Online course

S2 Ep.29 – How to Brand Yourself Online with Diana Jakubcova: Personal Branding Tips for Course Creators

If there’s one thing we all want, it’s to stand out in our individuality online.

And I don’t know about you but, the online space can sometimes feel like there’s a million people out there who are already doing the exact. same. thing.

Sometimes it can feel like your message is drowning in a sea of sameness.

And what’s the point in showing up, if your message is not being felt deeply by those who need it the most?

The question I’ve been asking myself recently is this:

How can you make it so that every touch point with you not only feels cohesive but feels like you?

Whether that’s a blog (like this one), a Reel (like this one), or a website (like this one) … the idea is that your brand catapults through the screen and makes people FEEL. 

That’s what we’re exploring in this week’s episode with my guest, Diana Jakubcova.

In this episode Diana shares:

✅ how to know if your branding is strong

✅ how to accurately express yourself online

✅ specific exercises to develop your personal brand

✅ the inner and outer energetics of a brand

✅ the mistakes online business owners (like you) are making in their brand photo shoots – hopefully you’re not making these mistakes!

✅ and so much more

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

Loved this and want more? Check out our other episodes here.

Spark a conversation! Leave a comment below or say hello @alexbeadon on Instagram.

Transcript Available Below

Alex Beadon 0:03
So you want to scale your online business while purposely prioritizing your most joyful, free and luxurious life. This Podcast is your weekly dose of connection and self reflection. As you set strategic intentions along the way, it’s time to prime your mind embrace your pace and take consistent action towards creating what you truly want from your online business without sacrificing the small moments all around you that are so worth treasuring. So, take a deep breath, relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong. On purpose.

You’re listening to season two episode 29. Of on purpose with Alex Beadon. After I finished recording this episode that you’re about to listen to, I was buzzing with excitement for you to listen to it too. In case you missed it, I recently did a complete revamp of the together relaunch sales page we worked with past together we launch member Galen Mooney of local creative but in the process of trying to find a designer, I stumbled upon the work of Diana Jakobcova. She is the owner and creator of deeply rooted studio, and it’s extremely rare that someone’s design aesthetic stopped me in my tracks on Instagram, but that’s exactly what her Instagram page did. And if you’re curious, you can go and find it at deeply rooted dot studio over on Instagram. I didn’t think much of it. But as I continued to follow her content and learn more about her story, I got more and more intrigued and realize that I needed to have her on the show. Diana studios specializes in building premium brands for service providers, educators and agencies who are deeply rooted in their mission. So why did I have her on the show? Firstly, she clearly has an excellent understanding of personal branding. She has been hired by various communities and global brands like Adobe to host guest expert trainings, and I’m super excited to have her on the show today. If you’ve ever felt lost amongst a ginormous sea of personal brands in the online space, you’re not alone. And this episode is going to give you a lot to think about. But most importantly, this episode will help you craft a brand identity that’s eye catching. And true to who you are. We talked about how to make your brand more magnetic, what the most common pitfalls of personal branding are, and how to master the art of digital charisma. If you’re an educator, a creator or a coach who’s eager to stand out in the online space. This episode is a goldmine of strategies and inspiration. Not only is she a branding expert, but she also has her own digital store where she sells social media templates, funnel kits and more. The way she has set up her online business is fascinating to me. And in this episode, we dive into not only how she follows her intuition to create all of these different products, but how she launches and sells them to get ready for an incredibly gutsy conversation that will help you bring even more self awareness and authenticity to your own personal brand. Keep listening and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. I’m Alex speed in your favorite launch strategist and your guide to the online business world. I’ve had an online business selling digital products since 2011. And I’ve been helping online businesses scale through launching since 2016. I’ve been featured in Forbes and entrepreneur, and I’ve worked with clients ranging from solopreneurs to multi million dollar small businesses. Here at Team bieden. We pride ourselves on being the industry leading destination for all things launch strategy, our 12 month program together we launch teachers our signature rinse and repeat launch strategy that has helped course creators and membership owners from all over the world have their best launches yet. Our goal is to give you the tools to create a wildly profitable online business while prioritizing your most joyful life so that you can truly experience time, freedom, location, freedom, and financial freedom. And without further ado, let’s jump into today’s episode. Diana, welcome to the show. I’m so happy to have you here.

Diana Jakubcova 4:02
Hello, I’m super excited about today’s episode. Thank you so much for having me.

Alex Beadon 4:06
Oh, it’s just I can already tell it’s gonna be so good. And you know, I’ve been doing my research. I’ve been like listening to other podcasts that you’ve been on. I’ve been stalking you on Instagram and Instagram is actually where I first found you. And like immediately was drawn to your brand and to just listening to everything that you had to say. So for anyone who’s listening, I’m gonna start this conversation off by saying go and check her out over on Instagram, you can find her deeply rooted dot studio. And I just think, you know, having that kind of brand that immediately causes someone to be so drawn to you is very rare in the online world and I think you’ve done a really good job of it. So I’d love for you to share with us you know, how do you define a good brand and how would someone know if they have a good brand?

Diana Jakubcova 4:56
Oh wow. How how How long can we be here? Basically, right? But I completely agree with you, when it comes to finding just something that’s different online these days, right? Because like, as much as a lot of people like to think that they are different, they’re not, I’ll be honest, they’re not. And they even invested in branding. But I feel like because it’s so easy to get influenced these days.

The stage where you get inspired by something, or someone is crossing the line into copying almost right. But it’s not that we do it intentionally, or that someone is doing it intentionally. It just because we are so connected online and to the whole online world, and what is happening that we forget to connect or like reconnect with ourselves. So I like to think about branding as an extension of you, right. So this is what we do with our clients. So we don’t just build brands, because they want to look polished up. But you know, at the end of the day, they’re completely someone else. And we’ve had so many clients that came to us that they built a brand, basically, but they were not able to show up. So they didn’t want to share anything on their stories, they didn’t want to share anything from their life. Because it was completely different to you know, the person that they have built online, on social media, their brands, and this can look like. So let’s say I’ve had a one client, and she was all about these pink pipes. And you know, just like a really bubbly person, but an online, she really try to step up, let’s say step up. And she really wanted this corporate style brand without being corporate. I mean, everyone says, I want I want this corporate style brand without, you know, the corporate vibe. And I’m like, Alright, this is cool. But

let’s be honest, it’s corporate or not. Right? Yeah. Then it became really difficult for her to show up on Instagram stories, because the environment really influences you, right? So it’s almost you feel, it’s like you feel ashamed or embarrassed to show up. Because it’s not, there is no connection, right. And people can feel it. And people can also see it. And I know a lot of people, a lot of coaches, they say that it doesn’t matter. You know, you can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want, your brand can be this, it doesn’t matter, just show up, just show up unprepared. But how many of us actually are able to do this? Where is the confidence then, right? Because I know that if you are confident, you will be able to sell your packages, your programs, your courses, whatever it is, however, if you are not confident, and you don’t really feel supported by your brand, that this is, you know, the best representation of yourself, and no matter who would find you today, it’s all good, you’re good to go, right. And it happens all the time. And people keep putting it off until it’s I don’t want to say too late because it’s never too late. However, if you sort of keep putting off, investing in your brand, and specifically, your brand experience, in general, it tends to blow up at the end of the day, right? Because what happens is that you keep putting it off, but then there is an opportunity that might come in, right, and then you start panicking, and you start looking for 20 designers, the last minute and you’re like, oh my gosh, what the hell am I doing here? And then, you know, all of these horror websites, stories, sales page stories, and I don’t know what other branding stories that people have, they usually tend to happen when you’ve made that decision from like an emotional place because you were really not in the best place to make that decision for your brand and for your business. Right. Because like let’s not forget, it is you and most most businesses, nowadays, our personal brands, so it’s you basically that people think about even if it’s an agency, right? Even for us exotic studio, they think about me, they think about me traveling, living in Bali and just having good times, right? That’s what I think about. So you always need to think about okay, this is the personal part, but then how can we also think about the business? So not to mix these two things together too much. That’s what we are always looking for because when it starts to get too personal No, thank you So this is a really tricky when it starts to get personal for you as a client, you can really make a decision, because it’s difficult for you to actually be in that space and see the bigger vision. See the vision that fits your business, your lifestyle even right. And it makes sense and it will bring you results. That’s important.

Alex Beadon 10:27
Okay, so let’s go even more elementary. How would you define a brand? Like when when we’re talking about your brand? What are the different elements that we’re talking about?

Diana Jakubcova 10:41
I like to think about a brand as an experience. Because ultimately, again, that’s what we do, we turn brands into premium experiences. And a brand is something that people can deeply experience, right? You land on someone’s profile, you either feel it or not. It’s that simple. It’s that simple. You don’t really have to overthink this, you don’t need to look up your logos, or, you know, your brand strategy, visuals. You have to think about this as an ecosystem of different brand touchpoints working seamlessly together.

Alex Beadon 11:31
I’m writing that down. I think that’s beautiful, different brand touchpoints working seamlessly together. So if someone is listening to this, and they’re like, Okay, I know that my brand isn’t where I want it to be. I know that when I show up in all of those different touchpoints, whether it’s, you know, maybe in my online course, or maybe on my Instagram page through my emails, like there’s so many different touchpoints How does someone go about the journey of learning how to accurately express themselves and their brand online?

Diana Jakubcova 12:06
Through putting yourself out there through situations that sometimes feel good at the beginning, but then you go through this whole learning experience, and you realize that this is not what you want. So again, don’t be afraid, don’t feel locked in by your brands. It’s not the end of the world, right? A lot of the people think that, oh, I now have this color palette, and she told me that I have to show up like this, you still can experiment there is more than at least should be enough space for you to be in your flow. That’s how I would put it right. A brand should allow you to be flexible and dynamic. It shouldn’t feel like it’s a box, and you’re trapped in a box.

Alex Beadon 13:01
I think a lot of people feel that way. Yeah, they think about Yeah, they’re like brand colors, brand fonts, etc. And they’re like, Well, I have to stick to this, this is what I have to use. So something that I love to do is I will look at my Instagram page, and just pretend like I’m a random person. And I will scroll through it and really try to hone in intuitively on like, what are the feelings that are coming up? For me? I love what you said about branding being an experience, I totally agree with you. It’s about how is someone feeling? You know, what are the memories that we’re creating for people through our brand? What is the experience there? And so I think, for anyone who’s listening, you know, going through their Instagram page and putting themselves in the shoes of the ideal client and asking, you know, what could be communicated better. And actually, I’ll give you a great example for me personally, that I just went through, I’ve been leaning more into reels, which is great, and kind of my aesthetic was to just kind of take a screenshot from the reel, and then just throw some pink text on top. And at first, I was like, Okay, I think this looks good. But the more that I did it, my feed just started to feel overwhelming. It was just like so much text in so many different images, and it just didn’t have that cohesive feel that I wanted it to have. So I’m now experimenting with something completely different that I’ve never tried before. And it kind of holds hands with what you were saying around. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things and, you know, move outside of your colors a little bit. Try different fonts if it’s not feeling right for you. How often do you look at your own brands and make changes for your own brand? Or do you feel like right now you’re in a really strong position with it and you’re just kind of like sticking to the box that you’ve created?

