Podcast appearances and mentions of monica froese

In this episode, I'm talking to Monica Froese of Empowered Business. She helps women create digital shops so they can maximize their profits. We discussed AI and its impact on digital product creation. Visit the show notes at BeckyBeachShow.com to sign up for Monica's Free Challenge, "Start Your AI Engines," which starts Monday, January 27th. You get a BONUS AI training from me when you sign up. During this challenge, Monica and her team will help you come up with ideas and create your own AI-powered digital products.

In today's episode, I'm chatting with digital product expert Monica Froese. Monica shares how she transitioned from corporate America to launching over 250 digital products, building a thriving online business in the process. We dive into some really valuable topics, like the role of a customer journey in a digital shop, strategies for optimizing average order value, and the benefits of repurposing content. Monica also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her email marketing strategy and highlights why consistent selling is so crucial for success.Listen to the full episode to hear:How Monica transitioned from corporate America to launching over 250 digital products.Strategies for creating a customer journey that drives sales in a digital shop.Tips for increasing average order value and repurposing content effectively.Insights into Monica's email marketing strategy and the importance of consistent selling.FREE Resources to Grow Your Online Business:The 100K Method Podcast Series: https://www.gillianperkins.com/the-100k-methodLearn more about Monica Froese: https://monicafroese.com/Work with Gillian Perkins:Apply for $100K Mastermind: https://gillianperkins.com/100k-mastermind Get your online biz started with Startup Society: https://startupsociety.com Learn more about Gillian: https://gillianperkins.com Instagram: @GillianZPerkins

In this episode on the Faith Mariah Podcast, I am sharing a conversation I had with Monica Froese. We talked about:  The power of building a business that makes customers feel good and leaves a positive impact. The secrets to setting up and marketing a successful Shopify shop, plus the importance of understanding and interpreting data to drive growth. Insights into navigating the challenges of pricing products and the potential of upselling and bundling to maximize sales opportunities. The necessity of lead generation and the impact of personal experiences on business momentum. The lowdown on customer retention and why it's a crucial factor for sustainable business growth.   Find all the info about the speakers here: ⚡Website ⚡Instagram ⚡Special coupon code for 50% off our Quick Win Workshop on the topic. The code is FAITHPODCAST   ⚡️ Join Creator Camp HERE ⚡️ Join the Becoming Boss Mastermind HERE. ⚡️ Sign up to get notified when Power Hour is happening live! ⚡️ Find all of the info about the speakers and grab their free gifts here ⚡️ Join the Free Facebook Group ⚡️ Instagram ⚡️ TikTok ⚡️ www.faithmariah.com

Monica Froese holds an MBA in finance and marketing and is a digital shop coach for small business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business Podcast®. She is the founder of the websites Redefining Mom®, Empowered Business™, and the popular digital product shop, Empowered Shop™. She helps small businesses grow sustainable and profitable digital product e-commerce shops. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs, Empowered Shop™, and podcast.In this episode, Monica discusses the power of digital products, the benefits of having a digital product shop, and the strategic use of sales funnels. She explains how her product shop, Empowered Shop™, has streamlined her business and provides a cohesive shopping experience for her customers. She also shares insights into her shop strategy, including her popular FriYay sales, and the value of email marketing in driving sales and nurturing your customers.Connect with Monica Froese:empoweredshop.commonicafroese.comKey Takeaways:(02:50) From corporate marketing to blogging and meeting President Obama(06:45) Discovering her teaching talent through online marketing(09:00) Overcoming personal and business challenges in 2023(11:40) Sales funnels and targeted ad strategies(13:05) The pitfalls of building a business on Etsy and TPT(17:05) Strategies for online shop sales and product marketing(22:05) Monetizing through memberships and product shops(25:15) Email marketing and calendar planning(31:00) Embracing imperfection in business and valuing progress over perfection(34:55) Empowered Business™ summit Listen to Episode 04:3 Reasons to Sell Your Products on Your Own Website (not on TPT!)Don't forget to grab the FREE Teacher Biz Starter Guide! teacherbiz.com/StartConnect With Heather:https://teacherbiz.com/about/https://instagram.com/teacherbiz

Your website should do the heavy lifitng for you. If you know what automations and apps to set up, it becomes a money making machine for you. So the questions is, are you tapping into the potential of your Shopify site, or are you leaving money on the table? In today's episode, we chat with special guest Monica Froese on how to get people to your website and how to turn their potential order of one products into an order of $160 worth of products and more, plus how to get them to come back and buy again in the near future, over and over again... all through automations and apps that you can set up in Shopify.Monica holds an MBA in finance and marketing and is a digital product coach for small business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business Podcast®. She is the founder of the websites Redefining Mom®, Empowered Business™, and the popular digital product shop, Empowered Shop™. She helps small businesses grow sustainable and profitable digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs, Empowered Shop™, and podcast.By the time you finish listening, you'll learn:The most important part of sending an email to customersHow to increase the amount of items people are buying before, during, and after they check outHow to add gamification to your Shopify to make it enticing and fun for your customers to buy moreLINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODELearn more from Monica at https://monicafroese.comFollow Monica on Instagram @monica.froeseLEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingWatch the FREE Etsy training to get started today: How to Get Your Products Seen on Etsy!

Discover how to boost your revenue by ditching display ads and exploring alternative monetization strategies.  Monica Froese was a guest on episode 317. She is back to share how you can increase revenue by ditching display ads.  She is one of the best teachers.  You're going to get a ton of information from this episode.You are going to want to make sure that you sign up for her free Profit Transformation class that she is offering.Read More Here

What do you do when your biggest source of revenue is also your biggest source of serious, detrimental stress? Monica Froese found herself in that position 11 years into her career in technology. She was managing $15 million marketing campaigns while unknowingly suffering from postpartum PTSD. “The fear of failure is what holds us back,” says Froese now. “I fail all the time…but here's the thing: when I set my mind to something, I don't fail.” Listen in to her conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour to learn how she reinvented her career by becoming an entrepreneur and healing her postpartum trauma, how a visit to the White House inspired her to take action on an important cause, and her advice for navigating your own career reinvention.   FREE GIFT! Let CoveyClub support your 2023 goals with our 2023 Intention-Setting Workbook! Connect with Monica: Website Instagram A special gift from Monica! Visit http://monicafroese.com/reinventyourself for the latest updates, downloadable content, and more   Connect with Lesley Jane Seymour & CoveyClub: Website Instagram LinkedIn Join CoveyClub

Selling your own digital products is one of the most profitable ways to monetize your blogging business, which is why we're diving into how to sell digital products.Our guest's name today is Monica Froese, Monica got started as a mom blogger with a blog called Redefining Mom, which basically takes you through her postpartum journey.That's where Monica launched her first digital product that she still sells today, it's a family budget spreadsheet.Once Monica quit her full-time job, she branched off there and had a few little things that happened.The main thing being where a lot of people got to know her through a course on Pinterest advertising which she did for four years.In 2020 Monica decided she couldn't stand having a business depend on another person's business.She came to the conclusion that what she's really good at is developing digital products, so that led her to launch the brand empowered business where they have a core offer and teaching how to create and launch your core digital products that focuses on sales funnels.Read more HERE

Mom guilt--it's a VERY real thing for so many of us trying to raise babies AND businesses! So, how in the world can you deal with that while running a successful online business? Well, today I'm here with digital product expert and amazing mother of two, Monica Froese. Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women find their identity outside of motherhood, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs and podcast. In today's episode, Monica and I talk about: How Monica's business started off--we share a similar history with some postpartum experiences that sort of propelled our businesses into existence “Redefining mom” and how to find an identity outside of motherhood How to getting started selling digital products What type of digital product to create first What small digital products seem to naturally sell well in the online space? Mom guilt-- it's a VERY real thing for so many of us trying to raise babies AND businesses-- how to deal with that while running a wildly successful online business Monica is just amazing--I know you'll love her! Want to learn more from Monica? Here's where you can find her: Website: https://monicafroese.com  Instagram: https://instagram.com/monica.froese  Facebook:https://facebook.com/monicanfroese  Don't forget to check out her free live training, Profit Transformation

Have you ever wondered about adding a Shopify store to your website to increase your income? In this episode of Serve Scale Soar®, I sat down with Monica Froese to talk about how to easily increase your income with a Shopify store. If you have no interest in creating a course or membership or anything like that, stay with us! I truly believe this is a great way to add a few extra hundred or thousand dollars to your account every month without having to actually create anything new. Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women find their identity outside of motherhood, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs and podcast.There is so much potential with digital products, and if you already have an email list, you could be leaving money on the table by not starting your shop. Tune in to learn more about how to do it! Find the full show notes at www.brandimowles.com/162Resources Mentioned:Visit Monica's website: https://monicafroese.com/sssFollow Monica on Facebook: https://facebook.com/monicanfroeseFollow Monica on Instagram: https://instagram.com/monica.froeseConnect with Monica on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/monicafroeseAdditional Resources:Ready to scale to consistent 10k months without growing a team, hiring contractors or creating a course? Then it's time for you to Scale with Simplicity®.  Find out more >> https://brandimowles.com/join-serve-scale-soarFollow the Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serve-scale-soar/id1477998650Follow Brandi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandimowlesFollow Brandi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brandiandcompany

Are you tired of the guru advice that tells you how you HAVE to run your business?Sometimes when you're doing things in business because you "should" or because someone else told you that's the way it is, you can end up running a business you dread. Today I'm chatting with my friend Monica Froese, founder of Redefining Mom, about how to return to a business that you love.So if you're ready to learn strategies for creating a business model YOUR way, press play on today's episode. In This Episode:-How to lean into your passions as a business owner-What does success really look like in business?-A chat about revenue, expenses and profitabilityResources:For free resources: www.businesssavvyshow.comFollow:www.instagram.com/hellosavvycowww.facebook.com/hellosavvycoConnect With Monica:https://facebook.com/monicanfroesehttps://www.instagram.com/monica.froese/HelloSavvy is a new freelancer marketplace that is changing the way hiring happens online. HelloSavvy helps you find freelancers that will align with your company's mission and vision. You can even filter freelancers by personality type and the specific tools you use in your business! Ready to scale your business by hiring the right people? Head over to Hellosavvy.com to learn more.

The path of entrepreneurship is rarely a straight line. Wherever you find yourself in your own business journey, you've likely made adjustments along the way. Today's episode features a member of The Lead Generation whose “failure is not an option” approach has led to great success for both her family and the parents she serves.  Monica Froese is the founder of RedefiningMom.com and the host of the Empowered Business Podcast. In this episode, Monica shares her journey from the corporate world to mom to entrepreneur, her realization around the best way to serve her audience, and how you can grow your business through digital products and courses. 

Today I welcome back Monica Froese to help us learn how to choose the right digital product for our businesses.  Website: https://monicafroese.com/danny   Podcast: Empowered Business Podcast™ https://monicafroese.com/podcast   Social links: https://instagram.com/monica.froese   *** Brand You Funnels (first month free) - https://www.brandyoufunnels.com/getstarted?fpr=danny97 Asana Project Management (first month free) - https://asana.grsm.io/3z7jerh6p9mj  *** Roadmap: https://dannyozment.com/roadmap Questions? https://www.speakpipe.com/podcaststrategies or email me at danny@emeraldcitypro.com *** Are you interested in starting or growing a podcast AND business with the support of my team and a community of experienced podcasters? Join my Podcaster Pod. You get... Full access to my 8-module podcasting course taking you from idea to launch and everything in between. Equipment and tech, Recording and publishing. Scripts and templates. Everything! Access to me, my team, and a group of experienced podcasters through a private Slack channel​ Monthly Q&A calls with me and the other Podcaster Pod members. Quarterly Expert Calls​ Access to me and my network –– meaning I will introduce you to other influencers and people who can help you where it makes sense.​ Consider joining my new membership site for $47/month. Go to https://dannyozment.com/pod Use code JOINPODPOD to get a 1-month free trial. *** Are you building an email list for your business or personal brand? If so, then you need ConvertKit. I use ConvertKit for my list and so do most of our clients. For $29/month, ConvertKit's Creator Plan  manages up to 1,000 subscribers Provides unlimited landing pages & forms Sends email broadcasts Provides the ability to Sell digital products & subscriptions Has super fast Email support AND MOST IMPORTANTLY... Gives you Free migration from another tool AND Automated funnels & sequences Get a free 14-day trial of the Creator Plan by visiting https://dannyozment.com/convertkit *** Do you have a website for your business or personal brand or are you building one? If so, then you need WPX hosting. I use WPX for all of my sites and so do many of our clients. For $25/month, WPX's Business Plan gives you Hosting for 5 Websites 10 GB Storage 100 GB Bandwidth Free SSL certificates The WPX Cloud Content Delivery Network They average around 30 second support response time 24/7/365 around the world Provide free unlimited site migration from any host to WPX, usually completed within 24 hours And they are fast because they never overload servers with hosting accounts, unlike so-called 'cheap' hosting which crumbles under any traffic load Sign up for the WPX Business Plan by visiting https://dannyozment.com/wpx   *** My Recommended Resources - https://dannyozment.com/resources 

This week on the podcast, we're talking with Monica Froese, Digital Product Coach & Online Business Owner. She shares her story of creating an angry postpartum blog that led her to where she is today – teaching other women how to create digital products. Her main goal is to help women gain financial freedom. This ... Read more The post Your Product Ladder's KLT Factor with Monica Froese #195 appeared first on Content Strategy + Marketing Strategist Britney Gardner.

In this episode, learn from  Monica Froese on how to make your first $100,000 selling a digital product.What we chat about in this episode:-How to make 6-figures selling a digital product-Time-tested strategies for selling digital materials-The First Sale FormulaAbout Monica:Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building six-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs and podcast.Connect with Monica:Connect with Monica Froese: https://monicafroese.com/crush IG: https://instagram.com/monica.froese TEXT HOLLY: https://bit.ly/TextHollyJOIN THE CRUSH THE RUSH CLUB: https://www.hollymariehaynes.com/plannerI hope these tips help! Keep in touch! Leave me a message at hollymariehaynes.com or instagram.com/holly_marie_haynes

What is it that drives you to do what you do? For Monica Froese, this week's guest, it's about making sure that women have the power to make decisions and be independent. She started her first business as a blog to rant about something that lit her up. That led to being in the room with President Obama and him asking her, “What are you going to do about it?”   Fast forward a few years and Monica has done a lot.    This week on the podcast, we're talking about the impact digital products can have and why we can't rely on ads or organic content to drive traffic anymore. There's something missing in traditional funnels, and that missing piece is connection and community--two essentials to building an online business today. Mentioned in This Episode All the details to connecting with Monica! About Monica Froese Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs and podcast. Connect with her on LinkedIn, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

Hey BRILLIANT mamas! Today's guest is Monica Froese; coach for digital product business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She shares her incredible journey from corporate life, to direct sales, to blogger, to business coach. We really dive into the importance of defining what success means to you, how to set up systems that work for YOU and your family, the need for creating healthy boundaries in work and at home, and so much more! BRILLIANT recommendations:Brilliant Mompreneurs Society | Facebook Revlon Dryer BrushBuilt to SellMonica's Special OfferAbout the Guest:Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online programs and podcast.Social Media Links:Lani Jackson (@brilliantmompreneurs) • Instagram photos and videos@lanijackson | Linktree(20+) Keikilani Jackson | FacebookMonica's Facebook Follow Monica on Instagram

Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she's committed to empowering 1000 women to earn $100,000 through digital products. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast.TAKEAWAYS:+ Monica's surface-level superpower is consistency. Showing up day after day has allowed her to build her business in a sustainable, long-term way. Her deeper super power is that has both an integrator and a visionary brain. Meaning, she can be working “in” the business and “on” the business at the same time.+ For Monica ethics is the most important part of the selling process. For her, and how she approaches this, it's being completely upfront with each testimonial, case study, and when she shares her own story, and painting the entire picture for her audience.+ When you put too much into a digital product with the guise of “serving others', it actually overwhelms your buyers, making it hard to help them to get results. Monica refers to this as the “boiling the ocean” approach.+ The ripple effect that Monica is creating through her employees, her children, and the impact her clients and students are creating is something that Monica refers to as microeconomies. RESOURCES: To find the blog post that accompanies this episode visit: http://www.allisonhardy.com/blog1/episode261Attend Monica's upcoming training, Digital Product Dash: www.monicafroese.com/allisonhardyFind Monica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moncia.froeseLearn more about the 6-Figure Mompreneur Method: http://www.allisonhardy.com/6figuremompreneurmethodCONNECT WITH ALLISON:Follow Allison on Instagram: www.instagram.com/allison_hardy_Join the 6-Figure Mompreneur Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/themompreneurcommunityARE YOU A FAN OF THE PODCAST?If you found value from today's episode, can you do us a favor and leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts? The more ratings and reviews we receive, the more Apple Podcasts pushes the podcast to more people, which means the more people we can help! Thank you for your continued support and for listening!Music courtesy of www.bensound.com

Episode #204. Digital products have been around a long time, but are they here to stay? Monica Froese helps women build six-figure businesses from digital products, so it's safe to say the answer is yes.In this episode, you'll find out how to get started in digital products without overwhelming yourself, what the heck is possible with a business model that includes digital products, and how to set up digital products for your sanity and the service of your audience. In This Episode You'll Learn:Why digital products are here to stay and how to create your solutionWhere to set boundaries with your support of one-time payment offersHow to get into digital products without overwhelming yourselfThe key to choosing a platform for advertising your digital product How to get the feedback you need to improve your digital offerFavorite Quotes“Digital products aren't a trend. They're the wave of the future because it's not like fewer people are going to be coming on the internet.” “When someone's new to digital products, they usually think they don't know anything anyone will pay money for or they know too much on their topic to distill down into something that would cost $27. What I teach is, you want to be building your audience and getting paid for it.”“People want to learn from someone that's just one or two steps ahead of them. They're not looking for that foremost expert. Most people want to buy from someone who's relatable on the topic.”Discussed on the Show:Monica's Free Digital Product TrainingMore about Monica:Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she's committed to empowering 1000 women to earn $100,000 through digital products.She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast.Find Monica:WebsiteFacebookInstagramPodcast

Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she's committed to empowering 1000 women to earn $100,000 through digital products. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast. Grab Monica's 3 Secrets to Creating Digital Products That Sell Like Crazy!    Follow Monica on Instagram Find Monica on Facebook! Don't forget to leave a review if you are loving the show!  Check out Monica's Podcast : Empowered Business Podcast™ Monica's Website Resources Mentioned: The Free Mama Movement The Free Mama Squad Free Mama TV Let's Connect:  Follow The Free Mama on Instagram Follow Lauren on Instagram  Follow The Free Mama on Facebook to catch these recordings live! Join The Free Mama Movement on Facebook   Show notes available at www.thefreemama.com/85

Monica Froese is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the popular podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she's committed to empowering 1000 women to earn $100,000 through digital products. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast. I invited Monica on the show because I think it is so important that we have these conversations about women and money.  They are hot button conversations for sure.  And you know I never shy away from a hot button convo!  Every single one of us was raised with a money story and we must constantly look at how we look at money and its role in our lives.  Listen in to hear Monica share: How she landed at the White House seated in a round table conversation with President Barack Obama The truth about the working mom tax - the price moms pay to play in corporate America Why it's critical for women to be financially independent The double standard of men being automatically autonomous with their finances and women having to jump through hoops to have financial autonomy How women can have more impact across multiple women's lives through building microeconomies What happens across our communities when more women have financial independence Why mom guilt is a not real, but a social construct Links mentioned: Join my free business training on November 18th Connect with Monica Empowered Business Podcast™ Monica on Instagram Thank you to our sponsor: MamaZen: Go to your app store or Google Play and download MamaZen today. Use PROMO CODE: shameless for a FREE TRIAL so you can try MamaZen for yourself.

How to Create A Digital Product That Sells with Monica Froese Do you need help with creating a digital product to build a micro economy that stems from your business? In this episode, Monica Froese joins Danielle to share her strategies on how to determine what digital product you should create and how to meet the needs of your audience. Monica provides online marketing education for women business owners who are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast. Want to stay connected with Monica to get more details on how to create a digital product? Then check out the Redefining Mom website.  Follow Monica on Instagram and listen to The Empowered Business Podcast for more inspirational ideas on how to create a 6 figure digital product. Have podcast topic suggestions? Come find me on follow me on Instagram or email me at danielle@elevatevirtualmarketing.com Ready to connect with other entrepreneurs committed to growing their business and get unique access to my podcast guests over the course of the show? Join the FREE Content Cash Machine Facebook group!

