¶ Sales Strategies for Online Business Success
Welcome back to another episode of the Art of Online Business . This one is really special . I'm recording the intro after the fact .
It's special because one , jamie , is here with me , who is my wife , and she brings a super unique perspective as a newer ad manager who has been getting results behind the scenes for clients now for like five or six months and she's not as close to the ads as I have been for years , and so when she's on a podcast with me , her questions are great and
you're about to hear her . Good questions because we interviewed a lady named Renee Rebar and she is a sales professional . She made her first $1 million by the age of 25 . She's been a sales professional since 1994 in New York .
She has gone on to sell millions of dollars in products and services and train thousands to sell for the first time , and she is known in her industry as a fun , energetic sales coach . And after having talked to her , wow , she is yeah , we definitely got that , we definitely got that .
She's quite fun , quite energetic and this is just a very , very , very good interview . You're going to learn a lot from her and , of course , in the upcoming episode you're also going to learn about the biggest mistakes that women entrepreneurs make when selling for themselves .
And Renee loves to talk about how to make friends and sales everywhere you go , so listen all the way through this episode . This is a good one and , of course , click in the show notes for her upcoming episode and you will enjoy that one too , right .
Jamie , yeah , absolutely , it was a great episode it really was .
So I got a first question for you , renee . Yes , you made $1 million by the time you were 25 . And in addition to being like a TEDx speaker and all the other things I'm realizing I didn't read in your bio , but let's just talk about $1 million by the time you got to be 25 years old and then you speak on TEDx .
I want to know , like , what do you feel like from a sales perspective ? Is holding course creators back from their first million dollar year ?
Yeah Well , I think that a lot of course creators are thinking about their transition , in a sense of what they used to do was going to still work for what they're going to do . Right , in my humble opinion , a lot of course creators start out as an expert in their field . They do that , they work one-on-one .
That's typically where I meet people and then they realize I don't have enough time for this or I can't scale , I can't make any more , I'm capped if I'm just selling my time , which is what they'd been doing , and then they realize , of course it's a great idea , but it's a volume play .
So , in my humble opinion , they need people like you to be able to help them make that volume play , to be able to scale their business . And ads doesn't have to be a bad word . There are a lot of people that don't give great advice , but you two give great advice . And here's the bottom line Find someone you trust .
It's a mutual investment , mutual time strategy , and if the ads are doing a great job which , with the right partnership , they will it's not a spend , it's an investment . It's every other business that's out there that's not in the digital space has a budget line for ads .
I used to spend $675 a week in the Detroit news to put a little tiny ad in for my little business in Southfield . That's where I made my first million and that's little bit . That's part of what helped me get there .
But it really does come down to people and people help you bring ads , help you bring more people into your business , especially when you're a course creator .
Well , thank you , I'm going to have . I'm just going to make that into an ad that goes in the middle of all my podcast episodes going to make that ? Into an ad that goes in the middle of all my podcast episodes . That was great . Tell us more , though . So you're used to spending money to get exposure and you were putting ads in the Detroit newspaper .
Back when there was one .
Back when there was one . So I guess let's start with that .
When I was 25 , there was , and so I mean , like most businesses , we get a little spoiled . Now , in the digital online space , right , where we're almost zero entry in terms of barriers or investment , we're just like . I'm an expert . Here's my post free , everything until you pay me $10,000 . Well , there's gotta be a little bit of a bridge there , Okay ?
So that's where I'm saying is , when we start a business online , we don't always have a business degree background . We don't always have an MBA .
Many people again gained their expertise working for someone else , maybe in a corporate structure , maybe online and they come into the online space saying , ok , I'm going to hang up my shingle and start my own business , but they haven't necessarily created an official or formal business plan Not that that's recommended for everybody , but they haven't even become aware of
all the different components of what it takes to run a business and , for better or for worse , that's the age we're living in .
I agree , I agree .
Advertising is definitely one of those places that we should consider when . Well , what am I going to sell ? Isn't that the first question that we ask ourselves when we start a business ? I'm going to hang up my own shingle . I'm really good at this cake making thing . I'll sell cakes . Ok , how are you going to get people to know about it ?
I'm going to tell all my friends , great , what happens when they buy cakes and then they don't need them anymore .
