[#022] My First Billion: The Purge

I started Monday differently than most Mondays.

It started as it normally does…

Did morning routine with the fam and took the kids to school.

I came back and spent the first part of the day in God's presence.

Now I usually start the day reading the Word, however, Monday felt a little heavier for me.

So instead of just pushing through I sat still.

I read, listened, and sat. Literally laid on the floor outside my office in the loft area.

I just wanted clarity on what God wanted me to do next.

I didn’t do anything business related, my first meeting until 2pm.

Some things hadn’t been going the way I wanted them to go, one of them is the Founder Freedom Workshop and the honest assessment is it bombed.

We got data from it, but it didn't go where we wanted it to go.

So instead of forcing the next move I just sat with it and I asked the Holy Spirit…

“What do you want me to know and see in this season?”

At 2, I met with my event team.

We went through all the numbers, assessed everything, and just started recalibrating.

Then at 3 I got on with my coach.

He pulled up the pages, looked at the whole ecosystem and gave me his honest read.

His perspective was that I'd shifted to a more upstream, more affluent avatar but was still marketing to them like they were early stage.

The messaging, the design, the price point (which was free)...

All of it was sending the wrong signal to the right audience.

His take was that the more affluent the audience the simpler and more premium everything needs to feel.

Paid over free and clean and clear over colorful.

All things we help clients with, however, this is why it’s important to have someone who can see our blindspots…

And oftentimes we have to be reminded more than taught.

I didn't push back, I just took it in.

And sitting with all of it, something became clear.

Part of what happened with this event was me still holding onto a previous identity.

I'd been so good at speaking to earlier stage audiences for so long that some of that was bleeding through subconsciously.

The messaging, the design, the price point, all of it was carrying an old signal into a new room.

Noted. Adjusted. Moving on.

Here’s what that looks like…

I made the call…

If I'm going to focus on a paid front-end offer…

I might as well double down on the Pre-Sold Prospects Pipeline System…

And let the Founder Freedom Workshop go.

Run paid workshops to the list periodically, dial in the pipeline and simplify the whole ecosystem.

Another thing purged.

The week before Monday was moving too.

Saturday, after our Brunch with the Bros, I went to an event expecting to sit on a panel for my guy.

They ended up asking me to do a keynote. I said yes, did it, and it went well.

Had some solid conversations afterward and moved some things forward.

Sunday was week three of my For the Love of Money series at church.

We're also in the process of moving our church to a new building, which has had its own set of logistics.

Monday, we got the building cleared out, hired one of my guys who has a moving company to handle it instead of pulling everybody in to do it manually.

That's the kind of decision that gives everyone their time back and empowers another business.

Tuesday through the rest of the week was all about the relaunch.

Coaching calls with clients on Tuesday, then the rest of the week has been focused on one thing…

Relaunching the full ad ecosystem.

Building out the funnel audiences, the middle of funnel assets, the retargeting layer, the ads at the top.

The first generation of all of it is now live.

Being back in the ad account felt good.

I haven't been in there launching new ads in a while.

There's something about being hands-on with the creative work…

The copy, the visuals, the messaging, that I enjoy.

I can outsource a lot of things and have, but this one tends to find its way back to me and I'm okay with that.

Wednesday I pushed my flight back so Vanessa and I could have breakfast and do our weekly sync before she took me to the airport.

It was worth every minute. Flew up here to Virginia, grabbed some food, kept working on the ad assets, and Yes, still watching Yellowstone.

Deep into season three now. No spoilers, however, I will say that…

The scripture that says God owns the cattle on a thousand hills hits different!

I'm in Virginia because MJ had a band field trip to DC.

If you’ve been reading the newsletter for minute…

In issue [#006] of My First Billion: Disappointment, Detours & Destiny, I talked about how I got Rejected for a chaperone spot for Ro-Ro’s field trip.

Well, I got rejected from Mj’s also. I’m in the process of getting my record restriction finalized.

I had already paid though and the company wouldn’t give me a refund…

So I gave my ticket to a kid whose family couldn't afford to send them, and I just flew up here on my own so I'd be nearby if he needed me.

Thursday, I had a couple of meetings with people I connected with at Saturday's keynote.

Some potential opportunities developing there. We'll see where those go…

And I had a meeting in D.C. with one of the members of my Family Office, who specializes in insurance as a wealth-building strategy.

What the snowball is teaching me

This is the second thing I've let go in the last few weeks.

First the sales team. Now the 3-day event as a critical part of our ecosystem, at least in its current form.

Both decisions came from the same place.

Not panic or pressure.

Just an honest look at what's aligned and what isn't, and the willingness to release what's not without dragging it out or sunk cost bias.

The purge isn't failure, it's editing.

Every great piece of writing gets better when you cut what doesn't belong.

Every great business does too.

The snowball doesn't carry dead weight down the hill, it just releases and keeps rolling.

More next week.

Tell those you love, that you love them.

Marquel