The Breakthrough Year Podcast: Online Business, Blogging & Brand Strategy

While having a great product is arguably the ultimate goal in a business, getting your branding right will make sure that your product - and your brand - gets noticed. From my point of view, this is probably the most common challenge to small businesses: getting the message across with every interaction your audience make with your brand.   The truth is, you don’t need to wait to be big until you start taking your branding more seriously. In fact, it might just be the key! Having said that, if you want a consistent brand that resonates with your audience, you might want get into the right mindset and forget about these branding myths that might be holding you back:   MYTH 1: “I have branding: Here’s my logo!”   this is one of the most common branding misconceptions out there, people genuinely believe branding is simply a logo. And they are equally genuinely surprised when they find out that it is so much more. Your logo is a hugely important part of developing your brand but it is just the tip of a much bigger iceberg. MYTH 2: “I’m just a small business, so I don’t really need branding.”   It doesn’t matter if you are a solopreneur or a lone blogger - branding is for businesses of all sizes. Every business and blogger should be well branded, and likewise every individual too. So even if you ARE your business, you need branding.   Your brand is always communicating with your clients, customers and readers and it’s important to identify what your brand is saying. If you fall into the trap of thinking that branding is not for you because you are a small business or a solopreneur, you could be giving your clients mixed signals and confusing them.   MYTH 3: “I can change it later, so this will do for now!”   There are two key reasons that this is a bad idea. Firstly, if you are leaving your branding uncompleted or not in its ideal form, you are giving your customers the wrong message. The second reason is that businesses that often change their branding confuse people. They become used to seeing one image, one theme, one brand and when it drastically changes (and in the case of some indecisive brands, changes often) it is like brand whiplash for your community. MYTH 4: “I can’t afford a designer. Branding is just too expensive!”   When you are just starting out with your brand and throughout those first few years, money can be in short supply. And if you are a blogger, well, the possibility of generating income might take some time! So paying a brand designer to create your brand identity and all the bits and pieces that go into it can be costly and often not an option.   MYTH 5: “I let my work do the selling for me. If it’s good, they’ll buy. So branding doesn’t matter.”   Without a brand identity that connects with your people, the product, service or blog you put your heart into, it will not sell. And here’s why: Branding connects your brand with your ideal customers and readers. It establishes relationships and builds trust. Without it, your brand is essentially a stranger to the people you so desperately want to serve!   If any of these thoughts seem familiar, let me help you out! In this episode, I’ll share with you how these challenges can be holding you back and how you can turn your branding around.   Tune in now!

I am sure you’ve heard all the online marketing gurus tell you to make sure you have a blog and make sure you have a list! Both of these elements play a different role in your business strategy:   Blogging: Helps you to build up a portfolio for your knowledge, It builds your authority and expert status, And it gives you something to share with your community, ultimately as a way to engage new people AND re-engage people who already know your brand.   Email Marketing: Builds relationships with your audience, Gives your subscribers a chance to hear from you more regularly and learn more about you and how you can help them. And you’re also giving them exclusive content or help.   It’s no secret that I have often talked about the importance of creating high quality content of some kind AND the importance of building an email list. But why and how do you make it so that your blog and email marketing is working together, and essentially playing nice?   In isolation, content (on something like a blog or a podcast) and your email list can only take you so far! But together! They are powerful and that’s what today’s episode is all about!   These two elements of your marketing mix are not meant to perform on their own. They are meant to play nice, they are meant to help one another! If you’re able to master the strategy and understand the link between your content and your list, you’ll see big shifts in your business and essentially you’ll maximise your reach!   Tune in to find out how!

