Work Less, Earn More

Creating content is hands down the MOST time-consuming work I do each week. Writing blog articles, filming videos, recording podcasts, posting on Instagram… the list could go on. As a digital entrepreneur, you get it. Content creation is time consuming… and our TIME is limited. But—and a big one at that!—content marketing works so well. That’s why it’s so important to create helpful videos, articles and other content is the perfect way to attract your target customers. What’s to be done?? Allow me to introduce Lacy Boggs, my guest on today’s episode. Lacy runs The Content Direction Agency, a multi-six-figure content market agency. If you and I think we have a “content creation as opposed to time available” ratio problem… let me tell you… Lacy has it way worse. That’s because a whole roster of clients depends on her small team to create their content. Naturally, Lacy’s figured out a few tricks to maximize content-creation-efficiency so they can keep man-hours down and productivity up. Regardless of the size of your team—though especially if you’re a solopreneur—you’ll find her hack and systems effective to do the same in your company. What does this mean? You can get MORE visibility, attract MORE leads, and close MORE sales—all without working more at all. Listen to the full episode to hear: How to pivot to find the business model that works for you and fulfills your personal goals How Lacy built her agency to the quarter-million mark working less than 20 hours per week A step-by-step process to follow to create a STRATEGIC content marketing plan Chasing engagement, vanity metrics, and what you should really be measuring Learn more about Lacy Boggs: The Content Direction Agency Chasing Likes Blog Post Connect with Lacy on Facebook Follow Lacy on Instagram Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

If you started your company, then most likely you are a VISIONARY leader. That's a unique gift! But we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and you might need "another half" that you don't even know you're missing. That other half is called an INTEGRATOR. Many visionary entrepreneurs have one behind the scenes—think Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motors, and Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, who both had operations managers. The visionary sets their sights on the vision and the integrators are the people who actually put these dreams and these plans into action. In fact, I have an integrator here at Gillian Perkins International—and I’m going to share how I found Cortni, what she does in the business, and how it’s impacted the business and so much more in this episode all about integrators. Listen to the full episode to hear: Visionary leaders vs "integrators" and why most companies need BOTH How an integrator can help you grow your business more successfully and easily What my integrator, Cortni, does at Gillian Perkins International How to find your own integrator and what to look for when you interview candidates Learn more about Gillian Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Resources mentioned in this episode Amy Porterfield's podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters The Crystallizer Assessment

Imagine this: you can be a totally lazy entrepreneur yet create amazing, high-quality work and accomplish everything you want in business—and more. And I don’t mean lazy in a negative way. I actually consider myself a pretty lazy person. Yet given the current hustle culture, being a lazy entrepreneur probably sounds hilarious at best and an impossibility at worse. So how on earth can you be a successful entrepreneur and be lazy at the same time? Most importantly, creating high-quality work is at the top. Being smart about where you spend your time is key, too. And, sometimes, running Facebook ads is the most efficient way to engage potential customers and sell your work. In this episode, I’m chatting with Claire Pelletreau who is a self-proclaimed lazy entrepreneur. She’s also a Facebook and Instagram ad consultant, teacher, conversion optimization expert, and creator of Absolute FB Ads. Claire spends her days writing about Facebook and Instagram ads, troubleshooting ad problems with her students, and managing campaigns for 7 and 8 figure business owners. She specializes in Facebook and Instagram ads that sell online courses and programs, but she’ll happily geek out with you on ways to test advertising for any type of business. Claire also LOVES talking about money—profit, loss, the whole shebang. She asks her guests how much they charge—and how much they earn—on her show, the Get Paid Podcast. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why social media may not be worth your time or effort Strategies Claire uses to consistently *make sales* without big launches or constantly posting on social Why spending money on ads makes sense... even if you're only breaking even How Claire has maximized the results she's gotten from investing in copywriting services Learn more about Claire Pelletreau: Clairepells.com Connect with Claire on Instagram The Get Paid Podcast Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Other resources from this episode: Natalie Taylor from The Missing Ink

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on August 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: How not working much during the summer impacted our revenue Why I’m working no more than 15 hours a week Why I’d rather earn less and do things better than do everything myself Where I spent the majority of my time in August Links: Instagram: @gillianzperkins Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Startup Society Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Resources Mentioned: Tara McMullin and Yellow House Media Tony Rulli of Intentional Spark Self-Publishing School

