The reason that I decided to do this podcast episode is because I feel like I have learned a lot over the last 12 months. I feel like every year you really should be learning. But I feel like I have the last 12 months, I have made some really big moves in my business and some big shifts and changes. And I've had a couple of realisations as well. So the catalyst for this is that about a year ago I bought a course, which was around about 2000 us dollars all about launching. You may know it, a lot of the big entrepreneurs use it quite successfully. And so I went through the course. It was very long. And if I'm honest, quite laborious was a lot of content. Uh, and I tried to use it and I used it several times and I just couldn't quite make it work.

But I think that the reason that I couldn't make it work is because it just didn't feel right for me. So I did exactly what it said on the box. I did exactly what the key steps were and I didn't really have great success. Brand Builders Academy (my signature course) used to be called Play Big Brand Bold and I've just launched for the fifth time. The first couple of launches I probably made around about $15,000. The next couple of launches using this method I made around about $10,000 or so.  So nothing amazing, but not anything to be ashamed of either.  Anyway, so more recently in the last 12 months, I got rid of a whole lot of stuff in my business.

I got rid of a membership I had had for four years that I loved but wasn't really resonating for me anymore. I got rid of one on one coaching, which was highly profitable, but once again was not resonating for me. And where I really thrived and got excited and wanted to be was in the group coaching space. So I decided to rebrand Play Big Brand Bold (which was the course prior to Brand Builders Academy) so that it was really clear what it was that this course is for. I updated the content and then you know something, I just started to market it in a way that felt really good for me.  I just made a decision that I was going to be talking about it and building my brand here on the podcast.

I'm on Instastories all the time. And so I just started talking more about it and really taking people on the journey of me updating it, what I was thinking, how I was moving in my business, etc. And then I started also doing webinars when I launched. So this was like a couple of months ago. And so I booked in a couple of webinars. I've booked in a couple of webinars and they went really well. And so I decided to launch for like three weeks, which is not what all the big guns side to do the like only launch for five days so that you create urgency. Uh, and so I decided that I was going to launch for three weeks and I was going to have bonuses in different wakes and then I was going to do webinars in the last two weeks and I was going to have fast action bonuses, which basically means if you bought the day of the webinar you would get like a bonus of some sort.

So all of that was going really, really well. And I spent about $500 on Facebook ads to drive traffic to the webinars, but it was driving warm traffic. So people who knew me, I also talked about it here on the podcast and uh, at that was going really well. So well in fact that after the first couple of webinars and they converted really well, which means that people were joining on the day of the webinars, I booked in like another three or four the following week. I even booked one in on like a public holiday, which I didn't realise, but people still came and joined and at the end of that whole process. And can I just tell you, I don't think I've ever marketed with such joy. I had so much fun, which people said, totally showed. I was talking about it here on the podcast. I was talking about it in Instastories.

I was thinking of lots of different types of contents. So I was obviously welcoming people into the course when they joined. I was then sharing some of the lessons. I was doing some images and some videos. So really trying to mix things up. Uh, and at the end of that launch, I closed on around about 70 odd thousand dollars. Uh, so as you can tell that getting rid of a lot of stuff in my business and making a decision to not follow the rules and do my own thing and really feel into whatever I really wanted to do and what things were working for me and the things that really brought me joy and that I had a lot of fun doing was the biggest win and converter that I could ever have like implemented in my business. The other thing that I want to say is that out of that launch, I picked up a corporate client, uh, who I was, I had been talking about being a speaker, coach, etc.

And you know, I was talking about brand Builders Academy, I was talking about a few other things and I ended up picking up a corporate client that was to the value of around about $45,000. So I think this is the first time I've ever spoken about numbers on the podcast. So I am feeling slightly weird and a little bit uncomfortable, but I also just am trying to make the point that when you find what works for you and you don't follow everybody else's rules, you can literally like six, seven, 10 X your business. So needless to say that, uh, making over six figures in about a month is probably the best, uh, month that I've ever had in my business. I don't tell you this too for any other reason, apart from the fact that you can do it if you figure out what works for you, that is a reason why I'm sharing this with you.

So today I want to share with you a couple of key things that I think I would really love you to start to think about in your business. So the first thing is understanding how you learn and how you process things. So I will learn something new and then I'll work out or ask myself, how does this fit into my business? How could I use that in a way that works for me? Now I say this to my brand builder Academy ladies all the time when sometimes they'll be doing the worksheets and they're like, Suze, I don't know the answer to that question, which can I just say? I think that you should be asking yourself questions that you don't know the answer to yet because then you're challenging yourself to think differently, potentially think bigger and kind of break out of the things that you've been doing as well.

