# Test a Low-Risk First Month

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/first-month-test · Last updated 28 October 2026

You are looking at your own $1,000-a-month offer and wondering how anyone tries it without a lower-risk first step. Ivanka Menken uses the First-Month Test inside 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to design that step as a test: what the free first month includes, what the paid offer adds, and the conversion you will measure. You leave with a one-page test plan, written before the month opens.

## A good offer, and no way to try it

- Your paid offer feels too big for a first step.
- You have no low-risk way for buyers to try the work.
- You cannot say what a free first month would convert to.

**AN EXAMPLE WEEK:** It is Thursday, and you are rereading the page for your $1,000-a-month programme. People read it, say it sounds good, and do not sign. You are tempted to give the first month away, and you worry it will fill with people who never pay. Nothing is written down yet: not what the month includes, not who it is for, not what would count as working.

### THE OFFER, AS IT STANDS

- The paid offer: $1,000 a month
- A way to try it first: none
- What a free month would include: undecided
- Who it is for: anyone who asks
- What counts as working: not written

## A test of the paid offer, not a giveaway

A free first month is a test of the paid offer, not a giveaway. It works when it has an end date, includes one real piece of the paid work, is aimed at the buyer you want, and has a conversion number written before it opens. Without that, the month is just free work.

> A free first month is a test of the paid offer, not a giveaway.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Without a low-risk first step, a $1,000-a-month offer can stay unseen by the buyers who would otherwise try it. With an untested one, the free month fills up and tells you nothing.

## The tool: First-Month Test

The First-Month Test writes three things on one page before the month opens: the low-risk entry step, the paid offer it leads to, and the conversion you will measure between them.

It is a one-page test plan for your own offer. The entry step has a start, an end and a clear scope. The paid offer says what the buyer gets from month two. The measure says who started, who finished and who paid, and what result means continue, change or stop.

It replaces the open-ended free trial, the discount you give to anyone who hesitates, and the guess about whether a free month would ever turn into paying clients.

### What goes on the page

1. The entry step: a free first month, with a start and an end date
2. What it includes: one real piece of the paid work
3. Who it is for: the buyer you want, written down
4. The paid offer: what month two adds, in the example at $1,000 a month
5. The measure: started, finished, paid for month two
6. The rule: what result means continue, change or stop

It sits inside 1:1 Mentoring, with the Fortnight Loop and the monthly scorecard. The free month is for your offer. 1:1 Mentoring itself is AUD $1,500 a month from the first month, and the tool has no separate checkout.

## Design the month as a test

In an example session, Ivanka asks three questions: what is the low-risk first step, what does the paid offer include, and how will conversion be measured? She designs the first month and the follow-on offer with you, and you write the rule for what result means continue, change or stop. You leave with the one-page test plan. Before the next session, you write the page or message that opens the month and send it to the buyers you named.

### The questions

- What is the smallest real piece of your paid work?
- What does the paid offer add from month two?
- Who is the free month for, and who is it not for?
- How will you count who started, finished and paid?
- What result would make you continue, change or stop?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: The paid offer nobody tries, and the step that would let them.
2. The numbers: The offer price, and the conversion you will measure.
3. The story: Why giving a month away feels like losing money.
4. The commitment: The written test plan, opened to the buyers you named.

Before the next session, you open the first month to the buyers you named, with its end date and what it includes, and start the count.

## A measured first step into the paid offer

By month 6, the free month is a written test with a result, not a hope.

**NOW**

- The paid offer feels too big to try.
- No low-risk first step exists.
- A free month would be open-ended.
- Nobody knows what it would convert to.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A written first-month test plan.
- A measured conversion from the free month to the paid offer.
- A clearer view of which buyers try the work.
- A decision: continue, change the month, or stop it.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## A strategic mentor who co-founded a business

Ivanka Menken is a strategic mentor for founders of $500K to $3M businesses, co-founder of The Art of Service, an author and an international speaker, based in Brisbane, Australia.
She asks what the first step is really testing, and holds you to the number you write down. If your offer is good and nobody tries it, the decision in front of you is one page. Write the test before you give anything away.

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You run a $500K to $3M business with a monthly paid offer.
- Buyers like the offer and hesitate at the first payment.
- You are tempted to give a month away, and want it to count.
- You will write the test plan and count the result.

### It does not fit

- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want a done-for-you launch or someone to run the free month.
- You want a discount strategy rather than a test.
- You are looking for a free month of mentoring. 1:1 Mentoring does not have one.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** It is part of 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The First-Month Test for your own offer

Three founding places in total, shared across 1:1 Mentoring and its three focus programmes, are available at A$1,000 a month, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=first-month-test#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)

## Questions about First-Month Test

### How does the First-Month Test work inside 1:1 Mentoring?

In a session, Ivanka Menken asks what the low-risk first step is, what the paid offer includes and how conversion will be measured. You write a one-page test plan for your own offer before the month opens. 1:1 Mentoring runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST; the tool is part of it, and the programme itself has no free month.

### What should the first month include?

One real piece of the paid work, a start and an end date, and a clear line on what is not included until month two. It should be small enough to deliver well and real enough to judge. Ivanka Menken helps you choose that piece inside 1:1 Mentoring, which runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### How do I measure conversion to the paid offer?

Count three numbers: who started the free month, who finished it, and who paid for month two. Write the result that means continue, change or stop before the month opens. Ivanka Menken reviews the count with you in the next session of 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and on the monthly scorecard.

### What if the free month attracts the wrong buyers?

Then the test has told you something. Narrow who the month is for, change where you offer it, or ask one qualifying question before someone starts. Change one thing at a time, so the next count can be read. Ivanka Menken works it through with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, which runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.


## Write the test before you give a month away

If your offer is good and nobody tries it, start with 1:1 Mentoring. The First-Month Test is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=first-month-test#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)
- [The Fortnight Loop](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring#fortnight-loop)
- [The monthly scorecard, free](https://ivankamenken.com/scorecard)
- [Test demand before the retail pitch](https://ivankamenken.com/market-booth-demand-test)
- [Anchor the first number before the call](https://ivankamenken.com/first-call-price-anchor)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka