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4 Tips for Leveraging Blank Space to Build Your Brand From Jordan Zaslow, Founder of Her Bold Move

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When starting a new venture, the pathway to finding the critical gap in the market is rarely defined as one “aha” moment. Many aspiring entrepreneurs employ strategies such as defining the value-add in their respective industries, getting clear on company purpose and objectives, understanding their target audience, and evaluating market conditions and competition. Yes, there is always research to be conducted, but that’s not necessarily all there is to it. 

For Boston-based entrepreneur and activist Jordan Zaslow, sometimes it’s just about trusting your gut and taking the plunge. Prior to the pandemic, the former producer and director built a career in entertainment—with stints at media giants like E! Networks, Fox Broadcasting, Creative Artists Agency, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Hearst Television—and is best known for her viral videos of social experiments that she created and directed in partnership with Ashton Kutcher and his company A Plus. She eventually founded her own production company after working with big-name partners like CVS, Disney, Procter & Gamble, Doctors Without Borders, and more. 

But when production was shut down in 2020 due to COVID, Zaslow found herself, like millions of others, looking for purpose—and she certainly found it. 

Fueled by a tumultuous U.S. election cycle that same year, along with rising social, economic, and political tensions, there was a collective spotlight and interest in taking action that would lead to greater change. With several high-level media and production heads out of work (and countless contacts at her disposal), Zaslow saw a unique opportunity to leverage their shared background in storytelling to support women running for office across the country. She began speaking to candidates first-hand and quickly learned how urgent the need was for support (a lesson for any aspiring entrepreneur to get out in the field to truly understand the need in the market).

“We got to see firsthand the obstacles that they were up against,” says Zaslow, highlighting the persistent misogyny, sexism, and double standards these candidates face in the political space. “We didn’t realize how emotionally taxing this is for women and how the support they need isn’t just financial—it’s often knowing that there’s a group that they can call if there’s a miscellaneous issue.” 

Together with a coalition of media professionals, Zaslow oversaw the creation of 75 pro bono campaign ads for women candidates across 18 states—including Cori Bush, Pat Timmons Goodson, and the entire Democratic slate of candidates running for Federal Office in West Virginia—and rallied thousands of people to join their coalition, all by the end of the 2020 election cycle. The success of her efforts and collective support led her to found Her Bold Move, an organization that is working to break glass ceilings and support women in politics (among them is Karen Bass, the recently appointed mayor of Los Angeles). Her Bold Move now has a coalition of several thousand people and has supported more than 140 candidates across 27 states to date. 

“The question of viability is often weighed very heavily when institutional endorsers are deciding whether or not to support a candidate,” says Zaslow. “We wanted to find a way to change the definition of a viable candidate and also change the outcome of elections so that candidates who were once not thought to be valuable might have a fighting chance.” 

Growing engagement and interest on social media further solidified the need and support for her organization’s mission. “A lot of Gen Z followers would reach out to us and ask how to get involved,” says Zaslow. Some users were even invited to the company’s weekly Zoom calls to learn more about what they were working on and see if there were opportunities to get involved. Social media can often act as a focus group to gain first-hand insight into what’s working, what needs improvement, and promote active participation with your brand’s network that will further your company’s mission and overall success. 

After successfully shifting industries and finding the critical gap in her own market, Zaslow shares four actionable tips for entrepreneurs looking to do the same.

1. Don’t wait until you know everything to make the jump

As women, we sometimes try to tread carefully and think that we need to have all of our research before we just dive in. We have this vision for how our career is going to be five or 10 years down the road. But if everyone who ever did anything important waited until they knew everything, nothing important would ever happen.

2. Resist the urge to prove yourself by "wearing all the hats" or doing everything yourself

Hire or collaborate with smart, talented people (who share your enthusiasm) and let them shine. [For example, in the beginning] raising money was completely foreign to me. We connected with a great fundraising firm that helps us with grassroots fundraising, and that was how we got off the ground. As soon as we had success with grassroots fundraising, everything else just kind of fell into place.

3. Be unapologetically honest when there are things you don't know 

People will respect the authenticity and be glad to help expand your knowledge. 

4. Trust your gut

While feedback and constructive criticism can be of enormous value, they can also trip you up. If you have a clear vision for what you're building, try not to let outside opinions slow you down. 

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Entrepreneur Francis Tesmer on How Soft Skills Boost Success in the Beauty Industry

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With over 25 years of global business under her belt, powerhouse entrepreneur Francis Tesmer attests that a successful career is not just measured by technical expertise, but also the strength of one’s soft skills. These attributes are defined as non-technical skills, such as communication or collaboration, that promotes harmonious and effective interaction. As the founder and CEO of LEAD Rolfs Global Institute, the first-ever college and university degree for beauty professionals, Tesmer is on a mission to provide the tools and resources for students to learn just that—and so much more.  

Eighty five percent of career success comes from having well-developed soft skills and people skills, according to research from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center. The report also found that hard skills, including technical skills and knowledge, only make up 15 percent of career success.

What’s more, 92  percent of talent professionals and hiring managers say that soft skills, like communication, creativity, collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, and empathy, are just as important—or more important—than hard skills, according to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report. 

These are just a few of the pivotal qualities that can propel your career and set you apart from other candidates, and nowhere are soft skills more pertinent than in today’s beauty industry, whether you’re interacting with clients or leading a team to success. 

“This is an era of collaboration,” says Tesmer on the latest episode of WorkParty, emphasizing the importance of communication with clients and within the community. She also highlights the role of innovation, creativity, and education to develop everything from new products to experiences, and interactions.

“Education is the gap,” says Tesmer, whose accelerated program is giving students and working beauty professionals the opportunity to expand their career options and seek high-level roles. “That has been the whole focus of LEAD, to create that education so that many individuals in this space can fill those executive positions and make a difference, not just for themself, but for their company, for their community, for their society, and for the world.” 

Tune into the latest episode of WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson to learn how to take your beauty career from trade to profession and stay at the forefront of technology, sustainability, product ingredients, and more in the ever-evolving $500 billion dollar beauty industry. 

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Mara Founder Allison McNamara on Must-Have Digital Tools for Day-to-Day Business Operations

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After nearly a decade of TV hosting with stints on The Today Show, the Oscars red carpet for ABC, and the entertainment show Popsugar Now, Los Angeles-based Allison McNamara knows how to tell a story. Her experience informs the content behind her lauded skin-care brand, Mara, launched in 2018. But when it came to the intricacies of running a business, she admits there was much to learn. To fill in those gaps and optimize her business operations, she turned to digital tools and resources. 

The financial arm of her business runs through NetSuite, an integrated, cloud-based business software that offers enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications (a software system that helps automate and manage day-to-day business operations) such as financial management, accounting, inventory management, and procurement. Eighty-four percent of companies in the Forbes Cloud 100 List are NetSuite customers, according to the platform.

“We’ve really streamlined our accounting,” says McNamara on the latest episode of WorkParty. “NetSuite is our cloud-based paper trail. I really use that as the holy grail of our business.” 

She even hired a coach and spent over 100 hours educating herself on the platform. “You have to be open to learning…like basic accounting books or taking the time to listen to a podcast— something that you wouldn’t normally listen to that is kind of an expert in that field,” says McNamara, who bootstrapped her brand of algae-infused products. (The line is now sold at Sephora and received the celebrity stamp of approval from the likes of Chrissy Teigen, Hailey Beiber, and Olivia Munn.) 

