30-Day Visibility Challenge with Allison Henderson
30-Day Visibility Challenge with Allison Henderson
On this week’s episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant podcast, I’m joined by business coach and visibility expert Allison Henderson, who has helped hundreds of sleep consultants build real, thriving businesses using one powerful and completely free tool: the internet.
We talk about what it actually means to be visible as a sleep consultant, online and in person. Allison shares why so many of us stay stuck, including the fear of being judged by people close to us, the pressure to look or sound a certain way, and the tendency to wait until everything feels perfect before taking action.
We also get into the practical side of increasing visibility: how to build genuine referral relationships with pediatricians, therapists, and local professionals, how to show up consistently on social media without burning out, and why one real conversation can change the course of your business.
Allison and I are teaming up for a 30-Day Visibility Challenge starting May 12th. If you’ve been dragging your feet, if you’re unsure what to post, or you just need some accountability and direction, this program is for you.
What’s included:
- Daily content prompts
- A group coaching call
- Allison’s mini course on creating content that converts
- Audio trainings and Q&A inside Telegram
- A cheat sheet that outlines 50+ ways to get visible online and in person
All of this for $99. It’s a no brainer!
Links:
Link to register: 30-Day Visibility Challenge
Instagram: @allisonhenderson_coach
Website: Allison Henderson
If you would like to learn more about becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our Facebook Group: Becoming A Sleep Consultant
CPSM Website: Center for Pediatric Sleep Management
Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here.
Transcript:
Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.
On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.
Jayne Havens: Allison, welcome back to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. I always love having you on the show.
Allison Henderson: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited.
Jayne Havens: So you’ve been on the show several times before, but there are probably always new listeners. Before we get started, why don’t you share a little bit about yourself and how you support the sleep consultant community?
Allison Henderson: Yeah, so I’ve been in the online space now for eight years. I’ve helped hundreds of sleep consultants. I’m a business coach, and a lot with being a business coach is helping you build that business foundation. A lot of that looks like you starting your website, your sales pages, creating content, having conversations with strangers on the internet, really just collaborating and building business partnerships. So a lot of what I’m helping you do is make money, so find and sign clients on the internet. And I just want you to have the best life ever. And I know your business is that avenue for you to have that freedom and to really live a joyful, meaningful life.
Jayne Havens: Love it. Love it. Love it. Today we’re going to talk about visibility. So what does that mean? Where are sleep consultants showing up? Where should they be showing up? Give me a rundown.
Allison Henderson: Yeah, so visibility, I guess, could mean a few different things. But for me, I know the internet has such a powerful way to get you in front of thousands, if not millions, of people. And it’s free. I’m, like, shouting this from, like, a megaphone here, guys. It’s free. We got to use it. It’s a free tool that we all have access to. I’m very big into organic marketing. I actually don’t do ads or anything like that. I’ve been able to build multiple six figures over the last few years just because of me posting on the internet and having conversations and building business relationships. And so that’s a lot of what I teach.
And why this is so important is because I know a lot of you want to make a lot of money. And, like, no shame here, right? We want to have a lot of clients. And the more that we show up—this is, like, what’s fun.
It’s like the more you show up and you get the clients, you start making money, you are going to see, wow, there are so many more people that need my help. So I need to be showing up more. Like, I almost have a feeling in my heart where I’m like, if I don’t show up, I’m kind of feeling guilty. Like, there are a lot of people that need the knowledge that’s in my cute little brain, right? And all of you, same thing. Like, you have this amazing knowledge. It’s such a gift. Almost, like, how dare you not share this with the world, right?
And because we share it, guess what happens? It gets shared to other people, or other people start going, who is this girl? Like, I probably need to watch more of her content. And, you know, we all know we need to build the know, like, and trust factor. At this point, if you’ve built a business or watched any sort of business training, you kind of understand that. Your content and you just coming on the internet showcases that piece of you where we start to build that know, like, and trust factor.
