Transcript

Sigrun:
You’re listening to The SIGRUN Show, episode number 405. In this episode I talked to Eleanor Beaton about how to be category of one.
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 Eleanor Beaton, an expert in women’s leadership and advisor to growth oriented female entrepreneurs. She was named Canada’s leadership coach of the year, sits on the boards of directors of two Canadian venture capital organizations, and is the host of the Fierce Feminine Leadership, a top ranking podcast for female entrepreneurs. In this episode, we talk about how to be category of one.
Before we dive in, I have two announcements to make. If it’s your goal to go for the seven figures in 2021, then join my information call on Wednesday, November 11th. I will talk about my high end mastermind, RED CIRCLE, which is for multiple six figure entrepreneurs who are aiming for seven figures. RED CIRCLE is already 60% sold out for 2021, so make sure you join the call to find out more.
If you’re not yet at six figures, then I also have another option for you. My group coaching program, Momentum, that helps you take your online business to $10,000 and $20,000 months. Join the call on November 11th to hear more about RED CIRCLE and Momentum.
But wait, there is more. I want you to reserve November 21st and 22nd in your calendar because after two successful rounds last spring, I’m bringing back my live boot camp, Create Your Recession Proof Offer in Less Than 48 hours. We have so many amazing reviews from this bootcamp that we have decided to bring it back. Many countries, especially in Europe, are in slow down, shut down, and lockdown, and it’s the perfect time to take out a weekend, November 21st and 22nd, and create an irresistible offer that you can sell right away.
Go to the show notes at sigurn.com/405, where you can find the link for the information call on November 11th, where I will talk about RED CIRCLE and Momentum, and the bootcamp that is on November 21st and 22nd. In the show notes you’ll also find all the links to Eleanor Beaton.
I am so excited, literally thrilled, to be here with Eleanor Beaton. And I don’t know what took us so long. Do you know Eleanor?
Eleanor Beaton:
It’s ridiculous. This is ridiculous that this has not happened sooner.
Sigrun:
Yeah, crazy. We met in the premier program with Allie Brown, but that was over a year ago. And then maybe we were waiting for something to happen, like a corona or recession?
Eleanor Beaton:
Something. I know. Well, especially because we would always kind of find each other and then get into these conversations. We are meant to have conversations with each other.
Sigrun:
Absolutely. Well, I must say the first time I heard you speak, that was at Iconic and you just stood up, everyone was supposed to share. I was very shy because this world was new to me. I had never met all these amazing women that were attending this conference. And you stood up from time to time and you’re so tall, and I don’t know, I said, oh, she looks like a queen, this woman. And then you started to speak and I’m like, oh, this is so elegant. I wish I could speak like that.
Eleanor Beaton:
Oh my goodness.
Sigrun:
So that’s what I think of you.
Eleanor Beaton:
Well, and it’s so funny because I remember seeing you, you were sitting there in this gorgeous red suit and it was like, the CEO’s in the house, you know? And it’s so interesting though, that so often these first impressions, when we’re clear on who we are, we’re actually communicating a lot about who we are, what we do, the value we bring. I always think about you in that way. And so much of the conversations that we’ve had have been these conversations about CEO decisions and leadership and strategy.
Sigrun:
So you can even make an impression even if you don’t speak up.
Eleanor Beaton:
You can. Not everybody. You can.
Sigrun:
So we are here to talk about category of one. I find that such an exciting topic. But before we go into that, I’m assuming that some people listening or even watching this episode will not know who Eleanor Beaton is. So you need to take us back. What has brought to you to what you’re doing today? When did you go into online business for instance, and why?
Eleanor Beaton:
Yeah. Oh, I love this question. So this is my second business. So my business today is all about … I’m a business coach. My specialty is in helping women entrepreneurs unleash the power of their voices. So it’s really about messaging, niching, and leadership. Our sort of company mission is to double the number of women entrepreneurs who scale past seven figures and I believe finding your voice is a huge part of that.
