Promote Yourself to CEO | Small Business Strategy for Women Entrepreneurs

“You won’t make any real money doing that!” Has someone said something like that to you when you revealed you want to pursue a creative career in something like art or music? So many people stop chasing their dreams because they’re afraid they won’t be able to make it work.

Today, I chat with one of the founding members of The CEO Collective, Jennet Ingle, who took her talent as a musician and turned it into a sustainable business. If you’re a creative person, you’ll love our conversation in this episode!

2:36 – You’d be surprised to know this about me. That’s why it always makes me happy to see others in musical careers.

6:29 – Traditional paths for musical majors are few and heavily guarded. Jennet reveals how she’s forged her own path.

10:20 – What was Jennet doing when she first came into my world and joined The CEO Collective? It’s such a niche thing that snowballed.

16:05 – Jennet reveals the surprising audience receptive to her programs and how the pandemic actually made it easier to reach and teach them.

21:05 – What’s happened for Jennet since she initially got serious about turning her passion into a business?

25:26 – Jennet offers wisdom for those who feel they can’t have a career or business as a musician/creative person due to their fear of financial insecurity.

28:27 – Jennet discusses what she learned from The CEO Collective that helped her solidify her business’s direction. With such a niche business, she found it indispensable!

33:45 – How do Jennet’s musician friends feel about what she’s created? She reveals what’s most unfamiliar to them about what she does.

35:02 – I ask Jennet a couple of questions about her CEO Collective experience. She talks about habits she’s kept and the biggest challenge she overcame.

Mentioned in How the Happiest Musician Built A Predictably Profitable Business with Jennet Ingle

• Jennet Ingle
• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

You have money buried in your business somewhere. It doesn’t require you to gain more followers, run more ads, or hustle further to get your hands on it, either. It just involves taking advantage of the lowest-hanging fruit in your business.

Today wraps up this series on ending hustle culture, burnout, and entrepreneurial poverty. In this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, I reveal the third and final strategy to grow your business sustainably. I can’t wait for you to unlock this one!

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

4:13 – I share a quick story and reveal the final secret to sustainable growth for your business. 

7:51 – I expose the huge problem not being discussed in the business world right now. What could be the culprit?

9:36 – You need to nail these things to form the foundation for finding hidden money in your business. I see too many people ignore the last one.

14:33 – What simple offers can you provide your clients behind the scenes? I reveal one way to ensure your 1-on-1 clients fit perfectly for you.

19:02 – If you have past clients, what should you do next? Here are some other ways to discover hidden income opportunities. 

22:55 – I sum up all of the main strategies I’ve highlighted in this episode series.

Mentioned in Avoid Hustle & Burnout With The Hidden Money In Your Business

• “Why Hustle Culture Creates Entrepreneurial Poverty”
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Are you on this entrepreneurial journey with someone else?

Business owners often ask whether or not I can help them with their specific type of business. Perhaps they’re a business selling a product instead of a service, or they’re in a very unique niche. And while most of the small businesses I work with are solopreneurs, sometimes I see two people who’ve come together as business partners.

Co-CEOs need support, strategies, and systems specifically designed to help them too, because a partnership can open up new communication and work challenges. That’s why today I’ve invited Carmen Reed-Gilkison and Deirdre Harter, the co-CEOs of Encore Empire, to share their perspective on how two people can efficiently work together.

In this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, you’ll hear how they’ve streamlined and upleveled how they communicate in their business. They’ll discuss how they ensure they’re not stepping on the other’s toes or accidentally re-doing the other’s work... and avoid overworking themselves in the process.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

6:06 - Where did the idea come from to form a business partnership and launch Encore Empire? Deirdre and Carmen discuss how they came together.

10:07 - Deirdre and Carmen love working with midlife women looking to launch something new. Why do they focus on this specific group?

16:25 - Where was Encore Empire a year ago when Deirdre and Carmen first joined The CEO Collective? They talk about the changes they’ve made in their business since.

