SFN165: Jenn Scalia on Creating a Membership Site

Starting from Nothing - The Foundation Podcast | Building your business ENTIRELY from scratch.

Jenn Scalia runs a coaching business and membership site for women who want to put themselves out there and run their own online business. Formerly, she enjoyed doing social media full-time for the largest casino in Atlantic City until she was laid off. Jenn felt like she hit rock bottom after her second layoff in two years. It was then that she decided that she wanted control over whether or not she worked and how much she earned. Jenn then moved back in with her parents’, and leveraged their support to get out of debt and slowly grow her business to the six-figure company it is today.

In this interview, Jenn tells us all about Little Black Business Book, and what it takes to run a membership site. We also talk shop about creativity and why she’s addicted to investing in one-on-one coaching.

In This Interview I Ask:

2:35 - Did you go and get another job after [getting laid off]?

4:21 - What were the first 60-90 days like from the time you [decided to start a business]? What did it look like in the first three months of you figuring all this stuff out?

5:40 - Did you have habits or rituals that you did everyday? Did you do things to condition your mindset that way you could keep moving forward even though it was kind of tough?

6:50 - What are you saying in your marketing materials in order to attract clients that sets you apart from the other options that people have?

7:40 - How would you describe your ideal customer?

8:20 - How does your membership fee work?

9:20 - What are some of the specific mini courses that people could go through as a part of the membership site?

10:11 - When you launched the membership site originally, how many mini courses were a part of that?

14:04 - What’s a typical time frame from you’ve got the idea to it’s on the membership site?

14:40 - What’s your magic when and where for creation?

15:57 - Do you have a specific place you like to create?

16:42 - What are the strategies that you use you to acquire your ideal customers?

18:12 - How do you capture testimonials?

20:47 - What’s your most popular mini course?

21:48 - What’s your favorite social challenge that you run? Give us a taste of what that looks like.

23:12 - What’s content prompt?

23:36 - What kind of team is behind this?

24:22 - What do you think is the biggest chokehold in your business? What are you working on the most?

25:28 - What do you see for your business in the next three years? What’s that look like?

26:25 - Of the education and training you’ve experienced yourself, what are some of the game changers for you?

27:35 - What’s the latest book that you’ve read in the last six months that has shown you something new that excited you or that grew your business or your personal life?

28:26 - Did you systematize [drinking water] in any way?

28:52 - Let’s say you woke up and you don’t feel like you want to work. Do you have something that you do to push through or step back from the business? How do you look at a “down day”?

30:29 - Do you ever abstain from technology?

31:36 - What does success mean to you?

How to Position Yourself in the Marketplace

Position yourself as a thought leader and as someone who is the go-to person in your niche. Create a viral visibility so that people know who you are and know about your business.

How to Capture Testimonials

In order to get the right answers, you need to ask the right questions. Get your customers to express the journey from when they decided to hire you to their end result. Some questions you might include are:

• Where were you before you purchased [product/service]?
• What happened during your experience with [product/service]?
• Where are you now after experiencing/using [product/service]?

Pro Tip: Ask for video testimonials that included specific numbers and actual results such as an amount of money saved or earned or percentage increase of goal(s).

Jenn’s Business Game Changer

“Every time I’ve worked with someone one-on-one, at a higher level, it definitely moved the the needle for me. I’ve also taken lots of courses, but I don't think, looking back, any course or program itself was a game changer. It was really having that first hand one-on-one support and accountability that really changed it for me. I'm addicted to it.”

“If I don’t continue to invest in myself, and I don't continue to have that support I'm not going to be able to continue to run a business that’s seven figures.”

Show Links:

JennScalia.com, website

Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, book