Brilliant Business Moms with Beth Anne Schwamberger

This podcast episode is for anyone who's tried Facebook + Instagram ads and just couldn't seem to make a profit. Kati Kiefer of TrueMoneySaver.com has been in those shoes, but she's here to tell you that "you're only gonna fail if you give up."   Kati struggled for the first 6 months of running Facebook ads.  She tested and tweaked all the things -- sales pages, ads, messaging, audiences... you name it.  Finally, she pivoted to a different upfront product -- a product that drew in a slightly different type of personal finance customer, that made practical, realistic promises to them, and... before she knew it, her ads were profitable!     Kati's been running with that same incredible offer for the last 2.5 years with her ads. She now spends about $500/day on her ads and consistently makes $400 in profits per day.  (Her Return on Ad Spend fluctuates between a 1.8 and 2.3).  But keep this in mind:  When Kati has a new ad to test, she spends just $25/day.  So you don't need to start out spending hundreds of dollars per day to see what works.  You can start slowly and build from there.   Since building out her successful ads strategy, Kati has been able to drop so many other things off of her business list -- no Facebook lives, no constant posting on social media, no Facebook groups that need loads of interaction, no big affiliate promotions. Kati just runs her ad, does a few super simple product launches per year, has some great email funnels behind the scenes, and has a whole lot of fun enjoying time with her family (With 4 kids, 1 new grandbaby, and her own parents close by too, Kati's life is full of all the best things!)   I'm so glad Kati didn't give up on ads, because they've given her a much simpler, more profitable business that fits around her beautiful life.     Some other things we discussed on this episode: - Why you need different angles to draw in your ideal customer - Why Kati ditched tedious product validation strategies and the super easy way she validates products and messaging now - Why Kati loves ads traffic even more than all the traffic she gets from Google - Why she keeps her business simple and how she still manages to make a great profit - Anndddd..... a super gross funny mom moment from Kati (and a similar one from me!)   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode226

Is it still possible to make Facebook and Instagram ads work if you're a brand new business owner? Yes, it is! Today we're talking to Jen McConaghie of This Time of Mine to find out how she did just that. All you need is a fabulous product to sell and some help along the way to craft an amazing offer. You need a swoon-worthy sales page, brilliant ad images, and just the right ad copy so you can find the right customers for your business.   If you're a newer business owner, you will love hearing from Jen and even more experienced business owners will learn some great tips on how to reorder your offers and reposition them to make a perfect fit for your customers. It's so exciting to see students make simple tweaks that positively affect their ads profits and their conversion rates. As you hear from Jen, you'll realize that she is someone who is going to continue to test and tweak - there is no giving up when it comes to Jen and her growing her business!   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode225 

Kelsey Sorenson of Wife Teacher Mommy has been a student of mine since 2016 when she bought my very first course on promoted pins. She was a new business owner at the time and that was the first online course she purchased to help her business grow. (I'm so honored to have been the first teacher she learned from online, and the growth Kelsey has experienced in her business since then has been incredible!)   Kelsey then went on to take my Facebook Ads Intensive course and is also a valuable part of my membership community.  Kelsey is always growing and expanding her business -- whether with Facebook ads, new products, new full-time team members, or her new membership which is rapidly growing!   Kelsey's membership, the Wife Teacher Mommy Club is an incredible, supportive community for teachers and homeschool moms where they get access to an INSANE amount of resources so they can teach well. Kelsey has done so much to make sure her membership is fun, positive, and feels like a party, but also provides the practical tools + life coaching support her club members need to succeed.   I can't wait for you to hear all about the creative ways Kelsey adds value to her Wife Teacher Mommy club and all the ways she's grown her business over the years.  You'll hear about her journey from that very first digital product she created to now her enormous Wife Teacher Mommy Club (with more than 700 members!) a huge shop full of amazing resources, and three full-time employees.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode224

Angie Holden of The Country Chic Cottage and Cori George of Hey Let's Make Stuff recently joined forces to host an online summit called Sublimation Camp. Cori and Angie spill the beans on what they did, how they coordinated it, hosting, marketing, what their tech stack was, and other tip and tricks of things they might do differently next time they host a large online event. We will also talk about conversion rates, percentages of affiliate sales, and how their Facebook ads went.     The premiere Sublimation Camp was massively successful! Over 44,000 people signed up for the summit and more than 1,000 of those purchased the all-access pass. Listen for all the details about creating this wildly successful and profitable event!   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode223

Facebook ads are not dead! We've had to change our strategies after recent changes such as the iOS update but for business owners who are willing to test and pivot, ads can still be profitable.   Corina Holden of Frump Fighters is one business owner who has successfully changed some of her ads strategies and is now bringing new leads and sales to her business once more.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode222

Have you ever considered just starting from scratch? Ditching your current blog and heading in a new direction? A combination of factors led Heather O’Donell of Happy Humble Home to do just that.    The pandemic and a tricky pregnancy forced Heather to pause her blogging business. When she came back six months later, she decided to use her experience as a Kindergarten teacher to start something new instead of continuing down the personal finance blogging path. Taking everything she had learned in four and a half years of blogging plus everything she had learned in the Facebook Ads Intensive, she started Kindergarten Ready Skills. In just ten weeks, the growth of her new business had surpassed that of her prior business and just continues to grow by leaps and bounds.   Starting over isn’t always the best idea because you’re losing all the momentum you’ve gained. But if it’s truly what you want to do, you should go for it. All your education and life experience up to that point can propel your new venture forward even faster than before.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode221

Today we are talking about all things writing, book marketing, and strategy with author Brittany Ann. Brittany’s latest book is Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women. This is her first traditionally published book but she also has several self-published books as well.   Brittany loves marketing and has found several strategies to combine traditional and self-publishing to boost her profits while also expanding her impact on the community. There are pros and cons to both types of publishing but Brittany has managed to find a combination that gives her the best of both worlds.   For example, Brittany used a free online conference to help launch her book and grow her email list at the same time. She also self-published a workbook to go along with her traditionally published book. Find out how she did it and get even more tips and information about the publishing world in this episode.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode220  

If you’re a busy business mama, then I’m sure you know all about having a million things to keep track of for your business (and your personal life too!). Maia Xiong of the Business Mom Collective started using Trello to keep her own business organized but soon realized she could help other busy business moms too and The Mompreneur System with Trello was born.   In this week’s episode, we are talking to Maia about having the important foundations in place before starting to run Facebook Ads.  Your sales page needs to touch on your customer’s pain points and it absolutely needs to have customer testimonials. Once she had all the pieces in place, Maia was able to scale her business using ads -- and help more mompreneurs beat overwhelm in the process!   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode219

You probably already know that having a dedicated sales page helps increase your sales. You can go in-depth about your product there, telling all about its features and benefits. But is your sales page working as well as it can? Would you like to have more conversions? More sales?   Over the years I have discovered a few secrets that can bring an ordinary sales page to the next level, bringing people more happy customers.  The first secret? Customer testimonials. Listen to hear what I’ve discovered about how to get more customer testimonials and how to use those testimonials to your best advantage.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode218