It can be SO frustrating to start a business, put in the work, and still not make any money. I get it: it took me a few years of trying before I finally “broke through” and starting making money with my online business. I recently shared a video on my YouTube channel about how I took my blog and business from $0 to $100,000 in revenue in 12 months. But, in the video, I made it extremely clear that those 12 months were not the first twelve months in business. In fact, I’d already invested a few years into trying to grow my business, trying to make money online, and, in all honesty, completely failing and essentially making $0. So what changed between now and then? It wasn’t that my hard work finally paid off, even though that’s a common story you hear among the small business world. Instead, I changed some key things in my business that led to that financial success. Listen to the full episode to hear: The 5 things I did wrong (and what I see people doing wrong all the time!) that can stop you from making any money in your online business Why too much "patience" can be a bad thing The first thing you have to have to be able to make money online How to tell if you're trying to sell the *wrong* product and figure out what your audience actually wants How long you should stick to ONE strategy before you decide it's time to try something new Links: This ONE thing increased my income by 1000% (and it didn't cost anything) (YouTube video) Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Globally, there are over one million podcasts available—and growing! That is a HUGE number of podcasts. Given the continuous growth of this industry, it’s no wonder that you’re considering creating one—or want to learn how to make your existing podcast even better than it is now. There are countless resources available on HOW to start a podcast. That’s why I wanted to take a different approach with this episode and instead explore what determines the success of a podcast, how hosting a podcast impacts your business, and how you can make the most impact on your listeners. Podcasting is relatively new to me and so that’s why I invited someone on the show who’s been in the game for awhile—someone who could share how to create a podcast that will not only be effective in terms of downloads and listeners, but will actually influence your business and revenue, too. Tara McMullin is the host of the What Works podcast, founder of the What Works Network, and the co-founder of Yellow House Media. She’s been helping small business owners find what works for them for over a decade. Her goal is to push past the hype and facilitate candid conversations about doing business in the New Economy. In this episode, Tara’s going to divulge all the ways in which we can make an impact in our communities through podcasting and so much more. Listen to the full episode to hear: The #1 most important thing you need to figure out about your podcast for it to have the impact you're looking for How to stand out from OTHER podcasts that cover the same topic as your show How finding the right premise for you show makes everything else fall into place How to MARKET your show to build your listener-base and grow your audience Learn more about Tara McMullin: The What Works Network The What Works Podcast Yellow House Media Follow Tara on Instagram Follow Tara on Twitter Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Other resources from this episode: How The Premise Of Your Podcast Can Make Your Business More Money by Yellow House Media

Getting results with content marketing takes time. To put it in perspective, one of my 15-minute YouTube videos can take anywhere between 2-8 hours to finish and have it ready to publish. And one of my blog posts takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours to write, edit, and publish. Not only does high-quality content take a lot of time to create but in order to get real results with it, you have to give it as much time and attention it needs so that you can actually get people to read it. It’s no small feat! If you don’t do all of these things, then you’re wasting the time that you do invest because the content won’t be doing anything for your business. That’s why it’s even more important to choose the right channel for you to see real results. But how do you choose which of the three types of content is right for you right now? And which will create the biggest results for your business? In today’s episode, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned from creating each of these types of content, some of the challenges that go along with each of them, and how they have impacted my business. Listen to the full episode to hear: The pros and cons of blogging, YouTube, and podcasting The different *types* of results each of these types of content create The importance of focus and why you should pick just ONE type of content to create... at least at first Links: EP 19: Courses VS Membership Sites & How to Decide Which Is Right for YOU Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on July 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why I'm working less than ever before How much my business earned while I was on vacation How much my TEAM worked while I was out of the office My new schedule and what's coming up in future months Links: Instagram: @gillianzperkins Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

A CFO does more than look at numbers—they also look at the big picture to find patterns in the data. Finding those patterns is what leads you, as an entrepreneur, to making better, more informed decisions for your business. You might dig into the numbers and find that one of your products takes up 80% of your time but only 20% of your revenue—while, on the flip side, you might have a product that takes up much less time and much more revenue. So how can stepping into the CFO role of your business help you work less, make more money, and make better business decisions? Where should you start? And what steps can you take to create a meaningful strategy? Enter Susan Boles. Susan is a Virtual CFO and Operations Advisor for agencies, consultants, and coaches at ScaleSpark. She focuses on helping businesses get clear on their numbers and truly understand their inner workings at a deeper level so they can make decisions from a place of intention and purpose—instead of panic. Susan has over a decade of experience as a CFO and software consultant and she's on a mission to help founders build sustainable, resilient businesses. Listen to the full episode to hear: The ROLE of CFO, and why every business – no matter how small – should have someone doing this work What does "strategy" really mean? Where should our strategy be based? What data to track and how to use it to make more strategic decisions in your business The #1 question to ask yourself about EVERYTHING to improve your strategy and create better results Why you should be tracking your time first before your financials Learn more about Susan Boles: scalespark.co Break the Ceiling Podcast @thesusanboles on Instagram @thesusanboles on Twitter @thesusanboles on LinkedIn Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Being an entrepreneur and supporting yourself with your own business can mean that your income can fluctuate a LOT from one month to the next—and that can be scary and stressful, making it NO FUN to “be your own boss.” BUT! There are things that you can do to create a stable cash flow month over month so you can work less and earn more. You can diversify your income and develop multiple streams of revenue to really stabilize things. This also ensures that you’re earning a consistent amount of money every month and ultimately getting rid of the stress and enjoying the process of actually running your business a whole lot more. However, there are some traps you can fall into as you try to create multiple streams of income. These mistakes can prevent you from successfully developing your multiple streams, keeping your business small, and ultimately wasting a lot of your time—and, in some cases, you might end up working MORE and earning LESS which is not what we want! Listen to the full episode to hear: Types of income vs revenue streams A simple, step-by-step process you can follow to start developing multiple streams of revenue Big mistakes to AVOID so you don't waste your time on efforts that won't pay off Best revenue streams for people who are just getting started Links: EP 19: Courses VS Membership Sites & How to Decide Which Is Right for YOU Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

