EP 179 - A $12K First Online Course Launch with Claudia Neal-Shaw

This week I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing one of our fabulous Her Empire Builder members Claudia Neal-Shaw. 

Claudia is a brand new course creator who joined Her Empire Builder in February without any direction of where to start and what to do. During my time with Claudia, she discussed what the catalyst was for her to take the next step. Fast-forward just a few months to Claudia’s first launch where she made $12,000, AND sold out 50% of her next course!

Here’s how she has achieved amazing results while facilitating some incredible client transformations from her first lucky group of clients. 

When did you first start in this wonderful world of online courses?

I have to say, I was one of those listeners of this very podcast thinking all of these incredible women have built all of these incredible online empires. And I want some of that! 

I came from a very traditional skill-set as an ex-lawyer and working in corporate communications. I was running a consulting business, really trying to understand “How do I transition out of that one-to-one exchange for time and money”? It actually wasn't until I came to the women online conference in February, and I sat in that crowd with incredible women. You, Tina, actually asked a question - you said, “Put your hand up here, if you have an online course”. And all of these women put their hands up around me, and I was like, Okay, today is the day where we decide!

So that was February. And I ended up launching my first program, which teaches female entrepreneurs how to market themselves with confidence.

I launched it on the first of June, and it was a $12,000 launch.

Were you expecting that?

I thought I might get a couple of people in here who really believed in what the program was going to deliver to them and really willing to give it a crack.

That's what I was most focused on. And then when you have that first core sale, and then the second and then the third and you're like, Okay, a few more than a few people believe in this course! Then you're just really pumped to keep going and excited that people are seeing the value in what you've created.

Had you built any sort of email list or anything like that prior to your $12K launch?

To be really honest with you. My network is generally face to face. I am a big extrovert. I love connecting people. I've always invested a lot of time in my face to face networking. So I had this beautiful warm network of maybe 75 people on my database, and that was just from one confidence masterclass that I ran. So I had like a small audience, but they were already quite warm, which was just lovely.

What were the key things that you did between joining Her Empire Builder in February, and launching your course in June?  

A lot of it was actually observing the incredible women inside Her Empire Builder, being part of the conversations, asking questions, and really listening to the women who had gone before me. I believe that the more transparent we can be with each other, and the more we talk about how we run businesses, and how we make money, and how we're showing up in the world, the more we all get to rise together. 

That was immediately the thing that drew me in. Then I started to piece together the higher level pieces of the puzzle. What could this look like? What do I really want to create? 

And then I prioritized the content that I really enjoyed creating the most, and bringing people together so that we could all be on the same page about what we were trying to achieve in business.

What was the hardest part for you in that first launch in getting it out into the world?

The hardest part, interestingly because I do come from a pretty traditional corporate background, was saying that I only want to work with female entrepreneurs. And this course that I've created is only for them. It was really challenging for me to share that message and say there is a specific reason I do want to elevate women's voices, and showcase a skill-set that allows me to do that. I think really owning the fact that it’s ok for us to do business and offer something that means something to us. 

And it doesn't have to mean something to every single person in the world.

What else are you doing as your key marketing activities to start building your profile and cementing yourself as a thought leader in the area?

I go and hang out where my ideal target market is - my ideal target market are female entrepreneurs in service based businesses who want to build beautiful personal brands, and I'm also that person. 

I do understand that when you post something on social media once, not everyone sees it. So you really have to have a plan to distribute the same message a few different times so that it's going to reach the right people have had the personal conversations, whether it's in DMs reaching out to people who you've connected with before, or even on email saying, “Hey, I thought of you. I'm running this event. I'm doing this masterclass”. And really making people feel like you're creating something that's just for them.

How did you decide this is going to be the program that's right for you? 

I think it was a combination of what I'm really going to enjoy delivering, and all of this value that I have to give. 

I believe that every single person who is running a business has a skill set. They have a skill set that allows them to deliver impact. And I think sometimes we can get caught up in our own bubble - “I'm just a marketer”, or “I'm just a florist”. 

But we all have a very unique skill set. And I think we really need to celebrate that and value it.
 

I'm always so intrigued at people's different perceptions of that idea of life and different perceptions of success. What does it look like for you?

It can be as simple as waking up every day, going to the beach, walking in the sun with a coffee and thinking, “I'm really excited that I get to work in my business today”. From the vision of creating this empire into an incredible education platform that is going to teach women all over the world, how to truly be the most confident woman in the room and own their skill set and own their message. 

The opportunity is limitless. I truly believe that business ownership offers something very unique that you don't find in many other spaces. 

So freedom means a lot of things to a lot of people. But freedom for me is being able to make a choice every single day to do the things that I want to do to stay healthy, have incredible relationships, and make an impact.

What has been or what are your favourite things about being part of the Her Empire Builder community?

There are definitely times where I need a community. We want to feel seen by other people and say, Is it just me? Or are we all having this experience together. The Her Empire Builder community has given me beautiful advice, expertise, but more than that It's a safe space for female creators to really be able to thrive. 

I also know on the practical side of things that in the event that I felt like I wanted to build the system, which I have had to do, I know that I can rely on the incredible resources that you've created and just plug and play them!

Claudia Neal-Shaw started her first business at 21, and was a few years into her combined Law and Communications degree when she became convinced that her natural communication and connection skills would lead her into law, or acting. Claudia started offering marketing advice to small to medium businesses while she completed her formal legal training and traveled globally for work experience.

She learned very quickly that in order to create the career of your dreams, you had to rewrite the rules for your own success. Claudia left her corporate career behind and relaunched her consulting business focused on empowering female led businesses to market themselves with confidence.

Her mission is to elevate the voices of women globally so that there are more women in positions of power and influence. She actively supports the UN global sustainability goals of gender equality and quality education in her offerings to create maximum impact through her business, and is currently writing a book called How to Market with Confidence, a marketing playbook for women in business.