Erin Thomas Wong (00:00)
You are in for an absolute treat today with our episode with Teresa Heath-Wareing
We are going to be hearing some fascinating insights about the realities of running an online business. But before we get into this fantastic interview, I want to let you know about the free five day challenge that I'm running from the 19th of May. It's called Kickstart Your Visibility.
and we're gonna be spending five days together to look at why you've been finding putting yourself out there so hard. And I'm gonna be sharing my life-friendly approach to getting visible. And you'll also have the opportunity to come on a live mastermind call with me. It's free,
Your Visibility, and you can sign up at lifefriendlybusiness.com/kickstart.
Erin Thomas Wong (01:44)
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to The Life-Friendly Business podcast. I am super, super excited today to have Teresa Heath-Wareing with me. I'm really looking forward to picking her brains. She is a Marketing and Business Growth Strategic Coach. She is also an international bestselling author. She has a number one rated podcast, a TEDx speaker.
and so much more. I feel like, you know, she is in these circles and will give us insights of what goes on in the online business world as well. So thank you so much for joining me, Teresa.
Teresa (02:18)
Thank you so much for having me. I am very much looking forward to our conversation.
Erin Thomas Wong (02:22)
So you work with membership owners, course creators and coaches. How did you get to where you are today?
Teresa (02:31)
Okay, I'm going to try and give you a short version or otherwise that will be the podcast over. Basically, I did a degree in marketing, spent 10 years in marketing, loved it, very happy, worked for huge companies like Land Rover, heading up their corporate marketing, right the way down to teeny tiny companies where I literally had to do everything. And basically was working as an head of marketing for a marketing agency and
went through a bit of a life change. I ended up getting divorced from my husband. I was on my own with my daughter who was four at the time. And I just decided that I needed a change. I needed to like work somewhere else or do something different. So I started looking for another job. I handed my notes in, gave eight weeks notice thinking that'll give me more enough time. I'm very good at what I do. Confident because I was, I had 10 years experience in marketing. Decided that I would
find another job easy, obviously deluded, couldn't find another job. After about three weeks of my notice, I mulled over the idea of someone had asked me to do their social media and I was like, okay, and I gave them a price and they just said yes without even thinking. And I was thinking, God, what if I can get like eight people to do this? This would be amazing. And it was like the thought entered my head and then my boss went, you can leave. So I had one week's worth of salary.
No savings, no other income coming into the house and no one that I could lean on financially and basically had to earn 1500 pounds from day one. So I started doing kind of marketing consultancy for people who couldn't maybe afford to bring in a marketing manager at my level. And then it turned into a kind of done for you type agency thing. And I started to bring people in and then about a year in.
I found the online world and back then, like eight, nine years ago, it was like, hey, create a course, sell it, and you can work from the beach and be rich for the rest of your life. I mean, some people still talk about it like that now, but it definitely was that. And I was like, not only did I love the idea of that, but also I loved helping smaller businesses. Like when I used to work in massive companies, I would make suggestions.
And I would go, this is going to work really well. We should do this. And it would be like trying to turn a tide. Like the red tape, the people discussions was too much. And I started working with smaller businesses and speaking and helping them through that way. And I would say to someone, hey, if you make this change, I think you could make more money. And then three weeks later, they'd come back and go, I made more money. I did that change. And I was like, this is brilliant because they just took the advice and ran with it.
So I found the online space and I was like, I want a bit of this. So I started to create, well, I started to actually consult for online people. So I helped them set up memberships, I helped them launch. So this was literally like seven, eight years ago. And then eventually started to do my own. And by this point I was with my now husband and I said to him, can I, I've got a six figure business, can I fire my clients?
and go all in in the online space. And thank goodness he said, well, not that I was asking permission, but it was more the fact of you're financially gonna have to hold me for a little bit because I don't know what's gonna happen and how quick. But that's what I did. So ever since then, I fired my clients, I don't have clients and now I just do the online stuff.
