48 | How I made £160K with a digital course

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to the 48th episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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Today, I've done something which I

very rarely do, because I think this

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industry is drowning with people

shouting about how much their earning.

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It's something I very rarely do.

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But I'm wanting to share an

honest version of events.

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Cause again, I think that this topic

is kind of sold like it's so easy and

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anyone can just step right out the

gate and create an online course or

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group coaching program without really

understanding what you really need

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in place to make that successful?

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So I'm excited to share

that with you today.

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I am also launching a course about how to

create a course or group coaching program.

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So I had a presale deadline of the

7th of February which was yesterday.

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So if you miss that, because I didn't

give very much notice at all, then if

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you want to join today only the podcast

release date of 8th of February you

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can retain that 30% pre-sale discount.

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The course will be launched

on the 13th of March.

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So I'll be launching it later on in

February, but if you want to jump in

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now, I would love to have your feedback

in return for that 30% discount.

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As I create the course this month,

because it's really important as I'll talk

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about today to really take into account

your ideal client's feedback throughout

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your entire business building journey.

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So if you're interested,

do drop me an email.

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joanna@joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an a and Lott with

two T's joanna@joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I will get back to you with

the details and you can let

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me know if you want to join.

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So let's talk about my journey

to earning 160,000 from my

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course over the last two years.

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And it starts where most new coaches

start, which was coming into this

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world of coaching and then seeing

someone have this big launch into

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their digital course and me thinking.

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Wow.

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I could do that.

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So I'm going to be earning millions

of pounds and laying on the beach

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and having a wonderful time.

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And I see this a lot in nearly every

single coach that I talk to, especially

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if they're earlier on in their journey.

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I want to launch a course

or a group coaching program.

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And, most of the time, they haven't

really got the foundations that

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are needed to make that successful.

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That isn't to say it's not worth joining

something though, because I joined

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something four and a half years ago

and I paid: 2000

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a program on how to launch a course.

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And miraculously two and a half

years later, I actually got my

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course over the line and now have,

earned 160,000 from that course.

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So do I regret buying the course.

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No, because I've had a

huge return on investment.

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So it doesn't mean that that won't

be useful to you at some time in

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the future and where you are at

in your business building journey.

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I always knew that I wanted

to do group coaching.

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Like I always preferred it, which

is unusual because I speak to

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most of my clients and bearing

in mind, I am an ICF ACC coach.

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So I, I do know how to.

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coach.

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But I've always absolutely

adored group coaching.

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right from the very beginning

that was where I got my energy.

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So I have created several

courses in my business, including

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in lots of different niches.

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So I do think depending on where

you are at, who you're selling to.

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It can also be useful in

selling to organizations.

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I have sold LinkedIn training, for

example, into organizations, career

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change program into organizations.

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I also created a career clarity

course for mums when I first started.

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Cause again, that was

where I was at the time.

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And obviously now I have my course,

which is the business of coaching.

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I have offered to market.

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I also have a new program, which I

haven't actually announced yet called

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signature solution, because I know so many

people just want to nail their niche and

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create their signature coaching program

without committing to a big program.

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So I have created tons of courses in a

way that you've actually thought through

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to be able to get the best results.

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Like, I honestly think a lot of the time

people get more from being part of my

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group program than they would if I were

talking it through one-on-one because

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when I have created the group program,

I have methodically thought about

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starting with why they need to know this.

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Leading into how they can do this.

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Leading into what they need to do next.

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Whereas if I'm talking to

someone one-on-one, it's not

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so easy to be that structured.

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So actually it really does support

that one-on-one and the feedback.

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So for example, in my program, people

would watch that module and then

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they send me their thing and I give

them feedback via video so they can

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really actively nail that thing.

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And then move on to the next step.

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So that's why I decided to create

my course, because there are

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huge knowledge gaps that it would

take a really long time to fill.

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So let's move on to actually

building the course and how you

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can get that thing over the line.

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So the challenges that I faced

were actually prioritizing it.

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And so with this course,

I'm launching in March.

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Why I'm pre-selling it is.

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So I actually create it.

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So it's really hard as an entrepreneur

and you may be experiencing this

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without any real accountability of

like, no one's going to sack you.

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If you don't meet your targets this month.

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So what often really helps is

that external accountability.

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Sell a thing and then create it.

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And I think that is my strongest

character trait, which is how I

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have built a successful business.

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I did exactly the same when I

was launching a career book.

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I was nowhere near ready, but I

put out this is launching on the

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29th of April and therefore it

launched on the 29th of April.

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The same with my business

of coaching program.

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I sold seven spaces before

I even had a portal.

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So that was two years ago now.

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I'd already mapped out

roughly what we'd be doing.

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And I shared with those who were joining,

that the modules would be released week

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on week, so they didn't get overwhelmed.

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And then each week I created the content

because I knew that there were seven

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people, the other end waiting for the

content to unlock on the Sunday morning.

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So yes, for 12 weeks I was slogging

it out every Saturday, creating the

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content for them and Doing that work and

putting that time in has now generated

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160,000 and, made my life so much easier.