Starting a business on your own is arguably one of the most exciting AND terrifying experience you could ever have. Along with the intoxicating optimism about your business growing, there’s this lingering fear that you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re not good enough, you don’t have a remarkable product - that mindset block that ruins your game.   The good news is, you are going to make a lot of mistakes and you are going to learn and grow a lot from them. There’s no such thing is a perfect start.   So in this episode, I will be sharing beginner mistakes that I have experienced myself and you might have had too (or are currently doing!) and the key changes that I made to grow as a solopreneur: 1. Not building your network early It's never too early to meeting new people and finding your community. When you're starting a relatively unique business (like an online business where you don't personally know anyone that does that in your local area or in your friendship group), reaching out to leaders in your niche is a great idea to learn.   2. Not asking for help It's not easy to do things yourself when you're starting out, and you don't need to learn and execute every single thing.   3. Skimping on tools you need to improve your business We all want to run a lean startup and for a lot of us, we don’t really have a choice! But sometimes trying to cut costs might actually keep you from implementing a system in your business that will mean you’re growing faster and more efficiently. Don't hesitate to invest in good tools and courses that might be useful in running your business!   4. Underestimating your skill set Your limitations in business are defined by what YOU THINK you can do. If you think you can't do this, you probably won't until you decide to just do it. Selling yourself shortThis is a common struggle among creatives - they don't realize the work behind your designs and so they would try to haggle for the price or worse, ask you to give it to them for free especially if they are friends/family/family friends. Realize the value you bring to the table and make it clear to them that what you're doing is a business. You're making a decision!   5. Not separating your personal finances from the business This comes in a few different forms: Personal/Business Finances Boundaries on your time Check out ep 66 - we talk about 5 ways to know if you need boundaries in your business.   6. Trying to perfect every single thing If you're aiming for perfection, you'll never achieve it. Being a perfectionist only steals time you should be spending on other things in your to-do list instead. Also, that's what improvement is for. Your first steps need not be perfect. Their main purpose really is so that you put yourself out there. As you go, you will realize what works and what doesn't, and only then can you improve. And you'll always improve 7. Not using your 'dead' time efficiently Running your own business is different from a 9-5 job. While there's nothing wrong with going out for a drink or two, you should also use your downtimeime to expand your knowledge. Enrol to an ecourse, download a podcast and listen to it while you're out on a run, set up virtual coffee with your new online business friends, etc. Tune in below or listen to this episode on iTunes or Spotify!

We all have those hang-ups - the ones that stop us in our tracks. It might be your weight, your skin, your voice or your self-belief about what you’re capable of and how much you know. Or it could be something silly, like the slightest of crooked jaws… like it is in my case. When I was a little girl, I fell off a brick wall and while I was never treated for it at the time, my doctors think it’s likely I broke my jaw. So the theory is, as a result of my broken face, I developed an overactive growth cell in one side of my jaw and my face grew out of line. After a throwaway comment from someone I looked up to, this became a major block for me! For the longest time, I have attributed my resistance to being on camera and visible in my business to this issue. In fact, it became a convenient excuse that has kept me playing small. And for the longest time, I have been able to dismiss the need to go live or to film videos by using my crooked face as justification. That was until one of my Breakthrough Year students, Taryn, pointed out that this is a choice I am making. Understanding that hang-ups like these are our choice, gives us the power to change our mindset about them! Understanding that it is our responsibility if it stops us in our tracks is the first step to removing the barrier. And most importantly, understanding that these issues - that are generally something stupid, mind you - are having an impact on your business sheds a light on how important it is that we start looking at them differently! On this episode, I share all about my lightbulb moment when I realised that my crooked face was just a story I have been telling myself to keep me playing small (and often that also means playing comfortable!) and how to turn it all around!

Whether you’re thinking about transitioning out of your 9-5, you’re a blogger that’s looking to start making incoming, or you’re looking to swap out blogging for coaching, chances are you’d be feeling a little uncertainty around the move you’ve been thinking about making! I get it - change is hard. It’s scary and vulnerable! That’s why really zoning in on your WHY and leaning on your passion is so important. You WHY is the driver behind this transition, so getting clear on the life you want to create for you and your family is key. But we also know that there’s a lot more to it when you’re thinking about transitioning from, let’s say blogging to coaching. There’s the process of finding (and committing to) your niche; updating your brand and altering the way you use social media; communicating with your existing audience and community what you’re doing next and how they can continue to engage with you. Not to mention the mindset piece behind such a big move. In this episode, special guest Reelika Schulte, shares her own journey from corporate to blogger to coach and she pulls back the curtains and reveals how to make this transition yourself. So if you’ve been waiting for a sign, here it is!

