I’ve had my business for almost 10 years. The typical creative deal: pitch projects, meet deadlines, convince clients they need to pay for quality and that the teen kid down the street can’t do the same thing for way much less. It’s all trading time for money.
For several years, I’ve felt there had to be a better way to go about this. I picked up some courses on building an audience business online, but never made it through them. Lots of trainings on building a blog or email list or social media engagement. All very much little pieces here and there.
Summer a year ago, I determined something had to change. At the same time I got an email from Marisa about early bird registration for Message to Money. It was the following February. Of course schedules are clear that far in advance, so I signed up. Registration wasn’t that much, so I figured I wasn’t out much if I ended up not going. But I went.
February 2016 I was in LA for Message to Money. I knew it was going to be good from the previews Marisa had provided. No, it was way better. I took notes like crazy, seeing a new direction for my business unfold.
At the closing, when we all shared what the weekend had meant to us, I said that I came to try to fix a business I didn’t like anymore and left with excitement and feeling like I finally really am an entrepreneur.
Back home, I formulated a plan to pivot the business. It felt like changing the course of an aircraft carrier. I have ongoing client commitments that need to continue, so can’t mess with those at this point. I put together a curriculum of things I needed to do to get from here to there over the next year. It felt like being in grad school again.
One of the big action steps in the curriculum was to develop an online product for my refocused business. Just at the time I was ready for that step, Marisa sent out an announcement that she was launching something called Experience Products Masterclass. It was all I could hope for.
The 8 weeks promised to be grueling on top of my regular client work. Yet, I knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime. Actually, if I didn’t take the EPM class, I’d still have to do all the work there on my own because I was committed to get to the end result of launching my own online product.
So I took a deep breath and jumped in. The class has been busy, very busy. I went in thinking I would productize my main offering: done-for-you website in 90 days. Talking with my coach, I pivoted to offering a course to go before the full website deal: A 4 week course to create a blueprint for your next website. That tied in with the feedback I got from my survey and from talking with clients. My course would allow people to cut through the confusion, get to know me, and build confidence in what they need in a website, all before committing to a full website project.
In EPM, Marisa has walked us all through the process, start to finish, hammered in that done is better than perfect (yes, I’m a perfectionist and would keep fiddling to get it better and probably never launch). The pace has been quick. All reminding me of being film production classes in college where all students invariably would take incompletes (because we couldn’t get the film done in the 14 or 16 weeks of the semester, but we would be able to finish it on top of another semester’s schedule).
Back then, our film professor would just shake his head at our youthful folly. I figure that’s how Marisa feels about us poor EPM students and I know the 2nd and 3rd and 4th time around, developing an online product will be so much faster. I learned so much. It changed my whole perspective on what I deliver and I want to productize and experiencify everything I do going forward.
I’m behind schedule and just about to open registration for my course. I’m excited about the course and its potential. Since it is at the start of a customer journey, I see how it can easily provide a very significant cash flow into the business that will keep going for years to come.
I’ve also taken what I learned in EPM into other areas of my business. I recently talked with a client about me providing content management services for their website. New was that I presented it entirely in terms from EPM, asking the client “What if you knew that content on your website was being taken care of for you in a timely manner…”, focusing on the transformation and not the “here’s all the great stuff I’m going to do for you”. The client said ‘yes’.
At $2200, it’s not a huge contract, but it’s the start of productizing what I previously offered as totally custom services (and never very successfully). And at $2200, it exceeds the minimum goal for EPM, even before registration for the actual course has started.
Would I recommend EPM to someone else? If you are serious about launching a product online, this is the way to do it. Marisa delivered so much value, and kept adding more value as the course went on. I know I will be using these materials again. Yes, I need to launch and deliver my first course first. But then there will be another online product and another…
2016 started with a declaration and commitment that I was going to put myself 100% into my business. I started out by hiring a business coach and joining a mastermind group in my home town. While the idea of being held accountable helped me to make some progress, I wasn't really stepping out fully.
I say "idea" of being held accountable because I realized I was making progress because I was holding myself accountable. I wasn't really getting that much out of the program or the coach I'd connected with.
I felt I'd wasted money.. .money I didn't have.. .and wasn't making progress. I'd tried another online course a couple of years ago, and also didn't make the progress I was hoping for.
