The Strategy of a Creator Who Filled a Mastermind (Twice) & Generated $40K of Revenue

One of Fiverr’s top-rated sellers laid out her blueprint

Let me introduce you to my friend Sam.

She’s a digital nomad and entrepreneur who, over the last five years, has built a six-figure business. She also travels the world with her fiance.

Through her services on Fiverr, she’s helped hundreds of people launch their podcasts. She delivers masterminds too. Her last two cohorts drove $40K of revenue for her business.

In August 2020, she spoke on my podcast. I wanted to find out how she sells her services and how she attracts sponsorship. She shared all her secrets.

More recently, she revealed how she sold out her programme (twice).

Here’s her mastermind strategy.

1. Why Masterminds?

For an entrepreneur, masterminds solve the “scale” problem.

You can stop trading your time for money.

Typically, they take place over a set number of weeks, with a clear start and end date. There’s also an expectation of the value you get. Such value usually consists of group calls, 1–2–1s, and prerecorded videos.

Members can also network with other students.

Sam has been part of many masterminds herself. She knows how they work. For hers, she designed a 12-week group coaching programme that she ran for the first time last year.

“I knew I needed to do it, and it felt like a big levelling up moment for my business...” — Sam Laliberte

She told herself stories that held her back. It won’t work for my business. People won’t pay for this. Why me? However, a four-month trip to Costa Rica pushed her into action.

“(Travelling was) a big growth opportunity for me. I didn’t have many freelance contracts. I’d lost a few projects and clients because of the pandemic.”

She spent the first 4–6 weeks of her trip thinking about what she wanted to do next. Crucially, she didn’t think about the “how”. She didn’t want to get in the way of herself, worrying about how she was going to do it.

As things panned out, she opened up more spots for her programme.

Demand outstripped supply.

2. Are you ready?

Sam’s expertise is podcasting.

Before her masterminds, she was (and still is) a Fiverr Pro seller for podcasting services. She’s been offering 1–2–1 consults for years.

She started at $35/hour.

Now, she charges $200/hour.

“I was trading my time for income, and I knew I couldn’t scale that. But I’d proven I could attract clients for 1–2–1 consults…
“I also knew I had past clients I could tap into…”

She also had a passive product: an A-Z course on how to launch a podcast. People were buying it, but not at the rate she wanted.

She knew she could leverage this product for her masterminds.

My friend, Kieran MacRae, had a similar issue. Rather than going down the mastermind route, he launched a podcast audit service.

Screenshot from launchapodcastonabudget.com

If this wasn’t enough, Sam spent two years working for Boss Babe — one of the largest online communities for female entrepreneurs. She worked on many projects, including selling their mastermind product.

The journey was simple. Potential customers were encouraged to book a free discovery call. They could then speak with one of the sales reps — like Sam — and learn more about it.

The goal for the reps was to get customers to join the programme.

Sam was their top salesperson.

“Let’s not overthink this. Let’s let the market decide whether this is going to sell.” — Sam Laliberte

Takeaway: Develop your skills before running a mastermind. This could take years.

3. What will your mastermind be?

Sam’s is a combination of 1–2–1 calls, group calls, and training videos. Members can watch these in their own time.

Members also get perks. Fiverr sponsors Sam’s masterminds and gives credits for podcasting “stuff”. Hiring a designer, hiring an editor — that sort of thing.

She also brings in a guest speaker each month. (I was one! I gave this presentation about outsourcing to a virtual assistant.) Each topic is related to podcasting but not about podcasting itself.

Finally, she invested in a tool called Circle. This helps her build an ecosystem for cohort members. Someone can post a question and have it answered by another participant, rather than just by Sam.

This helps to leverage her time and scale her value.

Takeaway: Go above and beyond when delivering a mastermind. Give cool bonuses and access to you.

4. Creating a lead funnel

This is one of the most important steps.

A lead funnel is the process through which a potential customer becomes aware of your product, expresses interest, and then moves through your funnel to become a paying customer.

Sam’s funnel looks like this:

Social media — > sales page — > sales call

“You need to think through your numbers. If you’re selling a programme, you need to think about your end goal.
“Let’s say you’re selling each spot in your programme for a few thousand dollars and you want 15 people in it…
“You want to work backwards… What are going to be those touchpoints for the people to discover this programme, and then actually buy it?