Diana Jakubcova 14:43
This will be an interesting answer. As a designer, this is very tricky. We tend to change a lot depending on trends depending on what we just find online I guess, but I Do you have to say I feel really strongly about the direction we are currently having with the Pilates studio, I’m not changing colors, I’m not changing the messaging, I’m not changing any of those things. But I might change my phones once in a while, because let’s be honest, as a designer, half of my day, sometimes it just spending and looking for fonts, and I just can’t help it. However, this is, I don’t want to say mistake, because I don’t like using a word mistake. But let’s say mistake I see is that a lot of online entrepreneurs that are not designers are trying to be designers. And that is not going to work out for you. Because you’re not a designer. It’s that simple. So yes, if you want to get inspired by something we create, that’s fine. Just knowing that if you are not that type of creative, if you don’t have that skill developed, it is not going to translate the same way. If let’s say I were to do it, or some other designers, some other creative. That is a huge point here because I see this time and time again. And then you beat yourself up for something. That’s not even your job. Yes, like me beating myself up for not learning how to run Facebook ads properly, and then be like, Oh, I’m really bad at this. I really suck at this. Right? No?

Alex Beadon 16:35
How can someone because most of the people listening are either solopreneurs, or they have a very small team, maybe like a virtual assistant or something like that? How can someone go about expressing themselves in the online space? Like what do you recommend for people in terms of building that brand online? And you know, making sure that they’re also expressing it well online without necessarily having to go to a designer all the time? Like, is it work with someone who’s really good, who can give you all of the tools that you can then like run creatively with it throughout the year? Or, you know, are there any I don’t know websites or resources or anything that you would recommend for someone who’s struggling with this.

Diana Jakubcova 17:16
So if you are currently in like this kind of position, where you’re just like, don’t know what to do with your brand. And even though you understand what that is, why it might feel difficult for you, it’s because you are doing it for yourself, I’ll be honest, it’s really difficult to do your own branding and look at your own business in general, from, you know, like a perspective of what is really happening here, but like really happening here, what do I really want, we do get attached into outcomes, and the things we see. So what I would recommend is that if you have a team member, maybe you can hop on a call and refine together. And it’s not even because they need to be experts in this, it can simply be a conversation around where do you want to see your brands, and not even five years, you can go in a year, right? Let’s make this really easy, because like people tend to jumpscare when you say like five years, or 10 years to let’s say in a year, what would you like to achieve in your business. And that which you want to achieve in your business, you now need to connect with your brand. So then let’s say if you have a goal of launching a new signature program, next year, in the next 12 months, there are things that you will have to consider. Right. So from there, you can sort of backtrack Oh, okay, so what have I done to get here where this is a signature program? It makes sense for me, it makes sense for my audience. What are those touch points, I need to you know, either invest in or start at least developing. Again, you don’t have to do it all at once. But what really helps is getting that new perspective of someone else is looking through your stuff and seeing it for what it is basically. Right? So that’s number one. However, if you are if you are alone, if you’re just like, Okay, I’m really overwhelmed. If this is just about your visuals, start with a Pinterest board, literally this easy. Sit down, create a new Pinterest board and pin things that you feel drawn to. Now don’t pin things that you See, because they are popular. No, no, no bean things that you can see around your house, things that you have in your closet. Things, I don’t know that you just bought your favorite mug, your favorite dress sofa. And you can even look at this through a lens of your future self, your highest self, let’s say, Where would she be living, what kind of apartment, this usually helps even our clients to like disconnect from where they currently are, and where they want to get. And just filter the noise of the industry in general, just make sure you create that Pinterest board. And when you look at it, there will be a pattern of something. So you will start seeing colors, you will start seeing some kind of style forming here. And again, this is exactly what we do with our clients. When we start developing their brand. We tell them to create Pinterest boards of the favorite things. Now one thing to note, don’t pin graphic design things into this board, because this will mesh mesh mesh with all of the other things that you’re trying to do if you want to create a design or like a graphic design related board. Separate is a separate board a separate style. So this

Alex Beadon 21:26
board that you’re talking about is more about the feeling that you want your brand to have. How like how you want people to associate with you when they interact with you at some point.

Diana Jakubcova 21:37
Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. That’s why it needs to have your favorite things, your favorite style, your favorite sofa, you don’t have to you don’t need to have it in your living room right now. That’s not the point. It’s just how do you you perceive yourself? What kind of things you would buy basically, right? And that will tell you a lot, a lot about yourself.

Alex Beadon 22:00
Okay, so a few things I just want to highlight there. The first thing that you said that I thought was really interesting is don’t pin graphic design elements. This is not about the graphics, this is more about the feeling. So I love that. The second one is that you highlighted that you don’t you shouldn’t be posting or pinning things that are popular. And that’s just a great place for me to remind everyone listening that your brand should stand out. That is what is going to differentiate you you don’t want to blend in in the online space, you need to be standing out. And the best way to stand out is by knowing who you are knowing what makes you different, and really kind of accentuating those things. I love that you also brought up connecting with that next level version of yourself. I think that’s the best advice because that’s how we’re going to be able to like manifest and move into that next level version. I’d love for you to make this a little bit more clear for the listeners with some examples by using your brand as as your own example. So can you give us some examples of like, things that you would have posted on your own Pinterest board and how that kind of was brought to life within your brand, I’d love for you to just share even just one example would be great.

Diana Jakubcova 23:13
Definitely. So I love fashion. So I was pinning a lot of Vogue style images. Secondly, I love travel. And when I was rebranding, I was in Bali. So that was a huge, a huge part of my life. That’s why there are so many like coconuts and palm trees and beach. And then combined with a more elevated style which I wanted to sort of come through showcasing the community aspect. So that’s why I was also painting different shots of like a team shots or something like this, you can you can put these into a search bar, Team shots, photo shoots, or belly aesthetics, trendy fashion vibes, something like this. And then I started to see that obviously it was difficult for me because it was my own brand, but I got through it. I first of all love pink color. And I always had love pink color. Which means why should I get rid of my pink color, even though I want people to perceive me as I don’t know a high caliber enterpreneur. And all this is like people get really scared when they start hitting six or seven figures and they’re like, Oh, now I need to change my entire style. I used to love pink color but I outgrown my pink color. Even though you still have it everywhere in your house. What you can do just do small touches of the paint. It doesn’t have to be up Primary color can be a secondary color. But this is how you keep that personality in even if you want to elevate because I’m guessing a lot of you that are listening, just want to elevate but elevate without sacrificing your personality.

Alex Beadon 25:18
You said something at the beginning of this episode around, avoiding, you don’t want your brand to become too personal. But we’re also speaking a lot about your brand is a representation of you and you need to live with your brand, you need to feel fully expressed by your brand in order to have fun using it and showing up in the online space. How do you recommend someone goes through the process of figuring out like what is too personal, and how much of my personality should I be putting into this?

Diana Jakubcova 25:46
The when I’m saying to personal, what we do inside of our deeply rooted methods. The first part is branding. And that is divided into inner energetics and outer energetics. So the inner energetics that is about you, and those are the things that I shared with the Pinterest board, we share a couple of journaling prompts with our clients as well, like, as I said, like how your highest self would dress up, what kind of apartment she would live in. What are you good at? What are your natural gifts, what other people say about you your entire life, how your family describes you, those are the things that you want to note, the keywords that you might start searching on Pinterest or any other website or just Google or on Instagram, you want to do your research, right. So this is the inner energetics. That’s your like the core personality. So someone is more funny, someone is a bit more, I don’t know, upbeat, someone doesn’t really like that. Fresh Web of color. But you can tell us about the person, right? So that’s where it stays that is the personal your core personality. And then the outer energetics. This is where we start tapping into your audience. This is where we start looking at your business, your business goals, your brand journey and the things that you want to create with your brand. Now, if you find yourself taking these two personally, in the first phase, what I recommend, again, is looking at those future goals, because it’s probably too personal because you’re looking at now what is happening now in my life. This can be financially this can be in business, maybe business is hard currently, and you’re just like, I don’t know what to do. I don’t like this. I don’t like that. You start overthinking. Right? So you start pinning things that what if I like this? What if I don’t like this? Now come back to your journaling prompts. If you’re someone who is funny the entire life and tie, you know, like your family knows you’re funny, your friends, even your audience. It will show right? So how can you bring the funny aspects into your brand. Without this being too much. This is a second point where this can get too much. So let’s say someone is funny, right? So now you want your logo to be funny. You want your colors to be funny, you want your third icon to be funny, you want your sales page to be funny, everything is just becoming too much. So inside of the journaling prompts, what you can do is what you should have is basically different keywords, as I said, and then spread it out. Like spread it out into different brand touchpoints. Right. So let’s say you can have a more and more funny infused color palette, but your phones can tone this whole thing down basically into being more more relaxed, right? So we want to find that sweet spot the balance, because like yes, let’s say you have pink, our green color yellow color, which we do have actually for one of our clients, what we have done is that we have infused her personality into the color palette, which is like a pitch is really fun. You know, it’s just fun to be around her in general. But then what we have done with the other assets, we really try to minimize that aspect like the funny aspect because that will be too much so we didn’t look for fonts that let’s say were too bulky, or we didn’t look for rhymes that evoke that feeling of not funny but It’s like, was this talent, Boho style but like you’ve been to GE, sometimes you can go to vintage event, right? Because those funds are really like bulky. Now we looked for forms that feel refined, because this way, she can still be in her element, but her brand can support her.

Alex Beadon 30:20
Yeah, it’s interesting that you’re saying this because I feel like a lot of typical design advice is something like, choose three descriptive words that that describe the way that your brand is. And then we’re going to make the colors be those three descriptive words and the fonts and the photos and everything. But, in fact, what I think I’m hearing you say is like, no one understand your personality. But then you don’t have to infuse those things into absolutely everything, you can infuse them into different touchpoints so that it’s more of a bigger picture type of thing.

Diana Jakubcova 30:53
Yeah, exactly. And this way your brand becomes more dynamic. Yeah. Dimensional. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So all of our clients actually are using their brands for three years. And they might come back with little tweaks here and there. What usually changes is the layout that is trendy, or I don’t want to say trendy, because people are like, Oh, trendy, not good. Well, we use sometimes trends to stay relevant to the audience. Okay. So we don’t use trends to be trendy, but we use some kind of trends here and there to stay relevant for where the industry is,

Alex Beadon 31:37
could you do you have an example of a trend that you would use to stay relevant?

Diana Jakubcova 31:42
So let’s say I’ll say these with the phones, right? That’s easy to understand. A couple of years ago, let’s say some sort of font was really popular, in general, like in general in the whole world, not just in online industry. Because remember, this is not just online, industrial, we are still living in in the world, right? There are other things. Let’s say it was a sans serif font, let’s say, right? Three years ago, very popular. You can of course, have different style of that font family, right. But now, things happened. Pandemic happened. Lots of other things happen in the world, people want to see something different people want to feel different. People read differently sometimes online, you know. So what we do we find fonts that are a little bit more relevant to where the industry is heading. Currently, we do small tweaks, we don’t have to go all in and do a huge rebrand, which yes, you can do this.

Alex Beadon 32:55
My next question is like, so what you’re saying is that it’s okay to evolve little parts of your brand, bit by bit so that it’s kind of, you know, a living breathing thing, instead of just being like, Okay, we’re done with this. And we’re going to create this completely new thing.

