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Episode at a glance:
(1:58) After experiencing the power of intensives in her therapy practice, Steffeny started a business teaching other therapists how to incorporate this business model into their practices. Very early in her business, Steffeny came across Summit in a Box. She had never heard of or even attended a virtual summit before, but her gut feeling told her that this was the right move for her business.
I'm the type of business owner that makes gut decisions, and I had never even heard of summits or even attended one I think, but it just made sense to me. I could see how there are so many benefits, like building your visibility, building your credibility. I love connecting and collaborating with other like leaders and creators. And I could just see that the strategy fit with me as a person, but I could just tell that it would work.
(4:09) Steffeny's business was quite new when she started planning her summit, and she even had to pause during the middle of her time in the Accelerator to finish creating her course and launch it before continuing on with her summit plans. But she just knew that a summit was the right move for her new business, and was confident that her summit was going to be big. Her results ended up exceeding her expectations - by a lot. She grew her email list from 500 to 3,000, sold 500 all-access passes, and made 100 additional course sales. In the end, even though the work that went into hosting her summit was a lot, it was SO worth it.
I remember thinking from the beginning, "this could be a 6-figure launch." But then when you're in the thick of it, planning a summit is like the Olympics of all administration, so I had moments when I doubted whether it was really possible Throughout the whole process my gut told me that it was gonna happen, but my mind couldn't catch up. In the end the results were bonkers, bananas. We cleared $100k like 24 or 48 hours before cart close. I knew it would happen, but also I was afraid I was wrong.
(6:30) Despite having a gut feeling that her summit was going to be big, there were a lot of factors that came together to make Steffeny's summit such a success. She had the right topic at the right time, she was building on existing relationships with industry experts who became speakers and supported the summit's launch, and it turned into a domino effect that really just took off.
I think it was a perfect storm. The topic is very trending right now in this space, and there's not many other people talking about it. I also leaned heavily into my relationships and connections in my industry who supported me and promoted the summit. I had a very, very strong team of supporters, and it all came back to relationships and cheering for one another and making connections. Once I confirmed some really stellar standout speakers, more people are willing to jump in and then they told people, and it just sort of took on a life of its own.
(9:50) Steffeny's plate is pretty full - she not only hosted a summit, but she runs a therapy practice AND a copywriting business! How did she manage it all? Well, a lot of it came down to very good organization, and the timelines and templates she got inside of Summit in a Box helped a lot. Even with a chronic illness to contend with, she was able to create wiggle room by getting ahead on things when her brain was sharp and she was able to move quickly, so that she wouldn't fall behind when she needed to rest. She was even able to go on a retreat while her summit promo was happening! Steffeny learned to ride her energy waves to make the most of the time she had while planning her summit.
I did give my self a longer timeline for planning my summit too. Not too much longer, but I would just take the templates and suggested timeline and kind of weave it through some of the other deadlines that I had. Because for many of us hosting summits, it's not the only thing we have going on. And I guess the beauty of being neurodivergent is sometimes you just get really excited and hyper focused, and you can get so much done. So I just tried to ride that wave. And if I was exhausted or whatever, I'd just stop. It's totally okay. You don't have to be at a consistent pace.
(14:29) Something we see often with our clients who, like Steffeny, who are very service-oriented, is a hesitation around some sales methods or putting too much emphasis on making money through a summit. We discussed how that impacted the way Steffeny approached her summit, and how the methods we teach were very aligned with her personality! Steffeny discovered that she was able to approach selling through her summit in a way that felt good to her, using the techniques she learned in the Accelerator. In the end, her summit had people dying to buy from her and it created a great sales experience for them AND for Steffeny.
It was extremely aligned. I think sometimes you brought to light ways to be sensitive that I hadn't even considered, and I really appreciated that. Especially when it came to finding speakers and sponsors who you align with. And the feel good sales methods were way more sensitive than anything I'd ever heard before, which I thought was really cool. You can approach selling in a way that feels good, and just creating the summit at all is an act of service. People can opt into it if they want more, and so many people were so blown away by how much value was in the free ticket that they were literally saying, "take my money. Like, when is the course opening? Because I wanted to buy yesterday." So that made the launch fun. Like, it's super fun to sell to people who are dying to buy from you. And the summit positioned that perfectly honestly.
About Steffeny Feld
Steffeny Feld is a Therapist, Consultant, Copywriter and the Creator of the Intensive Design Lab where she supports therapists to launch therapy intensives in private practice so that they can work less and earn more while helping clients heal. Steffeny is passionate about helping therapists & introverted entrepreneurs build multiple streams of income so they can create a life they love. She lives in St Louis, Missouri with her partner and 4-year-old son, Felix.
Website | Youtube
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