E110: The Recipe for Sustainable Sales: Build Steady Revenue Without the Burnout

Are your sales a roller coaster—some months up, some months down, and never predictable? In Episode 110 of the Kitchen Table Dreams podcast, Chef Kimberly Houston shares the exact strategy behind sustainable sales—the kind of income that doesn't depend on last-minute flash sales, burnout-driven launches, or inconsistent content.

In this episode, Kimberly breaks down her proven framework for revenue that feels steady and aligned, not stressful or scattered. Whether you're a culinary creator, coach, or multi-passionate entrepreneur, you'll learn:

• Why one powerful signature offer outperforms a dozen scattered ones
• How to build a simple sales funnel that guides (not pressures) your audience
• The critical role of emotional connection and storytelling in your content
• Why launching every day (not just on cart open day) is the move
• What systems you need in place to make consistent income a given, not a gamble

Kimberly also shares the behind-the-scenes strategy of her Six-Figure Creator Mastermind, how she uses monthly sales themes, and what it looks like to build visibility and income on purpose—not by accident.

✨ Want to work with Kimberly? Enrollment for the 16-week Six-Figure Creator Mastermind closes June 30. Learn more and join here:
https://teachmehowtobake.com/mastermind
 or compare the messaging at
 https://kimberlyihouston.com/mastermind

📌 Subscribe for more episodes on aligned entrepreneurship, sustainable business strategies, and life beyond the kitchen.

Visit https://nutrimill.com/KTD for $20.00 off your next purchase of a Bosch mixer or Nutrigrain Flour Mill

Transcript

Kimberly Houston (00:00.898)
Hello friends, welcome back to the Kitchen Table Dreams podcast. I am your host, Chef Kimberly Houston, and I am so honored that you guys have decided to come and join me today. for the last four episodes, we have talked about recipes for success, right? So we had the recipe for visibility. We've had the recipe for consistency. We've had the recipe for...

Kimberly Houston (00:26.476)
the recipe for belief and the recipe for boundaries. And so today I want us to continue on this path. I'm a chef. You guys are going have to get into the pun. Today we are going to be talking about a recipe for sustainable sales. So if you've listened to the previous episodes, you know that I have recently completed the Hello7 Coach Certification Program. And within that program, I like to say that it was like getting an MBA, right?

I have a master's degree in transformational leadership and coaching. So I have a master's degree in coaching. What I did not have though was a blueprint for business. And so taking the Hello7 coach certification program was a lot like getting an MBA. The things that we studied, well, yes, we studied psychology of the human mind and how do business owners think. We also had some very grounded, hardcore

numbers, we had MBA style lessons, we learned about growth skills, we learned about the cause and effect of doing certain things as an entrepreneur or the effect of not doing those things in your business as an entrepreneur. We have some very detailed ways of getting people unstuck, right? How to move you to your next level. And one of those things that often stops the start is

not having sustainable sales. And so a lot of times it's not the product. It's not the product. It just may be your delivery. And this is something that I've had to deal with since the top of the year. You all have heard me pitch multiple resources, multiple coaching opportunities with me. Here's the tea. The content has never changed.

The name might have changed, the delivery might have changed, the key points might have been a little different, but I have quite literally had the exact same offer since January. The reason for that is in order for you to build a sustainable business, you first have to figure out how do you get people to buy the things you know that they need. There is nothing in my offer.

Kimberly Houston (02:47.314)
for the six-figure creator, AKA the kitchen table dreams mastermind. There's nothing in that offer you can live without. Literally there's not. My offer is solid. It is one of the best offers I've ever had, right? It came down to a matter of what does the marketing look like? And last week we talked about that. So we talked about visibility. That one is a marketing episode.

So if you didn't listen to last week's episode, go back and listen to the recipe for visibility. It'll give you some marketing tips. And so today we're going to talk about sustainability of those sales, right? So you do not need more flash sales. You do not need a $1 cupcake sale, a $2 cupcake sale or half off sale. If you booked by midnight, like you don't need another flash sale. You need a system that will support your life and not hijack it. What does that mean?