Do you monetize your podcast with digital products? Monica Froese is a digital product coach for women business owners and host of the podcast, Empowered Business. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she's committed to empowering 1000 women to earn $100,000 through digital products. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast. In this episode, I ask... Why should women entrepreneurs be creating digital products? How do you pick a digital product that will resonate with your audience? Can you create a customer journey that will make your customers LOVE you? How do you build an offer that your audience can't refuse?   Passion to Profit Experience -  https://monicafroese.com/ps *** Are you interested in starting or growing a podcast AND business with the support of my team and a community of experienced podcasters? Join my Podcaster Pod. You get... Full access to my 8-module podcasting course taking you from idea to launch and everything in between. Equipment and tech, Recording and publishing. Scripts and templates. Everything! Access to me, my team, and a group of experienced podcasters through a private Slack channel​ Monthly Q&A calls with me and the other Podcaster Pod members. Quarterly Expert Calls​ Access to me and my network –– meaning I will introduce you to other influencers and people who can help you where it makes sense.​ Consider joining my new membership site for $27/month. Go to https://dannyozment.com/pod Use code JOINPODPOD to get a 1-month free trial. *** Do you have a website for your business or personal brand or are you building one? If so, then you need WPX hosting. I use WPX for all of my sites and so do many of our clients. For $25/month, WPX's Business Plan gives you Hosting for 5 Websites 10 GB Storage 100 GB Bandwidth Free SSL certificates The WPX Cloud Content Delivery Network They average around 30 second support response time 24/7/365 around the world Provide free unlimited site migration from any host to WPX, usually completed within 24 hours And they are fast because they never overload servers with hosting accounts, unlike so-called 'cheap' hosting which crumbles under any traffic load Sign up for the WPX Business Plan by visiting https://dannyozment.com/wpx *** Are you building an email list for your business or personal brand? If so, then you need ConvertKit. I use ConvertKit for my list and so do most of our clients. For $29/month, ConvertKit's Creator Plan  manages up to 1,000 subscribers Provides unlimited landing pages & forms Sends email broadcasts Provides the ability to Sell digital products & subscriptions Has super fast Email support AND MOST IMPORTANTLY... Gives you Free migration from another tool AND Automated funnels & sequences Get a free 14-day trial of the Creator Plan by visiting https://dannyozment.com/convertkit   *** My Recommended Resources - https://dannyozment.com/resources   

Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners at MonicaFroese.com and through her podcast Empowered Business. She provides online marketing education to small businesses looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products. In this episode, Monica tells food bloggers how to find that next PROFITABLE digital product that will create passive income. - Create a sales funnel, taking people through a journey to bring them into your business. - It is easier and cheaper to nurture current customers than it is to constantly be talking to new ones. - Learn how to reverse engineer your way to the perfect digital product that will be the perfect solution for your audience's biggest problem. - Bonus: Empowering women about the importance of achieving financial independence.

Sometimes in business, things don't work out the way you want them to.    It can be SO scary, but it's okay.   As business owners, we have the freedom to pivot and grow our business to fit our lives as they change. That's the beauty of it! You can change it whenever you want!    In this episode of the Empowered Business podcast, I am sharing the story of my biggest business pivot from October 2020. It was a huge and scary decision, but it has opened doors to the Empowered Business. This business has been amazing and it has led us to where we are today- pivoting again!    As we gained experience and grew our membership, we have also learned more about what is needed by our customers - a community!   That's why we are introducing the Empowered Business Society so that we can be your go-to digital product source. We want you to have a reliable circle of online business peers so that you can get the community, strategy, and support you need!    Tune in to hear all about it!    Resources Mentioned:  Check Out Episode 4 to Hear About My Last Pivot Check out the Empowered Business Society Visit the Monica Froese shop Follow me on Instagram I would love to connect on Facebook or Instagram! Show notes available at www.monicafroese.com/39

Have you ever felt like you're pigeonholed in your niche?   Like you have done such an amazing job getting known with one single topic but now you're starting to resent it? Or maybe you're seeing the writing on the wall and the niche that you chosen it's just a bad one.    In this episode of inbox besties we are going to talk to Monica Froese all about how she went from being the go to promoted pins expert to pivoting to be known for digital products and sales funnels.   Episode we talk about so much more than just that. We talk about:   how America does not care about working moms.  How large publications can twist your words and what Monica did the first time she went viral and not a good way.  Why it's so important to read your contracts.  Allowing yourself permission to change your signature offers and close them down entirely.  How to deal with disappointment and mean emails from audience members And so much more.    I can't lie. This was definitely on my favorite interviews I've ever had her on Inbox Besties.      **Please note this was originally recorded in May - so we talk about the month of August 2021 in the future tense.*** Important Links: Listen to Monica's podcast - The Empowered Business Podcast Monica's Website   Monica's other website Redefining mom   Hang out with Monica over on Instagram @monica.froese Grab your copy of the Email Marketing Fairy now. Did you like this episode? Take a screenshot and tag Monica and I   (@monica.froese & @kate_doster) in your Instagram stories. 

Get access to our free trainings for web designers and DIYers at https://shannonmattern.com/free Leave a Rating + Review! Get the full transcript at shannonmattern.com/360 Bio: Monica is a digital product coach for women business owners. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft and HP. Now she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through digital products through her online courses and podcast. Connect with Monica: Website Passion to Profit Experiment The Empowered Business Podcast Instagram

How can hiring team members actually help you make more money?I know without a doubt that I waited way too long to recruit business support. I was over-stressed and beyond burnout when I made the decision to begin building a team.As female business owners, we often convince ourselves we can do it all and that needing assistance is a sign of weakness or disorganization. I am here to tell you that is a flat-out lie! My guest in this episode is my very own unicorn, Hayley Rissler. She is my Operations Manager, and she takes care of all the logistics, marketing, and overall “people-ing” that keep us rocketing towards success. Hayley joined Monica Froese with a solid entrepreneurial background, having run a successful blog and launching a business coaching course. She realized that she had the skills and talent to help someone work on their business, instead of in it, and it's been a wonderful partnership ever since! Tune in to hear Hayley's story, how our relationship came to be, and more about what she does to help the business run smoothly!   Resources Mentioned:  Free Training: 3 Secrets to Creating Digital Products That Sell Like Crazy Join Our Digital Product Insiders Facebook Group   I would love to connect on Facebook or Instagram! Show notes available at www.monicafroese.com/28

In this episode, Monica Froese the CEO of Redefining Mom will discuss important factors in starting your digital product and give you tips on finding the right product, what tools are needed to start up your digital product, and more. READ MORE HERE

Monica Froese is a digital product coach for women business owners. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and runs two brands Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in both motherhood and business, and Empowered Business, where she empowers women to create financial independence through building 6-figure digital product businesses. She [...] The post Creating Opportunities When Thrown Into The Frontlines of Visibility appeared first on Amanda Berlin -- Communication Strategy and Business Consulting.

Whether you have an audience of 500 or 500,000... you can make money right now! And we're not talking pennies either. Listen in as blogger turn digital product expert Monica Froese tells us how bloggers can start making money with digital products—right now! Monica is so dedicated to helping women create financial independence, you ready? Head to thrivetogether.blog/podcast for the show notes! If you're looking for a blogging community, then join us over on Facebook! bit.ly/thriveonfacebook

#106 In today's episode, I'm talking with digital product coach for women, Monica Froese. She is the founder of both Redefining Mom and most recently, Empowered Business. Monica is on a mission to help 1000 women hit $100,000 in their business. We're talking about that one time she chatted with Barack Obama, why our money stories can help us understand our spending habits, and why you're already 100% qualified to create and sell a digital product. (4:29) Hear about the time Monica's blog got her an invite to chat with President Barack Obama (11:39) Learn how Monica's business started with the motto that she couldn’t fail (22:32) Listen to Monica unpack part of her money story and why a desire for control drove her decisions (32:01) Check out the first step in making sustainable money online (41:10) Find out when it’s time to launch a product (47:01) Want to learn how to start selling? It’s simpler than you think (55:34) Chelsea’s Top Takeaways Looking for more information, mama? Visit the show notes at https://www.smartmoneymamas.com/106 Grab your FREE Passion Project Workbook! https://smartmoneymamas.com/passion-project-workbook/  

    If you are an entrepreneur wanting to launch a digital product and scale your business, this episode is for you!   Today, Jamie speaks with Monica Froese, Founder of Empowered Business Co. and Redefining Mom, LLC. Monica’s mission is to empower women to create financial independence through building their own 6-figure digital product businesses. She swears she has the “secret” weapon! In this episode, Monica shares with us her motherhood struggles that led her to blogging, how her blog unexpectedly led her to the White House, and her valuable roadmap on how entrepreneurs, especially mompreneurs, can scale their businesses with digital products.    Monica shares her experience and insights on: > How she came to be in the digital product space with launching and coaching other businesses > Biggest mistakes of launching digital products > How enhancements and upsells are key to creating a successful digital products business > How she uses a sales funnel process to bring customers to her products > How once you make a product, you must talk about it...you must share it!   Please join us in the HQ. We'd love to hear from you - Do you have a digital product? Share a link with us.    As always, please subscribe to the FearLess Business Podcast wherever you listen, and we are always eternally grateful for a review.   Find Monica here: Website: https://monicafroese.com/   https://empoweredbusiness.co Facebook: https://facebook.com/monicanfroese Instagram: https://instagram.com/redefiningmom Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/monicanfroese            

Have you been hoping for a secret weapon to help you create a six-figure digital product business?   Good news! I'm on a mission to help 1,000 women make $100,000 dollars a year. That's right. One hundred million dollars towards financial independence for women. For this pilot episode, I’d like to take the time to introduce myself and give you a little bit of my backstory. I’ll tell you about where I came from and why I'm so passionate about teaching you about digital products and online business. I'll also touch on what to expect from me in future episodes.   If you’re excited about starting or scaling your online digital product business, this episode is for you!   Resources Mentioned: Redefining Mom Website Family Budget Spreadsheet Conquering Postpartum PTSD FREE Digital Product Toolbox   I would love to connect on Facebook or Instagram! Show notes available at www.monicafroese.com

 At the time this episode airs, we are just a few short months away from the holiday season, and for Pinterest marketing, the holidays are a crucial time. If you want to work on generating more sales this year, tune into my conversation about creating a digital marketing funnel on Pinterest with Monica Froese.Continue reading The post #211 – Creating a Digital Marketing Funnel on Pinterest appeared first on Simple Pin Media.

Some people make it sound super easy to get sales from Pinterest, but what it takes is the right mindset. Join us for a discussion with Monica Froese about how she sees customers on Pinterest differently than customers on Facebook.

#46: Monica Froese is a blogger and Pinterest expert who has built a multiple-six-figure business online by helping working moms thrive in motherhood and business.We're going to cover how meeting the President of the United States led to her launching a business, the number one thing she focused on to turn traffic into product sales, and how to get more email subscribers from Pinterest.If you're the type of person who wants to grow your own digital product empire and build a business that gives you control over how you spend your time each day, you'll definitely want to stick around for the rest of this episode.Show notes and episode transcript at contentheroes.com/46

I've interviewed Monica Froese from Redefining Mom three times on the podcast. She is an expert at teaching people how to optimize sales funnels for more sales by focusing on their customer journey. This episode is a continuation of a conversation we started in Episode #122 about sales strategies. In that episode we talked about the high-level strategy. In this episode we get into the meaty sales tactics like: how to set up a sales landing page, how to price your tripwires, how to talk to your cold audience vs, your warm audience, how to solve people's problems and sell them the solutions in stages. If you want to understand the art of selling on the internet, this is the episode for you! Also, if you want to learn the ins and out of WordPress and become a WordPress Pro, please buy a ticket and come to our MiloTree WordPress Workshop on Wednesday, August 26th from 2:00pm - 3:30pm on Zoom. If you can't make it live, you'll still get the Zoom recording. No questions will go unanswered! Show Notes: MiloTree App MiloTree BlogStart Service MiloTree WordPress Workshop The Blogger Genius Podcast MiloTree Mastermind Facebook Group Redefining Mom Promoted Pins Course Episode #122: How To Figure Out What Your Audience Will Buy From You with Monica Froese Episode #072: How to Make Promoted Pins Work for You With Monica Froese Episode #030: The Easiest Ways to Make Money as a Blogger with Monica Froese (Part 2) #029: How to Start a New Business When You're A New Mom with Monica Froese (Part 1) Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Google Play Stitcher YouTube Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we'd love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