25:19 - Deirdre and Carmen share the biggest takeaway they’ve implemented (and recommend) as business partners from attending the CEO retreats and working within the Collective.

30:30 - What are Deirdre and Carmen most proud of accomplishing in the last year? What’s really made a difference for their business?

Mentioned in Better Communication Between You and Your Business Partner With Encore Empire

• 90-Day CEO Operating System
• Encore Empire
• Encore Empire on Facebook and LinkedIn
• Empire of Unstoppable Women FB Group
• The Marketing Methodology Workshop
• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

What do you think you need to gain in order for your business to change and grow? Too often entrepreneurs get hyped up to chase vanity metrics like huge numbers of Instagram followers or email subscribers. Ultimately though, gaining five or 10 new clients is all you need to have a massive impact on your business.

The simplest, easiest way for getting those clients isn’t something sexy or glamorous. It involves using a real strategy to invite people in, actually connect with them, and let them know how you can help. Continuing on with this series to avoid hustle and burnout, today I talk about the second strategy you need to adopt to grow a truly sustainable business.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:27 - I rant (again) about an issue in the business world that sets so many people up for failure.

5:18 - What is a predictable profit plan? It’s key to how I help entrepreneurs break out of the feast or famine cycle, so I walk you through how to put one together.

10:00 - I reveal the most important but least discussed part of a profit plan. If you don’t have this, it’ll break your business.

10:45 - People get so focused on marketing and sales that they forget about this piece of the puzzle and end up with a lot of unhappy clients.

15:00 - What will be your strategies for marketing, sales, and delivery? I use The CEO Collective as an example.

17:13 - Consider this if you have no idea when you should promote your signature offer. I give more examples from my business.

20:14 - Full upfront payment is awesome! But you’ll love extending payment plans to clients for this incredibly powerful reason.

25:04 - How can you ensure that you don’t experience a revenue gap?

Mentioned in Your Profit Road Map for More Sustainable Sales

• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Are you running your business on a wing and a prayer? Meaning, you don’t have a plan for what to do next in your business?

Andrea Bentschneider has been a leading expert genealogist in Germany for almost 20 years. She’s been featured on international TV shows and is a sought-after guest on German media.

But when she first joined The CEO Collective, her business and marketing strategy was winging it. She didn’t have consistent demand for her services, so she would have to hire and let go staff as demand went up and down, respectively. And she ended up in the feast and famine cycle because of it.

Things have turned around for Andrea now, but how? Today on the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, we continue our entrepreneurial poverty and hustle culture series. 

In this episode, Andrea will share how being clear on how you’re going to market your business, and being consistent with it, is a complete game changer. You’ll shift from reacting all the time to knowing what the right next steps are so you can move your business forward.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

1:19 - What are some signs that you’re winging it instead of being proactive in your business?

6:05 - Andrea talks about how long she’s been in business and what it looked like prior to joining The CEO Collective.

10:53 - Andrea explains what she found inside the membership that she couldn’t find elsewhere.

15:03 - What’s the one gap that still exists in Andrea’s marketing? She also reveals the answer to a question I answered that finalized her decision to join.

17:40 - Andrea has had some major media coverage as she’s gotten more proactive this year. She discusses some big visibility opportunities that started showing up for her.

21:00 - What were some of the little things Andrea did to help her land marketing opportunities?

27:35 - Here’s the one question Andrea asks herself whenever she’s hesitating about doing something. She also shares what she’d say to anyone considering joining.

Mentioned in Going From Reactive to Proactive In Your Business with Andrea Bentschneider

• Beyond History
• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

We women entrepreneurs keep underpricing ourselves when offering the same service or product as our male counterparts. On average, we price up to 20% less. When I first heard that, I was blown away!

Pricing is one of the quickest and most powerful ways to adjust your business trajectory and make it more sustainable. I’ve seen it in my business and those of my clients. So in this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, you’ll learn why properly pricing your offers is the first step to designing a successfully sustainable business and how to figure out the math in your pricing.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

4:49 - What is the feast or famine zone, and does your business fall into it? 

