I Built A Successful Business Coaching Men In Dating & Relationships
Hi! I’m Apollonia Ponti, a certified coach, speaker, and expert that specializes in coaching men in dating and relationships.
I run a coaching business in helping men in finding themselves as well as solve any relationship/ love hardships they have. My mission is to help give men the guidance they need when it comes to love. I want men to know that no matter what walk of life you come from, or what mistakes you’ve made in your past - you and only you can, decide to be the person in charge of your love life.
The main products I sell are coaching and memberships. I also sell various products such as “ The Algorithm of Attraction” which is a transformative 6-week coaching/virtual program that teaches you the stages of attraction to get a woman emotionally, physically, and mentally connected with you. I have products like Break Free of Codependency, Friend Zone No More, Online Dating Results for Men, How To Text A Woman Manual…etc.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
Growing up, I always had a passion for love. During my early days starting at 10 years old, I would wonder why the Disney movies I would watch were so different from my divorced parents who were constantly fighting for custody and arguing every time they spoke. I would sneak my headphones into my room late at night to educate myself from Dr.Drew and Dr.Ruth. Throughout my life I found myself chasing broken relationships. I felt like I had a calling for this early on.
As my life progressed from being a teen to a young adult, I started dating and found myself in a whirlwind of toxic relationships and healthy relationships. I went through so many challenges and obstacles in my life until I mastered precisely what I needed. That was to master my confidence within myself to receive everything I wanted.
Give it everything you got when it comes to starting your business, make very cautious decisions, and find a mentor that has made it, whom you can trust, and who will be able to help you navigate through the obstacles you will face.
As I progressed into being a woman, I quit my six-figure corporate private banking job to pursue my passion which is helping people find love through mastering their dating and relationship life.
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.
What I initially did for designing my first product, keeping in mind this is a fully online business, I created small programs off on what I noticed my coaching clients needed. I started my coaching prices at a lower price and as I gradually became more successful, the prices increased due to high demand. When I would notice some of my clients needed self-improvement programs or relationship programs, I started releasing products that can significantly improve the quality of what they needed such as “Break Free of Codependency” to “ 35 Rules To Save Your Relationship”. The fees for products and coaching has been at a small rate since this is all online. As the business grew I hired a team to help me since doing multiple tasks at once and coaching clients can be very overwhelming
When I hired a team of employees, we all had to figure out how to put together funnels, copywriting, and designs that would fit my business structure and niche. The employees that we have, have grown with the company and they have been with me since day 1 helping me with every aspect of how to launch and grow our sales. Assigning tasks to my employees has made it extremely helpful when it comes to coming up with new products or maintaining the sales of the products I already have. As the business grows, we have developed more programs, updated older programs, as well as coached. I used to be the sole coach in my business but now I have two trained coaches who work under me and are involved with the webinars and masterclasses that we produce for our clients as well as anybody looking in to do business with me. We have developed a membership where our clients can pay a small monthly fee of $37 and have access to three group coaching, exclusive programs, be part of our interviews with special guests, and many more benefits.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Everything has been organic for the first two years of my business, there was no crowdfunding involved. I started my business on youtube and because of that, I decided to learn youtube algorithms to help me promote my business. I studied online business and created 10 evergreen programs and from that outcome, I was able to build a coaching practice on youtube. I was able to give actionable advice and build a relationship with people on youtube when I started to go more in-depth with my studies about youtube algorithms. I was able to grow my subscriber base and still to this day my subscribers, as well as viewers, continue to grow. I was able to get the majority of my clientele based on my first year of starting my practice on youtube. When I first started to notice customers pouring through, that was when I hit 20k subscribers on youtube, and from that, it started to become a steady rhythm of clients. I hired a business coach who is now my husband who also studied online markets.
My biggest takeaway from this entrepreneurial space is to not be intimidated by what everyone else is doing. I had to learn that your business is your engine and it is centered around you and works differently for others. Another thing I had to learn is just because someone makes a million dollars off of one ad doesn't necessarily mean that it is true and doesn't mean that this will work for your business niche. I hired a business manager and coach that is successful and can show a profit of success in your specific niche. The hardships that came from being an entrepreneur I had to undergo were failing because for me to learn I had to fail multiple times. Website management was a tremendous aspect that I needed to learn when you have new websites that are launching. I always try to keep my community up to date, stay relevant, and also have a relationship despite how big you get with your community. Being able to maintain a relationship in so many ways and opening up your business was why I did the membership program so we can affect the masses, and have my coaches come in and coach people.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
I've been able to attract and retain customers, as well as bring them back, by always doing lives on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube…etc mainly being everywhere that they are on social media. I had to invent new programs as well as stick with existing ones. I was very involved in every social media aspect that my clients were in so I was doing Q&As, giveaways, having events, and doing live masterclasses and webinars for no cost. There is a lot of value in hosting a free masterclass or webinar because that lets my existing clients or potential clients see the value in my programs as well as myself. I was always creating videos on subjects that are relevant for today and even updating on subjects I’ve already covered but now have a new approach or perspective on it. This is how I keep my clients and also coaching. Coaching has been a huge factor in bringing clients back because once you have changed a client's life around, they stay loyal to everything you do. I was able to keep the traffic going on my business through SEO management. For example, SEO on my backend and make sure I have blogs that are SEO.