Erin Thomas Wong (05:49)
So what does your like average week look like in terms of, because that's the thing I love about an online business is that it is more life friendly in terms of a business model. But how do you spend your week?
Teresa (06:00)
that's a great, I don't think anybody's ever asked me that. So this week has been a little bit different because one thing I try and do is I batch my calls. So yesterday I was actually out doing an in-person interview. So that was kind of cool. The week before I was out at a couple of different events. So I try and, although my inner introvert does not want me to go out, I do occasionally leave the house. But like today, I literally have back to back calls all the...
day so I have not got a gap until 5.30 today but I would much rather do that and then tomorrow I've only got three calls and then I am working on my stuff which is awesome so I'll be recording podcasts for me I will be doing things like
I need to write a whole load of down-selling emails for a new campaign that we're doing and then check the sales page and do all those things. So I really love it when I cram everything into kind of one or two days and then I have a few days without anything. And a lot of my stuff is just creating my stuff for me. So my own podcast, it's doing content for my course, it's doing social, I hate social media content, FYI.
but it is occasionally doing social media content, it's writing emails to my list, like it's all the kind of serving those people.
Erin Thomas Wong (07:16)
these are the great things, aren't they, of having an online business is that you've got the flexibility to be able to work your week around and like you say, like batch calls so that you can have time off. The thing that I struggle with, and I know we've talked about this with the online world, is all those, all the BS really around like how much money you can make and how easy it is to start a membership and get a hundred members or 200 members.
And there's just so many voices out there that I know, you they've made me feel crap and they've also made some of my clients feel bad. How do you feel about all of that?
Teresa (07:50)
It's such a good point to talk about because I feel like it has got a bit better in the last few years, but it is still painting a picture that is not necessarily true. One of the things about having an online business is that it's a numbers game and you need the numbers. And that is not easy. Like sometimes trying to build your email list is like pulling teeth. And the other thing about the online world is
there's like an expectation of what success looks like. So when I first came into it, all people ever talked about it was six and seven figure launches. Like, have you done a six figure launch? How big is your launch? How much money did you make from it? And the truth was they never really told you how much money they made. They just told you I had a six figure launch. Well, that six figure launch is great, but how much did you spend on ads? How much have you spent on affiliates? there's a great quote.
that an agency in the UK uses a marketing agency, their strap line is a truth well told. And that is the online business industry. Like literally, yes, they are telling the truth, but they are telling the bits of the truth that make it look really good. I had one of my first, no, not first, well, my very first membership, I helped someone launch, they got 130 members in their first launch, right? The next, one of the next ones I did,
was for the two Laura's who are fairly big in their space. They got hundreds in that first launch. I will rarely talk about those two launches because those two people or those, Laura's and this first person, they had an audience. They were really well known for what they did. So yes, they worked with me and yes, I helped them out with the strategy and helped them with the launch and all that sort of stuff. But it wasn't just me.
And those are the kind of headline figures that people like to share. I had another one that worked with me who had 120 people on her email list and made 10,000 in one launch, right? Well, doesn't that sound phenomenal? But what no one's asking me is what did she sell? How much was it? How warm her audience were? When did she last sell them something? Like there are so many nuances to the online world.
that it's never as simple and as easy as people make out. And like you said, what happens is you look at that, you do a launch and you think to yourself, well, I've got 500 people on my list. You make 3000 pounds and you're like, well, what is wrong with me? And the truth is, and I think this is where it is changing and this is where I fully stand in my own power of, there are so many nuances.
that I can look at most people's launches and I can go, yeah, that makes sense, right? And they might go, yeah, but no, it doesn't to me. It's like, why have I not sold? And I can look at it and go, that was a fairly cold audience or you'd never sold that before. Actually that sale does not make sense in the challenge that you did prior to it. Like I can now see those, but the problem is, this is what I do every day. I look at launches all day, every day.
