The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance
Evolved Finance
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Bookkeeping and business education company dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs create profitable and healthy businesses.
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20 hours ago
TBL Episode 227: Annie Frisbie - Creator of the Lactation Private Practice Essential Toolkit
“I still learn every day. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but I definitely am in a way better place than when I started.”
This week, Parker chats with Annie Frisbie about her financial journey.
Annie Frisbie MA, IBCLC has been a lactation consultant in private practice in New York City since 2011.
She is the author of Paperless Private Practice for Lactation Consultants, creator of the Lactation Private Practice Essential Toolkit, co-host of the Lactation Business Coaching Podcast, and produces online continuing education for lactation and birth professionals and clinicians.
In 2018 Annie was honored with the US Lactation Consultant Association's President's Award, "awarding those that demonstrate extraordinary service to the association and profession." Annie has a BA from Franklin and Marshall College with a double major in American Studies & Theatre, Dance, and Film, and an MA in Cinema Studies from New York University.
She lives in Queens, New York with her husband, their two children, and their two cats.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://https://www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Annie and her business:
* Follow her on Instagram: https://instagram.com/paperlesslactation
* Download her free Nurture Your Business with Boundaries workbook: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/course/boundaries
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Nov 14, 2023
TBL Episode 226: Kimberly Wilson - Founder of Tranquility du Jour
“Making sure that you make more than you spend, it is not always easy though, it's easier said than done. But that's how I managed my finances.”
This week, Parker chats with Kimberly Wilson about her financial journey.
Kimberly is a psychotherapist in private practice, president of the Pigs & Pugs Project, and the designer of an eco-fashion line. For over 20 years, she’s studied, practiced, and taught the art of tranquility to global audiences.
As the host of the Tranquility du Jour podcast, author of multiple lifestyle-focused books, and creator of online courses and events, her mission is to help midlife women find more balance and beauty in their everyday.
Kimberly has a master's in women’s studies and social work and has been featured in The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Washingtonian, Huffington Post, US News & World Report, Yoga Journal, and Bella Grace. She lives in Washington, DC with rescue pugs and a longtime partner while also dreaming of Paris.
Kimberly’s obsessions include ballet, matcha lattes, snail mail, and buying more books than she could ever read. Join the tranquility movement and enjoy ongoing inspiration through her Love Notes.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Kimberly and her business:
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tranquilitydujour/
* Subscribe to her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/tranquilitydujour
* Listen to her podcast: https://kimberlywilson.com/podcast/
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Oct 31, 2023
TBL Episode 225: Melissa Dlugolecki - Founder of Founder of MD Coaching & Consulting
“Money will fuel things, just like food will fuel things. So I see money as an energy source now rather than something that should be feared.”
This week, Parker chats with Melissa Dlugolecki about her financial journey.
Melissa Dlugolecki is a “regular person” who has created “irregular results”. As a bereaved mother, she worked through the overwhelming pain of her grief and now hosts a globally top-ranked podcast, Grief and Guts, which is designed to show people what is possible for them, no matter what their circumstances are.
Her work's mission is to show people their possibility through entrepreneurship, as she coaches and consults on business strategy, bringing creative ideas and always grounds into authenticity. She has built her own 6 & 7-figure businesses and has coached over 1000 others into their dream life.
Melissa’s entrepreneurial journey is both fascinating and full of surprises. Not only did she start amidst a painful grief journey, she was 100K in debt at the time she invested in her first business coach. As a former high school educator, her knowledge of business, blended with her resilience and ability to teach others, has been the perfect recipe for an incredibly unique, and powerful, path. In addition to building a business empire, she signed a publishing contract with Mike Michalowicz, New York Times best-selling author who has built several multi-million dollar companies and is currently working on her second book.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Every other week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Melissa and her business:
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissadlugolecki/
* Visit her website: https://www.speakingofmelissa.com/
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Oct 17, 2023
TBL Episode 224: Cassandra Sethi - Founder of Next Level Wardrobe
“When I think back to my twenties and even teens, I can say I operated from a scarcity point of view when it came to money and now I actually have fun thinking of the possibilities of my business and what it could be.”
This week, Parker chats with Cassandra Sethi about her financial journey.
Cassandra is a NYC Personal Stylist and Image Consultant. After working over 20 years in the Fashion Industry, most recently as a Senior Buyer for Equinox, she created Next Level Wardrobe – a luxury personal shopping service for successful professionals. Next Level Wardrobe has been featured in Wall Street Journal, Today and CNN.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Cassandra and her business:
* Follow Next Level Wardrobe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelwardrobe/
* Visit their website: https://nextlevelwardrobe.com/
* Follow Next Level Wardrobe on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nextlevelwardrobe/
* Sign up for the NLW Newsletter: https://nextlevelwardrobe.com/sign-up/
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Oct 3, 2023
TBL Episode 223: Mike Meiers - Founder of Songwriting for Guitar
“I love numbers, analytics, the whole shebang. It's fascinating to me because with school it's either right or wrong, you get 1 answer. But in business, you get an answer and it may not be the answer you want but you can fix it, you can change it.”
This week, Parker chats with Mike Meiers about his financial journey.
Mike is the founder of Songwriting for Guitar. His ultimate goal upon creation was to help songwriters, guitarists, and musicians alike hone in on their skills and monetize their creations!
As the CEO, Mike offers coaching resources, hosts a podcast dedicated to this same goal (also entitled "Songwriting for Guitar"), and collaborates with other talented industry professionals to share as much knowledge with aspiring artists as possible!
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Mike and his business:
* Songwriting for Guitar: https://www.songwritingforguitar.com
* Follow Mike on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/songwritingforguitar/
* Subscribe to Songwriting for Guitar Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/songwriting-for-guitar-podcast/id1527820620
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Sep 19, 2023
TBL Episode 222: Richelle Fredson - Founder of The Book Proposal Blueprint
“I had built great relationships and I had always operated with integrity and still do. And I really think those things pay off when you start your own business because people are ready to support you.”
This week, Parker chats with Richelle Fredson about her financial journey.
Richelle is a book publishing coach and consultant who works with aspiring and published authors to create impactful book concepts & competitive book proposals.
Many of Richelle’s clients go on to receive multiple six-figure offers from their dream publishers. Her clients include Farnoosh Torabi, Chrissy King, Jennifer Racioppi, Terri Cole, Jen Winston and many more!
She’s also the host of the Bound + Determined podcast and the founder of The Book Proposal Blueprint Comprehensive Program.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Richelle and her business:
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richellefredson/
* Sign up for her Insider's Guide to Getting Published, FREE training: https://richellefredson.com/training/
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Sep 5, 2023
TBL Episode 221: Becca Brown - Founder of Uppercase Industries
“As time goes on, you understand how to start reading the data and you get a sense of the levers you can pull if you need to change something, like if you need to make more money or if you need to cut expenses.”
This week, Parker chats with Becca Brown about her financial journey.
Becca is the founder and CEO of Uppercase Industries, a consumer insights and marketing strategy company that specializes in building highly customized business growth and marketing launch plans that help clients reach and exceed their goals.
Uppercase works with big-name brands such as Applegate and King Arthur Flour and small startups alike to grow their businesses with smart consumer targeting and creative messaging.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Becca and her business:
* Follow Uppercase Industries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uppercase.industries/
* Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becc_brown/
* Subscribe to Uppercase Industries Newsletter: https://www.uppercaseindustries.com/newsletter
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Aug 22, 2023
TBL Episode 220: Jordan Duvall - Founder of Ignite Your Soul Brand
“When I was younger I always wanted to save the money and then buy the thing. Now as a business owner sometimes that's challenging. Sometimes there's just things you need to do in your business that require a “now” moment.”
This week, Parker chats with Jordan Duvall about her financial journey.
Jordan works with women-led personal brands to create dynamic visual brands that get them noticed so they can position themselves for next-level impact and income.
She is an award-winning creative director who has worked for top Los Angeles entertainment advertising agencies, The Ant Farm, BLT & Associates, NBC & Universal and has consulted for celebrities, networks and some of the world’s most recognized brands. Her work has been used to market blockbuster hits such as Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, and The Voice.
Jordan is the founder of Ignite Your Soul Brand, a consulting company that combines big agency strategy with neuro linguistic programming, ancient wisdom and color energetics so that business owners can build an in-demand brand with the perfect combination of personality and purpose – expressed in pics and pixels.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Jordan and her business:
* Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085043425296
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igniteyoursoulbrand/
* Download the Brand Essence Guide: https://igniteyoursoulbrand.com/brand-essence-guide
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Aug 8, 2023
TBL Episode 219: Brooke Van Sickle - Founder of Journey to Kidlit and BiblioKid Publishing
“I just don't feel like the education was there from school, family, anything… Money just wasn't a topic people talk about.”
