The Classy Career Girl Podcast (Classy Career Girl International, LLC)

Many years ago my husband and got married and drowned ourselves in debt. It’s something I am not proud of but what I am proud of is that we got out of debt, decreased our expenses, and somehow were able to both quit our jobs to pursue our career and business goals.

This did not happen overnight. Today I am going to walk you through some of the beginning budgeting basics we learned in order to decide whether we could quit our day jobs and actually make a living with our business.

So if you are considering quitting your day job and doing your starting your own business, this episode is for you!

If you are a leader, you MUST listen to today’s episode. Even if you are a new leader or beginning to hire in your new business, maybe you just got a new job and now have to manage an employee. My guest today is Heather R. Younger is a best-selling author, international speaker, consultant, and facilitator who has earned her reputation as “The Employee Whisperer.” The CEO and Founder of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement, leadership development, and DEI consulting firm.

Heather is an author of a new book, The Art of Caring Leadership, and in this episode she’s going to teach you how to bring humanity back to the work environment, how to support your employees and the biggest mistakes that new leaders make. If you want to be a great leader, you are going to love this episode. Let’s dive in. Meet Heather!

This podcast will dive into some self-reflection exercises to help you determine what your calling is. You'll learn the 3 components that factor into your calling and an important warning. This training is a sneak peek of our Love Your Career Formula membership site.

Career Advice Anna Runyan shared from a Google Hangout with Pink & Black Magazine and Ask the Young Professional. 

Topics include: 

• Deciding on a career
• Networking
• Preparing for Job interview
• Advice for frustrated professionals
• Career Development opportunities at work
• Self-promoting

I want to teach you my PROVEN, Female Leadership Success Formula so you can learn EXACTLY how to get your career on track, find balance, get promoted and become less stressed…FAST.

You will learn how to:

• Respond strategically to demands of your role and competitive pressure
• Capitalize on your innate leadership strengths to achieve high-impact results with greater ease
• Build new levels of confidence to take on greater roles and excel as you advance in your career
• Gain respect working with men
• Emerge with stress and time management techniques so you can operate at peak performance and clarity
• Increase your energy and enhance your effectiveness at work and at home
• Expand your network and establish a career strategy plan

Here’s the piece of career advice I wish I would have known many years earlier. I wish I would have known this when I graduated from college.

So many times I see women repeat the cycle of applying to jobs and then getting stuck in the same job that they hate.

This is because they don’t understand themselves. If you spend the time to understand yourself better (I know it’s not easy!!) and you figure out your motivations, your personality, your interests, your purpose and your ideal workday, you’ll be so far ahead of the rest!!

This is the number 1 thing you need to do before you even start submitting applications online or considering a career change. The first month of job searching should really be about figuring out who YOU are first instead if just updating your resume and blindly submitting your applications everywhere.
 

Things are about to get really busy around here at CCG Headquarters. Our Fall in Love With Your Work and Life Challenge starts on September 6th and then our Love Your Career Formula 2.0 programs finally re-opens again on September 9th! I am so excited for September and to serve you all the best that I can but before we start all these fun festivities this month, I wanted to make sure I had all your questions answered. Over the last month we have had a lot of questions come in at CCG. So I decided to dedicate an entire hour to answer your questions last week on Facebook and today I am sharing the recording just in case you missed it.

And if you are feeling a change is in the air and you are ready to uplevel your career and life before 2017 hits, please join me and 2,000 other women in the challenge. You can learn more about at www.classycareergirl.com/challenge. To get access to the workbooks and videos.

Alright let’s dive into your questions today!

Today I'm here to tell you when things get hard as an entrepreneur, there is one thing that will keep you going and I'm gonna tell you what that one thing is. I definitely had my share of struggles and difficulties and issues. Starting a business is not super easy to grow business like not everyone can do it right. There's a lot of times work. It's overwhelming. It gets frustrating. Things happen. But there was one thing that just kept me from quitting and that's what I'm going to share in this episode.

Question from Erin Ford
What are steps I can take after applying to a job online? Whether it's via a job board or the company's website, what are ways in which I can increase my chances of having my application seen/considered?

In our CCG Network:

Raven - our intern. Busy during launch if she didn’t follow up I would have hired her.

1. Follow up by email. Don’t give up. Show your passion. Don’t let them forget about you.

Ashley Nicole Hammond I submitted an application online and the company I applied for said that my application/interest was received and that if my qualities matched what they were looking for that within two weeks they would be in contact with me. A week went by and I haven't heard anything so I called to follow up and got an interview this way and interviewed this week and landed a second interview for the same position right after. This helped me.

2. Find the recruiter or hiring manager.(Make sure LI profile is professional). Tell them you applied and really want to work there. Here’s why you are qualified. Would love to tell you more. Available at

(Make sure LI profile is professional). Tell them you applied and really want to work there. Here’s why you are qualified. Would love to tell you more. Available at

(Make sure LI profile is professional). Tell them you applied and really want to work there. Here’s why you are qualified. Would love to tell you more. Available at the number for an interview.

3. Get a referral from anyone who works at the same company on LinkedIn. Start networking with people who work there.

Start networking with people who work there.

Share on social media that you applied on their FB page, Instagram page, twitter account. Be active and make your brand known on social! Send a DM. Stand out.

Free Networking Action Plan
http://www.classycareergirl.com/networking

When you are struggling with discouragement and being overworked or bored, I completely understand how far off your dream career can feel. I want you to know that it really isn’t that far away.

If I can do it there really is no reason that you can’t do it, too. That’s why I am so excited to give you just the very first steps you need to make your dream career or business a reality.

I realized I was in charge of my destiny, just like you! Don’t settle!

Get ready to celebrate! We are gearing up to celebrate Classy Career Girl’s 8 year anniversary in March! Whether you are new around here in Classy Career Girl world or you’ve been listening to our podcast and reading our blog for years, I can guarantee you are going to learn something new today as I share with you my 8 Lessons I Have Learned in the Last 8 Years of Running a Business. Let’s dive in!