As an online business owner, you know the value of being visible for your brand. That might mean turning up on social media, being featured on blogs or in publications and sometimes even being on video or doing live streams. Being the face of your brand is vital to building brand awareness and authentic connections with your community but I know it’s sometimes easier said than done.   Perhaps you have been struggling to be the face of your brand because: You don’t love being on camera, it’s uncomfortable for you. You can’t commit to the process of being on camera regularly, doing your hair and makeup that regularly is too much additional work right now. It’s just not a good fit for your lifestyle and you know that you’ll struggle with being consistent.   What if I told you that there’s another way to be the face of your brand that creates perhaps the most powerful of connections AND removes all those struggles right away! Podcasting offers us a unique opportunity to get in front of our audience and build relationships with them. And not just our audience, but others in our industry too. It also offers us a new way of using social media as a companion of our podcasts to continue the conversation and build out the relationship further. There’s something magical in hearing a person’s voice - it creates a connection quicker than just seeing a stock photo on Instagram or a status update on Facebook. And podcasting opens up that possibility for us to create high-value content that really does double as a relationship builder!   In today’s episode, public relations and podcast management expert Monica Woodhams comes on the show to share exactly why you need to be the face of your brand and how podcasting can help you do that! She has over a decade of experience working with Tedx Speakers, entrepreneurs and influencers so she has seen first hand how powerful podcasting can be!

Your brand is so much more than just a logo, a colour palette, your website. It's a personality, a set of feelings and emotions, a voice and a face we can recognise. That's why brand development is so much more than just choose your fonts! A huge part of brand development is creating a sense of awareness around your brand and in a lot of ways that really comes down to visibility - both on and offline. This week's special guest, Whitney Eckis, knows all about the importance of visibility when it comes to raising awareness around a brand and this is exactly what she did and continues to do for her businesses and for her clients too. She share what it takes to really step out from behind the brand and be the face.  We explore what kinds of opportunities we should be looking for to create a strong brand image and even how to create our own! (Think events, interviews, PR). One of the things I like most about Whitney is that she doesn't just sit back and wait for it to happen! She creates her own opportunities and she shares in this week's episode how she brought together some massive influencers and hosted an event that completely changed her business. We also share a few laughs in this episode about the challenges and insecurities that come with stepping out into the spotlight on your brand and what it really means to be the face. Sometimes there's bad days and definitely challenges, but Whitney explains how she deals with that! So, if you're in the brand development phase (and really, is a brand ever fully developed? I don't think so...) and you want to learn more about how to elevate your brand and unlock your business' full potential, then you'll definitely want to tune in!

For most of us running an online business, or for those who have just started with a new business venture, setting boundaries with family, friends and clients can be daunting. When you think about you having full control of your schedule, you might think that you’ve got a lot of time in your hands and little excursions are harmless, but the truth is, all these distractions add up. And if you want stability in your business, you shouldn’t be swayed by these external interruptions! In this episode, we’ll be talking about a few scenarios that might be familiar to you: 1. A client is agitated that you didn’t reply to an email they sent at 5pm on Friday - and it’s Saturday morning…  You’re clients and customers are a key group that you must establish boundaries for. Actually, clients love boundaries - not because they love rules or being told what to do, but because boundaries make it really clear what they should expect and they’ll feel confident and comfortable with the process of working with you. 2. You’re STILL waiting on content from your client, so far the project has been delayed for over a week. Delayed projects are costing YOU money, so you need to put a stop to this NOW. To do this, you need to outline your requirements and expectations of the client. If there’s certain things you need from a client before you can complete a project, make sure they know upfront before starting the project with you. Make sure you outline these expectations in a few different places to really hit home how important it is in order to get their project completed on time. Some places could be: Your website Your inquiry pack * Your welcome pack * Your contract * Your site policies Your ‘starting project’ email The client portal (if applicable) Have a way of enforcing requirements and essentially ‘penalise’ clients if they don’t meet the expectations and their responsibilities outlined in the contract they signed. 3. Friends and family call you at 11am on a Tuesday to see if you’re free for a coffee. If you are working from home, even if it’s just a day or two a week, people in your life will struggle with the thought that you are, in fact, working. It’s pretty challenging, but when it comes to anyone who might come into contact with you or your brand, establish work hours and make it clear that you have limited availability during that time.  4. You just spent the last 4 hours working on a business card for a family friend - unpaid of course. While there’s key people that you will want to help when they need it - like parents, siblings, children - you are not obligated to help every man and his dog start their own business, free of charge. 5. It’s 7pm and you’ve been working for 12 hours straight. For the 5th day in a row. Just because you could do something, don’t mean that you have to or that you should. We need to reframe no’s as not being selfish or mean, but as being protective of your most precious resources: time and energy. It’s ok to put boundaries around your time and what you do with that time. In fact, it’s paramount for your health, your wellbeing, your family’s growth and development and surprise, surprise, your business! So if you want more control over your most precious resources - your time, money, and energy! - this is an episode you wouldn’t want to miss. Tune in below!