But you doing your launch, you followed the path that worked for someone else. Because why wouldn't we? Because someone is sat there on millions going, well, this is what I did, so it's going to work for you. No, that worked for them in their industry with their audience and their expertise. There is a reason why someone asked me the other day, like, what is my signature way to launch? And I'm like, I don't have one. Like, I can teach you.
webinars, open houses, challenges, boot camps, however you want to launch, because it depends on you. It depends on your audience, how you like to work, how you want to show up. What means that, you know, I know some people who just don't excel on camera. So why would you do a webinar? Like, that's not gonna do you any favors. So I think we've been brought into this world of it's easy to make money. It was easier. It was much easier back in the day. It absolutely is not easy now.
We've been brought into a world that says follow this path and you'll be as successful as I am. That's just not true. And it's not true for probably 90 % of the people who follow that path. Now it's not to say they don't have a level of success, but they're not getting the same level as the person teaching it. And it's not taking into account us, who we are, what we like to do. And it's giving us a very unrealistic expectation. So when people come to me and go, this is all I've got.
I look at it and I normally, in most cases, go, yeah, you're about right percentage-wise. Like, that's a successful launch. But they don't see it because they're like, no, it's not because I didn't make millions.
Erin Thomas Wong (12:07)
And that's, that's what I love when I hear you speak. And I know you've got an amazing podcast episode about launch conversion rates. So it's quite sobering, but I see it as reassuring that, you know, you're like, Oh, actually, I am doing, I am doing okay in terms of those rates. So let's, could we give an example of like someone with a small email list, you know, 500 people, thousand people, you know,
Teresa (12:19)
every
Erin Thomas Wong (12:35)
and they're trying to sell something, what kind of conversion, how many people are actually likely to buy?
Teresa (12:40)
So from your email list, you're probably looking at anywhere between one and 3%, right? Which is terrifying, right? So I had this conversation with my husband this morning, how many of my programme I'd need to sell to hit my financial goal. And he's like, okay, so how many would that mean you need on your email list? I was like, yeah, let's not look at it like that. Because that's when it suddenly seems impossible. But between one and 3%, now the one thing I will say to reassure anyone that's listening,
is often when you are smaller, when you have a smaller email list, when you have a more closer knit group, when you're not ginormous, that conversion tends to be on the higher end. So it tends to be more towards the three. When you get really big or when your numbers get big, that's when it tends to be on the lower end.
let's say you're launching and you've got like, I don't know, 50 people coming into your webinar. Well, not even 50 people. So 50 people signed up for your webinar, then you're roughly looking at 20 to 25 people actually turning up. So if you've got 20 people on your webinar and you are able to go, tell me in the chat what you do and you're able to give examples or...
you're able to drop personal DMs to those people because you know who they are and you can find them because you go to the effort. You are much more likely to get higher conversion. Whereas when you have a massive audience and you have big numbers, you just can't do some of those cool, more bespoke things and therefore your percentages are a little bit lower. But it's all about kind of understanding how you want to work, what works for you. But the other key thing is
What happens as well a lot, right? So people do a launch and because the launch does not give them the numbers that they are expecting, they think I've done it wrong, it's broke, this doesn't work. They don't do the same again. This is a huge mistake. Okay, we need you to do that first launch and I need you to track everything that you did. How many emails did you send? What did you write in your emails? How many social media posts did you do? Did you go live? Did you do stories? Did you do any personal outreach?
how many from your actual list went onto your launch list, i.e. signed up for the webinar or the challenge or the bootcamp? How many people turned up live? How many emails did you send them to get them to turn up live? What did your sales page look like? Like, I literally want everything because then if I can tweak, and I've got this great example, which I'm gonna really quickly try and, I think I can vaguely remember it. So basically, at each point, the percentages are always like between one and.
you know, two different numbers. for instance, your launch list, i.e. the people on your email list who sign up to your launch is normally, if I remember off the top of my head, between 15 and 30%. And then your buy list off your launch list is normally between one and 8%, okay? So let's say, if your launch list is only the 15 % and you've got...
a thousand people on your list. That's 150 people, okay? And then only 1 % of those people buy or 2 % of those people buy. That's like two people. So if you're selling something for 997 pounds, that is 1,900 and whatever it is, okay? Then let's say I look at your launch and I go, that's great, but let's tweak this, tweak this, tweak this. And we managed, no more on your email list. We've managed to just shift your percentages up. So then let's say you get...