Diana Jakubcova 33:09
Yeah, exactly. I am saying that. I know, it might come weird, from a brand director from a designer. But yes, sometimes this is what you need as a person as well. Because again, I think this goes back to you feeling trapped by your brand, because you literally feel like and I know why you feel like that. Because there is a lot of content out there, from designers telling you, you need to stick to this. And I have a solution to this. You understand now, personal brands, or like online brands, in general, maybe digital creators, educate educators, this is a completely different brand than let’s say, if you were to create an E commerce brand, this is where people get really confused. And there were no rules created for this because this online industry is new. Right? But we are taking rules from E commerce from product based businesses, which is if you are creating a product, please do a proper branding at the beginning and you need to stick to it. Right and you need to stick to it for obvious reasons. Like you’re not going to be changing your packaging every five months. Why would you do it? However, when we look at the personal brands, you evolve, like as an enterpreneur we are evolving every single freaking day sometimes, right? I’m like, yesterday, I was this person and today I’m like, what, what is happening? Right? So that’s why it is really, really different to brand yourself as a person as opposed to a product product. It’s really when you think about it, it’s a made up thing that at the end of the day you can brand it in a Any way that you want, right? And it needs to be relevant for the audience, where this gets a little mashed up is when someone says that, oh, but what if my brand won’t be relevant for my audience? Right? This is the number one question. Well, how can it not be relevant? If you make sure your brand is you and you have infused your personality, your values? Because that is essentially what people are buying? You. They’re buying you. You’re even lifestyle, right, because they resonate. So I do resonate with certain profiles, because of their overall lifestyle, the overall brand experience, like in general, who the person is the values hitting the day, with the product, it’s different product, it’s there, right? The audience, yes, if you are launching, let’s say, a matcha product, it will usually be something with the green color, because it needs to stay relevant. But for you, if you want to use green color, and you are afraid that your audience won’t resonate, it’s not it’s not relevant to look at this issue with the personal brands. Because then what happens is that you get scared, and you’re like, Oh, I’m not gonna use the base. The style in general, it doesn’t have to be a color can be style in general, I’ll be this person, because this is what I can see people resonate with, or I think they resonate with maybe, and do this. Well, no, that’s not you. Doesn’t make any

Alex Beadon 36:49
sense. So it’s so funny that you said that, because my next question was going to be what is one of the biggest mistakes that you see business owners making when it comes to branding their business, but I think you just nailed it. Like, when someone feels like, oh, the reflection of who I am, and my personality is not good enough. I don’t see anyone else showing up in this way. And therefore, it’s not safe for me to show up in this way. So I’m just going to piggyback off of what I’m seeing is working, which is the worst thing that you can do for your business, because you’re just going to blend in with the rest of the sheep.

Diana Jakubcova 37:19
Yeah, exactly. And it’s not gonna resonate for you. And then five months, and you’re like, well, let’s burn my whole business down, because this is not who I am.

Alex Beadon 37:32
Right? Yeah, it’s not going to work. Are there any other mistakes that you’d like to share with us that you see business owners making within their brand, in the online business space, personal branding space.

Diana Jakubcova 37:46
Listening to too much advice online, taking advice from people that that are not experts in what they are basically sharing. So this is, this is my thing. And I still don’t understand why coaches, let’s say business coaches, sell how to create your brand, online, it doesn’t really resonate with me, because there are just so many things that go into branding that not adjust those things that they learned, let’s say, right. And a lot of the times coaches don’t, in that, not all of them. Again, disclaimer, I’m not hurting anyone. However, it’s apparent online, right? They don’t really invest, let’s say in a proper brand strategy, they don’t really have that foundational branding done even to understand branding in the first place. And then selling it doesn’t really resonated with me, because me as someone who, you know, helped so many women build their brands that resonate with them, brands that they feel connected to, I know that there is a lot, a lot, a lot a lot, not just from a design point, which is a huge actually point because if you’re selling a brand, the visual part is a huge part. Right? Let’s not forget about that. And then secondly, there we have the brand strategy plus, for for me personally, we use our own method that I have developed, because it helps you to actually build a brand that will support you that will land you those opportunities that you want to land that again resonates with you and your audience and because of that, you are able to foster brand loyalty. That’s why your customers your clients will stay with you. That is the whole point here. Your brand should To help you retain your clients, because their goal is client experience. So again, there are just so many little things that go into branding. That, you know, when someone did not really put an effort into understanding the whole subject as a general, this is where it gets tricky. And I know a lot of online coaches, they are really good at marketing, let’s say, right? But then they start blending in things about branding. And I’m like, wait, this doesn’t make any sense. Because if someone asked what is first branding or marketing, well, actually, it’s both branding and marketing. Because how can you market yourself online without a proper brand presence?

Alex Beadon 40:54
For sure, in fact, it’s like the first thing, probably, you know, because like, you need to have whether you have a good brand or a bad brand, you have a brand that you have to be showing up in marketing with, whether you’re aware of it or not. The important part is like taking accountability and going through your touchpoints. And really making sure that they are a good reflection of your brand, which is something that’s so easy to stop doing, you know, it’s kind of and I myself have definitely become with like building a team, and, and so on. Like, it’s become easier for me to stop double checking all of these things and making sure that it’s still a good reflection of me, how often are you reviewing your brand and you know, spending time on your Instagram account as a new person and going to your website? How often are you revising those things?

Diana Jakubcova 41:42
So for me personally, if we are taking my example, as a designer, I do it very often. Yeah. Because I can see, let’s see, if I work with the clients, I can really see what I personally want to change or like tweak when it comes to the whole brand experience, just to be a bit more bespoke. But I will do it every quarter.

Alex Beadon 42:09
Okay, so you’re recommending every quarter to do a review. And like make any changes that you need to make? It depends.

Diana Jakubcova 42:15
It also depends on let’s say, you don’t have to revamp your website every quarter, obviously, however, because usually you do have those quarterly goals. Just make sure that whatever those goals are, your brand is cohesive with your goals, basically, right. So let’s say q1, I have a goal to launch. I don’t know a new webinar, because by the end of q2, I want to launch the signature program, which means you will need to make tweaks to your Instagram bio page or your website, you know, you will need to change those pages, you will need to tweak the copy and make sure that people are being properly funneled into your webinar and not 25 Other things that you have there, right. So just make sure that you follow one goal and align this with your brand.

Alex Beadon 43:08
So this brings me on to my next question, which I’m really excited to speak to you about. You sell digital products. So you’re not someone who just has an agency who sells services, you also sell digital products, the ones that I was checking out our Instagram templates for Canva. Right? Yeah. Yeah. That’s so cool. So I’d love for you to talk to us a little bit about what your offerings look like, what are the different offerings that you have?

Diana Jakubcova 43:35
So this happened kind of like out of nowhere. I mean, every designer wants to sell just the products, I guess. But I first started with a notion template, which was like a notion sales page template and course portal. And this product is actually one of the most popular ones. Until this day. Yeah. You know, when it comes to digital products, I feel like it’s easy for me to develop them because I use so many systems and I use, I already use so many. So many platforms I would even say that I have access to so i can create those templates. We have kartra templates, show templates. I wanted to make sure that my audience when they come to our website, it’s not just a showy template, or just a Kajabi template. I want to serve different audiences because I do understand that not everyone is a fan of kartra or not everyone can afford to put their course in kartra. Maybe you just need to start with a notion. So I really love to explore different possible, like roadmaps of how you can navigate your clients or potential clients, your leads, whatever you want to call them throughout your brand. And finally, there are just so many things that you can do behind the scenes that will make your audience feel more seen, right. So that’s why I develop different kinds of templates, different kinds of digital products. And the latest one is the social media template pack, which I have worked on for at least like a year, because I have been seeing a long time on the idea. And again, I wanted, I wanted this to be different. Now, you know, when we say different, it’s really difficult to be different this in this role. There are just so many things, so many other templates. But I wanted this to be like an entire different experience. Again, I, you know, I just like experiences in general. So I’m making everything and experience if you purchase, this is your best experience, even the Canva templates. Yes, I guarantee. So this is the latest one. And when I design any template, I infuse it with our deeply rooted methods, which has the branding aspect, it has the client experience aspect, and the marketing aspect. So this is how you as a consumer, as someone who purchases the product, you can feel confident knowing that there isn’t anything else that you need. Just a copy, let’s say, right, there isn’t anything else you need to worry about if these sections are the sections you should be having. If this type of content is the type of content, you should be like posting, now, I have done the work for you. And you can just do your job, you can promote, you can sell because I want this to be easy for our buyers to use the template on a daily basis. A lot of the times you purchase a template, and then you’re like, I don’t even remember, you know, a year has passed and you’re like, huh, I don’t know, I don’t remember this

Alex Beadon 47:04
is very true. It’s very true. I bought templates before on creative markets. And that is pretty much what happens every time. I’m like, Oh, I’m so excited about it for like a few days, and then it’s gone. And I forgot about it. And yeah. That’s why not with yours. Yeah,

Diana Jakubcova 47:22
yeah. That is why also put the price tag on my templates, actually. Yeah, because I didn’t want this to be just another template, I want you to use this. And I have put a lot of work into creating that content for you already. So you don’t have to.

Alex Beadon 47:39
Yeah, and I want everyone who’s listening to really pay attention to what Diana just said, because when you have an offer, and you want people to cherish it, the price tag has to reflect that, if your presets or templates or whatever are the exact same price as all of the other ones out there. And people are just going through them really, really quickly and easily. You know, that’s not what you want. You want your stuff to be cherished and used. And a price points a great way to force someone to really not just let it gather dust on the digital shelf. I’d love for you to share with us what has worked best for you from a sales and marketing perspective to get those digital products sold. How are you selling them? Where are you selling them? And what advice do you have for someone who’s also selling similar digital products.

Diana Jakubcova 48:30
I always start with a waitlist. So I allow a long period for people to sign up for a waitlist for these social media templates. It was maybe even like five months, I guess that I started to like mention, right, you can start like slowly right. And then as you get closer to the deadline to launch day you can you can share more about the templates or a digital product that you’re creating. But waitlist is a great way because then you can really control what is happening behind the scenes. If you’re just promoting on Instagram, you can really control your Instagram. So one day 50 People will see your stories. And then the next day there are 10 people. And then the third day there are 200 people, right? So that’s why I love to do the waitlist strategy that has worked really well. And then I love to use an affiliate program. So again, they get 20% If they promote it, they use their link. So this this is the to two ways. Two ways. I prefer to sell digital products. I would love to run ads in the future. But I haven’t got there yet, which, you know, I feel like a lot of the times can be a budget thing. Because what you also want to do is to get that feedback first for you templates, you don’t just want to be, you know, like, Oh, this is a template, it’s going to be selling hotcakes. And then you pour 10,000 into your ads and like, Oh, what is happening? Is this a good product actually? So first test your products and see gather the feedback, and then see what kind of strategy works for you. But the weightless emails? I don’t think you can go wrong with that.

Alex Beadon 50:21
Yeah. And then when it actually comes to the day of the launch, getting closer, how do you go about building the excitement for the launch itself? Do you have a certain number of days that the cart is open? Or is it just like, Okay, now the curtains open forever? Is there any sense of urgency like, what are you doing to build sales as soon as you open the doors.

Diana Jakubcova 50:43
So with these templates, specifically, the social media template pack, what I’ve done is that I have created a free version that they could download first. And that’s something I have been promoting for two months, I think. And in that period, so it’s like a taste, you want to give them a taste of something, right? Can be something small, it was the one template for your feet and one template for your Instagram stories. But this way, again, they can see what it will look like if they actually purchase in the future, right. So just make sure that whatever you are giving them for free, it is good. And it is a pure reflection of what they will be receiving. And after that, because I was developing the templates I was sharing every single day on stories, what I’m working on, basically, when it comes to these templates, why I’m creating these templates, and what is different about the templates, because let’s not forget, yes, you can buy a template for $25 out there. So I really needed to make sure people understand what they will be getting if they purchase the template, right. So as we were approaching the deadline, the launch date. Now I’m trying to remember I actually did a giveaway as well. So interesting. Yeah, so I did a giveaway. So if you used the, the template, the free template, make sure to tag me. So again, I’m just doing a brand awareness. I tap into other audiences. So if there is a way for you to collaborate with someone to go live with someone to ask your clients to ask your network in general, that is the best way to build up that hype around a product. Because then what you don’t want to happen is that when you launch, and you hear crickets, and this usually happens, because you didn’t prep your audience enough for them to buy.

