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Scaling Vs. Leveraging Your Expertise

SUMMARY

In this episode, we continue our discussion from the last one and move the topic toward scaling and leveraging your expertise. Scaling and leveraging are two different things. Scaling a business means you are growing everything in it from the cost structure to revenue and turnover. Leveraging your practice means growing your top and bottom line without even impacting the cost structure.

What We Can Scale

  • Marketing: You can create an automated process to scale your marketing. Another way to do it is by sequencing in which you get to know your customer base and slowly move up from there. The final way to do it is with the help of replays in which a single content will be used to serve people in different ways.
  • System: Repetitive tasks can be systematized. You can make it framework driven or create step-by-step processes which can run on a regular basis.
  • Duplication: It’s about duplicating what you know. Put yourself in different places not literally but with the help of guides and trainers.
  • Licensing: Teach people to do what you do so that you don’t have to do it yourself.

What We Can Leverage

  • Time: With limited number of hours in a day, you need to be able to utilize it effectively. Serve others in groups versus solo to maximize time usage. You can try remote training or use forums and communities to leverage your time.
  • Products: Productize what you know. Record your gigs and package it in the form of videos, audios, series, PDFs, downloadables and put it out there.
  • Groups: Gather people in one place and deliver your message to many at the same time. You can try seminars or webinars for it.
  • Licensing: Get your time back by creating other instructors, teachers that do the job for you while following your frameworks and steps.

— Begin Transcript —

Hey there, Mel Abraham here, the author of the #1 best-selling book, The Entrepreneur’s Solution and the founder of Thoughtpreneur Academy where we teach you how to capture, package and monetize the ideas in your head, the insights you have, the wisdom that you can create and have an impact on people’s lives.

And so, welcome back to this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show and in this episode, we’re going to continue on this question of:

  • How do you scale your wisdom?
  • What is it that we need to look at in order to do that?

In the last episode, we talked about these things. Let me run through it really quickly. The bottom line is that we talked about why this is so important because when we don’t get this right, when we haven’t figured out how to scale and do the things correctly to grow our coaching business, our speaking business, our consulting business, our professional business, the knowledge business as we call it, the Thoughtpreneur practice as we call it you get tired.

  • You get tired
  • You get wiped out
  • You get burned out
  • You can’t keep going

And if you’re not working it, you’re not making money.

The second thing that we see happen is that you have no impact (1) because you’re tired, you have less of an impact because you’re showing up the way you need to show up more effectively and and (2) when you get burned out, you stop so you have no impact and if you have no impact, guess what? You have no future. Not in this business.

If you are talking about getting out there and making a difference with what you know and making a living through that process which I think is actually one of the best ways, it’s a huge, huge opportunity for us in today’s the world. The concept of what I call thoughtpreneurship but unless we can get it out there in a way that people can digest it and you can serve them at the highest level, you got no future in there.

But as I said, if we get this right we’re doing it the correct way, we’re doing it that fits our lives, fits the journey that we’re on to really work it in a way that we want to, we find ourselves in flow. Not only in flow from an idea standpoint, an insight standpoint, the delivery standpoint but in flow you are going to find that:

  • You’re going to have more cash flow
  • You’re going to have more freedom flow
  • You’re going to have more fulfilment flow

You’re going to have a lot of different things going on in your life because of this when we get this correct.

The other thing is that when we got it dialed in, you’re really, you’ve got yourself in a situation where you’re providing high value. High value equates with high impact which typically translates to high income, high cash flow. And if we do it right, it’s high freedom too.

That’s the idea behind this. This is what kind of juices me. It’s what I kind of I am obsessed about is how do you create something that allows you take what you know out into the world in a way that you have great impact but in the process of improving people’s lives with what you know, you get greater freedom, greater fulfilment and greater income in the process and that’s the cool thing about it which is the last thing is that you have better income.