Even with referrals, I know a lot of you want to have those referrals. Well, guess what? They’re still coming to your profiles to check out who you are. Do I like this person? Do I like her energy? What are her testimonials? There are a lot of things like that where the internet just has that brilliant way to transition more referrals and multiply them. And so I’m all big on, like, hey, once you start getting referrals, awesome. Come back on the internet and try to get more clients.
Because I know a lot of you, it’s not just I want a couple clients a month. It’s like you want 10-plus clients a month. Or maybe you want to have a bigger business where you have other sleep consultants, maybe even underneath you. Like, you want to build that mega empire, whatever that is.
Even if you want two clients a month and you don’t have any clients right now, okay, well, we need to start somewhere. We need to be visible. People need to know you exist. They need to know you exist and remember you exist. I think that’s a big piece of all this. So being visible—yes, content, also having a ton of conversations, building the business relationships, getting in front of more communities that are filled with your ideal clients.
Jayne Havens: We talk about the mindset that a sleep consultant or an entrepreneur really needs to have in order to allow themselves to become visible. Because I think a lot of brand-new sleep consultants, they want all the clients. They want the business, but they’re, like, thinking about it and wishing for it and hoping for it and feeling frustrated that it’s not happening yet. But there’s not a whole lot of action being taken.
You know, sometimes sleep consultants will reach out to me and they’ll say, “I’m really frustrated. I’ve been dropping off business cards, and I’ve been delivering pamphlets to doctors’ offices. I’m just not getting the business, and I don’t get it.” They’re not really making themselves visible, right?
What sort of tricks or strategies or tips do you have for people who are maybe apprehensive about allowing themselves to be more visible?
Allison Henderson: Yeah, by the way, that’s such a real fear of really putting your face and your voice on the internet. And having this audacity to sound dumb and stupid, oh my God. It’s like—it is. It’s very fearful. And that uncomfortable feeling, I don’t really know if it goes away completely. I’ve even been doing this for a long time, and you, same here. It’s like we’ve been doing this for a long time. It doesn’t necessarily just go away, of you being uncomfortable. But guess what? It’s a skill. All of these things that we’re learning, like even public speaking or coming on podcasts, these are just skills that, over time, you just build up and you learn.
But this is what I usually notice. It’s usually like a handful of people that you’re really scared of. It’s not like everybody. It’s like, yeah, you might be fearful of the negative comments. Like, yeah, people, especially with sleep consultants, you guys kind of get some hate sometimes of like the trolls, the other half of the internet that’s like, “How dare you say that about this?” And so, yes, there’s some fear there. But it’s really usually somebody close to you, like your mom, your dad, your brother, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, or people like that, where you’re like, “What are they going to say when I decide to show my face? What are they going to say when I’m really stepping into being a real business owner?”
And so this is the thing—you get to put on a business owner hat. When you do decide to really take action and really put yourself out there, over time, the algorithm does its job. This is what I always say to people. It’s like, yes, they might start seeing your posts immediately because you’re posting a lot, and they might like a few posts or whatever. They might be like, “Hooray! She’s doing the thing.” But over time, your content actually isn’t for them. It’s not going to be showing up in their algorithm anymore. And so you actually are going to be able to excel, I would say, because they’re not even paying attention, and that’s okay.
So over time, yeah, I always say, like, don’t worry so much about the people. They’re not going to see it. Or, guess what, guys? You guys can mute people or have them unfollow you so they’re not seeing your content if you’re really worried about certain people. But yeah, there is a lot of fear around that. Sometimes it’s like, my hair is not done the right way. There’s things like that where the fear comes in. Like, my hair is not done, my makeup is not done, I’m not wearing the correct outfit.
