December 31, 2024 • 37 mins
What does it take to design a profitable challenge that boosts engagement and drives sales? In this episode, Tara Bryan is joined by sales and marketing strategist Amanda Engler, an expert in live events, to share the secrets behind creating irresistible online challenges. Amanda reveals her proven three-step framework that gets ideal customers to sign up, show up, and stay engaged through the buying process.
Learn how to avoid the most common challenge pitfalls, create a seamless customer journey, and boost sales without overloading your audience. Whether you’re new to running challenges or looking to level up, this episode is packed with actionable insights that will transform how you launch and scale.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why challenges are a powerful launch tool for online businesses
- Amanda’s 3-step framework: Sign Up, Show Up, and Stay to Buy
- How to avoid content overload while keeping participants engaged
- The biggest challenge mistakes—and how to fix them
- Key strategies for boosting engagement and maximizing conversions
Resources & Links:
- Learn more about building profitable challenges: TaraLBryan.com
- Connect with Amanda Engler: [Website or Social Link]
- Check out the book Dear Female Digital Entrepreneur featuring both Tara and Amanda.
Subscribe & Review:
Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review! Your feedback helps us reach more entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses through action-driven strategies.
About Me:
Hey, it’s your host, Tara Bryan. And I am on a mission to help more business owners learn to infinitely scale their businesses by leveraging the power of online without sacrificing the customer experience or results.
I like to geek out on all things business strategy, marketing, interactive digital and user experience. This podcast is all about what is working, lessons learned and actionable tips to create and grow a thriving online business.
Join us each week as we dive into different strategies, tactics and tips you can apply immediately to your business.
To learn more:
Find us at https://www.taralbryan.com
Here are two ways we can help you create, grow and scale your business:
1. Want to package your expertise or become a Scalable Expert? Take our free quick assessment to see how close you are to creating a scalable business.
The Scalable Expert Assessment
2. ALREADY HAVE AN ONLINE BUSINESS & READY TO INFINITELY SCALE?
Download our free 50 Ways to Engage Your Customers guide or Schedule a 30 minute call with Tara to talk about our offers that will help you master the game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Hey everybody, it's Tara Bryanand you are listening to the
Course Building Secrets Podcast.
Whether you're a coach or a CEO,the success of your team and clients
is based on your ability to delivera consistent experience and guide
them on the fastest path to results.
This podcast will give you practical,real life tips that you can use today to
(00:26):
build your online experiences podcast.
The Get Results and Create Raving Fans.
Why?
So you can monetize your expertiseand serve more people without adding
more time or team to your business.
If you're looking to uncover your milliondollar framework, package it and use
it to scale, you're in the right place.
Let's dive in.
Tara Bryan (00:59):
Hey everybody, welcome to today's episode of the podcast.
I am so thrilled to have our guesttoday, Amanda Engler, come and share
with you all about her business and howto grow your online business as well.
So Amanda, welcome to the show.
So happy to have you here.
Give us a little bit of a sense for whoyou are and and what you're about...
Amanda Engler (01:18):
Thank you so much, Tara.
I'm so excited to be here.
I'm Amanda Engler.
I'm a sales and marketing strategist.
I specialize in challenges and livelaunches, and I help online coaches
make their next challenge theirmost profitable and effortless yet.
Tara Bryan (01:34):
Awesome.
Okay.
So we talk a lot aboutchallenges on this show.
So I'm so excited to have youhere to help impart some knowledge
on how this whole process works.
But before we do that, so tell us alittle bit, like, how did you end up in
the, in, you know, helping people with,with launches and all of the things.
(01:55):
I would love to hear a littlebit about your background.
Like, you know, did you startin something else and switch?
Did you, were you just in a entrepreneurand business owner at heart, like
where did, where do you fall in all of
Amanda Engler (02:07):
that?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I am from an inperson events background.
That's what I went to school for.
That's what I grew up knowing Iwanted to do down in my bones.
And then I had kids and I realized,wow, that's not really conducive
for getting a lot of time with them.
And then.
I realized there's this whole onlinebusiness model in 2018 and I hopped
(02:32):
on that bandwagon and started myown business as a service provider
so I can kind of make those own, myown hours and hang out with my kids.
And diving into this industry,I realized there's summits and
challenges and live launches.
And so I started learning all thatI could about these online events.
(02:53):
Cause obviously with mybackground, it just made sense.
Everything about the sales process,the marketing process, the engaging
of the attendees, the customerjourney made sense in my brain.
And with my background, it, it wasa really good fit and really fun.
So I started diving into thatand helping other online coaches.
(03:15):
And then.
Started as my own, I have a courseand I also help with a high touch with
some of my more specialized clients.
Tara Bryan (03:25):
Yeah, okay, I love that.
Well, and I think thatthat's so common, right?
Is that you started one thing and it'snot even that you are, you know, Oh,
well, I'm not going to do this anymore.
Anymore, I'm gonna go do something else.
It was just sort of a natural evolutionto being able to go from live in person
to to live virtual online, which gaveyou more of that flexibility, right?
(03:47):
To be able to help people do your thing.
And also, oh, by the way, be amom, Because that's . It's like
we all run into that, right?
It's like, oh yeah.
How do we do that and have time to do our
Amanda Engler (04:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
And that was like the abridgedversion, like very condensed.
We're going to make it tight.
But along the way, like I started outjust as a general VA because I was
like, I need to turn my brain off.
I just need something super simplewhile I figure out To your point,
what that looks like to be runninga business from home and caring more
for my family, like, what is this?
(04:23):
And that from being a general VAand working with so many different
coaches across so many differentindustries and niches, that's how
I kind of fell into this and juststarted picking up the breadcrumbs.
Tara Bryan (04:35):
Yep, yep.
Well, and, and again, that's socommon, right, is that we sort of,
you know, decide to do something,and then, and then it sort of
starts to, to gel and move forward.
So, so how did you go from being aservice provider and helping other
people to being able to to launch,you know, like a course, for example,
you said you had a course, so you havea packaged version of what you do.
(04:57):
How, how did that happen that youwere able to go from like just helping
people to being able to packagewhat you, what you have done so
people can consume it in a different
Amanda Engler (05:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
So going through that process, reallyworking with my clients, I had to create
a process that I took my clients through.
And from that process, then I createdthis framework that I could package
and sell in this course for someonewho's not maybe able to invest in the
(05:29):
hands on high touch with me one on one.
And so really identifying theprocess and that framework made it
so that people coming through thecourse could have more success and
understand the information better.
Tara Bryan (05:43):
So do you find that the audience is a little bit different
or is it the same audience and theyjust want to consume what you are
doing for your high ticket, high touchclients in the same, in the same way.
Amanda Engler (05:55):
It's usually people who are coming into the course
haven't created a challenge as of yet.
They've seen them.
They have a general idea.
They just want to make surethey're going to set this up right.
People who are coming in to my core offerthe challenge cure, they've already ran a
couple of challenges and they know they'vegot an issue or they aren't hitting a 10
(06:18):
percent close rate on their sales aftertheir challenge and so they want to hit
10 percent or higher and that's what I do.
Tara Bryan (06:27):
That's awesome.
So how many people do you, do you thinkgo through your course and then once they
built the challenge, then they're ready toactually You know, kind of diagnose what's
going on and take it to the next level.
Do you, do you find that like youhave that continuity happening?
Amanda Engler (06:43):
I would say it's about a 50 50 split.
Right?
Because I like to think Idesigned it well enough that they
have pretty great close rates.
However, what I find actually happeningis that their marketing and messaging
(07:03):
and their offer aren't in alignmentso that when they plug in their
challenge, they're losing people alongthe way in that customer journey.