Alex Beadon 52:56
Yeah, right. Even when you said you know, you’ve you had a waitlist for five months. I’m over here as a launch strategist just clapping in the background, because people think it just matters what happens when I open the cart. But it’s like, no, it matters. Oh, even more what happens before you open the cart? So I’m really happy that you’re touching on this.

Diana Jakubcova 53:13
Yeah. And it’s a great way to build up the pie because I was receiving so many DMS, when are you launching this, I need this right now. And this is something you can then use to share on your stories to showcase that people, other people are interested, right, because people sometimes they just wait around to see if some someone else is interested. Because you don’t really want to be we as people in general, we don’t really want to be that first person to dip the toe. And you know, this was all packed up, right? So we tend to wait and see if other people are also interested in whatever someone else is, you know, selling. So I was really sharing those testimonials. Plus, I was really asking in the DMS whoever tagged me. So I was DMing them and just having that conversation, you know, building up that relationship with the person because then let’s say you are launching a digital product, you can DM them back and say, Hey, have you seen this, I launched it. I know you really enjoy it by free template. And this is you know, this, this is the date, this is the date, mark your calendars. It’s coming out.

Alex Beadon 54:23
Interesting. So you’re also not afraid to like reach out to people and DM them and basically just promote your own thing, which I think so many people are afraid to do. It seems to me what’s so interesting about you is like you have all of these different offers you have a wide variety of types of offerings. I’m curious to know, what is the percentage of your revenue that is coming from something that you are currently promoting, whether it’s that you’re launching it, or maybe you mentioned it on your stories like I’ve seen you online and you seem to be someone who’s not afraid to talk about what it is that you’re currently offering and what it is that you’re focusing on. What percent of your revenue is coming from all of that versus coming from just passive evergreen income that you don’t even have to think about? It’s just coming in from, you know, maybe someone going to your website randomly, etc.

Diana Jakubcova 55:14
So currently, obviously, the services done for you, I would say around 70 to 80%. And the rest would be sales coming through those templates, whether this is through affiliates through referrals. Again, but just you

Alex Beadon 55:33
find, do you find that most of your sales are coming when you’re saying, Hey, I have this thing coming by it?

Diana Jakubcova 55:41
Yes, of course, you have to talk about your offers, otherwise, people won’t know it exists, it can still come through once in a while, which is amazing. Because I have built that, you know, trust with the audience. And like, in general, however, if you don’t talk about your offers, even if it’s multiple offers, I feel like people still assume that other people are stupid, and they don’t, you know, they’re afraid to share multiple offers in a row. Now, make it very clear, this is this kind of offer, this is for this person. And if you’re this kind of person, you can go here, you lead them, you navigate your audience, but please share your offers. I mean,

Alex Beadon 56:21
you also seem to be like very open to the fact that you are a creative and you’re creating different things. And you’re not afraid of having too many offers, which again, even for myself, like oftentimes, I’ll be like, Oh, I could create this. I’m like, no, like, it just what I’m doing already. I think I’m someone who like I need to focus. But for you, you seem to be kind of thriving in this, like, I created this thing. Here it is I created this thing. Here it is. Does that? Is that something that you’re doing intentionally? Are you just following your intuition? Like, what are your thoughts on having multiple offers?

Diana Jakubcova 56:54
Here, I would lean into who you are as a person? Yeah. Make sure because what can happen is that if you’re another type of person who can handle multiple offers things thoughts,

Alex Beadon 57:11
like customer service, and then making sure that everything’s updated. Yeah, it’s a lot. Yeah.

Diana Jakubcova 57:15
Yeah, exactly. So I love multiple things at once I am Gemini, and you know, one thing one morning, I can be happy. And then in the next next day, I’m a completely different person. It’s like this personality thing. I would say I can flow in between. I can flow in between situations that maybe someone would deem as hard or tricky, challenging. I don’t mind that, of course, yes. I’m not saying that I am immune to bullshit. However, I know that my personality is like flowing, right? So I can go with it, I can create one thing. And then the other thing, I can still, I can still thrive in chaos, if that makes sense. But not everyone can. So if you are not this type of person, you cannot like commit to different projects down the line. It doesn’t even have to be at the same time. Because, as you said, I have multiple projects, multiple services, but they were created one by one. I wasn’t creating these projects, you know, in the same month, basically right? That is, yes, that’s not that’s really overwhelming, even for me. But if you are someone who really thrives on getting your ideas out there, you want to share multiple or like different perspectives of your could be products can be courses can be master classes, right? So a lot of I can see a lot of coaches actually thrive on having a lot of masterclasses because they can dive into different topics that they really enjoy. Right? So that’s an amazing way, right? But again, you have to promote that you have to market your products, otherwise, nobody knows. And that is where everyone forgets that sales do not just happen.

Alex Beadon 59:17
Yeah. And that’s why I wanted to ask you that question. Because I think people have the incorrect vision that they’re just going to create something and people are gonna be buying it all the time, but you have to talk about it. And you’re so good at that. I see you promoting yourself all the time.

Diana Jakubcova 59:32
Oh, thank you, to me, because like, I’m like, I’m not promoting enough. I feel like I’m not promoting it. But then everyone, but I get these DMS like, you’re so good at promoting multiple things. And I’m like, Whoa, am I voting? I feel like I don’t see selling as like when you think of like a hard sell. You know, I view it as an invitation, right? So I try to look for ways that I can sell these to you without me being like, Oh, I just launched my social media templates and you come here and buy them. Now, throughout the day, there might be a situation that you’re working on and you’re like, oh, this could be nice to showcase my templates. And I can just showcase the behind the scenes, how your connects. And there you go. You don’t even need to be, you know, creating your graphics, like professional graphics all the time, right? Just hop on your stories share the behind the scenes share what they will receive, once they I don’t all get the login and get the template, how it looks like and share the link. Like, is it such a nice invitation into your offers? And it’s easy?

Alex Beadon 1:00:45
Yes. 100%. I agree. I wanted to ask you about photography, because I feel like that’s another thing that I’m loving about your brand is you seem to be someone who really invests in good photography, you know, your images are also different, funky, unique, and a good representation of your brand. Talk to us about the importance of photography, when it comes to communicating your brand online.

Diana Jakubcova 1:01:10
Oh, wow, we might need another hour. I love this, I love this topic, because your photos can make or break your brand. You or I even can create the most beautiful branding, elevated, like just dreamy. But once you drag in photos that do not connect with what we have created, it all falls apart. Now, what do we do for clients, we develop like a photo shoot guide. So that’s their creative direction based on what we are creating with their branding. And this way, because even if you hire a photograph, now this is a thing your photographer is not there to tell you what kind of photoshoot you need, they come in, they might have a checklist for you of like different shots that you want to take. You know, that’s all cute. But then the editing all comes in a warm tone colors, whereas our branding was created with the colors that match colder tones, let’s say right, and that is where it all falls apart. And the message is not getting through. And people can feel it. Even though we like to think that I don’t understand branding. I don’t understand fonts. You do. subconsciously you do because we have been exposed to fonts to different directions our entire life that you can tell when something is like hmm, I don’t know what is off, but I know something is off.

Alex Beadon 1:02:52
Yeah. Okay, so for anyone who is listening, I was in the background just clapping away, because this is something that a lot of us don’t know. And it’s okay. Because you know, it’s a journey of being an online business owner, and you learn these things as you go. But that is definitely something I’ve learned is like, you can hire the best photographer. But if you don’t have that creative direction of exactly what it is that you’re trying to create, and the emotions that you’re trying to evoke, and what clothes are you wearing? What does your hair look like? And what does your make? Does it all align? It matters so, so so much. And, you know, when we’re in an online space, yes, we’re showing up on stories and we’re making videos and all those things. But the photography really makes such a difference. It’s it’s huge. Do you also use stock photo websites? Or are you really making sure that every single photo is something that you have created with your vision?

Diana Jakubcova 1:03:51
I make sure for the for the past two years, I make sure all clients have and you brand pictures when they work with us. And the past year, we have been implementing the photoshoot guides, which has been a game changer like a game changer. Because, again, as I said, your photographer is like she’s just or he’s just showing up right? Correct. Yeah, gave them some kind of direction. Oh, I need you brand photos. And I guess I’ll just wear the blazer right. The white blazer Yeah. I love it. Not not calling out anyone, right? Remember that? Don’t want to bleed again. This is what happens, right? Because you don’t really know what to do like you have no idea and as you said like people actually are not aware that their photoshoot connects with their brands, right? So this is where we get a photograph for so inside of the guide that is a brief for a photographer in what we are trying to achieve with this photo shoot. So let’s say for one client it can be we’re trying to We were trying to capture a community aspect for this new, I don’t know, business launch right for a client. But for other clients, it can be a really huge rebrand. So we need to make sure that we evoke these, like the wow effect, you know, some clients when the wow effect and their brand is like really about pops of colors and outfits are different. So we include outfits, I outfit ideas as well. We also include different shots. And then I also include different, like ideas on what I think would help me as a designer, to design their website and to design their marketing materials. So again, a lot of times we receive images that I can’t use, and I’ve seen so many times, one of our previous clients, she has given me access to like 800 images. And I could only use like 40. Now, what this shows is that you have wasted your time your money, because I can’t really use all these images, because either I don’t know the position of the light lighting is not the best for this brand. Or you are standing kind of weirdly, like why do we have these shots here? Right? So with this guy, we always make sure that if you have booked one hour photoshoot, you are in and out, and you know exactly what to do. Everyone is on the same team. And I’ve had clients tell me that previously they were having like four or five hour photoshoots. And I’m like, What are you doing five hours? Like I can’t imagine. But with the guy they guide, they were able to be in and out like one hour, two hours, Max.

Alex Beadon 1:06:48
That’s amazing. That’s very impressive. I’m cheering you on? And how often do you think someone should be doing a photo shoot? Like, how often do you need new photos?

Diana Jakubcova 1:07:00
Depends on your business, I would say for agencies or for someone who is like a done for you. It doesn’t have to be that often. Because there is not much of a change. However, if you are a coach, there are just so many things that you are changing. So many programs that you’re launching, it is advice to have at least two per year, just like a refresh, new location, something more exciting, because a lot of the times exciting things also happen in your business. And they will reflect in your brand photoshoot. Yeah, make sure of that.

Alex Beadon 1:07:38
Yeah. I think this is something that’s it’s just so easy to not do. You know, so even for everyone listening, myself included, I think even just booking it into the calendar and being like, Okay, I have two photoshoots booked for this year, at least. Because even for me thinking back, like when was my last photo shoot, I think it was actually it was this year. So okay, we’re doing okay, but still, you know, just making sure that it’s in the calendar and thinking about it, because I don’t even know what my next photo shoot is. And it you know, unless you’re really taking care of it and thinking about it, it might just slip your mind and then there you go, you’re not you’re not going to be showing up in the best way online. Diana I have to thank you so much for joining us. And before we wrap up, is there anything that you think is very important to share with our audience that I did not ask you that you feel is just too important to forget?

