283: The Branding Mistake Keeping You Small (And How to Fix It) - Rory Vaden

Tracy Henning has been selling real estate for over 32 years and she is still selling today. She also runs the largest Canva Facebook group for real estate agents anywhere, with over 60,000 members in it. Here is the part that got me: 40 percent of the people who pay for her membership every month came out of that free group. She became an agent at 21, in her words "a 21 year old female agent in an industry that was made up of 55 year old males." She made it to number one, sat on her real estate board for 10 years, and was the youngest woman ever to serve as its president. Then she hit "okay, now what?" The answer started as one free Facebook group in 2019 with a clever name that went nowhere. She renamed it around the exact words agents were already typing into the search bar, and it blew up. In this conversation, Tracy and I break down: - The name change that took a quiet group to over 60,000 members - Why a group name works like a search bar - The pinned post that turns browsers into email addresses - Two spots inside a group that almost everyone leaves empty - How much daily work a 60,000 member group actually takes - What she keeps free and what stays behind the paid door - $79 a month, priced so one more home sale covers the year - Too young at 21, too old now, and the answer she gives herself FREE RESOURCE: Get the 3 frameworks from this episode → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH TRACY: - Website: https://porchlyte.com  - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/porchlyte  - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PorchLyteForTheModernRealtor  - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/porchlyte  CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me  - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz  - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren  - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me  - Membership.io: https://membership.io  Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Summer Deepe says she is "not artistic at all," yet she built three memberships in a niche most people would never think could be a business: cookie decorating. She teaches people how to decorate cookies, how to sell them, and how to run their own classes. In this episode she finds out, live, why more than 40 posts with a million-plus views still were not growing her business the way they should. It started at a kid's birthday party, where she saw a tray of decorated sugar cookies and told her husband, "I bet I could make these cookies." The hobby became a side income when friends asked to pay her. Then she ran the numbers: one two-hour class at around $50 a seat matched a whole week of grinding out custom orders. That math flipped her model and led to three memberships. In this conversation, Summer and I break down: - The class math that made her rethink her entire model - Why the growth she was chasing was not a traffic problem - The one missing ingredient that turns viral videos into leads you own - How she plans to grow using videos she already made, not new ones - The $67 membership priced so one and a half classes pays for the year - Her answer to the question behind every risk she took FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page playbook from this episode → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH SUMMER: - Website: https://summerssweetshoppe.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/summerssweetshoppe - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summerssweetshoppe - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@summerssweetshoppe CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me - Membership.io: https://membership.io Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Rory Vaden and his wife AJ have quietly helped build some of the biggest personal brands out there through Brand Builders Group. And Rory has done it while never having more than about 100,000 followers himself, on his way to a third eight-figure business. His argument: in the age of AI, information is free and application is free, so the one thing left that you cannot fake is trust. In this conversation, Rory reveals: - Why personal branding is really the digitization of your reputation - The difference between reach and revenue, and why deep beats wide - Why you can fake followers, but you can't fake trust - Fractal math: how to quadruple revenue without a single new customer or a single new ad - How 1,000 followers can out-earn 10 million - The one thing to post tomorrow if you have no time, no team, and no offer FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page playbook from this episode → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH RORY VADEN: - Website: https://roryvaden.com - Brand Builders Group: https://brandbuildersgroup.com - Book "Wealthy and Well-Known": https://wealthyandwellknown.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roryvaden - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roryvaden CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me - Membership.io: https://membership.io Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Most business owners build the thing they're known for and assume that thing is the business. Hal Elrod did that for years. Today the product that made him famous is the smallest line in his revenue, and the largest is a recurring subscription most people don't even know he sells. This is the conversation to listen to if you're doing everything right and your income still swings month to month. Hal built five income streams on one idea instead of launching something new every year, and he turned down two offers most people would take on the spot to keep the monthly money instead. In this episode, Hal reveals: - Why the thing you're known for is often your smallest earner, and what to build so the money shows up every month - The math behind saying no to $1.5 million and then $3 million, and why the monthly number beat both - Why paying to get on 11 national TV shows sold almost nothing, and how to tell reach apart from the right audience - How to stack new revenue on the offer you already have instead of starting over with something new - Why the cheapest thing he sells is the front door, and what it should feed - The $100,000 he gave away, and the Miracle Equation he says moves any goal from impossible to inevitable FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page playbook from this episode → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH HAL: - Website: https://halelrod.com - The Miracle Morning: https://miraclemorning.