30 % of your list sign up for your launch. That's 300 people. So you've already jumped up by 150 people just because we improved the thing that they're now coming to do. And then let's say that 8 % buy, that works out to be about 24,000 pounds you've just made on that launch. And technically your list didn't change. All we've done is learned from your first one, tweaked, run it again, tweaked, run it again.
Like, and that's the thing that people aren't doing because they do it. They have this expectation in their head that they're suddenly and I get it, right? I had the same expectation. Sell something once and become a millionaire. But because you don't, you then let that dishearten you completely when it's not your fault. It's the fault of people teaching the one thing that is going to change everything. And then actually it's about what did I learn? How can I tweak? So we've just, my
program is like properly fully going to be sold this year. For the next 12 months everything's a test. That's it. I am detaching myself from the outcome. Obviously I want to make money. Obviously I want it to sell well. But every single thing we do for the next 12 months is a test. And once I've tested each of the different methods that we're doing, we'll then tweak and run again.
Erin Thomas Wong (17:10)
So I've got a question about these conversion rates because I know what some people might be thinking and I know what, you know, I know I've thought this myself. Okay, so it's not converting very well. I should lower the price. Like, and is it easier to sell a Ā£25 membership or a Ā£1,000 program?
Teresa (17:12)
Okay.
no. ā
you would be amazed, right? So I only ever had higher price stuff and every objection that I ever had of someone not buying my stuff was I can't afford it, right? So this was years ago. I had a membership and I had two levels in the membership. I had like a mid and then a higher level and I can't, it was like 97 a month at that time and 197 a month, right? So I thought I'm missing out on a.
massive, massive trick here, right? I have all these people who wanna work with me. Everyone tells me, I can't afford you, can't afford you, wanna work with you, you're like, you know, my aim is one day to work with you. So I thought I'm gonna create a lower level product for 19 pounds. It literally fell on its backside. I had the audience, but they didn't want it because they didn't, it's like someone saying to you,
I can give you first class flight that's going to cost a hundred pounds. You're going to be like, how good is that first class flight going to be? You immediately, you know, if I'm having a first class flight, I want to know that it's really good quality and therefore I'm expecting to pay. So it just didn't work for me. And it's not always about the price. In fact, it's very often not about the price. It's about the priorities and what is important to them.
And also it's about the expectation of what they're going to get. Because let's be honest, right? If someone had the money and I'm always really, I'm really like dead set in that thought of you've got to have the money, right? I am not into people getting into debt to work with me at all. But if you had a thousand pounds and I could say, not that I would ever guarantee anything, but I could say most people return that in six months, then.
that sounds like, okay, I would go with that. Like that's worth that money. Whereas if I was saying here's 25 pound and it won't do much, then it's just not necessarily gonna be the same thing. So it's not always about the price. It's also not always about the amount of stuff you give them. And you and I have had this conversation about memberships that memberships are very difficult because we put everything in it. It's not always about that either. It's about what is going to get me from
this point over here of where I am currently in this pain, and when I say pain I don't mean physical, I mean like, you know, I want to make more money or I want to lose weight or I want to learn how to drive, whatever it might be. What is going to move me from this point to the point of what I want, i.e. hit that financial goal, hit that weight goal, driving in a car, whatever it might be, whatever will help me do that, that's what I'm going to pay money for. And sometimes when we throw everything at it,
actually that doesn't do us any favors either. So now I'm also not one of these people who are going to go put your prices up. And I know this is like the one thing that so many coaches say, they're straight, aren't not, you're not charging enough. I actually don't always agree. Like, cause there is a, a level where things sell better, but it's also not always about just dropping your price either. It's about how is that price matching with the thing that I'm offering.
there is a disconnect. It doesn't matter whether it's 20 pounds or 20,000 pounds. Where's the disconnect between the amount and what they are thinking they're going to get from it? Because if they can't understand, or there's a disconnect, they're not going to buy.
