Susan Finn 0:08
Welcome to another episode of rise above noise, where I get the honor of introducing you to somebody in our community who's making a real difference and helping people with their business growth. You know, as a digital marketing strategist. for over 15 years I've been working with, with coaches, consultants, really transformation creators, people who are bringing people from one place in their life to a better place. And I know how transformation creators often can feel overwhelmed and helpless, because you're trying to do all the things to grow your business, and it can seem overwhelming. So that's why I offer structure, I offer you a personalized roadmap for you to show up, right marketing is showing up. So show up in a way that you feel empowered, that you're holding your strength, holding your mission holding your beliefs, and that you're showing up with ease and flow and consistency. So the people who need you are going to be able to find you and learn more about you. So in today's spotlight with Carolyn, she's talking about balance, too. She's talking about that balance between marketing and feeling like you're bothering people versus marketing and showing up I love what she says that. You can't email too much. A lot of people don't want to email all the time. But guess what, if you don't show up all the time, people kind of forget who you are. So I like the way that she talks about that. So how you can introduce yourself, right? What are your motivations? What's your mission? How do you serve people, you're going to speak passionately about the work you do. So that people will understand whether or not you're the person that they want to work with. So I know that you're going to enjoy today's conversation with Carolyn Shope. Let's get right to it. So before we get started with Carolyn's today, I do want to, I'm going to share my screen and share. Now I have something exciting for me anyway, you guys know, I love all the toys and all the things. So I usually show you guys a Keynote or like a PowerPoint, slide for my rise above noise five pillars, but today, my dears I am trying Canva as a presentation. So let's see what we think about this. So you see a white screen Carolyn that says rise above noise. Alright, let's see how this works. So rise above noise. It's, it's if I say that marketing, and I offer you this is a mindset shift, right marketing is showing up. And so if you have any of those feelings about marketing, if you're ever like, oh, I don't like marketing, oh, I don't like email, I want you to know that there's somebody who woke up at three o'clock in the morning, and could not go back to sleep. Because they're having a problem, whatever their problem is, it's keeping them up. It's just they can't get back to sleep, it's running, they're running it through their head over and over and over again. And so if you're the person that's going to be able to support this person who woke up in the middle of the night, it almost becomes your obligation to show up for them. wherever they might be. Maybe they open their email in the morning and you give them a tip. They're like, Oh my gosh, that's exactly what I needed to hear today, you become an angel in the inbox, or you put up a post with some kind of again, a strategy and insight because you have this wisdom and they're like, that's what I needed today. So sharing your own content from your own place of wisdom in a way that supports the people you're here to serve. So that's the rise above noise. That's my mission. Right? That's my that's my big why is to help people to show up. But then you have to like then you have to do the things. So rise above noise is three pillars. Let's see if I can make this work good. The first pillar is understanding what your message is. What's your big mission? I just told you my mission Who's your ideal client? And equally important is what are your boundaries, your time boundaries, your money boundaries, your support boundaries. Those are super important and he want to get to know that now I'm gonna go through these. They're not necessarily sequential, but they do tie in together. Then of course you need to create compelling content and you may have heard me talk about frequently asked questions or recording things into your and then transcribing them. I do lots and lots of webinars and little pieces of information on frequently asked Questions. It's creating compelling content that that person that woke up at three in the morning needs to hear how can you be that angel that shows up for them? third pillar is proof of concept that is understanding what stories you can tell, what are the case studies of people that have worked with you? What are people saying about you? What testimonials have you collected? And how can you share those so that somebody who's looking for support can say, Oh, she's helped people just like me with this organizing and scheduling. I think we could talk about this probably for six months straight, like just what are the systems that you're setting up to protect those most precious assets that you have, which are your time and your energy? So understanding how you can batch your work, how can you can measure the results of what you do, and how you can protect your time and energy using systems. And of course, I spend a lot of time in keep in touch. And we're going to talk about that with Carolyn today. Like I, of course, I do digital marketing. So I'm going to spend a lot of time talking about email marketing, and growing your list and nurturing your list, which is kind of where Carolyn lives as well. People are also wonderful about sending cards, direct messaging, like he got to have systems for all this, right? It's nice to have it in your heart. But as you're trying to scale as you're trying to get to the next level. How do you do these things in a very strategic mindful way? Contact Relationship Management Systems are another way of doing that. So yay, my Canva things seem to have worked. I'm gonna stop sharing there. Now all of these pillars, that I that I use just as a visual to pull together those like chaos, things that you might feel in your head, like I don't all that digital marketing is so much to it, I can't even keep it straight. This helps me to organize it. But it's also that you as a service provider transformation creator can show up and show up in service for those that you are here to serve. So that said, let's talk about how my friend Carolyn serves. We live in very similar, I would say complementary areas. And let me tell you what her official bio is. All right. Carolyn is the funnel queen. I asked let's see. So I had so we she just has all the funnels right. And I know that she has done mostly for authors at this point, but also other people. Now, I'm going to say, because I might forget to say this later, I want to say this now get on Carolyn's email list, because when you talk about giving, generously and giving consistently when you get on Carolyn's email list, and she'll tell you how later, you get a weekly, you get weekly tips and insights, but you also get a weekly card drawing, right? Like an affirmation card, Oracle Card and oh, it's like there's something about them. You pick it, right? There's like five or six little cards there and you like pick it, it turns. It tells you what, what your card is for that week. It seems to always align with wherever I am that week. So to do that, so the name of Carolyn's business is financially free author, financially free author, she is the funnel queen. When I asked Carolyn, what is her superpower? She said, she sees funnels in everything. I need to know what you like, do you just like walk through your house and go oh, well, like what does that mean? You'll see funnels,
Carolyn Choate 8:47
it always feels like there's a path there's things are leading to other things in, in everywhere in stories in businesses, in conversations. There's always the next step and the next step and the next step that people are walking along that path.