Pratima Aravabhoomi of Craft Street Design has always been inspired and encouraged by printed quotes in her home and after a particularly hard time in her life decided to build a business to share the transformative power of words to spread kindness and love.   She started out selling her prints in person at small local yoga shops but knew that she needed to sell online in order to scale and grow the business. She sells on Etsy, Amazon Handmade, and her own website. Her business grew even more when she added Facebook Ads to the mix!   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode217

Rachel Fairchild of This Crafty Home started her blog as a hobby but decided to grow it into a business after having children. It took her awhile to find her niche but now she is growing her business with Freezer Meal products. You won’t want to miss how she found her passion and then grew her audience using Facebook Ads.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode216

Brooke Harris of Happy Simple Mom grew her blog traffic through consistent action and through a collaborative Facebook group run with fellow bloggers in her niche.  Things were great but there’s always room to grow.  After enrolling in the Facebook Ads Intensive, Brooke had a 2X ROAS, tripled her email list in just three months, and did a course launch with results 5 times better than before she started using ads.  The Intensive is aptly named - it’s a lot of time and a lot of work - but it can be an amazing boost to your business.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode215  

If you think you’re late to the blogging game, you’re not alone. Brooke Harris of Happy Simple Mom is sharing the strategies she used to grow her blog in just the past two years. She will tell us how much faster she was able to grow by working together with other bloggers in her niche rather than trying to grow alone.  She gives specific examples of how her strategy of collaboration has helped everyone in her collective succeed.  Brooke also shares her Pinterest and Facebook page strategies for traffic growth. Spoiler alert - consistency is key! Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode214

Are you a creative business owner? Have you ever wondered if you can actually make money while still having fun and being creative?  Sarah Watts from Craft with Sarah did and she’s here to share with us how she's grown her business selling unique, layered SVG design files for the right customers, and expanding her business even more with a course about design.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode213

Are you an online course creator? Is your program financially sustainable? Are you suffering from stress and burnout?  A few years ago I walked away from my course, FB Brilliance, because it was no longer profitable and I was completely burnt out.    My passion for Facebook Ads is so strong though that I couldn’t stay away.  I took a long, hard look at the problems with my course. I made A LOT of changes to my program and now the Facebook Ads Intensive is a financially sustainable program that I enjoy teaching. I am helping my students more than ever and I am sharing my passion for Facebook Ads with the world again!   I dive deep into the problems a lot of course creators face and the changes that I made. I hope you'll get a lot of insight from this episode as I dig in and explore how I found my way back to teaching my passion after throwing in the towel.  If you haven’t started a course yet because you’ve been deterred by the burnout you’ve seen in others, I hope you will find encouragement here to go ahead and get started. Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode212

Hiring for your business is often one of the hardest tasks. If you’ve ever hired even a virtual assistant for a small job, then you know how challenging it can be to lead another person. Amy Gabriel of LippyClip is sharing her insight and advice when it comes to hiring. Her number one tip is to anticipate and hire slowly. Keep listening for more great ideas!   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode211

What if you serve a super-specific niche and you’re struggling to find your ideal customers? You know you can help your people if only they knew you existed. When SEO only takes you so far, consider using Facebook ads to help build your audience.   Brandice Lardner of Grace Filled Plate was having this exact struggle but is finding more of her people every day thanks to Facebook ads. Listen to the whole episode to hear the ups and downs of product creation and email funnel tweaks. Brandice has a simple and straight-forward approach to marketing that uses an email funnel to guide her audience along the food freedom treasure map path she has created to help them. She shows us that it doesn’t have to be flashy to work. A sincere offering of value and expertise will always do well.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode210

Erin Leonard of Notice the Little Things started a daily gratitude habit while in college. She shared her lists with family and friends via email for several years before starting her blog.  Several more years passed until she finally decided to jump in with both feet and really give her blog the time and attention it needed to become a successful business.   Sometimes as busy moms we can be afraid to give our ideas the time or money that they need to grow into a business. Our time, our life experience, and our expertise are valuable and we shouldn’t shy away from sharing our gifts with the world while also getting something in return. Erin decided to give her dreams a chance and thanks to the Facebook Ads Intensive and a lot of hard work, Erin is now earning money from Notice the Little Things while also helping busy moms everywhere uncover and celebrate the little everyday joys of life. Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode209

Megan Jenkins of His Kids Company is a new Christian who channeled her desire to know Jesus and share his word into a fledgling business that sold kids’ t-shirts with Bible verses on them. She gradually expanded her products into other goods such as pillow cases and reusable silicone coloring mats. In the past year she has been able to use Facebook ads to help take away the pressure that she felt to be actively posting and promoting all the time while also bringing in more new customers that love her products and allowing her company to grow even more. Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode208

Amy Gabriel of LippyClip has built her business from a side-hustle that she started to get her husband through grad school into a multi six-figure business! Once she had a successful foundation in place, she was able to expand her business into wholesale and build brand credibility through the press.   Amy talks to us about the importance of building relationships with your audience on both the retail and the wholesale side. Consistency and personal connection are essential in growing a business.  Keep yourself top of mind with your customers because you want them to know who you are and how your product can help them.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode207

When we first start a new business, we jump on every bit of advice we find.  But following all these different methods can lead to confusion and conflict.  Hannah Braniff, of Hannah Handmakes, tells us how finding the Facebook Ads Intensive allowed her to put on her blinders and stick to just one path. This focus has grown her business more than anything she’s done before.   Find the full show notes for this episode here: https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode206

Abbey Ashley of The Virtual Savvy talks to us about how she grew her organic traffic through focused efforts, one platform at a time.  Adding an evergreen webinar funnel grew the sales of her signature course even more.  Finally, she added fuel to the fire with Facebook ads and her business is growing by leaps and bounds! Find the full show notes for this episode at https://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode205

Erika Neumayer of Rare Dirndl shows us how important it is to have a focus, serve your customers well, and be excellent at what you do.  Erika is proof that it’s possible to be successful with a very niche product-based business that has a limited product line. Erika’s German heritage and her passion for fashion design shine in her unique American-made dirndls. Wearing one of her dresses is guaranteed to make your next Oktoberfest or German festival even more fun! Get the full show notes for this episode at http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode204

Intentionality and personal development are often part of our business lives but what if we could figure out how to make it work in our family life too?  Zach and Lesley Lang, hosts of the Half Better Podcast, are here today to encourage us and offer tips to getting our life channels in order.  Find out how their family headquarters system and holistic view of intentional living is helping them keep it all together - personally, professionally, and as a family.  You won't want to miss this episode full of inspiration to be better, together. Get the full show notes for this episode here: HTTP://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode203

Shunta Grant is the founder of Because of Zoe, a little girls’ bow company, and ShuntaGrant.com a business and productivity education company. She helps moms grow their business on the other side of busy. You’ll love hearing how she scaled up her bow company, hires and trains help, and what moves the needle most for her business. Learn more about Shunta at ShuntaGrant.com Get the full show notes for this episode here: http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode202

On today's episode, Beth Anne talks to Ellie Cole of ScentfulWax.com about scaling her E-commerce store using ads. Learn how she's changed $1k months into $15k months! We’re so glad to have you here! Your messy, creative, scattered, joyful, every-day, inspired, crazy life is normal here. We’re with you in the trenches. We’re balancing babies and business, preschoolers and purpose. The balancing act is a struggle, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a place where you can find not only resources and information to help you grow your business, but also community and support. We’re not about information overload or spouting off 100 things you must do today or else! We believe that small steps over time can still make a big difference. We’re about persistence, and celebrating the small wins along with the big ones. Welcome to Brilliant Business Moms!