If you want to know how to successfully sell your products online, you are in for a treat. I'm interviewing my friend, Monica Froese, from Redefining Mom, on how to know what products to sell, how to find product opportunities, how to build highly converting sales funnels, and how to provide wins for your customers so they keep coming back. We do a deep dive into the strategies and frameworks you need to know to build compelling products for your audience and market them successfully so they happily buy. Show Notes MiloTree Pop-Up App MiloTree Membership Group Redefining Mom Catch My Party Host 0:04 Welcome to the Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian Leslie 0:11 Hello, everyone. Welcome back to The Blogger Genius. Looking for tech support, teaching, and community? Join our MiloTree Membership Group Before I get started, I want to announce that we have a program called the MiloTree Membership Group. We were listening to what you guys were telling us in terms of feedback. And one thing that you kept saying is getting tech support is difficult as a blogger. Bloggers have to wear so many hats. So the idea that you have to dig in and deal with all of the back end technology related to your blog can be difficult. Also, we've heard that you want ongoing teaching sessions and workshops, like in the podcast, and third, you're looking for a community of like-minded bloggers and entrepreneurs. So within the MiloTree Membership Group, we offer tech support. We offer workshops, and we offer community. It's all of that rolled into one. We're very excited about it. It's like having a whole support system behind you. So if you want to learn more head to milotree.com/membership. It's a monthly membership, but you can cancel at any time. We, as you can tell, are really committed to helping you succeed. For today's episode, I have my friend Monica Froese back on the show. What we are talking about is business building. And we are talking about how to think about your blog as a business, how to roll up your sleeves and really get to know your audience, how to solve problems for your audience, an dhow to sell to your audience. We give you the whole framework in this podcast episode. And I love Monica because she is so straight. And her advice is so clear. I think you are really going to get a ton out of this interview. So without further delay, here is my interview with my friend Monica Froese from Redefining Mom. Monica, welcome to the show. Monica Froese 2:51 Thank you so much for having me again. And I was just saying to you that your episodes are some of my most popular so I was very excited to get you back. Monica Froese 2:51 I think we've recorded some really good ones like the first one was right after I had the baby, which I still think is one of my favorite because it's a it's like a snapshot in time. I get to listen to how I was feeling in that postpartum period. Jillian Leslie 3:03 Yes. And I think that you were so authentic and honest about the struggles. Yeah. And I found that. Yeah, but I think that there was something. I think other people could see themselves in that struggle to go. Yeah, that explains all those feelings that I'm having. Monica Froese 3:19 Yeah, for real and that and I've gotten emails with people who told me that that really helped them. So I appreciate you having me on so that I can share that kind of stuff with people. How to Build Online Products Jillian Leslie 3:28 Absolutely. So what I wanted to talk about with you today is products. You've built your business— you tell me if this is true—by serving needs, finding needs, serving those needs to your audience. And we talked about this before, which is when you started Redefining Mom, you were a variety of different things. And I think that you've been able to potentially find your sweet spot. Monica Froese 3:58 Yes, even a lot has changed since the last time we talked in terms of my product strategy. So when Redefining Mom started in 2013, there were no products because I was working full-time corporate, didn't have time for that. When I decided to start taking it seriously, I knew that I really wanted to do products, but I needed somewhere to start. So I had this brand Redefining Mom, which is for working moms. Now it was for corporate working moms and like time management for corporate working moms, and we've morphed into helping moms balance running a business and motherhood. So it's taking them out of corporate and moving them into like the entrepreneurial space, but we still cater to the mom needs and the business needs. But what has happened is so when I got started with Redefining Mom and creating products, it was very much geared towards the stuff that moms needed to address. And I started with a product. The Importance of Experimentation in Building Products online Jillian Leslie 5:02 You started with like a Google Sheet or a spreadsheet or something for yourself. Monica Froese 5:07 still one of my best selling products. Yeah. So I basically when I in 2016, I remember this, it was June of 2016. And I wanted to accelerate the process of leaving my corporate job. And I wanted the quickest win I could get. And my husband actually said to me, because we had this really awesome family budget spreadsheet that we had developed while we were in corporate, to manage our finances, we got out of $65,000 in debt doing it or using it. And he's like, moms need this. Why don't you just throw this up as your product and see how it goes? Well, it ended up going very well. Which was like my first sign of understanding what people need and then how to fill that gap. Jillian Leslie 5:55 So it was like a light bulb moment. Monica Froese 5:57 It was a light bulb moment and I would say it took a few months for the light bulb moment because I, I didn't really know what I was looking at, like, why are all these people buying this stuff and or buying the spreadsheet and I had to like back into it. So it took a few months to try to dissect what was going on. Like, why was this such a big hit? And, you know, part of it was the uniqueness of Pinterest at the time, and still the uniqueness of Pinterest, which we can talk about. But at the time in 2016, you could get a lot of organic traffic pretty fast, like you could rank under keywords pretty fast in 2016. And this happened to take off for me. And now you can still rank but it's a little bit different. Creating a Product for Pinterest by Using Pinterest And I've I look at creating products for Pinterest a little bit differently than I used to, which I know you're probably gonna talk about, but what happened after the budget spreadsheet was I started creating more products for moms. Specifically, I had a course which I've since retired, which was to help moms take their corporate skills and repurpose them into the online world. But what happened was I ended up getting really good at Pinterest ads because I'm impatient. And I got to the point where I was sick of waiting for organic traffic to come to me. I really wanted to have more metrics that I could look at. I love looking at data, you only have so many metrics that you can go off of like you can't see specifically what keywords are getting you traffic clicks, conversions, but promoted pins would tell me that. So I got really good at that. And of course, as soon as you get good at something that nobody else is doing, everybody wants to know how you did that. And so teaching Promoted Pins took on this life of its own. I developed the Promoted Pins course right before I had the baby at the end of 2017. And I would say for all of 2018 and all of 2019, it was all about refining that course like I put all of my energy into making this the best Pinterest ads course that it could be. There's no recurring fee to be in my student group. And so like people who bought the course two years ago are still getting support. I do monthly office hours. And so I really became known as the Pinterest ads girl. But there was a part of me that still felt this pull to help moms and create products that I knew would help them. And for reasons that they were coming to Redefining Moms so we made the decision, which we hope to finish this year, which is to break off all of the Pinterest products under my own brand. Creating Products for Women Balancing Careers and Motherhood So just MonicaFroese.com and bring Redefining Mom back to what it was originally intended to do, which was to help moms, particularly with balancing motherhood and their careers, specifically bringing them from their corporate career into the online world. So this really has created this opportunity to create two distinct products sets for two different audiences. Jillian Leslie 9:00 That's terrific. Again, we have Catch My Party we have MiloTree. They don't look at all alike, but one came out of the other one. And one is a SaaS business, which means software-as-a-service and one is a B2C business which is, you know, consumer-facing. And most people have no idea I'm the person behind both, you know, there is some crossover, but not a lot. But again, it was organically how we grew our business. Right? Nobody said, you know, you didn't start off and go, I'm going to become Pinterest expert. You started using it. It started working for you. And you thought I can teach this. Monica Froese 9:37 And I really feel like now that I'm a few, like four years into really taking this as a serious full time business. My corporate skills were invaluable to me for where I ended up here because I looked at Pinterest differently. All the people who are teaching Pinterest back in 2016 were not looking at it in the same way. All I care about is ROI and what I'm getting from it. So, like I got very hyper hung up on the fact that everyone was talking about all the pageviews they could get from Pinterest. And I just was sitting there scratching my head thinking, why do I want a pageview? I don't like what comes after the page view and see, you know, sale. Yep. And that's the thing, like, you know, a lot of bloggers at the time and still, are monetizing through ads and sponsorships and stuff. But you don't have as much control over that. And I couldn't get, I could not get away from, why am I going to spend all of this time getting traffic to my site for them to click away from my site. It just never resonated with me. And when I put into place the principles that I executed in corporate, which was like the ROI principles that I was accountable for when I ran large marketing campaigns. It just seemed logical to me that paid advertising was the way to go, and the most targeted way to go. And that's kind of how it ended up happening. And honestly, I don't regret it at all. Because while I still have this pull, I want to help women get out of corporate into this world and repurpose their skills. I couldn't have funded that part of the business if I hadn't gotten to be known for something. And if that happened to be Pinterest ads, that's great. And that has served me too. So it's been an interesting ride, to be honest with you. I couldn't have predicted it a couple of years ago. How to Create Emergent Online Products Jillian Leslie 11:30 There is this concept that I think about a lot. I talk about it a lot, and it's called emergent business building. And what that means is bottom up, not top down. So top down would be, I have this hypothesis, and I'm going to go toward it and not be open to what my audience is saying to me. What people are coming to me, for that kind of thing. And, again, I have used this example I live in Austin. An Austin is all about emergent development, meaning it's the antithesis of the planned community. You go down some street and like there's a shopping mall, and it looks like it's out of the 70s. But there'll be one cool coffee shop in there. And then all of a sudden, you notice, like, there's the record store, or there's something else is coming, like right next to it. And it's because all of a sudden people are discovering this. And then other businesses are drawn to those businesses. So it looks really messy. Yes, but it's emergent. And I believe when you are building businesses on the internet, that is definitely the way to go. Because if you think you're going to plan this out, that it's going to work the way you think it's going to work, I think you are setting yourself up for a world of hurt. Should you Niche Your Blog Down? Monica Froese 12:53 I completely agree. And actually, because I originated in the blog world, I hear a lot of conflicting advice about you have to niche down right away, or it's okay to go broader and then niche down and I am all for the broader first to see what resonates. If you think about it, I had no business putting any budgeting stuff on Redefining Mom, it wasn't the purpose of the site. But I did it anyways, and it ended up being a huge smash hit, which has made me a ton of money. And I wouldn't have done it if all I listened to were the people who told me you have to niche down, you have to niche down, you have to niche down. I'm to the point where I firmly believe if you know how to drive targeted traffic, then you can really have a funnel about anything as long as you're, I mean, don't be a fraud, like be able to give the advice that you're saying that you can give, like for me with the budgeting spreadsheet. I literally had at that point used it for five years. We did use it to pay down $65,000 a debt. It's the only thing that saved us from literally going completely broke when we had our daughter because we were paid on commission, and it was how we estimated out, like the highs and lows if we hit commission if we didn't, how we, you know, literally could pay our bills. And because I used it, I was able to authentically speak about it and the tools that we use every day. Like, I would have sat back in 2016 and said, doesn't everyone have a budget spreadsheet? And my husband said to me, he's like, No, your father is a CPA, and drilled this into your head. Ordinary people don't actually do this all that often. And I was like, Really? Jillian Leslie 14:34 I know. Yes. Yes, yes. So we call them "at bats," which are, how many times are you at bat? And the goal is to increase the number of experiments that you are running, because you don't necessarily know what's going to hit, and you think you have a hypothesis, but I can't tell you how many times we've been wrong, or it's morphed into something. We could never anticipate it. And that is always the surprise. You are trying to attract the audience that you think is the right audience, but you have to be open to I always say like, hold your hypotheses, have them, but hold them lightly. Because you can get blinded thinking, Oh, no, you're the wrong audience for me. So I'm going to kind of push you aside trying to attract the quote-unquote, right audience, when you need to recognize No, no, this is the right audience. They just look different than I thought they were gonna look. How to Attract an Audience on the Internet Monica Froese 15:34 So I get asked all the time, because I bring on thousands of people through my budgeting stuff onto my list, which my email list is integrated with these both sides of the business, and I've gone back and forth about are we gonna divide out the email list or are we not at this point. I don't think I will. Because the thing is, if people are interested in saving money, they're also interested in making money and because my brand attracts, primarily moms. My messaging is actually very on point if they came in on the budgeting side, or they came in wanting to know more about how to build a business, how to get good at Pinterest, marketing, all of that stuff. I have done a really good job, in my opinion, at least of connecting the two. And the people who don't like the connection, they'll weed themselves out, and I've become okay with that. I just am because I this is how this is what resonates with me. This is how I like teaching. This is how I want to develop my products and so people who aren't okay with that, they'll just believe. Jillian Leslie 16:37 So let's talk about your products. You started with a budgeting spreadsheet, which surprisingly sold really well. And then you figured out Pinterest ads and started teaching people about Pinterest ads. Yes. Now you also then have other products. What are they and how did they emerge? Monica Froese 16:57 Yeah, I have a lot. So they're all digital. I'm actually in a mastermind with two girls who do physical products. And I think that's a lot of work. And I give them so many kudos because obviously we need physical products in the world, but it's a lot more work than digital products. Just there are a lot more intricacies that go into it to make sure it's profitable. So the order of things: I had the budgeting spreadsheet, then I launched the course, which was to help moms in similar positions to me who were in corporate and they're like, I want to have a career. But I also want more time with my kids. How do I make that happen? It's like, No, you are smart, you are smart, and you can take what you've learned in corporate and bring it over to this world. That was the next thing. From there. What ended up happening was because people were saying, How are you getting all of these leads? How are you selling these products, and I was selling them with Pinterest. So it started with a 13 video course that I made for friends because I got asked the same questions of what I did on Pinterest. I gave them I literally gave these 13 videos away just to friends and they're like, you should have people pay you for this. Like this is really good. This is better than other courses I've taken on Pinterest, and I wasn't even trying to make it a course. So then I put it up for sale and that was my original organic marketing course. How to Teach what You Already Know Monica Froese 18:23 This is how it started with me teaching organic Pinterest marketing to people who simply just in conversation, were asking me questions. And then I turned that into a course that I did an actual launch for that in like mid-2017. And that well. At the time, I was also very heavily invested and getting traffic to the mom side of my business with Pinterest using Pinterest ads, I had the budgeting spreadsheet. I have a few other templates, spreadsheets, a planner, stuff like that. And so my blogging friends who took my Pinterest organic course were then like, I want to learn how to do this next level things because it really at that time was definitely next level. I mean, I would argue it's still next level because not a lot of people actually do Pinterest ads still. But it was certainly next level at that point because all anyone talked about was organic. And nobody talked about the power of Pinterest ads. So during my third trimester, they pushed me into launching this course which I was so adamantly against. I didn't want to do it. I just wanted to have this baby. I want to go nesting. I am so thankful to my friends that pushed me to do this because clearly it was a huge gap out there was stuff that people wanted to know, but they didn't know they needed to know. It was like they didn't know they needed it until someone was there presenting it to them. It's kind of what ended up happening. When I was on maternity leave. I was getting very big influencers, like people that I had followed for years, sending me dm saying, Can I get this course? And I was sitting there saying I just had a baby I'm not working because I didn't have help or anything. At this point, so I was like, No, no, I had a baby. I don't have time for this. And my husband tapped me on the shoulder and said, maybe you should take a day and open the cart since these people are begging to give you money and let them in. And I was like, okay, so we did that. And then I came back from maternity leave. And I got really invested in making that course the best it could be, while having this calling to wanting to get back to creating other products that I could put behind funnels because as I was doing the Pinterest ads course, what was the prevailing thing that I kept running into was, when you are ready to run an ad, you need an offer that converts. Like you should not put money behind something that doesn't convert. Overwhelmingly, I was getting people joining my Pinterest ads course that didn't have a converting offer. And that could be converting someone onto your email list, converting someone into a sale. They didn't have an offer. How to Create Sales Funnels that Convert So then they would run an ad, and they'd come to me with data even though I said this is in the course. I don't think it necessarily resonated. They just wanted to get to the running ad part. So they'd run the ad and they come to me with data and they'd say, this didn't work. And I'd say, What is it? What is your objective? And overwhelmingly they'd say, to get traffic? Well, why then my question be like, Why? What is it for? Well, I don't know. Just I have ads on? Jillian Leslie 21:22 And by the way, we talked about this all the time to run an ad to for traffic never make sense. It will never be itself. So if you are thinking that you're going to boost now, if, for example, you're working with a brand, and you do some sort of sponsored content, and you want to show the brand that you've got traffic to make the brand happy because they've paid you a bunch of money for this. It's worth putting some money behind that to go look at my numbers. But if you think you can monetize that traffic, just because you're with AdThrive, or you're with MediaVine, it will never, you'll always be upside down. Always, you'll always be paying more than that traffic is worth to you with ads. Monica Froese 22:11 And if you think about it, you're literally running an ad that you're paying for to send people to another ad that you'll make back end money from it. It seems it's very goofy to me. Add the MiloTree Pop-Up to Your Blog and Grow Your Followers and Subscribers on Autopilot Jillian Leslie 22:22 Given this uncertain time as online entrepreneurs, all we crave is certainty. So what if I could promise you that growing your social media followers on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, plus your email list could happen automatically. All you need is a blog or a site you own and some visitors and I guarantee that the MiloTree pop-up app will automatically convert those visitors into followers and subscribers and you don't have to do a thing. We are no longer living in the world as it was. I think we're all realizing the importance of nurturing our online businesses. So we can have freedom to live the lives we want, but in order to get there, we have to manage our scarcest resource time. So let MiloTree do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to growing followers and email subscribers, and you spend your time creating content solutions products that serve your audience, so you can start seriously monetizing your blog. So here's my advice. stay consistent. Kill the perfectionist in you so you can get stuff out there quickly. Touch yourself with kindness, embrace the mess, and go make a couple of smart choices like using MiloTree on your blog to grow your followers and subscribers. So you don't have to worry about that. Get Your First 30 Days of MiloTree Free Sign up now for MiloTree and get your first 30 days free. There's really no risk 8,000 other bloggers just like you, are using MiloTree right now to grow their businesses. Please pause this episode and head to MiloTree.com to sign up for your free trial. With all the worry we're feeling this will give you one less thing to worry about. So what are you waiting for hit pause, head to MiloTree and sign up today. How to Start to See the Opportunities for Creating Products Monica Froese 24:07 So what ended up happening through running this course and getting very dedicated to being in it for these two years and not letting myself diverge off and create all these new products, is I started to see the gaps. And I took notes of these gaps, but I was resistant to filling them until I had that course so buttoned in, and just and the students were doing really well with it. Once I got to that point, and I would say that took just under two years. So I started the course in November of 2017. And in November of 2019 is really when we started launching, again, different products. So the first thing we did was we realized that some people have really ugly landing page and it matters for conversions, and I get super good opt-ins and tripwire conversions. And I have other different funnels that I teach, specific to Pinterest that I get really good conversion rates. And when I would be asked to review like my ad tanked, I'd go into the page that they're promoting. And I was like, you know, and it's hard to get feedback like that, but your page is ugly. You know, that's hard. That's hard feedback to give. So I thought, How can I solve that problem? I created templates in Elementor and LeadPages. I use LeadPages for all my funnels. And so that was my first. That was the first way I was going to solve the problem of people not having ugly pages. Unknown Speaker 25:39 Are you working with a designer? Are you designing them yourself? Selling High Converting Template Landing Pages Monica Froese 25:43 Funny enough, I don't feel like I am a designer at all, but yet I make pretty good landing pages. I like pretty things that convert. So first in my mind was, how do I get this to convert? Second in my mind is how do I make this look aesthetically appealing? Because and this is super important. Pinterest is a visual search engine people expect to come from Pinterest and see pretty things and I was seeing so many funnels that had ads popping up and pop-ups here and pop-ups there and it's like, guys, like a display ad should never be on a sales page Jillian Leslie 26:36 For MiloTree, we create it so that you can turn it off on certain pages and people say why would I turn it off? And I go, if you are selling something you do not want to distract from the sale even if it's my product, turn it Monica Froese 26:52 off. Yeah, exactly. And that's the stuff that Oh, I just feel like there was a big gap of understanding. Finding that and so when so we started with the templates and those went super well. Monica Froese 27:09 I created them on LeadPages. And we duplicated them on Elementor. So we have two solutions. Here's the difference between my templates and what you see on the market for other people's templates. A lot of templates sellers are giving you templates in different color palettes, right. Mine are designed with the conversion mechanism in mind and you have to plug in your branding to it. So it's like branding agnostic. I'm not giving you different color palettes or anything like that. I'm giving you a page that I know convert. You plug your messaging and your brand into it, which is, I found very different than pretty much anything out there that I've seen at this point. And it's very specific because I've spent years testing, where different buttons should go and different headlines. And so it's basically like, the best information I can give you for what has worked on Pinterest. Not just with me, though, with hundreds of my students, because as I've cultivated this promoted pins group, I help them to change their pages. So over time, you just get really good when you see the back end of hundreds, I mean, really thousands of campaigns, you just get good at knowing what works and what doesn't. If You Get People to Trust You, They Will Buy More From You So that's when that came out. But there was still a gap I had in the Pinterest suite of things. So I had the organic Pinterest marketing course which we were keeping updated, but it wasn't necessarily my passion. It was kind of like the on-ramp into getting to know how I teach. And I do think when you stick with the same teacher makes things more seamless. So by the time we get to my promoted pins course, it's like you already understand my logic of Pinterest. So I had an organic, I have an organic Pinterest course, then I did an affiliate marketing course, on Pinterest because not everyone is ready to move right to products. So affiliate marketing is a nice gap that can be filled on Pinterest. Then it went right to paid ads. What I realized was I had a gap between the affiliate marketing and the paid ads, which was I needed to teach people how to create Pinterest-friendly sales funnels. And so actually, as we speak, I am in the very last module right now I'm launching it. I have 125 people in the beta round and I would say probably 85% of them are promotion students so they're my students that know they trust me. They know I delivered in that course, and I'm telling them hey, this course is going to make your funnels just amazing so that when you go back to ads, they will convert like gangbusters. And they're like, yeah, we trust you. We know you you know what you're talking about. That launch I did on Black Friday went nuts. It was like, incredible. The power what I learned from that because all these are learning lessons like, every time I've launched the Promoted pins course, I've learned so many different things like from flash sales, to life challenges, to how long you should have between launches. When I launched them Black Friday, this new sales funnels course to my current students that taught me the power of cultivating your students and pouring into them, they will buy almost everything else you offer, because they trust you. And I'm like, Whoa, light bulb, like I mean, that's logic, right. It's actually very logical. But it was such a lightbulb moment for me to realize that people that everything I did over those two years, really meant something. So that's what we're doing now is teaching people and when this is over, it's kind of like the last installment of my Pinterest, then I have like really a whole framework in place. So there are a few things you have to decide one we want to move the Pinterest courses to MonicaFroese.com. So that Redefining Mom can go back to being for moms. I really feel passionate. The Importance of Integrity as An Online Entrepreneur Like my employee right now, Haley, she's pregnant. And it really reignited my passion for maternity leave. Because under the law in the US, I'm not required to pay her or give her a maternity leave. But I'm going to because I believe that I need to set an example if I'm going to sit here and preach about that stuff, which I did when I started Redefining Mom, that I need to live up to that. And it really reignited my passion to want to help moms. So my goal now is to get the Pinterest stuff buttoned up running. However, we ended up combining it maybe it's gonna be one framework we don't know yet. Like that's our questions there. And then that's going to be moved over into its own thing and then I want to dive back into creating more funnels in more products for the mom side of the house. Jillian Leslie 32:03 I love that. And just to go back for a second to filling in gaps, I noticed because I'm on your email list that you are always coming out with templates for pins and selling them or offering some I think for free. I don't know how you do it, but what I love about what you're saying, Have I noticed a gap? I fill it. Monica Froese 32:28 When I got started, there were a lot of like marketing people, gurus, experts that would say stuff like that, like listen to what your audience is telling you, and then create the product that they want. And for some reason that never clicked for me. I'm like I don't under I didn't. It didn't resonate until I was in the weeds. And this is part of the reason why I don't want people to get stuck. I see so many people getting stuck in the questions that they should not be getting stuck in because you don't know until you try. You have to start putting stuff out there so you understand what people want from you. And then you move forward. Like if I had never done the promoted pins course, I never would have realized how important teaching the sales funnel piece was. You know, it just all I needed all of that, Jillian Leslie 33:15 I would say, and you can tell me what you think the more you are willing to roll up your sleeves and get in the muck with your customers, the more success you'll have because it's in the muck. It's in the confusions. You can't be kind of above it all thinking you're gonna sell stuff to people. You need to get down and dirty. Like it's, you know, I always talk about this, get on the phone. Monica Froese 33:45 Oh, yeah. Jillian Leslie 33:46 Do things that do not scale. You know, you think you're going to set up all these automations are all going to be working in the background and the money's just going to come? And it's like, you take that person who's asking you questions and you say hey, can we do like a 10-minute phone call. And of course, you can't do that 100 times, but you could do it three times, you could do it five times. We've been successful in businesses where we understand where people are struggling, like from a visceral place, not from an intellectual place. Monica Froese 34:21 So one of the things that I like to tell people, because everyone always wants to look at where I am now, and they forget all the things I had to do to get here. I used to do 15 minute calls. All the time, I had a free Facebook group that I had regular teaching lives in that I never missed for like a year and a half, like so I had, I ended up having to close the group when the baby was born just because I could not keep I couldn't keep up with it. And I didn't have an employee at that point either. But the point is, like I showed up for free for a very, very long time to understand what people want it. It wasn't just a matter of I put up a funnel and it did well. I'm not gonna lie, I can put up a funnel now, and I can get it to do well without ever getting on the phone with someone. But I've learned so much over the four years. It's all of that experience that has gotten me to the point that I can do that now. Jillian Leslie 35:22 Absolutely, absolutely. So do it's messy. Like, those are always those are always my thing. Like, don't think it's neat. Don't think it's like you just kind of follow what you know, you pay thousands of dollars for a course and boom, all of a sudden you're gonna have business and it's all gonna work out. Ah, it's like nights of anxiety where you don't understand why this should work and it's not working and it's tweaking and it's making it ugly before it looks pretty and it's, it's getting down in the weeds. So if you're willing to like, get in the muck, that's how you grow business. It doesn't look you know you see people Like Goop with Gweneth Paltrow and it just looks so effortless. And so even though you look at it and go I want that. Like No, no, it's you in your pajamas. It's you. You know with a crying baby on your hip. It's you going Why isn't this working? It's you investing in Pinterest ads and sometimes losing money because you're trying to learn, right? So if you think it's glamorous or anything, trust me, it's totally not. But I think it's totally worth it. But know that your mess is not unique. It's the way through to ultimately find little nuggets of success. Why You Need to Treat Your Online Business Like a Full-Time Job Monica Froese 36:48 I absolutely agree with all that. I show up every day I treat this like a full time job. I get up every morning as if I'm going to work. I take my shower, I get changed. I make my coffee, I sit down, and I work for eight hours. It's not, I don't, I don't work in the margins. I personally don't feel like I'm wired to work in the margins. And I have seen women that do work in the margins. And they have made some really amazing things doing that. I would, I would argue that the majority of people who are going to be successful are going to need to treat it as if it's a full-time job and treat it like you would get up for a job. There are plenty of days like this morning, I got a migraine. And it would have been much easier for me to close my computer and not be on this podcast and not finish the Facebook ads. I'm going to finish when I get off this podcast and not finish the module. But I'm not going to because that's not what gets me to the next step. It's all building blocks. I say that all the time. Like my sister right now is trying to start a blog because she's at home with her kids. She's a health care worker, but she's, uh, she goes to people's houses. And so that's pretty much like not happening right now in the current environment. Um, so she's home. And she's thinking like 15 steps ahead, and I keep reminding her that like you have 15 building blocks you're missing here. You got to go back to the beginning. Everyone started from nothing, you got to go back there. You can't be where I am now, because I had four years to get here. Jillian Leslie 38:27 Absolutely. People ask me all the time. They want a magic bullet. They want something and they say, how did you grow Catch My Party to millions of pages a month? And I go, it's a long slog. That is the answer. And they don't like that. Because if I believe me, if there were a magic bullet, I'd be using it. And I'd be selling it for like millions of dollars. But the truth is, you make mistakes, you make a couple smart decisions along the way. You add some keywords in there, you know, work with your audience, you definitely are making decisions and you hope that those are the right decisions, or if they're not that you're able to pivot those decisions. But for me, I would argue it's all about showing up. Just what you're saying. Monica Froese 39:16 Yeah. And I went through a period in late 2018, where I was, I was in a pretty bad burnout stage. And I stopped emailing as much as I used to, and there's a direct correlation with communicating with your audience to sales, really, I mean, it's all about consistency and showing up and being a real person. Unknown Speaker 39:45 I feel like we're gonna have to do a part two, where you come back and talk more about this, like the nitty gritty, Monica Froese 39:51 I took notes before we got in. Okay, I know I know. At some point in my notes, I said, connection and more connection, especially when you're first getting started, tell us and then like how I have my free group and I went live every single day. And in my paid course I show up every single day, they didn't just pay me money, and then I disappear. Reputation is everything. And I've said this so many times, and I firmly believe that I will make money slower. If it means keeping my integrity and my ethics in place, and I love that. There are people that make money online that are not ethical and they don't keep their integrity in place. And I don't want to be that person. Jillian Leslie 40:44 And I feel if you want to be in it for the long term. That is the answer because people can ultimately I believe that it gets discovered. You know, like you can't, I don't believe that if you work in the internet, you have to weirdly believe in karma. Because eventually it comes back to you. So the more good you put out there, the more good you ultimately get back. Now, it might not be in the way you think it's going to be. And this is again, that idea of, you have to hold things, ideas lightly, because you don't know what it's going to look like you have an idea of what it's going to look like, like, I'm providing all this value, why isn't the money coming? Well, maybe something else is coming. You know, maybe, who knows, maybe you're attracting a person to you that you can ultimately work with. And that's gonna lead to something like it's not necessarily going to look the way you think it's going to look. But if you put enough good stuff out there, over time, you weirdly, I think, attract a lot of good stuff back. And the reverse is true, which is if you cut corners, if you don't walk your talk, if you don't deliver, you could probably survive for a year or so but eventually it will show. Yes, You Want to Make Money Online Monica Froese 42:02 So the thing is, I, okay, I find nothing wrong with being in business to make money. Like that's what we have to feed our families. Like I show up every day, I should get paid for my hard work. There's nothing wrong with running a business that's profitable, and making money at all. There's nothing wrong with it. I think the disconnect is when you don't, when a business owner doesn't understand the bigger impact that they're trying to make in the world, and it's just all about the money. If it's only about the money. It is very hard to wake up every day, stay motivated and keep doing it. Because absolutely, just money is great, but I'm going to tell you I firmly believe now and the thing, more money, more problems. That is a true statement in my opinion. It's not all rainbows and roses all the time. It's a lot of hard work and so if you lose sight of why you're doing it to begin with, and that's why, like when my employee got pregnant, and they put me in this position where I could walk the talk, which meant when I started Redefining Mom, my rant was about maternity leave in the US. I actually got to talk to President Obama about this to his face. And I will never forget when he said to me, he's like, so what are you going to do about it? That was what ignited me to start this, like to make this a business that served moms, not just about money, but it was about making a greater impact. So when she got pregnant, I actually can hear him saying I can see and hear him saying this to me. What are you going to do about it? Well, you know what, I am going to offer her a paid maternity leave because she deserves that. I ranted about that and I am not going to contribute to that problem. Jillian Leslie 43:50 And I would say by you doing that, which is it's a sacrifice to you, you're not going to have an employee, and money's going out out the door. However, She will love you and be so dedicated to you and go the extra mile because you saw her and you were there for her. Again, not a bad situation, but you know what I mean? Like, again, you do not know that you will, chances are get that back tenfold. Unknown Speaker 44:25 Oh, absolutely. Jillian Leslie 44:26 But it's about the faith of that. It's about putting out your best highest self and it gets rewarded. So I again, I don't mean to sound all woowoo about this, but think about how you show up and where your values are because I believe people can sniff it out. Monica Froese 44:45 They can. Okay, so this actually goes to like the topic of the tripwires because a lot of my students and a lot of people I teach, are afraid to sell. They are so afraid to sell and and I always ask them, Do you not believe in what you're selling because if you believe in what you're selling, you wouldn't be afraid to sell like I got to a point in this, I think was the last launch I did for the promoted pins course, I had someone emailed me and was not very kind about. They thought that I was charging too much. And all these course creators think they can charge all this money and they all suck and they don't provide. I wrote her back a very factual answer, which is that there are some crappy courses out there. I've taken them I've invested in them, and I understand where you're coming from, but mine's not crap. And I show up every single day, and it is worth what I'm charging you and I'm I stand behind it. I don't feel bad about charging it because I know I provide that plus more value. And so when people feel like they can't sell that, the question I always have is, do you not believe that what you're selling can actually help the person you're selling it to? Because if you believe it, there's no issue with selling because it's your expertise, you're giving them the shortcut, you know, selling is a good thing. Also selling is what keeps our economy going. People Value What They Pay For Jillian Leslie 46:08 Absolutely. And wait and I will say this. There's this weird reverse thing, which is, when I get something for free, I tend not to value it as much. But if I put money behind it, you better believe I'm going to show up, I'm more likely to show up. If I paid a couple of hundred bucks, let's say for something versus it's the exact same product, but now you're giving it to me for free. So if you want a more dedicated say, student, my hunch is those students that have made the decision to actually open up their wallets and pay you will be better students, which will make a better course which will make a better you know, the whole environment is better. So free is not always better. In fact, I would argue if you're if you are providing value, you charge for it because you want to attract the kind of customer who's willing to pay for it Monica Froese 47:04 Exactly. And so that when you offer something for free to get a conversion to get people on your list, you give them a taste of who you are and what you know and what you can offer them. But it doesn't give away the kitchen sink as they say. Pinterest is a visual search engine. So people come to Pinterest with a problem. They search it, they visually are looking to see their solutions. That's what they arrive on with search results. It's a visual solution that they're looking at. So I come they like to say like meal planning for a week. When I get there. I want to see a visual representations of what meal planning solutions, that's what I'm looking for. So when I click to the meal planning solution, let's say it's an opt-in, that opt-in is to solve, it's meant to solve a quick win. Your Opt-In Should Be a Quick Win It's to give them that immediate gratification that you can help them over that hump. And then your paid product is like, and it can go. There's two different ways, i Pinterest that often can be a layer of your solution, like the first prong of your solution. And the paid is the rest. It's how they take that first prong and make it an actual system. Or your opt-in can be the "what" and the "why,"like, this is why you need this. This is how it will help you and then your paid product is the how. So there's two different ways that you can look at it. I would say I lean more towards the "what" and the "why" and the paid product is the "how." Jillian Leslie 48:46 So I like that. Oh, I like that. Okay, so Monica. I feel like we could talk forever and I know that you have a hard stop. Will you come back? Can we put this in our calendars. We can talk about the tactics, I feel you and I, we are so like-minded. I'm so happy to know you as my online friend on the east coast. Because I feel like my audience loves the tactics, you know what not to do what to do that kind of thing. Monica Froese 49:19 So interesting that you say that because my course on sales funnels is broken down. Strategy is the first three modules. And the last three are tactics. And I say in the course, you cannot have the tactics without the strategy and everyone wants to go to the tactics always and not have the strategy and that's when you fail. And I seriously take my students kicking and screaming sometimes through the strategy, like they just want to tell me where to put this and tell me where to put that and No, I will not. I refuse because if you don't understand the strategy if you don't understand the problem you're solving if you don't get all of that and how it fits into the bigger picture. But you can have all the tactics in the world and it will not help you make sales. Jillian Leslie 50:05 Absolutely, absolutely. Okay Monica. I just I love talking to you so, so let's we're literally going to hang up this call and schedule part two. And I just love that you come on on the show and you share so much. Monica Froese 50:22 Well, I'm really glad that you have me. People listen, I love doing this. Jillian Leslie 50:28 Alright, so Okay, so until part two. Key Takeaways My big takeaway from this episode is how putting in some thought about your solution, how to attract your audience, how to provide them with a quick win and then ultimately sell them on the solution, I think is really powerful, I think to step back in your own business and think about putting these pieces together, lining them up. So they all make sense is what I recommend. Did it take some thought it really does. If you want to talk product with me, please reach out at Jillian@milotree.com. And I'd love to hear what you're thinking and give you some feedback. Also, I want to say do check out the military membership. So it's Milo tree.com/membership, if you are looking for tech support, ongoing tech support, so we've got your back. So when you want to make a change to your blog, we can do that for you. Also, it provides you with workshops, ongoing workshops of what is what are cutting edge strategies that we want to share with you both strategies that are working in our business, but also strategies that we are seeing work in people's businesses and also community because being an online entrepreneur can sometimes feel lonely. It can feel like you are yelling into the abyss and you're not sure anybody is listening. Well, I'm listening and this community is listening. So, if you if any of those things are interesting to you, and you can roll them all into one, please head to milotree.com/membership. And again, there are no contracts or anything so there's really no risk and I will see you here again next week. Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… It can be with MiloTree! Try the MiloTree pop-up app on your blog for 30 days risk-free! Let your MiloTree pop-ups help you get to that next level by turning your visitors into email subscribers and social media followers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube. Sign up today! Install your MiloTree pop-ups on your site in under two minutes. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! I met today’s guest very early on in my business journey when we were both members of One Woman Shop, and not only was I blown away by what she’s created over the past 5 years and the advice she is giving you guys in today’s episode… but I also left our conversation feeling more emboldened to stand up for things that I believe in that I’ve tended to shy away from in the past - and I hope you can take away a piece of that from our conversation today too. Monica Froese is a professional blogger and Pinterest marketing expert. She has an MBA in finance and marketing and blogs at Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in motherhood and business.  She provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through effective sales funnels and Pinterest ads. Today we’re talking about: Monica’s journey from starting a working-mom blog to getting invited to the White House. The turning point in her life that led Monica to put in her full effort and create a business that could replace her corporate salary. The importance of commitment, focus and action. Why blogging is not creating content - and what it really is. Monica’s perspective on mom-guilt and being a working mother. The financial possibilities that come with getting out from under the corporate pay ceiling. Monica’s revenue streams and how she manages her two businesses. Why you don’t need to be doing 1:1 client work first to be successful in teaching. Monica’s advice for someone who is struggling to get traction in their business. The one belief Monica had to change about herself to get where she is today. My favorite quotes from Monica: “The President just asked me what I'm doing to make a difference. And really not a whole lot besides just venting on my blog. So how do I make a difference? And that was the turning point for this business.” “I am going to make this into something. I'm not going to squander this opportunity.” “I don't expect anyone to come in and give me some sort of ironclad roadmap to make this work because it doesn't exist.” “That load of laundry is literally costing us hundreds of dollars if I do it. I know what my time's worth and it's worth a heck of a lot more than doing a load of laundry.” “I refuse to have mom guilt. Mom guilt is not in my vocabulary so I actually have no qualms telling my seven-year-old, ‘Hey this is Mommy's work time and you will get my undivided attention when work time is over.’" “The basics for a (Pinterest) ad strategy are also the basics for an organic strategy. At the end of the day, Pinterest is keywords and clickable images and if you get those two things down, you're going to be rolling on both sides of the house." “It's not supposed to feel easy or even great in the beginning. You just have to keep showing up every day. Consistency is key." Bio: Monica is a professional blogger and Pinterest marketing expert. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and blogs at Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in motherhood and business.  She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft, HP, and Cisco. Now, she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through effective sales funnels and Pinterest ads. Connect with Monica: Redefining Mom Website Pinterest Instagram Facebook Youtube