When I saw Marisa's videos introducing the Experience Product Masterclass, I was hesitant. Yet she was articulating exactly what I'd been feeling. I've been interested for some time in expanding my work to reach more people, and while the internet is a great place to do that, I've never liked that typical online products don't offer real connection or soul to soul interaction.
Marisa's promise of a true experience that would feed, engage and sustain me drew me in. Murray was also really helpful in being super clear about what I could expect in the program. I took the leap and signed up.
I still can't believe the quality and potency of the content and learning! I feel like I accomplished more in my business over the 8 weeks of the course than I have in 7 years of (sort of) being in business!
While I didn't reach mission accomplished in terms of dollars (though I did get over halfway there), my personal mission of really stepping into my work fully, and putting it out there in the world in a bigger way was accomplished 100 fold!
I'm a lifestyle and empowerment coach, and my biggest passion is connecting people with the power of the Sacred Feminine within. I have a deep longing to bring balance and healing to a sorely out of balance masculine world, and a strong belief that it is women who will bring this balance and healing.
I'd been feeling hesitant to stand behind my work out of fear of seeming too "woo woo" or "fluffy" for a long time. With the EPM program, I was encouraged to really own who I am and what I'm here to share. Out of that was born Mother's Medicine: Awaken the Sacred Feminine Within
My program focuses on supporting mothers to feel nurtured, connected and empowered so they can step into the lives they were born to live.
I finally feel that I can be the advocate for women who struggle to advocate for themselves. I now have a platform to support women to take charge of their lives, and step into their roles as powerful, wise, far sighted leaders.
While I'm still growing my list and outreach, I know I'll get there, and I'm more confident than ever that my work will support thousands of women to awaken and embody the power of the Sacred Feminine within themselves!
Marisa and her team are top notch. The care and love they put into the program is unparalleled, and never have I been surrounded by such a powerful, supportive and encouraging community.
So, as far as I'm concerned....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!
Update as of February 2017 (2 months after launching my 6 week program): My Mother's Medicine: Awaken the Sacred Feminine Within program was such huge success that all of the women, plus one more that really wanted to get in on the action, asked to start my planned 9 month deeper dive program, Wisdom Rising: Embody the Sacred Feminine. I wasn't planning to do this until September, but the women insisted!
I couldn't be more grateful or feel more blessed!!! I'll be offering a new Mother's Medicine 6 week program in April 2017, and still launch another 9 month Wisdom Rising program in September. I feel like this program has set me up for a future of phenomenal success, and more importantly, I'm putting the work into the world I care so much about, and serving the women who need it! What a gift!!!
I first "met" Marisa online in 2014. I signed up for her Hidden Story Power. That was the first time I purchased any kind of online course. The next 2 and a half years, I took countless webinars and signed up for more courses.
When I stumbled upon Marisa's EPM (probably through email since I was on her list), I was in the middle of designing an online course of my own. I was really intrigued by the ways I could design my course in such a way to make it more of an experience product and less of an information product, and with the guarantee Marisa offered, I HAD to find a way to make it work!
I'm the founder of Writers Who Run and launched my first "experience product" (though I didn't call it that) this past August - a live, in-person 1:1 retreat, with 12 attendees, called the Writers Who Run Retreat, but I LOST MONEY.
Despite having lost thousands of dollars (seriously, NO PROFIT), I learned a lot and I am already planning my second one, for June 2017. Also, one person who attended in 2016 already signed up for 2017.
My online course was the idea I had to feed into my retreat to create a funnel and "make money while I sleep." Kind of hard to do when you don't have the course built out and no idea how to market it. So I signed up for EPM! Marisa says you have to learn to make money while awake first. I totally agree.
The idea is so that I can quit my day job and have more time to write. This has been my goal for the last 7 years. And it's going to happen! The thing is, if I never make money, I'll never be able to quit my day job. So, I knew I had to take the plunge and do this because I'm worth it. I have every expectation in the universe that I'll be successful.
While taking this course, I have had so many insights and breakthroughs. Lots of ways to implement my course, Run With Your Writing, an 8-week online course, and experiencify it. I'm even creating a SECOND course, Write Like An Author. It's going to be awesome!!! My coach says I have a GREAT funnel. That gave me confidence to keep going.
