Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth

Today on the show we discuss what has happened this year, outside of business. So personal development, things we’ve been focusing on in our personal lives, the things we’ve been doing, the books we’ve been reading, what we need, what we want, what we like and ultimately, how we’ve been trying to grow as individuals. For the first time in a long time, we have taken a small step away from the goals of the business and worked on identifying where our heads are at, who we are as people and what our personal goals are. We decided to tackle our personal development ahead of the game, i.e before the business became all-consuming and everything in our lives was falling apart! Nothing in our personal lives up until this point has been necessarily broken, but we just realized that, hey, things could be better!We think that a lot of you listening out there might really identify with what we’ve been going through in our personal lives and this episode is here to offer you some helpful resources and to let you know that girl, you are not alone! In this episode, we’ll be discussing who we are and who we want to be outside of work and why life is not just a bunch of boxes you can tick. We also discuss the weight of societal expectations we’ve experienced, especially as women, and how we are working to love ourselves a little more.Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show we welcome Kate Boyd. Kate is the Founder of Cobblestone Creative Co and does this girlfriend know conversions! After raising seven figures in revenue for a non-profit organization through powerful messaging, copywriting and marketing she started her own business that helps build more creativity and genuine connection to the digital marketing space. In just three years she has built three profitable online businesses and created live and automated sales and marketing experiences that convert up to five times the normal rates!Kate is a serious conversion expert and in this episode, she shares a lot of helpful tools, tricks, and resources for you to use for an upcoming launch or perhaps to help you analyze an “unsuccessful” launch that you’ve had in the past. We are talking all about increasing conversions and humanizing your launch so that people trust you more and feel more involved. We discuss how you are priming your audience, how you are getting their mindsets ready for the sale and how to have an aspect of personal outreach included in your automated strategies in order to make your next launch even more powerful. Grab your notebook and be on the lookout because we might be trying out some of these tactics for our next launch… and you can too!Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alright, it’s the episode you’ve all been waiting for. We are finally ready to talk about the biggest change we’ve made in TCC in a long time. We’ve moved email service providers… TWICE and we spoke about this is in our monthly review for April but promised we would break it all down into an episode all of its own. So here it is. Today we are run through the reason why we switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit, and then switched again from ConvertKit to Infusionsoft and then again from Infusionsoft to ActiveCampaign. Complexities aside, what we really want this episode to do is serve as an educational resource for you if you are needing help deciding between two platforms. So in this episode, we will be diving into why certain platforms just didn’t work, as well as the key reasons that made us sway to ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign. We walk you through various system features of the platforms, like ConvertKit’s tagging-based system versus ActiveCampaign’s automation-based system and how these worked for us.We also get into the nitty-gritty’s of how integrations, deep integrations, and visual automation work in ConvertKit as well as in ActiveCampaign and how we were able to find out so much more about our customers using certain features. No matter what service provider you choose, at the end of the day you should always pick what feels right for you and your business. We hope that this episode will help you to make a more informed choice and get you a step closer to being a turbo-boss babe!Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have very few business crushes in this world, but Jill Donovan of Rustic Cuff is definitely one of them. In this episode, Jill talks to us about how she was publicly humiliated on national television, sitting on the couch next to Oprah. This moment, which Jill will go on to explain, drastically changed her life. We hear how she was able to move on after this incident and turn it around into the best thing that could have ever happened to her. We learn more about how Jill scaled her product-based business called Rustic Cuff, where she makes and sells beautiful bracelets and encourages the spirit of giving.Jill started out giving away her cuffs to strangers at the local grocery store and today, Rustic Cuffs has over 160 employees and strong social media community of over 70,000 people. Jill’s designs are being worn by big celebrities today and through her business, she is showing others how they can make a difference to the lives of others. Jill is someone who has been guided a lot by her intuition. But how do you know when you’re following it? In this episode, Jill also gives us some great tips for listening to your heart and finding what it is you excel at.Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show we are doing our monthly review for April 2018. Our monthly review is a popular episode that we do every month. In the past, we have gone into a lot of depth with all of our numbers and our tracking. However, we have decided to narrow it down a little bit to be a more of an overview. If you want all the nitty-gritty’s, you can find them inside The Goal Crusher Club. In the episode, we are a little goofy because well, April was crazy! We just got back from a week-long trip to Chicago for the She Did It Her Way Summit. We did some strategizing in our hotel room (which we covered in post-it notes and crazy-lady handwriting) and will be reporting back on our plans and goals for the future. We’ll also be discussing our experience switching email providers (again) from Infusion Soft to ActiveCampaign, as well as how we got 100 members into the Goal Crusher Club through some darn fine teamwork.In addition to that, we get into some deeper identity crises we’ve been experiencing in our business and the “Aha” moment in Chicago that reminded us that the destination is the journey. Our biggest glory moment this month has been the positive shifts we have seen in our team and how we have come to learn that teamwork takes, well, so much work. Work that is so worth it! We end off this episode with some good ol’ fashion funnel talk and our improvements to work toward for next month. We hope this episode will inspire you to keep going, even if you don’t have it all figured out yet. We sure don’t, but hey, we’re enjoying the ride. Bring it on May!Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the podcast we welcome Justine Nelson. Justine is a friend and previous co-worker who embarked on a personal journey to get rid of debt… and then decided to teach other people how to do it too. Justine is the founder of Debt Free Millennials, an online resource blog and coaching center helping thousands of millennials ditch debt and live like a boss. Today we are speaking about all the fun things – like student loans, debt culture and budgeting. We are also going to be discussing how to navigate conversations around debt with your partner and family and how having a budget and goals in your personal life leads to amazing things in your business life.We hear how this Midwest millennial got into debt in the first place, how she broke out of debt's chains and was able to start a business from the ground up and do things in her life that she never even imagined. Since Justine has been in the dark pits of debt herself, she is a really great person to get some tips and advice from on how to cope with these financial practicalities, as well as the emotional strain that debt can place on your relationships. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your own debt, honestly, Justine is going to show you just how doable (and surprisingly fun) paying off your debt can be. If you want to live that debt-free life and grow the business you have always dreamed of growing, then this inspirational episode is a great place to start!Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to part 5 of the Goal Crusher Club series! Well done for making it this far. We hope you’ve learned a ton and are ready to identify everything you’ve been doing wrong! In this episode, we are going to be looking at the three major things you are definitely doing wrong when it comes to setting your goals. Wondering how we know you’re doing these things wrong? Well, because we did them too! This episode isn’t about dogging you and we’re not necessarily saying that some of these things can’t work, but in order to not only reach your goals but fly past them, we want you to take these things into account.In this episode, we will be discussing the three most commonly made mistakes that prevent a lot of us from reaching our goals. 1) Picking “buy work” goals. 2) Paying your way as the only way and 3) Hiring people to fix what’s broken. We’re going to explain why these things don’t work and what you could do instead. Ultimately, we want you to get to know your business before you add on or distract yourself with ventures that are sure to veer you off course. We’re here to help you skip the hurdles and the mistakes that we’ve already made, so if you’re looking for a faster and more thorough route to your goals – then take a listen to this episode.Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show we welcome Dr. Rachel L. Alan. Dr. Rachel is a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting people to take inspired action to connect to self-discovery. She focuses on healing, cultivating healthy habits and enhancing self-wellness, balance and living life passionately. This episode is pretty close to an actual therapy session for us! But we know that so many of you out there struggle with these types of issues too and will be able to relate in one way or another. Health and wellness is something we speak about a lot on the show, given the challenges we have had had with our own health and wellness – physically, emotionally and mentally.Today we dive into some of the common choices that a lot of us out there make around food and setting boundaries, especially as women business owners. If you are struggling with setting boundaries with yourself and with others, or with under-eating, over-eating, binge eating, snacking and are just trying to get your life in balance, we think you will find this episode really beneficial. These often deeply ingrained habits can leak into our business and into our personal lives and we need to question the root of our unhealthy habits before we can even begin to create healthier new ones. It’s important to know that you are not alone out there and taking a listen to this episode might just be the step you need to take toward having more control in your life!Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Part 4 of the Goal Crusher Club Series! Today we are talking about one of Abbie’s favorite things on the planet – creating Key Performance Indicators in your business, otherwise known as KPI’s. We will be walking you through some of the things you need to be tracking on a month to month basis that will genuinely help you realize the health and wellness of your business and exactly what you need to be paying attention to. KPI’s are going to give you all the knowledge you need about where you should be spending your time; what needs more babying and perhaps what needs to be cut. If you aren’t tracking these things you may never be able to recognize what might be an issue in your business, or which aspect of your business you need to grow. This leaves you guessing over and over again and this is not where you want to be!Ultimately, it comes down to performance and numbers and this is where identifying your KPI’s come in! In this episode, we are going to get you tracking like you’re on safari. We’re going to be explaining exactly how to track your data over a launch period and show you exactly how to calculate your earnings per lead, your cost per lead and the additional numbers you should be paying attention to. We are also going to be showing you how to analyze your monthly data; including your most popular posts and your most engaged customer and how you can use them to propel your business forward with confidence.Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the podcast we welcome husband and wife business duo, Ben and Laura Harrison, of Jonas Paul Eyewear. This episode is for anyone who has ever been afraid to go after that seemingly unattainable business or their passion project. A lot of us let those things sit on the shelf gathering dust because they seem, well, really hard and really scary! Ben and Laura are two people who are really living what a lot of people only dream of creating. In 2013, Ben and Laura gave birth to their son, Jonas Paul. Jonas was born with a rare disorder, Peter’s Anomaly. As Ben and Laura searched for fashionable eyeglasses for their visually impaired son, they grew increasingly frustrated at the limited (and very un-trendy) options for children.They were so inspired by their son, that they decided to leave their careers to launch Jonas Paul Eyewear with the mission of helping children feel beautiful in their glasses and providing sight to children in need with every purchase. Laura and Ben saw a gap in the market, combined their skills and followed their passions and their need to make a difference in the world to create a unique and impactful business. In this episode, we’ll be diving deeper into how their business came about, the challenges they faced along the way and how they transitioned from a service based business in wedding photography to a product based business in eye care! Ben and Laura have a truly inspiring story and if you have an idea you’ve been wanting to get off the ground – trust us, you’ll have all the motivation you need after this episode.Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices