Work Less, Earn More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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