Start Something New With This Week’s #kajabihero

Does the thought of using technology intimidate you?

Do you avoid using new applications, phones, or computers because of your age, ignorance, or past experiences or failures?

Do you think it’s too late to reinvent your business?

Now is the time to stop that train of thought.

You may be robbing yourself of a wonderful future filled with flexibility, convenience, and satisfaction. When you read our next Hero’s story, you will have the courage, confidence, and the support of technology to pursue your dreams no matter your age or situation.

Paula MacLean is no stranger to hard work. 

She is an entrepreneur in her sixties and her career statistics in working with businesses in the nonprofit sector are nothing short of incredibly impressive.

She has given much of her life to the teaching and training of managers, supervisors, and boards of directors in nonprofit organizations, in order that they would become more effective and efficient in their scope of work.

Let’s take a look at some of her numbers:

• 25: The amount of years Paula has spent running her own business.
• 1,000,000: The distance in miles that she has traveled to teach and train others.
• 200: The nights per year she spends away from her home on business.
• 6: The number of books she has written and self-published.
• 17: The number of online teaching modules she has produced.
• Infinite: The amount of ‘road food’ she has consumed to make all of this traveling possible.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the story is that all of this has been accomplished by 2 people. What started as a two-woman operation has remained that way, in large part due to the role that marketing and technology have played in Paula’s business.

At an age when most people are thinking about retirement and slowing down, Paula has embraced the new technology that’s available and used it to take her business to the next level.

This has not only given her an opportunity to reach more people via the internet, but it has given her the time to enjoy being at home more and on the road less.

The Experienced Teacher

Paula’s passion is teaching. She has the gift to communicate with others in a way that enables them to receive her content and to implement it into their nonprofit organizations. When you are the executive director of a nonprofit, you answer to a board of directors that are made up of volunteers, and they make decisions on how to manage their limited funds and personnel. This is a special breed of

When you are the executive director of a nonprofit, you answer to a board of directors that are made up of volunteers, and they make decisions on how to manage their limited funds and personnel. This is a special breed of business model.

She didn’t start out with a plan to serve others in the nonprofit sector, but life rarely goes as planned. She started working for the Canadian government, and at the age of 26 a friend suggested she apply for a job opening as an executive director of a nonprofit organization.

This started her career in the industry, and by working with and for people in these businesses she gained the experience to be a very effective teacher. Armed with only a mailing list (yes, snail mail) and a dot matrix printer, Paula created a flyer and launched her new business.

Paula has found her niche in coming alongside of these supervisors and directors and training them on how to make better decisions, how to interact more effectively with their volunteer base, and perhaps most importantly, how to wisely and efficiently spend the very limited resources that most nonprofit businesses have. All in all, she has great expertise when it comes to making well-rounded strategic plans for nonprofit organizations.

She has taught thousands of people at countless conferences, classes, and seminars.

She has traveled North America several times over to use her knowledge to help and encourage others in their callings. She would spend 8 hours or more a day on her feet, teaching classes of people for a period of time, only to pack up and fly somewhere new to do it all again.

It comes as no surprise then that after 20 years she needed knee surgery, and began to think of a more effective way to reach more people, while trying to reduce the strain on her life and body.

At this point, it would have been easy for Paula to hang up her teaching hat, to justify her retirement after decades of hard work, or to let the limitations of her physical body stop her from continuing on. What a shame it would have been for someone with her knowledge and passion to stop sharing and helping others.

Because she was determined to try a different approach, she has seen success like she never dreamed, and most of it has come from the basement in her own home.

Her new goal was to take her live teaching seminars and turn them into online teaching modules which could be easily accessed by her clients at any time.  A major factor in Paula’s search for a marketing platform was the need for the possibility of several different customers to be watching any one of the 17 course videos simultaneously at any given time.

She also needed a platform that was going to get her products online quickly and provide a simple user interface.