On today's podcast episode, Beth Anne talks with Jessica Principe of AllGirlShaveClub.com about how she has surpassed her business goals without an outside investor or ad agency! We’re so glad to have you here! Your messy, creative, scattered, joyful, every-day, inspired, crazy life is normal here. We’re with you in the trenches. We’re balancing babies and business, preschoolers and purpose. The balancing act is a struggle, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a place where you can find not only resources and information to help you grow your business, but also community and support. We’re not about information overload or spouting off 100 things you must do today or else! We believe that small steps over time can still make a big difference. We’re about persistence, and celebrating the small wins along with the big ones. Welcome to Brilliant Business Moms!

On today's podcast, Beth Anne talks with Jenelle Augustin of StartyourBoutique.com about 3-tiered offers that will help audiences at a higher level.

On this episode, Beth Anne talks with JoAnn Crohn of NoGuiltMom.com about building email lists and using Facebook Ads to do it! We’re so glad to have you here! Your messy, creative, scattered, joyful, every-day, inspired, crazy life is normal here. We’re with you in the trenches. We’re balancing babies and business, preschoolers and purpose. The balancing act is a struggle, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a place where you can find not only resources and information to help you grow your business, but also community and support. We’re not about information overload or spouting off 100 things you must do today or else! We believe that small steps over time can still make a big difference. We’re about persistence, and celebrating the small wins along with the big ones. Welcome to Brilliant Business Moms!

Learn how one mom blogger grew her income to over 10k/month using Facebook ads.  Corina Holden, a mommy fashion blogger, used Facebook ads to build her email list and earn customers through her tripwire offer right away.  She also retargets her website visitors with a brilliant offer for her outfit guides and capsule wardrobe plan, and she works really hard to build a great community and be super helpful to her audience.   Learn how you can grow your blogging and digital product business using Facebook ads — even if your products are on the more affordable side. For full show notes, go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode197.

Are you struggling to get happy, engaged subscribers onto your email list? Maggie Frank-Hsu has the perfect solution — an email mini course! Learn how to keep your brand new subscribers engaged, excited to open your next email, and encouraged to learn even more from you because of the quick win you’ve given them. For full show notes, go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode196.

I'm so excited to have two guests on today's episode that I happen to know quite well! Donnie and Abby Lawson are the husband-and-wife team behind JustaGirlandherBlog.com, and they are also my brother and sister-in-law! Just A Girl and Her Blog primarily focuses on organization, productivity, and home decor, but Donnie and Abby also share their blogging strategies to help newer bloggers learn how to grow. I'm partnering with Donnie and Abby for their Browser to Buyer course. They walk you through a three-part email marketing system, give you tangible examples from their own business, and even show you their stats and what works for them! So not only is the course on sale from Tuesday, July 30, through Monday, August 5 for $79 (it's normally $99!), but they're also doing it LIVE on August 5-7. To get your hands on this course, you need to go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/B2B. You want to go directly to that page because that's where the sale is happening. Go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode195 for full show notes.

So… just exactly how many email subscribers do I need for a successful online business? Well when it comes to Kara Fidd, you can pull off a 20k digital product launch with a small list! No problem :) It’s way more important to have the RIGHT, targeted subscribers on your list than it is to have lots of the wrong people on that list. Kara Fidd has pulled off two, ridiculously successful product launches with a super small list. Her first launch was to 2,000 subscribers and she made $10,000! Her second launch was to 6,000 subscribers and she made $20,000! Listen to hear what Kara offers her new subscribers, how she structures her launches, and how she makes sales on auto-pilot each day. Full show notes at brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode194.

Instagram Stories can be an incredible way to build close relationships with your audience online and build your business. But… you might be stumped on what to say! (I used to feel that way, too!) After committing to IG Stories for more than 8 months now, I’m no longer stumped on what to say, and sharing something daily feels really easy!   Keep reading (or press play on the podcast player!) to learn 7 Things to Share when you Have No Idea What to Say. (And these don’t involve long episodes of teaching or getting on video! These are truly easy-peasy things you can say in a jiffy!) It’s time to find the fun in IG Stories and use them to build your business! Get the full show notes at brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode193.

Have you written off Instagram Stories for your business because they feel too time-consuming or complicated? I used to feel the same way!  When I finally dug deep and learned how to use Stories to connect with my audience, I discovered it was EASY to always have content to share by deciding on my 3 main content buckets, and I discovered that by focusing on building relationships most of all, I’m able to convert WAY MORE of my Instagram Stories viewers into customers than on any other platform. Don’t ignore Instagram Stories, because they’re a powerful way to build your business! Keep reading for best practices and strategies that work.

Today I'm talking with Ashley Monda of Sunshine Sticker Co. I have known Ashley for quite a few years in the online business space, and I've watched her grow this business from the ground up. Ashley started Sunshine Sticker Co. in 2015 and is currently making a steady income from it! She has had such incredible focus: She hasn't veered off course, she knows who her customers are, and she serves them by continually creating and giving them all the planner products that they want! Ashley has used her Facebook group to build really strong relationships with her customers and earn more sales in the process. You're going to love hearing about that, because Ashley didn't have to build up a beast of a Facebook group to see results! Her group has about 3,200 members and is the lifeblood of her business. I just love her focus on taking care of her customers. We all know that is the very best way to build your business. For show notes, go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode191.

Do you ever feel like you can’t start or grow your business right now because …. (fill in the blanks here - life’s too busy, your kiddos are little and need too much of your time, your kiddos are BIG and need too much of your time, life’s too stressful, you don’t have enough support, and the list goes on….)The fastest way to pull yourself out of excuse-land is to take one little baby step every single day. You can absolutely find a few minutes a day to start making progress. And life doesn’t have to be perfect to get started. Annie Quigley of AnnieQuigleyArtist.com is proof that baby steps pay off. She started her online art business when her first baby was born. She worked in the margins as a stay-at-home mom. THEN, her husband deployed for 14 months and she had TWO babies at home! She worked at nap time every single day, and built up a business that now provides a full-time income for her family! She honed her craft, never gave up, posted consistently on Instagram, and builds relationships there to keep her sales strong.

