Work Less, Earn More

To make money with your business, you need to make sales. To make sales, you need leads. But where do you get those leads?One of the most popular places on the planet to get leads is through traffic from Google. That traffic is usually directed to content on your site, which makes Google SEO one of the most common aspects of a content marketing strategy.But Google SEO can be complicated and you might have questions about what it is, how it works, and how to get your content to rank, especially if you’re just getting started.Today I’m talking to Brandon Gaille about how to get started with Google SEO, what your first steps should be, and how to build a system for getting your content to rank on Google, so you can tap into that source of leads.Brandon Gaille is an SEO expert who has been studying Google SEO for well over 10 years. He’s also the founder of Rank IQ, one of the top SEO tools on the market. He hosts the popular podcast, The Blogging Millionaire, where he teaches SEO strategies to over 20,000 bloggers.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why keyword research is the foundation of your content strategyHow to use AI tools to generate post topicsTips for optimizing your contentHow to get backlinks to your siteHow often you should be postingLearn more about Brandon Gaille:Rank IQThe Blogging MillionaireLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:AhrefsSemrushFraseGoogle Search ConsoleHAROApple PodcastsChartableGoDaddy Auctions

When I was first trying to get my business started, I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos about how to start an online business and about business strategies.I also listened to podcasts, read blog posts, and subscribed to dozens of newsletters.I was hungry for advice about how to get my business started and making money.I got a ton of advice from mentors from afar during that phase, and I appreciate what I was able to learn.But the problem with taking in all of that information and advice is that you get so many different ideas about what you could be working on or what you should be working on, it can make it really difficult to know what you should really be focusing on when you’re first starting out.Today, I’m giving my best advice for what made a difference, what was a distraction, and what you really need to focus on when you’re getting your online business going.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you need to make decisions and stick to themHow to streamline your branding so it doesn’t eat up your timeWhy quality content is more important than being everywhere at onceWhy making your first sales has to be your primary focusLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

The other day, I was talking to my sister-in-law, who wants to start a business as a wedding planner.She already has a lot of experience doing it for free, but the prospect of making it official and legal so she can get paying clients is overwhelming her, so she hasn’t taken those steps yet.And I know she’s not alone.A lot of people who want to start a business feel the same way. They’re overwhelmed by the things they need to do, or they feel like they don’t even know what they’re supposed to do, so they feel overwhelmed by the unknown.If that’s you, keep listening. Because today, I’m going to break down seven basic, but necessary, steps to make your business official.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you don’t need an official business plan to get the process startedThe first step to making your business legally officialWhat you need for taxes and financesWhy branding your business mattersLearn more about Gillian:Funnel MasterclassStartup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:How to Start Your Own Business (and make it LEGAL)Register your business, Small Business Administration GuideWave AccountingQuickBooksXeroWordPress.orgSquarespace

The initial appeal of passive income is to make money without any effort.But with a greater understanding of what passive income is and how it really works, you can get a more realistic idea of the power and potential of this alternative way of earning a living.It’s not necessarily an easy way to get rich, but instead a strategic way to diversify your income and create greater financial freedom.But creating streams of passive income does take effort. Quite a lot, in fact. But the long term gains will make that effort worth it.What’s the best way to earn passive income?Should you sell courses, publish a book, set up a drop shipping website, start a membership program? Or even build a business and sell it? Or simply invest your savings into an existing business or dividend-earning stocks?Today, we’re looking at seven of the best passive income options. These are all strategies that are easy to get started and proven to be able to earn at least $200 every day.Listen to the full episode to hear:Three key elements to a successful membership siteHow you can earn money from a YouTube channelHow to earn money from your blog or podcastTwo ways to stand out and make money in the creator economyWhy layering your strategies leads to the best resultsLearn more about Gillian:Funnel MasterclassStartup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

These days, there are so many ways to monetize your knowledge.You could write a book or an ebook. You could create a course that people can go through at their own pace. Or you could run a live program where you guide people through the material and help them apply it. You could provide coaching or consulting or even a service where you use your knowledge to help others.Over the last five years or so, I've monetized my knowledge in almost all of these different ways. And some of them took a lot of effort and time and didn't pay very well. And then others have been extremely profitable.So today I wanted to share with you what has worked best for me and has allowed me to build the multi six figure information business that I run today, and also what I would recommend someone do if they’re interested in getting started in the information industry.Listen to the full episode to hear:The first two steps to turning your knowledge into a businessThe research questions you need to ask when you’re developing your ideaWhy you need to sell your product before you create itHow to go small to make salesThe two sides of automating your business Learn more about Gillian:Funnel MasterclassStartup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:100 Digital Product Ideas