So when they look at that question or that worksheet, I'm like, how could that apply to, you don't always read things and be black and white or prescriptive about it. Really think about what could that look like for me. If I'm a product based business or a service based business or I'm a different kind of business, what do I need to be thinking about for my clients and what they need? What is it? What is the problem that I'm trying to solve and how can I maybe look at how I would potentially approach this or deliver this in a really different way? So based on my business model and structure, is there something that I could apply or tweak or maybe just adopt something brand new from another business that's not in my industry that could work here. So I'm a massive learner. I'm always learning.

But because I'm really clear on my vision and also the fact that now you know, I am just focused on things like paid speaking, brand builders, Academy, being a speaker, coach, and doing brand strategy. That's it. Like those are basically the four things that I do. So when I'm a learning I'm like, how do I apply what I'm learning to those four products or services? How do I adopt it in my business? And the thing that I always ask myself as well is if I was doing it differently, what would it look like? And I brainstorm all the ways whether they're viable or not. It doesn't matter. You've got to just learn how to brainstorm in your business so that you can really learn how to adopt what you learn in unique ways. So that's the first thing is understand how you learn and then look at how you apply.

What you learn in a way that works for you and works for you is the key takeaway that I want you to take from what I've just said. How do you want to do it? What did you love to do? What are your audience love you to give, talk, say, communicate whatever to them. The second thing is learn from those who have the model that you want to build. And I may have talked about this before, but I learned so much from Amy Porterfield. Because she has the business model that I want to create. So I'm a big fan and learner of hers and I love that she shares a lot around how she builds her business and the model that she use. So also think about that. I think that I learned from a lot of different people who have to have different models, business models to me.

But I also have her kind of probably as my number one person because I'm like, you know, if it's good enough for Amy, it's good enough for me. Uh, so that's, I think really look at people like that. And it's interesting. I was actually speaking with Emily Osman the other day, uh, cause she did a master class in brand builders Academy and I do love her. Uh, and I was saying, you know, I've tried different masterminds and the people that I have been in masterminds with who I might be friends with, they've had very different business models to me. And I think that's why it didn't work. Because if you've got a tech company that you're building, if you've got an agency that you're building, that's not something that I'm doing. And so I may not have the best insights when it comes to how you can build that kind of business in the best way when I'm in a mastermind with you.

But when it comes to say service based business or certain product based businesses, then that is definitely something that I can do because I've helped businesses like that grow in the past. But the thing that I was talking to Emily about is that her and I have got similar business models whereby service space, we do online courses, memberships, consulting, speaking, etc. And we've got similar audiences, but we've got different skills. And so we're really looking at, well potentially how can we communicate work with each other because there is an alignment and I think that I can learn from her and she can learn from me in our different areas of business as well. So I think the other thing that I would say there is really try and surround yourself with people that have also learnt how to do things that you want to do.

Because then you can also learn from their mistakes. And that's not a negative thing. We all make mistakes, which I'm going to talk about in a bit. Um, and you should be always making mistakes because if you're not making mistakes, you're not potentially doing things that you haven't done before, you're not taking chances and you're not trying new things. The third thing is to create your own jigsaw puzzle in business. So I feel like now I'm in a place where I'm just doing my own thing and finding my own path. And I think that when you're starting out that this can be a little bit hard cause you're learning. And so you don't always know like what tech systems to use or potentially how to build your audience. So you don't know what resonates. But something that I teach when I'm doing say, speaker coaching is that it's what I call read and respond, which basically means that you're not just putting info out there and then walking away, but you're putting it out there.

You're reading the room, so to speak, the virtual or real room in person room, and then you're interacting with your audience and you're responding and moving with what you see is resonating for them. And I think this is something that I've really learnt when it comes to launches and with my content and with the podcasts and really looking at what works and what doesn't. And so for example, I also say this around speaker coaching, and I heard this from somebody else, uh, is that your message can only be honed when it's witnessed. And what that means is that when you say something, you will see the reaction of it. And so some things where you might think, Oh, this message is absolutely gonna land by audience is going to love it. And then you put it out there and it's like, man, like you're not really getting what you want back.

You want, you're not getting the response you thought that you would get back. And then you put something else out there and it goes wild. I'd say that's what we talk about when I say your message can only be honed when it's witnessed. It's only when you say it out loud, when you put it out there and you see the response that you can start to adjust and go in that direction because that's what's really resonating for your audience. So when I talk about creating your own jigsaw puzzle, that's what I'm talking about as well. So for example, the three videos didn't really work for me. Uh, but the podcast, a mix of the podcasts, my Instastories webinars, all of that, and doing it in a way that feels great for me has really meant that I've hit my stride in my business and I found something that I love to do and that my audience loves as well.

