HER EMPIRE BUILDER PODCAST

HELPING YOU TO SHARE YOUR GIFTS WITH THE WORLD

Join business coach Tina Tower as she explore's how to build your empire by packaging your expertise into online courses, speaking, content, podcasting and credibility.

Tina has over 14 years of experience in starting, building and selling companies, she's a speaker, teacher, mumma and traveller. She's unapologetic about living an intentionally big life and if you want too, this show is designed to show you many different options to help you gain clarity over YOUR version of awesome.

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Show Transcription: 

Episode 168 Packaging Your Expertise with Jasmine Womack

Tina: Hi friend, and welcome to episode 168 of the Her Empire Builder podcast. We are continuing our deep dive into packaging your expertise into books. So we've got, what have we got? We've got four episodes all back to back, all about writing your own book and what that can do for you in your credibility. So we've already had How to Write a Business Book and today, I am interviewing the fabulous Jasmine Womack, who is a Writing Consultant. She helps high performing leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, so, you [laughs], to package their expertise and maximise their message through storytelling. Over the past few years, she's worked with over 400 authors to help them increase their influence and grow an expert platform through writing a book and then expanding that book into profitable and scalable information based business, which is what I am all about and so here for today.

 Jasmine is sharing with us some amazing tips and all of the different things that you should be considering when you go to package your expertise, but also whether it's a good idea or not. Spoiler alert, yes [laughs]. Yes, it is because if we're selling our expertise through digital courses, then putting that into a book allows it to be so accessible for people to enter into our ecosystem and get to know us before they actually do a high ticket item in there as well. I mean, book writing is so hard that it gives such a big boost of credibility because a book is such a well respected thing. So here she is, the incredible Jasmine Womack.

 Hi friend. I'm Tina Tower, Business Strategist and digital online empire builder. I've been in business since I was 20 years old and I've since built and sold four businesses. I started in the world of online courses in 2017 and grew to a seven figure annual turnover in just under two years. To say I love the game of business is an understatement. I'm a world traveller, a mama, a wife, a best selling author, and I love the freedom that we have to create the business and life that we want to live. It takes courage to break the rules and shake things up and do it your way. Through Her Empire Builder, I share my experience and bring you lessons from some of the world's best to help you dream big, plan well and take massive action. It is absolutely possible to run a thriving, growing business to positively impact the world and have a beautiful personal life without hustling and working yourself into exhaustion. I want that for you. Let's enjoy the journey my friend.

 Gorgeous Jasmine, all the way from Atlanta, Georgia. How are you? Welcome to the show.

Jasmine: I’m absolutely amazing Tina. Thank you so much for having me. Super excited to be here.

Tina: It’s such a pleasure. It's a long time coming. I think I emailed you to be on the podcast, like, a year ago [laughs].

Jasmine: [Laughs] It’s been a minute.

Tina: And you fobbed me off a little and then you came back.

Jasmine: It’s, it’s been a minute. I don't think it's been a year. I know that, I do know, like, we scheduled then it got rescheduled.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Then there was a lot of things happening. I was preparing, preparing for my conference and it was quite overwhelming [laughs] with everything going on, so.

Tina: You did really well to.

Jasmine: I’m glad that we're able to connect.

Tina: I know. I really think, like, I have no concept of time over the last couple of years. It feels like time has literally folded on itself.

Jasmine: Yeah.

Tina: Yeah. Yeah, anyway.

Jasmine: Absolutely.

Tina: So I want to start asking you, you are the storytelling expert.

Jasmine: Oh [laughs].

Tina: Why is storytelling so important, do you think, for business owners?

Jasmine: Stories make the world go round. Like, you know, facts tell but stories sell.

Tina: Yeah. I like that line.

Jasmine: Yeah, and not only do story sell, stories change, so, like, if you're, there's no better way to reach your audience and, and hit them at the core and hit them in their heart, you know, than by telling a story. You know, and sharing stories that they connect with and that resonate with them, sharing stories that they can see themselves inside of, stories that motivate them to action and motivate them to change.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: So that's why storytelling is so, so important, especially for business owners. One of, I love looking at commercials, right? So I look at some of the companies that sell us, some of the companies in the United States that, in my opinion, sell some of the best stories; that’s Nike and that's the Cheerios cereal brand [laughs]. Like, they don't just market the product, they don't just tell you about the product, they always tell a story, you know, in the form of video, you know, to, to drive home the meaning of their values, the core values of their company, their products, and it always leaves a lasting impression. So, I like to implement those same concepts into my business, because that's what sticks.