Ever since people started lending other people money thousands of years ago, it's been possible to earn passive income.But things have changed a lot over the centuries and they’re changing all the time now as technology advances.That means there are so many different ways you can earn passive income beyond the old fashioned way of collecting interest on a loan.So how does passive income work nowadays?It can sound too good to be true. It sounds like making something out of nothing. And a quick google will pull up hundreds of stories of people who say they’ve been wildly successful at it.So how do you know what’s real?Here’s the reality. We’re not creating something out of nothing. We are investing time or money into creating this stream of passive income for the future.Let’s dig into what that really means.Listen to the full episode to hear:What passive income means at its most basic in the real worldWhy passive income is never passive to start out withHow to weigh effort versus return and risk versus reward when investing time and moneyFive steps to starting a passive income streamLearn more about Gillian:Funnel MasterclassStartup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

If you are thinking about creating your first course, this is the episode for you.From generating leads with no audience or a small audience to launch strategies to pricing to turning your leads into paying, satisfied customers, I’m going to cover it all with Jess Catorc from Teachable.Teachable is a course hosting platform that has been around for nearly a decade and has worked with thousands upon thousands of course creators. They’ve got the data, the tools, and the expertise to help make your course a success, and Jess is a major part of that.Jess is an award-winning brand strategist and leads Launch Creator Initiatives at Teachable. She’s been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, ABC television network, and has spent the last 8+ years working with creators and startups to expand their reach and revenue online in the Creator Economy. Listen to the full episode to hear:How to collaborate to grow your audienceWhy using lead magnets and microproducts helps you validate your course ideaWhy your first launch is about collecting data on what worksHow to build a simple sales funnelWhat you need to consider when you’re pricing your courseLearn more about Jess Catorc:TeachableInstagram: @jesscatorc @teachableKeep the Receipt podcastLearn more about Gillian:Funnel MasterclassStartup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

If you’ve heard people talking about repurposing content, you’re probably heard something like this:Plan and film one video, then edit it and turn it into 8, 9, 10 pieces of content! One video turns into a YouTube video, a podcast, a blog post, social media posts, a newsletter, and more! The gurus will tell you this is a smart, time-saving way to multiply your efforts so you can show up everywhere online.Sounds great, right?The only problem is, it doesn’t work.Which is why today I’m sharing my content repurposing strategy that makes effective use of my content and my time.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why posts from standard repurposing advice fall flatHow I create content that works for multiple platforms based on my YouTube videosWhy promoting your content isn’t the same as repurposing itLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

This podcast is called Work Less, Earn More and pretty much the whole premise is figuring out which activities, tasks, or projects actually make your business the most money, focusing on those, and letting go of the rest.That way you can earn the most, with the least amount of time and effort.And you would think that since I’m doing YouTube and this podcast, I would have figured out by now which one actually makes me more money and which one I can let go of, because they’re both pretty time-consuming.So why do I keep doing both? And which one actually does bring in more money?Listen to the full episode to hear:A breakdown of how I make money from YouTube and the podcastWhy the podcast is a key piece of the customer journey, even though it has less overall traffic than YouTubeLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

One of the most common questions I get here and in real life is “how do you do it all?”How do you balance your schedule as a mom who also runs a business? How do you run a business and homeschool your kids and cook meals, exercise, and, and, and?Well, the short answer is that phrase “you can have anything but you can’t have everything.” Or to paraphrase, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.It really comes down to making decisions about what your real priorities are, then making judgment calls about how to actually prioritize the things that are important to you and saying no to basically everything else.But I know a lot of you would like some more practical details of what that looks like in real life. So that’s what I’m sharing in this episode. I want to paint a picture of what my real days and weeks look like to help you understand how I do all this.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why I’ve chosen to budget more money for things that buy me more timeHow I prioritize self care, and what that really means for meWhy keeping it simple is keyWhat a typical day in my life looks likeLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