If you're an introvert like me, the idea of a networking event is enough to give you a few sleepless nights. Let's admit it: how many times have we passed up an opportunity because social anxiety got the better of us? I don't want to remember! It's a common struggle among introverted entrepreneurs, and today's guest, Taryn Vyhnalek is no stranger to it. But what's awesome - among many other things! - about Taryn is that she's not only overcome her fear of being around people, she actually made it an inspiration for her first live event that has sold out in just 7 days!! Taryn is actually a member of Brand It Society and when she announced the great news, I knew I had to get her on the show! So in this episode, Taryn spills the tea on how she managed to build up the hype around Bush Bash Retreat using select channels. She will also give us a preview of this introvert-friendly networking event happening this October which can hopefully inspire yours. This episode is a mindset masterclass so if you still have any doubts or hesitations about your big idea, tune in and let's dispel those together!

Running a business is never a smooth and easy ride. Especially when you're just starting! It's tempting to give up when you think you're doing everything right yet you're barely staying afloat. It's a common struggle among small business owners; sometimes we just need a little push to get to that breakthrough we are searching for! For most of us doing it solo, HOW to get that much-need push is the billion dollar question. How do I keep going? Where can I get that leverage to reach more people? How can I make this big idea happen? Now this may sound like a tall order, but what if I tell you, you can scale your business by leveraging corporate sponsorship? It’s something that can feel off-limits to small businesses but today I want to introduce you to this idea and hopefully show you the possibilities it offers! In this episode, Shayna Rattler is coming on the show to talk about how she got back up from a small business breakdown by partnering with big companies and promoting a common cause. Her framework, which she will discuss in the interview, can help small business owners access the $22 BILLION pie that is not accessed by small businesses enough today! With clients like Steve Harvey, Lisa Nichols and other major influencers, Shayna's strategy might just be the push you need so make sure to tune in! Oh! And grab her free book here - you just have to pay postage!

The process of planning my wedding has been one of the most exciting processes I have ever gone through. Gav and I have been engaged for close to two years and the long engagement was 100% my idea because I wanted the opportunity to really take my time and enjoy being engaged. This has had the flow on effect of giving me a lot of time to reflect on my wedding planning process and I have noticed some key lessons that can be applied beyond the realm of weddings and events. So in this episode, I am sharing the 6 key lessons I have learnt while planning my wedding and what that’s taught me about running my business.   This includes: The importance of having a game plan and why you need to pre-plan the finer details. The role of branding and how much easier it is to make confident decisions when you have a clear brand identity. Why you need a support crew and a pro team (and what to look for). That it’s ok to shop around and try out different options, but once you make up you mind, 100% commit to it! How disconnecting from the outcome reduces overwhelm.   With just over a week until the big day, I am feeling calm. And that feels pretty darn good. That exactly how I want you to feel in your business too!

By 2019, global consumer Internet video traffic will account for 85% of all consumer Internet traffic. That’s a huge stat! 85%? What! If you’re heart just skipped a beat because you’re not making video content, don’t worry - you are certainly not alone! Engaging with people via your content is a must for online business owners, but did you know that you actually find a new audience and build out a community around your content on YouTube, just like you do on other social media platforms? The guest for this episode, Trena Little, blew my mind when she shared how she has found her tribe on YouTube and how her videos actually save her time in her business - and these are ways that I totally didn’t expect (hint hint: think secret autopilot sales team!). She shares how to get started on YouTube, how to launch your YouTube channel and we talk you through some of the barriers that might be holding you back. And honestly, I totally understand if video is not the most instantly comfortable thing for you, I promise I struggle with it too. Grab Trena’s 10 step roadmap to launching your YouTube channel here and checkout the links in the shownotes for some of the pieces of equipment Trena mentioned in the episode. And remember - you don’t need anything fancy! Just start with what you have! Your iPhone, earbuds and a nice sunny window is enough. But above all, just get started!

