Today on the show we welcome Josh Stanton. Josh is the co-founder of Screw The Nine To Five, which is his and his wife, Jill’s, slice of the internet where they help entrepreneurs bring  more attention to their brands, make more money in their business and get more out of their life through simple strategies, how to’s and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the realities of building a business online. In this episode, we tackle the topic of how to create a highly engaged Facebook group. We’re here today to let you in on a little secret and that Facebook member numbers is kind of a load of BS if you don’t have engagement! But how do you cultivate engagement, and better yet sustain it, from the get-go?

Josh lets us in on their tips, tricks and processes that have helped him and Jill create a successful, highly engaged and empowered Facebook group that actually drives members to sales. All done in as little as thirty minutes a week! We discuss how to show up for your people personally, how to drive them to your products or services, how to set group rules and expectations and how to keep your page alive and buzzing with content, questions and resources that impact the community you are serving. If you are looking to step up your Facebook game and create a thriving community – then this is the episode to fill up your notepad up with!

Today on the show we discuss what has happened this year, outside of business. Our personal development, things we’ve been focusing on in our personal lives, the things we’ve been doing, the books we’ve been reading, what we need, what we want, what we like and ultimately, how we’ve been trying to grow as individuals. For the first time in a long time we have taken a small step away from the goals of the business and worked on identifying where our heads are at, who we are as people and what our personal goals are. We decided to tackle our personal development ahead of the game, i.e before the business became all-consuming and everything in our lives was falling apart! Nothing in our personal lives up until this point has been necessarily broken, but we just realized that, hey, things could be better!

We think that a lot of you listening out there might really identify with what we’ve been going through in our personal lives and this episode is here to offer you some helpful resources and to let you know girl, you are not alone! In this episode, we’ll be discussing who we are and who we want to be outside of work and why life is not just a bunch of boxes you can tick. We also discuss the weight of societal expectations we’ve experienced, especially as women, and how we are working to love ourselves a little more.

Today on the show we welcome Kate Boyd. Kate is the Founder of Cobblestone Creative Co and does this girlfriend know conversions! After raising seven figures in revenue for a non-profit organization through powerful messaging, copywriting and marketing she started her own business that helps build more creativity and genuine connection to the digital marketing space. In just three years she has built three profitable online businesses and created live and automated sales and marketing experiences that convert up to five times the normal rates!

Kate is a serious conversion expert and in this episode she shares a lot of helpful tools, tricks and resources for you to use for an upcoming launch or perhaps to help you analyze an “unsuccessful” launch that you’ve had in the past. We are talking all about increasing conversions and humanizing your launch so that people trust you more and feel more involved. We discuss how you are priming your audience, how you are getting their mindsets ready for the sale and how to have an aspect of personal outreach included in your automated strategies in order to make your next launch even more powerful. Grab your notebook and be on the lookout because we might be trying out some of these tactics for our next launch… and you can too!

All right, it’s the episode you’ve all been waiting for. We are finally ready to talk about the biggest change we’ve made in TCC in a long time. We’ve moved email service providers… TWICE and we spoke about this is in our monthly review for April but promised we would break it all down into an episode all of its own. So here it is. Today we are running through the reason why we switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit, and then switched again from ConvertKit to Infusionsoft and then again from Infusionsoft to ActiveCampaign. Complexities aside, what we really want this episode to do is serve as an educational resource for you if you are needing help deciding between two platforms.

So in this episode we will be diving into why certain platforms just didn’t work, as well as the key reasons that made us sway to ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign. We walk you through various system features of the platforms, like ConvertKit’s tagging-based system versus ActiveCampaign’s automation-based system and how these worked for us. We also get into the nitty-gritty’s of how integrations, deep integrations and visual automation work in ConvertKit as well as in ActiveCampaign and how we were able to find out so much more about our customers using certain features. No matter what service provider you choose, at the end of the day you should always pick what feels right for you and your business. We hope that this episode will help you to make a more informed choice and get you a step closer to being a turbo-boss babe!

We have very few business crushes in this world, but Jill Donovan of Rustic Cuff is definitely one of them. In this episode, Jill talks to us about how she was publicly humiliated on national television, sitting on the couch next to Oprah. This moment, which Jill will go on to explain, drastically changed her life. We hear how she was able to move on after this incident and turn it around into the best thing that could have ever happened to her. We learn more about how Jill scaled her product-based business, where she makes and sells beautiful bracelets and encourages the spirit of giving.

Jill started out giving away her cuffs to strangers at the local grocery store and today, Rustic Cuffs has over 160 employees and strong social media community of over 70,000 people. Jill’s designs are being worn by big celebrities today and through her business she is showing others how they can make a difference to the lives of others. Jill is someone who has been guided a lot by her intuition. But how do you know when you’re following it? In this episode, Jill also gives us some great tips for listening to your heart and finding what it is you excel at.

