Transcript

Sigrun:
You’re listening to the Sigrun Show episode number 395. In this episode, I talk to Vanessa Laszlo about how she made 20,000 Euro with her first ever launch.
Welcome to the Sigrun Show. I’m your host Sigrun, creator of SOMBA the MBA program for online entrepreneurs. With each episode, I’ll share with you inspiring case studies and interviews to help you achieve your dreams, and turn your passion into profits. Thank you for spending time with me today. Building an online business takes time. I share with you proven strategies to help you get there faster. You’ll also learn how to master your mindset, up level your marketing, and succeed with masterminds.
Today, I speak with Vanessa Laszlo, who participated recently in my brand new launch program, SOMBA Accelerator. As an executive coach, Vanessa focuses on helping her clients resolve conflict within their companies. In this episode, she shares her experience in SOMBA Accelerator and how she made 20,000 Euro in her first ever launch. Before we dive in, I want to announce that, based on popular demand, we are running one of my free courses for the second time.
The free five day online course, How to Succeed in the Next Normal in Online Business is taking place from September 7th to 11th. If you are ready to set your business up for the next normal and long-term business success, this is for you. Over five days, you’ll learn how to craft unique content for your audience, decide what you should be selling right now, how to build and grow a loyal audience, and so much more. If you’re ready to take bold action, join us and secure your free spot now. Go to the show notes at sigrun.com/395, where you can sign up for the five day course on How to Succeed in the Next Normal in Online Business, and find all the links to Vanessa Laszlo.
I am so excited to be here with Vanessa Laszlo, and talk about her experience in the program called SOMBA Accelerator and how she was able to have amazing first launch. Welcome to the show, Vanessa.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Thank you very much for making the time Sigrun. I’m very pleased to talk to you.
Sigrun:
Well, I’m excited to hear all about your story. I know it, of course, and that’s why you’re here on this show because I think more people need to hear about it. So, take us back to beginning, middle of March, I guess, middle of March when the world went into lockdown, what happened in your life of business then?
Vanessa Laszlo:
So, let me start with this, I’m a psychologist and I’ve been working as a consulting psychologist for corporate clients for almost 20 years. And I can say I was, or I have been a successful business owner offline. And in my former offline world, I would describe myself as a big fish in a rather small pond. So, I didn’t have a large amount of customers, but I have a small to medium amount of really loyal customers. And then, in March 2020, when our whole world changed, and COVID-19 and its consequences, and our society and our industry hit their businesses, a huge part of my business just came to a grinding halt.
And, to be honest with you, I didn’t realize it at first. When the first appointments were canceled in March, I really enjoyed this sudden break. For years, I had a high level, really high level of kind of complexity of everyday life. And those first few weeks without so many obligations, and with a seven year old kid who couldn’t go to school, it felt like a mother-daughter retreat. And I know it sounds absurd, but I have fond memories of this first few weeks in lockdown. I had such an amount of time for my daughter, for myself, for my old dog, that is important to me to. I read a lot of books, I slept a lot, I started cooking. I enjoyed to be in my beautiful home. So, this was great until it began to dawn on me that maybe there is no going back to my so called normal. And that was a big shame because, in my so called normal, 2020 was supposed to be my biggest business year, at least in financial terms.
And so, this dimension it vanished into really thin air, and was realizing that it was quite a huge shock. And I really felt shocked and I really felt depressed. And, to be clear, I really pitied myself. And then I realized something. And I would like to take a minute to talk to you about this, because I have the hope that this may be of some value for anyone who listens to us. I have to take you back while studying psychology at uni. And while studying psychology, you have to do a lot of experiments. That’s one of several great points about the psychology study, I loved it.
And I remembered, one of those called learning psychology experiments I had to do being a student more than two decades ago. And all you need is a motivated rat and a big maze. And so, do you know how to motivate a rat, Sigrun?
Sigrun:
No. Maybe with food? I don’t know.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Yeah, almost. It’s mean but it works with food deprivation because when it’s hungry it starts to sniffle around. That’s even a bigger drive than its drive for safety for hiding. So, you make them hungry in order to use them as experimental rats. Then, you got to stopwatch in your hand, and you have this big maze that consists of different tunnels, and corridors, and so on. And this maze it kind of has the complexity degree for a rat’s brain that is similar to the complexity of our everyday life for human brains.
And then, you take something they really like, like say piece of bacon, or cheese, or some nuts, or they love chocolate, that’s not healthy. So, let’s take a piece of bacon, and you create a safe exit, and you put it in corridor five. And then, you take the rat, and you take a stopwatch, and then you just watch what happens. And it starts, of course, to sniffle around. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Corridor one, dammit, no food, no exit. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Corridor two,, dammit, no food either and so on. And then, sudden hooray corridor five, sniff, sniff, sniff, there’s food and there’s an exit. And you do this several times. And I had to draw those learning curves.