This is what is so funny to me. It’s like the people that I actually follow or I love, they’re kind of hot messes. They’re not all done up. The last business coach, she wasn’t wearing a blazer, guys. She barely wore makeup. You know what I mean? We want to work with people that we can really connect with and that are relevant to us, and they’re kind of similar to who we are—our belief system, just how we live our lives. So I think a lot of times you think that you need to be a certain way, like, performing.
By the way, if you’re performing, you are going to get burnt out really fast. If you’re just yourself — once again, the public speaking stuff, like you doing podcasts or doing those videos, over time, it’s a skill. Once again, you’re going to get better and better at it. So those first few videos are going to be maybe a little cringey for you. Go through the cringey phase. Please go through the cringey phase.
Over time, it’s not going to be so bad. And you know, Jayne, you probably know this just from your own first masterclass or your first mini courses that you created. It’s like they probably weren’t great. But you know, now, a decade later, you’re like, “I can do this tomorrow if I had to.” Somebody is going to a mini course or masterclass, like, okay. And it’s not so hard. You kind of just get over the fear of looking dumb. And the more clients that you serve too, you’re just going to realize that that’s not the reason they hired you. It’s not because of how you looked or if your hair was done or if you had makeup on or something.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, I really identify with all of that. I remember when I was first getting my business off the ground, one of the things that I was most— the word embarrassed is the wrong word. I wasn’t embarrassed, but I was apprehensive about putting myself out there because I was worried about some of my friends, longtime friends who love me dearly, but I was just worried about them judging me. And looking back on it, it’s so silly because, first of all, I really don’t think they were judging me. I think that was in my head. But even if they were judging me, who cares? I was doing something that I was really excited about, really proud of, something that I truly believed in.
A lot of my feelings around all of this stemmed from the fact that I was a stay-at-home mom at the time, and I felt guilty that I wanted to work because what a privilege to be home with my kids. And to say out loud that that didn’t feel like enough for me, that I wanted something more, felt a little uncomfortable. I felt bad about it. I worried about what my mom might think because my mom was a stay-at-home mom, and she raised me. It was good enough for her. And like, why wasn’t it good enough for me, you know? I needed to get over that.
Actually, the irony is what helped me to get over it the fastest was everybody else in my universe, including some of my friends that I was worried about, including my own mother—not strangers, but like people who I went to middle school with and I’m just Facebook friends with them, these random people in my world that I didn’t really care about—came out of the woodwork to congratulate me and to support me and to share my posts and to tag friends that were struggling with sleep.
All of that was so validating that everything that I was afraid of was able to sort of melt away a little bit. Because very quickly, I saw once I did put myself out there and I did commit to saying out loud to the internet, to the world, that this is what I was doing, I was really excited about it, the energy followed.
Allison Henderson: Yeah.
Jayne Havens: And so a lot of the time, we get really, really stuck worrying about what it might look like. And if you just do the damn thing, it looks fine. Or even if it hadn’t looked fine, like let’s say worst-case scenario, I make this cringey post and nobody comments—okay. All right. Like, moving on.
Allison Henderson: Yeah, people are moving really fast. Like, they’re going to go—
Jayne Havens: Yeah, like, nobody’s staring at my Facebook or my Instagram all day to see what I’m going to do next. Nobody cares.
Allison Henderson: I think there is a misconception, too. I think most people actually do want to support you. Like, they actually want to comment or like your post. They do. Or even if they don’t like or comment, they might meet somebody that maybe needs help with sleep or parenting or whatever, and they go, “You know what? I actually have a friend named Jayne. I know her from middle school.” It’s like they just remember you because, guess what, you kept showing up. Even if they’re not engaging, you kept showing up.
Jayne Havens: When you talk about visibility, I know you mean online visibility because that’s largely your thing. But what are your thoughts on in-person visibility, like real-life visibility?
