
(38:10):
And then I kind of soft pitchedit to people who were already on
my list. Like, is it okay if wetry this out? They had already
paid me for a website, and ifthey had said no, I'd have stuck
with what they had paid me forinitially, and I obviously
didn't change what I chargedthem or anything like that. And
then by the time I had done afew of those, I was pretty
confident to start bookingpeople at the time that I was
(38:34):
going to be wrapping up thoseprojects, because then I could
put an end date on thoseprojects, because I knew that I
was going to get them done.
I had put them on my calendar.
So then I was able to startbooking actual VIP days with
those first few clients. I thinkI started this. It was in the
fall. I think I started thisaround August or September, and
by probably November, I was onlybooking VIP days.
Sarah Masci (38:56):
I remember, I remember that. I remember that
season, though you came into thecourse, a whole bunch of other
people that are still in therecame in, and it was fast for a
lot of you guys. And I think, Ithink the fact that it was 2020
and for everyone, every businesswas just hopping in late 2020
people were just makingdecisions and moving and, you
(39:17):
know, grooving, and it wasgreat.
But I remember how fast it wasfor you. I think we did a do it
messy challenge, and you bookedlike five or six of them in that
one week. And that was kind of arecord for for anybody that had
been through the course.
Kristen Doyle (39:31):
That's the most clients I've ever booked in a
week.
Sarah Masci (39:34):
Yeah, it was awesome. It was fun. A lot of
fun. So, yeah, that's my that'smy advice. Is just do a messy
try it out. Let's see how itgoes.
Kristen Doyle (39:43):
I love that. Well thank you so so much for being
here and for having thisconversation with me today. Will
you tell everybody where theycan find you and where they can
learn more about VIP days fromyou?
Sarah Masci (39:54):
Yeah, everything's on my website so they can go to
sarahmasci.com. There's ahandful of options for kind of
learning about it, you know,learning more about the model
for free. I've got a couple lowticket things on there.
My course is all on there. Andif you ever want to connect with
me, Instagram is the best place.
I'm @sarahmasci on Instagram,and my DMs are always open.
Kristen Doyle (40:15):
Thank you so much, and we'll drop links for
those in the show notes soeverybody can find you. Thank
you again, so much for beinghere and for chatting VIP days
today.
Sarah Masci (40:24):
Thanks everybody.
Kristen Doyle (40:26):
Thank you so much for listening today. If you are
a service provider and you'reinterested in learning more
about Sarahand her VIP dayprograms and coaching, check out
her links in the show notes. Andif a VIP day website project
sounds like the perfect fit foryou, whether it's building a new
(40:46):
site, redesigning the one youhave, or maybe making some
updates you've been putting off,you can find all the details
about working with me in a VIPday in the show notes as well.
I'll talk to you soon.
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