In today’s online world, you’ve likely heard the title “influencer” being thrown around. It’s really on social media that we see influencers taking the stage and make a real impact in their communities. But what is an influencer? Is it someone with a heap of Instagram followers or is there more to it than that? Great question. And to answer you, I have invited 10 times #1 Amazon Bestselling author, Gundi Gabrielle, to The Breakthrough Year Podcast to talk to us about firstly what an influencer is (and hint: it’s NOT your social media followers or email list numbers!) and then she will share her top strategy for really fast-tracking your way to becoming an influencer in your industry: best seller publishing. As a top 100 Business Author, Gundi has outranked the likes of Russell Brunson (Clickfunnels) and Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad). That means she really does know what it takes to get to number 1 on Amazon and essentially keep making sales long term. One thing I loved learning in this interview (and seriously, read her book for more on this strategy!) is that eBooks are the perfect starting point to your sales funnel. From here you can build and develop a relationship with your community, get readers on your list and ultimately make far higher ticketed sales because of the level of trust you build with your readers in a short period of time. For all the juicy goss - tune in to this episode with Gundi Gabrielle!

As a service-based business, there’s only so much time you have in the day to work with clients. You can hire a team and scale that way, but ultimately there’s only one of you and there’s a cap to the revenue you can generate as a service provider. More and more, service-based business are leveraging one of their more precious assets to create products that allow them to scale their businesses quickly: knowledge. You have a unique skill set. You have knowledge and experience that your audience, your clients and people in your community don’t have. And it doesn’t have to be complicated!In this episode, infopreneur, business coach and host of the Infopreneur Summit, Bailey Richert shares her number 1 strategy for working out exactly what infoproduct to create - hint: it’s as simple as looking at your process and making it DIY! But I also know that there’s some serious mindset hang-ups and mistakes that you can make when it comes to adding infoproducts to your service-based business, so Bailey and I go into depth on how to overcome (and disprove!) mindset blocks like: “If I package up what I know, no-one will book my high-end packages!” “I’m not an expert” “No one will want to learn me” “Someone is already doing it” And we look at common mistakes like: Creating a product but forgetting to plan out the launch and promotional strategy. Not building up your audience and priming them for the upcoming launch. Don’t worry, we will set you straight and show you how to avoid those mistakes and exactly why the world NEEDS your infoproduct! So if adding infoproducts is something you’ve been thinking about or if you’ve never heard of infoproducts before but you know that there’s a limit to how much money you can make in your service based business, then be sure to tune in!

On this week’s episode of The Breakthrough Year Podcast we are answering a listener’s question! Amrah reached out on Instagram recently and asked: “I want to start something online, and have a few ideas but not sure which or what would work... I don't know where to start either and I'm terrified that it won't work and things will fail. What should I do? I love calligraphy, design and fashion. I'm not sure whether to expand with my calligraphy or start up a baby store online. I’m just worried about taking that step.” This is a great question and I think it’s something that almost every creative entrepreneur has wrestled with at one time or another (or if you’re like me, it’s likely that you struggle with this regularly!!). We can have multiple ideas that all excite us, that are all viable and often we can have these multiple ideas all in one day!! It’s tempting to attempt to do it all. In this episode I share: What it looks like when you don’t have a niche. The advantages of having a niche. Then if you’re struggling, we will also talk about how to find your niche - even if your head is a whirlwind of ideas! And finally, I’ll share some niching tips and a truthbomb right at the end! When you tune in to this episode, you’ll also hear my three step method for finding your niche. I wanted to break it down for you here too so you can see it laid out for you: STEP 1 | Firstly, a few places that you might look to find your niche include: Hobbies – sewing, art Skills – public speaking, keeping your home organised Existing career – teacher, yoga instructor Identified problems - what are your target market struggling with? So the first step is brain dumping everything you can think of - all the hobbies and passions you have; all the skills you have; your existing or past careers, and any struggles, problems or questions either you have yourself or your target market have. STEP 2 | Then you want to think about what you could offer for each of these: a physical product that you’ll package and ship to the client; an digital product like a resume template; a piece of software that is delivered digitally; an online course or training program; a service. So go back to your brain dump list and expand each of your ideas with the kinds of offerings you could create and sell. There’s going to be things on that original list that you either can’t think of anything for or you have no desire to think of any offering for - pay attention to this and just scrap those ideas. If you have to push for ideas at this point - it is not the niche for you! STEP 3 | Testing Once you have listed all of the things you could offer I want you to pull from the list your top 3. At this point they might be related things that you’re gravitating towards or they could be really very different things. Now I want you to score each of those 3 ideas out of 3 for the following criteria: Skill Level Passion Level Market Demand Level Knowledge Level How often you engage with or talk about it Level Add them up and the option with the highest score is the one to consider! Most of all, remember that niching takes commitment and bravery. There’s a tendency to not want to put all our eggs into one basket but one point or another that’s exactly what successful businesses need to do!