When you think about public relations, what comes to mind is probably media mentions and magazine placements. But modern PR is about so much more than that. Today, appearing on podcasts is an essential way for small business owners to grow their brand. Seriously: entrepreneurs who show up on key podcasts typically get more exposure, build their audience faster, and even get more sales immediately following a podcast appearance, according to today’s guest. There are so many benefits to incorporating a public relations strategy into your small business—and, of course, I was determined to find out how to take advantage of the most powerful and most leveraged PR strategies that are out there today so that we can get the biggest results with the least amount of effort. That’s why I’m excited to introduce you to my guest today, Brigitte Lyons. Brigitte is the founder of Podcast Ally, a podcast booking agency that takes the hassle of researching and pitching podcasts off the to-do lists of their clients. She originally came to this specialization by accident when her team booked a top podcast for a client and saw that it outperformed the magazines and online news sites her team was working with. In addition to her agency, Brigitte also runs the Podcast Ally Pro Accelerator to teach other PR pros, talented virtual assistants, and internal teams how to book podcasts for their clients. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why podcast guest interviews are the #1 PR strategy for busy entrepreneurs Ideas for how to position yourself as a podcast guest + what to talk about How to decide which podcasts are the best fit for you and your brand Best "pitching" practices to increase your odds of getting a YES Learn more about Brigitte Lyons: Free Pitch List with 50 Podcasts Booking Thought Leaders and Founders podcastally.com Podcast Ally Pro Accelerator @podcastally on Instagram @brigittelyons on Instagram Get Booked On Podcasts Program Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on June 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: How being out of the office for maternity leave has impacted expenses How June was our second best month yet even though I barely worked at all What “working almost not at all” actually means specifically How Q2 compared to Q1 and how it turned out to be our best quarter to date And an update on our Facebook advertising struggles Links: Instagram: @gillianzperkins Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

I get it. I’ve been there. I wanted to be successful and I didn’t know how because I wasn’t successful yet. So I did what I thought was the right thing: I asked for advice. I found people who I considered to be successful and I asked them what it took to get to where they were—and what I needed to do. In truth, I was looking for a formula—but what I found was not only generic but incredibly unhelpful. I didn’t understand why these successful people wouldn’t just tell me what to do! Were they being stingy or is there simply not a formula for success? Do we all just need to “find our own way?” What I want to know is: is that the truth? Is there really only one way to success? Personally, I think there are two main reasons why people tell you that there isn’t a formula for success. The first one is that they don’t know the formula for success so they just declare that there isn’t one. They think that since they haven’t found it, it isn’t out there. The second reason—which is the real, deeper, bigger reason—is that if we are just looking for a formula for success and success isn’t defined, then the answer is that there isn’t a formula for success at all. At the heart of it, success can mean so many different things to different people. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why everyone *denies* there's a formula for success Why "self-taught" is a myth A simple framework for finding your success formula How to put your formula to work and take ACTION to reach your goals Links: Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

My membership site is the lifeblood of my business. I started it two years ago and it’s done nothing but good things for my business—and life—ever since. There are a number of benefits that membership sites offer for your business. First, they produce recurring income. This really helps to stabilize your business revenue and profits. Second, they provide ongoing support for your customers. This is incredibly powerful because you learn SO MUCH about your customers and thus are able to serve them better. Truly a win-win. Third, your membership site is active, alive, and constantly growing. It’s not something you launch once. It’s something you can actually build momentum with over time. If you aren’t sure if a membership site is a good fit for you, listen to episode 19 of the podcast where I talk about courses versus membership sites and how to decide between the two. And if you’re ready to dive in on membership sites, listen to today’s episode. Listen to the full episode to hear: The most important thing to consider BEFORE starting your membership site How to make sure a membership site is actually the right move for your business right now The most important steps to get your first members and ensure your program is a success Step-by-step how to put your membership together Links: Attract Paying Customers Action Plan Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

If you’re an overachiever, doing less doesn’t feel like the answer to earning more OR achieving your goals. Because doing less feels counterintuitive to both of those things. And by doing less—working less?!—you might feel guilty. You might even feel bad. But according to today’s guest, doing less and scaling back doesn’t mean your business and life is going to fall apart. Instead, it could actually be the turning point you need to become more profitable and creative! Kate Northrup is the bestselling author of Do Less, founder of Origin Collective, a membership site for female entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses while doing less, and mom of two little ones. Listen to the full episode to hear: How Kate launched her membership site and got her first members Different launch strategies Kate's tried and what she's learned from them Pros and cons of having a larger or smaller team How asking "what would this look like if it were simple?" can change everything Learn more about Kate Northrup: katenorthrup.com Kate’s new book, Do Less The Kate and Mike Show Instagram @katenorthrup Facebook @Kate Northrup Twitter @Kate Northrup YouTube @Kate Northrup Learn more about Gillian: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

As my business grows, it’s going to get harder, right, Gillian? Nope. In my experience, it gets EASIER—even with three kids AND a newborn. Now, that’s not to say I haven’t faced challenges. Of course I have! And in your journey to grow a successful business, so will you! And some of those challenges will relate to HOW you work and WHEN you work as you seek to balance family and business responsibilities. Beyond the logistics of running a business and parenting, one of the MOST important things that really matters is that you truly enjoy what you’re doing. Oftentimes, we simply assume that things are going to get harder the bigger our business grows. That in itself can hold you back from growing your business into its full potential. But if you truly enjoy what you’re doing, you show up every day, get better at what you do, and grow through the challenges that creating and growing a business naturally brings. In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through a few of my go-to tips and tricks on how to run a business while parenting (and homeschooling!) at the same time. And for those of you who aren’t parents—maybe you have a day job, maybe you’re in school, or maybe you have a side hustle—these tips apply to you, too! Listen to the full episode to hear: My #1 habit for doubling my productivity every day Whether to multitask or not and how to get it all done when you simply DON’T have the time Simple tips for ensuring you have the energy to show up as the person you need to be to do what you need to do And how to approach that perennial question: should you use technology as a babysitter? Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on May 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: What my team and I did when my daughter showed up early! Why I wish I would have paid myself an average monthly income from the very beginning and an easy way to figure out your monthly salary How much a new hire is costing the business and why we made that decision Why the entrepreneurial mindset is SO necessary as you deal with the ups and downs of business How our product sales compare to our best month ever—April—and what impacted the numbers this month Links: Instagram: @gillianzperkins Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

