Stop Waiting To Run Ads

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You keep telling yourself you’ll start running ads once you have a real budget or enough money to do so. And then the whole thing just feels like too much. And you put it off again one more time. And then another month goes by. And I want you to know today’s guest can identify with you, but you’re gonna get motivated by her because she, although she’s running a smaller budget, she started and she espouses this kind of strategy: a 1% better each time kind of strategy that honestly will work really well. We hear about this on the YouTube videos that we binge, but I find in my experience few of us, including myself, actually commit to getting a little bit better each time. So let me continue with this intro. She has filled her webinar with two ads, not two handfuls of ads, just two ads and spending less than $200. And she’s done it profitably and made almost $1,000. Which, if you do the quick math, that’s almost a 5x return on ad spend. She started small. Her name is Melissa Webb. She’s a credentialed teacher with more than 30 years of experience and the creator of the Wow Writing Method, which has helped hundreds of homeschool students become stronger writers. I’m gonna pause here for a second. My kids are not homeschooled, although we’re teachers, and I do understand the difficulty of a parent teaching their kids writing, especially because my kids are learning Spanish. Well, they’re in school and Spanish all day. I can’t teach them writing. And so, like Melissa, when you first met me, and we’ll talk about how long ago we met each other in a moment. But when I heard that, I was like, oh, I identify because teaching writing can be intimidating, but of course we want our kids to learn how to write. And so if they’re learning at home, then what do we do? Yeah, right? Love it, right? Okay, the rest of your intro. But um, she runs her own Facebook and Instagram ads. And if you, the listener, have heard us talking, well, you can see us talking if you go down to the show notes below and click over to the YouTube version of this episode. But um, Melissa does her ads on budgets that plenty of people would just use this excuse. Oh, yeah, well, it’s too small, so I’m not going to bother with running ads. Um, and I wanted to have her on, one, because we’ve known each other for so long, two, because we’ve actually like had the privilege, I’ve had the privilege of coaching her along with her ads. And it’s just like each time we coach together, Melissa, you just come back and say basically, hey Quaid’s, I did the things plus I did some more things, and I got good results. And it always um makes me feel good on the inside to hear the results you’re getting. And also, I just like hanging out with you. I mean, for trying out loud, it’s been almost eight years now, and your book that was the first book you published, I believe. And then you mailed me a copy, which I was reading to my daughter right when we were stranded outside of China, you know, and in Mexico. And she actually couldn’t speak that much English, but she did like your book.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

So, yeah, I think we should just get into it. What do you say?

SPEAKER_00 3:07

I say we do it. Let’s talk.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

All

Meet Melissa Webb And Her Work

SPEAKER_01 3:10

right. Before I start asking you about your ads, because somebody’s gonna want to hear the listener will want to hear about your ads and how you run them. I just want to pause a moment and say that I’m really happy that we’ve known each other for quite a while. And it’s just like we get along and we could just add lib an episode, and it would be great.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I do love it. I absolutely do. Yes, we actually met pre-COVID, like right before COVID hit. So you’re one of my pre-COVID friends, and I had just launched a business, and I never set out to build an online business. So all of this was so new. But I first just want to thank you so much, Quayjo, for having me on. I appreciate the friendship that we’ve built over the many years that we’ve shared together. And then we were doing our own thing for a while, but once I saw you doing the Facebook ads, I just knew, oh, I’ve got somebody right here who’s gonna truly, sincerely care about my success and be a positive coach who’s so encouraging. Uh, and so anyway, thank you for doing what you do and thank you for having me. And yes, so to your audience, my name is Melissa Webb. I am the founder of Write on Web and the Wow Writing Method. I have been a teacher for more than 30 years. I was a classroom teacher for 15 of those, and then I started working for charter schools that were supporting families that wanted to do home education. And I was their credential teacher that they would meet with monthly, and I would collect samples and I would look at how they were doing. And I saw a problem, and that problem was composition writing, the academic essay writing. Parents were struggling, kids were struggling. And I kept trying all the curriculums that were out there. There are a lot of great writing curriculums already in existence, but for a lot of these families, they were either way too complex or so vague that they weren’t sure if they were even doing it correctly. They were asking questions like, is this what a fourth grade writer should be doing? Is this what it should look like? And so I started just kind of playing with what I would create for them. And since we met every month, I came up with a four-week schedule and then I made the writing method very doable for these families. And all of a sudden, one family told another family, and then I had 10 families, and then one of those families was moving and said, you should make this into your own curriculum and have an online business. But honestly, that that is never what I set out to create. Um, but like I said, I simply wanted to solve a problem. And so that’s kind of how the whole ball uh got to rolling. And it’s where I am today, eight almost eight years later.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Almost eight years later. Wow, we really were starting right. You really were starting right when we met each other.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Right out of the gate.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