As for internal communication, her company uses Slack, an instant messaging program designed to streamline comms and promote team collaboration in an organized, fast, and secure way. Nearly 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies rely on Slack to build their digital HQ, according to the platform. 

“I’m a big quick communicator, so I prefer Slack like texts,” she says. “Get it to me as fast as possible, but just don’t call me, "she adds while laughing.

Even though McNamara is busy running the business, she’s still very much involved in content. “My biggest strengths come from training in media because I’m really good at telling stories quickly,” she says. “I still do all of our copywriting because I enjoy it.”

For all things content, she relies on Google’s G Suite. "That's how we worked when I was an editor," she says. "We made our [Google] Calendars and [Google] Sheets. I work religiously in Docs." 

Over six million companies pay to use G Suite, according to 2020 reports (latest count), up from five million in 2019. The productivity software includes a digital calendar, cloud spreadsheets, presentations, cloud storage for documents, and a video conferencing feature. 

“There’s a tool for everything,” says McNamara.

For more on how she bootstrapped her business and made it to Sephora, as well as candid conversations on her best and worst days as an entrepreneur, tune into the latest episode of WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson.

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How a Business Therapist Helped the Founders of Clearstem Scale Their Company

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Many have sought therapy outside of the office, but have you ever thought about bringing a therapist into the workplace? When you consider the nuances of starting a business, from managing finances to finalizing product formulas, creating marketing strategies, and supervising a team (no matter how big or small), the concept of bringing a third party onboard to help employees meet personal and team goals and offer guidance on how to enhance individual work styles may not seem far-fetched. 

Communication happens at every stage of running a business, and how you effectively communicate through the ups and downs of operating a business can impact the overall success of your company, as well as the mental health of employees. Forty-two percent of people have suffered from burnout, stress and fatigue as a result of communication issues in their business, according to a recent survey from Project Co., a project management software company. 

For Clearstem founders Kayleigh Christina and Danielle Gronich, bringing in a therapist was paramount, especially during the early stages of bootstrapping and scaling their non-toxic skin-care company—lauded for its revolutionary line of stem cell products combating acne, scarring, and aging.

“When [Kayleigh] moved to LA [from San Diego], we were at a point in the company where things were starting to get really real,” says Gronich, on the latest episode of WorkParty. “The checks we were writing were a lot bigger, the decisions we were making were a lot more consequential, and we didn’t have a lot of the foundational understanding of how each other communicates to bridge the gap with the distance and the added pressure.” 

To help facilitate effective communication through the stresses and tribulations of scaling a business, the pair brought on a therapist and executive coach to walk them through their core values exercises, three-year plan, and “all the other things you do when you are serious about the trajectory of your company,” says Gronich. 

Now on retainer for three years and counting, the therapist even helps their team if there’s anything they need to “clean up,” such as if a conversation didn’t go smoothly or if an employee didn’t quite understand something during a review. “We have him there to neutralize and elevate all conversations and discrepancies when they arise,” says Gronich.  

Christina also points out that a lot of founders aren’t trained in leadership and management before starting a business. “Both of us didn’t come from some senior level management position where we’re running another company and then come over,” she says. “We’re figuring this out for the first time.” Learning how to make employees feel supported and appreciated, but also challenged and accountable, has pushed the duo to learn a different style of communication.

“Our team is growing beautifully—they get along and the communication is great,” says Christina. “When there’s little bumps, our team knows how to handle it, and they know they have the resources and support to handle it at the same time. We really get to go through all the struggles together, and even better, celebrate all the wins.”

Tune into WorkParty to learn more about how Christina and Gronich bootstrapped their business, why they lead an education-first model with consumers, and how they grew a strong online community as a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand.

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Tiffany Yu on How Disability Accessibility Can Boost Business Success

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After a traumatic car accident at age nine that left her with nerve damage, which limits the use of her right arm, Tiffany Yu has been on a fervent mission to change the conversation around disability, including in the world of business. It’s why she founded her company Diversability, which is led entirely by people with disabilities.

Originally conceived as a student club at her alma mater, Georgetown University, Diversability has evolved into an award-winning social enterprise with a network of over 80,000 people. The company aims to elevate disability pride through community, visibility, and allyship. 

“I couldn’t find a place where I fit, so I created it,” shares Yu on the latest episode of WorkParty. Prior to starting her own company, Yu worked for Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Revolt Media and TV. “My whole life up until now has just been open to opportunity,” she adds.

Much of Yu’s advocacy includes promoting the power of inclusion and disability accessibility in business. “There’s so much disabled talent out there,” she says, while also pointing to the massive consumer base that companies ought to tap into. The most recent data shows that up to 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. have some type of disability, according to the CDC. That equates to 27 percent of adults in the nation—all with unique perspectives, talents, and purchasing power who have the potential to drive substantial business growth. 

“We are your consumers,” says Yu. “We have money, but who also has money? Our friends and family. If we love your brand, we’re going to go out and evangelize your brand as well and then that’s going to have that trickle out effect.”

The proof is in the numbers: Companies that prioritize disability inclusion and accessibility achieve on average 28 percent higher revenue, double the net income, and 30 percent higher profit margins, according to a report by the global professional services company Accenture. 

When asked how companies can start thinking about disability accessibility, Yu notes that it starts with giving people with disabilities seats at the table and having the right people in the room. “When you hire disabled people into your company, we can help you think of innovative ideas or things you haven’t thought about before that can open up your brand or whatever you’re building to new audiences,” says Yu. If you aren’t in a position to be able to hire, Yu suggests bringing in a focus group, especially for direct-to-consumer companies. 

Tune into Tiffany Yu’s episode of WorkParty where host Jaclyn Johnson learns more about her journey through adversity, building a community based business, and empowering others in the disabled community today.

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9 Signs It's Time to Diversify Your Business' Revenue Streams

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As a founder, diversifying your revenue streams has quickly turned into a non-negotiable for the health and longevity of your business. Between the Covid-19 pandemic, recent economic downturns, and general ebbs and flows of market fluctuations, the journey of an entrepreneur is far too unpredictable to not be exploring all potential channels for profit earning.

Diversification also allows you to test out different business models and strategies, identify the most profitable ones for your business, grow your customer base, and manage your cash flow better—while reducing the risk of losing all your revenue in case of an unexpected downturn.

If you’ve been considering how to mix up your business’ revenue streams but aren’t sure where to start, here are the nine signs female entrepreneurs say helped them figure it out.

1. You’ve tapped out your existing sources of income

Not being able to meet your sales goals with your existing revenue streams is a surefire sign that it’s time to diversify, says Frenchie Ferenczi, founder of the boutique consulting firm Frenchie Ferenczi Strategies. When it happened to her, she decided to expand her product range. “I found that my clients could benefit from more accountability and support, and I had more to give,” she says. “This led to me launching a six-month strategy implementation program to hold business owners accountable to the hardest part of creating a strategy—doing it.”

Her best advice to any entrepreneur looking to diversify? "Go deep, not wide," she says. What can you add to your product or offer suite that your existing customers can't say no to? Make that!

2. You have under-utilized capital at your disposal

Say business is booming or you find yourself with surplus of cash flowing in that you haven’t figured out what to do with yet. Letting it sit idle isn’t ideal. “Oftentimes [as entrepreneurs], we are so deep in building that we don’t take a holistic step back to actually map resources and capacity, identify under-utilized capital, and then leverage it to create new revenue streams,” says Julia Zhou, head of ventures at tech-focused trading company AlphaLab Capital.

