Over the next several episodes, I'm going to be interviewing a series of online business owners about their business models, how their businesses make money, their biggest expenses, how much time their businesses take to run, how big or small their teams are and more.Today I’m talking to Cher Hale about how she’s built a micro-agency by design, serving a very specific demographic and market that aligns with her values and passions.Cher Hale is the founder and director of Ginkgo PR, a boutique agency that believes in using public relations to help historically-excluded authors and entrepreneurs take back their narratives.As a Taiwanese-Black American woman, Cher is passionate about leveraging the power of media to tell diverse stories through online, print, TV, and podcast mediums so she can play a role in reshaping how our society views social justice, feminism, and multiculturalism.Listen to the full episode to hear:How Cher mixes a limited number of traditional retainer clients with consults and a membership optionWhere the biggest chunks of her money and time go as a micro-agencyWhat she loves about her hybrid business model and one big disadvantage of a longer contractLearn more about Cher Hale:Gingko Public RelationsConnect with Cher on LinkedInLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

When I started working on starting my online business, it was because I was running away from the business that I already had.Essentially, I was breaking up with my current business and my online business was a bit of a rebound. What I wanted out of my online business was flexibility and freedom. I wanted to know how to make as much money with as little effort as possible and in those rebound days, I was susceptible to anything that sounded like what I was looking for.It wasn't until I was well into the process of building my business that I realized there were some things about the business model I had inadvertently chosen that I wasn't all that fond of or that there were other options out there.Over the next several episodes, I'm going to be interviewing a series of online business owners about their business models, how their businesses make money, their biggest expenses, how much time their businesses take to run, how big or small their teams are and more.To start this series off, I'm bringing on my friend, business mentor and podcast producer, Tara McMullin. In this episode, Tara breaks down seven simple business models for small business owners.Tara McMullin is a coach, community builder, podcaster, producer, and writer. She’s the founder of What Works, a digital platform for small business owners who are building strong, resilient, and sustainable companies. She’s also the co-founder of YellowHouse.Media, a podcast production agency that helps entrepreneurs create standout podcasts that grow their businesses. Tara’s podcast, What Works, has been downloaded over 2 million times and boasts over 300 interviews with thriving small business owners.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why getting clear on your business model helps your business become more sustainable, resilient and easier to runHow keeping it simple can actually generate more revenue with fewer expensesSeven simple business models with real-life examples and a breakdown of the math behind the revenuePlus two models for physical product-based businessesKey questions to consider when choosing a business modelLearn more about Tara McMullin:What WorksThe What Works PodcastInstagram: @tara_mcmullinYellowHouse.MediaLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Did you set a goal to take your business from $0 to $100,000 in 2022?You might think of dividing 100,000 by 365 and figure, “okay, I need to earn at least $274 per day and I’ll hit that mark.”But the first thing to know is that it isn’t going to happen that way.Most likely this process of going from zero to six figures over the next year is something that's going to happen exponentially.You're going to start slow. It'll seem like you aren't making any progress at all at first, but over time, your income will increase faster and faster.It will almost certainly be something of a rollercoaster, where you’ll earn more one month and less the next.It’s a two steps forward, one step back kind of experience.And that might not be what you want to hear, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the truth.Keep listening to find out what else you need to know to hit that six-figure milestone in 2022.Listen to the full episode to hear:How to keep discouragement at bay so you keep putting in the work to hit six figuresWhy it’s okay to have some unknowns in your business planWhy you need to get to market quickly, even if your product isn’t yet perfectWhy your income might dip while you’re setting up scalable systemsHow to build a marketing and sales process that works for your businessLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!50 Service Business Ideas – Free Download

To celebrate our reaching 100 episodes of Work Less, Earn More, I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes all this week.I went all the way back to the very first episode and pulled out the ones that stood out to me as must-listens, ones that I think even if you've heard them before, they would be worth listening to again. Then I had to narrow it down from 20 or so episodes to 5.To do that, I needed a theme or a topic, and I landed on doing a whole week of episodes all about funnels and launching.For the final episode of our five-part bonus series, we're going to do something that is a little bit unrelated if I'm going to be completely honest, but I think it's an important piece of the puzzle.When I was first trying to build my business, my funnels weren’t working and my launches were falling flat.And it wasn’t because of the funnels or the launches.The reason they would have worked for me is because I was barking up the wrong tree. I was trying to sell something that there wasn't demand for. I was trying to sell something that nobody wanted to buy.I hadn’t validated my business idea.So today, I’ll walk you through how to do that, so you can put all of the great lessons in the last four episodes this week to use.Listen to the full episode to hear:3 questions to ask to validate your business ideaWhy market research is essential to building a successful businessHow to tell if your business idea is valid and worth pursuingWhy it might not take a long time to build a substantial, successful businessLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

To celebrate our reaching 100 episodes of Work Less, Earn More, I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes all this week.I went all the way back to the very first episode and pulled out the ones that stood out to me as must-listens, ones that I think even if you've heard them before, they would be worth listening to again. Then I had to narrow it down from 20 or so episodes to 5.To do that, I needed a theme or a topic, and I landed on doing a whole week of episodes all about funnels and launching.I'm bringing you back to one of the earliest episodes from Work Less, Earn More.In this episode, I share with you six things that took us past the six-figure mark.One thing I love about this episode is that it's a really good recap of some of the biggest things that we did that grew the business, and I did it while hitting that milestone was still pretty fresh and we were still using a lot of the same strategies as we continued to grow.So if you’re aiming for that goal, listen in and I’ll share how we did it.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why I had to narrow my focus and get specificWhy I stopped selling and dug into market researchWhy different is better than betterHow I found my bottlenecks and hired help strategically to get past themHow subscriptions and evergreen funnels took us over the six-figure markLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

To celebrate our reaching 100 episodes of Work Less, Earn More, I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes all this week.I went all the way back to the very first episode and pulled out the ones that stood out to me as must-listens, ones that I think even if you've heard them before, they would be worth listening to again. Then I had to narrow it down from 20 or so episodes to 5.To do that, I needed a theme or a topic, and I landed on doing a whole week of episodes all about funnels and launching.Today I'm bringing you an interview that I did with my friend, Lucy Griffiths, who has a truly incredible evergreen sales funnel set up that sold over 30,000 copies of one of her courses in just 18 months!Whether you’re just starting to set up funnels or you have one running you want to improve, listen in as Lucy shares the dirt on how she set it up and how it works.Lucy Griffiths went from TV journalist reporting from conflict zones and interviewing political heavyweights and rubbing elbows with A-listers to building a course business that has now generated over a million dollars in revenue. Her Confident on Camera course has over 50,000 downloads and counting.Listen to the full episode to hear:How micro-courses allow you to quickly scale up your salesWhy you should script and record your sales pitchHow Lucy structures her offers to increase her total cart value from a low-cost courseWhy she uses still image ads to sell a video-based courseLucy’s surprising strategy for generating leads and converting themLearn more about Lucy:lucygriffiths.comConfident On Camera CourseFollow Lucy on YouTubeLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