But this business I started in late 2014. And before that I had a communications consultancy. So I advised politicians and CEOs and organizations on effective communication. How to change public policy, how to influence political decisions, how to have a powerful voice in the boardroom, all this kind of stuff. And during this work, I started to connect and engage with women leaders who started to come to me asking, do you do one-on-one coaching? Can you work with me privately? At the time, I did not do this, but really saw an opportunity and a need. And I also saw how I was hiding my own voice. That I was behind the scenes, an advisor, advising the people who were on the news, and that there was an opportunity for me to leverage the power of the online world to get my message out more.
So that really started in late 2014, 2015. I started learning more about the online world, how to put programs together, how to market effectively online. That was really the start. And it’s been a fun, challenging, exhilarating ride.
Sigrun:
Well, I started January 2014, so it’s kind of a similar time. And I guess something was happening there. At least I felt, suddenly there was this new world. And I know that this world still, not everyone knows about it. But I think something was happening around 2014, because I know so many people that started their businesses around that time. So what made you finally take the leap or changed your business?
Eleanor Beaton:
Well, this is so interesting. So I was sitting with my aesthetician. I was getting my eyebrows done. This is a wonderful … Of course, where all great things happen. So I’m sitting with my aesthetician and she is an entrepreneur. She runs her own business. And I knew that she was sort of ready to be moving beyond. Like so many estheticians, her joints … It can be a physically challenging job, so she wanted to make some transitions. And she was saying that she was really investigating the online world. She knew I had recently started blogging. And she said, have you ever heard of Marie Forleo? And I actually think that 2014 was the year that Marie Forleo and her B-School program went from early adopters into a little bit more mass market. And so she was sort of mass market for a good solid four years, and I believe that the beginning of that was around 2014. So she told me about it. I check out Marie Forleo and it’s like a whole new world. It was brand new. I had never seen anything like this. And that for me, I saw the way. I saw a pathway. And that was the beginning of that sort of entry point for me.
Sigrun:
That makes complete sense. I actually joined B-School 2013. I kind of like … I didn’t have a business idea, so when the eight weeks were over, I was like, it’s finished.
Eleanor Beaton:
Now what?
Sigrun:
Now what? So the program itself didn’t help me kind of build the business, but as you said, it opened my eyes. And I think you often need that first, and then you’ll get the resources, the programs, the coach, whatever you need to actually build the business itself.
Eleanor Beaton:
Okay. This is so … I love this conversation. I was having a conversation with my husband about this, and I was like, I will pay $20,000 to have my eyes opened to an opportunity that will yield $2 million. And I will do that every day of the week. And I think so often when we think about programming or … Because my experience with B-School was the same. I didn’t actually learn anything that I didn’t know. I mean, there were some … It was for sure helpful and all of that, but it opened my eyes to possibility and that changed everything.
Sigrun:
And I think without that, you don’t get started.
Eleanor Beaton:
You don’t get started because you don’t even know what’s possible for you. Yeah.
Sigrun:
Yeah. I think it helped me see all the role models. I think that’s what we women need so much more than men. Or men already have them in abundance, everywhere.
Eleanor Beaton:
Exactly, exactly. It’s true. I have to see it. Even today, my role models have changed so much. For a while it was all sort of the icons of online business. Now those role models look very different. They are not at all icons of online business. We can talk about that more. This is sort of this idea of category of one stuff. But I needed those icons like the Marie Forleo’s of the world to really be those role models of what was possible. I agree with you. I haven’t thought about that, but I think we as women do really need those role models to see what we can do.
Sigrun:
But yeah, they also change. I agree with you. Because of what has happened in the last few months, I saw people that I would have thought were online influencers and that a lot of people, thousands of people are looking up to, even millions, and then they didn’t become these true leaders that I was expecting them to be. And I must admit I was quite disappointed.
Eleanor Beaton:
Oh my goodness. So I have found this to be so fascinating. And it’s this idea of hollow influence. That we live in a world now where social media platforms have enabled us to build up audiences. And so there’s a lot of businesses out there that are sales and marketing machines and can overemphasize … So sales and marketing are massively important and I think as entrepreneurs we need to be a little bit obsessive about those things. But what I have found, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this, what can happen is it becomes this facade. And then behind the scenes, the leadership, the substance, the operations, the delivery, the transformation, it’s not there. And what I saw is that you had influencers who’d built up major audiences, who did not have the leadership skills to understand that when you are a leader like that, you have a responsibility. I mean, can you imagine Mary Barra or Bob Iger from Disney or Oprah Winfrey, living through what we have just lived through in terms of social change and social justice movements, not understanding that they had a responsibility to directly address this, to have a voice on this issue. It would never happen.
