Case Study
“There's no program like Adaptive on the market. A program that gives you the training, access to professional coaches, and access to the founders who launched the program. There's no program like this on the market, regardless of the price. And you'll certainly not find a supportive and amazing community like the Adaptive community.”
-Rev. Christina M. Dennis, Founder & CEO at Created For You Social Media Images
"When I launched my business in 2020, it was in the thick of COVID shutdowns, and many people went into the entrepreneurial space simultaneously. My launch was more of a soft launch, and I say that because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. My first product was a set of faith-oriented social media templates for churches or anyone who likes to share the gospel and inspirational messages. At the time, there was a lot of false information in the marketplace. So-called experts were saying you could spend $5 on Facebook ads and make five figures. And because I didn't know any better, I believed that."
Cutting through the noise of online marketing education.
As a higher education professional, I created successful Facebook ads for student recruitment events and other types of events. And I did the same thing for my church. And as a result, my events were successful. So I came into this entrepreneurial space thinking I could easily duplicate it, spend the five dollars, and make 50,000. That didn't happen. My ads bombed; they completely bombed. I did get one sale, but I didn't have an autoresponder connected, no pixel, nothing! God bless the one person that bought my product in December 2020. But I have no idea who they are or how to get in touch with them. It was a mess.
It probably was in February or March of the following year when I saw one of Paul's Facebook ads about a free ads challenge he was offering. And I thought, "why not?" And I'll never forget, I could not finish the course because on the last day one of my kids had to go to the hospital. I remember reaching out to Paul to explain, and his first response wasn't about the policy; it was, "How are you? What's going on with your family member?". He cared about me, and it spoke volumes about what I could expect from him if I connected with him in terms of business. So when he shared information about the Adaptive program, I joined.
What are some of the most impactful parts of the Adaptive program for you?
Support
There are so many things that are impactful about Adaptive. One is that I have a safe, supportive space where I can come and ask questions regardless of how many times I may have asked the same question. It's just a supportive environment. But it's not a holding-your-hand environment; you got to do the work.
Leveling up
I will forever tell the story of writing my first blog post, and I thought I did a good job. I submitted the revision, and when it came back, it was marked all up as if by an English teacher with a red pen. And I remember sitting in my chair in this office and just breaking down in tears. When I returned to the session with the coach, she explained what she did and why. And that all helped me to become a better writer from a marketing vantage point.
Mindset shift
Adaptive has helped me understand how important messaging is, how important design is, and how I have to look at it from the potential customer's vantage point. I need to look at how this product will transform or positively impact them. Adaptive has helped me shift that mindset. I'm not putting out products based on what would work for me; my product is supposed to solve the need.
Community
The other part of adaptive that I will forever cherish is our community. We have a really good community where we cheer each other on, encourage, ask tough questions, and make tough suggestions. But we know they're given out of genuineness, care, and concern, and our community mates do it with our best interests at heart.
Resources
We also get access to a ton of valuable resources. I mean, every time you turn around, they pile them on. I haven't finished all the goodies from last year. They give us things we don't even know we need yet, like the Searchie coach. We had that coach before many of us even had Searchie.
On hand experts
Regardless of what type of issue I may face or questions I have, there's a coach who can help with that topic, whether it's from a technical, design, or messaging vantage point. Google and Facebook ads, anything that I face in building a product, from inception to placing the ad or launching the sales page, we have support. A place where we can come and get help and bounce ideas off of each other and the coaches; we have those opportunities every week. It is unique in the marketplace. And it makes Adaptive so powerful.
Has becoming Adaptive changed your approach to marketing?
Tremendously! When I look at a potential opportunity, I instinctively now look at it from a different trajectory. I'm looking at it from beginning to end and thinking about all the components I need to move from point A to point Z. I don't look at things in isolation anymore. I'm not looking at just designing the sales page or just the copy. I'm looking instinctively at everything.
Has becoming Adaptive changed your approach to marketing?
Tremendously! When I look at a potential opportunity, I instinctively now look at it from a different trajectory. I'm looking at it from beginning to end and thinking about all the components I need to move from point A to point Z. I don't look at things in isolation anymore. I'm not looking at just designing the sales page or just the copy. I'm looking instinctively at everything.
