Around this time last year I started my Flashback Friday Series (now Throwback Thursday)… to answer the question I’m always asked, “Marisa, how did you get your start?”
The series began in August 2010 — the day I walked out the doors of my very last job…
And ended with the Superhero Summit Series I hosted between 2013-2014, which put me on the map… taking my business to $648,374 in annual sales and my email list to over 50K!
Along the way we dived into my very first courses and programs — and the lessons I learned along the way.
Now I’d like to hop back into the time-traveling DeLorean and take us to October 26-27, 2013…
My very first live event. Eeeeek!!!
Little ole’ me standing at the front of the room with everyone’s eyes on me?!!???
What would I say?
Would people come?
Could I even do it?
Growing up I was always the shortest kid in my class… I was also quiet, shy and easily overlooked.
I found the world of books more comfortable than the world of people…
So the very notion of hosting my own live event was daunting. But after a few years of coaching people online through my courses, I thought it was time to meet them in person…
I decided to name the event Message to Money LIVE, and bolt it on to my first “semi-hit” program of the same name…
And roll out an invite to all 221 of my Message to Money students.
I had been doing weekly group coaching calls in this program and allowed my students to come back to those weekly calls for life — as long as I was delivering that program.
I don’t recommend this for a number of reasons, but it did lead to me having a close relationship with many of them — especially the ones who came week after week…
So — with a few emails — I was able to sell 35 tickets at $97 a pop for a grand total of $3,395!
The promise?
A 2-day message & brand makeover: “I’ll be personally leading you through the process of finding the perfect words and images that transform your big message for the world into a call to action that your audience will feel compelled to listen to and act on. We’ll also help you craft your unique brand so that message shines through everything you do.”
PLUS, “2 days of in-depth exercises, group shares and hot seats designed to give you huge breakthroughs.”
AND, “2 days of fun while building those vital in-person relationships (including a Saturday night mixer).”
That was enough for almost 16% of my Message to Money students to pay an additional $97 and find their way to the conference room I had rented in a cheap, beyond dated hotel in Harbor Island, San Diego…
I don’t think the money even covered my expenses, but I got paid to learn, which is the real value in doing things like this for the first time! 🙂 I created home-made name tags and got a few vinyl signs and stickers printed…
It wasn’t a lot but it was a start… and a start is all it takes!
One of the concepts I teach my students is that, over time, slow and steady compounds into exponential growth…
We just can’t see all our future success when we’re at the beginning of the hockey stick, so we discount and overlook our 35 people in a cheap hotel room because we see someone else with 350 people at the Ritz! Or 3000 people.
But, you know what?
Those 35 people in a cheap hotel room scared the f* out of me!
And I did it anyway…
My only goal for that event?
To simply do an event.
See if I could do an event.
See if there was something there for me.
And there was!!!
Even though I didn’t make any money from that event (the $3,395 in ticket sales didn’t even cover expenses and I didn’t make an offer during the event), those 35 people at my first Message to Money LIVE turned into Live Your Message LIVE — an event that’s now going into it’s 12 year and has attracted 9025 people!You see, I learned a lot from SIMPLY doing an event… and the next time I hosted Message to Money LIVE — in 2015, there were 122 people in the room and I DID make money.
So those 35 people truly were the beginning of a hockey stick I couldn’t see back in October 2013…
But now I can see it and here’s what those 35 people in a cheap hotel room turned into: • 2013: 35 people in a cheap hotel room (and it still scared the f* out of me!)
- 2015: 122 people
- 2016: 170 people
- 2017: 355 people
- 2018: 401 people
- 2019: 516 people
- 2020: 600 people (last in person Message to Money LIVE)
- 2021: 1753 people (first virtual Live Your Message LIVE)
- 2022: 1772 people
- 2023: 1713 people
- 2024: 1588 people
- 2025: Mark your calendar for March 7-9th! Our 12th Annual Live Your Message LIVE!
Sometimes I see my students get frustrated by what I call “slow success”. The first time they do something it takes WAY more time and energy than they imagine and often gets LESS results…
So they give up and think “it’s not worth it” or “I’ll never be like Marisa with thousands of people at my events,” but they’re judging themselves against someone who’s been doing that “thing” they’re trying to do for years…
So the overlook the fact that the mentor they’re following also experienced the same growing pains as them because almost everyone starts with “slow success.”
