Work Less, Earn More

Business owners are always hearing and talking about growth and scale.You want your business to succeed and make money, which means doing more business, right?But you’ll probably have to make some major changes or pivots along the way to make growth sustainable.Today’s guest has gone through those major pivots and changes as her business has grown. She’s even gone through several iterations of her business model to land where she is now.Hannah Murphy is a productivity strategist and owner of With Hannah & Co. She helps entrepreneurs create a profit-focused schedule that eliminates unnecessary task switching, long nights and never-ending to-do lists.Having been through the long hours, seven days a week trying to grow her client list style of doing business, Hannah realized she needed to rethink what a productive schedule looked like. Once she did, she was able to achieve the growth she was looking for and more.I wanted to talk to her about the changes she’s made in her business, from starting as a virtual assistant to becoming a productivity strategist and what that means, and the motivations behind the pivots and phases of her business.Listen to the full episode to hear:How Hannah approached developing new skills and pitching her ideal clientsHow a simple referral program grew her business from 3 to 27 clients in just a few monthsWhy prioritizing systems and recognizing her weak points helped Hannah make smart hiring choicesHow her productivity coaching grew out of her existing clients and when she realized creating a course would help stave off burnoutLearn more about Hannah:With Hannah & Co.Instagram: @WithHannahAndCoLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

You’ve got your messaging down, now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty.Part three of The Easiest Business Plan Ever breaks down your marketing strategy.This is where you’ll get down to the fine details of your customer’s demographics and psychographics so you can figure out how you’ll get the word out about your business and how you’re going to tell people about your products so you can start making sales.This is where you’ll really start generating that to-do list of action items to get your business up and running.Listen to the full episode to hear:How overly wide demographics water down your message and hurt your salesQuestions to help you find the key psychographics your customers will have in commonWays to estimate the size of your target marketHow to build brand visibilityThe two parts of your conversion strategyLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!The Easiest Business Plan EverResources:Business Planning DEEP DIVE (Pt. 1)Business Planning DEEP DIVE (Pt. 2)FREE 6-Part Business Planning Video Series

Your business has a name, an address, a legal structure, and a clear description of what you do. What next?Part two of The Easiest Business Plan Ever covers your marketing messaging.This is where you take that clear, concise description of what your business does, and turn it into persuasive messaging that makes people want to work with you or buy from you.Getting your marketing messaging down means you know who your customer is, what their problems are, and how your product or service solves those problems.And that sets up your business for success.Listen to the full episode to hear:Questions for getting clear on your customers’ problem and the result you offerWhy your customers need to really understand how your offering solves their problemHow the story of your company and why you do what you do strengthens your messageKey questions to differentiate yourself from the competitionHow to turn your product or service into a systemLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!The Easiest Business Plan Ever

Creating a solid strategic plan for your business doesn’t have to be a long arduous process.Four years ago, I created the Easiest Business Plan Ever and it’s since been downloaded by literally thousands of people.But up until this point, I've never gone very deep with any one section of the plan, so starting today, that’s going to change.I’ll be breaking down the business plan, section by section, step by step over the next three episodes to answer your questions about how to use the template to easily create a business plan and strategy that works for you.We’re starting today with your business overview and all of the pieces you’ll need to have worked out from your business’s name to something called the chart of accountability.Listen to the full episode to hear:Four things to keep in mind when naming your businessWhy your business might need multiple addressesKey considerations when choosing a legal structureQuestions to help you write a clear, concise description of your business and its missionWhy you should create your chart of accountability even if you’re a sole proprietorLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!the Easiest Business Plan Ever

When you’re thinking about creating a digital product, there are a lot of decisions to make.Should you create a course or a membership site?Write a book or provide one-on-one coaching?There are so many options, and each one has its own nuances, benefits and challenges.Whatever product you decide to create, you’ll have to make choices about structure, pricing, marketing and more.In this episode, I’m talking to Julie Solomon, CEO of EmpowerYou Inc, host of the Influencer Podcast and creator of SHINE.Julie is an expert in digital marketing, PR, and personal branding and I wanted to talk to her about SHINE because it is so different from a lot of what we see online. I wanted to learn more about how she structured the program and what led her to some of the choices she made.We’ll also dig into how she markets a premium program with a matching price tag, growth challenges and the pros and cons of running high-ticket programs.Listen to the full episode to hear:The market challenges Julie designed her program to addressWhy she pivoted away from a monthly membership model to a six-month commitmentHow Julie attracts organic leads to her program with her podcast and social mediaWhy Julie settled on her price point, and why she hasn’t changed it even as she’s iterated other parts of the programLearn more about Julie:JulieSolomon.netInstagram: @julssolomonThe Influencer PodcastSHINELearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

When you set up email marketing for your business, it can completely change the way you market your business overall. Being in someone’s inbox is a totally different game than showing up in their social media feed.There are so many tools that email marketing opens up to you that allow you to get more personal and responsive with your email list than you could ever be with social media ads.If you’ve been hesitating learning how to use email marketing for your business, today’s episode is for you.We’ll cover everything from choosing the best software platform to setting up your opt-in forms and how to build your list.Listen to the full episode to hear:The pros and cons of three free email marketing platforms you can use while you build your listWhy you might want to use a thank you page instead of a pop-up for new subscribersHow to create an enticing and valuable freebie for new sign-upsHow to promote your freebie to build your listLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources:MailerLiteSenderConvertKit

