Episode 058: How to Leverage Your Speaking Engagements with Jordan Gill
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Is strategy something you’re thinking about when it comes to the speaking events you’re pitching or securing? Jordan Gill joins us to share how you can leverage your speaking engagements based on your business needs—and they don’t always have to be the same. Listen in as she explains the value of building connections, having a referral network, and tracking important data!
The Business-First Creatives Podcast is brought to you by CRM and Dubsado expert Colie James. Join Colie each week as she discuss how to build a business that brings you joy and a paycheck! From business advice with fellow entrepreneurs to sharing automation tips and tricks, Colie and her guests are sharing industry trends and resources, along with a little bit of sarcasm.
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Guest Bio:
Jordan Gill is a self-made millionaire, business strategist, and fierce advocate for rest! Her mission is to help high-achieving, diverse business owners, leaders, caregivers, and parents to ditch the hustle & grind and build a life-first business. Through her Done In a Day™ program, Jordan teaches burnt-out coaches and consultants to work smarter, not harder.
Jordan believes that if your business is suffocating you rather than supporting you, then it’s time to change your business model. She’s helped over 400 coaches and consultants work with clients only four days a month, earning more and resting more. Through nurturing real talk, Jordan teaches audiences that rest is essential for building a business – not a reward for a job well done.
When she’s not helping people build more rest into their routine, she’s putting together a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle or traveling the world with her husband and bonus son.
Here are the highlights…
[1:57] Jordan’s Speaking Engagement History
[4:01] How Jordan Secured Her Speaking Engagements through Connections
[5:17] Leveraging Your Speaking Opportunities
[6:59] Results from Speaking
[8:23] Building a Referral Base through Speaking
[10:05] Virtual Conferences
[14:45] Strategic Moves in Speaking Opportunities
[23:59] How Offers Impact What Speaking Engagements You Need (10 New Offers)
[27:41] Collaborations and Pitches
[33:23] Tracking Data
[39:54] Find Fun Opportunities
[43:06] In-Person Events
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Colie’s Episode on Low Ticket Offers
CONNECT WITH JORDAN
Facebook – facebook.com/systemssavedme
Instagram – instagram.com/systemssavedme
YouTube – youtube.com/channel/UCkKlfSOONuyx1ZLNUkPbH0w
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/gilljordan
TikTok – tiktok.com/@systemssavedme
Review the Transcript:
Colie: Hello, hello and welcome back to the Business First Creatives podcast y’all. Today I took a shower, I brushed my hair, I put on a little lipstick because I had to be, you know, up in Adam. For today’s guest, I am chatting with Jordan Gill. Who, as many of you may know, is my business coach and I first came across Jordan in her done in a day program.
But spoiler alert, we are not talking about VIP days today. Jordan’s done some pivots in her business in the last six months. I’m gonna let her talk about them. But today’s topic is leveraging your. Speaking engagements. So I just wanted to put that out there like at the beginning of the podcast so that if you heard that Jordan was my guest and you’re like, oh, I don’t need a VIP day, please stick around.
Today’s topics are going to be fire Jordan, good morning. How are you today?
Jordan: Yes. Good morning. Thanks so much for having me. I’m pumped. It’s gonna be a fun combo.
Colie: I mean, I love having a every conversation with you. And the funny thing is most of our conversations have been taped, whether it was on a Zoom call or you know, in the Slack channel. I mean, you and I have many conversations, but I am so excited to talk to you on the podcast today. And how I reached out to you to do this episode was I am coming at the end of like my.
Winter speaking engagement session as like a photographer, educator, and I was at a recent conference when someone said, okay, Colie, how are you making so much money off of your speaking engagements? Because I mean, we don’t make a lot of money to actually attend or to speak, even though, I mean, I’m all about getting paid, guys.
I get paid for almost everything that you’ve heard me at, but the real money comes from the back end, and I thought to. Well, I can answer you, but like there are people who do it bigger and better than me. So lemme reach out to Jordan and ask her. So Jordan, let’s start with like the beginning of your speaking and in air quotes, I’m saying career, like what was your first speaking engagement as an entrepreneur?
Jordan: Oh goodness. I think the first speaking engagement, and I’m gonna say in person, and that was in early 2017. I actually had three speaking engagements across three weeks in May of 2017. I don’t know what happens, but there’s like this clump I think I just put out there that I’m a batcher and all of a sudden, It just like
Colie: The universe sends it all to you at the same time.
Jordan: just like, okay.
So I spoke at, I don’t remember which one was first, if I’m being honest, so I’ll share all three. But one of them was a funnel conference. One was a, just in general about operations, and then the other one was for creatives. And so obviously I talked about systems and stuff for them, but, uh, those were the three and they were.
