Episode 156 transcript:

00:07 Quick announcement before we get started. I have some really exciting, ridiculous specials for online business owners or preneurs. I stumbled across this word last week and I actually love it.

00:22 So a preneur is a person who's able to earn through the internet. I love how simple that is. It's simple, it's straightforward, and it speaks to almost everybody who would listen to this podcast.

00:36 It may be a word that I keep going with. Does it land? Do you like it? Just let me know.

00:40 Send me a quick DM on Instagram, or email me or send me a Facebook message. Let me know. Do you like the word?

00:46 Okay, so the announcement is these crazy specials that I have going on right now for holidays shopping season, and then we'll get into the episodes.

00:56 So number one, the marketing bundle, the classics. This is bomb and it came together so quickly on a whim because it just felt correct.

01:07 So the marketing bundle is a collection of several different marketing classes and courses that I've taught over the last couple of years.

01:17 It's five and a half hours worth of content. And some of these classes were taught in late 2020, some in 2021.

01:26 And then three of the modules came from a marketing course that I taught in March of this year of 2022.

01:34 So I've bundled the whole thing together. It's $247 for the bundle, but it's 50% off during holiday season. So it's ridiculous.

01:44 And you get access to the whole thing. Oh, and there's a guided meditation. Of course, you get access to the whole thing for something like, I don't know, 120, it was less than $130.

01:54 It's ridiculous. Number two, I've marked 50% off of all of my other classic online business courses for birth professionals. So that includes for as of now, course creation for doulas, the bundle audience expansion, selling courses, and the virtual Doulas content toolkit.

02:17 So the first three courses, those are normally 247 for these comprehensive bundles slash courses, and they're also now 50% off.

02:27 And then the virtual doulas content toolkit usually goes for 21 bucks, but during the holidays it's $11 because it just feels fun and why not?

02:40 And savings codes and links to all the things are available at a link In the show notes, I have created just a very straightforward course menu.

02:51 So it's a page that you can scroll through and there's buttons that will connect you to each product's full description and sales page.

02:58 So you can see everything that that course entails. And the the coupon codes are all listed. If you need any coupon codes or if you're trying to figure out the correct price for anything, just send me a dm or send me an email.

03:10 I'm happy to help. Number three in this one, I am like, I have the excited jitters that feel really like good.

03:18 It's like this nervous, oh my gosh, I can't believe I did it. Excitement. I have a book, I have an audio book.

03:26 I have created a brand new audio book. Now, when this episode comes out, I'm hoping that the audio book is ready.

03:34 You'll know, cuz go to my Instagram and you'll see. But as of the time recording it, there's a few final touches like logistically that we're putting on the back end.

03:43 I've completed the book, but I'm waiting for the final edited files to be complete. So keep checking my Instagram. I have an audio book and it's called Just Start.

03:56 I cannot wait for you to get your hands on it. It is, it has come together with so much magic.

04:04 I'll have to share more on a separate episode. So I hope it's ready. There's lots of deliciousness in my ridiculous specials for preneurs and online business owners.

04:16 And as a caveat, yes, a lot of these online business classes that I taught a couple years ago speak to birth professionals.

04:22 However, if you're in an industry outside of the birth industry, simply adjust which words and which examples you want to use.

04:31 Now, course creation bundle is going to include some things that are specific to birth professionals, but much of the other stuff that the teachings can be applied, the fundamentals can be applied to any industry.

04:44 So if you have questions about that or you're unclear, just send me a message and I'm happy to help you pick what might best suit where you're at.

04:54 And if you're not sure which course would help you with where you are at, again, send me a message. My dms are open.

05:01 Okay, now let's get into the episode because I do think that it's time that we revolutionize the holiday shopping season.

05:10 So what I mean by that is I think, I feel that collectively we're shifting away from the consumerism, the stuff that we would see on TV where Thanksgiving evening people are lined up outside of Walmart waiting to get a hundred dollars off of a tea, or they want another toaster for like $7.