So what I want you to do is start to take a look at things in isolation and then how you bring them together. So do you love Instastories? Okay, so how can you use that? Do you love your email marketing? Okay, so how can you use that? Do you love speaking? So what does that look like? And so there can be 50 different things that you could potentially do, but only five of them or two of them or three of them really help you to get where you want to go. And they're the things that you want to do in your business as well and they resonate with your audience. So create your own jigsaw puzzle. Number four is really understanding that there is no failure yet there is only learning, growing, working it out, which is what brand builders lab is all about. And the thing is is that if you don't reach a goal that you have, then it's not about failure.

You need to turn that around and start thinking why didn't it work? Or why didn't I get to the goal that I wanted? What happened? What didn't I do, what could I do better next time? What resonated for my audience and what didn't, what resonated for me and what didn't. And I think really going back with a mindset of learning, evaluating, assessing means that there is, failure is a not a word in your vocabulary. And this is really interesting cause I feel like I have been asked this so much recently, how do you deal with failure? And to me there is no failure because one, I always go into things thinking this could work or it could not work. I'm just gonna give it my best go. I am going to see what happens. I'm going to give myself some goals. But you know, that's just me kind of going, this would be great if this happened.

But then I also have to know that I have to do all of the work, take all of the chances, put myself out there, do things in a big way in order to reach that goal. So I think sometimes we set these goals for ourselves where we're like, Oh I want to achieve that and then we don't actually do the leg work that's required to meet that goal and then we're like, I failed. And then we go kind of back in our hall and say this is such a big thing. It's something that I'm super passionate about. It's something I talk about in play big brand bold and this is my message that I really want to get out there as well is that this is a choice that we make, that we have these goals that we set and then we don't actually play big enough and brand bold enough to be able to achieve them.

And then we kind of say that we failed and I just want you to start to really shift that. There is no failure. You are learning it and growing and you're working it out as you go. As is everybody. The market is constantly changing. Your customers are constantly changing, you are constantly changing, so it is time to let go of the word failure and it is time to start to get super practical with what it is you want to achieve, how you're going to achieve it. Really getting a bit of self reflection in there and understanding what do I love, what do I want to do and not just following what everybody else is doing. As I said to my baby, I ladies and I'll say it to you, I will teach you the things that I know. I will share with you the lessons that I have along the way, but at the end of the day you've got to work out how to apply it to your own business in a way that works for you because you are not me and I am not you.

Yes, so you've got to work that out and I want you to really have that mindset. And I do. I do have to laugh because some of my community do you kind of say to me, when I'm in a situation, I do ask myself, what would Suze do? And I'm more than happy for you to ask yourself that question, but make sure that you're doing what resonates for you. Because if you try and copy someone else, like I did when I paid 2000 us dollars for that course and I tried to copy what somebody else did. And it's not to say that that doesn't work for some people, it just didn't work for me. It wasn't where I was happy, it wasn't where I was being my true self and where I could really connect with my audience. So that is something that you need to ask yourself and think about.

So that's, I wanted to share with you this week. It's time to break the rules and start to really think about number one, how you learn and apply it to yourself, your business, your audience in your own unique way. Number two, learn from those who have got the model that you want. Yes. So that you're actually building from somebody who's done what you've done before. And like I said, I constantly learn from people who have got different business models to me, but I do have those one or two people that I love to learn from. Number three is create your own jigsaw. Work out all the different things you could do, but then pick and choose what you love, what your audience loves, and where you are your happiest and where you're showing up the most. And number four was understand that there is no failure.

You have to do what is required to be as successful as you want to be and that's a choice that you make. So that is this week's episode. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, then obviously let me know and share it on Instastories tag me, but I would love to know what you feel your going to do differently. Is there something that you're like, Oh my gosh, I have been trying to do this like somebody else for so long and it hasn't been working. And now I realise that I just need to work out how I do it myself. And I want to know, like if you've kind of had that aha moment, then I would love to know.  Well, thanks so much for listening and for being here. You know that I love it when they're hanging out with me. Don't forget, you can go to play big brand bold.com to grab the book, but make sure you're following me on Instagram at Sue's Chadwick. Cause you know, I love to hang in stories, but Hey, until next time, have an awesome week and make sure you keep playing big and branding bold.