To celebrate our reaching 100 episodes of Work Less, Earn More, I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes all this week.I went all the way back to the very first episode and pulled out the ones that stood out to me as must-listens, ones that I think even if you've heard them before, they would be worth listening to again. Then I had to narrow it down from 20 or so episodes to 5.To do that, I needed a theme or a topic, and I landed on doing a whole week of episodes all about funnels and launching.Today is Episode 22 with Tarzan Kay.Tarzan reveals all of her best secrets and tips for launching to a small list and really maximizing your sales, even when you aren't selling to very many people.And I know that that is the situation that many of you are in right now. And I was in that situation not too long ago myself.Tarzan Kay is a master of email marketing and former copywriter-for-hire who specializes in fun-to-read, more-addictive-than-Game-of-Thrones email copy. She also helps freelancers attract better clients who’ll reach deeper into their pockets to pay for top-quality services using the power of email.She shares all of her expert email marketing and copywriting tips on how she stands out in a crowded market—and how you can, too.Listen to the full episode to hear:Sales strategies to make the most of your small listHow to calculate your real conversion rate for your launchA two-part offer structure that helps you capture missed leadsWhy you should never judge your launch in the middle of itLearn more about Tarzan:TarzanKay.com10 Free Email Promo Sequence SwipesInstagram: @tarzan_kayThe Must-Have Tool For Promoting To A List of Less Than 1000 SubscribersLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

To celebrate our reaching 100 episodes of Work Less, Earn More, I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes all this week.I went all the way back to the very first episode and pulled out the ones that stood out to me as must-listens, ones that I think even if you've heard them before, would be worth listening to again. Then I had to narrow it down from 20 or so episodes to 5.To do that, I needed a theme or a topic, and I landed on doing a whole week of episodes all about funnels and launching.First up is Episode 20 with Mariah Coz. Mariah is a wizard with evergreen funnels and in this episode, she breaks down how easy creating a successful evergreen funnel can be, even when it goes against conventional wisdom.Mariah Coz has been creating and selling online courses, building webinars, and crafting funnels for years. In that time, her company has helped hundreds of people create and sell courses about everything from watercolor painting, programming, decluttering, football, and everything in between.She is a veteran course creator and creates high-converting webinars, funnels, and launches for herself and her clients using cutting-edge strategies that no one else is teaching.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why it’s “mean to not go evergreen,” for your customers and for youHow your evergreen funnel fuels your live launchesThree things that might be holding you back from building an evergreen funnelTwo ways to effectively create urgency without being sleazyOne simple thing to put on your webinar landing page that will increase salesLearn more about Mariah Coz:Mariahcoz.comFree Evergreen Sales Funnel MasterclassAccelerator ApplicationInstagram: @mariahpcozYouTubeLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Welcome to Episode 100!For this milestone episode, I thought it would be fitting to share some of the things that I’ve learned over the course of the last hundred episodes.I took on this project with some knowledge and strategy, and I’d been creating content on the internet for years, but I still had a lot to learn. So today, I’m going to share the top three things I’ve learned over the last two years of running the podcast.And I’ll be joined by Tara McMullin, my friend and one of the producers of this show. Tara is a podcasting pro and has the inside story of what’s happening in podcasting, what’s changed in the last two years, and strategies for running a successful podcast today.Tara McMullin is a coach, community builder, podcaster, producer, and writer. She’s the founder of What Works, a digital platform for small business owners who are building strong, resilient, and sustainable companies. She’s also the co-founder of YellowHouse.Media, a podcast production agency that helps entrepreneurs create standout podcasts that grow their businesses. Tara’s podcast, What Works, has been downloaded over 2 million times and boasts over 300 interviews with thriving small business owners.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why your podcast shouldn’t be your primary visibility strategy, but it can establish you as an expertHow COVID leveled the production playing field between big studios and indie podcastsWhy limited series are on the rise and pros and cons of making and marketing them for your podcastWhy your “new episode” social media post isn’t workingLearn more about Tara McMullin:What WorksThe What Works PodcastInstagram: @tara_mcmullinYellowHouse.MediaLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

If you want to turn your side-hustle into your full-time gig, you need two things: products and customers.Of course, it’s not actually that simple.There are a lot of variables depending on the kind of business you want to run, and a lot of ways for things to go wrong.So today, I’m sharing the real secret to turning your side-thing into your main thing so you can have a steady, predictable income from your business.Listen to the full episode to hear:The systems you need to have in place for steady incomeWhy starting a business is more than setting up shop with a website and a tax filingLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

There are plenty of great reasons to want to increase your prices, and I’m guessing you’ve thought of a few of them.There are also plenty of concerns you might have about the process.If those concerns are holding you back, this is the episode for you.We’ll talk about reasons to raise your prices, why you haven’t done it yet, and I’ll share the secret to confidently raising your prices and executing the changes in your business.Listen to the full episode to hear:How to balance raising your prices with a possible loss in overall salesPractical concerns around raising your prices, and one that might be all in your head3 case studies to help you consider your pricing strategyThe real secret to confidently raising your pricesLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

The majority of the time, I run my online business from my desktop computer and when I’m traveling, I’ll use my laptop.Working from my phone isn’t my preferred way to do it. I’d much rather be at my desk in a focused environment, but sometimes there’s no avoiding it.Being able to use my phone also gives me additional freedom and flexibility to bring my office with me when I need to.Today, I’m sharing five apps that make it much easier to run my business from my phone.Listen to the full episode to hear:My favorite app to keep work messaging separate and organizedThe project management app my team and I use to stay on top of tasksHow we create our Instagram storiesHow I update YouTube on the flyMy three favorite tools in G SuiteLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

You can watch a video or read a blog post about how to make money online and think, well, that looks easy.But you’re almost never getting the whole picture.What you see in those videos and blog posts is a snapshot, usually of all the things that went right, not everything that went wrong before it started to get better.You won’t see all of the potential hazards and challenges that come with those business models because you’re not being given the full breadth of the real-world experience of running that business and what it took to make it a success.So today, I’m talking to online business’s self-labeled Crash Test Dummy, Pat Flynn.Pat has tested out so many different ways to make money online, and he’s going to let me pick his brain and do a deep dive about what worked, what flopped, and how profitable they really were.Pat Flynn is a father, husband, and entrepreneur who lives and works in San Diego, CA. He owns several successful online businesses and is a professional blogger, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and host of the Smart Passive Income and AskPat podcasts, which have earned a combined total of over 65 million downloads, multiple awards, and features in publications such as The New York Times and Forbes. He is also an advisor to ConvertKit, LeadPages, Teachable, and other companies in the digital marketing arena.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why asking what model you should start with is the wrong question, and the questions you should be asking insteadHow his audience informed Pat’s initial venture into online businessWhy you should think of affiliate marketing and sponsorships as providing a service to your audienceHow books and speaking can support your brand and create incomeThe business models that have the highest ROI and profit margins for PatLearn more about Pat:Smart Passive IncomeSmart Passive Income PodcastAsk Pat PodcastInstagram: @PatFlynnTwitter: @PatFlynnWill It Fly? How to test your next business idea so you don’t waste your time and moneyLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Business owners are always hearing and talking about growth and scale.You want your business to succeed and make money, which means doing more business, right?But you’ll probably have to make some major changes or pivots along the way to make growth sustainable.Today’s guest has gone through those major pivots and changes as her business has grown. She’s even gone through several iterations of her business model to land where she is now.Hannah Murphy is a productivity strategist and owner of With Hannah & Co. She helps entrepreneurs create a profit-focused schedule that eliminates unnecessary task switching, long nights and never-ending to-do lists.Having been through the long hours, seven days a week trying to grow her client list style of doing business, Hannah realized she needed to rethink what a productive schedule looked like. Once she did, she was able to achieve the growth she was looking for and more.I wanted to talk to her about the changes she’s made in her business, from starting as a virtual assistant to becoming a productivity strategist and what that means, and the motivations behind the pivots and phases of her business.Listen to the full episode to hear:How Hannah approached developing new skills and pitching her ideal clientsHow a simple referral program grew her business from 3 to 27 clients in just a few monthsWhy prioritizing systems and recognizing her weak points helped Hannah make smart hiring choicesHow her productivity coaching grew out of her existing clients and when she realized creating a course would help stave off burnoutLearn more about Hannah:With Hannah & Co.Instagram: @WithHannahAndCoLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