Wait to dive into the sales hat . Let's say , like you know , the listeners still at the solopreneur level , bringing in , you know , around 300 grand a year .
Maybe they have like one or two member team and we're all used to wearing so many hats when we start the business and we're not qualified to wear those hats and we figure out how to outsource some and get better at others .
But to tease a bit of the upcoming episode , is the sales hat something that we can outsource as online course creators or it's something that we need to just learn how to do ourselves ?
That's a great question and my answer has to be it depends , right , and so if I'm a course creator , I don't need to do discovery calls . My sales page and my email and my funnel should do that for me . Now how I got there . That would be one-on-one right . So I preach hand-to-hand combat .
First , Get really good at selling one-to-one so that you have the words , you understand the pain points . You're not guessing with one , two , three , 10 people Like sell it and deliver it 10 times .
Then you'll have everything you need for a sales page and a fully formed customer journey to be able to write ads or help generating ads that will get the people , the right people , into your world .
This is going to be a good next episode . I feel hand-to-hand combat is such a misnomer too , because the best salespeople they don't beat you up or bully you into anything you feel , so cared for and heard and seen and yeah , we're going to have a good conversation , so take us back . Take us back to when you were on the path to your first $1 million .
What were you selling ?
Yeah , that's what I want to know . You're in New York , what are you ?
selling Well back then , it was the 1900s . Let's start there , and I was working for a super high tech company called Skytel Skypagers , the first alphanumeric pager . You mean , wait a minute , hold on a second . I can call a 1-800 number , tell a person what I want to say and it'll show up on their pager .
Yeah , so mostly we were selling to businesses , right , mostly in trucking Honestly , those are most of my clients . So people that were on the road , cbs were fine , but there was a certain extent where they needed to send written directions . Again , this is before GPS , before iPhones . This was the first alphanumeric pager . Before then we had landlines , that's it .
Maybe a CB with truckers . So these were people that had delivery , people that were out there . So we were selling business to business , to customers , and especially in New York they have , you know , bikers and all these different things .
You know cyclists right , not motorcyclists out there delivering important documents or important merchandise , and they needed to communicate with them . So Skytel was a bridge to learning about tech and the next step was telecom .
So AT&T bought out all the baby bells and through that first client , myself and a team of other people got AT&T as our client and that was the wave . We rode to a million and so like wow , Tell us more .
I feel like I feel like somebody who's listening . Who may have been born post 2000 is like baby bells . What does that even mean ?
Yeah , so what cause ? Here's ? The fun part is like , being a first adopter is smart , and if you're listening to this and you're wondering if you should use that next new tech , the answer is yes , because it's coming right Like it's the the internet the world . I remember I wasn't a . I was a full on adult with a business when the internet became available .
Like we . We went from our little $675 ad in Detroit newspaper to a $10 a week ad on monstercom Cause . What were we advertising for ? Salespeople ? Like we were recruiting , and in order to keep 300 employees , I needed to be able to interview 100 a month and bring in . You know , salespeople churn .
That doesn't matter what you do it is what it is , so like all sales roles , the top 10% make 90% of the profit for the company .
And so the others .
The others just kind of come and go . So we needed to find new people all the time , and so I had five locations and I had 300 people that were out there going B2B for our clients and specifically they would be the agent for AT&T , specifically for businesses that wouldn't respond to other forms of media like TV , radio , flyers , call centers .
We were the face-to-face , shaking hands , kissing babies , and so for 15 years that's what I did starting when I was 22 .
Starting when you were 22 , you had your own business that worked with 300 plus salespeople , and you were contracted by- .
I grew into that . I grew into that . That was the first office had five people and I was one of them , and that was in Rochester Hills , Michigan , right ? I mean , you know what that is right .
Yes , I do . A little Michigander Right next door , her , not me .
We went around Oakland County and then it was growing from Michigan into Ohio and Ohio into Florida and Florida into Los Angeles , which is its own state and country , I think all on its own . So ultimately we grew where our clients needed us to go , but I still needed sales managers and sales leaders and there was a lot to grow .
So it did not like all companies , it did not start there . I did not day one create that but I grew into it with great leadership and great guidance , and great mentors have always been a part of my plan .
Okay , all right .
