Remi Boudreau: Painter to Kajabi Hero

Do you ever feel like you are getting buried under all the tasks, projects, and responsibilities involved in running your business?

Even if you are just getting started, it can be so overwhelming keeping up with it all.

Creating content, managing social media profiles, staying on top of email marketing, keeping your clients happy… I could go on and on.

It takes a handful of elements working together to start a successful business. But here’s the thing:

You don’t have to live in a continual state of overwhelm.

It’s okay to start small if you need to. Hustle looks different for everybody. And you can be successful going at your own pace.

How do I know?

Because that’s exactly what our newest Kajabi Hero, Remi Boudreau, did with his business!

Here’s what I’ll cover today:

• How Remi became an innovator in the painting industry, and took his brick and mortar business to a whole new level with Kajabi. 
• How to hone in on one thing at a time to avoid entrepreneurial overwhelm. 
• How to find the best pace to grow your business.
• Plus some bonus tips and tricks along the way.

We have some really important topics to cover in this post, and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Let’s get started.

How Remi Made His Brick And Mortar Business Stand Out

Remi has been a professional interior painter for 25 years now. When he first started out, he didn't like a lot of things about his industry.

There was no certification process, and a lack of knowledge that Remi knew was so important. He saw the missing pieces and decided to step in. He wanted to improve the industry.

How’d he do it?

He became a color consultant.

I know what you’re thinking:

What is a color consultant? And what does it have to do with painting contractors?

Have you ever brought some paint home (after looking at so many paint chips you wish you were color blind) only to put it on the wall and realize the color doesn’t look so great in your house?

I know I’m not the only one that finds choosing the right paint color so frustrating!

I don’t know if it’s a trick of lighting… But the last time I decided to do some redecorating it was almost like the paint I put on the wall was a completely different shade than the color I picked at the store.

The same thing happens to paint contractors when clients pick out the wrong color. Except the big difference here is that the contractor usually gets the blame (and bad reviews) because the client picked a color they didn’t like.

Remi used his knowledge about color to help clients select paint they'd actually like before he put anything on their walls.

Brilliant right?

Color Consulting Goes Digital

After the success he had with his brick and mortar business, Remi started taking his knowledge online.

Four and a half years ago he started making videos on Youtube for DIY-ers. He uploaded a video once a week.

One and a half years later his views skyrocketed. After a couple more years, his channel reached over 1 million views. (To this day he has the #1 ranking video on Google for “how to paint baseboards.”)

Then he took another step in his business: he started helping other painters become color experts with his products on Kajabi.

He has 3 programs on website:

• One for the painters who do the painting work.
• One for contractors who organize the business and manage the marketing.
• And another that teaches painters how to be color consultant specialists.

He broke his entire business down step by step, layer by layer, and now he teaches it on Kajabi.

So what are some key takeaways that you can apply to your business?

Remi had such good advice in his interview (so if you haven't already, don't forget to give it a listen.) But here are some points that really stood out to me.

Narrow Your Focus

You ever feel like you have to master a thousand different things to be a successful entrepreneur?

You know how it is.

You gotta know the tech, the design skills, be a great writer, learn how to get more followers on social media, master email marketing, and live video is so hot right now… you've gotta do that too.

You ever stop and ask yourself if all of that is really necessary at the same time?

I understand that starting and running your own business requires you to juggle a lot at first, but what do you have to gain by making things harder than they need to be? (Hint: nothing good. I know this from lots of experience!)

Chances are you didn’t start your journey as an entrepreneur to be just as stressed as you were working for someone else.

So how do you lower your stress levels, and still work your business?

I just love how this week’s Hero story builds on last week’s. Let take a look back for a second and recap the main takeaway from last week:

What is the purpose of your business? (In case you missed it, here's last week’s post to help you find the purpose of your business.)

When you know the purpose of your business it’s much easier to simplify your business by focusing on what’s important to your purpose.

Here's Remi's advice to narrow your focus:

• Do one thing really well.  

You don't have to write and ebook, create a course, start a mastermind, and offer coaching packages all at the same time.

Pick one thing that feels like the best thing to serve your business's purpose right now and put the rest on the shelf. You can always pick them up later.

• Once you nail that one thing, put it on autopilot.

Automate whatever you can (and no other platform makes this as easy as Kajabi!) Or maybe even hire a VA to cover some stuff that you don’t enjoy so much. Outsourcing can be a great way to free up time and reduce your stress.

• Move on to the next thing.

Start the process all over again. Focus on one thing at a time. There is nothing wrong with stair stepping to your goals. This isn't a race.

Grow At Your Own Pace

Entrepreneurs put way too much pressure on themselves to go super fast.

Being super busy and stressed seems to be the norm. But have you ever considered that every entrepreneur has their own pace that is most productive for them?

Just because your timeline looks different from someone else's don't feel like you have to match someone else’s pace.

Hustle can look different for everyone. And trying to go faster than you really need to will burn you out. Go too slow and you won’t see the progress you’re looking for.  