After being a trading company for five years, Zhour says AlphaLab realized that it had a lot of capital that wasn’t being actively traded and that could be locked up for longer periods of time. “We also identified the fact that we had built up other strong internal capacities like technical recruiting and product launches,” she says. “After we assessed what these could be combined to create, we launched our VC fund, which utilized all of these diverse aspects.”

3. Business isn’t as busy as it used to be

A slow consulting season at the end of 2021 signaled to Adebukola Ajao, founder of BDY CONSULT, that it was time to expand her offerings to attract new business. "I created a flowchart with my marketing expertise at the center," she says. "From there, I reimagined ways I could use that hard skill—I can teach; I can work with small businesses; and I can speak about marketing."

Carrie Melissa Jones, founder and CEO of Carrie Melissa Jones, LLC, experienced a similar pull to expand her offerings when her inbound sales pipeline came to a halt. She took the opportunity to launch a robust survey and customer discovery interviews. “This research quickly revealed the need for a new offering for a customer we had never served before,” she says. She’s since launched a targeted training program that directly caters to the needs of this specific customer profile.

4. You've maxed out the number of clients you can take on

There are only so many hours in the work day, and if you find yourself at the point where you're not able to grow your service-based business by taking on new clients, it may be time to find new sources of revenue that don't require you being hands-on to operate. Liane Agbi, founder and CEO of Beautifuli Digital, knew it was time to reevaluate her offerings when she no longer had the bandwidth to support everyone who reached out to her.

“I strategically reviewed what questions I often got asked by my ideal clients and recreated more productized services that were repeatable and impactful,” she says. Now, Agbi has the opportunity to help more women than ever before, has even doubled her monthly revenue, and created more stability in her business.

5. Clients are requesting services you don’t already provide

What had the potential to become a competitive situation ultimately became a way for Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith, former direct competitors turned co-founders of Ready Set Coach, to diversify their revenue streams in a creative way: After continuously finding themselves in the position where a business owner would want to work with them separately, they decided to join forces and combine their skill sets to serve an even greater customer base.

Their advice? Both Merrel and Smith agree that always keeping an open mind, seeing challenges as potential opportunities, and giving yourself and your business space to evolve offerings as the market evolves too is your best bet.

Sydney Sherman de Arenas, founder and CEO of Admin Boutique, had a similar opportunity.  When her administrative assistant clients were requesting marking services, she decided to lean into the opportunity and expand the services her company offered.. One word of caution: “It is important to note that we had a handle on the original services the business offered and adding in new services wasn't going to take away from our old service,” she notes.

Bottom line: Don’t shy away from new opportunities, but be strategic and ensure you’re not doing a disservice to your existing customer base and business model. 

6. Business is consistent, steady, and optimized

The luxury of steady business is also an indicator that you may be ready to intentionally diversify your revenue streams. “I would say that it's very much worth it once you get your main product systemized,” says Rachel Rofe, founder of CustomHappy, a product fulfillment company for mugs and personalized gifts. “I love to get one product out and working and in a system before introducing another thing.”

Julie Shen, founder of the advisory and consultancy firm Springstead, agrees. “The new opportunities should pivot your business into areas that are complementary and adjacent so you can leverage your existing foundation and operations,” she advises.

If business is going well, and you’re thinking of adding something new to the mix, consider the approach Jessica Alderson, co-founder and CEO of the dating app So Syncd, has taken: “I would suggest running a small test first to try to gauge what kind of revenue you can expect and to get an idea of what it will require to build and maintain this additional source of income,” she says.

7. You’re posing a lot of “what if?” questions

Sometimes, deciding to diversify simply comes down to the curiosity and excitement of trying something new. Take choreographer and consultant Katherine Hill for example. After leaving her management consulting role to pursue her passion for choreography, she experienced momentum that led her to consider whether others in corporate roles felt stunted in their jobs. She began asking herself questions such as: "I pretty much understand how to do X. Now, what if we...?" or “Wouldn't it be awesome to...?"

Intentionally asking those questions led her to choreographing for elite athletes, as well as creating GOE Spray, an all-natural deodorizing spray for athletic gear. Mastering the art of diving in, enjoying the learning process, and often asking, “What if…?” has propelled Hill into an impressive and eclectic career.

8. You see opportunity with a new audience

Staying connected to new audiences—specifically, new generations that have the power to influence the economy—is the strategy Elizabeth Galbut, co-founder of SoGal Ventures, has harnessed to know when and how to diversify revenue streams.

“After noticing how open the current generation is to talking about topics that are generally considered taboo, I began to further diversify my portfolio with these topics in mind,” she explains. The results? She began investing in diversely founded companies, mental health businesses, menstruation startups, and more, setting SoGal Ventures apart in the VC world as a breath of fresh air.

9. People keep coming to you for advice

Allowing others to “pick your brain” can be a powerful way to pay it forward, and it can also be an impactful opportunity to diversify your income, as Caley Adams, founder of the design studio Wildes District, discovered for herself after noticing how often her company was providing advice, visual design suggestions, and audits for free. “We realized that there's so much value in the insights and advice we give,” she reflects. Now, Adams and her team proactively offer “design audit” packages for those clients who may benefit from receiving targeted advice on specific areas that can be improved upon.

Annie Franceschi, founder of the branding agency and consulting firm Greatest Story Creative, also turned those “pick your brain” requests into new revenue streams, including business coaching, VIP experiences, a group program, and even a book. Her advice for effectively and sustainably adding more to your mix? “Create smart offers that make sense, ones that sit at the intersection between what they want, what you'd actually love to do for them, and a structure that'll be profitable for you," she says.

To try this approach yourself, Lis Best, founder of the professional development community Girls Club Collective, recommends considering whether there's a question, problem, or opportunity that you keep being asked about and that you could help your clients solve in a different way. Once you're identified a potential new product or service, here's her pro tip: “Consider whether there is a relatively low-stakes way to experiment with offering something new and seeing how it goes."

This article is written by Gesche Haas, founder and CEO of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs and leaders through PR, authentic connections, and high-impact resources.

Tried and Tested Ways To Increase Sales That Don’t Involve Paid Ads

Starting a new business is hard work—we’re not going to pretend otherwise. But something that can make the process feel less gah-inducing is getting advice from people who’ve been exactly where you are. Welcome to View From the Inside, a new series where we’re sharing pro tips and best practices that’ve helped founders get their big ideas off the ground and take them to the next level.

Over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have focused their sales strategy on digital marketing and paid ads. In 2020, an estimated 76 percent of businesses used digital marketing tactics to reach new customers, up from 57 percent in 2019, according to Clutch's 2020 Small Business Digital Marketing Survey.

Of those, the report found that 44 percent of businesses used paid advertising, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, to reach new customers. Suffice it to say that relying heavily on social media and paid advertising is a common practice. But with these channels becoming increasingly saturated (not to mention expensive), you may be looking for advice on how to market without paid ads in order to increase sales in more creative and cost-efficient ways. 

You should know that plenty of small business owners find success without spending money of paid ads or social media, and these female entrepreneurs below, all of whom are members of the entrepreneurial community Dreamers & Doers, are proof there are other viable alternatives to quickly and effectively boost sales.

Whether utilizing search engine optimization (SEO)—only 63 percent of small businesses invest in SEO at the moment—building out a referral network, or donating gift bags to charity events, they’ve been able to drastically increase their sales, expand their customer base, and strengthen brand credibility, all without a single dollar spent on ads.

13 female entrepreneurs share their best advice for how to market without paid ads

Ankita Terrell, co-founder of My Founder Circle

I formed collaborations and built out a referral network. This helps me serve my audience more powerfully. When something is out of my wheelhouse, I refer the lead out, knowing they will be well-served and supported in their goals. Similarly, I've helped my referral partners see the gaps I can fill in serving their audience. I get almost 30 percent of my business through word-of-mouth referrals. It's powerful! 

