How Do You Get Started in Direct Sales?

Belinda Ellsworth is our guest on the 299th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. Belinda is a drummer turned direct sales expert who opens the conversation about mastering your craft. She is the author of a #1 international best seller, “Direct Selling for Dummies,” and successfully grew her podcast which is part of the iHeartRadio platform. Take a peek inside Belinda’s genius: Belinda’s journey from rock band to a side-hustle in direct sales. Becoming a sales and motivational speaker and transitioning into a consultant helping companies scale from $1-$20 million. Why Belinda decided to go all-in on a podcast – and her invitation to iHeartRadio. How being a drummer set her up for success in every other area of her career. The secret behind Belinda’s success in podcast growth and becoming a skilled interviewer. How mastering your craft will accelerate your growth, career, and lifestyle. The importance of vetting guests before letting them jump on the show. How to analyze data and make improvements when you want to grow anything. Sales conversations – What’s the deal with those? The 4 strategies Belinda offers to become a better salesperson (even if you're a beginner). What does it take to start consulting? How are you supposed to package your expertise? How can you become an expert at anything? Why you need to restructure your onboarding process and how it will take you to the next level. The real deal on client and customer retention. How to get more done through the 4 pillars of success. Structuring your power hour – How Belinda moves the needle in her business. Are you letting the day run you? The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: The Accelerator Waitlist The Copywriter Think Tank Kira’s website Rob’s website Belinda's website  The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Free month of Brain.FM Episode 81 Episode 137   Full Transcript: Rob Marsh:  Today's episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast is a little different from normal for a couple of reasons. First, our guest, Belinda Ellsworth, isn't a copywriter, she's a podcaster, a business consultant, and a productivity expert. And what she shares about getting started in business, having confidence, sales, and even thinking about the right metrics is going to give you a lot to think about. The second reason this podcast is a little different is that I am here alone today. Kira's on vacation. And usually when that happens, we ask a guest to join us, to talk about what we're learning from the episode. But, well, I took some time off earlier this week as well. So we just didn't have enough time to schedule a guest. I hope you don't miss the back and forth that we normally have, as I share some of the stuff that stands out to me most from this episode. And without Kira here, I'll also tell you that this episode is sponsored by The Copywriter Accelerator. That's our program that's designed to give you the blueprint, the structure, the coaching, the direction, and the community that you need to accelerate your business growth in about four months so that you can go from overwhelmed freelancer to fully booked business owner. We're going to be opening up The Copywriter Accelerator for new members next month. And if you'd like to get on the waitlist to make sure that you're the first person to hear the details, especially about the early bird pricing rate and information about the program. When it opens up in August, you'll want to go to thecopywriteraccelerator.com and join the waitlist. And we'll also link to that in the show notes in case you're not able to write that down. Okay. So let's jump into our interview with Belinda and learn how she became an expert in sales. Belinda Ellsworth:  Well, it goes way back to gosh, nearly 40 years ago, I just started doing in a direct sales business, as a side hustle while I was pursuing a music career. So I was just doing that. I was playing full-time and doing this on the side just to supplement between gigs. And it worked, and I made really good money, and that was like I said, I was 18 when that was going on. And then when I actually started a family and then I wasn't traveling with the band and deciding I wasn't going to be a rockstar anymore. I said, "You know what? I was pretty good at this. I'm going to really dive in and be serious about it." So I, myself, just was really, really good at sales and developed those skill sets. And I would be asked to speak at different conferences on why I was doing as well as I was doing. And that really led to a couple of really top-level motivational speakers at that time hearing me and saying, "This is what you need to be doing. You need to be teaching other people how to do this for a living." And so that was in 1995 when I decided to branch out and start my own company, teaching people how to be better in sales and doing motivational speaking and sales training. And I really did that up until 2004, hardcore. And even in 2004, I continued to be a motivational speaker, but I started consulting because I had my daughter. So I restarted my family. I've got 20 years between my kids. And so when I had her, I was like, "I really don't want to be on the road eight, ten times a month." So I started consulting with other companies and really was able to take a couple of companies from a million to 20 million in a short window of time. And so learned some real basic onboarding skill sets that have really been tremendous in helping other companies. So that's been my journey of how my business has morphed, and it's been exciting because five years ago, I started my podcast, which really was about entrepreneurs and had absolutely nothing really to do with direct sales specifically. And during COVID then, because I wasn't on the road at all, then I put my energies into consulting and then put my energies into my podcast and that's really paid off really well. So it goes back to what you put... We were just asked to be part of the iHeartRadio platform, which is huge. Rob Marsh:  Congratulations. Kira Hug:  Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Belinda Ellsworth:  I know that just happened last week. And so it was like, "Wow." And it goes back to that old saying of where you put your focus is what you will get. If you put your focus on things positively and where you really want to go, that will increase and get better. And if you are constantly chaotic and divided and not sure about where you are putting your energies, you oftentimes won't get the desired result that you want. I've known that all over the years, I've taught it over the years, but that really was the proof in the pudding again because when COVID happened and I lost every single speaking engagement I had for a whole year, they just started ... I had a year's worth of business booked and in five days, every single bit of it was gone. And I've got a staff of six and I'm like, "How are we going to support them? And not only them, but ourselves?" It was a big pivot and figuring it out; and it was a struggle year, but we managed. And I put my focus in two key areas instead of this huge umbrella, and it paid off. And it has been exciting to see that again, where you put your focus and that works for both positive and negative. If you constantly put your focus on negative energy and how this is too hard to do, and I don't really have any leads and I don't know what's going to happen, that's going to be your result as well. So it works for both ends of that spectrum of both positive and negative focus. Rob Marsh:  Belinda, I want to go back to something you said at the very beginning of your story, you were in a rock band. Tell us about that experience and how that has impacted where you are today. Belinda Ellsworth:  Sure. So, believe it or not, I was a drummer. And at that time, there really weren't a lot of female drummers. I've always been paving that way, even going back to the fifth and sixth grade, it's like I was always the only female, and that continued through high school. And then being in a band there still aren't that many. There's a lot more to date than there ever was in the past. So I was a drummer and I would say for that, just like anything, and this is an area where people aren't willing to do because I've been interviewing artists. We've changed our show up to be Monday is entrepreneurs and Thursday; artists. And every single one of them is, "You've got to master your craft." And so, I would be practicing all of the time, even in school. If they said, "Practice 30 minutes." I practiced for an hour. If they said, "Do this." I did it longer. So it's like, you have to master your craft. That means doing it. It means practice. It means, if they're writers and they're copywriters, you need to be writing a lot. You need to be honing that skill, not sitting around and just waiting for something to come your way. And so I would say that is why I started performing, at 15, 16 years old. By the time I was 18 and out of high school, I was playing six nights a week. So do I think that helped me then when I became a presenter and a motivational speaker? For sure, the confidence piece, you've already been on a stage, you've already had people that you've been able to deal with nerves and things like that. But other than that, the drummer's always the one on the back. You're not upfront. I think at the end of the day, the more you master your craft, the more confident that you are and confidence comes through knowledge in doing and practicing. And that allows you to be more confident, either on stage, talking to prospects, whatever the case may be, the more confident you feel inside, and the more you believe in yourself inside, the more that's projected out. And a lot of that comes from doing just practice.