WC 009: The Enchanting First Encounter
Something I’ve been reflecting on this week is how a single action can lead to two very different results based on where your energy is centered.
It’s easy to get highly focused on a strategy, and lose sight of the original intention behind it.
It’s also far too common that we try to imitate others success by operating on their playbook prematurely.
We don’t take the time to really understand the subtle nature of why a strategy works for them in the first place.
We do our best to reverse engineer their actions and think, “hey, if it works for them, it should work for me too”!
Ry and I are currently leading cohort 2 of Automated Intimacy, and in the first playbook we unpack something called The Enchanting First Encounter.
At its core, this is a strategic method for reaching out to people shortly after they become an email subscriber.
The “goal” is to collapse the timelines that are often observed in a typical sales funnel for moving a “pre-customer” towards becoming a client or customer.
I love and stand by what we teach, and this stuff really works.
But here’s the thing:
In my business, I’ve rarely used this strategy for the sole purpose of trying to make a sale.
And in the times when it felt like I was pushing out of a sense of need to “get one more client”, or fill “one more spot in the workshop”, the strategy almost always fell flat.
There’s a fine line between reaching out to people in the sincere spirit of connection and collaboration, versus being fixated on achieving a specific result.
This can be hard to grasp, and it can be easy to delude ourselves into thinking we are doing one thing, when we’re actually operating out of need or desire for things to unfold in a particular way.
It requires the cultivation of awareness.
Let’s take a look at two scenarios.
Scenario A:
I get 10 new customers who come on to my email list, and I quickly grab their first name, a whiteboard, and create a loom video sharing how “excited” I am to “welcome them to Empire Engineering”.
I’ve got a million other tasks to do today, and my only goal is executing on a pre-calculated script, making sure to hit the “high points” of the strategy, and to “get it done”.
I experiment with various subject lines, and tactics to get these subscribers to open the email, and execute like a machine, in high hopes that one of these folks will “bite”, and send me a reply.
Ever been there?
Scenario B:
I scan my list of new subscribers, and something catches my eye that sparks excitement, or a felt experience of movement in my body.
Perhaps I recognize the email domain of a new software that I’ve been excited to try, and upon a quick google search, I see the founder has come into my orbit.
Perhaps a quick scan of social media tells me that one of my subscribers is a buddhist compassion teacher, and upon review of their website, I feel a strong resonance with the message being shared.
And as I contemplate my reply, I’m filled with an electric charge of possibility.
I hold a vision clearly in my mind’s eye, not of one of these two subscribers becoming a “customer”, but of some creative expression that has potential to exist only through a means of connection.
With the software startup founder, it’s the potential for innovation - looking at new ways of applying Automated Intimacy concepts that have not yet been possible with my current tools, and a desire to explore a new point of view.
With the compassion teacher, it’s the simple fact that I believe that the world needs more of what’s being shared. While I don’t have a clear vision of how I might plug in, there’s a felt desire to offer validation that what this person is doing is important and meaningful.
And when I send a reply, I’m not doing so with an expectation or feeling of being entitled to a response.
I’m just following a natural spark of curiosity, and a desire to connect and share. Planting a seed in the universe.
I have no idea which ones will grow.
Will they become customers, partners, or collaborators? Will I end up meeting this person?
I don’t know and honestly, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is the management of my own energy and intention that exists outside any sense of a need to “make something happen”.
Can you see the difference?
So often we get caught up in the process of completing our daily tasks, or checking the box on some strategy we’ve been told will make all the difference in the growth of our business.
I’ve been 100% guilty of this.
It’s as if that action in itself will render some result we feel is necessary to the continued or eventual success of our business.
We lose the forest for the trees.
I’d love to offer you a challenge this week.
Start looking at your list of subscribers as more than a number. And I mean, really think about this.
It’s easy to say “yeah, ok, I get it”, but go right back to our mindless, unconscious ways.
Who are they really?
Where did they come from?
What are they hoping for by coming into your sphere?
What has you most excited to be in THEIR presence?
What can you acknowledge them for, even in the smallest of ways?
Lose yourself in the beauty of this exercise.
Let it marinate.
And from this place, reach out only if it feels really good to do so, for the sake of the reach out itself.