I have 21 hours and 30 minutes left until the countdown timer ends. I have 2 webinars scheduled this week, even though it's Thanksgiving, and 33 people signed up to attend. I haven't made any money yet, but I WILL! Still feeling hopeful. Will update more results later.
Mission accomplished? Still being fulfilled. Keep on keepin' on...
I didn’t really plan to sign up for the EPM Masterclass, but something happened. I had watched the launch videos, felt inspired and excited but didn’t have the money. While I knew I would be missing a great opportunity, I had put it out of my mind.
I think it may have been the day the cart closed, and I got another email from Marisa with another video. Something caused me to watch it and all of a sudden something made me physically jump off my chair (seriously) and knew I had to find a way.
It was one of those moments that you don’t know why you do something. Whether you call it divine guidance, God or the Universe…it was something greater than myself. I am still not sure exactly what happened, but something did.
My husband has always been supportive of my continuing education and I guess he could see the look on my face when I told him about it. We borrowed the money and took the leap. I have taken many courses before, more than I care to admit. I have never experienced a course like this one. It was like a college class on steroids and I loved it. (I am sort of a nerd.)
The FB community has been AWESOME and I am so blessed to be a part of this group. I admit I had a bit of the “imposter syndrome” as I was developing my experience product and wondered if I could really teach this. There are so many others who teach podcasting. I was struggling to identify social proof.
Coach Christine asked me how many people listened to my podcast. She encouraged me to actually take a look at my stats. I had not paid too much attention to stats in the past so I didn’t realize a million people have been listening in over 50 countries in the past 2 years. I was surprised, grateful and honored and to say the least. I had found social proof, thank you Coach Christine!
After having trouble with the timeline for my 4 week program during the holidays, I decided to create a “save your spot” campaign (something I just made up). On Monday, November 21st, I reached mission accomplished by 6:30 pm CT, so I missed the deadline. I surpassed mission accomplished by 9:30 pm CT that night! I am able to pay back what I had borrowed :-)
"Expand Your Reach with Podcasting” masterclass does not begin until January 2, so I am still hoping to get more students and working on the marketing strategies Marisa taught us.
I am forever grateful for this experience! Much gratitude!
The moment I heard about the Experience Product Masterclass, I knew I had to do it. It was like Marisa was whispering into my ear, through all the marketing she did, this is the future. This is how everything you do from here on out will change.
When I first started, it was my intention to create a one day virtual intensive for physicians who love their job, but are frustrated with the bureaucracy. I had experienced this personally, and had done a lot of work to create a happier, more fulfilling career. And it went along beautifully, I kept up in class, I did all the homework, I outlined and designed and wrote.
And then I got stuck. I couldn't decide on a logo. I spent a week trying to figure it out. This, of course, wasn't really where I was stuck. I was stuck because I had stopped really wanting to do the virtual intensive. I had fallen so in love with the idea of experience products themselves that I began to see that I wanted to do more than just a weekend intensive.
I happened to be talking to a health coach who was putting together a 12 module course for health coaches, to help them understand hormone balance better (a complicated, technical problem). She had just lost her copywriter after 2 modules, and she was looking for someone else to take over. We started talking about ways she could experiencify the course, and she asked me if I would just do it for her - she didn't have time. Next thing I knew, cha-ching, I had a $12,000 contract to complete the course using the experiencify techniques!
And then I was talking to a client I was doing some editing for. He wanted a new platform, a more exciting website, a more interactive marketing process for his work. And he hired me to create it for him, again using the techniques I learned in the EPM. Cha-ching, another $1400!
And lastly, a woman reached out to me after being referred by a previous client to help her with her sales page. Using the incredible copywriting techniques I learned in this course, I negotiated to re-write her entire sales page and her Facebook ads. Cha-ching, another $150!
So, I might still do the Intensive, but I've been a little too busy with these other experience products to get it completely off the ground. There's always January!
So, mission accomplished - in a completely unexpected way!
OK, Marisa, this catapults you into the ranks of the major thought leaders of history. I'm serious! This is a civilization-changing series of insights. A whole new model for how "educators" will structure education so people will learn quickly, easily, and happily anywhere people need to learn ANYTHING (and which, by the way, because of your clear SEQUENCE of positive experiences to structure in and negative experiences to structure out, goes way beyond "experiential education"). Brilliant!
