Bali, Adventure and YOUR Purspose

WELLie's I have been off on adventure... an adventure to Bali!

It was time for the coach to get coached, so I gifted myself with 10 days of travel to one of the most inspirational places in the world - the village of Ubud in beautiful Bali.  I was there to work with a small group of 7 figure women entrepreneurs to expand our dreams exponentially, release limiting beliefs, and be in community with others who are making a huge difference in the world. So delicious!

And I have to admit, staying in a luxury villa with a full staff to take care of us - think daily yoga, unlimited massages, and exotic flavors to please your tummy and soul - made it just a little extra special! ;)  

Here are a few of us in the villa with Putra, our lovely yoga guy:

I share this with you to hopefully inspire wanderlust, because the breakthroughs that you can have for your business and life are so much bigger and faster when you work on them while on an adventure - domestic or exotic. 

And coincidentally before I left, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Megan Smith, host of the free online interview series The Adventure Revolution, so I knew I had to be a part of it! I not only believe in it, I live it. We, along with other experts, share our stories, techniques, practices and tools to awaken your true purpose while traveling on an adventure.

So if you feel ready to steer yourself into your perfect life’s work, then join Megan, myself and other experts from across the globe as we share practices, techniques, teachings, tools and more to travel to find who you really are and awaken your true purpose. Each conversation is packed with simple practices, techniques, tools and more that you can integrate immediately.

It’s FREE and there are dozens of generous gifts too, so get inspired and join us here:  http://theadventurerevolution.com/juliegordonwhite/

OK, WELLies! Enjoy, have a wonderful weekend, and as they say in Bali... Namaste!

XO,

5 Business Lessons I Learned Running My Last 5K!

I recently ran (okay, mostly ran) a neighborhood 5K after many months since my last event. I’m a very experienced back-of-the-pack half-marathoner, but I tend to only run during the fall racing season, so this was my chance to get off my rear end for the first event of the year.

To keep my mind occupied on something more pleasant than the two-mile uphill climb I was trekking at the time, I started thinking about how recreational racing is similar to starting and growing a business. So after pulling over to re-tie my shoes for the second time (trying not to make it obvious that I needed a break), I brilliantly extended my resting period by noting five business lessons inspired by my 5K march.

Let's see if they can help you along your journey too.

 

1. Know the Course Before the Race

Before signing up for a race, the first thing I always do is review the course. I want to be mentally ready for the steep hill climbs, the fast down slopes and the monotonous flats.

The same principle applies to growing your business. When you look ahead to the next 90 days or 12 months, what do you see? A big sales push? A new product launch? Or just staying the course with the strategy already in place?

When you take the time to envision your business a little down the road (but not too far in advance, because it’s usually hard to see around the bend), you can be thoughtful and proactive about how you spend your time and your money, as well as what you can expect the results to be. When you have a clear vision of the road ahead, you’ll be more likely to cross the finish line with an amazing sense of accomplishment.

 

2. Start Out Fast, Then Settle Into Your Own Pace

If you have ever run an organized race, then you know that the entire pack starts out really fast: fast enough to worry about getting trampled. When I first started racing, I used to resist the flow by staying in the “slow lane” on the right while the speedsters zoomed past me and the other slowpokes.

But now that I’ve run over 25 races, I know that it’s actually much better to start off fast for the entire first mile before settling into my own rhythm.

This same idea applies to growing your business.

Start out fast and strong every new quarter by kicking off a new marketing campaign or launching a service or product. In essence, generate massive results at least four times a year—yes, push yourself past your comfort zone—and then settle into your natural pace with all of that momentum carrying you forward.

 

3. Forget About Passing That Girl in Lulu Everything

Yes, she looks amazing when she speeds by in her adorable outfit, but that’s her race, not yours.
In business, your competitors are running their own races, so don’t confuse yours with theirs. Determine how your brand and its offerings are unique, and use that uniqueness to target customers who will be delighted with your products and services.

When you find yourself overly dissecting other companies' branding and marketing strategies, you can lose focus on your own path. Getting inspired by the success stories in front of you is fantastic, but feeling threatened by them or, worse, trying to copy them is a recipe for disaster.
Besides, they may be ahead now, but it’s who makes it to the finish line first that counts!

 

4. When Approaching a Big Hill, Take Smaller Steps

Surprisingly enough, I actually love running hills. Not for the entire course, but I do love the powerful feeling that comes from making it to the top. A running coach once told me that, whenever I want to tackle a steep hill, I should stay focused on the road ahead and take small but steady steps.