Erin Thomas Wong (20:44)
absolutely and it's also where it sits in your what do call it product suite, offer suite that's the jargon isn't it of like what are the other things that you're selling and where does it fit with that.
Teresa (20:56)
Yes, yeah, absolutely. And that kind of, we can call it like an ascension model of like, okay, so, you know, low touch, low cost, all the way up to high touch, high cost. So you don't have to always have something. Like this is the other thing. You know, people will often come to me and go, I need a low level product. Well, do you though? Like, is that because I tried to give myself a low level product and it didn't work for me at all. So it's not always about that, but it is about going.
Am I missing something? Is there something that people want from me where I can bring in a different level or I can, and that's not always down, that can be going up as well. Like, is there people that you work with currently that actually would benefit so much better from something smaller, something more high touch, or is there people coming in that just can't quite get that? So again, but again, like everything, until we start running this through, we don't know. Like,
And I think this is a big mistake that lots of people make is they'll think, when I know this, I will do this thing. Well, we won't ever know. There's a reason I think Elon Musk, not that I'm a big fan, by the way, but this is quite interesting, has this failing fast mentality. Like, and actually, Stephen Bartlett talks about it too. And again, these aren't necessarily people who I want to replicate, but they take action. And then they don't get hung up on the whether I failed or didn't fail. They go...
What did I learn from that thing? Let's tweak it and try again. And I think one of the things as an online business owner in particular is that resilience to go, okay, let's do it. Let's see how it works. And if it doesn't, we'll try something different and we'll go again. And even when I've worked with so many people and been privy to so many launches, I can literally take everything I know and run it with someone and it still might not work. And until we've run it, I won't know for sure. I'll know.
what works better and what doesn't, but until we've run it through, you don't ever really know. So it's just having that kind of impetus to go, I just need to do something.
Erin Thomas Wong (22:48)
I really, I think that's really insightful that you just said that even, you know, with clients that you're working with that are really big or, you know, are earning a lot of money, it doesn't mean that what you try is going to work and that we need to be okay with that and okay with like, this is a journey that we're on and we're tweaking and exploring. And that's, you know, why I always say as well with visibility that it is the long game. It's, it's about like trying different things. There's not one magic.
you know, list to follow. Like you say, we've like, so many of us are caught up with all the marketing stuff that makes us think, well, they've got the answer. They've got the magic pill. This is what we need to do. I have got a question thinking about the fact that, you know, you've worked with people, you know, in really successful businesses and you yourself are very successful. Is there a level of success where you no longer have self doubt?
Teresa (23:40)
No, no, no, no, no, no. It's just new level, new devil, right? So you think, and I thought this, and I know some huge business owners who think, well, when I get to that point, I will feel this. Like, you know, even this morning we had a conversation about money and in my, I have a figure and I'm like, when I get to that point, this is how things will look. That does not mean when I get there, I'll just be flying and it'll be brilliant. Like one, you have to stay there for what?
Like that's your first challenge. But your challenges will change. It will never stop. You will never stop doubting yourself. You will never stop thinking, God, I'm amazing. This is amazing. And this is a breeze. It's not like there is always something. It just changes. So in the early days, like, you know, we were doing this interview and I literally have them in my diary and I rock up and I don't think twice about them, right? Not because I don't care. I love them and I want to show up the best I can.
but because I am so confident doing them now that I don't worry about these things. I remember the first interview, again, I've got two for my podcast this afternoon, which I will look at their information literally 10 minutes before I go on with them. The very first interview I did, I did my first two interviews with Pat Flynn and Amy Forthfield.
