What if a business could be magical and still succeed in our modern world?
What if a pirate queen showed you how to defeat monsters and offered fairy dust that clears up any obstacle, and a Metaphor Mouse helped you replace “bored” meetings with drunk pirate councils?
That is how wonder-entrepreneur Havi Brooks teaches others to see the world and break through their personal and business barriers over at The Fluent Self.
It’s an incredibly unique place in a world full of online business ideas, but Brooks’ rose-colored view has been so popular with her followers that she was able to buy a physical space in 2010 after just three years of running her blog and upgrade to an even larger space just two years later.
Her workshops often fill up a year in advance, and she charges nearly $2000 per day for private coaching.
This week, we’re going to look at a sales funnel in action though Brooks’ Fluent Self.
The Fluent Self Sales Funnel
The Fluent Self and its ancillary offerings are a prime example of an organically grown sales funnel.
I say “organic” because Brooks’ product offerings have grown over time in response to the needs of her customers.
This is not a marketing funnel that was designed in advance and then rolled out strategically.
Outlining your “master plan” in advance is an approach that can also be quite rewarding (Chris Guillebeau is a prime example), but for self-employed women—especially those bootstrapping—creating a funnel along with your customers can be the easiest way to grow.
Brooks’ would never call it her sales funnel, because her entire business is based around making businesses less business-y.
Her sales pages are HATs (Havi Announces a Thing) and her COO is the first mate to her pirate ship queen.
But for now, let’s say funnel.
Brooks’ Offerings
Brooks’ most basic product is her blog. Yes, a blog is an information product.
It’s just usually a free product.
She’s been blogging since 2007, though the frequency has changed over time from a few posts a month to every weekday to the current ten-or-so posts per month mode, so she’s accrued a sizeable archive. It’s organized so that you can easily browse through it and access all of her past free teachings.
Weekly and monthly recurring themes keep blog readers tuning in regularly and participating. The Friday week-in-review-style round-up invites the community to share what has been good or hard in their week and support each other. Sunday “very personal ads” allow Havi and her readers to put their wishes out into the world and help each other fulfill those wishes.
While her blog contains a lot of concrete strategies, three e-books walk you through her strategies for blasting procrastination, personal barriers, and anxiety attacks. Each comes with an “emergency” quick version for when you need help right now, as well as a full e-book and optional audio class upgrade.
Before launching her brick-and-mortar operation, Brooks ran the Kitchen Table, a sort of support-group-cum-online-community for her followers with regular group check-ins and courses. Now those recordings are all available to members of the Floating Playground, her new online community priced at $920 for the year.
The teachings and audio recordings included in the e-books and online community are a preview of her live classes, which now take place in her studio in Portland, Oregon, and select locations around the world.
Events range from one-day workshops, many of which she does on location, to rallies—weekend long productivity and “destuckification” intensives—to week-long retreats.
Getting Clients in and Moving Them Up
The world of the Fluent Self is certainly an acquired taste in that if requires a basic mental shift as well as a lot of vocabulary acquisition. But Brooks goes out of her way to make the transition easy.
At the top of every page on her site, a quick glossary defines the most important terms discussed. The sidebar offers a guide for new visitors to dive into all the basic concepts explored, including dozens of exercises.
Rather than hide these instructive older posts, Brooks highlights them, demonstrating freely her techniques and allowing visitors to determine whether her products are right for them with minimal one-on-one sales time from her.
Brooks’ e-book packages are not inexpensive opening products, ranging from:
- $117 for the Destuckification Station Emergency Calm the Hell Down on Command package
- $108 for the Dissolve Procrastination kit
- $60 for the basic Monster Manual (and Coloring Book)
- $125 for the extra-destruckifying upgrade.
The Big Bonus of Freemium
If you’ve been following our “10 Surprisingly Simple Step-by-Step Tasks to Get More Clients” series, you’ll remember that one of the main upsides of a freemium model is being able to charge more for your basic products. As clients already trust you and use your services, they feel more psychological resistance to stopping using your brand than to paying for an upgrade.
From the e-books, the Fluent Self products move up quickly in price because they are in limited quantities and in high demand. Rallies cost $1895 if paid upfront in a lump sum or $2165 with a down payment and five monthly payments.
For Brooks, creating scarcity is not just a business tool—it is how she remains effective without outsourcing. In 2013, she is running only one class, the 11-month year of emptying and replenishing, which comes at four price points. The at-home option begins at $720. Adding a weekend rally in Portland brings the price to $1120, and you can add an additional week at Stompopolis for $1420.
The premium package for $5000 includes two days of private coaching with Brooks in Portland.
Havi Brooks has built an incredible successful business around her own quirky life by emphasizing authenticity, inclusion, and feedback while keeping her own limits and value in the forefront of her business model.
Are you surprised at how much she is able to charge? Empowered? What do you think of her offerings and how that relates to yours?