Desiree Almodovar, founder of The Inlay

One of the most unconventional ways we've advised some clients to reach customers is through mailers. It sounds so dated, but we've seen clients have huge success with this, increasing sales by as much as 27 percent. 

Rachel Beider, CEO of PRESS Modern Massage

I have offered my existing customers small gift cards that say "$20 toward your next session" with a "to" and "from" section. Creating a special referral card for our clients has resulted in a steady increase in sales by expanding my customer base and creating brand loyalty.

Melissa Unsell-Smith, CEO of Catalytic Icon

Every 90 days, I re-evaluate my client's most pressing pain points. I spend a few hours perusing online forums or communities where my ideal clients are participating in conversations. I aggregate the data across platforms and use an AI summary tool to summarize comments and reviews. This is an exceptional way to modify my value proposition and to make offers that resonate with my ideal clients. I typically see a five percent to 11 percent increase in conversions each time I do this exercise.

Ari Krzyzek, CEO of Chykalophia

Through partnering with a local business incubator, I connected with potential customers and showcased my expertise in branding and UX strategies for high-performing websites, which led to increased sales. Additionally, speaking engagements allowed me to demonstrate the value of my services, which resulted in more conversions. In the first year of leveraging these two strategies, I increased my sales by 32 percent.

Ariel Schiffer, CEO of Dreampro LLC

Most of our leads come from people searching on Google. Our SEO strategy accounts for 65 percent of monthly leads that came through our door in the last year alone for our $20,000-and-up high ticket retainer course packages, accounting for more than $120,000 in sales from this statistic alone. In the last two months, every one of our long-term retainer clients have all come from SEO/Google.

Angelina Handayani, founder of Mahisi

Selling wholesale has allowed me to sell my products in bulk directly to boutiques. My sales increased 4,443 percent even with a lower margin than selling retail. In addition, through wholesale partnerships with boutiques, I was able to increase brand awareness, which led to the products getting into customers’ hands without any additional marketing expenses.

Laura Nespoli, strategic storyteller at Meshin Movement

One hundred percent of my 2022 revenue was brought in through partnerships, not marketing. Partnering up with brands whose services and stories are complementary to yours connects your brand to a loyal audience that is already paying attention. If that isn’t valuable enough, you become part of a story people are already following, giving your brand credibility and appeal with the halo effect of their affinity for the partner.

Meredith Reed, co-founder of Rexxy

Our agency launched an affiliate program for a client that brought in over $170,000 in affiliate-generated revenue in the first month. An affiliate program leverages the selling power of the people who love your brand by creating a system for incentivizing and rewarding people for recommending your product to their personal network. Since your affiliates are paid solely on commission, your brand can avoid the risk of making a large upfront investment on ads without any guarantee of conversions. 

Jordan Schanda King, founder and CEO of Easy Scaling

In just the five days of offering a freebie bundle, I grew my email list by about 1,500 people and made about $2,500 from template/course tripwire sales. This doesn't factor in the lifetime value of those sign-ups, as several of those original leads have converted to my membership and my high-ticket mastermind.

Tamara Kostova, CEO of Velexa

Channel strategy is the name of the game. By partnering with brokerages who wanted to seem more innovative, we were able to push our technology platform along their execution services. By architecting a deeply integrated revenue share and commission structure, we were both able to win. Currently one out of three of our multi-million dollar platform deals come from partners.

Julie Shen, founder of Springstead

A strategic partnership is a great way to drive growth. When we wanted to pursue a new media initiative, we didn’t have the distribution or operational infrastructure, but we had amazing IP and storytelling. On the flip side, our partner had immense infrastructure but needed more content creators. We were able to launch a first-of-its-kind project that reached 10 million downloads with no upfront funding or investment. We were revenue and profit positive and the content was optioned into a docuseries by a streaming network.

Emily McDonald, founder and CEO of The Stylist LA

We had major success with building a brand rep program that involved gifting products to specific people in our target market who were interested in spreading the word about the brand. We accepted 15 brand reps a quarter, and we gifted them free subscriptions, as well as monthly calls with me as the founder to ask any questions, get career advice, and discuss anything on their minds. We encouraged the brand reps to be involved in our inventory buying processes, we asked for feedback on marketing, and we tried to really involve them in the company. In return we asked that they spread the word about our company to their friends. We also asked that they create content for us and provide feedback on our product. We had 30 brand reps in 2022. Their sharing of our brand brought in 12 percent of all new users. The cost to us was just the cost of our time to run the program and the free product that we gave them.

This article was written by Gesche Haas, founder and CEO of Dreamers & Doers.

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7 Business Strategies From This Year's Create Cultivate 100 Honorees That’ll Help Set You Apart

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The path to success is never linear, and this is especially true for women and femmes in business. Despite the challenges they’ve faced, those honored on this year's Create Cultivate 100 list have achieved remarkable success due to the unique strategies they applied to their business practices.

Ahead, we share some of these approaches that set them apart from the rest and how they apply to entrepreneurs at every stage.

1. Prepare to pivot

Beauty nominee, Amy Liu worked at Smashbox, Kate Somerville, and Josie Maran Cosmetics before striking out on her own to start the award-winning makeup brand Tower 28, which she launched at age 40. Even though it took her 18 years to finally say yes to becoming an entrepreneur—she’d thought about it since she was 28—Liu says she never counted herself (or a career change) out. "Part of manifestation," she says, "is just putting your dream out there."

2. Build intentional partnerships

Climate honoree and sustainability activist Jhánneu Roberts is an expert at this. Roberts partners with like-minded brands, like Bank of the West and Grove Collaborative, that further empower her community to live a sustainable life. When sharing advice for up and coming activists and sustainability creators she says, “It’s not just about reducing waste, it’s also about sustaining yourself.” Later this year, Jhánneu plans to launch a course focused on teaching other creators how to work with brands so that they can continue to build their own businesses, sustainably.

3. Follow your intuition

Content Creator honoree Achieng Agutu, also known as the Tantalizing Confidence Queen, has built an incredible community founded on fearlessness. When it comes to making important decisions, she encourages her followers to look within. "When something is for you, it should feel effortless and there should be no overthinking," she says. “If I don't feel a sense of freedom, a sense of happiness, if the energy is not reciprocated, if there is no sense of I see you and I want the best for you then I am out."

4. See every opportunity as a learning opportunity

Pinky Cole, Food and Beverage honoree and founder of Slutty Vegan, a plant-based burger chai based n in Atlanta valued at $100 million, has 20 new locations set to open after a successful Series A funding round. She acknowledges that expanding requires acknowledging what you don't know, being willing to learn, and not getting comfortable with what you do know. Second only to that, she says, is learning that you will lose people who are valuable to you and the business. But, the most important part is having the emotional maturity to move forward without letting it get in the way of your success. 

5. Use representation to tap potential

Finance honoree Simran Kaur, founder of Girls That Invest, aims to make investing more inclusive, starting from an early age. “You cannot become what you cannot see, she says. "More women talking about money or investing is going to encourage more women to come into the door. It feels less intimidating when you know people who look like you and can break down the jargon in ways you understand—without being patronizing. It's about using language and a female-lens that makes it just a wee bit more fun and engaging.”

