We are very proud to feature our Wonderful Web Radio Rising Star interview. In this segment, we speak with Vanessa Jeny.Vanessa is the founder of MenorcaBlue.com, an online guide to the Spanish Mediterranean island of Menorca. She helps connect the top tourist services on the island with discerning travelers looking for authentic local experiences on holiday. Leaving behind her former career in special events and concert touring, Vanessa moved to Spain from Sydney Australia to renovate her grandparent’s house on the island. Six years later, she loves living the Mediterranean lifestyle with her trilingual Menorcan family. Menorca Blue was created to share the best of Menorca from the perspective of someone who has come to know and love the island as an outsider, but been privileged to experience life as a local. The site provides information and advice about all aspects of life in Menorca relevant to both residents and visitors, with the aim to support the community, environment and local economy. Visit MenorcaBlue.com to take a peek inside paradise and live the local lifestyle.

Transcript of the Interview

Jane: Hello everyone and welcome to this weeks episode of Rising Star Radio. I’m your host Jane Hinchey and you can find me at www.janehinchey.com. Today I’m delighted to be speaking with Vanessa Jeny. Welcome Vanessa.

Vanessa:  Hi Jane, thanks for inviting me on the show.

Jane:  Thanks for joining us.  Now to get us started, why don’t you share with us who it is you serve and how you serve them?

Vanessa:  Ok, just to give you a little bit of a background story. I’m an Australian who lives on the island of Menorca which is one of the Spanish Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. I left my career in concert touring in London and moved to Menorca six years ago and my current business project is in the niche of destination marketing for the island’s tourism. I’m the founder of ‘MenorcaBlue.com – Peak Inside Paradise and Live the Local Lifestyle’ which is an online guide on how to enjoy the best of Menorca by discovering the quality of life that the island has to offer.  I am working on helping connect the top tourist services on the island with discerning travelers looking for authentic local experiences on holiday.  My idea for this came because a lot of us, when we go on holiday, we particularly like to go somewhere where we know somebody who actually lives there; who can show us around and the idea with my website  is that it developed from the perspective of somebody who has came to know and love the islands as an outsider but lives the life of a local and knows all of the secret spots to go.

My vision for the website is to present the island authentically, support local businesses and persuade visitors to try the local products and services during their stay.

If anybody would like to find out more, they can visit www.menorcablue.com  or stop by my Facebook page which is also called Menorcablue.

Jane:  Very good.  Did you have a background in tourism before this Vanessa?

Vanessa:  No, when I moved to Menorca, I had to leave my career behind.  I was working in special event management and concert touring but most of the island’s job opportunities revolve around providing goods and services for residents or for tourists.  I like the idea of working for myself; from home and via the internet, and also contributing to the local community if I could because it’s a lovely place.

Jane:  It is, it’s gorgeous.  Now of course, you are a member of the Wonderful Web Women Community, can you tell us what program or product that you have purchased, that you have taken action on?

Vanessa:  Yes, sure.  My journey into the internet business; I’ve been here six years but I started looking into it to starting my own business about just over two years ago and Janet was one of the first people I found online.  I was actually on her list for a couple of years before I became a Gold Member.  I received all her marketing and I attended the free seminars that she releases because they were always excellent content, so she was always on my radar, and then I joined as a Gold Member for about six months which means that I was receiving a monthly module targeting specific areas of internet business and marketing.  When the Shine Online program launched at the end of last year, I jumped at the chance to work with Janet more closely as I really like her style of teaching. I think she is very intuitive and she breaks down different sections of internet business and marketing into very manageable steps for people so they can understand and implement it, and I think she is also really committed to helping you find the right path to success for your business, so depending on what your business is, I think she is really great at putting herself in your shoes and helping you fulfill that vision.

Jane:  Absolutely.  I’ve been with Janet for a while as well and totally agree.  Now what did you learn from Shine Online or just being part of the Gold Membership that led you to taking action and what was that action that you took?

Vanessa:  Ok, personally, starting with the Gold Membership because that was my first experience as a customer with Janet and Wonderful Web Women, with the Gold membership first of al,l I really like the idea of addressing just one aspect of business or marketing per month.  Because I think, especially when you are starting out, but I’m sure, as an established business owner as well, there is just so much that you need to do.  You’ve got so many paths that you need to get through and I really like the idea of having ‘right, this month we’re going to address this topic and then show how to implement this strategy, or better, or make your business more effective’.  So with a Gold Membership it’s manageable and can be consumed and applied to your business very quickly and effectively and you can work it in with all the other tasks that you have to do. I like the format of the Gold Membership because they are short coffee break learning videos as Janet calls them and you can fit the learning in between other things if you just want to take a break from what you are doing; but also with the modules from the Gold Membership, she provides longer audios and I’m a big fan of that as well because I can listen to all the audios as well while I’m driving to work or walking the dog or doing other things.  I like short videos and long audios, that works really well for me and then to tie it all together, she provides a written step by step action plan; so once you’ve listened to it, you’ve absorbed it, you know exactly where to start implementing it into your business, so for me and I’m sure for many other people, these delivery methods are perfect for busy people and also the price of the Gold Membership is really great, that’s just really affordable.

With the Shine Online program, the difference is the modules are sequential, so you can work through from module one at your own pace and just go at your own speed and fit that in again, around your other paths.  I have learned quite a bit in my two years about internet business and all the different pieces of the puzzle.  So my knowledge was quite good but it wasn’t complete, so I skipped over some foundation steps at the beginning and then Shine Online; Janet starts at the very beginning with what your strengths are, your interests, your goals and your big motivation – what’s your Why? as to why you want to do this business and from those foundation steps, she moves you through each step in building the business online, so you don’t miss anything out, I really like that.  It makes for a really strong foundation, it’s also excellent value and it ensures that you also have all the pieces in place for a long term profitable business which is most important.

Jane:   Yes, absolutely, it’s really important and, as you said, we can tend to skip over the foundation stuff, because you think you have it in place but it’s not quite right, and you need that solid foundation to build on.

Vanessa:  Yeah, I think it’s just really good. I think sometimes we get so carried away with our ideas, especially if you’ve got the natural entrepreneur drive, you can always see the big picture, you can always see the end step, I’m great at running before I can walk and sometimes you just need to slow down, go back to the start and actually have that strong foundation in place.  Using the house analogy, if you don’t have the strong foundation in place, then your house will fall down at some stage, so really important to start from scratch.  I think you’re motivation is really important, you’ve got your big reason why you want to do it for yourself, why you want to do it for your family, why you want to do it for your community. I think if you’ve got that there all the time then it makes it really easy to perhaps tackle parts of building the business that don’t come easily to you; because that passion is always there and your purpose is always there

Jane:  Well said. So what cha