When you get this thing right, you’ve got better income. We talked about the things that you need to know to get it dialed in. Let’s just touch on those to review them from the last episode. We went into it more detailed in the last episode but what do you need to know to get this right.

Well, first things first, we need to make sure that we design the practice, the business, the what you’re doing in the vision of what it is you want to accomplish in your life. You remember I say that there’s no such thing as work-life balance and that every choice we make in life is a life decision. Whether it’s in the context of business or entrepreneurship or not, it effects lives and therefore we should take it that way.

And so, when we come at this and this is the way I’ve run all of my businesses and my practice, my consulting and my life, is when we come at it, we need to design it so it creates our life the way we want it. And I think that that’s really important.

So, what fits you, the lifestyle, the life by design. Maybe, you’re a parent. Maybe, you have young kids. Maybe, you have grown kids and they’re out and you’re single and you could travel. What fits you in the way that you want to bring this out? So that’s the first thing.

The second thing is to focus on curriculum and process. Building something beyond some ideas on a piece of paper and we’re going to write ideas on napkins and all of that stuff. But how do I take that and I don’t know if it’s a word but curriculumatize it. It’s probably too long to even put in here but let’s just look at it.

  • How do I make it a curriculum?
  • How do I make it content and a process that allows people to digest it?
  • To take it in
  • To bring it to life in their lives
  • To put it into action so you can get them

The idea behind our insights, our ideas and the wisdom we have is not to just put it out there to put it out there. There’s plenty of people in Washington for instance and all around us that will speak just to hear themselves speak. That’s not the reason we do this. The reason we do it is to shift people’s thinking and through that shift in thinking, we shift their behavior to a better way and that’s what we’re really trying to do.

And the best way to do that is how do I create a curriculum, content, process, frameworks and do it in a way that really starts to drive it home?

  • That’s what coaching is about.
  • That’s what consulting is about.
  • That’s what all of this wisdom industry, this thought leadership industry is all about.

And then, the last thing is this and this is what we’re going to really dig into today in this episode is you need to scale or leverage and they’re not the same thing. They’re not the same thing. Scaling and leveraging are different things. Scaling is growing everything. Leveraging is growing something. We will talk about what we can grow, what we can do in the process.

I introduced you to something called The Practice Spectrum. In fact, it was something that we drew out on my iPad and we will just for the heck of it bring it back up so you can see it. So, that’s the practice spectrum and in the practice spectrum, we talked about the four likely ways that you could build a practice and one is 1 to 1, working 1 to 1 people coaching, mentoring and that kind of consulting in that way.

1 to many which is typically speaking big groups and doing that way so you’ve got yourself, you’ve got your information being broadcast either directly live or through some venue be it webinars or videos or something to a lot of people at the same time.

You’ve got 1 to few which is typically masterminds, thinktanks like my Titan’s Thinktank that I do; masterminds that you will be in small groups, more intimate, higher access; remember the axes on this is about process, how much process do you have versus how much access do they get to the knowledge, the wisdom and you potentially. And so, one to few is a mastermind.

And then, there’s the kind of the many to many model which is really about licensing. It’s about teaching other people to go out and do what you do so you don’t have to be out there doing what you do on a regular basis. It allows you to split yourself and put you out there in a greater way.

And so, we talked about that the practice spectrum which led us to talk about also scaling and leveraging a practice and we talked about the four ways you can make money in this type of field. Whether you’re a speaker, author, trainer, facilitator, coach, mentor, any of those consultant; all of those, there’s a lot of different ways—four primary ways to make money.

The first is swapping hours for dollars which is the very traditional model. Attorneys do it. Accountants do it. Some financial planners do it. Many professions will say, “Well, I’m going to work for 10 hours and I’m going to charge you a hundred dollars an hour and that’s a thousand dollars.”

It’s a viable model. It’s not a great model in my estimation because you hit ceilings all along the way. There’s only certain number of hours in a day and there’s only certain amount you can raise your hourly fee. And it’s just pure mathematics. You’re going to hit a cap. I raised my hourly fees to extremely high but you hit a cap sooner or later.

