Why the online industry is f*cked (and how we can make it better)
There’s no doubt about it, the technology revolution has done so much for society -- especially for women.
It’s allowed more women to make more money than ever before, which of course I am so fucking stoked about.
It’s changing the game in the business world.
Absolutely here for it.
What I am NOT available for is the exploitation of customers that is rampant in the online industry.
Let me start by saying that I totally own my half in everything I have experienced and I don’t have any regrets in taking part in certain exchanges over the years.
What I DO know is that many of us are being targeted in some of our most vulnerable times in our lives and it is not okay.
I naively assumed, that because of the way I treat my customers and those in my orbit with utmost respect and gratitude, that it would be returned to me…because “we are all women wanting the same things” right?
Eek! This is definitely not the case.
As little as eight years ago, I held a foolish belief that only men could be con artists and that women would have each other's back…
Don’t ask me where I got this notion from, but it’s one that has worked against me for the last 8 years. As I write this, I’m chuckling away at baby-Coco who held this as one of her ‘core beliefs’...and oh boy, did she learn the hard way!
I hired a life coach when I was going through my divorce, diving head first in a full time capacity into a new business and leaving corporate. You could say, I was going through a lot.
My network at the time did not consist of people who could support me through all of this.
The life coach came through a referral from the person I had originally approached who was “fully booked”.
At the time, I felt supported and seen, however looking back I can see that this individual was completely out of her depth with my personal situation and what I was creating professionally.
I continued working with this coach for the next 4.5 years and I see now how I was conned, on a yearly basis, into programs that cost more and yet the value never increased.
As someone who is extremely loyal, I hadn’t even thought of changing to someone who might have been a better fit for me. Besides, I’d have to "start all over again”. Fuck that.
This partnership eventually broke down after the yearly cost of the coaching (which was incrementally increasing year on year) skyrocketed to a whopping $55k for the upcoming 12 months with ZERO added value or additions to what I was already receiving as a customer.
Now, as a business owner myself, my loyalty was finally overridden by my good sense (thank goodness). Basically I realised that this was absolute fucking bullshit.
The sad thing was, I thought I had become friends with this coach and it became VERY apparent, VERY quickly, that it was not a friendship on her side but a front to lure me in.
Since then, I’ve had many similar experiences which all up, has cost me upwards of $800k.
And yet, I still have no regrets. This was all a reflection of where I was in my life and how little I VALUED myself, my needs and the knowledge I already had.
I simply had outsourced my power, and for that I can’t blame anyone else but me.
Here’s a few more examples of experiences I’ve trusted others and, at times, not trusted my common sense until it was too late:
Grifters, gift of the gab and gotcha sales calls
I’ve learned over the years that most of the individuals who are making a bucket load of money through online offers, are mostly just great marketers.
When you see someone in your industry who is doing better than you, making more money than you, attracting more followers than you, enjoying more engagement than you, it’s usually down to the fact they have the gift of the gab.
These days, if you aren’t prepared to show up for your business and share with your audience what you’re doing either through social media or writing emails and newsletters like I do, you really don’t stand a chance!
Knowing how to sell is absolutely a necessary skill in the world of online business.
You can have the best product, the best systems, the best of everything; with no sales you have no business, period.
For most of us, sales is a dirty word and I'm by no means saying that marketing and sales are unnecessary. If anything, they’re the backbone and a key component of running a profitable business.
Thing is, so many can close the sale and then can’t back up the promises that were made in the sales call. And THAT is just as big of an issue as having no sales at all.
I’ve been on the receiving end of many great sales pitches -- and fallen for too many of them due to the vulnerable states I was in (divorce, business breakdowns, liquidation, bankruptcy, postpartum etc…)
But whilst these people are making a ton of money, we don’t see the back end. We don’t see the performance of their sales program and the retention rates of their business.
Customer retention is so important, especially when customer acquisition is so bloody expensive (I wrote more about the high costs of acquisition here).
Nowadays, I can smell a con artist a mile away. If anything I’m extremely sceptical of any promises that are made because I’ve been oversold and under-delivered too many times to count.
I’ve been in business, and different industries, to know what is real, achievable and what is not (thanks to the last 8 years of being in the fire!).
I ask a LOT of questions before I dive in and can quickly see when they can’t back up their promises with concrete evidence or examples (you can sniff this from miles away).
And no, a well put together website, social media presence or even shared accolades of past clients is NOT going to be enough to get me over the line (and it shouldn’t be for you either! Though I do think this says a lot about the back end of a business, it’s still not the telltale sign they can deliver).
Shitty customer service delivered with a smile is still shitty service
I began working in my parents’ small business when I was 11 years old (and before you run off with a story about how I was born with a silver spoon and given a leg up…this is NOT that story…my parents had just enough money to feed us…but that’s another blog for another time).
After working with my parents, I went to work at McDonald’s and then into the service / hospitality industry where I was taught some key foundational skills in customer service.
Very few online businesses actually understand what this means or how to deliver a seamless customer experience and ongoing five star service.
I’ve been in so many situations where I have been gaslit, lied to, over-promised and under-provided, charged more than the agreed initial pricing and just generally taken for a ride. This of course all amounts to dissatisfaction and distrust and drives resentment towards the individual and at times, the industry as a whole.
It then takes that much longer to gain trust for the next interaction with a service provider.
Your business is not my business
The amount of people I’ve hired who have sold me a sob story halfway through a project or piece of work, because:
Large sums of money / fees to be paid upfront for great inclusions, which leaves you with nothing to fall back on if the service / product is not fulfilled or delivered in the agreed timeframe or quality
The offer I bought into is no longer profitable for their business
They’ve gone above and beyond the initial agreed scope of work
The cost for this particular project is much higher than what I have paid
They need payment outside the agreement because they have run out of money
Costs included in the package now need to be covered by me
And on and on it goes…
It is absolutely mind-blogging to me that this kind of behaviour is not just prevalent but accepted in the industry.
The professionalism has gone out the window and it blows my mind that the majority of these people remain in business, attracting clients and have yet to be called out en masse for their lack of business conduct.
For me, truthfully, I haven’t done so because energetically I do have the bandwidth for it and also I truly believe that karma is a big fat bitch. She comes to find you and NO ONE, i repeat, NO ONE is immune from the shit sandwiches she serves up.
No one knows more than you…
I see now how all of these experiences have served a purpose for me and as I've already mentioned, I have no regrets about any of it.
Looking back objectively, I can see how I got myself in these situations because of the vulnerable state I was in. I was looking for a space to be held in whilst I made sense of what was happening in my world.
In reality, the people I had engaged had ZERO clue about what I was going through professionally and personally…
Why am I sharing so openly about my experiences?
I believe everyone starts off with good intentions. What we choose to do along the way when the rubber hits the road, that's on you.
Not enough people are speaking out about this and I know that many have experienced or are currently experiencing this very thing. Someones’ gotta call it out.
In fact, I feel like we’ll soon see a bit of a “me too” movement in this industry, calling out this type of work ethic, because many have lost faith and no longer know where to turn.
We’ve been sold the dream for far too long, only to find out that it was a marketing ploy to get your hard earned cash. Thing is, I believe mentorship and masterminds are crucial to our own personal development and to building long lasting brands.
The truth is, we can not create on our own. It really does take a team and a village to create movements and businesses that are both long lasting and profitable.
It’s up to us to build our businesses on the foundations of honesty, integrity and an unwavering commitment to customer service.
Coco x
EXPLORE DEEPER
Click here for your free downloadable ‘What is an Asset Class?’ & why you need to know more about them.
