The Expert to Thought Leader Podcast

Maeve Ferguson
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The Expert to Thought Leader Podcast

If you're an expert ready to step out of the shadows and become The One in your industry, this podcast is for you.Join Maeve Ferguson, business strategist and quiz funnel expert, as she unpacks the real strategies behind thought leadership, so you can move from being just another expert to a recognized industry leader with authority, impact, and effortless client attraction.Each episode dives into practical, no-fluff tactics on marketing, positioning, systems, and automation helping you scale without burnout and build a business that runs for you.💡 Whether you're looking to attract high-ticket clients, create a signature methodology, or leverage quiz funnels to pre-qualify leads on autopilot, this is where expertise meets influence.🚀 Ready to go from best-kept secret to The One in your niche?Subscribe now!

Episodes

  1. 09/01/2024

    Episode 6: Maximising Profits: The Power of Course Optimisation 💡

    Welcome back to the Expert to Profit Podcast! I’m Maeve Ferguson, and today we’re diving into a game-changing topic: Optimisation. If you caught the last episode, you know we covered the importance of testing. If you missed it, be sure to go back and listen from the beginning, because each episode builds on the last. Today’s focus is on how to take your online course business to the next level by constantly optimising—because this phase never really ends. 🔄 🔍 The Power of Continuous Optimisation Optimisation isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process of tweaking, improving, and refining every part of your funnel to ensure that every ounce of effort you put in yields maximum results. This is where the real magic happens in scaling your online course business. ✨ Let’s be clear—this isn’t about throwing in the towel when things don’t go as planned. We’re not here to quit at the first sign of trouble. Instead, we’re going to look at how to fine-tune each element of your funnel so that everything works better and better over time. This is how you set yourself apart from the hobbyists and build a sustainable, profitable business. 📈 Optimisation Roadmap: Step by StepThere’s an optimisation strategy for every part of your funnel, and today, I’m walking you through some key areas to focus on: 🛠️ Quiz Funnel OptimisationCongruence: Is your ad copy consistent with your quiz hook? Start split-testing different hooks, ad copy, and images to see what resonates best with your audience.Landing Page: Simplify your landing page. Make it clear why they should enter their email address and what value they’ll get.Success Page: Are you using social proof and persuasive techniques to encourage micro course purchases right after they finish the quiz?Email Follow-Up: Optimise your email subject lines, copy, and CTAs to boost conversions. Retarget those who didn’t complete the quiz or didn’t buy your micro course.💻 Micro Course OptimisationCongruence: Ensure that your sales page feels like a natural extension of your ad or organic post. It should look and feel cohesive.Copy & Creatives: Split-test different angles, images, and copy to see what drives the most sales. Test everything from the urgency in your messaging to the layout of your sales page.Sales Page: Adjust one variable at a time—whether it’s social proof, order form tweaks, or the overall design—to see what improvements yield the best results.🎥 Masterclass OptimisationCongruence: From the initial touchpoint to the masterclass sign-up, make sure everything aligns. The topic, the messaging, and the offer should all feel connected.Show-Up Rate: Boost your excitement campaign, improve your SMS reminders, and tease any gifts or bonuses to increase attendance.Retention: Keep your audience engaged throughout the masterclass with interactive elements, strong tonality, and smooth transitions from teaching to pitching your offer.🎯 Continuous Improvement for Better ResultsAs you move through these optimisations, remember to focus on data, not emotions. Every tweak you make should be informed by the numbers, allowing you to close the gaps where potential clients might be dropping off. And if someone doesn’t buy, don’t just change your price—dig deeper, find out why, and address those objections head-on. 🔗 Ready to Take Action?If today’s episode has you thinking about all the ways you could be optimising your online course business, and you’re curious about how we can help you do that, click the link here to apply for a chat with my team. We’re here to see if the Expert to Profit Academy is the right fit for you and your business. No pressure—just a conversation about how we can help you scale and optimise like a pro. 💪 Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    14 min