The second was a product based business where…now it could be products that are sitting on store shelves but it could be your knowledge productized in the sense of DVDs, videos, audios, downloads, online, deliverables in a box and on a thumb drive. All of that becomes product based. You’re productizing your knowledge.

So, those are the two base level types of models of ways to make money and then you have the hybrid model which is a combination of those two. Basically, where you have a combination of product, deliverable, tangible, something that you have and live or connection based type of work. Now, a lot of folks will do it like with masterminds where you will get stuff online and you will have access to the products, the digital versions of everything and then there will be a live component to it whether it’s a live training, a webinar, a Q&A, a group coaching or single coaching that kind of thing. So, it becomes a hybrid level of business model.

And then, the last business model is this element of licensing which is teaching people how to go out and do what you do so you don’t have to be there to do it which again as I said in the last episode that’s a model that should be saved for way down the road. You need to have a really well put together process, curriculum, training, tools, templates and results before you take it into licensing model or you will get hurt. You will fail. You will get hurt. It will be a problem for you.

And I’m going to tell you don’t do that pre-maturely. Let’s get everything else dialed in first. Let’s flush it out. Let’s get it done. Then you can think about a licensing/franchising type of model although franchising I’m going to recommend against for other reasons beyond the scope of this episode but those are the four ways that you can make money with what you know.

So, now the question is: What is scaling versus leveraging?

Now, let me just touch on this for a moment because I think there’s a difference and a lot of times we confuse them as if they were the same. Scaling and leveraging in my world, I don’t think they are the same. When we talk about scaling a business, we’re talking about growing a business. When we talk about growing a business, what typically we’re looking at is how do I grow the top line, the revenue or the turnover depending on what country you’re from?

But in that process of growing the top line, you’re growing the bottom line but you’re growing the cost structure also. In other words, everything grows and gets bigger in the process which is a typical way of what we call scaling a business. There’s another thing that I look at and say, “I want to leverage a business.” Especially, a wisdom business because your wisdom business, your thoughtpreneur practice (if you will) or thought leadership, expert space, however you want to term it is a high margin, low cost business.

  • It’s based on what you know.
  • It’s based on what you have.
  • It’s based on what is coming from you
  • As that knowledge
  • As the frameworks
  • As the curriculum
  • As the processes
  • As the systems

All of that into play. And so, it’s not like, “Well, I just got to create more widgets.” It doesn’t work that way. So, what I want to do is, “How do I take that (the wisdom and what I know) and leverage it?” In other words, leverage what I know based on time or product or things of that nature. So, they’re very different because what happens is that in a leverage model, I can grow the top line and the bottom line without really impacting the cost structure too much so they don’t go up in a way in lock and step.

So, again in the leveraged model it’s really about growing the top line without the cost growing at the same time. So, you’re going to grow the top line and the bottom line at a faster pace in the leveraged model which typically works. You don’t need a high cost structure in this type of business. You don’t need big offices. You can get away with doing this with a cell phone, a computer and an internet access and your thoughts in the process.

So, let’s look at what we can do. Let’s just look at scaling first for a moment. What can we scale in order to grow the business?

Now one of the things we can scale is what I call marketing. What do I mean by that? So, I can scale my marketing by automating my marketing. In other words, I can be out there on an ongoing basis meeting everyone and trying to be the salesperson each and every time which is fine and will work but is it really something that I can do on a long term basis or on a magnificent or a grand scale?

And the answer is probably not. So, can we create an automated process that does some of the marketing for us? You will hear it in Infopreneur space or internet marketing language or lingo as a funnel. Can I create an automated process? I have an automated process that introduces people to who I am, what I do and how I do it?

