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83 Honest & Unedited Experience Product Masterclass Reviews from the EPM class of 2016

Reviews from class of: All Years | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

Maureen Edgecomb (class of 2016)

Mission Still Being Accomplished!!

When I first saw Marisa's EPM Master Class, I had just scheduled my first Teleseminar. I got so excited, I took notes like crazy, not missing a video. My telephone get-together was scheduled just a week out, so I decided to implement and "experiencify" the whole thing! 8 attendees out of the 26 total signed up for discovery calls--1 rescheduled for another time, 1 was a no show, 1 was a "no," and 5 became my Beta Creatives for my first 8-week, online course!

I was so excited about what I had learned in Marisa's Master Class, that I jumped ahead and scheduled my 8-week Beta course, which began on September 26. So, I've been swamped creating this as I go, sending my weekly emails to my peeps, while trying to keep up with this amazing EPM course that I haven't even finished! I've received wonderful, useful feedback from my students that I can apply to the real deal, which is scheduled to begin January 9!

I've had 3 recent discovery calls scheduled from just my weekly emails (still no announcement about the course! LOL). One person has already enrolled, 2 calls are scheduled for today (I will be late to the celebration!), and my Betas have already asked how they can continue with me. I'm blown away--I haven't even announced the January course, and I'm way behind in our EPM course!!!
So far, I've only made $1,300 of my $2,000 goal, but just one more sign-up for January should do it. I'm still naming my business, haven't created a Web site (let alone a sales page), I'm behind in the course, and I feel SO CONFIDENT that I'm well on my way to helping so many creatives realize their goals in 2017!!

Thank You, Marisa & Matthew!!! You are beyond awesome!

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Melissa Mccreery (class of 2016)

I’ve been online for a while and was very excited by Marisa’s marketing for the program and the idea of experienceifying my existing programs and products - that alone would have made me very happy. I never imagined that in eight weeks I’d have created a NEW one-to-many offering, completed all the sales and marketing materials, AND be midway through a beta launch to my list. Oh, and that I’d also be feeling very prepared to transition this program to an evergreen offering with a sales funnel that is also 90% created. Bam!

Best of all, I’m feeling energized and not exhausted. Even with a very short, soft launch (coming into the holidays), I surpassed $11,000 in sales this weekend – and still have the final 48 hour push to go. Given what I’m seeing, I’m very optimistic about how this new program will be received when we scale things in 2017, and I’m excited to begin program delivery, because I know this program is going to have a much stronger completion and perceived win rate for my customers.

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Lilah Valentine (class of 2016)

This is the story of how I learned to be visible. There are probably not very many mind-blowing plot peaks in this story. I didn’t reach mission accomplished, but I achieved something so much more valuable. You have to be truly invisible to really understand what I’ve accomplished.

The beginning …

This program came at a very inconvenient time in my life. Every part of logic screamed for me not to invest. The course dates meant that I would miss the first 2 weeks of the program; I had absolutely no savings left (from spending too much money on other courses); I had at least 3 other courses that I hadn't even started, let alone completed; I had promised my partner that I wouldn't spend any more money on courses. I changed my mind about enrolling over 20 times throughout the launch. I kept convincing myself that I already knew pretty much everything that would be covered in the program, then I’d be drawn back to those beautiful launch videos and start craving the program all over again. In the end, the doors were closing and I literally had to make a decision. I got that ‘knowing’ look from my partner as she handed over her credit card. There’s only so supportive you can expect someone to be and I had pushed beyond the realms of ‘one more chance’ and into ‘I love you but this has to stop.’
I enrolled.

The middle …

I’ll start by saying that I didn’t show up live to a single lesson. I was too afraid that I’d accidentally hit ‘un-mute’ and be mortally humiliated. It wasn't until the celebration that I joined live and realised that I could have seen Marisa’s face and been even more drawn into the work if I’d only been brave enough.

Despite not attending the live lessons, the videos were still so much more interactive than any other course I’ve taken. Marisa’s enthusiasm was infectious, even in the recordings. Every single lesson had a purpose. Every single lesson contained everything we needed to know. No more. No less. Gently, kindly, Marisa led us down a path to success. Not by overwhelming us with information. Not by showing off how much she knew and how much we didn’t. But by systematically breaking every challenge into digestible actions. She managed to take us, a group of people more diverse in both lifestyle and business stage and niche than I’ve ever been a part of, and perfectly explain things in a way that felt as though she was teaching directly for me.

The group coaching call were also an incredible opportunity to learn from Marisa. Her ability to work with words is inspirational. This gift clearly comes so naturally to her - we were all blown away by the way she could take a confused and overly long statement or heading and transform it into the succinct and compelling message - right there, live, in front of all of us.

In addition to group coaching, we were given office hours with an individual coach. As far as I could, I reverse engineered getting Rono as my coach. I looked at the photo of the coaches before completing the questionnaire at the start and I saw him and thought, “You’re not gonna take any bulls**t from me.” Because I knew that things need to change. I needed to change. Things weren't working in my business - it wasn't even a business - more of an expensive hobby. I had a website, and ESP, all the gadgets. But I had no clients and in truth, I was trying not to get any. I was hiding out behind my computer doing ‘busy work’ that made me feel like I was achieving something.

Anyway, back to the coaches. If I’d been playing by my normal rulebook, I’d have tried really hard to get Christine to be my coach. She just looked so kind and so friendly (not that the rest of the coaches didn’t!!) and I was pretty sure I’d be totally in my comfort zone. It turns out I was wrong anyway - Rono was not as scary as I thought. His calls were full of personalised attention and information. And he’s kind and funny too. Although I ‘hid’ with my video turned off, I was still there, lurking! And the one-on-one sessions - priceless. (More about that later!)