  2. 09/01/2024

    Episode 5: Test It - Running Water Through the Pipes

    Welcome back to the Expert to Profit Podcast! I’m Maeve Ferguson, and I’m super excited to dive into Episode 5 today, where we’re talking all about the crucial phase we call Test It. 💡 So, you’ve built your online course business model—you’ve got your quiz funnel, your micro course, your masterclass, and your flagship course all set up. A lot of people think that once they’ve built it, they’re done. But here’s the truth: building it is just the beginning. The real process starts now. 🔄 Running Water Through the PipesTesting is all about running water through the pipes to make sure everything is flowing smoothly. If you don’t know your numbers, you won’t know if your business is set up for success—or even for profitability. And without profitability, well, you’re not going to be in business for long! I’m going to try to keep my accountant hat off here (because I love spreadsheets, data, and KPIs), but today’s episode is all about knowing the minimum metrics you must track to run a successful course business. 📊 📈 Metrics That MatterI’ve got a special freebie for you today—a Benchmark Guide that outlines the key metrics you need to track as part of the Expert to Profit Formula. Just click the link in the show notes to grab it! Inside, you’ll find the benchmarks for your quiz funnel, micro course sales page, masterclass landing page conversion rate, show-up rate, retention rate, and more. But for now, let’s break down the basics: Cost Per Lead: How much does it cost you to bring a lead into your business? If you don’t know this figure, it’s time to find out!Earnings Per Lead: For every lead you bring in, how much are you earning from them across your product suite? This is critical for understanding your business’s profitability. 💰Average Order Value: When you start selling your micro courses, you’ll add order bumps and upsells. You need to know the average order value for each buyer who comes through your funnel.🛠️ Your CEO DashboardImagine having all your metrics in one place—your CEO Dashboard—where you can see, at a glance, your cost per lead, earnings per lead, and more. This dashboard is your secret weapon for making data-driven decisions, not emotional ones. And trust me, that’s what separates successful CEOs from those just getting by. 🎯 Know Your Numbers, Close the GapsWith your CEO Dashboard in place, you’ll be able to identify where you’re losing potential clients in your funnel. Whether it’s low show-up rates for your masterclass or a low conversion rate on your micro course sales page, knowing these numbers allows you to make informed decisions and close those leaky bucket gaps. ⏳ Time to ConversionOne of the biggest mistakes I see experts make is quitting too soon. They don’t realize that in today’s landscape, conversion takes time. People need multiple touchpoints to build trust before they make a purchase. So, knowing your time to conversion—the average time it takes for someone to move from lead to buyer—is absolutely crucial. Don’t give up just when you’re about to strike gold! ⏳ 📚 Ready to Dive Deeper?If you’re ready to get serious about testing your online course business and want to know all the metrics that matter, grab our Benchmark Guide in the show notes. This guide will help you ensure that your business is on the right track for profitability and long-term success. And if you’ve got any questions, you can always reach out to me on Instagram at @IAmMaeveFerguson. I’m here to help you turn your expertise into profit with online courses! 🎧 What’s Next?In the next episode, we’re going to be unpacking the high-level overview of the Optimisation Phase—where we fine-tune and perfect your course business to maximise results. You won’t want to miss it! Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    13 min

  3. 09/01/2024

    Episode 4: Laying the Foundation for Course Success 🚀

    Today we’re diving into the nitty-gritty of building your online course business. If you remember, in Episode 1, we gave an overview of the Expert to Profit Formula, then talked about client attraction in Episode 2. In Episode 3, I showed you how to design your online course business for maximum profitability before you start building a thing. But now that you’ve got your blueprint, it’s time to roll up those sleeves and get to work. 🧱 💡 Building with the End in MindJust like in the design phase, when it comes to building your online course business, we begin with the end in mind. Even though your audience might go through your funnel in a specific order—quiz funnel, micro course, masterclass, flagship course—you as the business owner don’t build it in that order. It’s all about building backwards to set yourself up for success. And let me tell you, building your business from a place of abundance and ease is way easier than doing it from a place of scarcity or fear. 🚀 The Fastest Path to CashYour flagship course is where the magic happens—it’s your fastest path to cash. 🤑 Instead of spending months creating your entire course end-to-end and then trying to sell it (and risking frustration if it doesn’t sell), we’re all about collapsing time. Start by building what I like to call your “bank of gold”—get feedback from your market, craft an outcome based on their needs, and create your course skeleton. Sell your course first, then build the rest of it after you’ve made your first sale. This way, you’re not wasting time on something that might not even sell! 🌟 Real-Life Success: Mandy’s StoryLet me tell you about one of my amazing clients, Mandy. She’d been trying all the things for four years—investing in 10k and 20k programs with big-name coaches—but still had no leads and no clients. But after implementing our process, just six weeks later, she turned on her Evergreen Machine, and now she has over 1,400 leads, made 24 sales, and sold her flagship course in her very first masterclass. Talk about a transformation! 🚀 🧠 Building in the Right OrderHere’s the order we follow when building: Flagship Course: Start here for the fastest path to cash. Build it in stages, selling it first, then creating the content.Masterclass: Once you’ve got sales coming in, move on to creating a masterclass. Think of it as a group sales call where you can scale your sales efforts.Micro Course: This is your little machine, working for you every day, bringing in buyers. It’s a slice of your flagship course, solving your audience’s right-now problem.Quiz Funnel: Finally, design your quiz funnel. Start with the end in mind—what’s the offer at the end of the quiz? Reverse engineer from there. 🔧 Tools of the TradeWondering what software we use? For quiz funnels, we’re all about Bucket for B2B or website-based funnels—built specifically for this purpose and head and shoulders above the competition. For fun B2C businesses, we use ManyChat to build quiz funnels right inside your DMs, qualifying leads and driving sales seamlessly. If you want to learn more about how to build out each step of this process, here is the Evergreen Course Accelerator and Micro Course Sprint. And if you’re curious about having us build your entire quiz funnel for you, just reply to one of our emails with “DFY,” and I’ll share all the details. Get the Online Course Planner here Get the Online Course Checklist here Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    12 min