You’ve got your messaging down, now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty.Part three of The Easiest Business Plan Ever breaks down your marketing strategy.This is where you’ll get down to the fine details of your customer’s demographics and psychographics so you can figure out how you’ll get the word out about your business and how you’re going to tell people about your products so you can start making sales.This is where you’ll really start generating that to-do list of action items to get your business up and running.Listen to the full episode to hear:How overly wide demographics water down your message and hurt your salesQuestions to help you find the key psychographics your customers will have in commonWays to estimate the size of your target marketHow to build brand visibilityThe two parts of your conversion strategyLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!The Easiest Business Plan EverResources:Business Planning DEEP DIVE (Pt. 1)Business Planning DEEP DIVE (Pt. 2)FREE 6-Part Business Planning Video Series

Your business has a name, an address, a legal structure, and a clear description of what you do. What next?Part two of The Easiest Business Plan Ever covers your marketing messaging.This is where you take that clear, concise description of what your business does, and turn it into persuasive messaging that makes people want to work with you or buy from you.Getting your marketing messaging down means you know who your customer is, what their problems are, and how your product or service solves those problems.And that sets up your business for success.Listen to the full episode to hear:Questions for getting clear on your customers’ problem and the result you offerWhy your customers need to really understand how your offering solves their problemHow the story of your company and why you do what you do strengthens your messageKey questions to differentiate yourself from the competitionHow to turn your product or service into a systemLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!The Easiest Business Plan Ever

Creating a solid strategic plan for your business doesn’t have to be a long arduous process.Four years ago, I created the Easiest Business Plan Ever and it’s since been downloaded by literally thousands of people.But up until this point, I've never gone very deep with any one section of the plan, so starting today, that’s going to change.I’ll be breaking down the business plan, section by section, step by step over the next three episodes to answer your questions about how to use the template to easily create a business plan and strategy that works for you.We’re starting today with your business overview and all of the pieces you’ll need to have worked out from your business’s name to something called the chart of accountability.Listen to the full episode to hear:Four things to keep in mind when naming your businessWhy your business might need multiple addressesKey considerations when choosing a legal structureQuestions to help you write a clear, concise description of your business and its missionWhy you should create your chart of accountability even if you’re a sole proprietorLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!the Easiest Business Plan Ever

When you’re thinking about creating a digital product, there are a lot of decisions to make.Should you create a course or a membership site?Write a book or provide one-on-one coaching?There are so many options, and each one has its own nuances, benefits and challenges.Whatever product you decide to create, you’ll have to make choices about structure, pricing, marketing and more.In this episode, I’m talking to Julie Solomon, CEO of EmpowerYou Inc, host of the Influencer Podcast and creator of SHINE.Julie is an expert in digital marketing, PR, and personal branding and I wanted to talk to her about SHINE because it is so different from a lot of what we see online. I wanted to learn more about how she structured the program and what led her to some of the choices she made.We’ll also dig into how she markets a premium program with a matching price tag, growth challenges and the pros and cons of running high-ticket programs.Listen to the full episode to hear:The market challenges Julie designed her program to addressWhy she pivoted away from a monthly membership model to a six-month commitmentHow Julie attracts organic leads to her program with her podcast and social mediaWhy Julie settled on her price point, and why she hasn’t changed it even as she’s iterated other parts of the programLearn more about Julie:JulieSolomon.netInstagram: @julssolomonThe Influencer PodcastSHINELearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

When you set up email marketing for your business, it can completely change the way you market your business overall. Being in someone’s inbox is a totally different game than showing up in their social media feed.There are so many tools that email marketing opens up to you that allow you to get more personal and responsive with your email list than you could ever be with social media ads.If you’ve been hesitating learning how to use email marketing for your business, today’s episode is for you.We’ll cover everything from choosing the best software platform to setting up your opt-in forms and how to build your list.Listen to the full episode to hear:The pros and cons of three free email marketing platforms you can use while you build your listWhy you might want to use a thank you page instead of a pop-up for new subscribersHow to create an enticing and valuable freebie for new sign-upsHow to promote your freebie to build your listLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources:MailerLiteSenderConvertKit

So you’re thinking about starting a podcast.Maybe you want to expand your audience, or maybe you want to build an audience and create authority to support your online business. Both are great reasons to get into podcasting.So what’s holding you back?In today’s episode, Melissa Guller of Wit & Wire joins me to talk about strategies for starting and marketing a podcast, from the planning you need to do to marketing strategies. And we’ll break down misconceptions about the charts, market saturation and why you don’t need a ton of equipment or technical know-how to hit record.Melissa Guller is a course creator, podcast producer, and the CEO of Wit & Wire, where she helps online business owners build their authority and reach a wider audience through podcasting. Bigger picture, Melissa loves to teach entrepreneurs. She’s a top-rated instructor on Skillshare and in person at General Assembly, and she previously worked full-time for Ramit Sethi and Teachable. She’s helped over 2,000 podcasting students through her Wit & Wire online courses, and she's on a mission to help more diverse business owners earn money online doing work they love.Listen to the full episode to hear:Three reasons to start a podcast even if you don’t have a large followingHow to use seasons as part of your marketing, to test content, or to give yourself a breakWhy you need to be strategic about choosing your category and what charting means for your podcastThe difference between owned media and earned media and which one you should focus on for growthHow to pitch yourself as a guest on someone else’s podcast and invite guests to your ownLearn more about Melissa:Wit & WireInstagram: @WitAndWireWit & Wire on Pinterest Wit & Wire PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources:The Best Podcast Microphones for Any BudgetFREE How to Launch a Podcast in 60 Days Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Email is not dead.When you’re selling products online, you always need a few different tools in your marketing kit.You’ll use advertising so people hear about your products in the first place. Then you’ll need some way to move those leads from lukewarm to interested in buying to paying customers.And most businesses, from small local retailers to big-name brands, are still using email as a key part of their sales process.And that's why I find it, especially ridiculous when people say that email is dead.We’re all still using email. It’s a primary method of communication in general and it’s still a primary sales channel for most businesses.Which is why today, we’re going to discuss how to launch a product with email.We’ll get into the details on conversion rates, how to incorporate webinars and options for setting up your email sequence. Because no matter what your advertising strategy is to move people into your funnel, you’re going to need emails to convert those leads.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why webinars are especially helpful for smaller brands to boost conversionsPros and cons of short and long launch sequencesThe importance of the pre-launch period10 emails that will increase your sales by 500%Learn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources: Work Less, Earn More Ep 78: The Beginner’s Guide to Webinars Part OneWork Less, Earn More Ep 79: The Beginner’s Guide to Webinars Part Two