It means that you should be taking inspired action with an abundance mindset. I can tell when someone needs to pay a bill by the way they show up online. I can also tell people who show up online in their true authentic self and you can't tell whether a bill is due or not. I can tell the difference.

people who throw flash sales, this immediate acts now, you're creating a false sense of urgency. There are some things where it is urgent, right? Like the doors close on June 30th. That's still two weeks from now, but the doors are closing on June 30th for my mastermind that will go for 16 weeks and the doors won't reopen for 16 weeks, right? There's a reason for that because I have systems in place.

that are going to support the people who are inside of the mastermind for those 16 weeks. And we can't have people coming in and out. It's going to disrupt the flow. And so I am very aware that once the doors close on June 30th, I will already be marketing to the next group of people for 16 weeks from now. So that those people can be on the wait list. Those people can be the first to know, right? Like you see how I'm creating the urgency.

Kimberly Houston (05:05.026)
but I'm doing it four months ahead of time, right? I already know that 16 weeks from June 30th, I need to be ready for my next cohort of people, which means that for 16 weeks, I will be talking about the mastermind. I will always be talking about the mastermind. I will always be talking about how you can learn how to grow six figures, whether that is in your full-time gig or it is in your side hustle. It doesn't matter to me.

I'm going to give you the system that will allow you to put things in place that will allow you to build in those six figures. And there's not a person on the face of this earth who can't use an additional $100,000 a year, right? It's very systematic. Like this is not, I'm pulling it out of the air. I am using concrete evidence that works and I'm teaching you the plan. And so I don't have to throw up last minute sales because what is it to look like

Urgency to you is strategic timing to me. All right? So let's talk about how alignment can meet your ambition. Last episode, we talked about visibility. And while it is powerful, we need to make sure that that visibility is going to equate to income. So one of the things that I pointed out in last week's podcast episode was that followers going viral, those things do not

equate to money. And so what we want to figure out is, what does, right? So if your sales feel like a roller coaster, this episode is going to be for you. Let's put this seatbelt on, baby. Let's build something steady, not stressful. So we're going to talk about burnout. Okay. We're going to start there. Last episode, we ended with burnout. We're going to start with burnout this time.

There are some common mistakes that will get you to burn out quicker. Number one, you're relying on emotional posting to make sales. we, the world is on fire. Okay. The world is on fire. Your emergency, your immediate need to have finances is also everybody else's immediate need right now. And I need you as an entrepreneur to face that fact that your emergency is not special. We all need the money.

Kimberly Houston (07:24.236)
now. There's not a person out here who doesn't. Relying on emotional posting to make sales isn't going to work for you. It won't continue to work for you if it is working. You also probably don't have the clientele you want if emotional posting is actually working. Building random offers to make money quickly. Okay, no. If you need to make money

There are some things that you can do. You can sell some stuff off. You can offer to watch somebody's kid. You can offer to coach someone if you need to. There's some things you can do without watering down the value of your business for a Quickbook. And then launching with no runway or system. If you don't have a plan, I just told you that when my cart closes on June 30th for the summer cohorts,

that is going to prepare you for Q4, that is going to make sure that as you move into Q4, you have all the systems in place you need to have in your business in order to have a very successful holiday series or session proof or not, right? I am going to give you the systems you need to have in place in order to make sure that you are making money, that it is sustainable, that you are showing up in authentic way, that you are showing up in a way that feels good to you inside of your body and does not stress you out.

I'm telling you right now that after the summer cohort closes on June 30th, which means if you're listening to this episode before that, you have time to join the six figure creator kitchen table during mastermind. You got time to get in there, right?

If you don't, I just told you, I will already be marketing for the next one. That's going to be 16 weeks later. Right? Why am I doing it? Simply because it doesn't make sense for me.

Kimberly Houston (09:22.744)
to be hot and cold when it comes to sales. I have one main offer for coaching. Can you coach with me one on one? You can, but it's at a premium price. You can, but you're going to pay me for my time to show up one on one. Group coaching is going to be the easiest landing strip for you if you want to coach with me, right? And it's set up like that for a reason. When we're doing things,

We want to make sure that there are systems in place when we're launching. That's not just emails. That's also, do you have the infrastructure behind the scenes? Can you quickly do things? Have you made posts on Pinterest that are outliving you where people can just find you naturally? How's your SEO going? Have you picked one major platform to show up on and you show up there consistently? Are you showing up every single week?

week after week where people know what your offer is even before you say it. Are these things you've already done? Are you constantly and consistently marketing or are you hit or miss? All right. Here's a reality check for you. If every month you're starting from zero, that's not a business. That is a series of expensive experiments. And I'm going hold your hand with paper in between while I tell you this. There are better ways for you to live your life and we're going to jump into that. All right.