This advice has helped me grow my business time and time again.

When you have a big project or goal with many moving parts and pressing deadlines, start by breaking it down into easier-to-manage micro-projects. It’s much easier to finish 10 small things than to make an exaggerated leap to the end. And as an added bonus, the small achievements along the way will give you a big boost of energy to finish strong.

 

5. Run as Fast as You Can When the Wind Is Finally Behind Your Back

So after running uphill for two miles, and since I was familiar with the course because I reviewed it in advance, I was completely ready for the last half of my race, where I could breeze downhill with a new medal in my sights.

While on your entrepreneurial journey, there will be times when everything you do feels easy and is actually fun. These are your downhill moments. This is your time to go as fast as you can to maximize the opportunities put in front of you and to accelerate towards your goals as quickly as the momentum will take you.

These exciting times can be few and far between, but when it's your time, run like the wind and grab every medal along the way!

 

Pace Yourself for Success

These five lessons started out as a way for me to discreetly catch my breath, as both runners and entrepreneurs sometimes need to do. But the unintended benefit was a great reminder that the best way to win with your business is to run it with intention and do it your way. Remember that it's mostly a marathon, but sometimes you absolutely have to sprint.

Podcast Interview: Entrepreneur on Fire with John Lee Dumas!

Click to Listen to the Interview! 

 

Podcast Interview: Hack the Enterpreneur with Jon Nastor

Click to Listen to the Interview!

The 3 Myths of Free Web Traffic & What to Do About It

After growing my boutique mergers-and-acquisitions firm for 10 years, I decided to listen to my inner voice and pivot into a new business.

My new venture would be the complete opposite of my previous company, which had expensive office space and a team of 12. This new venture would be a home-based online training company supported by a virtual assistant.

Initially, this laptop lifestyle seemed like a dream come true. There’s nothing like the feeling of hitting “send” on your first blog post, email or video upload—unless, of course, the response is zero, nothing, nil.

Yes, the dirty little secret is out: When you begin building an online business, be prepared for crickets or—even worse—complete silence.


The truth is that it takes time to build an online following and even longer to convert users into buyers. 

If you follow online business gurus, you might think the industry is as simple as “write, upload and post,” and the money will start flooding in. If I’m being fair, success probably does come quickly for a small few who already had a large following before they started, but if that’s not your situation, be on the lookout for the following myths when considering "free traffic" for your site.

 

Myth 1: Someone Else’s Strategy for Free Traffic Will Work for You

There are many online courses you can purchase, often at a steep price, that will show you how to drive free traffic to your site. Many of the programs teach excellent strategies and tactics, but in my experience, when you try to copy someone else’s path, it rarely leads your business in the right direction.

The fault isn't in the lessons; it’s based on the fact that, if you don't interject your own brand's style and personality into the process, your audience won't understand how the strategy appeals to them, leading your customers to question why they should buy from you and not a similar competitor.

If you do decide to invest in a course, master the technical aspects, but pay special attention to what feels most natural to you. You may be a better writer than a video blogger, or you may feel very comfortable in front of a camera but loath the idea of producing a 750-word post. In essence, learn from their best practices, but be sure to make it your own.

Lastly, that pricey course was far from free, so be sure to measure your success and the return on that “free traffic” investment.

 

Myth 2: You Don’t Need to Spend Money on Advertising

If you opened a service business, would you sit at your desk and wait for people to walk in? Or if you manufacture products, would you stare at the phone waiting for a big-box retailer to call you? Of course not!

To grow your business, you have to actively market and sell your offerings. There’s no way around it, and it's especially true for online businesses.

The fastest way to grow your sales is through highly targeted and measurable advertising. Don’t get me wrong: You can absolutely grow slowly and organically with networking, word-of-mouth and referrals. In fact, these are great strategies, but to really gain traction, you need to spend money to let your potential buyers know you exist.

If you’re just getting started with generating online traffic, consider running a small marketing campaign on Facebook. Based on my own experience, the beauty of Facebook marketing is that it’s highly targeted and has great analytics, so you can track both your successes and shortfalls. You can also start with a very small amount of money, even as low as $10, to test an ad or promoted post.

As a growing business, you don’t have money to waste, so in order to find the fish that are willing to bite, paying a few bucks for worms is definitely money well-spent.

 

Myth 3: Free Traffic Is Actually Free

Let’s say you decide that writing and marketing a blog post is your primary strategy for driving online traffic. For certain businesses, regular and consistent blogging can be an excellent way to build an audience and an email marketing list.