It allows them to get to know me. Even these videos and these trainings allow you to get to know me a little better. So, I’ve created this automated process that allows it to deliver without me having to push the buttons, pull the levers and turn the dials to allow that to happen. So, it’s typically automations, funnels, email campaigns in that.

The other thing that marketing means for me is a bit about what I call sequencing. What is the journey that I want to take someone on to get them to know me better? People will say, “Well, it’s like courtship.” You don’t start out in the bedroom. You start out with saying “Hi” and getting to know the person before you do that. And you need to do that with your customers. So, how do I get them? Because at the very beginning, I think we’ve got a very cynical customer base.

They want to know what you can do for them and how you can serve them and if you come at what you can get from them, you’re going to lose it right from the get go. So, really looking at it in that context of saying, “Alright, what’s the sequence, the proper sequence that I need to do?”

And in that we can also then scale our content especially in this world. And the content becomes our marketing. These videos become the marketing. They get the word out. There’s a reason that I’ve got thousands of people that have watched these. I’ve got thousands of people that have gone through different programs and everything. There’s a reason for that.

So, are you out there, putting things out there that can be seen over and over and over again without you being present? And if not then we’re not scaling that marketing.

And then, the last way to scale the marketing is replays. So, I can do a webinar for instance. Do it live, record it and then allow people to watch that webinar on a recorded basis as if it were live again. That means that I’ve allowed myself to remove myself and allow that to happen on a regular basis.

As we’re going through these, here’s what I’d love for you to do is say, “Am I doing that? Now, you don’t need to do everything. What I want you to do is pick just a couple one, two or three to focus on and then, you will add on to it. You will continue it later but these are just suggestions and things that might serve you in that.

So, I can scale the marketing. The other thing that I can do whoops is to scale the systems. So, really what we’re talking about is something that’s a more formalized process.

  • So, do you have a process to get results?
  • Do you have a process to on board selling?
  • Do you have a process to convert them to a sale?
  • Do you have a process to introduce you to them?
  • Do you have a process that formalizes the journey?
  • That allows you to turn it on, let it run and step away?

So, what can you do with your systems to eliminate and allow you to grow? Anything that you do repetitively, more than once is something that can be systematized. That can be put into a process that is allowed to run on a regular basis and so you need to examine that and see if we can do that. It becomes teachable, it becomes framework driven typically, step-by-step how-to’s process driven.

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The third thing that we scale is what I call duplication. So, really it’s: “how can I duplicate what I know?” It’s things like train the trainers, guides, study guides, online is a way to duplicate yourself. In other words, we’re trying to take you and just clone you and put you in different places.

  • Now, we’re going to use technology to do that.
  • We’re going to use guides to do that.
  • We’re going to use templates to do that.
  • We’re going to use products to do that.

It duplicates your knowledge in a way that really starts to put it out there.

And then, the last way to scale is licensing. Teaching people to do what you want to do. Now that’s different. That’s different than leverage. So, let’s look at leveraging for a moment and then seeing the contrast, you will start to understand the difference.

image

So, one of the things that from a leverage standpoint is how do we leverage our time?

There is only certain number of hours in a day. There’s only one of me although I have a twin brother. But there’s only one of me so I can only be at one place at one time and until I master doing something different than that that’s all I can do. So, how do I leverage my time; 24 hours in a day. How do I use it more effectively?

Well, maybe I take my information out there and use it in the context of groups so now instead of serving one at a time, we’re now into that one to few or one to many kind of situation. Maybe I’m doing it remotely so I’m doing it via telephone, via webinar, via video so I’m doing it via webcast. So, I don’t have all the travel or the setup or all of that so it allows me to leverage my time more readily in doing that.

And then, the other way to do it, I think, is forums. You’ve got forums, communities I would call them also. I’ve got a number of private Facebook groups that I work with and I’m supporting the people in there. In my portals, I’m supporting the people. So, I’m able to reach out to people as they need it and leverage my time in that way. So, that’s the first thing is to leverage our time.