You know, I hadn’t planned on asking this, but uh, you want to share a bit of your mindset behind why I met you in a mastermind that was not cheap, by the way. No, and you had joined this mastermind right when you started. And I also was very early on in my previous business when I taught people how to learn Mandarin Chinese, but what was your mindset with that? It’s like this is gonna be really good for the listener to hear

The Mastermind Lesson With No Secret

SPEAKER_01 6:48

that.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yes, and I know that I’m not alone in this, but when I took the big leap to step away from a steady and predictable paycheck that was building up, you know, my retirement. And I had this crazy idea to completely step away and become an entrepreneur, I had no idea what I was doing. But I firmly believed that the people that were out there having really successful online businesses clearly knew the one thing that I didn’t know. So I figured if I joined a really expensive mastermind, those people would know the one thing, especially like the lead person would know the one thing that I would need to know to have a successful online business. And so I poured myself into that only to discover there’s no secret. There’s no one thing that all of us need to know. It’s a multitude of things and it’s standing up and it’s falling down and it’s trying this and it succeeds, and then trying this and it fails, and standing up again. And it really takes persistence and determination. I get why so many people quit a business and go back to the steady, predictable paycheck. I a hundred percent understand that. I’m a writer myself, as you mentioned. And so teaching it and being around the kids that are there to learn in the home educators who want better education for their children. Like when I find my people, we are all just in a heavenly space and we know that we’re the right match. And yeah, I couldn’t be happier. And at the same time, I just have to say it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s it’s both, and it can be both at the same time. It can be rewarding and challenging all together.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah, business uniquely exposes our weaknesses. I hear you on that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

It does. And that was the thing, like teaching felt natural, right? And you’re a teacher, your wife teaches. Like we have a natural love for teaching. I think anybody with a with a big heart can be a teacher because you it’s just in you. You want to teach or you want to coach, whatever people want to call it. Um, but what didn’t feel natural was starting the business. And for the longest time, marketing felt the least natural for me. I mean, for the first five years, my business grew entirely through word of mouth, which was great because it did keep us profitable. Um, so I’m so grateful for that. But at the same time, I knew I could help more families if I was willing to learn like how to hire, then how to be the leader of my new team. I had to figure out so much technology. There were just so many things. And I kept putting marketing just like kind of down at the bottom of the list because I was growing by word of mouth. And so that was good enough.