So let's talk about, there was a time where I was dealing with a client who had what we call squirrel syndrome, right? And so every single month they were changing their offer. One month it might've been, can make graphic design things for you. Another month it was, I can do Pinterest pins for you. Another month it was, I can build your website. Another month it was,

I'm going to launch a bakery. Another month it was, I'm going to start doing online classes. If someone were to ask me as their coach, what are they a subject matter expert in? The only thing that I could say to that is confusion. Now, this person is not a current client. They were someone who was very, very early in my coaching journey.

Kimberly Houston (11:48.142)
no one I have worked with recently because I learned from that client who I did not want to work with. I love working with creatives. I don't love working with people who are scattered and call themselves creatives. It's not the same. It's not the same. I can take a creative and give them systems to implement where their creativity is not stopped. But when you are scattered,

and I tell you, need to slow down and put some systems in place and you fight that, that's more than you being a creative. You have to understand that we can move from scatter to sustainable success and sustainable sales with an infrastructure that supports that. The last four episodes, we have talked about recipes. This one is no different. I'm going to give you the recipe for a sustainable sale.

All right, so number one, the first ingredient is your signature offer. What is it? What is your signature offer? What is the transformation you are known for? That works across the board, right? So if you are someone who owns a bakery, what's the number one thing people order from you? Is it wedding cakes? Is it kids' cakes? Is it cake pops? Is it treats? Are you the girl who kills it doing kid stuff? I was that girl. I was that girl, right? Like I did kid stuff all the time.

I was that girl. When it comes down to coaching, my signature offer is going to be the 16 week mastermind. That's my signature offer. If you want to coach with me, that's the way you're going to want to do that unless you want to pay a premium price and do it one-on-one. If you are someone who is writing a book, you're an author, then your signature

your signature product is going to be that book. What's your signature offer? What is the core dish? What's the transformation that you give people? What is the thing? If someone is talking about you and you're not in the room, what do you want them to say? What is that signature thing? Number two, you need a simple funnel. A path to purchase. A path to purchase. I can't tell you how many times I watch people on social media

Kimberly Houston (14:11.33)
give you this really, really beautiful video or a talking head type video and they're telling you things and then they don't give you a call to action. They don't tell you to come join my program. They don't tell you to click the link in my bio. They don't tell you to visit my website. They don't tell you about something they have going on. You must close it out. There are no dead ends here. We want open doors. I want the communication to continue. So a simple funnel, it doesn't have to be.

14, 15 steps, it really doesn't. Do you have a simple funnel to deliver your signature offer to people when they come to your site? This could be something as simple as a lead magnet, they get something for free. You nurture them via email and then they get your offer. So let's talk about that. I'm doing all three of those things in this one podcast episode. I do it every single week in a podcast episode, right? So the lead magnet, you're listening to my podcast for free. That's your lead magnet. The nurturing.

I'm giving you helpful information for free in this episode. I am nurturing you. I am building know, like, and trust within this relationship between us. And then I offer you something. Every single episode, I tell you about my current offer, right? You know about the kitchen table dreams, six figure creator, six figure entrepreneur mastermind that will be happening for 16 weeks. You're very aware of this happening. I've already mentioned it at least three times in this one episode.

very simple funnel that was not me sitting at my computer for many, many hours. That's just me telling you about it, but the funnel is set up, right? And if you would like to join us, all you have to do is go to teachmehowtobake.com backslash mastermind. Boom, very easy, right? You click the link. You can read the sales page if you like, please do. It's really cute and colorful. Read the sales page. Find out the information you want to know. If you've got questions, got, there's an FAQ down at the bottom. Scroll down there. You're going to click that button. It's going to take you to the portal.

You pay. Boom, now you're in. Very, very simple. It don't take a whole lot to do this. Do not overcomplicate it. Is that something that you learn inside of my mastermind? Absolutely, it is. You will absolutely learn how to set up a funnel just that simple. And then number three, the third ingredient for this, our first one was a signature offer. The second is a simple funnel. And then our third ingredient for sustainable sales is going to be the emotional connection, storytelling.