When you’re selling online, most people assume that a bigger audience is better. More people, more money, right? According to today’s guest, a six-figure launch isn’t about your list size and it’s not just about how awesome you are—really! Instead, it’s about how you structure your offer, how you price it, and how you build a relationship with your audience. There’s a method behind it. Tarzan Kay is an email marketing expert and former copywriter-for-hire who’s been able to generate massive revenue with a small audience. In this episode, Tarzan shares exactly how she did a $151,000 launch last year. And, naturally, 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: What counterintuitive pricing strategy to use if your list is small How you *structure* your offer matters and how sometimes it’s about more than your sales tactics What "small list tactics" you can use to maximize your sales when your email list is small Why you shouldn't WAIT to launch—and how it can actually be the best thing you can do to grow your audience Tarzan’s Links: TarzanKay.com 10 Free Email Promo Sequence Swipes Instagram: @tarzan_kay The Must-Have Tool For Promoting To A List of Less Than 1000 Subscribers Gillian’s Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Last year I spent over $20,000 on copywriters. That is a lot of money by the standard of any small business, and it was a very significant chunk of my expenses last year. You might think that it sounds crazy to spent $20,000 on copywriting services. But consider this: if you're earning $50k with a 1% conversion rate, you could bump it up to just a 3% conversion rate and generate $150,000! That's a really big increase! By improving my copy-–and increasing my conversion rate–by even a small amount, I can generate significantly more revenue and profit for my business. So spending $20,000 on copywriting suddenly doesn’t sound so crazy. In today’s episode, I want to share what I learned through the process of spending so much money on copywriting services. I’m going to break down whether or not it was worth it, as well as how to consider whether hiring a copywriter is a smart move for your business. I'm also going to share with you the impact that investing this money has had on my business – good and bad. Listen to the full episode to hear: How hiring a copywriter can (potentially!) be a great investment but it can also have a lot of challenges 2 BIG copywriting projects I outsourced, and how each of them turned out What 5 big lessons I learned about copywriting, marketing, success, and taking shortcuts Whether or not I will work with copywriters again in the future and what I'll do differently Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch! Episode 16 with Ashlyn Carter

I’m not the only one who runs a successful business in less than full time. Every month, I’ll share a conversation with another business owner who is prioritizing working less and earning more. We’ll get into the choices they’ve made, the tools they use, and how they organize their businesses to maximize profit and minimize effort. Today, I'm bringing on my friend Lilah Higgins to share with us a little bit about how she runs her business in about 20 hours per week. Lilah is the co-founder of TheForge, a leadership training community for faith-driven business owners, along with her husband, Zac. Lilah is also a leader in the online business space where she uses her fine art training and strategic mind to work with her clients and students to create cohesive and effective brands, helping them find the confidence they need to become industry leaders. And she does all that while being a great mom to her two little kids. Lilah definitely needs to save time wherever she can, especially now that she’s shifting her business to prioritize more fun in her life. Lilah is a perfect case study for how you can strategically run your business in fewer hours, achieve real “success”, and meet your goals without compromising your values. Listen to the full episode to hear:How Lilah knew she was working too much and what she did to cut back on working time so she could prioritize her lifetimeHow and why Lilah’s making a conscious effort to spend more time on purely fun activitiesHow Lilah transitioned from working with 1-on-1 clients to selling digital products… and the impact that had on the number of hours she works per weekWhy Lilah works “on the margins” and how the time she spends working breaks down between clients and productsHer favorite tool for helping her company earn more with less effort Links:Lilah Higgins Brand Design & ArtTheForgeLilah on InstagramLilah on FacebookStartup SocietyGillianPerkins.com

Selling digital products is a fantastic way to be able to work less and earn more. If you run an online business or you're planning on starting one, chances are you are very familiar with digital products and all of the benefits digital products can bring to your business. You already know that once you create the product, you can sell them for months, even years, without having to regularly invest more time and more money into improving them or additional inventory. Digital products are something that you can create in your business to generate profits for a long time to come. Take courses and membership sites as an example. Courses and membership sites are two types of premium digital products you can sell, and they both offer amazing opportunities. They both offer opportunities to increase your profits without having to continually increase your work hours. So how, when both are potentially really smart things to invest some initial time and money into, do you decide which one is right for YOU? In today's episode, I am going to explain to you the difference between these two digital products and help you figure out which of them is the best fit for you and your business. I'm going to help you make that decision by sharing with you some of the pros and the cons of each, my experience with them, and which one is best for you, depending on your situation and your goals. Listen to the full episode to hear: Courses and membership sites have a lot in common -- both good and bad Which digital product is simpler to build into your business Which option can be more profitable And which option is right for YOU Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on April 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: What has contributed to us having our biggest profit month to date The changes to the income numbers that we have seen over the last 30 days What we have seen from the affiliate program that we launched with Teachable for course creators How our Facebook advertising access was unintentionally restricted and the frustrations of trying to get them to fix it How despite working more than I normally would in preparation for maternity leave I have been blessed with being able to spend more time with my family Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