This week, Parker chats with Brooke Van Sickle about her financial journey.
Brooke is the owner & founder of Journey to Kidlit, the online resource that teaches thousands of aspiring children's book writers from over 35 countries around the world about how to write and publish a children's book based on her own award-winning writing journey. She's also the owner of BiblioKid Publishing, an American hybrid publishing house that specializes in producing quality books for kids.
As the senior editor of BiblioKid Publishing, Brooke has helped over 30 titles go on to receive 5-star reviews from children's book professional sites like Reader's Favorite, Reader's Choice, and Mom's Choice. She's also an award-winning picture book author, whose book received the 2020 Distinguished Favorite Preschool Picture Book. Learn more about Brooke and how to start your own publishing journey at journeytokidlit.com.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Brooke Van Sickle and her business:
* Like Journey to KidLit on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/journeytokidlit
* Follow Journey to KitLit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeytokidlit/
* Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/journeytokidlit
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Jul 25, 2023
TBL Episode 218: Jamie DuBose - Founder of ZenplicityNow.com
“I realized the massive potential, and the freedom and flexibility, that came from starting a business and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
This week, Parker chats with Jamie DuBose about her financial journey.
Jamie is an Email Revenue Strategist and the Founder and CEO of ZenplicityNow.com, a digital marketing agency that helps business owners monetize their email list -- without being weird or pushy.
She helps service providers create and implement marketing strategies that are aligned with their vision and values instead of following a “one size fits all” approach to digital marketing & sales.
Jamie is also a Navy wife and mom to 3 kids and 4 dogs and 1 cat, all of whom keep her lots of company while she’s supporting clients from her home office in San Diego, CA.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Jamie DeBose and her business:
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiedubose/
* Follow Zenplicity on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zenplicity/
* Visit her website to get the Zen Marketing Method Cheat Sheet: https://zenplicitynow.com/
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Jul 11, 2023
TBL Episode 217: Lauren Litt - Founder of Lil Shameless Plug
“In the online space I feel like there's a lot of women who, for some reason, are ashamed of their money or don't want to talk about it or even try to hide the success of it, so I try to be really open about finances.”
This week, Parker chats with Lauren Litt about her financial journey.
Lauren is the owner and lead Social Media Manager at Lil Shameless Plug.
Lil Shameless Plug is a social media management company dedicated to the curation and creation of quality content. If you don’t like social media but know you need it for your business Lauren can help you create a masterful social media plan. Since opening, Lil Shameless Plus has had the pleasure of working with a variety of independent entrepreneurs, brick and mortars and even an Oscar Qualifying Film Festival!
Lauren recently moved to Portland, OR with her hubby and 2 fur babies. Follow her on social!
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolvedfinance/
To learn more about Lauren and her business:
* Take her quiz - Discover Your Social Media Cocktail!: https://www.lilshamelessplug.com/social-cocktail-quiz/
* Check out her website: https://lilshamelessplug.com/
* Follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/LilShamelessPlug
* Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren.litt/
* Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-litt
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Jun 20, 2023
TBL Episode 216: Jess Tyson - Founder of Don’t Panic Management
“I was willing to always forgo money for the sake of doing the right thing… and I think having good principles and having good ethics has helped me stay in business.”
This week, Parker chats with Jess Tyson about her financial journey.
Jess is a mother, author, speaker, community builder, and proud Director of Calm at Don’t Panic Management. She founded Don't Panic in 2011, and became the first virtual assistant company to take a people-first approach to matchmaking between overworked executives and talented assistants. She's been growing her team of kind, generous, brilliant task-kickers ever since.
In 2018, she wrote and published Panic Proof: How the Right Virtual Assistant Can Grow Your Business and Save Your Sanity, and has since launched Panic Proof Radio, the podcast, and the Panic Proof Blueprint, the one-day intensive, for struggling owners who need a hand with delegation best practices.
Her life is often a whirlwind of wrangling her two young kids, speaking at eve…
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Jun 6, 2023
TBL Episode 215: Tosha Schore - Founder of Parenting Boys Peacefully
“I was so passionate about the changes that I was able to create in my own family, that I felt this call to be able to help other people do the same thing and then I realized that I could make money doing it.”
This week, Parker chats with Tosha Schore about her financial journey.
Tosha is on a mission to create a more peaceful world, one sweet boy at a time by supporting her clients to care for themselves, connect with their boy(s) deeply, set limits lovingly, and play wildly!
She brings a burst of energy and optimism to parenting, and is an expert at simple solutions to what feel like overwhelmingly complicated problems.
Through her online community and courses, Tosha helps break the isolation of modern parenting and lifts her client’s confidence so they’re better equipped to face the challenges of raising young boys.
Tosha is the creator of all things Parenting Boys Peacefully, including her signature course, Out With Aggression, a six-week sprint to stop your boy’s ex…
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May 23, 2023
TBL Episode 214: Elizabeth Burrows - Founder of Burrow Consulting Inc.
“Now money is just a tool to be able to do the things that I want to do, you know I may lose money but I'm going to make more money along the way.”
This week, Parker chats with Elizabeth Burrows about her financial journey.
Elizabeth is an alumnus of North Vermillion High School and graduated magna cum laude from DePauw University with a degree in Political Science and Communications where she studied abroad at Oxford University. She went on to receive her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
In 2014, after working in healthcare administration for eight years, Elizabeth started her own business, Burrows Consulting, Inc. where she has assisted numerous rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, institutions of higher education, critical access hospitals, rural health associations, and other non-profits attain over $135,000,000 in grant funding and over $300,000,000 in enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and 340B Shared Savi…
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May 9, 2023
TBL Episode 213: Katie Glassman - Founder of Fiddle School
“I was the type of person that going into debt was the only way that I could get to where I am today… now I have a much different view, I am definitely a saver nowadays.”
This week, Parker chats with Katie Glassman about her financial journey.
Katie is that rare musician who possesses a combination of instrumental virtuosity and powerful musical expression. Holding six national championship titles, she is one of the country’s most renowned and decorated Texas-style and swing fiddlers, as well as an accomplished songwriter, singer, and a highly sought after teacher.
Over the years touring included playing at the Library of Congress, Festivals for the National Coalition of Traditional Arts, Australia, Italy, and France, and, oh a different state or country every weekend. Over this time, Katie recorded and released 5 full length albums!
In 2018, Katie opened FiddleSchool.com as a resource to make the art of fiddling more accessible. Gaining so much fulfillment from teaching, s…
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Apr 25, 2023
TBL Episode 212: Belinda Weaver - Founder of Copywrite Matters
“I knew I had to start investing time into becoming financially literate and regularly checking in with my numbers.”
This week, Parker chats with Belinda Weaver about her financial journey.
Belinda (from Copywrite Matters) is a copy coach helping aspiring and working copywriters supercharge their income, create financial stability, and avoid career burnout. She believes the whole point of being your own boss is to create a job that’s better than the one you left.
With 10 years in the business of writing, Belinda has courses, coaching and mentoring that builds skills and confidence so more writers can ditch hustle and burnout and enjoy the journey of their work.
An Aussie living in California with her pug, two daughters and husband (listed in order of neediness)… Belinda is obsessed with Doctor Who, English murder mysteries and making the perfect lemon curd.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, t…
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Apr 11, 2023
TBL Episode 211: Amanda Rango - Founder of ARD Fashion Consulting
“I would not consider myself a numbers person… but now as a business owner, I’m slightly obsessed with numbers. I’ve been quickly learning to utilize numbers and analytics to my advantage.”
This week, Parker chats with Amanda Rango about her financial journey.
Amanda is the Founder and CCO (Chief Creative Officer) of ARD Fashion Consulting in Columbus, Ohio. She is a well-rounded, accomplished Fashion Designer, leader, and lifelong learner. With over 20 years of industry experience, she climbed the corporate ladder while demonstrating drive, adaptability, and grit.
Her background spans a variety of apparel categories, custom print development, and dynamic graphic artwork. Her top technical strengths are in trend forecasting, collection design, streamlining product development efficiencies and advocating for 3D Digital Product Creation for a more sustainable future of fashion. As an avid yogi and mother of three, she brings creativity, balance, and positive energy to her ca…
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Mar 28, 2023
TBL Episode 210: Molly Mahoney - Founder of The Prepared Performer
“You can't just build a system and think it's going to magically make things happen in your business… you have to actually use it.”
This week, Parker chats with Molly Mahoney about her financial journey.
Molly Mahoney (known as The Prepared Performer) is a digital growth strategist who specializes in creating authentic video content and leveraging organic social and chat automation marketing to skyrocket client sales.
After creating a video that reached one million people organically, she developed her signature “Go Live And Monetize” method. It combines her social media expertise, talent for scaling one-on-one relationships, and twenty years of performance experience on stages from New York to Las Vegas.