When we hear business success stories, it’s easy to feel like everyone else’s path was so simple and straightforward (and nothing but up, right?!) Well… that’s rarely true, and in today’s interview with Medina King, I love how open and honest she is about her setbacks and struggles to grow her Interior Design business. Medina first grew her business as a side hustle -- taking consultation calls in the bathroom while working her day job, and working late into the night too! Then she had a baby, and she felt so discouraged at her lack of clients that she considered working for someone else instead. Thankfully, she received several important signs that she should keep going, and she did! You’ll love hearing Medina’s story, and her advice on using content marketing to build your business. EVERYONE should be creating blog content to help build their business -- even if you don’t consider yourself a blogger. Take it from Medina -- creating helpful, interesting blog content has brought her a steady stream of interior design clients. Go to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode189 for full show notes.

In this episode, you're going to love the way Laura Smith of iheartplanners.com turned her product launch for her Sweet Life Planner into a true party. I mean, we're talking a 7-day full week Planner Palooza. What I love about this launch strategy is that Laura just gave and gave to her audience. She didn't have to be sales-y at all and it was so much fun. You'll hear all about the incredible value that Laura offered to her audience, but how that also turned into so many sales that she sold out of her sweet life planner early. Get the full show notes at brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode188.

When someone tells me they took two of their slowest sales months and turned them into their BEST sales months … my ears perk up big time! That's exactly what Molly Goodall has done by using Brilliant Product Launches in her business, Little Goodall. Now...in Molly's case they're called Private Sales, and she uses Private Sales to: 1.) Build up a list of targeted email subscribers who are interested in her products. Molly says she grows her email list by thousands of people (usually a 30% list size increase) when she's promoting access to her Private Sale! 2.) Generate excitement around her Private Sale event, which lasts for a limited time, and includes deals on her products that her audience can't get at any other time. 3.) Sell like crazy during the live sale period (her version of a product launch), because her audience is primed and ready to buy, and she's created a brilliant offer that doesn't last long. My favorite part about Molly's Private Sales? She's not creating all sorts of new products in order to generate these incredible numbers. She's taking items she already has and making the most of them. Absolutely brilliant!

Have you ever gotten discouraged because a goal you’re working towards is taking you so much longer than expected? I definitely have! In this age of instant gratification and “overnight successes” it’s easy to feel like we just don’t have what it takes if our journey feels slower than others. Nothing could be further from the truth, and my podcast guest today is here to prove that to you. Rayzel Lam built up a niche blog audience around a really narrow (and controversial!) diet plan. She focused on serving her audience as best she could -- with videos and blog posts, emails and building community in a Facebook group -- and then she launched a brilliant program to help them take the next step towards their weight loss success. Rayzel’s program took her nearly 2 years to complete!! (I know….!!!) The day before she planned to launch it, she was crying in the shower feeling completely overwhelmed. She couldn’t get her sales page just right and felt like giving up. Instead…. Some of her sneaky subscribers found their way to her unfinished sales page and bought the program anyway! It was just the shove Rayzel needed to launch her brilliant program. So she did! She earned $30k in sales over her 4-day promotional period, and this program has gone on to earn her, on average, just under 9k in sales every single month since. I’m so glad she didn’t give up just because her goal took a long time to complete! And friend, I don’t want you to give up either. Take that next step, and launch your brilliant product. Get the full show notes here: http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode186

Do you know what a product launch is? You might think it’s just for fancy start-up companies, or maybe a product launch only applies to a brand new product, but that’s not true! You can use a product launch strategy to market ANY physical or digital product (and even affiliate products!) for incredible results. With a product launch, you’ll take your audience on a beautiful journey so that they understand what your product is, who it’s for, how it can help them, and get them excited to buy on launch day! Get the full show notes for this episode here: http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode185

Have you ever thought that growing an online business was simply out of your league? Maybe you’re a mom with kids at home, and you’re not sure you have the time or talent to grow the business you’ve been dreaming about? Today’s podcast guest, Bethany Dasko, has been there too. She’s a single mom with 3 kids, and when she lost her job last year, she decided to treat her online store like a real job instead, and her results are pretty incredible! Bethany’s Shopify store now supports her family full-time, and she’s also used her shop income to pay off all of her consumer debt. Bethany doesn’t sell anything super expensive or crazy unique (she’s not a magical unicorn!) She sells SVG files - which are design files that can be used with a Cricut cutting machine or Silhouette machine. Her products range in price from $3.50 to $100. What Bethany DOES do that’s a little unique, is use a product launch system to sell more of her designs. She knows how to create an irresistible offer for her audience and get them really excited and ready to buy when her offer goes live. Bethany says that product launches have played a huge role in her business growth, AND she has a whole lot of fun doing them! Get the full show notes for this episode here: http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode184

Hey friend, do you feel pangs of guilt when someone tells you they can’t afford your products? I’ve been there, too! Learn why you shouldn’t feel guilty about this, why that comment truly has nothing to do with you, and how to add more value to your products so you can confidently charge more. Friend, your business, your family, your customers, and your sanity depend on you charging based on the value your products bring to the table. Step it on up, sister! You can raise your prices and not worry about the Bargain Brendas trying to bring you down. Get the full show notes at brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode183 

Feeling a little blah about your business? Hear my story of steering my work-at-home-mom business in a completely different direction, why that wasn't the solution at all, and the 9 signs to look for that show you might be feeling burned out. Plus, learn how to get the joy back in your business and make it feel fresh and fun again WITHOUT starting something brand new that takes up all of your time! Get the full shownotes here:  http://brilliantbusinessmoms.com/episode182

Surprise! I’ve got another team member on the podcast for you. This will be our last podcast episode of 2017, and you can expect new episodes beginning again in February 2018. (Awwww! Don’t miss us too much! You can always listen back to old episodes in the meantime.) I think Victoria’s thoughts will be a great way to leave 2017. She talks about ways to honor your own boundaries and prevent burnout in your life. As you plan for 2018, I hope you’ll keep these thoughts in mind. To get a head start on setting your own boundaries and goals, head to: bit.ly/blpprintables.

