Why I Don’t Run a Business Based on Referrals

[00:00:00] Allyson Scammell: Hi, dear ones. How are we today? I have a juicy topic for you that you are going to love, and it’s going to surprise you sort of, it’s going to offer you a new twist on referrals that you may not have heard before. And before we go into the unpacking of the topic of referrals, I have a really awesome listener review to share.

[00:00:37] Allyson Scammell: You guys know that listener reviews fill my heart with sunshine and rainbows and unicorns. I guess it’s maybe a bit of a stroke of my ego. I am a human, but typically it’s not, typically listener reviews really hit me on a soul level because it’s telling me I’m offering the right content for you. And that’s why they’re so meaningful.

[00:01:05] Allyson Scammell: And I feel in the listener reviews that connection with you. And so that’s why I, I love them so, and I have a great one to share with you. And this comes from, got to love these names. This comes from health underscore coach. And she’s in the United States and this is what health underscore coach has to say.

[00:01:29] Allyson Scammell: Allyson is a beautiful soul. She shares her thoughts in an honest way. She’s very helpful. Thank you. And provides insightful information for entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to excel in life. Thank you so much health underscore coach. I really, really appreciate it. And let me ask you this. Have you received something specific from this podcast?

[00:01:58] Allyson Scammell: I would love to know. From a guest, from me, from the energy, from the content, you can head on over to the show notes and there is a link that takes you to, you click on it, and you can choose from a few different places to leave a listener review, making it as easy for you as possible. And I will read your words on the air. It’s feedback.

[00:02:26] Allyson Scammell: So, getting back to health underscore coach, you know, she talks about my honesty. And how, you know, she appreciates my, my honest, and sometimes people say they appreciate my vulnerability. It’s just like something that I feel like is part of who I am. You know, Allyson means little truthful one, and I believe one of my deepest soul gifts is being the mirror of truth.

[00:02:52] Allyson Scammell: You know, mirroring your truth back to you. Speaking truth, being in truth. And, you know, sometimes when we’re in our truth, it is a time to be vulnerable, not all the time, but sometimes I think we’re often afraid to be vulnerable. I know I’ve been over the years; we fear what people will think. We’ll fear being misunderstood.

[00:03:15] Allyson Scammell: And I find though that if I always return to that place, that place in my heart, that’s really calling me to share and I go to that place of truth, that well of truth, if you will. I’m always being vulnerable at just the right time, being honest and just the right way for you as my soul client. Now, my stuff doesn’t land for everybody, it’s not meant to, it’s meant to land for the people I’ve created it for.

[00:03:44] Allyson Scammell: And if you feel like you are a member of my soul audience, then it really is, or rather my soul community, the soul guide circle, it really is for you. And I’m going to be talking about, in just a minute, what happens when my truth gets triggered. When I feel like somebody’s saying something that’s going against my truth.

[00:04:06] Allyson Scammell: And I can get a little bit like, uh, that can get me a little bit fired up and me getting fired up, served as the inspiration behind this episode. Let’s get to it. In today’s episode, I share why I don’t run a business based on referrals, what it’s based on instead and the magic of a specific type of client who may or may not have been referred to you.

[00:04:40] Allyson Scammell: I’ll end on a challenge. That’ll have you having a business based on the things that matter the most. The things that enable you to thrive. So please stay with me until the end. Welcome to soul guide radio, a podcast for soul guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs here to bring about change on a massive level.

[00:05:06] Allyson Scammell: We’ll explore how you can activate your big soul mission, amplify your spiritual gifts, and clear the energy blocks weighing you down so you can gain unstoppable momentum in life and business. I’m Allyson Scammell your host and soul guide.

[00:05:28] Allyson Scammell: Hey there, soul guide circle, that is the name of this community of soul guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs. In the soul guide circle, we have big soul missions, and we yearn to earn more, serve more, and grow spiritually along the way. If you aren’t already a member, then I invite you to join our Facebook group of over 1900 leaders and Lightworkers who are in service to each other

[00:05:53] Allyson Scammell: and the planet. Find a link to join on my website, Allyson scammell.com or in the show notes. Let’s dig into this super juicy topic. I’m going to start out with how I got triggered. I do get triggered on this issue and I get a little triggered when I read social media posts and I hear coaches or entrepreneurs saying my business is based solely on referrals and I don’t do any marketing.

[00:06:23] Allyson Scammell: I just get referrals and I’m just so good at what I do. I have a waiting list. Everybody’s referring everybody to me, and my business is just based on referrals. And I’m super lucky. I don’t know. I don’t know if you’ve encountered this. I’m exaggerating a bit for effect, but people, coaches seem to get a little braggy about how they get so many referrals.