If you’re the CEO of your business, what’s it like to be supported by a Director of Operations (DOO)? Exactly how can a DOO benefit your business? On the flip side, what if you love operations? What is it like to be a DOO? How can you work with a CEO?  In this episode, I talk with Redefining Mom CEO Monica Froese and her DOO Theresa Baretta. We dig into how Monica utilizes a DOO in her business and break down what Theresa does for Monica. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at the CEO-DOO relationship, listen in!   How Monica Felt Before She Brought on a DOO Before Monica brought on Theresa as her DOO, she felt completely burned out. Monica had just launched a course for the fourth time during the most stressful time in her mom-life. After she launched, she totally crashed. She knew she was working harder, not smarter and didn’t know what to do next. Monica felt completely overwhelmed.   How Monica Utilizes a DOO in Her Business When Theresa came on, she: Systemized her business Helped her see the forest for the trees Navigated her through the hiring process Simplified her processes Got her out of feeling stalled After Theresa came on, Monica had her two highest revenue months. A DOO allows you to be you. They’re a safe place and someone who helps you strategically grow your business.   “When you say yes to a DOO, you say yes to being a better leader.” - Natalie Gingrich   The Impact for Theresa as a DOO Coming into Monica’s business showed Theresa the power of working with someone she can get behind because she believes in Monica’s vision and values.  She also helped Monica: Protect her time and create white space Gives her a step-by-step process to reach her vision Put her foundations in place   Monica’s Advice for CEOs Considering a DOO Lots of people stay in a perpetual state of overwhelm and burn out, but you don’t have to. “We don’t have to let ourselves get to burnout.” - Monica Froese A DOO has a 10,000-foot view of your business. Sometimes as a CEO, you know what needs to happen but aren’t sure how to do it. A DOO also anticipates the leader’s needs. Having a DOO on your team gives you someone who is a leader in her industry and has the ability to put the pieces together, not just complete tasks. “You can’t scale your time. It’s about leveraging your time and how you can multiply it through someone else.” - Theresa Baretta   How the DOO Certification Can Help You If you love operations, the DOO certification can give you: Confidence Clarity Community  When you’re ready to learn more about becoming a DOO, go here.  Connect with Monica and Theresa: Monica started Redefining Mom seven months after her first daughter was born as a way to cope with severe postpartum PTSD that she was unaware of at the time. She has a deep desire to help moms thrive at home and work. She is a strong believer that guilt has no place in motherhood and strives to empower moms to build a life that fits their own unique family value system. She has two beautiful daughters, 6 and 1 years old, and firmly believes everything she does is with the intent to give them a better life. Monica is a professional blogger and Pinterest marketing expert. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with huge brands like Microsoft, HP, and Cisco. Now, she provides online marketing education to professional moms who are looking to build profitable blogs through effective sales funnels and Pinterest ads. Redefining Mom Website Redefining Mom on Facebook Theresa Baretta lives and breathes operations. As the founder of Loop Link, her company introduces creative agency owners to sanity-saving operations so they can build an agency that runs beyond them. Systems may not sound sexy, but they make the difference between constant chaos to consistent creation. Theresa and her team supports CEOs and serve as an extension of their team, helping them create a business and life that reflects their core values. Through implementing business operations and systems, Theresa and her team leverage proven systems to take busy, stressed CEOs from firefighting to fulfillment. Loop Link Website Loop Link on Facebook Stay Connected Subscribe on your favorite podcast app.  Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/20.

Monica is a professional blogger and Pinterest marketing expert. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing, and blogs at Redefining Mom, a site for helping women thrive in motherhood and business. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with large brands like Microsoft, HP, and Cisco. Now, she provides online marketing education to small businesses that are looking to build a profitable revenue stream through effective sales funnels and Pinterest ads.   This week on the Get Paid Podcast, Monica joins us to chat about talking about her mom blog to Obama, leveraging strategies from her corporate job, and the relationship between Pinterest ads and Facebook ads.   “I'm not as passionate about organic traffic as I am paid because with paid you're telling the algorithm exactly the types of people you want to reach and I can see a direct line result for the actions that they take. ” — Monica Froese This Week on the Get Paid Podcast Why she prefers paid ads over organic traffic [15:45] "No, I had a baby...No money for me" [19:09] Getting invited to go to Pinterest [21:35] Using Pinterest to feed her Facebook Pixel [25:57] V-Look Ups - and why you need 'em [42:56] Being strategic with copy to leverage social proof on ads [45:15] Why Facebook Ads are like viagra [55:05] Growing her team [1:04:59] Resources Mentioned: The Ops Authority by Natalie Gingrich Free Pinterest Ads Course by Monica Froese   Connect with Monica Froese: Website Pinterest Instagram Finally dipping your toes in the ads water? Do yourself a favor and start with Absolute FB Ads: Simple step-by-step instructions, instead of wasting a TON of money targeting the wrong audience or selecting the wrong objective. You'll be shocked by how many people flush money down the toilet just because Zuckerberg and friends are dead set on making their platform a veritable nightmare for small business owners. With me and my crystal clear instructions holding your hand the entire way, you'll be amazed by how straightforward the process actually is. You'll be a pro at running campaigns that convert in no time. Head over to clairepells.com/pod.  Enroll now to save more than 30% on the 2020 price.  Now it's time to GET PAID   Thanks for tuning into the Get Paid Podcast! If you enjoyed today's episode, head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media. Now, it's time to go get yourself paid.

She loves purple, she loves paid advertising, she’s a work-from-home mom building a thriving business while raising two little ones, and her name is Monica. No, I’m not talking about me! I’m talking about my guest on today’s show, Monica Froese from Redefining Mom!  My daughter would call us twinsies because we have so much in common, and I am so excited to share this interview with you. Monica Froese is a professional blogger and Pinterest marketing expert. She has an MBA degree in finance and marketing and blogs at Redefining Mom, a site for helping moms thrive in both motherhood and business. She spent 11 years working for a Fortune 100 company running multi-million dollar marketing campaigns with huge brands like Microsoft, HP, and Cisco. Now, she provides online marketing education to people who are looking to build profitable businesses through effective sales funnels and Pinterest ads! In this episode, Monica shares: Monica’s take on mom guilt and how she overcame it How to simultaneously drive traffic via promoted pins and retarget with Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to drive more sales The biggest game-changer with promoted pins that you definitely should be testing ...and a whole lot more! You can find all of the links and resources that are mentioned in today’s episode at MonicaLouie.com/26.

Pinterest: I've avoided this topic until now, because I honestly haven't known how this platform could fit into how I market my online courses. But that's about to change today! Monica Froese is here to clue me in on how to make the most of this platform, and fortunately she has a ton of experience... Read More

Pinterest: I've avoided this topic until now, because I honestly haven't known how this platform could fit into how I market my online courses. But that's about to change today! Monica Froese is here to clue me in on how to make the most of this platform, and fortunately she has a ton of experience... Read More

If you sell products, or you are thinking about creating products to sell, today's episode is the episode for you.  Selling products involves learning about landing pages, tripwires, opt-ins, sales emails, and how to promote those products.  To get a leg up on all this, you're going to want to listen in as my good friend and popular podcast guest, Monica Froese, and I talk all things product sales.  In case you missed it, Monica and I chatted on a recent episode about how to make Promoted pins work for you.  Creating Successful Opt-In Landing Pages When Monica creates an opt-in email landing page, she wants it to be very bold and clear.  She doesn't want there to be any question about what the reader is getting for free, and where they need to enter their email address.  Monica's most successful opt-in is her process on how she plans her goals for the entire year. This opt-in is a 14-page PDF that goes over how she plans for her family, herself, and her business.  Monica has experimented with every different opt-in page possible. The longer form opt-in has gotten slightly better conversions for her. She does prefer the embedded opt-in for her Promoted pin campaigns.  Monica uses the app, Proof, which is a paid plug-in software. Proof enables a pop-up that shows how many people have chosen to opt-in. She uses this on all her opt-in pages because it's an easy way to give social proof, without quoting testimonials.  How to Create Successful Sales Pages  The second type of landing page that Monica uses are sales pages. The length of the landing pages depends on the product. For more expensive products, Monica will provide more information and images.  Monica sometimes provides a video of what exactly the user will be paying for. These videos are about a minute and a half, where she talks briefly about how the product will benefit them if they buy it.  She also puts seasonal spins on her products. Pinterest is very seasonal, so adding any kind of seasonal keywords is always a great idea.  Because Monica is driving a cold audience to these products from Pinterest, she also provides a freebie on the landing page. This allows them to walk away with something, even if they aren't ready to buy just yet.  If they choose to enter their email address, they are automatically taken back to the original landing page and have the opportunity to purchase the product for a discounted price for a very limited time.  This is called a tripwire.  If they choose not to purchase, Monica sends them an email talking more about the product after they download their freebie.  Monica's Email Progression Monica has a strategic series of emails she sends to those who decide to download her goal-planning process.  Email #1 - contains the link to the download Email #2 - is another offer for the tripwire, sometimes at the discounted price and sometimes with a different discount Email #3 - is a value-add email, directing you to more free content or another freebie Email #4 - is typically sending you to an affiliate link, providing you a freebie for someone else's content Email #5 - is either another value-add or Monica's welcome sequence Large Product Landing Page  The landing page for Monica's most expensive course (her $500 Promoted pin course) is a very long-form page. The main reason for that is because Monica is asking them to make a very large investment.  They need to know more about what she is offering and why they should purchase.  She has about 6 testimonial videos on that page. These testimonials allow the user to see what can be achieved through the course.  Monica talks about the pain points that her product can solve and how her product is different from other products on the market.  All throughout the sales page, she has “Buy Now” buttons. She has it on the page at least 6 or 7 times.  Monica plans to use Hotjar, which is a heatmap of your sales page to see where people are clicking and where people are falling off the page, with her next launch. We use HotJar at MiloTree and it's extremely helpful.  Using Pinterest To Sell Your Products Monica always says that there is not a lot of control over the ads on your site.  And the things about ads is that you are sending people away from you. She wants to be keeping people in her house and promoting her own products. Pinterest makes it very easy to brainstorm product ideas. You never want to copy anyone, but you can gain great inspiration.  Do keyword research and look at what problems the other bloggers are solving. You can either do something better or just gain great ideas.  Sometimes people are afraid to ask for money for products that other people are offering for free. But almost all of Monica's lower-end products can be found for free on Pinterest.  Pinterest's product pins have around a 40% higher click-through rate. Your product doesn't have to be super expensive. As a user, Monica gravitates toward paid pins because it will be a quicker win.  Using Pinterest to do your research allows you to know what problems people are having and how you can solve them. A lot of times you are already solving the problem and you just need to repackage it into a paid product.  In order to use product pins or rich pins, all you need is a business account on Pinterest.  Make The Yes Easy for Your Reader I love Monica's landing pages. And yet she is admittedly not a “website guru” or an expert coder. She takes advantage of products like Leadpages to create her amazing landing pages.  The thing about landing pages is that it takes away all the clutter. There aren't sidebars full of buttons. There is no navigation bar. You're asking the reader to do one thing and one thing only. When you are putting money behind something, you want it to be super clear what you want. You don't want the reader to experience any confusion at all.  Most of all, you just want to make the “yes” easy for your audience.  Action Tip My challenge for you is to scroll through your Pinterest feed and go to some landing pages. Sign up for opt-ins that look good to you and learn from what that blogger is doing.  Monica's are some of my favorites so I want you to look for hers specifically, but you can learn from others, too.  Notice how your favorite bloggers set up their landing pages. Read the email series they send you after signing up. Make a swipe file of those emails so that when you get ready to sell your products. Definitely refer to those emails as you create your own. The great thing about the internet is you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Look at what's working for others, and use the same techniques. Previous Episodes with Monica Froese   #030: The Easiest Ways to Make Money as a Blogger with Monica Froese (Part 2) #029: How to Start a New Business When You're A New Mom with Monica Froese (Part 1) #072: How to Make Promoted Pins Work for You With Monica Froese     What Type of Online Entrepreneur is MiloTree Right For? Are you serious about growing your online business (advanced beginner and above)? Have you got some traffic but you know you need more? Let your MiloTree pop-ups help you get to that next level by turn your visitors into email subscribers and social media followers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube. Sign up today! Install your MiloTree pop-ups on your site in under two minutes. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE! TIMESTAMP   Intro  1:18    The Control of Paid Advertising  4:48    Creating Successful Landing Pages  11:50  Creating Sales Pages  20:50  Monica's Email Progression  24:53  Large Product Landing Page   34:24  Creating Products and Using Pinterest To Sell   41:50  Make The Yes Easy    43:00  Action Tip TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS Be clear on your landing page about what you want the reader to do; what they're getting and where to put their information. Use video, testimonials, seasonal text, and tripwires on your sales pages. Create a strategic email funnel that keeps the reader interested and draws them back to your products. If you don't know what product to create, use Pinterest to research a problem you can solve with a paid product. 

