Business

Business CEO Strategy Online Business

The Business of Influencers Q&A Interview

Hello My Charmed Ones!

The other week I took part in an interview with one of the members of my community who was working on a school project pertaining to the Business of Influencers!

I love to share my interviews with you all because I think there is often a lot to learn about the process of starting and running a successful business and although you may know some of my story, it’s always great to learn more. Since this interview was for a school project, it’s not going to be published for me to share, so I wanted to share the questions and my answers with you here on my blog!

Question 1: What were you doing before you became an influencer?

Alexis: I’m not sure at which point I officially became an influencer because being an influencer was never actually my goal. My goal was simply to run my own business online. Before going full time for my business, I worked a 9-5 job in Fortune 50 Sales + Marketing. Even while I worked my 9-5 I had been building my brand and influence online. All of this really started after college. When I graduated college and wasn’t financially able to pursue the graduate school of my choice, I started a blog and youtube and redirected to running my own business online.

Question 2:What were the biggest hurdles for you to become a full-time influencer?

Alexis: The biggest hurdle for me to becoming a full-time influencer was having a following large enough to support my minimum income needs. When I left my 9-5 job, I did so only after having saved a comfortable amount of emergency money, and once my monthly income from being and influencer (ad revenue, sponsorships etc) reached a specific point I had defined for myself. Once I hit that income mark, I took the leap and left my job to pursue this business full time.

Question 3: What is your “influencer stack”: the primary/critical tools you use in your day to day work?

Alexis: My Master Planner + CEO Strategy Planner Bundle of course is the first! I think having a clear, simple plan of action for the day is the most important part of building anything. I also use WordPress for my website, YouTube for video marketing, Instagram for social media. I use MailChimp as my email marketing provider that helps me send marketing emails to my list. I use a MacBook Pro laptop, an iPhone 8 Plus to do most of my work. I shoot a lot of my images on my phone or on my DSLR Canon 80D. I’ve been using an HD Logitech webcam to film most of my videos recently. I use the program Apple Notes to organize a lot of info between my phone and laptop. I love Dropbox for storing and transferring files. I do use a bit of Google Drive/ Google Docs to organize information as well. And I’m in Adobe Creative Cloud everyday in Photoshop, Illustrator or Indesign for my work. I edit videos on Final Cut Pro X.

Question 4: What part of your work gives you energy?

Alexis: I get the most energy from the creative part of my work. When I get a clear idea for something I want to create, either a product or a piece of content, it energizes me and I can create super fast. 

Question 5: What saps you of energy?

Alexis: Comparing myself to other influencers. I try not to do this often, but every so often it happens and it can make you feel so low. But then I do some self-care and mindset work and it pulls me out of the slump. Also, working non stop can sap me of energy, I have a tendency to let that happen to often especially when I have a lot of great ideas I want to act on. My creativity gives me energy but when I abuse it, it can take it away as well.

STOP CHOOSING BETWEEN BUSINESS SUCCESS AND A BALANCED LIFE!

Do you every feel overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to manage for your business and personal life?

If you’re like me, you started your own business in order to live a different lifestyle than the norm. You wanted the flexibility of time and location freedom, being able to work when you wanted, where you wanted, so you would have time to prioritize other areas of your life. Breaking free of the 9-5 life was freeing until I realized without a solid time management strategy and strong prioritization skills I could easily work on my business 16 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Does simply looking at your to-do list give you anxiety? Like tasks are multiplying faster than you can complete them and you are continually sacrificing time with your family, self-care or sleep in order to simply tread water in your business. With so many tasks to finish, how do you what you should be working on each day?

Has the overwhelm of managing your business caused you to slow or completely stall progress on your business goals? You are afraid to take action on your projects because nothing works out the way you expected it would and all you see are problems that you don’t feel capable to address.

Are you constantly stuck on what types of content marketing you should be doing to grow your audience? Your content calendar is usually empty, you wait until the last minute to write your posts but come up blank or you completely skip out on content creation all together because the process is just too time consuming.

What if there was an easier way to run your business?

Imagine waking up in the morning after a full nights sleep, rested and ready to take on the day. You are excited to start work on your business because you are clear on your priorities and have systems in place that make your work much more manageable (and, dare I say, even fun?)

Imagine waking up to a business reality where you feel in control and in charge of your business, like the inspired and aligned CEO you always intended to be.

Your business is thriving, you have time to take your work slow and get the results you are looking for. Your home life is well-managed and your personal relationships are thriving.

At the end of the day, your head hits the pillow grateful and content, knowing that you created this reality and that you can create whatever else you desire tomorrow!

If you are struggling to plan and manage a balanced life and business, I have the solution for you!

Introducing the CEO Strategy Bundle: A three masterclass series covering time management, mindset, and marketing strategies to streamline your business, so you can finally live a balanced life!

The CEO Strategy Bundle is designed to equip you with the tools, strategies and lessons that you need to intentionally create a balanced and profitable life + business…

So you can:

✔︎ Take Charge of Your Time: Clearly understand your roles as a business owner, the specific tasks to focus on through each phase of your business and to set reasonable expectations to achieve true work/life balance.

✔︎ Master Your Mindset: Get into alignment with your purpose, identify and overcome limiting beliefs holding you back from showing up for your business, and master the energetic secrets of productivity that help you triumph over your to-do list once and for all.