05:31 And so people are crumbling and piling up on top of each other and physically hurting each other to get $7 off something.

05:40 I think that, I hope that those days are in the past. Now, if you need a toaster, I do understand, but I hope that, I hope you're not lining up on Thanksgiving.

05:52 I, I, I feel like I know that there are examples where it, it actually like the savings is helpful for people.

05:59 And yet I do think that there are a lot of people who are just getting sucked into this thing where they just buy things because they're on sale and load up on junk just because it's marked down.

06:12 And I don't think we're there anymore. I think we've had it, there's enough junk. We, you know, this consumerism stuff has gotten outta control.

06:20 Now having said that I'm not saying don't treat yourself by all means if you can treat yourself because you deserve it.

06:29 I mean, I'm a tourist, right? So I can recognize how fun it is to enjoy lovely things. So get the new boots if you want to, and you can get the bag, get the massage, get whatever it is that feels good to you.

06:43 But when it comes to how you approach shopping during the holiday season and how we're gonna revolutionize this period of time, I wanna share with you a little bit about how I'm doing this and maybe you'll find it helpful.

06:57 I don't know, sometimes I think that the things I share are so simple that they can't possibly help people. And then the things that people say help the most I thought might be too simple to share.

07:07 So you never know. Number one, when I'm looking at, and these are all how I'm gonna spend my dollars when it comes to holiday seasons.

07:16 So number one, I'm from the business, I'm looking at investments. So what am I buying in the business that I can invest in that I anticipate having a long term roi, return on investment.

07:31 So if there are things in the business that I know I would like to have and I have the funds to be able to buy them and they happen to be discounted during the holiday season, this is a great time to buy them.

07:43 One, because I'm getting some really great savings too because it's an investment investing in myself and as a result in my business or vice versa, investing in my business and as a result myself because they're, they're connected has been by far the best money I've ever spent in my life.

08:03 It actually wasn't a Gucci bag and I enjoy Gucci bags or whatever fancy stuff I do like things like that.

08:11 But that hasn't been the thing that has the most impact in my life. It's always been investing in my business and investing in myself.

08:21 And that over the years has looked like either mentorship or courses. As you know, I'm an avid course taker. I did, I love taking digital courses and I also teach digital courses.

08:32 But when I've made investments in myself you know, and sometimes it started like buying a book. When I first got into really this journey of being a heart centered entrepreneur, it started with buying books and I would invest in books and then eventually a digital course.

08:51 And I would take a class or a workshop or a webinar and then hire a coach or join a membership or I can access, you know, certain tools that I think will help me grow as a person and in my business.

09:03 And I can tell you that some things when you buy them, you might not see your return dollar for dollar within that month.

09:10 But when you look at it, what is the long term return on that investment? So this is not just buying things for the sake of buying them.

09:19 This is investing and as a result, you're also boosting someone else's business. So I have no problem with making investments during the holiday shopping season.

09:31 It benefits everybody. One of my mentors says it like this, it's for, for me, for you, for us. So I look at that when I'm making investments in my business.

09:40 It's for me, but it's also for you. I love supporting other business owners when it makes sense, when it's aligned, when it's correct for me.

09:48 I enjoy being able to do that and it's for us because it changes the collective. Okay? Number two, I stock up, I stock up on the things that I know I'm gonna use that I love that are just so happen to be marked down during the season.

10:04 A great example is there's a company that I use some of her herbal products. She's an entrepreneur, owns her own business.

10:12 It's a woman owned business and she makes these organic herbal products. And so I discovered her in 2021 and started using some of her stuff.

10:21 And then during Black Friday slash holiday shopping season, I don't remember the exact dates she marked down everything, I wanna say 40% off.

10:30 I don't know. It was a great discount. And I was like, I'm gonna use this stuff. It's not junk. So I bought like three or four of them and I was actually just thinking this morning when I was getting ready that I still have a whole bottle left a, a little more than a bottle of what I bought last year.