In the last few episodes, we’ve been talking about how to find and land your first clients in your online business. So today, we’re replaying an interview with Jay Clouse about how to start a freelancing career.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 beyondA mindset shift around work, employment and compensation that will expand how you think about contract workThe relationship of leadership, expectation setting, expertise and pricingSteps for building your freelance portfolioLearn more about Jay Clouse:JayClouse.comFreelancing School 20% Off!Instagram: @JayClouseTwitter: @JayClouseCreative ElementsLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:Gillian Perkins on YouTubeBusiness Plan Template

In the last episode, you heard the story of how I got my first clients and customers and finally started attracting the right customers.Now I want to share the stories of several other business owners and how they got their first customers and how those clients led them to where they are today.Emily Banks works with online business owners to help elevate their brands, products and marketing materials through strategy based design.Tiffany Pichardo of Virtually Simple is a Virtual Assistant who specializes in customer service and YouTube growth. Samantha Harris is a Lead Generation and Sales Strategist for online business owners. She focuses on developing organic strategies to help her clients reach more of their target audience so they can sell more of their offers.Tony Rulli is the Co-founder and Head of Advertising at Intentional Spark, a digital advertising agency dedicated to helping online business owners grow their businesses through digital marketing. Tony and his teams focus on Facebook and Instagram ads, but also manage all ad platforms for their clients. Listen to the full episode to hear:How Samantha used Instagram and Facebook to network her way into her first clientsHow being engaged in private groups and chats for small business owners landed Emily her first clients, without having to pitch her servicesHow Tiffany built her skill set in another position that led to her first clientsHow providing value, support, and free consultations through networking groups helped Tony fill his client rosterLearn more about Emily Banks:Emily Banks CreativeInstagram: @EmilyBanksCreativeLearn more about Tiffany Pichardo:YouTube: The Happy HomeschoolerLearn more about Samantha Harris:TheSamanthaHarris.comInstagram: @TheSamantHarrisTikTok: @TheSamantHarrisLearn more about Tony Rulli:Intentional SparkInstagram: @IntentionalSparkLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:Work Less, Earn More Ep 118: How I Finally Found My First Customers

Getting momentum from zero is almost always the hardest part.That first hundred dollars, first thousand dollars that you earn is some of the hardest money you’ll ever make.And the same thing goes for finding your first clients.How do you go from zero to finding your first client or your first handful of clients?I know that when I first started it felt like a mystery. I had no idea where to start.In my first business, I overcame that hurdle accidentally and gained clients through word of mouth. But when I started my online business it was a whole other story.But I knew that if I was going to succeed with my online business, then I needed to find those first customers. So I started working on it.Here’s what I did, what didn’t work, and how I finally got my first customers.Listen to the full episode to hear:Four things that didn’t work and what I learned from themThe mistakes I made with my earliest paying clientsThe strategy that finally built momentum in my businessSeven principles for getting your first customers and building momentum that apply to any businessLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEGet on the waitlist for Creator Fast TrackProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

When I was fresh out of high school, I was already pretty dissatisfied with the different career options that were out there.And I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be when I grew up, but after getting some inspiration, I set out on my own to make an alternative option.I wanted to work a four hour week. I wanted to leverage my investments and make passive income.It all sounded great on paper. But in the real world, it wasn’t working at all.Because I was trying to follow instructions from books when I didn’t even have a way to tell people what I was doing, what service I was trying to offer, what product I was trying to sell.I had no audience.But I overcame that roadblock and today I’m sharing four principles that enabled me to start making money online, even before I had an audience.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you might not want to play the long game of organic growthThe two major investments your business needs, and how to choose where to startHow to leverage your connections without feeling sleazyLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEGet on the waitlist for Creator Fast TrackProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

What would I do if I lost my whole business?If my email list got deleted and my YouTube channel was shut down? If my website was erased and maybe even my professional reputation was lost, how would I start over from zero? What would I do first? How would I make my first sale? How would I get the momentum I would need to grow a new business into a reliable source of income?Here's what I do. If I had to start over.Listen to the full episode to hear:What type of work I’d look for and how I would pursue clientsWhat my first goal would beWhy I would still choose quality over quantity when creating contentHow I’d start planning to scale upLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEGet on the waitlist for Creator Fast TrackProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:Abby Ashley