I literally made my house shut down. I was like, get off the internet, no one make a noise. And I was sat there like 10 minutes before shaking like literally like, okay, I've forgotten my question. I know what I'm saying. How do I start it? Like I was a nervous wreck and now that doesn't bother me at all. So that is no longer a concern that I am confident in doing. But then there are other things like.
Reaching out to big people's podcasts. I am not very good at that at the moment and I need to get better Because that is still a confidence thing So there's always gonna be something like I said, even if you think when I get there, I will feel this Yes, you might about that particular problem, but then some other problem. I'm so sorry is coming to bite you in the backside and even things like When I get a team, it'll be great
Well, I have a team and I'm currently working on a load of stuff with that team, trying to make it work really, really well. That is a new challenge. That's something difficult that I've got to sort out. So it's never, there's never nothing. It's never, and I honestly think if you get to that point, you're probably not pushing yourself or you're probably, and that's fine. If you get to that point, you go, I'm good, I'm done. Absolutely hallelujah, happy days.
But at the point, if I haven't reached the goals I'm trying to reach and I feel like, everything's just swimming and great, I'm probably not pushing myself hard enough.
Erin Thomas Wong (26:10)
It's so interesting, isn't it? Because this is the whole thing of like, comparitonitis and looking at someone else's front stage. Because, you know, when you said, you know, I don't like reaching out to big podcasts and, and I'm like, I'm thinking, what? You've got a number one rated podcast. Like, I've seen you speak at Atomicon and at Kajabi events. And it's just so interesting. And, know, we're so good at
looking at other people online and thinking they've got it all nailed that's all fine but you know when you actually get to speak to people like you say it doesn't matter really where they are in their journey there's always something isn't there
Teresa (26:45)
Yeah, and from a money point of view as well. So it's really easy to look at the big launches and go, it's all right for them. They're making X amount of millions in a launch, but their business is a very different looking business to ours. Like their overheads, their targets, they still have to hit them just because they're in a different stratosphere to maybe where ours are. They have to hit those targets. So where is like we're going?
you know, I'd give my right arm to maybe make 20 grand in a launch or a hundred grand in a launch, whatever it might be for you listening. They're still thinking that about where they're trying to reach because they have employees, they have ad spend, they have money that they've invested. I remember interviewing Denise Duffield Thomas years ago and she had just done a new campaign for her course, I can't remember what it is. And the videography work, she literally had a different set, she does money archetypes.
She had a different set for every single archetype. She had a different wardrobe. She had a different everything. The money she must have paid into that was obscene. So therefore when she sat there going, right, I want to hit the million or whatever it was that she made in that launch. It's it may be on a different scale, but it's on the same kind of balance. You still need to bring in as much to make the work warrant. Ours are just a different amount of money. Like.
So don't always necessarily look at these people and think, well, they've got it made. How much have they got to pay in affiliates? How much have they got to pay in ads? How much does it cost just to run their business? And therefore, they need to hit those amounts in order to make it work for them as well.
Erin Thomas Wong (28:16)
And this is all about our own measures of success, working to our own measures of success. So I do want to ask, do you think anyone can be successful with an online business?
Teresa (28:21)
Absolutely.
That's a great question and I don't know I want answer it. Okay. Do I think anyone can be successful? I want to say yes. Okay. It depends what your level of success looks like. Do I think anyone can have a big online business and make loads of money? No, no, I don't. I also think there's a lot of people who think they want an online business.
until they get an online business. So I don't think it's for everybody. Like there are some people that I know who love being in person, love doing client stuff, love being the behind the scenes person. Well, that isn't really what an online business owner does. I don't think it's for everybody. I think given the right support and help and tailoring things to you, you can have a level of success. If your only version of that is can I make millions?
then I think there is a very small percentage of people who can do that, who can literally make millions and millions. And I think that gets trickier and harder. Like I said, not everyone is good on camera. Not everyone is good on stage. Not everyone is, you know, and therefore when you are an online business, you are the face of it a whole lot. Like there are not many online businesses that are not the face of their own business. And I think that's really important. It's really hard because I want to say yes.