But to be clear, this isn’t free if you’re writing, editing and posting it yourself. While you didn’t have to write a check to get it done, you have most definitely spent your biggest and most valuable asset: your time.

Time is perishable, and as an entrepreneur, we need to track our time spent in the same way we would track the task if it were outsourced.

Start with establishing a “project” fee for yourself, but not an hourly rate. Hourly rates create a time-for-activity mindset, whereas a project rate takes into consideration all of the years it took for you to gain the expertise you’re bringing to the task.

The added bonus is that, if you value your work and “bill” your business for it, your customers will value your work and pay you more for it. Ultimately, your prices should reflect the value you bring to the customer, not how long it took you to produce the service or product.

 

Nothing Is Free, Not Even You

If you’re growing an online business or adding an online sales channel to an existing brick-and-mortar establishment, be prepared to invest cash in strategies that attract customers and close sales.

Consistent growth requires time and money, so resist the impulse to rely solely on “free” strategies. Instead, focus on increasing your return on investment. Getting a high return for every hard and soft dollar invested in your business is the secret to success. So stay focused, value your time, and measure results every step of the way.

How to Create a Signature Speech in 7 Simple Steps

The fastest way to build credibility with your target audience is by teaching it something valuable. And the best way to grab your audience's attention and communicate your credibility is by speaking in person at an event.

As adult learners, we automatically assign expert status to speakers, so the sooner you develop a signature style, tone and speech, the sooner you'll be able to establish yourself as a valuable contributor to forums, workshops and even keynote addresses. This will be vital to building a loyal and committed tribe of followers, buyers and clients that can help spread your message and grow your business.

Let's take a look at how to craft a signature speech that is sure to establish you as an influencer and expert in your field.

 

So What Exactly Is a Signature Speech?

A signature speech is both an educational and persuasive presentation about the three to ten most important concepts that you want your ideal customer to know.

A well-designed signature speech offers the audience knowledge about subject matter related to your products and services that will help them improve their personal and/or professional lives while simultaneously creating interest for your business' offerings.

Signature speeches are rooted in the education-based selling method, but they seek to inform more than sell. However, if your speech is engineered correctly, members of the audience will naturally be drawn to you and the products and services you offer.

For example, if you have a tea company, you could speak about the “7 Benefits of Drinking Black Tea.” If you are a fitness coach, your speech might be “The 8 Most Effective Exercises for Lasting Weight Loss.” Regardless of what you sell, there is a signature speech waiting to be born!

 

Why Is a Signature Speech Important?

When you stand in front of an audience, you are automatically seen as a credible person or expert, which positions you as an authority and instills trust in potential customers, hopefully convincing them to purchase your offerings in the process.

When you have a signature speech, you have a system that helps you describe what you do and what you believe in, so whether you’re in a networking situation or writing email copy, you will always use informative and persuasive words to share what you do and why you do it.
The process of creating a signature speech forces you to decide what you are most passionate about and what the message you're sharing with the world should be. It brings clarity to what you do, and clarity leads to action, so when you put the two of them together, you now have a formula for success!

 

How Do You Create a Signature Speech?

To easily create a clear, customer-centric and memorable presentation, use these seven simple steps to help you get started:

1. Open with a question or a story to capture the audience’s attention.
2. Describe how you decided to start your business.
3. Let them know what you are going to cover in your speech.
4. Transition into three to five key points (four is ideal for a 30- to 45-minute talk) with examples, stories and case studies to illustrate your points.
5. Recap what you just told them.
6. Close with a powerful quote or story, as well as a call to action on your teaching.
7. Thank them for having you, open up for Q&A, and invite them to the back of the room to buy or sample your products!

When you give your speech, make sure to bring enough product to sell or enough samples to go around (or order forms if you are selling services) so you can monetize your time without having to ask for a speaker's fee. This is a win-win for you and the organizer, and it makes it much easier for you to get booked.

To recap, a signature speech is both educational and persuasive, designed to improve the lives of your audience and create interest in your products. Knowing the steps of your signature system also helps you share your message while networking, blogging and training new team members.

Having a signature speech is an excellent marketing tool, internal training tool and foundation for creating systems in your business, so if you haven't already, create your talk to start accelerating your business to the next level and beyond!

5 Reasons Why You Should Start With Your Exit in Mind

During the critical early years of starting and growing your business, your top priorities will always be sales and marketing. However, there is an additional small but critical decision that business owners forget to make a priority as well: How you will one day tell your exit story. Will it be with pride and prosperity? Or with disappointment and unnecessary regret?