Sam recommends a sales call as an option, particularly for products/services over $1,000. This gives you the opportunity to explain the value to customers.

From here, you need to work out how many calls you should be looking to book.

“Everything you’re doing should go into booking these sales calls […] What is the percentage of people who take a sales call from you and actually buy?”

Because of her experience, Sam expected her close rate to be 50%. (This is pretty high.) Therefore, she needed to book 30 free calls.

She set up a sales page so customers could learn about the programme. It also includes testimonials from past clients and buttons to schedule a call.

Screenshot from Sam’s mastermind sales page

Next, Sam recommends thinking about your sales period. How long are you going to give yourself to sell this programme?

The first time Sam did this, she gave herself 8 weeks.

The second time?

4 weeks.

“My sweet spot is somewhere in the middle, so let’s say 6 weeks. You want to give enough time to sell the programme without feeling like you’re panicking […]
“But you also don’t want to give yourself so much time that when you’re on a sales call, the programme doesn’t start until 3 months' time […]
“It’s not so far away that people don’t know what their plans are, but you can’t be like ‘it starts in one week!’ and hope people have availability.”

Takeaway: All your marketing activities should have one clear goal. Define what that is. In Sam’s case, the goal is to get potential customers on a free call.

5. Getting people into the funnel

Here are some of Sam’s favourite methods.

Free 90-minute webinar

This webinar will be related to the topic of your mastermind but doesn’t give all your goods away.

At the end of the webinar, you encourage people to book a call with you. They can find out how to continue working with you, start executing the ideas you shared, or go deeper.

Acknowledge this is only a fraction of what you can teach.

Sam ran a webinar about how to market and monetise your podcast. I attended, and it was great! 90% of webinars are icky, but not Sam’s.

She provided genuine value.

You could run it publicly, attracting people through paid ads, social media, and relevant Facebook groups.

This is what Sam did.

Alternatively, you could host the workshop as an exclusive experience for another community. The people running these groups need to keep providing value, so guest speakers are a win-win.

“You get to come in and say ‘Hey, I have this amazing workshop on how to market and monetise your podcast. I’d love to offer it to your members for free […] I just hope it’s okay that at the end, I might pitch an offer for how they can keep working with me.’”

Sam expected 25% of people who attended her free webinar to book a call.

Video testimonial content

Sam had text testimonials from clients, but she wanted them to be more engaging and to say something about her mastermind.

She spent $50 on Fiverr to create a video. She sent the editor testimonial clips, as well as facts about the mastermind.

To get the video testimonials, Sam turned to her past clients. Not only did she make it easy for them, but she also gave them specific prompts on what to say.

“A lot of people are like ‘what are you looking for?’ So often I say, ‘honestly, if you write it, I’ll approve it. Just tell me what to say.’”

Sam also recommends creating urgency and incentives. It’s a favour asking people to get camera-ready, record a video of themselves, and submit it to you.

Here’s how she framed it:

“‘Hey, if you do this video testimonial for me by a certain date, I’ll throw in a free 30-minute consulting call with me.’
“These were all past clients who had already paid for consulting calls, so it was a pretty good offer…
“I was able to get half a dozen videos that I put together for this little video montage.”

This video lived on her sales page. She also used it on social media. Sam encouraged featured clients to share the video, along with those who’ve worked with her in the past.

Referral programme

Sam created a referral programme for her past clients and friends.

Her pitch went like this:

“‘Hey, I’ll give you $150 for anyone you refer to my mastermind programme who actually purchases.’
“It’s an easy sell for my past clients and friends because all they had to do was suggest people book a free call with me.
“Realistically, I did all the selling. I just wanted them to make a warm intro…”

Social media (primarily Instagram)

Sam mentioned the programme a couple of times a week in the beginning, and then every day leading up to the launch.

Something she posted on her stories that consistently worked was a simple Canva graphic. (When she posted this, she would often book a couple of calls within hours of posting).

The graphic was 15 circles with question marks in them. Every time someone signed up, she would add their photo.