Molly is the host of “Camera Confidence Live” and has hosted shows for content creator tools like Be.live, ManyChat, and InVideo, has been a speaker at events like Social Media Marketing World, Traffic & Conversion Summit, and the Conversations Conference, and has be…
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Mar 14, 2023
TBL Episode 209: Lisa Nunamaker - Founder of Paper Garden Workshop
“I’ve realized that I can make money and also do the things that I love.”
This week, Parker chats with Lisa Nunamaker about her financial journey.
Lisa teaches budding designers about the beautiful world of garden design and landscape graphics in a fun and simple way. She is a garden design educator, writer, illustrator and speaker.
After ten years of practicing as a landscape architect she realized that even though she adored designing, she loved inspiring others to design even more through her company: Paper Garden Workshop.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://pod…
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Feb 28, 2023
TBL Episode 208: Paddy Johnson - Founder of VVrkshop
“Money should not be an afterthought, it needs to be a part of the process of whatever you do.”
This week, Parker chats with Paddy Johnson about her financial journey.
Paddy is the founder of VVrkshop, a company that helps artists land the exhibitions, residencies and grants of their dreams. VVrkshop’s flagship membership program, Netvvrk, supports mid-career artists by giving artists the skills and network necessary to create a sustainable living in the arts.
Prior to VVrkshop, Paddy founded the blog Art F City and the public art initiative PARADE. She writes for publications like CNN, The New York Times, and New York Magazine. Johnson is best known for her ability to help artists produce their best work.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their…
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Feb 14, 2023
TBL Episode 207: Jacques Hopkins - Founder of Piano In 21 Days and The Online Course Guy
“When you're working for somebody else you can make a lot of money but it's always finite, there's always a limit. But when you're running your own business, theoretically your earning potential is unlimited.”
This week, Parker chats with Jacques Hopkins about his financial journey.
Jacques worked as an engineer for eight years before quitting his job and turning his biggest hobby into a highly successful online piano course. PianoIn21Days.com has brought in over $2.5 Million in revenue to date, with over 7,000 students all over the world.
Today, Jacques supports his family with the passive income from his course, while teaching others to do the same on the The Online Course Show podcast.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with m…
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Jan 31, 2023
TBL Episode 206: Ryann & Nate Kipping - Founder & Managing Partner The Prenatal Nutritionist
“I would have never thought in a million years that this is what I would be doing, let alone doing it and making the amount of money that we're making.”
This week, Parker chats with Ryann and Nate Kipping about their financial journey.
Ryann founded The Prenatal Nutritionist almost four years ago. Nate is the managing partner of the business and recently jumped on full-time with Ryann this past January.
The Prenatal Nutritionist is an online membership website complete with an app to help pregnant people get science-backed answers around how to eat for preconception and pregnancy.
Ryann is a Registered Nutritionist and created The Prenatal Nutrition Library membership to help alleviate anxiety around prenatal nutrition.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to tal…
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Jan 17, 2023
TBL Episode 205: Parker Stevenson - Partner and Chief Business Officer of Evolved
“I love the skills I've learned. I love to be able to talk about something that's complicated for a lot of other people and make it simpler for them.”
This week, Whitney chats with Parker Stevenson about his financial journey.
Parker is the Chief Business Officer at Evolved Finance; a bookkeeping firm that specializes in helping online entrepreneurs to build more profitable and financially stable online businesses.
For over 8 years, Parker has been advising some of the top coaches, course creators, influencers, and thought leaders on how to make more sound business decisions using their financial data. Before joining Evolved Finance, Parker spent five years at Adidas America where he became the US product manager for golf footwear.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance cl…
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Jan 3, 2023
TBL Episode 204: Corey Whitaker - Founder of Evolved Finance
“When you make more money, it doesn't mean that your problems with money are going to go away. You have to actively work on yourself to be able to change your outlook on money.”
This week, Parker chats with Corey Whitaker about his financial journey.
Corey founded Evolved Finance in 2010 with his wife, Anna. What started as a small boutique bookkeeping firm of 2 people turned into a seven-figure business with employees located across the country.
Corey quickly grew a reputation for being the leading online business finance expert, which attracted some of the biggest names in the online space for bookkeeping and financial guidance.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business ha…
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Dec 13, 2022
TBL Episode 203: Rebecca Ives - Founder of The Pursuit of Fabulous
“I think a lot of people are hard on themselves because they think they have to be perfect at everything and it's like no, just be really good at your thing and care a lot about your client's results... that is what’s important.”
This week, Parker chats with Rebecca Ives about her financial journey.
Rebecca is a psychic marketing coach and self-proclaimed “Content Queen.”
She helps her clients blast open their “hot content channel” and grow their online businesses to 6 figures (and beyond)!
Her work has been featured in Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and the Huffington Post and she currently lives just outside Washington DC with her husband, Brandon, and their fur baby.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money an…
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Nov 29, 2022
TBL Episode 202: Tara Walsh - Founder of The Lashpreneur
“What I'm learning is letting go of control, letting my team make mistakes, letting them learn and get better. That way we have longer stability in the business and it's not so dependent on me.”
This week, Parker chats with Tara Walsh about her financial journey.
Tara has been a Licensed Esthetician and Master Lash Artist since 2013. But before ever finding her true joy and passion for lash artistry, she spent 8 years working in the corporate world in Sales, Marketing, and New Business Development.
In 2016 she branched out to combine her love for lashes, business bad-assery and empowering women to create The Lashpreneur. Tara knew that many others so desperately needed business guidance and mentorship to take their beauty businesses from overlooked to fully booked!
Through her business, Tara helps lash artists start, build, and grow thriving lash businesses as she had done so for herself in record time. Her witty teaching style and unique, no BS approach to running a business h…
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Nov 15, 2022
TBL Episode 201: Anna Runyan - Founder of Classy Career Girl International
“My job is focusing on the vision, where we're going, and what our financial goals are. It's a lot easier to do that when you have good books.”
This week, Parker chats with Anna Runyan about her financial journey.
Anna is the creator of CLASS: The Love Your Work and Life System and CEO of Classy Career Girl International.
She’s a former corporate consultant turned entrepreneur and her website was picked as one of Forbes Top 100 Websites For Women and one of Forbes 35 Most Influential Career Sites. She’s been featured on Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and People StyleWatch magazine. Anna was nominated as San Diego Magazine’s Woman of the Year and her podcast was named as Yahoo’s 10 Best Podcasts.
Anna helps millions of women design and launch their dream careers, businesses, and lives through her website, online courses and social media channels.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought le…
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Nov 1, 2022
TBL Episode 200: Alyson Stanfield - Founder of Art Biz Success
“Numbers make more sense to me before you put a dollar sign in front of them… that’s why I really appreciate having a bookkeeping team on my side that understands online businesses.”
This week, Parker chats with Alyson Stanfield about her financial journey.
Alyson has been consulting with artists since her days as a museum curator and educator. She started Art Biz Success (2002) to help artists improve how they present themselves and their art to the world.
Since then, she has helped thousands of artists all over the world understand what's possible, embrace their own definitions of success, and create opportunities for their art, all while staying true to how they want to lead their lives
Alyson is also the host of The Art Biz podcast. She has been invited to teach art business workshops in 27 states and is the author of I’d Rather Be in the Studio: The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of so…
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Oct 18, 2022
TBL Episode 199: Emily Eliza Moyer - Founder of Emily Eliza Moyer Inc.
“Money in itself does not buy happiness but money is a resource and a tool that can absolutely change people's lives.”
This week, Parker chats with Emily Eliza Moyer about her financial journey.
Emily is an Intuitive Business & Executive Coach focused on helping coaches & early stage start-up founders launch, build & scale businesses they absolutely love to run. With 12 years of coaching experience under her belt, she bridges energetics with strategy and believes that by breaking the rules, listening to your intuition and doing things your own way, you’ll watch your business skyrocket (plus it’ll be way more fun to run 😉).
Emily's career began in the education sector as a teacher & coach. She later served as the Head of Sales & Marketing for a vc-backed travel start-up and most recently, built a transformational multi 6-figure purpose & career coaching business. She's a certified yogi, a professional scuba diver, crazy nature lover and has spent over eight years working r…
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Oct 6, 2022
TBL Episode 198: Shari Balouchi - Founder of Shari Balouchi LLC
“I've been able to fall more in love with my business because I keep making it work for me and I keep finding ways to enjoy what I'm doing.”
This week, Parker chats with Shari Balouchi about her financial journey.
Shari is a Success Strategist & Wellbeing Coach. She helps badass entrepreneurs, creatives, thought leaders, artists, activists & movement builders make money doing work they love while prioritizing their wellbeing.
