Episode 230: Simplified Systems To Scale – with April Beach and Brittany Keeling

    Brittany Keeling SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Join us live on Clubhouse to get your questions answered. 
    June 2, 2021 12:00 ET

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This is a great show for entrepreneurs and companies who are ready to scale and grow, but lacking systems to make it happen. 

    Summary:

    It’s time to scale your business, and you know that systems and SOPs need to be in place. But, if you’re like me, the thought of sitting down and documenting your tasks sounds as fun as having teeth pulled. Thankfully Brittany Keeling, our guest expert, is sharing practical ways and clear, simple systems you can follow to start scaling now. 
     
    In this show we’ll also cover the difference between a platform, a system and automation. These common terms are misunderstood but important to understand. Stick with us and join us live on Clubhouse to meet with Brittany personally and get your questions answered after listening to this show. 

    At the end of this episode you will:

    1. Brittany’s 5 Steps To Scale
    2. How to create SOPs without crying 
    3. The importance of choosing the right platform to make your business easier to manage

    Resources Mentioned:

     
    ClickUp (Brittany’s Affiliate Link)
     


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    Full Show Transcript:

    You’re listening to the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business mental and entrepreneur activator, a probate. We are so excited to dive in depth. So number 230 here on the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, and today’s guest is simplifying your systems and helping you put standard operating procedures in place so that you can scale your business.

    And this is why this is incredibly important. We have so many companies that come to us and they want to launch courses and masterminds and memberships, and they want their suite of offers created. But oftentimes when we do a really good job launching scalable online programs, there are some systems that are missing in the backend. And when these systems in the backend are missing,

    then what happens is a bottleneck. And you actually can’t even absorb all of the money and the clients and the hard work that you’ve gone into in order to actually launch and reap the benefits of the hard work. And so today on episode number 230, we’re diving in with Brittany Keeling, she’s the CEO of be elevated a business operations and launch expert. And she’s going to take you through the processes of how to really simplify your systems.

    Now you’re going to laugh. I am being really transparent about how I hate creating SOP on this. So if you’re like me, you’re going to be able to relate real well to what Brittany’s saying. And we’re going to give you some amazing strategies to get through that today on this episode. So this is a great show for those of you guys who are in phases two through four of my Sweetlife business roadmap,

    that’s the startup to scale up system that we’ve created. And in order to figure out what phase of business you’re in simply go to sweet life co.com board slash quiz, and you can take a very short self-assessment. So this episode, this business training that we’re talking about is specifically for those of you guys in phases, two, three or four of that business system.

    What you can expect at the end of this is to first of all, know the most common standard rating standard operating procedures that should be in place for your business. You’re also going to get tips on software that can simplify your processes. And you’re going to know how to use the way that you work as a leader, as an entrepreneur, in order to put it into systems in a way that is actually going to happen for your business.

    So I’m so excited to dive into all this. And of course, Brittany will be with us live on clubhouse, the Wednesday that this show drops. So if you are not a member or following the Sweetlife entrepreneurs club on clubhouse, please make sure you search us on clubhouse life. One word, just like this podcast. And you’re going to get access to that room where Brittany is going to be able to take your questions.

    She’s amazing. And I’m guessing you’re going to want to have somebody like Brittany workshop with you, and that’s what the clubhouse is for. So let’s go ahead and dive into today’s show. All of the show knows everything we’re talking about can be found by visiting our website@sweetlifeco.com forward slash two three zero. Oh, wait. I lied about that. All of the show notes can be found by visiting sweet life coat.com

    and then you got to click on podcast, but then it is episode two, three, zero. All right, you guys, I can’t wait to dive in with you. Let’s do it. All right. You guys welcome to episode number 230 here at this sweet life entrepreneur business podcast. I am joined by Brittany Keeling and yes, you’re probably getting entired me saying this.

    I met Brittany on clubhouse, like all of our guests, like lately, all my new clubhouse friends and she is amazing. I was in a clubhouse room with Brittany and she said three words that I was like, oh my gosh, I need this woman to come and talk to us and really simplify and clarify these three terms. And you’re going to find out what they are here and just a little bit on the show,

    but, you know, Brittany is a scaling with systems expert. And so that’s what we’re all about here on the show, giving you tools and strategies to move forward and scale your business. And so here we are, Brittany, thank you so much for joining us. Tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how you became such a systems ninja. Yeah,

    I’m so excited to be here. So I have a really sort of unconventional background. A lot of people get into this space from, you know, they were in the corporate world and they decided to go off on their own. And I actually started my first business straight out of high school. So I was a serial entrepreneur for a few years, with a few various different businesses.

    They were actually all online businesses as well. So been in the space a while and towards the end of 2018, I was feeling really burnt out with what I was doing. I wanted to change it. I just didn’t know what to do. And so I started asking people who knew me like, Hey, what do you think of when you think about me?

    What am I good at? What are my strengths? Literally, everybody came back and was like, oh, you’re type a you’re detail oriented. You’re great at like being productive and helping people reach their goals. And I was like, okay, I can do something with this. So heading into 2019, I started trying to like make that shift. But right at that same time,

    my dad who was a business owner actually passed away unexpectedly. And so I took over his company the day after he died. So yeah, I put my business hold and took over his company. I was 21 and it was a mess. He did not have. I mean, obviously I was grieving, but also he didn’t have anything documented. He did not have,

    you know, a second in command. It was basically two months of me being on the phone all day, every day with clients saying, sorry, he’s not here anymore, but we’re still business as usual. It was very weird. But another thing that we ran into a lot was like the questions being asked and us not having answers. And that didn’t feel good for anyone.

    Of course, we didn’t want to say, sorry, we don’t know the answer to that. But at the same time, my dad kept so much in his head, in his head and all over his desk. I mean, papers everywhere. So it was just really hard to try to run once he was gone. And thankfully we did end up selling that business four months later.

    And at that time I had planned a move across the country for like a month later. And I was like, oh, I have now no income and no clients and no business, I should do something. So I relaunched my business and I went like full force headfirst into the deep end as an online business manager. And so at that time, this was like August of 2019.

    And I just dove in, I invested in a mentor and I was like, you know, I’m just going to help other entrepreneurs create something that actually can outlive them. For me. It grew really quickly. I’ll give you the cliff notes version here, but essentially I created a bit of a monster that was doing for me the opposite of what I was trying to do for others.

    And so I ended up restructuring a bit around this, actually around the same time, last year. So around like August, September of 2020, and now we work with clients in either one day or one week and we have a few signature offers, but we really essentially help them either get their systems in check, do like an overhaul, get them things simplified,

    make it make sense for the long haul for them. Or we help them have a large-scale launch of a digital product or service in a short timeframe. We do like a seven day package for lunches or a one day for one week package for systems, depending on how robust it is. And clearly to have that done. We have to have a lot of really clear systems internally as well.

    Yes you do. Oh my gosh. So first of all, congratulations on all your success. It’s so hard when you know you’re doing something well and all of a sudden it’s running your life. I love how you have modeled. We talk a lot about life, first business modeling here on this show, and I love how you’ve modeled your offer to actually deliver that time in life that you want.

    Secondly, I’m so sorry about your dad. I lost my dad a couple of years ago and that is it just really hard still sometimes today I’ll like forget, and I’ll go to pick up a phone and call him and it’s just this weird thing or I’ll think, oh, I can’t wait to tell dad or whatever. And so I totally get that.

    And I’m so sorry about that. Your dad also was a total entrepreneur like that entrepreneur brain, like the notes everywhere, papers everywhere. I’m literally not going to turn the camera. You guys, before this, behind the scenes, you were typing something out to think like that’s way out. I need to write in order to think and process in. But because of that,

    then I have a million pieces of paper. And so your dad sounded like amazing man and very typical classic entrepreneur. And then the last thing, you know, I love how you have always been an entrepreneur out of high school. Like we have very similar stories. I absolutely love that. And so I’m just so glad that you were here on the show.

    Now what you’re talking about from a business sense, first of all, it’s no surprise that you are so successful because what you need are what people need are the tactical things that you actually deliver. It’s the not sexy part that everybody desperately wants and needs. They’re the systems and that like the SOP and the client pipelines and the launch plans and the content plans and all those things.

    So I’m so excited to talk about what we’re going to dive in today. And I know our listeners will be like, okay, bro, gen up so we can hear her talk. So, so like, so this is very exciting. And so I’m really, really excited about what you’re going to download for us today. So one of the things that we find as a company is a lot of companies come to us and they’re like,

    oh, we’re so excited to scale with courses and offers. And all these things help us design them, but it’s like, let’s stop because they don’t have their systems and processes in place. Yet. I was actually in a clubhouse room last week when I was saying that to somebody and the woman ended up DME me on Instagram saying, so you said I shouldn’t do this yet until I have systems in place.

    What are the exact systems? People don’t know, like you were saying before we started recording what they don’t know. So can we first for our listeners who might not be familiar with that, we first talk about what systems should you actually have in place before you start really scaling your business. Yeah, 100%. And I love that we’re talking about this because every business I’ve ever worked with that has overlooked these steps in the beginning has had to spend more time and more money and more energy backtracking to redo the things that were not done properly.

    So my hope is that if you’re listening to this, you will not get in that position. It is never too late to start creating systems. And just like April said, it is not at face value, super sexy to talk about, but it is super sexy when you get weeks of your life back. So, yeah. So I have sort of a top five systems that I like to focus in on whenever talking about like getting started with systems,

    mind you, there are a million systems in the world and I totally understand that, like can be really overwhelming. So I always just suggest starting with these five. And if I feel like too much, start with one, like just do one at a time because it’s going to be better than nothing. Okay. So let me make sure you guys heard this before.

    She says this. When you walk away from this show commit to start with one, if this is an area you need to grow. So sometimes when we hear all five, it is overwhelming, but Brittany is going to download you on what they are. So I’m really excited about this. Okay. What are they? Yeah. So quick overview of the five systems I like to hone in on are a task management and project management system.

    So this is where you can keep all of your ideas. So instead of having 12,000 places to look for things, it’s all in one place, an SOP standard operating procedure creation system. So you may or may not have heard of SOP before. And if you have heard of them, it may be in a corporate setting or it may just be like,

    sure, I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know what to do with it. How do I create them? Having SOP are important, but you need actually know how to create them. So having a system for creating new SOP is on an ongoing basis is going to be huge. The third system is a content planning and repurposing system. Let’s be real,

    pretty much all of us are marketing through social media. So we probably need to have a system there so that we’re not having to spend hours every single day typing up a last-minute caption just to get it off the door. Right then the fourth is a client management system. This one is huge, huge, huge, I’m such a huge fan of white glove experience and really kind of going above and beyond with the client experience because we want everyone in our sphere to feel really valued and a huge way you can do that is with your client management system.

    And then the fifth and final is email marketing. And if you’re like, well, maybe I don’t have a list. This is fifth for a reason. It is very important of course, but you don’t have to start with this one if it’s not the easiest one for you to dive into, but we can keep it super simple. Maybe you have an automated welcome sequence or some sort of automated email marketing in place.

    But even if you just have some sort of system for showing up regularly in your email marketing, like a task for yourself to write a new email once a month and send that out, it’s so much better than nothing, and you’re still going, nurturing your audience chat. Okay. So let me state those again for our listeners. And then we’re going to move on.