And if it starts to feel mechanical, contrived, or forced?
Let it go.
Resist the urge to do or say anything.
Give the new relationship space.
I’d argue that 2-3 inspired conversations in any given week are far more valuable than 10 forced reach outs for the sake of doing something that some marketing coach with a clever program name told you would grow your business. :)
Let go of any idea of getting this “right”. It’s better viewed as a continual work in progress.
⚡⚡⚡ Magic
Sending love.
Here's What I Want to Share This Week:
I wrote about Web3 and why it matters for creators. Want to talk about meditation? You could be one of dozens. Want to talk about email marketing? One of a handful. Want to talk about sewing? The category probably doesn't exist yet. Check it out here.
I wrote about blockchain, and brainstormed a running list of use cases you could conceivably start working on right now. As a note, this isn't just for technical people, there are plenty of non-technical creators in the space. Check it out here.
I wrote about Bitcoin, and 4 reasons why digital currency is relevant to your business, and should be examined in 2022. Bottom Line: Theres beginning to be documented evidence that companies that accept cryptocurrency acquire more customers and have higher average order value. Check it out here.
If you are looking to transact in crypto within your business, this resource is fire. A complete playbook to follow end to end. Written through the lens of being a contractor, but more broadly applicable.
We're in the home stretch of the public mint for The Invisible College, where I've joined as a contributor. If you are a crypto-curious creator, I can't recommend this group enough.
Who We are Celebrating This Week: Sue McLachlan
Sue is a graduate of cohort 1 of our Automated Intimacy program, and I've loved hearing about how she's been adapting some of the concepts to help her students get better results with Kajabi.
Her name came up on yesterday's group call, and I thought, what better time to throw her a shoutout for what she's been contributing to the ongoing conversations?
Sue runs The Unicorn Advisory, where she is making tech easy for online course and membership creators. 🦄
If you are a Kajabi user, I highly recommend you check out her Ultimate Kajabi Resource Vault (free).
This isn't a paid or affiliate sponsorship, I simply love the work Sue is doing, and the positive things I hear by the "virtual water cooler" from people she's helped with her work.
This Week's Curiosities :
Flow Code (Link)
The idea of using QR codes to generate follow up at live events came up on our AI call yesterday, and this tool was mentioned as one possible solution. Thought it was worth a share.
Tiny Wow (Link)
"Tools that Solve Your File Problems". I stumbled across this gem the other day, and def bookmarked it for later.
Tiny Wow, which is free for now, essentially solves a bunch of niggling problems online creators often face. These are tasks that might be infrequently needed, but when you do its a pain in the arse.
Need to download a video you posted to Facebook last year that you want to reuse in a new context, but you can't find the original file? ✅
Need to quickly remove the background from an image? ✅
Want to see where a web link redirects without having to click? ✅
Want to quickly delete a page within a PDF file, or merge two existing ones together? ✅
Swiss Army Knife material right here.
The Daily Manifest (Link)
A cool collection of templates for time tracking, journaling, and planning your day that was recently made free.
Brought to you by Jack Butcher at Visualize Value.
Workflow86 (Link)
An all-in-one workspace to document, automated, and manage your internal business workflows and processes.
As a systems and automation guy, this one has me pretty excited, but in all honesty I haven't had a chance to fully vet this tool yet. So theres a bit of risk in sharing it here with you. But for my fellow geeks, if anyone gets to it giving a try before I do, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Memorable Quote:
"You will forever be running after “things” instead of having them run after you. The former is the way of the slave, the latter the way of the Wizard …
Spend a certain amount of time on a regular basis to become silent and relaxed until you find happiness within yourself in the here and now…independent of the ever changing conditions and circumstances of the world. Find some well-being independent of outside objects, people and events. This single piece of advice will boost the quality of your life in ways you may not yet suspect."
-Frederick Dodson, Parallel Universes of Self
With appreciation,
Phil
P.S. this email was crafted with love while listening exclusively to the My Ape Snopp Dogg NFT on replay. True story :)
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WC009: The Enchanting First Encounter 👇 pic.twitter.com/6hwUFVLZBj
— Philip R. Powis (The Wizard) 👽 (@philiprpowis) March 4, 2022