Tina: Yeah, yeah. Then from a practical point of view, when we know, yes, storytelling is something that can get your point across so much, do you recommend having, like, a few signature stories to pull out in different webinars or different podcast interviews and things like that?

Jasmine: Absolutely. One of the [laughs], one of the exercises that I actually take myself through, and I also take my students through is story mapping.

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: So this is where you identify those key parts in your life, like those transitional transformational moments, and tell the story, like, map out the story about, like, what happened during those points in time.

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: So, like, from ages one to five, you know, ages of five to 10, 12 to 15, you know, like, those pivotal moments. Like, 18 to 22, you know, those periods in life, that are those, are, a, tend to be coming of age [laughs], you know?

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: Like, even if it's, you know, that 25 to 30 period, you know, like, where you start getting married, and you may have your first child, or may even experience a divorce, or you go into, you know, you’re, you become established in your career, and, and just those pivotal moments in life, those defining moments are, are, you know, are all included. They're all encompassed by story.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: You know, and so just mapping your stories during those pivotal moments, during those defining moments, and incorporating that into your business to connect with your audience.

Tina: Yeah, I know, I even have a, a stories file on my phone in the, in the notes section. Whereas if I'm ever out and about and something happens, or I'm at a conference, or I'm travelling, and there's like a good story that happens, I'll go, aww, I’ll write that down, so that when it comes time to create content or different things, you've got all of those pre loaded stories all ready to go.

Jasmine: I love the fact that you mentioned that because when it comes to storytelling or business storytelling, often times people feel as if they have to use their stories, and it's like, no, like, you can use stories that inspire you, you can use instances, anecdotes that you may have witnessed [laughs].

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: You know, and it's just keeping a running log, like, I love to use Trello for, you know, for, to organise my stories or what not but yes, as you said, like, when you're out and you see something happen, or you notice something that happens, jotting it down in your phone.

Tina: Yep.

Jasmine: In your notes.

Tina: Yep.

Jasmine: And pulling from that and using that in your content is, is a great strategy as well.

Tina: Yeah, completely. Okay, so the main story I want to know, though, is yours. So tell me your story. How did you get started in this wonderful world of online courses?

Jasmine: Oh, goodness [laughs]. I was a Language Arts Teacher for 12 years. So that's where my story starts. I was a middle school, Language Arts Teacher. So I taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade and for me, I had always wanted to write a book and I've always been a writer. So for years, I was telling people, hey, I'm writing this book, I'm writing this book, I'm writing this book, and year after year, the book was nowhere to be found.

Tina: [Laughs] Said, like, nearly every author ever [Laughs].

Jasmine: [Laughs] It was, like, nowhere to be found right? It was when I had gotten remarried and I was actually on bed rest with my son.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: At six months, and I was in the house looking at the four walls every single day and I said, you know what? Something's got to change. Like my income has to change. I really want my circumstances to change and I'm like, I need to come out of this situation differently than, than now. Like, I can't have all this time in the world and [laughs], and things are still the same. I'm like, I've been putting this book off, I've been making all the excuses in the world, feeling like I wasn't qualified for them, like, who's gonna listen to me? You know? I need to get it done and it was literally a shift in my thinking. It was a shift in my mindset that took me from procrastinating for almost 10 years to actually finishing my book in two weeks.

Tina: Oh my gosh, and then did you go, why didn't I do this sooner [laughs]?

Jasmine: I was like, oh my gosh, like, I could have been finished with this, right?

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: It was also during that time, where I was home, and I was, I would be up at night because I couldn't sleep, had pregnancy heartburn [laughs] or was just uncomfortable or whatever, and that's when Periscope, I don't know if you remember Periscope?

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Periscope was popular at that time and there was a young lady on Periscope, her name was Cece, rest in peace to Cece Gunn and she's no longer living, but there was a young lady named Cece and she was talking about how she was making like $30,000 in digital products and I was like, hold up, wait a minute [giggles].

Tina: [Laughs].

Jasmine: And she was on her screenshots and I was just like, how is this young lady making, like, $30,000 off of digital products, and she was working in a gas station? Here I am.

Tina: Wow.

Jasmine: With three college degrees, a Bachelors, a Masters and a specialist [giggles], and I am making fifty something thousand dollars for the whole entire year, you know? Stressed out, you know, bringing work home daily, every weekend, like, if she can do it I know that I can.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Because I have a freaking degree.