The Facebook group for this program was unlike any other I’ve experienced. I felt safe. I started commenting and even sharing. I asked for feedback when normally I would have struggled alone. The support and interaction in this group has been so incredibly valuable to me. And it was fantastic to have so many team members give their feedback - so many different strengths in one incredibly effective team. Watching their feedback as like have a ‘fly on the wall’ view to answers to so many scenarios, worries and confusions, many of which I shared with the people asking the questions. As well as the general posts, I totally loved Christine’s wonderful, and always timely, videos. Like a warm hug, they popped up in my newsfeed and reassured me that I was going to be ok. That I could do this. That we all could. Sometimes it’s the little things that help the most.

The end …

A game-changing part of the course for me was the one-on-one call with my coach. Although it very nearly didn’t happen at all. You’ve probably guessed by now that I’ve been more than a little bit shy and lacking in confidence recently. To be honest, this program occurred right in the middle of one of most anxious times of my life. When I signed up for the program, I questioned whether I’d be able to ‘make myself’ have a one-to-one call with my coach. By the end of Week 7, the answer was glaringly clear. I had no intention of booking my coaching call by this point. I’d let myself down but I was safe.

I don't know what changed. I think I simply realised the value of what I was passing up. By the end of Week 7, I was becoming more confident and willing to be more visible. I booked the call while I was waiting to be served in a cafe. It literally took 30 seconds, and for about 45 minutes I was very pleased with myself. But then the panic sank in. I put 6 reminders in my phone in case I missed the appointment. I made lists of what to ask. I checked the meeting link numerous times. I drove my partner crazy with my frantic ramblings. I worried about it from that moment onwards. By half an hour before the call, I’d sent my partner out of the house so she couldn't hear what I was saying and banned my teenage daughter from exiting her room while I was on the call. I counted down the seconds until exactly 5.30pm. Then I left it 10 seconds - in case my clock was wrong. I was so panicked by the time we connected that I forgot to put my headphones on. So there was Rono, waving through my computer screen and I couldn't hear a thing …

The meeting was fantastic. I learned loads right there and then and Rono also gave me so much advice for how to move forward. But here’s the thing. I got more from that coaching call than the information. I got to listen to someone who had knowledge and experience in the business and who believed in me - he believed that my idea was good. He believed I could make money. He did some quick math and we talked about figures. And I suddenly realised that this thing could actually be real. I might just actually succeed.

Everything changed for me after that call. I had a plan that I trusted. I had motivation and confidence to go for it. I felt like I was, it’s hard to explain, I felt … real. My business felt real. Validated. Worth fighting for.

Epilogue …

This program has been so much more than the sum of its parts. I truly believe that I could not have gotten these results, this confidence and this clarity from anyone else. I needed to hear Marisa’s message, from her. I’ve never connected with a mentor who is so far advanced from where I am but still able to hold that space to show the clear path ahead.

I’ve taken so many courses. I’ve ridden the emotional rollercoaster of the thrill of the promise followed by the desperation of my failures. But this program was different. I was never alone. And I never failed. I achieved more in this 8 weeks that in years of business before. I did not reach mission accomplished during the time frame because I chose not to. I reached for something far more valuable. I reached for the opportunity to grow myself, and to lay the foundations for a successful, sustainable business.
I fully intend to reach mission accomplished. In fact, I’ll be launching early next year. I have booked a ticket to Message to Money Live and will use the income from my launch to pay off my credit card. Even while I write this, I cannot believe these words are mine. This is the first time I have ever dared to expect to earn an income. I always hoped. I always dreamt. But now, my business future is non-negotiable. Not only do I expect it of myself. I demand it.

Of all the things Marisa and her team taught me, this was by far the most valuable lesson: “I am capable of this, right now.” Their most valuable message: “We believe in you.”

In 8 weeks, I am transformed. I grew out of myself and started growing into the person I want to be. I have gone from business-dreamer to committed. From lost to excited. From wimpy to brave. From invisible to visible. From alone to supported and championed.

I am alive. My business is alive. And my future is alive.

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Rachel Bagby (class of 2016)

Poppa-Bear Care Yanked My Career Off Rails

Back in 2006, three years of increasing responsibilities to care for my ailing Poppa Bear had yanked my career off the rails and made it almost impossible for me to carry on with my creative work. Years of living with him in ICU waiting rooms and extensive care facilities were harrowing experiences that taught me how to navigate crisis care for a near-fatally stubborn parent while holding on to my sanity. Desperate for sisterly company and income, I fantasized about translating those experiences into online "Care and Carry On" programs that I could create and offer anywhere. I imagined creating programs that would be lifelines that similarly desperate, on-call-'round-the-clock, creative daughters could access anytime.

T-Totally Turned Off by PUSH Programs. So I bought a mess of programs that promised me bits of what I sensed I needed to know to make my fantasy come true. Problem was, each program that I purchased only gave me some of the puzzle pieces needed to move from idea to beta online offering. And none of them did it in a whole, supported way that matched my values or yearning, learning and earning styles. I often felt capital T-totally turned off by what I perceived to be manipulative marketing messages or techniques. Sometimes the trainings advocated using language and methods calculated to flat-out "control" or "puppet master" potential clients. YUCK!

The EPM Difference: Excellence, Compassionate Care & Beauty Through-and-Through What I needed--and am so grateful that Marisa provides with her team via the Experience Product Masterclass--was a strategically integrated business and learning model that resonated with my values of excellence, compassionate service and beauty through-and-through.

One that also offered ample FUN time for learning-in-community. One that included stories about the concerns and strategies of successful social/conscious entrepreneurs in the mix. And one that framed completion of the program as a MISSION aligned with my life-purpose. YES!

Before EPM: No Experience Escalation Plan

Before EPM, I created "DaughterWise Eldercare: How to Care for Your Ailing Parent While Carrying On with Your Creative Life," as a live workshop featured by the DC-located National Cathedral's Sacred Circles for Women Conference. It was a wild success. More women packed the room than there was ample seating for. But I didn't know how to structure an experience that offered members of my audience (who gave DaughterWise Eldercare rave reviews) value-packed ways to become clients who continued to work with me. I didn't have any experience escalation plan in place for following up with participants and continuing to serve them.