The second is to productize what we know. Just take what we do. If you’re going to go out and do a speaking gig, whether it’s small or big, record it; productize it. If you want to do it more than once and if it’s in demand, you might as well package it and allow people to get it.

I record almost everything I do. It doesn’t mean that I use all of it but it gives me the opportunity to package it and put it out there again. And so, whether it’s a webinar, whether it’s a speaking engagement, whether it’s a Zune video or a YouTube Live, Facebook Live, capture it and then decide.

So, how can you take what you know and put it into products? Downloadables, PDFs, audios, videos, online portals. Don’t over complicate it but allow yourself the ability to productize what you do so you can create this gap in the time so you can duplicate time if you will.

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Then the other way to leverage is groups. This is seminars. This is webinars. This is getting and gathering people in one place so you can deliver your message, you tools, your tactics, your strategies, your processes, your curriculum; all of that one time to a group of people. It’s the only way to do it. It’s the only way to really allow that to happen.

And then, the last piece again is licensing that will leverage your time to give you time back. It’s really about using that more effectively. It’s something that we call dollar productive, being more dollar productive. Realizing that the one precious commodity that we have that once it’s spent, you can never get back is time. And I can lose a ton of money and I have, okay? And we can gain it back, make it back and I have. All right?

But once you lose time, it’s gone for good. You will never get it back. So, how do we use it more effectively and in my perspective, it’s about having the freedom to use time the way we want it. That’s in fact, people will say, “Well Mel, how do you become wealthy?” And I tell them, “It’s got nothing to do with money.”

It actually has to do with 2 things—time and discipline. If you master time and discipline, you will be wealthy. Anyone can be wealthy if you start early enough and disciplined enough and you master time, you become wealthy. And the point is, it’s not about the wealth in the context of the money. To me it’s actually more the richness in the life that you live when you create it. And so, that’s it.

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Here’s the thing. When you look at this, I think, it’s really important for you to start to examine your practice or examine whether it’s…you could be in a medical practice and this works for you; potentially works for you.

  • Consulting
  • Psychology
  • Speaker
  • Author
  • Coach

How do you leverage or scale it? Well, realize that there’s a difference between scaling and leveraging and how do we build that. Now, some of it you look at it and go, “I don’t know. I don’t want to do products. I don’t want to do that.”

I get it. But if you really want to go to another level to really start to be at that top echelon, you’re going to have to go into a place that is a little uncomfortable and everything. So, that’s it. I hope that serves you. I hope that completes kind of cycle on this question of how do you grow a coaching, consulting business?

And I think that we need to think about (1) What’s the practice spectrum? What kind of business model we want to use to build it? And where can I scale it? Where can I leverage it? What makes sense to design it in a way that gives me the life that I want? Because that’s what we’re really after.

So, I hope that you found this of value to you. I hope that this helps you as you go forward. If you have more questions. If you have questions about business or about anything else whether it’s success, wealth, thoughtpreneurship, infopreneurship, business and entrepreneurship, just let me know. Post them down below, if you want and I will make sure that I answer it. Or go to AskMelNow.com and you just leave me a voice mail. You will leave me a voice mail right there on the website. Ask me your question and I will make sure that it becomes a topic of an upcoming episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show.

It’s one of the ways that I get a chance to support you, to be in your back pocket if you will to help you along your journey to success, to set yourself up to make a difference and to make great income. And if you’d do me a favor, make sure that you’re subscribed so you get these trainings on a regular basis and share this with a friend. I would love to give a chance to have a dialogue with not only but the people around you to make sure that you’re supportive in this journey.

Until we get a chance to see each other in the next episode,

May your vision be grand, your journey epic and your legacy significant!

See you soon. Cheers. Bye!!

— End Transcript —

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Like this? Please share it and help a few more people bring their dreams out of the darkness and give life to them again. Cheers, Mel

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Mel is one of the smartest business people I know. I don't make any decisions without him! "

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