    We’re going to dive into a couple of those today. So the five systems you recommend people have in place to start our task management, SLPs and a process for actually creating SOP and an SOP. If you’re listening in stands for standard operating procedures for any of you guys that didn’t know that number three is a system for content planning. Number four is the system for client management and number five,

    it’s a system for email marketing. Is that right? That’s right. Okay. Let’s kind of pivot in. Let’s just focus in actually on those first two things tax management and SOP is here on this podcast. So when we’re talking about task management, there are so many things that businesses are doing on a regular basis. And oftentimes companies that are looking to scale,

    you have just very few people doing all the things, talk to us about how you recommend and how you really kind of lasso all of these things that are happening in order to get them into one place. Yeah. So I think the biggest thing is like, you know, there are first of all, so many ideas in our brain at any given time.

    And even if we just think about the ideas alone, not even the to-dos, it’s like you could have a million dollar idea, but if you write it on a sticky note and forget it exists, there goes your million dollars. Right? So I’m a huge advocate for getting things in one place. So initially, I mean, I would start with hunting down all the things you have all over the place.

    If you’ve got just tasks and ideas and to do’s everywhere, get them all streamlined in one place from there, you can probably then start diving into breaking things into categories. And again, this can be really overwhelming. And like a lot of times people are like, well, I just have one big list. What do you mean I need categories, but we can structure things very strategically when we are intentional about it.

    So if you zoom out of the day-to-day of your business and actually look at everything from a bird’s eye view and look at all of the tasks on your list, look at everything that’s popping up. Do you want assessment of what do I, and if I have team members, my team do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, so on and so forth basis.

    And what maybe aren’t we doing that needs to be done more regularly and even seeing like what tasks have popped up that are not recurring tasks, but you’re noticing them coming up more and more often that can really help guide you and figuring out what the departments of your business really are. So being able to identify it, doesn’t have to be like 18 departments.

    You don’t have to have a whole marketing team to have a department for that. When I say departments, I’m really, especially for small business owners, mostly honing in on the fact that like, there really are still segments of our business, where if we were to scale to a much larger level, we’d likely be outsourcing those two different team members. Yeah.

    And that’s usually where most of our listeners are. They’re like really ready to the point they want to scale. They have all these things that are happening. And many of them have even really started building their teams. But yet they’re not exactly sure. Also with that being said, many of our listeners are to this point where they also have a, just a ton of,

    VA’s doing a couple little things for them at once. So as they’re listening to this, I’m guessing you’re the expert here in this process. You also really recommend that even all these little pieces, even if it’s somebody who’s only working a couple hours a month doing a task for you that you develop SOP for that as well. Correct. 100% a gauge that I like to use is like,

    okay, if you were to take on 10 clients tomorrow, would you be ready? Yeah. My business mentor talking more says that all the time. He’s like, you know, it doesn’t matter if we get you all these clients in here, he’s like, you know, it can be like, it’s like a fire hose. If you do not have these systems in place,

    like don’t go out and grow. Right. Oh, that’s so good. That is such a great analogy. Oh my gosh. So you’re just going to lose them. All right. And that’s why when companies come to us and they’re like, we want to develop our signature offer. We want our signature courses or masterminds. We’re like, okay, are you going to be able to handle it?

    Because if you can’t then literally everything. That’s like an overflow out of the top and you know, let’s make sure your stuff is in place. And so I love this conversation we’re having. So in the process and behind the scenes, you were sharing how you guys go about doing this. You have a software that you love, and I’m just going to say out loud,

    you know, Kelly Buckner, our director of operations for our company is going to geek out when she hears this episode. Because I think that what you’re talking about is like right along the lines of something that she would love to look into more. So talk to us about how you go about this process for people. And, and also, I mean, they are in a million different places.

    All these things are in a million different places. Let’s talk about simplifying software for a minute. Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of entrepreneurs are, and you know, we’re in 18 different softwares when in reality there’s probably one or two that could replace the bulk of them. And I think, you know, at the end of the day, maybe you’re going to pay more for one software,

    but then you’re going to be able to let go of three others. And it’s so worth it. Now, if you’re using six softwares and it’s like, you know, you don’t have any problems and it’s working well for you and future casting. You’re not going to have any problems. Great. If it’s not working or if it is working, you don’t need to necessarily change it.

    But if you’re starting to grow and you’re ready to scale, and you’re like, you know what, being in all this software is just really not working for me. Then. I mean, something that my business does all the time is like helping businesses get streamlined into less software or at least suffer. That makes more sense for them. And so one of the things that we do is we utilize click up and this is where we use like our task management and our project management.

    But also we use this as like the one-stop for the whole business. And we do this with our own business, as well as for our client’s businesses. Because if you’re listening, I can almost guarantee if you don’t have some sort of system in place, you’ve probably got your Google docs, a hundred different docs or folders in your drive. You’ve got your handwritten notes,

    sticky notes, your whiteboard, your mirror, that you’re writing on your, your, everything, just everything notes on your phone. You’ve got your, your 18 journals on your desk. Like it’s just all over the place. And so being able to create an atmosphere where it doesn’t feel like, oh God, another place I have to look every day and instead positioning it in your mind.

    And also in the way you structure it as the only place you need to go and look at things every day, it really is a game changer because instead of waking up, you know, three hours into your slumber, remembering that you forgot to do three tasks that are like really important, and now you’re going to be panicking about it. You can have one place to put them all as soon as they pop into your head and then literally forget about it.

    Like you can just forget about it and come back to it later. Yeah. I love that. And that’s so important for entrepreneurs like me too. Not officially, but pretty officially have ADHD. And so this process of going through and understand like the tasks, changing task management, having things in one place is, is really, really, really important.

    And another thing you said just triggered something that I like to tell businesses all the time. And this is what Brittany is talking about. This is why this is important. I like to say, you know, how would you carry your business today? If you were already a millionaire, you’d already have these systems in place, and you’re never going to be there until you have these systems in place.

    This is the bottleneck. And this is so important. And you know, we’re not saying you have to use one software or another, like you can do it whatever way works for you. But the reality is, is simplified systems scale. They do simplified system scale. And so this is so incredibly important. Okay? So in this process you’re going through and people have all their ideas and they’re bringing their,

    all their ideas together, taken all their sticky notes and their pieces of paper. And they’re getting it. Like you guys use click up for this. How do you recognize, are there like certain departments of a business that are standard or typical for, you know, service-based businesses and online entrepreneurs where you tend to group together type of department. So you sort of,

    our listeners can kind of at least clarify their mind and start heading in one direction of how to organize their stuff. Yeah. Such good question. So some like standard departments that we like to utilize are like your headquarters, right? So for us, at least in here, we house various things like our capacity so that anyone on the team can come in and see what we’re working on.

    Like what big package, but also what’s coming. We have like the next several months booked out and we can all see it and be prepared. And then also if I’m on a sales call, I know what’s available and what’s not I’m meeting notes, go in there, employee onboarding various things like that. Team resources go in there. So like SOP is our brand kit,

    affiliate links, testimonials our team agreement. So we have like, all the team has come together and agree. Like this is our way of working so we can all reference that. And then another department is operations. So you’re going to have your recurring operations more than likely that may be broken down into various things like social media. So Instagram, Facebook,

    LinkedIn, so on and so forth. Maybe your email marketing can go and hear your metrics management. So if you’re needing to check on your numbers weekly, the list, of course. Yeah. Right. I mean, I’m thinking in my mind, I’m like podcast processes, like for us, you know, podcast processes, you know, PR speaking,

    client management. So as you guys are listening to Brittany talk, just think about like the grouping of repetitive tasks that you’re doing in your business and start to figure out what falls under each one. And then take an opportunity to understand that for each one of these, you need to develop these standard operating procedures, which brings me to the next question. So we hear this all the time and I’ll be really honest with you.

    Especially somebody that’s like always in all directions. I own four companies. I have three kids. I’m always on an airplane somewhere when somebody tells me and it’s okay if you have to tell me this, but let’s just keep it real here. When somebody tells me that I have to sit down and document every single thing that I’m doing in some capacity or some way for like a week straight,

    first of all, I’ve never, ever, ever done that. I can’t think of anything worse than doing that. And so what I ended up doing, and this is why, if you’ve also listened to the show before, I’m like not the best person to work for. I mean, I have an amazing team, thank God. But you know,

    it, it’s kind of hard. So it literally, I’m not kidding. You it’s taken me 25 years to get through. And so when I go down and I document like an SOP, it is usually like in a scrub, like we’re working on a project like that day. That is my work I’m going to do. But going through my everyday,

    you know, week just kind of documenting my time and managing my time and stuff. You couldn’t actually, I’m being so honest. You’re going to like school me here. Probably like you couldn’t pay me to do that for my own company. Like I am Wade. I’m like all off in a role. Is there any other way to do it? Yeah,

    totally. Okay. Good. Cause that way sucks. Right? At the end of the day, it’s like we’re busy and the thought of creating a whole system and process and documenting the SOP, Internet’s going to take me three hours longer than if I would just do it all myself and then never outsource it. Right. Right. But of course in the long run,

    we know that’s not true, but it doesn’t make it any to do in the moment. So I do have a philosophy that I like to follow a system. I like to follow with creating these because most business owners are very similar to you. Like I can’t say that I have a lot of fun sitting down and creating all of SOP for my business.

    And so if you don’t like it, then that’s yeah. Then they really are tough work. Okay. Right. And any, you don’t have to do it alone. And it’s actually to be so much easier than we think. So here’s what I like to do. And here’s what I tell people to do. Start identifying what needs to be documented.

    Right? So obviously your recurring tasks, easiest thing to start with, you know, it’s going to happen on a recurring basis. So start there. And once you’ve identified, this needs an SOP, take a loom screen recording. The next time you do the task, you can literally do the task, the exact same way you would without documenting anything,

    but screen record it and talk through what you’re doing as you’re going. And then if you have a strategic and like, well put together template for the written SOP, you can then give the loom or whatever kind of screen recording. You utilize to another team member. You can give it to somebody else and they can build out the SOP, the written version.

    They can include the video version in there. They can plug it into whatever. You know, if you’re using a task management software, get it in the right places, create templates within that. If you want, it can get really nice and crazy robust, but it doesn’t have to. And even better when you do it that way, you now have a video,

    an audio with your video and a written. And so no matter what kind of way somebody learns on your team, you’re meeting them where they’re at. Okay. Thank you. So I do that. I do LUME recordings and then you’re like Dropbox fanatics, and then I’ll put it in Dropbox. But I really thought that I was like duck taping the process together.

    And then, you know, we can get them transcribed through our Searchie and everything that we do. So thank you for saying that because I literally is like, this is just the way I work and it’s just the way it’s going to be. And this is the way I work and I just, I’m never going to change me. So I hope this works out for y’all,

    which, which it has. I mean, I have an amazing team, but in the back of my mind, I’m always like, you suck at doing this because you’re not doing it the way it’s supposed to be, but I know I would never, ever like literally over my dead body, am I going to sit down and write down my steps that I am doing?

    So, yay. I feel a little redeemed here on this show and then Kelly in the process, like she does this as well. And so like listening to the podcast, you guys all know like what we really like struggle with behind the scenes. We try to share it all with you. This is one of those things that I haven’t really liked so much.

    Okay. So in that process, you know, documenting it in whatever way that works. I also do audio recordings on my phone. So I do audio as well too. And that has seemed to work, you know, to upload them for certain files as well for my team and our team Dropbox folder, I should say, hopefully that’s acceptable, but it does work.