✔︎ Expand Your Marketing: Develop your unique messaging to stand out in your niche, quickly create a full calendar of impactful content marketing that sells in just a few hours per week, and show up on purpose and on message to grow your brand and audience.

Here’s what you’ll get:

→ CEO Strategy Masterclass: Learn how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can lead a balanced life.

→ CEO Mindset Masterclass: Become a master of your own mindset, overcome and reprogram limiting beliefs holding you back from taking action on your desired life + business.

→ CEO Content Calendar Masterclass: Streamline your content to keep your audience and revenue growing without overwhelming your schedule or spending money on ads.

RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR DREAM, NOT YOUR NIGHTMARE

Take back control of your life + business with proven strategies that will keep you balanced, focused and on track!

Stop choosing between your business and your personal life, and start embracing the strategies that can keep you balanced and successful in all areas of your life!

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL NOW in the CEO Strategy Bundle because you deserve BOTH a successful life and business!

xoxo,

CEO Strategy Online Business

ENTREPRENEURIAL: Rest + Manifest

During my last live CEO Power Hour on YouTube, I mentioned that one of my major intentions for the month of June is to Rest + Manifest.

Rest + Manifest means that I am going to intentionally slow down each day, focus on self-care and the way I feel, and through the cultivation of more ease into my life, manifest more abundance, expansion, and opportunities.

Although I know I do a good job of keeping my business and daily tasks simple and streamlined, I have been feeling the desire to go bigger with my business this year. Bigger in terms of impact, but of course, bigger in terms of income as well.

My word for 2021 is E X P A N S I O N (written out that way for extra effect) and part of my expansion for the year was to go bigger with my business, to reach further, to grow in new directions, to take on more and show up more for my community.

I still hold true to my core desire NOT to hustle and work all day.

But, as of late, I’ve been feeling like I have to do more and work more to reach this level, and it’s causing me to feel burnt out by the end of the week.

I don’t like this feeling, I know it’s not necessary. I know I can have the expansion and continue to work at my usual leisurely pace, but I’ve been getting so caught up in doing that I continue to do more and more.

And something I’ve found to be very true, is that when we are focused on tasks and what we have to get done, tasks end up being a never ending source of work.

I hate planning based on tasks because whatever you focus on expands, so focusing on the tasks you have to complete each day just brings more and more tasks, which brings the need for more and more hustle.

I really need to slow down.

Hence Rest + Manifest.

Building Business Systems to Simplify Sales & Marketing

Slowing down doesn’t mean I won’t continue to expand, and it doesn’t mean I won’t continue to do my work, but I need to take the focus away from my tasks and start converting my work into building more systems.

Systems make tasks disappear, and when tasks disappear, I have less work for the same impact, which means I can expand away without needing to hustle.

So here are the systems I plan to put in place this month:

→ Live Launch/Promotion System: I am going to create a complete process for my live promotions or launches, including templates for marketing materials, emails, and content marketing.

Many businesses have a team or bring on specific support for launches and promotions. I don’t have or desire a team, and I’ve successfully completed many 5 figure campaigns without assistance. I just need to sit down and map a system for them with templates to help me batch this type of work in the future so I am not scrambling around doing extra work every time I decide to run a promotion.

→ Instagram Marketing: I am going to create a turn key system for creating content and also for marketing/selling via Instagram.

For years I’ve been pretty lax about my Instagram content creation. Having an editorial calendar with my ideas planned out was the extent of my Instagram strategy. Again, this served me well enough for a long time, but I think it’s time for me to start treating Instagram the way I treat my blog and have templates ready and a system for what I am going to post when.

→ YouTube Marketing: I am going to create some simple video ads to market specific products and opt-ins through my YouTube videos without having to record individual CTAs for each video.

YouTube is without a doubt my biggest source of sales when I actually take the time to sell in my videos. But, I don’t want all my content to revolve around selling per se. So, I think that by creating a few short video ads for products, it will make it easier for me to sell via YouTube more often without turning the entire video into a contrived sales pitch. I can just edit the ad into the video at the appropriate point without ruining the flow of my filming.

Rest & Manifest

Another element that will play a key role in my Rest + Manifest intention for June is to upgrade my Morning Routine into a Morning Ritual.

The two terms may seem interchangeable, but to me there is a significant difference in a routine and a ritual.

The intention of a Ritual is much more potent than a simple routine.

And for my new Morning Ritual, I will of course be focusing much more on my self-care and mindset work.

Now, I plan to outline my new Morning Ritual in a dedicated post on Thursday, so if you want to learn more about creating a high vibe morning ritual, you’ll have to come back then!

STOP CHOOSING BETWEEN BUSINESS SUCCESS AND A BALANCED LIFE!

Do you every feel overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to manage for your business and personal life?

If you’re like me, you started your own business in order to live a different lifestyle than the norm. You wanted the flexibility of time and location freedom, being able to work when you wanted, where you wanted, so you would have time to prioritize other areas of your life. Breaking free of the 9-5 life was freeing until I realized without a solid time management strategy and strong prioritization skills I could easily work on my business 16 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Does simply looking at your to-do list give you anxiety? Like tasks are multiplying faster than you can complete them and you are continually sacrificing time with your family, self-care or sleep in order to simply tread water in your business. With so many tasks to finish, how do you what you should be working on each day?

