Biz & Booze

In this episode, I will be sharing 5 must-follow female entrepreneurs. I've specifically selected a diverse group of experts… they run the gamut from social media, content, legal, branding, design and stock photography. So whatever you’re looking for support and resources on as a business, I got you covered.   These are not only powerful and talented female business owners with a ton of expertise and resources to help you grow a thriving business, they all happen to be powerful and talented black female business owners.    Some of them I’ve been following for a while, and some are new to me, but have absolutely blown me away with the amazing work they’re doing. And I am so grateful that I get to highlight these fellow female entrepreneurs, to learn from them, and to help to amplify their voices the best that I can.   If any of these women are new to you, check them out! And if love what they’re putting out, follow them, engage with them, share their content and work, recommend them, hire them, and buy from them.   #1 SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH - Kim Carpenter, @kimcarnyc, @socialhackettes   #2 BRANDING + BIZ COACHING - Kachet Jackson-Henderson, @thekachetlife   #3 BRAND + WEB DESIGN - Tiffany Tolliver, @theemmaroseagency   #4 STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY + MOBILE PRESETS - Christina Jones, @christinajonesphoto   #5 LEGAL - Ashlee J. Fox, @attorney_ashlee   You can find a list of resources to help support the Black Lives Matter movement by clicking here.   BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/37

Now, I have gotten a lot of requests to do an episode around personal branding, especially lately, because people got a lot of extra time on their hands with this quarantine and also because many are worried about the future of their careers.    With all that, there’s been an increased interest in this topic, as people explore getting more creative with how they express themselves online, and many are now spending that time exploring start their own thing… and for many, that starts with establishing their own personal brand.   So in this episode, I am giving the people what they want! I am talking all about the rise of the personal brand, why you need one… ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW. PLUS steps you can take right now to get started creating your own personal brand.   Not just any ol’ personal brand, but one that sets you up for growing an audience and monetizing into a profitable business.   And to help bring this to life, I’m also taking you behind the scenes on how I’ve built my own personal brand, as well as how I came up with the concept for Biz & Booze, so that you can use the same approach I used for honing in on your own brand.   EPISODE FREEBIES: www.lauramarkz.com/brand    BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/36

The vast majority of the people who land on your website are NOT ready to make a purchase right away. (I’m talking upwards of 99% of your traffic!) With that, if you are not converting that traffic into leads — in other words, if you are not capturing their email list — once they leave your site, they’re going to slip away and you’ll likely never see them again.   Your site traffic are prime candidates for your offers. You can’t let them just come over and then up and leave you like that!   BUT if you’re able to capture emails of a big chunk of the traffic to your site, then you now have a massive group of high-quality leads that you can follow-up with and market to ongoing!   Luckily I got some tricks up my sleeve (6 to be exact) to help you can increase your website’s email conversion — or opt-in — rate. Get these in motion and you’ll be turning what would have been one night stands into long-term relationships.   And I’m taking you through them in this episode!   EPISODE FREEBIES: www.lauramarkz.com/leadpages    BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/35

This episode is Part 2 of a 2 part series that breaks down my strategic approach for how to get in front of millions of people who match your ideal target audience for FREE.   There are publishers, brands, influencers and experts out there who have what you want… THEIR AUDIENCE. This is what I call your Hit List. The people and businesses who’s audience you would kill to have!   In last week’s episode, I took you through the steps to find who these are for you, get on their radar and initiate a conversation.   And in this episode, I will be taking you through the final step in the process: How to pitch them!   This isn’t any old pitch… This is a script approach to follow in order to convince them to provide you access to THEIR audience.   Which is no small fete. Use this approach, and you will drastically increase the odds that those on your Hit List will say YES! No more excuses to wait to launch until you have more money or you’ve built your audience. This is your ticket to the top without those things!   And as a part of this episode, I’ve even put together a free script template that outlines what I’ll be taking you through, and that you can use to fill in your own pitch copy!   EPISODE FREEBIES: www.lauramarkz.com/pitchtemplate    BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/34

OK, so you hear all these amazing stories about people launching offers online and seeing massive success. Businesses that jump online and immediately start turning 6-figures in online sales. Influencers who start a membership and in their first launch have over 500 paying members.    All these stories are incredible… Except for one thing. They’re different than you. THEY have a big budget! THEY have an audience! Both things you don’t have.    You think: They are not me. I have to get an audience before I can launch anything. I have to get some revenue in before I invest.    I hear these excuses all the time as reasons people don’t move forward.    But waiting until you have a budget or waiting until you have an audience is not a strategy… it is just a procrastination tactic.   In this episode, I’m going to help get you moving!   I’ll be taking you through a simple 5-step strategy for how you can kick some major ass online with a small budget and small audience. This is something you can get started on TODAY,  no matter where you are in your business.   EPISODE FREEBIES: www.lauramarkz.com/tribe, www.lauramarkz.com/hitlist    BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/33