Susan Finn 9:04
Amazing. So So, so maybe give me an example. So you just traveled and you just went from where you live up to Massachusetts and you're on vacation with your family. Did you see any funnels while you were visiting? or traveling? Oh,
Carolyn Choate 9:23
yeah, I stopped in Rhode Island along the way to visit a friend that I met through networking and through business. And so I got I got funneled into her world.
Susan Finn 9:37
That's awesome. So what are some of the examples of I think here's the thing, like when we say funnels, let's start with what's a funnel. Let's start there. For me, the
Carolyn Choate 9:49
way that I define funnel is a little bit different. I look at it as a path, like a cobblestone garden path, and you've got your home at one end And, and that's where you've got your offers, that's your website, that's where you want people to end up. But nobody knows that you're there. Build a gate. At the other end, you put a sign on it that says, I have these awesome things for this kind of person. Come on in. That's your lead magnet, your opt in, they, the people that are going to be your ideal clients are going to open that gate, and step onto the path. And you're going to guide them each step of the way through your emails, your community spaces, they come into your world. And you lead them to your website gently so that they don't feel like somebody just dropped their hand and left them alone to wander confused and alone. You want to know like, what's the next step? What's the next step? What do they need to know? What? What can you tell them about what you do so that they get to know you so they can make that decision about whether they want to work with you? And just keep on guiding them along until they're ready to say yes.
Susan Finn 11:04
I like the way that you describe it like a pathway to your door and that the lead magnet kind of shows in there. One of the things I talk about oh, in fact, I have probably should have said this before I have a free webinar coming up on Wednesday called why you need an automated email sequence now more than ever, which is I don't do sales funnels as much as I do welcome emails funnels right. And here's one of the things I say in that webinar, and is that we've all been there where we've signed up for something free coupon and an e book, or mini course or whatever. And they get your email, and maybe they send you the confirmation email, and maybe you get the thing right away, you download the thing, but then you don't hear from this person for a long time until they try to sell you something. And then you're like, I don't even know who this person is. And they're going to probably unsubscribe. And hopefully they unsubscribe and don't mark you as spam. Because when you're marked as spam, it's just just not good. It just is bad for your every algorithm. War.
Carolyn Choate 12:11
Yeah, that affects all your emails. Yeah, that's That's exactly it. Yeah. I think people think that they're being kind by not sending many emails. They're like, Oh, I don't want to bog down people's inboxes we all get too many emails. So I'll just send an email when I have something to promote. Yes. But then people feel like you only care about them when you have something to promote. Or like you said they forget. And that's very likely, because we all download lots of freebies. I mean, I know I do. So I'm assuming that everyone else is like that. And, you know, if I'm getting three freebies a day, what am I? How am I differentiating? Who's Who, who sent me what, like, I need something more than that to really connect? Who is this person? So, yeah, you want to ideally be the person that somebody recognizes when your emails comes into their inbox, they go, Oh, I know that person, that person is going to give me some value.
Susan Finn 13:09
Well, that's the thing, right, is to make sure that you're giving value that you're not always selling. And I love the point that when you think you're being kind by not sending so many emails, and I get that from people, right, like, Ah, I don't want to bother people in their inbox, I don't want to bother people. Right. But understanding first that mindset of it's actually an act of service to show up. Be what Carolyn just said, which is gifts value, so that they get used to seeing your name, and, and, and equating your name with content of value.
Carolyn Choate 13:45
Mm hmm. Don't just be another email in their inbox be the one email that they are looking forward to getting? Yes, if they get 500 other emails that day, yours is the one that they go, Oh, I'm so glad that's there.