Do you know Jane McGonnegal's work on taking the principles that make video games work and building them in to society?
The mission I've accomplished by the end of the Masterclass has been much different than the one I had forecast when I enrolled in, and it also had different metrics.
I set for myself and my experience product a goal even higher than the minimum suggested in the course - my subject was very ambitious and I wanted to target high-paying customers. From a business perspective, it made sense.
I put all of myself into the Masterclass, showed up to every single webinar, coaching, and complimentary calls (incl. Don's ones), despite of my "difficult" Time Zone (very late night) here in Europe, from day one to final day. Took active part to the EBM FB Group and made all the suggested exercises through the Strategy Section.
then - BOOM - I hit the market.
With a "thud" on my head.
The FB and LinkedIn survey I did had brought in too few potential leads, much less than I expected, and that event triggered past fears and hidden shouting voices within myself. Maybe I was competing in a niche already saturated by established instructors and companies with their following and reputation. Maybe I had to meet much higher expectations than I had initially thought of (yes, I'm a damned self-critic and perfectionist, even though I beat myself much less today than just a few years ago. Call it "slow evolution"). Maybe I wasn't ready for that, yet.
On top of that, I realized that I needed to buy some additional tools in order to provide a meaningful experience to my audience, and I simply didn't have the funding for them.
My Higher Self tried to tell me "Step Up! Own Your Power!" - but the thousands shouting voices in my head kept me down and brought me back to the fears I had already experienced in the past few years. I gave up.
While still taking part to the webinars and reading all the material, I didn't do my campaigns. I kept myself busy (and somehow distracted) with a short job assignment, and finally reached the end of the Masterclass... with sand in my hands.
Probably I didn't even complete my course assignments because I wanted an alibi NOT to claim my guarantee by the end of the Masterclass. Marisa's job had been fantastic, beyond any imagination. Mindset, Tools, Personal Power... Marisa has not simply taught them, she has embodied them throughout the course, and has surrounded herself with a Squadron of Superheroes better than Marvel's! So it would have been not fair passing on her my responsibility. I simply wasn't ready, and I had to own it.
And so, this is the dark side of the story. But there's a bright side, also.
When I entered the EBM FB Group, in my first post I described myself as a shy guy and not a "FB animal". I was used to like, love, repost other people's posts, give them advice whenever I had something worth saying. But no "putting myself on the spot".
Yet, as we entered the course, I felt the power of the Masterclass community, something that I had missed in my previous online instructor experience (I've been online for two years now, on a popular e-learning platform), and a parallel space started populating my mind. Sounds ("cha-ching!"), expressions ("Building Momentum!"), roles ("FB Community Magic Maker") became a shared alphabet and language within the community, and the creative source compelled me to give them structure and dignity into a cohesive whole. That's the way the "Experience Product Master RAP" flowed out of my pen (and keyboard). As it was taking shape, I clearly saw that it was my way to express gratitude to Marisa, her wide Team, and the whole 400+ members' community for the precious melting pot of experiences that was being created and shared all around me.
So I stepped up, got into creative mode, and put together something I had never done before. I found a rhythmic base, modified it, recorded my voice, crafted a slide, put everything together, uploaded on YouTube and then on the FB Group.
BOOM. Again, but this time with a different (and laughing) sound.
I received dozens messages of appreciation and love. I had painted our common universe, and took the courage to show up against my shyness! I had taken a step forward towards gathering a community with no expectation, just around our "tribal" world.
I had made a shift of mindset, that had propelled me to a different level of consciousness, that will come in useful with the Experience Product that I'll create, especially for the international audience that I'm targeting. And without the Masterclass, that wouldn't have been possible.
By the way, thanks to that crazy and funny Rap (that Marisa even asked me to replay live on the last day of the course, with my great amazement and King Rono's beatbox!) I've had the opportunity to get in touch with all those people who have been working behind the scenes (namely Donna, Shireen, Murray) to silently complement Marisa's amazing work, that I would have missed otherwise, and the other coaches beyond my beloved Christine, too - and I'm so grateful to the Creative Source for having allowed me to do that!