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hal_elrod - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HalElrod - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yopalhal - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@halelrod CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me - Membership.io: https://membership.io Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Chandler Bolt is the founder of self publishing.com. He was a C student who hated writing, then he made six figures in seven months running a college painting business, dropped out, and moved across the country to burn the boats. Today his company has published 7,000 books. The climb was brutal. At 21 his business partner tried to push him out, so he borrowed from his parents' retirement to buy back control and paid it all back with interest 11 months later. Then he read one book that flipped his whole mindset in a single line. In this conversation Chandler breaks down: - Why he made six figures in revenue but only kept 13 grand - How he became the self publishing category king by buying a domain that wasn't for sale - Why one is the most dangerous number in business - The everyday partnership play that will do 5 to 7 million - What is actually working in his marketing now that AI is eating search - How he turns a single book into about $7 million a year, and why it is not the royalties FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page playbook from this episode: https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH CHANDLER: - Website: https://chandlerbolt.com  - Self Publishing: https://selfpublishing.com  - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chandler.bolt  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@selfpublishingcom  - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandlerbolt CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me  - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz  - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren  - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me  - Membership.io: https://membership.io Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Christelle Janse van Rensburg and Stefanie De Wet are sisters from South Africa, an architect and an engineer, who grew a kids' STEM craft business to 61 locations in three countries, then rebuilt the whole thing into a membership that now reaches 91 countries. In this episode they break down the pivot that saved everything after COVID took their income to zero in a single month. Christelle started a Thursday-afternoon kids' craft class to relieve her own burnout. It built a wait list. Stefanie ran the numbers on a spreadsheet that night and quit her corporate engineering job the next day. They franchised it, hit a wall, and when COVID shut the in-person clubs they de-franchised on purpose and turned their former franchisees into their biggest ambassadors. In this conversation, Christelle and Stefanie reveal: - Why they blew up a 61-location franchise on purpose - The $1,000/month math behind a class you run one hour a week - Why every ad, post, and newsletter points to one free 60-minute workshop - How twice-a-week launches cut their cost per lead to less than half - The VIP upsell and order bump that help the ads pay for themselves - The milestone they hit this year, and why it is not the part that made them emotional FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page playbook from this episode → https://podcast.stu.me  CONNECT WITH CHRISTELLE & STEFANIE: - Website: https://www.creativecraftingclub.com  - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativecraftingclub  - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativecraftingclub  CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me  - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz  - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren  - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me  - Membership.io: https://membership.io  Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Alesha has spent 26 years building a business teaching belly dance, and the way she grew it online is a masterclass for any membership owner. In this episode: the layoff and the tent that started it all, the 40 members she was earning from before she knew what a membership was, the community that keeps members for years, and how to reach the right people without paying for ads. Alesha got let go from her engineering job, sold everything she owned, and lived in a tent while dancing at Renaissance festivals to get by. Years later she started recording her online classes for $20 a month. About 40 people subscribed, roughly $800 a month for work she was already doing, and she did not even know it was a membership until someone told her. In this conversation, Alesha reveals: - What turned a video library into The Belly Dance Journey, a membership people never leave - Why members come for the content and stay for the community - The 10-day Finger Cymbal Revolution challenge and its graduation celebration - How one collaboration turned her members into a music video shot around the world - Why a rising tide floats all boats - The marketing move that started with an internet troll - How to reach thousands of the right people without paying for ads FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page membership playbook → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH SAHIRA: - Website: https://sahirabellydances.com  - Online classes: https://learn.sahirabellydances.com  - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sahirabellydances/  - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SahiraBellyDances  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SahiraBellyDancer  CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me  - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz  - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren  - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me  - Membership.io: https://membership.io   Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Marine Lacoste toured the world as a musician for a decade, then built a membership business by doing everything in the "wrong" order. When COVID ended the touring income overnight, she started building online, and she built the products and the membership BEFORE she built an audience. Then she picked one platform, doubled down, and grew from a few thousand subscribers to almost 80,000. In this conversation, Marine reveals: - Why she built her membership before she had a single person to sell to - The one question she asked her buyers that made her double down on YouTube - Why YouTube monetization pays her to generate her own leads - The brand-new lead magnet she creates for every single video, built before she records - What she shows on YouTube vs. what she saves for the membership - The simple monthly challenge that woke up a silent community - How she surveys her members to find her real avatars - How she handles critics and the nasty comments FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page content and membership playbook → https://podcast.stu.me  CONNECT WITH MARINE: - Website: https://onlinerocklessons.com  - Membership: https://onlinerocklessons.com/the-membership/  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OnlineRockLessons  - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlinerocklessons/  CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me  - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz  - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren  - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me  - Membership.io: https://membership.io  Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Will Hamilton has built a tennis business since 2007, and the way he markets it is a playbook any creator can steal. In this episode he breaks down the $10,000 offer he sold out off one email, the order bump that converts a third of buyers, how comedy made him a sharper copywriter, and how he gets traffic without paying for ads. Will's core offers are situation-based Playbooks (a physical book with QR codes), an order bump that converts about a third of buyers, a low-cost subscription to 40-plus programs, and occasional high-ticket experiences, one of which he sold out at $10,000 off a single email he wrote before the experience even existed. In this conversation, Will reveals: - The $67 order bump and the glove theory behind it - The $10,000 experience he validated with one email - How standup comedy made him a sharper copywriter - Why a mistake-based open beat his old videos by a mile - How he stacks open loops and holds the payoff to the final seconds - Where to put the CTA in a video (hint: not the end) - The borrowed-influence strategy he uses instead of expensive ads - Why he split tests every title and thumbnail FREE RESOURCE: Get the one-page content and marketing playbook → https://podcast.stu.me CONNECT WITH WILL: - Website: https://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fuzzyyellowballs/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fuzzyyellowballsdotcom - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FYB2007 CONNECT WITH STU: - Website: https://stu.me - Book "Predictable Profits": https://a.co/d/4GIi1uz - Instagram: https://instagram.com/stumclaren - Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me - Membership.io: https://membership.io Subscribe for new episodes every week.

You know that moment. You share your price, and right away you can feel it: the resistance. The pushback. The pause before someone says they need to think about it. Now you're defending the number. You're explaining it. You're justifying it. All of it is tiring, because all you want is for people to see the value of what you built. I felt the exact opposite of that in a leather shop in Florence. I was there with my wife, my two kids, and my parents, on a trip we'd planned for months. Every other shop that day went the same way: my wife and daughter went straight for the price tag. But in this shop, things were different. Price never came up. The guy just started talking, about how they pick the leather, who makes each piece, how long one bag takes to build. By the time the number finally came up, it didn't feel expensive anymore. It felt earned. We walked out with three handbags and a wallet. So what was the difference? I break it down into four lessons you can use starting today. Price pushback almost always means I don't get it yet, not it costs too much. Your story isn't a nice extra, it's the actual value. Tell it before you ever get near the price. And the sale doesn't end when the sale does. I'll also walk you through one of my favorite old marketing stories: a beer company that jumped from fifth place to first without changing a single thing about the beer, only the story it told about it. In this episode, you'll learn: Why price pushback almost always means "I don't get it yet," not "it's too much" The $40 chicken menu example that shows how context changes what a price feels like Three ways to tell your story: what you learned, what you built, or what it took to produce it The Jason Gaynard book launch story and what it reveals about showing your process Why the Schlitz beer company jumped from fifth place to first without changing the beer at all The referral move from a shop worker named Smiley that turns one sale into five Your action step this week: find where your story is buried on your sales page and move it up CONNECT WITH STU: Website: https://membership.io Book "Predictable Profits": https://www.audible.com/pd/Predictable-Profits-Audiobook/B0DJTJJHKG Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stumclaren/ Podcast (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-your-business-teaching-entrepreneurs-how/id1299443864?mt=2 Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/0LHzoXLyImec4AbB1ZeYfW?si=5b57a4fc0fba4868 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stume?sub_confirmation=1 Subscribe and drop a review if this one was useful.