If you’re running an online business, at some point you’re going to have to build a funnel. And of course, you don’t want to spend your time and effort creating a funnel that doesn’t work.Today, to get into the nitty-gritty, full-nerd details of building funnels that actually make you money, I’m joined by Christie Mims, founder of Coach Pony.Christie has channeled the power of her niche into a million-dollar funnel and she is going to break down for us how she did it.From boosting traffic to her website without spending a fortune on ads or the whole day on social media to the data you need to look at every day, Christie walks us through the process of how she got to her million-dollar funnel.Christie Mims is the founder of Coach Pony, a community for new life coaches who want to build their business and client lists. She’s also a Forbes Top 100 Career Coach and the founder of The Revolutionary Club, a career coaching business that serves smart people who want to find their passion.Listen to the full episode to hear:Common sense strategies to boost your visibility without chasing social media followsHow to use behavioral cues to create a “gentle” funnelWhy Christie uses a “less stick, more carrot” approach in her funnelsWhy you should have a secondary sales cycle for folks who didn’t buy immediatelyChristie’s top two tips for building a successful funnelLearn more about Christie:Coach PonyInstagram: @christiecoachponyConnect with Christie on LinkedInCoach Pony PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Have you ever wanted to get a look at the nitty gritty details of a successful product launch?   Plenty of people will tell you how much money they made or an average of their open rate or the kinds of emails they sent to their leads, but today, we’re diving deep into the numbers on the recent launch of the Creator Fast Track.   The Creator Fast Track launch was one of our most successful launches to date, so we’re breaking it down for you, from warm leads to money in the bank, with what worked, what we wouldn’t do again, and the real numbers underneath it all.   To help me remember how it went down, I’m joined by my operations manager, Cortni Loveridge.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why “Sell with a Story” emails work How scripting the entire webinar made a massive difference in sales and helped us set up an evergreen funnel How back to back launches netted 50% more sales Why you shouldn’t be afraid to align your webinar result with your product result The email subject lines we used and tips for boosting your open rate   Learn more about Gillian:   Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

We all know that video is a powerful tool to grow your brand and using video to effectively grow your sales is a specialty in and of itself, especially if you’re trying to bring in leads with organic video content. Where should you post? How do you know your videos are being shown to people who would be interested in your business? What should your videos be about? If you’re brand new to the idea of selling through a short video post, or if the very thought makes you uncomfortable, it can be tough to know where to start. Kate Hore-Lacy is a master at using video as a tool in your business to make more sales. Like a lot of business owners, Kate had to make a big pivot in her sales strategies when COVID cancelled the live events where she would typically find many of her leads. Thinking outside of her comfort zone and pushing past her resistance to doing video has paid off big in her business and today, she’ll share some of her strategies and tips for success with video as a sales tool. Kate Hore-Lacy is a client attraction strategist and sales and mindset mentor. Values-driven service providers who struggle with sales hire her to claim their impact, get clients, get praised and get paid! She has addressed worldwide audiences through summits, videos and workshops to rave reviews and with over 33,000 followers of her daily videos, has recently been named a LinkedIn sales star. Listen to the full episode to hear:How pivoting to video on a platform with less saturation helped Kate bring in sales when COVID caused her live events to be cancelledEasy strategies for selecting video topicsWhy your video description needs a hook tooHow to catch and keep your audience’s attentionWhy you don’t need to spend a ton of money on equipment to do video, and one relatively inexpensive thing that’s totally worth it Learn more about Kate:KateHoreLacy.comConnect with Kate on LinkedIn Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore)Get on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Whenever you’re pursuing a goal, at some point you’ll want to give up. Making the distinction between frustration, boredom or distraction and it really being time to move on is hard and it can get emotional.   There are times when you’re frustrated and discouraged and things aren’t working, but you can change course and use a different strategy rather than giving up on the goal altogether.   There are times when you’re bored or unmotivated and a shiny new idea seems like a better path.   And there are times when you’ll realize that, for one reason or another, the goal you’ve been pursuing truly isn’t serving you.   So how do you make an informed, solid decision with all those feelings swirling around?   In the final episode of our series on perseverance, we are going to help you answer that question.   I’m joined again by Startup Success coach Gabe Cox. Gabe is a marathon runner, author of Mind Over Marathon, success coach, and homeschooling mom. She helps women use their passions to enhance their productivity and spiritual growth so they can go after their God-given goals.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why you can be working without doing the work How validating your ideas can help you decide to change course or give up How to tell if you’ve truly lost your passion What to do with roadblocks, detours and other obstacles When it really is just too hard to keep going   Learn more about Gabe: Red Hot Mindset Instagram: @gabecox_redhotmindset Red Hot Mindset Podcast Red Hot Mindset on YouTube Mind Over Marathon: Overcoming Mental Barriers in the Race of Life   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Work Less, Earn More Ep 80: How to Stick with Your Plan Until You Succeed with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 81: Setting Yourself Up For Success From The Start with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 82: Motivating Yourself When You’re Not Motivated with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 83: 5 Things That Will DERAIL You From Achieving Your Goals with Gabe Cox

Far too often, we make the plans, we get started full of enthusiasm and excitement, but before long, we either lose motivation or something else actually gets in our way and we fall off the wagon.   This week, we’re focusing on the things that can derail you.   So often when we are thinking about achieving our goals, we think about tips for planning, for staying on track and staying motivated.   But sometimes things literally get in your way.   And they can be the reason why you don’t achieve your goals. It’s not that you didn’t have a good enough strategy or good enough plans, but maybe you didn’t think about–or didn’t even know about–potential obstacles that could derail you.   I’m joined again by Startup Success coach Gabe Cox. Gabe is a marathon runner, author of Mind Over Marathon, success coach, and homeschooling mom. She helps women use their passions to enhance their productivity and spiritual growth so they can go after their God-given goals.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Strategies for tackling fear of criticism and ways to help you remember positive feedback How community and mentorship help you with the unknown and unforeseen obstacles The mindset shifts you need to make around failure The subtle ways fear of success can derail you How the 80/20 rule can help you beat shiny object syndrome How to handle distractions from social media to binge watching   Learn more about Gabe: Red Hot Mindset Instagram: @gabecox_redhotmindset Red Hot Mindset Podcast Red Hot Mindset on YouTube Mind Over Marathon: Overcoming Mental Barriers in the Race of Life   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources:   Work Less, Earn More Ep 80: How to Stick with Your Plan Until You Succeed with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 81: Setting Yourself Up For Success From The Start with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 82: Motivating Yourself When You’re Not Motivated