From Word Of Mouth To Meta

SPEAKER_00 10:20

But then the last year in 2026, that was when I reached out to you because I’m like, okay, Quajo, I’ve got this. I’m dialed in. I know what I do, I know I do it well, I have collected so many results. We have so many happy clients, successful students who are scoring top notch on all of these like state, you know, end-of-the-year tests. Like, we’re doing it. We we’re nailing this. We’re all aligned with all of the standards. And so that was when I was like, could you help me with the marketing end? And you said it in the introduction. I was a little hesitant because at first I’m like, I don’t really have more than two to three hundred dollars to spend a month. So is this a waste of my time? And you were right out of the gate, so encouraging. You’re like, no, of course it’s not a waste of time. And what I especially loved and appreciated is it wasn’t just Facebook ads that you were teaching me about campaigns and ad sets and the ads themselves. Like I learned so much on the back end of Facebook Manager, but you were even willing to help coach me on email sequencing and that communication that comes after you get the lead, because it’s really not just about the lead. I mean, sure, we all want quality leads, but it’s about the conversations that happen after you get the lead. Like that’s what you taught me. And you were just spot on. And so it’s been a year. I started with an email list of 2,500 subscribers. And a year later, I have I’m I’m all I’m close to 7,000 subscribers now, but they’ve just been hanging around, getting to know me and learn from me for a year. Of course, many unsubscribe, but the majority obviously stick around. They stay around. Um, and yeah, it’s it’s been such an amazing experience. And I’ve gotten to know so many of them. And I did do a quick um quick book check. I did a report this morning. I pulled up my PL just to kind of see where I was before ads and to where I am this a year later. And revenues up $12,000, which again, I’m I don’t make a ton of money in my business, but who doesn’t want a $12,000 bonus every year?

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Right?

SPEAKER_00 12:43

That’s great. And the only change that I did was I started doing the ads. I started running the ads.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

That is so encouraging to hear. And you said so much that I should pause and like I want to dig into, but we can’t. But essentially, what has happened is you had a business that was working well organically. If I could summarize, and you had all the results, and then it’s like, all right, let’s turn on ads. And that’s what I always say on the podcast. I’m like, Jesus saves Facebook and Instagram ads do not, meaning we don’t want to just turn on ads to like a bad offer or an unproven offer. I shouldn’t say bad offer, because the offers that we have as experts in our niches, like they’re good. They just have to go through the test of messaging, making sure that they actually can work for people who don’t super know us well, you know? And um you followed that pattern almost to a T. Like, oh, I remember some of those conversations we were having during our coaching sessions is I’m like, we’re looking at who we can target and then like targeting like a subset of these folks uh to make sure that the ads were reaching the right kind of home mom that’s homeschooling. And um, all right, well, as we get into the weeds, I I just have fond memories of how we both were starting out. And uh the reason I asked you to share was because I was curious at the beginning of the business. Why invest in a mastermind that wasn’t cheap? And uh I I I I believe everything you said because I was in that same mastermind for my own business, my previous one that wasn’t making much. They did give me one thing though. I mean, there was many things that I needed to have the business be more successful back then, but there was one thing that I wasn’t doing. Melissa, I was so scared, like I don’t even know if you remember this, but I’ll I always tell this story. Like, I was logging in to the live mastermind group calls from China at like geez, some ungodly hour in the morning, like 2:30 a.m., 3 a.m. Which, like, right there, listener. I’ll I’ll also pause here and say, like, if you want something, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it. And there won’t be there won’t be excuses, right? Because there’s always a chance to make an excuse, but as soon as we like banish those excuses, then we open ourselves up like to go and make some progress. So here I was, super tired, and then finally it was time for the in-person retreat. I fly across the Pacific Ocean and I land in San Diego, had never been there before, and I get to the Airbnb where I met you and these other cool ladies that were in the mastermind. I think there was like another guy in there too, and of course, the the gentleman, the guy who ran the mastermind. And I remember sitting during the hot seat, Melissa, and I think I basically asked the question, how do I make more money? Because I was like, I’m in this room with all these other ladies, um, and one guy who are making like plenty of money in their business. I’m just gonna go for the question I need the most. And I remember like I felt so silly as the women in the room basically broke down my hourly rate that I was actually like earning in the business, and it was like 75 cents or 73 cents an hour. And I’m like sitting on the stool, like, oh wow, this is what I’ve been selling myself for. Like, okay, all right, we’re here, and it’s on the board and it’s very clear. And then they were like assessing my business, and they’re like, Well, you have this huge social media following of people who want to learn Chinese, you should be crushing it. Here’s the thing you have to do you have to come up with a group group coaching program right now. What’s something you can deliver on? I’m like, ah badah, but I can do this. They’re like, Great, and then I remember that you guys were like, You’re gonna go out and launch this group coaching program on your Instagram stories before you leave this two-day retreat. And I’m like, That’s right, I was so scared, Melissa. But like, you guys pushed me out there literally, and I like went to the um the deck outside, and like I recorded two Instagram stories basically stating the promise of my new group coaching program, which I didn’t even have. They’re like, You’re gonna pre-sell this thing, and I remember being so scared, but I was like, I need money, I need to do it, and listen. Yeah, and that is the power of just investing in getting around people. Um, yes, and then it’s it’s like I say in ads, you you’re gonna pay the ignorance tax either because of the time and the mistakes and the pain of losing money, um, or you’re just gonna pay the ignorance tax by literally paying an expert to help you have the shortcut and uh oh man, good times, huh?