Diana Jakubcova 1:08:31
What is too important to forget is you first need to switch off from online space to actually reconnect to yourself. And that is important when it comes to your brand. Because if you can really see who you are inside your personality, then it’s going to be really hard for you to create the brand that you want to create, to connect with your brand for other people to connect with your brand. And ultimately, if you hire someone, I have questions for you. And you need to answer right this is something that a lot of people forget. If you even hire a designer, a brand professional, we have questions for you. You need to be prepared to tell me what is it that you want? Because this it doesn’t work the way that if you pay someone for branding, we just magically can read your mind. Unfortunately, I am not a mind reader. And I have a lot of questions if you work with me. So it is best if you let’s say decide to work with someone to get the best out of your investment specifically with the creatives. Know what you want come with a plan. You don’t need to have it all figured out. That’s not what I’m saying. But you do need to have Some sort of vision because then all I have to do is align that vision the plan your brand with your whole vision. That’s all I need.

Alex Beadon 1:10:11
Diana, thank you so much. You’re so I think you’re so great. I love like you just have this like spunky energy. And like you tell it, how you’re not afraid to tell it how it is. And like meeting you today, and then putting it side by side with like, what I’m seeing online is so much fun. So thank you so much for being here. I think everyone really enjoyed everything that you’ve shared with us. Can you let everyone know where they can find you online?

Diana Jakubcova 1:10:35
So you can find me on Instagram. Obviously, the best way is deeply rooted. That’s UDL but if you want to check out what we offer some freebies some fun things, check out our website deeply rooted studio.com

Alex Beadon 1:10:51
Thank you, Diana.

Diana Jakubcova 1:10:53
Thank you so much.

Alex Beadon 1:10:58
If you are someone who wants to launch your online course if you are an educator, and you’re ready to take what you’re already doing and scale it to the next level, if you want to bring in more students and make more impact with the work that you do in the world, then the ultimate launch bootcamp is for you. Don’t miss it. Make sure you’re on the waitlist. And I can’t wait to talk to you guys again next time. I’ll see you next week. Bye.

 

S2 Ep. 05 – The Art of Pricing: How to Price Your Online Course for Maximum Profit and Impact

If you’re an online course creator who wants an actionable plan to raise your prices, this episode is for you! In this episode, I discuss how your money mindset impacts your course pricing and what steps you can take to overcome any limiting beliefs or negative thought patterns around money so that you can step into greater confidence, attract more of your ideal clients and charge your worth.

By the end of this episode, you’ll be convinced by five good reasons why you need consider raising your prices, and have the steps to create a pricing action plan that takes into account your costs, the value you provide, your competitors, your target audience’s budget, and different pricing models to experiment with. If your money mindset needs a makeover, you’re not going to want to miss this episode

Loved this and want more? Check out our other episodes here.

Spark a conversation! Leave a comment below or say hello @alexbeadon on Instagram.

S2 Ep. 03 – Behind the Scenes of My Instagram Strategy – Tips and Tricks from a Social Media Pro

In this solo episode, I take a close look at the challenges of showing up on social media and being responsible for lead generation when you are the face of your business.

I share my personal experiences over the last 10+ years building a business on social media and my insights on how to work with the algorithm without sacrificing your authentic self expression.

You’ll learn the importance of understanding your values, looking at your triggers and knowing your boundaries when it comes to sharing yourself online.

You’ll also takeaway actionable tips on creating Instagram content and learn what we’re currently prioritizing in our nurture content strategy as we approach our upcoming launch.

You’ll hear me speak more on …

  • Why Instagram is the #1 place I invest my effort into … even though I PREFER TikTok 👀
  • How I show up today as compared to how I showed up 10 years ago …
  • My thoughts on the cringe content that I’ve posted in the past 😳
  • How I’ve been working through my triggers and healing my relationship with social media (I share one trigger I’m working on overcoming!)
  • The do’s and don’t’s of Instagram: what has and hasn’t worked for me, Instagram’s tips and the one piece of advice from Instagram that I’m completely disregarding 😎
  • My tips for working with the algorithm WITHOUT sacrificing your authentic self expression

Resources:

Video Editing

Remove Watermarks

Trending Audio

AI Copy Tools

Loved this and want more? Check out our other episodes here.

Spark a conversation! Leave a comment below or say hello @alexbeadon on Instagram.

S2 Ep. 02 – Launch Like a Boss: 5 Secrets for Stress-Free Launching Ft. Laura Marston.

In this episode of “On Purpose with Alex Beadon,” my Chief Operating Officer, Laura, joins me to share 5 hard-earned tips on having your most seamless launch, from our last 5 years of launching full-time together.  (Fun fact – Laura’s first launch with me was for Feel Good Blogging back in 2014!)

We share how we’ve gone from working all through the night to creating spaciousness and ease in our launches, how our launch strategy has evolved and mindset shifts around worthiness and success. We also talk about what you need to prioritize in order to sell with integrity and confidence and share details on our FREE upcoming Ultimate Launch Bootcamp! Tune in to this episode now to learn these 5 proven secrets for sustainable launch success and make sure you’re subscribed for more!

In this episode Laura and I dive into:

  • Our top 5 tips on having your most seamless launch
  • How our launch strategy has evolved (including what’s taken us from all-nighters to mid-week beach trips during launch season!)
  • What our TWL-recommended launch cycle looks like and more details about our upcoming launch 👀
  • Our goal-setting framework and what we’ll do as a team if we hit our goals! Hint, hint … 🍕🍝
  • The permission you NEED to be giving yourself as the CEO of your business and one thing you need to do in order to sell with integrity and confidence
  • The part of your launch strategy that, if done right, will allow you to attract your most aligned clients, have deep moments of connection 💗 with your audience and see transformation in real-time! 👁️
  • The deep-seated beliefs around success and worthiness that I dumped … (this completely changed the game on how I show up energetically!)
  • What your COO must understand in order to support you energetically and what you need to understand and own about yourself as a leader

and much, much more!

Resources:

Loved this and want more? Check out our other episodes here.

Spark a conversation! Leave a comment below or say hello @alexbeadon on Instagram.

#003 – 3 Facebook Ad Secrets, Identifying Business Priorities, Anxiety and Stress

In this episode Alex shares:

  • Her lessons in launching this podcast & why it took so long
  • How she is setting up Gram Slam’s new evergreen marketing funnel
  • Why she decided to do Facebook Ads herself instead of outsourcing it from the get-go
  • Her Facebook Ad Strategy
  • The 3 Facebook Ad Secrets she’s learned over the last week that you should *definitely* know about and implement
  • How she juggles multiple social media platforms
  • How she identified business priorities this week
  • How she’s managing having Laura visit as both her bestie *and* the Operations Manager
  • How stress is showing up physically in her body & how she’s handling it
  • How she pushes through stress even when she’s committed to living a stress-free life
  • How her business is currently experiencing major growing pains
  • How she has been prioritizing self-care

Episode 003 of On Purpose With Alex Beadon is a good one. Alex opens up about 3 big Facebook Ad Secrets that anyone can apply to their business. She opens up about what it’s been like personally as the business goes through a period of intense work and hustle. She also discusses entrepreneurial stress, and shares how she copes with it.

 

QUOTABLES:

“No one is going to spend your money as carefully as you will spend your money” – Alex Beadon

“The one thing I really like about a podcast is that it really unites people who are like-minded.” – Alex Beadon

“Take a look at your competition, not so you can copy them but so you can possibly create something super different that gets the attention of your prospect.” – Alex Beadon

“As business owners it’s good for us to know the experience that our ideal client is having.” – Alex Beadon

“I hired my best friend! It’s such a dream come true.” – Alex Beadon

“I wake up first thing in the morning, and I can feel the anxiety in my body.” – Alex Beadon

“I can’t count the number of times this week I’ve told Laura, ‘OMG, I love my job!’ I love doing this, this is so exciting to me. It fuels me – the unknown, the uncertainty. I’m just excited by it. Even though there’s so much risk and I can’t promise I know exactly what the end result will be, I love it. I just think all of this is so much fun.” – Alex Beadon

“I know this busy period isn’t forever, I know I’m putting in all of this work for an end goal.” – Alex Beadon

“I know and have deep trust that this is me getting to the next level” – Alex Beadon

“If Alex from 8 years ago could see Alex today, she would be so proud.” – Alex Beadon

“I’m encouraging you to celebrate whatever you have to celebrate and how far it is that you have come” – Alex Beadon

“As much as I would like to say “I’m superwoman” I won’t burn out – I’m only human…. So prioritizing self-care is a priority in the next week.” – Alex Beadon

When you’re done listening, make sure to head on over to our Podcast Page and LEAVE A REVIEW! We have a goal to get 100 reviews within the first 7 days and I NEED YOUR HELP in order to make it happen, so be sure to subscribe, leave a review and then tell your friends?

Transcript Available Below

Alex Beadon 0:02
Do you ever feel like you’re trying to balance it all? nourishing your health while growing your business and living a life well lift and no matter how hard you try, sometimes you slip from purpose driven into autopilot. Take a deep breath, relax, and let’s get you back to where you belong. On purpose