Today on the show we are doing our monthly review for April 2018. Our monthly review is a popular episode that we do every month. In the past, we have gone into a lot of depth with all of our numbers and our tracking. However, we have decided to narrow it down a little bit to be a more of an overview. If you want all the nitty-gritty’s, you can find them inside The Goal Crusher Club. In the episode, we are a little goofy because well, April was crazy! We just got back from a week-long trip to Chicago for the She Did It Her Way Summit. We did some strategizing in our hotel room (which we covered in post-it notes and crazy-lady handwriting) and will be reporting back on our plans and goals for the future. We’ll also be discussing our experience switching email providers (again) from Infusionsoft to ActiveCampaign, as well as how we got 100 members into the Goal Crusher Club through some darn fine teamwork.

In addition to that, we get into some deeper identity crises we’ve been experiencing in our business and the “Aha” moment in Chicago that reminded us that the destination is the journey. Our biggest glory moment this month has been the positive shifts we have seen in our team and how we have come to learn that teamwork takes, well, so much work. Work that is so worth it! We end off this episode with some good ol’ fashion funnel talk and our improvements to work toward for next month. We hope this episode will inspire you to keep going, even if you don’t have it all figured out yet. We sure don’t, but hey, we’re enjoying the ride. Bring it on May!

Today on the podcast we welcome Justine Nelson. Justine is a friend and previous co-worker who embarked on a personal journey to get rid of debt… and then decided to teach other people how to do it too. Justine is the founder of Debt Free Millennials, an online resource blog and coaching center helping thousands of millennials ditch debt and live like a boss. Today we are speaking about all the fun things – like student loans, debt culture and budgeting. We are also going to be discussing how to navigate conversations around debt with your partner and family and how having a budget and goals in your personal life leads to amazing things in your business life.

We hear how this Midwest millennial got into debt in the first place, how she broke out of debt's chains and was able to start a business from the ground up and do things in her life that she never even imagined. Since Justine has been in the dark pits of debt herself, she is a really great person to get some tips and advice from on how to cope with these financial practicalities, as well as the emotional strain that debt can place on your relationships. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your own debt, Justine is going to show you just how doable (and surprisingly fun) paying off your debt can be. If you want to live that debt free life and grow the business you have always dreamed of growing, then this inspirational episode is a great place to start!

Welcome to part 5 of the Goal Crusher Club series! Well done for making it this far! We hope you’ve learned a ton and are ready to identify everything you’ve been doing wrong! In this episode, we are going to be looking at the three major things you are definitely doing wrong when it comes to setting your goals. Wondering how we know you’re doing these things wrong? Well, because we did them too! This episode isn’t about dogging you and we’re not necessarily saying that some of these things can’t work, but in order you to not only reach your goals, but fly past them, we want you take these things into account.

In this episode, we will be discussing the three most commonly made mistakes that prevent a lot of us from reaching our goals. 1) Picking “buy work” goals. 2) Paying your way as the only way and 3) Hiring people to fix what’s broken. We’re going to explain why these things don’t work and what you could do instead. Ultimately, we want you to get to know your business before you add on or distract yourself with ventures that are sure to veer you off course. We’re here to help you skip the hurdles and the mistakes that we’ve already made, so if you’re looking for a faster and more thorough route to your goals – then take a listen to this episode.

On today’s show we welcome Dr. Rachel L. Alan. Dr. Rachel is a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting people to take inspired action to connect to self-discovery. She focuses on healing, cultivating healthy habits and enhancing self-wellness, balance and living life passionately. This episode is pretty close to an actual therapy session for us! But we know that so many of you out there struggle with these types of issues too and will be able to relate in one way or another. Health and wellness is something we speak about a lot on the show, given the challenges we have had had with our own health and wellness – physically, emotionally and mentally.

Today, we dive into some of the common choices that a lot of us out there make around food and setting boundaries, especially as women business owners. If you are struggling with setting boundaries with yourself and with others, or with under-eating, over-eating, binge eating, snacking and are just trying to get your life in balance, we think you will find this episode really beneficial. These often deeply ingrained habits can leak into our business and into our personal lives and we need to question the root of our unhealthy habits before we can even begin to create healthier new ones. It’s important to know that you are not alone out there and taking a listen to this episode might just be the step you need to take toward having more control in your life!

Welcome to Part 4 of the Goal Crusher Club Series! Today we are talking about one of Abbie’s favorite things on the planet – creating Key Performance Indicators in your business, otherwise known as KPI’s. We will be walking you through some of the things you need to be tracking on a month to month basis that will genuinely help you realize the health and wellness of your business and exactly what you need to be paying attention to. KPI’s are going to give you all the knowledge you need about where you should be spending your time; what needs more babying and perhaps what needs to be cut. If you aren’t tracking these things you may never be able to recognize what might be an issue in your business, or which aspect of your business you need to grow. This leaves you guessing over and over again and this is not where you want to be!

Ultimately, it comes down to performance and numbers and this is where identifying your KPI’s come in! In this episode, we are going to get you tracking like you’re on safari. We’re going to be explain exactly how to track your data over a launch period and show you exactly how to calculate your earnings per lead, your cost per lead and the additional numbers you should be paying attention to. We are also going to be showing you how to analyze your monthly data; including your most popular posts and your most engaged customer and how you can use them to propel your business forward with confidence.

