Work Less, Earn More

If you’ve ever thought about launching a membership site, today’s episode is for you.I’m talking with Laura Watson, who participated in our Validate accelerator program earlier this year, about her experience beta launching her membership site, the Watercolour Garden.We’re going to chat about how she did it, what some of her biggest challenges were–and some of her biggest wins–and we’ll get into the nitty gritty details and numbers behind her beta launch, so you can see what’s possible for you, too.Laura Watson is a botanical artist based on the west coast of Canada. She is the founder of The Watercolour Garden, an online community that helps watercolor painters create botanical paintings using her 3 step painting method. Laura has a diploma with distinction from the London Art College in Botanical Painting, and her paintings are in private collections worldwide.Listen to the full episode to hear:How leaning on her peers and the structure of the Validate program helped Laura take the leap to launchHow she structured the webinar funnel and follow-ups that landed her a 50% conversion rateWhy Laura wanted to shift from selling courses on third-party platforms to hosting her own membershipThe two biggest mental hurdles she had to overcomeLearn more about Laura Watson:WebsiteInstagram: @laurawatsonartistYouTube: Laura Watson Art Learn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

While there are a lot of different ways you can make money online, creating and selling digital products has got to be one of the very best. And it's certainly one of my favorites.It gives you so many of the advantages of making money online–the flexibility, the huge potential for profit etc.–without a lot of the disadvantages that can come when you're selling physical products or services.Now of course selling physical products or services can be amazing businesses as well.But my personal favorite, and the one that I really think is the best in a lot of ways, is selling digital products.I also know that it can be intimidating to get started with, and I think that's one of the biggest things holding people back. They just don't really know what the process needs to look like. It feels like it's very complicated.But it doesn’t have to be. Which is why I’m sharing seven steps to creating and selling a digital product so you can see how simple it can really be.Listen to the full episode to hear:What the substance of a digital product really isWhy you should always start with the minimum viable productWhen you might need to hire an editorPros and cons of using a third party platform versus your own website to sell your productWhy you want to keep your price point low when you’re just starting outLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

I’m a huge fan of digital products.I talk about courses a lot of the time, because they’re what have allowed me to earn passive income online, enabling me the flexibility in my schedule so that I can work from home, homeschool my kids, and enjoy a really nice lifestyle.But while I love online courses and I think they’re an incredible opportunity, they do take a lot of time and effort to create and market.So today, I’m going to share with you eight digital product ideas that still have really good earning potential, but are a lot simpler to create and market.Listen to the full episode to hear:How you can use smaller scale, lower-priced workshops and products to earn moneyIdeas for passive income if you have an eye for art or designHow to use your software or platform skills to earn passive incomeLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

You’ve probably heard that when you’re starting your business it’s super important to pick a niche, the more specific the better.If you want to grow your business and your brand, it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond, right?But if you’ve tried to follow this advice and found yourself feeling frustrated and pigeon-holed, you’re not alone.A lot of people struggle with this when they’re first starting their online business. I know I did. And I regularly talk to people inside Startup Society and other programs we run who are going through it too.So what do you do?Today I’m going to share what the process of choosing a niche really looks like and help you take some of the stress and pressure out of it so you can build your business.Listen to the full episode to hear:How niche means different things to different peopleThe differences between industry, value, and nicheWhy you probably won’t really develop your niche until you’ve already worked with lots of customersThe two biggest mistakes people make when choosing a nicheLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

If you want to start your own business, the very first, most important part of the process is just deciding what business you want to start.You can’t move forward, and you can’t begin to grow your business at all until you make that crucial decision.So in today’s episode, I’m going to share with you exactly how you can make that decision, whether you’re stuck because you have too many ideas and you just can’t choose, or if you’re stuck because you don’t have enough ideas.Listen to the full episode to hear:The three different kinds of businesses you could startThree lists to brainstorm business ideasThree ways to score your ideas and narrow down your listWhy you need to have an idea of what a day in the life of your business would be likeLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkinsResources:100 Digital Product Ideas – Free Download50 Service Business Ideas – Free Download

Last month, I was teaching a class about how to start a business. And even though most of the participants hadn’t yet started their businesses, all of them had worked on the branding for their business.So even though they hadn’t done almost any of the other steps of setting up their business to make it legal or to start making money, they’d designed their branding.Of course we get really excited by new ideas and want to start doing things that feel satisfying and that we can see right away.But when you’re starting a business, the things you can see aren’t necessarily the most important. And there are a lot of things behind the scenes that we have to do before we can actually start a business.Today, I’m covering six practical things you have to do before you can start your business.Listen to the full episode to hear:Two places you need to register your businessHow to start handling your business financesWhy you should create a separate email account just for your businessWhy you have to validate your business idea before you invest time, energy, and moneyThe simple marketing plan you need to start generating leadsLearn more about Gillian:Small Business 101Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

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