I’m super excited for this special holiday episode! I invited my team member Carlee on the show to talk about her family’s holiday traditions. What I love about Carlee’s unique take on holidays is how refreshingly simple it is. By keeping Christmas others-focused rather than stuff and events-focused, Carlee and her family get to serve others, make a lot of great memories together, and kiss overwhelm goodbye in the process. Press play to hear from Carlee!    If you’re like me and you don’t love the “gimme focus” the holidays can bring, you can decide to change that focus in your home! The way to start is by making a list of what matters most to you that holiday season. Believe it or not, we don’t buy our kids a lot of presents. But before you think our real last name is Scrooge, hang with me! I’ll explain what we do instead. When our family made this list of what mattered most to us during the holidays, making great memories within our little family made the top of the list, along with finding ways to bless others and get the focus off of ourselves. Here are our the four traditions we follow each year to keep Christmas meaningful and simple. Prompt Acts of Kindness Go Easy On The Presents Surprise Another Family In Need Bless Your Community Let’s look at those traditions in detail. Prompt Acts of Kindness Every year during the first week of December, the five of us as a family each put our name in a hat, and everyone draws a name. That week, each person focuses on showing extra kindness to the family member they drew -- from serving them to giving little gifts or taking care of a chore for them. And, we really want to make sure our kids know their gestures are just as important as what my husband and I can give as adults. It’s not about size or money when it comes to serving each other, but heart and intention. Our kids did all sorts of things to show kindness, like coloring a picture, telling a joke, putting that family member’s shoes away, carrying groceries, or leaving little treats on a pillow. Over the years it has been so fun to watch our kids get creative with how they can serve one another. The next week, we each draw different names and the tradition keeps going all December-long. Go Easy On The Present Alright, don’t throw the eggs from your holiday cookies at me! We do get our children a small gift, but it’s not the main focus of Christmas for us. (Plus, they get plenty of gifts from extended family!) Here’s what we do instead: At the end of November or beginning of December, we’ll dedicate a weekend or two to taking each child individually on a ‘Christmas Date’. They get to pick their meal of choice at a restaurant of choice. We take our time at these dates! My husband and I ask our kids reflective questions about the past year:  What were their greatest joys and challenges? We especially like showing our kids that because they’ve overcome one challenge, they can overcome another. We also help our children set goals for the coming year, and it’s been great to see how those goals have changed over the years. After our Christmas Date meal, we head out to a few stores and give our kids a budget with the goal of purchasing gifts for their siblings. Our kids chip in with money they’ve earned themselves, too. This has been a wonderful way to foster our family bond, and it keeps our focus on others. Surprise Another Family In Need One tradition we all have so much fun with is surprising an unsuspecting family in need around the holidays. We’ll often fill our gifts with groceries and gifts for the kids in that family, and we deliver them every night for 12 nights leading up to Christmas Eve! The espionage-factor is half the fun and we try to keep our identity a secret the whole time. This year we’re going to try out a 12 Days of Christmas theme where we match each gift to the items in the song. My kids came up with doughnuts as the “5 golden rings” in an instant! (If you have any themed gift ideas, I’d love to hear them!) We make so many great memories each year by blessing another family in this way, and it’s a lot less stressful than hosting fancy parties or other Christmas events we could attend. Bless Your Community Of course the holidays are fun and festive, but for many people the holidays are sad, lonely, or just plain stressful. We encourage our family to take that one extra step to serve our community. If you can make anyone’s day a little bit easier or happier, I promise that gesture will go a long way! Some ideas to get you started: Offer to help load groceries Leave a bigger-than-usual tip Pay-it-forward in the drive thru Help a neighbor put up decorations Shovel snow for a neighbor or business Invite a family having a hard time over for a meal What ideas can you come up with? Here’s the bottom line: Prioritize what’s meaningful to your family, give yourself permission to say no, and look outside yourself this holiday season. I’d love to hear if you’ll be bringing any of these ideas into your home this December. Leave a comment and let me know! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! ~ Carlee

Anne Bogel was one of the very first guests on the Brilliant Business Moms podcast. And I still remember the giddiness my sister and I felt when she was the first ‘big’ person who agreed to an interview. (If you don’t know, my sister and I launched this podcast back in 2014. Sarah has since left to pursue her own business and she’s doing great!) Though Anne modestly received the compliment, I’m still pretty delighted to have a noteable blogger on the show - again! Since our 2014 interview, Anne has since added ‘author’ to her list of credentials. Her book, Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything*, launched this year and is available now. Knowing yourself isn't as simple as taking an online quiz like ‘Which seltzer water best describes your personality?’. (True story!) What I love about Anne’s book, and our conversation, is that it helped me delve deeper into what makes me, well, me so I can best optimize my success. If you’re coming to this topic with no prior knowledge of personality types, that’s okay! Psychologists say that if you don’t know anything else about your personality, knowing if you’re Introverted or Extroverted is a good starting point, it’s the ‘the North and South of Temperament’. What if you’re one of those people whose personality type is that they hate personality types, as my husband would say!? Anne has thoughts for you, too! Other topics we discuss include: Clues that you might be a Highly Sensitive Person (experts say about 15%-20% of species are highly sensitive) and what you can do to unlock the keys to understanding a finely calibrated nervous system. How your personality affects how you run your business. How you can leverage your personality to plan your day. And the benefit of knowing how people’s differences helps you view the world.   If you’re ready for some self-discovery, click play below: (embed player) *Amazon affiliate link. Stay in Touch With Anne Site: Modern Mrs. Darcy Book: Reading People Facebook: @ModernMrsDarcy Instagram: @annebogel

Digital designer, professor, PR specialist, small business owner, wife, mom of two - you might listen to the many roles of Lydia Kitts and think, “Woah, this sister needs to take something off her plate!” But before you go all ‘Judge Judy’ on Lydia, take a listen to the podcast. You’ll hear exactly how Lydia juggles so many things at once, while keeping people first, and does it with excellence. We at Brilliant Business Moms are just in awe of her! Lydia lets us in on her unique planning philosophy, which involves using a combination of 3 planners. (I know, right!?) Throughout our interview, you’ll notice how Lydia is hyper-focused on the task at hand. She doesn’t let herself get distracted by giving every task a spot in her day, and keeping tasks in their spots. In this interview, you’ll also get to hear Lydia answer a great question from one of our Brilliant Business Moms. Amy Gabriel asked, “I want to know how to build a timeless brand that has a strong and loyal following. How do you look at modern trends and base designs off of the current style, but also build something that will last for years to come?” You’ll just eat up Lydia’s answer! If you follow the productivity tips and hacks Lydia drops in this episode, you’ll be able to keep your family first AND your clients happy just like she does. If this all sounds like information you need as a momprenuer, hit the play button below! Resources Mentioned: Lydia’s 3 Planner System: a Legal Pad, The Brilliant Life Planner, and an academic planner Freezer Meal Planning with OnceAMonthMeals.com Branding Insight with The Brand Alchemist's Archetype Test Keep in Touch With Lydia Site: TurnquistHouse.com Facebook: @TurnquistHouse