Maybe you have a goal of starting a successful YouTube channel.But you can only reach that goal if you’re clear on what that really means.From the outside, it might look like YouTube is easy. All you have to do is record a video each week and post it, right?But the reality is that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes of building a successful YouTube channel.Today, I’m going to share from my six years of experience on YouTube, the mistakes I’ve made, what I’ve learned, and what really matters when it comes to building a successful channel in 2022.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you need to approach starting a channel like starting a businessHow choosing a broader topic can actually help you more than finding a narrow nicheWhy you need to be clear on what value your videos bring to your viewersFour action steps for starting your channelWhy you should set smaller, short-term goals in the beginning Learn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEGet on the waitlist for Creator Fast TrackProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:3 Secrets to Reach 1,000 Subscribers on Youtube

I recently posted a video where I broke down four phases to take you from zero to $100,000 dollars over the next 12 months.And in the comments, there were a lot of questions about phase three of that process.So today we’re diving into more detail about how to use systems and automation to scale your business.These are systems that will allow you or your team to guide people to find out about your products and to deliver those products without dropping what you’re doing for every single sale.I’ll tell you what those systems are, how they should work, and give you some tips for building them for yourself.Listen to the full episode to hear:How to automate your sales systemWhy you need to scale your traffic system to scale your businessWhy your production process matters, even if you’re selling servicesThe most important system you need to have in place to scale your businessLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:How to go from $0 to $100,000 in 2022Creator Fast TrackVideo Creator AcademyDownload The Easiest Business Plan Ever

The security and protection of our businesses and our customers’ information is so important, but a lot of us don’t know that much about how to go about making those things as safe and secure as possible.Especially with rapid changes in technology and new threats to cybersecurity that come up.Which is why today I’ve brought in an expert.Todd Mitchell has over 25 years of experience in using risk-based assessments to create and enforce cyber security policies that keep data safe while ensuring the information gets to the correct decision maker at the correct time, intact and unchanged.Todd has a Master of Science in Cyber Security Policy, as well as a Master of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with a concentration in Ethical Hacking.Listen to the full episode to hear:The biggest mistakes people make with their payment processorsThree key ways to keep your customers’ information more secureThe kind of scam that makes up 94% of all attacks on small businessesThe number one cause of data breachesTwo things you can do right now to make your business more secureLearn more about Todd Mitchell:Cybersecurity 4 BizFacebook: @cs4bizTwitter: @cs4bizInstagram: @cybersecurity4bizLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

If you only had 20 hours to work in your business each week, what task would be at the top of your priority list? Why?That’s the question I asked four of my most trusted business connections, friends, and mentors.Today, you’ll hear from Lucy Griffiths, Ashlyn Carter, Lacy Boggs, and Ashley Gartland in the first of a new format we’re calling Roundup, where I invite my business friends and mentors to answer a question, and you get their insights and experiences on that topic.Today, they’ll tell us what tasks they prioritize in their business and why, and you’ll get insight into why you might want to shift your priorities so you can do more with less time.Lucy Griffiths is the creator of Confident on Camera. Her incredible sales funnel has sold over 30,000 copies of one of her online courses. Lucy focuses on strategies that give her really big results with the least possible effort.Ashlyn Carter is conversion copywriter and marketing strategist specializing in wedding & creative industries. Her launch funnels have generated results for clients including upwards of $1M in revenue in a single week and her courses teach people to write their own effective, sales-generating copy, all while working half-time.Lacy Boggs is a content strategist and the director of The Content Direction Agency. She helps small business owners fill their program or practice by generating organic demand through content marketing.Ashley Gartland is a business coach who helps busy small business owners and online entrepreneurs simplify and streamline their business so they can grow more and work less. Listen to the full episode to hear:Why Lucy focuses her energy on audience building and relationship buildingHow Ashlyn uses the Pomodoro technique and batches her days to stay on trackWhy Lacy keeps sales and marketing at the top of her listHow Ashley builds and maintains relationships to run her business in 20 hours per weekLearn more about Lucy Griffiths:LucyGriffiths.comConfident On Camera CourseFollow Lucy on YouTubeLearn more about Ashlyn Carter:Ashlyn WritesInstagram: @AshlynCarterFacebook: @AshlynWritesYouTube: Ashlyn WritesLearn more about Lacy Boggs:The Content Direction AgencyInstagram: @LacyLu42Facebook: @ghostbloggergbLearn more about Ashley Gartland:AshleyGartland.comInstagram: @AshleyGartlandFacebook: Ashley Gartland CoachingLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:Work Less, Earn More Ep 42: 30,000+ Courses Sold in Just 18 Months (and with a Small Audience!) with Lucy GriffithsWork Less, Earn More Ep 16: Copywriting Secrets for Converting More Customers with Ashlyn CarterWork Less, Earn More Ep 39: Building a Quarter-Million Dollar Agency in 20 Hours a Week with Lacy BoggsWork Less, Earn More Ep 13: Three Systems to Maximize Your Productivity with Ashley Gartland