Let’s see, Milwaukee, that was with Stacy Tusk. She owns her business live, and then I went to DC and that was with Mallie Riddick, creatives conference. And then Miami was, Funnels on fire or funnels something, with Stephanie Nicollet. So yeah, it was a, it was a wild time. I spoke again just generally about systems cuz that’s what I was known for and just kind of again, navigated each individual conference.
I’m really big on like tailoring your talk to the audience that you’re speaking to and not just, Like staying in this like super tight lane where you can’t then relate to each individual audience member that’s there, so, so yeah, those were technically my first three, but the first one was in there somewhere.
Colie: I mean, and that’s like a lot in like a very short period of time.
Jordan: Yeah, I took a sabbatical after that.
Colie: yeah, I mean, I mean, I don’t know that you would’ve even had time to like tweak things between them if you saw something that didn’t go, you know, as expected. But, so how do you approach the speaking engagements? First of all for your first, you know, set of three in-person speaking engagements.
Were you invited or did you apply slash pitch?
Jordan: Let’s see. So the one in Milwaukee actually was, and I tell people this all the time, connections are everything you like, literally don’t even know the power of connections until you start connecting with people. But the one in Milwaukee actually got, because my friend Lindsay Padilla was originally supposed to speak and she couldn’t make it happen.
And so she’s like, yo, like, do you wanna fill in my spot? It. I think it was like a month before or something, and I was like, yes. Like this sounds awesome. And so that one I got because another speaker, um, had to bow out. And then, and now I’m in a peer mastermind with Stacy, which is like super dope and like really full circle.
And then the other two they asked me, um, so I had been in one of Stephanie’s, containers, I think it was like a three or six month, like how to build funnels, container. And then Mallie, I was in a. Container with her, um, that was somebody else’s. And so again, you just get to know people when you’re in programs and courses and communities and stuff like that
Colie: And. For those first three speaking engagements, or you could pick one of them to focus on, did you see, like, how did you leverage that opportunity? Did you see an actual quote unquote return on investment for any of those first three speaking engagements?
Jordan: Yeah. So, I agree with you that the money is in. I think that travel was covered for all of them. I don’t think there was like a overhead speaking fee per se. And again, I was within one year of business, I was like, whatever bet. Like I’m on a stage, who cares? And so I would say that Stacy’s event, I got the ROI from connections that I made in the room.
So, Natalie Gingrich, I am actually met who was a good friend of mine and quite a few other people. Amber, I don’t know if few were in Done in a Day at the same time as her Amber Gill. She met me at that event and then she joined Done in a day years later. Like, it’s funny just how. It can be years like down the road, right?
You just never know. I would say probably the most fruitful one from like, people paying me eventually was the funnels, event. So that one was the one that brought in, different clients for like CRM setups for my VIP P days, and then also partnership stuff, as well. So I would say that one, but it also was the biggest event out of the three.
So, I don’t know if that also like kind of tipped the scale a little bit more
Colie: Yeah, I mean, so from a strategic perspective, cause you are one of the only people that I know that probably thinks about more strategy in the day than I do, but did you go in with a plan in order to leverage the speaking engagement like you went in. And like if everything worked out, what did you hope was going to be the result of like that since the funnels was the most, was the highest return on investment, what was your end result goal for that particular speaking engagement?
Jordan: Yeah, I mean it was definitely to sell my v i p days. It was definitely to, bring people into my sphere and share with them again. most people think of as like marketing funnels, right? But there can be delivery funnels. Like there can be all sorts of different kinds of funnels going on. And so while most of the speakers were not competing, but like kind of because they were all front end funnel people, like I technically was able.
Niche my way into like I’m the backend funnel person. Like what is happening once they’re buying this thing? And you have all of these steps of delivery that you gotta, you know, accomplish. So again, I look for those ways where I am the only, where I am. Able to stand out amongst the sea of same Z And that always proves itself to be beneficial because when you think, you go to, say you go again to a, a website designer conference, like it’s gonna be a bunch of website designers, right?
And so when I am able to go to a website designer conference as a systems person, like I stick out like a sore thumb, and that’s. Because all of y’all website designers are my referral partners and the only ops person in the room is me. So I’m, I’m technically not their only choice. They can go on the internet and find other people.
Right? But I’m the only one in the
Colie: they know you.
Jordan: So if Susie’s talking to Anna and I talked to Susie earlier and Anna says, I need a systems person, guess who Susie is gonna re. The chick over there in the red dress or the yellow dress. Right. So it’s, it’s really important to figure out, and I’m not saying don’t go to conferences and events, or don’t speak at conferences and events where you are, in the majority.
However, I’ve usually found that whenever I’m the minority in the, at the conference from an, industry or skillset perspective, that has exponentially helped me like beyond. Again, where I’m kind of in the sea of same z.
Colie: Yeah, I mean, I was listening to one of your recent podcast episodes and you were talking about how when they zig you zag. I mean, that’s, that’s stuck in my head now, Jordan. I’m gonna think about it all the time and like you at this point in my career, I’ve always been. Like, I don’t wanna say the outsider, but when you go to photography conferences, a lot of people at the beginning of my career were like portraits and how do you do regular lifestyle?
