Brilliant Ideas

#36: How Samantha Brown Scaled Her Organizing Business into a Digital Product Empire

• Alyssa Bellisario • Season 1 • Episode 36

Share episode

Ever wonder how entrepreneurs turn their skills into digital products that actually sell? In this episode, Samantha Brown shares her journey from professional organizer to founder of the Pro Organizers Academy, where she helps women build their own organizing businesses.

Samantha explains how she transformed her hands-on service business into a digital product ecosystem with online courses, membership programs, and coaching, all without overwhelming her audience. She focuses on simplicity, authenticity, and community, showing how the right messaging and real connections can make all the difference.

If you’ve been thinking about creating a course, membership, or coaching program, Samantha drops practical tips for turning your expertise into a digital product business, avoiding comparison traps, and starting right where you are. Tune in to discover how your zone of genius could be the foundation for your next big business idea.

Connect with Samantha

Pro Organizers Coach

Instagram

Send me a text if you loved this episode!

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

Your feedback helps me reach more solopreneurs like you.

It’s super easy—just click here, scroll to the bottom, tap those five stars, and hit “Write a Review.” I’d love to know what resonated most with you in this episode!

And don’t forget to hit that follow button if you haven’t already! There’s plenty more coming your way—practical tips, inspiring stories, and tools to help you grow a business that makes a real difference. You won’t want to miss out!

Let's Connect on Instagram
yeslab.ca
Search your favorite episodes HERE

This podcast is produced, mixed, and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more
For information about how to start your podcast, please visit www.cardinalstudio.co
Or e-mail mike@cardinalstudio.co

Samantha:

always come from a place of service, in my opinion, so it can connect to that person. The more authentic I get with my messaging and the more authentic I show up, the more people are drawn to me.

Alyssa:

Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of some of the most inspiring digital products created by solopreneurs just like you. I'm your host, alyssa, a digital product strategist who helps subject matter experts grow their business with online courses, memberships, coaching programs and eBooks. If you're a solopreneur with dreams of packaging your expertise into a profitable digital product, then this is the podcast for you. Expect honest conversations of how they started, the obstacles they overcame, lessons learned the hard way and who faced the same fears, doubts and challenges you're experiencing, from unexpected surprises to breakthrough moments and everything in between. Tune in, get inspired and let's spark your next big, brilliant idea. What if your zone of genius wasn't just something you're good at, but the foundation of a thriving business?

Alyssa:

This week on Brilliant Ideas, I'm joined by Samantha Brown, business coach, professional organizer and host of the Pro Organizers Coach podcast. Samantha took her passion for organizing and turning it into a scalable brand, complete with courses, coaching programs and a vibrant community of women who want to build organizing businesses of their own. In this episode, we talk about how she turned her hands-on service into digital offerings that continue to grow her impact and her income. If you've been thinking about turning your own process into a program or building a coaching brand from your real life experience. Samantha's story will show you just how possible that can be. Let's dive in.

Alyssa:

Welcome to the show, samantha. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. It's great that you're here. You know you've built a really successful niche business where you're one of like the top leaders in helping people create a professional organizing business, and so I want to talk about this for a hot minute, because you have a course called the Pro Organizers Academy. Can you tell me what inspired you to create it or like the other courses you have, and how did you know that this was what your audience exactly needed?

Samantha:

A lot of work and a lot of taking it one step at a time. So a little bit of background about me. I was a caregiver. I worked with autistic kids for over a decade and then I started my own organizing business based on my own need. So I had to learn how to do it for myself and you know, then I started down the path of trying to figure out, like, where and how to create my own organizing business. Well, back then I had to kind of piece together all of the pieces from different people, because the information was very scattered or the information that was out there was so expensive it wasn't even an option. And so I started realizing I'm like, if I'm having trouble doing this, then I know that other women that are wanting to start their organizing businesses are having trouble as well. So I started my organizing business and I thought it was just going to be like Pinterest perfect pantries all the time and all the things right. And it actually ended up not being that at all.

Samantha:

A lot of what I was doing was actually more decluttering and I ended up getting certified as a life coach because I needed more tools.

Samantha:

So as I was going through that process, I realized there were a lot more of the everyday women that needed help in their homes, more so than just not the rich, but you know the people that could afford $5,000 or whatever.