During EPM: Earning While Learning & Loving the Flub!

By contrast, soon after signing up for EPM, I agreed to be part of an hour-long teleseminar to support TreeSisters.org's Million Trees Campaign to crowdsource planting 1 million trees per year. Thanks to EPM's "Give Them What They Want" survey, (which was completed by several Tree Sisters) and coaching with Samara and Marisa, I was able to deliver an abundance of value to TreeSisters.org's founder, Clare Dakin, as she interviewed me during the call.

As a devoted Tree Sister, I coached Clare to "care and carry on"-- to strengthen her voice as a daughter of & for Earth while reclaiming a deeply nourishing practice of singing that she had abandoned years ago. We worked together with such passion, with Clare giving clear feedback about how the experience was benefiting her breath-by-breath, that listeners reached out to sign up for my $497 EPM project, "Voicing Your Power," before its sales page or content was even complete. It looked like I might reach MISSION ACCOMPLISHED before we were halfway through EPM's eight weeks!

I set up a Calendly account and began scheduling 30-minute discovery calls. Everyone said they were delicious! But when only one person committed to the five session program, I SO wished that the 10xDelivery training had been offered sooner. I flubbed the discovery calls, big-time. My biggest flub: not asking for payment and providing a link to a check-out page right there on the calls. But I took Marisa's message to "Love the flub and KEEP GOING!" to heart...Reaching Out with Heart Resonates

Before EPM, I've never conducted consistent mailings to the 1700 souls who have given me permission to contact them via MailChimp. But after learning about the perfect 4-email campaign, I outlined the first email in a 4-part sequence that would conclude with offering my Tribe the chance to join me in a world-changing adventure: "Voicing Your Power." I was in the midst of uploading everything for the email campaign into my MailChimp account when the election results of Nov 8th sent shock-waves throughout the USA and the world.

Scrapping the note that I intended to send, I reached out instead from my heart with a simple message, summed up in the subject line: "Here for You." I asked, "How are you? How are your children?" I asked about relations with family and friends stressed by political differences. I offered my heartful ears if someone needed them. I shared Perseverance, by Margaret Wheatley--a book that I found especially supportive during the 48hrs immediately following the elections. I encouraged my readers to care and carry on, together, with love.

Implementing lessons that I'd learned in the course on writing copy, and the language insights gleaned from my survey, I kept the note resonantly authentic, short and sweet. My open and click rates on that email were through the roof.

A woman unknown to me (my ideal client incarnate!) asked for help powering up her voice in a new role as the President and COO of a SaaS company that supports Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) professionals. She'd joined my list after seeing me create vocal community throughout a Wisdom 2.0 event in 2013

After our first discovery call, I was so inspired by her and her work that I offered her a second free session. After call #2 she invited me to integrate elements of my "Voicing Your Power" program into one of the premiere CSR conferences that her company is hosting. I'd never even considered CSR folks as a "niche" when thinking about my perfect client. Yet many are: mostly women, passionate about justice and longing to be deeply heard as they inspire communities of people (employees of the corporations they work for) to take world-changing action.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED inside an out! I'm listening to former and current clients more intently and intelligently. Establishing systems of experience escalation and streamlining product creation processes. $7997 earned: $7,500 contract to design and deliver fabulous "Voicing Your Power, Together" conference experiences. And I'm exploring how to offer my work to other corporate attendees. (Signed up for additional consulting time to help me think THAT through!) $497 working 1-on-1 with a client secured after TreeSisters.org teleseminar. Will conduct my first paid Voicing Your Power 1-on-1 retreat at Singing Farm.

Deeply, deeply grateful to you, Marisa, to Coach Samara and to the whole Live Your Message team!

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Richard Medcalf (class of 2016)

Although enjoying a successful corporate career, I've wanted for some time to grow my impact and use my experience and skills to serve a broader audience. I'd been blogging for a while and had built a small following, but had no product or service to offer. Without a product, there was no money to invest in growing the blog, no mechanism to deeply impact my readers, and no accountability or focus to my blog-building. But the idea of going from zero revenues to ANYTHING meaningful seemed incredibly daunting. I set myself a goal and a deadline but wasn't sure how I was going to achieve it.

Just at the right time, I came across the Experience Product Masterclass. There was a great deal of material, but delivered in a gradual and progressive way that wasn't overwhelming. And it was a lot of work, but there was a real sense of momentum and excitement from day 1 onwards and a great sense of camaraderie and support in the Facebook community.

Having purchased courses that turned out to be a set of pre-recorded videos to watch, I really appreciated the personal interaction that was a hallmark of the process. Marisa was pretty accessible, in Q&A sessions, live coaching and the private Facebook community. And I was thrilled to be able to email my own Experience Coach as much as I needed, for encouragement and ideas - as well as hopping on weekly coaching calls too!

By the end of the program, I had made back way more than my original cost. I made $3814, had my first product, my first customers, and a roadmap to deliver a fantastic experience! Most importantly, I had a sustainable way to serve new people!

My achievement program, Rocket Results (rocketresults.co) helps people bring a new level of strategy, focus and discipline to their business, non-profit, or passion project.... so they achieve more in the next 12 weeks than they did in the last 12 months, and have the results and impact they truly deserve.

And the techniques the Experience Product Masterclass have both taught and demonstrated are allowing me to deeply engage with my customers and get them the outcomes they need.

EPM got me out of the endless cycle of "growing my list" and into action, forward movement, and concrete business results.

Hi I'm Richard Metcalf.
I'm an Englishman in Paris and I run a business called X quadrant. We help business owners and leaders multiply their impact by first of all becoming leaders truly worth following. And then we help them build high performing and healthy teams and organizations. I'm an experienced consultant with 20 years worth of experience in face to face consulting however translating my consulting knowledge into an online product and program was an entirely new endeavour.

