5 Strategies To Start or Scale Your Group Program in 2024
One of the topics that I really want to talk more about in 2024 is creating, launching and scaling group programs.
And there's a few reasons for this.
This is something I support a lot of my clients with – especially my clients inside the Spiritual Business Mistressmind. And I know, if it's something that I’m supporting my clients with consistently, it's also going to be supportive for you too.
I’ve realised that this is something that I’m really bloody good at, I’ve got a lot of experience in it and I love BUT I’m not talking about enough. 2024 for me is the year that I step fully into my power and part of that is owning my experience and expertise – so watch this space!
Holding space in groups is how I started out in my business. I ran my first online group program 6 years ago and since then, I’ve run many online group programs of all different sizes, lengths and styles, and had hundreds of women come through my programs.
Group programs are also how I went on to scale my own business. After Noah was born, I zeroed in on what I wanted to be known for and built out a simple, scalable offer suite.
It was then that I was able to really scale my income, create consistent cash flow through monthly recurring revenue, work my own hours in and around motherhood and finally have the security and freedom that I really wanted in this season of life.
So I know what’s what when it comes to group programs. I know how transformative they can be for myself and my clients, and I’m excited to be bringing you more content on this topic and sharing everything I know with you about creating, launching and scaling them this year.
Starting with today’s episode.
On today's episode of the Feminine Fire Podcast I’m sharing the 5 strategies to start or scale your group program in 2024.
These are strategies that will serve you whether you are creating your first ever group program this year OR if you already have a group program in your offer suite and you want to scale it in 2024.
The purpose of today’s episode is really to give you an insight into what’s working in this space right now in 2024 and to support you with the ways in which you can start or scale your group program this year, and ultimately make more sales.
Okay, let’s go.
1: Pre-sell your group program
You don’t have to wait to have all your ducks in a row or for doors to officially open to start selling spots.
If you know who your program is for, the solution that you’re providing and the high level inclusions & format, you can pre-sell spots.
The benefits to this are that you’re obviously making sales which we love – but it also means that you’ll go into your launch knowing you’ve already got people IN which works wonders for your mindset and confidence AND if this is a new program, you’re able to test your messaging, validate your offer and make any tweaks or changes BEFORE you officially launch.
So it’s a win-win. More sales, more confidence, validated offer.
Let’s talk about the how.
There are many ways to approach pre-selling your group program – here are two that I use in my business:
You can pre-sell on the front end
Reach out personally to past clients or leads that you believe the program would be perfect for
My question to you here is – what could that look like for you?
How could you pre-sell spots so you’ve already made sales before you go into launch?
2: Focus on building relationships and nurturing your leads every day
Not just when you’re in a launch. Not just when you have something to sell them.
But. Every. Single. Day.
Because here’s the thing. The success of a launch is more about what happens between launches, then what happens when the cart’s actually open. If you’ve been building relationships and nurturing your leads consistently, then when it does come time to open the doors to your program, your people will be ready to buy.
If you’re only showing up to sell during a launch and then ghosting everyone in between, your launch results and sales numbers are going to reflect that.
So what does it look like to prioritise relationship building?
This is less about all of the potential people out there in the online space and more about serving the people in front of you right now, focusing on how you can serve and support the next person right in front of you. How can you build a relationship with them?
This is about providing value, showing up consistently, sharing juicy content, having conversations in DMs, sending regular emails to your list that are packed full of value – think about all the ways in which you can serve and support those people that are in front of you right now.
3: Focus on creating an excellent client experience
Now this is not a sales or marketing strategy per se (or at least not directly anyway), but it is one of those things that creates a huge ripple effect in your business and will help you grow, scale and continue to refine and evolve your group program over the long term.
It’s also one of those things that is often overlooked because there’s so much emphasis put on front-facing marketing and sales strategies.
I want you to think about the client experiences you’ve had. We all have examples of those businesses that we love – those ones that you buy from time and again and rave about to your friends and family.
And then there’s those other businesses that are the complete opposite – you’d never make the mistake of buying from them twice and you maybe even warn others about. Like, don’t shop there or don’t go there or don’t use their services.
I’d be willing to put money on the fact that the difference between the businesses you LOVE and the businesses you really don’t – is their client or customer experience.
Because when you focus on creating an incredible experience for your clients:
Your clients feel valued. They’ll feel seen and heard. And in return, they value the experience all the more.