6. Nurture your interests

Arts and Culture honoree and founder of Utendahl Creative, Madison Utendahl, has been on the founding teams of cultural phenomenons like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Refinery 29's 29Rooms and the Museum of Ice Cream. She believes in letting what you love lead you to your true north. “The journey to happiness is lifelong and well worth it,” she says. “I hope all women, especially those in creative spaces, know that they are worth their wildest dreams.”

7. Never stop testing new ideas

As the founder of Poppi, Food and Beverage honoree Allison Ellsworth wants to inspire others to bring out their inner disruptive entrepreneur—and not be afraid to try new things. Case in point: Ellsworth's first foray into TikTok a personal story about why she started her brand after not being able to find gut-friendly beverages, garnered 50 million views and $100K sales. This led to Poppi being the number-one searched beverage on Amazon, free endorsements from celebrity fans like Kendall Jenner and Drew Barrymore, and being named BevNet’s Marketing Campaign of the year. All of which taught Ellsworth a valuable lesson: Never let the fear of trying something new decide your future.

Tune in to this week'e episode of WorkParty where Jaclyn Johnson looks to these inspiring founders to answer some of your most-asked questions about owning and running a business.

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Hesitant to Bootstrap? Here's One Founder-Approved Strategy to Make It Happen

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Jordan Harper, CEO of Barefaced, launched her clinical-grade skin-care brand with no business background, no investors, and no savings to fall back on. However as a nurse practitioner with nearly a decade of experience in aesthetic medicine, Harper had a solid understanding of the products she wanted to create, and a strong demand from her audience.

With a strategic pre-launch plan and determination to fill a gap in the skin-care market, Harper brought her product line to life without any support from outside investors or accruing personal debt.

Bootstrapping, a business funding approach for entrepreneurs who don't want to rely on external sources of capital, is the option most small businesses (aka companies with fewer than 500 employees, which is 99.9 percent of all businesses in the U.S.) use to establish their companies. According to a recent survey of startups, 78 percent of small business owners self-funded their launches.

To pay for product manufacturing deposits, Harper took out several zero-percent-interest credit cards This may seem like a risky move, but it allowed her to maintain complete control over the business, without pressure to quickly scale and generate massive returns for investors.

Once production was in motion, Harper relied on the power of pre-orders to keep the business in motion. Thanks to her loyal Instagram following and patients' feedback, she was right about the strong demand for products. Pre-orders raised enough funds to match her manufacturing costs, and paid for even more goods to go into production. Harper ended up offering four rounds of pre-orders, which she reinvested into growth strategies for the business.

On a recent episode of WorkParty, Harper backed her approach as a simple and achievable tactic for any new business owner. The key is to have a solid understanding of your products, build a strong audience base, and educate.

Tune into Jordan Harper's episode of WorkParty where Jaclyn Johnson learns more about her career transition from nurse practitioner to entrepreneur, Barefaced’s unique take on customer engagement, and tactics for maximizing efficiency.

Why Web3 Matters for Small Businesses

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any small business looking to grow and thrive. But with the emergence of Web3 technologies, the game is changing yet again.

Ahead of Future Summit: Austin on March 11, we tapped artificial intelligence research laboratory Open AI's disruptive new offering ChatGPT, an AI-powered text generator bot. We asked it to explain why a Web3 strategy matters for small businesses and what steps you can take to stay ahead of the curve. Here are the results.

What is Web3?

The next evolution of the internet, Web3 aims to decentralize power and create a more transparent, secure, and user-centric online experience. It’s a way for computers to talk to each other and do things together. It allows people to create new kinds of websites and apps that can't be changed or controlled by any one person. It also helps people send money and store information securely.

To achieve this goal, it utilizes technologies such as blockchain databases that allow digital information to be recorded and shared transparently without being edited, smart contracts (computer programs stored on blockchains that automatically run or execute when certain agreed upon terms are met), and decentralized applications (dApps) that run on a blockchain network of computers instead of being dependent on a single machine.

4 benefits of using Web3 for small business

1. Trust and transparency

Web3 technologies provide a high level of confidence and clarity about what’s being shared that can help small businesses build credibility and reputation. For example, blockchain technology can be used to create a tamper-proof record of transactions and user data, which can help build trust with customers and partners.

2. Access to global markets

Web3 technologies can provide small businesses with access to potential revenue streams that were previously untapped and out of reach. By leveraging decentralized platforms and protocols, small businesses can connect with customers and partners from all over the world without the need for intermediaries or costly infrastructure.

3. Cost savings

Web3 technologies can help small businesses save on transaction costs and other expenses. By eliminating intermediaries, decentralized platforms can reduce transaction fees, while smart contracts can automate processes and reduce overhead.

4. Innovation and agility

Web3 technologies can enable small businesses to adapt faster to changing market conditions. By leveraging decentralized platforms and dApps, small businesses can experiment with new business models and processes, and quickly pivot based on customer feedback and market demand.

Steps to develop a Web3 strategy for small businesses

1. Educate yourself

Start by learning about the various Web3 technologies and how they can be applied to your business. To get started, check out the conversations we had with four founders who are shining a light on the innovations females are making in the metaverse and Web3.

2. Identify opportunities

Look for chances to leverage Web3 technologies to improve your business. For example, you could explore blockchain-based supply chain solutions or use a decentralized platform to raise capital.

3. Experiment and test

Start experimenting with Web3 technologies to see what works for your business. Try out different dApps, experiment with smart contracts, and explore decentralized platforms.

4. Partner with experts

To help you develop and execute your strategy, look for consultants, developers, and other professionals who have experience working with Web3 technologies and can help you navigate this new terrain.

By leveraging the trust, transparency, and innovation that Web3 technologies provide, small businesses can gain a competitive advantage and position themselves for long-term success. If you're a small business owner, now is the time to start exploring Web3 and developing a strategy that works for your business.

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Pinky Cole on the Keys To Expanding Your Brand Rapidly—Without Losing Its Identity

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Pinky Cole is an unstoppable force in the food industry. Since launching Slutty Vegan, a plant-based fast-food restaurant chain, in 2018, she’s been on a mission to make vegan food more accessible, affordable, and approachable. Already one of the foremost restaurateurs in the South, the Atlanta-based entrepreneur now has her eyes set on expansion outside the region.

Her passion to create a vegan restaurant that was not just for vegans, but for everyone who wanted a delicious, plant-based meal has paid off. Slutty Vegan is currently valued at $100 million, and Cole is opening 20 more locations after a successful Series A funding round.

The chain has become so popular that Cole was recently featured on the cover of Forbes magazine and included in the Create Cultivate 100 List for 2023. Below, she shares how she’s managed to grow her business so fast, without watering down what Slutty Vegan is at its core: a vegan restaurant that’s not just for vegans, but for everyone who wants a delicious, plant-based meal. Plus, her go-to SV order, and the best advice she has for entrepreneurs looking to scale multiple projects at once.

If feels like Slutty Vegan isn’t just hitting its stride—it’s full on sprinting—when it comes to scaling the business. How are you maintaining your brand identity in the face of such fast-pace growth?

I don't do anything without having fun. I’m very intentional about doing the things that I want to do. No one can force or persuade me to do anything that makes me uncomfortable. I must feel it within my spirit. It must be fun for me. Being able to scale this business is fun, but work. I’m passionate about what I want to do and must always remain consistent in my movements. 

Our community includes women at different entrepreneurial stages with various interests. Can you share your best advice on growing multiple projects linearly and outwardly at the same time?

Teams are the most important thing when growing businesses. You must have the right aces in places. I didn't always have that. I realized that you must have people that get it, have the experience and expertise, and the level of consistency. That's how I’m able to grow. I’m using my mind to diversify the businesses, but the people in those spaces run the company, and I oversee them. 