SPEAKER_00 17:43

Yeah, and you know what? I do not regret that decision at all. I mean, for one, look, we have a friendship from it, and I have friendships with some of the other people that you know we were in that with still to this day. Um, it was eye-opening, but to be honest, like that was my first year, and that mastermind was half of what I made that year. Like it cost for me to attend that, like it was half of what I made that year. So it was a big jump for me. Um, but at the same time, it’s it was priceless because I did learn a great deal. And um, yeah, and they changed my model too. I was like trying to just do the things that made every single person happy, and they’re like, wow, you’re giving people way too many options. You’re gonna, you know, overload them. You need to come in with more confidence, like this is what you need, and this is the program that’s best for you. And so I think it was really great for both of us.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Yeah, it was equally expensive for me as part of my income. Like, but you know, not that I say, hey, like the listener should just spend a ton of money, you know, we gotta be wise with these things. And I had money saved um for that mastermind. But what happened is is like, you know, what is that, the cliche? We got skin in the game, but I was serious because I knew I’d put down serious money and I better just take action. For me, it was like my wife is still on the other side of the ocean with like uh at that time, just our one young kid. Excuse me. No, we had a newborn at that time too. So we had like a three-year-old and like an eight-month-old. And it was like, I gotta take action. So what these folks are saying, I’m doing, you know?

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Yeah, it was it was inspiring. It was very inspiring. And I do hope people find their people because to do it alone, um, I I don’t, I don’t think people will enjoy it as much. Um, they’re gonna miss that great opportunity of connection with others, and I think building your people, your community, it’s important.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah, yeah, agreed. Well, I thought

The One Percent Better Ad Plan

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I should probably get around to asking you the first question about your ads because the listeners like, all right, we’re motivated, but let’s let’s hear like what Melissa’s done with ads. So question numero uno. Um, you told me you you you you had talked about this concept, at least uh on the forum that you had filled out to be on this podcast, go big or go home. Um, and that you believe a 1% improvement repeated uh hundreds of times will take a business higher, further, faster. Uh, where did that belief come from for you?

SPEAKER_00 20:34

I think that’s just feet on the ground, right? That’s just what I’ve learned over time, you know, that the whole thing about I believed I needed, because I would hear how much money people were putting into their ad spend. And I kept waiting to have that amount of money and it wasn’t there. And so I just in my head was like, okay, small steps still lead to a you know, really long journey. And so I just need to take a baby step here. And I do hope it encourages somebody because like I said, we’re not a huge company. I’m a small six-figure, I am a six-figure business, but not a big six-figure business. Um, and I was able to start off with just two to three hundred dollars a month. And like I said, that has grown us. And now our our meta budget usually will run $750 to $1,000 per month because it’s like this amazing ATM. You know, like I said, I had put in um, well, I’ll tell you a couple. So I have an evergreen spelling campaign that you had helped me set up. That just kept going so well. It’s been running for like six months. It just last month it generated over 300 leads, and it’s costing. About a dollar 67 per lead. So why would I not just keep that one coming? Like I’m meeting some amazing people. That’s where they are. They’re not even to the writing position yet, but they love the idea of some help with spelling struggles. And so that one just keeps running. But then, as you mentioned, I have this monthly webinar. And that one, I only run an ad once a month for seven to 10 days. Cost me a couple hundred bucks. Um, that one is averaging about 250 a lead. Also, I I’m really happy with those numbers. Um, and yet in the last one that I just did in June, I put in 200. Now, who doesn’t want to go to this ATM? Imagine putting in $200, but instead of getting $200 back, I put in $200 and I made $1,000 in sales in that. Like, who doesn’t want that ATM, you know, uh set up in their home to just, you know, when you need to put it in, you can get it out, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