I know that you’re focused on selling and are probably not worrying about being sellable, but I promise that if you take the time to craft your exit vision with the same amount of care that you used to craft your growth vision, you will have a clearer, more exciting and faster path to success.

When you have an idea of your eventual exit story, it will subtly help you build a business that you love now because it will be strategic, focused and will run like a well-oiled machine. And as a bonus, if you start and grow a profitable business that you love, then the chances are high that somebody else will love it just as much and will some day pay you handsomely for it as well.

There are many ways to exit your business, such as a merger with a competitor, employee buyout, a partnership dispute or one of the disheartening D’s: divorce, dissolution or death. But for our purposes, we will focus on selling to an outside buyer.

Over the last 10 years, it has been my pleasure to help countless small business owners cash-out big, happy and free after building and selling a profitable business they loved. As such, I know the many reasons why you too should start with your exit in mind. Let's have a look at those reasons.

 

1. You Will Determine Your Most Profitable Business Model

Starting and growing a small business is challenging, to say the least, but when you have an exit plan in place, it can help you make better overall business decisions, especially regarding your economic model.

When you are growing a sellable business, you’ll do your research to determine the most profitable business model for your offerings because you’ll understand that profits drive business value. And when your business is profitable, it can put more money in your pocket sooner rather than later.

So the primary benefit of having an early vision of your exit isn’t just about building something to sell down the road; it’s about building a better business for you to enjoy and benefit from in both the short term and the long term.

 

2. You Will Understand the Value of a Rinse-and-Repeat Revenue Stream

Rinse-and-repeat revenue is a fun way of describing a re-occurring revenue stream within your business. Examples of re-occurring revenue streams are monthly service agreements, subscription-based services that automatically renew, products that are auto-shipped, and memberships that are ongoing until cancelled by the customer (which is the best kind of re-occurring revenue stream there is!).
 
As you can see, the ultimate advantage of re-occurring revenue is predictable income.
Every growing business struggles with cash flow, so wouldn’t it be great to know exactly how much revenue you can expect each month? If you don’t have these types of agreements in place, brainstorm with your team (even if you’re a team of one) about new re-occurring revenue streams. This can help you make proactive hiring, marketing and other growth-oriented decisions because you know exactly how much revenue you have coming in each month.

 

3. You Will Make the Extra Effort to Document Your Processes

The success of franchises like McDonald’s is based on a documented, step-by-step process that any high-school kid can follow to ensure their signature burgers and fries are cooked the same every time. To ensure your long-term success, you should strive for that same kind of consistency.
If documenting your processes seems unnecessary and too time-consuming at the early stages of your business, try using one of my favorite and simplest business tools: the checklist.

Keep a yellow pad, paper or even your favorite mobile device next to your desk, and start a running list of the tasks that you do throughout the day. If you have staff, they should do this as well. As you create your checklists, you will begin to see a pattern of repeated steps that can be organized into a “proprietary process” to be leveraged as both a marketing differentiator and a training program for new hires.

A business that runs smoothly with documented processes gives a buyer confidence that the company will continue to be successful after a sale. More importantly, a smoothly run operation gives you, the business owner, more freedom, less stress and more time to focus on the activities that fuel your entrepreneurial passion!

 

4. You Will Know How to Value Your Own Business as a Measurement of Success and in the Event of an Unsolicited Offer

When your intention is to grow a business that is sellable, one of your key measurements of success will be its current potential market value. Knowing the value of your business at any given time (annually at a minimum) is like your business’ private report card that shows when and where it’s “exceeding expectations” and where it “works really hard but needs improvement.”

To value your business for your own internal purposes, use this “Back of the Envelope” Valuation (BOEV) formula:

Net Profit + Owner Benefit (i.e. your salary, payroll tax, retirement contributions, and other owner perks) + Depreciation + Amortization x 3 = Back of the Envelope Valuation

Depreciation and amortization can be found on your tax returns. When you add these line items together and multiply them by three (also referred to as a "3x multiple"), you will have a general idea about the potential market price of your business. Of course, certified valuations and appraisals are serious business, but for your internal use, the BOEV will empower you to keep pushing ahead, to consider cashing out or possibly a thoughtful combination of both.

 

5. You Will Naturally Think Bigger, Grow Bigger and Have More Fun in the Process

Last but never least is your mindset. When you dream about your ideal exit from the start, you will be inspired to think bigger, because a bigger, more profitable business puts more money in your pocket, creates an exciting environment to work in and ultimately allows you to build something greater than yourself that someone else values as much as you do. And as a small business owner, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Hopefully you can now see why starting and growing your business with an exit vision from the beginning isn’t just for tech companies and IPO-bound entrepreneurs. You will benefit greatly from an exit that is planned, beautifully executed and comes with a pot of gold at the end of your entrepreneurial rainbow. If you remain resistant to your exit vision, you could find yourself at the other extreme with only one option: quietly and painfully shutting down your business for good.

In closing, always remember that your exit journey began the day you started your business, so understand it, embrace it and journey towards the biggest, most profitable and sellable business you can imagine!

{VIDEO} We're Talking Tactics! Where the Fortune Is

The fortune in our work is often left on the table by women entrepreneurs when we forget to do this one simple, yet powerful thing... 

 

So how do you make sure you don't miss the fortune? How many times do you commit to doing it? Post your comments below and I look forward to hearing about YOUR best practices!

Until next time, Be Profitable & Be WELL!

XO, J. 

P.S. Click the share button on the video image to make sure your women entrepreneur peeps don't forget the fortune either! :)

SYMPOSIA :: 2015 Conference for Women Entrepreneurs... 7 Days to 7 Figures!

You're just 7 days away for learning from 7 figure women about how they started and grew their amazing companies -- and I guarantee, it wasn't all peaches and unicorns! Click the video for my quick message and I'll see you at SYMPOSIA :: 2015 Conference for Women Entrepreneurs VERY soon! xo,J.

Grab the last tickets at > www.SYMPOSIA2015.com 

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9 Things That Women with Multimillion Dollar Businesses Focus On

Good Evening WELLies!

I'm heading to the beautiful Napa Valley in the morning for a 3 day retreat with my Women Presidents Organization (WPO) chapter, and wanted to share what we will be focusing on so you can do the same for your business too. Sharing is caring right? :)

As a bit of background, WPO is a global organization of women entrepreneurs who own multimillion dollar companies. I have been a member since 2007 and it has been instrumental in growing my business through great times and extremely challenging times, so as soon as you hit 7 figures, I would love to recommend you for membership.

So getting back to the retreat, in addition to incredible speakers (and a little spa time of course!), our facilitator will guide us through the following 9 questions so we can go deep on strategy and tactics, and ensure that we hit the ground running this year. 

The 9 focus areas we will work through are:

1. What are the core values of your business (what do you stand for)?
2. What is your core focus (what is your purpose and passion)?
3. What is your 10 year target (revenue, team members, etc.)?
4. What is your 3 year target (revenue, profit, team members, etc.)?
5. What is your 1 year target (revenue, profit, team members, etc.)?
6. What are your primary marketing strategies?
7. What are your goals for this year (revenue, profit, team, etc.)?
8. What are your focused activities this quarter to achieve your goals?
9. What are the roadblock that may slow down your success?
These are simple yet very powerful questions culled from a book called Traction.

Even if you don't have 3 days to ponder them, I would love for you to set aside at least 3 hours. Growth planning isn't a luxury, so don't feel guilty about taking this time because your business and your sanity depend on it! I also encourage you limit yourself to 3 to 5 answers for each question. As a small but growing business, less is usually more so focus on what will move your goals closer with the least amount of effort.

Want to see those 9 strategies in action?

Come and meet 2 of my WPO sisters at SYMPOSIA :: 2015 Conference for Women Entrepreneurs on January 30th and hear their amazing stories about how they handle growing a big business head on, keeping their marriages in tact, and somehow raising 5 awesome kids between them in the process... Impressive!

Alright, my suitcase beckons! If you retreat while I'm retreating, reply and let me know how it went, and until next time...

Be Profitable & Be WELL!

XO, J.

P.S. Click here, then on Lara and Sharon's pics to read their bios if you want to take a peek...(THEY ROCK if I do say so myself!)

P.S. Double dip and bring an accountability partner to the conference... Now THAT's a strategy!

{Video} We're Talking Tactics! 5 Fabulous "Fs" for Women Entrepreneurs in 2015!

Welcome to a new year and a new chance to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true! As you step up and into your 2015 fresh start, consider these 5 ideas as a road map to accelerate you towards your best year yet... And because I know you have them, be sure to share YOUR success strategies for 2015 in the comments below! Cheers and HNY!! xoxo, j.
           
P.S. Only 72 hours left to save $50 on your SYMPOSIA :: 2015 ticket! Get inspired, save money, and make money because networking with the women in the room is priceless! Click below to meet the speakers!