Tara Bryan (07:16):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Yep.
Interesting.
Okay, cool.
All right.
So, that's like how you've taken yourbusiness and, and turned it into something
that's, that's scalable for you, right?
So you kind of went from generalto, okay, now I'm more specific and,
and then, you know, really tying inyour love of events into challenges.
(07:36):
So that, so to me, that's soexciting because, A lot of times
people don't find that right.
They think that they have to dosomething, but it's not, it's just
not aligning what their passionis in terms of how they're moving.
So it sounds like you have been able toincorporate that, which is super exciting.
To just to hear and for anyonelistening, like you can marry
(07:58):
the two things together.
And and make a business out of it.
So like, just know that, like, becomfortable with that, but then you're
able to package your framework and offerit to people in a different way, which
again, is another dimension that allowsyou to have that flexibility where you
have that asset and you have the, youhave the ability to help people kind of
(08:19):
at a different level and you know, oneof the things about that you probably
find is the people that you're helpingin person, the higher touch people that
you're working with, it's really hard tosee what, what their challenges are for
them because they're too close to it.
So having you come in helps just have adifferent lens look at their business.
(08:42):
So you find that probablyall the time, right?
When it's some, sometimes it'salmost obvious to you, but it's
just like, they're just too closeto it so they can't see it anymore.
It, can you talk a little bitabout what that that looks
Amanda Engler (08:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, I remember I was workingwith a copywriting client and she had
this great saying for all of the studentsin her copywriting membership was, you
can't read the label from inside the jar.
And I couldn't agree more withjust your business, that's why it's
so important to have mentors andcoaches and other feedback that you
(09:16):
run through a filter and say, okay,like, is this really applicable?
What can I take from thisinformation and apply and really
start to move my business forward.
And within the challenge arena.
I think what like people really get stuckin is how much information do I share?
(09:36):
Am I sharing too much informationand they're getting what they
need and then not buying my offer?
Or am I, there's this big fear and thestigma around being an online coach and,
and not providing enough information.
So then you feel like it was a baitand switch or a pitch and, and then
you're going to be labeled as likea swindler or something negative.
(09:58):
And so really finding that sweetspot of where you feel good about
the information you're providing.
And again, you're getting people to enrollin your course or program at the end.
Tara Bryan (10:10):
So talk a little bit about that specifically in terms of you
know, what's your advice to someonewho's putting together a challenge and
worried about those particular things.
Do you have some suggestions or tipsand tricks for people in terms of,
you know, how much do you share?
What kind of things do you share?
Amanda Engler (10:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I, inside my framework, Ihave, it's a three point system.
It's; you want your idealclients, you want ideal clients,
signing up for your challenge.
And not only do you want them signing up,the second phase, right, is you want them
to actually show up live to the challenge.
Because we know, speaking from thedata, like, they're more likely to buy.
(10:53):
And then, of course, if they'reshowing That third phase is
like they're staying to buy.
So they're signing up, they're showingup, and they're staying and buying.
Within that framework, I have some bestpractices and just some questions or
clues that can help you along the way.
Kind of like an audit of yourself that youcan go through that I'd be happy to share
(11:16):
so there are a lot ofchallenges out there, right?
Like, we are probably inundatedwith so many challenges and
your ideal client may be too.
So you really want to make surethat you're standing out, right?
We don't want to be usingbig, terms or jargon.
So a couple of questions to ask yourselfto make sure that the way that you've
(11:41):
named your challenge is somethingthat your ideal client can raise their
hand and say, yes, that is for me.
That is what I need.
So they can sign up for your challenge.
Cause that's the first thing.
We have like a three secondattention span right now.
So, the name,
Tara Bryan (11:56):
Less than a goldfish, people, it's a problem.
Amanda Engler (11:59):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So it's so crucial to nailthe name of your challenge.
So one, can your ideal clients quicklyidentify the result they will receive
by signing up for your challenge.
Two, does the challenge itself,the name, what you do, challenge
(12:20):
the status quo and pique curiosity?
Like, wow, I wonder how she does that.
That's like so opposite of whatall the other gurus are saying
in your niche and industry.
And then three, is the resultsomething that they want or is it
speaking to something they need?
I see that quite a bit where it'slike they actually need this, but you
(12:43):
have to give them what they want andthen give them what they need, right?
Tara Bryan (12:48):
Yep.
Just like little kids, right?
They want the cookie, but if youcan like hide some vegetables
in there, like you're good.
Amanda Engler (12:58):
absolutely!
That's one of my favorite trickswith my kids too is like, they
don't need to know what's in there.
If you package it correctly,they're going to be getting what
they need and what they want.
And so that's super important.
And then in terms of gettingthem to show up, right?
What I found is that a lot of
(13:22):
a lot of entrepreneurs will fallinto one of two categories, right?
They are a creative brain orthey're like a logical brain.
And so you really have to combine thethree to ensure that people are going
to show up and come and what I'm talkingabout is the content and the how, right?
(13:44):
Like, how much value are you giving?
And this is where wethread that needle, right?
If you're more of the logical,you're going to be like really
focused on the information.
And xyz and you're not going to be likesuper passionate or super excited you're
it's going to be more of a tutorialwhereas if you're more creative brain you
(14:05):
may be focusing more on the patching whatit looks like and what it feels like and
fall short a little bit on the content.
So as you're looking at that, kindof ask yourself, am I coming up?
Am I walking away with this witha linear brain or a creative?
I mean, most of us know this aboutourselves, so we can kind of diagnose
(14:26):
that pretty quickly and start workingthrough some of those roadblocks.
And then finally, the last piece, right?
Getting people to stay and buy.
To find out what may be sabotagingyou from getting a higher close
rate, here are like three supersimple questions to ask yourself.
(14:50):
And a lot of it has todo with timing, right?
One, are your attendees leaving as soonas you start talking about your offer?
Are you talking about it at the very end?
Are you talking about it atthe beginning, in the middle?
Like, when are you talking about it?
Is it out of the blue?
Like really look at that.
And then two, does your framework feedinto the tools inside of your offer?
(15:15):
Course Earlier I said I had a processand then I created a framework.
I'm very passionate about makingsure people understand the process
they take their clients through andunderstanding how to create a framework
from that, that they can use in theirmarketing and in their challenge.
And then finally, three.
Can they literally see themselvesinside your offer and the benefits of
(15:38):
you helping them solve their problembecause of all of the content and
information that they've learnedthroughout the challenge in the mini,
the little wins along the way throughout.
Did you give them enough of that?
Cause that's really theheart of a challenge, right?
Tara Bryan (15:57):
Yeah, so that's awesome.
So and, and like, rewind.
Can you rewind in podcast?
Yeah, rewind and like write thosequestions down because those are super
important as you're sort of looking atis your challenge, is your webinar, is
your whatever it is that you're doing,is it actually answering those questions?
(16:17):
Because you're right, those are likethe the key pieces and I think one of
the things that to me, it's a differencebetween like doing a challenge and doing
a webinar or training or whatever is thepiece of getting them involved, right?
Like if they have that ownershipexperience and they're like,
it's almost like they're, they'redoing something before they would
(16:41):
be solving their problem, right?
So like, people don't argue with theirown data, so how do you get them thinking
like, oh yeah, this is like, this is mything, this is a problem I have, and I
actually can find a solution, and thesolution is you know, the, the person
who's doing that challenge, right?
(17:01):
Like, and connecting those dots,that's such an important piece.
And one of my favorite terms, and Idon't know, since you're in the kind
of live event space, is a through line.
Do you know that term from your daysof the, so for me, this is one of
the things I talk about a lot islike, what's the through line, right?