Hey guys, welcome to episode number three of on purpose with Alex Beadon. I’m so excited for today’s episode, I feel like it’s going to be a really good and valuable one. So definitely stay tuned. But before we dive in, I wanted to share one of my favorite reviews that has been left guys, this is the third episode, right? But really, and truly the podcast just launched yesterday. So this, it’s just like such a special day. For me. It’s the very first time that I’m actually getting reviews on the podcast. And it’s just so much fun to read every single thing that you guys are saying. So for everyone who has left a review, thank you so much. And if you haven’t left a review yet, what is holding you back, I have a goal of reaching 100 reviews in the first seven days and I really need your help to accomplish it. So please take two minutes to go to the podcast app. Search for on purpose with Alex Beadon and select the podcast on purpose of Alex Beadon. Scroll down press write a review and leave me a heartfelt review. I really truly love to hear from you. But okay, let me read this one. This one is from the mermaid with mussels. She says I’ve been a faithful follower of Alex since her YouTube days and now to Instagram. Her energy is contagious. She’s raw and real. And she provides actionable tips and tricks to grow your social business and make more money literally every day to not follow her or subscribe to this podcast is like passing up the most valuable free content out there. Thank you so much for that Epic Review. I really, really appreciate it. And let’s dive in to today’s episode. Okay, so in today’s episode, there’s a lot that I want to talk to you guys about right? I want to talk to you guys about everything that I’ve been working on this week. So that really gets divided into three main categories. We’re going to talk about my podcast launch, we’re going to talk about Facebook ads, and what’s been working, what hasn’t been working. And I’m also going to talk to you guys about the big picture strategy behind my business. Then I’m going to move into more of the personal side of things, what I’ve been experiencing behind the scenes what it’s been like during such a busy, hectic time in my business. So that’s what you can really expect from this podcast. Let’s dive in. So as I mentioned, the podcast went live yesterday, which has been really exciting for me, it’s so much fun to hear from people that they’re listening to the episodes, I’ve got text messages from friends saying that they’re loving it. I’ve been hearing from so many of you guys online just talking to me about how you’re really appreciating the format and how it’s been laid out and what it’s been like so far, we launched with two episodes. And we actually thought it was going to launch like two weeks ago. Seriously, we were pretty blown away by how long the iTunes approval system was. So if for anyone who’s considering coming out with a podcast in the future, I would definitely say like, give it a good two weeks, do not expect that things are going to just be published immediately. To be honest with you, I did my research, I did hear that it could take you know, between five to 14 days. But I also heard from a lot of people that it took them like 24 hours. So I was like you know what they probably just say two weeks, it’s probably only going to be a couple of days. So like we factored in four days, it took way longer than four days. So of course, you know, I’ve been building up this excitement about the podcast that’s going to be launched and On which date it was going to be launched. And of course it ended up. So I told everyone it was going to be on a Monday. And then it ended up being not the following Monday, but the following Friday. So it ended up taking almost two full weeks, right. Yesterday was the first day that the podcast was actually fully live in the iTunes app. And it was, like I said, really a journey because it was live. But it wasn’t fully live. People were messaging me and being like, hey, I can listen to it. But I can’t subscribe. I can’t leave a review of the podcast art isn’t showing up. So we kind of made an executive decision to really not mention the fact that it was live until it was something that we can feel really proud of. In other words, we didn’t want to say that it was live until it was actually 100% live like I don’t want to be like Hey, everyone, go check out my podcast. And then they go and there’s no cover arts and there’s no way to subscribe or leave a review. So that’s really what we were waiting on this entire time because I know a few of you guys were like, You keep saying it’s not live but it is live. And I’m like no, it’s half live like you can listen to the episodes but the entire experience is definitely not there. So that was definitely a struggle for us like really is playing the waiting game not knowing you know, when is when is it actually going to go live a big part of these Monday episodes, guys, because you know, we release new episodes every Monday and Thursday. And a big part of this Monday episode is that I want it to feel fresh. I want it to be very recent and new and I want it to be 100% relatable to what actually happened to me over the past week. Right? So I couldn’t actually record episode number three until I knew when episode number three was going to be going live. So yesterday the podcast went live. So I knew that I’d have to sit down and record this episode today. So this is me, this is like the first time I’m ever recording. Live like because the last episode, I think I must have recorded it like three weeks ago now. So this is like now my new routine where you know, every hopefully I’m thinking every Friday, I will do the recording for Monday, so that it’s still recent and new and relevant. So yeah, so we went through all of those kind of hiccups of not knowing when it was going to be live. And then yesterday it went live, which was just so exciting. I literally have zero shame. I messaged almost everyone I know. I was like, hey, my podcasts just went live. And I really need reviews. So if you wouldn’t mind like take a quick listen to the podcast and just leave a review, I’d really appreciate it even if it’s just a few words. A big part of coming out with a podcast guys, for those of you who don’t know, is just the process of trying to get as many reviews and as many downloads and as many people subscribing to your podcasts as possible, which is why the reviews part is such a big deal to me because I want it to signal to iTunes that this is a podcast that is worth possibly being mentioned in their new and noteworthy section. So I’m not just like asking you to leave reviews for no apparent reason it really does help catch the attention of iTunes, when it comes to actually getting into that new and noteworthy section, which we’ve got our fingers crossed for. But to be honest with you like it’s really not a big obsession, or it’s not like a really big goal of ours. We would like to get into the new and noteworthy section. Of course, that would be fantastic. But if it doesn’t end up happening, it doesn’t add up happening. And I’m just happy that the podcast is live feels good. But yeah, I think that was a really big realization for me over the past 24 hours since it’s been live. It’s like I’ve had zero shame in messaging everyone and being like, hey, like guys, I even created a video that walks people through how to leave a review, I sent it to my entire family. And I was like every single person who is related to me, I’m now calling on you to please leave a review and just go and you know, leave show me some love. Show me some support. This is exactly how to do it shouldn’t take you more than two minutes. Go go go. I think of course you kind of have to like know your crowd and know your audience. So if you don’t have a particularly close relationship with your friends and family, that might not be the best idea. Like I’m definitely not reaching out to strangers or people who I feel like they’d be like, No, I’m reaching out to people who I feel would enjoy supporting me and who I know I would enjoy supporting them in the same way. So that’s been fun and interesting for me yesterday was actually my cousin, Amy’s birthday party. She just turned 27. And she had a birthday party at my aunt’s house up on her roof. And so it was like nice rooftop vibes. And everyone was listening to music dancing, there were some beer pong going on. Really good, good energy happening, then all of a sudden the music cuts. So like I walk. I mean, it’s my family, right. So like, if Amy’s having a party, I feel like I’m also half responsible for the outcome of the party. So I go over to the speaker and I’m like, What’s going on there? Like, for some reason, the music from the phone isn’t hooking up to the speaker. It’s not working, and so they’re trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, everyone is just kind of like standing in silence. So I grabbed this microphone, and guys don’t know where this came from. But I decided this is the perfect time to let everyone know at the party that I have a brand new podcast that went live today because it was yesterday. So I get on the pod. I get on the microphone. I’m like, Hey everyone, we are having some slight technical difficulties. My name is Alex Beadon. And I just want all of you to know that today. I released a podcast called on purpose with Alex Beadon. If you are into business and life and living your best life, and you should definitely go and check it out.

I’m also trying to get 100 reviews in the first seven days. So definitely don’t be scared to go and leave a review. Everyone’s like dying laughing. And I’m just kind of standing there thinking to myself, Wow, who is this girl who is literally speaking to a party of strangers while the music is down, to tell all of them to go and check out her podcast because when I first started my business, honestly speaking about my business was like a stressful thing for me. I remember being so ashamed of even telling people that I had my own business, let alone like promoting what I was doing. And you know, here I was yesterday, just on this microphone, announcing to the entire party to go and leave me a review But yeah, the podcast has been amazing, really happy to see it go live. We checked the stats today. And it has been listened to in over 36 countries in less than 24 hours. To me. That’s just so mind blowing that there are people all over the world listening to my voice, it like it’s just so cool. The internet is so cool. It feels like such an honor to be alive at this point in time. And to be able to get to use these tools. We’re like the first people to use these tools people like it’s so exciting to me the fact that you know, I can speak into this microphone, and you wherever you are in the world can hear it. And by the way, if you’re listening to this, I would absolutely love for you to just send me a selfie of you listening to the podcast tagged me at Alex Beadon. post it to your story on Instagram and just like let me know which country you’re in. Because it’s mind blowing, I think it’d be cool to like maybe create, like some kind of graphic with pictures of people all over the world just to like, celebrate the fact that we are all connected. That’s another thing I love about podcasts is that it really unites people who are like minded. So yeah, it’s been, it’s been really fun. I’m super pumped to see how the podcast goes. I’m also excited for the growing pains and the lessons and I know this podcast is just gonna get better and better and better and better. So for those of you who are listening from day one, and for those of you who are really implementing this into your weekly routine, I just want to say thank you for being on this journey with me and I do not take your time for granted. And I always want to make sure that I’m showing up and giving you my absolute best. And that’s really what this entire episode today is going to be about. I really looked at what what has happened to me over the past week. And I’m going to be sharing with you what I would share with my best friend that I think every single entrepreneur should know, based on what it is that I’ve learned this week. So let’s dive in. I think we’re done talking about the podcast, we definitely had some some launch struggles. If you’re going to launch podcast in the future, keep that in mind, for some reason on many of the other platforms. So like, for example, Spotify, when we submitted the podcast, Spotify picked it up immediately. So Spotify, you are awesome, keep doing what you’re doing iTunes, you got a long way to go like iTunes, really. I mean, even the fact that you know, it’s not just like, it took a long time for them to post it. They were posting it like one day there was one episode The next day, there was a next episode, the next day, the cover art was up two days later, you could subscribe two days later, you could leave a review, like it was just such a step by step process. Like I feel like they should just publish it. And it should just all be live ready to go all at once. Anyway. Okay, we’re gonna move on to the next part. This is something I’m really excited to talk to you guys about Facebook ads. So to kind of give any of you the backstory, you may not really know what’s going on. I have an online course it is right now the core of my business, it’s called Grand Slam. This online course basically teaches people how to use Instagram stories to help build their online brand, whether they are a personal brand, whether they sell a product, whether they have a physical store, whether they sell courses like I do, or maybe you are a service provider, it’s really for anyone who wants to use Instagram stories to create a connection with their people and with their audience that will hopefully result in more trust, which will hopefully result in more sales, right. So I’ve been really focusing on creating this course to be 100% evergreen, which means that people can buy it at any particular time. This is new to me, I’ve never done this before. Normally, I launch something and I give people a week to buy it. And then I close the cart and I don’t let them buy for another year. Right. So this is very differently just leaving the car doors open. You can literally buy Grand Slam whenever you want. And the main focus that I’ve been that I’ve been focusing on for the last