Very few people experience overnight success and those who do often crash and burn because they haven’t built the capacity, over time, to hold for the level of success and growth they’re experiencing.
In the music and entertainment world, there’s a famous phenomenon known as the “27 Club,” which is full of famous people who died at the age of 27.
Kurt Cobain. Brian Jones. Jim Morrison. Amy Winehouse. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. To name a few…
So don’t discount your “slow success” because it could be the start of sustainable and even exponential growth.
Think about it. If you get just 2 sales the first time you launch something, then the next time out of the gate you get 4 sales. Then 8. 16. 32. 64. And, in just 6 launch cycles, you’re up to 128. And onwards and upwards…
This is what hockey stick growth looks like!
The big challenge is that you can’t see you’re at the beginning of the hockey stick, so you have to believe before you have the evidence to support that belief!
This is the big mindset bender that causes most people to give up when they’re just getting started…
So the 5 big lessons I learned from holding my first Message to Money LIVE event are:
#1 – if you have a successful online course or group coaching program, bolt on an event to drive deeper engagement and ultimately sales.
#2 – 3 day events are better than 2!
#3 – don’t commit to a large room block the first time you do an event, because ticket sales will probably be lower than you imagine.
As amazing as in-person events are, they’re also harder to sell than online courses and programs because they require people to travel and be available on very specific days, which instantly disqualifies a lot of people!
#4 – if something works — even just a little bit — do it again and again and again until you get it really dialed in! Iterate your way to awesome…
When I decided to do another in 2015, I didn’t create a brand new event from scratch, I iterated on the Message to Money LIVE event — and built on top of an existing foundation.
Then I continued to build on that foundation year after year until I had an amazing event that attracts thousands of people! Here’s what Live Your Message LIVE ONLINE looks like today:
#5 – you don’t know the true potential of something until you’ve done it a few times, so don’t gauge your future potential on your first attempts… <3Or, as I always like to tell my students, “Don’t limit your future based on your current circumstances.”
No matter who you are and what you do, you’re meant for greatness.
Here at Live Your Message, we believe that we’re ALL here to do great work. Not just go through the motions or “phone it in.” Greatness is not something we’re born with, it’s a choice we make each day.
So here’s to making the choice to be great, regardless of what things look like in the moment.
We have students from 127 countries around the world. Students in their teens. And students in their 90s.
We have students with every diagnosis and family situation you can imagine. Students who are paraplegics or caretaking a paraplegic. Students with special needs kids and students who grew up as special needs kids.
Here’s to embracing whatever life throws your way and doing it anyway…
Because “slow success” leads to “sustainable success” — and maybe even exponential growth!
In case you’re curious about the idea of hockey stick growth… It’s based on a book and set of research by Bobby Martin, author of the book Hockey Stick Principles.
After researching thousands of start-ups, “My study shows that [the Blade Years] usually lasts three to four years, during which revenue is often quite low, if any is coming in at all, showing up as the blade part of the hockey stick curve.”
We’re lucky in the online business and professional service world in that we can start generating revenue right away, unlike many start-ups in the world of tech, manufacturing or distribution that require more resources to get going…
But it’s still usually slower than most people expect — even with the right support and guidance — especially if you’re looking to create something sustainable.
That’s why, at Live Your Message, we’re committed to supporting emerging business owners through the entire lifespan — from the initial stages of finding the right niche all the way through to building a multi-million dollar empire — including the “Blade Year” stages that many other coaches and companies conveniently like to “skip”.
I hope this #FBF Series shows you that there is no push-button overnight success, though having the right tools, perspective and guidance absolutely can help you shortcut the learning process and reach success faster… even if it’s still slower than you imagine <3
We’ve got you!
Throwback Thursday Series
Throwback Thursday #1: Build Your Site, Launch Your Business
Throwback Thursday #2: Strike Two — As If One Failed Attempt Weren’t Enough!
Throwback Thursday #3: My First Semi-Hit — Insights Gained From My Message to Money Program
Throwback Thursday #4: The Win That Came Disguised as a Fail
Throwback Thursday #5: You Did What?!!?
Throwback Thursday #6: This Put Me On the Map
Throwback Thursday #8: My First Upsell
Throwback Thursday #9: Course ✅ SaaS Next?
Throwback Thursday #10: 1 Launch > 4 Big Lessons
Throwback Thursday #11: Message to Millions
Throwback Thursday #12: Website in a Weekend