Kimberly Houston (16:36.66)
Relevant, solving a specific pain point. I do that every week on the podcast. Every single week I tell you a story. I tell you about a client or I tell you about myself. I allow it to be something relatable to entrepreneurs, whether you're in the sweets industry or you're creative or you're someone who just has a side hustle of it. I am here for all of you and I tell you something every week we solve a very specific pain point on every single podcast episode. This week we are focusing

on how you have sustainable sales. That's your emotional connection with people. It's called building no like and trust. When you're taking sales classes, if you take an MBA, if you learn these things, they tell you build no like and trust so that people will give you their money. And I do that with you every single week, every Wednesday, right here on the Kitchen Table Dreams podcast. Now, let's talk about what this looks like on a weekly basis.

So I want you to think in 90 day blocks. And I've said this before, I want you to talk about one thing for 90 days, right? Give every offer at least one quarter of focus. Sell it, refine it, relaunch it. Don't change the offer, change the angle. I promise you that if you looked at my sales page in January and you were like, this looks interesting, but I'm not going to join the mastermind. If you go look at

TeachMeHowToBake.com backslash mastermind, it's the same sales page. It's the same sales page because I know that it's a solid offer. I know without a shadow of a doubt that what I can teach you in 16 weeks will fundamentally change the course of your life. I'm not changing my offer, but I have had to change the angle with which I presented it to people, right?

So I want you think about that. Think about your offers in 90 day blocks. You got to give it enough time to cook. You got to give it enough time to build up, build up, build up, its thing so that people can do it. If you keep changing it because no one bought it the day that you launched it, maybe the launch is just day one. You have to keep talking about it. You launch every single day.

Kimberly Houston (18:48.202)
Another thing for prepping, create a system not a surprise. You should not be surprised when money comes in. It should be expected. I'm going say that one more time, holding your hand real tight. You should not be surprised when money comes in. It should be expected. Why? Because in your system, you will have automated systems that are posting on your behalf.

You should not be surprised that you made a sale at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, particularly if we scheduled a post to go out at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday. You should not be surprised that you made a sale from a Facebook post three days after you posted it because the algorithm is going to show it to people three to five days after you post it. You cannot post on Facebook with urgency because they're not going to show it to people for three to five days.

But we're building a system in place that helps us build momentum and not surprise. So here's some thoughts that I have for you, some suggestions, if you will. Use a monthly sales theme. So for January, it may be you plan and profit. So that's quarter one. You're working on plan and profit. Quarter two, so in March, we're going to start talking about spring cleaning your systems. We're preparing for that launch in April.

Then we're looking at going into Q4 in September, we're talking about Back to Business. Once we hit September, we will be in the four weeks leading up to my next cohort kicking off for the Kitchen Table Dreams Mastermind. Please believe I'll be talking about Back to Basics. I'll be on the road. I've already planned it out. I will be on the road in September.

at a conference, I will be in Vegas. I already know what I'm going to talk about while I'm there. I'm teaching at that conference. I will be leading many things at that conference. I'm doing a scavenger hunt at that. There are so many ways that I will increase my visibility right before I'm getting ready to launch the next cohort. On purpose, this is all very strategic and nothing is a surprise, right?

Kimberly Houston (21:06.274)
That is how you build out systems that will work for you. Now, I don't want you to over complicate your analytics. I just want you to track them. If you are not reading your analytics on your Instagram, on your YouTube, on your blog, on your TikTok, on your Pinterest account, if you're not looking at where people are coming from, what they're searching, how did they find you? That is data you need to know, learn, and understand.

Once I learned how to read the data, it fundamentally changed how I show up and it also told me what platforms I needed to actually show up on. I have more watches on YouTube. I have more views on YouTube. People sit and watch the entire video on YouTube and not as a short.

If I post a video on YouTube that's five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, people are staying till the end on YouTube. If I post a two minute, a one minute something on TikTok, they might pop off in about 15 seconds. But you need to know that looking at your analytics. You need to know where is your time that's spent. I've noticed the same thing on my blog post. I'm looking at where they coming from. You want to know the number one place people are coming from? Pinterest.

My blog numbers are through the roof right now. Where are they coming from? Pinterest, because I made it a focus. That's where they're coming from. I can post the same content on other social media platforms and they're not coming from there. They're coming from Pinterest. So you need to be looking at your analytics. Do you learn how to read your analytics inside of the 16-week mastermind? Absolutely, you do. Because that is a part of business that you need to know. You need to understand it. You need to know your KPIs. You need to know your conversions. You need to know what worked.

whether it is the messaging, the timing of the platform. These are things you need to know so that you can show up better. So how do we use that information once we get it? Refine your messaging. Change what you're saying. Adjust things in the way that you need to. Have I adjusted my sales page for the mastermind? Yes, multiple times. I have. At least three. I've changed the wording on it at least three times, but the offer has not changed.