Show notes: http://www.classycareergirl.com/2018/02/running-a-business-lessons/

This is where I'm gonna teach you the plan blueprints, and this is where I'm gonna teach you how to create your 90-day plan, and I think you are going to love it!

Today I want to show you how to get past feeling scattered and unfocused, and how you confined direction in the next 90 days so you can follow through with your goals.

So let's dive into creating your 90-day plan. It's all about taking bite-sized steps to get to where you want to go in the next 90 days successfully.

Once you know the best way to plan out your goals by quarters, then you will accomplish your goals and stay committed to your plan. When you start achieving these small quarterly goals, you'll start to get more excited and more motivated, and you'll start getting closer to doing work you love providing for your family and even spending more quality time with your kids too, because you're gonna have more energy in order to stay prioritized and stay focused. You just need to follow these simple steps to create your 90-day plan so that you can take your career and your life to the next level.

Ever wanted to turn your knowledge, influence, or passion into a low-stress, high-profit business. Today I am going to talk about one of my favorite topics, membership sites! Yes I'm kind of a nerd. But discovering how to launch and grow a successful membership site completely changed my business and my life too and I am a huge fan of the membership model. But, I get there are so many questions so today I 'm answering all your burning questions about how to start a membership site. Let's begin!

Show notes: http://www.classycareergirl.com/2018/03/start-a-membership-site/

Juggling motherhood and a coaching business can feel like a never-ending marathon. But it IS possible to find balance and achieve your goals! 🎯

In today's podcast, I share my secrets to:

• Prioritizing your time: Learn how to block out time for coaching, sales calls, and marketing – even with a busy family schedule. 📅
• Identifying your ideal client: Discover how to connect with clients who resonate with your story and understand your unique challenges. 🤝
• Crafting a compelling elevator pitch: Confidently introduce yourself and your services, so you can attract dream clients. 🎤

Today I wanted to talk about the #1 mistake people make when launching their dream career or business. And the reason I want to talk about this is because I am seeing a lot of people make this mistake in my Facebook group and there’s a lot of bad information being passed around about how to find a job or start a business right now.

Sharing some of Anna Runyan and Corrie Ann Gray’s favorite tech tools. And they will teach you how to use Corporate Rescue Plan (CRP) to help you get over your tech overwhelm and move forward building your business.

Corrie Ann Gray is the founder and publisher of the Clean Body Project, an online holistic wellness magazine that empowers women to “clean up” those things that no longer serve them. 

Grateful for your paycheck but know you don’t want to work there much longer?

Over my years of working with students, I have seen many women close to getting their careers unstuck BUT they have one thing holding them back, their mindset. 

Today, I want to share with you some positive affirmations you should repeat to yourself daily to help you make your career transition or start a business.  You must start thinking positively if you want to get out of a negative work situation. Changing my mindset was the biggest secret behind my career and business success.

I have always been a huge fan of affirmations. I actually do these every morning for 5 minutes and have notecards that I have by my bed to read. I am way more confident and calm throughout the day when I do this along with meditating.

These affirmations are written to help you build confidence that you will find the right career for you. I recommend doing these every morning and creating a morning routine that gets your mind in the spot to take on the day. My morning routine (usually) involves a little exercise, reading, meditation, visualization and these affirmations.

Instructions: Sit relaxed in your chair. Take a deep breath. Believe these affirmations as you say them to yourself.

Today I have such a great guest that I am so excited to introduce you to. 

Whitney Herrington is a seasoned leader with over 10 years of human resources experience. She recently launched her first tech company, Kith Republic, a mobile platform that connects women with HR experts to help them solve their work-related issues. In addition to being Founder and CEO of Kith Republic, Whitney serves as Vice President for a nonprofit-focused HR and talent strategy consulting firm, and has served in leadership roles for major nonprofits across the country.

Networking:

• Connect actively: Engage with content likes, reach out to individuals impacted by life changes, build new connections.
• Use scripts: Leverage provided examples for introductions and partnerships.
• Track and prioritize: Make a daily networking list, track metrics, use dedicated time.

Testimonials:

• Build trust: Use powerful testimonials to showcase your coaching impact.
• Collect testimonials: Offer practice/free sessions, use specific survey questions.
• Share widely: Leverage them on podcasts, videos, interviews, etc.

Email List Growth:

• Offer high-value freebies: Attract subscribers with relevant and actionable resources.
• Adapt and iterate: Evolve your freebies over time based on performance.
• Promote strategically: Cycle through different freebies on social media for wider reach.

Bonus:

• Start small and build momentum with daily actions.
• Don't be shy, actively reach out and connect with potential clients and collaborators.

What you track, increases. What you measure, increases. Whether it’s a certain amount of money you want to have or a certain amount of debt you are paying off.

You have to spend less than you make. By doing this you can save for your future and save for your business. Save up for big expenses. Cash flow goals.

Now we will discuss how to create the life you want and 4 keys to help you take care of yourself and improve your mindset. 

4 Keys to Create the Life You Want

Key 1: Batching

Categorize your time into three categories, 1) Focus 2) Administrative 3) Sacred time. Create time in your calendar to batch similar activities together where you have no distractions.

Key 2: Self-care

What activities did you enjoy as a child? Have more fun. What’s your happy place? Make time for what you love every day.

Key 3: Clear Your Tolerations

Unclutter. Perfect the present and free up your mind and energy. Plug your energy drains. Fix what is wrong before taking more on.

Key 4: Put Your Health First

Plan meals in advance, You are what you eat. What words describe the food you are eating.

Start taking care of yourself and your personal surroundings to improve your mindset.

Rachel has a TON of energy and this was a TON of fun! Rachel is the creator multiple Facebook fan pages that have over 1 million fans and are profitable. You are going to love her!

Find the show notes here: http://www.classycareergirl.com/2017/12/facebook-ads-rachel-miller/

Rachel Miller is the creator of multiple Facebook fan pages like Quirky Momma and Crazy Cat lady as well as dozens of other audiences.  These pages are profitable, over 1 million fans and a real source of income. She teaches Moolah: From Page views to Paycheck: How to Grow an Engaged Audience.

