Around this time last year I wrote a blog sharing why I was closing my free Facebook group. And here I am, 12 months on, telling you I’m letting go of something else in my business that has worked really well for me in the past, but it’s time to release now.
I’ve taken the decision to stop offering Power Hours.
What was my Power Hour and why am I removing them?
Let me explain.
Ever since I started coaching and mentoring I’ve always had a one-off way to work with me.
This is something I advocate to all my clients and Just Start Now members too, particularly if they are in the early days of their business.
Power Hours, or any sort of one-off, stand-alone way of working with you (as opposed to an ongoing relationship over weeks or months) are brilliant for three reasons:
They show-case what you can do
A Power Hour or one-off session is the perfect dip-your-toe-in-the-water way for people to experience what it’s like to work with you, if they’re hesitant about committing to a longer period of time.
Particularly if you’re new on the scene and people haven’t yet built trust with you through content or seeing you regularly to know they want to go all-in, a Power Hour or one off session with you is a brilliant way to get experience under your belt and showcase what you can do.
They’re an opportunity to upsell
Power Hours are not designed to magically fix everything in just a single hour. They’re meant to be a sampler or taster session to focus in on one area where you can share tips and advice that are quick and easy to implement and don’t require hours of research or follow up testing and analysis from you.
The recipient’s eyes are opened in the session to what it feels like to work with you 1:1, they get some small quick wins and the ideal scenario at the end is that, if they’re a good fit, you can direct them to your longer offers afterwards.
They stop people ‘picking your brains‘
Something that can be rife particularly if you are starting to grow an audience where you share free content, is constant requests to ‘pick your brains’ or ‘just ask a quick question.’
If you have a clear stand-alone one-off service like a Power Hour, this is the perfect way to respond if these questions are becoming frequent and sapping your time away from paying customers. Think what it would be like to be able to respond to those sorts of things with: “The best way for me to help you with this sort of question is to book a Power Hour and then we can go over it in more detail! Here’s the link to book.”
Now, I know many people will disagree with me about offering one-offs. Two schools of thought here:
Some say that offering a one-off undermines your belief that people are ready and willing to book your longer programmes
Some business coaches will argue you need to go all in on promoting your e.g. 3 or 6 month programme, and offer no alternative. Book 3 clients a month on those and you’re good. And I get the theory. I just think in practice, again particularly if you’re in the early days of your business, people are hesitant to book someone they’ve not heard loads about yet to work with for a longer time.
That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen at all, of course you can find a perfect match client who’s ready to sign up and do the work tomorrow. But whilst you could be waiting for that I find practitioners’ confidence is slowly chipped away at if they’re not working with anyone. And a Power Hour solves that and has the potential to get more people through the doors quicker.
The other reason there is resistance to a one-off offer is the argument that you can’t do anything meaningful or helpful in a one-off session, particularly when it comes to health.
Now I do absolutely understand this as a health practitioner argument. And to be honest I’m delighted that this is a strong feeling – because it should mean that you 100% back your longer programmes and ways of working with you as the gold standard in getting the change your ideal clients want.
However. I do believe there is a way to create shorter, one-off offers that still get change and add value, without needing to go into full diagnostics mode. Often what you forget as a wellness practitioner is that it’s the really simple shifts, changes and swaps that see big impact. The lifestyle things that don’t require testing or slow-burn results.
You absolutely can package that up in a short one-off session that still really packs a punch. And if they do need more testing and support, guess what?! They can book for your longer package afterwards.
A Power Hour doesn’t have to literally just be one hour either.
When I started my version of a ‘Power Hour’ was a 90 minute one-off session coupled with a 30 minute accountability call one month later. If that’s your version of a ‘one-off’ then that’s just great too.
I ran these for two years and then reduced it down to just a genuine one-hour ‘pick my brains’ style Power Hour where I asked buyers to pick just one of my 5 pillars to focus on. That way it was completely clear that we were only going to focus on one area of their business and not try to fix everything in a single hour – which is, of course, impossible.
For a long time these sorts of sessions worked really well. I got to chat and help a lot of people, see the sorts of questions and problems people were facing in a bit more detail, make some extra money and upsell to those that took the Power Hours into working 1:1 with me.
But last year I had reached the point in my business where I was booking clients to work with me 1:1 for several thousands without having to go through a Power Hour first. People were finding me via social media, my podcast, speaking engagements, recommendations or just Google and deciding there was enough there to trust I was the right person to work with without needing a taster.
By this time as well (which is 3 years in to running my business and promoting it consistently) I was having conversations on the daily hearing what people were struggling with. I’d grown enough of an audience in this time that I didn’t need to use the Power Hours to learn what people needed, I already knew that in abundance through other channels.
So at that point I took my Power Hours off general sale and moved them in as an extra add-on that could be purchased only by my community members.
And an amazing, but perhaps unsurprising thing happened.
Once the Power Hours were gone, which was a one hour €149 product, the sales of my Turning Point one day immersion shot up. Because that became the only way to work with me 1:1.
Which brings me to now, one year on, where I’ve taken the decision to stop Power Hours completely for anyone, even my Just Start Now members.
Why?
Because I don’t need to prove myself and what I can do to anyone
There are plenty of ways now for them to see and access that through my free content and low-priced courses and trainings
Because I want to focus my time and energy on people who I work with longer-term.
I know a one hour with me can help someone, but I’d rather spend a full day with them on a Turning Point where we really get to the bottom of the issues and I combine it with 3 months support afterwards.
Because I want to give as generously as possible to the people fully utilising the Just Start Now course and community.
Which to be quite frank can feel like personal mentoring in micro-doses if you join Just Start Now and come to all the calls, work through the training and utilise the community space where I answer questions and give feedback all week long.
Just Start Now members get access to Turning Point at a reduced rate and an exclusive one-month bundle too which I won’t be offering outside of the community. So I know I’m still absolutely prioritising them and giving them first dibs on my 1:1 time if they need it.
But for me and my business right now they just don’t make sense any more. And so, as the girls from Frozen say, I’m going to let them go.
I still 100% stand by my advocacy for Power Hours or one-offs in your business though. They are perfect to help you get in front of more people, build your confidence, stop people ‘picking your brains’ and give you the chance to show what you can do and up-sell into your longer offers if those are feeling harder to fill currently or you want an injection of money.
Give them a go. If you come inside Just Start Now I can show you how to create one. And you’ll get all my attention and support because now I’m not doing Power Hours myself, I can give back that time to the community!
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