Welcome to the six figure business mastery podcast, where every week Kirsten and

Jeannie dive into the essential topics to fuel your business growth, from

copywriting to course creation, mindset to video marketing, they've got you covered.

Tune in for expert guest interviews on all things marketing and

business and learn how to work on your business, not just in it.

So get ready to unlock your business potential and take it to the next level.

Welcome everyone to our newest episode.

We are thrilled to have you here and we are thrilled to have one of our

favorite people, Marla Bainbridge and her company is Refocused Income Streams.

She helps coaches, consultants, and business owners leverage their time to

make more money and amplify their impact by creating optimized programs that result

in more testimonials and more referrals.

She's actually got 25 years in curriculum development across

various educational settings.

20 years as an entrepreneur providing real world business insights, teen

years in hospitality, not what that we're trying to age you here, Marla,

in event planning, specializing in creating memorable experiences.

So today we're going to talk about course creation for entrepreneurs.

So welcome Marla.

It's so lovely to have you.

Thank you so much for having me here.

I love being here with you guys.

We, we're thrilled because we know firsthand the work that Marla does.

What we love about Marla is we get down what we think about, and then she

helps us put that into an educational.

Into a system of process.

So it's a better educational experience for our clients.

I know so often when entrepreneurs are creating courses, they put so much into

it, they can ramble and that really dilutes the experience of learning.

And so we can say firsthand that Marla really helped us so much

with making sure that our clients who go through our programs get.

A top notch experience.

So Marla, tell us a little bit about why you're so passionate about helping

people leverage course creation and programs to grow their businesses.

It really started probably after the pandemic, we all started

taking all these online courses.

And I just had this huge shame about why I wasn't finishing these

courses, what was wrong with me.

And then I realized, oh, maybe I'm not all the problem.

I'll assume some responsibility.

I just realized that the courses were just a lot of

information and I could find that.

On anywhere, but what I was really looking for was a transformation.

So, when I started going through these courses and not finishing them

and not really liking them, that was when I decided I could really help

with this because this is what I do.

This is what I've done for so many years.

As an educator and working with schools all over the world to create

a curriculum programs that were vertically and horizontally aligned

and without gaps and redundancies and would make transformations

on a laugh because we met you.

Because we both took a particular course together and we like to joke

that felt like a full time job.

Like that course, that program was like a full time job.

So Jeannie and I were both going through like different parts of it.

So having that conversation around helping people get the result that they

want in the least amount of time, right?

Nobody wants to buy a course or program they like you said they

want to buy a transformation and the skills that they need to get

what they really want to accomplish.

And one of the things that you said that I really love is the word leverage.

I think as business owners, we don't always think about the different

ways we can leverage in our business outsourcing is a great way to leverage.

But by creating a course you have something that's working

for you on an ongoing basis.

Tell us what that looks like for most of your clients.

So what I've really gotten.

Out of this more recently, is that how it has refocused even more into not only just

creating online entrepreneurs, creating online courses that they want to sell

and have evergreen, you can certainly create it and create programs for 1 to

few 1 to many, you have a client meeting.

You find out where they're struggling, you give them some feedback, and then you

give them a specific module to go through in one of your courses so that you are

ready to have the next conversation the following week and hit the ground running.

They've gone through it.

They've had time to really think about it and apply it.

The online courses were missing is it was just a lot of information and

not a lot of opportunity to 1 try it in the real world and see what's.

What doesn't make sense, but then also having that feedback loop,

which is part of my refocus framework is to practice does not make.

Perfect practice makes permanent and then finally, I'm using it a lot

recently with teams within their teams.

So, like, I'm working with a small business right now that we're creating

an online course for onboarding and orientation of her new staff.

So lots of different ways to use online courses.

I think they think, Oh, we've got our meetings every week or every

day or however often those are, but to compliment that with something

that they can work on their own, but also with some guidance, because it

probably has video training in it.

I think I like the word compliment that you just used.

I think that really does.

