Rachel Bearbower, founder of the Nonprofit Automation Agency, shares her inspiring journey from running a struggling membership model to commanding $30,000 for her automation services. She candidly discusses the emotional challenges of letting go of her previous business and how a website crash spurred new opportunities. Rachel emphasizes the importance of understanding client needs, offering premium services, and strategically following up — even if it takes 109 days! Her transformation is a testament to resilience and growth in the nonprofit sector.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Website Crash Sparks New Business
Rachel's initial membership lost money every month despite her passion for it.
A website crash mid-pitch pushed her to start the Nonprofit Automation Agency as a new business quickly.
insights INSIGHT
Iterative Offer Evolution
Rachel iterated her nonprofit automation offer with every new project throughout the first year.
She refined the service and increased prices repeatedly, embracing learning by doing without a grand strategy.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Clear Pricing and Payment Plans
Listen closely to client needs on sales calls and present clear, top-line pricing without breaking down details.
Split high-ticket payments over time to ease client commitment and maintain steady cash flow.
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If you've ever struggled to make a profit while serving nonprofits, you're going to love this conversation. Our good friend Rachel Bearbower is back to share how she went from running a membership that was literally losing money every month to commanding $30,000+ for her automation services. And yes, she's still serving the sector we all love!
Rachel opens up about the emotional journey of letting go of her Small Shop Strategies membership (it took her over a year to fully grieve it) and the scary but exhilarating process of building the Nonprofit Automation Agency through pure trial and error. In classic Rachel fashion, she doesn't hold back about the messiness - including the website crash mid-pitch webinar that accidentally led to creating a second business!
I'm still blown away by her transformation. The Rachel who once fought for every $100 membership fee now confidently tells prospective clients on sales calls: "We are very good at what we do" - and they believe her. And they should! She's gone from barely covering expenses to making more in two months than she did in all of 2023.
Highlights:
Done-for-you is a game-changer. Rachel realized that nonprofit leaders don't want to learn automation - they just want someone to handle the "hot mess of tech" for them. And they'll pay premium prices for it!
Real talk on following up. Rachel followed up with one prospect for 109 days before they signed. Her secret? She BCCs herself on every proposal email, then snoozes it weekly as a reminder to check in. Don't assume silence means "no"!
Your referral network is gold. A whopping 44% of Rachel's revenue comes from referrals. She pays 10% commission to fellow consultants who send clients her way - making it a win-win for everyone.
It's okay to not have it all figured out. Rachel built this incredibly successful business by flying the plane while building it - no grand strategy, just constant iteration based on what worked with real clients.
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