There is a dangerous pitfall that we can fall into when we work to optimize our business so that we can earn more and work less. This mistake can steal our joy and force us to waste countless hours each week. Growing up, my mom was really into healthy eating. She always wanted us to eat our vegetables and take our vitamins, and she tried to feed us as much organic food as possible. Before dinner, she would always put out a giant salad and we couldn't eat our dinner until we had finished it. And we certainly weren’t going to get dessert until we had eaten our dinner. I don't think that this was a bad thing because, to this day, I am a fantastic vegetable eater, but something that I've noticed is that this eat-your-vegetables-first mentality has carried over into other aspects of my life. Whenever it’s work or play, I always tend to focus on getting the work out of the way before I spend time playing. In general, as you would expect, this is a really good thing. It’s good to focus on strategies that help to achieve as much as possible with little time and effort. It means that I get a lot done, both because I focus on getting the work done first, and because I'm working towards some sort of a reward – dessert, fun, or relaxation. This is so important to me because I don't want work to take over my life. I want to make sure that I've plenty of time left over to really enjoy life – to spend time with my family and to do the things that I truly love. In today's episode, I'm going to explain what this pitfall is, why you might be making these mistakes, and how you can work to reframe your mindset and restructure your schedule to make sure that you're getting the most out of every hour you work all while enjoying the process to boot. Listen to the full episode to hear: How focusing on the goal of working less can kill your passion for the work that you are doing What mindset shifts you can make to enjoy your work WITHOUT letting it take over your life How to shift your schedule and find the right balance between fun and work Why work is a good thing and why we should embrace it in our lives Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!

Copywriting has such an incredible power to allow you to work less and earn more. If you have put the time and energy into your copy and your website is converting – convincing more people to join your email list and buy your product – that means you don't have to put in the leg work to make each individual sale yourself. If you set up your website do the heavy lifting for you, you can take some time off and keep making money – even if you're not in the office. In this episode, we’re talking with the brilliant copywriter and my good friend Ashlyn Carter. Ashlyn is a conversion copywriter and marketing strategist specializing in wedding & creative industries. She trains Fortune 500 clients in corporate marketing to bring in more than seven-figures. She has worked with creatives like Jenna Kutcher, Beth Kirby of Local Milk, Julie Solomon, Katelyn James, Hilary Rushford, Lara Casey/Cultivate What Matters. Her launch funnels have generated results for clients including upwards of $1M in revenue in a single week. She's been a contributing educator with Creative Live, ConvertKit, and HoneyBook, and has been featured in Forbes, Southern Living, Style Me Pretty, and more. I wanted to have Ashland on the show so you can learn some of the copywriting secrets that will help you improve the writing that you do to market your business. Listen to the full episode to hear: How to make your website do the heavy lifting for you so you don't have to work as hard How improving the words on your website can help you convert more customers and allow you to work less The #1 thing everyone can improve on their website to get visitors to STICK and be more likely to convert How to use a "heatmap" to figure out exactly where you need to fix your website's copy Ashlyn’s Links: Ashlyn Writes Instagram Facebook YouTube Gillian’s Links: Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) The Feedback Form

The reason I wasn't making any money was that people can't buy your products if they don't know they exist. When I first started my online business, on top of being a mom and working a day job to pay my bills, I was pouring a ton of time into my business every single week without seeing much results. I had a solid product and I had built some great automated sales funnels that should have been able to produce sales. I was wondering why they weren't working. Why wasn’t this creating the results I was looking for? What I finally realized was that it didn't matter how amazing my product was or how good my sales funnels were. If there wasn't any traffic flowing through my funnel, then the funnel wasn't going to produce any sort of results. And because nobody knew that me, my business, or my products existed, this wasn’t going to change. I had to figure out how to get noticed Now in retrospect, this seems incredibly obvious. But at the time, when I finally realized that that was true, it was quite the revelation and I realized that I needed to shift my focus in my business. I needed to get that visibility or else my business wasn't going to go anywhere. I didn't just need to work harder–I needed to change my strategy to get the visibility that I really needed. In today’s episode, I'm going to share with you what I did to get people to finally start paying attention and the huge difference this made in my business. I am going to share with you the strategies that really took me from earning no money with my business online to earning multiple six figures. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why people aren't paying attention to you or your business... yet How to make something worth paying attention to The uncomfortable but POWERFUL strategy you can use to directly reach your target customers How to reach the *right* people in MASS Links: Startup Society Profit Planning Challenge Link The Feedback Form

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on March 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: How the recent quarantine threw off my structure and schedule and what we are doing to adapt What our progress is with working ahead and planning for maternity leave How my income has been kind of flat over the past few months–why that is and what I can do to fix it Why I am moving forward with Facebook ads even though they are giving us a negative return How we can give ourselves grace this month, but how, at the same time, it is still so important that we look for opportunities and make the best of our circumstances Links: Video Creator Academy Podcast Feedback Form Startup Society