Has the overwhelm of managing your business caused you to slow or completely stall progress on your business goals? You are afraid to take action on your projects because nothing works out the way you expected it would and all you see are problems that you don’t feel capable to address.

Are you constantly stuck on what types of content marketing you should be doing to grow your audience? Your content calendar is usually empty, you wait until the last minute to write your posts but come up blank or you completely skip out on content creation all together because the process is just too time consuming.

What if there was an easier way to run your business?

Imagine waking up in the morning after a full nights sleep, rested and ready to take on the day. You are excited to start work on your business because you are clear on your priorities and have systems in place that make your work much more manageable (and, dare I say, even fun?)

Imagine waking up to a business reality where you feel in control and in charge of your business, like the inspired and aligned CEO you always intended to be.

Your business is thriving, you have time to take your work slow and get the results you are looking for. Your home life is well-managed and your personal relationships are thriving.

At the end of the day, your head hits the pillow grateful and content, knowing that you created this reality and that you can create whatever else you desire tomorrow!

If you are struggling to plan and manage a balanced life and business, I have the solution for you!

Introducing the CEO Strategy Bundle: A three masterclass series covering time management, mindset, and marketing strategies to streamline your business, so you can finally live a balanced life!

The CEO Strategy Bundle is designed to equip you with the tools, strategies and lessons that you need to intentionally create a balanced and profitable life + business…

So you can:

✔︎ Take Charge of Your Time: Clearly understand your roles as a business owner, the specific tasks to focus on through each phase of your business and to set reasonable expectations to achieve true work/life balance.

✔︎ Master Your Mindset: Get into alignment with your purpose, identify and overcome limiting beliefs holding you back from showing up for your business, and master the energetic secrets of productivity that help you triumph over your to-do list once and for all.

✔︎ Expand Your Marketing: Develop your unique messaging to stand out in your niche, quickly create a full calendar of impactful content marketing that sells in just a few hours per week, and show up on purpose and on message to grow your brand and audience.

Here’s what you’ll get:

→ CEO Strategy Masterclass: Learn how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can lead a balanced life.

→ CEO Mindset Masterclass: Become a master of your own mindset, overcome and reprogram limiting beliefs holding you back from taking action on your desired life + business.

→ CEO Content Calendar Masterclass: Streamline your content to keep your audience and revenue growing without overwhelming your schedule or spending money on ads.

RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR DREAM, NOT YOUR NIGHTMARE

Take back control of your life + business with proven strategies that will keep you balanced, focused and on track!

Stop choosing between your business and your personal life, and start embracing the strategies that can keep you balanced and successful in all areas of your life!

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL NOW in the CEO Strategy Bundle because you deserve BOTH a successful life and business!

xoxo,

CEO Strategy Online Business

CEO Strategy | Power Hour May 2021

Hello My Charmed Ones!

There are just a handful of days left in May before June begins and so now is the time to get started on your monthly business planning!

If you are like me, creating your monthly plan can take quite a bit of time over the course of a few days. During my monthly CEO Strategy planning session: 

  • I schedule out my monthly events 
  • Populate my editorial calendar with great content ideas across all of my platforms
  • ID and break down my objectives
  • Compile a complete list of tasks I need to work on
  • Allocate time for each of my objectives and all of my work across the month

So, it’s a lot of work that I often start on a few days before the new month begins. I realize, I could cut down on this work by planning out certain aspects of my monthly calendar on a quarterly basis, but with the way I run my business, I know I’d be making multiple changes to a more long term plan, so it’s better for me to stick to monthly planning.

CEO Power Hour: June Business Planning

In this workshop, I am going to walk you through a series of questions and activities to help you celebrate your wins, set intentions for the next month, and get clear on the objectives and tasks you need to work on in June to make progress on your annual goals!

We are going to be doing some goal setting and planning together for a more balanced life and business, following my CEO Strategy methodology.

At the end of the session, I even do some live business coaching!

→ GET THE CEO STRATEGY BUNDLE

→ JOIN THE PRODUCTIVITY MASTER MIND

If you don’t want to miss our next CEO Power Hour LIVE, make sure to get on my email list via the button below!

Click here to get on my email list + receive the direct link!

If you already receive my weekly email, then no need to sign up again, you will receive an email the morning of the live Power Hour with the direct link + free worksheet.

xoxo,

CEO Strategy Online Business

ENTREPRENEURIAL: Doing the work!

Hello My Charmed Ones and Happy May!

I don’t have to tell you that there is a lot of work that goes into running your own online business, but what you may not realize is that there are two types of work to do.

One type of work you are already familiar with. It’s the practical strategy and management of setting objectives, making plans, creating the offers, doing the marketing, managing customer service, balancing the financials, etc. Essentially, it’s the tasks that make up most of your day to day work as a business owner.

The second type of work you may be less familiar with. It’s the mindset and personal development strategy of feeling into your desires, stepping into your purpose, identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs, trusting your intuition and facing down your deepest fears. It’s the metaphysical work of running a successful business. The faith and prayer and belief. And out of the two types of work you can do as an entrepreneur, it’s the more important work.

I know you might be thinking, mindset work couldn’t possibly be more important than the practical strategy of running your business. I thought that way too for a long time. But there is a point where doing all the things for your business isn’t enough. There is a point where strategy itself fails you and you need to surrender yourself to greater possibility.