I would say since I was in Hawaii, is Facebook ads and really creating a funnel a marketing funnel that is bringing people in from Facebook ads into the funnel, giving them value and then converting them at the end into Grand Slam customers. Right. So we’ve set up our Facebook ads system, which has been amazing. I’ve learned so much. I’ve spoken to so many people about Facebook ads and it seems to be one of those things that many business owners I speak to have the biggest problems with because it’s hard to find someone you can really trust when when you hire someone to do your Facebook ads, like no one is going to spend your money as carefully as you will spend your money. So when I had to decide, am I going to pay you know 1000s of dollars to someone a month in order for them to take control of my Facebook ads or am I going to do it myself. I decided I wanted to have a really good grasp of Facebook ads before I bring anyone else in like I really wanted to know the ins and outs and I think you need to know your strengths. Like I’m super technical, going into the Facebook ad system and like figuring it out is actually quite fun for me. So this was not something that was super difficult or going to take up like a ridiculous amount of time trying to learn but the Learning has the learning curve has been steep, there has been a lot that has changed since the last time that I was really playing around with Facebook ads. So we basically set up this funnel. And the way that the funnel works is that on day one, they get sent an invite video. And the invite video is really simple. It’s like 30 seconds long. It’s like, Hey, are you interested in learning more about how to edit your Instagram stories, because I have a free course, that’s going to teach you everything you need to know about putting yourself out there on Instagram stories. If you’re interested in getting access to that free course, literally, all you have to do is finish watching this video until the very end. Once they watch that video until the very end, like I said, it’s only a 32nd long video, they basically get put into an audience of people who have watched that video up to I think it’s like 75%. So if you watch that video 75% of the way through, you will get access to lesson one, right, and this is what’s really cool about Facebook ads is that you can target people. So specifically, you can target people who visit a certain page. So like, for example, right now, we target people who come to the Grand Slam sales page, like if you visit the Grand Slam sales page, and then go on Facebook, the next day, you’re gonna see Grand Slam sale, sorry, you’re gonna see grandslam Facebook ads that are basically going to be leading you down a sales funnel, right? So Facebook ads is just really, really cool in that way. So day one, they get the invite video, some people watch it all the way through till the end, they then get sent day two, which is less than one, then they get sent day three, which is less than two, day four, which is less than three, and so on, right, they basically get sent down a marketing funnel and a sales funnel that ultimately the goal at the end is that they will end up buying. Now we’ve set this up in such a way that it obviously takes time, like you don’t know if it’s working or not on day one, because people aren’t getting sales messages maybe until like day nine, right, or like day 11 Or something like that. So it requires this patience of you spending a lot of money on Facebook ads, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money on Facebook ads. To be honest, I just really didn’t have time to lose or waste. I really just wanted to like dive headfirst in. So I was like, Cool. Let’s let’s, let’s hit the ground running. Right? So we’re testing it, we’ve put it out. And we’ve been I think we just hit day 11 sales are finally starting to come in. But guys, I will tell you those first 10 days, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is so it’s so weird to like be pouring so much money into Facebook ads and not seeing anything come back. I’m not used to that at all right? And it’s just one of those things where like, we’re learning how to measure different things we are. It’s just an entire learning curve. But anyway, it’s been going well, let me kind of explain to you the lessons that I’ve learned because like I said, I want these podcasts to be super valuable for you. Okay, so two main lessons that I learned this week. Number one, sequencing on Facebook ads, I had no idea that you could do that. I did not know that you could do. Okay, someone watched this invite video a day after they watched the invite video, I want them to get this two days after they watched my video, I want them to get this three days after the invite video, I want them to get this like I didn’t really know that that was a possibility. Right. So what I was doing, I was doing like, okay, 75 If you watched in video 170 5% of the way through, you get less than one, if you watch less than 170 5% the way through, you get less than two, if you watch less than two, etc, etc. Right? So I was kind of doing it more based on if you watch the previous video, you’ll get sent the next video. Now I realized that I don’t need to do it that way I can literally sequences. So day one, you get this day two, you get that day three, you get this, right. So that was a really fun thing for me to learn. The next thing that I learned is that there is a new thing on Facebook, where you can actually go to a Facebook page, like a business Facebook page, and you can find out like you can see which ads that page is sending out. Mind blown. That means you can go to all of your kumkum competition competitors, I’m getting this, I’m getting squared mix up, you can go to all of your competitors pages, and basically see which ads they are currently putting out there. You can see what they’re testing, you can if you keep an eye on it, which I know is like almost a full time job. But if you do keep an eye on it, you’ll be able to see what’s working and what’s not working based on the ads that they switch on and turn off. Right. So that has been really fun as well as just going around to lots of different people who are in my industry and being like okay, you know, are they using Facebook ads? I’ve been shocked by how many people are not using Facebook ads who I could have sworn would be using Facebook but Facebook ads so that’s an interesting and then also just looking at businesses that I know have really good evergreen funnels set up and just seeing like what are they doing what’s what’s the behind the scenes like guys, that’s something that I would definitely recommend you do go to your competition’s Facebook pages and just see like what are they doing and it’s not necessary. so that you can copy it, it might actually, in fact be so that you can create something super different so that it catches the attention of your prospects, right? But it’s it’s information. I think, as business owners, it’s good for us to know, what is the experience that our ideal client is having. Now the one thing that you can’t see on your like, when you’re looking at your competitors, Facebook ads, you can’t see who they’re targeting, you can only see the actual ad itself, right. So just keep that in mind. So if you’re wondering how to do this, basically, you’re just going to go to their Facebook page on the left hand side all the way at the very bottom of their Facebook page. Underneath their profile picture, it says info and ads, if you click on info and ads, you’ll be able to see all of the ads that they have running in which different countries, it’s really, really cool. So definitely check that out. So those are really like the two big lessons that I’ve learned this week when it comes to Facebook ads. Another thing when it comes to Facebook ads is really being clear about your conversions. Right. So for example, we have people who are buying Grand Slam, just because they found it on my Instagram, they go in the background, some technically, that does not count as a Facebook ads conversion. Right? So there’s something called Custom conversions within Facebook that I’ve been experimenting with and going into and basically trying to figure out like, how do we make sure that when someone buys, we know that they came from Facebook ads, I would definitely recommend if you’re someone who wants to learn more about Facebook ads, looking into custom conversions is definitely something that you that you’re gonna want to do. Another thing that has been super fun is Google Analytics. This is kind of like a common theme in my business where I think I have something set up and then I go and check it out. And it’s not set up. So this whole time, I really believed I had Google Analytics hooked up for the Grand Slam website, because I know I have it on my Alex Beadon website. I have it on the work with me dot Alex beadon.com. Like I have it on my website. So I just assumed I also had it on Grand Slam. So when I actually went to check it out, I do have it but I have it more as like a plugin on my website and not actually on the Google Analytics website, which means that I’m missing out on so many of the Google analytics tools. So I had to fix that this week, you know, I had to go in and be like, oh, gosh, I can’t even tell when like I can’t even tell where they’re coming from how long they’re staying on the site. Like there’s so many things that I want to know, through Google Analytics that I thought I was collecting, and I haven’t been collecting it. So that was another thing I worked on this week, which is making sure that the Google Analytics was properly picking up all of the statistics from the Grand Slam website. Because guys, I want to know, like, where are people coming from? How long are they staying? I think all of those things are really important to know, if you’re trying to track you know how many sales you’re getting. So that’s been another thing for me as well is just making sure that I have my Google Analytics properly set up. Another thing that has been kind of a running theme this week is I really been wanting to put so much time love and energy into my content creation. I just got a new camera guys, Laura brought me a new camera. It’s a Canon M 50. And it is like my baby. And at any point in time that I can use it, I want to be using it. But the truth is right now, there are so many other things that need to get done in the business like this is such a stage phase cycle season of the business where we’re like building, once we have this evergreen model up and running, it’s going to require a lot less work to keep it up and running. But because we’re now in the building phase of putting out the Facebook ads and trying to test it and seeing what’s working, what’s not working, it’s requiring a lot of our attention, like a lot of our time is spent just looking at the stats and being like, you know, is this converting properly? What do we want it to be converting at? What can we do to get it to be converting at that if we spend x amount of Facebook ads, how much money should we be making by the end of the funnel? So like, let’s say the funnel is like three weeks long, you know. And at the three week mark, in order to make sure that this is actually working, how much money should we have made. Once I get up and running, I will have more time to work on other things, I can probably get to a point where I can bring in a Facebook Ads Manager to actually focus on just like keeping an eye on the Facebook ads and making sure that it’s going well. But for now, like I said, it’s really important to me that I know how my money’s being spent. Right. So it’s taking a lot of time and energy away from the content creation, which is what I really love. Like it’s such a pain for me because I want to be making like the best, most epic Instagram stories and putting myself out there all the time. And I just feel like I’ve been super distracted by like what’s been going on with Ground slam and the fact that we’re trying to get these Facebook ads to a really good point. So that’s been a little bit of a struggle for me this week. Last in the business that I kind of want to talk to you guys and share with you about is Laura, who’s my best friend and also the operations manager in the business she and I sat down this week and basically it was so brilliant guys like I’m so glad we did this. We basically sat down and we wrote down every single person in the business. So right now that’s fine. If, and we wrote down who they are, what they do, what their roles are, what their responsibilities are, I feel like this is such a no brainer. And maybe you’re way better at this than I am. But I’ve always been the kind of person who is just like, oh, like I’m hiring you to do this school. But there’s no like, specific act like I’ve just required so much flexibility from everyone. And it’s never really been super clear and specific about like, this is your full responsibility. So sitting down and writing those out and being like, okay, this person has a lot on their plate, like, let’s move things around. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty much me, I have a lot on my plate.

And I’m trying to get to a point where it’s like, there’s less and less and less on my plate so that I can really show up in my zone of genius and be the best that I can be. So that was really helpful to sit down with her and just like lay out what are everyone’s everyone’s rules. Now, guys, this can work. You know, maybe you don’t have a big team, maybe you don’t have a team at all. So I’m just going to kind of translate this for you of how you could do this for yourself, is sitting down and just writing out what are all of your tasks. When I had to list it was like the list of what all of the tasks are like everything that needs to get done. And then it was kind of like the bare minimal list of what needs to get done in order for the business to survive and thrive. Right. So for me, that was like my email list. Super important. My Instagram Stories, super important. Grand Slam super important. Facebook ads, super important. Less important might be like my Facebook page don’t like really am not bending over backwards to have a perfect Facebook page right now not bending over backwards to have a perfect Pinterest page right now. Like I think it’s so important to focus and focus in on like, what are the profit generating activities? What are the like, literally, what are the priorities of activities? Like what comes first, what comes second, what comes third? And then sitting down and writing, writing out? What are the different tasks that need to get done in order for this to actually work? Getting super crystal clear on that? Right? And then from there, if you’re if you’re a solopreneur, bringing it in to your calendar, I mean, like cool. Every Monday, I’m going to focus on this task every Tuesday, I’m gonna focus on this task and really just dividing it and trying to create as much of a routine and as much schedule as you possibly can. I did this for myself meant like I said, me and Laura sat down. We divided up all the roles, and then we were like, Okay, how do we make my life easier? And for me, that’s like, really dividing things. I mean, like, Okay, I only want to take calls on a Thursday. I don’t want to take a call on a Monday, call on a Wednesday, call on a Thursday. No, let’s put all of my calls in on a Thursday. podcast interviews super important right now guys like podcast, this podcast is my baby. Like, I want it to really thrive. I want this to be one of my main content focuses, right. It’s not V main content focus. So you know, in order to do that, I need to do podcast interviews, where I’m interviewing these epic individuals about their lives and about their businesses. But I don’t want to be taking podcast interviews all throughout the month, like if I could squeeze those podcast interviews into like, one or two days during the month, oh my gosh, that that works so much better for me, I realized that I, I am someone who works with momentum, if I’m sitting down and interviewing someone, and then I have to stop and like, do my hair and makeup and film a video and then I have to stop. And then I have to deal with taxes and like finances, and then I have to stop and then have to have a team meeting. It’s too much for me. Like if I can just focus on one thing for as long a period of possible of time as possible. That works way better. So that’s what we did. We got clear on everyone’s roles, we got clear on our vision. Another really big thing guys is like, Do you have a clear vision of where you want your business to be? In three months? Do you have a clearer vision of where you want the business to be in six months? I don’t really work much past that. I’m not at that stage yet where I can work on like, even a yearly basis because like, the business is so dependent on the current status of the business, if that makes sense. So really just depends on what’s happening in the business. And like, where my mindset is that how I’m feeling. So I really worked like three to six months out. And that’s it. So we did that we had a really good strategic session of like big picture stuff, getting clear on everyone’s individual roles and how we can make each other’s lives easier. So that was super productive. Highly recommend that you do that in your business if you haven’t already. So that’s pretty much everything from the business side of things. Like that’s what I’ve been focusing on this week, podcast, launch Facebook ads, and then doing like the big picture strat strategy session with Laura super, super helpful. Now I want to move on to the more personal side of things. So Laura is visiting me from New York City. As I mentioned in Podcast Episode Number one, I hire my best friend full time and it’s amazing and it’s fun and we’re it’s it’s it’s so it’s such a dream come true because we work together. You know, I don’t know how many years ago now. And it was very brief. Like it really just kind of brought her in on like a project by project basis. And it was always my dream to be able to hire her full time and the fact that like we’re now doing it is amazing. We just I wanted to fly her down to Trinidad for three weeks to basically just make sure that we are on the same page, we wanted to get aligned, we wanted to make sure that we were sharing the same vision that we were that that just we couldn’t really flow together in person. So that’s why I brought her down here. We’re now two weeks into her trip. She’s now in her last and final week here. And it has been like, it’s been really interesting, because we’ve been working super hard. And at the same time, it’s this weird mixture of like, she’s here to work, but she’s also my best friend. So I do want to show her around and like, I want her to have a good idea of like, what my life is like here. So I want her to see the places I go and meet my friends. I mean, my family and like, all of that stuff matters to me as well. But at the same time, it’s like work is the priority. But it’s like, you don’t want her to travel all this way and like never see the beach, you know, so I’ve really just been trying to find a balance of how can we get as much work in as we possibly can? And how can we have fun together as well. It’s been interesting, like, even just now she was telling me she’s like, you know, it’s so cool that like we’re here working. But really, it just feels like we have a project together as besties. You know. So it’s been it’s been really, really fun. But it’s been super intense. Like, I feel like we have been working nonstop. And then in our break sessions, it’s like event after event after event socializing after socializing after socializing. And I think when you are always in that output mode, where it’s like you’re working, working, working, and then you’re going out and you’re like having dinners and you’re doing karaoke, and you’re going to your cousin’s birthday party, because it’s her birthday, and you want you want Laura to meet your cousin, it’s just a lot, right? There’s like a lot of like intensity right now. So I can feel that energy. She can feel that energy. So we’re working on like bringing in a little bit more balanced, where it’s like, okay, let’s, let’s be super focused for like the entire work day. And then let’s, you know, let’s find out like one events every day, because when she first got here, we were doing like lunch, and then we’ll do dinner. And then it was just like too much, I think. So we’ve really been working on on bringing in that focus. Also, though, I think we both know that like, we’re in the month of July, Laura gets married in August, I’m going to Colombia for the wedding in August. And then she’s having kind of like a friend’s moon. I think that’s what she’s calling it. So it’s basically like after the wedding, she invited a few of her friends. And Scott’s friend Scott is her husband to be we’re very excited for the wedding. And basically, they invited a few of their friends to go to another part of Colombia and basically like, stay there for a week and just like have a vacation together. So we’re she’s about to take almost the whole month of August off for the wedding. I think it’s like three weeks, I’m taking I believe two weeks off. And then as soon as I get back from Columbia, I’m actually flying out to England, because my sister’s getting married next year, she wants me to come with her to Italy, where the wedding is going to be held. And she wants me to go and see the location with her. And we’re going to do wedding dress shopping together. Because I am the maid of honor. My sister’s getting married, and I’m so freaking excited about it. But anyway, I’m the maid of honor. So I have the Columbia trip. And then I have the English trip. And actually before the Columbia trip, at the end of this month, I’m actually flying to Tampa because one of my best friends is having her baby shower, and she’s doing like a whole weekend of it. So there’s like there’s gonna be a lot of distraction in August. So I think both Laura and I know that now is such a valuable time for us in the business. Because we’re together, we want to work as much as we can and get the most out of it. And then also because we know that next month is not going to be as productive, there’s going to be way more distractions, we’re definitely not going to be working as much as we are right now. So we’re just trying to get the most out of it. This is just an intense season and cycle. But what it has resulted in for me personally is a lot of stress, right? And I think it’s one of those things where it’s like the team is growing. So I think there’s that that factor of like Oh, I’m not just responsible for me. And I’m not just responsible for me and calf which I’ve been used to for the past year. Now there’s like all of these other people on the team who I’m also responsible for. And then it’s like, you know, I’m seeing the stress show up in my body and like so my eye has been twitching guys for like the last five days. It is the most bizarre and annoying experience like it just twitches all day. And it pretty much twitches when I work I’m pretty sure that when I’m not working it’s not twitching. So it’s I definitely think it’s stress related. I’ve also been having like light sensitivity, where I just like really want to keep the curtains closed because my eyes are sometimes sensitive to the light and then I can start getting migraines for a long time this week. I know I wasn’t drinking enough water. We had like water filter problems and I for the longest time needed to go out and buy water so I was like avoiding drinking water. I’ve also been intermittent fasting because I I took remember, I don’t know if you guys know this or if I shared this in the last episode, but I basically got my hair tested. And where they basically they cut off your hair from the roots and they tested and they tested for like heavy metals and they test your,