    Okay. So after somebody has, you know, really documented these processes, let’s go back and let’s kind of circle back and let’s talk about the importance of simplified software. Share with us more about click up, why you guys use that, why this is your chosen spot to do this in really why, of all the things out there, as, you know,

    there’s a million there’s Monday and Salesforce and all these other things, like why is this your go-to? And so our listeners is, is there processing can think, oh, well maybe I should check that out. Yeah. Great question. So let’s tie it in with SOP is right. If you create a hundred SLPs and they’re sitting in a Google drive that nobody knows exists,

    what’s the point, right? Versus if we can pull them in to a software, like click up, or if you’re using something else, you know, whatever you’re using, bring it into one place so that someone can super easily search the name of what they’re looking for, or go to the SOP folder or list and look through it, what they need to find.

    And you can even from there, so like in click up, you can create like a template of tasks essentially. So you could also turn your SLPs into templates if it’s like things that need to be tasked out. So if you’re onboarding a new team member, for example, that can be a template. Every time you onboard a new team member, you duplicate the template,

    you assign things out and boom, like you’re good to go. Okay. So this is making my mind totally gone in a different direction, which I won’t on this show, but I also teach entrepreneurs how to license and scale their content programs and systems. And every single one of them has a different place where they build those systems. And so what I’m hearing you say is it click up,

    could possibly be a place for those of you guys that this is really advanced scaling. But those of you guys who are listening to this show who are licensing your courses, your content, you’re creating a certification program. All of these mixed level scaling could use a software like this to really streamline the distribution of your processes and templates a hundred percent. And you can even like,

    you can like sell templates. You can share templates. I mean, you can do so much with it. And the reason that I really love click up above all the other platforms, I’ve, haven’t been in all of them, but I’ve been in many of them. And what I tend to find is kind of twofold. One click up is 10 steps ahead.

    Of many of the other platforms, other platforms are coming out with a lot of the things click up has, but they’ve had it for months. So why not choose the software that is going to be 10 steps ahead. And two, it has a very, very, very customizable interface. The aesthetic of it. You can look at it in so many ways and customize fields and can do it everything in your own brand colors.

    I mean, there’s so many ways to go about it. So I, I love it. I it’s just the, in my opinion, I clearly am a nerd about this platform, but I’m a huge fan. I’ve been in so many different ones and it just has proved to be the best and has the most robust options for what we need. Okay.

    This is, I really love this episode. Thank you so much for everything you’re pouring into us. Okay. Before we wrap this up, I do have to say, I love the aesthetic side women entrepreneurs. We really like this side. Like, I really love the fact that I can change the picture on the back of my Trello board. I mean the stupid stuff like that makes me really happy.

    So I love the fact that it does offer that option as well. And I appreciate you sharing this resource so much here. You guys, as you’re listening, we’ll make sure that we are going to share Brittany’s affiliate link to click up with you so you guys can go and play with it and try it out. There are three different words I would love for you to,

    this is the circle back from the beginning, define for us as we close up this show. And I think that the clarity and the definition of each one of these, whether whoever’s listening is new or established is going to be very, very helpful. Can you please define the difference between a platform, a system and automation for any of our listeners that aren’t crystal clear on these saints?

    Absolutely. And it’s really common to not be crystal clear on this because some of these buzz words right there, total buzzwords are used interchangeably when they shouldn’t be. And so it’s confusing for most people. And so what I have found is that if you’re not clear on what each of those are, it can be really difficult to know what you need or ask for help or find the right resources.

    So I’m really passionate about helping find clarity throughout these. So let’s start from, you know, a platform. So a platform is like a click up, right? Click up is a platform. Or of course there are other platforms like, you know, later first scheduling on Instagram or depths auto active campaign. There’s so many, right, but having a platform does not mean you have a system.

    It’s really how you utilize the platform that you can create systems within a platform being signed up on click up does not mean you have a system being signed up on any software does not necessarily mean you have a system. You can create systems within the platforms. Like we create systems all throughout clicker and they can go hand in hand, but they are different things.

    So a system is something that can actually be documented, right? A system is something we can put into an SOP that we can duplicate and do over and over again. And then an automation of course, is something that is going to be automatic. But again, it’s different. Not all of your systems are going to be automated. Some of your systems are not going to be automated and that it can still be a system.

    It doesn’t have to be automated to be a system and you can house. So an example here too, all three of these things can go hand in hand is within click up. There are automations. So you can have the platform I’m just using click up as an example here, you have to pay me to say this, but wish they were. So you could use click up as your platform.

    You could house your content creation system in here, and you can have automations in here as well to move things accordingly. So they can all go hand in hand. They are very different things though. And so I think being able to define those is really, really helpful. And being able to talk about things. Yeah, I love it. I wrote down that quote,

    having a platform does not mean you have a system. And I think that is so powerful and that’s really a great way to wrap up today’s show. Of course my like business coaching minus went crazy. Now I actually want you to reach out, to click up and have them sponsor a room on clubhouse in pay you to talk about it. Like, let’s get this right.

    So click up, we’re going to tag you in this and you need to be, listen, you need to hit Brittany up, sponsor her clubhouse rooms because it’s, it’s good for everybody. So, all right, well, I just really appreciate your expertise so much. And we are going to be live in clubhouse on June. What did we say?

    I think it was June the night at 12 o’clock Eastern time in the club that goes with this podcast. So this podcast club is called the sweet life entrepreneurs club. Search it up on clubhouse, hit me up, hit Brittany up, like send us a DM. If you want to know where the club is because Brittany sent me coming in live and we’re gonna be taking your questions from today’s show.

    And this episode is going to drop on Monday. You have two days to listen to this and come in and let Brittany roll up her sleeves with you and help you guys get your SLPs and systems in place, you know, answering platform questions, whatever it is, we are here to serve and support you. Not just listen to this show, but to implement the show and put it into action.

    So now you have a couple of, you have a resource as well, and I’m going to make sure all the things that we’re talking about here in the show notes for you guys. So what is a free resource you have for our listeners? Yes. I have a pretty doozy guide. It’s called five systems to take your business from scattered to scaling.

    And it goes a little more in depth into all five of the systems we touched on at the beginning of this episode. And then also I actually include in the guide my own SOP templates. So there you go. Yeah. I’m so glad. Oh my gosh. An SOP template. Okay. So all of the show notes are going to be found@sweetlifeco.com like on the podcast.

    And this is episode number 230, and everything’s going to be in there for you as well. But we want to see you guys in clubhouse, even you, Android users are getting invites now. So we want to see you guys in clubhouse. And if you need an invite, hit me up on Instagram. We have actually a lot of club invites they’re releasing to us.

    So we’re excited. You can RSVP for this event and we’ll get you an invite to that, Brittany, thank you so much for your time. I’d love to everything we’ve talked about and clearly appreciate you confirm me. I’m not totally crazy about the way I’m supposed to be doing things and just really appreciate all your expertise, how clearly you explained things and those you guys who are listening,

    please follow Brittany, pay her and follow and just thanking her for her expertise in Korean and tossed bang. It’s great. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. Have a lot of fun.

    Episode 169: How To Launch Your Services Online: Small Business Help Part 2 – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Need faster business growth? Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This episode is for small businesses that want to launch live group coaching and need help getting started. Software makes up the nuts and bolts of your online business, but it tends to overwhelm some to the point of stopping. Trust me when I say that if I can use (and now teach on) software, anyone can! The important part is making sure the software you choose works for you! This show is for business owners who are considering building a group coaching program and want to make smart choices.

    Summary:

    How to build a powerful group coaching program.  In this show, I break down how to plan your group purpose, how to choose the best software, and how to bill, onboard and pick the best platforms for success. Every business is different and this episode helps you find the right answers for your business. We also discuss the power (and joy) of hosting live group calls and what types of entrepreneurs will thrive with this business offering. 
     
    Today’s episode will help you plan your group’s purpose, schedule, taking payment, onboarding customers and deciding the best platform for your group goals. 

    Highlights:

    1. Determine what type of group you’re building
    2. Choose the online platform to build your group in
    3. Set up how people pay you.
    4. Understand why AI plays a key role in customer satisfaction. 

    Resources Mentioned:


    SweetLife Podcast™ Love:

    Are you subscribed? If not, there’s a chance you could be missing out on some bonuses and extra show tools.  Click here to be sure you’re in the loop.  Do you love the show? If so, I’d love it if you left me a review on iTunes. This helps others find the show and get business help. I also call out reviews live on the show to share your business with the world. Simply click here and select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Thank you so much ❤︎

    Need faster business growth?

    Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.


    Full Show Transcript:

    you’re listening to the sweet life entrepreneur podcast Simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business, mental and entrepreneur activator A probe age How you guys, um, welcome back to the show. You are listening to the sweet life entrepreneur in business podcast, and I’m a pro beach online business development expert in strategist, and I am here to help you continue to grow your current business online. Or for those of you who are interested in launching new online service is or a new online business.
    All of the show notes and the resource is that we have for you can be found by visiting Suite life podcast dot com Now on today’s show, we’re actually continuing a two part training that we started last week about how tow launch your online service is. This is something that is an amazing way to grow your business. It’s an important way to scale your business, meaning you could duplicate yourself and reach more people. Bye and launching online coaching, consulting and digital service is digital products, and we’re diving into the actual nuts and bolts of some things that you need to have in place to watch group coaching service’s and some different considerations based on the type of delivery that you may want to have.
    A CE faras sharing service is to groping people online. So this is perfect for you if you find yourself in a place where your company is ready to scale so you’ve reached capacity, meaning you can no longer see people face to face or one on one. And right now, if you’re listening to this riel time were stuck in this sad and funky Corona virus economy, so we can’t see people face to phase right now, anyway. And so it’s a great opportunity for you to continue to reach groups of people.
    Reach your audience, Reacher established customers gain more customers by launching Group Coaching Service’s. This is also perfect for you. Have you been thinking about hosting on online mastermind group? Or if you’ve been thinking about hosting instruction or some sort of training two groups of people at once, this is an ideal chauffeur you to listen to. All of the show notes will be found at Sweet Life, podcast dot com, forward slash 1 69 and for advanced business development coaching programs, courses and masterminds cruise over to sweet life co dot com,
    and there are a variety of opportunities for you to help you take your business to the next level Online over there for you. Okay, All right, let’s go ahead and dive into today’s business training. All right, As we’re talking about group coaching, it’s important to differentiate that the type of group coaching we’re discussing is different than if you were coaching a team. This is actually for those of you who are experts, mentors, leaders, skill teachers, coaches and consultants. And you want to host a group where each individual in the group has their own story,
    their own track. So it’s different than if you were coaching a team all for one purpose. To learn to do one exact thing. Group coaching is where you still have similar goals, and you have to outline the expectations for any grip you launch. But each person is creating their own reality out of the instruction that you are giving. So I just wanted to differentiate that here in the beginning, and there are generally two different types of groups that you can think about creating and you know, the sky’s the limit on this.
    But for the sake of this podcast in this training, this is the easiest way to just really move us along here and get your group coaching started faster. So the 1st 1 is instructional group in an instructional group is really where you are teaching strategies so people can take them, make them their own, apply them to their own life or their own business, and then move forward or the other type of group. Coaching can be community based, where you’re actually facilitating, Ah, place for people to work together,
    work amongst each other, really connect with each other over the similarity that they have in the topics that you are leading them with. And most group programs actually contain an aspect of both of that, whether it’s instruction the majority of the time. And then there’s a community component for an afterburn effect, or whether it is established within that particular group coaching program from the very beginning. Another thing I wanted to talk to you about is that if you are launching a course that a group of people are going to go through,
    that isn’t what we’re talking about on today’s show, but we’re really talking about live events where you’re coaching a group of people at a time. So I just wanted to clarify that before we dove into this particular episode now a couple reasons why this is amazing. First of all, one of my favorite things to Dio is to connect with people live in a group there, so much fire that goes around and passion, and people start talking and inspiring each other. It is one of the best ways to coach people,
    so I just wanted to share. Everybody’s experience is different, but it’s one of my favorite things to do is to see that happen based on the leadership that I give to a group of women entrepreneurs in. So if you are a type of business leader that your personality loves, that community loves mentoring and inspiring others. A live group program could be a really excellent business model for you know, we always want you to pick a business model where you’re happy and you thrive at what you’re doing, cause that’s gonna make you even better at what you already are in your area of expertise.
    So the first thing is to establish. What is the purpose of this group? Is this strictly for instruction? Is this a community based group?
    Am I delivering content on a certain schedule within this community? What are people going to expect out to be part of this group?
    And how should I set this group up for success again? It could be a combination of all these things.
    Or you can just host groups based on one of those aspects again, community instruction or content delivery. And so,
    after you’ve made that choice, step Number two is diving in and picking the platform. So where is this group gonna live?
    Where do you want to live there? So many options? The 1st 1 Let’s just get it out of the way.
    First is a Facebook group. You know, I hate Facebook groups, but I also have Facebook groups because they’re easy and people are there all the time.
    It’s hard to retrain an entire audience on something there, naturally doing everyday anyway. But Facebook groups have their pros and cons,
    and so that might or it might not be a good place for you to host your group, but I just wanted to mention that first,
    because it’s one of the first ones that people think of another option, which is doing a great job.
    It can be competing with Facebook, and we talked about this on the last few episodes. I’ve spoken about this platform a couple of times,
    but it’s called Mighty Networks. Mighty Networks is a super rad app. I will tell you I love being part of mighty networks.
    I’ve had my tea networks groups. It’s so nice because it gives me, like, a push notification on the sleep screen of my phone when somebody has posted to me and I can I can set up my notifications for that rather than having to go into Facebook and scroll through all my notifications that came from my sister and my cousin and my clients.
    It’s a terrible thing to do, especially for people like me that have at least 10 different squirrel moments every single day.
    It’s really hard for me to stave, bogus. And so that’s why baseball is another reason why Facebook is a terrible option for me.
    But Mighty host does a really good job of creating topics so people can communicate, and in post under them and taking people outside of really that cluster.
    You know what that happens inside Facebook? The downfall of that is there is no live streaming into my tea house.
    And that’s one of the reasons why I’m still in place because I love and you might love this, too.
    And this is thinking about how you want to connect with your group. I love being able to pick up my phone,
    click the Gold Life button and just be able to talk in there and say, Hey, how’s everybody doing today?
    That’s something that’s important for me. It’s something that my community expects and wants for me. And unfortunately,
    at the recording of this, it’s just not an option that’s available in mighty House. But I just wanted to share those two things because they’re the 1st 2 platforms that entrepreneurs usually hook on to.
    Mighty host does integrate with zoom so you can in bed video through zoom. But it still requires you to log on to a totally different platform rather than just clicking a go live button.
    And when you’re a busy woman man, every step counts, doesn’t it? All right, couple other platforms I wanted to throw out there for you.
    You’re gonna have to test which one you like. The 1st 1 we already mentioned is Zoom. I’m sure you know,
    zoom by now. There are two different types. Asim Platforms. As we mentioned on last week’s podcast,
    There’s Zoom Meeting and they’re Zoom webinar and they both have totally different functions. So it’s based on how you want those platforms to function,
    and you can use either one for group coaching. The other two are Google hangouts. I will admit I just attended my very first Google hangout last Friday,
    and I thought it would be a lot harder to get into Google hangouts. It wasn’t something that I ever felt like I wanted to even try.
    And there was a meeting that I wanted to connect with a group of really cool women here in Colorado from women who start up and they had a Google hangout and it was pretty cool.
    There were some downfalls to it that I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t see everybody like you can in a zoom platform,
    but it was easy. It was easy for me to get on there and it was clearly integrated with my Google business email,
    so that was very simple, too. So Google hangouts could be something that’s may be a first step if you want to host community in Host group Coaching service is online and then the other one is crowd cast.
    I Love crowd cast. I’ve used crowd cast numerous times. It has a great integration feature where you can see people’s live chat,
    especially when you’re on crowd cast online. Unfortunately, crowd cast has had quite a few technical problems every time I’ve tried to use it.
    But you know what, ladies? That could just be me, because I swear there’s like some magnetic field around me that if some software or tech is going to break,
    it will break at some point in time on my watch. So it definitely could just be me. I love the way the platform works.
    I love the way it’s set up in that has a green room function. And so those are just some suggestions for you.
    I know a lot of the last podcast episodes. We have talked about software, and if you’re building an online business,
    it is software software are the boards and the foundation and the nuts and bolts of your house instead of just having a storefront.
    And so that’s why this software that you choose will make or break your business. And it’s not that it’s the software itself.
    It’s how you use this software, how you needed to function, why you’ve chosen that software and frankly,
    whether or not you know how to use it in a TV for you. At the end of the day,
    we want things that are easy, because then you will perform better and everything else that you d’oh So again I will make sure all of these resources are available for you in the show notes and links to try these things in the show notes for this episode.
    So if you haven’t ever gone a rich our podcast website yet, it’s really cool. It’s like a whole business resource center.
    We rebuilt it about a year and 1/2 ago for you guys in. You go in there under the show notes for this and has all these links to everything we talked about in the show in a whole bunch of other free business training that most business coaches charge thousands of dollars for.
    It’s a huge database of free stuff in there for you guys. So just cruise over to sweet life podcast dot com,
    and you can. You can grab all that and check it out. So we talked about number one.
    She’s in the purpose of your group number two. Choosing your platform. Granted, this is not an exhaustive list of platforms.
    I’m sure there are other platforms out there. These are just the ones that we tend to talk about the most with businesses that are growing and scaling online.
    The third thing is is to create a schedule just like the parameters that we set up in last week’s show about how to set expectations to establish your one on one coaching.
    Virtually the same goes with your group, so it’s important that you have a set schedule that people like you and like me about if you’re listening to the show about you’re a planner like I am,
    I geek out on my calendar that’s one across my wall, and I won’t commit to anything unless I know that I can fit it in my calendar in.
    So if those are the type of people you’re serving, then you want to make sure that you’re prepared and you have a schedule set out now where people register for your group.
    Coaching is really what I want to kind of drill into today. So some of the platforms we talked about have that built in where you can schedule your medians in advance in Zoom,
    and you can even have multiple mediums. Another place you can do this is if you choose to host your online group coaching in Facebook in a private Facebook group.
    You can also create events within Facebook and actually scheduled the events there within Facebook itself. So I just wanted to share that with you two options.
    Make sure you have a place where people can sign up. You have a software that gives them notifications and reminders to show up.
    Because Justcause people sign up doesn’t mean people show up into the end of the day. We want people to obviously show up,
    and so that is an important aspect of whatever software you choose. Make sure that you do have the ability to have people schedule online and get reminders so they will show up for you okay.
    And before we dive into step number four a little behind the scenes here, my husband and my three boys just got back from a long word skateboard ride,
    getting some fresh air, and everybody just came barreling through the door with their shoes and the dogs and the skateboards and everything.
    Welcome to my life. I love my life. Actually, I felt so blessed. But there’s a lot of noise in the background for all these podcasts were recording right now when everybody is home together.
    So thanks so much for bearing with me through that. So step number four is How will you, Bill,
    you got to make money, right? That’s why you do what you do. Yes. You probably love what you d’oh,
    but let’s make you some money so you can keep doing it and help more people. You need to decide how you’re gonna build for your group coaching program.
    Do you want to build once and they get unlimited access to all of your events? Do you want to set them up on a subscription where they’re automatically charged every two weeks or every week or every month?
    And of course, how you lay out your program. The content of what you’re delivering is gonna dictate obviously,
    how long this is gonna go. The point I’m making is it. We have to make sure that your software is set up to support you in this.
    We want to make it easy for people to give you money. Amen. Amen. OK, so this means that whether or not you choose Facebook or you choose zoom or you choose another platform.
    You know, you have to make sure that you’ve determined how you are going to build people, how frequently and how you’re gonna take money in depending on that platform,
    they either have that built in or they don’t. Now, this is a great advantage of mighty networks,
    mighty networks. You can actually receive payment through mighty networks, and everything is all in one there. Another reason why I do love that platform again.
    Nothing’s perfect. So you can’t go live in there. But maybe there are other things you could do to improvise that sort of connection with in your group.
    So I just want you to pay attention to how you’re gonna take money, how frequently you’re gonna build in the most common payment processors are stripe Pei Pao in some people even use square or square up,
    and each of those enables you to create a type of service. Now I’m can’t verify for sure if square up frankly allows you to create subscriptions.
    It’s not a platform I’m an expert in, but I do know that they allow you to charge and build for service is,
    and we have a lot of clients that you square up for. You know, even local service is like esta Titian’s.
    You square up to take payment and my eyelash girl use the square of today payment. And so if you have a one time payment,
    that might just be the easiest thing to do to get people to onboard to your group coaching program. If you’re looking for more of a subscription billing plan,
    then stripe and paper. How are your options? And they have those sort of different payment options integrated within them in those two platforms,
    integrate with most community online platforms as well. So number four the most important thing is make sure you know how you are going to charge people and make sure it’s easy for them to pay you in the last thing I just wanted to touch on.
    Gosh, I think it’s actually been a while since I recorded a whole entire episode on email marketing. Maybe it’s time.
    Message me. Send me a d M on instagram If you want more trains on email marketing email marketing is not your regular business email,
    so it’s not my email address. Email marketing is actually a c R E M. It’s client relations management system and the type of email marketing that I want you to think about.
    Having four group coaching is automated email marketing. This means that when somebody signs up for your group coaching program,
    they get automatic e mails. It’s like using a I. This is how we’re starting to integrate heart official intelligence into our online businesses.
    So the software knows somebody signed up and the software sends them an automatic email that’s written by you super personal,
    thanking them for joining whatever program that you’re doing, letting them notable what to look forward to and it’s automatically sent to them.
    In a perfect world, we want this software to send them a couple of different emails reminding them of the upcoming meeting,
    helping them get onto your platform. Whether that is how to get onto crowd cast or how to join our Facebook group or how to post a topic and mighty host.
    Whatever it is, we want your email marketing to create a relationship with them. Anto walk them on,
    boarding into your program in little teeny baby steps so that they feel super taking care of from this second they pay.
    We want to make sure that the second somebody pays you, they don’t have what most people have is like this momentary panic of buyer remorse where you’re like Oh my gosh,
    I should I should I should have done that, you know, we want them to immediately get any mail and in a perfect world,
    really be redirected to a page. It says, Awesome. And so glad that you’re here. I can’t wait to work with you or I can’t wait to have you join our program.
    This is what you can expect. This is where to go for questions. We’re here for you. We understand what you’re looking for.
    And we have paved the way for you to have an amazing experience in my group coaching platform or program or whenever it ISS.
    That’s why we need an email marketing manager. Now the reality is, is a lot of these platforms don’t have email marketing built in.
    So if you’re choosing these platforms based on the platform itself, it’s not necessarily in all in one. So you might have to go in source an email marketing manager and make sure it connects.
    Or it’s what we call integrates with your community platform of choice. And so listen, it’s like baking a cake.
    There’s 1000 different things that you can put into your set up to make it customized for you if you have questions about this.
    First of all, everybody has questions about this. This isn’t business strategy, you guys, that this is the nuts and bolts of business.
    I am happy to answer your questions about platforms any time I do answer questions about this and how to help you pick your best platform.
    Answer questions about this all the time. Cruise over to our podcast community, our Facebook community. It’s totally free,
    and you can go in there and just plug away any questions that you have, and I’m in there frequently supporting you guys,
    So just go to a sweet life community dot com, and it’ll redirect you to our Facebook community and you can ask any questions.
    So here on the podcast, let me just give you some samples of platforms based on the ones have talked about that have the most capabilities.
    So so far, based on needing to have a platform where you could deliver content, having a schedule that you composed,
    having a way to bill and having notifications go out, then mighty hosts is the way to go. That’s the Gold Star again,
    their downfalls like I still can’t use it because I really appreciate being able to go live with my community.
    I’m willing to piecemeal other parts of software together so that I could still go live with my community, but that might not be a big thing for you,
    so I just wanted to make the easy button up here that mighty hosts and granted, you have to pay for more bells and whistles,
    but is usually the way that businesses go when they’re creating community platforms and community coaching. So far, the other one that I’ve mentioned on other shows,
    which I haven’t had a chance to test yet. But when I first checked it out a year ago and loved it,
    I ran away because I looked to the price tag. It was like $5000 I’m not gonna pay $5000 to play with something.
    But they have a sense rebuild the platform and I can’t wait to get in there. And it’s called Disciple Media.
    In So Disciple Media, I think, has everything it did the last time I checked. Everything that that we want you are gonna play will pay more for it.
    So I will also go ahead and make sure that there’s a link to the new platform built by Disciple Media.
    So you can go in there and try that as well. So let’s go ahead. Let me just do a quick recap.
    You might be able to hear my dogs barking because, seriously, every single person walks by my house and I have a little Chihuahua that never stops parking.
    And especially now that everybody is going for a walk 20 times a day in my neighborhood, that damn dog just never stops working.
    So we’re just gonna push on, aren’t we ladies. Okay, so the recap for today’s show is how to watch your online group Coaching service’s again.
    This is perfect for you guys of your established businesses, and you want to reach more people you want to sell more.
    Service is you want. Establish your expertise or if you’re a new business and you just want to head out the gates with launching group coaching.
    I know that there are quite a few new businesses that have come through our doors in the last six months that are actually launching certification programs,
    so it doesn’t even have to be an actual business. It could be more of an educational certification based program.
    Yeah, group coaching is away, right? So first of all, we talked about platforms and making sure you’re choosing the purpose of your group,
    whether it’s instructional or community or, you know, just strictly sharing content or a combination of any of those choosing your platforms.
    We talked about Facebook groups, mighty networks, crowd cast Google hangouts and zoom. Those are the top ones that people seem to be going through.
    Currently, the recording of this we could probably record this same show in six months and I might give you a different list.
    Number two or diving in the next part is creating a schedule and making sure it’s easy for people to register.
    Easy for them to know what’s coming up again. The clearer in the more, the more simple you lay out your program,
    the more money you are going to make, the more people you are going to enroll the next episode making sure it’s easy to pay you,
    making sure that the experience of going online registering and pays you d picks the experience that you want to give your customers.
    And so you want the whole entire process to aligned with your branding your experience the way you want your customers to feel when they start working with you.
    So if you are a high end brand and you are delivering high end group coaching, you’re not going to take money through Venmo,
    right? Right. So we talked about stripe and papal integration and making sure that it’s smooth sailing there to set up subscriptions,
    accounts or one time payments. We also talked about square up and how that could be an auction for some people as well.
    And then we talked about email marketing to the extent that I would love for you, just a walk away with either new knowledge if you didn’t have this,
    or just reinforce knowledge to what you already know about how important it is to utilize a I in creating automated e mails that are going out to people who have already paid you to reassure them that they’re in the right place.
    So we don’t want any buyer’s remorse who want to create raving fans that are sharing how great it is to work with you over and over again with all of their friends.
    So that is today’s show. This is episode number 169 of The Sweet Life Entrepreneur podcast. Thank you guys so much for being here.
    If you have not yet. I would love it if you’d leave us a review on iTunes. That really helps other podcast listeners find our show.
    And it’s something that we really appreciate very much from you guys. So you could just cruise overto apple and leave us a review.
    And a lot of times we actually read these reviews live online, and we feature a business which is exactly what I’m going to do right now,
    all right? And this is so sweet. I just went over to pole are featured review this week,
    and all you moms will get this. My son Sam, I saw left me. Review. It’s up Sand Beach and says,
    My mom’s podcast. Love you, Mama. Five stars. So not my future business is weak, but that melts my heart.
    I do want a big C tour to five four for your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on here,
    You say. That’s so good. It’s like talking to a business Vesti really relate to our style of business advice and how protective she is over her audience.
    Just pinged a few episodes and I’m hooked. Keep it going. Thank you so much for leaving that review.
    That really means a lot, but I don’t know your businesses and I want to shout out and help you get eyes on your business is well,
    so if this is your business d m me directly on Instagram, you confined me at sweet life. Underscore entrepreneur.
    That’s my instagram account, where I share a lot of business and a lot of mom with three teenage boys.
    Life in de Emmy there and let me know your business so we can go ahead and make sure that we give you a shout right back out.
    See tour to 54 All right, you guys, thank you so much for hanging out with me on today’s show.
    Next week we have Sarah tomes are Facebook and Instagram ads expert back in the house, and she’s diving through the seven steps to set up your Facebook business page or fix your broken Facebook business page to make sure you are optimizing your results in the time you put in there.
    Next week’s show, All right.
    That’s all folks!

