Work Less, Earn More

There are two big reasons I wanted to talk to Jereshia Hawk.

First, a few years ago she overhauled her business to make it more streamlined, a move that has proved wildly successful. I wanted to know what that looked like from the inside, what simplifications she made that had such a big impact, and if there were other factors that contributed to the way her business took off like a rocket.

Secondly, I wanted to nerd out about sales funnels and sales systems. I love getting into the nitty gritty details with people who have really successful sales systems. Jereshia has a system that is driving her multimillion dollar business, so obviously something is working, and I wanted to get the scoop on how her systems work, how she’s getting leads, and how she’s turning those leads into customers.

Thankfully, she agreed to do a deep dive with me and I’m so excited to share it with you.

Jereshia Hawk is a sought after business coach and sales expert who grew her business from $0-2 million in less than 4 years with organic marketing, a lean team, and high profit margins. She helps high-achieving experts launch and scale leveraged group coaching programs by packaging and positioning their intellectual property and strategically repurposing live videos to generate new leads. Jereshia’s mission is to help narrow the racial wealth gap by helping 100 women of color (and their allies) per year build and run million-dollar online coaching businesses that contribute to a ripple effect of positive impact and lasting legacy.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How simplifying the business solidified how her audience perceived her, and why that translated into sales
• How Jereshia made the call for which offers to drop, and where to put her focus
• How she validated the demand for Leverage before committing to the program
• Why Jereshia says a more personal, human approach to sales is necessary for higher price point programs
• The three simple steps in Jereshia’s sales funnel

Learn more about Jereshia Hawk:

• jereshiahawk.com
• Instagram: @jereshiahawk

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

Is bigger, always better?

The point of running a business is to make money. Making more money means your company is more successful. And a bigger business makes more money, right?

Well, not always. Turns out the profit margins on big businesses can be razor thin, or even non-existent.

It can be easy to get caught up in messages that you should grow your business to be as large and as successful as possible. But is that really your goal? 

Not if you’re like most people who want to run their own businesses. 

You probably started your business because you wanted freedom, a flexible schedule, to be your own boss, and to create a better lifestyle for your family.

So how do you achieve those goals? 

By taking a minimalist approach.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why bigger business can mean higher costs, more effort, and less profit
• How simplifying your revenue streams and offerings actually helps you earn more money, with less time and effort
• What minimalism means for your business

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

Resources:

• The Minimalists

I frequently get questions about affiliate marketing, and it’s something that I do myself.

If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, the short version is that you promote someone else’s products in exchange for a commission whenever you make a successful sale.

But there is a lot of confusion and false perceptions about what affiliate marketing is, who it’s a good option for, and how it could fit into your business strategy.

So today, I’m going to give you a complete rundown of affiliate marketing so you can really understand whether or not it’s the right fit for you that will make the best use of your time, and will make you the most money.

To help me, I’ve got Startup Society and 100K Mastermind member, Denise Wilbanks. She’s going to interview me with all of her questions about affiliate marketing, so you can learn along with her.

Denise Wilbanks is the boss babe behind This Is My Everybody, where she is passionate about helping overwhelmed women to simplify their life, home and business so that they can start creating a life filled with what matters most to them.

Denise believes in living a life you love, pursuing your biggest dreams, and surrounding yourself with what matters most to you. Living a simple life clears a path to get you there.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• The differences between affiliate marketing, referrals, sponsorships, and ad networks
• Why successful affiliate marketing serves your business and your audience
• Where to start when you’re looking for affiliate programs
• Questions to ask yourself when you’re thinking about adding affiliate marketing to your business strategy

Learn more about Denise Wilbanks:

• This Is My Everybody
• YouTube: This Is My Everybody
• Facebook: @thisismyeverybody
• Instagram: @thisismyeverybody
• Pinterest: @thisismyeverybody

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

Studies have shown that email marketing, when done right, earns about a dollar per subscriber, per month. So if you have a thousand subscribers, you could earn $1000 per month. And the more you grow your list, the more potential you have to earn money just from your email marketing.

So are you hitting that mark?

If not, the sequences I’m going to share with you will help you get more strategic with your email marketing and convert more of your subscribers into paying customers.

And even if your list is still small, implementing these strategies now can help ensure that you don’t leave money on the table as your list continues to grow.

Today, I’m going to walk you through four email sequences that will help you consistently make money without having to constantly hustle for clients or run live launches. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why you need a welcome sequence for new subscribers
• How to set up an evergreen sales sequence so you have consistency in your revenue
• What your abandoned cart emails need to say to your customer
• How a cold subscriber sequence improves your open rate and saves you money

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

If you’re running a business these days, it’s pretty much standard that you’ll do some kind of social media marketing.

But the unfortunate truth is that most small business owners don’t have any real strategy for their social marketing. They’re just randomly posting content or trying to copy their competitors.

The end result? They don’t see any impact on their bottom line and it becomes a massive waste of time.

Today, I’m going to share the process that I use to develop our social media strategy every year, which has grown our audience to over one million followers. It’s also the strategy we teach inside Startup Society, that helps members develop social media strategies for their businesses.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• The two biggest mistakes people make when they’re creating a social media strategy for the first time
• Why you need to get as specific as possible with your goals for your social media presence
• Why you should review the actual data on your past and current posts’ performance rather than relying on your own impressions
• Why going to the platform where your customers are isn’t necessarily the best advice
• The two systems you need to stay consistent with your strategy

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

Everyone has had the experience of meeting someone who you think might be a good fit for your product or service, but you’re not sure how to shift the conversation from a casual chat to talking about what you do or what you offer, and getting their interest.

So today, we’re talking with Nicole Cramer about how to start conversations that lead to sales. She is an Exactly What to Say Certified Guide, and she’s going to share that method for making sales while you’re making conversation.

Nicole Cramer is a high-vibe sales coach for female health and wellness entrepreneurs and CEO of Healthy Steps with Nicole. She specializes in how to start conversations that lead to clients through her proven sales system and she is also one of only twelve Exactly What to Say Certified Guides, making her a specialist in sales language and conversion. Nicole’s focus is on high-touch, relationship based selling where making the customer is more important than making the sale.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How planning for the critical conversations in your business can help you stay in the moment
• Why you need to bring curiosity and empathy to your sales conversations
• How asking questions keeps you in control of the conversation
• Three rejection-free ways to open a conversation

Learn more about Nicole Cramer:

• Healthy Steps with Nicole
• Instagram: @thenicolecramer

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

Resources:

• Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact, Phil M Jones

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 launch
• How she structured the webinar funnel and follow-ups that landed her a 50% conversion rate
• Why Laura wanted to shift from selling courses on third-party platforms to hosting her own membership
• The two biggest mental hurdles she had to overcome

Learn more about Laura Watson:

• Website
• Instagram: @laurawatsonartist
• YouTube: Laura Watson Art 

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get 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 is
• Why you should always start with the minimum viable product
• When you might need to hire an editor
• Pros and cons of using a third party platform versus your own website to sell your product
• Why you want to keep your price point low when you’re just starting out

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get 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 money
• Ideas for passive income if you have an eye for art or design
• How to use your software or platform skills to earn passive income

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get 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 people
• The differences between industry, value, and niche
• Why you probably won’t really develop your niche until you’ve already worked with lots of customers
• The two biggest mistakes people make when choosing a niche

Learn more about Gillian:

• Small Business 101
• Startup Society
• Get on the waitlist for VALIDATE
• Profit Planning Challenge
• Get in touch!
• Instagram: @GillianZPerkins