This was not me in my own brain . This was me , and nobody who's successful does it alone . And in case anybody needed to hear that today , if you see someone who's doing something awesome , know this they are not a solo operator right right they have coaches , they have mentors , they have staff , they have teams . You know like .
They will say , oh beyonce has the same amount of 24 hours as you do . I go , yeah , and she's got a team . She rolls deep . That's , that's how she gets it done . How does she get it all done ? She does it . Her brand does .
Right , it's true that they have the same 24 hours , but what's not true is they're multiplying their 24 hours by having a competent , qualified team who produces results .
Competent and qualified Caveats Keywords in that sense .
Yeah , oh , wow , oh , wow , yeah . So that's how , oh wow yeah .
So that's how I made my first million is through riding the telecom wave . I mean , they always say luck is opportunity and being prepared right , and so I was prepared for the opportunity and I didn't just make a million , I made lots of money .
And so did everybody else that was involved .
It wasn't just me , it was great . And then when the telecom boom busted , then you had to think about what's next . So we tried it with Sprint , we tried it with DirecTV , we tried it with lots of other companies and ultimately I sold my territories and I said peace out . And I sat on a yoga floor and became a yoga teacher .
Seriously , seriously , yeah , you just dropped all that and went in a completely different direction . Well , I sold everything . I mean I made enough money to not have to .
I know , I know .
Drove my Mercedes off the lot and said bye .
Right , okay , all right I didn't leave alone .
Just like I didn't do it alone , I didn't leave alone . So there were lots of factors involved , but it was the right time , right place for an exit , and so I exited , gracefully , stage left and became a yoga teacher , and two of my students ended up being PhDs at Wayne State University . And they were .
If you were going to become a doctor medical doctor in Michigan , detroit , Michigan and went to Wayne State , you were going to have the measure professors . But because professors don't make that much money , they were also moonlighting at Henry Ford hospital and they were in the cancer lab .
They called themselves lab rats , but these are , like you know , phds of , like biophysics , and I mean they're freaking amazing .
So what they came up with was a cherry juice and if you know anything about Michigan and the 45th parallel , you know that Michigan is one of those places where cherries are grown and they came up with a phenomenal beverage that was super healthy and , would you know , help your body create a
¶ Sales and Psychology
defense . We were bottling in the same places . Have you heard of five hour energy ?
Yeah , I have no , isn't that the one that's in , like every convenience store ?
Yeah , well now now it is , but those guys were from Ferndale and so they were bottling in the same place . They were getting using their overstock of their bottles Like they're . Michigan State University helped us so much in getting our nutrition facts and all these things . Yeah , yeah , yeah .
We just Googled it . I'm looking at the picture of five hour energy . I'm like I see those .
So I learned a lot about creating a refrigerated product shelves . You know it wasn't shelf stable . It had to be refrigerated . It was a consumable , very different than than selling telecom . But what it taught me , and what it brings me to today , is that it doesn't matter what you're selling , as long as you're selling to humans .
There are certain things that have to be in place . Okay , so I'm curious , I want to interpose this question .
Enter something .
Enter this conversation . How much have you dived into the psychology of sales Because you have all this experience ? Did it just come from experience , or did you actually kind of study this more , or just yes to all .
So to be in this field and have the success I've had and to be able to have it for as long as I've had , it is not possible unless you dive into this human psychology , the human behavior , the human brain really , and so brain and body , and this is where yoga came in .
Right before I got into the yoga world , I understood human behavior from being a lifelong student , my parents and my family . So my maiden name is Bronner , which in Michigan we've got billboards , but we I come from a long line of entrepreneurs Christmas store , the Bronner the Bronner okay .
I know Dr Bronner's soap with all the right , so they're all .
so those are like right , we're from the New York , bronner's , right , but it's . But the same idea is that , like there have been lots of business owners in my family , I was raised with a lot of people that were starting , creating and developing something that was helpful for the world .
As I grew up , though , it was before the internet , so we didn't have all these benefits of oh , I have an idea , let me run a thousand dollar ad campaign and see if , and see if it , see if it flies . You know , we didn't have . It was like well , let's just talk to our neighbors because that's all we had .