And at the beginning, they all look like trial and error, trial and error, but you do this several times, and then suddenly you have a very motivated and very smart rat who will totally get the whole game. It became a professional experimental rat, and you can show it on its curve, it’s like a steep high, and it establishes itself on a high level. And if you have this curve it’s a, so-called, learned behavior. And then, the actual experiment starts by changing the structure of the maze. And, shorten it, you take the bacon out of corridor five and you put it in corridor 20. And then, you take this little animal and it’s still hungry, yet motivated. And it has become really, really smart. And, of course, it will run straightly into corridor five.
And then, this poor little thing experiences a great shock because there in corridor five, where the bacon and the safe exit have always been, is nothing, nothing left. And you can even measure its stress. I had to do this. Its pulse rate, and you can even take it on the protein content its [inaudible 00:08:22] foods, and all this mean things. But you can see that it’s experiencing something, psychologists refer to, a reactive depression, or we would say a huge midlife crisis, a life crisis, major stress. And then, something happens. And even as a young student, in my opinion, that produces [inaudible 00:08:45] of the applicability of this experiment on humans because the rat is still hungry. And, of course, it will start to sniffle around again. Whereas humans, we tend to build a resting spot. Some take soft, big pillows to make it even cozy. And then we start to feed on our beliefs. And even sometimes we starve on our beliefs and people tend to do it for years or even decades.
And I’m a coach, I love this. That’s my destiny. And I’m quite used to talk about those things. People used to tell me on an everyday basis about their corridor fives. They told me, “In my relationship, the bacon has been always here. Concerning my health and my career and this family.” And then, it dawned on me, “Hey, in my life, the bacon has been here, and now it’s gone.” And you know what? I was relieved because I realized I’m not a fucking mess inside, I’m fine. I’m just experiencing a really serious corridor five problem. And all I have to do is get up and sniffle again. And that’s what I did. To get to your question, I just sniffled around. And then, someone in my bubble mentioned, Sigrun. And, of course, I Googled it, who is Sigrun? and then I thought, “Okay, this lady, obviously, knows what she’s talking about, I will go with her.” And so, that’s the story of my participation in the SOMBA Accelerator.
Sigrun:
You decided not to pity yourself for too long, but to do something about it.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Yes. I started to sniffle around and I really knew, I instantly knew if I can do this, everything will be fine because in this huge world there is enough bacon.
Sigrun:
There is. I remember when you joined the program, you were still in that mode of like, is this it? And there was some desperation in the air generally of making investments in a time like this. But what happened then?
Vanessa Laszlo:
Well, how do I say this? One of my key findings in this great program is don’t misunderstood a great concept for a manual because you provide a great concept, but it’s like a dirt road and you have to build your own road out of it. You have to interpret it in your own way of thinking, and feeling in my own context, in my own bubble. And so, I think, I had a bold reflection on this, and then I decided something that turns out to be very clever because I get it. Online biz is not like offline biz, but hey, people are still people. And I’m a bad ass psychologist, so I can deal with people.
And I realized in the offline world, I would never ever go to a complete stranger, try to sell him something. I would never do this. I would, first and foremost, focus on building up a high quality relationship. And that’s what I did or not because I needed cashflow, I have two employees left and I wanted to pay them without touching my savings. So, I needed to cashflow. And so, I decided, for strategic reasons, to focus on my previous and current clients, because I already have a trusting relationship with them.
And it is a true story, I’ve written 30 emails and very personalized, like psychologically intimate emails. It took me a whole day. I didn’t have to copy and paste, I really wrote it from my heart for them. And I asked them to forward it. And I got over 180 attendees in my free workshop, 190 to be exact. And I had a fantastic show up rate, way above 80%. And the people who couldn’t come, they even excused themselves via email. So, this was it.
And then, I sold in the first week 10 spots, and then I sold another number 10. So, I sold 20 spots for my first round. I made 20K in a whole, 10K out of the first little program. And I decided to make it little because, to be honest, I wanted to test small, and to fail small, and even to win small. I wanted to have the speed component, and I wanted to have this experience. And I’m a quick learner, so my next program, it will consist of several modules, and it will take several months, a year or something. But I wanted to fail, and win, and test small at the beginning.
Sigrun:
Which is a very wise decision. Did you know what a launch was before you joined the program?
Vanessa Laszlo:
No. I was in this cave somewhere in the mountains. Really, I didn’t know. I didn’t know what you were talking about at first.
Sigrun:
Did you realize that you were learning how to launch?
Vanessa Laszlo:
No … Well, yes, in the process then, but not at first. At first, I was overwhelmed. You get a tsunami on really relevant infos. And if you are a beginner, you can’t differentiate what is very relevant, what you can focus on, what you could ignore and everything is overwhelming. But then, I realized I don’t have to react with an allergic reaction to it because it’s all about high quality interaction. And it’s all about focusing on your emotional footstep, and providing something that builds trust in a very intense, and beautiful way. And I like this very much. So, you got me hooked on this. I want to learn more and I want to launch more and get it.