Tina: [Laughs].

Jasmine: In curriculum and instruction [laughs]. So that's what, that’s part of what changed, what, what helped me to make that shift.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So I was like, and we were learning about it in my graduate course, I was actually finishing up my specialist, we were learning about it in my graduate course in, like, doing, like, online communication, like, what we're doing now but back then it was like Google Hangouts [laughs].

Tina: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jasmine: And creating websites and I was having to do this in my graduate course. I was like, okay, let me start implementing this in my career. So when I came up with my book, I took it online, right [giggles]? So that's what I had. I was, I had, I had two small kids, a husband who travelled for work and I didn't have a lot of flexibility that a lot of people may have, you know? I just didn’t, but what I did have, I had Facebook, I had Instagram, I had my phone, you know?

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: And I'm like, let me learn how to start up marketing. Let me push this book out there. Let, live streaming had just, live streaming was fairly new, let me go live, let me start creating videos, and that's how I got started.

Tina: Amazing.

Jasmine: Thank you.

Tina: Yeah, and I think, you know, so many people can resonate with that as well in going, you know, they always hear someone else doing it and go, is that possible for me? Can I do that? How did you get, with so much limited time at the beginning, you really only had enough time to spend on the things that were going to get you a result. You couldn't do a whole heap of fluffy stuff in there. What were those things that you did to get from like nought to your first hundred thousand that made the biggest difference?

Jasmine: That’s a great question. So when I first started, I didn't know what I was doing.

Tina: Yep, no one does [laughs].

Jasmine: I knew that I had to do something, right? One of the things that I learned is that you actually learn and grow through doing.

Tina: Yes.

Jasmine: So, you know, my book came out in October of 2016. We had this big launch. We had a lot of momentum, and I had joined a membership community at the time that helped people to start speaking and so that's where I started. I started speaking for free. I had gotten a little tripod off of Amazon and I would film myself on my phone. I would just take clips of that and I would just start, you know, sharing it out, right? So about, about 90 days after the release of my book, you know, it was like crickets, nobody's really buying the book anymore, that type of thing. So at the time, all these people were doing challenges. So we were coming up on, that was when, we were coming up on 2017, like the beginning of that year, and I said, well, let me do a challenge. So I created, I did a spin off of my book, and I created a workbook called Get Your House in Order, right [giggles]? It was like a get your house in order 21 day challenge based off of the principles that I taught in my book.

Tina: Hmm

Jasmine: So this is what I did to build my email list. So I created this workbook and I’m like,  hey, the workbook is the challenge. You can join us live for the challenge at the top of the year, and I boosted, I didn’t have any clue what I was doing, I boosted a Facebook post to friends of friends [laughs]. I literally built my email list from zero to 400 in like five days.

Tina: Good work.

Jasmine: With like a, a $5 a day ad [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs].

Jasmine: So I had, like, I had, like, 400 people that joined this challenge and about 200, a little over 200, joined the Facebook group and we did this challenge for 21 days, and it was great, but that was it [giggles].

 So the same young lady, Cece, I had took, I had taken a class with her and so she was like, okay, you absolutely do not need to be doing this for free, at least charge something.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So I didn't know what to charge and I didn’t, I couldn't bring myself to charge a lot and so what ended up happening was in March [giggles], a lot of those same people that participated in the challenge in December / January, they were like, listen, we need a reset. It's the beginning of the year, we're stuck. Can you do the challenge again? I'm like, okay, but this time I charged $10.

Tina: [Laughs]. Oh [laughs] Jasmine.

Jasmine: That’ll be $10, and so the cool thing about it was that, I didn't have to do any more work, the work was already done.

Tina: Yep.

Jasmine: I was like, ohhh.

Tina: You’re like, money for jam baby.

Jasmine: Right? So I made, I had 30 people signed up, and I made like my first $300 online from something that I had already created and it stemmed from my book. So I ran that challenge for 21 days and then at the end of it I was like, okay, well, that's how I started learning, right? So it’s like, I have to have something to sell and that's when I created a membership community and voila, recurring revenue. About 20 of those 30 ladies actually came into the membership community.

Tina: That’s amazing conversion.

Jasmine: And that, yeah [laughs], and, you know, that was like my first opportunity to get recurring revenue and that membership community actually ended up eventually replacing my salary teaching, my, my, my monthly cheque teaching. So that’s, that’s how, that's how that happened. It was, it was literally figure it out as you kind of go type of deal.

