Why Melody Shifted her Entire Understanding of Successful Business
From the Editor: We normally do video Case Studies but Melody preferred to write this one for you guys. Imagine my surprise when this came back from her - a beautiful, heart-centred story of her business growth. Thanks for sharing, Melody! There are some great steps and lessons here.
Hi! I’m Melody Duxfield, and it’s my pleasure and privilege to bring healing through remedial massage therapy. I launched my home business, Kneaded Relief, in December 2011. Unfortunately, knowing how to massage didn’t mean I knew how to run a business, and I spent almost seven years struggling and striving before I finally sought help. I’m delighted to say that I’m no longer struggling, and the help I received has shifted my entire understanding of how to run a successful business. Let me tell you a bit about myself, and how I got my breakthrough…
I love massage, I believe in it, and I know I’ve got “the touch.” So when I was planned to set myself up in a career that would enable me to be home with my children, it was very easy to settle on remedial massage therapy. I was already married and financially bound to working full-time, so I did my massage studies via distance in my spare time, and took time off work to go to college for clinic hours and assessments. When I graduated, I took a great leap of faith and made the jump from full-time employment to starting a business from scratch. I started by offering a Groupon deal, and because I was so naïve, I did over 250 60min sessions for absolutely no money. However, I always saw this as a success, as I gained both work experience and a client base. From there, I subcontracted in a gym, had a room in an aged-care home and treated the staff, dabbled in renting a room in a hairdressing salon, did letterbox drops, built a website and used Google Adwords, and relied heavily on word of mouth.
All of this was a great learning experience, and it did keep food on the table with a very modest income. In January 2014, I had my first child, and then two more in 2015 and 2017. I suddenly needed more income, and had far less time to work out how to generate it. I very much wanted to give up. I wanted to just focus all my energy on being an awesome mum, and homeschooling my little ones. The trouble was, I couldn’t afford to not work. I knew in my heart that if I tried to keep going without passion, I would fail. I knew that for all my attempts at marketing, I still didn’t know how to successfully get new people through the door. I was seeing an average of four clients a week at $65 per hour, my motivation was burned out, and I was discouraged.
Enter James and Elicia Crook. These guys popped up on my Facebook feed in September 2018. I was terrified of spending any money doing courses because I needed to EARN money, not spend it! But, dipping a toe in the water, I watched a couple of free webinars. I spoke with Elicia, and after a lot of resistance and breaking down of pride, I signed on for the Fully Booked Without Burnout course. Elicia learned about me and my business numbers, and then made me a big promise – that I would succeed so quickly, that my extra income would more than cover the cost of the course. She was absolutely right!
I thoroughly committed to the FBWB course, and within two months I went from 4 clients per week to 10. The first thing I did was greatly increase my price -- I did this by following Elicia’s instructions PRECISELY – and not only were my clients totally fine with it, they CONGRATULATED me. So, my income increased before I even got any new clients. I devoted myself to the course, and implemented absolutely everything I could. I now know what works for me, where to spend my time and money. I also know what doesn’t work for me, and I don’t have to feel like I’m gambling with my marketing budget, but can spend money confidently as a worthwhile investment.
The first week of the course focused on Mindset. I benefited greatly from this, reigniting my passion, confidence, determination, and goal-setting. Other life-changing parts for me were discovering my niche market, learning how to use social media for business, creating systems for bookings/accounts/admin etc, and having an arsenal of practical ways to market. It’s been interesting to see the shift in myself, not just in my business. I have the confidence to rebook my clients and keep them coming regularly. I now communicate regularly through Facebook, emails, SMS, blogs, and Live videos, and my clients love it! I feel a greater sense of purpose and authority in my work, which keeps the passion aflame.
Being a homeschool mum of three energetic kids, I didn’t have enough time to learn everything I needed to know by myself. I’m eternally grateful that Elicia and James came into my life with everything I needed to learn, broke it down into chunks I could handle, mentored me through it, and put me on the path to success. I’ve set a goal for this year to maintain 50 massages per month. Guess what! This month I’ve reached that number for the first time in seven and a half years. I’d call that success.