What is your go to Slutty Vegan order? 

Sloppy Toppy with jalapenos and pickles

You just hosted a wedding at your restaurant and officiated it! What inspired you to do this?

I thought, how cool would it be to have a wedding at an iconic location, a world-famous restaurant? We were lucky to find two amazing people who wanted to get married at our store, a landmark in Atlanta. We invited the world to participate via Instagram. I’m happy because it will forever go down in history. They made history and didn't realize it. What a dope way to market the brand. 

What people may or may not realize about you is that, in addition to being a restaurateur, you’re also a passionate advocate for social justice through the Pinky Cole Foundation. Can you tell us more about your work there?

I started the Pinky Cole Foundation in 2019. It was a way for me to bridge the generational wealth gap. I like to help people. It's not just community service; I like to see other people win. So building the foundation was the formal way to do that. We’ve done a lot since launching—we've given money, donated fruits and vegetables to those in need, given salaries, purchased cars, given students LLCs, and so on. That is what is most rewarding to me. The restaurant is fun, and seeing people happy is fun. What gets me going is knowing that people can execute their dreams and win by way of the foundation.

14 Checkout Flow Best Practices to Increase Revenue

As a small business owner, you've likely put your heart and soul into creating a fantastic product or service. But all your hard work can go down the drain if your checkout process is longer than the time it took your customer to decide to buy their item. We've all experienced it: a shopping cart that's impossible to find, surprise shipping fees, and a payment page that wants everything short of your social security number, to be entered manually, of course. The checkout process is the last step in a customer's journey and might just make or break your sale

Studies show that 69.57% of people abandon their carts when online shopping, leaving easy to attain revenue on the table. Below you’ll find Shopify’s must-haves for a checkout experience that not only converts, but turns shoppers into satisfied customers. If you're headed to Future Summit: Austin, see how your business’s checkout experience stacks up ahead of our workshop The Expert-Approved Ways To Optimize Your Checkout Flow.

Transparency

  • Display Trust Sharing things like security badges, customer reviews, influencer partnerships, and shipping and return policies may contribute to gaining a new customer’s trust.

  • No Surprise Fees If you can’t avoid shipping costs, ensure the cost is communicated up front, and not on the last step of the checkout page.

  • Ask for the payment information in the last step Customers will feel safer after completing all checkout steps like inputting the correct address and seeing the final cost before sharing their information.

  • Enable Chat Support Answer potential customer's questions quickly so they feel confident making a purchase. 

Efficiency

  • Autofill Information and Expedited 1-Click Checkout Manual entry and multiple steps waste valuable seconds needed to close the sale.

  • Preferred Payment Options Go beyond the major credit and debit cards and consider buy now, pay later services and Apple and Google Pay.

Experience

  • Mobile Friendly It's predicted that 187.5 million people will use their smartphones to shop by 2024. Automatic resizing for the small screen is key.

  • Checkout Progress Bar Set expectations for your customers so they know exactly how much of their time will be dedicated to the process.

  • Provide Multiple Contact Methods Increase customer satisfaction by ensuring they won’t miss any updates on their order.

  • Guest Checkout Accept that not everyone will want to create an account. Don't miss out on these customers.

Marketing Automation

  • Exit-Intent Pop-Ups Track your visitor's mouse movements and a trigger pop-up to appear when they’re about to leave the checkout page.

  • Upsells and Cross-Sells Cross-selling recommends products that complement the items they’re buying. An upsell recommends a higher priced product that's similar to the one in their shopping cart.

  • Thank-You Page Include a survey about their shopping experience or invite your them to follow you on social media.

More Resources

  • Watch: Add to Cart: Strategies to Successfully Scale Your Business In Store and Online

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The Small Business Guide to Bookkeeping

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Whether you're new to the term "bookkeeping" or need some help with receipt organization, welcome! Bookkeeping is one of the most important processes to keep up with as a business owner, so we're bringing you the basics: what it is, why is matters, and tips for setting up systems that make it easier—so you can focus on doing what you love.

In this guide you'll find:

+ Bookkeeping basics and steps to get started
+ A glossary of key terms
+ Annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily checklists

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Start Your Business Formation in As Little as 10 Minutes

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You have an idea of a product or service you want to launch—congrats! The next big step (and perhaps the most important one this early on), is identifying how you’ll form your business. Registering or incorporating a business establishes it as a legal entity that exists independent of its owner(s).

We teamed up with Block Advisors to bring you the ultimate business formation guide—so you can take the guesswork out of formation. In this guide you'll:

+ Discover which entity may be right for you
+ Take advantage of comparison charts and checklists
+ Learn about Block Advisors Business Formation products and services

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4 Ways To Outsmart Tiktok With the Sisters Behind Vitamin C Agency

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Here are some stats you don't want to scroll past: 49% of TikTok users credit the app with helping them make purchasing decisions, and 1 billion people are already on the app, ready to consume content. So if you still haven't considered a TikTok strategy yet, you're missing out on reaching customers with serious purchasing power.

Sisters Audrey and Leigha Anthony picked up on this back in 2018 when they founded Vitamin C, an influencer marketing agency specializing in TikTok. The ‘C’ stands for consciousness, and the sisters' mission is to infuse that word into the industry, changing social media and influencer marketing for the better. 

Four years later, they’ve built a seven-figure business and worked with some of the top influencers and brands to build impactful social media strategies, including Butcher Box, Thrive Market, Amika, and Vuori—all names you’ve probably seen on your TikTok feed. In other words: They know a thing or two about leveraging TikTok to build a presence authentically.

Ahead, Audrey Anthony suggests four strategies you should apply to your brand's presence on TikTok (especially if you're ready to grow)!

1. Volume and consistency are more important than "perfect" content

This goes for content creators and small businesses. Audrey says that if you really want to grow on the platform, you can't be precious about your content. "[TikTok] is so different from a platform like Instagram, which is like a highlight reel," she says. "With TikTok we're seeing off the cuff, last minute and chaotic [content]. These videos should only take a few minutes to film, edit and post. The faster you can get it out, the faster you're likely to grow."

The sisters also agree that the best way to learn about your audience (and keep up with their interests) is to test and engage over and over again. "It's a volume game of trying out a ton of different things and finding out what you like," Audrey continues. "Then figure out what's attracting the type of community members you want to attract.”

2. Work with creators who speak directly to their audience

Audiences won't buy from people they don't trust. Vitamin C keeps this in mind when they match influencers with brands in the growth stage. "If there's true discourse and dialogue, we know that their audience is engaged—and they can be a great partner," Audrey confirmed.

3. Your goal is your north star

According to Audrey, influencer pricing is an art, not a science. There's no correct answer or formula—it all comes down to staying connected to your goals. "Understand what you're trying to get out of the video. Is it big views? Is it acquisition? Do you want a cool ad? Understand what you’re asking the creator for, and then set those parameters,” she says.

4. Start creating long-form content now

As for trends, Audrey believes content longer than three minutes will be key to any TikTok strategy in 2023. As more people join the platform, communities grow larger and stronger. People are already spending more time on TikTok than on other platforms, so it's only natural for creators to give more time to their followers. We're also likely to see influencers that are more "ordinary," according to Audrey. "Instagram is aspirational, but TikTok is relatable."

Listen to this week's episode of WorkParty for more ways to develop a TikTok-first strategy for your brand!