Her philosophy is that even as a business owner, you get to be a whole-ass human. And whether you’re building your business from the ground up to earn a modest living or you’re scaling a multi-million dollar company, there’s absolutely a way to do it that’s fun, profitable, and centers your own well-being.
At the end of the day, she loves her work because believes that emotionally healthy, fulfilled people who are well compensated will create a better-resourced and more just world for us all to live and thrive in.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Financ…
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Sep 20, 2022
TBL Episode 197: Alison Leipzig and Michelle Garside - Co-Founders of Soul Camp
“We were creating sales without knowing exactly what the profit versus revenue really looked like. We were kind of going in blind and it took a lot of missteps to get on the right track.”
This week, Parker chats with Alison Leipzig and Michelle Garside about their financial journeys.
Alison and Michelle are the co-founders of Soul Camp. Having started as an adult sleepaway camp, Soul Camp is one-part soulful travel and adventure company, and another part creative agency, designing innovative + visionary brands and leaders.
Their unique way of branding from the inside out, allows the team at Soul Camp to create poignant and magnetic messaging and visual branding that will speak to the work that companies truly do. Their company has been featured in Inc., Forbes, abc News, Women's Health, Well + Good and more.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in t…
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Sep 6, 2022
TBL Episode 196: Whitney McNeill - Founder of Messenger of Spirit, LLC
“I look at money as a tool to help me live my purpose. I also look at it as knowing where I want to go and how it can help me get there.”
This week, Parker chats with Whitney McNeill about her financial journey.
Whitney is a Certified Medium, Certified Reiki Master-Teacher, Spiritual Mentor, Speaker, and Writer. She is the owner of her multi 6 figure business, Messenger of Spirit, LLC, and the creator of her widely popular program, 4 Intuitive Languages® where she helps spiritual and ambitious souls learn how to understand their intuitive messages and communicate with their Spirit Guides.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
To learn more about Evolved Finan…
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Aug 23, 2022
TBL Episode 195: JoAnn Crohn - Founder of No Guilt Mom
“I try to look to see how far I've come from where I was in the past and what I'm doing now versus trying to compare myself to others.”
This week, Parker chats with JoAnn Crohn.
JoAnn Crohn, M. Ed is a parenting educator who helps moms feel confident in everything from raising empowered, self-sufficient kids to dropping the anxiety and guilt out of modern parenthood.
She’s an accomplished writer, author, podcast host of the No Guilt Mom podcast, and speaker, appearing in national media, and founder of the company, No Guilt Mom. Her specialty is talking to both parents and kids - with her self-paced digital courses in handling big emotions, getting kids to help out more, creating a morning routine, and conquering the homework drama.
JoAnn is a former elementary school teacher with a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction as well as a National Board Certified Teacher in Middle Childhood Education. She’s a mom to 2 kids - ages 13 and 9.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finan…
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Aug 9, 2022
TBL Episode 194: Rachel Perry - Founder of Rachel Perry Consulting, LLC
“The whole journey of being an entrepreneur is emotional. But it's so rewarding and I'm holding onto that because I know I'm going to get to that seven figures again one day.”
This week Parker chats with Rachel Perry about her financial journey.
Rachel is a network marketing business coach, host of The Direct Seller’s Podcast, and speaker. Rachel’s passion is helping network marketers brand themselves outside of their product and company so they can make more impact, more money, and lead bigger teams.
When she’s not helping women achieve their business goals, Rachel can be found at Target, traveling with her three kids and husband, or on IG stories sharing the comedic reality of being a working mom.
You can find Rachel’s tips, business advice, and inspiration at rachelaperry.com and on The Direct Seller’s Podcast.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and servi…
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Jul 26, 2022
TBL Episode 193: Becky & Jeremy Launder - Founders of Modern Direct Seller and DirectFlo
Becky and Jeremy Launder are the Founders of Modern Direct Seller and DirectFlo. They each bring a unique set of skills that have enabled their businesses to grow and thrive.
Becky is a former multi-million dollar direct sales team leader, builder, and trainer with a Masters in Leadership and Management. She has trained thousands of direct sales leaders from around the world, helping them realize sustainable business success with the direct sales model.
Jeremy brings 15+ years of career experience as an electrical engineer in the defense industry. His contributions are essential as the Chief Operating Officer where his proven track record of problem solving and development combine to add measurable results in top-line revenue.
Their mission is to empower direct sellers to skyrocket their businesses with modern training, simple systems and actionable strategies.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, though…
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Jul 19, 2022
TBL Episode 192: Marnie Ginsberg - Founder of Reading Simplified
Early in Marnie Ginsberg’s public school teaching career, she discovered that most of her 6th grade students were reading at least 2 years behind. And she had no idea how to rapidly shrink that gap. (A common experience she hears still to this day.) Thus began a career-long passion to discover the most efficient and effective approaches to teach anyone how to read.
After growing a successful private reading tutoring and consulting business, she studied literacy further through doctoral studies at the University of North Carolina. At UNC, she led the development of a unique, well-researched K-2 reading intervention, the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), that provides webcam-based PD and coaching to teachers who deliver instruction to struggling readers in their classrooms.
Through the experience of watching teachers all over the country implement the TRI and through ongoing study of the research, Marnie developed and now leads Reading Simplified—a streamlined approach to readin…
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Jul 12, 2022
TBL Episode 191: Kris Bradley - Founder of Produce Like a Boss
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Kris Bradley.
Kris is a songwriter/producer with credits including Sony BMG, Warner Chappell, Rolling Stone Magazine, Fox, Lincoln, and Miramax. She heads Boomfox Productions, producing for various sync projects, artists, and songwriters.
She is also the founder of Produce Like a Boss, which is an online coaching program geared towards the songwriter/producer, rather than the engineer. Her ‘non-techy’ and simplified style of teaching is helping tons of artists learn how to produce their own music, and build profitable businesses from their home studios.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
*…
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Jul 6, 2022
TBL Episode 190: Michelle Brooks - Founder of My Designs in the Chaos
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Michelle Brooks.
Michelle is the creative director behind My Designs in the Chaos. She is a wife and mom of 4 energetic kids. With all of the chaos around her house, her shop was born as a place to express herself and have a creative outlet.
Michelle found a passion in giving encouragement and building confidence in women to help them grow their own unique creative talents.
Her business provides digital designs and project inspiration that help crafters to create the perfect item for their kids, family, friends, and customers. Their helpful tips and tricks build confidence and save time so that pro…
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Jun 28, 2022
TBL Episode 189: Erin Athene - Co-Founder of Mint C.R.O.™
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Erin Athene.
Erin co-founded her first $20 million tech company in 17 months, and is now the co-founder of Mint C.R.O.,™ providing an Engineering Approach to Marketing™ along with her business partner and co-founder, Jessica Jobes.
Mint C.R.O. has provided CRO training and expert coaching to hundreds of entrepreneurs and marketers to accelerate growth, improve lead quality and sales conversions, and reduce ad spend. Clients have achieved 2X to 10X repeatable growth using Mint CRO’s systematic testing methodology, radically transforming their marketing results.
To learn more about Evolved Fina…
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Jun 21, 2022
TBL Episode 188: Tiffany McLain - Founder of The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Tiffany McLain.
Tiffany McLain, LMFT is a clinical fee strategist for therapists in private practice. Her mantra is, “Full fees are the new black.”
Via her program, The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy, she helps therapists ethically earn AT LEAST 30 to 50% more per month while seeing fewer clients by showing them how to think about and directly address fees in a clinically appropriate manner.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/…
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Jun 14, 2022
TBL Episode 187: Rachel Miller - Founder of Moolah Marketing
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Rachel Miller.
Rachel is a business strategist with a proven system to help others grow their customer and audience base that translates into engagement, traffic, and ultimately profit.
She has developed a strategy that includes content, analytics, and branding that draws the right people to the right business. The end result -- better leads and conversions.
By understanding the dynamics of viral content creation and harnessing its power, she's been able to grow multiple sites and social media pages for different niches ranging from 570K - 2.2 million fans!
Understanding the importance of communit…
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Jun 7, 2022
TBL Episode 186: Mary Adkins - Author & Founder of The Book Incubator
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Mary Adkins.
Mary is the author of the novels When You Read This (Indie Next Pick, “Best Book of 2019” by Good Housekeeping and Real Simple), Privilege (Today.com Best Summer Read), and Palm Beach (New York Post “Best Book of 2021,” and “like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable” according to the Associated Press).
Her books have been published in 13 countries, and her essays and reporting have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and more. A graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University, she teaches storytelling for The Moth worldwide and runs The Boo…
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May 31, 2022
TBL Episode 185: Abigail Hueber - Founder of Above Health Nutrition
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Abigail Hueber.