Samantha:

So I started doing sessions.

Samantha:

I kind of created my own way of doing things and I realized no one else was teaching that and I'm like, oh okay, so long story short, I created my own stuff and, kind of taking it one step at a time, I was like I want to start sharing with people what I've learned and when you partner the coaching with the organizing, how you can actually help people, and if you do it by sessions, then the everyday person can afford you and there's a lot more people that need organizers to help them create systems in their home.

Samantha:

And so one thing led to another and I started the podcast and it just kind of took off from there and I created the Academy because I wanted. It just kind of took off from there and I created the Academy because I wanted I'm very big on like one step at a time, whether I'm working with my clients, my coaching clients, whoever and so I wanted to create what I call the Academy, but it has multiple courses in it based on the step that the person coming to me is at, so they can take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed with too much information all at once.

Alyssa:

That makes sense, I love that. That's amazing that it took off for you, and also what I found interesting is that you also have a community right around the academy as well.

Samantha:

Yeah, so I've got I call it a group coaching membership. We meet every Tuesday and we do group coaching and then once a month, I bring in like a guest expert to help us specifically as professional organizers. And the reason I did that is because when I first started the podcast podcasts are a lot of work and yeah, and so trying to do all of that, I knew it was going to take me time to create the courses and to have money coming in that way, but I still wanted to be able to meet my women where they were and actually help them, and so a membership seemed like the best of both worlds to start off with, and then I was able to get information back from them doing the coaching every week to make sure my courses were actually going to help them.

Alyssa:

Yes, that makes sense. The idea of validation before you, you know, improve your course or you know. You know, if you want to create something new, you want to know if it's actually going to be worthwhile for you to put tons of time and energy into creating it. Yes, absolutely yeah, and that's what I talk a lot about, about validating an idea. You know, making sure that your audience this is what they want, because you're not going to just create some half ass course. That's not no, like that. You want to put 110% in everything that you do, and so I feel like, don't be creating just these Mickey Mouse courses. You want to create something that's comprehensive, that's actually going to move the needle for your audience, and it's not just going to be some information based course that they take it and then they never use in the future. So my question what advice would you give to someone who's thinking about turning their expertise into a digital product, like you know, of course, like you did with the Academy, but they feel kind of overwhelmed by it.

Samantha:

Honestly, a couple of things. One is definitely to take it one step at a time. That's huge. Like start where you are right now with what you have and then kind of figure out, okay, what pieces do I need? Like, where do I want to go? Maybe kind of work backwards to where you are now, but figure out what you're needing in between, because that's where I kept getting stuck. I had, you know, I wanted the academy, I wanted all the steps, I wanted this big thing, and then I'd get so overwhelmed that I almost wouldn't do anything. But once I brought it back to, okay, where am I right now? What do I have? What do I already know? And now let me figure out kind of what else I need or, you know, start asking the right questions to my audience and different things like that to fill in the gap. That's when it started to kind of show itself to where I could take those next steps, instead of feeling like I had to have all the answers before I even got started.

Alyssa:

Yeah, I like the idea of the one step at a time. Start where you are what pieces do I need? Like when I was certified as an online business manager years ago like back in 2021. And before that, I was like, what do I need to become an online business manager? And I was like, you know maybe you know you don't have to become certified, but you know, I feel like this would make me more, have more credibility.

Alyssa:

So I went to go get the certification and then after that I was like, well, I have to work with some starting clients. So then I asked my friends and family to see if I could, you know, do a project on them and see if I'm getting some experience. So I did it in very baby steps and then at some point then you kind of build momentum from there, because then you're like you have more confidence about what you're talking about and you know people respond really well to your work and your results and so, but I feel like we're we're so much focused on the end goal, but really it's like the journey to getting to the end.

Samantha:

Yeah, and and I I talk to my ladies about this all the time that are starting their organizing businesses, because it's very similar. You know, they go to start and they've never worked with a client before, they've never owned a business before, so there's all this new information coming at them and a lot of them will start with, like the friends and family discount right, or like even start in their own home to start creating content, like what are those little steps that you can start taking today that are going to get you to that bigger goal?

