How Long Have You Been In Business, Kylie?
So I have to tell you I’m no spring chicken. I’ve been in business for a long time. In fact, I’ve had two businesses, my event planning and design company which I ran in London for ten years, which I loved – and I got to do a birthday party for the kids of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (that’s how long ago that was).
I spent a few months settling into Australia before starting my distance learning course company,y and that was 14 years ago. We sent out our course material via Australia Post in a big A$ envelope.
It was out of date the minute it had been printed. But that’s how it was then.
It was back in the days dial-up the internet – do you remember those days? Probably not you’re too young. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that noise it made as you tried to connect and access that wonderful thing called the World Wide Web. If you’re under,25 you probably won’t know what I’m talking about.
There were no social media. It was just the good old yellow pages – a giant huge yellow book that could fix everything. People didn’t just Google it then.
But the exciting thing was that 14 years, ago when I started, this was right at the start of the E-Learning era.
It was starting to happen at that grassroots level because I saw it happening and being rolled out before me. I had the opportunity to be a part of this, and I was the first educational company in hospitality to do any type of online learning using video and audio.
It was hugely exciting, but it was a massive learning curve.
I was a designer and stylist at heart, so the whole technical side of things was a complete mystery for me.
I had someone do all that stuff for me in my event planning company. Now it was just me.
But the exciting thing was I found I could use the creative side of my brain to figure out the technical side of things. And before I knew it, I was flying and loving it. The Wedding Academy was a trailblazer, and I’d always wanted to be one of those.
As things progressed, my business grew. We realised that we could get out a message to a much wider audience through digital courses, so we expanded into New Zealand, the UK, the US, and eventually the Middle East. We went from two staff members to ten, seeing tremendous growth.
But what changed over the years more than anything else was the delivery of your messaging and how you marketed it. That’s when I discovered the power behind sales funnels and lead magnets. I built my first quiz back in 2014, and it was our hottest lead magnet. I’ve gone from total and utter newbie to list building expert in six years. I’m never happier than when I have all the elements of a great funnel in front of me like pieces of a great jigsaw puzzle.
I now have someone running the day-to-day of the Wedding Academy for me, and I now spend my time building sales funnels for other creatives and coaches. Anyone who needs a sales funnel.
But I have a secret ingredient to making my sales funnels convert, and that’s the bit that has helped my business stand the test of time when so many people enter the world of entrepreneurship. And that is something I call your Fab Factor.
Your Fab Factor is your unique blend, the thing that makes you, you.
To use a French phrase, because I’m a British Expat living in France, it’s your ‘Je ne sais quoi’. The one thing nobody else can have, borrow, or use.
The power of this whole strategy is about taking your fabulous personality and injecting it into every part of your business.
Your Fab Factor is your superpower, so I tell my clients to wear it like a crown and not be afraid to let it be at the core of everything they do.
What separates successful #fabpreneurs ( another short term I’ve coined) from those just getting by is understanding this, embracing it, and knowing how to use it.
Being in business now compared to a few years ago is very different. How you stand out in a crowded market is not about who can shout the loudest.
It’s all about connection and emotions. It’s about building that all-important know, like & trust factor, and that’s where your Fab Factor comes in.
Not being afraid to inject your Fab Factor into everything you do is a huge key to success in today’s world, where authenticity is essential. Now don’t get me wrong, it can be hard to put yourself out there and show the world the quirky side of you, the one usually reserved for friends and family.
Trust me, I know. Playing the violin at school did not make me one of the cool kids. Far from it.
Add to that the fact my Mum made my school clothes I was a walking advert for a nerd.
At school, I blushed when anyone looked at me and shook like a leaf if I had to speak to someone.
And if a teacher asked me a question in front of the class, I’d turn a shade of beetroot.
Fast forward to being an entrepreneur, and I’ve learnt that being seen and heard in a way that represents me and who I am is what’s given me business success.
Now I shout about being a classically trained musician, my obsession with Abba and knowing every word to the Sound of Music from the hilltops.
This is what helps people to connect with me.
Of course, this does mean that as much as some people will connect with me, some just won’t. They’ll switch off and leave, never to enter my world again. And that’s ok. It’s called the Attract and Repel strategy.
You only want to attract the people you connect with. Those who want to be part of your tribe. The others you want to repel and wave goodbye to.
Why? Because it’s hard work trying to sell to people who don’t connect with you or what you do.
They’re never going to buy from you or work with you because they don’t get you, understand you or have an emotional connection with you.
By allowing your Fab Factor to shine through, you’ll attract the right sort of people who buy into you and what you do. This makes working with you a no brainer for them.
They’ll also be the ones you’ll love working with and do your best work for.
You asked me why it’s so important to have the Fab Factor and what happens if you don’t. Well, let me tell you a very quick story.
When I started my digital course company to get business in those days, you had to be visual, and I mean, you put yourself out there. I made phone calls, knocked on doors, handed out flyers, and networked my little backside off – anything to get my new business to turn a profit. And you know what, it worked.
Is The Fab Factor Part Of The Dating Game?
Do you remember the movie You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? OMG, I loved that movie so much. In all seriousness, though, back in the 90s, ‘You’ve Got Mail’ wasn’t just a romantic comedy.
Those three iconic words encapsulated the excitement you felt when you saw them fly across your screen, usually in a bit of a box, to let you know you’d got an email. It was the best feeling…
You knew someone was sending you something of value. You were about to hear from someone you wanted to hear from, someone you had a relationship with.
You couldn’t wait to open it and see what was inside and who it was from. And that’s how you want your leads to feel about your emails.
You want them to feel precisely the way Meg Ryan’s character did whenever she ‘got mail’ from the character Tom Hanks played. Now granted, they were making virtual ???? googly eyes at each other but what you’re doing isn’t so different.
It’s pretty simple…email marketing and using your Fab Factor is just like dating.
You have to woo your ideal client, make them feel special and show off that fabulous personality of yours. And, of course, that’s where your fab factor comes in.
Don’t be like every other expert out there. Be you. Tell them your story. Connect with them emotionally. Let people in and show them the real you.
Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
For me, part of my fab factor is that I’m a classically trained musician. What got me bullied at school has become a talking point in my business.
And of course, there’s my slight obsession with all things Abba, Downton Abbey and knowing every word to the Sound of Music.
My fab factor is injected into every area of my business, and yours should be too. You just have to watch my Instagram Reels see that.
By allowing your Fab Factor to shine through, you’ll attract the right sort of people who buy into you and what you do. Make it easy for them to say, ‘I do, I do, I do, I do, I do’. Sorry as a complete and utter Abbaholic, I couldn’t let this opportunity go without a bit of baby Abba reference.
Sales are like dating…you have to show your fabulous personality to get a second date.
When attracting clients to your business, you have to get them to fall in love with you effectively.
Make yourself irresistible and someone they can’t live without.
But you also have to build that all-important know, like, trust factor, so they feel understood and ultimately as though they’ve found the equivalent of their business soulmate.
And remember, just like in dating, not everyone is right for you. Rejection is as important as acceptance and happens to us all.
After all, marrying the wrong person can end in disaster and work with bad clients. And this is where your Fab Factor comes in.
By embracing who you are, sharing the things you love and letting people see the real you, the right connections are made.
5 Step Fab Factor Formula
So step 1 – Take A Chance on Me
It all starts with attraction and persuasion. Before you can begin to woo your ideal client, you have to bring them into your world and onto your email list. Imagine you’re writing a dating profile. How would you entice potential dates to ‘take a chance on you’?
Step 2 – Honey, Honey.
I’ve heard from you before. I wanted to know some more—time to tell them your story. Let them into your world and give them a behind the scenes look into what you do and why you do it. And don’t give them the corporate version. Be authentic and genuine.
Step 3 – Lay All Your Love On Me
Make them feel special but above all else, give them value. Showcase your knowledge, prove your worth and place yourself as the expert. BUT remember to keep it fun and fabulous. Don’t give them any reason to go ‘wasting their emotion’ on someone else. You want them to ‘lay all their love on you’.
Step 4 – Ring, Ring
Why don’t you give me a call? It’s sales time. Remind them why they’re part of your community and how you’re the solution to their problem, and that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Make it easy for them to book a consultation, meet for coffee or whatever it is you want them to do to take the next step with you.
Step 5 – I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
Let them know you’d love to work with them. Share some success stories, show them the transformation they can have by investing in themselves and going on that journey with you. Don’t be afraid to tell them what you want them to do next. And whatever you do, never leave them guessing. So love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me I love you I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.
And there you have it. My five steps for injecting your fab factor into what you do.
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