I wanted to talk about my VIP Experience with Lexi of Pretty Decent. What I was thinking, what I’ve changed in my business, how it relates to you and your business.
First of all, Lexi is a lovely human, has a calming but quick-thinking presence, and combines deep empathy with calculated strategy.
(Get to know her and her story in this interview on my Purpose & Progress podcast!)
I’ve mentioned in past newsletters how this was the first time I’ve really invested in my business in this way (aka paid, 1:1, VIP intensive, focused). And how good that felt.
The External Accountability I Needed
Through entrepreneurship, I’ve come to realize how important it is for me to have some external accountability.
At first I saw this as a bit of a failure. I don’t identify as a follower, an attention seeker, or someone who isn’t a self-starter.
But getting outside perspective, accountability, and even a bit of validation to stay motivated isn’t a bad thing.
I need that little bit of pressure to show up and produce. I need that little bit of confirmation that I’m on the right track in order to keep up momentum. And I need that little bit of space held for me to verbally process everything that’s constantly swirling around my brain.
This VIP Experience gave me that.
The Framework
And Lexi was so flexible. We started with a VIP Day, basically focused on offer design. And she was gracious enough to split it into 2 half days for me. This supported my energy as an introvert, fit within my childcare confines, and gave me time to process and reflect in between.
And then I upgraded to the VIP Experience, which is 12 follow-up “Momentum Sessions”. (Very similar to my Quick Win Consulting Calls or the Empathetic Accountability Follow-Ups Calls I included with my own VIP Day.) These were less about strategy and more about implementation.
*Bonus that I didn’t even know about when I signed up: as a paying client, I also got access to The Study, her private membership that’s CHALK FULL of resources, live events, and a community of out-of-the-box creative thinkers and doers. I hope to attend more of the events and go through all the resources eventually because it’s really good stuff.
What I Actually Did/Changed
Between the initial intensive and the past few months of calls, I’ve produced a LOT and made some changes in my business. Want a peek? (Rhetorical question. 🙃 )
- We created an empathy map for my ideal customer. I talk a lot about thinking of and as your audience, but it was really useful to do this exercise with someone outside my business. Here’s the image she uses, then makes interactive via a Miro board. (These Miro boards pop up at all her facilitated group meetings too, so they seem to be one of her favorite tools!)
- We created a user experience flow and links between my offers. I hadn’t previously connected the dots between my Quick Win Consulting Calls and my VIP Day. The process made me realize that my half day offer surrounding values is actually better suited for a separate audience of leadership teams, rather than my standard business owners and founders. And now I’m much more comfortable incorporating ongoing consulting after an initial call or VIP Day via a Day of Consulting or a Monthly Messaging Mentorship. After this exercise, when I get on a Collaboration Call with someone, I can actually direct them to the best container for them based on little flags I hear or see about their current needs (and bandwidth).
- Speaking of Collaboration Calls, I didn’t have a dedicated discovery/sales/whatever-you-want-to-call-it call option for people and there wasn’t an easy way to get on my calendar. I’ve since created a direct Collaboration Call page for easy reference and linked it to my IG bio. And I know if one pops up on my calendar, it’s a conversation about working together, not a run-of-the-mill coffee chat.
- My other main call to action these days is a new lead magnet, which I created based on the question Lexi asked surrounding what do people need to know before working with me. For impactful brand messaging strategy, it’s really useful if people know who they want to reach and what they want to offer, so A Visionary’s Guide To Elevator Pitches was born. And she suggested I use Notion instead of designing it in Canva. At first I resisted, thinking users would complain if they weren’t already in love with Notion (like we both are). But I haven’t had a single complaint and on my end, it’s SO much more flexible to tweak and easy to deliver. 188 subscribers have signed up for it since February, so the topic seems to be resonating too.
- As I got more mental clarity, I started feeling like my website was really misaligned. Yes, a website is ALWAYS a work in progress, but mine needed some big updates. I started by making my VIP Day headlines more audience-aspiration-focused. Then I tackled my Services page. It started years ago as a portfolio page, then morphed into trying to sell tons of different services. But in redoing the page, I realized that its role in my business is more of an invitation to get on the phone with me (either for a Collaboration Call or directly for a Quick Win Consulting Call), NOT to serve as a sales page itself. That realization was liberating and allowed me to cut out a lot of fluff. I used Lexi’s tried-and-true offer design framework to hit all the main points of why someone should be interested in each offer too. And then I also updated my About page. I followed my own framework here, focusing on adding headlines, throughlines in the story, and leading to a call to action.
- I hosted an AMA anything event, which was sort of a flop. (Only 3 sign-ups, although the conversation was great with the 1 person who showed up!) This idea morphed into the About You Audit though, which I’ve done twice now with 25+ sign-ups, glowing reviews, and great energy each time. I have more iterations of this in the future, so keep an eye out!
- I started experimenting with my content creation a bit. Ideas are never the issue, but I do struggle with harnessing the ideas into themes. (To be honest, this is the one thing I wish I had applied better from our time together. Lexi has a great Sales Planner and launching framework—she views them as magazine issues, which I love the concept of. I ended up going with an “evergreen” aka not-very-focused approach…this is something that’s on the back burner for me.) I used my first-ever meme (🙃) and continue to share memes ~once per week because they get some of my furthest reach. I’ve also been focused on answering questions, which is something I’m comfortable with and people seem to come to me for. I want to lean more into that Q&A vibe in the future. That said, content still feels like a churn, with little tangible results and lots of time spent. So I also want to get even more intentional with repurposing…I need some good systems in place to optimize on that front. Basically, content is a big work in progress for me.
- I sent some sales emails. Which I literally never do, except for other people’s stuff. I didn’t have anyone book directly from one of these. But I also didn’t have higher-than-usual unsubscribes and that’s not to say no one ever will book directly from a sales email. I will likely send more in the future. (I always have a “no sales emails” opt-out if you want to keep receiving the newsletter!)
Final Thoughts
I probably did and changed a lot more that I can’t remember…the overall experience was so supportive!
And it was really useful for me to be a client on the receiving end of strategy sessions that are so similar to what I offer.
Because it’s so easy to feel the urge to over-deliver. To list all the features. To do the ole “But wait, there’s more—you’ll get xyz!” bit.
But for consultants and strategists like Lexi, and me (and maybe you), holding space is one of the biggest value-adds. Space to reflect and say our piece and have ideas reflected back to us or questions asked to disrupt our patterns.
For example, I talk a lot about values-aligned visibility, and each time, Lexi gently asks why someone would seek this. What about getting visible in alignment with your values is actually attractive to the conscious and caring business owners I work with? That answer of making decisions more easily, connecting on a deeper level, or growing a business beyond yourself as a founder is what I should lead with instead.
What About You?
So, what have you invested in lately? What have you changed in your business? What’s next in your vision?
As you decide, I hope you don’t feel like a failure by getting outside perspective and external validation. It did wonders for me and I think it will for you too.
Toward Purpose & Progress,
Ashlee
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.