[00:06:47] Allyson Scammell: You often see it in those posts that, hey, look, I’ve grown my business to multi-six seven figures. And I got to the point where all of my new clients coming in were all referral based. It’s like demonstrating to you that they’ve got it going on because they’re creating stuff that’s so amazing.

[00:07:04] Allyson Scammell: Everybody’s talking about it. Thus, the new people coming into their business has all been referred by other people who’ve already been interacting with that business. Therefore, it’s kind of like a social proof that my business has it going on. Therefore, often you hear this from business coaches and they’re saying, I can teach you this formula.

[00:07:28] Allyson Scammell: I can teach you how to create a referral-based business. Well, here’s why I don’t think that’s the greatest way to look at it. The reason why is when you try to set your business up, so it’s based mostly on referrals. So, your new leads, the new people coming into your business are coming to you from word of mouth, from other people saying how amazing you are when that is your, one of your primary strategies to get new leads, to me, I feel like it’s handing your power away.

[00:08:10] Allyson Scammell: You’re saying I’m going to rely on my audience and allow my audience to choose who they talk to about me and those are the people then who will get excited to work with me. And they are chosen by my network, by my audience, but they aren’t necessarily the people who are experiencing me live and getting naturally excited about my live energy.

[00:08:40] Allyson Scammell: They’re not necessarily the people who I’m most powerfully magnetizing into my business and before I go any farther down this rabbit hole, I do want to clarify something very important here. I love referrals. Referrals are gold. It is indeed powerful in a business when you create something for a soul client, and it speaks to her so deeply that she starts talking about you to a friend or a colleague.

[00:09:16] Allyson Scammell: That word of mouth is about as powerful as you’re going to get to that person, she spoke to interested and excited to work with you or invest in one of your offerings. However, I like to look at referrals as cherries on the cake. They’re gifts, they’re bonuses, they’re extras, but my business isn’t based on them.

[00:09:43] Allyson Scammell: Referrals are indications that I’m creating and showing up at my very best in my business and they’re like little presents that my business receives because I was creating really good stuff that generated people talking about my stuff and sharing with their network in a way that was so powerful, that network got excited to connect to me.

[00:10:14] Allyson Scammell: And I’m going to be talking more about that in just a sec. How do you create that buzz? But another reason why I don’t like the idea of running a business based on referrals is the pivot. I think it underestimates how powerful energy is, because what happens when you pivot, our soul clients are always evolving.

[00:10:40] Allyson Scammell: So, let’s say your soul client was moms who run a business or mompreneurs and you’ve been creating a lot of content specifically for that person, someone who is both a mom and trying to run a business. Well, what if you get a calling to just market to entrepreneurs, you’re dropping the moms. Now your soul client may still be a mom, but it still has a different energy.

[00:11:11] Allyson Scammell: You’re not niching to moms who run a business. You’re niching to entrepreneurs; your soul client avatar has just pivoted. Therefore, if you’re relying on referrals to get new business, that old referral network is going. So, the mompreneurs are only talking to other mompreneurs. Therefore, because your energy has shifted those, those referrals aren’t going to be as in perfect alignment energy.

[00:11:44] Allyson Scammell: Because you’ve just shifted your energy. You’ve shifted your content. You are now writing to people who are different. You’re addressing needs, wants desires that is slightly different. And sometimes this is very nuanced, but if you’re listening to this podcast, you have advanced energy and you are in a nuanced place where you want your energy to be that sharp.

[00:12:11] Allyson Scammell: So, what we want to base our business on instead is creating content that knocks the socks off our soul client avatar based specifically on their needs, wants and desires, and you’re creating content that’s so amazing, and you have a system in place to create content that enables your bright light to shine.

[00:12:42] Allyson Scammell: So, you’ve got a platform, you’ve got a social media platform. You’ve got a mailing list. Maybe you’ve got a podcast. Maybe you’ve got a YouTube channel. Maybe you’ve got a community somewhere, mighty networks. You’ve got a structure in place that enables you to show up in your gifts. And so, and that structure is always enabling you to get in front of

[00:13:10] Allyson Scammell: new potential clients who are connecting directly with you. And when your energy shifts, you have a way to call in directly from your live energy, those new soul client avatars. And then when you call in those new soul client avatars, getting back to the example of the person who used to work with mompreneurs

[00:13:36] Allyson Scammell: who’s now working with entrepreneurs. Now you’re talking to that greater audience of entrepreneurs and you’re speaking directly to them and you’re creating content that’s so amazing for that audience. Now, that’s your aligned new audience. Then you’re getting a referral buzz going and now you’re getting referral gifts back into your business who are a perfect, aligned fit.