Abigail is an Integrative Functional Dietitian and owner of the private practice Above Health Nutrition. She is an expert in digestive health and the creator of the No Drama Digestion Program (NDD), an online program that helps clients to eliminate symptoms of IBS and other digestive issues.
Through the tools of functional medicine, the NDD program works to identify and eliminate the root cause of IBS in the body through nutrition, lifestyle, and personalized supplementation to provide long-term digestive healing and optimize overall health.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
*…
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May 24, 2022
TBL Episode 184: Rachel Luna - Founder of Rachel Luna & Company LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Rachel Luna.
Rachel is a highly sought after international speaker, Certified Master Neuroscience Coach to 7 + 8-figure earning entrepreneurs and podcast host, named by Forbes as one of The 11 Most Inspiring Female Entrepreneurs To Follow On Instagram.
This former US Marine, who is also a Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor, has a reputation for inspiring confident action and helping her clients double, triple, and quadruple their income. She is often referred to by clients as their “secret weapon" because she has an innate ability to activate their confidence and facilitate lasting transformat…
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May 17, 2022
TBL Episode 183: Bree Noble - Founder of Profitable Musician LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Bree Noble.
Bree quit her corporate job as a Director of Finance to pursue music. After a successful run as a touring singer/songwriter, she founded Women of Substance Radio to promote quality female artists in all genres. She hosts the Profitable Musician Show Podcast where she teaches musicians how to tap into multiple streams of income.
She turned her signature framework, The Musicians Profit Path, into a presentation for conferences like The ASCAP Experience and The TAXI Road Rally and a best-selling book on Amazon. Drawing on her extensive experience as a musician, online marketer and business…
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May 10, 2022
TBL Episode 182: Shinah Chang - Founder of Crooked Calligraphy LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Shinah Chang.
Shinah is a whiskey-loving, curse-word slinging, Harvard-trained former corporate attorney who left everything behind to find her passion. Shinah spent her entire life on the straight, "proper" path. She went to an Ivy League college, then a prestigious Law School, then worked her butt off in a big international law firm.
But, after one too many days of uninspiring work and nights of sleeping under her desk, she decided she had to reclaim her life! She quit her law job and explored so many creative avenues - knitting, woodworking, drawing, graphic design. But CALLIGRAPHY is what she fe…
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May 3, 2022
TBL Episode 181: Jena Castro-Casbon - Founder of The Independent Clinician LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Jena Castro-Casbon.
Jena H. Castro-Casbon, MS CCC-SLP is a private practice consultant, speaker, and podcaster who has helped over 20,000 speech-language pathologists start, grow, and scale successful private practices to get the freedom, flexibility, and financial abundance they desire.
Her company, The Independent Clinician, offers free and paid private practice resources, such as The Start Your Private Practice Program and the Grow Your Private Practice Program. She lives in Newton, MA with her wife and two young sons.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a rev…
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Apr 26, 2022
TBL Episode 180: Laura Schoenfeld - Creator of The Nutrition Business Accelerator
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Laura Schoenfeld.
Laura is a Registered Dietitian (RD), women’s health expert, and business coach for integrative and functional dietitians and nutritionists. Her mission is to educate entrepreneurs on how to nourish their bodies, minds, and spirits and to help nutrition professionals grow and scale a successful business.
Inside her signature coaching program, The Nutrition Business Accelerator, Laura has coached hundreds of dietitians and nutritionists on how to grow their businesses for financial success. When she’s not educating and serving her coaching clients and community, Laura loves trav…
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Apr 19, 2022
TBL Episode 179: Justin Sardi - Founder of TubeSift
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Justin Sardi.
Aside from his years of experience as an internet marketer, Justin is the founder of TubeSift. TubeSift is a YouTube Ads targeting tool that empowers users to set up high-performing video ad campaigns quickly by taking the manual work out of finding precision-targeted, monetized placements for YouTube advertising campaigns.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Join our private Facebook Group: https://…
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Apr 12, 2022
TBL Episode 178: Latasha James - Founder of James + Park
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Latasha James.
Latasha is the founder of creative marketing firm James + Park. Through her YouTube, podcast, and course content, Latasha empowers freelancers and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, diversify their revenue, and live their dream lives.
Taking charge of your dreams and forging your own path has never been more important, and through her work, Latasha has encouraged thousands of people to earn money—the real, honest, and sustainable way.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id12275…
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Apr 5, 2022
TBL Episode 177: Cynthia Samanian - Founder of Hidden Rhythm
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Cynthia Samanian.
Cynthia Samanian is the founder of Hidden Rhythm, a business education company serving the culinary industry.
Through her signature coaching program, Cooking Class Business School, Cynthia helps culinary pros create and market online cooking classes and memberships, so they can unlock more freedom and flexibility in their lives.
She also hosts the weekly podcast, The Experiential Table.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: www.evolve…
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Mar 29, 2022
TBL Episode 176: Khalil and Kyara Uqdah - Founders of Charm City Buyers
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Khalil and Kyara Uqdah.
Khalil & Kyara, aka Charm City Buyers, are passionate about changing the narrative in Baltimore and shifting generations by building wealth through real estate. From recent college grads to full time entrepreneurs, Khalil and Kyara have grown their 7-figure real estate empire all before the age of 30 (including buying the block) via the “School of Hard Knocks”. While it appears this duo has it all figured out, it’s their “real CEO”, daughter Mikayla who runs the show.
With a portfolio of 20+ rentals and an eye for great flip deals, Khalil & Kyara have their eyes set…
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Mar 22, 2022
TBL Episode 175: Amira Rahim - Founder of Better Than Art School™
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Amira Rahim.
Amira is a contemporary and abstract expressionist painter. Her work has been acquired by collectors around the world—most notably by the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi. In 2013, Rahim launched her art business and sold over $100,000 worth of art by her second year online.
By harnessing the power of social media and building a thriving artist community, her business and art continue to grow and inspire the lives of people from all walks of life.
Today, Rahim’s work is distributed across multiple stores including Wayfair, HomeGoods, The Home, Hayneedle, and Amazon. In addition to commerc…
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Mar 15, 2022
TBL Episode 174: DaJuan Johnson - Founder of Think Bigger Coaching
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with DaJuan Johnson.
DaJuan, is an actor and the founder of Think Bigger Coaching for Actors. He is a certified transformation and career coach on a mission to help actors uplevel their careers with confidence so they can book off of self tapes.
His mindset strategies are grounded in real-life experience as a veteran working actor. He has helped hundreds of others break through personal blocks and integrate best audition practices so they can book off of self tapes and quickly move to the next level.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.appl…
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Mar 8, 2022
TBL Episode 173: Dallas Travers - Founder of The Hive
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Dallas Travers.
Dallas is the founder of The Hive and host of the Six Figure Coach Podcast. If you're a coach who serves everyday people, you need to know Dallas Travers.
Her Ripple Effect System teaches the exact steps to attract paying clients, build your list daily, then scale your business with a course so you never again have to ask, "what should I do today?"
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://www.evolvedfinance.com/audiocourse
* Join…
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Mar 1, 2022
TBL Episode 172: Alli Ball - Founder of Allison Ball Consulting
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Alli Ball.
Alli is the founder and principal of Allison Ball Consulting, helping food industry professionals succeed in launching and growing their packaged food businesses through her one-on-one consulting and online group course, Retail Ready®.
Alli helps producers understand what it takes to get their products on the retail shelf—and keep them there—by sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets and thought processes of wholesale buyers as they assess new products for their stores or online marketplaces.
In addition to client work, Alli hosts Food Biz Wiz®, a weekly podcast for emerging packaged…
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Feb 22, 2022
TBL Episode 171: Elaine Lou Cartas - Founder of the Color Your Dreams Movement™
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Elaine Lou Cartas.
Elaine specializes in helping women of color entrepreneurs and industry leaders land their dream careers and create business opportunities through authentic relationships both online and offline. As a result, clients have made multi 6-figure and 7-figure incomes, received $25k raises, earned 6-figure corporate salaries, transitioned into new careers, and created their own global businesses.
Elaine has over a decade of experience as a political grassroots organizer and nonprofit fundraiser. One of her proudest accomplishments was raising $1 million in student scholarships in 6 mont…
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Feb 15, 2022
TBL Episode 170: Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams - Founders of Boss Project
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams.
Abagail and Emylee are the founders of Boss Project. Their mission is to create and empower a community of fiercely supportive, ridiculously profitable creative small business owners who unapologetically design a life on their terms.
They've worked with tens of thousands of students from all over the world through their programs and have reached millions with their own podcast, The Strategy Hour. As a couple of art school kids from the Midwest, these two are on a mission to make mundane and sustainable cool again.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follo…
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Feb 8, 2022
TBL Episode 169: Adam Force - Founder of Change Creator
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Adam Force.