Like you don't just like randomlyput out a training and then hope
(17:24):
that it's going to be the bridge thatcauses somebody to buy your thing.
Like there's a whole, there's a wholestrategy behind that, which is why
you hire people like Amanda, to lookat that strategy of how do you take
somebody from here and then naturallyand authentically just move them into
the next step, which is working with you.
And so when you are helping peoplewith challenges, my guess is like
(17:48):
that's what you're doing, right?
Is you're, you're looking at like, areyou creating that natural progression
forward so that it's just, It's notlike this big sales event almost.
It's just like this natural, like, yep,I'm the right person to help you solve
the problem that you have right now.
And I'm challenging you toidentify that as you move forward.
(18:11):
So talk a little bit about that becauseI love, I love the idea of a challenge,
like getting people involved versushaving them just be passive participants
in something that you're doing.
Amanda Engler (18:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
And just because it's top ofmind, I read the book called
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant.
And I don't, have you ever read that book?
Or am I a narrator?
I love Adam Grant.
I think he's just.
The coolest guy anyway.
So in the book, he talks about expertsand as you go down this journey
(18:45):
of becoming an expert and learningyour craft, you start to become so
far away from where you started.
There's a bit of a gap between whoyou can teach and where you're at.
Right?
So In this example, what I'mtrying to say, I'll summarize,
is that you can only teach as farback as you can remember, right?
(19:06):
We start to forget some of those gaps,and I think as we create our courses
and we get better at whatever it is thatwe specialize in, we can miss that gap.
And again, going back to that, if you'rein the jar, you can't read the label,
you might be forgetting some of thoseinitial questions or that through line
(19:30):
that they may need to get them readyto buy your course or your program.
Does that make sense?
Tara Bryan (19:38):
Yeah, for sure.
No and that's so true, right is thatwe tend to try and create something
for where we are and not where ourideal person is and remembering
that as we're moving forward.
And, and to be honest, like to yourpoint, that that's the best reason to
do the challenge is to break, like,cause I would say like, people are
(20:00):
wandering around, like, I have a problem.
I have a problem.
Like.
I wonder how I can solvethis problem, right?
Like that's what your, your idealcustomer is doing and then you're
just helping them be able to make aproper buying decision by preparing
them for solving that problem.
(20:21):
And so it's, it's like, yeah, goingback to where they are and remembering
like when you're wandering around withthe problem that you had and you know,
like for you, the problem your peopleprobably have is like, well, how do I,
you know, how do I find my ideal personand, and sell them into my program?
Well, here's, here's the way to do that.
(20:43):
And in remembering like, you know, alot of people haven't done a challenge
before, so you got to start themback in like, what's a challenge and
what does it mean, you know, all thethings and then bring them forward.
So, yeah, so I love that.
We'll put that in the shownotes adding Adam Grant's book.
So thank you for mentioning that.
Okay.
I, I love this.
I love talking about all the things.
(21:04):
So what would you say is your toppiece of advice that you have for
people who want to do a challenge?
Amanda Engler (21:11):
My top piece of advice is to start very low tech.
And I actually, depending upon whereyou're at in your journey, I come
up against a lot of pushback inthis because a lot of people want to
come across really professionally.
(21:32):
And I get it.
Like I 100 percent get that.
I am a big believer in projectingwhere you want to be now.
So you actually get there.
Right.
But, start super simple.
You don't need a lot.
You don't need a totally complete funnel.
You don't need like an emailmarketing platform just yet.
(21:55):
Like get it out there, test thechallenge, get some people in.
As long as you're like connectingvia DMs, you've got them in a
Facebook group of some sort.
And when they're joining the Facebookgroup, you're collecting their emails.
Like, that's all you really need.
You need to get out there and starttesting this challenge to make
sure it's connecting, it's landing,and you're getting some sales.
(22:17):
So you're not investing all of this timeand energy and effort, just like when
we're building a course, like we needto make sure we've got that proof first.
Tara Bryan (22:26):
Mm hmm, yeah, that's such great advice.
Well, I think that, that, you know,you sort of get in also that analysis
process, and it's gotta be perfect,and then you just never launch, right?
Like, you know, whichchoice do you want, right?
Launch imperfectly, or just never do it,and yeah, so that's such great advice.
So then my second question for youis like, what advice do you have if
(22:51):
someone's already doing a challengeto try and kinda maximize the amount
of sales they're going to get?
One of the biggest things that Ihave heard is that it's super hard
to get and keep people's attention.
So you want to, you want to maximizethe people who are showing up.
So what advice do you have for peopleto, to get them to pull the trigger?
Amanda Engler (23:15):
Absolutely.
To keep people showing up and tokeep them, I mean, engagement's
the name of the game, right?
Like we need to keep them engagedand paying attention and that comes
back down again to the content.
A lot of people will go back to prizesand be like, I invest a lot in like
(23:35):
prizes or if I give so much away andI'll give gift cards and I'll give a lot
of my other like digital products away.
That even outside of the challenge worldhas like, and just corporate America
has been proven to only work short term.
So those aren't actually like anythingthat's going to help people remind them
(23:56):
to show up and be engaged and participate.
It's looking at the content and it'syou also being your most authentic self.
So that way, they can identifywith you, your journey, and
the information you're sharing.
Tara Bryan (24:13):
Mm-Hmm.
. Yep.
That's great.
Yeah.
And that's so true, right?
It's like, well, if you just throw crap atpeople, it doesn't actually mean that it's
gonna translate into something valuable.
So yeah, you heard it from Amanda here.
Don't just like throw a bunch of crapout there and hope that that's the
thing that's gonna convert them intobuyers because it's not so engagement
is the name of the game, which if youhave listened to this podcast before,
(24:35):
you have heard a lot about that and sowhat's, what's your like number one kind
of engagement technique on a challenge?
Amanda Engler (24:43):
I really enjoy just connecting with people one on
one, and as your challenge grows,that gets harder to do, right?
But even if you're able to call afew people out, When you're live, if
you can DM a few people and reallyconnect with them on a personal level,
take two seconds and go look at theirprofile and, or like, like a post.
(25:06):
It really doesn't take that much tostart to see that engagement pull
through because they'll circle backand be like, oh, hey, like I'm in that
challenge, they just liked my content.
And then, you know, peoplejust love to be, you know,
Seeing, heard, and recognized.
And that's so important,especially digitally, right?
Tara Bryan (25:26):
Yep.
Yep, for sure.
A hundred percent.
Awesome.
Great advice.
Okay, so I'm gonna switch gears a littlebit and you can see if you are watching
this on YouTube, that both Amanda and Ihave the same book and we are co-authors
in an anthology that we created this yearcalled Dear Female Digital Entrepreneur.
(25:46):
And and so we just, we discussed it.
I'm Chapter S, Amanda's Chapter U.
And and so let's talk a little bit aboutthat because that was a really fun project
and it's and obviously it's brought someof us together, which is really fun.
So talk a little bit about your chapter,Amanda, and and what's in there.
What, what, what did you kind of focus on?
And then I'm just interested in, like,how did the experience go for you?
(26:08):
Because I think that it was a fun one.
I don't know if you've written abook before, but for me, it was,
That's sort of my first you know,best selling publishing event.
So tell us a little bitabout your experience.
Amanda Engler (26:19):
Thank you.
Yeah.
I never thought I wasgoing to write a book.
I have an auditory processingdisorder that makes it really hard
to like push out written content.
And so the idea of a book, like was reallyoverwhelming, but in this format with
so many other like powerful women andjust the way that we like came together,
it was just such a fun process and socool to be able to do and be a part of.
(26:44):
So I walked away like just over the...