Susan Finn 14:01
Do you have a favorite series that you've ever created for somebody? Oh, what
Carolyn Choate 14:06
a great question. I just love that. I always kind of feel my way into a funnel. It's all very custom because everybody is different, their audience is different, their message is different. And so I'm always thinking about who is their ideal client and what makes sense for where they get lead next. But it's Begum to kind of solidify into some patterns. And so there's the delivering of the lead magnet, there's the encouragement of utilizing the lead magnet. Because if people never download it, never actually use it, then they're not going to get that transformation that you want for them. If you've given them this thing that's going to help them help them to use it so that they actually can associate you with that positive experience. And then you got to tell them about you, which is another thing that has gotten a little confused lately, because we hear so much to focus on the other person. And it's not about you, and nobody cares about you, like focus on your client. But there's a balance to be found there. Because they need to know like and trust you, they need to know something about you, you have to show your personality, you have to tell them a little bit about you. So what I love to do in the in the welcome sequence is to dig into your motivations, your mission, what inspires you why you started your business, who you're trying to help. And you know, because you can speak so passionately about that. And it really brings people into your world and helps them to catch that vision. So that's my favorite thing to do with welcoming.
Susan Finn 15:58
I love that. And so when people come to you, I am guessing that they have they've been through like, oh, somebody should on them, right? Like, they were like, somebody told me I should have a sequence and I don't even know what to do.
Carolyn Choate 16:11
Yeah. Somebody told me I should have a funnel. What even is that?
Susan Finn 16:15
Yeah. So So what do you so where do you even start with them? And they're like, I don't know what I have.
Carolyn Choate 16:23
Yeah, so I do a funnel mapping strategy session now. And so we take about an hour, or sometimes it takes less, but about an hour to go through? What do you have? How are you getting people on your email list? Now? What kind of freebies have you used? Have you used any at all? What different webinars? Do you have? Like, just lay it all on me? Tell me what your goals are telling me what things you want people to be actually purchasing from you. Like, what is your high ticket thing? What's all the different stuff you've created. And as I'm listening, it's sorting in my brain into a path. That's my gift that I can hear somebody talking about all these different things. And I can see where they fit on the path. And so we put together a funnel map so that people can really clearly see what I'm talking about, and see how they already have so many of the pieces and they just maybe need to lay one more cobblestone in between, because the step is a little too big.
Susan Finn 17:26
One of the things too, and maybe you have some numbers for me, as I love what you're saying, well, actually, no, I want to stay with what you're saying first, because then I had another question, but I jumped ahead. So I think what you're saying is often what same thing that I say, you don't have to reinvent, you don't have if you're thinking I want to create somebody should on uni, like I should have a sequence or I should have a funnel. And you're like, ah, but I can't I don't know what I don't want to start something new, I think that what you said is very important that people already have assets that they can use that once it's organized and put into the correct platform, we'll talk about platforms in a second, then it's not like you're gonna have to put your head down and create something new is that then your experience might be some
Carolyn Choate 18:15
tweaks and massages. But I think a lot of us get stalled in the creating new things, be fun to create new things. And so you give your lead magnet like three weeks to work. And then you go Oh, I better create a different one. So that's the trap that I see people falling into the most. And the one that I have to avoid as well is really give your your stuff a chance to work and don't go recreating it every few months. Like you have the stuff, you've got the foundations, and maybe it just needs a little polishing up here or there. But really focus your energy and your attention on one path. Don't be trying to create six different lead magnets. Just focus on one and let that build up and lead people down that path towards the other things.
Susan Finn 19:14
I love that part of it because it does it takes a lot of pressure off of the client when you're like What do you got? Let's see what you got. Right and they don't have to create something brand new. Well, now I forgot the other point I was going to make. So let's talk about let's talk about platforms, then. When do you work within somebody if they have? I know that you've worked at quite a bit in kartra Are you working on golight high level now? You've worked in the woods? Can you work and wherever they are? Do you have to they have to move over to your Situ into your platforms.
Carolyn Choate 19:48
I have done the work wherever they are so I do the done for you funnel builds after the funnel mapping strategy session then it's a choice of you can take this map and go do yourself or I can build it for you in a week. And that is very much going into the systems that you have, assuming that you have a website and a CRM and email platform. So once we look at that map, we can say, okay, these are the software pieces we need, do you have that covered or not? And does what you have really? Is it working for you? Or is it worth, like, looking at consolidating into a program? That's more of an all in one? Because those can, you know, a lot of us are like, subscribe to 20 different things. And they all have to communicate with each other. So I have I have a soft spot for these all in ones because it's easier to make everything communicate.