Keep comparisons out of your business. You don’t have to keep up with another business owner if you’re not comfortable operating at their speed.

And this comparison trap can work in reverse too.

Believe it or not, it’s very common for entrepreneurs to pull back on the reins when they start gaining some real traction. For some of us it may feel wrong to make more than our parents did growing up. Maybe you have hangups about making more than your friends or family.

Don't go too fast and don't slow down. Find your pace and stick with it. There’s no need to pressure yourself either way.

You are unique and so is your business. So there’s no reason to hold on to a mindset that tells you there is only one way to run your business.

Only you can know what timeline is right for you. Some people move fast and some move slower, but you know what?

That's okay!

Remi’s Advice For Beginners. 

In the interview, Remi outlined some very specific steps to start your business. So if you're new to this, you may get a lot out of his no-nonsense, simple approach.
I want to cover that real quick before we move on. I love his philosophy: keep it simple.

• Set up your opt in.

Right from the start you need a sure-fire way to collect email addresses for your email list.

Remi recommends a free course. (And I can second that strategy as well.) You could do a text email course set up on an auto responder, a video email course, or even an audio course.  

Here's a few other options you may want to consider.

• Content upgrades like checklists and worksheets for blog posts. 
• Audio trainings. 
• Video guides/tutorials. 
• Downloadable case studies.
• And even a short Ebook.

Pick one and set it up with an email opt in.

When selecting the right opt in for your business consider your talents. Some people would rather write thousands of words of content than film a 5-min video. For other people, they'd rather design a rad, instructional infographic.

When you're just starting out, go with your strengths. Don't feel like you have to set up an email course if you'd rather record an audio training.

• Set up your list

So how big is big enough for your email list?

Building a business without a list isn't impossible, but trust me on this. It's a whole lot easier to make sales when you have a targeted list of at least 100-200 people. A list of thousands is all good and well, but you don’t need a massive list to be a Kajabi Hero.

A lot of the veterans of email marketing use segmentation in their email marketing efforts. If you’re just starting out, that can get really confusing in a hurry. Start out with one simple list. Once you get the hang of that you can experiment with segmentation.

• Start creating content.

Content creation is key to building relationships with potential and existing customers. Good content builds your following and visibility. When your content is valuable to your audience you will build up your business faster than just slapping up a landing page and hoping people will stumble across it.

You may think that blog posts and videos are the only way to go for content creation, but there are are a few others that could fit your style and skill too.

• Visual content:

• Infographics 
• Swipe files
• Even Pinterest-style quotes and thoughts

• Audio content:

• Podcasts
• Interviews

You don’t have to do all of them at once. Pick one or two that fit you the best and focus your energy there.

Focusing your efforts on the type of content that suits your skills means less stress and more fun creating your content. Your audience can tell when you enjoy creating content for them or not. Enjoying what you do is attractive to readers, viewers, and listeners. You enthusiasm will connect with your audience better. The better your connection with your audience, the easier your marketing efforts will be.

• Eventually organize your content into a course.

I’ll let you in on a little secret…

You can use existing content to build your first course on Kajabi.

You can even use existing content to make as many courses as you want with Kajabi.

People don’t feel like hunting through several different blog posts, videos, or podcasts to get all of the information they want to know about your niche. People will pay to have all of the information they need in one organized place.

So if you struggle to come up with course ideas, take a look back at your old content. Spruce it up with any bonuses, maybe even re-record some existing videos, package it up nicely, and sell it as a course.

It's a great strategy, that makes the process so much easier.

Take each step as fast or as slow as you need to. No matter where you are in your business you are the only one who knows the best pace for you personally.

When you drop your comparison habit you may just find that you feel more freedom in your business.

Don't Sacrifice Your Health or Sanity For Your Business

I don’t know about you… but I did not sign up for this entrepreneur thing to be just as stressed as everyone else.

So when you are just not having fun in your business anymore, take a step back

Not only does stress feel awful, it can have a major impact on your health.

Stress floods your body with a cocktail of adrenaline and cortisol. Muscle tension, increased heart rate, and high blood pressure are also in the mix.

All of this is great when you’re in a life or death situation, but it’s not healthy to live in that state on a daily basis.

The thing is… You don't have to put yourself through that.

I hope Remi's story has helped you see that you can make running your business so simple.

Another thing I want to break down:

Not everyone is a tech guru.

And you don't have to go through a ton of extra stress just trying to figure out all the plugins, back end tech, and design work to make your business website do what you want it to do, (and look fantastic at the same time.)

Try sorting through hundreds of plugins, to find the one that crapped out and crashed your site. That’s stress!

If you are tired of struggling with the headache of other platforms, would you be willing to let Kajabi take a massive weight off your shoulders?

Try it out for 14-days. Maybe you'll discover how easy running your business can be. Maybe you can follow Remi's lead and be the next Kajabi Hero!

And if you want to learn more about Remi and his courses check out his Kajabi site here.

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