Besides, in the short job assignment that I mentioned above - where I've been a Scrum Project Management instructor for two days in front of fifteen IT and Software Development professionals from a large Consulting Company in Milan - I've implemented many of the techniques that Marisa has taught us. Pattern Interrupts, Normalizing Challenges, Bird's Eye View, Mission, Future Self, Constant Wins... I had already somehow used some of them with my previous classes, but now I had been able to apply them with more focus and deliberately in order to keep high attention, involvement, and retention.
The results? At the end of the two days, each of them told me goodbye with a big smile and "Congratulations for the course"!
Not a simple "Thank you", but "Congrats". I stared at them, unbelievingly. I then realized that I had made a vibe shift, and I was really embodying the principles that I had learnt during the Masterclass.
So maybe I didn't feel like ready for the Marketing and the Delivery parts of my Experience Product, but I had already taken so many steps from where I had started. Not the metrics that I supposed to meet and that so many have already met until now, but a different metric - probably more meaningful for me right now, for the place where I stand.
I'm still fighting against and within myself to shut up those naughty voices, and maybe that will take some time.
But, as I envision my Future Self with his Experience Product, and as I nurture the precious relationships that I've been blessed with in the course, I feel I've already accomplished a somehow "Personal Mission".
For this, I'll always be grateful to this Masterclass and to all the Superheroes (Marisa, Team, and the other 400+ from their homes) that have accompanied me on this Path through this some 10 weeks' journey.
Hey Tribe - Congrats ;)
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to recognize the subtle negative thoughts that are plaguing you at every step you take, and learn what to do to quench them, You will practice the hidden secrets on how to get through the cravings that make you crazy, experience and contribute to the support from this group, learn and practice new coping skills and come out on the other side a confident, grateful non-smoker.
You will also discover: what it feels like to be a non-smoker again how to utilize positive actions that will allow you to postpone lighting up for just an hour (maybe even a minute) at a time. how life feels when a cigarette is not in charge how to stop smoke-related illnesses the true wonderful taste of food again how to let go of the guilt of poisoning others with second-hand smoke how it feels to have fresh breath and enjoy the fragrance of your cologne how to replace the feeling of a cigarette without your mind even realizing it how to stop burning up your hard earned money how to stop feeling like a 2nd class citizen with people giving you dirty looks and ostracizing you outside to smoke and much, much more!
When I published my book, 21st Century Relationship Guide, two years ago, I knew I had to educate myself as to the most effective ways to market it online... So over the course of a year I spent close to $15,000 on three different educational products from various sources which I thought would bring me up to speed in honing my ability to get my product out into the world… It didn’t happen as I planned. Initially I was pumped up about the possibilities however it wasn’t long before my initial enthusiasm cooled off… You see I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of systems and information that was available to me since I purchased the products... I consider myself a disciplined person when it comes to working alone however I didn’t have any interaction with the creators of the product as I was on my own and I found it hard for me to keep myself interested and motivated… So after one year of dabbling with the products, I just put them aside and abandoned the marketing of my book until I discovered a better way… I am a businessman, so I’m not in the habit of throwing away $15,000… It’s not that the information wasn’t valuable or helpful, it’s just that it was so boring for me to plow through and implement the tons of knowledge I would have to learn…
In the course of the next eight months there were many offerings of marketing courses that crossed my path however I did not purchase any… My intuition was looking for something different and I knew I would find it so I waited… And then one day I opened an email to a video presentation from an intelligent, vibrant woman named, Marisa, who was talking about how we are in information overload and that she had developed a method in how to create experiences throughout an information course which would engage the student with constant wins, multimedia, peak experiences and much, much more… I immediately saw the truth of what she was saying and the incredible value that was before me… I could also see that she was coming totally from her heart and really cared about supporting individuals in getting their message out into the world… From that moment I was totally hooked on the concept of an experience product and reached in my pocket and purchased the course… Additionally, I invested in a two day participation event called the Lab at Marisa’s home where 20 of us were to immerse ourselves in fine-tuning the product that we had already developed within the masterclass… She totally had my attention in the first email...