[00:14:03] Allyson Scammell: A good example of how this all played out is I’ve always liked Amy Porterfield. She runs, you know, she’s a big name in the coaching world. She helps entrepreneurs implement easy marketing strategies that work. So, if you’re new to business or you’re new to marketing, she is going to make things very simple for you to implement into your business.

[00:14:29] Allyson Scammell: Well, when I first launched my business, I listened to, especially her podcast a lot. I think she’s got a great podcast. Well, then things started to take off in my business and I started to learn about marketing and get more sophisticated. So, I stopped listening to her podcast. I stopped consuming her content.

[00:14:50] Allyson Scammell: I was no longer an ideal client of her. I don’t know that I was ever necessarily a soul client, but I think I definitely was an ideal client. And she, when I was launching my business and I was new, her content really spoke to me. And then I was like, I kind of don’t need this anymore. I’ve graduated. So, I went off to different things and different teachers.

[00:15:13] Allyson Scammell: I listened to podcasts that were offering more advanced marketing strategies. Well, then I was thinking in my business, you know, I really want more sophisticated strategies to grow my podcast. Oh, speaking of which, I did want to mention that this is episode number 50 of soul guide radio. And so, let’s celebrate that.

[00:15:39] Allyson Scammell: Yay. So, this is a really good example I’m using. And I also wanted to mention that this is actually my 107th episode when you take my former podcast, She Grows, and my new podcast, Soul Guide Radio together because all the She Grows episodes are still available. So, it’s a little milestone, I didn’t even notice when I reached 100 because I was kind of not thinking about it, but then I noticed when you take my two podcasts together, we’re at 107.

[00:16:12] Allyson Scammell: Okay. So, yay. Just a little celebration dance there for that milestone. And so, here I am at a place in my podcast where I want more advanced strategies for growing. Cause I’ve been at this for a while. Well, I got the intuitive nudge to go back to Amy Porterfield’s podcast. I followed that nudge and I noticed she just dropped a new

[00:16:37] Allyson Scammell: episode about her strategy to get to reach the 1 million downloads in a month milestone for her podcast. And she shares in this episode, her strategies. Oh my gosh, you guys, this episode knocked my socks off. Why? She was giving me exactly what I wanted. She was so generous. I mean, these strategies, we will link this episode in the show notes, these strategies she shares

[00:17:09] Allyson Scammell: she could have easily made a course around. She could make a bunch of money around, but she decided instead to be generous and share the strategies for free on her podcast. I am now coming back to her in new energy. So, she’s sharing an advance. She has an episode of advanced strategies for podcasts.

[00:17:30] Allyson Scammell: I’m now coming back after not listening to her podcast for probably three or four years, I’m coming back, listening to this episode on fire. So excited, so motivated, so lit up and all of a sudden, I’m like, wait a minute, could I be a soul client of hers? Do I need to enroll in one of her programs? Maybe do I need to invest more money and go into one of her masterminds?

[00:17:54] Allyson Scammell: All of a sudden, the wheels are turning in my brain. And guess what else I do? I get on the phone, and I tell four of my peers who have podcasts about this episode. I tell my coach about this episode and say, hey, if you know, if you have clients who have podcasts and are looking for cool strategies to implement, share with them this episode, I share it with my audience.

[00:18:21] Allyson Scammell: I am a referral machine for Amy Porterfield. And she is probably going to get lots and lots of new, super high value traffic into her audience because of me. Why? Because she was so generous. She was sharing with me from her whole heart, giving me exactly what I needed, exactly what I was looking for to run my business.

[00:18:54] Allyson Scammell: So, it gets back to, we want to run a business based on being generous, being generous with our gifts and what you feel called to share and being in our light, being in our magic, being in our gifts, being ever so connected and specific about who our soul client avatar is today, what her needs, wants and desires are today

[00:19:24] Allyson Scammell: so, we are creating the highest vibrational resonance. And so, then when our business gets kissed with the gift of referrals that are the bonuses, it is coming from that perfectly aligned live relevant as of today in this moment energy and that is a thrilling way to grow your business based on your magic, your gifts, your heart.

[00:19:56] Allyson Scammell: Your soul yearnings, as it connects to being in service to your soul client avatar. And that’s the powerful way to grow a business. That is the most empowered way to run a business. And the last thing I want to mention in this episode is the magic of a specific type of client. Do you like my teasers? I decided to do some teasers today to get you guys excited, to listen to the end of this episode.