And I was documentary. And so I always stuck out in that aspect. And now when I continue to go to photography conferences, I stick out as like the one person that’s constantly talking about systems. Cuz there aren’t that many people who are like hitting photographers over the head trying to get them to get systems.
But so Jordan, that was 2017. I mean this is like 20, 23 girl. So in the last six years, You have changed as a business owner. You have changed what your offers are. You have changed your perspective on offering other people speaking opportunities, and so let’s talk about your virtual conference very briefly because I did a keynote and.
Jordan: You did. That was
Colie: Now that conference no longer, it is now make your mark live in-person event. But when you first started your virtual conference, like what do you look for in speakers when you are making that selection process?
Jordan: Oh, yes, I, I could talk about this like so heavily, just because it’s like such a weird smoke and mirrors thing, like people don’t wanna. Share. Like, I don’t know how to, what’s behind the curtain, I guess, but I’m like, listen, this is what’s behind the curtain and y’all, y’all messing up. Right? So I, the thing that I look for, number one, that literally eliminates like 80% of the applicants.
Cuz we had an application process for the majority of our virtual conferences. How does your topic help my audience do X? Right. For the virtual conference, it was, how does, you know, how does your topic help our audience structure or sell virtual v i p days? Man, it, it used to just, I would get so upset because I’m like, I am literally.
Like this is the golden ticket that will like, literally just give you so much more credibility and trust with me. And especially as the later conferences went on. Cause I’m like, yo, I’ve been talking about this thing for five, times with the amount of conferences I’ve done and y’all still can’t explain to me how what you do supports my audience.
That’s, that’s the number one thing I care. Right, because I’m here to bring the value. I don’t care about your Instagram followers. I don’t care about, you know, whose other stages you’ve been on. What I care about is are you going to bring the value to my audience and again, be respectful and and inclusive in those things as well.
So I think that’s the biggest mark that most people miss, is that they don’t think about the audience they’re trying to sell to the host. And so, Yes, you semi need to sell the host, but I would much rather share how you’re gonna impact their event. Right? And I think the second level to that is, yes, as a host, uh, my reputation and my values is also right under how are you gonna bring value to my audience?
And so if we don’t share similar values, if I don’t see that inclusivity is important to you, if I don’t see. Like, again, if you don’t really move at a level of excellence that a lot of my community would expect, it’s gonna be hard for you to put, like, I just, that’s not gonna happen. And so I, I don’t wanna discourage folks from applying or things like that.
And at the same time, it does take some. Thought and some, interest and intrigue that I think a lot of people miss. So I would say those are the top two things that, that we look for for our virtual conferences and then also our in-person one.
Colie: Yeah. When it came to the virtual conference, it’s funny. I mean, we could talk about this particular part all day, but there are different goals for different speaking engagements and different opportunities. And I will say that, you know, I applied to speak at the virtual done in a day conference. I did a keynote on selling to your existing clients, but that didn’t really have anything to do with my current offer.
Jordan: Yep.
Colie: So like my end result. Speaking in front of your audience at that particular.
Jordan: Yeah.
Colie: Like, my goal was not monetarily, it, it, it wasn’t money. It was to get myself in front of the audience and build my visibility and my authority as like an entrepreneur, not necessarily as the person that you would hire for your systems set up.
So, And that’s not always the case. I mean, when I go to like my photography conferences, I’m like, no, I have this very specific offer in mind. It is sprinkled throughout my talk on the backend. Am I gonna get some people to hire me? So how do you look at, how do you look at your personal, speaking engagements when you are looking at the opportunities that either present themselves to you or that you wanna pitch yourself for?
Are you only looking for opportunities that are directly related to your current offer suite?
Jordan: Well, there’s a very recent example that, I did, it was in New Orleans. It was Marketer’s Heart with. Julian Kathy of FG Funnels, who I love and adore, and they asked me to speak on Instagram reels. Okay.
Colie: It still makes me laugh. Jordan, continue.
Jordan: It’s just literally, I think back to, gosh, like two and a half years ago when I despised reels, like I was so mad that my team was making me do them, and I was like, this is so stupid.
And it kind of was stupid back then. If I’m being honest. When Kathy reached out to me and I was the only speaker also on their stage that wasn’t a part of, like their masterminds and like their higher level stuff. So that also was just felt like such a blessing. And I was like, well, you know, I’m not like an Instagram expert, right?
Like, this is not, you have, I have zero offerings for this. And they’re like, yeah, but like, you do it honestly better and more entertaining and more business driven than anyone else that we. I’m like, okay, well I can talk about it and so should I have created something for after it? Yes, and I eventually kind of did, but that was definitely more of an opportunity of.