How do you stay motivated?   Staying motivated is one of the things people think about the most when they think about achieving a goal.   How do you keep going when you’re having an off day or the hard work is taking the shine off your excitement?   Maybe you’ve lost some of the fire you had when you set the goal. Maybe there’s an unforeseen obstacle in your way.   In the third part of our series on perseverance, we're going to be talking about how to stay motivated.   People ask me about staying motivated all the time. But it’s more complicated than simple hacks. They're not going to be enough to have perseverance and to get the results, but motivation is an important piece of the puzzle.   I’m joined again by Startup Success coach Gabe Cox. Gabe is a marathon runner, author of Mind Over Marathon, success coach, and homeschooling mom. Gabe is a powerhouse woman and someone who has really become an expert on persevering through and achieving your goals.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Ways to keep your “why” visually in front of you to help you keep going Why you should ask yourself if “not feeling it” is a warranted feeling How to effectively use rewards for hitting milestones, large or small Why having an accountability partner can be about more than hitting deadlines   Learn more about Gabe: Red Hot Mindset Instagram: @gabecox_redhotmindset Red Hot Mindset Podcast Red Hot Mindset on YouTube Mind Over Marathon: Overcoming Mental Barriers in the Race of Life   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Work Less, Earn More Ep 80: How to Stick with Your Plan Until You Succeed with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 81: Setting Yourself Up For Success From The Start with Gabe Cox YouTube: the SCIENCE of Manifestation and the Law of Attraction One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, Robert Maurer

You know what your goal is. You know it will take perseverance to get there. Now what?   What strategies can you put in place for when you want to give up? What small wins can you put in your path?   Today we’re going to talk about how to set yourself up for success from the start.   We’ll share strategies to put into place before you even get into the work of the tasks that will lead you to your goal.   When you’re inspired and excited about your goal and in the planning phases is the perfect time to  put these strategies into play, before you get bogged down in the day to day and long before you wonder if you should quit.   I’m joined again by Startup Success coach Gabe Cox. Gabe is a marathon runner, author of Mind Over Marathon, success coach, and homeschooling mom. She has so much to share with us on the topic of perseverance.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How to find the why that will keep you going through the last six miles of your marathon Why you need to have a long-term vision, but give yourself smaller goals with more predictable outcomes along the way How to use your vision to craft and support your short-term projects Why smaller goals can help you course correct faster when things aren’t going as planned How to write an action plan that works for you   Learn more about Gabe: Red Hot Mindset Instagram: @gabecox_redhotmindset Red Hot Mindset Podcast Red Hot Mindset on YouTube Mind Over Marathon: Overcoming Mental Barriers in the Race of Life   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Work Less, Earn More Ep 80: How to Persevere and Stick with Your Plans Until You're Successful with Gabe Cox Work Less, Earn More Ep 57: A 7-Figure Course Business...And the Surprising Strategy that Built It with Chandler Bolt

We all know how volatile the economy has been in the last year or so. And it might get much worse before it gets better.   With so much unpredictability, it can be easy to blame our circumstances when we don’t succeed.   But one thing that I know for sure is that we are not victims of our circumstances. I firmly believe that we develop our character, expand our capacity and learn invaluable lessons by working through challenges rather than letting them stop us.   Your business will inevitably encounter a crisis at some point, whether it’s a major market shift, a global pandemic or a personal crisis with your health or family.   Today I'm looking forward to talking to John Meese about what he's discovered about what it takes to build a thriving business in any economy.   John is an economist-turned-entrepreneur on a personal mission to eradicate generational poverty by helping entrepreneurs create thriving businesses which is why he wrote Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One).   John is CEO of Cowork.Inc, Co-founder of Notable, and host of the Thrive School podcast.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How the economy moves in cycles of stability and crisis, so you can look to the horizon Why having a thriving business is more than just being profitable Why you need to focus on the real people and the real problems you solve for them, not your ideal client avatar Five growth models for your business, and why you only need to focus on one of them The three core products your business needs   Learn more about John: JohnMeese.com Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One) Connect with John on LinkedIn Thrive School Podcast   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Survive and Thrive Playbook Ray Edwards’ OPEN Buyer Awareness Scale

Results take time.   We know that it takes perseverance to see our ideas and plans through. But when success still seems far off in the distance, or a newer, shinier idea pops into your head, what do you do?   And how do you know when it really is time to throw in the towel?   It’s rare that success happens on day one. Or even on day 50. By day 100 you might be seeing some real progress, but even then you probably won’t have made it to the finish line.   So, what to do when new ideas come? Is the new idea really better or is it a distraction from the hard parts in between the idea and the finish line?   Deciding when to stick it out and when it’s time to move on are questions of perseverance, commitment, and discernment. And it’s exactly what Startup Success coach Gabe Cox specializes in.   Gabe is a marathon runner, author of Mind Over Marathon, success coach, and homeschooling mom. And she knows a thing or two about seeing plans through to completion.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Two types of goals and the challenges they present to perseverance The benefits of perseverance, not just to your business but to your life and personal growth How perseverance and discipline are recurring choices, not immutable traits How knowing your “why” on a deep level helps you stay the course How to get honest with yourself about the real consequences of not persevering   Learn more about Gabe: Red Hot Mindset Instagram: @gabecox_redhotmindset Red Hot Mindset Podcast Red Hot Mindset on YouTube Mind Over Marathon: Overcoming Mental Barriers in the Race of Life   Learn more about Gillian:   Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Webinars are an incredible sales tool.   They let you build relationships with your audience and convert lots of sales in a way that is still aligned with you and your values. It doesn’t have to be sleazy or salesy to work.   But you knew all that from last week’s episode. Or if you didn’t, definitely go check that out.   Now that we know how effective webinars can be and the basics of setting up your first or next webinar, we’re going to talk about webinar content.   What exactly should you say in your webinars? What should you teach?   How can you organize the information that you're teaching?   And most importantly, how can you wrap your webinar up with an effective sales pitch that will actually convert a large percentage of your attendees into buyers?   Plus, we’ll cover some tips so you can avoid common beginners’ mistakes and start seeing success from your very first webinar, from how long it should be and how many slides you should have to the importance of rehearsing your presentation and whether or not you should have your camera on.   Listen to the full episode to hear: The four main components of your webinar structure, plus three elements you can add on How to walk your audience through your process or product in a way that builds trust and leaves them wanting more Six components for a successful sales pitch Why your webinar should promise a result that is in alignment with your full offer Why you need to be clear on your goal for your webinar, and four goals you can use webinars to achieve   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Webinars consistently convert at a rate of 10 times the rate of email.   What is it that makes them such a powerful sales tool?   You’ve probably been to at least a few yourself, especially in this age of busy-ness and occasional quarantine.   They can be amazing–full of awesome, helpful, free training! Or in the wrong hands, they can be terrible, super-sleazy sales pitches. Maybe you’ve seen some from both ends of that spectrum.   Some business owners have even decided they want nothing to do with them because they’ve been tainted by sleaze.   But there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because some people misuse webinars and do them badly doesn’t mean that webinars themselves are corrupt. And they are still incredibly effective sales tools.   Done well, a webinar should be a positive experience for you and your audience. You can share a lot of value and strengthen your relationship with them. When you do get to the sales pitch, it’s a logical and welcome next step for your viewers because they want more of what you’re offering.   In other words, you want to knock their socks off with your free content so that they’re eager to pay you for more!   With the right balance of information, relationship-building and a taste of the paid product–no sleaze!–you can harness webinars to grow your business.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Three key reasons why webinars work Questions to help you clarify your offer so you get the right people in your webinar Six steps to take your webinar from zero to follow-up emails Why you should focus on building your list ahead of a webinar instead of relying on ads   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Canva