Sigrun:
No. And I think you can’t not have a voice on this issue if you’re supposed to be a leader. So it has kind of forced me in a good way to pick some other role models.
Eleanor Beaton:
Yes. Can we just talk about … Do you know who I’m obsessed with right now?
Sigrun:
Nope.
Eleanor Beaton:
Obsessed. Her name is Bozoma Saint John. She was the chief brand officer for Uber. Before that, not a CMO, but close to that for Apple. Now is the chief marketing officer for Endeavor, which owns like the UFC and a bunch of different events and that kind of thing. Check her out at Instagram, @badassboz. She’s brilliant. She is redefining what leadership and influence look like. Incredible. You got to check her out. You guys can thank me later after your life is transformed by her Instagram feed.
Sigrun:
Okay. We’ll link this up in the show notes to make sure everyone can check her out.
Okay. So coming back to, your topic has always been leadership though. You talked about communication before and helping the politicians and now helping women that maybe are in leadership position bring out their voice. But leadership has still been that theme. But then you talk about category of one. How does that come together?
Eleanor Beaton:
Yeah. So leadership, I realized it’s an act of becoming, right? And so when you teach about leadership, you are not teaching about a technical skill. It is a process of stepping into a higher level of service. You’re teaching about how to become the person who is able to drive change. And this is really interesting. So as an online entrepreneur, sometimes I really struggled to be able to get that across.
And you think about sort of icons in the online world who teach leadership. So I’m going to give the example of someone like a Michael Hyatt, who is known as a leadership person, but in order to get there, his focus has evolved. But do you remember, originally it was really around this area of platform, of building a platform because in order for you to lead, you must have a voice.
So my business evolved because I originally started really focusing exclusively on leadership and how leaders communicate. But I knew that in order to make that message land, I had to connect it to something that was much more tangible to an entrepreneur.
Sigrun:
Exactly.
Eleanor Beaton:
Right? I had to make that call. So it really became a process of refining. And as I began to think through my best case studies, the women entrepreneurs who were most drawn to the work that I do, the places where I was able to move the needle the most, I realized it all had to do with helping them elevate their position to become a category leader. So for me, it’s not about, I’m going to teach you how to launch, even though we have fundamentals, obviously in any business coaching, if you’re working with entrepreneurs, you have to have something around that. But for me, it was really about how do you position yourself in a category to be a category leader in your space? And that affects your marketing. It affects your brand. And it affects your leadership voice.
Sigrun:
I’m glad you found a way to do it because I always struggled with leadership when it comes to entrepreneurship. I felt leadership was just a corporate word. And you do leadership programs when you want to groom someone for a more senior position. But in the online world, you were like leader, I’m the business owner here. What do you mean? So I’m glad you kind of brought it to that category.
Eleanor Beaton:
Yeah. And it’s interesting because I so agree. I so agree. It doesn’t have that connect to entrepreneurship, especially online entrepreneurs, but we’re living through the consequences of that. We’re living through the massive take-downs that have come about because entrepreneurs don’t pay attention to leadership.
But regardless, I’ll teach you how to lead. But first, you have to want to buy it first. And I think for many people who are listening, if there’s a lesson in this for you, it’s that you have to connect your messaging to what people want so that you can give them what they actually need. And it’s true. I think entrepreneurs, we’re urgent. Time is money. Money is money. It all has to count. We’re bootstrapping. And so every place where we invest, everything that we pay attention to, it needs to solve a very urgent need.
Sigrun:
So in order to get someone to do a leadership training, you need to sell them something else.
Eleanor Beaton:
I got to. You know what mean? Exactly. I have to really help them nail their position, show them how they can elevate in their category, and then accompany that with these other things that are so important.
Sigrun:
But interesting that you said that this was lacking because when shit hits the fan, when there’s a crisis, a lot of people, women, struggled to step up and say something and use their voice.
Eleanor Beaton:
And this is so interesting. Because I see it everywhere. And I think it’s something that is so important in the world of online business education right now. There were a lot of people who really struggled to find their voice. There were a lot of people also who had such a lack of self-awareness that a lot of the actions that they took in the aftermath reeked of tokenism and damage control. So all of a sudden people were rolling out, I’ve hired a diversity and inclusion coach immediately. We’re making these changes and all things that seem really good. But I wondered where it was really coming from. If they were really doing the work that is necessary. So either they didn’t have a voice or what they were doing was, to me, it seemed like a big act of damage control, which also isn’t what’s needed. And I think as a sophisticated leader, you understand the work that has to happen.
But here’s the thing, and I’m curious what you think about this too. This is, for those of you who are, you’re not necessarily beginning … There’s one form of leadership that you need to get into when you’re starting your online business. There’s another level that you need to get to as you scale it. And what I have found is that if you don’t make that transition, if you don’t understand how to evolve as a leader, it can compromise your growth because your business growth, if it outpaces your leadership growth, you can start to sabotage it. And we don’t want that.
So it sounds so heavy, but it is a fun journey to do it. I love the person I’ve become through this process. But I have worked as much on my leadership capabilities as I have on my online digital marketing skills.
Sigrun:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think it has helped me a lot to have been a CEO before for 10 years.
Eleanor Beaton:
Totally.
Sigrun:
Using those skills to navigate through a crisis.
But let’s come to the category of one. How does one become category of one? Because category of one sounds very exciting.
Eleanor Beaton:
Doesn’t it? Doesn’t it? So a couple of different things, and I think the most important thing … So when we think about category of one, I think about niche and voice, right? Niche, and leadership, voice, and presence. So niche, leadership, voice, presence. So let’s talk about niche.
So niche simply is the act of focusing in your offer on a specific group of people. Seth Godin might call this the minimum viable market. For a lot of online service-based businesses, a minimum viable market works really well. So who could you specifically, specifically help? And targeting in on that. And so you can target in on the who, or you could target in because you offer something, a teaching, that is superbly specific. So there’s two ways to kind of niche in.
That’s really important because if we think about the confused mind and how much stimulus the average person has on a day to day basis, it’s really important that you are memorable and that they’re clear about what you do and how you help them.
So niching is very important for us. We really niche in sort of two areas. Look, we’re going to help you with your messaging, your niching and your market, your position. That is what’s going to help you lead.
But also in terms of who we talk to. So I think about, we call them SAFI’s, self-actualized female innovators. So these are educated women. They’ve typically come from the corporate world. Very experienced, great background. And for them, they are seeking to take that … They’ve already started businesses and for them it’s about really showing up as the powerhouses that they are, right? So niching is these two aspects.
So there’s that. The other aspect is your leadership, your voice. And here we go back to the world of online marketing. If you haven’t found your voice, you are going to begin to default and sound like everybody else. Like we were talking about Marie Forleo earlier. You know how Marie Forleo, she kind of talks like this some times. And she has these vocal inflections where she’s joking around and she actually kind of sounds a little bit like Oprah. I think she gets Oprah’s vocal inflections, which become Marie Forleo’s vocal inflections. And now all of a sudden, everybody has that vocal inflection. They’re talking about building a life and business you love, they’re being influenced by Marie Forleo, which is an amazing thing, but they haven’t found their voice yet so they can never be a category leader because they’re being a category follower.
Sigrun:
Or copycat. I feel you see everyone’s website look the same. Everyone has the coffee cup picture.
Eleanor Beaton:
Oh my Gosh. I know. Right? Or on the beach. Like the thoughtful … Hell no.
Sigrun:
And I’m sure I have this picture too. It is almost as if the whole industry, also designers and graphic designers push you in that direction. And at some point you have to like, nope, I don’t want this.
Eleanor Beaton:
Yeah. I want to be in a category of one. You know? So we start out with niching. We think about really uncovering your leadership voice. You can only do that through creating material, finding, speaking, connecting, finding your voice as a leader and stepping into that and really making sure it’s distinct.
