Podcasts about redefining mom

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

  Links: Free: Home Management Binder from Redefining Mom: use code purposedriven Dream to Reality Webinar [FREE] Reading Tracker Printable  A PURPOSE-DRIVEN MOM SHOW NOTES: apurposedrivenmom.com/podcast392 The 15-Minute Formula Book by: Cara Harvey Check out the Routine Expansion Roadmap here.  Resources: Join the Purpose Driven Mom Club!  Subscribe to the Purpose Driven Mom Youtube Channel  Follow us on Instagram  Join the Facebook Group Follow the Facebook Page  Follow us on Pinterest Join us on TikTok 

If you found this helpful, please SHARE it with someone as we hope to change this culture of mom guilt that plagues our society. Join us for an empowering journey as we dive into the world of liberated motherhood, where guilt takes a backseat and freedom reigns. In this podcast, we'll explore the challenges faced by modern moms and share practical strategies for shedding guilt and reclaiming joy. From setting boundaries to embracing self-care, we'll offer insights and inspiration for navigating the highs and lows of parenthood with confidence and grace. Tune in to discover how you can become a liberated mom and prioritize your well-being without guilt holding you back.Have a question you want us to answer live? ASK HERELooking for high quality, therapeutic grade supplements? If so, join our practitioner portal, Fullscript, and purchase quality supplements 15% off!Our favorite nontoxic skincare is FRE Skincare. Their breakthrough dual action formula that fights breakouts and the signs of aging with high impact natural ingredients. Use code LIZROMAN at checkout!Get a FREE Sample pack of LMNT! LMNT is a electrolyte drink mix that is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and is perfectly suited to folks following a keto, low-carb, or paleo diet AND it is soo tasty - great for flavoring water and helping you drink more!***CONNECT

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!

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

Show notes: This was such a great conversation with my friend Elizabeth. We go over so many important topics: being a mom and an entrepreneur, dealing with the loss of parents and how it changes you, the importance of having a tribe in your life to help support you, societal norms that need to change, putting yourself first is not selfish but needed and so much more. Elizabeth goes over so many ways of thinking that have been normal for so long that need to change to help moms (and dads) live happier and healthier lives.  What we cover on mompreneur, grief, community, and redefining mom life:We go over Elizabeth's incredible journey and her multiple businesses. Stepping away from a 9-5 job and promotion to pursue her dreams with her business.How she dealt with the loss of both of her parents.Dealing with the grieving process.How she started Detriot Mom and the importance of community. Why finding your tribe is so important.Entrepreneurial life can be lonely, and ways to support yourself.Why done is better than perfect. Reasons why we need to have boundaries and stop people pleasing.Why Elizabeth has a coach and how it is essential to her success. Why focusing on yourself first is NOT selfish.Reframing “life balance” and how it is not always an even balance. Why independent play is essential for your children and you.Giving the right tools to your children that you didn't get.Why changing societal norms is needed. Why expressing your needs is so important.  Learn more about Elizabeth:Detroit Mom: https://detroitmom.com/Lansing Mom: https://lansing.momcollective.com/Retreat to Reclaim: https://pepper-hen-n7dc.squarespace.com/Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamelizabethlewis/Detroit Mom Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/detroitmoms/Lansing Mom Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retreattoreclaim/Retreat to Reclaim Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retreattoreclaim/ Resources: I hope you found this episode helpful; for more parenting tips, check out my website and blog for more information. https://theparentingreframe.com/Make sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter and get other free resources. https://theparentingreframe.com/free-resources/Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theparentingreframe/If you would like a personalized approach to help reframe how you parent, check out my coaching options https://theparentingreframe.com/parent-coaching-packages/

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.

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   

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

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.

#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/  

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!

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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!

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.

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    

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!