You mindset will always be your upper limit.

You cannot out work or out strategize a poor mindset.

And when I reached a breaking point where I was willing to try anything to solve the stagnancy in my business, I committed to trying mindset strategies, despite my skepticism, if for no other purpose than to say I tried it all.

That’s when everything turned around for me.

I can’t say for certain what it was exactly that caused the shift, but I can say that as soon as I started implementing a regular mindset practice that included daily manifestation journaling, my business broke through to another level. Where I had been stuck for years practicing all the strategy I knew and believed in, strategy that had grown my business from the start, I was suddenly at a new level of income and of ease with my business.

Because the most interesting thing about the mindset strategies I used was not simply that my revenue started increasing, but it was that I was able to pair down my strategy to do less and it was still growing. I was truly able to do less, make my business easier to run and it was working better than it had been before.

And I am confident that it is the mindset work that made the difference, because when I got into periods where I stopped it for some reason, things began to get tough again. But like clockwork, as soon as I turned to the mindset work again, the flow of ease and money came flooding back in.

There is no substitution for doing the work

Mindset work, of course. Because even in times when I have fallen short of completing the practical work of my business, if I had kept up the mindset work, it didn’t matter that I skipped content or removed systems I had been using for years to generate income. The mindset work filled in the gaps for me.

Now I understand why so many people in the mindset, personal development and law of attraction space say that you need to show up everyday to do the work on yourself. It’s the most important work you can do for your life and business success. The work they are talking about is the mindset and belief. The claiming what it is you want and believing you can have it. It’s showing up with open arms ready to receive what you ask for, and although the strategies may be very simple to execute, I know first hand how challenging it is to do this work everyday. Because you will get distracted by the practical and put aside the mindset work, just for today, and then it turns into a week and a month and then suddenly things stop working in your business.

You have to show up to do the mindset work everyday, or most days at least, to keep a consistent rhythm and build upon new levels of success.

Monthly Manifestation Journaling for Business

Today, I want to teach you a little more about my regular mindset work that helps me to keep my business growing at its new level consistently. Specifically, I want to guide you through the Monthly Manifestation Journaling I do at the start of a new month to get into alignment with my business goals and objectives. Grab a pen and paper and write this out:

What I am achieving in my business for May

→ This month I am receiving…

→ This month I am creating…

→ This month I am attracting…

→ This month I am doing work on…

→ This month I am releasing…

→ This month I am showing up to…

→ This month I am honoring myself by…

→ This month I am valuing myself by…

→ This month I am resting…

For each line, fill in as many items as you would like. Feel free to make it a complete wish list of everything you desire to happen in the month. But try your best to fill in something for each line. I find that these prompts are a very powerful combination, and I don’t even have to write very much, I just bullet point my desires and that is enough to get into alignment with them.

I know it seems simple, but writing out your intentions this way can bring about a very powerful shift and you really don’t have much to loose except for perhaps 10-15 minutes of your day just by trying it.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Of course, for best results you will want to journal your intentions everyday. Perhaps not all of these monthly plans at once, but choose a handful to focus on each day to get into alignment with them.

STOP CHOOSING BETWEEN BUSINESS SUCCESS AND A BALANCED LIFE!

Do you every feel overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to manage for your business and personal life?

If you’re like me, you started your own business in order to live a different lifestyle than the norm. You wanted the flexibility of time and location freedom, being able to work when you wanted, where you wanted, so you would have time to prioritize other areas of your life. Breaking free of the 9-5 life was freeing until I realized without a solid time management strategy and strong prioritization skills I could easily work on my business 16 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Does simply looking at your to-do list give you anxiety? Like tasks are multiplying faster than you can complete them and you are continually sacrificing time with your family, self-care or sleep in order to simply tread water in your business. With so many tasks to finish, how do you what you should be working on each day?

Has the overwhelm of managing your business caused you to slow or completely stall progress on your business goals? You are afraid to take action on your projects because nothing works out the way you expected it would and all you see are problems that you don’t feel capable to address.

Are you constantly stuck on what types of content marketing you should be doing to grow your audience? Your content calendar is usually empty, you wait until the last minute to write your posts but come up blank or you completely skip out on content creation all together because the process is just too time consuming.

What if there was an easier way to run your business?

Imagine waking up in the morning after a full nights sleep, rested and ready to take on the day. You are excited to start work on your business because you are clear on your priorities and have systems in place that make your work much more manageable (and, dare I say, even fun?)

Imagine waking up to a business reality where you feel in control and in charge of your business, like the inspired and aligned CEO you always intended to be.

Your business is thriving, you have time to take your work slow and get the results you are looking for. Your home life is well-managed and your personal relationships are thriving.

At the end of the day, your head hits the pillow grateful and content, knowing that you created this reality and that you can create whatever else you desire tomorrow!

If you are struggling to plan and manage a balanced life and business, I have the solution for you!

Introducing the CEO Strategy Bundle: Learn the time management, mindset, and marketing strategies that will streamline your business so you can finally live a balanced life!

The CEO Strategy Bundle will teach you how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can work less and earn more without sacrificing your personal life, family or sleep!

Here’s what you’ll get:

CEO Strategy Masterclass: Learn how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can lead a balanced life.

CEO Mindset Masterclass: Become a master of your own mindset, overcome and reprogram limiting beliefs holding you back from taking action on your desired life + business.