I got to meet Rachel in July at an event and you know Rachel is amazing when everyone else was watching a baseball game and Rachel looks at you and says do you want to just go mastermind in the stairway instead of watch the baseball game? She had even brought her sticky notes and all her notes and was ready to dive in. I was like YES let’s do it and to this day I don’t even know who won that game but don’t tell anyone that. 

Rachel shows us how to reach people without wasting money and tips for beginner FB ads.

Some questions I ask:

• How targeted do you have to get in order to reach the right people? And is there any way to track Amazon sales from FB ads?

• I have been frustrated with the demographics. This past time, I was very specific in my demographics. I have a head lice removal business and it is very local and I tried to cater to just families, moms, teachers, etc. Most of the people interacting with the post were still not those likely to be my clientele. Some were from out of the country and many were bald men. I feel like it is not getting to the right people no matter how I try and direct it.

• The timing for new businesses — ads before you launch products to drive traffic/interest and create brand awareness? Or wait until after you have physical products available?

• How to target to certain audiences/your ideal client.

• Should the ads be short and to the point? Longer? Serious or incorporate some humor. How frequently should one advertise?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How to use Facebook ads

• How to not waste money

• How to use Facebook ads at the beginning just starting your own page.

Corporate Rescue Plan member, Jenna Janssen shared all of her wisdom with me in an interview about the success of her book launch last month.

Thanks Jenna! You rock and I am so proud. If you guys don’t know her story, it’s just flat out inspiring. She used to be a hair stylist and suffered a wrist injury. Instead of letting it get her down that she could no longer work doing her passion, she turned it around and launched her business just a few months ago to now help salon owners and hairstylists with a book and coaching program.

Hope you find it encouraging!

Resume writing tips, Mistakes career women make, How to work abroad, Interview with the Founder of Resunate

Many times entrepreneurs know that they want to have their own business but they get stuck at one point, figuring out what to sell and how to sell it! What type of product should I sell? What service should I offer? How do I narrow down all my ideas? 

Today’s podcast will help you figure it all out. As you know we are opening doors very soon to Corporate Rescue Plan so every week on this podcast, we’ve been very focused on getting you ready to join our community and giving you sneak peeks at the great training and support we have inside. If you are ready to take these trainings you’ve been listening to each week and actually learn how to implement all the stuff we’ve been telling you that you need to do, well you need our step by step guides in CRP where we break down exactly the ONE thing you need to do each and every week to succeed in the phase of entrepreneurship you are in right now.  You don’t want to miss out when doors open so.

Check out corporaterescueplan.com to add your name to the waitlist and you’ll be notified when we open doors very soon!

Let’s get started with The Ultimate Product or Service Creation Formula.

Free teleseminar with Shinjini Das about Graduation Guide: Everything You Need To Know Before You Graduate. How to get internship, how to become a networking ninja to find your future career opportunity, and how to improve your presentation skills.

Think you can't find a job with social media? WRONG!! Today there are so many opportunities available to you just by utilizing Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and (of course) LinkedIn! Listen to this podcast and get up to date to find your dream job with social media.

I’m excited to introduce you to Christy Westerfeld today. She’s a lawyer and health coach, and her mission is to help you protect your business and learn a little about the legal side of things along the way. Christy has been in your shoes, starting her own health coaching business so she is here to tell you what you need to know when starting up to protect yourself legally. Thanks Christy!

Get the show notes here: http://www.classycareergirl.com/2018/01/legal-tips-for-starting-up/

Some questions I ask:

How to write amazing terms & conditions, privacy policies, and fool-proof return policies.

Trademark process for course/program names, etc.

How does copyright protection work? 

How to not fall into a trap in regards to coupons and discounts?

How to determine the best business structure – sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, etc. 

What are the legalities around sponsored posts? What are the legalities around affiliate marketing?

What are the rules and best practices to follow to ensure you are following the rules from the department of labor when hiring an unpaid intern? 

How do you createe terms for coaching clients to agree too?

What Legal forms that should be filed for an LLC

Since starting my Career Coach Certification program, I've been able to teach my sales processes to so many women and I have to say that selling and new client enrollment is where most coaches and service providers are making a lot of mistakes!!

That's why I wanted to share this part of my brand new course The Sales Machine that is included in my 12 course Black Friday Bundle. If you struggle with selling you need this course! I am going to give you a sneak peek of the course today so you can get into the right mindset to master sales and you can learn how to create your irresistible offer.

We will cover the different ways you can sell and build your confidence to sell your products and services. Selling is serving and I can't wait for you to hear this episode.

Make sure you head on over to www.classycareergirl.com/bundle because the deadline is November 28th to get the bundle before this course and all the other 12 new courses I created in 2022 go back into the vault.

🔥 Feeling lost in the sea of entrepreneurship? 😵‍💫 Don't worry, I've got you covered!

This week on the Classy Career Girl Podcast, I'm diving deep into the #1 question I get asked: "How do I find my niche?!" 🎯

Trust me, I get it. It can feel overwhelming trying to figure out your ideal client and stand out from the crowd. But guess what? You don't need to have it ALL figured out before you start. 🚀

Here's the secret sauce:

1. Look back at your experience. What are you passionate about? What problems do you love to solve? 🤔
2. Do your market research. Talk to people, understand their challenges, and use THEIR words to connect. 🗣️
3. Have real sales conversations. This is where the magic happens! You'll learn SO much from actually talking to potential clients. 💰

Bonus tip: Don't be afraid of the competition! See what they're doing and find the gaps where you can shine. ✨

Ready to take the leap? Join my FREE webinar, "Escape Your 9-to-5," and discover the step-by-step plan to ditch the corporate world and become a successful entrepreneur. 🥂

Register now: www.classycareergirl.com/crpwebinar

#entrepreneurlife #findyourniche #careeradvice #businesstips #podcast #classycareergirl #corporaterescueplan

Today we're covering how to know what your client really wants. This is something that I think we overlook a little bit of really diving into our client's head in their mind what they're thinking, what keeps them up at night. And we tend to create these posts. This is totally what I used to know. I created these courses that I was excited to create, and I created, you know, these guides and means ebooks and everything that all this knowledge I had in my head.