Tina: Hmm, was that the moment, when you had those 20 ladies sign up into there, was that kind of the moment that you were like, oh, I can do this, I am on my way, this is going to work for me?

Jasmine: That was the start of it and then, that was the start of it and then like a month later, people started asking me to help them with their books.

Tina: Yeah, hmm.

Jasmine: It was something that I had shied away from because I was, like, I, I wrote my book and I created my publishing company to create my books. I don't want to help anyone else [laughs].

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: And really it was fear but people kept asking me and I think that was because they knew that I had a background in language arts, that I had experienced editing, and people can, they just kept asking me. It started out with editing, then it started out, can you do my book cover? So when they started asking, at first I was turning them away and my husband found out. He was like, listen, people are asking you to do this?

Tina: [Laughs] Give them what they want [laughs].

Jasmine: What is going on here [laughs]? So when I actually accepted my first client, and then clients continued to come, that's all when I was like, okay [laughs]. Now we got something. Now we got something going.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: And eventually, you know, I refined my packages, I adjusted my pricing, and it was about a year and a half after my book launched that I made my first $100,000 online.

Tina: Congratulations.

Jasmine: And that was the year I also left, left my job teaching and we did $125,000 that year, in 2019, and that's when I was like, there’s no turning back now [laughs].

Tina: Yes. So once you got to that point, you obviously did the upswing really, really quick.

Jasmine: Every year we double.

Tina: Yeah, because you're now a Kajabi Million Dollar Hero.

Jasmine: Yeah, I am.

Tina: [Laughs].

Jasmine: Basically, I just did, I did, I did the, the reward, the swag just tonight [laughs].

Tina: Yeah, that’s so exciting. Congratulations.

Jasmine: Thank you.

Tina: So that has been in, so 2017, so in five years, so it took you a year and a half to get to $100,000 and then only a few years later to hit the million. That's amazing.

Jasmine: Yeah, I, and I will say this because had I been running all of my payments through Kajabi in the beginning [giggles].

Tina: [Giggles].

Jasmine: I wouldn't been hit that but I actually didn't start running all my payments through Kajabi until 2019…2020. So yes, the million dollar mark with Kajabi has been in the last, I would say, two to three years.

Tina: Yeah, well done.

Jasmine: That's not including anything that I did before then.

Tina: Yeah. What did you have to change along, along the way to get that increase in scalability because you're obviously at the start getting a lot of people helping them with their books, that’s very hands on, have you got it now?

Jasmine: Very hands on.

Tina: So that you've got less of that, and it's now a lot more scalable? Like, when did you make that shift to go, okay, I'm gonna burn myself out if I keep helping on their book covers.

Jasmine: I got burned out.

Tina: And every tiny little thing?

Jasmine: Yeah, I got burnt out. So it was in 2019. In all transparency, my marriage was suffering.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: My children were like, Mummy, you're always working [giggles], and I knew that something had to change.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: I just, I could feel it and, and I started to think about it, like, five years from now, ten years from now, what type of business do I want to have? You know, is what I'm doing now, is it sustainable?

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Do I enjoy it? Like, I was great at it but I enjoy teaching. I didn't enjoy doing projects for other people. I enjoy teaching life [laughs].

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Let me, and so, I, it was at the end of 2019, I changed my business model, I stopped doing them for you. It was the scariest thing.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: I shut down my membership. I stopped doing done for you and it was so scary because everything that I started my business on, I stopped.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: And I went full time into coaching and so instead of doing, instead of providing publishing services for others, I began to teach the process, not just the publishing process, but the writing process as well because, when I was publishing, yes, we used to publish people's books but, you know, you want your book published, okay, cool, but there was no quality control. I knew that anything that had my name and my brand attached to it, I wanted it to have a certain level of quality.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: And, you know, people will come and get their books published but they weren't written well, you know [laughs], or they weren't written in a way in which I wanted it reflected on my company, on my brand, and so we started actually teaching the writing process, going back to my language arts roots, and teaching the publishing process and, and the sales process, which is something that a lot of writing consultants, or writing coaches don't teach. This is why you have people that have books and they can't sell them. So I packaged that process, basically, the process that I used to get started that helped me to leave my job. I packaged that into a program called Author Made Easy Bootcamp and that's what created the scalability. That’s what allowed me to help more people, and not be extremely hands on with actually doing it. That's when we were really able to, to scale.