Visibility of connecting with their audience, with hyping them up as well. Right. So I had proven to them prior to that talk that, I did a JV webinar about how we used their software for affiliate private invite pages. I had connected with them on multiple levels prior to them asking me to speak.
I went to their event that a year before, right? So, Uh, they knew that I was going to be an ambassador for their software, and so that also probably, I don’t know this, I didn’t ask them, but that probably also affected why they chose me versus another Instagram, like expert quote unquote, because I’m literally showing a reel that went to a FG funnels designed.
Page that I was too lazy to change any of the colors on and like it converted like hot cakes. It was like the highest converting landing page I’ve ever had. Right? So, of course they’re gonna want me to speak, right? Because I’m, I’m a walking advertisement for them. And that’s also something that I think people don’t, people don’t give enough credit of when, when they’re looking at, okay, why would they choose me over someone else?
If you’re an advocate of theirs, if you’re somebody who is a true fan and, and using their software or done their programs or, Just have been in their sphere, like there’s weight to that. And so, you know, I, I think that, I definitely will do visibility if it’s not exactly, what my offerings are because.
It’s, it’s a visibility piece, and it is, again, just building the, the narrative that, again, I can speak on stages and I do it well and here’s how I do it. And, you know, the B-roll and the photos, all that stuff is, is really crucial as well. But again, a lot of people from that. Conference then ended up doing my slam dunk contest.
And then, um, they’ve come to do many other things with me. So it’s, I think that to think that, oh, I’m only coming to events to get clients is such a, I don’t wanna say short-sighted, because.
Colie: It is short-sighted though You can say that.
Jordan: Yeah, yeah it is. I try to find, sometimes I can’t find the words, but short-sighted it is. And I think that yes, you’re in a business so you can’t just be willy-nilly with your time.
But there’s so many other reasons. I went to a lot of events for referral partners actually. So again, for me to go to a website designer conference makes sense cuz website designers are my referral partners. They have all of my clients, right? So instead of me going to where my clients are, which again is tough because for v i P days it was like seasonal business owners.
There’s like wedding professionals, tax professionals, tutoring companies, all sorts of varieties. And so it would’ve take, it would’ve, I would’ve literally been on a conference circuit for like weeks and months, uh,
Colie: all know you’re not doing that.
Jordan: I’m not doing that. Yeah. So, you know, I, uh, referral partners was a big one for me.
And then also just visibility opportunities as well that I can leverage.
Colie: I mean, I, I asked that question thinking you were gonna gonna go in a completely different direction. I did not realize, cuz Jordan, I always think of you as someone who does something with light. A one year plan in mind. I mean, maybe you don’t think about yourself in that way, but I think about you in that way.
So I legitimately thought that when they asked you to speak about reels, that you automatically started thinking about what you were gonna do on the backend. Like that’s what I thought. But this is a very interesting perspective because after you spoke,
Jordan: Yeah.
Colie: so much good reviews that you then did a private recap of that talk for the done in a day alumni.
And so is that when you started thinking about all of your new offers that are related to like social media content marketing, because you have social waterfalls, you have the Slam dunk contest, and now you have Ready Set Collab, which. We’re currently in the first week of it, but by the time this episode airs, you will have it, you know, open for an ongoing process.
Um, so did you not think of those things until after you had done the recap for the done in the day peeps?
Jordan: it, it crossed my mind that I needed to make something for that. But I was, it was a priority thing. It was like, okay. As someone who has chronic illnesses, I have to constantly be reprioritizing. So it was like, yes, I need to have something before I get on stage. And because there was so much that had to be done, I mean, between the time Kathy asked me and the time I went on stage, like my business basically, Had completely shifted.
Because in between that time I decided to not continue to enroll into my Done day program. I had decided that we’re not doing the done day virtual conference. We now are doing Make Your Mark live. And so literal, I mean, you know, it, it became very, very low on the totem pole. And so I was like, okay, this, I saw it.
Then at that moment I was like, okay, this isn’t like a, a direct to something. It is more or less, um, market.
Colie: Planting the seed.
Jordan: planting the seed. And so depending on how well it went, depending on how many people came up to me afterwards and said, I’m gonna go and do a reel right now and go build my email list, or whatever the case is, then I know, okay, it’s worth my time.
Because that’s always the question I have is, is it worth my time? And I just realized that sometimes. A lot of us perfectionists, which I include myself in, I’m recovering, uh, but I, I don’t wanna put, cuz I’ve done the, I don’t know if you have too Colie where it’s like, okay, I can see this for like a full year.
I’m gonna like purchase a branding package and like have this full blown website and copywriting and all this stuff. And three people buy and then I’m.
Colie: Oh, that’s exactly happened. Guys. I’m gonna link my episode on this podcast and the show notes. Jordan, I can’t believe I’ve never told you this. I spent $5,000 to launch a low ticket offer that sold less than $400. I mean, now you know me. I took the assets that I paid the $5,000 for, and I reappropriated them to my, I mean, I got my value.