So the reality of your question is do I study human psychology ? Yes , ongoing human behavior , neuroscience , all of that . How does the brain work and how do we as humans respond to all things ? So I still have a deep meditation practice . I still have a deep yoga practice .
I'm not a teacher anymore , but I am a lifelong student and , of course , everything else that goes along with it . Everybody who's teaching sales psychology . I've either read their book or met them , or both .
So , yes , it's an investment and it's a lifelong passion and that helps my clients get results , because I'm not just coming with a singular focus , I'm coming with the breadth and depth of knowledge of lots of different experiences .
Right , I was going to ask if you could recommend your top favorite , I don't know two to three sales books , or sales psychology books .
So they're not all sales psychology books , but for me , most of my clients are women experts who have earned their expertise , and a few brave men , but women experts particularly who have earned their badge , if you will , by working for somebody else , having years of experience .
The average client I work with has had 20 years of experience in her field and she's just decided , typically from some life event , right had her first baby , had her third baby , got divorced , got married , had somebody get sick , she got sick , Something happened where she's like I can't live that way anymore .
I'm going to bring my expertise , hang up my own shingle and we're making this happen .
That's usually when I meet her and the challenge I have with her the individual client is her belief in her own worth and so the first book that I have her read I think I can have it in arms , like I usually just give it out is by Barbara Stanny , who I don't know if you've heard of her or not , but she has a book called overcoming under earning .
She has a bunch of books , but overcoming underarning is one of the first books I invite them to , because it's not about the sales strategy at that point . It's about their own belief in themselves . It's about even saying the words $10,000 in relation to something that they're going to deliver . They're like oh , I can't do that .
You just left the job that you're making 120 grand a year , and you were giving them your soul . You can give this person what they need for 10 grand , and so me saying that , though , is not enough . Everyone has free will , so we can't . No matter how good of a point or how good of an argument we make . They have to believe it themselves .
So , a lot of that initial work is them having self-belief Okay , overcoming under earning a five-belief , oh good , okay , overcoming under-earning .
A five-step plan , because I Googled this . I haven't read the book yet . A five-step plan to a richer life , barbara Stanny , I will link that up in the show notes below . For sure , yeah , for sure , no . I can relate with what you're saying . I was super , am super passionate about learning languages and I ended up selling Rosetta Stone .
Do you ?
remember those kiosks with the yellow boxes and the TVs at airports and malls . Yes , yes , yes , yeah .
So I was totally there trying to sell them , doing horrible , but like I'm passionate about language and then , yeah , I thought passion would just motivate everybody to buy , no , but what happened was I looked in the system because we were part of a territory and I could see the numbers being posted from the other kiosk at the malls at the airport , and there was
like this one kiosk about like at a mall , maybe two hours drive away from me , and their numbers were just like hideously high . And since , like I knew the commission structure , I'm like these guys are more than like two xing a full time income off of like part time hours and I was like how is this ?
happening and so .
I drove up there . I took a day off and I drove my butt up there and I just approached the their cart in the middle of a wall when nobody was there and introduced myself and I was like , what are you doing ? Can you teach me ?
And I'll never forget because , like he , this guy , joe Kunkel I don't think he's with us anymore because he already was like 65 or something at that time and this was back in 2009 . So he might be here still the point is that he's told me sales is a process and it has nothing to do with what I like .
And then he told me that this is just like his latest job , but like him and his buddy would just hop from whatever to whatever and use the same process and make lots of money . And they have sold tons of different kinds of things .
And I was like hanging on his every word and I'm like , and somehow I had like the wherewithal to ask for a book and he recommended me a book by Tom Hopkins maybe Does that sound familiar Like Mastering the Art of Selling ? And it basically taught about the process of sales .
And I went home and studied and my sales increased by like 30% the next week because I studied hard and quick and started implementing and it changed my trajectory in that business .
So I totally love sales . Yeah , we were engaged at this point , so I was like yeah , you go , you read that book , baby , you make those sales .
You do that Exactly . And that's the thing is sales , just like ads , it's not static . You can't just be like , oh , I have a winning ad , set it and forget it , right , I mean there has to be some sort of like you know monitoring , right , and that's where KPIs come in .
And then there's there's all these other problems that we create by getting really good at sales . The next problem we create is delivery . The next problem we create is continued support . The next problem we create is who's going to do that ?