Tina: That's amazing, and I do think that, I mean, there's not many people I know, that have hit the million dollar mark in their business, and not had a similar journey in going, you know, they started by saying yes to everything. When people wanted things, they were like, yes, yes, because it's more money than we've ever made before.

Jasmine: Right.

Tina: And it feels wrong to say no to it, but then you get to the point where you are so incredibly burnt out.

Jasmine: Right.

Tina: And that's where people usually just burn down their business [laughs].

Jasmine: Right.

Tina: And go, this is too hard, I’m out. So everyone's got to make that pivot and I know so many people that have got to that level have had to make that decision in going, okay, how do we flick them and say no to different things, so that we can scale the parts that are so good?

Jasmine: It was looking at the numbers too with my accountant.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: So when we were, when I would meet with my accountant and we would look at the numbers to see where the most of the money was coming from, most of the money at the time was coming from my group coaching program.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: At the time, that was eight weeks and I was still putting most of the attention on publishing [laughs].

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: But most of the revenue was coming from my program and I'm like, listen, if most of the revenue was coming from the program, but yet I still have this super high overhead because I'm having to, at this, like, we were, we were cranking out books left and right to be honest with you.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: So I had a team of editors. I had a team of designers. I was like, I'm making all the, all this money, but I'm paying it right back out and I am not, I'm not, I'm not able to enjoy what I'm working hard for.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So I scratched everything. I shut it all down and just focussed on the program and continuing to develop that and build that out.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So part of that was extending it from, from eight weeks to six months, because we really added the, the self publishing, the marketing and the sales piece in there, and, and with that increase in the price, eventually bringing on additional coaches to assist so that I wasn't the one doing everything and we just continued to grow.

Tina: Love that. What do you think has been the hardest part for you in, in scaling it like that? Was it the team or what part has been kind of the most, when you said you had to adjust and go through that struggle in, in, you know, what do you even want to do, does this even bring me joy, like, what’s been the hardest part for you?

Jasmine: That's a great question [laughs].

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: So there were a couple of moments. I think, in 2019, when I had to realise, like, this isn't it [laughs]. The hardest part was getting over myself and actually having faith and trusting God that it was going to work out, and knowing that I had the ability to fight. If I grew this to this way, I could do something else and grow it too. So having faith and, and moving forward and executing and, and getting out of my own way. Getting, you know, eliminating fear, because it was very scary, you know, it's scary to, to let go of something, you know, that you've built on, and, and to do something else that is similarly related but is somewhat different because you have to change your messaging, you have to change your lead magnets.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: You have to change all of the backend. So that was very scary and then, yes, as we continue to grow… growing, one thing that people don't talk about is growing, when, when you grow and scale, is that when you grow and scale, you have to have the operations [laughs] in place.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: To sustain the growth, or else you’ll break [laughs].

Tina: Yeah. It's what I talk about all the time is the systems and the operations and the automations. Like, that's what I love [laughs].

Jasmine: Absolutely, and, and it was, okay, it was waking up one minute, and you know, you have this high five or this six figure launch, and this was like, whoa. The processes that I had in place were not built to sustain the growth that we had, and you find yourself having to get all these things in place. It's just like, you're doing it as it happens and so, it's like, you’ve either got to get in there [laughs]. Like if you, if you, if you're really committed, so, there's no other option. You just got to make, you just have to make it happen and get it done.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: It's happened enough so now I'm prepared for it.

Tina: [Laughs].

Jasmine: I'm like, okay, when this happens, I know this is going to follow, but the first time it happened, I was, it was just like, oh snap [laughs].

Tina: Yeah, what is this all happening?

Jasmine: I’m thinking that, you know, once I get to the certain level of my business, I'm gonna be able to relax.

Tina: Oh no.

Jasmine: This is like.

Tina: That level is an illusion [laughs].

Jasmine: My, you think, you're going, I'm thinking I'm going to be able to relax. Oh finally I can relax and you know, get some rest. It was like, no, you got to dig in even more.

Tina: Yes.

Jasmine: So one of the things I've had to learn is that your rest and your self care has to be intentional.

Tina: Yes.

Jasmine: Because there's, you're never going to get to that point where it's like, oh, I'm here. I can rest. No [laughs].

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So self care and rest, relaxation, rejuvenation has to be intentionally incorporated and built in.