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How To Set (And Keep) Boundaries as a Newly-Minted Solopreneur

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By Jennifer Berson, founder and president of Jeneration PR

When I first shifted my career from working as a civil litigator to running my own public relations agency, I struggled with setting boundaries. Answering texts from clients on evenings and weekends became the norm, and I stopped everything to answer an email from a client—no matter what time of day. I needed to create a vision for my life and business—and make a concerted effort to protect my time.

I know from experience that it can be tough to set boundaries with your clients, especially if you already have a working relationship with them. So here are my top tips for drawing those much-needed lines in the sand—no matter where you are with your clients in your journey as a solopreneur.

1. Set a precedent right from the start

You don’t have to exhaust yourself as an entrepreneur. Newer business owners feel they need to earn the ability to set boundaries, but that’s not the case. You created this business for yourself, right? That means you can make it look however you want for yourself, including client boundaries. 

Realize that you deserve to create your business like this from the get-go. You shouldn’t feel the need to instantly reply to every client communication or stay at your computer at all hours of the night. Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be that way for you to be successful. In fact, it’s a recipe for burnout.

2. Shift your mindset and your availability

Many new solopreneurs struggle to set boundaries because they believe they have to be on 24/7 for the sake of their clients. This is a misconception and a bad mindset to be in when kicking off your business. 

You don’t have to be accessible at all times to be a good service provider. When you have boundaries in place, clients respect your availability (as long as you’re getting the work done). They’ll see you crushing it during your available hours and will trust that if anything comes up after hours, you’ll get back to them right away the next morning.

3. Vacation is still vacation—even if you work for yourself

Taking time off is always okay. As long as the work gets done, it should not matter—barring the rare work emergency, of course! 

Make sure you convey your available hours to your client in what you say and do. Don't send a proposal or work-related emails after hours or while you're supposed to be OOO. Doing so sets the expectation that you’re working and accessible around the clock, and clients can easily take advantage of that. 

It’s all about the follow-through here. You have to exemplify your boundaries, not just have them in your head or mention them to your clients. 

4. Be ready to speak up for yourself

If you have a client with a habit of sending last-minute asks and after-hours messages, you must correct the course. If it doesn’t get better when you work on it, know that it’ll probably never get better, and you might need to part ways with the client. 

Don’t be intimidated to say something to your client when the last-minute asks are becoming too much and your client's boundaries are being crossed. Your relationship with them should be mutually respectful. You’re running a business just like they are. 

About Jennifer Berson

Jennifer Berson is a former civil litigator turned strategic communications advisor who champions the PR agency model for ambitious women seeking a satisfying, high-powered career that doesn’t require the sacrifice of personal and family time to make a powerful impact. Her mentorship and direction as the founder of the Jeneration Academy community have led thousands of international boutique PR agency owners to quickly scale their businesses to six figures and beyond.

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3 Things To Do Riaght Now To Recession Proof Your Business, According to Jaclyn Johnson

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The fear of facing a recession is real for any professional. But for some small business owners and solopreneurs, confronting this challenge alone can be downright scary.  While a recession is likely on the horizon, small steps can be taken right now to ready you and your business for the uncertainty ahead.

On this week’s episode of WorkParty, Create & Cultivate Founder Jaclyn Johnson shares three steps you can (and should!) take to feel equipped to take on financial uncertainty.

1. Analyze your operational costs

It’s so important to see every dime that goes out the door. Johnson suggests taking time to analyze your costs and note what you’re spending month-over-month. Making a straightforward decision will become easier when you have a bird's eye view of your expenses

2. Categorize your operational costs

Take stock of what is fundamental to running your business and the areas that help drive revenue. Then, take a look at what costs are your "nice to haves."

3. Cut the “nice to haves”

You probably saw this one coming! “It’s important to operate at your leanest possible potential,” says Johnson. This means cutting costs that won’t sacrifice what your business could look like in 2023.

Be sure to take a careful look at every area of your business. Consider the value of your platforms and tools, negotiate with vendors, or discontinue a product that isn't selling well.

Listen to this week's episode of WorkParty for more of Jaclyn's 2023 planning tips!

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/20XgEhJq2kaa7JlglMTGjV?si=8e3c7a264cd54402

RESOURCES

OTHER EPISODES YOU MIGHT LIKE . . .

How Technology is Becoming More Human with Diem Founder, Emma Bates

Live From Small Business Summit: Founder of Outdoor Voices and Try Your Best, Ty Haney Explains How to Leverage Web3 to Build Strong Communities

How One Woman Used TikTok To Land a Job Promotion 

This Black-Owned Company’s CEO Is Disrupting The Beauty Industry

Cass Dimicco On Parallel Pathing Your Personal Brand With Your Business

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Out of Office Is Disrupting the Travel Industry—Here’s How the Co-Founders Allocated $4.6M in Fundraising

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Out of Office (OOO) is the latest app disrupting the travel and tourism sectors, going up against long-time industry leaders Expedia and Travelocity. Full of hidden gems, best-ofs, and hot tips, the recommendation app uses a different source pool than its competitors: your personal network. Sounds like a saving grace for your trip-planning group chat, right? Investors thought so, too.

The idea for OOO arrived when former Trunk club executives Jan Seale and Coabi Kastan were on a trip to London. After digging through google sheets, confirmation emails, and phone notes each day, the duo realized there had to be an easier way to organize and execute a group trip. The pair put a pin in the idea as they focused on growing their respective careers, but when travel halted in March of 2020, they had an inkling the tourism industry would boom at the first chance of travel. So they hit the ground running.  

Their gut instincts were right. In 2022, the global leisure travel market reached an estimated $645.3 billion and is expected to increase by 19 percent in the next five years. This global demand for wanderlust allowed the duo to raise $1.6 million during their pre-seed round in 2021 (backed by former colleagues at Cameo and Havenly). 

Typically, pre-seed funding goes towards putting a product’s vision in motion. Seale and Kastan nailed their brand vision in the early days of OOO's conception, but bringing it to life as a functional app would be tricky. “We had a great idea, and we had a team that was working for free on our beta. But it was so unique and different [that] we needed money to build something end to end,” says Seale, who also serves as CEO. She adds that the pre-seed money was key to finding and paying the right people to build out the app they envisioned. 

OOO’s seed round was an extension of that. By April 2022, they had built a quarter of the app’s functionality using pre-seed funds. “We needed more capital for a bigger team. We needed to invest in marketing and customer acquisition and on brand in order to continue to scale," Seale says. That month, the company closed a $3.5 million round of seed funding led by Hyde Park Venture Partners. 

While OOO has now raised close to $5 million, the odds were stacked against the two as minority and women co-founders. Female founders received just two percent of venture capital money in 2021, and Seale was among the first one hundred Black women to raise over a million dollars in venture capital with OOO's pre-seed round. “While it sounds like an accomplishment, with billions of venture dollars being deployed each year, it’s unfortunate that that number is so small," says Seale. "Both Coabi and I are committed to changing that dynamic and ensuring that more marginalized groups get access to venture capital."

Seale and Kastan are looking forward to their Series A next year.

Want to learn more about the future of Out of Office? Jan Seale and Coabi Kastan share their thoughts on the future of personalized travel, entrepreneurship, and app building on this week's episode of WorkParty.

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5 Steps To Successfully Launch an Online Course, From a Multi-Million Dollar Course Creator

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The first time I ever made money from one of my online courses, I was standing in line at the grocery store. 

*Ding* 

My phone buzzed. It was a notification that I had just made $3,400… while grocery shopping!

In the following week, I made over $18,000 from selling my first online course. As a service-based business owner, I realized I could generate more revenue in one week selling an online course than I could in a few months of trading my time for money with one-to-one services. 