  As entrepreneurs, we’re in the business of creating value and trading it with others.   Which is to say, the main business of running a business is selling products. That’s how you engage in trade, serve your customers, and earn a livelihood..   But the business of trading–that is, selling–can seem like a mystery. What should we sell? How can we market our products? And at the end of the day, how can we convince people to buy them?   It turns out that making sales is much less about “convincing people to buy” and much more about explaining the benefits of your product and finding a mutually agreeable price. You have to find the point at which the price is equal to, or less than, the customer’s perceived value of the product.   It’s an equation that takes the mystery out of the process, and makes it much less emotionally charged.   So how do you apply it to your business?   This month on the podcast, we’re looking at four different aspects of launching products online, one of the most common ways digital entrepreneurs, like you, sell their goods to the public.   In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing launch math, the science of calculating the potential results of your launch long before you ever run your first ad, send your first email, or even, possibly, create your product.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How launch math helps you set realistic expectations and can even save you from making a major investment of time or money on a product that you haven’t validated How to use launch math to create realistic goals for your launch, separate from expectations The variables you’ll need to know for each launch Conversion coefficients and where those numbers come from   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   The math:   Conversion coefficients: Email sales conversion: 0.1% - 2% (average: 0.5%) Free offers typically convert at 2-10X these rates Webinar showup rate: 30% Webinar conversion: 1% - 20% (average: 5%) Direct sales: 10% - 50%If you’re launching to <1,000 people, then prioritize direct selling over mass-selling tactics.   Equations: [launch list] x 0.02 = webinar registrants [webinar registrants] x 0.30 = webinar attendees   [launch list] x 0.005 = email sales [webinar attendees] x 0.05 = webinar sales [personally engaged leads] x 0.20 = direct sales   [sales] x price = total revenue   [sales] x cost = total cost   [total revenue] - [total costs] = net profits    

  With the events of 2020 behind us, more people than ever before are taking the leap to work for themselves.   There are a lot of potential upsides. A flexible schedule. Freedom of choice in who you work with and what you work on. Security. And of course, no limit on your potential earnings.   But most people are also painfully aware of the challenges of getting started.   Is your personality a good fit for freelance work? What business should you start? Will anyone even want to hire you? And how can you find your first client?   To help you answer those questions and more, today on the podcast I’m bringing you Jay Clouse.   Jay is the founder of Freelancing School and the Unreal Collective, and his speciality is helping people make that transition from creative-stuck-in-a-day-job to freelancer, then from freelancer to CEO.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How Jay’s career evolved from startup cofounder to product management to freelance service provider and beyond A mindset shift around work, employment and compensation that will expand how you think about contract work The relationship of leadership, expectation setting, expertise and pricing Steps for building your freelance portfolio   Learn more about Jay Clouse: JayClouse.com Freelancing School 20% Off! Instagram: @JayClouse Twitter: @JayClouse Creative Elements   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Gillian Perkins on YouTube Business Plan Template  

Most of us wouldn’t consider setting out on a trip without a map.   Sure, if you start driving without a map, you might have a fun, interesting experience, but you’re probably not going to be able to get to a specific destination.   If making it to your particular destination is important to you, you start your trip by pulling up Google maps and plugging in that address.   But it is amazing how many people think that they can get to their destination without a map when it comes to starting a business.   They have a general idea of what business they want to start or what product they want to sell, but they don't take the time to come up with a plan for how they're going to build a particular business.   In fact, a lot of people don't even know exactly what they're trying to build.   Building a business without a plan can still potentially be a fun and interesting experience, but it can also potentially be a big waste of time.   Today, I’m going to talk you through exactly how to quickly and easily write a business plan to ensure that you have a solid road map for how you’re going to build your business and where you’re trying to take the company, so you can avoid wasting your time, energy and maybe a whole lot of money along the way.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Six essential sections for your business plan The elements you need to consider for your messaging, marketing, products, and production and delivery How to plan and break down your financial goals, even before you’re made your first sale   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Gillian Perkins on YouTube Business Plan Template  

Despite my best intentions, the day-to-day operations of my business don’t always come naturally to me.   Back when I was a solo-preneur, there were days when I was full of ideas and passionate about pursuing them. On those days, daily operations seemed less important than making big, important moves to grow my business.   Then on the days when I wasn’t even feeling very motivated or excited about my big ideas, boring day-to-day tasks were the last thing I wanted to do.   Long story short, the housekeeping just wasn’t getting done.   While I was struggling with balancing the day-to-day with my big ideas, I read Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C Winters. They identify two kinds of leaders: Visionaries and Integrators. Visionaries are the big picture, big ideas people. Integrators are the ones who make sure it actually happens, holding projects and teams together through big projects.   Realizing that I’m wired for the big picture and not so much the daily nitty-gritty also made me realize exactly the kind of person I needed to partner with to move my business forward.   I got lucky and found the perfect person in Cortni Loveridge, and she’s enabled us to do so much. But how do you find the Integrator to your Visionary?   Or if you’re an Integrator, how do you use those skills and find your Visionary partner?   Today’s guest expert is Sarah Noked, certified Online Business Manager (OBM) trainer. Sarah teaches people how to become OBMs, who are essentially Integrators, trained to manage the operations of online businesses remotely.   Sarah will be sharing with us all about how to decide whether you should become an OBM or hire an OBM to work for you.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How to know when and if your business is ready for an OBM Why Virtual Assistant and OBM are not the same role Personality types and traits that make great OBMs What you need to get started as an OBM How to find and hire an OBM for your business, and what you need to do to prepare   Learn more about Sarah Noked: SarahNoked.com Instagram: @sarahnoked Facebook: @sarahnoked   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business, Gino Wickman and Mark C Winters OBM Starter Kit Standard Operating Procedure Templates  

  This is the story of how I successfully launched a profitable product online.   But this story was preceded by almost 3 years of trying unsuccessfully to launch an online business, and before that, about 7 years of trying to figure out what I even wanted to start.   I was 6 months into my YouTube journey, and my channel had grown to about 15,000 subscribers. I was earning just enough from ad revenue and freelancing that I'd been able to finally quit my day-job. Though, to be honest, we were still barely scraping by and mostly living off of savings.   The time had come to try to launch a digital product to — hopefully! — create a stream of passive income.   The only problem? I'd already tried to launch three digital products, and none of them had been successful.   In Episode 2, I talked about the mistakes I made trying to do a big launch of a project I didn’t know  if people even wanted.   So what did I do differently that finally moved the needle and started generating sales?   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why choosing to offer the workshop at a low price eliminated a key variable, but why it’s a choice to be used strategically and sparingly How using the same format with different topics clarified what people were interested in learning about How those quick and dirty live workshops became valuable assets Why focusing on the process instead of a sales goal can be the mindset shift you need   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE    