Tina: Hmm, and what does that look like for you? Do you have, you know, time carved out that you just take time off for you? Do you have rituals that you do? What sort of self care recharges your batteries the most?

Jasmine: So one of the things I do and I'm very intentional about it now is at least taking one to two days on the weekend and just, like, staying away from my computer, not picking up my phone, not checking the Facebook groups. Like, my students know, like, listen, this is the weekend. We’re recharging. You might be working but at least take time to recharge. Like, it's, it’s, it’s, it’s a must have.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: For me. Another thing that I’m, I’m getting better about doing is actually planning my vacations. So I've actually already planned out my quarterly, you know, my quarterly periods that I'm taking off. It's already on my calendar for, for, for the next year and one of the things that I'm doing moving forward is getting like monthly massages and increasing my support at home. You know, I have small children. You know, my husband travels for work and so, in order to take a lot of things off of me, I literally take a lot of things off of me. So, you know, housekeeping is something I invest in. Yes I clean my own house but housekeeping is something I invest in, you know.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: I love delivery services. Like, here in the US, they have Instacart.

Tina: Yep.

Jasmine: And so I can just go on the app and I can put in my groceries and someone delivers them. So.

Tina: It’s the best thing ever and I can actually see, I mean, for people listening to this on the podcast you can't see it but in your background, you've got Rachel Rodgers’ book down the bottom there.

Jasmine: Oh yeah.

Tina: And I love her book [laughs]. She talks a lot about that in going, you know, look after yourself so that you have more energy and more time to be able to do the job that you're doing.

Jasmine: Absolutely. Like, I don't like taking my children to the grocery store, if I can help it [laughs].

Tina: Oh my gosh, young children in a grocery store, does anybody enjoy that [laughs]?

Jasmine: If I can help it, so, you know, I'm thinking, okay, it's going to take me 15 minutes to get to the store, 15 minutes to get back. I've saved 30 minutes right there plus, you know, 30 to 45 minutes in the store and not to mention having to sit in the checkout line with my children. I've already saved an hour and a half of time, you know, just by paying for the convenience of having someone else to bring my groceries while I can relax, while I can do something around my house, while I can do something with my children during that time. So Instacart grocery delivery. Hey.

Tina: Game changer [laughs].

Jasmine: I love it [laughs].

Tina: And in terms of mindset, because I do think that a lot of business, you know, once you get past that, I think the hardest part is the first six figures. Once you get past that first $100,000, you've kind of got reputation, you’ve got, you've got a little bit of an idea of this works, this doesn’t, how the game kind of works, but then it's just a mind game. You came from a teaching background, which is a very different mindset to running a high growth business. Have you done, like, what sort of personal development have you done that you recommend to people? Like, how did you, or, were you always naturally entrepreneurial and you were just kind of needing to get out of the school system?

Jasmine: Okay, so I actually enjoyed teaching, I just didn't enjoy the politics of the profession [laughs].

Tina: Yep [laughs].

Jasmine: But that's a great question. I struggled a lot with mindset initially, especially when it came to pricing.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: And I struggle with mindset in terms of setting boundaries. Like, I want it so much to provide an amazing experience for my clients, where, where initially, like, my first year to year and a half, you know, clients would have my phone number, they would text me all kinds of, you know, like.

Tina: Zero boundaries [laughs].

Jasmine: Zero boundaries, right? They would call or text and I would jump.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: And I'm like, you know what, this isn't, this isn't the move. Like, no [laughs], and so I had to implement boundaries and really, really, when I, when I really understood or really accept it, like, this isn't a side hustle. This is a legitimate business so you have to operate and run like a business. This means you have office hours, this means that people don't have your personal line. This means that you have periods and times when you respond and people can wait, you know [laughs]?

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: They can wait, like, it's not a I call you jump type of situation. I had a lot of, a lot of mindset work around pricing, because I came from a background, a profession, where we didn't get paid a lot.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So I was scared to charge and for a long time, I felt guilty about charging over a certain amount, because I was like, well, what if people can't afford it? The thing about it is that I was looking at the people who couldn't afford it and not the people who could.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: You know, and there are still things for people that I, that I learned along the way, you can provide high value, you know, at free or lower prices, which is why I push my books. Like, my, my books have everything in it that you need, right? They, they can be sold but there’s, there’s, I sell them in mass and it doesn't require me to do any additional work, however, if you want accountability beyond the book, then yes, there's an investment for that. Some of them, them, some of the mindset strategies that I implemented were reading books. I started reading books about wealth. I started reading books about marketing. I started reading books about, reading books about pricing.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: Dan Kennedy’s How to Market to the Affluent, You Are a Badass at Making Money [giggles], T. Harv Eker’s Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: There are so many. 