But it wasn't necessarily something that people really needed. So what we want to do today is take a step back of all this stuff, this content creation and everything that we're creating and building and our products and services. But think of the client. We want to, like, put ourselves in the client's shoes today and just really try and get to know them as much as possible. So I'm gonna give you five ways today to know what your claim really wants. I obviously suggest you do all of these.

If you want to find the #1 thing that is holding you back from getting job offers and dive into the hidden job market outside of job boards so you can stop wasting time, you are going to love this episode. My guest is going to teach you how to cut your search process in half with only high payoff activities. Let's dive in!

1. What do I want to create in the future?
2. What  3 things do I want to make happen this year?
3. What do I need to do in the next 90 days to make my annual goals happen?

Vision: You have to know where you are going. What you want to create in the future.  Where you want to be in 5-10 years.

Annual plan. 3 goals you want to complete and when you are going to focus on those goals. Short and sweet. Not long . Bit picture. Don’t worry about how we will get to those later.

90-day plan. Now that you know your vision. and where you want to go and what you want to get done over this next year. We can break it down and focus on the next 90 days. what’s the focus for 30 days, what’s the focus for 60 days, what’s the focus for 90 days.

It’s really not that complicated to get started building your website. That’s how I started and I continue to update and change my website myself.

This article is just going to be a basic overview of the steps you need to take. We aren’t going to get too technical but if you want to get more technical, make sure you check out this post-> How to Start a Blog in One Hour or Less.

Here is the overview because I think you just need to know the steps to take first.

Note: There are a lot of different ways you can build a website these days and a lot of new companies popping up trying to make it “easy” for you. Make sure you do your homework and choose the right platform first because it’s hard to change later on down the road. I would rather put in a little work up front rather than go the easy way and face a mess of a situation a few months or a year in when you want to change your site.

I have built a lot of different websites and use the same exact process every single time. It has worked really worked well for me. I also was able to turn my websites into e-learning platforms and membership communities just by following the steps below to begin with. Pick a platform that can grow with you.

Learn how to create work-life balance, fulfillment and wealth working from home. Lisa Rooney interviews Anna Runyan on how to be your own boss. Learn how Anna created her first course, hired her first virtual assistant and how to create your first business plan to start your own business once and for all.

The Path to $10K Months as a Career Coach

• • Input: Types of services offered (resume writing, interview prep, career strategy sessions, etc.), the estimated time spent per service, and the desired hourly rate.
  • Calculations: Monthly/annual income projections based on different service mixes and client volumes.
  • Additional Features: Consider including scenario planning options (e.g., "What if I add a group coaching program?") and the ability to track actual income against projections.

6 Emails You Can Send Today to Get Clients

• Focus: This likely refers to an email sequence designed to attract and convert potential clients. Here's a possible structure:
  1. Introduction: Catchy subject line, brief intro to your value proposition.
  2. Pain Point Focus: Address a common challenge faced by your target audience.
  3. Case Study/Testimonial: Share a client success story.
  4. Solution Offer: Highlight a specific service or mini-consultation offer.
  5. Limited Time/Availability: Create urgency.
  6. Clear Call-to-Action: Guide them to book a consultation or discovery call.

Marketing Plan

• Essential Sections:
  • Target Audience: Define your ideal clients (industry, job level, pain points).
  • Competitive Analysis: What differentiates you from other career coaches?
  • Channels: Where to find your target clients (LinkedIn, job boards, niche communities, etc.).
  • Content Strategy: Blog posts, social media, webinars, free resources to establish expertise.
  • Budget & Timeline: Allocate resources and set milestones.

I am going to take you behind the scenes in this episode and share twelve things you can do for success and happiness every day.

Just a disclaimer: I rarely do all these things. It is difficult to do one of these things every day! But I try, and that is what is important.

Interview with Career Coach Dennece Mckelvy, how to find the right career path for you by discovering your values, motivations, interests and skills, how to find purpose and meaning in your job, what to do if you need a career change and are stuck in a rut

• Mindsets and strategies you need for success managing your money and the men you work with
• Differences between genders when managing money and negotiating
• How to ask for what you want
• How your emotions affect your success with money and managing men
• Strategies for communicating with men

Sharing my biggest announcement to everyone. Make sure you won't missed it!

Have you ever wondered what steps you need to take in your career to get to where you want to go years from now? Have you ever wished you could work with a career coach to just get a career check-up and figure out what you need to do right now? Well, today we are going to give you a career check-up and we are going to cover one of the trainings in our Love Your Career Formula membership community. We’ll dive into The 3 Phases of Your Career and How to Succeed In Each.

Here’s where I started. I knew I wanted to teach and I wanted to quit my job.  So I decided I was going to create a course. In the spirit of taking risk and making the leap (with limited time), I decided to not actually create the course until someone bought it. So that way I wouldn’t waste time. I mean who was really going to buy it anyways, right? I just had about 100 people in my network and on my email list so why not throw it out there and see what happened.

CLASS is my one-of-a-kind coaching program that teaches you exactly what to do step by step, whether you're job searching or growing your own business, so you can finally create work you love in the next 90 days.

The only membership that offers 1-1 personalized coaching with Business Coaches, Productivity Coaches, Job Search Coaches and Leadership Coaches.

Get all the details and join at:

www.classycareergirl.com/start

Do you know the fundamental rule of marketing? If you are an entrepreneur, this is crucial so listen up!

It’s important that your clients know you, like you and trust you. Don’t just open your sales page and expect people to buy. It can be days, weeks or years before someone actually pays you. We have to know this as we grow our business. This is how you market authentically because you aren’t pushing a product or service on them. You are just gaining trust from the people who are following you.

Are you working from home? 

