I was at a low point. Having a tech background and the help of some other trainings, I had managed to wing a 'get started' membership site, do a little Facebook promotion and deliver a first on-line product: a different approach to equine partnerships that does not rely on dominance or food rewards. But after the first 50 students, I realized something was missing. I had some wonderful thank you emails, but something struck me about them - each one expressed a deeper form of transformation than I expected, but in between the kind words they didn't really have enough specifics to implement the practical side of the experience as intended. My course both over-delivered and under-delivered. I had under-estimated its transformative and in some cases transcendental value and under-estimated the detail students needed to create their own experience more fully. I wasn't sure how to fix it, lost confidence in it and stopped offering it. Even though I had received good feedback, I felt I wasn't serving my students in the way I had hoped. It just felt wrong to continue without a shift. I had been struggling away for a year or more, while my business continued in a way that did not allow me to expand my reach. I'd figured out some aspects but then I saw EPM. I was familiar with Marisa's work from her other training courses and knew this was in her genius zone and she had nailed what I'd been trying to pin down - in far more depth. It was a no-brainer.
When I signed up for EPM2016, I hoped finally to create my follow-on offering. But that's not how it went. It was disappointing to find out that despite a lot of care and thought already, it really wasn't where it needed to be to be viable. I started falling, then decided to stay in the game, pivot and experiencify an existing offering, which was an in-person mix of 1:1 and 1:Few coaching with students and their horses. I made it past mission accomplished, but felt no closer to my real goal of a viable on-line option - yet this strong calling I had to expand my reach had not faded. My tribe is spread across the globe, rather than in small, regional pockets - so bringing horses together in a live group is often not practical. As the dust settled from the intense EPM "sprint", I realized two important takeaways. First, my first product was just an iteration, not a wasted effort or failure but an absolutely necessary step along the pathway to awesome. Second, while I had plenty of experience delivering my offering in a 1:Few setting in person, so it was natural to think I could do something similar on-line, I hadn't truly dialed into some of the real differences between helping someone iterate to awesome in real-time with their horse when we are in person, vs. after an on-line session. To do this they must a) remember what we discussed accurately as they go out to work with their horse and b) be able to assess their own efforts as they practice. Aha! Smaller steps and clear ways to measure the outcomes were needed. But what were they?
This question led me to focus on "Remote Student" Call Me through the following year. You could say I combined "Give them what they want" and "Chatterbox" within my work with those students. I ran four 1:1 video coaching courses. This was an existing offer I modified with what I learned from EPM. Instead of just offering video coaching, which students tended to use more like a "life-line", sending in a video sporadically, I enrolled 5 students in a 60 day program with 1:1 coaching and bonus 1:few group sessions in which we shared highlights and insights.
This strategy proved valuable on three counts. First, I gained a super clear picture of the challenges specific to students taking guidance from our coaching call out to their horse vs. working with my guidance in real-time. This was a tremendous feedback loop that inspired the very specifics and details that had left my ultimate offering feeling less than viable. Second, doing more concentrated, "contained" coaching within the on-line session format highlighted significant advantages that are not tangible in real-time coaching. It was truly serving in a different, unique way. Yay! Third, the new program structure inspired more action and more progress among students. Students were finishing asking when the next 60 day series would be. So I ran 4 that year, mostly with repeat clients, which meant they made more progress, and we continued to cover more specifics I needed to dial in. A win, win.
With this "remote student Call Me" phase in hand, I chose to do EPM2017 "The Sequel" with the specific intention of clarifying and nailing down every aspect of my 1:Few on-line course, from the new methodology it embodies, to the course birds-eye view, list of trainings, marketing and delivery plans. EPM is like doing a degree in 10 weeks, if you fully engage in all the videos, actions and make active use of the coaching. I wanted to walk through and truly "consume" the process itself for a full iteration. I knew that for me this likely meant not meeting Mission Accomplished within the set time, but my horse-owning clients tend to hibernate in January anyway and preparing content with horses is not quite the same game as writing PowerPoint presentations. A later launch would made more sense for me. I Chatterboxed anyway and enrolled two new clients into existing offerings that lead to my new offering.
I leave EPM2017 with a clear plan for my offering and precisely how to implement it - including key copy and other assets, the exact campaign and even a list of the training video segments I need to create. Meanwhile I now know how to test and pivot where needed to ensure I'm on track. I have new skills which will continue to evolve and the tools to repeat the process for future offerings. For me this is the strongest What, Why and How strategy I've ever had for my business, along with the sureness that it only gets better from here. No more walking around in the fog!
And one last minute takeaway occurred when Marisa mentioned in the last coaching session that she'd almost given up with EPM. What?!?! What if she had! The answer we were all seeking wouldn't have been here to find. I'll remember that in the challenging moments that are no doubt ahead!
What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?
I was amazed how something as "silly" as taking the time to identify our "super power" served as a compass in the layers that followed. It made everything just that bit easier, and helped sort through and anchor developing ideas with more confidence. Some ideas expressed the super power more than others and it is interesting how this provided a built in guidance system in the challenging process of nailing down a product offering.