Susan Finn 20:46
Right? If you know what you're doing. Yes, yeah, some of that can be a little bit clunky, I think if you're if right, a lot of people go to select some of the free options, because at first, they're easy until you realize, oh, it doesn't do this. And it doesn't do that, like once you understand, again, like we were talking about at the beginning, once you're ready to start scaling, and doing things in a in a bigger or more open or more accessible way, then you have to kind of look at the tools that you're using and make decisions on what's best
Carolyn Choate 21:18
or not what they sound like, sometimes, you end up using a program because it has a reputation for being a certain way. such as MailChimp, which people think of as the starter CRM as an easy email as the cheap as free. And it's not No, I mean, it may used to have been, but I went looking into it because I tried to build someone's funnel using MailChimp, and I couldn't do it. And it was because they on the free plan, you can't even schedule an email, you've got to manually send out every email,
Susan Finn 21:54
that's a new thing, I think every time every month, they seem to come up with a new barrier,
Carolyn Choate 21:58
a new barrier, that's right, a new way of like, you have to pay more Oh, you want that feature, you gotta pay more you want that feature, you got to pay more, they claim to do a welcome automation. But when I looked at what that meant, it means you can send a single welcome email when someone joins your list, you cannot send a sequence. So you know, it's not it's, it's one of the more expensive ones. Now, I had a client who we looked at it, and he didn't even realize they had raised the price on him. And he didn't notice. So it would have gone to $80 a month
Susan Finn 22:31
for just MailChimp, right? Just email doesn't even have the other things. It's just
Carolyn Choate 22:36
email and it's not doing like nearly all the stuff that email is capable of doing for you.
Susan Finn 22:41
Right? I do like their landing pages. So I've worked in pretty landing pages, but the rest of it isn't worth it. So if I say you work it. So
Carolyn Choate 22:52
yeah, I'm very used to going into people's programs. And they're all similar enough that I can do it. But
Susan Finn 22:59
well, you know, we could talk about this all day long. And we have for today, I want to make sure that you get some family time, and that people don't know where to reach you and how to get started with you. So what does that look like to get started with you?
Carolyn Choate 23:16
Yeah, absolutely. So my website is financially free author.com. And from there, you can easily sign up for a funnel mapping Strategy Session, it's just $75. And then you get that actual diagram of the perfect funnel that's custom to you and your business. And if you would like me to build it for you, I can do that in a funnel by Friday, I just build them in one week. But I also have a free guide that if you already know for example, what you want to be sending more traffic to, I have a guide called 20 ways to bring people to your funnel, and most of them are free. So you can get that at financially free author.com/free guide and that will join you to the email list where you can also get those Oracle Card drawers every Monday.
Susan Finn 24:03
Perfect. That's so good. Alright, I put I will put those in the show notes and in the Facebook page. You guys check out now you have before we before I let you go. You have a very active YouTube channel you're always giving like talk about generous you guys like check, get get all her resources talking about all the free stuff that she's offering all the value like check out her YouTube and she had you have it organized as podcasts now, right?
Carolyn Choate 24:33
I have the my financially free author interviews, and those are Mondays at one so I just finished one before I came on here. And so those are all on there. And then I also just do a lot of education about bringing people to your website, how to set up funnels, how to do automations and I try to keep it entertaining and fun.
Susan Finn 24:55
From a hunch and you do you guys. Carolyn and I are in the The IDEA Lab for entrepreneurs community where we're talking today about what to call it, because we've been called experts and all of us, they'll always use like the air quotes with experts. And I think that we're switching over to being called mentors. But we're, we're community leaders in the IDEA Lab for entrepreneurs, I highly suggest you go out and check that check that out as well, because that's where people are like taking their business thoughts and activities, to the next level, building relationships with a national community of mostly coaches and consultants, but also other people in there that can help you support find clients or become clients. Caroline, thank you for joining me today.
Carolyn Choate 25:44
Thank you. This is so much fun.
Susan Finn 25:47
You guys contact Carol and you'll be happy that you did. And I will talk with you soon, my dear. Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Carolyn as much as I did, I really enjoyed that we're, we're in sync, Carolyn and I when we talk about the need for all of us to show up in service, we have to show up in a way that doesn't feel silly, it doesn't feel pushy, it feels like we can show up in service for the people who need our products and services. And I also liked that she talked about, as I often do, she talked about how we as the service providers don't need to necessarily create any more content, we probably have everything we need to create a good lead magnet, some good content for a funnel or sequence that brings people closer to the value that we have. Go ahead schedule some time with Carolyn lurk, learn a little bit more download her freebie. And if you have any questions reach out to me or to Carolyn right. So think about that right now more than ever I say this all the time because I mean it now more than ever. We need our transformation creators to be successful in our ventures, right? We need you to show up in service and to make that difference in the world. How does it feel when you have a strategy that supports your business growth, but it also supports your resources of time and energy. You can see that the rise above noise community, revolutionising how service professionals show up in our marketing to make a real difference in our world. I want to thank you for joining me today for taking some of your precious time to listen in today. And as always, reach out to me if I can have any answers for you. And in the meantime, I'll see you on the next rise above noise Spotlight.