Describe it because it's just a resource and a support that's just

more than a worksheet and it's not as it's something I can revisit from my

coaching meeting over the past 16 years.

We've had lots of different types of courses and programs.

We've had less expensive ones that were really do it on your own.

And what we've really leaned into.

The past couple of years is having a program that has a portal in it,

but then also weekly coaching calls.

And then I think you're starting to hear a lot more of what we do

becoming more popular, which is done for you and done with you.

So, like, our program is really done for you done with you and then obviously

the coaching component to that.

Are you seeing that more often now?

100 percent I have to completely change the way that I work with clients.

Now, I used to believe that clients wanted to learn how to create a course, but they

don't want to know the level that person.

You and I've talked about this so many times.

They don't want.

What I know, they just want their course and they want it to be good.

There's still, I'm not just doing it.

We're doing it together, but there's the pieces of it that I do.

And the pieces of it that they do.

Cause you, I know we, you work with us and I think that, cause that's

where the transformation comes, right?

You bring your brilliance, your zone of genius, and then you just

are able to help us done with us.

So are you doing a lot more of that with clients?

Are you doing more program reviews and then helping them take that program to

a much better educational experience?

Definitely reiteration is a great thing and I have done the same thing with

my own program and now there are in refocus stands for results and really

coming up with a result statement.

And now I've expanded that even further to include who is their audience?

What is their zero to hero?

Journey and then really utilizing that and helping them to get to that

point and then building the course around that has really been huge.

There are so many things that eye opening things that Marla taught us

about creating a course because it has to do with so many different elements.

Like there's timing.

How much time are people really invested in learning something

when you're listening and learning?

So I find it fascinating.

Going really into the brain can really take 3 to 5 pieces of new

information in a learning episode.

Now, that's dependent on things.

If I have a frame of reference, and you're giving me 3 to 5, if it's a

complex issue, then, you know, that I'm learning, it might take less.

So, there are factors in that and establishing your videos in an online

course, and really considering what are the 3 to 5 pillar pieces of information

that you want them to walk away with.

In and really built for that.

And you have another process, which I love.

It's RRT.

Tell us about that.

Reviews, referrals, and testimonials, because these

are what give us credibility.

These are a lot of times using our, the words of our

clients, help new clients to go.

In the very beginning, I want Someone to tell me how they feel

in a, in module one, so to speak, they write, what do they think now?

And then at the end of the course, I will have them.

What do you think now?

And you can really compare those 2 and help them define what

that transformation come up with how they felt in the beginning.

They wrote it down and then that's really part of the reviews.

Sometimes we just think about doing it at the end.

How did you feel about this?

Did you learn something?

But to put that like little drop in their mind in the beginning

is, I think that's genius.

Also in using essential questions, it's a very well known educational strategy.

You can Google it, essential questions that do not have a right

or wrong answer, but they're meant to start at the beginning of a module

to stimulate your frontal lobe.

And it just really helps establish.

A learning experience.

I'm going to go ahead and give you a little shout out before I forget.

So after working with Marla, most of our clients end up referring

us two to three other people.

So when you think about building a course or a program that has

such a great transformation, that your clients are chomping at the

bit to go share it with everyone.

We love marketing, but again, referrals are, they're easy, low hanging fruit in

a lot of ways, and they really can be.

Either the icing on the cake, or sometimes for a lot of businesses, the

lifeblood of the business until they get their marketing, really having

great traction, knowing your audience is key, knowing where they struggle

and being able to integrate that into your course and getting that.

Feedback loop in with that so that you are almost forcing the person going

through your program to feel that identify it and then show growth from it.

That growth mindset.

I think is huge.

But not only that, where they are being intentional with placing them,

planting those seeds in your programs, knowing how you're managing them.

So keeping them, what database are you keeping them in or a spreadsheet?

Where are you using them?

Where do you need to use them?

So thinking about all of your social media and marketing and what kind of

testimonials you want to use and where getting reviews and testimonials.

So really helping to guide your clients to write about you.