10:49 So it's lasted me an entire year. I helped her with the cash injection in her business, right? And then I stocked up and got a great deal.

10:57 So I'm not mad about that. It's not junk, it's not accumulating for no reason. I'm going to use it. And I had the ability to buy it in that way, which was also a privilege, truly.

11:09 So I look at this opportunity to stop up on the things that I know I'm gonna be using and to support other businesses as a byproduct.

11:19 Number three, I look ahead to who I'm gonna be buying gifts for. Now, I don't buy gifts, like I don't go crazy and buy loads and loads and loads of gifts for people, like everybody on.

11:32 I don't have a list that's a mile long. However my kids' teachers are people that I really enjoy gifting something special.

11:41 And I now have three kids in school. So I, and some of them have assistant teachers and such. So I was making a list the other day that we have like, I wanna say seven or eight teachers that we are that I want to gift something to this year.

11:53 Nothing huge, nothing crazy. But I look to the holiday special season to buy from a private business or a small business or a woman owned business or a black owned business or all of the above when possible.

12:09 And so if let's say you're your favorite at Sea Shop or your favorite business is offering some kind of special during Black Friday cyber Week, that's a great time to order a bunch of gifts that you already know that you're going to be gifting.

12:25 So like for me, for my kids' teachers and outside of my family, like my children, my husband and my niece, I don't do a lot of gift giving cuz I, we just don't it, it's, we don't need to.

12:40 The teachers are somebody that I, I like gifting. So, and then again, as a byproduct, I'm boosting someone else's business and that feels really good.

12:50 And number four, I wanna repeat this line because I do think it's helpful and important to remember, treat yourself. It's okay if you can, if you have the capacity to do so, if you have the resources to do so.

13:05 And if there's something that you want that might not provide you a direct return on your investment that you can quantify, still treat yourself.

13:16 Some of the things that I can't directly tie to income in my business, I still consider contributing because they make me feel a certain way.

13:29 They make me feel really good. And when I feel good and when I feel different, the way I show up in my business sometimes feels different.

13:36 So I'm not going to knock it. And I say, if it's out there and you love it and you can get it, go for it.

13:50 Okay, so how does it land? How does it feel to be part of revolutionizing the shopping season? We get to change how we approach this.

14:02 I know that, you know, black Friday and cyber week comes under a lot of, there's a lot of heat and a lot of people that just don't love it and they wanna opt out and that's absolutely okay if you choose to do that.

14:12 For me personally, I enjoy, I enjoy it. I think it's really fun. I love being able to provide things to help other business owners change the way that they approach holiday shopping season and help you with tools to help you move your mission forward.

14:36 Because I don't know about you, but that is like one of outside of having a family moving my mission forward in the world is it is so fulfilling at a sole level that it gives me so much joy and energy and it does something for me that not much else can except for my family, right?

15:01 And so I know that a lot of you who are listening feel that way about your stuff or you wouldn't be doing it.

15:06 And so to the extent that I can help you fill in your gaps and provide tools and help you with the pieces that I'm really good at, so that you can get your work out and in front of more people, let's go.

15:19 Let's do it. 2023 is right around the corner. I'm here and I'm excited to be in your corner. All right, I'll talk to you on the interwebs PS if you celebrate Happy Thanksgiving.

15:36 I'm grateful for you today. And every day I've come to realize that for me in my life, it's not so much about Thanksgiving as we were taught, it's more about being grateful every day.

15:52 We are grateful every day. I'm thankful and grateful for my family and for my community. I think my divine support team all the time for you.

16:04 And today's just a day that we get to check out. Well, Thanksgiving day is a day that in the US we get to check out and really honor each other and honor that.

16:17 So thank you for hanging with me and thank you for listening to my sometimes annoying voice. I get it. Thank you for being in my corner of the internet.

16:25 Thank you for all of your support and for being you and for doing your important work in the world. I see you.