Before we start, our brand new membership site, CLASS is open! You can join us through March 31st and that truly IS the answer right now if you are home and want to stay productive on your career and life goals because we’ve opened up the entire LYCF and CRP program for you to binge-watch. Whether it’s resume resources, job searching resources or starting a business or blog resources, even updating social media, all the things plus weekly coaching calls with me so you can get coaching too. The founding member rate is only available through March 31st so do not miss this. www.classycareergirl.com/join

Download our Free Planner: classycareergirl.com/freeplan

Interview with Job Coach Jacqui, How to use networking in your job search, how to use social media in your job search, how to find the right career path, book recommendations for job searchers

We recently had a big mileston to celebrate at Classy Career Girl. 500K page views per month!! It's something that definitely did not happen overnight or was it easy. It required a lot of studying tracking and figuring things out. But there are some foundational things we did in 2016 that really set us up for some major success and I am going to cover them today. The main things we did to get 500K page views per month without guest posting which is what most other online marketers believe is the way to increase your traffic. I kind of don't and you'll learn why in this podcast.

I created an online course all about how to get the same website traffic results as I have at CCG. The is called The Website Traffic Blueprint and right now the only way to access the blueprint is by joining Corporate Rescue Plan. Doors close Jan 11th so depending one whether or not you are listneing, we may or may not be open. Check out crp.com to get the Website Traffic Blueprint and join our membership community or add your name to the waitlist to be notified the next time we open doors!

I often get the question of how I manage all my programs. Here’s the important key: I didn’t start here and you can’t compare where I am now to where you are starting today. I have been working on growing my business and learning about growing a membership site for SEVEN years now and it has not always been pretty. There’s been a lot of failures and giving up on things that just didn’t work out.

Running a membership site is not easy. It’s not for everyone. But it is for me. I tried and tried to build my membership sites until things finally came into place in 2016 thanks to my incredible membership site mentor, Stu Mclaren. Stu is the founder of Wishlist Member which is a software I have been using in my business and for all of my online courses since I started seven years ago. He’s also the creator of the very BEST training program out there on starting and growing a profitable membership site called TRIBE.

I’ll be sharing more soon about he helped me grow my membership sites dramatically and changed my life in 2016, but today it’s all about the real juicy stuff. The stuff that didn’t work. Where I went wrong. What I failed over the last seven years and what I wish I would have done differently.

Because to be honest, failures are the only way you grow, right? I’ve learned from every single failure even though some were pretty hard to take.

Interview with Andrea Kay, Career Coach and Author of 5 career books including Work’s a Bitch and Then You Make it Work, How do you get an offer in a new career when you have no experience?

How can young professionals starting out in their career paths stand out and become successful in their careers?  What is the best way to negotiate a raise, What is the secret to getting a job offer in this economy?

There are so many positives about starting and growing a membership site. Some of the benefits I have realized are the recurring revenue, the impact you can make and the freedom to go to the park with my daughter in the middle of the afternoon. But, it doesn’t happen overnight and there are some potential downsides of having a membership site too. I would know because I had to shut down my first membership site in 2014 because it didn’t really work!

So before you hit go and create a membership site, let’s talk about whether it is the right move for you:

1. You’ve analyzed your interests, strengths, and passions.
2. You are consistent.
3. You are a little tech savvy and can figure stuff out.
4. You are willing to work for a long time until you hit your member goals and never give up.
5. You want more freedom and stability.
6. You like solving problems.
7. You are willing to learn from someone who is the expert at building membership sites.

Here is every action we took in our business in July 2016. What worked and what didn’t work and all our lessons learned. I would love to hear and if you are enjoying this Classy Career Girl podcast, please leave a review for us on iTunes as well. I would really appreciate it, thank you! 

Why am I doing this? There are a lot of bloggers out there sharing their income reports. I have decided to start a different type of monthly post, an action report. Everywhere we look online these days we hear about someone’s six figure launch and how someone else made a million dollars on a course, etc. Am I the only one completely fed up with this?

I have been growing an internationally recognized online career platform for 6 years. Telling you what I earn after 6 years of growing my business in detail isn’t going to help you as you start a business.

Why? Because the only way my business has grown each year is through ACTION and self-reflection. That’s why I want to help you take the action you need to take to create the dream business for you.Your ideal business is not what I have created here. My business is created just for me. I have my own purpose, strengths, passions and mission. But, I can tell you exactly what actions I am taking to grow my business and HELP people. I can tell you what actions are working and what actions are not working. I can tell you about the struggles I am facing and what I am 100% enjoying in my business.

Ever missed an episode of the Classy Career Girl Podcast?

You are in luck! Listen to today’s re-release episode of one of our most popular interviews of all time!

Today I am replaying a very popular interview I did with Kate Northrup, author of Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Busy Moms.

SOME QUESTIONS WE DISCUSS IN THIS WEEK’S PODCAST:

How can we actually achieve more by doing less?

How do you manage and track your energy?

How do you know what goes on your to-do list?

When is your weekly planning session and how long does it take?

If there was one action they could take to help them achieve more by doing less, what would it be?

Please Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more women to find a job or business they love that supports the life they really want.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’ve got some brand new episodes coming up soon and if you aren’t subscribed, there’s a good chance you might miss out.

Thanks for your support!

Salary negotiation tips, turning your internship into a full time job, People StyleWatch magazine feature, what to wear during an internship,  Etiquette for after the interview, what to wear to work in the summer

After interviewing hundreds of business owners and watching so many employees make the leap into entrepreneurship, there is always one skill that stands out in all of them and I believe it is the key skillset of all successful entrepreneurs. If you've ever wanted to know if you have what it takes to make the leap and grow a business, you are definitely going to want to listen to this episode.

If you are feeling stuck and want to make more of an impact in your career, you are going to love this episode.

I am so excited for you all to hear my chat with author and recruiter Shannon Houde today.

Shannon is the author of the new book Good Work: How to Build a Career that Makes a Difference in the World.

In this episode you are going to hear the biggest mistake career changers make (and I agree 100% with this mistake made all the time, do not do this) You are going to learn how to stand out from your competition and the #1 social media platform she recommends that you are on and if you aren’t on this platform you need to right now! You are going to leave this episode so inspired.

So let’s dive right in and get motivated to make a difference in the world.