And then the next part is really about positioning. I think this decision … And for us, we encourage people to position themselves at the high end. That’s the work that we do with sort of it at the high end, it’s so much better up here. It’s so much better up here at the high end. But how do you do that? And it becomes about what you don’t do. It becomes about who you are associated and aligned with. And it also comes from really being very intentional about showing up as a premium brand. So those three things all help you move into this place of being in a category of one.
Sigrun:
Now I’m sure someone listening said, oh, but I’m multi-passionate. Or, do I have to pick this one person? And I don’t know. I have these discussions all the time. I would be curious in your answer.
Eleanor Beaton:
This is a great … Okay. So for the multi-passionate people, I’m going to suggest to them that they understand for them that growth is going to be a process of pruning. So not everybody gets out of bed in the morning and is able to function in a very strategic way, to be extremely strategic about identifying exactly who it is that they’re going to work with and target. That’s a very focused strategic mind who is used to applying constraint. And so that’s one group of people. And what I have seen is that’s a smaller group of people, right? Most people are multi-passionate. They want to serve everyone. So what I find is for them, they need to get going, but what they also need to be willing to do is to continuously use the scientific process to prune and eliminate and be able to apply a layer of constraint to help them grow.
I’ll give you an example. When I served both women who were leading in corporate and entrepreneurs, I did that and was able to grow that way. But it was difficult. There was a time when I was like, I think I might have to do two podcasts, right? And then I was like, I’m not going to do … So that I could speak directly to them and in a compelling way. So I knew it was time to apply constraint. And so for me, what I did is really sat down, went through a process of analyzing my numbers, who were my most lucrative, valuable clients? It was the entrepreneurs. So I cut 60% of my audience and I cut offerings that contributed 35% of my total revenue. And we were able to continue accelerating growth, even though we made those cuts. So for your multi-passionate people, I am going to advise you to prune and apply constraint and put on your CEO hat and do it. What do you say to them?
Sigrun:
I say, you have to pick one thing, actually. You have to pick one thing to get started. I think about people that I’ve known that are quite successful. They have maybe picked Instagram or LinkedIn or something, but actually they’re business coaches. But they’ve picked this one vehicle and that’s how they get their first clients for the lowest level of their offerings. And then through the ascension model, they take them to the next level. You can be known for anything. It doesn’t have to be a social media channel. It could also be for PR or media, or like you said, messaging or your niche or positioning. But behind the scenes, you are this multifaceted business coach that can help with all kinds of things. I remember you were teaching your clients also to do a podcast and all these things. So behind the scenes, you can do almost anything.
Eleanor Beaton:
Exactly. Once they’re in your house. But you have to make sure that your sign, the sign that you use outside your house to bring people in, is very specific. Think about this. If you’re driving through a neighborhood, how would I know what Sigrun’s house is? She’d give me a house number. And the house number is very specific and it’s how we get there. So we agree. I think what I have noticed is that it’s the process of getting people to a place where they choose the house number. Some people are able to do it right off the bat. I have found that sometimes people need to prune their way there.
Sigrun:
Yeah. I think it’s not … What I have noticed that some people that I advise this to, they’re like, oh, okay, Sigrun said it. I’m not going to do it. So they start off and they have a little bit of success without picking that one thing. But then after a while they realize you can’t really move forward. Like you said, I’m going to have two podcasts, two websites, two languages. There are all these questions that pop up.
But how long, would you say to someone who is your ideal client and they come to you and said, Eleanor, I want the fast track to category of one. How long will it take me? I’ll do anything you tell me to do.
Eleanor Beaton:
Oh, I love it. Honestly, so if they did everything that I said to a T, the category of one … So if we think about it, what is it? First, it’s your niche, then it’s your voice, then it’s your position. So the niche can start right away because that is what we would call a stroke of pen change. It’s a decision that can be made immediately. So by tomorrow you’re one-third of the way there.
Then you need to be able to socialize, educate, inform people, persuade people, about the niche itself. So that’s about where you are really finding your voice as a communicator. And as entrepreneurs, we need to do a couple of things. We need to educate, inspire, influence, market, and sell, all at the same time. So really understanding how we, as spokesperson for our brands and companies, the art of communicating in that way, which is very different than how we may have previously communicated. So that’s a skill. If you practice it, you can really get a long way within a period of a few months.