I've been blogging for a while and built a small following but had zero revenues online and to go from zero to anything seems pretty daunting. It was a new challenge. I felt I was stalled. But on the other hand, the idea of going from zero to anything meaningful seemed a real challenge.

I came across EPM and was immediately attracted by Marisa's professionalism. But I also love the way that the course was structured bringing not just a bunch of online videos and modules which many online programs do have but it also brought a lot of face to face interaction with Marisa on Q&A's but also with coaches and other support which I felt was really going to help me take action on the material.Having bought a number of online programs which didn't always deliver what they promised I clearly had to think before going and making the investment.

On the other hand the promise of EPM was very clear: make back the cost of your original investment. However the promise of EPM was very clear make back your original investment in revenues in selling your new program or they would work with you until you make that money or eventually give you your money back. So I felt the guarantee was rock solid that I was pretty much set up to win.

There's a real sense of momentum in the program and camaraderie amongst the students. There's also a lot of support not only from Marisa and from the coaches but also from the whole tribe in the Facebook community. One key aspect of the course which was really foundational for me was getting crystal clear on the exact transformation that I wanted to see in my customers. In my case it was helping them achieve in 12 weeks what they had been unable to achieve in 12 months. Well if I had that clear everything else made a lot more sense.

My favourite part of the program was the coaching relationship. It was so great to have somebody available by email and during coaching hours to really brainstorm ideas and bounce ideas off and to validate my thinking and ensure that I was making progress in the right direction.

[00:08:52] Probably the hardest point in the program was the day I actually went live with my product launch. I opened up the sales page, opened up the sales carts and wondered would anybody come. Would anybody look at my what I'd prepared would anybody put out their credit card and make a purchase.

At that point. Marisa was great she reminded me that this feeling never goes away and you actually have to push through the feeling of doubt and uncertainty and just do the actions and trust the process. That really helped me knuckle down and be as active as I could to get customers on board with the program and it worked.

I think my biggest breakthrough with EPM was quite frankly taking action and getting the results. I had a successful launch with my pilot group of rocket results members and whilst I beat my financial targets made way more than my money back from the program. What was most satisfying was seeing my students get the results that they wanted in their businesses.

What I like most about working with Marisa was first of all she's extremely professional. Secondly, she's able o get people results pretty fast on those coaching tcalls which is really important. It was great to see people getting those breakthroughs. And thirdly she's firm and very approachable.

Epm taught me a sustainable way to serve new people and the tools and techniques that the Experience Product Masterclass has taught me have really enabled me to--and the techniques around building experience products are really enabling me to build my online and my physical business in such a way that customers really get the transformation that they need.

Its not just about transmitting information. I have one more line up where I want EPM got me out of the endless cycle of growing my email list and into action taking results and growing my business. I was really happy about the results of my EPM launch. I was hoping for around four or five customers in the end I got an initial cohort of around about 10 which brought in around 5000 dollars of revenue more than paying for the course.

But more than the money I've been most excited about the transformation that I've seen in my students they've gone in many cases from strangers to friends I've seen their progress some of them have come back to me on following EPM to ask me for additional services. And one of my students even invited me out for lunch when I was in his hometown. So it's been great to see both the relationships develop with students and also the transformation that they've seen in their lives and in their businesses.

Yeah. EPM has given me the confidence to build a true hybrid business which is consulting face to face with business executives but also rolling out online programs to employees in the organizations I serve and also to individual leaders and individual entrepreneurs or founders.

This has given me the ability to scale. There's only so many hours in the week, so whilst consulting is great to truly build something bigger and more sustainable I think the online component is essential and the experience product formula that Marisa taught me I'm able to use in both my physical business and in my online business.

Yeah. Okay. Yes and one of the things that I love about having my own business is the ability to be flexible in my schedule so that I can make time for both my family and my clients. And the online component allows me to be more location independent than I could be than if I was having to be physically present with customers every single day.

Yes. My my rocket result students are spread around multiple countries. When I was in London a few weeks ago I happened to let one of my students know that I was in town and he jumped at the chance to actually invite me out for fancy lunch in one of the nice restaurants in London which was great because before rocket results I don't really know the guy. And now we've become friends and I've become a trusted adviser.

My rocket results students have amazed me with their clarity of thought and the action that they've taken since the course. For example Robin who is the CEO of a software company after only a small part of the course, decided to make quite a radical change in his whole pricing model and his business model which is since implemented.

Another student Martin who is extremely accomplished professional as a freelancer and as a consultant has really changed again his whole portfolio of business to make something which is more sustainable for him and focus more on the outcomes that he truly wants to achieve in his life.

And then Ingrid who recently changed into a new corporate role has had a really flying start into that role. As a result of the rocket results methodology. Yeah. So yes, good point. Ingrid is one person who had been on my relatively small email list for a few months and who found that rocket results came just at the right time for her as she moved into a new corporate role. So she decided to jump in as a way to really give her a flying start into that new position. I think she was one of the great students in the course.

She really understood this idea of getting clear on your purpose your plan getting your productivity sorted out and then working on the people aspects of the influence around you. And as she worked on that, it was great to see the progress that she made she really established herself in her new role.

She never gave you some tricky relationships that she had to deal with as she came into that company. And since then she's reached out to me for some specific coaching and consulting and other topics that have come along since. So again another great example of somebody moving from a stranger or perhaps an acquaintance to somebody who's a real friend and with whom I now have a good long standing relationship.

I'm extremely proud of my rocket results clients. It's great to actually see them go through the process and apply it. I think thanks to some of the experience product techniques and actually get the transformation that they wanted to get more done than they ever thought possible. So it's been really satisfying to see them put that into practice.

Well it is hard work and you are going to have to hustle. At the end of the day to get customers in and make things happen there's no two ways around it. But it is a fantastic way to actually go about building a product getting a real business and forcing yourself to take the actions that you need to do that. And as my rocket results students will attest it does actually help you create a program that results in genuine transformation in your students.