It’s one of the greatest mysteries of online marketing: how do some online marketers build huge thriving tribes inside their business? You know, the kind of tribe that is well connected, that support each other; the kind of tribe where members are raving fans of the host and will buy what they offer; the kind of tribe where the tribe feels totally connected with their people. In this episode of The Breakthrough Year Podcast, special guest Crystal Honeycutt shares her secret to mastering the tribe-building super power that has made her an absolute (and authentic hit) with her community. And not that numbers are all that (as we will discuss in this episode), Crystal does have over 40 thousand Instagram followers and over 7,000 people in her FB Group - so she’s a pro at building a tribe around her brand! Perhaps the biggest takeaway of this episode is that relationships are key in building a thriving tribe. And to create real, authentic relationships you have to move slow. You have to put the person before the number and get to know them on a personal level - and you can’t rush that! Just like you wouldn’t rush a new friendship at a party. But most of all, Crystal shares that when it comes to building your tribe and looking at your numbers, the most important thing is that you are grateful for the numbers you have! Remember that behind that number are real, living, breathing people! Show up with the same energy regardless of your follower number and always be thankful for the wonderful souls that have chosen to spend time with you!

When you own and operate an online business, the numbers play a big role. You started your business to make money and there’s nothing wrong with that. You have your big why - perhaps it was to put your children through private school, perhaps it was so you could work from home or maybe so that you could go on a major vacation every year. Your why is important. But I know that serving your clients is important to you too! Keeping your clients at the forefront of your business is something you can build into your brand DNA. It’s something that you can foster and grow when your business is small and it will continue to play a big role in the way you do things even as you build a team and start making big money. Don’t wait until you start making that big money to make your clients a priority! Start now. There’s little ways you can show them you care! Answer their questions, build in buffer time into your process so you can be flexible when you need to be, use tools and processes that make sense to them and don’t overwhelm them. And above all, communicate with them! Ask for feedback, listen to their thoughts and react to their needs and struggles. ACTION ITEM In this episode, special guest Samantha Mabe, shares that she gets on calls with people she perceives as being her ideal client and conducts interviews with them to get into their minds and understand how she can best serve people like them. This isn’t a sales call - it’s something far more powerful - it’s market research! My challenge to do you today is to identify someone you already know who would be a dream client and reach out to them. Invite them on a 15-20 minute zoom call (pro tip: remember to record the call so you’re not furiously taking notes and so that you know exactly what they said!) and ask them for their thoughts! Share with us in the comments what you learn or head over to the Brand It Society FB group and share with us there!