    Episode 168: How To Launch Your Services Online: Small Business Help Part 1 – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    Episode Bonuses:

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    • Small business owners looking to expand your reach due to Coronavirus 
    • Small business owners ready to grow (scale) by adding online services, offers, coaching and courses, or digital communities or products and don’t know where to start.
    • Entrepreneurs who want to launch an online service business and work from anywhere. 


    Summary:

    As the world faces a shift in how it does business, more people are noticing online business opportunities – and they are VAST. Pivoting your business to offer online services is not only an essential part of keeping up with today’s Coronavirus economy, it’s strategic and smart. 
    I’ve been consulting entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporations to create and launch online services for 12 years. Online services are not default or second best… they’re a smart way to reach more people, grow your profit and expand your company’s capacity. 
    This podcast show will open the doors to online business opportunities, help you choose how you’ll offer services online and give you the steps to get started. 

    Highlights:

    1. How to choose the right software
    2. How to create and set parameters on your 1-1 online services
    3. The steps to get your online services setup 
    4. Specific software recommendations 


    Resources Mentioned:



    Join my next workshop to launch your online services. Use code: PODCAST to receive $50 off.

    SOFTWARE RECIPES
    Lowest Cost Software (has limitations)
    Meeting: Phone calls, Facetime or WhatsApp
    Calendar: Calendly
    Payment: Venmo 
    Mid Cost Software:
    Meeting: Zoom Meeting Room
    Calendar: Acuity
    Payment: PayPal, Stripe, Square
    Options To Provide Added Support To Your Clients: 
    Email 
    Voxer (our top pick) 






    SweetLife Podcast™ Love:

    Are you subscribed? If not, there’s a chance you could be missing out on some bonuses and extra show tools.  Click here to be sure you’re in the loop.  Do you love the show? If so, I’d love it if you left me a review on iTunes. This helps others find the show and get business help. I also call out reviews live on the show to share your business with the world. Simply click here and select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Thank you so much ❤︎

    Need faster business growth?

    Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.


    Full Show Transcript:

     