Tina: Yeah. Wisdom.

Jasmine: And those are, those are just three off the top of my head but I've read so many more. Like, like you mentioned Rachel Rodgers’ book, We Should all be Millionaires, like, I became very intentional about buying books that had to do with becoming a millionaire.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Or selling to affluent people, right? So reading those books helped me to start making the mindset shift. I will also say investing in myself. So one of the, one of the, one of the personal principles that I have is that I never charged anything that I haven't paid. So when I started paying $5,000 or $10,000, or going upward into that high ticket, I'm like, you know, I'm investing this into myself. I'm able to develop and improve my programs as a result of what I'm learning. Not only that, it was my students results. So, like, I had a student that hit their first six figures in five months [laughs]. You know, like, it took me a year and a half but because of what I've learned along the way, my students are able to fast track my success, they're able to fast track their success, right? So I'm like, hey, you know, well, you guys, you just got $120,000 in contracts, and you hit your first six figures in five months, or you've been able to get your first bulk book order, you know, a five figure book order, you know, like, three weeks after your book came out, like, what is that worth? Like, people are changing, their whole entire lives and their financial futures were changing. I was seeing the results. I was helping my students obtain the investments in myself that I was making, and continuing to read and putting myself around, I elevated it and in elevated environments, that definitely helped with my mindset.

Tina: Amazing. So you mentioned you've got, you know, so many great lessons from books, and I love books. I've written two books and you've worked with a lot of course creators that are becoming authors. Why do you think that course creators should have their own book? What sort of transformation have you seen added to that when they become authors?

Jasmine: Whoa, there’s so much to share [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs] She’s like, where do I start?

Jasmine: Well, you know, I believe that, for most course creators, the average lead is not just going to see you and jump right into your course.

Tina: Yes.

Jasmine: There is a nurturing period where, I don't know, where you will have to bring them into a video sales letter or some type of webinar, there's something that, there's some type of way that you're going to have to get this lead and bring them into your ecosystem, nurture them, build a relationship with them, until they're ready to actually join you. I found that having a book helps to shortcut that process. Why, because it is the lead magnet that continues to give, give, give, and it keeps on giving.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: For one, it has an inherent value [giggles]. It already has an inherent value so unlike some type of checklist, or unlike the webinar that people sign up for and they never attend, someone will buy your book and they're going to read it, and they will give it away before they throw it away.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So it already has an inherent value and because of the information, it's automatic positioning. You’re positioning yourself as the expert because they're a lot like, face it, if you’d, like, let's just face it, there are a lot of people who say that they're putting together courses, right, then the courses are not effective. So one of the ways that you're able to actually stand out in your, in your industry, is by actually packaging your expertise because if you can write about it, then that means that you actually know your skill. You know what it is you're talking about, and you know what it is you teach.

 Also, having a book is a way to reach those clients or those potential customers who may not necessarily be ready to make the investment in your course or coaching program, but they are definitely willing to buy something low ticket. So it allows you to provide information at scale on a, on a lower end without having to compromise the integrity of your program.

Tina: Hmm, and then once you've got the book, because I know a lot of people have the intention of writing a book and it's so hard. Like, you, you know, you sat on it for years and years, and then you finally got it done. When people finally get the courage and they write the book and they put it out there and they publish it, what is your secret to actually having people buy it and the book not just, you know, sitting in boxes in your garage collecting dust?

Jasmine: Right. So there's a whole entire process for that. So, of course, it should be your book, or your, the content of your book should be connected to your course.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: So think of your book as the pre work to your course [laughs]. It should lead directly there, right, and also, throughout your book, you should include what I call money marketing magnets, which are essentially lead magnets that support the content of your book, but that allow people to come, to come from the book on to your email list, right? So, prior, but to answer your question, prior to launching, you have to just have a launch campaign.

Tina: Hmm, yep.