“Doesn’t working less mean less time for serving clients? Less time for making money?” It doesn’t have to. You have already spent so much time hustling that you don't see how you could possibly work less without sacrificing revenue. The key to working less without sacrificing cash flow is to find the systems that allow you to accomplish more with less effort – and help you prioritize fitting work into your life instead of squeezing your life into your work. Today, Ashley Gartland shares different ways you can create simple systems to help you run your business more effectively and more efficiently. Ashley is a business coach who specializes in helping small business owners systematize and streamline their businesses so that they can work less and grow more. She has developed a simplified marketing system that puts all of her digital businesses and marketing efforts onto one Trello board – simplifying her marketing and maximizing her productivity And she shares how she does this in just 20 to 30 hours per week or less. Listen to the full episode to hear: How Ashley earns six-figures running her 1-on-1 coaching business in 20 hours/week How giving your schedule more structure can greatly simplify your work, maximize your time, and make you more productive How to improve your client management process to save yourself time AND elevate your services And a detailed look at Ashley's "simplified marketing system" that gives her a bird's eye view and allows her to see all her marketing efforts on ONE screen Ashley Links: Ashley Gartland’s Website Simplify Your Schedule: 4 Steps to Living More and Workless (workbook with templates) Simplified Marketing Plan Training Facebook Business Page Facebook Group, The Simplified Entrepreneur Instagram Gillian Links: Profit Planning Challenge Startup Society The Feedback Form

There's a pretty good chance that you know that The Work Less, Earn More Podcast isn't exactly my main gig. If you've seen me around the internet at all, then you probably are aware that I have a substantial following on YouTube – just under350,000 subscribers. And if you're aware of this, then you might be wondering why I would possibly want to essentially start from scratch with a podcast when I already have so much reach on YouTube. Maybe you’re wondering if my YouTube audience isn't that engaged, or if I am concerned about the health of my channel. Maybe you are wondering if YouTube is made up mostly of viewers and is lacking in actual buyers. Today, I am going to address some of these questions and share with you some of the reasons I started a podcast. The truth is that businesses that are in different stages of growth need to focus on different strategies. Just because my business is in a place where starting a podcast is a good choice, that doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing for your business. Because of this, I’m going to walk you through why I believe this was a good strategic decision for my business, how to better understand what stage of growth your business is in, and how you can make similar strategic decisions in YOUR business for the biggest and best results. Listen to the full episode to hear: How YouTube is great for some aspects of growing your business but still has it’s shortcomings Why it's important to devote a percentage of your time to experimental projects Why different strategies are right for different businesses and why what works for one business might NOT work for yours How to know which stage YOUR business is in and what to focus on right now for different businesses Links: Profit Planning Challenge Startup Society Link The Feedback Form Atomic Habits by James Clear

Boundaries are essential for increasing our productivity. They give us the time, space, and energy we need to be able to create the work/life balance that ensures that work doesn’t take over their lives. Boundaries are there to protect our personal lives and our sanity. They make sure that we’re not working too much, get a little bit of downtime, and that we have breathing room to work on our business not just in our business. It’s the strength of these boundaries and the limiting of our working hours that mean we can work less while still keeping our profits high. Setting firm boundaries means that emails don’t take up all of our time, that we don’t take meetings on Fridays, and we definitely don’t work weekends. It’s within these boundaries that our businesses are permitted to grow. Today on the show, I'm interviewing Dannie Lynn Fountain, the founder and facilitator at Focused On People, a consultancy that seeks to help companies grow people-first through communication strategies. Dannie is an absolute productivity magician who manages a seemingly impossible workload. She brings in six figures annually from a business that she spends only a handful of hours on each week. In order to do this, Danny needs a lot more than just time. In order to do this, she needs to have a great strategy because, if she works on the wrong things for those few hours each week, then she would definitely be seeing different results. This is exactly what Dannie and I talk about today on the podcast, uncovering a few of her secrets along the way. Listen to the full episode to hear: How Dannie balances running her six-figure business with a full-time job at Google, a thriving career as a public speaker, a 2-hour commute (both ways!), and pursuing her doctorate How we can become more productive by creating boundaries for ourselves Three boundaries Dannie set to allow her to be insanely productive Why most entrepreneurs find themselves addicted to the hustle at some point–and what to do about it Links: Focused On People Dannie’s Instagram Profit Planning Challenge Startup Society

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on February 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: How I worked more than normal this month and why I have a really good excuse Why you need to intentionally create structure in your schedule A few reasons why you might want to work more even if you don't have to How I finally bit the bullet and spent the money on a big, scary expense I've been avoiding for years Links: Podcast Feedback Form Startup Society GillianPerkins.com

My online business efforts haven’t always been a success. But some key choices helped me go from earning squat-diddly to six figures in gross revenue in just 12 months. First, some back story. Three years ago, I was supporting my family by working 30-50 hours a week running a local music school and I knew that I needed to do something different. I wanted to start an online business where I could work when I wanted to work, travel when I wanted to travel, spend time with my kids, and actually make some real money. I dabbled in different niches and experimented with business ideas for a few years. I was looking for a business idea that would give me the flexibility and freedom that I was looking for. But nothing was really sticking and nothing was really earning any money. And, on top of all the hours that I was already working at my “day job,” I was spending another 15-30 hours working on my online business and researching what the missing ingredient was. After a lot of trial and error, things finally started to click into place. I settled on the business that fascinated me the most––digital marketing courses and services––and set out to become an expert. Today, I am going to break down the six things I changed to take my business past the six-figure mark. As you’ll see, it wasn’t just six new things I started doing. Some of these things were simple decisions I made and others were things I stopped doing. Listen to the full episode to hear: What I was spending my time on when I wasn't earning anything The very counterintuitive thing I stopped doing that increased my income Who I hired to help me grow my business And the market research everyone skips and how once you understand this you never will again Links: Profit Planning Challenge Startup Society GillianPerkins.com