She also needed a platform that was going to get her products online quickly and provide a simple user interface.

Her search led her to Kajabi specifically because of the robust and diverse platform that would allow her to offer her video courses, sell her books, have a secure site for payment transactions, and reach her customers like never before. She describes Kajabi as being the core to making her vision come to life.

The Painless Transition 

So how do two business partners take a company that depends on live, in-person teaching, and transition it to a successful online organization? With Paula at the helm, the willingness to learn new things, a confident attitude, and support from Kajabi, Paula has done just that.

So how do two business partners take a company that depends on live, in-person teaching, and transition it to a successful online organization? With Paula at the helm, the willingness to learn new things, a confident attitude, and support from Kajabi, Paula has done just that.

They purchased video cameras, a green screen, a lighting system, and editing software and created a studio in the basement, where they filmed the beginning 8 courses to train supervisors and managers. In only 4 months, they launched their first course which had great success.

They have since followed this launch with 9 more courses, several ebooks and short videos, and have recently topped 100k in gross sales. The enjoyment and fulfillment that Paula and her business partner have experienced through the whole process are evident.

Paula was asked about her age and her willingness to dive into what some might consider an intimidating or confusing market. She says that Kajabi has made all the difference in making the transition as seamless and simple as possible. She values the incredible technical support, the ease of integrating other software and programs with Kajabi, and the overall simplicity of giving her customers access to the products.

Even through the learning curves and frustrations that are a part of the process, she never had cause to give up or be so discouraged that she decided to throw in the towel. Persistence and the determination to not be intimidated by new ideas or her own limitations has proven to be the key to wonderful success for Paula.

You May Be Your Own Worst Enemy

What is stopping you from taking your passion, hobby, experience, or career and putting it online to reach more people?

Do you think you are too old?

Do you think that the tools of technology have passed you by?

Do you think it just won’t work for you?

Do you fear failure?

Paula expressed that they are still trying different things, which can lead to sometimes going back and rethinking how to do something better. If she could go back and tell herself one thing it would be that the greatest detriment to success is perfection.

You do not need to have everything perfect or in order to move forward. Business and people are constantly changing, so it would make sense that a business owner has to be ready to change as well.

Do not be discouraged by the fact that you may not understand how something works or you don’t see how to get from point A to point B.

Kajabi’s goal is to make the process as simple and easy as possible, which in turn will give you the confidence you need to go forward with your dreams. A driving passion of ours is to make sure that technology is not a hurdle or hindrance, but instead a help to motivate you to reach your goals.

In With the New

In the year and a half that Paula has been using Kajabi, she has been so impressed by the growth in size and offerings to the clients. She loves that there always seems to be something new and improved coming out of the gates, which only makes her job easier and creates endless possibilities.  

Her experience with trying something new has left a wonderful taste in her mouth, and now she is hungry for more. She hasn’t let fear of the unknown or of change put a stop to her passion in teaching people and seeing how she can best use these new services to better reach her existing customers and to create new ones.

Paula’s products have been selling well and the feedback from their clients has been extremely positive and encouraging. She and her business partner are currently in the process of building and filming even more course modules, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for what they will accomplish.

Can you imagine what might be possible for you to do with your experience and Kajabi’s capabilities? Paula said it best herself when she said, “We’re only limited by our own creativity.”

Kajabi is the best way to turn your knowledge into income
‍

At Kajabi, we’re working to build a world where everyone can build a life and business around their income. 

With Kajabi, you can sell your expertise online. Create online courses, establish membership sites, offer coaching programs, host a podcast, and sell other digital products. Plus, you'll get marketing tools like a website, CRM, email marketing, landing page templates, and helpful analytics to help you spread the word about your products and earn more revenue.

Fully explore what Kajabi has to offer and start building your business during a free trial. Start your free 14-day trial of Kajabi today!

Still researching? Check out Kajabi’s free downloadable ebook guides on launching and growing a knowledge commerce online business!