Another iteration to my own program that I've started to do is when I start with

the client, I have them write a review.

Of their own or a testimonial of their own program.

And from that, we then extract what that pillar content is and how to

build on that throughout the program.

Your SEO keywords that you want to use, not only throughout your program.

This might be obvious, but how do you think that creating and

optimizing a course really helps entrepreneurs make more money and

amplify their impact in their business?

Great question, and I will take that back to writing the review.

I think that also helps to know what that transformational gap is.

And build for that you build for the problem you want to solve.

Right?

So that's impactful.

And if you have other people talking about how you've helped them solve

their problem, then you're also sharing that impact and then that just

provides for your client to go out and have more impact in their own.

So, I believe it's just a really a domino effect.

It's fascinating because.

I think for a while, especially through COVID and after the pandemic,

I feel like you had a lot of people who were jumping on creating courses

without any like training or any thought of the transformation.

We deal with that quite a bit when we're talking to people that they've

had a bad experience with having someone do it with you and do it for you.

That almost seems too good to be true, which is, I've had people say that

to us, this is too good to be true.

You did deliver on that promise.

The other thing I think that was interesting is.

We went to a place of, you have to coach one to many.

It has to be one to many.

And you know, I have a couple of different programs.

I still take on one clients.

So it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

You can set up your business any way you want.

And now that you've got me thinking about, Marla, about having modules from

my one on one coaching clients, that's going to have me up tonight thinking

about how I'm going to make that happen.

Because that is brilliant to have more information that they can learn.

I was working with a one on one client yesterday who's really trying

to get clear on her ideal client.

Where they are in the journey of their business.

So being able to send her to some information that she can

go at her own pace and review that, I think that's so helpful.

I realized like in using it with a one-on-one client, maybe that's not

the right measurement, but if like in the Kirsten, in the, your situation

that you just mentioned, I think the measurement would be did it have impact,

did it help with a transformation?

If I join a course.

On marketing and all I need is email marketing.

It doesn't mean I didn't get value out of the course.

It doesn't mean it didn't have impact.

It did.

Or it might have, and what I want to add to this is fascinating because we, with

our program, the one that the first one you helped us with that, they have a

training module to go into, so they have recordings that they learn from, they

come to weekly coaching calls where we can help them with those things again,

done with you, and then when they're ready, we pair them with a trained virtual

assistant and doing all the back end of the marketing and what is really surprised

us, and I think it's really because you helped us We have clients that go

through the modules, book the meet and greet for their virtual assistant, and

we never see or hear from them again.

We have some people who will join the program, they'll go through the courses,

they might come to two, maybe three coaching calls, hire their virtual

assistant, and we never see them again, which means they're off and accomplishing

what they want to accomplish.

And then we have other clients who, maybe they're camera shy, or they're still

trying to really dial in on their keyword.

So they may come to our coaching calls for two to three months before they're

up and running, but it, it, it gives you the opportunity to allow people to go at

their own pace, but they don't need the live coaching, the done with you part.

They just want the, the information.

And so I think that is a testament to what it is to work with someone like

you who makes the learning experie.

Totally agree.

And that's what I've learned a lot lately about using these courses internally,

is it becomes that hub for new hires to have a place just in time learning.

Just tell me what I need to know.

And so being able to use a course like that, I think is just a great way.

To use a course that way to have impact and help clients and that we serve.

I think more and more businesses now are definitely implementing

video content into their training.

And I was talking to one of my clients the other day and I said,

I'm not the tech savvy person.

So Jeannie will often record videos of doing things, which again, if I'm

only doing it once every few months, I'm going to forget how to do it.

So just knowing to go where it's stored, go watch it again.

Oh, yeah, I'm around to do that and then do it.

The other part of that is I always tell people to make your

videos really short 20 minutes.

It's really usually about enough time.

And that also makes it really easy.

If you need to re, record something.

So, if something changes, or if you're noticing some misunderstandings in a

certain module, it's easy to just go back and record 1 video instead of

having to re, record a whole hour or.

