3 things I no longer believe in.

Is this controversial? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   {NAME}, I would be surprised if we kept the same belief system as we did years ago... That's why in this week's email, I want to share 3 things I used to believe in, that I no longer do. By sharing these stories and lessons, I hope it helps change the way you think, and gives you permission to Let’s go!  ⚡️ #1: Having 1 Signature Offer For The Entirety Of Your Business.I believed in this until it left me feeling stuck. I spent 4 years scaling BGA, and it was the right move to get me to my first million. But somewhere along Year 2 or 3, I should have introduced some new offers. Here’s why: 1) Many of your existing customers are looking for the "next step" after completing your program. If you don’t focus on increasing lifetime value (LTV), it becomes hard to scale your business profitably, and you risk losing great customers to your competitors, like I did. Over the course of a couple years, I probably missed out on millions of dollars worth of sales simply because I didn’t create other opportunities for customers to keep being customers. Remember: Sticking with a signature offer can help you scale to the millions… But it can also keep you stuck and leave you constantly searching for new clients. 2) Grow an email list of Customers who have at least paid $1. For the longest time, I felt that since I could "only" have 1 paid offer… That everything outside of that paid offer must be free. This led me to constantly creating free lead magnets that were packed with value (even though they really should have been paid). While free, value packed, lead magnets grew my list… It also attracted a lot of freebie hunters, who were already conditioned to get a lot of free stuff from me anyways since I also provide a ton of free value on YouTube. The truth is, you can still have 1 signature main offer, but have smaller low cost offers that: 1. Cover parts of your expenses (Remember: Even if an additional $200 per month doesn’t sound impressive, at least its covering the cost of your software.) 2. Help you build an email list of paid customers 3. Allow more people to get introduced to your ecosystem 3. Reduce resentment because you are now charging for your resources 4. Allow you to test demand before creating a bigger offer Today, I now have $17 - $147 DIY, non-refundable, products like our [Notion Content Planning Dashboard]( [YouTube Scripting Vault]( and others. Since releasing these small products in July, they’ve have generated an additional $30K per month consistently, which helps cover major costs like payroll and contracting fees. Best part? It’s growing an email list of people who are customers, not just people who haven’t paid a single dime.  ⚡️ #2: Executing Feedback from Angry People. I used to be really sensitive to criticism, especially if it came from customers. Last year, I had a handful of customers demanding to have more face time with me. At the time, BGA was a $997 DIY program that did not include calls with me. For years it was a harmonious, well-oiled machine, with tons of positive feedback. Until one summer where it went a complete 180. "We made her a millionaire. Vanessa should at least have calls with us weekly." This came from a Facebook group post that included a number of comments that made me feel misunderstood, with some being pretty hurtful. It was overwhelming to say the least. So I doubled the price of the program, and introduced monthly calls. To my surprise.. The loudest people who were the angriest and most hurtful, never showed up to any of the calls. (Keep in mind, I didn’t raise the price for existing clients, so those clients got the calls free of charge.) So here’s what I learned: 👉 Make decisions based on your best clients, not your worst. Somewhere along the journey of growing an audience and client base, I started to listen to the 10% of people who were never happy with me, instead of listening to the 90% of people who loved my work and wanted more. This caused me (and my team) to make a lot of our business decisions based on fear. "ABC person left a nasty comment about X post, so we should stop posting that content." "We can’t do XYZ, or else ________ will be mad." "So-and-so requested this, so we should do it because they are really upset." While listening to feedback is important, it’s critical to filter that feedback and make sure you’re making decisions because they feel good to you, not because you feel bullied into it by others. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret introducing monthly calls. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to feel connected to my clients again. At the same time, what I do regret is rushing into the decision and making it out of fear. 👉 You can’t make everyone happy, so do what is best for your business. Criticism comes with anything you create for the public. If you choose to make everyone happy because you don’t want to abandon others or make people upset, you end up abandoning yourself. You are the only constant in your business. Not your clients. Not your team members. Not your audience. Not your coach. You are the only one stuck with the decisions you make, so make sure you’re happy with the things you decide, and put your foot down for things that don’t feel aligned. 👉You cannot please someone who is committed to misunderstanding you. As a people pleaser who has bent over backwards many times over… I will be the first to tell you that no amount of people pleasing can convince someone to like you if they’ve already made up their mind. The small handful of customers who wrote nasty comments, who slandered BGA on their social media, who criticized not just my business but me personally… No amount of free coaching calls would’ve changed their minds. Remember that people have their own shit going on outside of social media. As leaders and coaches, it’s easy for people to project their anger, expectations, and internal conflicts onto us. Give them grace, but remember that it’s not your shit to own. Remember: Don’t make decisions based on other people’s projections. ⚡️ #3: Using Income as the Main Marketing Message I came across a post the other day of a Coach talking about how they made $XX,XXX in cash last month. I clicked on her profile and ALL of their posts were about how much money they’ve made and how she can help others make it too. No hate to the person, but it reminded me of how I used to sell, especially as someone who was starting out and finally making money. Back then, I thought that marketing how much money I made in every post was the best way to convince people that I was legit and that they should buy from me. … Until I learned that it keeps you on this unhealthy hamster wheel of feeling like your entire worth as a business owner is determined by the sales you make in business … and therefore attracting clients who think the same. Here’s what I want you to know: 1. Be known for your content, not your sales. If your entire marketing relies on you to share your income in order to get sales, then it’s unsustainable and becomes a house of cards. You should get sales because you bring value to the table with your thought leadership - not because you had a 100k cash month. Don’t just tell us how much money you made. Tell us the lessons you learned that led you there. Also: Notice how the most successful entrepreneurs aren’t posting their cash months every week as a way to market their programs? People buy from them because their content is valuable and the results they've helped others achieve. 2. Business is up and down. Seasoned entrepreneurs know this. The reason why the online business space is toxic is because we only hear about the people who 2x their revenue month over month… Which then creates unrealistic expectations of what should happen in business. This then creates an unhealthy cycle where people feel like having "bad month" or a "bad quarter" means they are a failure. Remember: Bad months, bad quarters, bad years fucking happen. If you're going through a season where you're making less than last season... You’re not a bad business owner. You’re a normal one. {NAME}, Let me know what your favourite part of this week’s newsletter is by screenshotting it and sharing on your stories. Tag me [@vanessalau.co]( so I can repost! Being a Creator, CEO, and Coach is a unique spot to be in. I hope by sharing these 3 belief shifts help you on your journey to building a business and creating content that feels most authentic to you. If you want to work with me more intimately and get more of these lessons, keep your eyes peeled because in a couple weeks we're opening up applications to our Creator Supercharged mastermind. It's exclusively for Creators selling Courses, Consulting, or Coaching who want to: ✅ Build a Content Machine ✅ Get More Customers, and ✅ Grow an Authentic Industry Leading Brand. Applications open next month and we’ll only be taking on a limited amount of clients who want to work with me on a higher level. [Click here to sign up]( for the waitlist to be notified when the Supercharged Mastermind opens in just a couple weeks! As always, I appreciate you getting to the bottom of this email, and I cannot wait to write you again next week. If anything I wrote has given you a shift in perspective, then I’ve done my job. With gratitude, Vanessa PS: Latest YT video just dropped with some unique Reels ideas that have gotten me a ton of views with super minimal work. [Watch it here](  [Click here]( to unsubscribe if you do not want to receive further emails about the 'Confessions of a Content Creator to CEO' newsletter  Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Vanessa Lau International Inc., PO BOX 27371 Garden City PO, Richmond, British Columbia V6Y0E9, Canada