In this episode, I will be taking you through inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who found HUGE success by incorporating memberships into their business.    If you weren’t excited about memberships before. You will be after this episode, I promise you that.   This will not only get you really fired up about how a membership can help bring in major profits for your business (or be the primary revenue source for a business you want to start)…    If you’re still skeptical about whether or a not a membership even works for your market or industry, this episode will also help to spark some ideas for you. Because these examples span all types of businesses: brick and mortar, online, product-based, service-based, local and global.   And at the end, I will be walking through a brainstorming technique for you to identify whether or not a membership could work for your business and what type of offers and content you can deliver as a part of your membership!    EPISODE FREEBIE: www.lauramarkz.com/tribe    BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/32

In this episode of Biz & Booze I am talking about the #1 secret to recession-proofing your business right now… across pretty much every industry.   It is a business model that is giving all kinds of business the opportunity to make, stable, recurring and SCALABLE revenue online, WHILE improving the accessibility AND affordability of their offers to their customers and clients. YES, a win-win scenario that is a part of a $129 BILLION dollar industry that is predicted to triple in size in the next 5 years.   It is such a big opportunity, I have even made the commitment to pursue it in my own business.   And with everything that’s going down with the Coronavirus and the quarantine we’re under… and the lingering affects of that, causing a massive movement online… it is more relevant than ever before.   BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/31

Despite how it may feel, there isn’t a shortage of money going around. It’s just being spent differently. And it’s being spent online. If you’re jumping on this movement to the online space right now, all this means more opportunity to put more of that money back in your pocket.   This whole situation may feel out of control, but this is the age of the internet. And if you have a smartphone or a laptop, and an internet connection, and some fire in your SOUL, then YOU are in control.   In this episode of Biz & Booze, I am going to walk you through the top ways you can monetize a business online right now.   So if you don’t have a business, ways you can quickly start one and turn a profit.    And if you have a business, new online revenue streams you can add to it to bring in more money AND stability in times like these. And YES, even if you have an offline business.   BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/30

It seems like pretty much everyone these days is either blogging, vlogging, or podcasting. So what is with this content creation craze? And how on earth you decide which one of these to pursue based on your unique business, your audience, and most importantly, for you.   In this episode of Biz & Booze, I am going to take you through the key decision-making criteria for picking which of these is best for you… You’ll walk away confident in your decision for which of these is most likely to catapult your business forward by helping you successfully reach, connect with, convert, and build loyalty amongst your target audience.   If you already have a blog, vlog, or podcast, you still should stick with me for this one, as you may find that you are pursuing the wrong format… And that may be part of the reason you’re not seeing the growth you’re looking for.   Regardless of your situation, you will walk away VERY confident that you’re pursuing the BEST option for you.   BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze   BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/29

There are a lot of predications floating around on what the aftermath will be coming out of this Coronavirus fiasco… With the massive dip in the market, kids being taken out of schools, shutting down of businesses, the movement to working from home, and obviously the trajectory of the virus spreading worldwide. A lot's going down. And even more is about to go down coming out of this, that is for sure. And a lot of it will directly impact entrepreneurs and small business owners.   But I’m a glass half full of wine kinda girl, so I’m not here to add to the media’s propaganda and contribute to the chaos. I’M here to talk about the silver lining in all of this. YEA. Believe it or not, there’s GOOD in every bad if you’re willing to look for it. And I predict some amazing opportunities coming out of this for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs!   So in this episode of Biz & Booze, I’m going to take you through my biggest trend predictions coming out of the Coronavirus and heading into the recession that can positively impact entrepreneurs. PLUS provide you with some tactical advice for how you can get the most out of these significant changes in our economy, our job market, and our media consumption.   And to further help you do that, I created an accompanying guide for this episode: Corona & Recession Business Success Guide: A practical guide to succeeding as a business when shit hits the fan.     EPISODE FREEBIE: www.lauramarkz.com/fucorona     BIZ & BOOZE FB COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/bizandbooze     BIZ & BOOZE SHOW NOTES: www.lauramarkz.com/28