People talk a lot about Facebook ads and Instagram ads, but promoted pins on Pinterest don’t get a lot of attention. That means there is less competition to get your content in front of your audience on Pinterest... if you know how to promote a pin on Pinterest. Monica Froese is a blogger who viewed this gap as money to make… and that’s exactly what she started doing by promoting pins on Pinterest, then teaching others how to do the same thing. In this episode, Monica takes us through why we should stop caring about the page view and start caring about the conversions. The data will tell you everything. Now, let’s go step by step. First, you need to install the Pinterest tag on every page of your website in the header script. For Facebook advertisers, this is like your Facebook pixel. Then, you’re going to go determine your goal to set an objective, choose an audience, and do keyword research because Pinterest is a search engine. The best part? Monica says advertising on Pinterest is cheaper than on Facebook. Some resources mentioned in this episode: RedifingMom.com RedifiningMom.com/ads PitchPublicityProfit.com Please subscribe to this podcast and leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.

Today, I have my friend, Monica Froese from Redefining Mom on the show. She will be sharing all things promoted pins and how to make promoted pins work for you. We talk about not only why it might make sense to pay for Pinterest Promoted Pins, but we break it down and share how Monica promotes her course using Pinterest and Facebook advertising. Why Advertise On Pinterest? Monica believes that advertising serves very different purposes from one social media platform to another. The first thing to keep in mind when you're thinking about Pinterest ads, aka Promoted Pins, is whether or not your demographic is even on Pinterest.  Pinterest is mostly women, mostly in the US, and mostly millennials. If your target audience is older men, you're probably not going to find them on Pinterest. It's important to understand the difference between Pinterest and social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram. When you open Facebook, you do not hope to be served an ad about wedding planning. But if you are actively wedding planning, you will most likely be served an ad about that, simply because their targeting and retargeting strategies are the best out there. With Pinterest, you come with a problem, and you're proactively searching for the solution. When you open your Pinterest app, you come in with a buyer's mindset. You have a problem, you want a solution, and you're ready to pay for it. Will Promoted Pins Increase Sales? It's important to note that an ad on any platform won't solve a broken system or a broken funnel. If your product isn't selling organically, ads are not going to fix that problem. It's important to make sure your product sells from the platform that you're going to be promoting on. If you can't get any sales from Pinterest organically, you should not dive into Pinterest ads. You need to prove your product organically and build a relationship with your audience before you just jump into Pinterest ads. If you have proven your product, then you can even sell it to a cold audience on Pinterest. How to Market to a Cold Audience A cold audience is one that has no familiarity with you or what you sell. They have not interacted with you in any way. A warm audience is someone who has seen you or your product somewhere online. They have had an interaction with you. Most marketers are going to tell you to only target a warm audience; that a warm audience is going to convert better into monetary returns. On Pinterest, people are looking for a solution to their problem, so if they see a solution to their problem, whether they know that person or not, they are more willing to buy the service. They are not looking for someone they know, they are looking for answers. Warming Up An Audience to Get Them to Buy The caveat to selling to cold audiences on Pinterest is that the higher priced your product, the less likely a cold audience will buy it. The solution to this problem is to warm up your audience. Help them get to know you. There are several ways to do this, but Monica shared her favorite strategy with us. Strategy to Sell to a Warm Audience Run an ad on Pinterest People click on your ad and go to a landing page on your site You offer a freebie on the landing page You now have their email address Send an email with one of your products at a reduced price Add that person to your automated email list Nurture that relationship and turn them into a warm audience Pinterest is e-commerce focused and mostly on lower-priced products. So, Monica focuses on funneling those types of products to her audience. And then, when she wants to nurture for a higher-priced product, she focuses on building her email list from Pinterest. How to Get Email Subscribers From Pinterest Keep in mind that Pinterest is content driven. Most bloggers drive their ads to a blog post where they ask people to sign up for their email list. Monica turned that strategy on its head by driving people to a landing page through her ads. And then she uses "tripwires" once they've signed up for her email list to get them to make a purchase. Tripwires are an easy way to get people to buy from you immediately by reducing the price of the product for a limited amount of time. Pinterest Ads for Pageviews - Does it Make Sense? The question isn't whether you should want to drive page views, it's why do you want to drive page views? You have to understand your strategy before you promote it. It's not about increasing your page views; it's about what you are doing with those page views? If you're being paid by a brand to promote them, it's worth it to spend some money promoting your pins, so you get more page views. Look at how much money you're generating, and make sure it makes sense to be putting money behind promoting pins. If you have a funnel that you know works, page views can be very helpful if your strategy is to get those people into your funnel. Dig into your analytics, to know whether what you're doing is working or not. Monica's Courses Monica's Pinterest Ads course, Pin Practical Promotions, is open for enrollment through June 10, 2019. If the course isn't open for enrollment when you check it out, Monica offers a free course called Pin Practical Ads which is a great way to get started on your journey with Pinterest Ads. What Type of Online Entrepreneur is MiloTree Right For? Are you serious about growing your online business (advanced beginner and above)? Have you got some traffic but you know you need more? Let your MiloTree pop-ups help you get to that next level by converting your visitors into email subscribers and social media followers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube. Sign up today! Install your MiloTree pop-ups on your site in under two minutes. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE! Timestamp Intro 5:23 Why Advertise On Pinterest? 10:20 Will Promoted Pins Increase Sales? 10:25 Marketing to a Cold Audience 18:17 Warming Up An Audience 27:15 Email Subscribers From Pinterest 35:16 Pinterest Ads for Page Views 40:58 Monica's Courses Read the podcast transcript HERE:   TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE  Pinterest users are ready to pay for a solution to their problem. You must prove your product is viable organically before promoting on Pinterest. If you are selling higher priced products, try getting people to sign up for your email list so you can warm them up to a purchase. Most users won't buy a higher priced product straight from your Pinterest ad. Before paying for ads to drive page views, know why you want more page views. More Blogger Genius Episodes You'll Like? #030: The Easiest Ways to Make Money as a Blogger with Monica Froese (Part 2) #029: How to Start a New Business When You're A New Mom with Monica Froese (Part 1) #019: How to Get Started with Promoted Pins on Pinterest with Alisa Meredith    

Take my free online training on how to use Facebook Messenger marketing to drive more sales of your online products and services: https://www.hackyouronlinebusiness.com. Today we are going to hack your online business with Pinterest marketing. My guest is Monica Froese, a business strategist for women entrepreneurs and Pinterest marketing expert, and we are going to talk about how you can use Pinterest as a sales funnel.

How do you really make money blogging? Monica Froese shares how she turned her "hobby blog" into a business that brings home six figures in this episode of the Live Free Podcast! Even if you're not interested in blogging, you don't want to miss this interview because her story is just another example of what opportunities are out there for women, especially moms in the online space. And if you're a Pinterest Manager or interested in Pinterest Ads, listen to the end to hear Monica's advice on adding Pinterest Ads to your services. Thanks for listening! Head over to the Live Free Podcast Mastermind fb group to continue this conversation. I'll talk to you soon! SHOW NOTES: www.MicalaQuinn.com/episode45

Sometimes what we start doing is not where we end up. Monica Froese of Redefining Mom shares how how she grew her corporate side hustle to a monetized blog and business with a high converting email list of over 30,000. Her story includes an invitation to the White House and a few pivots as she figured out how to leverage her strengths. Plus, I got Monica to share a few of her top list building tips to boot! We also discuss ways to create white space in your calendar to give yourself time for creativity, and the importance of positive self-talk. Join the BizChix Community Connect With Monica Froese: Redefining Mom Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest Books or Tools or Events Mentioned: Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz   Other Links Mentioned: Promoted Pins BizChix Episodes Mentioned: 320: Everyone’s A Mess Listen to Stacking Your Team Work With Natalie: One Day Mastermind CEOCHIX Mastermind ProfitChix Mastermind Strategy Session Work with Shelli: One Day Mastermind EliteChix Mastermind Strategy Session This episode was first published at BizChix.com/340. Subscribe to our sister podcast, Stacking Your Team, on your podcast app or listen at https://bizchix.com/category/team/.