Right , you and what army .
And so then we create the problem of I need to hire somebody . Well , I've never hired anybody . I've worked in an office forever . That's how I got my expertise . Okay , well , did you lead a team ? Well , yeah , but so then there's a leadership problem , Then there's a staffing problem , then there's other problems .
So the benefit that my clients gain from me is , even though I have sales on my front shingle like that's what says on the front door when they come in , they're getting that expertise of building a business from zero , growing it , scaling it , selling it and starting again , so that I already know where all the problems can come up .
And I'm ready to create those problems with them , because those are good problems to have , right .
I've got so much money , where do ?
I invest Right I can't do it all , there's questions and don't invest it at the mall , don't invest it in a new car . That is actually not an investment Right .
Right , yeah , unless you don't have a car at all , unless it's three years old .
Let's not buy a new one .
Yeah .
So tell us about , please , if you would the listener who is in a spot where it's kind of challenging right now . They'll love this , but what I've heard is some mountaintop experiences .
They'll love this , but what I've heard is some mountaintop experiences and I'm picturing this image where somebody , like , reaches one mountaintop and then realizes it's just like one peak in a range and there's more into the distance .
Just life . Tell us life seriously . That'll preach .
Tell us the time please , if you feel comfortable with where , with all of your sales skills and strategies , you still were about to give it all up and pivot to something else .
All the time . I mean what day ?
What day .
Because I think , as entrepreneurs , we're full of lots of things . We're full of energy , and then we're not . We're full of ideas and then we don't have any . We're full of customers , and then where'd they all go ? We're full of this and then we're not , and so there's this ebb and flow and literally
¶ From Yoga to Online Business
that's just life . So my yoga and meditation practice actually helped me mitigate a lot of those emotions of feeling like I'm going to barf every five seconds , because I do still have those feelings , I do still have those inclinations of like torch it , I'm out . And for these reasons I'm out'm out . You know what I mean . But that's not healthy .
Number one , number two , it doesn't serve anybody else and it certainly doesn't serve me . And so , with before we throw the baby out with the bath water , I'm able to , I'm able to . You know , I just do a ben franklin , which is like t square on a piece of paper , pros , cons and then sleep on it .
That's been my practice for the last 30 years , and you know from being married for 25 years , because I thought about burning him down too , no kidding .
You put him on a T chart too . You're in the pandemic , especially I'm like , oh , I can't go anywhere .
You're forced to be together all the time , which is great , maybe . So all that to say it's about stick-to-itiveness , right ? Like it comes down to when I do the T-square and I write down the pros and cons and I sleep on it . It comes down to the most basic things , right , most basic of basic things . Going back to basics , right ?
Like winning coaches on sports teams will say okay , day one of practice , I don't care if you won the championship last year , show me how to tie your shoes , show me you can pull your socks up . Show me you know how to run the court . Same thing goes with what is the basics of business .
Show me you can make one sale , make one , and then a lot of things change . So it doesn't usually take too much to bring us back .
And then sometimes other really compelling arguments are risen , like oh well , that is something I should consider , and either I have to determine if I'm going to do it or if I'm going to bring somebody into my life to do it . And that's when the book who , not how , comes up , right ?
So that's a book that I had never read , because I hadn't read it , and all of my clients . At one point I was like two years ago I was like have you read the book ? Have you read the book ? Because it sounds just like you . So it wasn't me .
Unfortunately , I didn't put it in a book , but it is something I say is you know , as entrepreneurs , there are many times when our vision exceeds our abilities , and so we need to think about who needs to be in our life , not how we're going to do it . Instead of that's a great idea , how are we going to do that ? Instead , it's like that's a great idea .
Who do we need in our lives to make that a possibility ? I need in our lives to make that a possibility . I like it . That's really good , because that feeling of overwhelm of how am I going to do it all and realizing it's not possible back to our previous part about Beyonce's 24 hours is not equal to ours .
That becomes very frustrating and overwhelming and emotionally crushing to where we want to burn it all down because we realize we've only reached one peak in a mountain range and the answer is we can't get to all the peaks , so who's going to help us ?
Right .
There we go , but first we can get to the first peak , because we're going to learn about sales Right Because the funding is important .