“Being an Adaptive member has definitely made me a more well-rounded marketer and business person.”
Being in Adaptive has given me a level of competence and expertise, which is helpful as a fairly new entrepreneur in this space. There are a lot of charlatans out there. There are a lot of people who, unfortunately, take one class, and all of a sudden, they're SEO experts. I can see through those sales pages now; from a financial vantage point, that's so important. So it's the language, the jargon, the thought process, and the mindset shift, all of which I can relate to my experience in Adaptive.
One of the things that happened for me in adaptive is when Paul, probably more than anybody else, would ask the hard questions. It forced me to regroup and think about what I was offering. For instance, that one infamous package that whenever I tell somebody, they laugh. It contained 3700 images! Who's going to look at or even download 3700 images? That was suffocating for somebody; it's shocking that I sold any.
“Paul helped me understand that it was about the quality, not the quantity and, most importantly, looking at it from the buyer's perspective.”
Now, my business and my offers have more clarity. It took me all the 2021 and part of 2022 to clarify exactly what I'm called to do. Finally, I was able to discover with clarity and with decisiveness that I had the two models. I had a technical business that would support churches and faith-based organizations, but I also had a ministry focused on women and coaching. I'm developing a membership for both models. If Adaptive didn’t help me gain clarity, I would have kept delivering mixed messages to two definitively different markets.
How do you weigh up the value of Adaptive for your business?
“I've done the pricing, and what it would cost to replicate what I get in Adaptive would be super expensive.”
Initially, it was a lot for me financially, but I was already paying a guy to work on my Facebook ads, and with what I paid him for one session, I could put in a little bit more monthly and get all the benefits of Adaptive.
There's no program like Adaptive on the market. A program that gives you the training, access to professional coaches, and access to the founders who launched the program. There's no program like this on the market, regardless of the price. And you'll certainly not find a supportive and amazing community like the Adaptive community. So if you look at the cost-benefit analysis, you'll see in the end that Adaptive more than it pays for itself over and over again.
How do you weigh up the value of Adaptive for your business?
“I've done the pricing, and what it would cost to replicate what I get in Adaptive would be super expensive.”
Initially, it was a lot for me financially, but I was already paying a guy to work on my Facebook ads, and with what I paid him for one session, I could put in a little bit more monthly and get all the benefits of Adaptive.
There's no program like Adaptive on the market. A program that gives you the training, access to professional coaches, and access to the founders who launched the program. There's no program like this on the market, regardless of the price. And you'll certainly not find a supportive and amazing community like the Adaptive community. So if you look at the cost-benefit analysis, you'll see in the end that Adaptive more than it pays for itself over and over again.
What key insight would you like to share with someone considering joining Adaptive?
Something that probably wasn't intentional for Paul and Melissa, yet it happened. I would say it happened organically, but it also happened because of their leadership, compassion, and passion for safeguarding the community. Adaptive has encouraged me to interact with people that, if we were in the same physical space, I might not interact with, not that they're bad people, but our values are totally different.
Before, there was no way I would have connected with a psychic. I'll never forget when I saw her in the first session, I was like, "She's a what?!". That psychic has now become my business bestie. It really highlights the importance of the humanity that we all share. I'm also interacting with people who have different businesses. I don't cook, but I learn from those that have cooking memberships. Whether or not they (Paul and Melissa) designed it that way, it is an excellent opportunity to learn from people you would never have considered interacting with if you were in person.
“We have everything and everyone in Adaptive; we're respectful of that, learn from each other, and support each other. That community is so key.”
Paul and Melissa have created a safe space for the community. If there's somebody that's trying to spam, if there's somebody that is not abiding by our Adaptive rules, they handle it, and they handle it swiftly. Some memberships where it's not handled swiftly, it poisons the community. But that's not been my experience in Adaptive.
They're no favorites in Adaptive. I know I have Paul and Melissa's ears just as much as the next person. And that's important.
“With every single coach, Paul, and Melissa, I never get a sense that I'm not as important as somebody else. I feel valued and appreciated. It's not even about how much we all pay, it's about us as members, and they value us.”