To date, my company, Bucketlist Bombshells, has generated over $5 million dollars of revenue from our online courses that have taught 10,000 women worldwide how to successfully start and grow an online business from scratch. One of the things that I always tell our members inside our monthly business-growth membership that teaches women how to grow their business to 6-figures is that the key to scaling your business is to stop trading your individual time for money.

Maybe you currently have a service-based business, and you’re maxing out on the number of hours you have to serve your clients. Instead of offering your services one-on-one, you’re curious about packaging your expertise into an online course to sell one-to-many. Plus, by offering an online course, you can maximize your business’ reach, mission, and impact.

But what does it really take to successfully launch your own online course? Here are five steps you can take to successfully launch your own online course and add a significant revenue stream to your business.

1. Choose your online course niche

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the first step is to decide on your online course topic or “niche.” Some ideas to get you started on choosing your online course topic are to brainstorm: 

  • What expertise do your customers currently come to you for? 

  • What are the top questions you’re constantly asked? 

  • What topics are you an expert in?

  • What results are you excellent at getting people?

Your online course niche doesn’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel. There may be plenty of online courses on your exact topic. However, your students may choose your course because of your past experience, teaching style, or your unique way of doing something. 

For example: If you’re a book illustrator, you may want to create an online course that teaches others how to become a book illustrator using your years of experience and your unique creative methods.

2. Build a community of potential students

Now that you’ve decided on your online course niche, it’s time to begin building a community of potential students. 

There are many different platforms to host a free community. One of the easiest and arguably most accessible is by simply starting a free Facebook group around your topic. 

Not only will your Facebook community be an amazing source of future customers as it grows, it will also provide invaluable insights to your target audience. Pay attention to the struggles that your community members have around your topic. What questions are they constantly asking? Maybe even run a poll to gather their feedback as you start building your course.

Quick tip: Gather email addresses when members request to join your group to start building your email list, too. When it’s time to launch your online course, you’ll have an entire group of potential customers to sell to!

3. Create a waitlist page

Don’t wait until your online course is created to begin marketing it!

By creating a simple waitlist page, you can begin to gather leads for your new online course. If you already have a business website, I recommend adding a link to “Get on the waitlist!” for your new online course coming soon. 

As you execute other marketing strategies in your business (like blogging, guest podcasting, creating YouTube videos, etc.), you should always link to your waitlist page to continue building your list of future students.

4. Create your course content

Now for the extra fun part: actually creating your course content! 

In a nutshell, all you need is a microphone and a computer to create your course content. 

One of my favorite brainstorming techniques for creating a new course is what we like to call “The Sticky Note Method.” Using sticky notes, write down all of the concepts you’d like to teach in your course. Next, group similar concepts together to define your course “modules.” Think of your modules like chapters in a book!

While there’s no “perfect” amount of content you should have, keep in mind two important things I’ve learned the hard way:

  • Stick with bite-sized videos, as people tend to have a short attention span.

  • Avoid overwhelming your students with too much content. 

For a very user-friendly and all-in-one platform to create and host your online course, I recommend using Teachable.

5. Launch your online course

It’s time to launch your online course! 

Using the leads from your waitlist page and the members of your Facebook community, it’s time to execute what online course creators like to call “a launch.” 

Your online course launch should have:

  • A sales page

  • A deadline to enroll

  • An exciting and special sales offer (i.e., a discount, bonuses, etc.)

This is officially your time to strongly market and sell your online course to your community. Remember to focus on the results your online course will help someone achieve rather than focusing solely on the digital product itself. How will your online course add value to their lives? What pain points will it help someone avoid or breakthrough? What goals will it help them to achieve?

By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to successfully launching your own online course, too.

About Shay Brown

Shay Brown is the COO and co-founder of the Bucketlist Bombshells, an online community that equips women with the confidence, skills, and business foundation to start and grow a thriving service-based online business. She’s been featured on Forbes and CNBC for teaching over 10,000 students around the world to successfully launch their own businesses. If you’re ready to grow your business to 6-figures, learn more about their monthly business growth membership here or tune into their top-rated Freedom Filled Life Podcast™.

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It's Performance Review Season. Here's How To Create a Culture of Feedback That Lasts the Whole Calendar Year

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According to a 2019 study by Gallup, only about 14 percent of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews inspire them to better their time on the clock. Meaning, from an entrepreneur's perspective, there's plenty of room for improvement when it comes to offering your small business' employees a moment to take the temperature on their performance.

Effective evaluations consist of real-time feedback that engages employees and produces better results. So if it's your very first evaluation season as a new entrepreneur, grab your pen and paper. Below, you'll find my top four tips for conducting performance reviews that feel doable and beneficial to all parties involved. (Plus, how to foster a culture of feedback that lasts the whole calendar year.)

1. Make Feedback Part of the Culture, From the Top Down

Communication about performance expectations should begin when you hire an employee and should continue regularly. Your employees will perform best if you articulate what you want from them and guide them on how to get there.

When hiring managers, let them know that communication and feedback are among your priorities, encourage them to understand the value and importance of feedback to your company’s culture, and invest in training resources at the outset of employment to best achieve a trickle-down effect.

Training can take the form of internal dialogue or bringing in a resource to coach your management team. Once they are trained, ensure that managers know they will be reviewed on the timeliness and quality of their feedback.

2. Create a For(u)m for Feedback

Ideally, feedback should be given immediately so an employee can correct or improve the behavior or work product. The easiest way to accomplish this is through email or other digital forms. This serves both the purpose of feedback and creating a record, which can come in handy if disciplinary measures are needed.

There are numerous performance feedback apps that allow self-reflection, managerial, peer, or even customer feedback. Alternatively, companies can develop an internal email template or intranet form so that all feedback touches on the same designated criteria. This cultivates a more objective and systematic approach to evaluations.

3. Define Success

Feedback is best given with measurable goals, whether individual or team-based. For example, you might define success as an on-time or on-budget delivery. If effective performance isn’t calculable by objective measures, create company values in which the employee must be successful and define tasks that exemplify those values.

So, if “customer satisfaction” is a company priority, then timely resolution of customer complaints or high customer satisfaction ratings might be task-oriented successes. The employee needs to know if your metrics aren’t being met, and managers need to know that it’s part of their job to help workers perform at their highest level. The performance feedback forum should double as a performance improvement plan designed for disciplinary or coaching purposes.

4. When You’ve Tried Everything

What happens if an employee just isn’t getting “it,” and the feedback process needs to move to a more formal disciplinary process or termination? The time spent documenting performance deficiencies can help decrease liability when done properly. More frequently, though, I get calls from clients lamenting about a terrible employee they need to fire (always immediately!), and when I ask to see the file, they send over a pile of glowing performance reviews. This undermines the reason for the termination (lack of performance) and makes the employee think they are being let go for a more sinister (or illegal) reason.

To minimize risk and maximize performance, be honest, be timely, and be your employees’ best role model for success.

About Sahara Pynes

Sahara Pynes is an attorney at Fox Rothschild LLP whose practice focuses almost exclusively on minimizing liability against lawsuits through preventative counseling on a range of employment issues. She works directly with business owners and their management teams to enhance company culture and provide practical strategies to manage human resources and risks. Sahara was named one of Angeleno Magazine’s Most Dynamic Women of 2018. If you’re a business owner who doesn’t know what forms to give a new hire, how to properly classify and pay employees/contractors, or just wants to button up their HR issues, reach out to Sahara at SPynes@Foxrothschild.com to see if she can help.