I can't hire somebody if I have no funds . Yeah , most of us in the online space are self-funded . Yes , most of us are , so let's have fun .
While we're getting the funds with great sales stuff , I feel like I need to be at one of your next in-person events . Most the listener might not know , or do you know ? You do know , of course she's in the mixer mind with me oh , you know what I think ?
think you told me that , but I can't keep everybody straight . There's like so many of y'all in there but I've been very defunct .
I , I , I , I met Linda last year . I interviewed her and I fell in love with her personality , so much that when she made me an offer I was like yeah , and I really just thought it was a trip to Cabo . Wait , are you going ? No , and unfortunately it overlaps with my son's birthday .
I thought I could make it work , but it's too tight he's turning 14 and yeah you got to be there for your son , so I'm not going to get to meet you in person at that event yet , but I mean I'm not even going why , am I all upset ?
yeah , you're upset well , I'm sure you'll be in michigan at some point , so we can hang out yeah I mean , I already sent an email .
The listener already knows about the mixer mind because I keep saying , oh yeah , this is another guest from the mixer mind , but I sent out an email too to my list . Like , honestly , the mixer mind is probably the second highest roi thing I've done this year like .
So I'm just happy that I got to have you on the podcast , and in the upcoming episode we're going to talk more about sales , specifically Renee , how do we make friends , and sales everywhere we go , because that's what you love to talk about .
And then also you had put in the podcast form the biggest mistake women entrepreneurs make when selling for themselves , and I would love to know what your favorite F word is , cause it says right here and it's PG . So let's get that next episode right . How's that for it ? Do I get to ?
ask one final question . Do you want to ?
I do .
Well , because we covered , like her , you know the sales and stuff at 25 and all of this , and then the yoga thing and then the five hour energy drink . But then how did you transition into you know , the online space and what you're doing now ? Yeah , so I feel like you didn't finish the journey and I'm like we must complete it .
So I was like , oh , okay , I'll answer that Great question . So to finish that journey , right ? So we weren't a part of the five-hour energy guys , we just met them as a part of our journey and we were bottling where they were bottling .
So my company with my two PhD partners was a health drink , right , that did not give you energy , it gave you an immune protection , right , it boosted your immune system .
So the only communication we had , or the only connection we have five hour energy was that we were bottling using a lot of their bottles that they gave us , and that we were all connected through Michigan State University and through the bottling centers of Michigan . So we were all part of this collective of incubator food based businesses at that time .
So at that time I went to a big food show Jacob Javits Center in New York Food Show East and I sold a bunch of cherry juice . I sold a lot more than I knew we could make and then I sold those purchase orders to our competition and then we all exited . So myself I found out I was pregnant .
My one partner was getting a divorce , my third partner , his mother , just passed away . So everybody had a reason to go and do something else for a living . And so we did , and we did this and said thank you very much . Everybody was covered . Our customers were covered , our clients were covered , our employees were covered , we were covered , you were covered .
That is when I took five years off . So I was , I was pregnant and my husband and I had been , you know , trying for a long time . I guess you didn't know , but there's a whole fertility journey there .
If you're interested , probably not , but at the end of the day we were very happy and very , also medically concerned , because there was a lot of things I needed to do to stay pregnant . And so we have our son , who's now I already exposed 14 . So I spent five years as quote unquote just a mom . Right , I had enough money to be able to just stay home .
Of course my husband does work , but police officers don't make millions , and so we wanted to the right lifestyle . And so when my son I say mine , I mean he's our son I feel like you're protecting my son when my son went to school . He was six , but before he went to school I tried to homeschool him .
He was not into it , but I did try and so I bought a book . How did I get in the online space ? This is part of the story . I bought a book off Amazon called Waldorf school homeschooling , waldorf style . I mean . I guess I can remember what it was and the author of that book .
I must've downloaded something without realizing what I was doing , cause I did not understand broadcast emails at that point , like I had . We had never really like had to do , I guess I just didn't get it . I was like the author's emailing me .
I downloaded a calendar and she's inviting me to something , and I was like , oh , it took me a couple minutes , it took me like maybe three years to go , like , oh , she's not emailing me personally , ding , ding , ding .