CEO Content Calendar Masterclass: Streamline your content to keep your audience and revenue growing without overwhelming your schedule or spending money on ads.

EMBODY THE CONFIDENT CEO ENERGY INSIDE OF YOU

Take Charge of Your Time: As the saying goes, either you run the day or the day runs you! But, you don’t have to hustle and grind 24/7 to balance your life + business, in fact, doing less often helps you to achieve more!

Master Your Mindset: Your mind creates your reality, so if what you see around you isn’t pleasing to you, the first place to look is inside yourself to your thought patterns and beliefs, and start intentionally choosing better thoughts that will lead you to better results.

Expand Your Marketing: Content creation may seem daunting with multiple platforms and posts to create, but as someone who built their business on content marketing, I have the strategies to share with you that will save you time, energy and ensure you always have the right content to post to drive sales.

RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR DREAM, NOT YOUR NIGHTMARE

Take back control of your life + business with proven strategies that will keep you balanced, focused and on track!

Stop choosing between your business and your personal life, and start embracing the strategies that can keep you balanced and successful in all areas of your life!

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL NOW in the CEO Strategy Bundle because you deserve BOTH a successful life and business!

xoxo,

Business CEO Strategy Online Business

CEO STRATEGY | POWER HOUR April 2021

Hello My Charmed Ones!

April is quickly coming to a close and now is the time to start making your monthly plan for May.

If you are like me, creating your monthly plan can take quite a bit of time over the course of a few days. During my monthly CEO Strategy planning session:

  • I schedule out my monthly events
  • Populate my editorial calendar with great content ideas across all of my platforms
  • ID and break down my objectives
  • Compile a complete list of tasks I need to work on
  • Allocate time for each of my objectives and all of my work across the month

So, it’s a lot of work that I often start on a few days before the new month begins. I realize, I could cut down on this work by planning out certain aspects of my monthly calendar on a quarterly basis, but with the way I run my business, I know I’d be making multiple changes to a more long term plan, so it’s better for me to stick to monthly planning.

The C.E.O. Power Hour

As a first step to my monthly planning routine, I have started executing on the idea of a C.E.O. Power Hour to be dedicated time where I review the previous month and start planning big picture elements of the next.

This is a LIVE workshop I intend to host on a monthly basis for the last Saturday of the month to help myself and fellow business owners get organized and begin strategically planning the month ahead.

You can get the CEO Power Hour Worksheet to follow along with the class by clicking here. It’s a free download intended to help you begin processing the month that has ended and pre-plan the month ahead.

I hope to see you live at the next CEO Power Hour, scheduled for Saturday, May 29th @ 2pm Eastern!

Make sure to mark your calendar, so you don’t miss our next live session!

xoxo,

Online Business

ENTREPRENEURIAL: Online Business is No Joke!

Hello My Charmed Ones!

It has been several months since I have shared an installment of my Entrepreneurial Online Business Journal, but I have been reworking the editorial calendar for my blog and it is now time for me to share some insights with you.

As this post is being published it is April 1st and today is also the official kick off day for my EMPIRE BUILDING Business Accelerator group coaching program. However, because I bulk my work, it is actually being written a few days prior while it is still March. Currently, I am at the tail end of the launch for the Business Accelerator and just prior to writing this, I wrote the email that would go out to my email list telling them about enrollment in the program closing soon. One of the points I made in that email is really sticking to me right now and felt like the inspiration I needed to share with you today.

In the email I discussed how my business revenue grew during the pandemic. I believe I’ve spoke about this briefly a few times so you may already know, but the point I was making in the email was that my business success in 2020 was not a side affect of luck as some might think, rather it was a side affect of intentional thought, planning and effort.

Creating a Business by Intentional Design

When I first started my business, it was my intention to create a business that would operate online, seemingly on its own through automated digital marketing systems and passive income streams.

I had the vision for a business where I would be able to earn a stable full time income, without having to work full time hours, and I absolutely wanted to be able to run this business by myself from anywhere in the world if need be. I didn’t want to have to rely on hiring a team of employees to make this work. I didn’t want to have a specific office or space where product was housed. I wanted a business that was simple, profitable and gave me time and location freedom. So, I couldn’t rely on any outdated paradigms for how businesses were expected to operate. I needed to make it work for me the way I envisioned it, and I did!

And when 2020 hit with a pandemic that threw the whole world into crisis, the systems I had build and relied on to help me run my business for years also came through to ensure my business did not need to change, pivot or close down.

Online business is no joke!

I know some people question it or poke fun at it, especially a business like mine that most people can’t understand. I make a six figure income selling PDFs and classes. I sell nothing physical. And yet, I create products that people want and need, and you would not believe the number of customers I have that return year over year to purchase my new or updated products.

I realize that what I am doing and building through my business is different and requires people to think differently about what it means to run a business.

I think a lot of people believe that being a business owner is tough and it means you need to work super hard, put in long hours and make significant sacrifices.

But, it just isn’t true.

At least, it isn’t true for me. I chose to believe in a better way, and I made that way my reality.

You can make an online business like mine a reality for you, too!

All you have to do is choose to see business as fun, easy and filled with possibility! And you need to get very clear and intentional about the business you are building, the way I did.

But it starts with the intention.

Set Your Business Intention

So, right now, I want you to take a moment, pause and set the intention for your future or current business.