$1 in, $5 out.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Right. It’s it’s it works. It definitely works. And while I started small, I’ve more than doubled, almost tripled that amount per month now. And it just kind of got the ball rolling. So yeah. And again, while I think that’s great, it’s that’s not the part that even excites me most because as we’ve talked about before, that lead is just the start of a conversation. And that’s what I really want. I really want to help the people who are choosing home education. And I need to talk to them. There’s millions in the United States, and I want to help as many as possible. So yeah, I don’t know. Did that even answer your question, or did I go on a totally different tangent?

SPEAKER_01 23:54

I mean, you know what? It’s what you just said is highly valuable, and it answered my question, and then and then more. So I’ll keep going and we’ll just we’ll just blow with the episode, you know, and and hang out. Like this is I think it’s good. I’m gonna segue really quick because you didn’t even know this, but birthed out of our coaching success, like, and then coaching success I’ve had with other folks, like I finally got my act together and realized that I could help more folks running their ads who are like at a point in their business where it doesn’t make sense to hire like a full-time ad manager, but definitely they already have working funnels, and so to speak. And so, like, I launched a group coaching program. Um, and your testimonials are all over the page, but I I launched a done with you ad management like program where I’m in there with folks and actually set up their ads in the very beginning or fix their currently running ads, and then we just like review ads, we review funnels, and we’re just in a small group of people who are choosing to take their business forward together

Teaching Skills That Make Ads Work

SPEAKER_01 25:00

and like the good strategies flow up to the top and everyone benefits. Like, so I finally did that.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Um yay! Right that makes me so happy. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

It’s it’s cool. Um, dear listener, if you’re running ads and you’re a course creator and coach or coach, then that link to join is in the show notes below. And here’s my next question for you, Melissa.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Uh more than 30 years teaching. And now, I guess I want to know after 30 years of teaching, and now that you’re teaching homeschool parents how to help their kids improve in writing through your method, can you contrast what made you a good teacher versus what made you a good business owner? And specifically for this conversation, because I know we’ve talked a lot about business strategy already, but what made you a good Facebook and Instagram ads operator, if you will, somebody that’s running their own ads?

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure, yes. So, you know, I have spent decades teaching. Um, and the thing that I would say that makes me a good teacher is my absolute interest in meeting a child wherever they are. And that’s true with home educators. I am not in a position to judge anybody. It’s coming at it with where are you right now? And what can I do to help you make it to the next level, whatever that is. Like all of our writing programs come with these different levels. There’s a level one, which is somebody who’s just learning how to write a single, well-structured paragraph. A level two is your three-paragraph essay, and a level three is your four to six, you know, getting ready for high school uh essay. And I think meeting people where they are, truly being interested in their journey is what makes a good teacher a good teacher. Rather than just saying, hey, here’s the curriculum, you need to do this, it has to be this way, but instead considering the person and hey, I know this way works, but do we need to maybe adjust things here or adjust things like and that’s true with ads too, don’t you think? Not every ad is the same, and even the voice in the ad text that you’re doing, like it needs to be sincere that you’re really there to help someone who’s coming along. Like I know people who see my ads probably come in kind of cautiously hopeful, right? But they are wondering, like they’re they’re wondering, like, can she actually help me? Um, and I don’t think my job is to convince them. I think my job is to help them answer that question. Can I help you? How might I help you? Um, and I do. I just want, I want any new subscriber that I get from my ads, and this is where that teacher piece comes in. I really want them to experience a small win, which is why I do, you know, like the free training. Um, I want to get them set up with success right away. That’s how I would approach a child in a classroom. I wouldn’t on day one say, hey, and nice to meet you. Here’s the final exam, right? It doesn’t work like that. So we meet them where they are and we take time to help them build confidence. We give them knowledge, and we just kind of guide them and hold their hands. And and I see that in owning a business uh with my clientele. I see that as a teacher in a classroom. I mean, those are just the skills that keep repeating.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. So a lot of a lot of course creators and coaches will just put off ads because it does require learning lots, right? And that just sounds exhausting before we start, especially because you know, at the I didn’t invent the phrase, but people call it the messy middle, you know, where we’re making good money in the business, but we’re still doing all the things. Like we don’t want another thing. Oh my gosh, ads. Okay, so then what were you thinking? Like when you finally decided to make the jump and start ads, like literally, what were you thinking?