I know a big motivator for so many of us to build our own online business is so that we can be present and build a unique life for our families. That has definitely been a massive motivator for me. When I started my online business, there were a few distinct reasons, but one of the biggest has always been a commitment to the idea of being at home when Gav and I have children. Perhaps you feel that desire, even if you’re not entirely ready to start a family yet. Or maybe it’s more pressing for you and you’re actually pregnant and the arrive of your little one is imminent! Or your situation could be that you already have a bubba or two and you know something needs to shift. In this episode, I bring on Ali Zabel who is an expert in transitioning from being a working lady to being a Mum who also still wants to work! And if you’re like me, I know that the drive to keep working and keep feeling like you are satisfying your passions is really important and something you want to keep doing even once your first child arrives! We talk about how to prepare in the months leading up to when your little ones arrive and what needs to shift in your business mindset and strategy to make sure it all works for you: Goals and the importance of setting strategic and realistic goals. Priorities and how to learn a new way of prioritising the things you have to do. The shift between focusing on the hustle before kids and then learning to be ok with leaving some things on the table! Being realistic about time - how much you will have and how to use it properly! The importance of processes, systems and outsourcing and how to lean on these to reduce overwhelm and get more done in less time! And how to start practicing and implementing these new ways of operating in your business before the baby arrives in the form of self-care and self-love! Another thing we discuss is the need for finding your tribe or your support network. Your loved ones will obviously want to support you and help as much as you can, but you might also find that none of your friends and family are in quite the same position as you - perhaps they are older generations and are 20-30 years out of the ‘being a new Mum’ game or they haven’t started their own families just yet. Or perhaps they are new Mums too but they don’t understand the extra adventure you’re on of starting and growing an online business. It’s important to find people who can support you with this - be it on social media, at local groups, books you read or Instagram personalities that inspire you. And as for the loved ones that want to support you - Ali explains the simple way to get exactly what you need from them too!

When it comes to creating content, consistency is key. The aim of the game is to create high quality, useful content that engages your ideal customers and clients with the purpose of building a meaningful relationship of know, like and trust. But for so many online business owners, creating that quality content consistently is a real struggle. There’s three options: You could plan and produce content week by week but this might leave you feeling like you’re always chasing your tail, scrambling to come up with ideas. The upside of this is that you can react very quickly to new questions, struggles and trends in your industry. You could plan your content for the whole year but this is risky because thing things can change in your business and when you sit down to plan out the whole year, you might not know what promos you have coming up in the later part of the upcoming year. And another downside is that new questions and struggles could arise in your community and if you are preplanning your content for the next 12 months, you won’t be able to address them. Or option 3 is that you can plan your content calendar in 90 day blocks. This is my personal favourite because you will have 4 major planning sessions a year and you’re able to plan content around your promotions and answer questions and address needs as they arise. Planning your content in 90 day blocks also allows you to create content strategically (my number 1 reason for doing it this way!) which will save you a heap of time! As you dive into this episode I want you to ask yourself some key questions. These questions will help you to identify if you have the right content strategy for you and your business. Some of the questions will have yes/no factual answers and others you will need to rely on your gut instinct: Am I producing content in the right way? (e.g. should I be blogging, podcasting, youtubing?) What does my audience want? Am I enjoying my topics? Am I positioning myself as an expert? Is my content well branded? Is my content frequency consistent and sustainable. Am I producing content in a way that’s efficient? Once you have answered those questions you are ready for my 6 step approach to planning your content calendar for the next 90 days! Tune in to find out all the details!

When it comes to brands, they are certainly not all made equal. We have low-end brands, the cheap cheerful kind, we have mid-range brands, and then we have high-end brands and when you encounter a high-end brand, you just know. There’s something about them, something that grabs you and makes you feel special. Some people call this the luxury market, others call this 5-star or prestige. Regardless of what you call it, I am sure you could name plenty of high-end brands. It’s everything from Chanel and Prada to Lamborghini and Ferrari. We find high-end brands in almost every industry: fashion, makeup, cars, hotels, travel, restaurants and spa treatments just to name a few. For business owners, there’s definitely a certain allure to being a high-end brand: You can obviously charge more for your product or service. You can really deep dive into a project and immerse yourself in it without needing to take multiple clients at the same time. You can spend extra time on the finer details to make sure what you offer is perfect. You can get to know your customers in more depth, really building quality relationships with them. As a result of this enriched relationship, you can get to know their needs and struggles and position yourself in a way that you can meet those needs and address those struggles. But the big question is: How do you create and launch a high-end brand? This is made even more difficult if you already have a brand and you are looking to transition from being a mid or low-end brand into a high-end brand. In this episode, I am bringing on a brand stylist who has just made this shift (and has made it beautifully!) - Sarah Shuttle of Orla. We talk about: the mindset behind creating a high-end brand (both from the perspective of the business owner and the client); what needs to shift inside your brand if you’re looking to transition into a more high-end market; how to create a high-end client experience (including what tools to use); And the crucial role of customer service.