Adam is an expert in branding, storytelling, and sales. After working 10 years at WebMD as Director of Strategic Marketing creating strategies for some of the biggest brands around the world, Adam started his second business, Change Creator, helping social entrepreneurs scale by mastering their brands and websites.
Currently, they offer Brand Studio Services, the Change Creator Podcast with 230+ expert interviews, and 30+ editions of Change Creator Magazine reaching over 140+ countries including exclusive interviews from experts such as Tony Robbins, Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington, and R…
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Feb 1, 2022
TBL Episode 168: Abbey Ashley - Founder of The Virtual Savvy
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown. This week, Parker chats with Abbey Ashley.
Abbey is the Founder of The Virtual Savvy. She helps aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home businesses from scratch. Abbey started her own virtual assistant business as a new mom and was able to double the salary from her full-time corporate job, working only 20 hours a week... in just 30 days!
She's since gone on to grow a seven-figure business and retire her husband ALL from her at-home business. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA business so they can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship as well.
To learn more about Evolved…
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Jan 25, 2022
TBL Episode 167: Marki Lemons-Ryhal - Founder of ReMarkiTable, LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Marki Lemons-Ryhal.
Marki is a licensed Managing Broker, REALTOR®, avid volunteer, Major Donor, and International Best Selling Author of The Modern Real Estate Professional's Guide to Success.
Marki is dedicated to all things real estate. With 30 years of marketing experience, she has taught over 500,000 people (face-to-face and virtually) how to earn up to a 2682% return on their marketing dollars.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolved-finance/id1227529139
* Download our free audio course: https://www.evo…
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Jan 18, 2022
TBL Episode 166: Anna Powers - Founder of The Congruent Life, LLC
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Anna Powers.
Anna is the Founder of The Congruent Life, LLC. She helps her clients get paid to write copy through her Clickworthy Copywriting Certification™.
A former civil litigator, Anna now uses her background of analysis and strategy to support 7- and 8-figure business owners with done-for-you copywriting services and to train other copywriters to build thriving online businesses. Past clients' results include a $4.4 million launch, quadrupling email open rates, and doubling annual revenue.
To learn more about Evolved Finance:
* Follow us on iTunes and leave a review: https://podcasts.app…
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Jan 11, 2022
TBL Episode 165: Lauren Messiah - Founder of Lauren Messiah Inc.
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Lauren Messiah.
Lauren is revolutionizing the way people dress through her comprehensive approach to elevating one’s life through style, working from the inside out. With her signature method of combining style with personal development, Lauren bridges personal styling and life coaching to curate a closet and look that supports one’s goals and takes the stress and self-doubt out of looking one’s best.
The stylist, educator and digital influencer has coached over 5,000 clients globally through her online courses, leaning on her personal journey of self-discovery through fashion and her years of…
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Jan 4, 2022
TBL Episode 164: Tara McMullin - Founder of What Works and YellowHouse.Media
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful online educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.
This week, Parker chats with Tara McMullin.
Tara has been building strong businesses since 2009, including What Works, a digital platform for small business owners, and YellowHouse.Media, a full-service podcast production agency. She is an experienced facilitator, bestselling instructor, and host of the hit small business podcast, What Works, which has been downloaded over 2 million times.
She is passionate about guiding business owners to experiment with new ways of working and take decisive action toward their goals. Tara brings a feminist perspective to building businesses and encourages entrepreneurs to question conventiona…
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Dec 28, 2021
TBL Episode 163: Why you can’t grow your online business without data
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 123.
To be a human being is to experience emotions and feelings.
To be a business owner is to balance feelings with data.
Many a startup has failed because the founder’s “feelings” and “instincts” didn’t match up with the reality of what the market (aka “the data”) was telling them.
The types of online businesses our clients own can get far off of feelings and instincts alone, but they will eventually hit a point where it becomes too stressful, risky, or irresponsible to scale the business without paying attention to the different types of data that are available to them.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The types of data every online business owner needs to be tracking and paying attention to
* Why data can help you make better decisions in your business
* Why the data in your business can help you understand what things y…
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Dec 21, 2021
TBL Episode 162 - REPLAY: The pros and cons of hiring employees or contractors
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 122.
If you have any hopes of growing your online business, then you’re going to need other people to help you get there.
For most online entrepreneurs, contractors are a great starting point to get the support they need. But as their business grows and scales, hiring employees becomes a necessary next step. I think it’s fair to say that when building any sort of team—be it your first contractor, or your 13th employee (like we’re hiring for right now!)—the thought of bringing more people into your business can be scary.
And like most things about online businesses, there’s a lot of bad information and advice going around about building teams.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why you need an accountant or lawyer to advise you on the best time to bring in employees as your online business grows
* Why employees are slightly more expe…
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Dec 14, 2021
TBL Episode 161 - REPLAY: What online entrepreneurs get wrong about pricing
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 121.
One of the most important things any business needs to get right, and sooner rather than later, is pricing. While a lot of business coaches tell you to “price what you’re worth!”, it’s not always that straightforward.
How you price your offers needs to not only reflect the value your offer provides but the way your offer is packaged.
You also must price your offer in a way that supports the future of your business and not just the way your business is operating right now.
That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why it’s so crucial to get your pricing right if you want to scale
* Why the way you price your offer can affect your ability to convert leads into sales
* Why it’s important to solidify your offer so you can finalize what you want to charge for it
* Why you can charge more depending on how you package your offer
*…
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Dec 7, 2021
TBL Episode 160 - REPLAY: Should you ever discount your offer?
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 110.
In last week’s episode, we talked about the importance of pricing for online businesses. This week, I thought it would be appropriate to ask the question, “should you ever discount your offer?”
Many online entrepreneurs struggle with this question because of what they see retail businesses do. But online businesses are not retail businesses and thank sweet baby Jesus for that because the margins are SOOOOO much better for online businesses.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why retail businesses are forced to have sales and offer discounts and why online businesses are different
* The manipulative pricing games retailers play with holiday sales and outlet stores
* How online marketers use “discounts” as a sales tactic to create urgency
* Why your current customers HATE when you discount your offer(s)
* Why service-based bus…
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Nov 30, 2021
TBL Episode 159 - REPLAY: When is it time to give yourself a raise?
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 101.
One of the biggest reasons people have for starting their own business is that they want to be their own boss. What many new entrepreneurs quickly realize, however, is that the boss doesn’t always get paid that much in the beginning.
Hopefully, as your business grows, there might be more cash flow left over each month. But how do you know when the time is right to give yourself a raise? Or when you should be investing in a different area of your business to help it grow even more?
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The system we teach our clients for how to pay themselves responsibly
* Why your personal finances play a huge factor in your salary
* Why it’s almost impossible to decide on your monthly salary without a Profit and Loss statement
* How a forecast and budget can make adjusting your salary a much easier decision to make…
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Nov 23, 2021
TBL Episode 158 - REPLAY: How much should online businesses spend on their websites?
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 99.
I went to high school in the late ’90s, right when the internet was starting to become popular. Back then, if you told me to create a website, you might as well have asked me to assemble my own airplane from scratch—I would not have even known where to start.
Now, over 20 years later, creating a website is so easy that most elementary school kids could figure it out. Companies like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace have made creating a website accessible to the masses.
Despite the lower barrier to entry from both a price and technical standpoint, we still see online businesses spending thousands of dollars to create their websites. Is it worth the money?
Yes… but also no… it really just depends on how your business works.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Does every online business even need a website?
* The various price options onl…
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Nov 16, 2021
TBL Episode 157 - REPLAY: How our clients use data to run successful online businesses
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 97.
During my time working for adidas America, I quickly learned how important data is to running a successful business.
Do we need to order more inventory? Look at the data.
Do we need to run a promotion? Look at the data.
Do we need to change the pricing of a product? Look at the data.
Are we on track to hit our sales targets? Look at the data.
Any major decision I made or was a part of was always based on some sort of financial, inventory, or marketing data. I understand that adidas is a multi-billion-dollar corporation whereas Evolved Finance’s clients are running multi-seven-figure businesses at best, but that doesn’t make data any less important.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* How we used data to make decisions at adidas
* The role sales data plays in a successful online business
* The role marketing data plays in a successful…
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Nov 9, 2021
TBL Episode 156 - REPLAY: Building a hybrid online business with Breanne Dyck
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 98.
If you’ve been in the online business world for long enough, you know how many trends and fads have come and gone in a short period of time.
When I left the corporate world to partner up with Corey at Evolved Finance, e-books and 1-on-1 coaching were going out of style and courses were coming in hot. Now, membership sites and group coaching programs are all the rage.
The reality is, any of these online business models can turn into six or seven-figure ventures, but each one also has its unique challenges for scaling up.
Nobody knows this better than Breanne Dyck of the Visionary CEO Academy.