Cheers.

And for the people who are learning, they can go right to where they

need to go, because sometimes you've got a 30 minute video.

They want them to do an order, they're in a drip, totally understand that.

The advantage is if I go back, I have it in just a small

bit that I can go in and get.

Even if I needed to watch all of it first, which makes sense in a lot of

ways, then I still have the ability to just go back and watch what I need.

It's almost like chapters in a YouTube video.

Sometimes actually when you're searching now on Google or even in YouTube and

you're looking for something specific, it will bring you to a specific point

in the video where they talk about.

So Marla, the other day, Jeannie and I were working on a

masterclass where we teach real estate agents how to use keywords.

And we've talked this in the past, but it's been a while.

So even though we didn't want to master like how to become like curriculum

creator, so to speak, we did glean enough information from you that now,

even when we're doing something like a webinar or a masterclass, we're thinking

about time and lessons and making sure that we're giving them an opportunity

to process what we're learning.

The concept before we move on too quickly to the next concept and, for example,

we stop with this particular webinar about 20 minutes in and do a 10 minute

Q and a or however long that takes.

And then we go back for another 20 minutes.

And then we have Q and a again, because I think you're right.

About 20 minutes of learning is the extent, like, how many concepts

can go into that 20 minutes without making it too complicated.

So I think everything that we've learned from you is really

helped us in other ways as well.

And so when we start talking through some of these strategies, they say, just

like you did, that makes total sense.

Let's do it that way.

And then about the 20 minute learning episodes.

If you ever do need a 40 minute learning episode, it's definitely possible.

You're just intentional with that 20 minutes in a 40 minute session.

You're breaking the information into intentional 20 minute sessions,

but it seems to be a good estimate.

So if you're thinking about creating a course, I would highly recommend

you reach out to Marla, because she can definitely help make it a

lot easier and make it a fantastic learning experience for your client.

And let me tell you, getting those referrals will make a big difference

in the amount of money you make.

And then if you were like Jeannie and I were when we started working with Marla

and you already have a course, and I think we with our course, I think we

had already run 3 or 4 betas because Jeannie and I learned a long time ago.

So we always like to run our program to the point where we get people through it,

get real feedback, make changes as we go so that we know what we have is working.

And then we were able to work with Marla to really put that in a better.

Educational process.

So it doesn't, whether you're just starting with a course, I would

definitely encourage you to talk with Marla because she's amazing and she can

definitely help you make more money and have a much bigger impact in the world.

If your listeners do have a course already, I will offer a 50

percent discount for the next 30 days and I'll just do an audit.

It takes a few days.

We'll go in.

We'll look at it together for 1 or 2 hours, and then I'll look

at it on my own for a few hours.

And then I'll send you a report.

Here's what I would do differently.

And then you can choose if it fits what you're trying to accomplish or not.

And normally this is 500, but for your listeners for 30 days,

I'll do it for 50 percent off.

Thank you, Marla.

And we will put a link in the show notes to how you can reach out to Marla, and

I would absolutely highly recommend it.

You also have a discovery call.

So for someone who doesn't have a course, you will jump on a call with

them and help them really flush it out and figure out if it's the right

fit for you guys to work together.

So we put a link for that below as well, so that they can book that call with you.

Discovery calls are completely free 30 minutes.

Let's go through.

Tell me about your business.

And then if I think I can help you, I'll let, you know, if it's something

that I didn't think I could help with.

I would let, you know that as well, but I'm very transparent.

I love working and helping small businesses.

It's 1 of my favorite things to do.

So I love to hear about other people's businesses and how

I might be able to help.

You're fantastic, Marla.

We appreciate you so much and we appreciate you coming here today

and educating our listeners.

We highly recommend, like I said, taking her up on her offer.

So thank you again for joining us, Marla.

Thank you so much for having me.

I always love spending the day with the two of you.

Thanks for listening to the six figure business mastery podcast.

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