After that point, it’s about solidifying your position through attracting the right audience. And that’s where very often there’s some trial and error. It can take some time. I think truly, everybody wants to hear it’s going to happen overnight. I think that it’s going to take you at least a year to really get into a place where you might understand your category of one, but where the market begins to see you in that way.
Sigrun:
That’s what I think too. That makes a lot of sense. So you can still start right away. This was one of the reasons why I did a hundred episodes in a hundred days when I started my podcast. Because even though I didn’t think about it in the way that you’re explaining it now, I realized it takes time to find your voice. How do I want to speak? How do I want my podcast to be? And do I do interviews or solos? How is this all going to sound? And then people tell me now, oh, you’re such a great interviewer, Sigrun. I’m like, I’ve been practicing a lot.
Eleanor Beaton:
Hundreds and … That’s right. Time in the saddle. Time in the saddle. It’s a huge part of it.
Sigrun:
So I’ve been asking a lot of people this question, what’s next normal for you?
Eleanor Beaton:
Ooh, I love this question. So for me, next normal … If there’s anything that this year has shown me, it is that you can’t count on the status quo. And even as entrepreneurs, we make our plans and we may have aggressive growth plans and that becomes the status quo, and then we see how quickly things can shift. So for me, the next normal is about, if the cart can be tipped anyway, then it is time to refocus even more on my mission, on my growth plan, on the true impact that I want to have. So for me, the new normal is actually about releasing those last vestiges of fear and really committing to growing my business and moving into fulfilling my mission exactly how I plan on doing it. Which looks different than what the sort of accepted norms are in my industry. So that’s really what I see for me. I know it’s a little hazy, right? It’s a little hazy because there’s stuff afoot that when I can announce it, I will.
Sigrun:
Yeah. But I think category of one is actually a part of the next normal too, because we are going to head into a recession. A lot of people think we’re already in it and yes we are, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Eleanor Beaton:
Well, when all of those stimulus packages run out.
Sigrun:
Exactly. So we know it’s going to get worse before it gets better. And when people have maybe less money, who do they go to? They still want to be educated. They still want to maybe make progress and build their businesses. They’re going to be most attracted to the people that feel like category of one, versus those who say they can do everything for you.
Eleanor Beaton:
Oh, completely. You know what else is interesting about that? Look, there’s a lot of research about recessions and about companies that are able to grow. And about one in 10 companies are able to truly thrive through a recession, continue growing. But also what happens is when you’re one of those companies, you position yourself for very quick recovery and growth, even after the recession is over. But one of the things that they found, yeah, so that sort of stickiness, that ability to stick in the mind of a consumer who, when they are in a recession, are in this place of fear. What they are looking for are the leaders. And the type of marketing and messaging and positioning that works is that leadership position. We are looking for security, for certainty, for clarity. So, yeah. There’s so many reasons why category of one is so important right now.
Sigrun:
That is the perfect ending.
Eleanor Beaton:
Isn’t it?
Sigrun:
Yeah. I’m looking for that sentence. I’m like, yes, this is the sentence that everyone should remember. Eleanor, what’s the best way to find you online?
Eleanor Beaton:
Well, if you’re a podcast listener, come check out my show. It’s called Power + Presence + Position: Your Message, Your Mission, Your Millions. So come on, check out the show. We’d love to have you there. And I would love to have you on our show too, Ms. Sigrun. So much to talk about.
Sigrun:
Yes. So much to talk about. We link this all up in the show notes. Thank you so much for joining, Eleanor. I’m so glad we finally did it.
Eleanor Beaton:
Yes.
Sigrun:
Now I want you to go right to the show notes at sigrun.com/405, where you will find the information to sign up for the information call on November 11, where I will talk about RED CIRCLE, my high-end mastermind program and Momentum, my group coaching program. And then there you will also find the link to sign up for the live bootcamp, which we’re running for the third time on the weekend, November 21st and 22nd. You will find this all in the show notes, plus links to Eleanor Beaton.
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.