Alyssa:

Yeah, and I you know, I know I understand how overwhelming can feel, though, like you know, for many creators, you know business owners, they get stuck in this mental loop of like overthinking, like what if no one buys my products or my services? What if it's not good enough? And then it starts to feel kind of paralyzing. I have been through this like multiple times, but I find that the pressure to make it perfect can be such a trap within itself, like you're carrying the whole weight of, like this final service or final product before you even built the foundation.

Samantha:

Absolutely. And then we get in that loop of like not enough, or imposter syndrome or we're comparing ourselves to someone else. That's the other piece of advice. Stop looking at your quote, unquote competition, just stop. You know you can look for inspiration, but even in my course I tell my ladies I'm like, listen, if you want inspiration, great. But like, put a time limit on what you allow yourself to look at, whether it's an hour, whatever. Get the inspiration of what you like, what you don't like, whatever it is, but then quit looking at their stuff because all of a sudden you're going to feel like you don't know enough, especially when you're first starting out. Every time I would go and look at the people that are doing something similar to what I'm doing. I'd get paralyzed with this like, well, I don't know enough and I'm not good enough, or I'm not whatever. And it would set me back so far where, if I just focused on my next thing or what what I was doing, it always got me so much farther faster.

Alyssa:

It's so true Comparison kills motivation. I have done that so many times in my business, like in the early days, where I was like looking at other creators and seeing what content they created and then trying to adopt that same framework or what they're doing, and it actually made it worse because it prolonged this idea that I was adopting someone else's brand and the way that they act and it wasn't me Exactly. It's like, well, what about me? But this begs the question of like do you need to do a little bit of branding, personal branding to figure out what makes you different? So do you have something like that in your core in your academy?

Samantha:

So I do inside of the course. We do definitely go into branding because as a business owner like you've got to figure out what draws you and what feels natural to you. But again it goes back to me telling them give yourself a time limit, like allow yourself to look at other people's stuff and be like, ooh, I can't, I like that kind of fun, or I like more light and bright, or you know. And then looking at your values, like what is important to you when it comes to your messaging, what do you want to convey, but again putting a limit on it. So then that way you don't go down the rabbit trail and now it's a month later and you're still looking at everybody else's, everything you know.

Alyssa:

Yeah, and not working on. The one thing that you need to do is your business.

Samantha:

Yeah, and honestly, a lot of times when it comes to because for me, branding isn't just like the colors and the aesthetic, it's also your messaging, it's how you show up in the world, and I think we forget that piece of it where, if we would just look at you know, think of one person that you're talking to and the whole idea of speaking to one person, if you would just keep focusing on your ideal avatar and the person that you know you're meant to help and you're coming from a place of service, you're going to figure those things out for yourself, and I don't know how many times I've rebranded, like you. Sometimes you just have to go with what you've got in the moment and then you'll figure it out as you go and it'll become more authentic to you. But you have to start where you are and you have to always come from a place of service, in my opinion, so it can connect to that person. The more authentic I get with my messaging and the more authentic I show up, the more people are drawn to me.

Alyssa:

It is so true. I mean, when, back when I started, I used these like baby pink color palette and and it was just, it was so cringy, like I made so many cringe reels and like content I mean I showed up with, like I was like so confident and it's great, you know. But it's like you're going to go through those stages where you're going to be like, why did I show up in that way with that branding? Or though, you know, but it's because you're evolving, like I've evolved. My business has evolved over five years, you know, it's not like a big company where they're they're kind of the same every single year.

Alyssa:

I think, individually, you evolve as a person. If you know, I just recently, you know, I became a mom, you know, a couple of years ago, and that shifted my identity, and so I'm having to put that kind of into my whole personal brand, because I cannot ignore the whole big piece that I am a mother. So it's like it's like there's different things that happen in your life that you can slowly weed into, you know, put into your business, and that's just what makes you you business and that's just what makes you you yeah and so. So let's kind of go back into. I want to talk about launching or even just like courses, your course and your in your membership. Here, what would you say is kind of like the most surprising thing that you've learned since launching your courses and membership?

Samantha:

Where do I start? So, honestly, a lot of it it's not what you think it is. So when I first started my membership probably the biggest thing so I know that I'm a people pleaser. I like very much to please others and I've had to work on that over the years. But when I first started my membership I was like, okay, well, everyone's in different time zones, so I'll offer Mondays at nine and Wednesdays at five and Fridays at two.