We have just completed the eight week Experience Product Masterclass and the process for me has been the single most engaging educational event I have ever experienced in my life… Marisa over delivered on the knowledge and information she so generously shared with us but more importantly I was able to assimilate and engage my mind on a daily basis for eight weeks because of the way she structured her information into an actual engaging experience product… The support was outstanding from Coach Mike and everyone on her staff and at no time did I feel left alone to weave my way through the course… The way she structured it did not at all seem like work as I never had so much fun studying… One of the greatest satisfactions for me during the course was to begin to get clarity about my product and watch it form as we went along and to experience exciting step-by-step wins all along the path… What a great modeling for us to see what an experience product would actually look like as we were totally engaged in it and I thought to myself that if I could do this with my product then everything was going to be just fine…
The results for me has been nothing short of amazing as I have created an online coaching program for couples that I am about to launch in the coming weeks and I could not be more excited about finally creating an experience product which I trust will make a real difference in people’s lives… The thing I’m most excited about is that even though I’d love to generate ever- increasing income through sales of the course over time, the most important thing for me is for couples to actually participate, do the work and implement the techniques and concepts that I will share with them… Now I am confident that I have an experience product, The Intimacy Solution, which will keep couples engaged in the process and ultimately make a positive impact on their relationship…
During the course, one of our exercises was to create a feedback loop by sending out a questionnaire related to our product, and I had an outstanding result of over 200 questionnaires completed and returned… Even though I haven’t started my marketing yet, five couples who participated in the questionnaire have committed to my upcoming offering... I reached my minimum goal and surpassed it with $2485! Yea! I am so excited to see how just one marketing campaign generated my five couples without even trying so what will happen when I implement in the coming weeks two other marketing campaigns which Marisa has taught us…
Bottom line...I am absolutely thrilled that I participated in the Experience Product Masterclass… Most definitely, this has been one of those life altering experiences which bless our path from time to time…Yes, I will be able to assist others who are attracted to my work and yes, I will generate substantial prosperity because of what I’ve learned from Marisa however there is another level of her work which has to do with something you cannot put a price on… The level of Truth, Sincerity and Service that is transmitted through Marisa, Murray and the team is outstanding and it touched us all in ways we are not even conscious of…
However, the most important gift that was shared with us and was totally suffused throughout the course, was Love…Thank you, Marisa )
I enrolled in several online business trainings in the last 2 years. I learned a lot but there were no fun in those trainings. Most importantly, I made $0 and served no one with all those trainings. In April 2016, I paid $6000 for a course by a famous guru. Hoping I could fine tune my business idea so I could serve more people and make some money. It was the most time consuming online class I had ever taken. The instructor is extremely knowledgable and helpful. However, the structure and delivery of the course by the owner did not justify $6000 and our time investment. 100% of students agree that the course was over-priced. Result: I’m not the only one in that class who made $0 and served no one! Discouraged, disappointed, dissatisfied… I felt like a failure! When I chatted with one of my best friends in Hong Kong, she suggested me to get a stable job.
I forgot how did I find out about Marisa. No way I would buy another course!! I went to her webinar anyway. Marisa presented it perfectly! I like the live Q & A afterward. She was the business ninja that answered all questions professionally (including mine.) I honestly did not get the essence of what she described as “experience product.” I had a gut feeling that this course is different from all my previous courses because of Marisa. Her approach sounds more fun. Wish I had found this 4 weeks ago! I bought 2 other online courses within the last 4 weeks.
I knew that I could not benefit from these 3 online courses if I tried to attend all classes and finish all homework. After a few days of struggle; I bought this EPM at the last day before the cart closed.
I made $2663 before the deadline.
For the first few weeks, I was behind on the homework. When Marisa offered the “Jump Contest”, I determined that I better catch up. I invested all my time to this course, attended all trainings live and finished all assignments. I would like to apologise that I did not engage in the FB group as much as I would like to since I needed to watch the classes & do homework for the other 2 courses.
These 2 phrases helped me to breakthrough:
“Done is better than perfect”
“Iterate your way to awesome”
I went out to get clients despite the fact that I had not created all the details of my course. I had a framework only.
My biggest challenge were the lack of title and a compelling origin story. Who would want to join my weight loss program since I’m not a doctor nor nutritionist. To make it worse; I was never obese.
One of the biggest takeaway for Marisa’s EPM is mindset shift. Instead of focusing on what am I lacking; I focus on my strength.
I genuinely care about the well being of my friends. I want them to be happy, healthy, productive and enjoying lives.