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Episode 70. Your Money-Making Theory

Today, I am so excited to introduce to you a concept I’ve developed and I’m going to be centering a lot of my coaching curriculum around this concept.

Moving forward, you will also see that a lot of my content or messaging will tie back to this new concept, which I have termed – Your Money-Making Theory.

I’m also in the process of creating a new signature program by the end of the year, which will be focused on helping you develop your own Money-Making Theory, be seen as a thought leader in your space and build a ton of demand for your business.

Needless to say, the Money-Making Theory is something that’s going to be playing a big role in my business from here on out.

In This Episode:

What the heck is this Money-Making Theory!? (The core components of this strategy)

I want to introduce you to the Money-Making Theory concept and share a breakdown of what this entails. This will also give you a sneak peek into the brand new curriculum that I’m developing for my private clients.

For our upcoming monthly workshops for my clients, we’ll be dedicating these workshops to the different components of the Money-Making Theory. I’ll also be taking the time to zone in on each individual client’s Money-Making Theory and really flush out the strategy itself, so that by the time we launch our new signature offer around October of 2022, we will have a signature process that is literally proven to work.

I’m seriously so excited to take the next six or more months to flush out the Money-Making Theory concepts, strategy, as well as curriculum and help my current clients apply it in their own business.

Your Money-Making Theory is the idea that your unique thought leadership, ideas, opinions, thoughts, and everything else inside your brain is not only of value to your ideal clients, but it can also make you money.

After working with over 30 coaches and service-based entrepreneurs in 2021 alone, I’ve seen firsthand the power of being able to position yourself and your offer within your niche or industry, simply based on your unique thought leadership.

Specifically, I’ve observed that there were actually several different but interrelated aspects of their “unique thought leadership” that were essentially working together and creating a compounding effect for their brand and business. 

For example, it wasn’t just their origin story that got them results. It wasn’t just having a killer offer with top notch messaging that got them results. It wasn’t just their brilliant ideas and perspectives on topics related to their industry or niche that got them results. It also wasn’t their lifestyle that got them results.

Rather, it was the combination of these different elements working together that amplified their success. It was all these moving pieces working together to build both brand awareness and demand for their offers. 

When I look back on my own brand messaging and business results, I can clearly see that these four moving pieces are also the core contributors to how we’ve been able to build our brand and create demand for our coaching programs. This is precisely why these are the core components of your Money-Making Theory.

An analogy that visually represents this concept quite well is an atom. Like the atom that you learn in Chemistry 101. For those of you who did not take chemistry during your lifespan, please hang on for a few minutes while I break down something I call the basic atom.

As part of our brand new curriculum, any client who first joins our coaching program will first start off by looking at the basics of their Money-Making Theory.

The BASICS include:

1) understanding who you are, deciding what you want to be known for, and strengthening your identity both as an entrepreneur and as a person in this world

2) tightening up your messaging for your signature offer so you can build brand awareness for your signature offer

3) honing in on your unique thought leadership and start creating content that allows you to demonstrate your thought leadership and ultimately be seen as a leader in your space

4) leading by example through your lifestyle, daily decisions, embodying the messages and core values you talk about in your own day to day, and so on.

In other words, this is where you are literally being a product of your product. 

And if I had to add one more bonus component that can contribute to your Money-Making Theory, it would be 5) your unique intellectual property ,concepts, and frameworks.

That said, this component is something I encourage my clients not to rush into, which is why I don’t consider it a part of the basics.

It took about 2.5 years since starting my business before I started having a stronger understanding of my own unique intellectual property.

I was able to confidently create new signature concepts and frameworks only after the first four basics were in place and were working. Meaning, I was signing clients consistently and had consistent demand for my programs.

Because only after working with many clients and understanding my own unique approach to what I do, that’s when I was able to create original concepts like the Cheryl Theory Framework and now, the Money-Making Theory. 

Once we are clear on your version of the “basics” of your Money-Making Theory, we can then go all in on your soft launch strategy. Finally, our goal is for you to be able to combine the Money-Making Theory and soft launch strategy so you can start signing clients consistently for your signature program or services, and do this on part-time hours.