SPEAKER_00 29:33

I always had wanted to do ads. I remember in our group, we had Brandy and Brandy Males, I think. Uh, and she was doing ads, and I loved the idea. I just knew I had to master some other things as well, because becoming a business owner, as you well know, means learning a ton, as you said. Um, but I just I just had to figure out some other things first. But I always knew ads would open a door to meeting more people. So I’m here in California and I had a business that was 99% Californians that were home educators. But then when people were moving or they were telling their friends, I started to get families from Arizona and uh Hawaii and Washington and North Carolina. I have a great family from Pennsylvania right now, and it just started to grow. And I thought, you know, if I really want to reach a bigger audience, um, and you know, you and I even did a little research on that, there’s over 4 million people in home education across our nation. That’s plenty of people that I could meet. And I think part of what I had to do too, Quayjo, is I had to be willing to make mistakes with my ads, which I think is harder for people to be willing to do because there’s that direct tie to money. Like it’s a terrible thought to think, well, I don’t want to do ads because I don’t want to lose money. Like I just wouldn’t recommend that thought to anybody. You have to be willing to make mistakes. I mean, to own a business, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but it doesn’t mean throwing in the towel, right? It’s like I just, I was, I got to my, I would say to answer your question, I got to a space where I felt confident enough that I could go into ads being willing to make a few mistakes and figure it out. Like I had figured out all these other things. I just knew I could figure it out. And and when I felt that, and plus it didn’t hurt that I had you in my back pocket. I was like, this is somebody who’s gonna encourage me all the way. He’s gonna make it understandable, doable. You’re so patient. You just you had all the qualities. So I was like, I got this, I totally got this. And when I reached out to you, it was like the first thing you said, you’re like, Oh, you could totally do this. You’re just encouraging right out of the gate. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Well, encouraging, but I also did go through your funnel numbers with you, so it was encouraging, yes, but it wasn’t like blind encouragement, like uh you know, rah-rah kind of deal. It was you are you had the numbers, and that’s the thing. Like you had the funnel that was conversion. We had to explore it some, and then it’s like, okay, yeah, we gotta run ads to this.

June Webinar Ads Step By Step

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Um we’ll get back to the episode in a moment. Melissa’s gonna share about homeschool writing that makes sense. And you, dear listener, if you need this help, well, hear what she has to say.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Hello, everyone, and I do hope that you are interested in coming and joining me in my next free training. I do webinars every month. So if this month isn’t good, I hope the next one is. This webinar is a 90-minute training for home educators who have been struggling with writing. And if you are thinking that essay, academic, composition writing is difficult because you have a resistant child or because you don’t know how to teach it, I want to give you a lot of encouragement to know that it’s probably neither of those. It’s just that you’re missing a system that works. So I have a four-week system that goes through how we prepare for writing, how we produce the writing, how we polish, and eventually how we publish. It’s a one-month method to one strong essay. And I just know you would gain a lot out of it.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