  4. 09/01/2024

    Episode 3: Designing Your Online Course Business for Maximum Profitability 💰

    Welcome back to the Expert to Profit Podcast! I’m so pumped to have you here for Episode 3, where we’re diving deep into how to design your online course business so it’s set up for profitability from day one. 🚀 🏗️ Building Without a Blueprint? Imagine trying to build a house without visiting an architect first—just grabbing some bricks, windows, and doors, and jamming them together. Sounds chaotic, right? Well, that’s exactly what I see so many course creators doing! They see others making money online and jump straight into creating a course without actually planning out their business for long-term profitability. And let me tell you, mate, that’s a recipe for disaster. 😅 This episode is for you if you’re serious about not just whacking a course up on the internet, but actually building a successful, profitable online course business. Because, truth be told, there’s no “push a button and become a millionaire by Friday” business. 🔄 Begin With the End in Mind When designing your online course business, it’s crucial to begin with the end in mind. What are your revenue and profit goals? What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? Do you want to add coaching or consulting alongside your courses, or focus purely on passive income? These are the questions you need to answer before diving in. In this episode, I break down the Expert to Profit Formula—our four-step process to design your online course business for maximum profitability. We’re talking about: Qualify: Use a quiz funnel to get qualified eyes on your offers.Commit: Have your audience make a micro-commitment through a micro course, building a list of buyers who ascend into your flagship course on autopilot.Bridge: Use an interactive masterclass to bridge the gap between where your audience is and where they want to be.Transform: Deliver the transformation through your flagship course, but remember, transformation only happens when people actually buy your course.🔄 Reverse Engineering for SuccessThe key to success is to reverse engineer your business from your flagship course back through your funnel. All roads should lead to your flagship course, so don’t start at the top of the funnel—start by designing your course first. What’s the outcome? What’s the promise? Once you’ve nailed that down, everything else will fall into place. I’ll walk you through creating a compelling masterclass, crafting a micro course that builds trust and drives sales, and designing a quiz funnel that keeps qualified leads flowing into your business every day, all year round. 🌟 🔗 Ready to Dive Deeper?If you’re ready to set up your course business for profitability, I’ve got just the thing for you! Check out the link below to grab our Roadmap to Course Profitability—a micro course packed with value, showing you exactly how to implement everything I’ve talked about in this episode. 🛠️ 📢 Share the Love!If you found value in today’s episode, I’d be truly honoured if you shared it with another expert who could benefit from these insights. Let’s spread the knowledge and help more experts turn their expertise into profit! 💪 Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    10 min

  5. 08/30/2024

    Episode 2: Client Attraction: The Lifeblood of your Online Business

    Today, we’re going high-level, getting those wheels turning on the different avenues of client attraction that you need to implement in your business to turn your expertise into profit with online courses. 💰 🌟 Why Client Attraction Is Your Business’s Lifeblood Let’s be real—attracting leads and growing your email list is the lifeblood of your business. Thinking that followers on social media equal leads? That’s like owning a guitar and thinking it makes you a rock star. 🎸 Followers are just vanity metrics! I’ve built a $30K/week business with a tiny social media following because I focus on list building and growing my email list. And that’s exactly where I want you to focus too! 📧 🚀 Three Pillars of Client Attraction In this episode, I’m breaking down the three main approaches to client attraction that we teach inside our academy. These are the pillars you need to have in place: Organic Authority Engine: How to attract leads into your business organically every single day. 🌱Scalable Organic: Leveraging your time to get in front of more people without spending on ads. This one’s all about efficiency! ⏱️Paid Traffic: The strategies that work for us and our clients to scale those winning offers. 🤑🌱 Organic Authority Engine Organic traffic might be “free” in terms of dollars, but it’s not free in terms of time—yours or your VA’s! You need to stand out from your competition and become the go-to expert in your niche. How? By creating a standout approach, just like our Expert to Profit Formula. This is your secret weapon for becoming known in your space. We also have the One-Five Method to help you easily create content that aligns with your core principles. I’ll cover this method in detail in a future episode, so stay tuned! 🎯 ⏱️ Scalable Organic This one was born out of necessity when I became a mom and my time became super precious. With scalable organic strategies like podcast guesting and JV masterclasses, you can maximize your impact with the limited time you have. Imagine trading an hour for a podcast interview that reaches tens of thousands, versus creating a single Instagram post. That’s the power of scalable organic! 🎙️ 🤑 Paid Traffic Paid traffic can be a love-hate relationship, but when done right, it’s a game-changer. My advice? Run paid traffic to your winners. Get everything converting organically first, then turn on the paid traffic to scale. In upcoming episodes, I’ll be diving deeper into how to master paid traffic without burning through your budget. 🔥 🔗 Ready to Attract Your Ideal Clients? Curious about how to attract your ideal clients on social media without spending on ads? Check out the link below to our Audience Attraction System micro course! Dive in, and learn how to get your ideal clients raising their hands to you every single day. 🙌 Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    9 min