13:43 - Discover the two biggest reasons why businesses in this zone struggle to compete. 

16:54 - I demonstrate how underpricing can easily lead to overworking by using the example of a wedding photographer.

20:07 - Taking the wedding photographer example further, this simple step is an easy way to improve your profitability and ease burnout.

25:07 - What if you want to double your rates? You need to take a deeper look at these factors in your business.

30:27 - Pricing impacts other aspects of your business. Michalowicz’s Profit First percentages can help you figure out the math to meet your revenue goal.

33:46 - I push back against the hype of online gurus who have a certain mindset about pricing and the need for a large audience to get enough clients and customers.

38:27 - What if you’re not used to selling at a higher price or booking multiple sessions at a time per client?

45:51 - Keep these questions in mind as you crunch your numbers.

Mentioned in Why Underpricing (and Overdelivering) Is Creating Business Burnout

• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
• The Get Paid Calculator
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Do you dread looking at the numbers in your business?

So many people say they aren’t good with numbers or don’t understand what’s happening with the money in their business. They make financial decisions without knowing where the money’s going and just hope they’re making the right choice or that it’ll magically pay off.

But you need to understand what’s coming in, what’s going out, and make very discerning decisions about where you’re spending the money. It’s key to halting the cycle of cash flow problems so many small business owners go through.

Wealth & Worth Within CFO Carla Titus joins us today in this continuation of our series on ending entrepreneurial poverty and hustle culture. She has over 15 years of financial planning, analysis strategy, and business consulting experience and has helped her clients have more cash to pay themselves and begin building more personal wealth.

And today, on the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, she joins me for a no-nonsense discussion about where you really need to be paying attention to your money. You’ll learn the cash flow mistakes that most entrepreneurs make and the internal shift it takes to move from employee mode to boss mode (and amazing salary that can come with it).

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

6:06 - How did Carla get started with her business? She introduces herself.

10:15 - Carla reveals her non-negotiables before she took the leap to become the sole breadwinner for her family.

13:44 - Eighty-two percent of small businesses struggle with cash flow. What common cashflow mistakes does Carla see small business owners make?

21:17 - There’s a shift in the mind that needs to happen when you replace your job salary with an incredible business income.

26:10 - What’s it like inside The CEO Collective if you’re curious and thinking of getting more business support? Carla shares her thoughts.

• Wealth & Worth Within
• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Planner and 90-Day Operating System
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

When you think of entrepreneurial poverty, you probably think of money, right?

Entrepreneurial poverty isn’t just a financial concept, though. And while I’ve talked about this concept in lots of interviews over the last year, I’ve never done it in-depth on this show... until now.

Today begins a new series on getting yourself out of the entrepreneurial poverty that comes with hustle culture. 

In this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, you’ll learn how hustle hype has directly led to women entrepreneurs bearing the brunt of this situation and the three kinds of entrepreneurial poverty you can experience in your business. 

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:47 - What does poverty of time look like for women entrepreneurs? It’s not (just) about literally working around the clock.

8:53 - I share the big mindset shift that helped me realize the necessity of avoiding the poverty of time struggle when I started my business.

11:52 - Energy poverty is HUGE right now for entrepreneurial women, and the conversation around it has changed in the last few years. Why?

17:54 - The feast or famine cycle epitomizes entrepreneurial poverty of money. I discuss what it looks like and how it compounds the other two problems.

25:55 - Influencers love peddling the hustle hype. But who are these celebrity entrepreneurs actually targeting, and how do they lead people astray?

30:34 - Here’s how succumbing to the culture of FOMO (fear of missing out) contributes to the entrepreneurial poverty cycle.

35:14 - How can you build a solid sustainable business without the entrepreneurial poverty that hustle hype creates? I give a little preview of the rest of this series.

Mentioned in Why Hustle Culture Creates Entrepreneurial Poverty

• The CEO Collective
• Business Growth Checklist
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

When it comes to visibility for your business, you can’t ignore one of the most prolific ways of marketing online for the last few years: social media.