Kimberly Houston (23:24.692)
adjust your sales rhythm. It may be, and this is something I was 100 % guilty of, while I understand that in my mastermind I am going to give you a transformation that will be phenomenal.

But if my target market is trying to make six figures, I can't have a six figure price tag on my marketing. My course, my offer cannot be something that people can't afford if they're trying to get to six figures, right? And so I have had to go back in and adjust.

How much of myself am I willing to present in this offer for a price that is possibly a stretch for people, but nothing that will break you. Nothing that a little bit of finagling your finances won't take care of, but won't make me feel like I'm not getting paid enough.

How can I still provide transformation?

while still being accessible. One of the things that I learned from my coach was you do not have to be affordable. You need to be accessible. So while I have a pay in full, I also have a monthly payment. Let's say that you are in a position right now where you can't afford $150 a month. No T, shade. I'm not judging you. I was at a phase in my life where I couldn't either.

Kimberly Houston (25:12.478)
So in order to combat that, if you click the pay in full button for the full amount of $5.55, you have the option of using after pay. You have the option of using Karna, which gives me my money upfront but allows you to be able to pay for this over six or 12 months. I made my pricing where it was accessible to people who actually seek

the transformation, but that doesn't mean I have to water down how much I should be paid to make it affordable. And that is where I think a lot of entrepreneurs mess up, right? So adjust yourselves, refine your messaging and create some evergreen assets that are gonna work for you whenever. You do not need a new offer. You need a new strategy around the offers you already have.

Now, just to recap this episode, we have been talking about the recipes for success in multiple ways over the last couple of weeks. And for this particular episode, we are talking about the recipe for sustainable sales. So make sure you create one powerful signature offer. No, you do not need 10. You do not need 15 offers. You don't even need four. You need one that is going to make you the money.

that is sustainable, you need proof that that one offer is going to work. Creating multiple offers divides your attention, it divides your energy, it divides your time, and probably divides your audience. Offer one signature offer and then scale it. Number two, build a funnel that guides but does not pressure. I did an entire sales funnel in this episode.

I have nurtured you, I have loved on you, I have given you free information, and I have invited you into my mastermind. Would you please come and join me? You can go to teachmehowtobake.com backslash mastermind and come join me because I promise you it's 16 weeks that will absolutely change your life, right? You want to make sure that whatever your funnel is, you are guiding and not pressuring and then stay in one lane for at least 90 days and then refine.

Kimberly Houston (27:29.838)
I am on my second set of 90 days for this same offer and it's similarly offer I have. So it's going to stay that way. You deserve consistent sales without compromising your sanity. Let's build a business that works harder than you do. All right? So if you want help mapping out your funnel, your monthly sales theme, you want to come up with ways that allow you to live the life of your dreams, and you want to spend the next 16 weeks with me,

We will get started on June 30th. That is the day the doors are going to close. Please take a look at teachmehowtobake.com backslash mastermind. On that, you will be able to see all the things that we're going to be doing. You can also go look at kimberlyihouston.com. Look at my main website where you can see the breakdown. You'll see what we're doing for each of those four weeks on kimberlyihouston.com. Again, A-B testing of sales pages, right?

I absolutely want you to do this because I've been doing this as a test. If you are interested in the mastermind, I want you to go look at teachmehowtobake.com backslash mastermind. And then I want you to go over to kimberlyihouston.com. And I want you to compare the two sales pages, same product, different messaging. And I want you to tell me which one of those actually makes you want to join the program because I really did.

go into an A-B test and go, okay, let's see what happens if I offer two different sales pages, which one is going to convert better? These are things you need to know. These are things you need to know as a business owner and the only way for you to get that data is for you to run these type of experiments. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me, for listening in. Make sure you send me an email. You can email me, you can send me a DM.

Be sure to be looking for me on social media this week. I am at ROI the millionaire summit the conference that is hosted by one of my coaches Rachel Rogers from hello seven. We are out in California today Would love for you to like chime in take a look at what's going on I'm sure I'll be posting on Instagram as well as tick tock and until next time stay sweet friends