I got an email recently with a really good question. The email went something like this, “I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but what is a fair estimate for how long it will take me to start making consistent monthly income. Some sort of ballpark to help me set my expectations would be helpful. The number I have in my head is 12 to 18 months from now that I should be covering my monthly expenses and making at least a little beyond that.”This person’s expectation right now is that after working on her business for a year, or a year and a half, that she should be breaking even, maybe a little more.The thing about goals and expectations is that whatever target you set your course toward will affect everything you do to try to reach that goal. So when you expect the break even in 18 months, your actions will–consciously or not–take you in that direction.It’s like the saying, aim for the moon, and even if you fail you’ll be among the stars.Which is why I don’t want that person or you to be setting your sights on just breaking even after a year or more, because it is possible to do so much better than that.So today I’m taking you through exactly what you can expect in the first year, how you can make predictions for yourself and your business, and what your first goal should be to set yourself on the trajectory for success.Listen to the full episode to hear:What you can expect in your first three to six months in businessWhy your first $1000 is the first milestone you need to aim forHow the validation process supports you on the path to growthLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources:Online Business Quickstart GuidePredict Your Profits Workshop

Have you heard of the Employee Retention Credit?If you haven’t, you’re not alone.The ERC is part of a COVID relief program created by the US government to provide assistance to business owners who have been impacted by COVID-19.Your business could be eligible for a substantial credit but most entrepreneurs and business owners aren’t aware of it, which means there’s a significant amount of funding going unclaimed.So today, I’m talking with Mark Sullivan, CEO of ERC Specialists about the ERC, who is eligible, how to apply and how to work with an ERC specialist to make the process as easy as possible.ERC Specialists is a specialty payroll company exclusively dedicated to understanding and maximizing the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit (ERC) for small businesses affected negatively by COVID 19.Mark has a wealth of knowledge on this topic, and he is really passionate about helping entrepreneurs to take advantage of this unusual opportunity that has been created.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you probably haven’t heard of the ERCWhat kinds of businesses qualify for the creditThree key ways your business may qualifyLearn more about Mark Sullivan:ERC SpecialistsLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Too often, choosing your business model isn’t a conscious decision and you accept whatever the default seems to be for your industry.But choosing your business model is a really important decision.The business model that you choose affects absolutely everything about how you do business, from what you do on a daily basis to how much money you make and how you make that money, to how much time you spend working each week.Let’s open our eyes to the different options out there and make conscious choices about the model that’s really right for our businesses, our customers, ourselves, and our personal goals.This episode is part of a series on business models. In each episode, I’m interviewing a business owner about their business model, how it works, how they make money, and what it all entrails so that you can learn about your different options and make that choice.Today I’m talking to Nathalie Lussier about the Software As A Service model and her business, AccessAlly.Nathalie Lussier is an award-winning entrepreneur who has been making web sites since she was 12 years old. She graduated with a degree in Software Engineering and a job offer from Wall Street, but she turned down this job to start her own business right out of college.As the founder of AccessAlly, the powerful digital course and membership solution for industry leaders, she believes that access to education can help defy stereotypes and make the world a better place, while providing a sustainable livelihood for enterprising teachers.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why Nathalie made the leap from hands-on coaching and consulting to developing softwareHow software as a service provides stability for business ownersWho to partner with if you have a great idea but don’t have software development experienceWhy AccessAlly stopped paid advertising and focused on content marketing How Nathalie and her team evaluate adding new features and services to AccessAllyLearn more about Nathalie Lussier:YouTubeTwitter: @NathLussierFacebook: @AccessAllyTMPinterest: @AccessAllyConnect with AccessAlly on LinkedInLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Choosing your business model is a really important decision.The business model that you choose affects absolutely everything about how you do business, from what you do on a daily basis to how much money you make and how you make that money, to how much time you spend working each week.But too often, it isn’t even a conscious decision, but just accepted as the default for whatever type of business you’re building or the industry you’re in. It doesn’t have to be that way.Let’s open our eyes to the different options out there and make conscious choices about the model that’s really right for our businesses, our customers, ourselves, and our personal goals.This episode is part of a series on business models. In each episode, I’m interviewing a business owner about their business model, how it works, how they make money, and what it all entrails so that you can learn about your different options and make that choice.Today I’m talking to Jordan Gill about her business, Systems Saved Me.Jordan helps burned out service providers convert their monthly retainers to virtual VIP Days. Her program Done In a Day™ has helped over 270 students create and sell their first VIP Days. She also has a podcast called Systems Saved Me with over 300 episodes all about how business owners navigate success with systems.Listen to the full episode to hear:How Jordan shifted her business entirely to VIP Days in 2017 and never looked backHow she structures her client onboarding to maximize the productivity of the VIP DayHow Jordan cultivates win-win referral sourcesThe systems and automations that give Jordan a three-day work weekLearn more about Jordan Gill:Systems Saved MeInstagram: @SystemsSavedMeSystems Saved Me PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