The analogy of the atom and your Money-Making Theory

Going back to the metaphor of an atom, the “basics” atom. Let’s quickly take a look the parts of an atom and give you a few super dry chemistry definitions:

  • ATOM: The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, consisting of a nucleus surrounded by electrons
  • PROTON: Positively charged subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom and determining the atomic number of an element
  • NEUTRON: A subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom. It has no charge
  • ELECTRON: Each electron has a negative charge (-1) equal to the positive charge of a proton (+1)

So, how would this translate into our BASICS atom?

First, the Proton = YOU. Who you are, what you want to be known for, your identity, and so on. Specifically, because protons have a positive charge, that means that in our metaphor, the positive “charge” of you and who you are (which includes tour story, lived experiences, personality, etc), will heavily determine the business you build, how you build it, and how you create an impact in this world.

Second, the Neutron = YOUR SIGNATURE OFFER. This includes the skills you’re known for and the results and outcomes you help clients create. Neutrons have no charge, and in our metaphor, your signature offer itself is “neutral” and has no charge, which means it’s your job to build brand awareness for your offer.

The reason why YOU and YOUR SIGNATURE OFFER make up the “nucleus” of the basics atom (because remember, the proton and neutron together make up an atom’s nucleus) it’s because:

  • The make-up of who you are (for example: Your core values, lived experiences, why you started this business, etc) more or less won’t change too much in the short term. YOU make up part of the core.
  • At the same time, because we want to help you build brand awareness for your signature offer, we also work on creating a consistent messaging around your offer that clearly articulates the amazingness of working with you. Since the goal is to create consistent demand for your offer, that’s why your SIGNATURE OFFER is also part of the core.

Third, Electrons = YOUR UNIQUE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP and LEADING BY EXAMPLE. These two parts contribute to the atom’s “charge” by attracting people to you. In the context of the basics atom, your UNIQUE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP and how you LEAD BY EXAMPLE can evolve and shift from time to time. That’s why they’re not part of the nucleus, but rather, they orbit around the nucleus to represent that they’re constant in motion and changing and evolving. 

Inside our program, we will help you continuously create new content that demonstrates your unique thought leadership, and also how you’re constantly innovating and developing new opinions and ideas on issues related to your industry.

Similarly, the way you lead by example or be an example of what’s possible for your clients could look different every single day, since we’re constantly going through new experiences in life. That’s why these two basic components of the money making theory are  “orbiting” around the nucleus, rather than making up the core (which is relatively constant).

I hope that metaphor was able to help you visualize what the Money-Making Theory looks like. But if that made it even more confusing, no worries. Just know that the Money-Making Theory is a culmination of a few different moving pieces, and once we master these different moving pieces, they can then work together to create brand awareness and demand for your offers.

The best part is your Money-Making Theory is truly unique and original to you. It stems from your honest opinions, thoughts, ideas, lived experiences, and so on. No one else can replicate or copy that from you.

How some of my clients have made money via their Money-Making Theory

After we understand what is your unique Money-Making Theory, then we can create a soft launching strategy that’s super specific to you, the specific skills you’re known for, how you help clients, and so on.

Literally no one else in your niche or industry can try to copy or model after your strategy because your unique thought leadership and the content you create for your soft launching strategy will be extremely original and authentic to you. THIS is exactly how we’ll help you stand out within your space.

Because the more honest and authentic we are, the more value we provide to our people. When you create either free content or paid offers that are both honest and authentic to you and what you believe in, that in itself is of tremendous value to your ideal clients and community.

And when we give value, we get paid.