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Richard Zultner (class of 2016)

Before: I have taught live/online/hybrid graduate-level project management courses for my university for ten years. But I never did any marketing, nor set up my own course delivery portal. I am now retired from academia, so I am a solo edu-preneur. My prior revenue for direct marketing teaching was $0.

For this program, I wanted to take the content I developed and taught academically, and streamline it into a powerful, practical offering that anyone in the world could take, online, on their own schedule. I wanted to remove the academic BS and experencify my material into a true experience product, and teach using the Socratic Method -- so my students are led to discover powerful insights, by themselves.

My EPM product is an online workshop: Critical Chain Project Management Breakthrough Bootcamp -- the next level in project management, and a new paradigm for consistently finishing projects early. The ideal customer is a project manager facing an impossible deadline. I have modeled my workshop directly on EPM in terms of the duration (8 weeks of content, 10 weeks elapsed), with 3 presentations, a coaching session, and a Q&A session each week. I especially appreciated the volume of content in this course -- everyone online seems to be so scared of OVERWHELM that they cut back their content to the minimum. I prefer to deliver mastery level material, and coach people how to handle it and apply it.

I have done many live/online/hybrid presentations -- but never to SELL. So the messaging and marketing material in this course is invaluable to me. To accomplish my mission, I did one live/recorded conference presentation (30 minutes) and one live/recorded webinar (90 minutes) following the plan for the Captive Audience and Reverse Webinar campaigns.

Because these were sponsored by a professional society that includes project managers, I could not make my offer directly/explicitly during the sessions. So I made two tweaks:

(1) I presented my offer as a specific example of what all/other experts in specific areas in the profession should be doing as "service to the profession". I told hat I'm doing, and you should be doing somet__this is what needs to happen, and this is whing just like this, because we need to grow, and that means people must be able to learn. So offer a course like this in your own specialty."

(2) I collected emails at the end of both sessions, and used the Website ATM campaign to actually sell and get money for my pilot course and a bonus one-day live workshop I'm doing December 17 in New York. [The idea for that came from my first Get Them What They Want campaign.]

I held an online semi-sales webinar on 11/20 at noon (to reach West Coast to Europe) and made $2K (two people signed up). Mission Accomplished! I am now using the Reverse Webinar campaign to leverage that for additional sales.

Update: Reverse Webinar Campaign kicks ass! Double Mission Accomplished! My pilot course is 6 weeks at $997 (half of the $1997 for my full course starting in Jan 2017). The bonus live one-day workshop is also $997 including meals. As of the end of EPM today (11/21), I have a total of five people signed up for $4985 and more are in process.

P.S. I want to especially thank Don Crowther for his tech tips and advice. The combination of Marisa's strategy and Don's how-to teaching (and the delightful contrast in their styles) was a very synergistic combination. Definitely retain this part of the course for the future. I love the techie stuff, and Marisa + Don is a powerful and unique combination

What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?

Experience products vs info products how to market online courses, campaigns & tactics How did EPM help you become successful? Marketing! a strong message is key.

How has EPM and your success impacted your life?

I now know how to refine great content to a marketable product, and how to incrementally refine that marketing to ramp up success.

What has been the biggest change in your business?

Confidence.

What are you most excited about moving forward with your Experience Product?

I can bring high powered corporate "new product development" methods to solo entrepreneurs -- they don't have to go on the "pivot merry go round" to find their success

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Experience products vs info products is a game changer -- more people need to understand this difference

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Robyn Landis (class of 2016)

I have included 2 Facebook posts below this story, one that I shared the morning of the final course day when I reached Mission Accomplished, and the other from a couple days ago when I joyfully delivered my first session of my first Experience Product! In some ways, I think they tell the story real-time, better than any narrative…

But the background is that when I showed up for one of the live webinars during the EPM launch, actually registering for a program was the furthest thing from my mind. I only went because I liked some of Marisa’s other live hangouts—one on websites I remembered that I got value from.

I like free events that actually give you real value and learning, and Marisa’s are some of the few that do. I signed up for a lot of these things because I WANT to learn everything I can for my business, am hungry for knowledge, but most of them are so disappointing, so salesy or poorly done or formulaic that I turn them off with a sigh two minutes in. And then I get super burned out on all the emails I keep getting, even though I know I'm the one who signed up for them!

But Marisa’s emails are irresistible to open and fun to read so I opened them and the webinar sounded intriguing, so I hopped on. And stayed on. For two hours. Till the end. I took 13 pages of notes. I got excited. I got jazzed. I got giddy about my own business possibilities. And by the time I was over I had signed up for the course. Eve though I didn't have the time and was feeling burned about courses and money.

Part of me thought I ought to wait till made back the money I had lost on this other program. Part of me knew I couldn't wait. Knew that this was THE ONE. I had been looking for over a year for a course that would fill the gaps and bridge me from where I was to offering something online—in a way that felt authentic to me. And because it was so easy to see that Marisa was DEMONSTRATING what she was going to teach right there on the call—and I could SEE it working on me—and the value seemed huge, the bonus sounded juicy and the guarantee was a no-brainer—I wanted in.

I had been slowly building my way back into a business I left behind over 20 years ago, and I felt like it was “go time.” In the 90s when I was just in my 20s I had two bestselling books with Warner books, teaching people how to fuel their bodies—and how to THINK about food and health.

I taught my own live workshop for a few years…and then I stopped. I don't like to say I “quit” but I just didn't, in that era, and at that age, see a path forward for myself. There was no social media or online marketing and I had no mentor. So I pursued other interests, becoming moderately successful as a performing songwriter and always quite comfortable and successful as a freelance marketing-communications pro.

My approach to healthy living continued to deepen and evolve, however, and was probably the most important part of my life even though I wasn’t doing it professionally for about 20 years. People still looked at me like this was my superpower—to live it and explain it—and as the gap between my real age and “guessed age” widened people really wanted to know what I was doing.