Sigrun:
So, probably along the same lines, did you realize that having a $20,000 first launch is amazing success?
Vanessa Laszlo:
No, because on my scale, to be clear, I’m used to different amounts of money per month. No, it was okay. And I really understood that this is the beginning of a new me, of my online biz. And I’m very grateful, and I’m a bit proud, but more grateful, more curious to learn more, and to experience more, and to perform better. No, I didn’t get the numbers. I’m still in the process of understanding the numbers. And what first took me was your idea of testing it because, as a psychologist, I’m used to test ideas, and that’s not to fall for my beliefs, but to make clear hypotheses, and test on it. And so, this was like a bridge. I could use my old me to go over this bridge into this whole new world.
Sigrun:
Absolutely. Having a 20,000 first launch is amazing. Congratulations, Vanessa. It’s truly achievement for someone who is coming from offline, and first time launching online. And it can only grow bigger from there. What do you feel is next for you? Because a part of you was holding on a little bit to your older business, because that was the safe spot. And, also, was in the beginning my recommendation, but we also agreed there’s going to be a new Vanessa, a new business coming out of this. How do you feel about that right now?
Vanessa Laszlo:
Well, I’m right at the start of understanding how to get visible. That’s a major point because I’m not visible at all. I’m a big fish in a small pond offline, and I’m a little, little fish in a tiny ocean online. And I have to solve this and I will, and I will have fun solving it, I know this I’m [inaudible 00:17:08]. And I’m planning two new programs, bigger ones. Lately, I’ve been working on a psychological leadership program for executives that will end with a certified coaching diploma for the participants. And I’m in negotiation with the board off the coaching, I don’t know how to say it in English, [inaudible 00:17:30]. And I’m working on an online performance coaching program for women that provides some deep work to focus on strengthening their feelings of self-worth, and to connect this with business relevant performance topics. I think that could be something. And that could be my steps into a new customer world, because I’m used to corporate customers, and I think I should learn how to deal with private ones.
Sigrun:
This will also be a part of creating your own method.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Yeah, you have to explain this.
Sigrun:
All coaches should have their own methods instead of teaching other people’s methods. And we’ve talked about that. And I want to ask you, if you had thought about that at all, beginning of March, to have your own method.
Vanessa Laszlo:
I mean, I have my own method.
Sigrun:
Yes, you have your own method, but the thing is, once we haven’t given it the name, and a structure, and branding it doesn’t really exist in the outside world.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Absolutely. It’s like a huge dream. It’s like a ghost in a good way, but it’s not reality. I’m working on it. Finding the words to describe it because maybe I need a new word for coaching. And it’s great. It’s like, how can I say this? Now, I’m in the middle of my life and it feels like a harvest, even in a mental way, an emotional way.
Sigrun:
When I look at someone, like yourself, where you would not have taken these steps without door five being closed, the bacon taken away, I loved your example, even though I feel sorry for the rat. But the example is great to explain what this has been, it’s a blessing in disguise.
Vanessa Laszlo:
It is. And it is really give yourself slack because it’s an existential relevant dimension. It’s not a small thing, don’t go this road, I can say. It’s a really big thing. And it’s okay to feel like shit, but you have to go up and do it anyway. You have to sniffle around. And I promise there are enough nuts in every corridor, or cheese, or bacon, or chocolate cream with bread, or whatever you want.
Sigrun:
There is. And Vanessa, to see you also blossom, and smile, and being full of joy compared to end of March, you’re also a different person.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, I can feel it.
Sigrun:
Congratulations, again, on your amazing first launch. I know there are many more and bigger to come. And thank you for sharing your journey with our listeners.
Vanessa Laszlo:
You’re welcome. It was fun. And thank you very much. Without you and without your great advice, and the awesome content, the toolbox, and everything, the concept, not the manual the concept I wouldn’t have done it, really. I still would sit in corridor five and I believe to read the 300 [inaudible 00:20:45] off online business or something, that is really true. So, it was worth gold. I can’t underlie this, that it’s worth gold to get a helping hand, and to get an action oriented guide.
Sigrun:
Thank you for sharing that, Vanessa. Thank you so much.
Vanessa Laszlo:
Thank you very much for making the time. It was a pleasure.
Sigrun:
Go to the show notes at sigrun.com/395, where you can signup for the five day course, How to Succeed in the Next Normal in Online Business, and find all the links to Vanessa Laszlo. Thank you for listening to the Sigrun Show. Did you enjoy this episode? Let me know that you listened by tagging me in your Insta story or Instagram post using my handle sigruncom, and the hashtag SigrunShow. See you in the next episode.