Jenny Hanson Lane was the individualresponsible for this, this collaboration.
And I'm just such a big fan of hers.
And so very grateful for that opportunityand inside my chapter, we dive into a lot
of what we talked about today in termsof understanding your sales machine.
(27:08):
What does that mean?
That's your challenge, right?
And so like, let's takea deep dive into that.
And again, we use that framework tosign up, show up, and stay and buy.
And we talk through some of that.
So if you dive in, some of thesequestions are going to be there.
So if you're more of a visual personand you don't want to listen back
to some of these questions, goget the book, go dive into that.
(27:28):
And then it also dives into more of themeat and potatoes of, of that framework
and some really good takeaways as well.
Tara Bryan (27:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Yes.
It was a fun project.
And and I found out likeanyone can write a chapter.
Like it was much more doable thanlike, I'm going to write, sit
down and write an entire book.
Writing the chapter was like, Oh, okay.
I can do this.
And maybe I could do likea couple of chapters.
But yeah, it was, I thought itwas a great experience as well.
So, awesome.
(27:58):
Well, thanks for sharing that.
We'll put the book link in theshow notes because both Amanda
and I believe that everyone shouldhave this book on their bookshelf.
So, so thank you in advance for you know,contributing to the success of our book.
Okay, awesome.
So, A couple of more questions for you.
One is as a business owner, andespecially as a female business owner,
(28:22):
what do you, what's like the top advicethat you would give someone who was
just getting started in this journey?
Amanda Engler (28:28):
Sure.
I like to use this quote and I thinkI heard it from Tony Robbins first.
And I don't know if he was the originatorof the quote, I don't know where it
really came from, but I, it was reallypowerful for me at the time was see things
as they are, not worse than they are.
(28:49):
I'm just a planner.
I like to think 10 steps ahead andalso like troubleshoot anything
down the line that could gowrong so I can plan against that.
and I think as women in particular we havea lot of imposter syndrome, we have a lot
of trouble believing in ourselves and sothen, that kind of take us down a negative
(29:12):
path, rather than just taking a step back,saying okay, these are the facts, all of
that other stuff, that negativity whereI'm going with this, that's just stories
inside my head that's not real data.
Let's look at the real data and tryto move forward and see like those
silver linings, those positive choices,those, this is a new direction I could
(29:34):
take this based on this data insteadof like, Oh no, I have to pivot again.
That sort of thing.
That is, I've always found thatto be super helpful for myself.
Tara Bryan (29:43):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And how much do you feel like havingyour framework, that is defined and
something that you can lead from,how much does that help you kind of
get rid of that imposter syndrome?
Amanda Engler (29:55):
Absolutely.
It makes it so that you havethat horizon to shoot for, right?
You're looking ahead and you're notgetting so bogged down in so many
little details that we can, right?
And then again, if you're justlooking at the data, it can help
you make more informed decisionsopposed to those emotional decisions.
(30:18):
Cause you're, you're going through achecklist, you have this framework, right?
Tara Bryan (30:24):
Yeah, it's so powerful, awesome.
Okay, and then what's like oneessential either business tool or
book or resource that you can'tlive without in your business?
Amanda Engler (30:33):
So I was really excited when I found it's a
software, it's a platform.
And I use it in my business and Ithink anybody can use it in their
business for in any sort of capacity.
It's called markup.io and it's a way togive feedback on video assets, digital
assets, like whatever it is, you cangive that feedback and collaborate.
(30:58):
And I just think it's the coolest thing.
It's taken my challenge cure, that's whereI go through and look at your challenge.
It's taken it to the next level andjust made results so much better
because they're physically seeing it.
They're seeing the timing, they'reseeing the feedback at the right,
it's, I can't say enough about it.
I think it's amazing.
Tara Bryan (31:19):
Yeah, that's, that's awesome.
I actually never heard anyoneelse know about that tool.
We use that as well, but yes, the nicestpart is that you can actually give the
feedback at the actual timestamp so peoplecan see it instead of like a screenshot
and then the feedback, like it's just abit more challenging for people, I think,
to, to get get where you're puttingthe feedback if you don't have that.
(31:42):
So that's an awesome tool.
I'm really glad that youactually shared that.
I, it's, it's funny how some tools we takefor granted and we don't even think about
how, how much they affect the business.
So there you go.
You heard it from Amanda and we useit as well, so you should go out and
get it because it's, it's awesome.
And it's just a, it's not very expensiveto have a monthly subscription.
(32:06):
It's just what, 10 bucks or
Amanda Engler (32:08):
And it's free to a certain point.
So if you just keep your uploadlimit or like, I think there's some
features that get taken away, likefolders and whatnot or get added.
So it's free to a point.
So you could use it, testit out, see if you like it.
And I found their customer service supportto be amazing and they're, I, I really
(32:28):
believe in the product and the company.
I should become an affiliate
Tara Bryan (32:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Right?
Wait, wait.
Hey, yeah, got to go do that.
No, but but no, so thankyou for sharing that tool.
You're actually the first personto share that, which I love.
I love, I always ask this question.
I always get amazing answers.
So I appreciate that so much.
Okay.
So last question.
(32:53):
It's a personal question and and so I'mexcited because we're, we're getting a
sense of, of who you are from a businessperspective and kind of your, your
journey through what you have, have done.
But you have some pretty cool storiesthat are just about you personally.
So, so tell me about like a crazything that you have done in the
(33:16):
past to share a little bit more
Amanda Engler (33:17):
Sure.
So.
My husband and I actually got marriedon a water propelled jet pack, which
is kind of wild to think about.
And actually my husband and Iwere talking, we don't usually
like tell a lot of people anymore.
We've celebrated our 12year anniversary this year.
So it's not like, that it's the firstthing that you tell people when you
(33:40):
meet them, so some of our neighbors,we've been neighbors for like 2 years,
and they're like we didn't know thisabout you, how come you didn't tell us?
I'm like, oh well you know it'snot like, what you lead with.
Tara Bryan (33:52):
Well, you know, it's just a normal
thing.
Amanda Engler (33:56):
So yeah that was a pretty wild experience we were, it wasn't
like we sought it out it found us.
We were engaged in Cancun, Mexico.
We had this company.
We said we had worked withthis company previously.
They're now defunct, but we had workedwith them in our previous careers
and we wanted more of their shirtsbecause they were really soft shirts.
(34:19):
And I, my husband was wearing theirshirt and when he proposed, we had
some photos, so we were going to sendit in to try to get some more shirts.
And they came back with this crazyidea of getting us hitched by these
water propelled jetpacks and itlike we took the plunge we dove
in and did it and it was amazing.
Tara Bryan (34:41):
So were youuboth on your own jetpacks?
Amanda Engler (34:43):
Yeah, so if you Google jetpack wedding, you can find pictures
of our wedding days and interview.
I don't love, I've never been interviewedbefore this, before that point.
So they prepped us, they did a lot ofPR stuff, but I was really unprepared.
So it's kind of cringyto hear what I said.
(35:04):
But we we were on two separate jet packs.
We flew out.
That was like us walking down the aisle.
We landed on a beach.
It was in Newport Beach in California.
And then we set our vows on the beachand then we flew out and we did this
big heart formation and came back in.
(35:24):
And when they had like adrone, I'm afraid of heights.
So we had to like get up high.
And so like, if you watch the videos,you'll see my feet dragging in the
water because I was too afraid.
We had like an hour to practicethe day before it was like
wild, but it, it was so fun.
Tara Bryan (35:42):
Okay, first, like, I just think that that's so much fun.
So first of all, I will tellyou, I was engaged in Cozumel.
So there you go, we have that in common.