Here’s how some of my clients have made money via their Money-Making Theory:

  • Mabel created a 10k month (on top of her 9-6 job) and is making her name known in the Chinese calligraphy space through her thought leadership content as well as her skills in her craft.
  • Jennifer is known for her unique messages as an introvert and is known for helping her clients leverage their natural gifts as introverts to attract more business opportunities, to show up as powerful and charismatic leaders in their workplace (even as an introvert), and to stop trying to fake being an extrovert in their daily lives.
  • After getting clear on what she wants to be known for and how she helps her target audience, Betty has been able to create a lot of incredible content that reflects her own thought leadership and that’s how she was able to sign her first high-ticket clients ever and has made back 2x the investment of our program
  • Esther, who is working on building up her brand as a business coach, helps introverts do marketing that aligns with who they are. For example, she’s been able to help her clients sign clients without doing video content! Now that’s something unique and cool within the business coaching industry. Right? And guess what? Because she has the client results to back up what she preaches and she’s able to stand out in her niche through her unique thought leadership, ideas, lived experiences, and so on, she has made back double the investment of our program.

These are just some examples of what can happen when we work together. We will go all in on helping you develop your Money-Making Theory and help you go against all expectations (in terms of who you *think* you’re supposed to be or how you *think* you’re supposed to portray yourself).

We’ll make money through the unique impact, ideas, and value you bring to this world and by being who you genuinely are, just as you are. 

That alone is how you can best help people and hence how you can make money in exchange for helping people. By leaning into your unique Money-Making Theory, which includes: 

  • you and everything that makes up who you are (such as your lived experiences, core values, and so on)
  • the unique skills and way you help people via your offer (and being able to clearly, strategically, and intentionally position your offer)
  • your unique thought leadership
  • showing up genuinely and honestly to lead by example

That’s of value to your people and that’s how you can best serve your people.

You don’t have to be like someone else or to speak like someone else or to portray yourself in a certain way just to be liked by your followers or to get clients to work with you.

Why this is going to be a game-changer in your business

I strongly believe in how the Money-Making Theory can be the game changer for my clients business, my own business, and also your business.

Because I’ve seen evidence that this is exactly how my clients and I have been able to create amazing results in our businesses such as 5k or 10k months, signing their first clients ever, getting speaking opportunities, and are now being recognized for their unique brilliance and message and story. 

That’s why one of the main objectives of my coaching program is to help you express yourself, rather than trying to impress strangers on the Internet.

The Money-Making Theory approach will help you express your ideas, show up in the most genuine and honest way possible, clearly articulate the value of your offer, position your offer intentionally and share why you believe so much in your work and coaching. Rather than trying to fluff up your feathers to get people on the Internet to like you.

Because if we are building our brand and business based on a version of ourselves that is constantly adjusting and tweaking in order to get people to like us, that’s a lot of effort.

If we’re constantly trying to think about how to modify ourselves or mold ourselves into what we think people want from us, how sustainable is this business? Is it really scalable? Like really.

How much time is it going to take to constantly look around and see what’s on trend, what people are resonating with, what other successful coaches and entrepreneurs are doing? That takes so much time and effort. And is that even in integrity with how you’d like to build your business?

The reason why I deeply believe that the Money-Making Theory is going to shake up the entire industry and change how we all do marketing for our businesses, is because so many of us, including myself at one point, have been taught through the school system or corporate or society to mold ourselves into some ideal standard in order to get into that fancy college or to get that fancy job. Right? 

How many of you here have looked at a job posting online and tweaked your resume and cover letter to include words that you think the hiring person would want to see, and showed up to the job interview in a way that you think is what they’d want to see from a potential candidate? How much of our lives have we tried to fit into what we think other people want us to be? 

Then here we are, building this elusive thing called a business. Many of us are using social media to build this business with the “strategy” of tweaking our online presence to get clients, that’s simply not going to work here. 

What’s happening in entrepreneurship is that you’re modeling after other successful coaches, trying to see what type of content they’re posting, or how they’re structuring their Instagram carousel posts, or maybe even taking inspiration from their website copy. 

You’ll basically become a commodity on the market because everyone else is doing the same thing. And that makes everyone look and sound literally the same.

When we’re doing that, how can we expect clients to find interest in our content or programs? There’s nothing interesting here because they’ve already seen or heard it before from another coach or entrepreneur doing the exact same thing as you.

And you know the classic marketing phrase that goes like “when you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one”? That’s what’s going to happen.