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By being able to transfer my knowledge

to so many people without me repeating

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the same thing again, and again.

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You are also presenting that

knowledge in a way that is I thought

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through with stories, with examples.

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You can spend years getting the

perfect videos and the perfect course.

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And then putting out there and

realizing that no one's bought it.

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So there's something extremely

exciting about my Lott last

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minute method, which I call it to

literally get that thing out there.

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So let's move on to marketing

strategies for launching the course.

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I launched my course with a five

day challenge two and a half years

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ago, it was an amazing experience,

but it was also really intense.

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I took four months off social media

and all marketing after launching

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my program for the first time.

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Because it was a lot.

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There was so many emails.

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That was showing up live every single day.

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There is so much involved in a launch.

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And I obviously at the time had no idea.

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Now I do know, and I'm super, super

excited to be running my five day

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challenge to help you to get started

with your group program at the end of

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this month so do look out for that.

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Because people made huge, huge

progress in that five day challenge.

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And what I learned from the

experience is to be so organized.

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To have all of the emails

scheduled for those days.

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Rather than what I was doing at the time.

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Going live while it's then trying to

type an email afterwards and before.

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And I just wasn't organized enough

to make it manageable for me.

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So my lesson is to allow a lot of time

and a lot of prep for your promotion.

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So usually you are going to need

something like a five day challenge.

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Or you might get away with a webinar.

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Essentially you need something

that helps people to take a

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step forward, gain an insight.

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Get excited about what you're

going to help them to do.

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And then they can either take these

learnings and go off and do it on their

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own, or they know that they need more help

to really, really get this thing over the

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line and then they will sign up with you.

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What events do is build huge trust

and huge connection with you.

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So it's really hard to launch something

without having some way of people stepping

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towards you and getting to know you.

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And that is why most coaches don't

successfully launch their group

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program because they have a lot of

moving pieces and it's really easy to

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underestimate the amount of work involved

and the amount of fear that comes up.

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So allow yourself lots and lots of

time and plan it out and that is

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what we're going to be doing in the

program is really setting those dates.

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So you can effectively use that six

week to two month window of like,

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this is when I'm launching my thing.

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And these are the steps I'm going to take.

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And even if you aren't ready to

launch right away, you can follow

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those steps at any point at all, just

like I did, when I brought a program

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and I go back into it every single

time I do another launch as well.

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So I've already talked about some lessons

when I was reflecting about my journey.

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But here are the key lessons I learned.

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So lesson one is value over volume.

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So focusing on one core course

is way better than selling

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as many courses as possible.

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I have brought in all of that

income from one digital course.

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So you don't need to

create a course on this.

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And of course on that.

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The more you try and create

the less you'll sell because

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you're so busy in creation mode.

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And you'll probably underestimating

how much time and energy it

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takes to sell that thing.

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Lesson two is to focus

on authentic marketing.

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So people might not be ready

to buy your thing right now.

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And.

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The more you can embrace that.

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The more your business will grow.

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I had somebody who joined my program

in the last few months who did my five

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day challenge two and a half years ago.

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So rather than think, oh, that

failed, no one signed up, or

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like one person signed up.

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Just focus on.

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You showed up and you feeding

into that value bank will

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come back to you in the end.

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So just keep focusing on giving value.

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Being the most amazing person you

can and know that every single time,

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that will come back to you, you need

to trust in that as an entrepreneur

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that needs to be your biggest skill.

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To trust.

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So we need to learn to yes.

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Give a deadline.

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Yes.

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Try and encourage them to take

action if that's right for them.

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But also know that everyone has

their own internal deadlines.

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And that's been a great lesson to me in

running an evergreen group program which

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is the type of program I run currently.

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And that we don't always

need hard deadlines.

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Sometimes people will just buy.

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So it's going to be interesting

for me after having a.

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Less launch based program to

launch this new program in March.

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To see how that feels, because I

think that launch is really intense

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when it's a closed program and you

either join then or you don't join

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at all, which is the type of program

I'm going to be launching in March.

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And so therefore it can feel really

stressful because currently I can

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think that's fine if they're not

ready now they can join next month.

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Whereas with this type of program

that I'm going to be trialing because

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I think it might be too much to have

two ongoing evergreen group programs.

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It will be interesting to

see how that balance works.

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And I'm really, really excited

to try a different way.

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And just test it just

to see if I enjoy it.

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And what I learn from the experience.

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Lesson three is feedback and iteration.

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I am changing my program all the time.

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As you'll know if you're

inside the program.

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We have just taken on a coach

mentor, who I'm so excited to

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work with to really support me

in that more strategic overview.

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because I'm a very understanding loving

type of person, especially for my clients,

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because I really do know where they're at.

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And, so I'm excited that Jacqui,

my new coach mentor, is a very

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challenging and direct type of person.

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So I'm super excited that I can provide

the love and the care that I get it

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and I know where they're at and she can

provide the challenge and the support,

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cause don't get me wrong she's an

amazingly supportive person and coach.

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But to really think, okay, what

was difficult about doing this.

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That different dimension of targets

for each person of like, this is

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your target for nailing your niche.

