Having trouble keeping track of your business finances? Make sure you know exactly how to use your revenue projections in order to stimulate business growth rather than set yourself up for failure.
Mark Butler was mentioned a few episodes ago when I interviewed Racheal Cook because he is the CFO that she mentioned as a part of her team. That is what Mark does for a living; he will be your CFO and help you manage the money.
In this episode you’ll hear:
— Exactly how Mark helps his clients manage their money, and make smarter spending decisions.
— Why you should never use projections to make big spending decisions and what you should use them for instead.
— Why he is virtually “unfireable” and what exactly that means.
— Why his previous business, a membership site, shriveled up and died (and what you can do to avoid that).
— Why Mark is not a big fan of high end mastermind programs.
Mentioned in this episode:
Connect with Mark:
Email him at mark@budgetnerd.me!
SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES, STITCHER OR GRAB THE FEED LINK HERE!
Thanks for listening! Time to go get yourself paid. :)
Claire, to make the model more almost evergreen, consider automation. That’s one thing that wasn’t really discussed. The once/twice month webinar idea makes sense, but it’s not enough. Whose to say they can’t get that from subscribing to a podcast or joining a forum? However, one thing that I would love to see and pay money for is monthly income/losses reports on experiments with clear, defined roadmaps.
The general roadmap you can actually give away as a one pager / infographic – it’s value is negligible without knowing the values from the experiments. This will be the evergreen portion. Updated on the site, in a members only section, will be the values (whether hard or soft variables) of each step/stage in the road map that yield the best results – updated 1-2x per month by not yourself or eventually in real time by internal software. That’s the automation part. Having that and a webinar will give you a highly structured format so that you don’t have to prepare, just literally focus on looking fabulous for your webinar.
Let’s say you get the permission of 5 clients that you 100% manage their campaigns to show their numbers… well that’s 5 data points that actively counts as your “experiments” in different markets and within those 5 data points is a 80/20 split where 80% of the work goes according to the results from the previous month and 20% is going towards an experimental approach.
Finally… wow, that was a lot… you can set up a system whereby complete automation of Facebook ad results tracking (originally your internal software, mentioned above) can be done through the aid of a software interface (which you also test internally). Yep – Saas it up. I think you can do it… if you just think really hard and long until the pieces come together.
Hey there, thanks for such a thoughtful response! I’m not entirely sure I’m interested in a membership model – one of my big competitors does it and if you’re paying attention, you can see that he has to work hard to keep up enrollment. Not to say it doesn’t bring in good money, but I’m still not sure it’s for me. But if I were to go that route, your advice is really really good, so thanks again!
No problem! Thanks for the response. I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re a smart one, fo sho.
Loved this episode and your questions were spot on! Especially the relationship between him and his former boss. :D
I’m trying to do a membership style model myself. But I am trying to model it like a venture capitalist. I would like a pool of resources to experiment with in marketing. So that I can worry only about hitting one out ten advertising/marketing ideas. So technically my members are investors in my marketing company and if I hit one idea then they all benefit.
Wow, that’s so interesting Michelle! What would an example exit be for you and your “investors”?
Claire,
I have really enjoyed your podcast episodes, this one in particular was very insightful. This may be the first podcast I have ever listened to with Evernote open so I could refer back to the advice that was given.
I am still not sure which way to go with my new idea, but it definitely isn’t your fault. I look forward to the coming episode(s) as you finish out this first season.
I want to sincerely thank you for providing such a great resource for those with real questions about how real online businesses make it work.
Chris
You’re the best Chris. This kind of comment makes the decision to continue so easy, even those weeks when there’s so much to do and you’re trying to catch up on a Sunday. :) Wishing you the very best as you progress with your idea!
Claire,
I was re-listening to this episode as I went for a walk last night, and at the end you made a request for your listeners to leave a comment with suggestions on a theme for season 2.
2 thoughts came into my mind:
1) in this season that was all about business models, it would have been interesting to hear from someone who makes a living with KDP, (Kindle Direct Publishing). Let me know if you need a suggestion on who to interview.
2) for season 2, how about a series that focuses in on income “breakthroughs”, as in:
– when the light comes on
– when their message/list hits critical mass
– when their revenue chart looks like a hockey stick
– what did they change? what made the difference? How long did it take before the big change occurred?
– was there any particular advice/seminar/guru/mastermind that gave them the missing ingredient to pour gasoline on the fire?
Additionally, it might be cool to get a top 5 book recommendation and a top 5 tools list from each guest. (Or maybe top 3, whatever). That would help the listeners, and might generate some affiliate revenue for you (through links in the show notes).
Not sure why it took me 3 months to comply with your “call to action”, but better late than never, right?
Take care, and enjoy your off-season.
Wow, great ideas, Chris! I would definitely be interested in an intro to someone or multiple people who make their living with KDP! I hadn’t thought about that revenue stream but I know people would be interested in it. Season 2 and 3 are actually already in production, but I like your ideas – if there’s a Season 4 I might be borrowing one of your ideas!
Definitely better late than never. :)