[00:20:24] Allyson Scammell: So, if I were to get super excited about a specific type of client, don’t get me wrong, I get thrilled by referrals. In fact, it’s the reason why I always ask you for listener reviews. I read listener reviews. That is a referral system is reviews, right? They’re sharing with the world. You, the listener are sharing with the world

[00:20:48] Allyson Scammell: why you enjoy this podcast and your, in, in a sense, referring it to others, to listen to. And I’m not going to say but here I’m going to say and, there’s a type of client that has magic to her and I’ll just use the pronoun her, but you use the pronoun that works for your soul client avatar, and it goes beyond referrals.

[00:21:10] Allyson Scammell: Often this client has been referred, not always though, and she’s definitely a soul client and I call her the repeat client. She’s the soul client who comes back to you again and again and again because she’s growing, she’s evolving, she’s needing you at different times in her journey. So, she’s investing in one of your offerings and then maybe she’s continuing on with you.

[00:21:41] Allyson Scammell: And then maybe she’s going to go away and work with someone else or do something else and then she’s going to come back because very often with soul clients, they don’t need your offerings just once, they need them again and again and when you have a magical high vibrational relationship with a soul client, there’s nothing more rewarding than going on the long journey with that client, being in each other’s worlds, serving each other over the long period,

[00:22:14] Allyson Scammell: over time and not all of your soul clients are really meant to be in the long journey. Sometimes a soul client comes into your life, invests in an offering and leaves, and that’s perfectly cool, but I like to set my business up so as often as possible, I’m calling in the highest soul client that I have the highest energetic resonance with

[00:22:37] Allyson Scammell: and that person is someone who I can serve again and again and again, and let’s say we work together for six months and then she goes off and is doing other things, as I mentioned earlier, and she comes back to me, we just pick up where we left off, we’re now even creating at a deeper level, because we’ve already had this time together.

[00:22:58] Allyson Scammell: Now we’re going, really able and then more powerful way to go in one level deeper and what can happen on your business journey as we spend so much time and effort trying to generate new leads, trying to get sales, we can inadvertently, we would never intend to do this, but it can happen, neglect our current clients, because we’ve called them in.

[00:23:23] Allyson Scammell: We’ve signed them on. We’re working with them. The contract’s been signed. We’ve been paid and we’re doing our thing with them. And we get called into other things. We get called into a new launch. We had called into a new project and that can happen. And it’s just being mindful that the most powerful, how do I want to say this?

[00:23:44] Allyson Scammell: The most powerful sort of new client that you could call in is actually a repeat client. So, your list of current clients, ideally are the top of your priority list every week in your business, you answer their emails first, you get to their voxers first, they get your energy when it’s at the highest, at the start of the day.

[00:24:06] Allyson Scammell: And not at the end of the day, when you’re tired and prioritizing these relationships and treating it like I’m in this for the long haul with you and letting them know again and again, if this is true and it’s from your heart and you’re in integrity, of course, how much you love to work with them and how much you want to continue working with them, let them know that.

[00:24:32] Allyson Scammell: If you feel your heart singing from your relationship, tell them your heart is singing. Tell them you love working with them and be honest, because very likely this is a person who will need you not once or twice, but maybe half a dozen times, maybe a dozen times throughout her journey. And these repeat clients, these repeat soul clients are some of the most rewarding

[00:24:57] Allyson Scammell: journey’s you can go on with a client and they are often that most easeful ones to call back into your business from a pure flow state. So, to recap, I don’t run a business based on referrals. I run a business based on my connection to my soul client avatar in this moment. And when I do that, I put myself in a state of energetic alignment that gets a buzz going and it starts to call in referrals, very aligned and high value referrals into my business.

[00:25:40] Allyson Scammell: And I treat those referrals as cherries on the cake and little gifts back to my business. And as part of that, I always prioritize my current soul clients because I want to be in the energy if it’s in service to them to work with them again and again and again. And my invitation for you this week is to check in on your energetic connection to your soul client avatar, ask her if she has shifted at all,

[00:26:13] Allyson Scammell: if there’s a new facet of her, if she’s become a new person that can happen and ask her what you can create for her today that would get her thrilled, excited, actually motivated to talk about you and your offerings to everyone she knows and notice those little gifts of referrals coming back to your business

[00:26:42] Allyson Scammell: because you’re running an empowered business based on your light and your genius. Okay, my dear ones, that’s all I have for you today and if you’re feeling so called to give this podcast a little gift of a referral in the form of a listener review, I would be so thrilled to read it on the air and as always until next time, may your soul guide the way.

[00:27:22] Allyson Scammell: Are you ready to fill your business with soul clients in the next 60 days, then download my free energy upgrade meditation to amp up your energy frequency, dissolve the doubt and attract the soul clients you are destined to serve. Find the link to download on my website, Allyson scammell.com as well as in the show notes.