Jasmine: So you have to let people know that your book is coming out. You have to promote your book, talk about your book and definitely do pre sales. So you can sell your, you can, you can pre sell your book three to six months before it actually comes out, you just have to let people know that the book is coming out. So every time you go live, in your emails, everything, you should be letting people know about the book and, and that it's coming out and that it's ready for pre order. Definitely plan some type of launch party so that you can build anticipation around it. This can be a virtual launch that you broadcast, this can be an impersonal launch or what not. So you're building up momentum up to the launch, and then the launch, you’re, you might, you might go live and allow people to see you packaging the books up, you're doing Q&A, so all of that builds up momentum, right? One of, one of the things that I like to do after the book, or I will say in conjunction with the book, is doing some type of live class. So in addition to your book, you want to have an upsell that you sell on the checkout page. You also want to tie in your book launch to some type of virtual event. This can be some type of webinar, this can be a challenge, or something related to the content of your book, because you want to use the momentum of your book to actually launch your next offer.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: So this is why it's important you have your, your, your book, you go into your live launch, and then you allow people to come into your program, and it's all using the momentum of your book launch. So that way, you're able to generate sales from the book, from the upsell and from your actual core program.

Tina: Love that. The perfect ascension model [laughs].

Jasmine: [Laughs].

Tina: You're a fan of self publishing over publishing traditionally, right?

Jasmine: I’m, I’m, I’m definitely a fan of self publishing because you control the entire process.

Tina: Hmm.

Jasmine: And if there are any changes that you want to make, you can make changes without permission.

Tina: Mmm.

Jasmine: And you control the content in your book. So I’m, I love self publishing. I've self published all of my books. I do have colleagues that have traditionally published and I've even worked with authors who went the traditional route but in my opinion, self publishing is the easiest [laughs]. It’s probably the quickest way to bring your book to market.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: And as long as your book is targeted, your focussed, you understand your niche, you understand the problem that you solve, and you are providing high value information, and you, of course you continue to promote your book, you will make sales.

Tina: Yeah, I love that. Okay, my last question for you, my second last question, is, what is in the future for you? What are you aiming for in 2022?

Jasmine: [Sighs and laughs] In 2022, we're going to continue growing the team and I am.

Tina: How many staff have you got now? How many on your team?

Jasmine: How many on my team? We have about six on the team right now.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: Right now, currently though, we have all contractors and so I'm moving into employees [laughs] in 2022. So that’s, that’s where we're going and really just continuing to nurture our students. I'm, I’m, I’m the type of person where I am not, growth is going to come but I'm really focussed on quality.

Tina: Yes.

Jasmine: So that means continuing to nurture our students and rinsing and repeating what worked, what we did this year, because we actually tripled this year.

Tina: Amazing.

Jasmine: So we tripled our revenue [laughs]. We tripled our 2021 revenue from our 2020 revenue. So 2022, I know that we're going to likely triple or quadruple again and it's just really making sure that I continue to train a team, that we have an amazing culture, you know, and that my students feel extremely supported. That, that's, that's really where I am, and continuing to build a business and a company that my children are happy that I built.

Tina: Yeah.

Jasmine: You know, like, I don't ever want them to grow up thinking Mummy worked all the time, this and that. So if I ever want them to pick up the mantle, or want them to aspire, being entrepreneurs as well, I have to set the example. Setting the example means that, you know, millions come in grace, ease [laughs] and harmony, and that we're making our clients, helping our clients to make millions as well. So that's what I'm focussed on.

Tina: Yes. Cheers to that, and when people want to find you, where is the easiest way to find you? I believe you have a sensational quiz on your homepage as well that we can link to but where can people find you to get their stories out there in the world?

Jasmine: Absolutely. So I'm on Instagram every day [laughs].

Tina: Oh, like every day [laughs].

Jasmine: Come and rock with me. I’m @thejasminewomack. Yes, definitely I have a quiz. If you want to know the type of book that you need to write to boost your brand, your business or your career if you're still working a nine to five, you can go to www.startmybookquiz.com and find out the type of book that you need to write. My website is www.jasminewomack.com

Tina: Fantastic. Jasmine, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us today. Thank you [giggles].

Jasmine: Thank you so much for having me.

Tina: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Her Empire Builder. If you loved it, please share it on Instagram for your friends and be sure to tag me @tina_tower so I can say thank you and if you really want to deliver me smiles, you can pop a review on Apple podcasts. I would love to hear from you so if you have any questions at all, email me at [email protected] and if you would like to work with me further, all of the free resources and my courses can be found at www.tinatower.com. Now I truly hope this podcast gives you so much value and you can use it to dream big, plan well and take massive action in building your very own empire that's just for you. Have the greatest day.