In 2015 I ran my first on-line course for conscious horse-owners 3 times. I received excellent feedback, yet struggled with the follow-on offering. I dedicated months to it. It was hard, a grind and I had that feeling of no traction. I wondered if I should throw in the towel.
In the EPM launch, Marisa spoke to several insights I had had during that struggle, yet offered so much more too - and a clear strategy about how to weave them together. Marisa talks about living in our “genius zone” and clearly with EPM, she is. I took the leap.
Genius Zone, Flow State and Why We Truly Must Deliver
As I watched Marisa breezing through hours of live Q & A, I found myself oddly resonating with her state of flow – odd because, as her student, I was in border-line overwhelm! It dawned on me that I recognized it from my own work with clients. It was a moment of clarity. What if she hadn’t followed through and delivered? I’d have missed finding this vein of gold I was seeking. Not delivering due to the dulling force of overwhelm leads only to holding back answers sought by others.
Aha! The Problem
EPM helped me see that my first course, or “front door” offering -which had proved to be a transcending experience, as hoped – was not grounded in a lower layer in Maslow’s hierarchy. My follow-on course had been a challenge because the first course also did not have a clear enough pathway to a predictable, tangible and measurable outcome to follow on from!
Sometimes Seeing is Believing
I smiled as Marisa showed us her unruly mind map of EPM and how that evolved into the course it is today. I had a similarly unruly one, sitting stagnant on my hard drive. I dusted mine off along with a Venn type model I had also set aside, with renewed faith as I shared it with some closer students.
“The last thing you learn is the first thing you need to know” (Ray Hunt)
Eventually it became clear that the follow-up offer I had been planning was too big to do within the 8 week time-line – and probably just too big. I was getting stuck, falling behind on the course and sliding into overwhelm. What could I do… right now to kick back up into a clear path forward?
And... Action!
I upped the EPM Factor in a video-coaching program I was already running. It was FUN. Surprise! This led to clearer feedback and accelerated my understanding of the specifics students really needed.
Next, I decided to offer a small group program in person. I’ve done many, but this felt like The Right Product at the Right Time. My goal was to exercise the EPM factor to better nurture these clients, meet my income goal and test-drive my Bird’s Eye Framework in a One to Few setting, live with the horses. This was the surest way to observe how it was received, how easy it was to DO and tune it up on the fly.
Mission Accomplished!
After a short email campaign to a regional group of students, five students signed up to bring their horses on November 4-6th for $495.00 for a total of $2475.00.
The Proof and Truth is in the Pudding
I “boldly” ran the whole event from my (newly dusted off and revised) Framework and coached my students with Mission, Future Self, Constant Wins, Feedback Loops and Community in mind. For 3 days solid. It was Fun and recorded on video.
I used rough cut (done is better) clips from the clinic to better serve existing clients in my video coaching program. Then in a live webinar, I shared more insights in an EPM inspired format. The recording of that is now ready to split into 10 min nuggets for future use.
The Final Impact
Marisa delivers, in volumes and through an experience that has a way of staying with you ;)
I accomplished the EPM Mission as well as gaining clarity about what and how to implement my next offering – and I have yet to complete the last module! I am stoked to discover what gems I will find.