But I did not do a jetpack wedding.
So, but I, I think that in, and likefor the audience, like we're meeting
for the first time today, but I, I feellike that probably, speaks a little bit
(36:02):
to your your personality in terms ofhow do you get people to engage in your
events is by doing kind of fun stuff likethat that's a little bit out of the box.
And so that is such a fun story.
So thank you for sharing that.
For us and, and maybe, maybe we'll dig upthat link and put it in the show notes.
So another incentive for, for you all tolook at the show notes after this episode.
(36:26):
Awesome.
All right.
Well, Amanda, thank you so muchfor being on the show today.
It was a pleasure to have you.
Any final words of advice for myaudience as you transition off?
Amanda Engler (36:37):
Yeah.
I always, I mean, Just do it.
Life is too short.
Don't worry about what anybodyelse is going to think.
Like, go out, do what's goingto make you happy, and the
rest will just fall into place.
Tara Bryan (36:53):
Amazing.
Alright, thanks so much forbeing on the show today, Amanda.
We appreciate it, and for everyonelistening, have a great day.
Hey everybody, it's Tara Bryanand you are listening to the
Course Building Secrets Podcast.
Whether you're a coach or a CEO,the success of your team and clients
is based on your ability to delivera consistent experience and guide
them on the fastest path to results.
This podcast will give you practical,real life tips that you can use today to
(00:26):
build your online experiences podcast.
The Get Results and Create Raving Fans.
Why?
So you can monetize your expertiseand serve more people without adding
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If you're looking to uncover your milliondollar framework, package it and use
it to scale, you're in the right place.
Let's dive in.
Tara Bryan (00:59):
Hey everybody, welcome to today's episode of the podcast.
I am so thrilled to have our guesttoday, Amanda Engler, come and share
with you all about her business and howto grow your online business as well.
So Amanda, welcome to the show.
So happy to have you here.
Give us a little bit of a sense for whoyou are and and what you're about...
Amanda Engler (01:18):
Thank you so much, Tara.
I'm so excited to be here.
I'm Amanda Engler.
I'm a sales and marketing strategist.
I specialize in challenges and livelaunches, and I help online coaches
make their next challenge theirmost profitable and effortless yet.
Tara Bryan (01:34):
Awesome.
Okay.
So we talk a lot aboutchallenges on this show.
So I'm so excited to have youhere to help impart some knowledge
on how this whole process works.
But before we do that, so tell us alittle bit, like, how did you end up in
the, in, you know, helping people with,with launches and all of the things.
(01:55):
I would love to hear a littlebit about your background.
Like, you know, did you startin something else and switch?
Did you, were you just in a entrepreneurand business owner at heart, like
where did, where do you fall in all of
Amanda Engler (02:07):
that?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I am from an inperson events background.
That's what I went to school for.
That's what I grew up knowing Iwanted to do down in my bones.
And then I had kids and I realized,wow, that's not really conducive
for getting a lot of time with them.
And then.
I realized there's this whole onlinebusiness model in 2018 and I hopped
(02:32):
on that bandwagon and started myown business as a service provider
so I can kind of make those own, myown hours and hang out with my kids.
And diving into this industry,I realized there's summits and
challenges and live launches.
And so I started learning all thatI could about these online events.
(02:53):
Cause obviously with mybackground, it just made sense.
Everything about the sales process,the marketing process, the engaging
of the attendees, the customerjourney made sense in my brain.
And with my background, it, it wasa really good fit and really fun.
So I started diving into thatand helping other online coaches.
(03:15):
And then.
Started as my own, I have a courseand I also help with a high touch with
some of my more specialized clients.
Tara Bryan (03:25):
Yeah, okay, I love that.
Well, and I think thatthat's so common, right?
Is that you started one thing and it'snot even that you are, you know, Oh,
well, I'm not going to do this anymore.
Anymore, I'm gonna go do something else.
It was just sort of a natural evolutionto being able to go from live in person
to to live virtual online, which gaveyou more of that flexibility, right?
(03:47):
To be able to help people do your thing.
And also, oh, by the way, be amom, Because that's . It's like
we all run into that, right?
It's like, oh yeah.
How do we do that and have time to do our
Amanda Engler (04:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
And that was like the abridgedversion, like very condensed.
We're going to make it tight.
But along the way, like I started outjust as a general VA because I was
like, I need to turn my brain off.
I just need something super simplewhile I figure out To your point,
what that looks like to be runninga business from home and caring more
for my family, like, what is this?
(04:23):
And that from being a general VAand working with so many different
coaches across so many differentindustries and niches, that's how
I kind of fell into this and juststarted picking up the breadcrumbs.
Tara Bryan (04:35):
Yep, yep.
Well, and, and again, that's socommon, right, is that we sort of,
you know, decide to do something,and then, and then it sort of
starts to, to gel and move forward.
So, so how did you go from being aservice provider and helping other
people to being able to to launch,you know, like a course, for example,
you said you had a course, so you havea packaged version of what you do.
(04:57):
How, how did that happen that youwere able to go from like just helping
people to being able to packagewhat you, what you have done so
people can consume it in a different
Amanda Engler (05:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
So going through that process, reallyworking with my clients, I had to create
a process that I took my clients through.
And from that process, then I createdthis framework that I could package
and sell in this course for someonewho's not maybe able to invest in the
(05:29):
hands on high touch with me one on one.
And so really identifying theprocess and that framework made it
so that people coming through thecourse could have more success and
understand the information better.
Tara Bryan (05:43):
So do you find that the audience is a little bit different
or is it the same audience and theyjust want to consume what you are
doing for your high ticket, high touchclients in the same, in the same way.
Amanda Engler (05:55):
It's usually people who are coming into the course
haven't created a challenge as of yet.
They've seen them.
They have a general idea.
They just want to make surethey're going to set this up right.
People who are coming in to my core offerthe challenge cure, they've already ran a
couple of challenges and they know they'vegot an issue or they aren't hitting a 10
(06:18):
percent close rate on their sales aftertheir challenge and so they want to hit
10 percent or higher and that's what I do.
Tara Bryan (06:27):
That's awesome.
So how many people do you, do you thinkgo through your course and then once they
built the challenge, then they're ready toactually You know, kind of diagnose what's
going on and take it to the next level.
Do you, do you find that like youhave that continuity happening?
Amanda Engler (06:43):
I would say it's about a 50 50 split.
Right?
Because I like to think Idesigned it well enough that they
have pretty great close rates.
However, what I find actually happeningis that their marketing and messaging
(07:03):
and their offer aren't in alignmentso that when they plug in their
challenge, they're losing people alongthe way in that customer journey.
Tara Bryan (07:16):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Yep.
Interesting.
Okay, cool.
All right.
So, that's like how you've taken yourbusiness and, and turned it into something
that's, that's scalable for you, right?
So you kind of went from generalto, okay, now I'm more specific and,
and then, you know, really tying inyour love of events into challenges.
(07:36):
So that, so to me, that's soexciting because, A lot of times
people don't find that right.
They think that they have to dosomething, but it's not, it's just
not aligning what their passionis in terms of how they're moving.
So it sounds like you have been able toincorporate that, which is super exciting.
To just to hear and for anyonelistening, like you can marry
(07:58):
the two things together.
And and make a business out of it.
So like, just know that, like, becomfortable with that, but then you're
able to package your framework and offerit to people in a different way, which
again, is another dimension that allowsyou to have that flexibility where you
have that asset and you have the, youhave the ability to help people kind of
(08:19):
at a different level and you know, oneof the things about that you probably
find is the people that you're helpingin person, the higher touch people that
you're working with, it's really hard tosee what, what their challenges are for
them because they're too close to it.