Breanne and her partner, Jill, have been supporting online business owners by transforming their online money-making ventures into sustainable and scalable businesses.
During my conversation with Breanne, we discuss:
* Why online business has changed and evolve…
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Nov 2, 2021
TBL Episode 155 - REPLAY: Six signs your bookkeeper isn’t cutting it anymore
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 96.
Hiring a bookkeeper is a lot like hiring a mechanic. You’re taking a leap of faith that they aren’t going to screw you over.
After all, unless you know how to fix your own car, how would you even know whether your mechanic is doing a good job or not? The same goes for a bookkeeper.
Luckily, you don’t have to be a bookkeeper yourself to know if your bookkeeper is doing quality work.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The top complaint we hear from our clients about their past bookkeepers
* Why the way your bookkeeper sets up your P&L matters
* The missing piece of most bookkeepers’ monthly service that business owners need to demand
* Why entrepreneurs need to trust their gut if they feel like their books aren’t being managed correctly
* Why it’s not unreasonable to expect a high level of customer service from your bookkeep…
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Oct 26, 2021
TBL Episode 154 - REPLAY: How to get a return from the courses and coaching programs you invest in
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 93.
In 2019, Corey and I bit the bullet and finally invested in our first coaching program. It was $10k for 8 weeks of support. Outside of our employees, it was the biggest investment we had ever made in our business at one time.
Did we get the results we were looking for after the 8 weeks? Kinda.
Was it worth it? 100%.
Without those very intense eight weeks of analyzing and scrutinizing our business, we would not have been able to handle the last twelve months of growth we experienced. Honestly, it was a game-changing program for us.
Although my personal experience with coaching and courses has been positive, I’m still very conservative when it comes to my own continuing education. I’ve only spent $10k in 6 years, after all. On the other hand, we have a number of clients who dive much more deeply into personal and business development, spending tens of…
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Oct 19, 2021
TBL Episode 153 - REPLAY: Why most online entrepreneurs are not the visionaries they need to be
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 87.
Over the last couple years, the books “Rocket Fuel” and “Traction” have become popular reads for online entrepreneurs.
Both Corey and I loved “Traction” and incorporated several of the principles from the books into our own business.
From these books, the roles of the “visionary” and the “integrator” have become extremely popular concepts.
Naturally, every business owner looks at themselves as the visionary and then hopes to one day higher a high-level integrator to support and manage the daily operations of the business.
The problem is that many of the online business owners I’ve talked to over the course of my 6 year career in the online space fully embrace their role s as the visionary CEO they want to be.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why being the visionary means taking full responsibility for all aspects of y…
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Oct 12, 2021
TBL Episode 152 - REPLAY: Understanding the cost of acquiring your customers
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 86.
Successfully selling your products and/or services is how you generate revenue for your business. Understanding and managing the costs associated with selling to your customers is how you make a profit. And when I say cost, I mean from both a financial and time standpoint.
Luckily, online entrepreneurs have a multitude of ways they can generate leads for their businesses. But these options all have different costs (in both money and time) associated with them.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The most popular marketing channels we see our clients investing in
* Some of the more time-intensive marketing strategies that can really lower the cost of acquiring new customers if successful
* The pros and cons of advertising, SEO, content marketing, social media, public speaking, networking, and affiliate marketing
* Why a clear financial pic…
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Oct 5, 2021
TBL Episode 151 - REPLAY: The pros and cons of running a business online
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 84.
When COVID-19 started to hit in full force in early to mid-March of 2020, I had a wave of panic wash over me. I found myself thinking…
“Will our client’s businesses get through this shutdown?”
“Will our clients have customers who can still afford their products?”
“Will Evolved Finance have to prepare to downsize?”
Luckily, those doubts didn’t last long.
Corey and I had always speculated that online businesses would be particularly recession-proof (at least compared to other businesses), and we are so happy to see that hypothesis has mostly proven to be correct.
Although we have seen some of our clients’ businesses struggle over the last 3 months (and a couple fell apart after only a month), most of our clients have quickly stabilized, and many are even thriving during these tumultuous times.
This roller coaster we’ve been on as b…
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Sep 28, 2021
TBL Episode 150 - REPLAY: How your finances and operations are connected
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 83.
At its core, bookkeeping is about keeping score for your business.
The financial reporting that a bookkeeper puts together for their clients is the scoreboard that shows if a business is doing the right things from both a sales and operations perspective to keep it profitable and thriving. But what if things aren’t looking as good as you want them to on your financial reports?
You have two options: make more sales or cut back on expenses.
For smaller online businesses, it truly can be this simple. For larger businesses, you need a deeper understanding of your internal operations in order to ensure the relationship between your revenue and expenses make sense (aka, generate healthy profits).
That is why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why our clients are surprised when their financial questions turn into conversations about product strategy and o…
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Sep 21, 2021
TBL Episode 149 - REPLAY: What all online businesses need to know about bookkeeping
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 80.
Nobody starts their online business because they’re excited about getting deep into the weeds of their finances. Entrepreneurs want to build their audiences and convert them into customers. And to be fair, is there anything better than making money by helping people with something you are really good at helping them with?
Unfortunately, your online business isn’t just about sales, marketing, and customer service. It’s also about tracking and managing your money.
That’s where bookkeeping comes in.
For most online entrepreneurs, bookkeeping is the one area of their business that they probably know the least about (no shame if you feel the same way).
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The role of bookkeeping in an online business
* Why you should NOT have your accountant managing your bookkeeping if you can help it
* How proper book…
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Sep 14, 2021
TBL Episode 148 - REPLAY: The reason entrepreneurs feel shame and guilt around money
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 76.
509…that’s the number of online entrepreneurs who have reached out to us about our bookkeeping services. Across all of these email conversations and discovery calls, there is one big theme that keeps coming up.
These entrepreneurs feel shame, guilt, frustration, or stress over how they manage their finances. It doesn’t matter if they have been managing their books themselves or if they’ve been using a bookkeeper—they still don’t feel like they have a grip on their numbers.
Why do so many online business owners feel uncomfortable about their finances? Why is money such a vulnerability and weak point for these businesses?
In this episode, we’ll discuss:
* The root cause of the negative emotions entrepreneurs feel about their finances
* Why most bookkeepers (and even accountants) aren’t able to alleviate these feelings for their online b…
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Sep 7, 2021
TBL Episode 147 - REPLAY: Keeping it legal with Autumn Witt Boyd
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 69.
There is so much about running an online business that you just have to figure out as you go along.
One of those things is learning how to protect your business from a legal standpoint.
Like with finance and taxes, you can only get so far managing this aspect of your business without having to go and get a new degree. Unless you already have one, I don’t think most business owners are rushing out to apply for law school just to write a privacy policy for their website.
That’s why for today’s episode, we’re sharing an interview Corey (my business partner) and I did with legal expert Autumn Witt Boyd. Autumn has extensive experience working directly with online businesses (the likes of Amy Porterfield and Melyssa Griffin), which is a rare niche for a lawyer to dive into.
In this episode, Autumn and I discuss:
* The role a lawyer should play in y…
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Aug 31, 2021
TBL Episode 146 - REPLAY: Are live events a profitable way to grow your online businesses?
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 67.
The internet is awesome!
It’s connected the world in ways few could have ever predicted. The impact it’s had on entrepreneurship and business, in general, is monumental in its own right.
Despite all the benefits the web has had for our ability to find and connect with our customers, we’re seeing a growing number of our clients instead put an emphasis on getting in front of their customers and audiences in person.
As a mega extrovert and all-around people lover, I’m very into the idea of connecting with people in the real world. However, the finance side of me gets nervous whenever one of our clients ventures into hosting live events because of the tremendous expenses that can come along with it.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why live events are becoming more common for online businesses
* The mistakes we’ve seen entrepreneurs…
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Aug 24, 2021
TBL Episode 145 - REPLAY: Why it’s difficult to make a revenue sharing partnership work
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 62.
Everyone wants to grow their business. It’s kind of the point of entrepreneurship.
We’re also always looking for easier ways to drive revenue for our businesses. If we’re going to make more sales, why not take the easiest route possible?
That’s where revenue sharing relationships can come into play.
It can seem like an easy way to create a new revenue stream or grow a revenue stream that already exists without having to do all the work yourself but, based on what we’ve seen with our clients, you need to be careful about what kind of agreement you’re getting into.
Unsure of what I mean by this? Then you need to listen to this episode.
We discuss:
* What a revenue-sharing partnership looks like
* Why profit sharing is preferred over revenue sharing
* Why revenue/profit sharing is usually not a fair deal for the business owner
* Why ha…
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Aug 17, 2021
TBL Episode 144 - REPLAY: The six things our most successful clients have in common
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 53.
We’re in a unique position at Evolved Finance. We get to see behind the scenes of some of the most successful online businesses in the industry.