  6. 08/28/2024

    Episode 1: Ascension Model Secrets: Turning Your Expertise Into Profit

    🎙️ Welcome to the Expert to Profit Podcast! 🎙️ Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of helping experts like you turn their knowledge into profitable online courses, and I can’t wait to dive into all the juicy details with you in this podcast! 🚀 In this very first episode, we’re kicking things off by unraveling the Ascension Model and giving you a sneak peek into our Expert to Profit Formula. This formula is your roadmap to qualifying leads, building a buyer's list, and making those all-important online course sales. 💰 Who Is This Podcast For?If you’re an expert in your field but want to take your expertise to the next level by turning it into a scalable, profitable business—this podcast is for you! 🌟 Whether you’re: Still stuck in a corporate job, dreaming of a way out (I’ve been there, managing a team of 47 in private equity! 😅).Already in the online space, working 1:1 with clients, and feeling the grind of trading time for money.Excited about the idea of packaging your expertise into online courses that sell on autopilot, allowing you to scale your impact and income. Then stay tuned, because we’ve got a lot to unpack! Inside This Episode: We’re diving into the Ascension Model and how it fits into the bigger picture of turning your expertise into profit. You’ll learn about: Client Attraction: How to keep those leads flowing like water through pipes, ensuring you have a steady stream of potential buyers. 🚰Qualifying Leads: The magic of a quiz funnel to make sure you’re talking to the right people, those who are ready and eager to solve their problems with your solutions. 🧠Micro Courses: How to create bite-sized, highly specific offers that solve a problem and lead your buyers straight to your flagship course. Think of these as appetisers that leave them hungry for more! 🍰The Bridge Stage: We’ll talk about bridging the gap between where your clients are and where they want to be, showing them that your flagship course is the solution they’ve been searching for. 🌉Transformation: The ultimate goal—transforming lives through your course. But remember, this only happens if people buy your course, so sales are key! 🔑Why Profit Matters:Let’s get real for a second—too many people are talking about revenue but not about profit. 🧐 If you’re hitting $100K months but spending $110K on ads, that’s not sustainable! We’re here to build profitable businesses, and the Ascension Model is your secret weapon for stacking those profits through your backend offers, flagship courses, and recurring revenue. 📈 What’s Next?In our next episode, we’re diving into Client Attraction and why it’s the lifeblood of your business. Think of it as the water that keeps everything flowing! 💧 I’m so excited to share my journey with you—the wins, the losses, the lessons learned—so you can fast-track your success and avoid the mistakes I made. Stick with me, and let’s turn your expertise into profit together! 👉 Stay tuned, and I’ll see you in the next episode! DM "DEMO" on Instagram to see how a demo of how you could qualify your leads on autopilot! Your Expertise Can Impact More Than a Mere Few There’s no reason not to leave your mark by sharing your expertise with those who need it (and would gratefully pay for it)... Get Started Today

    11 min
  • 6 Episodes

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About

If you're an expert ready to step out of the shadows and become The One in your industry, this podcast is for you.Join Maeve Ferguson, business strategist and quiz funnel expert, as she unpacks the real strategies behind thought leadership, so you can move from being just another expert to a recognized industry leader with authority, impact, and effortless client attraction.Each episode dives into practical, no-fluff tactics on marketing, positioning, systems, and automation helping you scale without burnout and build a business that runs for you.💡 Whether you're looking to attract high-ticket clients, create a signature methodology, or leverage quiz funnels to pre-qualify leads on autopilot, this is where expertise meets influence.🚀 Ready to go from best-kept secret to The One in your niche?Subscribe now!

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