So having you come in helps just have adifferent lens look at their business.
(08:42):
So you find that probablyall the time, right?
When it's some, sometimes it'salmost obvious to you, but it's
just like, they're just too closeto it so they can't see it anymore.
It, can you talk a little bitabout what that that looks
Amanda Engler (08:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, I remember I was workingwith a copywriting client and she had
this great saying for all of the studentsin her copywriting membership was, you
can't read the label from inside the jar.
And I couldn't agree more withjust your business, that's why it's
so important to have mentors andcoaches and other feedback that you
(09:16):
run through a filter and say, okay,like, is this really applicable?
What can I take from thisinformation and apply and really
start to move my business forward.
And within the challenge arena.
I think what like people really get stuckin is how much information do I share?
(09:36):
Am I sharing too much informationand they're getting what they
need and then not buying my offer?
Or am I, there's this big fear and thestigma around being an online coach and,
and not providing enough information.
So then you feel like it was a baitand switch or a pitch and, and then
you're going to be labeled as likea swindler or something negative.
(09:58):
And so really finding that sweetspot of where you feel good about
the information you're providing.
And again, you're getting people to enrollin your course or program at the end.
Tara Bryan (10:10):
So talk a little bit about that specifically in terms of you
know, what's your advice to someonewho's putting together a challenge and
worried about those particular things.
Do you have some suggestions or tipsand tricks for people in terms of,
you know, how much do you share?
What kind of things do you share?
Amanda Engler (10:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I, inside my framework, Ihave, it's a three point system.
It's; you want your idealclients, you want ideal clients,
signing up for your challenge.
And not only do you want them signing up,the second phase, right, is you want them
to actually show up live to the challenge.
Because we know, speaking from thedata, like, they're more likely to buy.
(10:53):
And then, of course, if they'reshowing That third phase is
like they're staying to buy.
So they're signing up, they're showingup, and they're staying and buying.
Within that framework, I have some bestpractices and just some questions or
clues that can help you along the way.
Kind of like an audit of yourself that youcan go through that I'd be happy to share
(11:16):
so there are a lot ofchallenges out there, right?
Like, we are probably inundatedwith so many challenges and
your ideal client may be too.
So you really want to make surethat you're standing out, right?
We don't want to be usingbig, terms or jargon.
So a couple of questions to ask yourselfto make sure that the way that you've
(11:41):
named your challenge is somethingthat your ideal client can raise their
hand and say, yes, that is for me.
That is what I need.
So they can sign up for your challenge.
Cause that's the first thing.
We have like a three secondattention span right now.
So, the name,
Tara Bryan (11:56):
Less than a goldfish, people, it's a problem.
Amanda Engler (11:59):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So it's so crucial to nailthe name of your challenge.
So one, can your ideal clients quicklyidentify the result they will receive
by signing up for your challenge.
Two, does the challenge itself,the name, what you do, challenge
(12:20):
the status quo and pique curiosity?
Like, wow, I wonder how she does that.
That's like so opposite of whatall the other gurus are saying
in your niche and industry.
And then three, is the resultsomething that they want or is it
speaking to something they need?
I see that quite a bit where it'slike they actually need this, but you
(12:43):
have to give them what they want andthen give them what they need, right?
Tara Bryan (12:48):
Yep.
Just like little kids, right?
They want the cookie, but if youcan like hide some vegetables
in there, like you're good.
Amanda Engler (12:58):
absolutely!
That's one of my favorite trickswith my kids too is like, they
don't need to know what's in there.
If you package it correctly,they're going to be getting what
they need and what they want.
And so that's super important.
And then in terms of gettingthem to show up, right?
What I found is that a lot of
(13:22):
a lot of entrepreneurs will fallinto one of two categories, right?
They are a creative brain orthey're like a logical brain.
And so you really have to combine thethree to ensure that people are going
to show up and come and what I'm talkingabout is the content and the how, right?
(13:44):
Like, how much value are you giving?
And this is where wethread that needle, right?
If you're more of the logical,you're going to be like really
focused on the information.
And xyz and you're not going to be likesuper passionate or super excited you're
it's going to be more of a tutorialwhereas if you're more creative brain you
(14:05):
may be focusing more on the patching whatit looks like and what it feels like and
fall short a little bit on the content.
So as you're looking at that, kindof ask yourself, am I coming up?
Am I walking away with this witha linear brain or a creative?
I mean, most of us know this aboutourselves, so we can kind of diagnose
(14:26):
that pretty quickly and start workingthrough some of those roadblocks.
And then finally, the last piece, right?
Getting people to stay and buy.
To find out what may be sabotagingyou from getting a higher close
rate, here are like three supersimple questions to ask yourself.
(14:50):
And a lot of it has todo with timing, right?
One, are your attendees leaving as soonas you start talking about your offer?
Are you talking about it at the very end?
Are you talking about it atthe beginning, in the middle?
Like, when are you talking about it?
Is it out of the blue?
Like really look at that.
And then two, does your framework feedinto the tools inside of your offer?
(15:15):
Course Earlier I said I had a processand then I created a framework.
I'm very passionate about makingsure people understand the process
they take their clients through andunderstanding how to create a framework
from that, that they can use in theirmarketing and in their challenge.
And then finally, three.
Can they literally see themselvesinside your offer and the benefits of
(15:38):
you helping them solve their problembecause of all of the content and
information that they've learnedthroughout the challenge in the mini,
the little wins along the way throughout.
Did you give them enough of that?
Cause that's really theheart of a challenge, right?
Tara Bryan (15:57):
Yeah, so that's awesome.
So and, and like, rewind.
Can you rewind in podcast?
Yeah, rewind and like write thosequestions down because those are super
important as you're sort of looking atis your challenge, is your webinar, is
your whatever it is that you're doing,is it actually answering those questions?
(16:17):
Because you're right, those are likethe the key pieces and I think one of
the things that to me, it's a differencebetween like doing a challenge and doing
a webinar or training or whatever is thepiece of getting them involved, right?
Like if they have that ownershipexperience and they're like,
it's almost like they're, they'redoing something before they would
(16:41):
be solving their problem, right?
So like, people don't argue with theirown data, so how do you get them thinking
like, oh yeah, this is like, this is mything, this is a problem I have, and I
actually can find a solution, and thesolution is you know, the, the person
who's doing that challenge, right?
(17:01):
Like, and connecting those dots,that's such an important piece.
And one of my favorite terms, and Idon't know, since you're in the kind
of live event space, is a through line.
Do you know that term from your daysof the, so for me, this is one of
the things I talk about a lot islike, what's the through line, right?
Like you don't just like randomlyput out a training and then hope
(17:24):
that it's going to be the bridge thatcauses somebody to buy your thing.
Like there's a whole, there's a wholestrategy behind that, which is why
you hire people like Amanda, to lookat that strategy of how do you take
somebody from here and then naturallyand authentically just move them into
the next step, which is working with you.
And so when you are helping peoplewith challenges, my guess is like
(17:48):
that's what you're doing, right?
Is you're, you're looking at like, areyou creating that natural progression
forward so that it's just, It's notlike this big sales event almost.
It's just like this natural, like, yep,I'm the right person to help you solve
the problem that you have right now.
And I'm challenging you toidentify that as you move forward.
(18:11):
So talk a little bit about that becauseI love, I love the idea of a challenge,
like getting people involved versushaving them just be passive participants
in something that you're doing.
Amanda Engler (18:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
And just because it's top ofmind, I read the book called
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant.
And I don't, have you ever read that book?
Or am I a narrator?
I love Adam Grant.
I think he's just.
The coolest guy anyway.