Branding is not about logos, fonts, and colors

When it comes to branding, many coaches get bogged down in the details of design. They focus on creating a visually appealing brand that might look great on paper, but doesn't actually connect with their target audience.

The truth is, branding is more about messaging than it is about aesthetics. It's about how you make your clients feel when they interact with you, whether it's through your social media posts, your website, or your sales calls.

Get started with these 6 elements

1. Headshot photo
2. Specialization
3. Featured testimonial
4. Elevator pitch
5. Bio
6. Calendly link

Also...Save the Date: March 12th

I've got something special coming your way to help you build all 6 of these items for your branding profile. I'm still putting the finishing touches on it, but mark your calendar now, MARCH 12th.

While you're waiting, start with my FREE CAREER COACH START-UP KIT—3 Steps to Launch Your Dream Career Coaching Business!

Now is a GREAT time to re-evaluate where you want to go.

Where do you want to be 6 months from now? Can a planner help you get there?

On today's podcast, I'm sharing what the purpose of planners is. You'll learn the different types of planners and who needs to use a planner. On this episode, you'll learn the times that planners will not work and how to use them more effectively. You'll see behind the scenes how I use my planner and the type of planner I love most.

Where do you want to be 6 months from now? Can a planner help you get there?

Learn on this episode:

1. The purpose of planners

2. The different types of planners

3. Who needs to use a planner.

4. The times that planners will not work

5. How to use planners more effectively.

6. Behind the scenes of how I use my planner

7. The type of planner I love most!

Please Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more women to find a job or business they love that supports the life they really want. Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’ve got some brand new episodes coming up soon and if you aren’t subscribed, there’s a good chance you might miss out. Thanks for your support!

I'm excited to share my career journey with you and take you behind the scenes of how my life and business changed drastically in 2016 after a decision I made. I'll be sharing things I have never shared before and you'll discover how you can go from stressed and struggling to profitable business too!

Resources:

FREE Tribe Workshop by Stu Mclaren

Anna Runyan's TRIBE Bonus Package

Tribe Webinar

Ever missed an episode of the Classy Career Girl Podcast?

Worried that you are going to miss the most popular interview episode of all time!

You are in luck!

Listen to today’s episode for our most popular interview of all time!

Don't miss this chance to take a peek behind the habits and strategies that the most successful women use daily.

Listen in and be encouraged that some big dreams take time and nothing happens overnight.

But if you keep taking baby steps and moving forward, you can make your dream life happen too!

Please Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more women to find a job or business they love that supports the life they really want.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’ve got some brand new episodes coming up soon and if you aren’t subscribed, there’s a good chance you might miss out.

Thanks for your support!

What are you going to do today, this week and this month that’s going to lead you to your goals.

In this episode, I will discuss the #1 reason why you are stuck and spending too much time money trying to get your dream career or business launched.

Get clarity and direction on launching your dream career or business with my FREE Love Your Work and Life Roadmap at www.classycareergirl.com/roadmap

The night I found out I wasn’t going to be a mom in 2013. The Secret movie about the Law of Attraction.

I want list. I want to quit bah. I want to work from home for myself. I want to be a mom to twins. I want to buy a house. I want to have a dog. I want to live a happy stress free life as a mom. I want to have a great marriage.  I want to have great friends.

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen". - Muhammad Ali

Traveling with kids, quitting our jobs, homeschooling... Sound scary? It was!

But when your dream life is on the line, fear takes a backseat. Each leap gets easier when you're fueled by passion and purpose. What's YOUR dream worth fighting for? ✨ #inspiration #dreambig #liveyourbestlife

Plan out your dream with our FREE 90 Day Planner: www.classycareergirl.com/freeplan

Summary: Join us in doing a little 3 day challenge to make your goals happen in the last half the year! Now, let's create an action plan to make your goals happen!

When I first started my blog, I started blogging and I was making some income each month. I was getting paid for sponsored posts and was getting requests for sponsored posts here and there. I made enough to hire a Virtual assistant but everything I was bringing in, I was spending. I needed more income to make my blog a full-time career. I needed a plan. I wasn’t making any profit. Everything I made I spent.

I learned how to create a profitable business because I had a PLAN. I’m teaching how you can make a plan to build a profitable business in 2020 in my free workshop starting on Thursday. You can register at the link in my bio or at www.classycareergirl.com.coachingworkshop.

Wondering what successful people do daily? This podcast episode will share the secrets you need to know.

I am so excited to introduce you to one of our CLASS members. Today you are going to meet Tamara Magalotti.

Tamara has a really amazing story about transition and pivots. She found herself at a crossroads in the wake of her divorce after 30 years of marriage. She had to transition from being a stay-at-home mom to finding a career and dealing with age discrimination.

So let’s listen to her inspiring journey and how CLASS: The Love Your Work and Life System helped her overcome her fear and overwhelm.

Please Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more women to find a job or business they love that supports the life they really want.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’ve got some brand new episodes coming up soon and if you aren’t subscribed, there’s a good chance you might miss out. Thanks for your support!

I've learned a lot about blogging over the past 8 years. Here's what I wish I would have known.

If you are like me, you are subscribed to many different subscriptions. I challenge you today to count up how many memberships you actually belong to. You might save some money once you look at your billing statement. From the business owner perspective, having your own membership site can come with a lot of benefits too. If you want less stress and more freedom, flexibility and impact, it might be for you. Let's dive into 10 examples of membership sites and see if it starts helping you make the decision if a membership site is the right business model for you!

How do you get to the next level in your career? If you are struggling with what's next, you are going to love this episode where my guest walks you step by step through the 7 habits of highly successful women so you can live your calling and your life.

Dr. Lizette Ojeda is an award-winning psychology expert and an authority on career development. As a tenured associate professor, she teaches career counseling, conducts research on career development, and mentors doctoral students. She has been nationally recognized for her work and has published in Journal of Career Development, The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, and The Handbook of Career Counseling for Women. She is a licensed psychologist and has helped hundreds of people achieve their career & life goals. As a multi-passionate career woman, she helps high-achieving women have their "career cake" and eat it, too. She believes career women should not have to choose between living their calling and living their life.