  Today on the show we have a very special business mom and friend, Courtney Westlake. We’ve actually gotten the chance to meet and hang out in person, which was super fun! I met her sweet family and she met Holden; we just had a great time together!   Courtney has been blogging since 2011 at CourtneyWestlake.com. She shares a lot about her story of being Mom to Brenna, who has a very rare skin condition and special need.   Courtney is a blogger, published author, and now a very successful freelancer. I know you’ll learn a lot from hearing her story!   1:15 - Courtney’s Unexpected Beginnings As a Blogger   The majority of people will know of Courtney via her blog, which she began to document her daughter Brenna’s birth and early days in late 2011. Her daughter was born with a rare skin condition and accompanying special needs. (You can watch Courtney’s family story here...major tissue warning!) She originally started her blog to update family and friends, but the circle of readers quickly grew. The more Courtney wrote, the more people read! Courtney had no end-goal in mind with her writing, she was just processing being a mom to a child with an unexpected diagnosis.   In 2014, Courtney got a chance to meet a literary agent and she signed with her. And in 2015 she signed a book deal! A Different Beautiful came out in 2016.   2:55 - What’s It Really Like Publishing a Book? I’ve had the pleasure of reading Courtney’s book and absolutely loved it. She is a very talented writer! I know many of you are thinking about monetizing your writing platform, and Courtney has some great book publishing insights.   Of course, there are a lot of ways you can go about book publishing. Courtney self-published a children’s book in 2014; her non-fiction book was traditionally published two years later.   She says the two experiences were so different! Courtney’s advice to help you choose your path? Think about your goal.   Courtney’s purpose in writing was to get her message out. Traditional publishing isn’t a super lucrative endeavor. She did receive an advance (an amount the publisher anticipates the author to sell in the first year) and once her book sold the amount of that advance, then she could start earning royalties. And to make sure there are no rose-colored glasses on, royalties are only about 15% of the sale of the book, not a lot!   It really is easy to look at big time authors on best seller lists and glamorize their success. But most first-time authors don’t earn very much money.   If you choose to self-publish with e-books or something like a print-on-demand service, Courtney says you can expect to make more of your own money, but your book may not get as far of a reach. For example, Courtney’s traditionally published book could be purchased at Barnes & Nobles in the US, Australia, and Canada. (Isn’t that so neat?!)   I can tell you from the outside-looking-in, Courtney’s book launch looked so cool! She has a sizeable following and has built great relationships with her readers. Courtney’s publisher was really happy with her launch, which of course made her proud!   There aren’t many ways to slice it: launching a product is a lot of work. And that’s just how launches go. During my most recent big launch, FB Brilliance, I really appreciated having my team to delegate to. And Courtney, also, had a launch team that did some of the work for her. Automating as many processes as possible is another great way to lighten the launch-time load.   7:05 - Transitioning from SAHM to Freelancer One reason I wanted to have Courtney on the podcast is because she recently told me that she’s been able to do about 15 hours of freelance work a week, and replace her full-time job income! HOLY COW! I had to know how that’s working!   Before having kids, Courtney worked in a Public Relations department at a local university. After her first child - a son who is now 8 - was born, she started staying home. (Isn’t that true of so many of us?) She freelanced here and there, trying to see what would stick, but the jobs didn’t pay much.   With the birth of Brenna, her daughter’s special need was very consuming for a long time.   Now that both Courtney’s children are school-aged, she’s got the chance to do pursue more formal work again. She started writing pieces for different publications, and then eventually scored some business clients.   Those corporate clients are what have potential for high income. Last January she decided to maximize the growth and really go for it! It’s been going really well. To date Courtney keeps four really great regular clients, and a few others who provide less regular work, but are clients she really wants to work with.   With her kids now in school she can take on more work, and the increase has been a total blessing to her family. She can use her creativity and passion to earn a decent income   9:25 - The Ins and Outs of Writing for Businesses What does it look like writing for a business? Content marketing is a buzzword these days, and the jist of it means is writing blogs, email newsletters, and website pages for any business.   For her clients, Courtney has provided the content - the written words - for entire websites before! She also has created sitemaps, going through the pages on their website they want revamped and so on.   For her regular clients, she almost acts as a marketing consultant in addition to providing the writing. Courtney’s clients can bounce ideas off her, and she loves learning what’s latest in marketing, writing, sales, and online media. It’s a win win!   10:33 - Kinds of Businesses Hire Freelance Writers? I love that Courtney does writing for a variety of businesses. Included in her portfolio is: a construction company, a mid-sized bank, a content marketing agency that specializes in education writing (working with schools through them), and a nonprofit.   11:15 - Getting That First Writing Gig Back in January, Courtney decided she would really go for the freelance work. She stared out by emailing different contacts locally, people she had worked with before or had some prior connection to. In those initial emails, she outlined why she thought the managers should hire her, ideas she had for their company, and so on. As cold outreach goes, she got back a lot of “Thanks, but no thanks” messages.   But - finally! - a yes came.   Her first big gig was a company wanting help with their website.   It snowballed from there. The last few months she’s tried to take the initiative and focus on people she really wants to work for.   12:12 - A Personal Touch Makes All the Difference Going the extra mile to make a personal connection in those initial outreaches makes a huge difference. The content marketing agency she’s currently working with Courtney found on a freelance forum. The agency posted their need to have a writer who could take occasional jobs. Most of the commenters on the thread wrote back with a generic reply we’ve all seen, “Send me a PM!”   But Courtney went a step further.   She went to the agency’s website and got to know the firm. She found a direct email address and wrote a kind message to the agency director. Courtney got back a message almost immediately. The agency was interested!   Courtney took the next step to go directly to the director via email, which made her stand out from all the other commenters!   (And trust me! As a business owner who gets unsolicited pitches all the time. I can tell right away who took time to be personal and who didn’t.)   13:50 - When Charging Your Worth Makes You Go ‘Eeep!’ It can feel so uncomfortable to share your rates! I totally struggle with this on the odd-occasion I accept a coaching call for a high rate. And Courtney has struggled with that same feeling, too. In fact, the morning of our interview she quoted a job and didn’t land it because of her price. But at the end of the day, as mamapreneurs we have to stick with our prices! We know what we’re worth, and we know our clients and customers will get what they pay for. One person may not see your value, but that doesn’t mean many others won’t see it.   Courtney agrees it’s much easier to be choosy with jobs when she has a fuller load and not that urgent NEED for income. It’s certainly more fun to pick jobs that you’ll enjoy and know will bring a good income!   She’s been able to reach this ability to choose who she wants to work for (and be confident in her rates) by slowly and steadily building clients and sticking to her rate. “It takes time,” she says, “But you’ll get where you want to be. You have to know what your work is worth.”   And let’s be honest, ladies! Taking time away from our family or errands we need to do isn’t easy. Our time is valuable.   16:55 - Raising Rates and Regular Clients Has Courtney raised her rates since building out her client portfolio? Her short answer is yes, but the change is hard to quantify since her writing projects are so varied. For some jobs she still gets paid hourly, though her hourly rate is high enough she’s happy with it.   Other jobs pay per project, and she certainly has raised the project rate the more jobs she’s gotten.   How does Courtney decide which jobs to take? She trusts her gut. When she meets a client and hears about their project, if her first thought is a ‘Heck Yes!’ she’ll go for it. And if not? She gives herself the freedom to pass.   18:18 - What Does A Writing Project Look Like? Primarily, Courtney writes for websites, both updating the content of entire sites and writing new blog posts.   When she’s crafting the content for an entire site, she’ll make a site map of the different pages and what content needs to be on those pages, and then she writes the content.   For blog post writing, sometimes clients give her an idea of what they want and let Courtney do most of the work and research. Some provide talking points and she will build a post from the client’s initial work.   All of Courtney’s writing is what’s called ghostwriting. That means she tries to adapt her voice to match the client’s to make it seem as if the client is actually the one who wrote the piece. That means Courtney doesn’t get credit for her work, but she’s okay with that! It’s like she gets to put on a different costume each day and pretend to be a different person!   One project Courtney is currently loving is a case study she’s putting together. She’s gotten to interviewing her client’s client and write about their experience for marketing purposes. It’s like a journalistic piece, super fun!   20:10 - Is Courtney Still Building Her Personal Blog Brand? With this new freelance schedule, is Courtney still blogging and building her personal brand? She admits did take a break from blogging over the summer, which allowed her to settle into the freelance schedule. Courtney has a new idea for an ebook, and wants to keep blogging to see where else it will take her.   At the same time, Courtney is confident that she’s finding her stride writing for others. She really likes the business to business model, rather than business to consumer.   22:22 - Do What You Enjoy It’s natural to look around at the leaders in your niche and want to copy their steps for success. In Courtney’s experience (and my own!) there really isn’t one, clear path. She knows what success looks like for herself, how she wants her days to run, and knew that freelance business writing is the way to make it happen.   25:30 - Scaling a Service-Based Business It is hard to scale a service-based business. You personally only have so many hours a day and finite resources to work with. Unless you hire additional people to provide your service, service-based businesses really can have some limits!   But Courtney has found that freelance copywriting works so well for her. The income she makes suits her goals. She doesn’t have to hustle all day long, she can just do her work on her schedule and bring in a decent income.   (The potential for a copywriter income is huge! Seriously. I’ve seen some charging $1,000 an hour! Copywriters Courtney knows are making $100,000 or more a year.)   26:50 - Taking Off The Rose Colored Glasses (Downsides to Freelancing) We’ve been really talking up how great the freelance life can be...buuut, what’s the downside? Has Courtney ever had a total client disaster!? What’s the tough part of being a freelancer? Years ago Courtney worked on a small project for a client referred to her by a friend. Courtney wrote a few press releases for this client and, as you do, billed for the work. And...crickets. Courtney send a few more messages, but never got a response. The client had gone totally off the radar, and Courtney didn’t get paid! Courtney says, “I felt really dumb to have not gotten some sort of deposit or something.”   Since then, Courtney has been extra careful with payment measures. And thankfully this lesson wasn’t learned on a huge project.   29:30 - Adorable Mom Moment Courtney’s son Connor talked so much about how he loved the tacos at school, so Courtney made burritos for her family. Of course, he hated Courtney’s burritos!   She asked him, “How are these different than the ones at school?”   “Well...the school’s are good,” He responded.   Oh my goodness!! We work so hard for these kids! And at the end of the day, they just want cafeteria food.   Stay in Touch With Courtney Blog: http://www.courtneywestlake.com/ Writing: http://www.westlakewrites.com/ Instagram: @cwestlake Facebook: Blessed by Brenna