So then she invited me to these webinars , or these free workshops , aka webinars that offered her coaching and she's like , if you're going to be homeschooling anyway , you might as well take your expertise and create a course . So I took the blue pill and there I am today .
So I hired her as my private coach three months in and I realized what I wanted to do . I wanted to actually initially be do car seat safety . She's like what are you really passionate about ? And then you can talk about hours and hours . I'm like car seat safety .
You're passionate about your kids staying alive .
Just like I think you're missing the big picture here .
So gracious these coaches right .
She's like what about sales training ? I'm like I already did that . So long story short , I knew I wasn't going to start this business alone . I was still committed to car seat safety , so I knew I needed a website and I needed I needed a team . I I already run a company two times . I wasn't going to do this alone . I was not . I was not delusional .
So I started to try to hire people and they wouldn't close me . I'm like I , I'm a yes , here's my credit card . Please close me , when can you start ? And they just went on , and on , and on and on , and I mean a 20 minute call turned into two hours and I'm like I don't know what you're trying to tell me , but I'm already in .
And so it just was so frustrating because they just would talk and talk and talk . I'm like this is all . This could have been an email . This is all this could have been an email . Just send me the link to pay , please . So it was very frustrating . And that's when I realized , yes , these women are smart , they just have never had training .
Let me help them . So I started helping them for free at first and I was like , okay , I can charge a lot more for sales training than I can for car seat safety . If we're going to do this thing , let's do it . And that's when I hung up my shingle for sales coaching for women entrepreneurs first for moms .
And then I realized half my clients weren't moms , they were just women who had gained a lot of experience . And then I realized that they weren't all women , that some of them were just really kind and gentle men that just didn't want to come off as brusque or pushy or , you know , having to overturn objections .
Instead we just mitigate them in the first place through email most of the time . So that's what I started with . That's what I started with my first 30 minutes $97 . That was my first offer . I'll solve your pitching problems 30 minutes , and then you know it's gone up since then .
Yeah , $97 . I can learn how to like pitch better . That was seven years ago .
So you've been in the online space now for seven years . Yeah , yeah , wow .
I can't believe it myself and I continue to learn . I spent the first five years after this first initial coach with an amazing digital marketer and all of the tools and resources that her community brought to my attention and awareness , and I'm just so thankful .
And so that's where I really learned to speak funnel , I learned to speak digital marketer , and I was able to then bring my skills further faster .
Wow , yeah , I like it I like it , nice , very cool , and I was able to then bring my skills further faster .
Wow , yeah , I like it . I like it Nice , very cool . And then when he went to school , you know , more and more he went to school , the more and more I just said well , I'll work while you're at school , which is where he's at right now .
Right , which is why you're with us .
Right , which is why one of my favorite books that I'm almost done with now and I'm going to promote it again is six figures in school hours . I don't know if you've read that one .
I've heard of it . No , I haven't , but I but it sounds great , it sounds , I love it .
It's very , very practical and that's like that's right where I'm at . I mean , he gets to work , gets to work , has time to work a little bit longer , but my time is really like while the kids are at school . That's when I can focus and so , yeah , I highly recommend it . It's very practical and actually funny and like an easy read , but , yeah , awesome .
I would , I would . I would admit I do get to work like the kids when they were home , like now they're not home because they're like five and eight , but yeah , they like actively trying to pull her brain apart and like five and eight .
But yeah , they like actively trying to pull her brain apart and like I'll just be here in my guest room converted to an office , like sometimes listening otherwise , and I'm like I I'm doing the easier thing honestly , like keeping them on the right path that's difficult , yeah yeah it is it is there's a lot there's
a lot of variables , a lot of factors , and it's all good . My son , though . I'm very proud of him .
¶ Career Aspirations and Sales Tactics
I asked him this year you know they have those little boards that you buy Like what do you want to be when you grow up ? And he says a stay-at-home dad . I said perfect , find a strong woman . She needs your support , honey .
Yeah , you're welcome . This has been a truly delightful conversation . I haven't had this much fun in a while and I'm interviewing folks all the time . So how this works , listener , is you can hop down into the show notes below and click over to the next episode .
If you're remotely interested in growing your business with sales and what Renee's favorite F word is , then we'll see you in the next episode . Until the next time you see us or hear from us , take care , be blessed and goodbye .