Why I believe this is going to be the new way of building brand awareness and creating demand for your offers

This is why I’m so unbelievably excited to spend the next six or so months creating the brand new curriculum, workshop, and resources for my clients all about the Money-Making Theory and working with them individually to put this into practice in their businesses.

Of course, I’ll be sharing more about this concept on Instagram or on this podcast.

I have full belief that the Money-Making Theory is literally going to become the “step by step” blueprint to helping you create a super genuine and honest brand and business that builds demand for your offers and helps you book sales calls and sign clients. All in a way that does not require you to portray yourself as anyone else, but who you genuinely and honestly are.

Because remember, we’re here to express ourselves and share value that’s already inherent in ourselves, rather than fluffing up our feathers to impress strangers on the Internet. 

The best part about this strategy is that it’s super simple and time efficient because we don’t have to spend any time looking at what your colleagues in your niche or industry are doing. Or doing market research. Or stay up to date with the latest Instagram trends or hacks.

You get to save a lot of time and still create marketing, messaging, and content that deeply resonates with your people and is a true reflection of the unique value you bring to your people.

Because most of my clients are side hustlers and certain main responsibilities like a job or taking care of family, it’s important for my clients and I to build our businesses on part-time hours.

The same goes for my full-time entrepreneur clients, who also want to build their business on part-time hours because they too want to make time for other parts of their life that matter to them, such as family, health, etc.

The combination of your Money-Making Theory and soft launching is super simple, super time efficient, super scalable, and of course, super, super fun!

How the Money-Making Theory is going to play a role in my business moving forward

I want to share a recent event that really solidified my decision to go all in on the Money-Making Theory. So, if you recall from Episode 69: Lessons from My First 2 Months of Being Full Time in My Business, I mentioned this story briefly.

To recap, I was recently able to connect with someone who’s quite established in the professional speaking and corporate training space. This person is super welcoming, knowledgeable, and definitely reputable especially in his space. I genuinely respect this person and the work he does.

During our meet up, he shared with me a piece of advice, which was “Cheryl, I see that you’re doing quite well building your business on Instagram. However, I do suggest that instead of using the word “theory”, you could consider using the word “framework” or “success blueprint”.”

It was at that specific moment when I realized that this is why the Money-Making Theory matters so much.

Because there exists such a strong discourse in the online coaching or business or marketing space that says there are “best practices” or “best ways” for content, marketing and to position yourself. Supposedly, by using certain marketing lingo and words and tactics, that will apparently get you more sales or clients. 

That’s exactly what my theory stands up against. I want to quite literally shake up the entire industry by helping my clients build and scale their impact and income simply by leaning into their unique Money-Making Theory, combined with the strategy of soft launching.

This is also why I will continue using the word “theory” in my business name – Cheryl Theory. 

To further showcase the potential impact of this concept, let’s look at it from this angle. When we lean into who we are, what we want to be known for, everything that’s honest and inherent to who we are, and the unique value we bring to our people.

Prospective clients will no longer come to sales calls saying things like “Thanks for the call but I need to think about it more. I’m actually still looking around and have a few more discovery calls with other coaches.”

Who else has experienced that objection on a call before? If we’re able to stand out so much already and deeply resonate with our ideal clients, even before they hop on the sales call, our clients already know that we are the coach for them.

I hope that this conversation today is able to bring you some new perspective on how you might want to approach your marketing and messaging  moving forward. 

If you’re ready, let’s start making a lot of impact in this world and a whole lot of money in your business. I invite you to start thinking about your Money-Making Theory and how this can potentially change the entire trajectory of your business. And for those who are ready to take it a step further now, please come join me inside our coaching program. Lots of exciting times ahead!

Listen to the Episode

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The Side Hustle Club is designed to help coaches and entrepreneurs to sign clients on just 0-2 hours a day and ultimately build a business, life, and career they’re proud of.

Our program and curriculum is centered on 3 core skills to help you do this:

1️⃣ Becoming known for your unique thought leadership

2️⃣ Soft launching to sell your coaching offer

3️⃣ Building a uniquely differentiated brand

Get all the details and apply. We’ll then book a sales call to make sure that the program is the best fit for you, and we can onboard you as early as next week.

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