    you’re listening to the sweet life entrepreneur podcast Simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business, mental and entrepreneur activator a probe Age Hey there, and welcome to the show. This is episode number 168 And today we’re talking about how to launch your service is online. This is small business help for those of you that are facing tough times right now in our Corona virus economy, this is actually part one of a two part series where we’re gonna be diving into this two weeks together and I’m going to be giving you step by step of exactly how you want Your online service is today.
    We’re diving in because the world has seen an entire shift and people are noticing hall of these different online business opportunities. And they are vast pivoting your business offer online service is is not only essential right now, but it’s also strategic in smart. In case you weren’t aware, my business has been consulting entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporations. Tow launch digital in online service is for over 12 years. In these service is they aren’t by default. They aren’t second best. These are actually smart ways to grow your business,
    reach more people, grow your profit and expand your company’s capacity. So that’s what we’re talking about on today’s show. This episode is particularly for those of you guys who are small business owners looking to expand your reach and serve your customers through digital online service is right now in our Corona virus economy, either. Short term, you just want to do this for a small period of time until you can get back to normal or long term. This is also for those of you guys who are established business owners and you’re ready to scale.
    So you ready to grow ad Online service is coaching, consulting digital communities or products, and you aren’t exactly sure where to start. If you’ve been asking yourself this question, that hair, I want to grow my business online, my company has reached its band with. We can’t serve any more people the way that we’re doing business. We’re maxed out. What do we do? How do we grow than this particular podcast episode? And actually the entire suite live under of Europe on gas? These air? This is what we talk about here on this show if you’re a new listener and if you’re a new entrepreneur and you are looking to launch online service is so you can work from anywhere.
    This show is for you. Now, all this show now. So we’re gonna talk about today cause I’m gonna give you a lot of really quick software tips, software, recipes, meaning I’m going to make it so easy for you. I’m going to say, do this, Do this, Do this if you want these results and I’m going to be giving a lot of difference offer recommendations because software is the walls there, the structure of your online business. So if you had a brick and mortar business in the past or if you currently have a brick and mortar business,
    you’re rebuilding the walls in the foundation of your business online through the software that you choose. And that also tends to be some of the most overwhelming part of launching. Normally business there so many different choices and not everyone is right where for every single business. So we are gonna walk through the steps of how to choose the right software, how to create and set of parameters for your service is the steps to get your service is up and running, and I’m gonna give you specific, softer recommendations. So that sounds good.
    But that’s what you’re looking for. Let’s go ahead and dive into the show. All the show notes can be found by visiting and sweet life. Podcast dot com forward slash 1 68 Okay, in this episode, part one of two parts I’m specifically talking to those of you who want to take your established one on one service is you might have done face to face or in person and scale them online. So we’re focusing on one on one in person, bringing that toe one on one online in next week’s show.
    I’m gonna be talking about how to take your established service is where you might have coached groups of people. Maybe you were a speaker or you hosted events. Or maybe you did provide one on one. This service is in person and you want to scale those and now provide him two groups of people. So next week is for groups. This week is for one on one. Before we go any further, I want to make sure that you know about this shows bonus for this month,
    actually through April 30th 2020. If you’re listening to this real time, I will be hosting workshops in these workshops or three our hands on workshops that actually take you step by step through the process of launching your online service is planning them,
    pricing them and taking your specific business questions. These workshops were designed for small groups of businesses at a time,
    and because you’re a podcast listener, you can receive a $50 coupon off these workshops. So I’m giving you $50 off attending one of these workshops.
    To find more information about that, please cruise over to sweet life co dot com Ford slash scale online and use the coupon code podcast to register and get $50 off.
    It also gives me a great opportunity to work with you one on one and take your specific business questions,
    something that we just can’t do here in a podcast settee. And I’ll go ahead and make sure that that coupon,
    the discount and the link to register for the next live workshop is found in the show. Notes at Sweet life podcast dot com for its lush 1 68 Okay,
    for those of you guys for listening to the show you have done one on one service is in the past.
    Maybe you work with clients, even if it’s a group of clients. But it is one business, and you’re asking yourself,
    How do we take these service’s I provided for my clients? And how do we offer them online? First things first.
    Not every single business can be offered as an online business. Not every single service can. So, for example,
    of you do eyelashes or if you are a massage therapist, clearly you can’t do those exact things online.
    But there are amazing opportunities for you to continue to serve. Your clients may be indifferent creative ways. We’ll talk about some of those on today’s show,
    so we’re gonna take you through three different parts. The first thing we’re going to talk about us, how to set up the parameters for your one on one coaching service.
    The second thing I’m going to go through is giving you a menu of different software that we recommend, and then the third part of this show,
    I’m gonna actually walk you through step by step, how to set it up and hop on board new clients.
    So step number one, when you are changing your service, is from face to face to digital, you have to set up new parameters for how those service’s are offered,
    which means that in the past, if you have hosted clients, maybe for a two hour in office strategy session,
    then we want to scale. Those service is online. So just as you set up parameters for maybe a one hour appointment to serve people or two hours or whatever the parameters were in person,
    we have to set up those same parameters online. I’ve seen companies start to scale online and because it’s online because they’ve eliminated drive time,
    you know, in all the different logistics that come together when you’re delivering service is face to face, they somehow forget to establish parameters for their digital service is.
    And so what happens is the service is just turn into kind of hang out sessions, and it doesn’t give your customers the right opportunity to set up how they know that they’re gonna be able to work for you.
    You have to set up healthy Bram parameters, just as you did for your face to face service is online,
    and I want to encourage you to do that right From the very beginning, you have to set the expectations.
    The second thing you need to do is you need to set the goals in the scope for that meeting.
    Some of those goals or things that you have been able to do in person to just simply aren’t gonna be able to do online.
    So you want to be honest with your clients and talk about Listen, this is what we can do.
    This is what we can work on. This is what we can accomplish, and you set up the scope for your virtual coaching session or your virtual service session or therapy session or whatever it is that you’re doing.
    You set up the scope in the very beginning, so your client knows what to expect. They know what you can dio.
    They know what you can’t do. They know how they will leave that meeting and what they can expect at the end of that meeting and when you set up clear expectations in the very beginning of what it looks like when we work together,
    virtually versus what it is look like when we’ve worked together in person in the past. Then nobody’s disappointed and everybody walks into it with eyes wide open.
    One of the best ways to do this, if you are scaling to virtual service, is whether short term right now with what everybody’s facing with Corona virus or this is something you want to do is a long term strategy.
    You need to make sure you’re communicating. You have to communicate your plan with your clients. So my recommendation is to send an email out your clients and say,
    Hey, listen, I’m so excited we’re gonna be offering virtual service is this is what they’re gonna look like.
    This is how long they’re gonna last. These are the things that we can work on together. Are you ready cause we’re ready to serve you and you have to communicate.
    You don’t want there to be a gray area because there are many people that have never received a service online before.
    They don’t know to expect, and they don’t know whether or not receiving service is on line is just as effective as receiving service is air support from you in person.
    So when you approach them with a plan, a strategy, the scope of what you’re talking about, the parameters of that service and you come to them and you say,
    Here goes This is what we have prepared for you. It gives them peace. It gives them confidence in your leadership,
    which is something that right now customers were desperate for leadership from you, and it helps to sustain your business and sustain your sales.
    If you’re doing this to actually increase in scale your service is, then this will, of course, increase your sales based on where they were just with your in person service is so I want to make sure you are communicating clearly exactly what these parameters are and how people can start working with you.
    And I’m gonna walk you through the steps of that here in just a minute. The other thing that I recommend that you set up is how and when you are gonna deliver any supplements to that service.
    So your business is different than anybody else’s. There’s tons of different industries that listen to this podcast, but let me just give you an example of what a supplement could be.
    Maybe you need to send them an email with action items or recommendations to do after their meeting. A supplement is anything you need to share with them,
    whether it’s a pdf or a video tow watch or an email with steps or anything else that they need in order to take action in implement.
    The service is that you provided to them virtually. For example, I’m gonna try to bring in a bunch of creative examples here to get your wheel spinning if you weren’t as citizen and you started providing online consulting.
    Service is where you are doing face time with your clients, and you can’t actually work on their skin.
    But you can talk about their skin. You can give them recommendations on what it looks like. You can sell them products After that meeting,
    you might want to send them a list of the things that you talked about in the products that you recommend in links to buy those products from you during the time that maybe you can’t see them online.
    That’s an example of a supplement that would go with the service in a couple different softer recommendations that I want to share with you that we love.
    We provide the supplements. Your clients all the time is actually Boxer Boxer is a great way to continue to serve your clients.
    You can actually send them links. You can send them video recordings of the recommendations, maybe a summary of the service you provided for them in action items for them to move forward.
    Other options that they know. A lot of businesses use our slack channels where you can create a private slack channel with each specific customer.
    Or, of course, you can just use good old fashioned email and send them your recommendations by email.
    So to summarize, the first part is setting up the parameters of your service in making sure that you are clearly communicating what they can expect,
    how long that service will be and you’re providing ways you can give them supplemental support if that’s necessary. After that service,
    the key takeaway here is being clear in Lane the road map because many of your clients have never worked with anybody in this capacity before,
    and even if you have never known it before, you need to take the lead it brings peace, it brings trust,
    it brings confidence, and it continues to build a loyalty that your client’s already have with you. So let’s now dive into how exactly you do that.
    Because if you’re listening to this, there’s a really good chance that you have never done this before in.
    So in order to instill that confidence in your client’s, I’m gonna show you how to be a pro at it.
    We’re talking about it today on the show, so the first thing to do is to choose your online platform.
    This is where the service is going to happen. There are 100 different opportunities you can choose from, and we’re gonna go ahead and put a list of different software recommendations and recipes in the show notes for you.
    A many of them have given us free trials to share with you, so make sure you’re cruising over to the show nuts for this episode at sweet life.
    Podcast dot com forward slash 1 68 But you want to choose where is it’s gonna be done. How is this gonna be done?
    And you can go all the way to old school. You can just pick up the phone and call somebody.
    I mean, what a better way to connect, then the way that people connected you know, at least the last 60 years is by picking the phone up than calling somebody on the phone.
    That’s totally fine. You don’t have to go super online Fancy. You could just set up a phone call with him.
    Other software, which I’m sure you’ve heard of by now, is that Zoom. You can use FaceTime on your phone.
    Or you can also use WhatsApp in many of those air, really just based on your preferences. But has your choosing your software.
    I want you to think of your customers. Which one do you think is going to be? The least intimidating need to them that is going to give you a platform to actually provide service is successfully.
    Whatever software you choose, I highly recommend that when you’re sending out that email to them about the expectations of your virtual service is that you also include a step by step guide on how to connects to the software that you’ve chosen.
    Don’t just think that everybody knows and don’t think that your customers we’re going to follow probably the very clear tutorials that the software provides.
    Some people just have a total block when it comes to software, and they just honestly feel very intimidated by and they don’t want to learn it.
    And so, if that’s your clientele, they include maybe a PdF type out, a step by step guide and maybe even provide a telephone number for this software support.
    So if anybody has any questions, you’ve really done all the work for them. You’ve taken away any nervousness that you possibly could have from this type of working relationship.
    So the first thing you’re gonna do is you’re gonna choose that platform. The second thing I recommend you do is setting up an online calendar,
    so we want it to be easy to work with you. That’s how you make money. If it’s hard to connect with you and book you and get on your calendar and work with you,
    you’re never going to make money. And so we have to make it really easy for people to book with you.
    So that second step is setting up an online calendar. Our favorite online calendar that we use is called acuity,
    and I’ll give a link for that as well. But we also have a lot of clients. Use calendar Lee,
    and it really depends on what you know and how you need your online calendar to function. Do you need and want it to sync with another calendar that your business uses?
    Do you need to take money? Many calendars give you an opportunity toe. Actually accept payments at the time of booking,
    and we’re talking about accepting payments next. So as a Segway into that, if you’re having trouble and you don’t currently have a payment processor,
    an online payment processor set up for your business, check out different online calendars because many of them can enable that.
    But going back just to the purpose of a counter block off times in your calendar where people can schedule with you where you always have open and you have them set aside for virtual medians.
    And then we’re going in now to that third step of being able to take online payments. This is absolutely essential,
    even if you are strictly a brick and mortar business and you don’t plan on offering scaled online service is for very long.
    It’s still highly recommend that you have an opportunity to take money online because, frankly, it’s a lot easier for people to pay you online in.
    So couple of those options can be pay power, obviously papal for business Stripe Square. And you can even accept payments through Venmo,
    which is actually owned by PayPal. If you didn’t know that, and then the fourth step is setting up an email marketing responder,
    we can’t go in depth about this in this particular show because this in itself is an entire business training.
    But I want you to know that you could actually go to our website over its sweet life podcast in Just search in the search for our email,
    marketing or email set up. And it will bring you to all of the podcast episodes I’ve already recorded teaching you how to get this set up.
    But the fourth step is to set up an email responder. This means as soon as somebody books with you two things happen.
    You get an automatic email saying, Hey, somebody’s on my calendar. I’m so excited and they receive either one or a series of e mails getting them ready for your appointment.
    This is important because it takes the work out of your hands. When you’re a busy business owner and it creates an amazing client experience,
    it shows them immediately the red on top of it and you can program these emails to go to them automatically.
    That says, Hey, this is how to get ready for our appointment. This is also a great place to reiterate the parameters of the appointment,
    the scope of the appointment and give them steps on how to get on your choice software platform and just really get them ready for their appointment.
    So that last step is making sure you’re setting up an email responder. Sometimes his emails responder can automatically be built into your only calendar.
    If he only calendar you have isn’t that way. Or if you’re choosing to book people a different way,
    even manually, you want to make sure that you’re creating email responders that already pre written pre programmed to save you time and to give your clients an amazing customer experience.
    Okay, in the last part, and all this will be in the show notes with a bunch of really cool bonuses from the software providers,
    many of whom we work with, but this last part is actually telling you the names of all the software’s.
    We’ve dropped a lot of names in here, and this is one of the problems. There are so many different software providers.
    Others there’s so many different ways that you can connect with people. Virtually. Finding your way is the most important thing,
    for I need a way that’s sustainable in the worst with your budget. So first things first. If you have very little budget,
    even know budget, maybe you have no money coming in your service business right now. As many of people in the world have fallen on tough times again,
    I know that we have listeners in over 150 countries to this podcast. So if that’s you just go with good old fashioned phone.
    You can even do face time on your phone. Or you can use Facebook’s App, which was called WhatsApp.
    We use what’s happened our company to connect with international clients when they want to jump on just a really quick business triage call without with us.
    It’s a really easy way to connect with people that doesn’t cost any money. So that’s recommendation number one for those.
    You guys really have no budget to come to the table with this. Or maybe you were just trying it out,
    and you want to see what the feedback is from your clients. The next option up would be Zoom.
    Zoom is an amazing platform that millions of people use across the world to connect. You can connect with people one on one or you can connect with people want on group in one of the tips I want to give you her on the show is Zoom has two different platforms there.
    Zoom meeting and then there zoom webinar for the sake of coaching people. One on one you on Lee need zoom meeting Zoom Webinar will talk about next week on the podcast for coaching groups of people or live streaming your videos into different social media platforms.
    But just for the sake of coaching people, one on one continuing to provide great service is to your clients or launching new virtual coach and service is just go with Zoom meeting other options,
    which were actually out long before Zoom ever emerged that are very reliable options as well. Our go to meeting and go to Webinar,
    which will talk about next week, but you can also use to suffer cold. Go to meeting, which provides very similar service to zoom in.
    Might not be so inundated right now with what’s happening with all the businesses that have turned to zoom. And then,
    of course, don’t forget good old face time. If you have a phone that’s enabled with face time,
    perhaps you don’t have your computer set up the way that you like to your home. Yet if you’re kind of in this limbo state with the economy and maybe being a little bit uprooted from your stationery office due to Corona virus,
    just use your phone and do a FaceTime call with your clients. Get a tripod out so you’re not constantly holding the phone in your hand,
    and so that can free you to actually open up desk space to work with your clients. Went on one.
    Okay, I hope you found this episode helpful again. This is for those of you guys that are ready to launch Virtual Coaching Service’s and specifically those of you who are ready to launch a virtual one on one coaching and consulting type service is next week we’re gonna talk about different types of virtual service is for providing them to more than one person at a time.
    On today’s show, we talked about the importance of setting up the parameters and how to actually set up the parameters in the scope of your service.
    How to get your customers ready for what they can receive from you and have them confidently walk into an online virtual relationship with you.
    We talked about the actual steps of how to set up your virtual service is and what you need to have in place in what order to make it happen.
    And we talked about very specific APS everything from Zoom to go to meeting toe wet sap. And of course,
    there are so many more. We talked about Slack and Boxer in every single one of those software has a different role,
    has a different job. It’s a different building block in your virtual online store, and so they all have different functions and so will summarize the functions for you again in our show notes.
    I will lay out for you exactly what software is to be used in what circumstances, so we’re taking all the s work away for you,
    and we just hope you find this show helpful again. All of the recommendations and the summary can be found by visiting Suite Life podcast dot com forward slash 1 68 And if you would like to join the workshop that I’ll be teaching walking you through step by step,
    how to do this? How does that you’re pricing? How to set the parameters of your offers and even coming up with your offers and how to get all your software in place.
    You are welcome to do so and receive $50 off by using the coupon code Podcast podcast all in caps in the link to join that workshop or the next upcoming live workshop will be found in the show Notes for this episode again,
    a sweet life podcast dot com for its lush 1 68 Or you can simply join my virtual workshop and use coupon code podcast by visiting suite life co dot com.
    Forward slash scale online. All right, you guys stay. Well, I’ll talk to you next week.
    That’s all folks!