But when I think about all the money that I dumped in thinking that this was like, cuz it was a low ticket offer to help people book more leads. And it wasn’t do Soto specific, like I actually went into five different CRMs and created videos. For all five CRMs on how you did the inquiry workflow and then it sold less than $400.
So what I took away from that was that low ticket offers just weren’t for me. Like I will, I will not try another one where I put that much money into sales pages and ads and like all of that kind of stuff. This seems like a good time to talk about all your new offers, Jordan. So recently, and I feel like she beat me to the punch guys because I had planned on asking her about these things, but she recently did a podcast episode on the System Save Me podcast where she talked about the 10 offers that she did in the last six months, and basically what she learned from all of. Now they’re related to this podcast episode because I could see the tie-ins between a lot of ’em and then some of the speaking engagements that I knew that she did. But guys, like full disclosure, I also realized that I bought nine of 10. So when I say that I’m a Jordan fan girl, Jordan, there was one you mentioned.
I didn’t even know what it was. That’s like the only one that I missed. So clearly I missed the email on that one. But let’s talk about your offer suite.
Jordan: Yeah.
Colie: that I know that the speaking at Marketer’s heart came before like all of the real and the social media content, like what really pushed you from living in the world of like v I P days and being very successful?
I mean, you know, done in a day program was very successful and you’ve basically shelved it
and you’ve gone on to what I would call you. Brighter pastures. Like now you’re doing all of these things to help other entrepreneurs build visibility and build authority in their spaces, but like what really contributed to that shift in your business and how is it affecting what you currently look like or what you currently look for in your speaking engagements?
Jordan: Oh yeah. It, it’s an ongoing evolution, but I can share where it’s where we’re at at this point. Right. Lot of nice hindsight, which is nice. If you would’ve told me that I was gonna launch 10 offers in October, I would’ve literally been like, who? I don’t. I try, I, I launched twice a year basically for the past couple years.
Cause I don’t do launching, so that wasn’t necessarily the plan. But what I did know was that I wanted to experiment and, and so I wanted to experiment and I wanted to play and I wanted to have some fun and. I knew that there’s so many problems out there that I could solve outside of VIP days, and I just wanted to see all the different ways that I could solve the problems.
And so, I was pretty open with my team about the flexibility in which we were gonna be operating, moving forward. Some of them were like, Okay. And some of them were like, let’s do it. You know? We always have mixed emotions, right? And I try to be as, as upfront as I possibly can. It doesn’t always work that way.
That’s something I’m, I’m getting better at as, as a business owner is. Like, I’m like a, I’m Colie and I are very similar in this way. Like it doesn’t take much to ignite me into action, right? And so I. It’s just, it, I know in that moment it has to happen. And so therefore I just get it done. And my team was like, what is even happening?
Colie: You’re Like, can you give us a heads up
Jordan: Like,
Colie: I know Christie was like, can you give me a heads up before you do that? And Jordan’s just like, yeah, but like, I, I needed to get it done. Like it had a deadline.
Jordan: right, right. Like, why, why do I have to slow down and explain everything? But, and again, I, I wanna say I’m still not great at that, but I, uh, Again, it’s, it’s important that I, I wanted to give myself the space and I didn’t know how long it would be until I found my next thing per se, but I wanted to give my sp myself the space to figure out what that was.
And so, again, doing revenue Rolodex and soft sales masterclass and the affiliate private invite pages and, short form slam dunk contest, all of those things were. Very much again, the experimentation strategy saved me is more of a grounded offer that again, I’ll, I’ll do until I don’t. and I knew that that was gonna be a, a staple in 2023 for me cause I really enjoy it.
Cuz it just, I literally just get to be strategic all day, every day, which is fun. And
Colie: job.
Jordan: oh my
Colie: People just ask me questions and I solve your shit all day. Like I could do that as well.
Jordan: Totally. I know there’s, yeah, there’s a couple people in Strategies Stadium. They were like, so I just wanna build the offer that you have. And I was like, great, we can do that. Absolutely. So, you know, there’s, there was a mix of like, okay, these are like not fleeting offers, but they’re like quick jumps and then they can, you know, be built out into evergreen opportunities.
And our, the most recent offer, ready, set, collab. Came from the fact that I was aggravated at the fact that I have a large network. I know a lot of people, in. One of the biggest joys I get in business is when I’m able to connect to people and like magic happens. So I had gotten a, a Voxer message from somebody that was like, yeah, like, you know, you connected me to this person.
And like, they ended up joining my program here. And then they came and spoke at my other thing here, and they made like $25,000 and like, da dah, dah, dah, dah, da da da da. And I was like, Ugh.
Colie: That’s awesome.
Jordan: I just like wanna do that all the time, you know, I’m like, but it’s hard because including myself, there’s a lot of people who switch up their offers and I haven’t been like adequately kept up to speed with it.