  Not. One. Single. Sale.   After spending almost two months creating an online course, writing launch emails, and even putting together a webinar, I ended up making ZERO sales.   So what happened?   In episode two of $0 to $1M, I'll be sharing my mistakes so that YOU can avoid them with your next launch and get much better results than I did.   It was 2016 and I was ready to launch my online business. I had finally discovered what I was most passionate about—what I really wanted to "be when I grew up"–and I was ready to step into this new career.   Over the previous several months, I'd built a list of 1,000 subscribers for another business venture, and now that I'd started my digital marketing business list, that was quickly growing as well.   I wanted to turn my knowledge into a source of income, and creating an online course about list-building seemed like a great way to do that.   So, I planned, recorded and edited video lessons, created worksheets, wrote launch emails, planned a webinar. I was putting everything I'd learned over the past 2 years about digital marketing into practice!   Problematic symptoms started showing up early, but I had a lot of faith in the process. I was holding out hope for the promised six-figure launch!   14 people signed up for my webinar. None of them showed up.   Needless to say, I didn't make many sales.   In fact, by the end of the whole "launch," not a single person had purchased   What went wrong?   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why you have to know that people want your product and why they want it–you have to validate it Three essential puzzle pieces you need to sell products and how to balance them The launch math you need to know on sales tactics and conversion rates Mindset adjustments and tips to take failure out of your launch   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE    

I expected that growing my business would be a lot of hard work, tough decisions, and at least a few late nights. But what has surprised me the most is what a journey of personal growth it's turned out to be.   In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the lessons I've learned from my entrepreneurial failures have been as valuable as the rewards I've received from the successes.   And in this new series, $0 to $1M, I'm sharing those lessons with YOU.   This first season of three episodes focuses on lessons I learned while struggling to earn my first $1,000.   It took me over three years to earn that first thousand dollars. Partly getting momentum from $0 is tough and partly, well, I did everything wrong.   But, like I said, every mistake I made taught me something, and made me a better, more successful entrepreneur today.   I'm what people like to call a "multi-passionate entrepreneur." Which is a cute way of saying: I have way too many ideas and I'm not very good at sticking to any of them.   But entrepreneurship is a long game; building a business takes continued effort, consistency, and patience.   So how did I find a way to settle down and focus on one thing? In this episode, I'm sharing the story of how I went from a wannabe with a bad case of "entrepreneurial ADD" to a successful, focused business owner.   My hope is that, by sharing my story, you'll find some inspiration and ideas for how you might be able to overcome this challenge yourself — whether to make that initial decision to choose your niche and decide what business to start, OR to refine your business to focus more on one area of specialty.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why it is okay to quit when something is truly no longer working for you How the freedom to explore any topic, with the structure of committing to a regular posting schedule allowed her to find her focus naturally Why you should invest energy before money Concrete action steps for when you’re struggling with too many options or ideas   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

If you’re not playing the game, you’re not going to win the game.   Experimenting with new platforms, new tools and new strategies is part of the game, but throwing content at a wall like spaghetti isn’t playing the game to win. A winning social sales strategy takes commitment and consistency.   Approaching your social sales strategy like a science experiment might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. You just have to know what your basic hypothesis is so you can analyze the metrics when you’re done.   I am joined today by Jessica Stansberry. Jessica is a longtime friend and powerhouse content creator.   Jessica is the owner and founder of Hey Jessica LLC. She helps rockstar entrepreneurs and content creators use video and content creation to grow their brand and show up as an expert. She throws down booty-kicking advice on her weekly podcast, Hey Jessica Radio, on her YouTube channel, and blog and shows up every day on Instagram to make sure the tips never stop coming.   I'm super excited to have her on the show to share some of those tips with us and give us some behind the scenes, insider info on her social media strategy.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How Jessica structures her various content platforms and social media in her funnel, and why Why you should repurpose topics, but not content across platforms Why Jessica committed to using Reels on Instagram as part of her discoverability strategy, and how she uses other Instagram tools to nurture new follows How she mixes planned content with off-the-cuff observations, and where those posts go   Learn more about Jessica Stansberry: Hey Jessica Facebook: @heyjessicallc Instagram: @jessicastansberry Hey Jessica Podcast Jessica on YouTube   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Does your brand express your point of view? Or does it just tell people what you do?   If you want to position yourself as the go-to person in your industry–to become a brand people look up to, that they know, like and trust–you have to know what makes you different from everyone else doing the exact same thing you do.   Your personality, your skills, your history, your world view, those are the things that no one else has that will make you the person everyone suggests when someone needs to hire in your industry.   Today, I’m talking to Hillary Weiss about what it takes to go from thinking there’s not much special about how you do things, to building your brand on your unique approach.   Hillary Weiss is the creative director, positioning coach, and founder of Statement Piece Studios. She's also the cohost of the cult favorite YouTube marketing talk show Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites (#HAMYAW).   Hillary has had her work featured on Business Insider, The Next Web, The Observer, and more. Since 2011, she’s helped thousands of brands all over the world get seen and heard (and make serious cash) through her 1-1 client work, writing, coaching, and videos.   Nowadays, she’s on a mission to help more small businesses define their “statement piece”, a.k.a. the bold point of view that makes them radically relevant to their perfect people.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why your business and your brand are not the same thing Why starting with “nah” can unleash creative energy that refines your point of view and leads to perfect fit clients How getting vulnerable will make your positioning stronger Five practical steps to begin refining and building your unique position   Learn more about Hillary Weiss: HillaryWeiss.com Instagram: @hcweiss Twitter: @hcweiss Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites Statement Piece Framework   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Set them up once and let them work for you.   To be able to work less and earn more, you have to figure out how to leverage your time–how to do things once that have an ongoing impact.   Sounds like passive income, right? It is. A work-less, earn-more business is one that creates not only ACTIVE income, but passive income as well.   With an online business, without the demands of brick and mortar,  you can set up systems to increase your income without having to increase your hours.   How?   Making more money and scaling your company largely depend on your marketing efforts. Those are the systems designed to attract leads and convert them into paying customers. Those are the systems that generate sales.   While marketing platforms and strategies are as diverse as the businesses that use them, email can be one of the most effective ways of taking people from not knowing your company to becoming full-fledged, enthusiastic customers.   In today's episode, we'll be discussing five of the most powerful email marketing sequences to use to increase sales for your online business.   Listen to the full episode to hear: The five functions an automated email sequence can accomplish for your business Using sequence triggers effectively to reach leads at different points in the sales process Why you should clean your list, when to do it, and how to use tidying up to re-engage subscribers Why you should keep segments simple, if you use them at all   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Resources: Work Less, Earn More Episode 67: How to Write and Email Welcome Sequence Work Less, Earn More Episode 69: STOP! Don't Automate Another Thing Until You Listen To This ConvertKit