Lauren Keplinger is a fellow military spouse (hoo-ah!), and mom of three kids ages 5, 4, and 1. She started her shop, Funky Monkey Children, during her husband’s deployment to Afghanistan in 2012. Since that time, she’s grown her custom business to over six figures in sales, including over 5,000 sales on Etsy. And, remember, she did this through deployments, moves, and the birth of 3 kids! If Lauren can grow a biz, I know you can, too! Listen Now 1:16 - When Mom Wants More When Lauren was pregnant with her 2nd child, her first was only about 6 months old. She got started sewing as a hobby with a really terrible sewing machine she bought at a yard sale. Lauren would make John Johns for her son and burp cloths for the new baby.   But she wanted more. (How many of us have felt that way!?)   As a military spouse, so much of life revolves around her husband’s job. She wanted a challenge for herself while she was home with an infant. Lauren started selling her creations on Etsy and the business just grew from there. She says it’s been a wild ride! 2:40 - Etsy vs. Self-Hosted Site?? Having her own site is a recent development in the last 18 months. The majority of her sales are still on Etsy. And a question we frequently get is, “Should I use Etsy or a self-hosted site?” What’s Lauren’s answer? She has mixed feelings! Etsy has a great built in traffic and its own platform. She can test new products and quickly see how they’ll perform with the built-in traffic of Etsy. She’s found it harder to drive traffic to her own site. Lauren does keep an active Instagram account and has found that’s where most of her site traffic comes from. But beyond social media or word-of-mouth referrals, it’s been tough! For now, Lauren is Team Etsy because of the opportunities. It’s tough to have a sustainable business site without a strong following. (I agree! The main way we drive traffic to our own shop is paid advertising.) Bottom line: If you build it they don’t necessarily come. 4:05 - A Perk of Having Your Own Shop Site I wanted to offer my experience that one mega benefit I’ve found of running a self-hosted shop is that I can easily collect email subscribers and get back in front of people with new products. (Especially when it comes to Facebook ads!) Lauren does leverage her Etsy sells by including a card with a coupon code that works on her self-hosted site in every package, but she says the use of the codes are hit and miss. But the strategy is smart! 90% of her purchases are gifts for other people, being sent directly to the recipients. Lauren already has the potential of the gift-giver to be a repeat customer, and by including the coupon code she can try to bring the recipient on as a new customer. Though Lauren says she has a few customers who have purchased from her multiple times always via Etsy, despite the coupon codes to her own site! Another smart way Lauren tries to optimize email subscribers is by including her newsletter link on the message Etsy sends following checkout. 6:20 - Selling What Your Customers Want Originally Lauren started selling baby items, because that was her season of life. At first she thought her products would be higher-end baby items, but turns out that’s not what Lauren’s customers wanted. She always took custom orders on Etsy. And over time, she let those custom orders change her business direction as more people were interested in nursery items and baby shower gifts. (As we’ve heard time and again on this show, listening to customers is a perfect way to grow your business!) 7:30 - Simplifying Gift Giving for More Sales Is there anything a shop owner can do to make their products easy to give as gifts? Lauren has some great practices! Offering product customizations is an instant hit with gift-givers. I absolutely love how Lauren thinks of the list-minute shoppers (like me!) by offering her ‘Rush Order Upgrade’ service. She ships products even faster through priority shipping. In other words, you could order from Funky Monkey Children on Monday and receive your order in time for a baby shower that weekend. Let’s be honest, people don’t always think that far ahead in advance when it comes to giving gifts, especially for baby showers! I absolutely love that Lauren truly thinks about her customers’ needs and finds ways to meet them. 9:20 - Hey, Etsy! Here’s an idea! By the way, wouldn’t it be great if Etsy could filter your search based on turnaround time!? I would definitely choose shops with rush shipping for their fabulous products! 10:00 - Learning as You Go by Doing the Work Lauren started Funky Monkey Children with no prior business background! She learned a lot by trial and error. She started her shop buying bibs from Babies ‘R’ Us and monogramming names on them. Since that time, she’s worked hard to increase quality by (you guessed it!) listening to customer feedback. In the early days she would get comments that one fabric seemed too thin or a certain bib wasn’t very high-quality. Hearing critical comments about your work can be hard to take, especially for someone, like Lauren, who doesn’t have any background knowledge in business (or sewing, for that matter!). Where the heck do you even find thicker fabric? To answer those questions Lauren did the her homework and looked at how she could improve things. It seems like a lot of work to undertake, and it is, but Lauren’s goal was always to have a sustainable business, not be a hobby seller. Because of that commitment, she has committed to great customer service. Lauren knows that part of the job is to do the work of resolving and correcting issues, making it super easy to be a Funky Monkey Customer. I’ve totally seen Etsy or other handmade sellers really struggle when they get negative feedback. It feels personal, but Lauren has a fresh, wonderful perspective: It’s just a business transaction. “If it’s not what you want, I’ll make it right,” wins every time. 12:00 - Two Strategies for Helping Unhappy Customers One of Lauren’s most frustrating instances of an unhappy customer is when the customer ordered the wrong size and then was mad that the product came in the size she had ordered! Lauren keys in on the emotions many of us have felt: “It’s hard when you’re working so hard on your business and you don’t want to spend the time to do it again or work for free! It’s hard to balance.” One of her practices that’s been so helpful is to wait a day before responding to any criticism. Sleeping on it helps her to not have an emotional response, so she can approach it as the business transaction it is. Again, her philosophy really takes the pressure off: “They bought it, they’re not happy, and I can take care of it. It’s not the end of the world.” I’ll admit - customer care really it’s hard for me! I don’t do my customer service anymore, and it’s a good thing! That’s a second strategy to handling customer care, outsourcing it. One on hand I can be super giving and when I think the cause is worthy I’ll give away whatever! But when customers want refunds for a reason that feels to me like they’re cheating the system, I get super emotional! As always in business, compensate for weaknesses and play to your strengths. All of Lauren’s trial and error, testing and learning, have really paid off. Now she consistently gets great feedback that, in turn, perpetuates sales. She’s got 5-stars on Etsy and over 1,100 reviews; her shop stats clearly speak for themselves! 