Chris Norton: 1:04

This show is all about marketing mistakes. So Megan, you have your background in psychology, is making me feel really judged.

Meagan Williamson: 1:15

No, listen, I used to when people used to ask me, especially men, um, this was like a common thing like, do you know what I'm thinking? I just remembered that the other day, and nobody has said that to me in a really long time. Listen, I don't have it, I have two small I’m not worrying about what you’re thinking or judging.

Chris Norton: 1:32

I'm joking. Um, so our show is all about marketing mistakes and what you learn. Yeah. So have you had any big mistakes that you've made in marketing and that you've you've learned that we can all learn from? What's what's one of your biggest mistakes you've made?

Meagan Williamson: 1:48

Oh gosh, for me personally in my own business, I would say that, and I've talked about this before, but it's sort of like I don't think I fully have told people why. So I made a huge financial mistake, but it was also a bat, I lost $25,000 early on in my business running, hiring a Facebook ads expert. I'll do air quotes around the word expert. Um, and I wrote we ran ads to a brand new funnel that we had never tested that had not been tested organically. So, from a coaching perspective, but also about my own business, I think it was really embarrassing for me because I think I know a lot and I generally make very I make risky decisions that are safe. I am the sole breadwinner in our family. So my husband works for me, but he is the caregiver of our small children. I'm the ambitious one. I love working. Um, and I I, you know, like losing $25,000 in three months, you know, thankfully I was in a position I didn't, you know, it's not like I couldn't afford to pay our mortgage or we didn't lose anything. But it, you know, it was, I was licking my wounds after that. And I realized like the biggest thing I learned was like, don't run paid advertising to a funnel you haven't tested organically. Uh, do not outsource something until you have enough understanding of it to ask the right questions. There were warning flags. My husband and I both picked up on them, but we kept thinking, well, they charge so much. Like clearly, when you're paying someone thousands of dollars a month to manage ads, they clearly must know what they're doing. Um, and that person did not know what they were doing, and it was an expensive mistake. That's right.

Will Ockenden: 3:43

So did you So you're saying you you basically burnt the budget? Yeah. It didn't get any results for you, and you just you spent $25,000 in three months and realized. That's right. So nothing.

Meagan Williamson: 3:53

Yeah, we were spending about like seven to ten thousand dollars a month on the ad spend, you know, USD. We were paying the person between $2,500 and $3,000 USD a month. And we did get some like freebie opt-ins. One person purchased. So during that 90-day period, one person bought my offer. It was only $67. Wait, wait, what kind of return on the dollar? Wait, wait, wait, wait. It gets better. The ROAS. The person that purchased emailed me and said, I just had a baby four days ago. I should not have spent the money. I'm so sorry to do this. I'm asking for a refund. Honestly, I think I laughed until I cried. And I thought, so we had one purchase in the three 90-day time period. They asked for a refund after four days because they had just literally she got out of the hospital and asked for the refund.

Chris Norton: 4:56

Oh, God.

Meagan Williamson: 4:57

And um, you know, it was, but now I run my own Facebook ads. I, you know, like I I've learned a lot. We've now when I hire, you know, my husband and I, we have a lot of questions we ask. We love outsourcing and hiring, but we scrutinize. I took this person as a referral. I thought if my friends are doing well with them. Well, I love some of my friends, but they don't know as much as my husband and I do about conversions, events, about ad spend. So, anyways, that definitely led to some major trust issues.

Will Ockenden: 5:32

I'm not surprised. Yeah, I mean, that that that's you're still standing. You survived it.

Meagan Williamson: 5:37

I did. And now it's like, you know, I'm I never I always do things myself first, learn, learn enough to be dangerous, and then I look to outsource. So even I started running TikTok ads for my own business. And, you know, like I I never spend money I don't have. And that's the way I, you know, thankfully I can look at it. But would I have liked to have done different things with that $25,000? Absolutely. Um, but now I do feel like I learned a lot. And it helps me to teach because I have a lot of business owners who come to me and they'll say, like, oh, I want to start running ads. And, you know, they haven't proven their funnel yet. They it's it's made me a better marketer, that's for sure.

Will Ockenden: 6:15

That's the that's the right way to take it. That's a good, that's a good silver lining. Yeah, absolutely.

Chris Norton: 6:19

Use it as use it as from every mistake, there is a positive, I think.

Meagan Williamson: 6:23

Yes.

Chris Norton: 6:23

We've all lost we've all lost money though, haven't we? I mean, every everybody's lost money. It's the it's the the nature of the beast in marketing, test and measure. But yeah. Maybe you just didn't measure it quick enough. That 90 days maybe should have been 30 or something. I don't know. But anyway.

Meagan Williamson: 6:36

Yeah. Well, lessons learned, it's okay. It also made me just real, you know, like you just, yeah, like with running ads, it's always, yeah, you just have to, you have to know, especially when you're not physical product, right? And and so much has changed in the ad space. Um, but I love that stuff now, and it helps me with my organic marketing efforts. So it's okay.