like metabolism. And so anyway, I got the results back. And it basically says like, my body digests food very slowly. So what ends up happening when I’m eating all day, because that’s normally how I am, like I eat all day, I will eat breakfast, and I’ll have a little snack, and then I’ll eat lunch, and then a little snack. And then I think, and I always thought that was good, right. And now that I’ve taken this test, and, you know, she told me, she explained it to me, she was like, it’s like your body’s just focused on digesting all day long. She’s like, so try doing something like intermittent fasting, where you eat the same amount, but you’re eating it within an eight hour window. So I would say probably like, five or six days of the week, I’m intermittent fasting, so I will only eat between the hours of 12 and at 8pm. So it’s like my body’s going through this change of like, Oh, I’m now doing like this new way of eating. Laura’s here, we’re trying to get the absolute most out of our time together. But at the same time, I want to be social and like show her around. And it’s just like, I think just a lot of stress. And it’s funny how sometimes you may not feel stressed, but your body feels stressed and I can feel in my body like even, you know, I will wake up first thing in the morning. And I can feel the anxiety in my body. I don’t know if anyone’s struggles with anxiety. But if you do you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s like this wired feeling. And I will get it first thing in the morning. And I know it’s stress related. I know that even though like energetically and my mind knows, there’s nothing to stress about. And we’re doing everything properly, and we’re doing everything correctly. And we’re on the right path. And we’re making a lot of headway. It’s like, my body is just experiencing a lot of stress. Because we’re in this intense work season, where there’s so much that needs to get done. Like I was speaking to Nick and he was like, Dude, you’re working a lot, you need to slow down, like you’re gonna burn out. And I’m like, I know, but there’s just so much that needs to get done. And the thing is, it’s like I’m enjoying it. Like, I can’t count the number of times this week that I’ve told Laura, oh my god, I love my job. Like I love doing this. This is so exciting to me. Like it fuels me the unknown, the uncertainty, it’s like, I’m just excited by it. Even though there’s such there’s so much risk. And I can’t promise that I know exactly what the end result will be. I love it. Like I just think all of this is so much fun. So it’s this weird mixture of like, it like so much fun, a lot of hard work, my body’s feeling the stress. And a lot of times like it can also sometimes feel counter counterintuitive, because like I know that this is a stressful season. I know that I’m working really hard. But I also know that this is not my ideal lifestyle. And I think this is important for entrepreneurs to to wrap their mind around is like, you’re going to have periods where you really have to focus and be super productive, and super efficient. And just be like hit the ground running every single day when it comes to your work. I don’t want to live my life like that. Like, I do not want this to be my normal, right. But I also understand the fact that like, this is like I’m working towards something right now. So I can I can deal with it. I can be in this stressful moment. And also know that I don’t have to subscribe to this as a lifestyle. This is just what’s happening right now. So it’s like I know a lot of people are like, how do you find the motivation? It’s because I know that this isn’t forever, I know that I’m putting in all of this work for an end goal, I know that I’m putting in all this work. And that this is just a growing pain. You know, when you’re like in puberty and you have growing pains, because your your your body is growing faster, then how does that work? I don’t even know your body’s going faster than your skin Anyway, whatever. You’re experiencing growing pains, right? And that’s that legit when I see this is Is this the most comfortable time in my business? No. Is it a lot of hard work? Yes. Is it a lot of figuring out and puzzle pieces. And like we just had another expected change happened in the business, which I’ll keep you updated with for sure now isn’t the right time to share. But there’s a lot going on. But I know and have deep trust that like this is just me getting to the next level. This is what getting to the next level looks like. So it’s important to recognize growing pains and appreciate them even if they’re hurting you even if it’s like not the most comfortable position because it means you’re growing. So like a great example is the other day. I had Catherine over Laura was over there both working out are so I pretty much use the dining table as like an office when I have multiple people working over because like I don’t have a big desk space for them. So everyone’s like around the dining table working and I’m cooking. And it was this weird moment where it was like whoa, like my business has reached a point where I am cooking and other people are working. And like I’m kind of taking a break and relaxing other people are working. And yes, there’s a lot of uncertainty right now. Yes. Working towards some really big goals. Yes. Like I don’t, I don’t know what like how this evergreen funnel is gonna go. And yes, there’s a lot of stress. And yes, there’s a lot of hard work. But like, if Alex when she first started eight years ago could see Alex today, she would be so proud she’d be like, Oh my God, you freakin did it. And like that’s important is like always stopping and appreciating it and being like, you know, I like this May, this this is this is I’m here now I have a team now, I’m not sure if in like six months, I’m still gonna be able to afford to have this team. But right now I have this team. And I’m going to relish this moment because this is my new normal. This is becoming my new normal. Right. So like, I guess what I’m just trying to say is like encouraging you to celebrate whatever it is that you have to celebrate however far it is that you’ve come always connect with that person. Like me eight years ago, fresh out of college, starting a photography business, I had no idea what I was doing. I felt a lot of shame and self consciousness about the fact that I had my own business. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I didn’t even have the courage to tell people that I had my own business people would be like, what do you do? And I’d be like, right, so like getting to this point where it’s like, I have hired people, people are working with me on my projects. And it’s just this really fun time of like, it’s challenging. Yeah. But like, I get to show up as a leader, you know, I get to create this team to be whatever I want it to be like, I want to have an awesome team, who all feel proud to be a part of the team who all feel proud of the change that we’re making in the world. And like it feels really good moving towards that. Right. So that’s just another thing that has been like a theme this week is like growing pains to is this the most comfortable? No, but like, do I know that it’s leading me on to bigger and better things? 100%? Absolutely. Okay, last but not least want to talk about like prioritizing self care. Especially because of the stress, especially because we’ve been working so hard. So like, right now, like as soon it actually took me a while to realize that I was experiencing so much stress, because we were working so much. I just kept ignoring it, ignoring it, ignoring it, ignoring it. And then when Lauren I sat down to have that whole business strategy session, that’s when she was like, dude, like, I think you’re, you’re more stressed than you think you are. She’s like it’s showing up in your body like you’ve had it switches for the last few days. Like that’s definitely not good. So for me, moving forward into the next week, prioritizing self care is huge. I do not want to burn out. And as much as I’d love to say, Oh, I’m Superwoman. I won’t burn out. Everything’s good. I’m great. Like, I’m only human. We’re all only human. So drinking tons of water, making sure I have food, making sure that I’m moving the importance of moving your body, right, I would definitely say like, right now, I’m not too focused on going for runs. And that has always been such a great activity. For me, I’ve really cut it out. Because I don’t want to go on a run in the morning when I’m hungry, because I’m doing intermittent fasting. So I want to go for a run after I’ve eaten or like right before I eat. But right before I eat, it’s noon, it’s really hot outside. So I think I might just have to join a gym and start going running like right before I eat and at least having a gym where I’m not in the heat. But yeah, anyway, the importance of moving going on walks like Lauren, I went on a walk this week. And that really helps like just moving your body in simple ways really helps. But it’s such an easy thing to just be like, No, I’m fine. It’s all good. Like, I don’t need to do that. Right? Like I’m working. I’m working. I’m working. I’m focused, I’m focused on focus, take a break, take a breather, relax. Anyway, I feel like this podcast was a lot. I feel like I just shared so much information with you guys. I would absolutely love it. If you could just send me a message on Instagram. Let me know what you thought of this. Like, how are you experiencing this podcast? This podcast is a creative process for me. And for you like I want this to be something that you’re getting value from. So anything that you can give me constructive kind of let it how can I speak constructive criticism. And also just letting me know like, what you liked what you didn’t like, anything like that would be very, very helpful and very warmly welcome. And I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate you being a part of this with me. I think this is really fun. This has been fun for me to to also reflect and be like this is what’s working. This isn’t what’s working. Here are the top tips that I would give you that I learned this week. So yeah, I hope that you enjoyed this. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate each and every single one of you. And like I said, take a picture of you listening to the podcast, it could be a selfie, it could be a picture. I don’t really mind, post it on your Instagram story tag me. And I would love love, love to hear from you. Okay, guys, that is it for me this week. I really look forward to like implementing this into my weekly schedule and doing this again next week and really being able to continue to build this relationship with you. This is so much fun for me like YouTube was always super fun for me. But I think that this is going to just take it to a whole nother deeper level. So I just want to say thank you. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye bye Hey

thank you so much for tuning into the on purpose podcast and I really hope that you had as much of a blast as we did. If you liked what you heard and want even more, make sure you leave a review because it really helps support what I do here on the podcast. All you have to do is search the podcast app for the on purpose podcast, select it then scroll down until you see write a review and then type away at the beginning of the next episode I will be picking one review one special review My favorite review of the week and I will be reading it out for all of you guys so you definitely don’t want to miss out on that. I hope you really enjoy your week and I will see you guys again next time stay on purpose.