The business model that you choose affects absolutely everything about how you do business, from what you do on a daily basis to how much money you make and how you make that money, to how much time you spend working each week.Choosing your business model is a really important decision.But too often, it isn’t even a conscious decision, but just accepted as the default for whatever type of business you’re building or the industry you’re in.So let’s change that.Let’s open our eyes to the different options out there and make conscious choices about the model that’s really right for our businesses, our customers, ourselves, and our personal goals.This episode is part of a series on business models. In each episode, I’m interviewing a business owner about their business model, how it works, how they make money, and what it all entrails so that you can learn about your different options and make that choice.Today I’m talking to Natalie Gingrich about her business, The Ops Authority, where she certifies and mentors women who leverage their natural skillset of operations and administration. She's driven to help women earn an income with ease while doing what comes most naturally to them.Natalie has merged her corporate career background with her entrepreneurial learnings to create the Director of Operations Certification Program, the only strategic operations certification for leaders.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why Natalie landed on developing a certification program rather than strictly a courseHow Natalie began marketing to her networks and why relationship marketing is still a key strategy for her todayHow her podcast functions as the top of her sales funnel, and why it works for her audienceWhere Natalie spends the most of her time and money in her business, and which sales avenues provide the best conversionLearn more about Natalie Gingrich:The Ops AuthorityFacebook: @TheOpsAuthorityThe Ops Authority PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

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 interviewing Anna Wolf, the owner of Superscript Marketing, a small agency that sells a productized service, meaning they sell a service that looks very similar for each of the different types of clients they serve.We’ll talk about why she chose this model, how it works and some of the additional considerations that this type of business can create, as well as the pros of selling a simple service rather than responding to each individual client’s specific needs.Listen to the full episode to hear:The legal, financial, and psychological reasons behind using a mix of contractors and employeesWhy Superscript’s highly specialized niche means they don’t have to spend a lot of effort bringing in new clientsWhy Anna has chosen to remain a boutique firm rather than scaling up, and how she is branching out her businessWhy professional development and team bonding are significant line items in her budgetLearn more about Anna Wolf:Superscript MarketingConnect with Anna on LinkedInLearn more about Gillian: Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

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 Marie Poulin, creator of Notion Mastery, her hybrid online course that mixes self-paced study with office hours and community support.Marie helps solopreneurs and small teams streamline their digital systems, processes, and workflows, so they can spend more time on what matters.Notion Mastery is an online course and community that helps folks use Notion to live and work better.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why having live calls and office hours was instrumental to developing Notion MasteryHow a hybrid course plays to Marie’s strengths, personality and how she wants to show up in her businessWhy leveraging interest in an existing tool like Notion or YouTube is a great beginner strategy for developing coursesThe real costs in money and time of running a hybrid course and communityLearn more about Marie Poulin:Notion MasteryYouTubeTwitter: @MariePoulinLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

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 interior designer Candice Prather about how she blends her offerings to capture very different types of customers in a service-based business.Candice Prather is a Maryland-based Interior Designer and Realtor at Keller Williams Preferred Properties. She is a proud member of The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), and The National Association of Realtors (NAR).Listen to the full episode to hear:Why you have to think like your customer when developing a marketing strategyHow Candice uses a detailed questionnaire to prep potential clients for their sales callHow she manages client workload across her two primary offeringsWhat add-on products boost Candice’s bottom lineHow Candice envisions scaling her businessLearn more about Candice Prather:CandicePrather.comInstagram: @CandicePratherLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

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!