So you’re thinking about starting a podcast.Maybe you want to expand your audience, or maybe you want to build an audience and create authority to support your online business. Both are great reasons to get into podcasting.So what’s holding you back?In today’s episode, Melissa Guller of Wit & Wire joins me to talk about strategies for starting and marketing a podcast, from the planning you need to do to marketing strategies. And we’ll break down misconceptions about the charts, market saturation and why you don’t need a ton of equipment or technical know-how to hit record.Melissa Guller is a course creator, podcast producer, and the CEO of Wit & Wire, where she helps online business owners build their authority and reach a wider audience through podcasting. Bigger picture, Melissa loves to teach entrepreneurs. She’s a top-rated instructor on Skillshare and in person at General Assembly, and she previously worked full-time for Ramit Sethi and Teachable. She’s helped over 2,000 podcasting students through her Wit & Wire online courses, and she's on a mission to help more diverse business owners earn money online doing work they love.Listen to the full episode to hear:Three reasons to start a podcast even if you don’t have a large followingHow to use seasons as part of your marketing, to test content, or to give yourself a breakWhy you need to be strategic about choosing your category and what charting means for your podcastThe difference between owned media and earned media and which one you should focus on for growthHow to pitch yourself as a guest on someone else’s podcast and invite guests to your ownLearn more about Melissa:Wit & WireInstagram: @WitAndWireWit & Wire on Pinterest Wit & Wire PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources:The Best Podcast Microphones for Any BudgetFREE How to Launch a Podcast in 60 Days Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Email is not dead.When you’re selling products online, you always need a few different tools in your marketing kit.You’ll use advertising so people hear about your products in the first place. Then you’ll need some way to move those leads from lukewarm to interested in buying to paying customers.And most businesses, from small local retailers to big-name brands, are still using email as a key part of their sales process.And that's why I find it, especially ridiculous when people say that email is dead.We’re all still using email. It’s a primary method of communication in general and it’s still a primary sales channel for most businesses.Which is why today, we’re going to discuss how to launch a product with email.We’ll get into the details on conversion rates, how to incorporate webinars and options for setting up your email sequence. Because no matter what your advertising strategy is to move people into your funnel, you’re going to need emails to convert those leads.Listen to the full episode to hear:Why webinars are especially helpful for smaller brands to boost conversionsPros and cons of short and long launch sequencesThe importance of the pre-launch period10 emails that will increase your sales by 500%Learn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!Resources: Work Less, Earn More Ep 78: The Beginner’s Guide to Webinars Part OneWork Less, Earn More Ep 79: The Beginner’s Guide to Webinars Part Two

If you’re running an online business, at some point you’re going to have to build a funnel. And of course, you don’t want to spend your time and effort creating a funnel that doesn’t work.Today, to get into the nitty-gritty, full-nerd details of building funnels that actually make you money, I’m joined by Christie Mims, founder of Coach Pony.Christie has channeled the power of her niche into a million-dollar funnel and she is going to break down for us how she did it.From boosting traffic to her website without spending a fortune on ads or the whole day on social media to the data you need to look at every day, Christie walks us through the process of how she got to her million-dollar funnel.Christie Mims is the founder of Coach Pony, a community for new life coaches who want to build their business and client lists. She’s also a Forbes Top 100 Career Coach and the founder of The Revolutionary Club, a career coaching business that serves smart people who want to find their passion.Listen to the full episode to hear:Common sense strategies to boost your visibility without chasing social media followsHow to use behavioral cues to create a “gentle” funnelWhy Christie uses a “less stick, more carrot” approach in her funnelsWhy you should have a secondary sales cycle for folks who didn’t buy immediatelyChristie’s top two tips for building a successful funnelLearn more about Christie:Coach PonyInstagram: @christiecoachponyConnect with Christie on LinkedInCoach Pony PodcastLearn more about Gillian:Startup SocietyGet on the waitlist for VALIDATEProfit Planning ChallengeGet in touch!

Have you ever wanted to get a look at the nitty gritty details of a successful product launch?   Plenty of people will tell you how much money they made or an average of their open rate or the kinds of emails they sent to their leads, but today, we’re diving deep into the numbers on the recent launch of the Creator Fast Track.   The Creator Fast Track launch was one of our most successful launches to date, so we’re breaking it down for you, from warm leads to money in the bank, with what worked, what we wouldn’t do again, and the real numbers underneath it all.   To help me remember how it went down, I’m joined by my operations manager, Cortni Loveridge.   Listen to the full episode to hear: Why “Sell with a Story” emails work How scripting the entire webinar made a massive difference in sales and helped us set up an evergreen funnel How back to back launches netted 50% more sales Why you shouldn’t be afraid to align your webinar result with your product result The email subject lines we used and tips for boosting your open rate   Learn more about Gillian:   Join Startup Society (promo code: earnmore) Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE Profit Planning Challenge Get in touch!