She also tagged people in the story when they signed up and welcomed them to the mastermind. Often, these students would repost the story.

This got the word out without Sam having to spend money on ads.

Takeaway: Use a combination of channels to attract people to your funnel. Stick with the channels you’re most comfortable with.

6. The free sales call

People are booking calls. They’re coming from your webinar, referrals, and social media content.

Now, it’s time to convert.

Sam scheduled 20 minutes for each sales call but gave herself a 10-minute buffer. She hadn’t thought of it as a tactic. It just worked out that way.

It’s something she now advises.

“You can make the person feel like wow, she’s going above and beyond with the value she promised […] (They) feel taken care of and supported […]
“I want to acknowledge this was a sales tactic that worked, but it was the truth. That’s how I am with all of my clients. If we have an hour call and they need more time, they’re going to feel fully supported by me […]
“It was an authentic preview of what it would be like to work with me […]”

Sam positioned these calls as a free consult. There wasn’t a formal presentation. “I treated it as a conversation where I could help them out on the spot.”

The calls were conducted over Zoom where they could see and hear each other, and she talked to them like a friend. She was genuinely curious about their podcast ideas, or a current show they wanted to grow.

She asked them about the following:

Their podcast goals
What’s challenging them
What’s holding them back from launching their podcast

She gave them advice and tactics on the spot, and even took notes for them. She sent these after the call.

Towards the end of the call, she would tell them “of course, these are just a few things I can teach you on the spot. It’s only 20 minutes. I can’t teach you everything I know about podcasting in this time, but I have a ton of great ideas. I know I can help you.”

She asked for their permission to tell them about her programme. Once they said yes, she went through a short presentation.

She shared her screen and went through four simple slides.

This entire time, nobody knows the price of the programme. She doesn’t put the investment price on the sales page.

She knows it’s controversial.

“I’ve debated this back and forth with different friends of mine […] but my belief is that if you’re selling a programme that’s over $1,000, it should have a sales call […]
“ I believe you should withhold the price until you can truly showcase the value.”

Sam walked them through the features of the programme and the value they would get. She tried to attribute that value to dollars.

Some features were easy. For example, she charges $200 for her one-hour consulting calls. Potential customers could see how many calls they were getting and extrapolate the value. The same goes for her videos.

For other features, she had to estimate.

“And then I said ‘but I’m actually selling it for this price’ and showed them the total number. This is less than the value.
“Then I would pause. ‘What do you think? Is this higher or lower than you expected?’”

To Sam’s surprise, many people told her the price was much less than they expected! This gave her the confidence to raise her prices for the second cohort.

Takeaways: Treat sales calls like consults. Show why someone should work with you.

7. Final tactic

She had a bonus offer.

“Hey, if you’re committed to joining the programme within 24 hours, I’m going to throw in this bonus.”

Sam positioned this cleverly. She wanted to fill all 15 spots so that she could send out a survey. The survey would help her figure out when people are available for calls.

This was the reason for the urgency.

“Of course, we also know that the longer someone has to think about something, they’ll question it. (They may) talk to someone in their life who may convince them this isn’t a good idea […]
“You want to jump on that excitement and momentum.”

She tinkers with the bonus offer. Sometimes it’s $150 off, and other times it’s a bonus call with her. She’s seen other entrepreneurs throw in digital products.

It’s less about what the offer is and more about giving someone a reason to buy now.

Takeaways: Create genuine urgency. You want to jump on the call’s momentum.

Takeaways

Having known Sam for years, I know she’s the real deal. She’s a classy businesswoman who does things differently.

I admire her a lot.

And never once has she told someone in her mastermind that they’ve used up all their calls.

“Overdeliver every single time to do what needs to be done […] When you have a mastermind program, some people are going to take more from you than others. It all works out.” — Sam Laliberte

It’s an approach I’ve seen other entrepreneurs follow, including Derek Sivers. I’ll let this wise man have the final word.

“If you set up your business like you don’t need the money, people are happier to pay you.
“When someone’s doing something for the money, people can sense it, like they sense a desperate lover.
“When someone’s doing something for love… it triggers this law: We want to give to those who give.”
— Derek Sivers

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