Like I was working with someone the other day who her membership is very different to a standard membership and she was like, I don't, I'm not a challenge person. I don't even have a Facebook group. don't have a group at all because the membership is about doing work. It's not about the community. And she was like, so when we looked at the different things that I teach,
She was like, I have done a webinar, I don't love them, I've done this and I was like, I think for you, people need to understand what you do because it's not an easy understanding thing. So I think you need to do something over several sessions so they understand, should I don't want to challenge, that's fine. So then we created something that is fitting for her and we've tweaked, it's actually what we're doing is a mix between an open house and a challenge. And we've removed certain parts and we've bought in other parts that you wouldn't normally have.
because I think that's going to work really well for her. And I think that's the key thing. It's if you want something off the shelf, then you're going to get, I think, what was it, generic advice, generic results.
Erin Thomas Wong (30:39)
great.
Teresa (30:40)
But if you can work with someone who can go, and you're thinking long term as well, then yes, I think you can have some success. What that looks like. And you could be, this is the other thing I just want to add about the online space. We are wildly crazy when we talk about money, right? I don't know about you, but the most I ever earned when I was employed as head of marketing was 50 grand, right? 50 grand. And when you come into the online space,
you suddenly act like that is nothing, right? And this is what is so wild about it. It's like, man, I only made 20 grand this launch 20 grand! Some people don't even earn that. Like, I think sometimes we lose perspective of what is good and what is not because we are looking at ginormous people and going, well, it wasn't two million. Well, yeah, but how many people?
Erin Thomas Wong (31:25)
Yeah, I
100 % agree. I, you sometimes I talk about, don't know, I need to check whether this is still the case, but before 35K was the average full-time salary in the UK, 35K. And, you know, and I think it's perfectly acceptable for people to be like, do you know what, if I can earn 35K, like working around my family, around the things that I love in my life, then that's awesome.
Teresa (31:38)
Wow.
Yes.
Erin Thomas Wong (31:50)
But there is so much messaging out there that makes us feel like, you know, like we're not shooting high enough. We're not aiming high enough. Like who the hell are we if we're not looking to earn six figures? And it's so polarizing. That's a word, isn't it? It's making people feel like they're not ambitious enough.
Teresa (32:08)
And it's not taking into account who they are, their season of life, what's important to them. One of the things that I am so passionate about is my garden and growing vegetables. like, I love the fact that it's really sunny this week and it's not gonna be so sunny on the weekend. So on the couple of days that I don't have any calls, I might spend a chunk of time outside in my garden, show me a job that I can do where I can go, I don't want to do that, right? I don't want to work today because the sun's shining.
I want to be in my garden or show me a job where I could work. So my husband he's meant to be going to do three months away somewhere and I can pick up my job and I can go and spend time with him. Whereas if I didn't do what I did, there's no way I could. So like, I think we forget about all of those other things. The fact that I never get Sunday night blues ever. Like my husband talks to me all the time. He's like, God, I would love to do something that I am so passionate about. And it's like,
I have that. How have I been lucky is that? the other thing I want to say is I was watching a YouTube video the other day with Ali Abdaal and I watch a lot of content. So any time I'm getting ready or cooking or whatever, I'll have YouTube playing some thing work wise. And he his title of his video was How to Become Rich, right?
that wouldn't necessarily always attract me, but I like him and his content. So I just watched it. And he talked about how to become like in the top 1 % of earners, like the really rich people, really, the Stephen Bartlett's of this world. And he's like, you have to be obsessed. He says where everything else has got to go out the window. And again, I was listening to something else yesterday from someone else and they were talking about Elon Musk and going, I wouldn't go to this guy.