So in the book, he talks about expertsand as you go down this journey
(18:45):
of becoming an expert and learningyour craft, you start to become so
far away from where you started.
There's a bit of a gap between whoyou can teach and where you're at.
Right?
So In this example, what I'mtrying to say, I'll summarize,
is that you can only teach as farback as you can remember, right?
(19:06):
We start to forget some of those gaps,and I think as we create our courses
and we get better at whatever it is thatwe specialize in, we can miss that gap.
And again, going back to that, if you'rein the jar, you can't read the label,
you might be forgetting some of thoseinitial questions or that through line
(19:30):
that they may need to get them readyto buy your course or your program.
Does that make sense?
Tara Bryan (19:38):
Yeah, for sure.
No and that's so true, right is thatwe tend to try and create something
for where we are and not where ourideal person is and remembering
that as we're moving forward.
And, and to be honest, like to yourpoint, that that's the best reason to
do the challenge is to break, like,cause I would say like, people are
(20:00):
wandering around, like, I have a problem.
I have a problem.
Like.
I wonder how I can solvethis problem, right?
Like that's what your, your idealcustomer is doing and then you're
just helping them be able to make aproper buying decision by preparing
them for solving that problem.
(20:21):
And so it's, it's like, yeah, goingback to where they are and remembering
like when you're wandering around withthe problem that you had and you know,
like for you, the problem your peopleprobably have is like, well, how do I,
you know, how do I find my ideal personand, and sell them into my program?
Well, here's, here's the way to do that.
(20:43):
And in remembering like, you know, alot of people haven't done a challenge
before, so you got to start themback in like, what's a challenge and
what does it mean, you know, all thethings and then bring them forward.
So, yeah, so I love that.
We'll put that in the shownotes adding Adam Grant's book.
So thank you for mentioning that.
Okay.
I, I love this.
I love talking about all the things.
(21:04):
So what would you say is your toppiece of advice that you have for
people who want to do a challenge?
Amanda Engler (21:11):
My top piece of advice is to start very low tech.
And I actually, depending upon whereyou're at in your journey, I come
up against a lot of pushback inthis because a lot of people want to
come across really professionally.
(21:32):
And I get it.
Like I 100 percent get that.
I am a big believer in projectingwhere you want to be now.
So you actually get there.
Right.
But, start super simple.
You don't need a lot.
You don't need a totally complete funnel.
You don't need like an emailmarketing platform just yet.
(21:55):
Like get it out there, test thechallenge, get some people in.
As long as you're like connectingvia DMs, you've got them in a
Facebook group of some sort.
And when they're joining the Facebookgroup, you're collecting their emails.
Like, that's all you really need.
You need to get out there and starttesting this challenge to make
sure it's connecting, it's landing,and you're getting some sales.
(22:17):
So you're not investing all of this timeand energy and effort, just like when
we're building a course, like we needto make sure we've got that proof first.
Tara Bryan (22:26):
Mm hmm, yeah, that's such great advice.
Well, I think that, that, you know,you sort of get in also that analysis
process, and it's gotta be perfect,and then you just never launch, right?
Like, you know, whichchoice do you want, right?
Launch imperfectly, or just never do it,and yeah, so that's such great advice.
So then my second question for youis like, what advice do you have if
(22:51):
someone's already doing a challengeto try and kinda maximize the amount
of sales they're going to get?
One of the biggest things that Ihave heard is that it's super hard
to get and keep people's attention.
So you want to, you want to maximizethe people who are showing up.
So what advice do you have for peopleto, to get them to pull the trigger?
Amanda Engler (23:15):
Absolutely.
To keep people showing up and tokeep them, I mean, engagement's
the name of the game, right?
Like we need to keep them engagedand paying attention and that comes
back down again to the content.
A lot of people will go back to prizesand be like, I invest a lot in like
(23:35):
prizes or if I give so much away andI'll give gift cards and I'll give a lot
of my other like digital products away.
That even outside of the challenge worldhas like, and just corporate America
has been proven to only work short term.
So those aren't actually like anythingthat's going to help people remind them
(23:56):
to show up and be engaged and participate.
It's looking at the content and it'syou also being your most authentic self.
So that way, they can identifywith you, your journey, and
the information you're sharing.
Tara Bryan (24:13):
Mm-Hmm.
. Yep.
That's great.
Yeah.
And that's so true, right?
It's like, well, if you just throw crap atpeople, it doesn't actually mean that it's
gonna translate into something valuable.
So yeah, you heard it from Amanda here.
Don't just like throw a bunch of crapout there and hope that that's the
thing that's gonna convert them intobuyers because it's not so engagement
is the name of the game, which if youhave listened to this podcast before,
(24:35):
you have heard a lot about that and sowhat's, what's your like number one kind
of engagement technique on a challenge?
Amanda Engler (24:43):
I really enjoy just connecting with people one on
one, and as your challenge grows,that gets harder to do, right?
But even if you're able to call afew people out, When you're live, if
you can DM a few people and reallyconnect with them on a personal level,
take two seconds and go look at theirprofile and, or like, like a post.
(25:06):
It really doesn't take that much tostart to see that engagement pull
through because they'll circle backand be like, oh, hey, like I'm in that
challenge, they just liked my content.
And then, you know, peoplejust love to be, you know,
Seeing, heard, and recognized.
And that's so important,especially digitally, right?
Tara Bryan (25:26):
Yep.
Yep, for sure.
A hundred percent.
Awesome.
Great advice.
Okay, so I'm gonna switch gears a littlebit and you can see if you are watching
this on YouTube, that both Amanda and Ihave the same book and we are co-authors
in an anthology that we created this yearcalled Dear Female Digital Entrepreneur.
(25:46):
And and so we just, we discussed it.
I'm Chapter S, Amanda's Chapter U.
And and so let's talk a little bit aboutthat because that was a really fun project
and it's and obviously it's brought someof us together, which is really fun.
So talk a little bit about your chapter,Amanda, and and what's in there.
What, what, what did you kind of focus on?
And then I'm just interested in, like,how did the experience go for you?
(26:08):
Because I think that it was a fun one.
I don't know if you've written abook before, but for me, it was,
That's sort of my first you know,best selling publishing event.
So tell us a little bitabout your experience.
Amanda Engler (26:19):
Thank you.
Yeah.
I never thought I wasgoing to write a book.
I have an auditory processingdisorder that makes it really hard
to like push out written content.
And so the idea of a book, like was reallyoverwhelming, but in this format with
so many other like powerful women andjust the way that we like came together,
it was just such a fun process and socool to be able to do and be a part of.
(26:44):
So I walked away like just over the...
Jenny Hanson Lane was the individualresponsible for this, this collaboration.
And I'm just such a big fan of hers.
And so very grateful for that opportunityand inside my chapter, we dive into a lot
of what we talked about today in termsof understanding your sales machine.
(27:08):
What does that mean?
That's your challenge, right?
And so like, let's takea deep dive into that.
And again, we use that framework tosign up, show up, and stay and buy.
And we talk through some of that.
So if you dive in, some of thesequestions are going to be there.
So if you're more of a visual personand you don't want to listen back
to some of these questions, goget the book, go dive into that.
(27:28):
And then it also dives into more of themeat and potatoes of, of that framework
and some really good takeaways as well.
Tara Bryan (27:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Yes.
It was a fun project.
And and I found out likeanyone can write a chapter.
Like it was much more doable thanlike, I'm going to write, sit
down and write an entire book.
Writing the chapter was like, Oh, okay.
I can do this.
And maybe I could do likea couple of chapters.
But yeah, it was, I thought itwas a great experience as well.
So, awesome.