Allison Henderson: I also think that’s really important, especially with sleep consultants. Because likely, I mean, it’s not like there are hundreds of you in one area, you know? I live near Chicago, so I know that there’s not hundreds of you just rummaging around. There’s not. So you walking into offices, they probably have never talked to a sleep consultant before, or a parenting coach, or whatever it is that you are. So I think it is really important that, yeah, you walk in with some confidence, with some business cards or pamphlets, lunch, doing some lunch and learns.
Be a part of your community. You want your name to be floating around. And so if you have that desire to be well known, you will. You’re going to have to, like, do the shaking—we call it shaking hands and kissing babies sort of situation.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, I like that.
Allison Henderson: You’re going to have to walk into stores and talk to business owners and set up some coffee chats even. You know, I love just messaging somebody on Instagram. This is how you can use Instagram to build your local clientele. It’s just saying, “Hey, I know that we are just down the street from each other. I love more entrepreneur friends. Would you like to meet up? I’d love to buy you a coffee sometime.”
Just build relationships. Just start conversations. That’s the one thing. I love content, guys. Don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I’m like your most successful connections that you can make—like one person can change your whole life. One conversation can change your whole life. But we’re so afraid to make the conversations.
We’re so afraid to ask for the coffee chat or to ask for the sale or ask for the referrals, and so it just keeps us stuck. It keeps us going, “Why isn’t my business working? I feel like I’m doing all the right things.” I’m like, okay, cool, you can walk into the doctor’s office. But when was the last time you followed up? Did you ask if they needed more business cards? Have you walked back in and just became besties with that office manager? Because I know for a fact that office manager has way more say around who can come in and do masterclasses or lunch and learns. Like, she’s the one, or he’s the one, that’s actually setting that stuff up.
So it’s just stuff like that where I’m like, you’re going to have to make way more moves. I am just coming to the realization the most successful people just make more moves. They make more moves in a day, and they don’t wait six months. It’s just one of those things for me. I’m like, I hate to say it. You guys all know this. It’s going to take effort, daily effort, to build a business. It’s not like I show up when I feel like it. I know a lot of you guys don’t want this as like a hobby business. Like, you actually want this to be a real thing where you can stay home with your kids, of course, but you’re also making the income that you really want to make.
This is one of the best things. She is actually a part of your program. She recently quit her day job, and she was one of my clients. And I was like, “Hey, financially, can you do this? Can you quit your day job?” And she’s like, I met with my financial advisor, and he said the one thing that everybody needs to remember is: business owners make the most money. They are the only ones that can have limitless income. It’s not the people in salary jobs. And this is the sad part. It’s like we as women—I would say it’s usually the women—we really want that security. We want to feel comfortable.
We don’t want to have that fear of, like, am I going to make money? And that’s the hardest part of entrepreneurship. And it’s very emotional. Because when you don’t see the forecast, right, you don’t see all this money coming in, you start freaking out. That could really stop you, too, from showing up because you’re like, is it worth it? It’s like, guys, this business could be the freedom that you’re really seeking because of the limitless income.
Once again, you guys never know. One person can change your whole business, can change the course of your life. And so those connections, coming on social media and creating your content, having those conversations—guys, it’s so important. And guys, it’s not that hard. I think you need to remember that.
Jayne Havens: I was just about to say that. Like, it’s not that hard. It’s really not. I loved that you mentioned that being on social media and increasing your visibility isn’t necessarily all about content creation. This is something that I subscribe to in my business and in my brain. I create very little content. I spend a lot of time on social media making connections. It happens all day long, every day. I’m in Facebook groups connecting with moms. I’m on Instagram, following accounts of pediatric occupational therapists and mental health professionals who support moms postpartum.
The other day, I got a DM. Well, at this point it’s been a few months. A few months ago, I got a DM from a— is that what we call them? Direct message? Private message? Whatever we call that.
Allison Henderson: A DM, yeah. PM/DM, yeah.
Jayne Havens: Whatever. I don’t even know what these things are called. I got a message, a private message, from a pediatrician in Great Neck who got my name from one of her patients. Her patient had hired me, was raving about me. She wanted to connect with me to hear more about what I did, how I support families. And she has been referring clients to me ever since.