And so many influencers make it seem like they have it all figured out. It’s like they live on the platforms, posting 24/7 about the things they do and the things they buy. The shopping excursions, the vacation photos, the lifestyle tutorials--all of it designed to sell to a mass audience and make them think they too can have this kind of life if they do (and buy) what the influencer recommends.

Being a CEO is completely different than being a social media influencer, though, so you don’t have to document your life on social media just to have business visibility there successfully. But how can you make the shift from trying to get a mass audience to trying to get the right audience?

If you’re tired of being told that you need to show up more on social media and do all the things the influencers do, then you’re in for a treat with my conversation with Andréa Jones as we continue this series on visibility.

In this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, you’ll learn valuable (and updated) insights from a social media agency owner about how to get real results from your social media without being on it all the time. She’ll teach you what social media algorithms are really looking for, why creating more content isn’t the answer, how to share without oversharing, how top-of-funnel differs from conversion content, ways to sell beyond the bio, how businesses can take advantage of the next evolution in social media marketing, and more!

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:39 - Recently, Andréa changed her messaging around social media. What was the change, and why did she make it?

7:02 - What is the purpose of social media algorithms, and how do you communicate with them so that your content gets out there?

9:36 - You also still have to produce content for your audience to meet your business goals. We discuss the content that works (and that doesn’t anymore).

11:45 - Andréa talks about what you need to do to avoid acting like an influencer on social media.

14:23 - What’s the distinction between content meant to get people into your funnel and content meant to convert them into clients?

16:37 - Marketers on social media default to asking for people to click their bio link to make the sale. Andréa discusses how to sell on these platforms beyond the bio.

20:29 - Algorithms always change, and platforms like Facebook roll out new features. What is the next thing you need to know about in social media marketing?

23:37 - What is Andréa’s prediction for how artificial intelligence will change social media marketing for small business CEOs?

• OnlineDrea
• Andréa on Instagram and TikTok
• Savvy Social Podcast
• Andréa’s “Social Media Starter Kit Free Mini Course”
• “Bro, do you even AI?” by Forest Linden | Clarity Lab
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

When you think of visibility, you tend to think of the things you can see... literally.

You think about the posts, photos, and videos you consume on social media, blogs, and Youtube. But what about introducing yourself to an audience and letting them get to know you using a sense other than sight?

Audio has been one of the best ways I’ve gotten my message out there. But you don’t have to be a podcaster like me to use audio in your marketing. And today, in our visibility series, I have an expert who knows all kinds of creative ways to use audio in your business for visibility.

Introducing Kim Tradewell of May and James Co! In this episode of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast, you’ll learn how to leverage audio for business visibility purposes and hear a simple framework to make the process work without overcomplicating things. And as you listen in, the ideas Kim and I discuss can even spark new ones that might be perfect for you!

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

5:00 - Kim shares a bit about her business and why she does what she does.

8:39 - How can you use audio without the long-term commitment of a podcast? Kim reveals one way.

12:40 - Using audio in this way for live events will have you looking at them differently.

18:45 - You don’t have to have a typical podcast to utilize podcasting in your marketing. Kim discusses how.

24:10 - Ever thought of using audio in this way behind-the-scenes? And there are some niche-specific avenues to using audio as well.

27:29 - How complicated is this to do? Is it very techy? Kim breaks it down in a simple way.

31:47 - After you’ve created your audio content, how can you amplify it? 

Mentioned in How to Leverage Audio In Your Business for Visibility with Kim Tradewell

• May and James Co.
• Women’s Meditation Network
• The CEO Collective
• Fired Up and Focused Challenge
• Customer/Client Experience podcast series:
  • “The Key to Boosting Your Business and Creating Clients for Life”
  • “Designing an Excellent Customer Experience In 3 Stages”
  • “7 Ways to Upgrade Your Client or Customer Experience”
  • “How to Include Surprise and Delight for Clients In Your Customer Experience” 
• Racheal on Instagram and TikTok
• Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!