(27:58):
Well, thanks for sharing that.
We'll put the book link in theshow notes because both Amanda
and I believe that everyone shouldhave this book on their bookshelf.
So, so thank you in advance for you know,contributing to the success of our book.
Okay, awesome.
So, A couple of more questions for you.
One is as a business owner, andespecially as a female business owner,
(28:22):
what do you, what's like the top advicethat you would give someone who was
just getting started in this journey?
Amanda Engler (28:28):
Sure.
I like to use this quote and I thinkI heard it from Tony Robbins first.
And I don't know if he was the originatorof the quote, I don't know where it
really came from, but I, it was reallypowerful for me at the time was see things
as they are, not worse than they are.
(28:49):
I'm just a planner.
I like to think 10 steps ahead andalso like troubleshoot anything
down the line that could gowrong so I can plan against that.
and I think as women in particular we havea lot of imposter syndrome, we have a lot
of trouble believing in ourselves and sothen, that kind of take us down a negative
(29:12):
path, rather than just taking a step back,saying okay, these are the facts, all of
that other stuff, that negativity whereI'm going with this, that's just stories
inside my head that's not real data.
Let's look at the real data and tryto move forward and see like those
silver linings, those positive choices,those, this is a new direction I could
(29:34):
take this based on this data insteadof like, Oh no, I have to pivot again.
That sort of thing.
That is, I've always found thatto be super helpful for myself.
Tara Bryan (29:43):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And how much do you feel like havingyour framework, that is defined and
something that you can lead from,how much does that help you kind of
get rid of that imposter syndrome?
Amanda Engler (29:55):
Absolutely.
It makes it so that you havethat horizon to shoot for, right?
You're looking ahead and you're notgetting so bogged down in so many
little details that we can, right?
And then again, if you're justlooking at the data, it can help
you make more informed decisionsopposed to those emotional decisions.
(30:18):
Cause you're, you're going through achecklist, you have this framework, right?
Tara Bryan (30:24):
Yeah, it's so powerful, awesome.
Okay, and then what's like oneessential either business tool or
book or resource that you can'tlive without in your business?
Amanda Engler (30:33):
So I was really excited when I found it's a
software, it's a platform.
And I use it in my business and Ithink anybody can use it in their
business for in any sort of capacity.
It's called markup.io and it's a way togive feedback on video assets, digital
assets, like whatever it is, you cangive that feedback and collaborate.
(30:58):
And I just think it's the coolest thing.
It's taken my challenge cure, that's whereI go through and look at your challenge.
It's taken it to the next level andjust made results so much better
because they're physically seeing it.
They're seeing the timing, they'reseeing the feedback at the right,
it's, I can't say enough about it.
I think it's amazing.
Tara Bryan (31:19):
Yeah, that's, that's awesome.
I actually never heard anyoneelse know about that tool.
We use that as well, but yes, the nicestpart is that you can actually give the
feedback at the actual timestamp so peoplecan see it instead of like a screenshot
and then the feedback, like it's just abit more challenging for people, I think,
to, to get get where you're puttingthe feedback if you don't have that.
(31:42):
So that's an awesome tool.
I'm really glad that youactually shared that.
I, it's, it's funny how some tools we takefor granted and we don't even think about
how, how much they affect the business.
So there you go.
You heard it from Amanda and we useit as well, so you should go out and
get it because it's, it's awesome.
And it's just a, it's not very expensiveto have a monthly subscription.
(32:06):
It's just what, 10 bucks or
Amanda Engler (32:08):
And it's free to a certain point.
So if you just keep your uploadlimit or like, I think there's some
features that get taken away, likefolders and whatnot or get added.
So it's free to a point.
So you could use it, testit out, see if you like it.
And I found their customer service supportto be amazing and they're, I, I really
(32:28):
believe in the product and the company.
I should become an affiliate
Tara Bryan (32:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Right?
Wait, wait.
Hey, yeah, got to go do that.
No, but but no, so thankyou for sharing that tool.
You're actually the first personto share that, which I love.
I love, I always ask this question.
I always get amazing answers.
So I appreciate that so much.
Okay.
So last question.
(32:53):
It's a personal question and and so I'mexcited because we're, we're getting a
sense of, of who you are from a businessperspective and kind of your, your
journey through what you have, have done.
But you have some pretty cool storiesthat are just about you personally.
So, so tell me about like a crazything that you have done in the
(33:16):
past to share a little bit more
Amanda Engler (33:17):
Sure.
So.
My husband and I actually got marriedon a water propelled jet pack, which
is kind of wild to think about.
And actually my husband and Iwere talking, we don't usually
like tell a lot of people anymore.
We've celebrated our 12year anniversary this year.
So it's not like, that it's the firstthing that you tell people when you
(33:40):
meet them, so some of our neighbors,we've been neighbors for like 2 years,
and they're like we didn't know thisabout you, how come you didn't tell us?
I'm like, oh well you know it'snot like, what you lead with.
Tara Bryan (33:52):
Well, you know, it's just a normal
thing.
Amanda Engler (33:56):
So yeah that was a pretty wild experience we were, it wasn't
like we sought it out it found us.
We were engaged in Cancun, Mexico.
We had this company.
We said we had worked withthis company previously.
They're now defunct, but we had workedwith them in our previous careers
and we wanted more of their shirtsbecause they were really soft shirts.
(34:19):
And I, my husband was wearing theirshirt and when he proposed, we had
some photos, so we were going to sendit in to try to get some more shirts.
And they came back with this crazyidea of getting us hitched by these
water propelled jetpacks and itlike we took the plunge we dove
in and did it and it was amazing.
Tara Bryan (34:41):
So were youuboth on your own jetpacks?
Amanda Engler (34:43):
Yeah, so if you Google jetpack wedding, you can find pictures
of our wedding days and interview.
I don't love, I've never been interviewedbefore this, before that point.
So they prepped us, they did a lot ofPR stuff, but I was really unprepared.
So it's kind of cringyto hear what I said.
(35:04):
But we we were on two separate jet packs.
We flew out.
That was like us walking down the aisle.
We landed on a beach.
It was in Newport Beach in California.
And then we set our vows on the beachand then we flew out and we did this
big heart formation and came back in.
(35:24):
And when they had like adrone, I'm afraid of heights.
So we had to like get up high.
And so like, if you watch the videos,you'll see my feet dragging in the
water because I was too afraid.
We had like an hour to practicethe day before it was like
wild, but it, it was so fun.
Tara Bryan (35:42):
Okay, first, like, I just think that that's so much fun.
So first of all, I will tellyou, I was engaged in Cozumel.
So there you go, we have that in common.
But I did not do a jetpack wedding.
So, but I, I think that in, and likefor the audience, like we're meeting
for the first time today, but I, I feellike that probably, speaks a little bit
(36:02):
to your your personality in terms ofhow do you get people to engage in your
events is by doing kind of fun stuff likethat that's a little bit out of the box.
And so that is such a fun story.
So thank you for sharing that.
For us and, and maybe, maybe we'll dig upthat link and put it in the show notes.
So another incentive for, for you all tolook at the show notes after this episode.
(36:26):
Awesome.
All right.
Well, Amanda, thank you so muchfor being on the show today.
It was a pleasure to have you.
Any final words of advice for myaudience as you transition off?
Amanda Engler (36:37):
Yeah.
I always, I mean, Just do it.
Life is too short.
Don't worry about what anybodyelse is going to think.
Like, go out, do what's goingto make you happy, and the
rest will just fall into place.
Tara Bryan (36:53):
Amazing.
Alright, thanks so much forbeing on the show today, Amanda.
We appreciate it, and for everyonelistening, have a great day.
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