Today on the podcast we welcome husband and wife business duo, Ben and Laura Harrison, of Jonas Paul Eyewear. This episode is for anyone who has ever been afraid to go after that seemingly unattainable business or their passion project. A lot of us let those things sit on the shelf gathering dust because they seem, well, really hard and really scary! Ben and Laura are two people who are really living what a lot of people only dream of creating. In 2013, Ben and Laura gave birth to their son, Jonas Paul. Jonas was born with a rare disorder, Peter’s Anomaly. As Ben and Laura searched for fashionable eyeglasses for their visually impaired son, they grew increasingly frustrated at the limited (and very un-trendy) options for children.

They were so inspired by their son, that they decided to leave their careers to launch Jonas Paul Eyewear with the mission of helping children feel beautiful in their glasses and providing sight to children in need with every purchase. Laura and Ben saw a gap in the market, combined their skills and followed their passions and their need to make a difference in the world to create a unique and impactful business. In this episode, we’ll be diving deeper into how their business came about, the challenges they faced along the way and how they transitioned from a service based business in wedding photography to a product based business in eye care! Ben and Laura have a truly inspiring story and if you have an idea you’ve been wanting to get off the ground – trust us, you’ll have all the motivation you need after this episode.

Today on the show we are going back in time to an old episode. Our schedules were jam-packed this past week — speaking at a conference in Chicago for She Did It Her Way, and having our massive strategy planning session for the rest of the year and our future — so we didn’t get to record another episode of the Goal Crusher Series. However, we think you will enjoy this episode because it is definitely an oldie, but a goodie! It is all about chasing those sparkly squirrels, what to do, and what questions to ask yourself when those sparkly squirrels pop up, as they always do!

Most creatives seem to also be known as “serial entrepreneurs” because we’re constantly thinking of new ideas and wanting to try them out. Although this keeps us innovative in business, it can also paralyze us and hold us back. Inside this episode we go through how you can stay on track or maybe get distracted intentionally to help grow your business. We’re getting you focused and making you ask the hard questions before you dive into something unknown or add on something new to what you already have to offer. So jump into this episode as we get some clarity up in here!

Today on the podcast we have Molly Stillman. Molly is the founder and creator of Still Being Molly, a lifestyle blog that has been around since 2007, and the host of the Business with Purpose podcast. Molly had over 600,000 readers last year and she has become a trusted community for women, especially moms – covering everything from ethical style, clean beauty, real food, parenting, to serving your community and making the world a better place. We all have a purpose in life and one of life’s most challenging journey’s is discovering exactly what that purpose is. So many of us suffer from an identity crisis. We don’t know if we’re on the right path and we often don’t know who to turn to for wisdom and advice.

Today, we delve into Molly’s personal story and what she went through in the discovery of finding her true purpose. Molly shares the rough journey she went through losing her mom in high school and a lot of authentic, deep conversation around how you can start having your own self-realizations and self-discovery. If you have lost a parent or someone else close to you, this might be a story to which you can really relate. Molly shares a lot of tools to help you do some of your own self-reflection, find your deeper, “Why?” and how to apply that to into your life and business today. By the end of this episode we’ll have you peeling back those onion layers to get to the core of your “core”... without the ubiquitous tears.

Welcome to Part Three of the Goal Crusher Club Series! Today on the podcast, we are talking about the fun side of business – getting paid! Woohoo! Getting paid should be an exciting and rewarding part of business; but who knew that it could be the cause of so much anxiety and confusion, right? We want to give you a little break here today and share with you what we have used in the past to help us define what to pay ourselves as business owners and how that works for us today since our business has grown. If you have severe anxiety around money, we totally understand the fear of not wanting to pay yourself.

A lot of the time people are either afraid money is going to disappear or it is supposed to be allocated toward something else or are just simply feeling that they don’t deserve that money. This is something to be aware of going into this episode but for the most part, we are going to be diving into the different formulas you can use in order to figure out what to pay yourself. We will also be discussing helpful tools to help you with payroll, saving for taxes, saving for retirement, how to separate your income into different bank accounts and what determines a “reasonable” salary.

Today on the podcast we welcome Mae Karwowski, the Founder and CEO of Obvious.ly, a technology-driven influencer marketing platform that launched in 2014. In this episode, we are talking all about building a business from the ground up. Mae shares how she scaled her company to over 20 employees without any outside funding, as well as her experience working as a woman in the tech industry today. But for the most part, we really hone in on influencer marketing; what it’s really like working in that space as an agency and how you, as an influencer or brand, can work with an agency like Obvious.ly and start making a little money!

Mae is an absolute badass with heaps of insight, tips, tricks and advice. The influencer marketing landscape has truly evolved over the past four years and Mae gives us an overview of how influencer marketing started, the progressions it has made, and where it is today. This is a really exciting and rapidly growing marketing road to be on today and we can’t wait to share what Mae has to say on this. If you are a brand looking to partner with influencers, or an influencer looking to partner with brands – then you’re going to love this one!