Samantha:

And like it was a lot, I was offering way too much and no one was showing up. I'm like, where are all my members? Or I'd have like one person show up this day and maybe two the next. And and I kept trying to almost create this bigger thing than it needed to be because I was overthinking it. And maybe to the next and and I kept trying to almost create this bigger thing than it needed to be because I was overthinking it and trying to please every single person that was in the membership at the time.

Samantha:

And when I finally was like you know what, what works for me? Let me just pick one day, one time that works best for me and my life and, honestly, the second, I did that and I was like all right ladies, every Tuesday at 6 pm Eastern Standard Time, that's our time. All of a sudden, everyone started showing up because they knew what to expect. They knew when to expect it, and so the biggest thing I've learned is keeping it simple is actually the key to success. Keeping it simple is actually the key to success, especially when it comes to memberships or having to do any kind of like meetings and different things like that, because the more options you offer, the more you're just going to overwhelm them and then they're not going to show up to anything.

Alyssa:

Yeah, I agree with this. I was part of a membership where there was like many courses in the membership and they would release it every single month and I got so overwhelmed, so quickly, that I didn't even access the material for that course for that month because I was still working on the previous month's course. Yeah, and it didn't work out. I had to cancel because I was just I can't, I didn't even know where to begin. It was so overwhelming. I am so against the you know, put everything you know into a membership. If you have anything you know. What they do recommend is, you know, create like a success path or some kind of journey that you take your members through so that they know where to begin and where to access your materials. And then you know, maybe they're at the beginning, not advanced, you know, and so and maybe make it clear if your membership is geared towards advanced or beginner, beginner entrepreneurs, so that you know would be helpful.

Samantha:

Yeah well, and what I found too is I actually don't put any content in the membership.

Samantha:

I mean I do like there's content there, but for me I've kept the courses kind of separate.

Samantha:

So when they're ready to take each of those steps and purchase the course, they can, and when they do purchase the course, at whatever level they're at or whatever step they're needing, it comes with a few months free of the membership, so that kind of funnels them into the membership and then they're able to continue on if they want to stay. But I keep the membership more about coaching and about building relationships with each other, and then I just put everything in a replay vault. So if they want to go access that, they can. But it's more about having like an app where they can support each other and you know group coaching each week where we can support one another more so than it is about all this content coming at you and then you can go to the courses or you can go to the podcast or whatever for the content piece. But the membership is more about the coaching and the connection than it is about content, because I didn't want to overwhelm them with too much.

Alyssa:

And then overwhelm yourself because you know they have a deadline to put this content in. Oh, that sounds like one nightmare after another. I could not. It's a lot of work. You know it's hard enough because with your podcast even like you're kind of on a deadline when things are, when episodes are released to get everything prepared. So I can, you know, for me that's enough of a deadline because there's so much involved there I couldn't imagine doing that and a membership as well and putting content there.

Samantha:

Yeah, yeah, there's no way.

Alyssa:

No, so then. So then, with your coaching, so, um, is it like, is it group? So you have a group coaching, and then what is kind of the structure of your coaching? Is it just, they ask?

Samantha:

Yeah, it's kind of like and that's evolved over time too right, like when I first started it it was just kind of a free for all in a way of like you know, whatever kind of happened, because there weren't a ton of people and I was very open to like what would work best for them and just trying to figure it out as I went. And now it's evolved into, you know, I kind of ask who wants to be coached that day or who has questions, and then we kind of do almost like hot seat coaching in a way, depending on how many people show up, because if you only have an hour, you learn very quickly. You can only get through so many people in an hour, and so there's some times that every person I check in with them there's other times that you know check in with them. There's other times that you know only half of them get checked in with or, and then they're in the chat talking to each other while I'm coaching.

Samantha:

And then, like I said, once a month I bring in what I call a guest expert, someone that maybe teaches on email marketing or maybe teaches, and it's normally someone I've interviewed on the podcast. It's kind of part two. I'll have them come into the membership and do a workshop and so once a month they're getting almost that like expert you know, and then with the Q&A they get to talk to the person I did the podcast interview with. So it helps them grow or be able to ask questions to people I've interviewed on the podcast as well.

Alyssa:

No, that's great. I think that makes sense to have, like the guest expert that's related to the podcast, because then they have two different resources they can access at the same time. That's kind of nice. I like that and.