As a planner and very detail-oriented person, I tend to create extensive strategic plans for all sorts of things, vacations, daily routines, product launches, and hiring processes to name a few. But sometimes I find that I run into a bit of a problem: my plans don't always work out. Sometimes it’s because I chose the wrong tactics, but other times the plans themselves are fine except that they don’t get carried out because of how overwhelmingly detailed I have made them. Because of this, I have learned to sometimes go with the flow, trust my intuition, and let go of expectations and just see how things work out. Of course, this approach can be taken too far as well.Take hiring a new team member. On the one hand, if the process is overly structured, then it can wind up being overly bureaucratic–wasting a lot of time and energy and financial resources trying to discern who would be right for the job. But this can swing too far the other way, as well. Going into the hiring process with absolutely no structure can have the consequence of hiring the wrong person and wasting tons of time and money. We need to find a balance between structured strategic plans and simply flying by the seat of our pants. Especially if we want to intentionally build online businesses that meet our goals. My guest today is Megan Minns, an expert at navigating this challenging situation and finding the balance between going with the flow and having the strategic structure needed to lead us directly to the results that we want. Megan Minns is a productivity coach for ambitious women. She's the creator of Intuitive Execution, as well as the host of the Productive Life Podcast where she shares actionable advice on productivity, business, goal setting, and mindset. Megan has been featured in Inc, Business Insider, and One Woman Shop, and I'm excited to have her on the show. Listen to the full episode to hear: What Intuitive Execution is and how it can help you get the right things done without so much stress How intuitive execution differs from conventional productivity techniques so you can take a strategic approach to getting things done How to find the balance between extensive strategic planning and letting go of expectations and following your intuition The underrated strategy both Megan and Gillian used to successfully launch their flagship online courses Links: Meganminns.com Megan's Intuitive Execution Workshop The Productive Life Podcast Megan on Instagram Megan on YouTube Megan on Facebook Startup Society GillianPerkins.com

You know that hiring a little help you earn more without having to work quite so much. You have tasks that you could easily delegate and you’re ready to bring some people to help you with this. But... you just don't have the budget. Maybe it’s because your business is still in the startup phase and money is tight. Or maybe it’s because your profits just aren't yet where you want them to be. In today's episode, the second part of our series on hiring help, we're diving into the logistics of how to make your first hire when the money just isn’t there. Last week, we talked about determining whether or not you are ready to hire in the first place, regardless of budget. We also talked about how to strategically hire so that it’s a profitable move for your business. So if you haven't yet listened to that episode and you're not yet 100% sure about exactly who you should hire in order to really have a positive impact on your business's profits, then go back and listen to that episode first. Listen to the full episode to hear: How to determine exactly how much money you have available for delegating--including how to free up some funds so that you have more to invest How to mentally prepare for the process of hiring by understanding that it's a long game strategy How to figure out exactly what the outcome is that you're looking by hiring help How to go about finding the right person the specific job position you’re looking to fill And how to ensure that your new team member is actually helping you earn more and work less Links: Startup Society The Profit Planning Challenge GillianPerkins.com Video: Running a $500k Company With Just 1 Employee Video: How To Get Started With No Money

Too much work––and too little time: that’s the perennial problem every business owner faces. If you’re feeling the crunch, chances are you’re already dreaming about delegating some of that work to a new team member. But you might think that you can’t start hiring because you don’t have the budget. You're not alone if you're scraping by each month even though you’re working all the hours, making only enough to support yourself. That's the fate of most entrepreneurs. The thought of bringing someone else on board––another mouth to feed––might sound scary and maybe even impossible. It's kind of a chicken and egg problem. You know you need help if you want to grow your company and your revenue but you can't afford to hire someone with your current revenue. So in today's episode, I'm going to help you overcome this problem by showing you how to make a strategic decision about exactly who to hire to give your income the biggest boost. And we're also going to discuss the logistics of how to bring this first person on board when the money just isn't there. Listen to the full episode to hear: How delegating can help you work less and earn more Expensive pitfalls to avoid when making your first hire How to strategically decide WHO you should hire to have the best and biggest impact... especially if you're hiring on a tight budget Who to hire to have the biggest positive impact on your company and specifically on your business’s income. Links: The Profit Planning Challenge Startup Society GillianPerkins.com

Every month, I’m peeling back the curtain and sharing the ins & outs of my monthly revenue. These income reports are an in-depth and honest look at how much my business earned, what it cost, and how many hours it took me to do it. I’ll also share which tasks and projects really ended up paying me best so that you can see how I’m optimizing my business so that I can work less and earn more over time. Plus, you’ll get a time report, breaking down the time I spend on each activity and how that created a financial result (or not). I hope that you’ll be able to learn from my trial and error, as I work to grow my business, my impact, and my income––all while keeping clear boundaries on my time and personal life. Today, we’re looking back on January 2020. Listen to the full episode to hear: How I define passive income and the role it plays in my business A detailed breakdown of my business’s revenue for January What the monthly operation expenses were over the month What the net profit turned out to be And an itemized explanation of how much time it took take make all this happen Links: Passive Income 101 9 Passive Income Ideas (that earn $1000+ per month) Startup Society GillianPerkins.com Smart Passive Income