A huge piece of advice I would give to any person looking to start their entrepreneurial business is that you will get people raining down on you to be your copywriter or funnel maker but you need to make sure they are aligned with your message and what your business stands for. Just because someone promises they can deliver you something doesn't mean they can deliver it to you the way you want it. It is important to build a relationship base before they work with you. I also noticed how the people that you trust are also the people that benefit the most from working in the business with you. Trust has no price tag and this is why it is vital to have a foundation of trust and an existing relationship base.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, I am doing exceptionally. My business has grown bigger than I ever thought and the obstacles and challenges I had to undergo were all worth it. I have developed a team of coaches who are knocking it out of the park and driving up sales like never before. Having a team of coaches by my side has significantly lifted the weight off my shoulders in terms of being the sole coach for coaching calls. With the help of my team, I have increased traffic on my website to 100k visits per month. Releasing new programs, having free videos that aren’t on youtube, creating and releasing my membership, as well as new or updated products, have helped generate more visits to my website. My team also helps promote my products and services through social media. Since I get hundreds of messages every day, my team goes through each and everyone and replies to people as well as recommends what product or coaching they might need. I have 570k subscribers on youtube as well as over 90 million views. Youtube has been a great factor in getting potential clients aware of the services I provide and I always make sure to link my website and products in my description on YouTube as this also is beneficial in driving up traffic on my website. My business has grown internationally and my services are available in all regions. I have coached clients who come from different parts of the world and all speak different languages. I have clients from Brazil, France, Portugal…etc.
I have very little ad spend. It was 0 until September 2021 in which I spent 5k a month.
What I think the future looks like for me is to expand my business even bigger. I want to reach other countries such as Asia so I can connect with more people who need help in love, life, or relationships. I feel like there are so many people who are too nervous or scared or even skeptical to get help for their love life but I want to be able to reach those people and prove to them that I can be the one to turn their life around.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Through starting my business, I’ve learned that one of the most important factors is hiring people who you trust. You will also get people promising you to either help grow your business or help you with certain aspects of your business. You have to be careful about decision-making in these situations. I have learned that you can’t be quick in making decisions when it comes to working with someone outside of your business because you have to analyze if this person understands your niche. At the end of the day, no one knows your business better than you.
A tip I would give to anyone thinking of starting their own business is, that you would have to be involved in every aspect of what is going on. You have to be involved with everything from the front to the back. Another piece of advice I would give is you would have to understand that everything is about testing as well. You will have to test what your clients will want and what people may need. You will have to test the market and see what is working well and what is something everyone needs but isn’t getting enough of.
One of the challenges I had to face when growing my business is bullying. I don’t think a lot of entrepreneurs talk about this often but there is a lot of bullying and criticism going on, especially in the space I work in. As long as you know your mission and why you do what you do, focus on this. When you’re able to focus on your mission you will be able to silence the noise and see all the good that you do.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
The platforms/ tools I use are Slack, Zoom, Calendly, Pretty links, Syros, Active Campaign, WordPress for our website…etc. I also love everything in the google workspace such as google sheets, docs…etc.
Throughout the growth of my business, I have tried a lot of tools and went through a lot of trial and error with them but I came to find out that the ones that have helped my business immensely are the simplest. Simple is better for online business. The tools I have mentioned, I feel, are the simplest ones and can get the job done. I use Hyros to track sales, Calendly to set up appointments, Active Campaign for email automation, and pretty links to make the URL “prettier” when you paste it.
Here are the links to the tools I have mentioned:
- Activecampaign
- Slack
- Zoom
- Calendly
- Pretty Links
- Hyros
- Wordpress
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
The books that had a great influence on me were Spirit Junkie and Judgement Detox both by Gabrielle Bernstein, Sunny Lenarduzzi’s course Youtube For Bosses, and Rich As F*ck by Amanda Frances.
Amanda France’s book taught me how to have a great relationship with money. Her book helped me better my understanding of money especially when you come from a background where there was always a lack of money. Her book opened my eyes to look at money as energy, not as a physical piece of paper or a digit in your bank account.
Sunny Lenarduzzi was a business mentor for me. She wrote about what has worked for her on youtube, what isn’t working, and how to grow your youtube channel. She gave a lot of advice in her course on what she’s done in the business that has worked well for her which gave me a better understanding of what I should and should not do when starting my business. Gabrielle Bernstien helped me in my personal development realm. Her book helped me change my life for the better and because of that, I was able to become a coach.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
My advice for people starting as entrepreneurs is to get rid of the idea that the hours of starting your business are from 8-5. The idea that you work only 9 hours in your business is completely false. You have to give it you're all. Entrepreneurship isn’t something that everyone can do because you would have to know everything in your business and can’t take the easy way out. You have to learn the basics of everything in your business from the creating aspect to the backend.
Never go into business with people who are not emulating where you want to be. That is what I did wrong in the beginning. For example, on Instagram, there would be people who promise you that they will grow your following when they have 300 followers on their feed or people who say they can help you make six figures but aren't making six figures themselves. There will be so many people saying that you need to brand yourself first but in truth, you need to figure out what your niche is before you brand yourself. I notice how a lot of people go into entrepreneurship thinking “I am going to do this one thing…” Yet that “one thing” isn’t what people need.
Overall you should give it everything you got when it comes to starting your business, make very cautious decisions, and find a mentor that has made it, whom you can trust, and who will be able to help you navigate through the obstacles you will face.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
I’m not looking to hire at this moment but eventually, I will hire another coach who I will have to train. I want to hire someone who truly wants to help people and has a passion for helping men in the relationship/ dating space to figure out how to have better relationships overall, not just with romantic partners but with friends, family, and most importantly, themselves.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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