How did EPM help you become successful?
I signed up for EPM because it was so obvious that Marisa is operating from her genius zone when it comes to the Experience Product Formula and EPM. I had identified a few of the elements for myself but lacked a well thought out, tried and tested method within a start to mission accomplished business framework. I had taken other trainings to improve my business skills and gained something each time but only some ingredients, not what you need to actually bake the cake! EPM delivers rich content covering the entire process in a way that focuses on implementation. I have gained immediately applicable skills and clarity about how to build on these: just return to the EPM content as it will take a few times to consume all the value.
How has EPM and your success impacted your life?
Make no mistake, EPM takes commitment. This is my second EPM. In the first EPM I lost a lot of traction at first. I found myself quickly getting stuck because all the other steps depended on a higher degree of clarity about my offering than I actually had. EPM is a sprint and you can find yourself left behind. I wanted to stay in the game, so I pivoted and decided to deliver an existing program so I could apply the EPM principles as best I could. I reached Mission Accomplished, but only completed about half Marisa's content, with very little progress on the product I intended to offer. However, I left clear that although I had delivered my course in person to groups many times, it needed another evolution before it could serve well as an on-line offering. That changed the course of what I did in my business the following year, as well as highlighting some personal blocks I knew needed my focus. I found what I needed to move those in a course I discovered through Marisa's I'm Powerful bonus. This combo brought me to the right place at the right time to make quantum leaps with my original idea in EPM 2017.
What has been the biggest change in your business?
I would say the biggest change to date is that before EPM I always had several ideas, but was never sure if they were "right" for my customers, nor which one to focus on - which inevitably meant a lack of effective action and follow-through. Having a tech background had allowed me to wing a 'get started' membership site, do a little Facebook promotion and deliver a first on-line product, with the help of some other trainings. But after the first 50 students, I realized something was missing. I had some wonderful thank you emails, but something struck me - each one expressed a deeper form of transformation than I expected, but in between the kind words they didn't really have enough specifics to implement the practical side of the experience as intended. The course both over-delivered and under-delivered. I had under-estimated its transformative and in some cases transcendental value and under-estimated the detail they needed to create their own experience more fully. I wasn't sure how to fix it, lost confidence in it and stopped offering it. When I signed up for EPM2016, I hoped finally to create my follow-on offering. But that's not how it went. It was disappointing to find out that after a lot of care and thought, it really wasn't where it needed to be to be viable. I experiencified an existing offering, which was an in-person mix of 1:1 and 1:Few coaching with students and their horses. I made it past mission accomplished. But I felt no closer to my real goal of a viable on-line option, yet this strong calling I had to expand my reach had not faded. My tribe is spread across the globe, rather than in small, regional pockets - so bringing horses together in a live group is often not practical. As the dust settled from the big EPM sprint, I realized important takeaways. First, my first product was just an iteration, not a wasted effort or failure but an absolutely necessary step along the pathway to awesome. Second, while I had plenty of experience delivering my offering in a 1:Few setting in person, more specifics were needed in greater detail and smaller steps when I am not there to help students iterate their way to awesome. This led me to implement a modified Call Me serving remote students through the following year. I ran four 1:1 video coaching courses, which was an existing offer I modified with what I learned from EPM. Instead of just offering video coaching, which students ended up using more as a "life-line", sending in a video sporadically, I enrolled 5 students in a 60 day program with 1:1 coaching and 1:few group sessions. This proved valuable on three counts. First, I got a clear picture of challenges specific to students taking guidance from a call to the field to work on their own with their horse vs. working with my guidance in real-time. This was a tremendous feedback loop that inspired the very specifics and details that had left my ultimate offering feeling not viable. Second, doing more concentrated, "contained" coaching via student videos revealed significant advantages that are intangible with real-time coaching. Third, the new program structure inspired more action and more progress among students and most were asking when the next 60 day series would be. So I ran 4 that year, mostly with repeat clients, so they made more progress, and we continued to cover more specifics I needed to dial in. A win, win. With this "remote student Call Me" phase in hand, I chose to do EPM2017 with the specific intention of clarifying and nailing down every aspect of my 1:Few on-line course, from the new methodology it embodies, to the birds-eye view, list of trainings, marketing and delivery plans. EPM is like doing an undergrad course in 10 weeks, if you fully engage in all the videos, actions and make active use of the coaching. I wanted to walk through and truly consume the process itself for a full "iteration". I leave EPM2017 with a clear plan for my business and precisely how to implement it - including the exact campaign, list of training video segments I need to create. Meanwhile I now know how to test and pivot where needed to ensure I'm on track. I have new skills which will continue to evolve - and the tools to repeat the process for future offerings. For me this is the strongest What, Why and How strategy I've ever had for my business, along with the sureness that it only gets better from here. No more walking around in the fog!
What are you most excited about moving forward with your Experience Product?
I leave with the strongest What, Why and How strategy I've ever had for my products and business, along with the sureness that it only gets better from here. No more walking around in the fog!