Most of all, I saw as much suffering as I had 25 years earlier, and I couldn't stand by and do nothing, just enjoying my own ease and peace and clarity and happiness and health, while other people continued to be so confused, overwhelmed, stuck and struggling.

So in early 2015 I made a commitment to bring my voice back into this arena. I wasn't sure in what capacity. Teacher, speaker, blogger, coach. I felt daunted by it. The space had EXPLODED since I was a young health author. Gurus, books, programs. Social media, marketing. Science and technology. I felt unsure how to give my gift, how to get heard or seen, how to differentiate myself in a vast sea of Instagram stars and wellness moguls. I felt resistance to the new methods of marketing—ironically, even though I made a good living helping others with their writing and design in that area.

The idea of doing 3 launch videos and a sales page made me want to go to sleep. I wanted to share my approach and my material, I felt deeply called and certain there was some place for me, but there seemed to be so many options and steps, I didn't know what would make sense or be the right way to make it a business. I tried things. I got a website built and started blogging, started building my social presence, making small inroads.

I was feeling my way forward. I knew there was a place for me and my voice, my approach. I was making some progress, slowly. I just knew that I needed some guidance to do some basic building blocks to get myself and product out there. I took a few different courses, some by very respected teachers (including Bill Baren) and all moved me a bit forward (I got some health coaching clients, speaking engagements etc).

But most were either too focused on one area, or not focused enough, or meant for someone who was further along than me in business, or personal development that felt remedial.

When I watched the EPM webinar, I knew that this was it. And the cool thing was, it ACTUALLY WAS. It didn't disapprocess of moving us toward that one very specifoint. It was brilliant the way, through the pic mission statement goal, it filled in so many key business foundations along the way.

At least for me. It was both specific AND general in all the right ways. It was the exact right blend of expertise/experience, focus, structure, support—the EXACT kind of direction I had been looking for for two years to guide me in my next steps, and not finding in any other course. Also the right balance of content and personal development.

I can’t say that I had any particularly dramatic breakdowns and then breakthroughs during the course. I loved it, I grooved on it, I blabbed about it to everyone. I had some moments where I felt a little stuck or unsure or a little abandoned or envious or fearful or whatever, but it never lasted long, and I never stopped regardless and that was the key. (I probably redid my Future Self Mission statement about 45 times; I was like a dog with a bone.)

And the community was ALWAYS amazing and supportive. I also loved that the course actually MODELED what it was teaching all the way through. And that I just LEARNED *SO* much and created so much stuff. To me it seemed really that it was set up so you could not lose. You learn and create boatloads of stuff and then if it works, awesome; if not, you've learned and can pivot, so awesome too.

I think the most interesting and dramatic thing in my case is how incredibly well the experiencification worked on me. I SAW it working on me and I loved that. I didn't mind that I felt kind of addicted to it — as addictions go, this seemed like a reasonably healthy one.

Engagement is probably a better word—I'm always pretty driven, but I became even more so. I was “addicted” to working on my business and product, to creating the best material I could, to supporting the community, to the games, to the word crafting… and it was all FUN. (Okay, the tech stuff near the end wasn’t so fun. ;) But the rest of it was. It stoked creative fire.

Even though I was studying for my personal trainer certification the entire time (I passed, near the end of the program!), juggling private health coaching clients and freelance writing clients, and a book Indiegogo, and traveling between Seattle and Tucson—I STILL managed to attend all but one training live, and all but one coaching call. That’s INSANE.

And then near the end, I added in running several marketing campaigns including a full email campaign with a free opt-in gift, new Heroik pages and nurturing + sales. And, I still cannot BELIEVE it did it! I mean, I’ll take a little credit. ;) But EPM gets a lot of the credit.

I had taken a program right before this one where the teacher was perfectly lovely and the launch videos polished and inspiring, but once inside there was just nothing engaging. Meh materials, 5 meh modules and zero Facebook activity. Even though I am more likely to engage, I just couldn't go get it.

So, I had made $2200 as of that last Monday morning 5 a.m. With 5 people in at that time. I ended up with 7 people and my target goal, and one committed to February cohort. Two came from my perfect email campaign to a list of nearly 100 that was built with a Fast Action Campaign.

The rest: I had 2 people in about midway through EPM, and three came as I soft-launched my sale page just sharing personally and on social media—I had been nurturing the opt-ins list and had not yet done sales emails.

It was all a bit rushed and imperfect, juggling all the technology and learning and intensity of new campaigns in the crunch before the course was scheduled or start. Yet I still feel I did well, and can only imagine when I've had more time to integrate and plan.

In 8 weeks I've brought into being a new product I've dreamed of offering; gotten the pieces in place to market it online; and put into place so many important foundations for my business along with way—like spackling holes in the foundation that I knew were there and just didn't know quite how to fill.

I know that I have a lot more to learn but this model of “earn while you learn” and “iterate your way to awesome” seems like a smart, practical way to grow your business solidly, and with the heart and love and authenticity that are SO important to me.

And I love how I can use all this knowledge and this process over and over on new products and to keep iterating this one. I remain SO excited about my business and its possibilities, and about the authentic way that business and my call to service do NOT need to be separate things.

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Facebook Nov 29 (class of 2016)

I delivered the first module of my experience product (the nine-week Nourish U), tonight on Zoom and I have to say it felt SO freaking awesome! (Even though I was on 2 hours sleep—total freak thing, nothing to do with the course), I was still so uplifted. I had a total blast and am so happy with how it went! And so excited for the whole thing to unfold! Four of the 7 who were there live, and were absolutely lovely.

It feels AMAZING to have actually not only created and started to deliver an online product but to have run a whole marketing campaign at the same time (actually several campaigns, but I am especially pleased that I actually ran a whole email campaign from nurture to sales—although i've actually done that for others as a copywriter, there was something about doing it for myself that was super powerful).

