Case Study
"[Adaptive] is much higher touch, with high-quality experts, compared to bigger programs that provide more of a large group experience. I feel like Adaptive is so much more personal and intimate. And where I'm at in my business, that's what I need, not all the bells and whistles. I need that interactive, mastermind approach."
Kari Schell, On Point Quilter & Membership Owner
"I'm an accountant by trade, and I have always recognized that maybe marketing is not my strongest skill set. I've got sort of that accountant logical thinking mentality. But my business is focused on reaching creatives. So while I am creative, that's not how my business brain works. So I came into Adaptive recognizing there was an opportunity for me to develop some added skill sets to better reach my potential customers."
Reimagining how to market for On Point Quilter
"I came into the program believing that Facebook marketing was not the best way to reach my audience. I have a super small niche market within quilters. While there are over 10 million quilters, those that use the software I teach are a very small subsection of quilters. So I had the mindset that I couldn't find my small niche with Facebook Ads.
I honestly think Paul was the person that helped me understand how to think differently about how to find my niche audience.
I'd always believed that Facebook marketing was for other people but not for me. I literally did not think I could reach my niche audience. Then, for one of my promotions, I was finally convinced I needed to do some Facebook ads. When looking at the final results, there was a statistically different impact compared to historical results. So for me, that was the convincing factor.
Recognizing that Facebook was a very viable vehicle to reach new customers and those already on my mail list who were not opening my emails was huge for me and my business."
Making an impact beyond the business
"What I've appreciated in strategic sessions is a couple of times, I've presented ideas and been very graciously asked, "Have you thought about all the consequences of what you just said you could do?".
As entrepreneurs, we always think about how much more we can offer. The problem is, all that 'more' you offer comes from you. I'm already a little too close to burnout with all I provide to those in my membership.
So I have learned to be more cautious about taking something on, considering what it will cost in terms of long-term, not only short-term commitment, and if I have the resources to do that."
Making an impact beyond the business
"What I've appreciated in strategic sessions is a couple of times, I've presented ideas and been very graciously asked, "Have you thought about all the consequences of what you just said you could do?".
As entrepreneurs, we always think about how much more we can offer. The problem is, all that 'more' you offer comes from you. I'm already a little too close to burnout with all I provide to those in my membership.
So I have learned to be more cautious about taking something on, considering what it will cost in terms of long-term, not only short-term commitment, and if I have the resources to do that."
Kari refined her business model to create more profit from less work.
"I'm much better at targeting the right group of people and becoming more defined on what I need to focus on and what I need to do.
In the last year, I've turned down I don't know how many different opportunities to do things because it's not part of my core business. I know that I need to focus my time on where the profit is, which is in the membership.
Before, I tried to teach two or three times a year. I always liked the check, but after realizing how much time I spent preparing for the teaching gig, there wasn't a significant return on investment. It was huge to recognize I don't need to teach at in-person events. Instead, I can hone into my niche without getting distracted by all these so-called 'opportunities'.
My biggest breakthrough was when I finally devised a strategy for supporting my long-term customers while reducing my monthly content creation.
I was giving everyone thirteen unique video lessons a month. And that was way too much for me. I realized I didn't have to do that any longer. So I took those advanced people and moved them to a Masters program, cut their rate in half and said, I'm giving you six classes a month, not thirteen. Then new members automatically convert to Masters after completing 28 months of Basics programs (those already developed classes with 13 videos each month).
I was finally recognizing there was a way to reduce the amount of work I was doing and improve my profitability."
My biggest breakthrough was when I finally devised a strategy for supporting my long-term customers while reducing my monthly content creation.
I was giving everyone thirteen unique video lessons a month. And that was way too much for me. I realized I didn't have to do that any longer. So I took those advanced people and moved them to a Masters program, cut their rate in half and said, I'm giving you six classes a month, not thirteen. Then new members automatically convert to Masters after completing 28 months of Basics programs (those already developed classes with 13 videos each month).
I was finally recognizing there was a way to reduce the amount of work I was doing and improve my profitability."
Let's look at the numbers.
"I already had a reasonably decent business going into Adaptive, and at the time, I had 524 people in my membership. When I started my membership, my dream goal was 300 members, which was a stretch given most months, I served under 25 paid customers. At its highest, my membership increased to 693 members while in Adaptive. However, that has since dropped due to "inflation issues and concerns with my customer base".
The year before joining Adaptive (2020), I generated $190,000 of revenue for my business. In 2021 that revenue increased by 13%, and halfway through this year (2022), I'm already up another 11%.
But what's really interesting is that I've increased my profit percentage, not just my revenue. I've become much more efficient.
Have I doubled or tripled my revenue? No. But I've increased my revenue along with the profit margins in my business."
How has becoming Adaptive changed you?
"I was always one of these people that said, "I'm not a marketing and sales person."
I might still not be a salesperson, but I am a marketing person now. I have changed my mindset along with my skill set. I've been able to look at marketing as a process. Adaptive has helped me do that. Marketing makes sense to me now."
Any final advice to those considering joining the Adaptive Marketing Program?
"I often think as business owners; we don't understand how our customers are reading or understanding our content. So I think one of the biggest things with Adaptive is that I've learned to focus my copy on understanding who my customers are and how to reach them.
The reviews of my sales pages and my email copy by the copy coaches have given me a much cleaner interface with my customers. As a result, they better understand how my program will help them, improving conversion to paid customers.
I also really appreciate how Paul and Melissa have set Adaptive up with the coaches and themselves. It is much higher touch, with high-quality experts, compared to bigger programs that provide more of a large group experience. I feel like Adaptive is so much more personal and intimate.And where I'm at in my business, that's what I need, not all the bells and whistles. I need that interactive, mastermind approach.
Whether it's a strategy item, an email, an ad, or a sales page, just getting those few thoughts on what I can do to tweak it to make it a little bit better has been incredibly valuable for me and my business."