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This is your target for your offer.

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So that real strong accountability.

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Which is something that I've learned

because I think what we all do as coaches

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is create exactly what I wish I had.

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I am constantly seeking that loving

nurturing yet challenging space.

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And I don't know if I've really

found it yet, to be honest, which

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is why I am so obsessed by creating

for people what I wish I had myself.

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So lesson four scaling the business.

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So how can you hold more

people in that container?

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So I started the program initially

when it wasn't a digital course, I was

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presenting live each week with two people.

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And, then the next time when I did create

as a digital course, I had seven people.

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Now,

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I probably have 25 current

clients in my program to date.

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So it's taking a different approach.

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But knowing that that has added to the

experience and it's not something to fear.

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And it's something to just get

more strategic with, which is

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exactly what I've done by ensuring

that each person has goals.

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Each person is spoken to personally

every single week to see where they're

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at, to see what their challenges are.

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To really put those systems and

processes in place so you can scale.

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And so I now know that I can still

deeply serve in a container and that

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they will get an amazing experience.

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So I think when it comes to scaling,

it's about checking on your systems,

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checking if you've got that right

support and hiring it if not,

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making sure that you have as many

processes in place as possible.

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So people get the best experience.

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We have moved to slack

this week from Facebook.

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So again, that's another change in

me scaling and growing my program.

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So now someone can say,

here's what my plan is.

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In an accountability channel.

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And then it's really easy for

me and my mentor coach to say,

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how did you get on with that?

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It also allows voice messaging

with me sharing documents with me.

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So versus emailing people back and forth.

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This way we actually get to chat back

and forth as, and when they need it.

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So I'm so excited at the

deepened relationships is

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created for me and my clients.

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And I can't wait to continue to make

this the best program out there.

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Okay, moving on to actionable

tips so you can do this.

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So without sounding like a broken record,

niching is even more important in group

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programs because to get that bond, people

need to be with people the same as them.

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With that same shared goal to

create your content you need to

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have people with that shared goal.

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Creating compelling content.

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I've looked at some people's

courses who have asked for my help.

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And they've had.

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So many hours worth of content.

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And like an hour long video, for example.

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And people just won't

watch an hour long video.

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I'm aiming for three to

four minutes per video.

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And really breaking down those topics to

help people, to actually do something so

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they implement again, which is why I love

the setup that I have, where they have

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to send me their niche or send me their

offer so every single step of the way.

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They are getting feedback,

which then helps them be excited

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to go on to the next lesson.

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So how can you build in

that accountability and that

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excitement to take the next step?

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Marketing your course.

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Like I mentioned earlier, it takes

more than just a few social media

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posts to launch a group program.

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It takes an actual launch, like

a six week process to really

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get that thing off the ground.

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Again, there are other ways, depending

on how warm your audience is.

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And in the program I'm launching,

I'm going to be encouraging people to

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launch that program within the first

four weeks of us working together.

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Again, you don't have to do that.

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But it is a really, really good option.

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So there will be a way of getting that.

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thing out there really quickly

and then going on to bigger

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launches later down the line.

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So let me summarize today's episode.

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First I talked about my journey to

160 K creating my own group program.

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The key lessons I shared were

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1.

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Value over volume.

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So focus on one course rather

than create many courses.

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Lesson 2 two authentic

marketing and patience.

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Don't beat yourself up if your

first launch isn't successful.

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Know, that those people may come

back and you will have made a massive

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difference in their life, whether

they bought your program or not.

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Lesson three feedback and iteration.

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Always be prepared to

listen, to keep improving.

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To notice where people are getting

stuck and to provide accountability,

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if possible, depending on how

you are creating your program.

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And Lesson four.

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Scaling the business, how you can

get to that place where you can

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safely know that you can take on

more clients and still give an

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amazing service and amazing results.

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I hope this podcast was helpful if

you have been thinking about creating

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: 00:19:43

an online course or group program.

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: 00:19:45

And if you would like my guidance

to do that, do jump in today.

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: 00:19:49

If you want the pre-launch rates

at 30% off and I will be officially

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launching it later in March.

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I am so excited to help more women in

particular to make more money in less

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time, because most of us women are

busy caring for children or parents

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: 00:20:07

or someone else other than themselves.

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: 00:20:09

And I I'm so grateful for the opportunity

to have created my own digital

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course that I run as a group program.

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And change a lot of people's lives.

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Like I have a massive, massive goal of

helping a million people be happier.

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And, my best way of achieving that

is to help as many coaches as I can,

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: 00:20:29

to help as many people as they can.

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: 00:20:32

So thank you for listening.

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: 00:20:33

If you want to join to email me

joanna@joannalottcoaching.com or I

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: 00:20:39

will put a link in the show notes.

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: 00:20:41

And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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: 00:20:49

Thank you so much for listening to this

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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: 00:21:04

joannalottcoaching.com.

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: 00:21:06

And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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: 00:21:10

Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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: 00:21:13

Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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: 00:21:16

personally thank you for that.

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: 00:21:19

Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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: 00:21:23

who keeps on watering the seed.

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: 00:21:26

Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.