I am so grateful for the structure, expertise, insight, accountability and experiencification (I love that word) that moved me through SO much creative work and content development to produce so much tangible stuff in so short a time!

And allowed me to express my gifts and use my skills—CHANNEL them, focus them—in the way I was yearning to. It's incredible that in early September this course wasn't even a glimmer in my eye (and the idea of taking something else on seemed insane), and here a couple months later I have a free gift, opt-in page, sales page, emails (and integration!), two Facebook groups, a (small but real) new email list, my course ONLINE, and participants! (And one already committed to my February cohort!) (And about 100 pages of other copy ;) ) Wowza! THANK YOU <3 (P.S. I made target goal! But that's so pale honestly compared to the joy of "creating and shipping" as Seth Godin puts it...)

11/21/16 - Monday morning—MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I feel exactly like a kid at Christmas. That's what this whole weekend felt like, two days before Christmas and then I get up on Mission Accomplished Day and it's like Santa came! The whole weekend was magical. I worked like 30 hours but it didn't feel like work.

So much FUN sharing my flawed/work-in-progress yet (I came to realize) still beautiful sales page, which is imperfect yet is enough. Sharing the page on social. Making personal invitations to people that felt so natural and authentic. Writing and sending nurture mails, and welcome emails. Planning delivery, corralling ideas. (While juggling holiday visitors and other clients!)

I felt such a natural rush of love and authenticity sharing this stuff I've created. Marketing has NEVER felt so...NOT like marketing. DEF not like "sales." I was like: this is what it can be like! Light and joyful. Sparkling with the extra buzzy energy of "the final push" weekend (which to some outsiders I guess could sound weird, like "salespeople making quota"—but it wasn’t like that at ALL, as we know, just in fun, gamifying, and look how well it worked...win win win because "making" us do things we probably wouldn't have otherwise, pushing us off our butts—but pushing us to what? To share what we love and want to give. That's the best.

I got to 3 people on Saturday (10 mins after my first page share!), 4 on Sunday, and as of Monday a.m. my 5th! Which feels like a perfect little group (think I'll cap this beta at 10 anyway as that's as much as I'd want to handle first time). My head is swimming with details and ideas and to-dos for delivery (while still in marketing—I haven't even STARTED my "perfect email" sales sequence yet which was to run Nov 25-28!) And the little cherry on top was Sun eve I got invited to a speaking engagement I applied for months ago and forgot about.

There are always ups and downs—always, always will be. I know not to take circumstances too seriously—it's what we DO, no matter how we feel or what circumstances are, that counts in my book. That doesn't mean it isn't lovely when nice things do happen. :) Relishing! Mostly I feel SO....loved. And appreciated. By all my various communities, in here and the other ones I've reached out to. It's like...seeing my passion and work reflected back to me. I feel supported, lucky, excited, blessed, privileged.

This has been an amazing course, process, journey, group. To palpably see so much come to fruition from taking step after step is so gratifying. And this community has such heart. I felt the power of everyone's genuine care and encouragement of one another pulsing here all weekend. It's remarkable. Thank you!

Yowzers is there lots to do but isn't it fun when it's fun to work! OMG, I so need to chill out and sleep though. 8)

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Darlene Rojas (class of 2016)

I had been struggling with the question "What do you want to do when you're done with school?" Before that, it was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I never knew the answer. I did many exercises (in class and out) to try to figure out what type of work would fill my needs. With both of my parents being entrepreneurs and working in their area of passion, I knew I didn't want to settle for just any old job. I wanted to LOVE my work. And I wanted to be my own boss.

Taking Spanish classes in high school was fun, I enjoyed learning Spanish, but it was just a class, I never thought it could bring in income for me. I wasn't good enough. I love snowboarding. I liked having a horse, trying to train it and bring my friends out for trail rides. I took a sign language class in high school also, which I really had fun with, but again, didn't think

I could be good enough to where I could work in that area. My hobbies are sewing, crocheting, drawing, and doing other crafty things. But I couldn't figure out a way that any one of these things would become what I do for a living. I kept hoping I would just wake up one day and it would come to me. No luck there.

I let the flow of life just tumble me along, not especially liking any of the work I did. I moved to Nicaragua in August of 2016, working as a Virtual Assistant for two graphic designers. One day in a work meeting with one of those graphic designers, she told me about this Experience Product Masterclass that was going to be launching soon.

I wasn't very interested until we talked about it a little further. Since I had only a 5-10 hour workweek and was getting bored doing nothing while my husband worked 12-14 hour shifts, I finally realized this class would be the perfect thing for me. It was starting at just the right time.

I joined the class, and just going through the pre-module Choosing and Validating Your Niche had a huuuge value for me. I know now how I can be my own boss and work with a passion. I learned that sitting around doing nothing is not going to bring me places.

Being in the class made me take action. I've sent out several surveys, made phone calls and sent emails, perfecting my sales pitch as I learn. And I'm still going. I have not earned any money from my product yet, but I am on my way to a wonderful creation. I'm very excited about my future.

The Experience Product Masterclass has given me a very special gift. I know what to do to live the life I want. I can finally answer the question of what my career will be. I no longer have to worry about the possibility of working at jobs for the rest of my life that are just bearable. Now my future is on a roll and I'm sure I'll be letting you know very soon that my Experience Product is out there and "bringing in the bucks."

Thank you Marisa and the rest of the team!

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Susan Barry (class of 2016)

Driving home on Jan. 8, 2013, I found it hard to take a deep breath and I was certain that, at age 55, I would never work again in corporate America. I had just been made a casualty of the Affordable Care Act and lost my executive level marketing position in a Fortune 25 insurance company. It was literally the first time in my 30 year career that I was involuntarily unemployed.

The next morning, as I looked at the unscheduled days ahead of me, I realized that the internet had not yet been invented the last time I looked for work. Not that I was a techno-phone or unfamiliar with indeed.com, Monster, CareerBuilders and even LinkedIn, but my use of those channels was from the other side of the equation - an employer looking to hire.