I recently realized I was wasting time so here’s what I did.

5 Ways I am Getting More Organized To Reach My Goals Next Year

1)  Signed off of apps on my phone.  

2) Gave more to my team.

3) Analyzed expenses

• Cut the gym going to work out at home instead
• Analyze what isn’t needed anymore in my business.

4)Get my meetings in place for my team.

Holding annual meetings, weekly meetings. Started using slack for daily community and tasking. Need to be more organized and efficient.

5) Cut the programs and Facebook groups that I didn’t need anymore.

My word for 2020 is streamline. I don’t want there to be any confusion on my team or any confusion for my customers. So we are going to be more focused in 2020.

In today's episode I cover:

• The best business model to start with when you first start coaching
• How to transition to group coaching and scale your business 
• The first steps to plan out and launch a group coaching program
• When to schedule the calls and how to create content for a group coaching program

To learn more visit www.classycareergirl.com/certification

How many things are on your to-do list today?

I am going to take you behind the scenes and share twelve things you can do for success and happiness every day. Note, Disclaimer: I rarely do all 12 of these things. It is difficult to do one of these things every day! But I try, and that is what is important. Some are better than none and I always have a better day when I do some of these.

I created my daily habits list after my second daughter was born in  2018. I do not have the quiet or alone time that I used to have. But I try to get as many of things as I can. The days that I get to as many of these habits as possible I am happier.

I know doing these things was part of what led to the success of our business and I feel like I am able to balance motherhood better too. If I had not been trying to do these habits, I don’t think I would have been in the right place mentally to actually make my goals happen. So, I believe great daily habits are going to help you reach your goals.

Right now I have a 4-month-old and a 4-year-old. I have a lot of competing priorities. I play the role of mom, daughter, wife, business owner, sister, aunt, friend, and neighbor. Here’s how I manage everything I need to do.

Remember this. You can create your future!

Stop doing work you hate.
Stop delaying your great life. Do it right now. Go put yourself out there. You can have your great life and career right now. You have permission to be you and to stand out.
It’s time to take responsibility for your career success.

In this episode, we'll be discussing three essential steps to kickstart your career coaching business in 2024.

Step 1: Define Your Vision

The first step to starting a successful coaching business is to define your vision. What do you want to create in the future? What does your life look like when you reach your goals? What do you want to make by the end of the year? And how many people do you want to impact?

Once you have a clear vision, you can start to develop your mission statement. This is a concise statement that outlines your purpose and goals for your business.

Step 2: Craft Your Action Plan

Now that you have a vision and mission statement, it's time to start planning how you're going to achieve your goals. This involves creating an action plan that outlines your specific steps and timelines.

Your action plan should include metrics that you'll use to track your progress. For example, you might want to track the number of sales calls you make each month, the number of sales you make each month, and the number of content pieces you produce each month.

Step 3: Embrace Adaptability and Growth with your calendar

As a career coach, you need to be flexible and adaptable in order to succeed. The coaching industry is constantly evolving, so it's important to be prepared to change your plans as needed.

This also means that you need to have a growth mindset. This is the belief that you can learn and grow throughout your life.

One way to embrace adaptivity is to focus on your priorities. Don't try to do everything at once. Instead, focus on one thing per 90 days. This will allow you to focus on the most important tasks and achieve your goals.

Call to Action:

If you're ready to kickstart your career coaching business in 2024, take action today. Start by defining your vision and mission, crafting an action plan, and embracing adaptivity.

Additional Resources:

• Classy Career Girl Career Coaching Webinar: https://www.classycareergirl.com/careercoachwebinar/

In this episode, you’ll hear from my current student and she will share how she did it with LITTLE time and LITTLE MONEY and how you can do it too!

I had to go through this all by myself without knowing how anyone else did it and it took me years to figure it out by myself. But you won’t have to because you’ll be able to learn all the steps you need to take.

Today's podcast is very important to me because I'm preparing to take my family to Spain for a few weeks at the end of November. I will still be running the company but from my phone because I'm not bringing my laptop!

I've designed my business and worked hard to take these few weeks off with my family using what I've learned about setting up systems and having my ideal week.

I can't wait to share this episode with you because I explain how I was able to create this time off in my business. In today's podcast episode, you are going to get a sneak peek to my latest brand new course in the 2022 Classy Career Girl Black Friday Bundle called The ultimate calendar management solution.

You'll learn how to take breaks and vacations, how to avoid burnout, how to delegate and how to add more fun in your calendar so you can have your perfect week every week! Make sure you head on over to the bundle page and grab your bundle before it goes into the vault on November 28: www.classycareergirl.com/bundle

I am excited to give this episode today. It's on a very special topic, very timely for me to teach you how to prepare for maternity leave.

Especially if you are a business owner like me. If you were an entrepreneur, how do you prepare your business to go on maternity leave?

So this is the third baby for me. So I have a lot of practice preparing for maternity leave. That's why I thought this video would be perfect for you. By the time you're watching this, I'll probably already have had the baby, which is super exciting.

I wanted to do this video now while it is fresh in my mind because when I'm preparing for maternity leave, I am the most productive I have ever been. Because I want to take a break and I know babies take a lot of time and I gotta have all my tasks done before she comes.

The best way to narrow down your options and figure out what your ideal career fit is to get out from behind your computer and start talking to people. It’s time to fall in love with a strategy called an informational interview to get information about a field of work from someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in it.

If you are getting ready to market yourself online, you'll definitely want to study and listen to this lesson on how to create your authentic promotion plan.

There are times when we put our family and friends first. I’ll be the first to say that sometimes I’m in survival mode.

So first don’t be too hard on yourself and celebrate those baby steps.

Things don’t happen overnight. We celebrate every step along the way.

Salary negotiation, Clothing staples for work, Pantyhose, Financial Advice

Ready to grow your website? Welcome to the Website Traffic Blueprint!