So then they need somebody different than who they would’ve needed when I knew them better. Or they’re open for collabs this month and then they aren’t open for collabs next month. And I was just like, gosh dang it. Like there’s gotta be a better. That I can do this work and connect people and make this magic.
So I was set out to just figure it out, and I knew that I didn’t have quite an understanding of what it looked like until I did my survey. So thankfully my people will give me surveys, you know, with just like nice, thorough answers and it’s just great. So I know that that’s not the case for everybody, but I think people know that if I’m sending a survey, something amazing is coming
Colie: Something is coming. I mean, I, I feel like I should get a prize. Sometimes I wanna reach out to Cole and be like, was I the first person who responded? Like, I feel like, you know, I, I’ve never done that to Cole, but Cole, if you’re listening, just know I think about it every. Time. I will say one of the things that has surprised me about Ready, set, collab, cuz again, we’re only in the third.
Jordan: Yeah.
Colie: But from my perspective as someone who’s in it, I feel like it gave me permission to reach out to people that I already wanted to talk to. Like I’ve already established, uh, podcast swaps with three different people that I have wanted to work with and just didn’t reach out. I mean, and you guys all know that.
I’m don’t, I’m not shy, like, but sometimes it does feel a little weird to just contact someone out of left field and be like, I would love to be on your podcast. Will you take me? But like, The space and the container that you’ve set up with Ready Set Club, and I know that a few other people have said this is that they’re like, oh, I’ve, you know, I’ve wanted to reach out to you and now that you’re in here, like I know that you’re open to it and this is the perfect opportunity.
So I don’t know if that’s what you envision, Jordan, but it’s, it’s working out great for me in that respect. So I will give you a high five for that.
Jordan: I will take it. cuz you know, I think that, again, the, the aggravating part, like you talked about is just like, oh, like you don’t know if the person is open for it, right? You don’t know if it’s. Because again, people go through seasons too, where it’s like, okay, I’m not accepting or I am accepting, and whatever else the case is.
And so I wanted there to be a nice like green light system, I guess, where you knew that obviously if they’re joining Ready, say lab, they’re open to collaborations like, ding, ding, ding. And so, It, it was really a combination of, again, the survey results. cause I was like, one of my biggest questions was how many collaborations are people actually wanting?
Cause I was afraid that people would have unrealistic expectations of like, I want 10 collaborations. I’m like, I don’t
Colie: A
Jordan: collab 10 collaborations. Right. Like, I was
Colie: have time for 10 collaborators a month.
Jordan: I was just like, please for the love of God. Um, and it was very reasonable, like 2, 3, 4.
Colie: Yeah.
Jordan: In the range. And I was like, lovely.
So that was like my first green light of like, okay, we’re realistic. And then from there, looking at, okay, what was the most difficult part of getting collaborations? And number one was finding them, right? So like again, who’s open for a collab, who’s not, how do I get a collab, et cetera. And. Also, in the ranking of what’s most important to the collaborations you do, what’s actually the host reputation and values, which I loved to see because that is totally the same thing with me, like, I want to make sure that the person that I’m engaging with also, again, is aligned in, in some way, and then audience match, right?
And then, you know, those, those things as well. But it felt, it was like such a validating survey, which isn’t always the case. But again, like I, that was when I was like, okay, we gotta do it. Like we gotta do it, like we have to do this. And so, I’m trying to think what was happening. I had just come off a conference in Nashville and then I.
And I told my leadership team and Cole about it, which is Alice, Christie and Cole. I took the weekend and reviewed the survey. And I believe Monday I launched it.
Colie: I mean, you don’t let grass grow anywhere.
Jordan, I love.
Jordan: I don’t. And because again, when I am, I know that like when I am jazzed up about something, I’m just like a magnet, right? Like I’m just a mirror for people. And so I think it’s the human design aspect of me being a projector, but like when I see that I can solve the problem, like I don’t wanna wait to solve the problem.
I don’t
Colie: solve it now.
Jordan: I wanna solve it now, right? So, but I was like, okay, there’s, we gotta build some stuff and like whatever else. So again, I am less apt to like create the sales page and all that stuff. So I literally created like a choose your Under Venture Google doc, where depending on what type of business owner they were, they got sent to a different Google Doc page that really shared why collaborations were a great fit.
The way that they do business. And then, you know, a go Google doc page that then was like the sales page technically with obviously some gifts. So, um, we, I was like, I want a hundred people in there because that means that I can make 50 suggested collabs. That feels good to me. And like what capacity I have.
And we were able to sell a hundred within a week, which is banana pants.
Colie: It is. I mean, and I feel like Jordan, you and I cannot get together without obsessing over our love of tracking data. And since we’ve talked about, you know, long-term return on investment from your speaking engagements, and now we’re talking about ready, set, collab, where you get like multiple opportunities and like this really short span of time, it’s unrealistic to think that you’re gonna actually get a huge return on investment like immediately after you’ve done these.