You’ll get glowing testimonials that you can share everywhere, and we know that social proof like this is GOLD for your marketing.
You’ll have raving fans who are more likely to return and buy from you again.
You’ll get more referrals because those raving fans will go out and tell everyone they know how amazing you and your group program are.
So focusing on creating an excellent client experience is not just the thing to do because it's what’s in integrity for you as a soul-led business owner – it will also pay off in the long term financially.
4: Expand your mindset & energy to hold space for groups
This will look different depending on where you’re at in your group program journey.
If you’re new to this and creating your first ever group program this year: The mindset and energetic work here for you is about preparing to hold the energy of a group and expanding your capacity to do so.
If you’re at the point where you’re scaling an existing group program: This will be about expanding your capacity to hold a greater number of clients.
It’s a huge up level to go from holding space 1:1 to then holding space for a group or from a smaller group to a larger group, and at the same time holding greater amounts of money in both of those up levels. That’s a big energetic expansion and it can bring up all sorts of mindset stuff – fear, doubt, stories that your brain will tell you about why you can’t or why it’s not possible.
So hold yourself through that expansion, commit to the mindset work that’s required and really lean into self trust. Continue to choose that trust over and over, continue to choose that expansion over and over and remind yourself that you CAN hold more when you experience those mindset wobbles as you’ll inevitably do.
There’s also some practical things that will help you here in this expansion.
Looking at your boundaries in business – you’ll likely have to rethink or at least reaffirm what your boundaries are when it comes to things like how you manage your time, how you communicate with clients and how available you are to them.
Creating good money management habits in your business. When you’re expanding your capacity to hold more money, it’s so much easier when you trust yourself as a good money manager.
Looking at your business systems and processes. If you had 50 people join your group program today, do you have automations set up to make that easy and seamless? Or would you feel totally overwhelmed with the admin you’d have to do because you’re doing everything manually?
So if you’re starting this year with the desire to start or scale your group programs – ask yourself:
Who do you need to be to make that happen?
Who is that version of you?
How do they show up?
How can you start to trust yourself more?
And continue to lean into that trust consistently over and over throughout the year as you expand your capacity to hold more.
5: Content strategy that focuses on thought leadership, lifestyle and authenticity
This one is something that is SO important right now in terms of marketing. Like I cannot stress this enough. Boring and beige just won’t cut it in 2024.
People don’t want to read another piece of content that could’ve been written by a robot. People want YOU. They want to hear and see how you are doing things. They want to hear your unique take on whatever is happening in your industry right now. They want to connect with the real human behind the business.
Positioning yourself as a thought leader (as in someone who has unique thoughts about your area of expertise), sharing lifestyle content and really leaning into your authenticity – that’s what is IN for 2024.
To position yourself as a thought leader: Think about what you want to be known for in 2024. How can you start sharing your unique thoughts and point of view on that topic? This is what is going to cut through the online noise and help you stand out in a sea of beige content this year.
Content prompt: What is something that really frustrates you about your industry? Write a post or record a video where you speak to the reasons why this frustrates you and what you believe instead.
To share lifestyle content: Think about how you can give people a glimpse into your day to day life. This is about connecting on a human level, giving your community the opportunity to connect with the real you, the human behind the brand. People love a behind the scenes sneak peek.
Content prompt: Share a “day in the life” video where you take people behind the scenes of your day.
To lean into your authenticity: You want to be weaving your authentic self into ALL of your content. Be brave and fully own the real you. Don’t try to be like everyone else. It’s 2024, who gives a f*ck what everyone else thinks – be unapologetically YOU and your people will love you for it.
Content prompt: Share a post re-introducing yourself to your audience and share 5 fun facts people might not know about you.
So there you have it – the 5 strategies to start or scale your group program in 2024.
I hope that these 5 strategies resonated with you or sparked something in you as you’re thinking about your plan for 2024 and how you’re going to start or scale your group program this year. I am over here cheering you on.
Join the Spiritual Business Mistressmind
I’ll be opening the doors to the April round of the Spiritual Business Mistressmind very soon.
I already have some incredible women joining me in that space, some incredible returning clients which is just such a joy – so if you want to work with me in 2024, the best place to be is on that waitlist.
This mastermind is for you if you’re wanting to scale your business this year and do it in a way that’s aligned with your values, purpose and spirituality.
Join the waitlist and you’ll get the option to book a call so we can connect and get the ball rolling.