After emailing my contacts and sharing my ridiculously long resume (hey! I'm worth every one of those 4 pages!), registering on all the job boards and at Ladders.com, and filling out unemployment compensation forms, I noticed my separation package included a 6 month stint at an executive career counseling group.

It sounded like Unemployment Anonymous, but I decided to go to their new client orientation the next day and see what they had to offer. At the very least, I was hoping for doughnuts and sympathy! Instead I got a canned presentation of LinkedIn (LI) and its role in job searches.

I had parked a sparse profile on LI a few years prior and hadn't looked at it since, but even I knew that deck was as stale as last week's tortilla chips! But, I was very clear that LinkedIn was now required as part of a job search.

So, I researched LinkedIn on my own for the next six weeks, soaking up everything I could on how the site worked, what profiles were the most impactful, how to use boolean indicators in google to search inside LinkedIn groups.

I took every class, read every ebook, read every article and the entire LinkedIn Help Center....and then put together my own deck and presented it to the career counseling folks. Presto! They ???? it, ???? me and I instantly become their LinkedIn trainer, for absolutely no money. Ugh. But, I embrace it and develop a business model similar to competitors that were around at the time (i.e., Be Found Jobs).

Basically, share specifically what to do, but do it so quickly and exaggerate the difficulty, that a value stacked do-it-for-you offering seems like a dream. I branch out and start presenting at church-based career events, at the state's unemployment support office, at women's business meetings. LinkedIn TuneUp was born. ????????????

I was very busy over the next few months- presenting, training, pitching, consulting and applying for full time work. But - I wasn't making a cent on my LI work. I'm also applying for positions, trying to work my contacts and grow my network. I'm getting zero response from the online applications, including LinkedIn's online process. I'm getting interviews through networking on LinkedIn, but few second interviews.

My checking account balance was declining rapidly (I was newly single at the time, supporting an underwater, 4 bedroom pool home in Tampa/St. Petersburg) and I was starting to feel the panic as I found myself eyeing my 401K three months into being unemployed.

I kicked it up a notch and joined the local Business Networking International group and started concentrating on tuning up my obviously failing business model. I developed additional training for entrepreneurs and salespeople. I expanded my presentations to include local business meet ups, I took on a few 1:1 clients, but my conversion rate on my group trainings didn't improve.

By June 2013, 6 months into being unemployed, I decided to put the house on the market and take the loss. I was thoroughly in love with a woman 450 miles away and I decided that being out from under the house would let me put my heart first. Once more into the breach!

I stopped teaching and training, sold my house day 1 to person 1 and found an entry level sales role 4 miles from my new zip code. I told myself it was just temporary and I would pick up my LinkedIn business in the new place, once I had found my way around the area...I kept my hand in it, taking on a client or two every now and then, training my organization's sales teams in using LinkedIn for social selling and lead generation, but I stopped pursuing my business.

I continued to plug away at my MBA during all this upheaval and, come Capstone time in Dec. 2014, I used my LinkedIn consulting business as my topic. I produced a lovely, A+ business plan. Soup to nuts, including financials and a full marketing plan. My MBA diploma came, and I hung it up. My business plan curled up on a flash drive and made itself comfortable for the long sleep ahead....

Time is river though, right? Suddenly, holy shitcakes, it's 2016 and I'm 58 and hating my temporary entry level job that's now three years old. EPM's nurture campaign caught me with the vision of Future Self. Getting an email from Future Susan, who was so much happier than Current Susan was more than I could resist.

I gave myself fully to the first four to six weeks, loving the support, the community and feeling like I was learning new things every day - despite my 30 years in marketing and my newly minted MBA. I began to get excited about my product again, and I came to believe in it again and in me!

More importantly, the concepts Marisa has strung together like pretty sparkling beads on a chain clearly underscored why I failed before. Rather than kicking my beautiful Capstone project awake though, I realized it will slumber forever because EPM and its concepts have drastically changed my product - not only its mission, its color palette, its language and structure - but its delivery, and even the way I develop future iterations of the product. No need for a five year plan - I'm embracing the flub, allowing the flow, iterating to awesome and truly embracing done is better than perfect.

The change was so exciting to me that I started a premature chatterbox campaign in week 4 or 5 that netted me a 1:1 client for $1,200. Exciting! I kept on with EPM and started applying my learnings to my full time gig.

My enthusiasm ramped up, the way I look at the products and the way I communicate benefits was impacted by EPM, I began to get excited about marketing. I kept up the chatterbox campaign because I had no choice! I got a promotion last month (see below) that really cramped my EPM style and I had zero time for sales pages, perfect email campaigns, reverse webinars, etc.

Then, a huge opportunity showed up in my inbox the week before last: a 1 to many training at one of the largest companies in the world, LinkedIn training their elite sales executives, on site. And, follow up coaching and pre modules and.....a pricing challenge that I met. Booked the initial gig for on site coaching for $5,000 plus expenses!

Then, just yesterday morning a former client called and asked if I would be available to train their sales force and, oh, could I redo his profile while I'm at it? Mission accomplished and it feels incredible after living with this possibility for three years and never having the road map, the secret sauce, the community push, the team accountability, everything that EPM provided.

I've made friends and will continue to engage the EPM group, asking for and offering help. I'll see you all online in December and I'll see you in February. 2017 is my year to stop working for corporate America!

P.S.

Last month, I was approached for two positions. Both were market strategy positions for almost twice my salary. I went through the interview process for both during the EPM course. My enthusiasm must have overshadowed my age because for the first time since I was laid off in 2013, I had employers fighting over me, my experience and my ideas. The result was two six figure offers in one day! Thanks, EPM!

(2017 is my year for breaking free of corporate America - determined to make Link In>Tune Up work and confident that it will! At least I don't have to worry about keeping the lights on this time around!)

Thanks!

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