    Episode 152: How To Plan Your 2020 Signature Offer – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    FREE LIVE WORKSHOP: How to Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar to Live Your Best Year Yet

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The importance of figuring out your zone of genius.
    2. Why you need to determine exactly how much money you want to make off your signature offer in 2020.
    3. What you need to keep in mind when outlining and creating your signature offer.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Do you know exactly what you’ll be selling next year and exactly how you’ll reach all your financial goals? No? Then you don’t want to miss this episode!

    Every entrepreneur needs a signature offer and, if you don’t have one yet, now is the time to finally change that.

    Nailing your signature offer can help you create a 2020 business plan that will finally allow you to have your dream freedom lifestyle.

    So, take a listen to learn about the three steps of planning your signature offer.

    How to Take Action:
      1. FREE LIVE WORKSHOP: How to Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar to Live Your Best Year Yet
      2. Go through the three steps mentioned in this episode to create your signature offer.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, SweetLife Launch.

    [Tweet “Do you know exactly what you’ll be selling next year and exactly how you’ll reach all your financial goals? No? Then you don’t want to miss this episode!”]

    Links Mentioned:

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 151: How To Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar, To Live Your Best Year Yet – with April Beach

    Your Signature Offer Masterclass Waitlist

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 129: Burn The Picket Fence™ – Vlog: Behind The Scenes Of Our Lifestyle Entrepreneur Family

    Burn The Picket Fence SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Check out the trailer for Burn The Picket Fence™

    Episode Highlights:
    1. What Burn the Picket Fence™ means.
    2. Why it’s taken me so long to release this project.
    3. Five business strategies that are a must in order for my family to Burn the Picket Fence™.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    This episode is unlike any of the episodes I’ve ever put out and it has been feeling completely uncomfortable.

    If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve heard mention my behind-the-scenes family vlog, Burn The Picket Fence™, several times.

    Historically, I’m not someone who cares what other people think about me, but this project has me feeling incredibly vulnerable. In fact, even recording this episode had my heart racing.

    Take to the listen to the episode to find out why I felt called to undertake this project, why I held back on releasing it for as long as I did, and the five strategies that will help you Burn The Picket Fence™.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Check out the trailer for Burn The Picket Fence™
      2. Subscribe to Burn The Picket Fence™ via the website or YouTube
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “Historically, I’m not someone who cares what other people think about me, but this project has me feeling incredibly vulnerable.”]

    Links Mentioned:

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #101: Want to Travel with Your Kids? Follow Our Family Entrepreneur Yearly Planning Guide

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #111: Simple Steps To Create The Systems You Need For Profit And Productivity – with Kate Erickson

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #122: How To Choose An Online Business Model That’s Right For You

    The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Online Business Model That’s Right for You

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 119: 3 Unknown Relationships That Will Grow Your Business

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Donate $100 To Join The SweetLife Project – Online Business Building Course (100% of Proceeds Given To NonProfits)

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The three key relationships you should have to make sure your business is growing in a healthy and profitable way.
    2. The negative impacts not having these three strong relationships will have on your business.
    3. How you can cultivate these three key relationships if you find they’re not as strong as they should be.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Even though entrepreneurship can feel lonely at times, it’s impossible to grow your business without relationships. That’s why this entire month has been devoted to various types of relationships and today’s episode is no different.

    Whether you’re still in the planning phases of your business or you’ve been at it a while, there are key relationships that are critical in today’s world if you want to grow your business and I couldn’t go through relationship month without breaking them down for you.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Donate $100 To Join The SweetLife Project – Online Business Building Course (100% of Proceeds Given To NonProfits).
      2. Evaluate your three key relationships and take the steps provided in the episode to improve any of the relationships that might be lacking.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “Even though entrepreneurship can feel lonely at times, it’s impossible to grow your business without relationships.”]

    Links Mentioned:

    Burn the Picket Fence Release Date Notification List

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 116: How Passion, Sex and Intimacy In Your Marriage, Can Lead To Business Success – with Cheryl Fraser, PhD

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 117: Single Entrepreneurs Guide To Making More Money – with Andi Forness

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 118: Community Is The New Currency – with Jennifer Kroiss

    45 Statistics on Millennial Spending Habits in 2019

    Consumers are more likely to spend money on companies that care, a new study finds

    1% for the Planet

    Laird Hamilton and Julian Borra’s Book | Liferider: Heart, Body, Soul, and Life Beyond the Ocean

    Episode 111: Simple Steps To Create The Systems You Need For Profit And Productivity – with Kate Erickson

    Kate Erickson SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Take a listen to Kate’s entire podcast season on creating systems for your business.

    Episode Highlights:
    1. Five simple, yet effective steps to create systems that build efficiency and profitability in your business.
    2. The three options you have for making the completion of a task more efficient.
    3. The importance of actually outlining the process for completing tasks.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Kate Erickson is a creator, engager, and implementer at Entrepreneurs On Fire, which is an award-winning podcast where John Lee Dumas interviews inspiring entrepreneurs every Monday and drops value bombs every Thursday. She is also the host of the podcast, Kate’s Take, and co-author of The Podcast Journal.

    Kate is passionate about helping entrepreneurs create freedom in their business and life through developing systems and processes that can help their business scale and grow.

    I’ve personally been learning from Kate for years and one of the things I love about her is her ability to break things down in a way that’s easy to understand and implement.

    If you’ve been trying to build a business but you don’t have the systems in place to gain traction, Kate’s simple strategies are sure to help.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Take a listen to Kate’s entire podcast season on creating systems for your business.
      2. Complete the five steps Kate listed in this episode and let me know on Instagram how they’ve helped you become more efficient and profitable.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “If you’ve been trying to build a business but you don’t have the systems in place to gain traction, Kate’s simple strategies are sure to help.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Entrepreneurs on Fire and Kate’s Take Podcasts

    The Podcast Journal

    Episode 108: Stop Consuming, Start Creating, and Mother Like a Boss – with Kendra Hennessy

    Kendra Hennessy SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Join me in my brand new business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The importance of setting boundaries for consumption time and creation time.
    2. The biggest problems that result from not setting proper boundaries.
    3. Kendra tips for setting boundaries in your work and life and how for sticking to them.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Kendra Hennessy is a mother of two, a home management expert, the Founder of Mother Like a Boss, and the Host of the Mother Like a Boss podcast.

    Kendra’s mission is to redefine homemaking in the 21st century and make the difficult and tedious parts of running a home smoother through systems, routines, and mindset shifts.

    In this episode, Kendra and I take a deep dive into the importance of having boundaries both at home and in your business. This is especially important when it comes to being specific about when you’re going to consume information and when you’re actually going to create things for your business because, as Kendra says …

    “If you’re in consumption mode, you can’t be in creative mode.”

    How to Take Action:
      1. Join me in my brand new business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.
      2. Follow both @sweetlife_entrepreneur and @motherlikeaboss on Instagram to check out our live later this week!
      3. Say no to at least one thing this week.

    [Tweet “If you’re in consumption mode, you can’t be in creative mode.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Kendra Hennessy’s Website

    Kendra Hennessy’s Mother Like a Boss Podcast

    Kendra Hennessy’s Blog

    Kendra Hennessy’s Courses

    Kendra Hennessy’s Free Vault

    Kendra Hennessy’s Community

    Episode 98: The Most Important Thing You Need To Understand About Your Business

     

    Sweetlife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Take the self-assessment to find out which phase of the SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ you’re in

    Episode Highlights:
    1. An explanation of why my SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ roadmap is the most important thing for your business
    2. A breakdown of each of the five phases of the SweetLife Entrepreneur System™
    3. How to use the knowledge of what phase you’re in to help guide your business decisions and actions
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ is a roadmap consisting of five phases that will help you create your SweetLife Project™ (aka: your business life plan) and take your business from idea to impact.

    This is the most important strategy discussed on this podcast for your lifestyle freedom business.

    I use the SweetLife System™ when working with my private clients and now I’m sharing this system with you. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a better understanding of what phase you’re currently in and the knowledge to spring forward into the next one.

    How to Take Action:
    1. Take the self-assessment
    2. Get your copy of the SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ roadmap
    3. Declare your current SweetLife System phase on Instagram and tag me

    [Tweet “This is the most important strategy discussed on this podcast for your lifestyle freedom business.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ Self-Assessment

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur System™ Roadmap

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 01: Entrepreneur by Design

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 03: Your 8 Step Business Launch Plan

    Episode 87: Being Brave, Bold and Authentic to Connect with Your Tribe and Grow Your Online Business – with Amy Porterfield

     

    Amy Porterfield SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Podcast Addict | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Check Out Amy’s Free Webinar: The Ultimate List Building Catch-Up Plan

    Episode Highlights:
    1. How Amy develops her own content and how she teaches others to create content to build their first online course.
    2. Amy’s advice on how long you should wait before creating your first online course.
    3. Why being vulnerable and transparent helps you connect with your tribe, and how Amy practices this in her own business.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Amy Porterfield has worked with mega-brands like Harley-Davidson motorcycles and peak performance coach, Tony Robbins; where she oversaw the content development team and collaborated on groundbreaking online marketing campaigns.