In this Part 2 interview with Monica Froese from the blog, Redefining Mom, we delve into the easiest ways to make money as a blogger. If you're trying to monetize your blog quickly, this episode is for you! Monica shares why Pinterest is the best platform for affiliate income and why you should invest in Promoted Pins. Plus we talk about how to pivot your business as you grow, and why you shouldn't be scared to do it! Resources: Redefining Mom Moolah Marketing ConvertKit Your Modern Family MiloTree *Some of these links may be affiliate links and I might make a small commission at no cost to you if you click. Transcript – The Easiest Ways to Make Money as a Blogger with Monica Froese (Part 2) Host: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:10] Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast. I am here with Part 2 of my interview with Monica Froese. I don't know if you remember, but we left off with what to do if you've got six months and you need to make money and your husband isn't understanding what you're doing. So without further ado, here is Part 2 of my interview. Jillian: [00:00:35] Let's say I've done this and I've got a six month runway to make a business, to prove to my husband that this isn't just a pipe dream. Now what what are some of the easiest ways to start bringing income in? Easy ways to start making money as a blogger Jillian: [00:00:51] I put up a blog right. I get that up and running. Now I have no people. I don't even know what I'm doing. Where can I quickly make money? Monica: [00:01:01] The quickest wins I've ever had online came from Pinterest and affiliate marketing, these are the two quick wins. Especially affiliate marketing with Pinterest. You know they had cut it off for a while. They didn't allow affiliate links at all. Monica: [00:01:19] And I'm going to be honest, I'm not a big believer in putting direct affiliate links on Pinterest. I prefer to drive people to my site. Jillian: [00:01:30] OK so let's go through what each of those is. Monica: [00:01:35] The first way that you could do affiliate marketing on Pinterest is you could make a pin and link it to an affiliate link so that when someone clicks on it they're not going to your site. Make money with affiliate links on Pinterest Monica: [00:01:44] Let's say just as an example, you took a blogging course. You really love it. Now you're an affiliate of it and you want to promote it on Pinterest, so you would link directly to that person. Jillian: [00:01:56] And you would add your affiliate link to the pin. Monica: [00:02:00] Yes. Jillian: [00:02:01] Now Amazon is not happy about that anymore, is that correct? Monica: [00:02:05] That's correct. You cannot use Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest. Jillian: [00:02:10] OK, but you could for example though, let's say I love this pan from Amazon. Can you do this? I love this pan. I take pictures of my pan in my house. I then do a blog post about these awesome pans. Then I use that as a pin on Pinterest, it links back to my blog. But that is an affiliate. Monica: [00:02:33] Yes. And I strongly believe that is the better way to do it, even if Amazon was totally fine with you linking directly to them, even though they're not. Monica: [00:02:43] But even if they were, I strongly recommend getting the person to come to your site first. For so many reasons. The first reason being that you are, you're now getting the pageview. So you could choose to monetize your site with ads which could make you money. Monica: [00:02:58] But if you don't want to do ads, which I didn't do ads for the longest time and I'm actually just doing it now as an experiment, and I don't even know if I'll keep it. But right now I am running ads. Monica: [00:03:07] The other thing is I'm a huge huge believer in converting Pinterest traffic into email subscribers because once they're an email subscriber, you can market to them with affiliate links and all sorts of different ways forever as long as they stick around. Monica: [00:03:22] But if you think about it, if you get a click to an affiliate link to someone else's site you've lost them, you've lost all ability to do anything with them at that point. So that I just kind of take off the table personally. Monica: [00:03:34] Then if you take the tactic of getting them to your site with the purpose of explaining something affiliate driven. Whether it's like a course that you want to tell them about, or products on Amazon, that's great too. Monica: [00:03:49] But the method I actually prefer is giving them value in the post, a value driven blog post. And giving a single call to action that gets them on your email list and then once they're on your email list by all means direct them to your affiliates. Jillian: [00:04:09] Interesting. OK so you, because your business is all about helping moms grow businesses, you are picking affiliate programs or products that fit in with that. Monica: [00:04:23] So I have two sides a little bit. The side I focus on and my most revenue generating side is by far marketing tactics. So helping moms start their businesses and really understanding the data behind it. I like data driven stuff. Monica: [00:04:40] So how you can leverage different analytic things to bring traffic to your site. Mainly I focus on email marketing and Pinterest for that. Monica: [00:04:49] But I have a side of my business that is more passive that I have a lot of old content, mom driven content and especially when I had Maria this march. I had a lot of second-time mom content that I was putting up. Monica: [00:05:04] Like second time c-section stuff and things like that. And those I drive primarily using affiliate links I send them through a different funnel once they get on my email list, like a mom funnel kind of. Jillian: [00:05:20] That's so interesting. And then what kinds of products are you promoting? Promoting courses through affiliate links Monica: [00:05:26] So there's some Amazon but I have others. So Crystal Payne from Money Saving Mom, she has some really great courses for time management for moms with Make Over Your Mornings, Make Over Your Evenings which I actually found extremely beneficial balancing my own time. I took both and it really helped me. Monica: [00:05:44] So I recommend those, I try try to find courses, products, ebooks, checklists whatever it might be from other bloggers because I feel I would love to help other mom bloggers in the space grow their income and their following. Monica: [00:06:02] So when I was pregnant, and I was doing more c section posts and second time mom post I was looking for breastfeeding courses, and there is one that I found just by networking and Facebook groups and other blogging Facebook groups. I would just ask. "I have this post going up about you know C-section recovery. Do you have any products you recommend?" Monica: [00:06:28] So a lot of the products I linked from Amazon some of them from Target and I honestly I feel like that side of my business is very passive. Monica: [00:06:38] I know people say there's no such thing as passive income and it's not like I don't put work into it. A blog post is work, getting the affiliate links is work, setting up the email funnels is work and there's certainly work went into it and now they run pretty much on their own. Jillian: [00:06:53] Wow. So what's interesting about you is you've been able to take your life. The two sides of your life, your business side and your mom side and create small subset businesses out of both. Monica: [00:07:07] Under the same brand. Jillian: [00:07:08] Under the same brand, like you've been able to, and we talk about this on the podcast a lot of like niching down and not spreading yourself too thin. Monica: [00:07:17] So I just listened to your episode with Rachel Miller and I am in Rachel's course, her Facebook course and she is the niche down queen. She I mean she really hones in on things and builds them into explosive businesses. And she capitalizes on trends and all of that. Monica: [00:07:37] And I thought about this a lot. Especially when I was listening to that episode because I do feel like you can have a brand that is multifaceted but there are areas and different times within that brand that you are super focused. Monica: [00:07:52] Like right now, my business is super super focused on Promoted Pins. I found it as a spot that people needed education in. People were asking for it, so I created a course around it. Monica: [00:08:06] A lot of my day to day now is focused on helping people with Promoted Pins. Whether that's DIY or helping people actually get their campaigns up or running, campaigns for people. Monica: [00:08:21] I feel like I'm very niched there, but I didn't create a whole new website for it. I just pivot what I'm putting out at that time. And over time you get good at segmenting your email list, you send things to the right people. Jillian: [00:08:36] Right. And what email service are you using? Monica: [00:08:39] Convertkit. Jillian: [00:08:41] Convertkit. Yeah yeah okay. Monica: [00:08:43] So I have segments set up in there where I have a lot of funnels. I am a one woman show at this point. I have some contractors but very limited help that I get at this time, and I have a six figure business. Monica: [00:08:59] I'm a perfectionist and Type A, and I've had to learn to let go of some of that because not everything is perfect all the time. Sometimes I have typos and sometimes people cross pollinate in my funnels and so they might get more than one email in a day and it's unintentional but it happened. Monica: [00:09:21] I have this philosophy that I do the best I can. And I always have my reader at the forefront of my mind and I try to do what's best by her. And you know it might not be perfect all the time but it's as close as I can get it. Jillian: [00:09:36] Right and you know there was a previous episode with my friend, Becky Mansfield, and she is very similar in that she is a family lifestyle blog. Jillian: [00:09:46] But as her kids grow and she faces new things, she has seven different products, seven different lines to her business. And she too has different email funnels where she is being of service. But one could be about clean eating. And one could be about potty training. Monica: [00:10:09] Yeah I am follow her. Your Modern Family, right? Jillian: [00:10:12] Right exactly. Monica: [00:10:13] Yeah I watched her talk two years ago, that's where she was talking about her funnels how she sets them up. There are seven different ones that people go down each and they might cross over into the other one. Monica: [00:10:25] Actually I feel like she might have been one of the turning points for me, when I listened to her talk. Because I did feel the pressure that when I was pivoting. How to pivot as a blogger Monica: [00:10:34] Because I started as a working mom blog and it was a lot of corporate topics, talking to corporate working moms. A lot of time management, how to balance working outside the home. And as I got further away from that I couldn't really sustain a blog on that because I don't leave the house to work. Jillian: [00:10:49] Right. Right. Monica: [00:10:51] So I had to pivot but that doesn't mean the content that I had put up is bad content. It still drives me traffic. It still drives me sales and I don't even touch it anymore. So I don't see the problem with evolving with your brand. Monica: [00:11:07] My name was an accident. My brand is Redefining Mom. Which if you think about it, you can always redefine yourself like I can always use that brand for other things. Jillian: [00:11:16] Yes. You know what I like about this, is again your first piece of advice which is just start. And then it's like, you don't have to have all your ducks in a row. You don't have to know exactly what your niche is, like start with a niche and see how it goes. Jillian: [00:11:32] And as you change and evolve and as your baby grows or your family changes or who knows what, you can then do what you're doing. Jillian: [00:11:40] Which is now Promoted Pins. And again it's the internet, so maybe that will last forever, maybe it will be in six months you find something else. But that you can then figure out how to grow that. Monica: [00:11:58] There was a great post I just read from Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner. He said essentially that influencers come in and out of the space. People burn out of talking about the same topic. So they'll go. Monica: [00:12:16] And you can see it in a lot of big influencers, too. But someone will like hone in on Pinterest and they'll do it for a year or two maybe even three and then they'll get burned out and they'll start pivoting towards a different topic in the online marketing sphere. Monica: [00:12:31] And so it's OK to come and go from different topics based on where you are in life if you're a lifestyle blogger. You know in 10 years from now, I hope to still have my brand and you know I can't predict necessarily where I'll be in 10 years. But I know I'm not going be talking about c-sections in 10 years, I'm done having kids. Monica: [00:12:52] But that content is still there and it's just in the background. Even if you go to my site today, you're not going to see this splash page of c-section tips for new moms or second time moms. Monica: [00:13:04] Really the only way you're going to get to it is if you find it on Pinterest and I keyword it well. That's why I love Pinterest to be honest with you and Google, but I can't profess to be best at organic search on Google. But I am very good at keywording on Pinterest. Monica: [00:13:26] And so I could have all these different areas of my business because I can rank for c-section, I can rank for time management, I can rank for Pinterest tips on Pinterest. Monica: [00:13:37] But the people who are looking at that are not the same people. They're searching for what they need in the moment and arriving at that post that they need in the moment and they're taking action. Monica: [00:13:50] If I leave you with anything, it is that every post if you're a blogger should have a singular call to action. BLOGGING ADVICE: Every blog posts should have a singular call to action Jillian: [00:13:59] Singular. Yes. We talk about that. Yes. In fact we created MiloTree with that in mind. Which is one action. Jillian: [00:14:11] You know we have a variety of popups, but notice it's one pop up the shows to one user. It's not, hey follow me on Twitter. Wait, follow me on Instagram. Wait, join my email list, because you will burn out your user. They will have paralysis. So I am a huge believer in one call to action. Monica: [00:14:33] So now, I've actually had a student ask me that. So I think this is a good point with MiloTree. So when I was telling her about the single call to action she went to my site and she saw my MiloTree pop up and  I have it set up so the first time you visit. you get the Follow me on Pinterest pop-up. Monica: [00:14:50] And she said OK is that your call to action? Because really the call to action at the post was to get on my email list which is 95 percent of the time what I want you to do. Monica: [00:14:58] I said, well if you think about it, if someone clicks the follow me on Pinterest, it's actually opening up a new browser so I'm not taking them away from my site. It's opening in the new browser for you to follow me on Pinterest but my site is still there with the original what I want you to do. Jillian: [00:15:13] Yes. Yes exactly. Exactly. And if they follow you on Pinterest then chances are they will see your content. And you know when they're on Pinterest or whatever because you'll show up and then they will end up back on your site. And then they will be joining different lists. Monica: [00:15:28] Which leads me back into the whole promote thing, because once they found you on Pinterest, then if you want to get in front of them. I always say Promote Pins are the way to skip the line. Jillian: [00:15:38] I like that. I like that. Explain that. Monica: [00:15:45] OK. So at the end of the day Pinterest needs to make money. They employ people, they need to make money. And they, like any platform, they don't make money by sending you away from their site. Monica: [00:15:59] And that's what their whole business model is based on, is actually sending people away from their site. So they need to make money. How do they make money? They make money on ads of people sponsoring content on their platform. Monica: [00:16:12] So if that's how they make money, and they're in the business of making money like we're in the business of making money, I'm a believer of giving them what they want. Jillian: [00:16:20] I like that. Why as a blogger you should invest in Promoted Pins on Pinterest Monica: [00:16:22] The thing about Promoted Pins is, it's the ad that keeps on giving. Like I do pretty well with Facebook ads and I love Facebook ads, but when they're done they're done. It disappears off their platform. Nobody's clicking on anymore. Monica: [00:16:37] When you run a Promoted Pin. I always run traffic campaigns, which is you pay for the click. But by the nature of Pinterest, people are also saving the pin. So I'm promoting it. People are clicking and saving it. Monica: [00:16:51] Those saves that I get from the promotion, I paid for the click. I'm not even paying for the person to save it. But they do. Now through that person's account, that person's board. Those are called earned clicks, so you can actually see it in your analytics. And I believe that's what they actually call it. Monica: [00:17:07] You can see your paid metrics and your earned metrics and most of my campaign that I promote. I'm seeing after it's done, I still see from last summer I ran a promoted pin campaign and Google Analytics at the end of the URL in your google analytics it will be P=0, that means that you paid for that click. Monica: [00:17:29] Or PP=1 which means you earned that click, it came from after, it came from like someone saved your pin and then someone else went and clicked on it from a promoted campaign. Monica: [00:17:41] And I have from last summer, I ran a campaign for a month and I still get earned clicks on that. Every single week. Jillian: [00:17:50] Yes. And tell me if this is right. Which is, you run a promoted pin campaign and somebody then saves it, clicks through and saves that pin. You don't even know that person. Jillian: [00:18:05] But I see that person's pin somehow or maybe I followed that person and it shows up in my feed or I'm doing a search and I see that person's saved pin and I click on it. You are not paying for me to click on somebody's pin they saved from you. Does that make sense? Monica: [00:18:22] Yes. You're not. Jillian: [00:18:24] That's free? Monica: [00:18:25] That's free, yeah. And that's what comes up through your Google Analytics that PP=1 Monica: [00:18:30] Or when you're looking at your analytics and the ads dashboard pictures actually called out paid metrics versus earned metrics and earned means you didn't actually pay for it. Jillian: [00:18:40] Yep yep. OK. It's amazing. So I'm a mom, I want to build a business. And you say, start a blog. Start it. That's the first important thing. Talk to your husband, negotiate, fight, whatever you need to do. Carve out some time, then start to figure out what your first niche is. Jillian: [00:19:03] OK. Doesn't have to be your final niche, just first niche. Go for it. Start writing blog posts. Start cultivating, figuring out how you can be of service to people within this niche. Hopefully it's a niche you know very well. Monica: [00:19:19] I recommend that it is a niche you know very well, it will make it a lot easier. Jillian: [00:19:23] Right. So it's not skydiving, if you've never gone skydiving. Pick something that feels right. You know, start doing some research on going deeper into this area. Jillian: [00:19:35] Start finding products that you either have used yourself, or courses you've taken, those kinds of things, join their affiliate programs.  Start writing really useful blog posts that will help people, and your content in and of itself should be helpful. But add the links to those affiliate programs. Monica: [00:19:57] Yeah and you know, MiloTree is a great example. When you find something that you can talk about without even getting paid for it, like I was talking about MiloTree before there was an affiliate program for it all. Monica: [00:20:09] It just came so naturally because it was something that worked for me, so I would mention it all the time. So things like that. Monica: [00:20:16] If you're talking to a friend, if you have a lifestyle mom blog and you're talking to a friend about a product that you just love and you talk about it all the time. Write a post about what's so amazing about it and add your affiliate link, monetize it. Jillian: [00:20:30] Love that. I love that. I love that because somebody said to me, "but I feel like maybe my audience won't trust me if I'm monetizing off of these links." Get into the right mindset to do affiliate marketing Monica: [00:20:46] Okay, so blogging is at the end of the day it can be a huge mindset game. A lot of things can make you feel uncomfortable when you're first doing it, and you might get a negative comment and it can derail you. Monica: [00:21:01] I've gotten people tell me that I shouldn't have had kids if I didn't want to raise them and I mean crazy stuff I've had. And you know what, the first couple of those really did derail me. Monica: [00:21:11] I mean, for every 100 compliments one negative erases the 100 right? And so mindset wise and I've really started to just own things now. So what I say about the monetization side of it is, I'm not running a charity and it can't be a business if I'm running a charity and I'm doing this. Monica: [00:21:35] I'm taking time away from my family to run the business and I have to be compensated for it, and as long as you're talking about something that you genuinely use and believe in there is nothing wrong with you making money off of it. Jillian: [00:21:50] I like that. I agree. I like the idea of it's not a charity. Monica: [00:21:55] It is not. Otherwise it can't be a business. Jillian: [00:21:57] Right. And as women I think we're so used to giving you know and giving for free, that it is a mindset shift. Monica: [00:22:07] It is. And you are still giving. I mean you give so much value. A lot of bloggers are giving away a lot of value on their free content that they put out there. I tend to give more away and my email content. But still it's free. You're not paying to be on my email list. Monica: [00:22:25] I have one friend who runs a pretty big blog, and she got to the point where she actually says I welcome people to unsubscribe from me because if you were never going to pay me for anything then you know, this is not a two way relationship. Jillian: [00:22:45] Right. And by the way, email service providers are expensive. Monica: [00:22:49] They are. You are costing me money to be on my email list. So there's a level of, you shouldn't just look at everyone is just a dollar sign. Monica: [00:22:58] I think that that might be hard for women to do, especially moms who are just getting into this, but you should always have in the back of your mind that you're serving them and you wanted to serve them so well that they want to buy stuff that you recommend, or they want to buy something that you create because you've given them so much value. Jillian: [00:23:19] Right. I agree. OK, so the first way that I can make some money hopefully fast is through affiliates. Then what is the next place that you recommend I move? Monica: [00:23:33] So if you're doing typical blogging stuff, like a typical blogger model you can make money off ads and sponsorships with brands. Whether that's social media sponsorships or writing a blog post sponsorship. Monica: [00:23:46] I just started experimenting with ads five years in and that was just really like a way to enhance my own skills because it's something I didn't really do before. Monica: [00:23:55] But I personally don't like sponsorship work and that's a personal preference. And the reason that is is because it makes me feel like I'm working for someone and that's why I left corporate. I wanted to not feel like I was working for someone. Monica: [00:24:07] So it wasn't something that I really liked. But it is a way to quickly form some relationships with brands out there. So that's one way you can do it. BLOGGING ADVICE: Create your own products Monica: [00:24:17] The second thing, my preferred way, is to create something of your own and it really doesn't have to be something elaborate. You know I've I have bought printable packs from people for fourteen dollars. Monica: [00:24:35] Once you are driving traffic to your site and you understand what your audience wants to get. I have a spreadsheet, a budget spreadsheet is the best way I can illustrate this. I have a budget spreadsheet. I do not talk about budgeting. I don't talk about money. Besides how to make money online. I guess technically. How a budgeting spreadsheet made $10,000 Monica: [00:24:52] But I don't talk about budgeting at all. And I have a spreadsheet that my husband and I use when were both paid in commission in corporate and it's a very easy way to project out your finances for the year. And you know understand different levers you can pull with money coming in. Monica: [00:25:08] I put up the sales page on a lead page and I charge seventeen dollars for it. Last year it made me $10,000 and the only thing I do to promote it is I pin two pins on rotation through Tailwind and that's all I made $10,000. Jillian: [00:25:27] Wow I love that. OK I love it. Monica: [00:25:30] And who would have thought of that because it has nothing to do with my niche whatsoever. And if I listen to all the popular advice out there I never would have put it up for sale. Jillian: [00:25:40] And you just had created it for yourselves? Monica: [00:25:42] Yeah. My husband and I can remember clear as day when we did it because we missed commission on one paycheck and we're like. Now what? Because we lived paycheck to paycheck when our first daughter was born and so we came up with the system and it's really not difficult. Monica: [00:25:59] I have like a 22 minute video that I give you with it showing you how to use each tab. There's not complicated formulas. And I have like a intro video on the sales page so people know you don't have to have these wicked advanced Excel skills to figure it out or anything like that, and it sells only through Pinterest. Jillian: [00:26:22] Wow. Monica: [00:26:23] And that's the power of keywording right there. Jillian: [00:26:26] OK. This is terrific. This is absolutely terrific. All right, Monica, and you have a variety of products on your site, courses that you've created. Monica: [00:26:37] Yes I do. Now that I had my second, I really have to focus my time, and I just came to the realization that I have to lighten that load a little bit because it's hard to keep things updated, and I do feel a sense of responsibility to keep things updated for people who pay me money, so I'm really narrowing down and focusing on Promoted Pins. Monica: [00:27:01] But I also have an organic Pinterest course that goes hand in hand. Like if you don't understand Pinterest to drive free traffic, it's going to be really hard for you to understand Pinterest to drive paid traffic. Monica: [00:27:13] So I do feel like they both go hand in hand and those are those are my primary focuses right now. And then I have some evergreen. Monica: [00:27:20] I have a course about how to start an online business for moms, which is pretty evergreen because that doesn't really change, you are talking to your husband, setting up your finances, time management. All of that. That is what it is right. That doesn't really change so I have stuff like that up there too. Jillian: [00:27:36] That is incredible. And you also do coaching. Monica: [00:27:39] I do. I have a little bit less time for that now, but the primary way I work with people are in strategy sessions. Especially if you're just trying to wrap your mind around getting started. I get a lot of people that are in the beginning and they just need some advice on what to do next. Monica: [00:27:59] And then the second I would say the most popular way people work with me are in Promoted Pin strategy sessions. Jillian: [00:28:06] That is terrific OK. And if people want to reach out to you what is the best way? Monica: [00:28:11] Well you can just go to my site redefiningmom.com. I have a contact tab on there. And then I also have a Facebook group which is probably the easiest way to get me in real time because you can tag me, and I see it almost instantaneously and you can get that by going to redefiningmom.com/Facebook. Jillian: [00:28:30] Monica, thank you. Honestly, I've learned so much from you and congrats on your new baby. Monica: [00:28:37] Thank you so much for having me. Grow your Instagram followers authentically and for free Jillian: [00:28:39] Let's say you are a blogger or online entrepreneur and you want to grow your social media followers on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, or grow your e-mail list and you've been wanting to try MiloTree but you're not that technical. Jillian: [00:28:54] We have launched a service called MiloTree fast track where for $50 we will install it and optimize it for you. Jillian: [00:29:03] If you are interested just reach out to me and Jillian@Milotree.com and of course you will get your first 30 days of MiloTree free. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