Take out a piece of paper or a sticky note- it’s always better to write out your intentions on paper.

I don’t want to you think too hard about the way this is going to look. I just want you to set the intention and then you can rewrite and transfer the information to your planner or vision board as you see fit after we have gotten the intention out of your head and onto paper!

Write this out:

IT IS MY INTENTION THAT MY BUSINESS…

Fill in what comes to mind. Think about how you want your business to look, feel, operate and write that all out. Write out several lines or paragraphs, whichever works for you.

Use your imagination here but keep in mind, this isn’t an imaginary business we are creating, it’s a real business that you get to own and operate! So, while you are writing out how you want your ideal business to go, I want you to see it in your mind and feel it in your body, especially in your heart! Let this vision fill you up while you are writing. It really helps your intention solidify when you do that.

Okay, so once you are done, do with that intention whatever you wish. Feel free to edit it a but, rewrite it on nicer paper, turn it into a graphic, put it in your planner, whatever you want to do. Just put it somewhere you can see it and reference it. Because anytime you go to work on your business idea I want you to read out that intention first.

It’s going to help you align with your intention and the work that you do as a result is going to be much more elevated than had you gotten to work without reminding yourself of what you are building.

I hope you enjoyed this fresh installment of ENTREPRENEURIAL, now it’s not just going to be my monthly online business journal, but also yours. Each installment it is my intention to share some activity or inspiration for you to think about and journal on so that you are also building your dream business alongside me!

Download my latest Free Business Tool

The CEO Business Braindump Triggers List!

This is a triggers list for you to use during your braindumps with business specific categories and topics to keep in mind. As a braindump is always part of my planning processes, I recommend downloading this new free tool and using it as part of your regular business planning process.

Let me know how things are going for your business by leaving me a comment on this post or dropping me a DM on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat!

xoxo,

Business CEO Strategy Online Business

CEO Strategy | Quarterly Business Planning

Hello My Charmed Ones!

With the close of March upon us, April and Q2 about to begin, now is the time to do your quarterly business planning. On Saturday I went live on my YouTube channel to share my Quarterly Business Planning Process, so, if you have not had the chance to sit down and follow along with my process, this is just a simple reminder to get yourself started.

So much can be accomplished in a quarter!

For me, mapping out my business plans on a month to month basis is just too short a period of time to get a good grasp on the objectives and goals I am trying to reach. So, by doing my big picture business planning on a quarterly basis, this gives me several check-ins throughout the year to ensure I’m progressing on my goals. 

My CEO Strategy Business Planner

When I sit down to do my business planning, I have a dedicated set of planning inserts that I use to follow my business planning process and keep my plans clear and organized; the CEO Strategy Planner!

The CEO Strategy Planner is the ultimate bundle of business planning inserts designed for the modern creative entrepreneur or business owner. The planner is divided into multiple sections that follow the essential parts of any good business plan. This strategic planner seamlessly integrates with the calendar or agenda system of your choice. Whether you use a physical planner, a digital calendar and planning tools, or, if like me, you use a mixture of both- the CEO Strategy Planner can be used in conjunction with any calendar and planning system to create your custom business, marketing and financial plans.

I also created a new business tool for you to use!

The CEO Business Braindump Triggers List!

This is a triggers list for you to use during your braindump process with business specific categories and topics to keep in mind. As a braindump is also part of my planning processes, I recommend downloading this new free tool and using it as part of your quarterly business planning process.

Time to get planning!

Watch the replay of the CEO Strategy Quarterly Business Planning Workshop

Make sure to grab your planner, favorite pens and markers, the triggers list and the beverage of your choice and get comfortable for what I hope is a very productive business planning session!

I would love to hear how your quarterly business planning session goes, so do please reach out via the comments of this post or drop me a DM on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat!

Happy Planning!

xoxo,

Online Business

EMPIRE BUILDING: What we can achieve together in just 6 weeks!

Hello My Charmed Ones!

At this point I hope you’ve been able to watch my recent business training class, and you know enrollment is now open for the next live round of the EMPIRE BUILDING Business Accelerator 6 week coaching package!

If one of your goals for 2021 is to start an online business, and you’ve been thinking about it for a while, but haven’t yet taken successful action, this coaching package is intended for you.

So today, I want to break down the work we are going to do together in the 6 week program, and give you some reasonable expectations for what you can achieve in what may seem like a pretty short period of time.

This post is going to be a little long, but for those of you who are really curious about what we will do in the 6 weeks of the Accelerator, this information will bring you much clarity, so read it all, take your time, and email me if you have any questions when you are done!

What we can achieve together in just 6 weeks!

First and foremost, with this package, you get access to EMPIRE BUILDING which is a 6 module course that guides you through those 6 key business pillars you need to have in order to run a successful business.

Each module includes:

→ A Video Lecture that teaches you about each business pillar and introduces you to guided activities to complete that will become key assets for your business.

→ A Workbook that includes a written transcript of the lecture plus guided worksheets to complete the key business activities that you learned about in the module.

→ Links to tools and resources that supplement the lecture, like examples of completed worksheets, software and applications you may find useful to help you create specific business assets, and swipe copy examples for emails, content posts, and funnels.

→ A Guided Journaling Workbook that helps you get in touch with what you actually want to create in your business, so you are tapping into your own unique inner guidance to craft an intention business that meets your needs.