    Amy inspires over 250,000 online entrepreneurs through her bestselling marketing courses, thriving social media community, and popular podcast; Online Marketing Made Easy.

    Even though I’ve been creating online courses for a decade, it wasn’t until I connected with Amy two years ago that I finally streamlined my systems and lowered my “workload”.

    Whether you’re just starting to launch your first online course, or you’re a course creation veteran like me, you’re going to learning from Amy.

    How to Take Action:
    1. Check Out Amy’s Free Webinar: The Ultimate List Building Catch-Up Plan
    2. Take a listen to Amy’s Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast.
    3. Find out What Phase of the SweetLife Entrepreneur System You’re In

    [Tweet “Even though I’ve been creating online courses for a decade, it wasn’t until I connected with Amy two years ago that it all finally clicked.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Amy Porterfield’s Website

    Online Marketing Made Easy | Episode #179: The Real Truth Why I Hate Video (Hint: It’s My Weight)

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #65: Doing Things That Don’t Scale – with John Lee Dumas

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast on Instagram

    Episode 32: Reset & Refocus Entrepreneur Challenge

     Join the  Reset and Refocus Entrepreneur Challenge
    Listen to the Podcast Here:

    It’s Time to Reset and Refocus

    I took seven weeks off from my business this summer, to travel with my kids. Now that they’re heading back to school, it’s time to reset and refocus. I actually do a complete reset every August. It’s part of my #lifestylebusiness system.

    I’ve you’ve taken time off, or your business just isn’t where you thought it would be by this point in the year, I highly suggest you reset and refocus with me!

    … And that’s what we’re talking about on this week’s SweetLife episode!

    Why You Should Tune In?

    As an entrepreneur, you’re solely responsible for the growth and success of your business. It’s critical to make sure you’re in line with your goals and make adjustments when needed.

    I truly believe a successful entrepreneur never stops learning.

    Not only does that apply to new systems, platforms, and skills… This also applies to learning and assessing your own business status and growth needs.

    [Tweet “A successful entrepreneur never stops learning.”]

    What Can You Expect?

    I breakdown the five different core areas of resetting and refocusing and why they’re so important. You’ll learn about each and why they all affect your overall business goals.

    Join my upcoming Reset and Refocus Entrepreneur Challenge

    Reset and Refocus Download Button

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL


    Resources Mentioned:

     

    Reset & Refocus Entrepreneur Challenge

    Funnel Cure Masterclass

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 28: Discover the Power of a Digital Detox

     

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how! 

    Episode 31: How to Hire Your First VA with Trivinia Barber

     Listen to the Podcast Here:

    When Should You Hire Your First VA?

    In this special episode, it’s my honor to have Trivinia Barber on the show. Trivinia is the Founder and CEO of Priority VA and someone I’ve known for a while now. She’s a walking entrepreneur-resource and always delivers value and whit.

    Today, she’s providing some excellent insights into hiring your first VA!

    Why is this important for your business?

    New entrepreneurs have juggle it all … customer service, content creation, website development, social media management, marketing, etc, etc But the truth is, you shouldn’t do everything solo for too long.

    “How do I outsource?”  is a question I get from my clients all the time. So if you’re launching your business or growing your online programs, I’m guessing you’re asking the same thing!

    Learning how to outsource certain aspects of your business can sometimes be the difference between success and failure. At the very least, not outsourcing some aspects of your business will lead to much slower growth.

    What can you expect in this Episode? 

    Trivinia provides trusted advice for when you should hire your first VA, what to outsource to them, and how to work with them successfully. You won’t want to miss this.

    And don’t forget to check out Trivinia’s free gift for you, The Top 5 Ways a VA Can Increase Your Revenue!

    [Tweet “Learning how to outsource certain aspects of your business can sometimes be the difference between success and failure.”]

    Serious about growing your business? Get the podcast to your inbox every Monday – Sign up here. 

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL


    Resources Mentioned:

    Priority VA

    The Top 5 Ways a VA Can Increase Your Revenue

    Upwork

    Fiverr

    99designs

    Fancy Hands

    Giftagram

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 04: The SweetLife Entrepreneur System

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 06: Create & Dominate Your Block Calendar

     

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how! 

    Episode 25: 5 Steps to Prepare Your Business for Vacation

     Listen to the Podcast Here:

    Taking a Summer Vacation?

    This can feel scary when you have a new business. Luckily, your SweetLife Podcast is here today tips on how to prepare your business for vacation.

    Why Is This an Important Episode for You?

    Small business owners, coaches, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs all work very hard for clients. YOU work very hard for your clients. You give and give – and often don’t stop giving until you wear ourself out.

    Taking a vacation from your business is oftentimes the best thing you can do for your clients. Sound counterproductive?

    Not exactly…

    A vacation allows you to rest your mind and recharge your soul; which means you go back to your clients with a renewed sense of energy and drive.

    Listen in and see why –

    What can you expect? 

    In today’s episode, I’ll be providing five tips to help you prepare your business for vacation so you can actually relax, have fun, spend quality time with your family/friends, and trust that your clients will be there waiting for you when you get back.

    [Tweet “Taking a vacation from your business is oftentimes the best thing you can do for your clients.”]

    Thank you for sharing this with your friends! I really appreciate it! 

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL

     


    Join me in my private FB community where I host weekly LIVE business chat sessions.


    Resources Mentioned:

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 00: Lifestyle Entrepreneur Manifesto

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how! 

    Episode 17: Anatomy of a Sales Funnel

     

    Listen to the Podcast Here:

    What this episode delivers:

    Last week, we talked about sales funnels and why they’re so important for your business. In this week’s episode, I’m breaking down basic sales funnel anatomy and function.

    Why is this important for your business?

    Having a sales funnel is important for several reasons. Not only does it bring in more leads but it also pre-qualifies your clients before they even get to you. A good sales funnel walks your most qualified clients right to your highest level of service. This frees up more of your time to focus on building your business, instead of working in it.

    What can you expect? 

    This training for new online service entrepreneurs and will help you gain greater insight to create your first sales funnel.

    After listening to this episode and downloading the guide, you’ll have a better understanding of how to build your first sales funnel.

    [Tweet “A good sales funnel walks your most qualified clients right to your highest level of service.”]

    Ready for more? Join The Funnel Cure Masterclass waiting list here.

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    CLICK SUBSCRIBE on your favorite Podcast Player below to be sure you don’t miss any episodes. 

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL

     


    Join me in my private FB community where I host weekly LIVE business chat sessions.


    Resources Mentioned:

    The Funnel Cure, Masterclass for Rising Entrepreneurs

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 13: Online Business Foundations – How To Start Growing Your Email List

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 16: Is Your Business Missing a Funnel Cure?

    How to Architect the Perfect Conversion Funnel for Your Business

     

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how! 

    Episode 14: Online Business Foundations – The Power of Email Automation

     

    This is part three of a special mini-series called “Online Business Foundations”. This series will help you learn the most powerful first steps to build your online business and virtual consulting practice.

    If you plan to coach from afar, deliver digital products or online courses… listen up!  

    Listen to the Podcast Here:

    What we’re talking about today:

    In episode 12, I explained why an email list is so important and in episode 13, I explained how to grow your list using lead magnets or free gifts. Today, we’re taking it a step further by utilizing the power of email automation after someone has signed up for your free gift or another initial offer.

    What can you expect from this training?

    I’m going to explain exactly what email automation is, why it’s so important, and provide you with some examples of the types of emails you can automate.

    If you need a little more guidance, download the “Email Automation Help Sheet” I created for you!

    Why is this important for your business?

    Automating certain aspects of your business is a sign that, not only are you serious about your business, but you’re serious about your time and your relationship with your clients.

    Automation is the first step in making sure your business isn’t your life, by freeing up the time to work on your business instead of working in it.

    [Tweet “Automation is the first step in making sure your business isn’t your life, by freeing up the time to work on your business instead of working in it.”]

     


    CLICK SUBSCRIBE on your favorite Podcast Player below to be sure you don’t miss any episodes. 

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL

     


    Join me in my private FB community where I host weekly LIVE business chat sessions!


    Resources Mentioned:

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 04: The SweetLife Entrepreneur System

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 12: Online Business Foundations – What Is A List & Why Do You Need One?

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 13: Online Business Foundations – How To Start Growing Your Email List

    Automate Your Online Business Article

     

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how! 

    Episode 08: Part 2 -The Surefire Way to Returning Clients & Raving Fans

     

    Get the Goods & Listen to the Podcast Now!

    Grab your Sure Fire Clients Worksheet here

    What we’re talking about today:

    In today’s episode, I am picking up where I left off last week by discussing another key factor in turning your clients into raving fans who’ll come back to you time and time again. Yay! Love them!

    What can you expect from this training?

    I’m explaining why going above and beyond through creating an experience that’s personal for your clients, will make them love you and help you stand out among your competition!

    On top of the tips in this Episode, I’ve got you covered by providing the Sure Fire Clients Worksheetthought provoking questions to ask yourself about your clients, and examples to make their experience awesome!

    Why is this important for your business?

    Making the experience personal for your clients is how you build a relationship that makes them excited to work with you and eager to continue down your sales funnel. Experiences build relationships, and relationships build trust… When they trust you, they’ll buy from you.

    Plain and simple.

    [Tweet “Experiences build relationships, and relationships build trust… When they trust you, they’ll buy from you.”]

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    CLICK SUBSCRIBE on your favorite Podcast Player below to be sure you don’t miss any episodes.

    subscribe on itunes51iny-KaNzL

     


    I can’t wait to meet you!

    Join me in my private FB community where I host weekly LIVE business chat sessions!


    Resources Mentioned:

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 04: The SweetLife Entrepreneur System

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 07: Part 1: The Surefire Way to Returning Clients & Raving Fans

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how!

    Episode 07: Part 1 – The Surefire Way to Returning Clients & Raving Fans

     

    Wouldn’t it be nice to have clients who hire you again and again because they love you so much?

    I get it! It feels good to be loved! Especially by people who want to hire and pay you!

    Being loved is part of building a following, a business and a brand. It’s about being true to yourself as a professional and to your clients in their needs.

    Here’s how it works…

    Listen to the Podcast Now:

    [Tweet “Being loved is part of building a following, a business and a brand. It’s about being true to yourself as a professional and to your clients in their needs.”]

    What we’re talking about today:

    The goal of today’s episode is to begin discussing how you can turn your clients into raving fans who’ll come back to you time and time again.

    You’re going to do this by creating predictable results for your clients but, don’t worry, I explain what predictable results are and provide a three-step process for creating the service systems that will allow you to achieve those results.

    What can you expect from this training?

    After listening to this episode, you’ll have simple, easy to implement, strategies you can use to create service systems that will deliver predictable results for your clients.

    Why is this important for your business?

    Having these service systems in place will ensure you’re not delivering services outside your original scope of work without being compensated for them. They’ll also give you the clarity and confidence to know you can handle any situation that might arise.

    Download the Guide to Create Your Simple Client Systems! 

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    CLICK SUBSCRIBE on your favorite Podcast Player below to be sure you don’t miss any episodes. 

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    Have more questions? Join me in the SweetLife Community where I host weekly LIVE business chat sessions!


    Resources Mentioned:

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 00: Lifestyle Entrepreneur Manifesto

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 04: The SweetLife Entrepreneur System

    LOVE IT? Please leave us an iTunes review. Here’s how!