This interview with Monica Froese, from the blog, Redefining Mom, gets real. We discuss how motherhood changes us from the inside out, and sometimes it's not pretty. We talk about how to start a new business when you're a new mom because you can't do things the old way anymore. In part 1 of my interview, Monica and I talk about loving our kids, postpartum depression, the importance of taking care of ourselves, and what it's like to start a new business even when your husband doesn't approve. If you are a business owner and a mother, don't miss this one! Resources: Redefining Mom Postpartum-PTSD Blog Post The Female Brain MiloTree *Some of these links may be affiliate links and I might make a small commission at no cost to you if you click. Transcript - How to Start a New Business When You're A New Mom with Monica Froese Host: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast, brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:11] Hey everybody welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast. I first have to say thank you so much for showing up. I am loving doing this podcast. I am learning so much from my guests. Jillian: [00:00:22] So today, my interview is with a woman named Monica Froese, and she's an online business strategist. So for this interview, I've split it into two parts. Jillian: [00:00:35] I do this because the interviews are long but they're so good that I want you to hear everything, but I don't want to overwhelm you with a podcast episode that goes over an hour or so. Jillian: [00:00:45] Would you reach out to me let me know whether you want them split, so they're in kind of bite sized chunks or you'd rather them be full, hour to hour and 15 minute interviews? Jillian: [00:00:59] So without further ado I bring you part 1 of my interview with Monica Froese, and if you are a mom with a business, you will love this. Jillian: [00:01:10] My guest today is Monica Froese and she is an online business strategist and she predominantly works with mom entrepreneurs. So welcome to the show, Monica. Monica: [00:01:21] Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here. Jillian: [00:01:24] All right so first of al, you are one of our top affiliates for MiloTree, so that's why I wanted to reach out to you because, then I looked at your site and saw that you were doing all this incredibly cool stuff. Jillian: [00:01:35] But when I reached out to you, you said to me, "I need to get back to you because I'm about to have a baby." Monica: [00:01:41] Yes. It was like I think the week I was having her. Jillian: [00:01:43] OK. And then you had your baby and then you reached back out to me, and then we were just talking, before we pressed record about having a baby. And for you this, is your second baby. Monica: [00:01:55] My second, yep. Jillian: [00:01:56] But what we were talking about, which I thought was so relatable was how hard it can be when you have a new baby. The challenges of having a new baby when you're running a business Monica: [00:02:05] Especially when you're running a business. Jillian: [00:02:07] Especially when you are running a business. I was sharing a story about how I read all the books, my husband and I went into this we thought with our eyes open. We had our daughter and then it felt like our house burnt down. Monica: [00:02:24] I concur with that wholeheartedly. Jillian: [00:02:28] So you know you have all these plans and you and we were talking about this. Honestly how people tell you how magical and special it is to have a baby and a newborn. And for some of us it's not so magical and special. Monica: [00:02:44] Yes. So I have to be, I am careful when I talk about this in front of my 5 year old because she doesn't have the ability to necessarily understand what I mean when I say certain things, like having a kid is really hard. I don't want her to think, "Oh I'm really hard on my mom." Monica: [00:03:04] So I do try to be very clear when I when I state it, and I absolutely think that there's like a general feeling that you're given or at least I was given growing up and getting married that having kids was like this wonderful thing and it completed life and all of this stuff. Monica: [00:03:25] And then I had my first and then my second, and I love them both dearly like I don't look at them and think, "Man I wish I didn't have you." But I absolutely think it's the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Monica: [00:03:40] And I tell my husband all the time, I could work 90 hours in my business a week and find that a thousand times easier than having kids. Jillian: [00:03:49] I have to say I agree, I totally agree. I think that people who don't have kids will come up to it. You know a couple of friends of mine will say like, "Oh my god, is it like the best thing ever?" And I say well it's not puppies and rainbows. For me though, it has given me depth and purpose and meaning. Monica: [00:04:09] Yes I agree with that. Jillian: [00:04:10] But not happiness, in meaning of wonderful happy moments and it's like it's joyous but it's also the hardest thing. And I don't think that that we hear that. Monica: [00:04:24] We don't. I don't feel like I heard it at all, to be honest with you. I didn't have kids super early, my first I had at 27 and I'm 33 now, and I had my second. So you know I'm like an average age nowadays I would say probably for having kids. Monica: [00:04:42] But I was still one of the first in my group of friends that had kids. And it was super hard to articulate to them what it was like because I felt like everyone expected me to be like "this is amazing!" And I did not feel that way at all. Dealing with postpartum depression as a blogger Monica: [00:05:00] Now, I did have postpartum PTSD with my first kid. I had a very traumatic birth which I wrote about on my blog and stuff, which actually has led to a lot of opportunity for me just by sharing that because I've come to learn that that's also getting a little bit more traction now I feel. Monica: [00:05:16] But talking about postpartum is also one of those things that either treat it as taboo or just not something that you share with people. And so now I talk about it a lot because acknowledging it was a huge turning point for me in life. Monica: [00:05:32] I mean that's actually, if I had a pinpoint how I got into treating my blog like a business, was because I was diagnosed with postpartum 15 months in and then after a lot of therapy for it, I knew that I had to change my own circumstances. And that was getting out of corporate. Jillian: [00:05:52] And if people want to find that blog post do you remember the title? Monica: [00:05:58] I'm almost positive the URL is redefiningmom.com/postpartum-PTSD. Jillian: [00:06:01] Got it. Got it. And how long did it last? It sounds like you came out the other end although, now you have another baby. How long did it take for you to kind of come back to yourself? Monica: [00:06:17] So I thought after I had her, that my turning point was around the first year. But then my husband came to me and said, I really want my kids to be close together. And I thought I was going to gouge out his eyes, which was a big red flag that something wasn't right. Monica: [00:06:31] And I kind of knew something wasn't right because when I went back to work, I saw all these moms that had multiple kids functioning way better than I was, and I'm like I only have one. Why is it so hard for me? Monica: [00:06:45] I was just stressed out all the time. And then he asked for another kid, and I flipped out to put it mildly. And I switched doctors because of the doctor issue is kind of what led to the birth trauma. Monica: [00:06:59] I got a new doctor, sat down with her. She almost hit the nail on the head. Within five minutes of talking to me like waterworks turned on and she she said you're you're definitely dealing with some postpartum issues and I thought that's kind of crazy you know at 15 months postpartum, really? Monica: [00:07:15] So she sent me to a therapist and then I would say around year 2 when my daughter turned 2 is really when I started to feel like myself again. And because of that I really did not want to rush and having another kid because it terrified me that that that it would happen again. Jillian: [00:07:33] Yes. When I was pregnant I read this book, I don't know if you've read it, called The Female Brain. It's a really good book and it goes through how our brains evolve over time, and there's a chapter on pregnancy and it talks about how our brains get completely rewired during pregnancy. How motherhood changes your outlook on careers Jillian: [00:07:52] And again I read it and I thought this is really interesting and then I had my daughter and I thought, oh my god. Because when I was a writer in Hollywood, I wrote movies and I was in the midst of writing a movie for Salma Hayek back when I was pregnant. Jillian: [00:08:10] I gave birth to my daughter and had not finished my draft of my script and totally panicked. And here I popped out my baby. My birth was not terrific either I had a big C section and stuff. Not planned. And then I had this script to write. And literally everything shifted. Like I didn't care anymore. Jillian: [00:08:34] All of a sudden I had this person and I had to keep her alive. And it just like my brain changed. And it was really because of that, that I ultimately then wrote another movie. And I'm in the midst of it, and I remember thinking, oh my god, like a part of me would have thought this was so cool previously. Jillian: [00:08:57] And I'm sitting in a meeting at Paramount and I'm thinking to myself, oh you guys, like yeah I like I don't care what you're talking about because I have a bigger job now. I'm Lainey's mom, I've got to get home to her. Jillian: [00:09:10] And I'm nursing, so like you know I'm like missing her and I'm like you know leaking, and I'm thinking, wow this is crazy. So I will say, for me again when I had my daughter everything changed. Monica: [00:09:26] And so first, I did not know that you used to be a script writer which is really cool. Sitting in a meeting at Paramount. That's a very cool fact. Jillian: [00:09:36] It was much cooler before I had my daughter. Monica: [00:09:39] Well, so you know I can completely relate on that. So I started my career pretty young. I started it while I was still in undergrad. Unbeknownst to me because I was I was on the path to go to law school. Monica: [00:09:49] I actually got into Harvard Law and turned it down because I started working for a big Fortune 100 technology company while I was an undergrad and then I graduated early so I had this gap before law school started. Monica: [00:10:02] And so I started full time. I transitioned from part time to full time. They came to me and said, hey you know we'll pay you to get your MBA. And I thought oh OK, you know I could stay locally and it just my life just sort of took off in that direction. Monica: [00:10:16] I worked at the same Fortune 100 company for 11 years, and when I said that when I was 31 people would be like but you're only 31. I'm like yes I started when I was 20. It's hard for people to like, how is that possible? Monica: [00:10:30] But I got it while working full time. My MBA I was working full time and I was on the career path. Like even when I got pregnant it was like I had a one track mind. I was climbing the ladder. I knew where I wanted to go, and in my mind was like why else did I get my MBA if I wasn't going to use it. You know, get to the suite someday. Monica: [00:10:50] And then I had her. And nothing about my career appealed to me whatsoever. When I went back to work it was nothing but a burden. Jillian: [00:10:57] Yep I totally know. It's super super weird because I too was crazy driven and again, the weird part was that after I had my daughter, I was still driven but in a different way. I wanted more control over my life. Monica: [00:11:20] That's exactly it. And I've done a lot of thinking about this because I'm naturally pretty rebellious I would say. But I've always been straight and narrow. It's so funny because my husband says, "You have so many opinions but you've always followed the rules in life." Monica: [00:11:39] I went to Catholic school my entire life up through college and I never got a detention. I never didn't do my homework. If I got a B it was like the end of the world. I never missed a deadline at work. It just was. Monica: [00:11:57] But I had this rebellious side of me that felt like I'm really sick of following the rules all the time. I was just burned out from constantly following the rules and I wanted to do something that was on my own terms. Monica: [00:12:09] I think in a blog post when I quit my job I said, you know how crazy is it that I had to ask permission to go to a doctor's appointment, like why do we have to ask other adults permission to go to a doctor's appointment? Monica: [00:12:23] So you know I just I knew. I did a live video on this group at one point about, I always had an entrepreneurial spirit because I did some crazy things even as a teenager to make money online. Monica: [00:12:38] Like before like eBay was a thing, Yahoo Auctions was a thing. And I mean I was like 15 at this point, and I learned how to get good tickets from Ticketmaster and how the Ticketmaster system worked. Monica: [00:12:58] I had an obsession in my teenage years with NSYNC so I would get really good tickets. Then I learned that people would actually buy photographs. This is with film. This was not digital. It did turn digital like halfway through this obsession. Monica: [00:13:17] I would take pictures and sell them on Yahoo Auctions and make a ton of money. And I got good at SEO without even realizing it was SEO. I just didn't realized what I was doing. And that sort of was at the beginning. Monica: [00:13:30] But like my dad was telling me all the things I did as a kid. I had the thing with Lisa Frank stickers, and I figured out how to sell them to my friends. And just really weird stuff that I did. Monica: [00:13:41] I found a book when I moved. It was a woman entrepreneur book. This had to have been like 12 years ago. And I took notes about all these different types of business things I thought of that would be a cool idea. Monica: [00:13:57] And none of them are really relevant anymore because the world changed so much with the explosion of the Internet. But I just I think I always had that inkling that I was meant to do something else but I only knew one way which was to fall in line, to listen to authority and that's just the way it's going to be. How motherhood makes you braver as a blogger and entrepreneur Jillian: [00:14:17] Right. And I will say for me having my daughter, has made me braver because I don't have as much time to obsess about stuff in my head. Jillian: [00:14:32] That I kind of send the email. You know a brand wants to work with me and I go OK here's how much it is. And I kind of gulp a little bit because you know what, my time is valuable and if they say yes, great. And if they say no, I'm going to forget I sent that email. Monica: [00:14:49] Well you know, you are hitting on so many points I feel like I talk to my husband about all the time now that I just had my second. I have this thing where people are shocked that I wanted to get back to work so fast after having my second. Monica: [00:15:06] I got 12 weeks the first time obviously because I was in corporate, and that's just how it was where I worked. And then now, I think it was like week four. I was planning to take six weeks. And then I realized real quick that I actually needed to probably take eight because they don't get their shots until two months. I can't really expose her very much before then. Monica: [00:15:27] So I was like I want to work at four weeks and everyone's looking at me like, What are you talking about? You just had a baby, don't you want to spend time with your baby? But I said the problem with me not working, first of all I'm very passionate about what I do. Monica: [00:15:43] But second, I wanted to seize opportunities and not let the having a baby be a reason why I had a push things. Like even this podcast that I reached out to you pretty soon after having her, because it's going to be really easy for me to just kind of fail. Monica: [00:16:04] Having the baby and you know, "Well I just had a baby so I don't have to work right now." But I was going to miss opportunities if I if I didn't like just start putting myself out there again. Jillian: [00:16:17] Yes. And again because of the work that we do, like I'm in my casual pants right. And I have no makeup on and I can still do it. My brain still working, but I didn't have to shower yet. You know and I can still do my job. Monica: [00:16:38] Yeah, and in this world, when you get momentum which I feel like I've gotten in the last six months. Of course it always every momentum thing I've ever really had, I got two promotions when I got back from my last maternity leave. Monica: [00:16:53] Well the momentum in my business really picked up in my third trimester this time. And so I didn't want to lose that momentum because once you when you disappear from this world you're just gone. Monica: [00:17:05] So I kept telling my husband, I busted my butt for this, it would be a shame to just let it go and implode. Jillian: [00:17:14] So could you talk then to a mom, let's say who has a baby whose brain has been rewired whose priorities now. Like you know for me, hanging out with Salma Hayek was no longer cool, hanging out with my baby was what I wanted to be doing. Jillian: [00:17:33] And who's kind of freaking out on the inside going, "What the hell has happened to me?" who's probably really sleep deprived who you know has not seen a shower in a long time. Who has this feeling of like "where is my life going?" Jillian: [00:17:49] And there is more to me than just being with my baby, even though that's kind of what the world is telling me I need to be doing. But going back to my corporate job doesn't feel right. What would you say to her? ADVICE to a new mom who wants to work... Monica: [00:18:04] I think along the way, like especially now my daughters 10 and a half weeks, she's pretty new. And people are still telling me, are acting as if I'm not working because I have people in my life that just can't wrap their mind around me working. Jillian: [00:18:21] So wait I just have to say I have people here who have no idea that I still work. Just so you know it is because it doesn't look like a normal job. And you know I can wear my casual clothes all the time. Monica: [00:18:33] And they wonder what the heck you do on the computer all day. Jillian: [00:18:36] No they think it's cute that I have some sort of blogish thing. But anyway. Monica: [00:18:42] Yes! And then when they find out that the blogish thing really makes me more than I made in corporate. They're like wait, what? How did you do that? Jillian: [00:18:48] Exactly. Exactly. But anyway so go back. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. Monica: [00:18:51] Oh that's OK. So when it comes to you know being in that new mom phase, and you are just overwhelmed by everything -- the lack of sleep, when you're going to shower over things that you said. I personally find and this is what I tell people all time, is acknowledging it is step number one. Why it's so hard to ask for help as a new mom Monica: [00:19:12] Acknowledging that this is not easy, and asking for help, because I did not ask for help the first time. I am one of these people that honestly asking for help stresses me out in a lot of ways. It makes me feel like well, if I ask for help and they do something for me that I'm going to owe them the favor and I feel like I'm in debt. Monica: [00:19:30] And then what am I going to ever have time to pay back this debt that I ask for help in a bad way to see it. But I've noticed that a lot of new moms feel that way they just don't ask for help. Monica: [00:19:42] And so now, this time it's like night and day. Last time I asked for nothing. And I felt like I was on an island. No one visited me. I was completely drowning in sorrow. To be honest with you last time it was just awful. Monica: [00:19:57] This time I got up around week 4, that's when I started saying I wanted to go back to work. But it also coincided with, I felt like I was starting to spiral. Monica: [00:20:08] I felt like things were becoming unmanageable really fast for me because the first couple of weeks they kind of are a little drowsy and the sleep deprivation hasn't really kicked in yet. Like you're still able to function even though you're not sleeping a ton. Monica: [00:20:24] And then it hit me. My husband traveled for a whole week and it was my unraveling. So when he came home I had two options. And this is I think a lot of women reached this point. I either was going to hide it and try to make it work without saying anything and be miserable. Or I was going to speak up and tell him what I needed and get help. Jillian: [00:20:47] So what kind of help did you get? Monica: [00:20:49] Oh we got a lot of help. The first thing I did was you know I strongly feel like I went through, I changed my career intentionally so that I could build a flexible lifestyle that made me happier and part of that was being able to afford certain things which my business now allows me to do. Monica: [00:21:10] So we contacted postpartum service and we started getting sleep support because I pump exclusively so I'm able to pump and someone else can feed her. And I start to wake up to pump because I'm on a schedule. But we got a postpartum doula that came in two to four nights in May. Because we're recording at the end of May through like the last four or five weeks. Monica: [00:21:33] And they sleep trained her which I didn't even know it was possible, to be honest with you. But because for us what I've come to learn or feel like what happened was that when we wake up with her we're kind of stressed about the lack of sleep because we're overtired, we don't know when she's going to go back to sleep and it would stress us out. Monica: [00:21:52] But the doulas that's what they're here for. They're supposed to be awake. And they're their sleep schedule they know they get to go home and they sleep because they don't have a newborn. Monica: [00:22:03] So she just became a really good sleeper a lot faster than my first and she's giving us four to five hour blocks now versus like two to three hour blocks, which is a lot harder to manage for sleep deprivation. Monica: [00:22:16] So that was the first thing I did this time, and honestly it was possible because of blogging I could not have done the corporate thing, it would have it would have broke us. It was way too expensive for what I made in corporate. So I owe that to my business. Jillian: [00:22:34] Nice, nice. Monica: [00:22:35] Also though, mymother-in-law is one of those that loves babies. She thinks babies are fabulous. And she knows my feelings on it. You know, my baby is fabulous but I wish she would sleep. Monica: [00:22:48] So my mother-in-law took her a couple of nights as well. She just loved it. She thought it was the best thing ever. There's part of me that thought, I am a terrible mother that I'm letting my baby my newborn be taken care of by other people, and I like what's wrong with me that I that I'm allowing this to happen? Monica: [00:23:08] And then I'm like well, someone said to me, I can't recall who it was, that someone said you know there's no trophies handed out for the person who sleeps the least as a mom. Jillian: [00:23:18] Yes. Yes. Monica: [00:23:20] And they're right. No one's going to reward me at the end of this for being out of my mind, sleep deprived and not being able to cope with this. And if I thought I'm still pretty much in the middle. But I strongly feel that getting sleep helps me to stay away from the postpartum. Monica: [00:23:38] I called it a black hole last time, that's when I felt like I was stuck in a black hole and I would do anything to avoid feeling that way again. So if getting sleep and allowing my mother to take baby or hiring someone because we were able to do that this time helps me, then it why would I not do it? Jillian: [00:23:56] Right. When my daughter was born I had a babysitter for her because I was writing scripts and stuff like that. But I also believed I needed time that was mine. I needed time away and I too had that guilt of like wait Idon't want to be with my baby 24/7. Jillian: [00:24:14] And then I came to the realization that I was a better mother when I had these breaks because she would come home and I would be able to love her, love on her even more because I missed her. Monica: [00:24:29] Yes. Jillian: [00:24:29] Because I was drowning in this monotony of like, oh my god, you know the experience I would feel, is like I'd have this newborn. And it's like a half hour would go by and I would think oh my god what am I going to do for the next 23 hours and 30 minutes? Jillian: [00:24:49] Like how is time going so slowly? And so to have a break and come back. I was so recharged that I came to the realization I'm a better mother for it. Monica: [00:25:03] And everyone recharges differently. So I don't recharge by interaction with others. I call myself an outspoken introvert. Jillian: [00:25:12] I like that. I am too. I am too. Monica: [00:25:15] I'm socializing with you right now and this is not a problem for me, but if I do back to backs like this in a day, if I did let's say three or four hour long calls and then immediately when I was done it was like OK here's the baby. It's your time now. You're tapped in as a mom. That doesn't help me at all. Monica: [00:25:37] So I have to be intentional with how much interaction I have. I'm working so that when is my time to tap back into being mom. I'm not overwhelmed by her and I have come to learn that about myself. Figure out your rhythms as a working mother Jillian: [00:25:51] Yes, I do think again just what you said is so important, which is understanding your rhythms as a mother. Understanding what feeds you, because being a mother is so exhausting. It sucks everything out of you. Jillian: [00:26:07] Now again, it is also, it has given me purpose and meaning in a way that I am so happy that I get to have. And so it's that thing of like, oh my god it's also one of the best things I've done in my life. It is one of the things I am most proud of. Jillian: [00:26:28] It's given me so much, I understand humanity in a way that I don't think I would have if I hadn't become a mother, it's so profound. Monica: [00:26:41] Yes it teaches you how to sacrifice too. Jillian: [00:26:45] Yes, like it stretches you in ways that you never would get stretched. And it forces you to grow up and it forces you to confront your own issues and like it is magical in so many ways and so difficult. Monica: [00:26:59] And you know it's not just for moms too, because my husband, like I said my mother in law thinks babies and children are the best thing ever. She couldn't imagine being anything but a stay at home mom. Monica: [00:27:12] She had no passion to work outside the home whatsoever. That's what she wanted to do. She had four boys. She loved it. So my husband was raised with, that's what moms like to do. Right. And then enter his wife who was like the exact opposite. Monica: [00:27:28] There was a time when I had my first that I actually thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom and that I mean I have since reneged really hard against that. Monica: [00:27:39] I don't want to be a stay at home mom but you know for him, that was a super hard adjustment and I took it super personally, like why do you want me to be something I'm not? Monica: [00:27:50] And then what I've learned with him too, which helps him is that when he's alone with the kids. So we've discovered that, he is a terrific father. He is so in tune to the girls and he loves them dearly, but he can't keep the house functioning and take care of them like I can. Monica: [00:28:08] So when he gets overwhelmed like if I'm on a business trip or something, and if he feels frazzled with just all the moving parts, then I'll say, do you want to do this full time? And the answer is always no. Monica: [00:28:27] It's like so if you don't want to do it full time, why, just because I'm a woman, should I want to do it full time? Jillian: [00:28:32] Right. Right. Monica: [00:28:33] We all have different things that light us up and being a mom is just one of the things that lights me. It's not the only thing that lights me up. Can a new mom start a blog or business and quit her job? Jillian: [00:28:43] So OK so let's go back to, I'm a new mom, right. But now everything is just different. But I want something for myself, and if I quit my job we lose that income. But I'm overwhelmed because I now have kids and I'm kind of lost. Jillian: [00:29:05] But I'm hard working, but I can't seem to get my shower in for the day. Could I then start some sort of business? Monica: [00:29:15] Well so the first thing is and it's no matter how you look at it it, the first thing you have to do is just start because there will never be a good time for a side hustle or starting a blog, especially if you're already working full time. Monica: [00:29:33] Which I did. I started this and I was working full time. There is never a good time for it to fit in and you're going to have to make tradeoffs and sacrifices for it to happen. Monica: [00:29:42] So I give up a lot of social engagements because part of me would rather just work. And then the other part of me is, that's the only time I have. Right. Monica: [00:29:52] So I would say that we changed our lifestyle quite dramatically when I decided that I wanted this to be a thing. And so Saturday mornings for example, he took over sole childcare and I would leave. I had to leave because otherwise if your kids see you then you're still there. ADVICE: Be willing to make sacrifices Jillian: [00:30:14] Right. Right. Monica: [00:30:16] So I would just leave the house and I did a lot of nights. I worked until really late at night. I actually, I would take days off, I would use my vacation time at work to take days off to work on my business because I already had childcare. Because I should've been at work. Monica: [00:30:36] And I learned real fast, and this kind of comes with, I have a corporate marketing background so ROI - return on investment was always a good thing in my life whether it was corporate or business. I just learned to give up the tasks in my business that weren't producing revenue especially in the beginning. Monica: [00:30:54] I do a lot of stuff now that is not necessarily revenue driven, but necessary to move forward. But I also have a little bit more time than when I was in corporate. Jillian: [00:31:03] So what would you say if I am a new mom and I want to start a side hustle? Walk me through what you recommend. Monica: [00:31:14] Well first you got to get your spouse on board. If you're married or whatever you have to get them onboard first. Monica: [00:31:20] Honestly I strongly feel that that's your first move because if you just dive in and then inform them later right. Jillian: [00:31:27] Right, like "Hey you're staying home this morning while I go work on my business." Like what? OK. Monica: [00:31:31] And most partners will not understand why you're doing something that doesn't have an immediate payoff. So I had this, my husband and I, when I pulled the plug on corporate, I had the backbone all set up, like the website had been up for three years. Monica: [00:31:49] I didn't touch it for long periods of time in there, but I had some cool opportunities that came to me just by having a website up. I wasn't even actively blogging and I got to go to the White House. I got invited to a working families event under the Obama administration, and I got to meet him. I got to go in the West Wing right outside of the Oval Office. Monica: [00:32:07] So it was it was a pretty big deal just because I had a website that was up. I barely touched at the time. So when I pulled the plug on corporate, I was not making my corporate salary. It wasn't an exact tradeoff. Monica: [00:32:22] Like OK now this month I'm bringing in the same amount. Luckily for us we were able to save and finagle things so that I had a little bit of ramp time. Monica: [00:32:31] But my husband expected it when I pulled the plug on corporate that I was going to be way more present at home because I didn't have a "job." And for five months we butted heads like crazy. Monica: [00:32:47] And I had this thing that happened I called Decision Fatigue. I did not realize how many decisions that you actually make when you run your own business in a day. Monica: [00:32:56] So things I would typically decide for the house, I was burned out. I was physically there, but my brain was just fried and I would dump stuff on him, I'd be like you just decide. I can't I can't do thing. Jillian: [00:33:12] I call that "mental load." My husband and I talk about it all the time, just like, oh my god my mental load is so high right now even to decide what shoes to wear. Monica: [00:33:23] That seems so silly, but it's it's a real thing and I learned that real quick, in the five months when it became like my full time thing. So now I help, when I talk to moms who are just kind of embarking on this journey, I tell them the number one thing -- you have to get your husband onboard or your spouse or your partner. Monica: [00:33:43] And you have to articulate that, one, you're not going to see money instantaneously. You have to ramp up, there's going to be a ramp up time, and two, you have to ask directly for dedicated time to work on it. Monica: [00:34:01] Where you're not point person in the house or the parent, and you have to put it on the calendar. I always say, put it on the calendar because if it's not on the calendar, it's like it doesn't exist. If you want to start a blog or business figure out your finances first Monica: [00:34:13] So once you do that and you can get them to buy in, and then you need to run your finances, then you've got to figure out how much do I have to make? If you are working, what is the tipping point that will allow you to quit your job and your budget. Monica: [00:34:26] Can you put extra money away until that, you have to figure that part out. Because people don't do these two things because they think a lot of people are skeptical that it will actually become something, so they just put it off. Monica: [00:34:42] And the truth is, if you don't figure out your finances it will never become something because you don't know where you stand then. Jillian: [00:34:50] Right. Right. And that's uncomfortable. Becoming a mother is a lot about learning to be OK in discomfort. And this is another one of those places where it's uncomfortable. Monica: [00:35:04] Very. I mean they are tough conversations. And I would say and my husband would probably agree, that I dug in my heels pretty hard, and he did not like it at all. It wasn't like this, I think a lot of times people read these stories about bloggers make it big and then their husband comes home from his job to work with them. Monica: [00:35:27] My husband has clearly said he has no ambition to do that. Still even though I'm making a lot more than I was the day I started right, he does not want to do it. He wants to travel in his job which complicates our schedule because as my business is taking off, he still want this career path to be on his trajectory. Monica: [00:35:47] And he was not like the love story of he just fell in love with my business, and we sailed off into the sunset. We fought a lot about it. Jillian: [00:36:01] OK so then what? Let's say I've done this, and I've got a six month runway to make a business to prove to my husband that this isn't just a pipe dream. Now what? What are some of the easiest ways to start bringing income in? Jillian: [00:36:18] So I put up a blog, I get that up and running. Now I have no people. I don't even know what I'm doing. Where can I quickly make money? Jillian: [00:36:29] OK that's the end of Part 1. Yes, I left you on a cliffhanger so please come back next week and learn how to start making money from nothing. What is MiloTree FastTrack? Jillian: [00:36:40] Hey guys so we just launched a new service called MiloTree FastTrack. Jillian: [00:36:45] For fifty dollars, we will optimize and install your MiloTree pop up on your site. This way you can put your social media growth and email list growth on autopilot, and you won't have to worry about it. Jillian: [00:36:59] If you sign up now you get your first 30 days free. Reach out to me if you're interested. jillian@milotree.com Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