But,
Jordan: Yep.
Colie: What is it that you do in your business or that you suggest for others in order to track the data on your return on investment?
Jordan: Oh yes. And I wanna say 2022, I had about 50 52 collaborations. So guest speaking, in-person stages, virtual stages, joint ventures, who knows what else I did. And so with that, I want to know which ones have brought fruit, Not because I wanna look how I wasted my time or stuff like that. It’s more or less who should I continue to partner with, right?
Like who are the people that were a really great audience match and that I also enjoyed that we could maybe continue down the line. And so Trina on my team, who’s my ops coordinator and Wrangler of all things Jordan, That she will send me a whole, like at the end of the year, she sent me a whole long list of all the collabs that I did, and I had to check, or I had to rate each single one of them of like, okay, at one outta one to five, like, was this a good fit for, again, audience match, et cetera.
And then one through five, did you enjoy it, right? Five being I did enjoy it. One mean. Because it’s Trina’s job to gate keep. Right. And so I don’t, not that I don’t choose what I’m on, but Trina is excellent at determining who should I should talk to and what, what collab opportunities I should have.
And so she wants to make sure that she is doing her job well. Right. and she did do it well. I think there was maybe only one or two collabs that I. Wasn’t my favorite, you know, and none of them were bad, like bad people or anything like that, but just it wasn’t as fun or we just didn’t connect and that’s okay.
So I look at that data again for Trina’s metrics, um, but also for, again, like future partnerships, collaborations, things like that. Because, you know, instead of feeling like I have to keep coming up with new people to meet and connect with, I, I really like when I meet people who, again, it’s a win-win and we can just keep, win-win, you know?
Uh, right, exactly. So there’s a time for experimentation where you’re expanding and, and getting in front of a ton of new audiences. And then there’s sometimes where I’ll contract and say, okay. Looking at the needs of my audience right now, like these are the sorts of businesses that are gonna be a best fit for them, but also for me and the other person.
So we track that. Again, we just made a massive migration to HubSpot. We are still not done. It’s a whole thing, but it’s worth it because for us, HubSpot is able to show. I mean data upon the wazoo probably a scary amount of data for most people, but for me, I just get to live in it and breathe in it.
And yes, just be, Cole will send me, Cole, my systems gave, will send me little loom videos of like, look what I found today. And so,
Colie: That sounds like something Nicole would do.
Jordan: I know and it’s the best. And so, you know, I, because I wanna know some deeper analytics that are important to me are not only where are people coming from, but then how long does it take them to become a customer? That is extremely important to me. And you know, I knew what done in a day specifically, how long it took people on average once they joined my email.
To become a client. I knew exactly which lead magnets were fast and which ones were slow. I knew which ones, like if people did the combo of this one, this one, and this one, then they had it quicker. And so then you’re able to identify the best path, the best customer journey to create. But if you’re not tracking any of that, you might be like, oh yeah, all these guest podcasts I’m doing are bringing in clients.
But then actually what’s bringing your clients with the Facebook lives that you’re doing? Right. And you’re like, Okay. Right. And then you stop doing the Facebook Lives and you’re doing the guest podcasting and it’s not working. So, there’s, you don’t have to get HubSpot to, well, to get all of the data I’m talking about.
Yes. But you can still, there’s workarounds that can still get you that data without you having to again, spend thousands of thousands of dollars on software For sure. But data’s so crucial. And if you’re somebody who wants to know the most efficient way, Make something happen in your business, then data is truly the only way.
Yeah.
Colie: I mean, I took some lessons from your book. I now track everything in Airtable. So what Jordan? And while I have a paid account guys to do most of what I’m doing, you don’t even need a paid Airtable account. But I was obsessed when I heard you talking about how the roadmap. For done in a day was leading people was getting more conversions than your quiz.
Like you’ve talked about that at one point and I was like, okay, I’ve got like three different freebies and I actually don’t know the conversion rate for any of them. I don’t know how long it takes someone to finally hire me after they joined my email list. So I spent like a good two weeks and built all that out.
And finally started to have some data. And as you know, I’m putting out a few new freebies now, and so I’m gonna continue to look at the data to see, but I also do the same thing with my speaking engagements. Like if I’m speaking in like a virtual conference and I’m sending people to an offer, I’m always doing it to a special landing page.
So that I can see how that’s converting. And then I also do double duty of asking people on a marketing questionnaire right after they purchased so that I can see where they came from. So guys, what you get from data is, it’s limitless guys, and especially when you are thinking about doing all of these collaborations and all of these speaking engagements and you’re trying to figure out what is best suited.
But as Jordan also touched on, It’s what your return on investment is, but it’s also how much you enjoyed it. So if you hated a particular, a particular opportunity that you had, even if it made you a lot of money, I would still question whether or not if it was offered to you again, if you should do it again.