Samantha:

I feel like they already know them, because I make sure to go ahead and put the podcast episode out, like normally, a few weeks to a month before they're coming into the membership, so then that way they have time to listen to that episode before we do our workshop.

Alyssa:

Okay, and you know, just you know. One last question about this membership. So do you have a retention strategy or something to how do you keep your members really engaged in your membership?

Samantha:

So part of it is the fact that they get to start helping each other.

Samantha:

That was my goal from the beginning was at first.

Samantha:

It was a lot of work and time for me building those relationships one-on-one, but I knew over time they would start to help each other, and so that's why having the app for me was huge, because I wanted them, in between group coaching sessions, to be able to talk to each other, and so I did Mighty Networks and they have, like you know, your own app that you can download, and so everyone is inside of the app talking to each other, asking questions.

Samantha:

If they're getting stuck with a client, then I can answer or other people can reply, and so, but I based it mostly on community Like to me, the community is what matters and us supporting each other, no matter what stage of the journey you're on. And so it's this beautiful thing, because the new people come in with this excitement and this energy that kind of revitalizes the people that have been there for a while. But then the people that have been there for a while or are already working with clients, they have all this wisdom to give to the new people, and so, honestly, the connection has been the biggest piece of retention for me.

Alyssa:

I love the community aspect I've been along to. I had a few memberships that there was zero community.

Alyssa:

It was just like you know, a Facebook group, but it was like it didn't really connect, because I find that Facebook groups are so oversaturated and my networks like when I was looking at your um, your website, you like you had the app and I was like that is so creative and it's like it's off Facebook. So if you don't have Facebook it's not a big deal. Um, I know some people use like telegram and they thought, you know, they think that that's another way and that could be another way, but I find that you have to use your phone number, so it's not totally great. But Money Network sounds like a great place because then it's like your own separate app that you can just have.

Samantha:

And my other thing was I don't overwhelm them with a ton of notifications, but I wanted them to get the notifications, and when you're in a Facebook group, it gets lost in all of the notifications, of everyone else's notifications. And I have a Facebook group. It's my free Facebook group, but it's dead in there. I mean, I post all the time, but it's so hard to get people to interact and all of these things. And so for me, what I love about it is it has that aspect of it's our own spot, our own place. You know, it's the app on your phone that you're going to specifically for our community versus. Oh, I'm on Facebook Now, I maybe saw a notification, maybe I didn't, and so that's why I pulled it off of Facebook specifically.

Alyssa:

Yeah, you're just so much more distracted if it's on Facebook versus like. It's a different app. That's great. So many great takeaways here. So, as we conclude today's episode, where can my listeners find you?

Samantha:

online. Everything's under Pro Organizers Coach, so you know ProOrganizersCoachcom. You can Google Pro Organizers Coach. The podcast is called Pro Organizers Coach. I try to keep it very simple.

Alyssa:

Awesome, well, thanks so much, samantha, for sharing so many wonderful wisdom and insights into the story, your strategies, everything you shared today. Thank you so much.

Samantha:

Absolutely, and I would love for your listeners to come listen. I know it's, even if they're not starting an organizing business. 90% of my content is just about business in general, and so I feel like it's very helpful, no matter what business you're starting.

Alyssa:

And also because you have a really niche business. So someone else who might also have a niche business can really relate, even if it's not. You know an organizing business. You know how. You know some people are more general in their marketing but you have a very niche market and so you can. You know they can relate to a lot of what you're saying as well.

Samantha:

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me Of course, and for everyone else listening.

Alyssa:

Thanks so much for tuning in. If you loved this episode, please message me on Instagram my handle is AlyssaBelserioOBM. It's in the show notes as well and tell me what you loved about this episode and what you found really helpful, and I'll share it back with you, samantha, as well, and so this is great. Thanks so much for coming on today. Thank you for having me. No worries, all right, everyone Take care, and thanks again for listening, and I'll see you next time on another Brilliant Idea. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Brilliant Ideas If you love the show. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next time on another brilliant idea. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Brilliant Ideas. If you love the show, be sure to leave a review and follow me on Instagram for even more insider tips and inspiration. Ready to bring your next big, brilliant idea to life? Visit alissavelsercom for resources, guidance and everything you need to start creating something amazing.