I just sent her chocolates in the mail, which are scheduled to arrive at the doctor’s office today. I’m like waiting to get that email or message from her. I got an email today from a therapist who said, “I am the therapist of one of your clients.” She didn’t say who. She was protecting the person’s privacy. But she’s like, “You’ve been really instrumental in helping her in her home, and I see her mental health has improved. I would love to connect and find out what you’re doing. I want to learn more about that.”
These are people that are reaching out to me. I do that as well. It goes both ways, right? And so you want to be serving your clients well so that the people around them reach out to you. You want to spend time on the internet reaching out to professionals like these people for the purpose of referring business back and forth, making connections.
And it’s not just one conversation. It’s not just a quick little DM and a quick Zoom, and then you never talk to them again. It has to be, you’re liking their posts, you’re sharing their stuff, you are emailing them with a resource or connecting them with somebody else. Be the person in their life that’s helpful and valuable. And what goes around comes around. I consider that to be visibility, even if it’s not like a reel that goes viral.
Allison Henderson: 100% agree. I think a lot of women need to remember that the relationship doesn’t end when you just walk in and hand the business card over. It’s like, maybe need to call them again. Or, you know, you need to connect with them some way or another. I love that you just said like liking some of their posts, sharing something, sending them some free resources. Because once again, they have to remember that you exist. And so they might not refer you right away because we still have to build that relationship. They have to actually see, does this person actually get results? Do I actually like this person? Do I feel into their energy? And then, yeah, it can take some time.
Jayne Havens: Let’s talk about our little project that we’re going to be working on together. We’re going to be doing a 30-day visibility challenge. Why don’t you give everybody a rundown of what that looks like?
Allison Henderson: Yeah, so if consistency has been something you’ve been struggling with, or maybe you have been consistent but you really want more direction with your content—like, is this actually converting? What do I need to be saying? Like, the sales piece, sales and marketing—there’s a framework to it. You might be someone that needs more of a framework to get more consistent clients.
I love Instagram. That’s a lot of what I’m going to be focusing on, but this visibility challenge is going to go beyond. So if you want to start more conversations, build more relationships, create more actual content on TikTok or Facebook or whatever that is, I want you to just really, really showing up.
So I wanted to create this 30-day visibility challenge to get you in momentum and making real moves. Because the moves that you’re making every day are going to compile. And when they compile, that’s when you start seeing more of that consistency. And just, yeah, overall, you’re going to feel so much better when you learn content. I think a lot of people put that off. It’s like, “Oh, I’ve got to learn content.” It’s like it’s a non-negotiable for me. I’m showing up somewhere.
So for you, Jayne, you love your group. Like, that’s where you show up. That’s where your ideal clients are hanging out. So you’ve got to pick somewhere. And so if right now you’re like, “I don’t really know what to do. I really need some direction,” awesome. This visibility challenge is going to be the place to be.
Jayne Havens: So tell me about the logistics. Like, how much does it cost? When does it start? What are we actually doing in there?
Allison Henderson: Yeah, we have a little bit of a short turnaround time. So it’s going to start next Tuesday, if this comes out on Tuesday. So Tuesday, May 12. The logistics behind it is: you are going to get daily prompts every day. So I’m going to be giving you five prompts. I don’t want you waking up every day being like, “What do I post? What do I say?” It’s like, no, I want to make sure that you have ideas. Because I’ve worked with dozens or hundreds of sleep consultants over the years. Like, here are some actual headlines.
I’m hosting a lot of this inside Telegram, which is a free app that you guys can all download. You can also ask questions there. I want you getting feedback on your posts and your headline. So if you have ideas, I want to make sure that you feel good about it. Because your headline is the most important piece of the post. If it’s not compelling, people are just going to swipe right past it, and that’s not what we want. We want to build attention and keep their attention. So I want to make sure that you feel supported there. So we’ll have a free Telegram group—or not free. But it’s part of this program.