Right, Jordan?
Jordan: Agree. Yeah, you gotta be able to enjoy. And again, I think 2022 was a hard year for a lot of people, including myself, and I was so determined to have some fun. And I think that when you just take opportunities because you should or because it’s shiny or whatever like it, that’s just not gonna last long.
It is tech like. Yes, again, money is great and I’m definitely not knocking it and like it’s not the end all.
Colie: Okay, Jordan, in closing, if you were going to give somebody like two tips on how to find speaking engagements that are most aligned with your values and your business, what would those two be?
Jordan: Yes. The first tip is to. I used to ask again when I was at events or whether virtual or in person, I would ask them what other events they went to. Like if I was enjoying myself at that moment, at that event, I was like, okay, well I would just wanna be at more events that are like this, so what other things are you going to?
And so I would again, jot them down and make as many as I could. But, um, you know that I found that they’re really. Especially in the online space, there really isn’t a space to know all of the events that have speaking opportunities. Cuz again, most people aren’t even opening up to applications in the online business world.
I’m one of only a few, right? So I think that getting, when you’re in the room, getting, feedback from the other people, whether again, it’s in the chat or in person in the room and writing down where else people are going. It’s number one. And then secondly is to, uh, I’m a big fan of leverage, so this one is a little interesting.
So I, I knew that I wanted more speaking engagements and in order to do that, I wanted to be able to showcase the fact that I can speak. So while done a day virtual conference was, Absolutely a launch situation to bring in money. It also was, I’m gonna create my own stage until y’all just gimme one. Right?
So,
Colie: go.
Jordan: so similar with podcasts, right? I had my own podcast because I wanted to get better at speaking and I also wanted to get on more podcasts, and so I was able to invite people to my podcast and vice versa. And that was able to build again, my portfolio that way. So that one is usually not the tip people want to hear, um, but
Colie: good one. It’s the one that everyone needs to hear. Jordan, that’s what I come to you for. I come to you for that tough love cuz I give everyone tough love and I’m like, I need someone to give. Me so I come to you because I mean, that is a hundred percent true and I, I don’t know how you feel, but I feel going into these spaces, being a black woman, being a biracial woman, often I’m the only one in the room.
And if you wanna change those kinds of things, you need to just build your own stage and invite the people that you want to come along with you. So I’m a hundred percent there with you, Jordan.
Jordan: Yes. Yes. And I’m not saying, listen, putting on an in-person event is a whole spiritual journey because you are writing checks and signing contracts that are.
Colie: Very
Jordan: than your car is worth. Right? And so it’s very, it’s, it’s not for the faint of heart. So I’m not saying go out here and, and try and fill 300 and some person event in person.
Cuz again, I did six virtual conferences before I did like an in-person, right? So there’s other ways that you can create that similar environment, to get that practice in. So don’t feel like you have to go for the big kahuna, um, just. Prove the point or whatever. It’s, it really can be done in a, in a much more cost effective way, and also ways that, are more accessible to a lot of people.
Right. So, I know people are like, whatever about virtual events, but I still love them and I love
Colie: love
Jordan: them, like all of that stuff. So, you know, don’t poo poo on virtual events. People like, they’re super great.
Colie: They are. I mean, and I feel like that’s the one thing that I really loved about the pandemic is that it made virtual events like a thing, like it gave them the space to kind of grow into what they need to be. And while I will say this year, I’m very excited to hug people in person, guys. I mean, I’m in the first 90 days.
Of, 2023. I went to four in-person events. Like I was ready to hug people in person, but now I’m back in like the virtual stage where I’m about to do three speaking, engagements in a row that are all virtual. So, You know, virtual’s great in case you don’t have the space and the time and the money to be able to travel to all of these in-person events.
But like Jordan said, start, start with what, you know, start with, I don’t wanna say the low-hanging fruit, because I feel like some of those can be, you know, very, very good for you. But start with that and then grow as you can.
Jordan: Yes.
Colie: Jordan. It was lovely to have you on my podcast today. I don’t think anybody in the audience needs to know where they can find you, but please tell them anyways.
Jordan: Right. Oh, so obviously we talked about reels. So I am on Instagram. I love being on there. It’s a joy. I take my, my little breaks and things, but for the most part I’m on Instagram at systems, plural. Saved me. And then we also did mention my podcast, so definitely come and take a listen over there.
Systems saved me. Plural. So basically if you type in system saved me and into anything, except I don’t think we’re on Twitter, who knows if we’re on Pinterest, but like I would say Instagram podcast and our website, it is semi up to date, but getting there. So, those will be the three places to check out.
Colie: Ah. Thank you so much for joining me, Jordan. It was a pleasure. Anytime that I get to talk to you, I just soak up all the goodness. But guys, that’s it for today. See you on the next episode.