Now, the EMPIRE BUILDING course itself is completely on-demand, so when you enroll, I recommend you get started watching those lectures, taking notes and starting the guided activities. As you go through those activities, something wonderful is going to happen- you are going to hit roadblocks and have lots of questions that you will need clarity on because you are starting to learn and apply the lessons of the modules!

That’s where our Slack group coaching comes in. As you get your hands dirty and start doing the work building out the assets and structure for your business, you will take your questions directly to the Slack channel for the individual module they relate to and I will be there to give you guided advice immediately so you can get your answers quickly and move on to the next part of the process. And the great thing is, your questions are likely questions that other students in the course have and so we are going to be able to help each other by digging into these questions and issues deeply within the group.

You are going to get tremendous clarity from the simple act of going through the modules and bringing your questions to the group for us to dig into, and I find that having clarity and knowing what you need to do is incredibly motivating, but that isn’t all you get with this experience!

You will also have the opportunity to join me for 3 new live classes being added to EMPIRE BUILDING!

The first new class is the CEO Strategy Masterclass scheduled for 4.14.21 @ 7pm EST.

→ In this class I am going to guide you through creating the essential pieces of your business plan and help you map out your business plans for the rest of 2021. I’m also going to teach you how to plan your days moving forward so that you integrate work on your business with your many other priorities that need to be balanced at the same time.

The second new class is the CEO Mindset Mastery Class scheduled for 4.28.21 @ 7pm EST.

→ In this class I am going to set the stage for the mindset you need to hold as a business owner to ensure you are staying motivated and accountable to your business, especially in those tender moments when you don’t see your big picture vision coming together quite yet. I’m going to share my mindset mastery toolbox with you and teach you the ways I keep my mind in alignment with my business goals so that I hit them time and time again.

The third new class is the Killer Content Masterclass (title might change on that one, I don’t know if I love it… let me know what you think!) scheduled for 5.12.21 @ 7pm EST.

→ In this class I am going to teach you how to create a full editorial calendar of content for the year that strategically targets and grows your community filled with your ideal customers. I’m also going to share different time management strategies that you can use to really maximize your time so that content is easy and quick to create. Perhaps you’ve heard me mention this before, but I produce 3 Instagram posts, 2 blog posts, 1 video and 1 email for my community each week, and this process takes me no more than 10 hours per week. That’s a lot of content created in very little time, and so I have many time saving, content batching tips to share.

For each of these new master classes, you have the opportunity to join me live, face to face via Zoom, and of course at the end of each class the floor will open to Q+A so when you attend live you will get your immediate questions answered right then and there so you can start integrating what you learned into your business plans! Replays will be available after each live has ended if you cannot attend a class.

So, through this 6 week experience, if you are able to put in a good 2-4 hours a week to go through the content and start taking action, there is a lot you can accomplish.

→ You can have your business branding and online properties secured

→ You can have your content platforms and editorial schedule mapped out and filled with great content ideas

→ You can have your ideal customer and key messaging identified so you know how you’ll grow your audience

→ You can have a plan and ideas generated for content marketing, plus a head start on lead magnets and funnels that will help you grow your revenue

→ You can have your products and business models identified so you know what you’ll be selling and how you can easily add new revenues streams to your business to grow your revenue

→ You can have your goals set, your business legally incorporated and protected, have a clear idea of what aspects of your business you will be working on throughout the year and a simple system to move those plans forward on a daily basis

And I say can here intentionally because this process does require you to show up and do the work.

I promise, I have made things very clear and easy for you, and I will be with you each step of the way to ensure your questions or issues are resolved swiftly because that is what you are paying for in the experience.

You are paying for someone who has been there, done that to hold your hand, and let me tell you, I am soo helpful and attentive to my students! You are in such good hands with me, if you couldn’t already tell from all the help and insight and free value I add to my community each and every day!

But at the end of the day, you do the work.

This is your business

This is your dream

This is your time to shine!

I can tell you from experience, you can make building your business an uphill battle or you can make it the most fun and exciting thing that makes you jump out of bed in the morning.

So, if you can dedicate 6 weeks of your time to focus on your business, you will have plans in place and valuable assets created that will help you finally get your dreams in motion, can carry you through the end of 2021 and give you the resources to manage your business for years to come!

So, what do you say?

Are you ready to take my hand and let me guide you through this?

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL NOW

Remember, the Accelerator formally begins on April 1st, but as soon as you enroll, you will get access to the EMPIRE BUILDING course which you can start working through asap and have a head start for when group coaching begins!

xoxo,

Business CEO Strategy Online Business

The Vibe of Building Your CEO Strategy

Hello My Charmed Ones!

Have you ever wondered what it takes to successfully run an online business?

I’ve been full time for my business for nearly 7 years and I’ve learned a lot in that time about what works and what doesn’t, what matters and what doesn’t, and the energy and mindset that you need to embody if you want to build something that lasts.

During the BUILD YOUR CEO STRATEGY live business training I hosted on Saturday, I explained the practical aspects of my CEO Strategy concept.

CEO stands for Creative Entrepreneur Optimization and this concept is a philosophy of approaching your business where you (1) Get clear on your business vision, (2) Find the digital marketing systems that help you easily build your ideal community and (3) Organize your time and business around your strengths and needs so you are earning more with less effort.