Before becoming a parent, you had your life pretty-much sorted. That included forging a career you loved and worked hard to excel in. You assumed your baby would just slot effortlessly into life as you knew it. Why wouldn't you? After all, you're completely in control of the world you built. Right? In today's episode of Mum-to-Mum Monday we'll be talking about what happens when your children come along, and with them the realisation that you suddenly hate your career. The life goals and achievements you used to be so passionate about just don't seem to matter anymore. My guest today is SuperMum, Monica Froese. Monica lives in Buffalo, New York with her husband and 4 year old daughter, Lydia. Following a traumatic delivery experience, and dealing with the repercussions that followed, Monica found her priorities and goals had been turned upside down. The corporate career and business travel that she once loved were no longer enjoyable or fulfilling once her daughter came along. Her despondence with family-friendly workplace policies led her to the US White House, where she discussed the concerns of many working mums with Obama's senior advisors. She even met the President himself. However, still disillusioned, Monica wasn't willing to accept this as her new normal. Instead, she and her husband forged a strategy so that she could leave the corporate world behind and start an online business from home. Monica now helps other mums throw away the guilt, and empowers them to build an online business that brings her flexibility and fulfilment. Today Monica will help you understand whether working from home really is the ticket to freedom that you think it is, and if so, how to make the transition from being employed to being your own boss. She'll talk about finding the balance between work and family, staying motivated in your new day-job, and how to effectively manage your time around your work and your children. I am so happy to have Monica on my show today as she'll help you consider whether a work from home life really is for you. We'll hear about her practical resources for setting up an online business and she'll walk you through her formula to success. You can find the full write up from this episode including the Show Notes at www.Lisa-York.com/063 Go Conquer Motherhood!

Episode Summary:  I’m going to start today’s episode by saying something that might make some of you angry.  But I need to share a little tough love with all of you working parents out there.  Here it is: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your over-booked schedule, if you don’t have enough time, it’s for one reason and one reason only:  because you aren’t setting boundaries around your time.  You either don’t know how, or you aren’t comfortable, saying NO to other people. There are a hundred excuses I hear from working parents who are overwhelmed: I have too much on my plate. My husband doesn’t do anything around the house. I don’t have enough help. My job (or my boss) is super-demanding. My kids are still young and they need me. I’m the person people rely on to get things done. All of this is CODE for: “I haven’t learned how to set boundaries in my life.” Do extenuating circumstances arise?  Are there times that are busier than others?  Of course.  It’s life and sometimes things are going to be busier than others.  And as working parents, you’re in a particularly complex season of life where you’re raising kids who really do need a lot of attention and support, while juggling a demanding job as well.  So don’t get me wrong… I have a lot of empathy for you if you really DO have a full plate and are just trying to keep up. But if the common theme in your life is overwhelm and burnout and you rarely have times of peace and calm, then it’s not about the various circumstances of your life.  It’s about how you’re MANAGING your life.  It is possible to have a FULL life without constantly feeling stressed out and at your wits end. So today I’m talking with Monica Froese about the steps you can take to begin setting boundaries in your life, and how you can start becoming comfortable with doing it so it doesn’t jeopardize your relationships or your reputation or everything you’ve accomplished so far in your life.  We’ll go into how you can set boundaries around your time when everyone needs something from you… because that’ll never end.  There will always be demands on your time.  So you need to become really good at saying NO and doing it gracefully so you don’t alienate the most important people in your life.  Monica and I had an awesome discussion on episode WPR009 about embracing your ambition without the guilt.  We had such a great time chatting that I invited her to come back on to talk with me about setting boundaries and saying no and protecting your precious time as a working parent. In case you haven't listened to my earlier episode with Monica yet (which is linked in the show notes if you missed it), Monica is a business strategist at RedefiningMom.com, where she works with mom entrepreneurs.  She has her MBA in Finance and works to empower working moms to create online businesses and escape the 9-5 grind.  She's been featured on several media outlets including Fox News, Scary Mommy, Healthline, and Mom Talk Radio, and was even invited to the White House in 2015 to chat with the President's senior advisors about workplace policies to help working families.  You can hear all about that experience back on episode 9 as well.  I could go on and on about Monica, but today I'm glad that we get to chat a bit more. Show Notes:  http://WorkingParentResource.com/34 Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:  Monica Froese Website Monica Froese Facebook Monica Froese Instagram Monica Froese LinkedIn Monica Froese Pinterest Monica Froese Twitter WPR009: Embracing Your Ambition Without the Guilt with Monica Froese Busy Moms Building Course Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No by Henry Cloud and John Townsend How to Say No Gracefully (A Free Guide) Working Parent Resource Burnout Assessment Working Parent Resource Burnout Training Working Parent Resource Facebook Community Working Parent Resource Website About the Working Parent Resource:  The Working Parent Resource is dedicated to helping ambitious working parents acquire the information, insights, and tools they need to create a more intentional and fulfilling life that reflects their deepest values and priorities.  Sarah Argenal, the host of the Working Parent Resource Podcast, has her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy and Adult Development, and is a Certified Professional Coach with 20 years of experience in counseling, coaching, teaching, course development, and project management. You can access episode Show Notes and learn more about the Working Parent Resource at http://WorkingParentResource.com.  Join the Conversation!  Leave your comments about the show, offer suggestions for upcoming show topics, or let us know what we can be doing better!  We’d love to hear from you over in our free Facebook community at: http://WorkingParentResource.com/Community.  Sponsor:  This show was sponsored by the Working Parent Resource.  We offer a carefully curated archive of Resources, a diverse suite of coaching opportunities, in-person and online communities, and much more.  Check it out here:  http://WorkingParentResource.com.  Reminders:  Don’t forget to subscribe to our show on iTunes to be notified when a new episode is published.  Please leave an honest rating and review as well.  Ratings and reviews are extremely important and greatly appreciated!  They do matter in ranking the show, and I read each and every one of them.    The post “WPR034: How to Set Boundaries and Say No to Protect Your Time with Monica Froese” appeared first on WorkingParentResource.com.       

Spreadsheets and calendars can be communication tools. It's a burden on one person to know everything and control everything. – Monica Froese On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I'm really excited to talk with Monica Froese, who left the corporate world after her daughter was born and now teaches mom entrepreneurs how to ditch their 9–5 careers and start thriving online businesses. I love just how organized Monica is—I think she has a spreadsheet for everything. That's actually how we connected originally. Monica talks about how she left her job and changed her mindset to fit in running a business, self-care, and more time with her daughter. We talk about how what you need to do expands to the time you have to do it—and how to use that idea to our advantage. Monica is intense in her workouts and her business, but she makes sure she has down time. I've been really focused on how managing our calendars helps make time for the important things, and we talk about the different ways she creates space in her calendar. We talk about: adding ramp up/ramp down time into our schedules, whether it's time to shower after a workout or a day to deal with undone business after travel scheduling “no plans” days using tools like Google calendar and shared spreadsheets to communicate with your partner having a place for things—like mail or keys or Christmas presents—to save us time how Monica uses her grocery stores app to create a shopping list and help budget letting other people give our kids experiences that we want them to have that aren't fun for us BIO Monica Froese is a mom to a 4-year-old with another child on the way. She left corporate to create a life that worked better for her. She runs her own business teaching mom entrepreneurs how to ditch their 9-5 careers and start thriving online businesses while balancing work and family at the same time. Monica says, “I don't believe that women have to choose between their careers and family. You can have anything you set your mind to.” LINKS redefiningmom.com Monica's home budget spreadsheet Connect with her on Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Twitter @RedefiningMom and on Pinterest at RedefineMom Doable Changes from this episode: SCHEDULE TIME TO WORK OUT. One doable tip I often give is to move your body for 15 minutes throughout the day, but sometimes you want or need a longer workout. The best way to get it is to schedule that time, including your ramp up and ramp down time. If you schedule 1 hour to work out, but don't add in time to get to the gym or to shower afterwards, you won't have a positive experience. STREAMLINE GROCERY SHOPPING. How can you streamline your grocery shopping? Monica uses an app from her store to create her grocery list. Whether you use an app like this or create your own master list that you update before shopping, a list will save you time and money (and keep you from unhealthy purchases). “If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist.” MAKE A LIST (OR A SPREADSHEET). If there are things you do over and over, make a list or spreadsheet to keep track of it. You don't have to keep all the loose pieces in your head, and by sharing that document, somebody else can help out. For example, your kids can help pack for a trip or your husband can take kids to an activity that you usually manage. By systematizing repeatable tasks, you free up time for other things. REALLY getting healthy as a family can be a big lifestyle change. But no matter how insurmountable it may feel, focusing on one doable change at a time can help you take small steps toward your big goal. A healthy lifestyle is really made of lots of little things that when repeated regularly and added together over time make a huge impact on your life. Choose one Doable Change every Sunday night — one thing that you are willing to play with for the week. The key is to keep it doable and fun! Write that thing on a sticky note or your phone so you remember it. Then put 3 things on your calendar that support it. Choose from the changes above or download a list of 101 Doable Changes we made for you. http://plansimplemeals.com/101-doable-changes/

In this episode I am chatting with Monica Froese all about the realities of being a working mom, the plethora of things that need to be changed in corporate company culture and how women can create better work arrangements for themselves and their families.   Monica Froese is a mom, wife, author, and entrepreneur with an MBA degree in finance and a wildly popular blog, Redefining Mom, that she writes to empower working moms to find flexible work arrangements.   She has traveled to the White House to discuss family-friendly workplace policies and helps moms find their version of balance through building online businesses and escape the 9-5.   Monica has a wealth of knowledge to share and this conversation ended up being such a cool back and forth dialogue about both of our corporate experiences, and how we can all play a part in changing the game for working moms everywhere.   In This Episode You'll Hear: How experiencing postpartum PTSD from a traumatic birth and being expected back at work fueled Monica's passion for empowering working women, and her desire to work for herself, on her terms. How she got her first big "break" that ended up getting her invited to the White House to participate in a Working Families roundtable event honoring people who have made a difference in the country for family-friendly policy. Why and how she has chosen to structure her life and business in a way that works for her   Referenced in the Show: Busy Moms Building Course Pin Practical Masterclass Facebook Community   (Just FYI, some of these links may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the links I may receive some love in return!)   Connect with Dana & Monica   Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place) Monica: Website / Instagram / Facebook   We love hearing from you!   If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com. Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in her happy place, the Boss Mom Facebook Community.    We would also LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review for us on iTunes! We know it can be kind of tricky to figure out, so here are a few step-by-step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad.   Launch Apple’s Podcast app. Tap the Search tab. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the album art for the podcast. Tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom. Enter your iTunes password to login. Tap the Stars to leave a rating. Enter title text and content to leave a review. Tap Send.    

For this Nurture Your Business segment I decided to bring in the lovely Monica Froese, Founder of Redefining Mom and Creator of Busy Moms Building and Pin Practical to chat all about Pinterest strategy!   This is not an area of expertise for me personally, but Pinterest is totally a tool that can be invaluable to you and your business, so I wanted to bring in someone with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in leveraging the platform effectively.   In This Episode You'll Hear:   How Monica got her start using Pinterest and why she's chosen to focus so much energy on leveraging the platform to grow her business The keys to implementing a successful Pinterest strategy (ie: being consistent, using good SEO, creating clickable images, etc) How to convert your Pinterest traffic into email list subscribers and paying customers All about Monica's Pinterest masterclass, Pin Practical, which she is offering an awesome 25% off discount code when you purchase using this link.   Referenced in the Show: Tailwind Pin Practical   Connect with Dana & Monica   Dana: Instagram / Boss Mom Facebook Community (her total happy place) Monica: Website / Instagram / Facebook   We love hearing from you!   If you’ve got a question about today’s episode or want to leave us some inbox love, you can email us at hello@boss-mom.com. Or, you can always find Dana hanging out in her happy place, the Boss Mom Facebook Community.    We would also LOVE it if you’d leave a podcast rating or review for us on iTunes! We know it can be kind of tricky to figure out, so here are a few step-by-step instructions on how to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad.   Launch Apple’s Podcast app. Tap the Search tab. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the album art for the podcast. Tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom. Enter your iTunes password to login. Tap the Stars to leave a rating. Enter title text and content to leave a review. Tap Send.

Monica Froese is an author and business strategist, and in addition to having been at the WHITEHOUSE (listen to the episode for more info!), she has all sorts of cool things under her belt. She helps women start their own businesses in 45 days!   In this episode, Monica and Sunit talk about why blogging isn't a business, unless it IS your business, and how to do it all (but not really). They talk about outsourcing and delegating and how to say “no”.   What do you enjoy doing that you can monetize, so you can actually afford to outsource? Monica does the math and tells us how swapping what you don't love with what you do love can actually help you “buy back time” once you become a mom.   They talk about systems, streamlining, and preparing ahead to make life easier as a working mom.   They also get real about our “social calendars” these days and how to minimize all clutter in your life, physical, social and emotional.   They talk about getting on the same page as your partner and having a “contingency” plan for your new normal. Learn to say no…being selfish may not be easy, but it's ok.   Working mom, stay at home mom or work at home moms, this episode is for you!   Give your family the gift of a happy healthy mom and go listen to this episode to be inspired!   Go to…    www.redefiningmom.com to see more!   www.redefiningmom.com/goals for a cool freebie!

Monica Froese decided to establish an online business after experiencing the overwhelming role of being a new mother and the demands of her career. In today’s episode, Monica shares how blogging changed her life, how she went from being employed to being her own boss, and what helped in her transition to being the successful entrepreneur she is today. You’ll find links to everything we discussed in this episode at

Episode Summary: I could just talk to our guest today, Monica Froese, forever.  She is honestly a reservoir of helpful information and a pioneer who’s doing what she can to help working families create more balanced and less stressful lives.  She’s a working mom herself who’s felt the exhaustion and the frustration, and decided to take matters into her own hands to start a productive conversation to begin changing things for the better (a girl after my own heart!).  I truly enjoyed this conversation, and love the message she’s spreading. Monica Froese is a mom, wife, author and business strategist for mom entrepreneurs.  She has an MBA degree in Finance and Marketing and blogs at www.RedefiningMom.com, a site for empowering working moms.  In 2015, she traveled to the White House to discuss family-friendly workplace policies with President Obama’s senior advisors and has been featured on several media outlets including Fox News, Scary Mommy, Healthline, and Mom Talk Radio.  Her passion is to help other moms find their version of balance through time management tips, flexible work options, and helping women build online businesses to escape the 9-5. Her new eBook, “Busy Moms Building: 12 Steps to Running Your Own Online Business for Busy Moms,” helps moms start their own online businesses in just 45 days. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:  How to process those overwhelming emotions that come up when you return to work after having your baby. How to deal with the judgment we face when we become a working parent, and standing up to the expectations of others that we stay home with our kids. Learn about the conversations they’re having in Washington around the struggles facing working families, including maternity leave laws, managing your packed (and often inflexible work) schedule, childcare expenses, etc.    Show Notes:  http://WorkingParentResource.com/9  Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode: Monica Froese Website Monica Froese Facebook Monica Froese Instagram Monica Froese LinkedIn Monica Froese Pinterest Monica Froese Twitter Monica Froese Google+ Flexjobs.com Maybrooks.com Working Moms Against Guilt Working Parent Resource Website Facebook Community About the Working Parent Resource: The Working Parent Resource is dedicated to helping ambitious working parents acquire the information, insights, and tools they need to create a more intentional and fulfilling life that reflects their deepest values and priorities.  Sarah Argenal, the host of the Working Parent Resource Podcast, has her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy and Adult Development, and is a Certified Professional Coach with over 15 years of experience in counseling, coaching, teaching, course development, and project management. You can access episode Show Notes and learn more about the Working Parent Resource at http://WorkingParentResource.com. Join the Conversation! Leave your comments about the show, offer suggestions for upcoming show topics, or let us know what we can be doing better!  We’d love to hear from you over in our free Facebook community at: http://WorkingParentResource.com/Community. Sponsor: This show was sponsored by the Working Parent Resource.  We offer a carefully curated archive of Resources, a diverse suite of coaching opportunities, in-person and online communities, and much more.  Check it out here:  http://WorkingParentResource.com. Reminders: Don’t forget to subscribe to our show on iTunes to be notified when a new episode is published.  Please leave an honest rating and review as well.  Ratings and reviews are extremely important and greatly appreciated!  They do matter in ranking the show, and I read each and every one of them.   ***Founding Member of the Parents On Demand Network***     The post “WPR009: Embracing Your Ambition Without the Guilt with Monica Froese” appeared first on WorkingParentResource.com.      

Monica is an extraordinary working mom living in Buffalo. After 10.5 years in Corporate America, working in Channel Marketing for a Fortune 100 company, she quit her corporate job in January 2016 to work for a small company where she negotiated flexible benefits. Dealing with Women maternity leaves, Time management and Flexible work options are her focus areas. She is now an online entrepreneur, freelance marketing expert and soon to be eBook author. Her eBook is called Busy Moms Building: 12 Steps to Running Your Own Online Business for Busy Moms and it is to launch in September 2016!She shares with the host Sable Badaki, the amazing things she is doing in her journey.Her passion is to help other working moms build their own online businesses so that they can achieve the ultimate flexibility in their careers on their own terms!

Monica is an extraordinary working mom living in Buffalo. After 10.5 years in Corporate America, working in Channel Marketing for a Fortune 100 company, she quit her corporate job in January 2016 to work for a small company where she negotiated flexible benefits. Dealing with Women maternity leaves, Time management and Flexible work options are her focus areas. She is now an online entrepreneur, freelance marketing expert and soon to be eBook author. Her eBook is called Busy Moms Building: 12 Steps to Running Your Own Online Business for Busy Moms and it is to launch in September 2016!She shares with the host Sable Badaki, the amazing things she is doing in her journey.Her passion is to help other working moms build their own online businesses so that they can achieve the ultimate flexibility in their careers on their own terms!

This week on Mom Talk Radio, Naomi Katz, author of Beautiful: Being An Empowered Young Woman, shares challenges faced by young women today. Spotlight on Moms features Monica Froese of RedefiningMom.com. Julie Stewart, executive producer of Kate& Mim-Mim, shares information about this original preschool series. Thomas Gagliano, author of Don’t Put Your Crap in Your Kid’s Diaper: The Clean Up Cost Can Last a Lifetime, shares tips on how to talk to your kids about the tough stuff. Becky Baines, executive editor of National Geographic Kids’ Books, shares some awesome facts around her favorite new National Geographic Kids book series, Awesome 8.