14:10 - Where to Source Products? When you care deeply about quality, how can you get the right products for your custom work? As usual, Lauren spent time trying and testing a bunch of options. She said she has hundreds of dollars worth of stuff she’s ordered sitting in her basement simply because they don’t meet her standards. Another way she’s found products is by watching the conversations in Facebook groups specifically for embroidering and applique businesses. She would follow threads in those groups in which makers would mention their materials companies, then place a sample order herself. I think it’s totally brilliant that, after Lauren made a sample order, she would try out the pieces on her own kids to see how the fabrics held up. Because we all know that how an item looks out of the bag is totally different after a few washes and drying cycles. What a great idea to use her kids as tiny product testers! 15:22 - How Many Materials Do You Order? Placing an order is so tricky! How does a newer business owner decide how big of an order to place?   Lauren didn’t start with wholesale purchases. She started buying pieces from Amazon and Babies ‘R’ Us, and it was a slow process from there. Eventually, she upgraded her burp cloths, and then bibs. About two years ago she took a huge leap in her business and started buying bigger quantities, which allowed her to expand since not only did those larger quantities increase her profit margins, they also increased the variety of products she had available. 16:25 -  How Lauren Gets It Done Where is Lauren now in business? What does her order fulfillment process looks like? Is she still embordering, packaging, and shipping every order herself? Or does she have help? Lauren is still running her business all on her own. While putting in those kind of womanhours week after week is certainly impressive, she freely admits it’s not sustainable for the long term and expects changes in the coming months. Much of her growth has come on quickly and her business has doubled in the last year. Steady childcare has made a big difference in her ability to grow her business. For a while she worked at naps and bedtime. In fact, for one entire year she worked weekends - all day Saturday and Sunday. Her family made this decision to save up money while her husband transitioned out of active military duty, but everyone understood the arrangement wouldn’t be perfect. Last year she put all of her children in school, 5 days a week. Her two youngest go to preschool from 8:00am - 11:45am and her oldest child is in kindergarten. Lauren only works during those times and has found it to be so helpful mentally! When you’re trying to fit in work at every turn, it really is a recipe for stress and often feels as if there’s never enough time. It’s helpful for Lauren to know there are set working hours, plus she can always pick up work later if needed. 20:00 - Business Mom and Military Spouse About 6 months after starting Funky Monkey Children, Lauren’s husband deployed to Afghanistan. The Keplingers knew that this major adjustment was coming, and building the business during that time ended up being a great blessing to them. It’s been a source of income that’s followed her family through countless moves and many life transitions. Being a military spouse, there have been many times Lauren’s business has taken a backseat to family life, and she’s had to be okay with that. I appreciate how honest Lauren is in this interview! She says straight up that the pause moments often felt more like setbacks. And it IS frustrating because Lauren says it felt like every time she got momentum in the business, something would happen and she’d have to slow it down again. But in the midst of so much instability, it was great to have something stable. She didn’t have to start a new job each time her husband received a new assignment; she could just keep building what she had already started. 22:45 - Business Game Changers This past year, Lauren’s business has really taken off. What made it happen for her?? Adding child care has been a great help to Lauren as she grows her business. (And we talked a lot about this earlier, so no need to rehash here!) This tip is a clever one! Lauren doesn’t have any data to back this up, only her anecdotal experience, but the findings are interesting! She’s been noticing on Etsy that her sales will be really consistent as long as she’s consistently shipping things out. If she’s shipping every single day, sales are consistent. But if she gets really busy and misses three to four days of working and shipping, her sales will decline for a few days until she ships out again. In short, the more active she is in her shop, the more active her shop is. If she’s updating pictures, adding new listings, or doing any sort of general tinkering, it seems to drive sales higher. Adding a variety of products has been also been a huge factor in the growth of Funky Monkey Children. And finally, continuing to take custom orders has been a bit of a Golden Ticket for her growth! When people request custom orders and those sell well, it gives Lauren a whole new shop category! For example, she’s been selling baby quilts. Those started out when she created a few for friends, and took photos to put in her shop. Then, guess what? The custom orders came in! “Can you make one with just initials and a birth date?” “Can you make a quilt for a baptism with a cross?” Oftentimes we shop owners might think one particular product will be so successful, but it isn’t always! You aren’t always marketing to people just like you. It’s a good nuance to remember. 26:45 - Is Etsy oversaturated? To finish our chat, we address that constant question, “Is Etsy oversaturated?” Lauren’s bottom line is this: If you make your products stand out, you’ll build and expand. And hint: you don’t have to be the cheapest to stand out! (You’ll have to listen to hear Lauren talk about why standing out isn’t a race to the bottom for pricing!) There’s room for growth on Etsy if you have a unique product, with a unique angle. It may be cheesy, but I feel that it’s true that ‘the cream will always rise to the top’. If you always work hard to serve your customers well, to be different, to find a space to shine, you know you’ll rise to the top. People are buying things all the time. There’s plenty of room for more sellers. 30:05 - Adorable Mom Moment Lauren’s 4-year-old daughter just decided she likes yoga. And yoga is the least competitive activity ever, right? But with 3 kids everything is a competition. The other day her daughter was finishing up her yoga video and said, “You know mom. I’m going to keep practicing yoga every single day. I’m going to go up to my room and practice with no one watching. And then I’ll become a yoga champion!!!” So cute! Stay in Touch with Lauren Site: FunkyMonkeyChildren.com Etsy: Funky Monkey Children Facebook: @FunkyMonkeyChildren