So the homeschool writing that makes sense training is linked up in the show notes below. Speaking of which, can you walk us through um in a little more detail than you did before uh your most recent, what was this, June campaign? Because I I see in the notes $4.59 per lead on under $200. Like walk us through this because when I did the math, I saw something impressive, and I’ll I’ll I’ll share about it once uh you talk about it again.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Okay, sure. So, yes, and I ran. Um, so this is what I’m doing now. And again, I would have never had the confidence to do this a year ago. Um, but you I scheduled time with you on a couple of occasions. You coached me through. One of the other things that you did, and I and I just want to make sure you hear how valuable this is, is you recorded our coaching sessions. And that was so valuable because you gave me so many pearls of wisdom, too many for my brain to process in one sitting, uh, that I had those that I could go back to the next time I was ready to do the new campaign. So in June, I actually did two campaigns. I did, I did two webinars. So I did one more early on. I think that’s the one that I may have given you the notes for. And then the more recent one, which was actually on June 31st, um, I did a new campaign. Um, I did duplicate the ad sets. I was running three ads um in that ad set. And um, and and I was even I updated my email list because every time that I, you know, I went from 2500 and then I’d create um kind of a look alike when I had 3,500, 4,500, 6,500 now, um almost 7,000. And so I just kept redoing what you had taught. And on that June 31st, when I was going back and looking over it, um, my best ad in there was converting it to 55 per lead. And I did get quite between those three ads, I want to say I had around 60, 65, maybe people that registered, but never that many people actually show up. Um, I usually will get around a dozen who actually show up. Um, but in that, my these trainings are long. They’re a commitment, they’re a 90-minute home educator training on how I do teach this four-week writing method. And every time I have at least 10 people stick around for the entire 90 minutes, which I know they’re dedicated, and that speaks volume. So I’m getting really quality leads, I believe. Um, and I was recording those for the people who couldn’t make it live because I get parents are busy, uh, but I also noticed something important, and that was that when I recorded, fewer people spoke up during the actual time together. They were more reserved because they knew I was recording. So they didn’t want maybe want to, you know, speak and know that they were being recorded, not knowing who was gonna see it. They didn’t want to talk about their struggles, maybe, or their children, um, you know, by name, which I get. I absolutely get. So I stopped recording them and I said, you know what? I’m just gonna honor those who are here live. You guys know I’m not recording it, so we can be as transparent as you’re comfortable being. Um, and I feel like that’s really again brought in some really quality people who really truly want to be better home uh educators. And then, yes, from there I did sell our programs and just said, hey, if you want to work more with me, you know, this training was free, but maybe this is just the beginning of our relationship. And here are links to this, this, and that. And yeah, that one, that one was my best as far as it resulted uh in about $1,000 in sales. So I was really happy with that one.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Nice, nice.

Email Follow Up That Sells

SPEAKER_01 38:10

So yeah, there was that 5x return on your ad spend, which is quite impressive, um, very impressive. But I want to highlight too that some people, when they hear these numbers, like, oh, I can give one dollar to ads and get five back. This is coming from a proven system, a way of helping people that you have. And that five X return also depends on, like, you know, you giving your training well and then making sure that you folks that you’re selling well. Selling is serving, you’re selling well. It’s you, but you also have a pretty solid email sequence after that training, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Yes, yes. I have a five-step sequence uh that goes into that webinar that follows that webinar. I also have I believe it’s also a five-step sequence for the spelling freebie as well. And I think that is such an important piece because that is where the conversations start because they keep hearing from me. And sure, you’re gonna get some that are gonna unsubscribe. But if the majority are sticking around and then even emailing you back with a question to say, you know, I I saw, I noticed this, or my child’s struggling with that. Do you have any more suggestions? And just being willing to truly sincerely serve first, then sell, I think is key. I I just truly believe in serving before selling. And that’s where you’re gonna build quality partnerships with parents or whoever your clientele may be. And and I appreciate that too as a consumer. I love when people do something to support what I’m doing first. You know, that’s what you do. You know, you offer those kinds of things as well. And that’s where you feel the authenticity, that the genuine, you know, serving heart. And I that just never disappoints. I think that’s an important.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

Well said. What’s something? Okay, so you doubled your email list, more than doubled your email list.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

More than doubled. I’m almost at 7,000 now.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Right, which actually that’s a significant, that’s a large email