I am quite fond of my membership site because of the recurring monthly revenue that it produces for my business. But what if I told you that it's possible to generate recurring revenue with courses as well? This is the power of selling with an evergreen funnel. And I’m excited to have today’s guest share her brilliant strategy for building hyper-effective evergreen funnels that aren't super complicated. Mariah Coz is an expert at evergreen sales systems. She is someone who I have followed for a long time and consider a virtual mentor. She’s 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 a marketing genius. She has a no-BS style and creates insanely high converting webinars, funnels, and launches for herself and her clients using cutting-edge, innovative strategies that no one else is teaching. Listen to the full episode to hear:How to set up an evergreen funnel without all the headachesHow Mariah’s incredibly simple system actually outperforms more complex funnelsWhat the incredibly obvious rule is that almost EVERYONE breaks when building a funnelWhat the best ways are to convert your customers when the cart isn't actually closing Mariah’s Links:Mariahcoz.com Free Evergreen Sales Funnel MasterclassAccelerator ApplicationInstagram: @mariahpcozYouTube Gillian’s Links:Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore)Profit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

It seems like people just aren’t as into New Year’s resolutions as they used to be. It’s not that we’ve given up on setting goals or working to better ourselves––we’re just not as motivated by the romantic optimism of the New Year’s resolution as we used to be. Setting goals is an important part of working less and earning more, of course. Goals help us figure out what we need to focus on in the limited time that we have. Goals help us avoid wasting time and make sure that every minute we put into our work really counts. But there’s often a really important part of goal-setting that’s missing from the equation––and maybe why New Year’s resolutions become problematic, too. That missing piece? Meaning. Meaningful goals create meaningful results. When your goals aligned with your values and priorities in life, you can finally use your goals to motivate you and stick with a goal even when things get hard. In this episode, I explain the difference between meaningful goals and strategic projects so you can stay focused on what’s really important to you while accomplishing more of the work that produces results. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why SMART goals might not be so smart after all and why we often end up setting goals we don’t care about The key difference between meaningful goals and strategic projects and why you need both How meaningful goals and strategic projects work together to help you create results you care about The steps you need to take to identify your meaningful goals and choose strategic projects so you can build a plan you love Links: Startup Society Blog Post: Re-Imagining New Year’s Resolutions Video: How I Plan & Organize To Reach My Goals GillianPerkins.com

Busywork: it’s the bane of business owners everywhere. But how can you tell the difference between “busywork” and the important things that you should be focusing your time and energy on? That’s what this episode is all about. Today, we're talking all about how to avoid busywork and wasted time by creating a strategic plan to guide your work so you can be sure that the work you do helps to add profit to your bottom line every month. Specifically, we’ll get into the how-tos of profit planning––what it is, how to do it, and how to create a profit plan for your entire year. Then, I’m going to pull back the curtain and take you behind the scenes of my business, sharing with you a realistic and very close-to-home example of how it all works. I’ll be sharing with you our current monthly revenue numbers and plans for increasing them over the next 12 months. Listen to the full episode to hear: How to avoid busywork and prioritize the tasks that will actually increase your business's profits Why your profit plan should be as simple as possible How to make your profit projections for the year so you’re always clear on how to move forward What product, service, or offer you will focus on and how to estimate the profit potential of this product How to brainstorm a plan to maximize this product's profits this year And a behind-the-scenes breakdown of my current revenue and goals for increasing it this year Links: Startup Society Profit Planning Challenge GillianPerkins.com

When you’re your own boss, you have at least some degree of control over your schedule and working hours. You might not feel like you have a lot of options, because, after all, customers have to be served, emails have to be answered, social media has to be kept up to date, and bills have to be paid… But, ultimately, you do have control. Nobody’s going to fire you if you figure out how to get your entire to-do list done in half the time every week. And that’s exactly what this show is about: getting it all done in way less time. In fact Work Less, Earn More is about accomplishing more in way less time. This podcast is about getting the most out of every hour you work–so that you can work less, and earn more. We’re going to help you finally balance your time budget and be able to “afford” the time to prioritize what’s truly important to you. Feel like “it’s not possible” or it sounds “too good to be true”? Then pull out your favorite listening device and give Work Less, Earn More a listen. List to the full episode to hear: What the Work Less, Earn More lifestyle is all about and how it can impact the level of stress you feel on a daily basis Why the conventional 40-hour workweek doesn’t have to apply to you and why I’ve chosen to run my business in just 20 hours per week How more time doesn’t automatically equate to more production or income Why I don’t think everyone should strive to run their business in 20 hrs/week And what you can expect from future episodes Links: Startup Society Gillianperkins.com Sarah Blakely

Work Less, Earn More is the podcast that explores how to get the most out of every hour you work. Gillian Perkins brings more than a decade of experience as an entrepreneur and educator to help you design a business that's not only flexible and fulfilling, but highly profitable. She shares strategies that are working in her own business to save time and maximize profits. She also features interviews with successful business owners on how they’re achieving big things in their businesses with crazy-little time investment. Finally, each month Gillian shares an income report with you. Each report is an honest look at how many hours she worked, how much she earned, and an analysis of which tasks and projects really ended up paying her best. Share Work Less, Earn More with an overworked entrepreneur you know who could use a change of pace! Learn more at: http://gillianperkins.com