How much time do you spend on Instagram?   How much work does it take to really get results?   I see the appeal of Instagram. And I see when I do get involved and spend time on, how much engagement I can create. I love how it allows me to talk to my audience and really start to create conversations, but it’s hard to fit into my limited schedule.   Today, I’m asking Jasmine Star how much time she really spends on Instagram and other social media platforms, why it’s worth it to her, and what are her secrets for making the biggest impact in a relatively limited amount of time.   Jasmine Star is a photographer and business strategist who dropped out of law school and became an internationally recognized creative entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Social Curator and host of the Jasmine Star Show.   Jasmine empowers entrepreneurs to build their brand, market on social media and use it to create a life that they love. She’s been featured in Forbes Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How batching content helps Jasmine use multiple social platforms effectively to spread brand awareness Why you should treat your social posts like a physical storefront and greet your customers Where she sees the future of monetization for creators on social platforms Why the most important thing is still to do what you can, how you can   Learn more about Jasmine Star: JasmineStar.com Social Curator The Jasmine Star Show Instagram: @jasminestar @socialcurator   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

  Automation saves time, and can help you earn more, but it can also cost you money.   In this amazing digital age we live in, most of us are aware that we can have machines, computers, and software programs do a lot of work for us. And for entrepreneurs, who are trying to build successful businesses, that “free” labor is pretty appealing.   So, we automate. We look for things that can be done the same way each and every time, and we set up a machine system to do those tasks for us.   But sometimes, the soul of the process is lost when we attempt to create an automated process.   What happens when we lose the human touch?   What gets missed when we trade intentional, strategic decision-making and communication for automated processes?   Today, I’ll be talking about the pitfalls of automating too soon and of automating too many of your processes. You’ll hear about the mistakes I made early on in my business and about processes that seem ripe for automation, and what can go wrong when you do it too soon.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Conversion statistics that will make you think twice about automating your sales process Why content creation, audience interaction and customer service are key to supporting your dedicated sales process What tasks you should automate before you even think about sales automation How thoughtful delegation can be automation with a human touch   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!  

Confession: Lately, I’ve been feeling BUSY.   Not exactly on-brand, right? After all, I’ve built my business on the platform of working LESS -- 20 hours per week or less, to be exact.   Now, don’t get me wrong… I’m still on that track. Not that I can really take credit for that; between 4 kids, homeschooling, housekeeping, a little (tiny) bit of exercise, and just trying to keep everyone fed… I never have more than about 4 hours a day to work.   But that doesn’t stop me from writing a longer to-do list. And then having an anxiety attack because I’m feeling overwhelmed and behind.   #yesimhumantoo   I’ve been taking steps to improve this situation -- starting with just getting real with myself about how much time I actually have available to work each day, and ruthlessly chopping down my to-do list to fit.   But with a marketing-centric, digital content business like I run, there’s only so much I can delegate, outsource, and automate. At the end of the day, it’s my face on everything and I have to show up to talk to the camera, record the courses, and write the words.   So, when Andréa Jones was suggested as a potential guest on the show, I jumped at the chance to talk to her!   Andréa is a social media strategist who specializes in how to get results with less effort – girl after my own heart! – and the host of the Savvy Social Podcast.   I invited her onto the show because, not only is she an expert at using social media strategies to grow online business and impact the world, but she does so with a focus on simple strategies that give the biggest results with the least effort   She has some really counter-intuitive strategies… including posting LESS for more impact.   Listen to the full episode to hear: What's the first thing an online business owner should consider when it comes to creating a simple, yet effective social media strategy The best tips for creating a social media strategy that gets the biggest "bang for your buck" Some common roadblocks to creating share-worthy social media content And what to do if you truly don't enjoy creating content for social media (but you know you need to in order to grow your business).   Learn more about Andréa Jones: OnlineDrea Savvy Social Podcast Instagram @onlinedrea Facebook @onlinedrea Twitter @onlinedrea   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!  

I don't think I was 5 minutes into learning about online business before I started hearing how important it was to "grow your list."   It seemed like everyone was talking about how important it was to collect email addresses, and how valuable of an asset a big list is.   So, naturally, I got to work.   Only to find out how difficult it is to "grow your list."   After I'd signed up my husband, school friends, and a few random people I'd met in FB groups, I hit a wall. It was literal years before I started seeing real progress.   And you know what made this even more frustrating? The people who DID join my list didn't buy anything.   So there I was, working my tail off to try to "grow my list," spending real money on my email marketing software, and not seeing any real returns.   What was I doing wrong??   Almost everything, it turned out.   And, starting with the very first thing: the first impression people got after signing up for my newsletter.   In today's episode, I'll be explaining how YOU can write an email welcome sequence that will make a great first impression, start building a strong relationship with your new subscribers, and lead them to purchase your product.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How to create an email welcome sequence — a series of emails that gets sent to each new subscriber right after they sign up The basic schedule to use for these emails What to say in each of these emails And answers to some common questions about email welcome sequences   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!  

Do you follow anyone online who seems to be 100% unashamedly THEMSELF and everyone seems to love them?   It kinda makes you wonder (or at least, it makes me wonder): is this person just unusually charismatic -- and they know it -- or can anyone be that attractive if they’re that confident?   Margo Aaron falls into this category for me. I stumbled upon her work about a year ago and felt like everything she wrote hit a chord with my soul.   Needless to say, I subscribed immediately. And have read nearly everything she’s sent me since.   Now, I’ve got some questions for Margo. Like… Does she somehow know that what she’s writing will hit home? Is she really as “authentic” as she seems? …or is it all a carefully planned marketing effort? What’s her best advice for being “yourself” and also writing words that other people will love? (And for all of us entrepreneurs… words that sell our products?)   Basically, what I want to know is: how can we both be ourselves AND be popular?   If that’s possible, then today we’re going to find out, because I convinced Margo to come on the podcast and let me interrogate interview her.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why the best copy doesn't come from your imagination, it comes from talking to people How Margo uses boundaries to show up authentically as herself in EVERYTHING she does Why marketing and selling is simply the art and science of getting people to care How Margo uses data to draw conclusions about what she should create Margo’s best advice if you don't have an audience to listen to   Learn more about Margo Aaron: www.margocarroll.com Follow Margo on Instagram   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!   Episode Mentions David Ogilvy    

What’s the best thing for you to work on right now to move your business forward?   Well, to answer that question, start with this one: What stage of growth is your business in?   Confused? You’re not alone.   Quite possibly, you don’t know, because… nobody told you what your options are. Nobody broke down the stages of growth and gave you the big-picture for building a successful business.   Not your fault at all, but worth changing! Understanding where your business is in its growth makes it easy to know what your top priority (AKA the work that will actually move the needle) should be.   This week, on the podcast, I interviewed business designer Michelle Warner. Michelle has an MBA from a top business school, and years of practical experience working with small business owners to strategically grow their companies.   In the episode, Michelle walks us through the 5 stages of small business growth (don’t worry, they’re easily understandable!), how to know which one YOU are in right now, and what that means you should focus on to GROW fast and strong.   She also shares exactly what you need to do to move forward to the next stage from where you’re at right now.   If you want to get clarity on exactly what you should be working on right now to build your business, then this episode is a must-listen.   This interview is an eye-opener for sure. Don’t miss it!   Listen to the full episode to hear: How to figure out what you should work on next that will make the biggest impact on your business The five stages of growth in business and how to define them What stage the most significant part of initial product development happens How to know when you’re ready to move out of one stage and into the next When you might need to go back a stage (and what to look for)   Learn more about Michelle Warner: themichellewarner.com Instagram @michelle.warner   Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! <!-- --> <!-- --> <!-- -->