My Website Growth Story

I have been blogging at ClassyCareerGirl.com since 2010 but it wasn’t until I really made the commitment to grow my website that I started to see the results. I committed to making my website no longer a hobby. Instead, it was a business. That was a big commitment I had to make and I encourage you to do the same.

In 2015, our TOTAL page views for the entire YEAR were only 442,000. Right now on December 28th, 2016 average page views PER MONTH are 500,000 at Classycareergirl.com. How was I able to turn the traffic that I got in an entire year into now what I get in a month? This blueprint shares everything. I focused a lot on page views this year and still will continue to focus on this as my goal for next year is to get to over 1 million page views per month. As I write this, we hit another goal of most page views in one day of 31,641.

This is the answer to the #1 most common question I have received over the years.

Self-doubt happens anytime we are pursuing a new career or life. Don't miss this most popular solo episode I have ever recorded!

Listen in and be encouraged that some big dreams take time and nothing happens overnight. But if you keep taking baby steps and moving forward, you can make your dream life happen too!

Please Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more women to find a job or business they love that supports the life they really want.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’ve got some brand new episodes coming up soon and if you aren’t subscribed, there’s a good chance you might miss out.

Thanks for your support!

"The #1 Mistake New Career Coaches Make: Not Helping People"

Introduction:

• In this episode, we'll discuss a common mistake made by beginning career coaches: not helping people.
• Many aspiring coaches are held back by concerns about what others might think and a lack of experience. They often worry about not being experts, having no clients, and not knowing where to start.

Segment 1: The Importance of Helping People:

• One fundamental principle for aspiring career coaches: You must start by helping someone.
• Overcoming self-doubt and fear of not being an expert is crucial. Waiting for perfection is counterproductive.
• It's essential to focus on learning to coach and experiencing the impact you can make on others.
• You can't sell your coaching services effectively if you can't see the positive impact you have on your clients.

Segment 2: The Relationship Between Helping People and Earning Income:

• Contrary to popular belief, shifting your focus away from money can lead to more financial success.
• The more people you help, the more money you are likely to make.
• Emphasize enjoying the process of helping people while still charging for your services.
• Building confidence and getting unstuck are critical for those who have been stuck for years.

Segment 3: Taking Action as a Coach:

• The key to starting your coaching career is to begin coaching right away.
• You don't need a website, a niche, an email list, or social media to start helping people.
• All you need is one person with a problem you know how to solve.
• Personal examples can illustrate how to identify your natural coaching strengths.

Segment 4: The Significance of the First Sale:

• Making the first sale is pivotal in your coaching journey.
• Your initial focus should be on helping people rather than getting caught up in marketing details.
• Creating an offer that genuinely addresses your ideal client's problems is the key to success.

Segment 5: The Learning Process of Coaching:

• Every coaching call is a learning opportunity for both you and your client.
• By helping people solve their problems, you gain invaluable experience and insights.
• The importance of continuous learning and self-improvement in becoming a successful coach.

Segment 6: Gaining Clarity and Confidence through Client Interactions:

• Interacting with ideal clients can provide valuable insights and help clarify your coaching focus.
• The significance of sales and coaching calls in refining your offering and gaining confidence.
• The transformation from uncertainty to natural, enjoyable coaching.

Segment 7: Practice Coaching and the Transformation It Offers:

• The recommendation for practice coaching, offering 10 hours of coaching with provided clients.
• The life-changing impact of practice coaching on confidence and clarity.
• The role of social proof and testimonials in making sales calls easier.

Segment 8: The Call to Action:

• Encouragement to identify someone who needs your help and start coaching today.
• Highlighting that a niche and offer are discovered through helping people, not building a website or taking courses.
• The path to gaining clarity and confidence as a career coach lies in assisting and learning from others.

Conclusion:

• Remember that the number one mistake beginners make is not helping people.
• To become a successful career coach, start by making a positive impact on someone's life today.
• Focus on helping others, and you'll naturally develop your niche and offer over time.
• The journey to becoming a confident and impactful coach begins with taking action and helping others.

I am excited because today I get to introduce you to our Classy Career girl Certified coaches. They graduate this week. I am so proud of them!

Classy Career Girl® Certified Career Coaches have completed a rigorous 6 month training program and maintain active status by continuing education. They are trusted experts to guide you to find a job or business you love that supports the life you want. Our coaches have completed practice coaching, independent study and a final exam.

They have worked with Anna Runyan privately throughout the 6-month certification program to improve their coaching skills and attain their Career Coach Certification. They have completed extensive training in The Classy Career Girl Client Career Transformation System and can help you transform your career, business and life.

Our Certified Career Coaches adhere to Classy Career Girl Values and Mission and have received positive reviews from their clients. They help first, never stop learning, make a difference and don't waste time. You can now hire a coach in job search coaching, business coaching, productivity coaching and leadership coaching.

This is a celebratory episode where I interview our coaches. Please join me in congratulating them!

Happy New Year!! Hello, 2019!! Who is ready for an incredible year!! Stick with me because this year I’ve got some amazing content to help you make your career and business dreams happen!

I love vision boards. I’m going to tell you all about it in this episode because I think it’s a huge opportunity for you! Thanks for hanging with me! Let's get started!

If you are just starting your business, this is the exact plan that Anna recommends following to start and grow your business in 90 days.

Annual plans are overwhelming to me. I like to break it down into 90 days of tasks. If a year from now you want to have a profitable business, here’s what I do in Q1. Nothing happens overnight.

In this episode you'll learn:

• 4 areas to focus on to start a business in 2020
• How To Create a New Business in 90 Days

Reference

One thing that I'm struggling lately is staying focused on my goals. Because my two cuties are really cute distractions and I love them very much. But like you, I have a lot of dreams. So today I'm going to teach you three things that are going to help you stay ridiculously focused on your goals. If you've got a lot of distractions and a lot of things going on, but you still want to make your goals and dreams happen, then this topic is for you.

3 Ways to Stay Ridiculously Focused

Step 1: So the first thing that I want you to do is I want you to create a list of daily habits.

Step 2: Identify what your top three priorities are. So this is what I do every single week.

Step 3: Unsubscribe, unfollow and delete.