Bringing your perfect business to fruition doesn’t have to be hard, but it does require balance.

As CEO you must balance the big picture vision for your business direction with the small daily tasks that create your results, and to achieve that you need to have a plan!

That plan must include certain elements and assets essential to digital marketing, but it also must include a practical strategy for how you will manage your energy and mindset so you can step into the vibe of CEO for your business everyday to get the job done!

This is what the vibe of building your CEO Strategy feels like:

→ Mastering self-care

→ Slowing down to do more

→ Open to receiving $$$

→ Adding value via content

→ Focusing on your goals

The Vibe of Building Your CEO Strategy requires PRACTICAL + ENERGETIC alignment!

That’s why I just opened the next round of the EMPIRE BUILDING Business Accelerator 6 week group coaching package and in this round I am teaching three NEW master classes that help integrate practical business planning with personal energy management so you can build your perfect CEO Strategy!

Check out the replay of my live class from Saturday above to learn more about Building Your CEO Strategy and the next live round of Empire Building if you want to know more about how I can help you accelerate your business progress in 6 short weeks and get you set up for success in 2021!

xoxo,

Business Functional Planning Online Business

How to Create a Strategic Project Plan

Hello My Charmed Ones!

Last week I showed you how I create the plan for a new month to make sure I move my goals forward, but I kinda just breezed by two key elements that go into making that plan.

First, is my goal setting process and the second is my project planning process. I’m going to show you my project planning process in a video in just a moment but first let me catch you up on the goal setting part.

At the start of the year, I have an in-depth process I work through to set my goals for the year and to break those goals down into specific smaller objectives. During this process I choose up to three objectives to assign to each month and lay them out for reference on a dedicated insert in my planner.

So, before the year begins I have a skeleton overview of what I am focused on for any given month. In the monthly planning video, you saw me pull my objectives from the inserts they are mapped on, and transfer those to my monthly calendar spread. 

That is the first part of my yearly planning process, the actual goal and objective setting. If you want to learn and replicate my process for goal setting, I have it broken out in the You Got This workbook and also in the New year goal setting master class inside the Productivity and Planning Master Mind membership. Next, is project planning.

For some of my objectives it is necessary for me to break the objective down into smaller action steps on a project plan. I don’t make a project plan for every single objective anymore. I did at one point, but I found it was overkill for some objectives and types of projects I do repeatedly and know the steps for by heart. 

Let me give you an example.

For January, I didn’t need to create a project plan for any of my objectives but I finished all three. I had to create the master class for my membership, which sounds like a project but I just create a slideshow, handout and inserts so it’s three formulaic pieces that I don’t find helpful to list on a project plan. Since this objective wasn’t turned into a project plan, instead the tasks were written out directly on the monthly master task list for January.

Same applies to the second objective, updating my email welcome sequence. That objective simply required me to read over and rewrite three emails. If I wanted to be particular and break that work into many more pieces I guess I could have. I think we can break anything into minute tasks to track, but for me that strategy isn’t necessary.

I will say, between you and I, I see influencers all the time in the planning community, showing how they break down goals into smaller tasks and often I think it’s overkill just to have more things to check off their to do lists. If having more tasks listed to track inspires and motivates you to get the work done, by all means, please do that. Or if you aren’t someone who knows how to reach an objective by heart, and needs steps broken down for reference and tracking, please, don’t skip out on making project plans because they can be an excellent tool for accountability.

I just know for me, that if I over complicate a project with too many tasks, it overwhelms me and I might fear starting it. Instead, just thinking that I have like two or three things to do for an objective actually gets me started and if I have a few extra tasks that pop up while working on the objective, that’s fine because I have the momentum built up of starting. But that is me. Clearly, I’m a projective person who knows how to manage my time and accomplish many objectives and goals in a year, so do not hold yourself to my standards if you aren’t at that level of confidence and self accountability to your work yet! You will get there if you follow my methods and planning philosophy, just trust the process!

Finally, just to round out my January examples, the final objective was a promotional sale in my shop. That objective didn’t need a project plan, I map promotions into a campaign builder insert from the CEO Strategy Planner to track the posts that go out to share the promotion. 

So now that you can see I don’t project plan every objective, let’s talk about how I project plan for the objectives that do need it! 

I actually have two styles of project planning inserts I use, one is my standard project planning worksheet that comes bundled with the Master Planner or Project Planning Bundle in my shop. The other insert is my Strategic Planning Insert from the CEO Strategy Planner.

Today I am going to show you how I use the strategic insert as I map out an objective that belongs to June. Why are we project planning an objective for June so early? Because I actually need to start talking about this objective now to make sure everything goes smoothly in June. 

The objective is to create a Planner Insert Design course. I’ve been asked about doing a class like this for years and I’m finally creating it! So this class will launch in June, if you want to get more information about the class, I’ll leave a link where you can get on the wait list and be the first to learn about it when it’s available but for now, let’s map out this objective onto the insert.

Watch How I Create a Strategic Project Plan in the video below.

DON’T FORGET

For the month of February, I have a 20% OFF Code for the Planning Inserts and Tools in my shop. Use the code FEB2021 at checkout in TheCharmedShop.com to get the discount!

I hope this information has been helpful for you in understanding better how to create a strategic project plan and how I break down a goal into individual tasks.

xoxo,