I’m doing a group coaching call. You’re going to get a mini course from me that’s just teaching you how to create compelling content that is going to convert, like really giving you all my tips and tricks. And even inside the group, I’m going to be doing some audio trainings in there. So if I’m getting a lot of questions around things, I’m going to make sure that you feel really supported with your content. And even if you’re having conversations like, “Allison, what do I say? What do I say next?” I really want to make sure that you guys aren’t just stalling or staying stuck. I want you moving and making strides.
I’m also doing—let’s see—I have a PDF in there, like 50 ways to become more visible online and in person. I’m doing a content brainstorming session. I’m trying to think what else is in there. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. And guys, it’s only $99. I think that’s the biggest piece of all this. And Jayne’s going to be in there too as another coach to chime in. I know she knows a ton about just showing up and being visible. And so, yeah, guys, this is, I feel like, a no-brainer. $99 for a month, 30 days, where you’re going to get a ton of resources to create compelling content that’s going to convert into paying clients.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, I’m really excited about this. I’m hopeful that this is open to all sleep consultants. You don’t have to be inside of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Management community to participate. But I’m really hoping that a lot of my CPSM community members will join the program. I’m really excited to participate.
I think that this is going to be super valuable for people who just need a little bit of accountability and support, just like we sleep consultants get hired by our clients. Because maybe they know how to sleep train their baby, but they need accountability and support in order to get it done. And I view this as very much the same thing. Maybe you know that you need to be putting yourself out there, be a little bit more visible, create some content, make meaningful and strategic connections, but you’re just feeling like you need somebody to tell you to do it every single day. That is what we are going to be doing.
I think we’re going to be strengthening that muscle memory. Once you start actually showing up, then it feels weird to not show up. Like, it feels really weird to not show up when you’re really used to showing up. And so we want to get you from the place where you’re just sort of thinking about your business and wishing and dreaming about your business to actually taking action in your business. And if you can do that alongside other really fantastic sleep consultants who all have really similar goals and dreams for themselves, Allison and I are going to be in there with our pom-poms and our bells on, and we’re going to make sure you get it done.
Allison Henderson: I love it, yes. Yeah, I really want to make sure that you do feel supported. I think so many women really have these great ideas, but it’s like they don’t know how to flesh it out. Do I do it as a reel? Do I do it as a Carousel post? And I’m like, I just want to make sure you have—if you want to pop in a quick question, we are there. We’re going to be able to answer that in real time. And yeah, I want you getting momentum, and I want you doing it fast. It’s going to require you just to make more moves.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, $99. No-brainer. This is a business write-off. This is an opportunity to take action in your business. I want to see everybody from CPSM enrolled in this program. I know I have lots of other listeners from all over the world. Somebody emailed me the other day. I think she is in the UK. She just was like, “I enrolled in a program over here, but I just really love your podcast. I listen every week.”
And so I know I have random listeners everywhere, and maybe some of them are going to meet Allison for the first time, which is just so great. And so I really want to get a bunch of you guys in here. We’re going to have a good time, and we’re going to just really start to get into a groove in our businesses. We’re going to get some momentum.
Allison Henderson: Yay! Guys, you got to join.
Jayne Havens: Let’s do it.
Allison Henderson: Link in the show notes, I’m assuming.
Jayne Havens: Yeah, yeah, all the information will be in the show notes. And of course, you can always reach out. Allison, share your Instagram so that people can reach out to you there.
Allison Henderson: Yeah, I’m @allisonhenderson_coach. Or if you want to check out my website, it’s allisonhendersoncoaching.com.
Jayne Havens: All right. We will see you next week inside of our 30-Day Visibility Challenge. Thanks so much, Allison.
Allison Henderson: You’re welcome. Bye, everyone.
Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.
If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode.