Imagine this:

It’s 2 weeks after you delivered your best presentation at a virtual summit. The high of the event is wearing off and you check your Kajabi dashboard to see your sales numbers.

You’re greeted with the stark realization that all the energy and time you put into your talk created ZERO real leads into your business.

You don’t understand. 

What happened?

You were charming, made them laugh, delivered some of your BEST tips.

Yet, barely anyone signed up for that freebie and those who DID aren’t converting into customers.

Sadly, I see this happen every day.

Passionate business owners muster up the courage to put themselves out there, just to be met with disappointment that their energy and effort isn’t paying off.

They know that a strong online marketing strategy should include a visibility plan. Theoretically, when you show up on podcasts or speak on virtual stages and get more eyes on your business, the revenue will follow…...

Sometimes the best piece of business advice we need is simple.

Literally. That’s the advice: BE SIMPLE.

We have a tendency to over complicate things and unintentionally overwhelm a project before it ever sees the glow of a screen, especially in the online marketing world.

And if you keep finding yourself stuck writing to your email list or getting an offer out into the world, this episode of Finding Your It Factor is for you.

Meet Liz Wilcox, a serial entrepreneur who specializes in email marketing. She helps freelancers and professionals alike package up their magic and turn it into emails that convert. 

While she's always been a freelancer, she found her way to the online space and fell in love with doing her own thing. Today, Liz teaches people how to build online relationships and make sales through email marketing. 

 Let me share with you a bit more of the Liz I know and why you want to hear our conversation.

 I met Liz in a mastermind and...

We talk a lot about speaking around here.

Crafting your talk, building an audience, connecting with an audience, speaking from live stages, live streams, cameras… the list goes on. 

It’s clear (at least I hope) that I’m passionate about helping online entrepreneurs use their voices to make a meaningful impact.

I had a lightbulb moment last month after a discussion with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant Erica Courdae, when I realized that I needed to better define the word “audience” when talking about speaking.

When picturing an audience, you most likely imagine a one-sided conversation. A microphone, maybe even a podium or a camera, separating us (the speaker) from them (the crowd). 

Us and them.

This separation happens beyond the stage. 

And while it’s true that one way conversations are at times necessary in business and life, today I want you to consider shifting away from one sided conversations to...

It’s the “can I pick your brain” topic I get most.

It typically comes from someone looking to leave their 9-5 or take their business online. They want to know, how does this whole online business thing work? How did I do it? How could they do something similar?

Today I’m pulling back the curtain to share with you how I've structured my online business and how it's evolved over the last two years because just 18 months ago I was still working in corporate full time.

I’m a firm believer that when you have a clear pathway (ie menu of services) for how people work with you through different revenue streams, you make business easier on yourself and for others to work with you. 

Inside this episode, I’ll share my 4 primary revenue streams:

1. Paid Speaking
2. 1:1 Coaching
3. Group Coaching 
4. Digital Courses & Workshops

Episode Highlights:

Importance of having a strong business framework

(06:21) When you have a really clear pathway, like a...

It’s the dirty little secret we don’t talk about in online business.

We sneak it into the bathroom, hide under our sheets, or in the pantry pretending to find the kids snacks... 

glued to our smartphones, “working”.

We have online businesses to run, so we have to be online, right?

A quick pop onto Facebook to check replies for that last post.

Then over to Instagram to see if any non-bots answered our question sticker (still nope).

Each grab of the phone starts the involuntarily, yet obligatory app circle:

Check mail

All 3 accounts.

Open Instagram 

DMs. Stories. Feed.

Jump to Facebook

Notifications. Groups. Feed. .

Back to Insta.

Why am I here?

Maybe a little Slack, Vox + Marco Polo?

24 minutes later you have no clue what you just did for “work”.

Cut the crap, we can’t intelligently call this work.

For me, it became more of an escape.

From what? I do not know.

To where? Also not entirely sure.

Our smartphones take us to...

I believe that the secret to finding and rocking your IT FACTOR stems from the inner work we do on ourselves. 

When you’re clear on who you are and continually strive to become the best version of yourself, the law of attraction kicks in and others are drawn to you like a magnet.

If you’re a fan of personal development like me, listening to podcasts, books and taking online courses, you’ve most likely experienced the high that comes when you get inspired to dream and hope.

You’ve also most likely experienced the overflow of information, drinking from the fire hose of inspirational how-tos, chasing the next motivational hit, never stopping long enough to allow information to transform into knowledge.

Today I’m challenging you to consider the level of intentionality you place on your learning: are you growing in the right areas?

And secondly, do you have the capacity for the information you consume to become knowledge? Are you giving...

Sometimes fear is obvious: fear of heights, public speaking, spiders.  

Sometimes fear is complicated: fear of success, loss, failure. 

Sometimes we don’t even realize that fear is even present, but masked as something else: impostor syndrome, procrastination, doubt.

When it comes to chasing big goals you can count on FEAR being present (or acknowledge that your goals aren’t big enough).

But how do we embrace this fear, listen to it and use it as fuel to accomplish our dreams? Enter this week’s guest, the #FearBoss Queen herself, Judi Holler. 

Judi’s a professional keynote speaker and creative CEO. A professionally trained improviser and alumni of the Second City Training Center’s Conservatory in Chicago, Judi just celebrated the one year birthday of her best selling book, Fear is My Homeboy.

This just might be my favorite interview I’ve ever done, partly because Judi’s energy is so electrifying, but also because...

What is it about selling that makes many sweaty and uncomfortable? 

What’s even more unnerving? Selling from the stage.

In this episode, I speak candidly around the concept of selling from the stage. 

Because if you've been around with me for any amount of time, you know that I'm not really a fan of it. I do think there’s a place for it in business, but I am not a big believer that it should be your core strategy for monetizing speaking (it should instead be a facet of it).

I want to give you some prompts to explore how the topic jives with you so you can determine if and how you’ll embrace it in your business.

Episode Highlights:

How to create scarcity and urgency to have people take advantage of your offers without being schmucky?

(12:24) It could be having a really killer session where you deliver this tremendous insight and value and provoke new ways of thinking. And then for the people who are really excited and jiving, it's offering them the...

What do you need to know when it comes to crafting a signature story that inspires and connects the dots for your audience?

Wait, what the heck is a signature story and do you need one?

Short answer yes, because like many entrepreneurs you’re probably making this rookie marketing mistake:

When talking about yourself and your background you rample a laundry list of experiences, resembling more of a resume than a journey an audience can relate to. The no-no is that you think you’re telling your “story”.

It’s ok if you’ve done this. Truthfully, me too.

I mean, it's hard NOT to when someone asks you “how did you end up in this line of work”, or “tell me a bit about your background”.

But here’s the most important thing to understand when it comes to your role as a marketer using story:

The story that matters most is the quiet one unfolding within your listener as they hear you tell yours.

...

You already know you should tell more stories. What you might not know is telling them isn’t enough. This week I’m sharing with you my interview in the Power of Story virtual summit about the art of strategic storytelling and what you need to know to deliver stories in a compelling way.

In this interview with Adrienne Dyer, I share:

1. What exactly is strategic storytelling
2. How to place stories at the right times in your content
3. The biggest mistakes made when telling stories in business (and how to avoid them)
4. Beyond the stories, what you need to know about delivering your message

I encourage you to not only take notes on the storytelling strategies in this episode, but since I’m also in an interview format (ie on a stage), take note on HOW I show up and deliver my content. This is another chance for you to see me model my speaking strategies in real (erm virtual) life.

Episode Highlights:

On my start to storytelling in business

(11:41) I learned that...