Your Smallest First Ad Move

SPEAKER_01 40:27

list. So you did this running ads and you’ve done it over the past year-ish. Um, so to the listener right now who is sitting on a good offer, like that offer regularly sells, like makes money when they offer it. However, they offer it, um, but they’re not running Facebook and Instagram ads yet. What is the smallest, like first step you would encourage them to take, like right now?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Besides connect with you and hire you.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Right. I mean, that was the best thing I did. I I if you’re ready to grow, if you really are sincerely somebody who’s like, I’m ready to level up, you have to get familiar with the next thing you need to learn. And that would be meta-ads. Like it’s it, it’s a next learning step. And again, I believe, especially if anybody is coaching in any capacity, don’t we have to remain a student ourselves? Like you have to be willing to be a student if you’re also willing to coach others. So who’s gonna be your coach? You’ve got to find somebody who’s going to make it practical, make it, you know, a doable process. And I wouldn’t be where I am, honestly, Quay Joe and I know you weren’t leading this for me to like lift you up, but I wouldn’t be here without you. That was the next smart move that I made. And the thing that I think is tricky for where I am is that a lot of people out there have businesses that are helping somebody start a business. Join me and make your first six figure, you know, year or whatever. Hey, if you’re already making a million, I’ll help you make multiple seven figures. And so I I’m not in either of those uh, you know, spaces anymore. I’m kind of in that messy middle, right? As you called it. And so I I wanted to, I eventually I absolutely want somebody else to do my ads for me. I will get there. But I also, maybe it’s the teacher and me, I want to understand a process. I want to know how it works so that if I have a manager, I know the things to ask. I know the questions that are gonna be, you know, worthwhile. And so I really wanted to learn. So finding somebody who can teach you that you connect with, that’s what I would say the next step is. And being willing to just say, look, I’m just gonna run an ad, you know, maybe for a few weeks. Um, it doesn’t have to be super expensive. I think I started, um, we started at like $30 a day for five days. And then, you know, again, you taught me how to read what’s working, uh, what, and and and throw more at that if you can back off some of the other, like adjust your budget. There were just so many ways to be successful, even on a small budget. And that’s what I would encourage somebody. Don’t please don’t wait until you have $3,000 a month to do ads. You you can be successful on a smaller budget. I’m I’m proof of that.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Right on.

Closing Story And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 43:49

Literally, right on.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Yeah. Right on. Melissa, thanks for like being so honest about what your unlock was with ads. That was cool. That was me. I wasn’t expecting that. Um and then everyone who’s listening right now, I’m sure there’s some of you, like right now, listener, dear listener, if you are homeschooling your kids and you care about well, every parent cares about their kids learning how to write well. What I’m trying to say is that well, this is the real deal. First of all, like I’ve known her for almost a decade, well, eight years, right? And then I’ve seen what she does because I’ve actually coached with her, right? Um, and looked at the back end of her funnel and seen to some extent like part of her training. So, like, if you have questions and want to get to know her method a little more, her homeschool writing that makes sense webinar is linked up in the show notes below. Head down there, click on that link, and go sign up for the next one. Then you can get the training too.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

And I would love that. I would love that opportunity to meet any of you that are taking on such a selfless thing as home education. I will be one of your biggest cheerleaders.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

Yeah, I just love how during that you walk through why so many students are struggling with writing. Um, and I also want to say like just a heartfelt thank you at that time when you had sent me the book back when we first got stuck outside of China and we’re living in Mexico. My daughter actually didn’t speak English that well, and we read that book a lot to her. Um and so that was just a very it was a hard time, but it was a special time, and your book actually was a part of that time more than you knew, um, because we’re just here stranded in Mexico. We didn’t have a lot of English material, and um, because of our circumstances at that stage, my daughter didn’t actually speak a lot of English because mom spoke Spanish with her, and I was speaking only Mandarin with her back in China, and the plan was to do more English later on, and then COVID happened, which wasn’t in the plan, and so I just want to say thank you. Um, we read that book a lot, so thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:11

You are so very welcome, and that delights me to no end. I really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

So, with that, dear listener, we’ll say goodbye for now. Um, until the next time you see me or hear from me, take care, be blessed, and I’ll see you in the next one. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Bye.