for advice on families and marriage, because he's had three marriages and 12 children, and he probably doesn't see hardly any of them. Like, because he is obsessed with his thing. And Ali said in his YouTube video, if you're not obsessed, if you are not willing to shelve everything else to go so deep into this thing, then you're probably not going to be super rich. And that, for me, was a good thing, right? Because it's like, am I willing?
to shelve my entire life, to not grow my vegetables, to not spend time with my family, to miss out on key things because of my obsession to make loads of money. No, I'm not. Now, does that not mean I can't earn a really good, absolutely not. I can earn really good money and still have a life, but it was a really good, for me, leveling point, right? It was like, if you want a business,
where you are so in it and you're so driven and you are literally doing everything and you are shelving other things and missing out on other things, then yes, you could probably be uber-uber successful because that's kind of what it takes. If you are not willing to do that, first off, absolutely fine. Like, there are very few people who are willing to do that, hence why there are only handfuls of multi-billionaires in the world, right?
There are very few people willing to go to that level, but it's understanding. For me, it was the clarity of, am not willing to live like that, which means I'm all right with everything I earn. Like, I'm great over here. I can earn a really good amount of money. I can live a very nice life, and I'm not killing myself over here. Like, that's fine. And just going, I'm all right with that. And I'm not sat there. There's another great quote that is, don't be annoyed about the results you didn't get for the work you didn't do.
And that sums that up. Like, I'm not willing to do that, so I'm not going to be annoyed that I'm not a multi-billionaire because I am not willing to put that work in.
Erin Thomas Wong (35:40)
And I feel like that whole thing about sacrifice is a very masculine approach to business because, know, women, females are predominantly the primary carers for both their kids and their parents. And yeah, absolutely. That's where the whole life-friendly approach comes in for sure. So I've got one more question to finish on, but just quickly, how can people find you?
Teresa (35:47)
absolute
So you can search TeresaĀ Heath-Wareing am mostly on Instagram. I'm a bit on LinkedIn, but I'm a bit rubbish. And obviously you can check out my podcast. If you are a podcast listener, then please come and take a listen to Your Dream Business podcast, wherever you are listening to this.
Erin Thomas Wong (36:16)
And you will also be speaking at my Momentum Day event next March as well, which is wonderful. So my final question is for all those women listening who are working hard to create their successful business, but feel like they're just not making the traction they want to make, what would be your advice?
Teresa (36:20)
I will! I will! I'm so excited.
I know this doesn't seem like it would be particularly helpful, but just keep going. Like the amount of people who give up, all the people I've worked with, the main difference, the successful ones as opposed to the not successful ones is tenacity and is the ability to brush yourself down and get back up and do it. Like, but also with good support. And I know Erin is like the best and
Her and I are so similar in lots of ways that we have online businesses and we want to serve multiples of people. However, we care deeply about the people we serve. And I'm speaking on behalf of you here, Erin, but I like I never want a thing where I've got thousands and thousands of people in it because I won't be able to love on those people like I do currently. And I would imagine you're exactly the same. Like.
We want to earn good money. We want to have a good online business, but we care deeply about the people that we support. And when you are in, when you have someone that does that and can look at you and look at your business and get to know you enough to tell you when to use a carrot or when to use a stick, when you need picking up and cheering up and when you need a bit of a kick up the backside, that for me is game changing. You need that.
Like I'm telling everyone listening to this, you need someone in your world who isn't necessarily your partner, your friends who aren't in business because they don't get it. I love my husband dearly and he's very supportive, but he doesn't get it. You need someone who, like me, like Erin, who are in it, doing it every day and find things as hard as you do. We might be a few steps ahead, but we are still feeling those things. You need that support.
Erin Thomas Wong (38:16)
I love that so much. Thank you so much for today.
Teresa (38:19)
Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. And honestly, I know you guys know this already because you're listening to this, but Erin is amazing.
Erin Thomas Wong (38:25)
Thank