After years of serving online entrepreneurs with their bookkeeping, it’s almost inevitable that we’ve started to see patterns in not just our client’s numbers, but also in the decisions they make in their businesses.
While all our clients have reached a level of success that most aspiring entrepreneurs wish to achieve, our most successful clients seem to have some clear commonalities that separate them from the rest of the pack.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss what our most successful clients have in common with each other:
* What they’re each able to do with their product offers
* What makes their marketing strategies so effective
* Why they put so much emphasis on building the right te…
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Aug 10, 2021
TBL Episode 143 - REPLAY: Dealing with money mindset issues as an entrepreneur
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 52.
As human beings, our relationships with money can be diverse and complicated, particularly for those of us raised and working in the US.
Regardless of your outlook on money, materialism, consumerism, etc, it’s still important to understand what a healthy relationship with money looks like for you. This is one of those cases where what you don’t know can hurt you. The only thing worse than not knowing about your finances is running into an unexpected “surprise.”
As entrepreneurs, our relationship with money isn’t just about being open to generating more revenue (which is a mind game of its own), but it’s also about feeling comfortable managing money and not feeling intimidated or ashamed about making financial decisions.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* How the lack of financial education in American culture is detrimental to entr…
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Aug 3, 2021
TBL Episode 142 - REPLAY: Why profitable businesses don’t happen by mistake
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 51.
We’ve been in the fortunate position to see a lot of online businesses go from moderate success to massive success in less than a year.
In fact, most of our new clients see their businesses grow after the first 12 months of working with us, so we’ve come to expect some sort of growth for all our clients each year, even if it’s just a little bit.
The one thing that is NOT guaranteed with a growing business, however, is profit. There are a lot of expenses that come into running an online business that you might not be thinking of, which is why it’s so important to get a clear and accurate picture of your cashflow.
Entrepreneurs can be misled into thinking that an unhealthy business can simply be fixed by making more sales, but that’s not always the case.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why profit is easy in the beginning but more d…
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Jul 27, 2021
TBL Episode 141 - REPLAY: Investing in the long-term success of your online business (part 2)
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 50.
In last week’s episode, we began our discussion around what it takes to invest in the long-term success of an online business. In today’s episode, we dive deeper into the strategies and actions we’ve seen our clients take to build businesses that will be thriving years from now.
Models have changed from even a few years ago, and it’s not just about making a quick buck but rather building something sustainable. That means that even if your business is reliant on one main offer, you find other ways to deliver value that can synergize with it.
In this episode, we discuss:
* How much savings you should build up to survive bad luck
* Why it’s crucial to adapt to trends in the marketplace
* Why strong product synergy across your offerings is more important than ever before
* Why maximizing the results you’re promising your customers needs to…
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Jul 20, 2021
TBL Episode 140 - REPLAY: Investing in the long-term success of your online business (part 1)
We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 49.
Running a business online is still a relatively new frontier. It feels like only 10-15 years ago, people were still uncomfortable typing in their credit card info to buy a used book on Amazon.
Consumers have come a long way when it comes to being comfortable doing business online, but we still see many entrepreneurs operating like they’re trying to make a quick buck and cash out instead of aiming to build a sustainable business.
Building an online business that’s in it for the long run goes far beyond a couple successful launches or landing a big client. You need to create a foundation for the business that you can build on and grow without the entire machine breaking down.
In part one of this two-part series, we’re going to look at what it takes to invest in the long-term success of your business so you can create a sustainable income for years to…
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Jul 13, 2021
TBL Episode 139: A new baby and a new podcast format
Today’s episode is more of an announcement than an actual episode.
We have two exciting changes for the podcast and for me personally:
* My wife and I are expecting our first child soon, so I will be taking some paternity leave at some point in September.
* We will be changing up the format of the podcast in some new and exciting ways
It wouldn’t be any fun if I explained EVERYTHING in this message, so please listen to the latest episode to learn more about me becoming a Dad, the big changes to the podcast (that I’m super excited about), and what we’ll be doing with the podcast over the next couple months (don’t worry, we’ll still be posting regular episodes).
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Jul 6, 2021
TBL Episode 138: Why business owners need to be good at managing money and time
Running a successful business can be hard.
If you want to scale your online business to have lots of customers, a small/medium-sized team, and lots of profit, it’s going to mean pushing your comfort zone on a regular basis.
Building Evolved Finance these last 7 years with Corey and our team has been by far the most fulfilling and challenging endeavor of my life (at least so far…I have a baby boy due in September, so my opinion might change on that…ha!). One of the main reasons we’ve been able to get to where we are today is because we’ve been able to effectively manage our resources.
One thing we’ve learned is that no two resources are more important than time and money when you’re scaling a business.
So for today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why most online business owners only worry about their time resources in the early stages of running their business
* Why time management can create an illusion that you are addressing financial issues in your business
* Why…
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Jun 29, 2021
TBL Episode 137: How to be financially responsible with your ad campaigns
There are few things online business owners want more than a high converting paid traffic advertising campaign. The ability to put money into Facebook, Google, or Instagram ads and get hundreds of paying customers in return is the ultimate dream for online entrepreneurs.
Many business owners try to run ad campaigns to grow their businesses, but the reality is that not everyone is able to get a return on their investment.
It may be shocking to hear from a finance dude, but I believe every business should experiment with paid advertising at some point. What I do NOT believe in is being irresponsible with your investment in Google or Facebook ads.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why your business needs to prove itself before you spend a cent on advertising
* How we’ve seen our clients use monthly budgets for their ads to test campaigns out before making larger investments down the road
* Why you need to be able to track your sales funnel metrics on a daily basis t…
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Jun 21, 2021
TBL Episode 136: Why adding more features to your offer is hurting your profitability
During my time at adidas, I was lucky enough to work in footwear. It was a product person’s dream. What footwear lover wouldn’t want to work for one of the most famous and successful manufacturers of athletic footwear in the world?
A pitfall of being so close to the product you’re helping to bring to market, however, is that you can get too deep into the “features & benefits” of the shoe.
The truth is that most consumers do not really care about that new lightweight midsole material or the revolutionary bonding process that removes the need for traditional stitching. They care about what the product does for them or how the product makes them feel.
What I’ve noticed working with many online business owners is that they can fall into this exact same trap when positioning and selling their offers.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The balance you need to strike between the features of your offers and the prices you charge
* Why adding more features to your…
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Jun 15, 2021
TBL Episode 135: How your relationship with money affects your business
It’s safe to say that not all online entrepreneurs start their businesses because they’re motivated by money.
There are many other reasons to start an online business:
* You don’t want to have a boss anymore
* You want to focus on work you love
* You want to make a bigger impact on the world
* You want to do work that is aligned with your values
Regardless of what your motivations are for running your business—even if those motivations are focused on building your wealth—your relationship with money is going to affect the way you run your business.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The different relationships we see our clients have with money
* The different reasons people have for starting a business
* How your outlook on money affects your business
* How you can build a better relationship with money as an entrepreneur
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Jun 8, 2021
TBL Episode 134: Why overcomplicating your online business is hurting your profitability
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again.
Entrepreneurs love overcomplicating their businesses when they don’t need to.
Most business owners don’t want to make their businesses more difficult to run, but as problems and issues pop up, they tend to add layer after layer of band-aids instead of treating the cut with stitches right from the start.
That’s why having access to the financial data in your business is so crucial because it shows you where you’re not operating efficiently. And if you have proper bookkeeping, you don’t usually have to dive into the numbers that deeply to find out what your issues are.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* How businesses get to the point where they become more complicated than they need to be
* The most common ways we see entrepreneurs overcomplicate the different parts of their businesses
* What we see our clients doing with their finances that helps them to simplify and streamline their businesses
* Why the way your bookk…
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Jun 1, 2021
TBL Episode 133: The easy financial tasks you should not outsource to your bookkeeper
There was a time in the not-so-distant past when bookkeeping and accounting tasks were all completed on paper. If that were still the case, I can assure you that I would not have shifted my career to the world of accounting and finance. Ha!
Like with most industries, technology and software have dramatically changed accounting and bookkeeping for the better, but there is an oddly “old school” mentality around it that is still prevalent today.
Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no reason you should be running your online business like it’s the 1970s just because your bookkeeper and/or accountant hasn’t caught up to modern financial practices.
That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss:
* The role of bookkeeping in a modern online business
* The tasks that bookkeepers and accountants used to manage for small businesses, but don’t need to anymore
* The software and the team members our clients lean on to make sure their internal financial tasks are taken care of…
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May 24, 2021
TBL Episode 132: Building wealth through your online business with Jackson Millan
A big part of what we are trying to do at Evolved Finance is to help our clients create wealth through their online businesses.
That might be weird to hear from a bookkeeping firm, but the monthly financial reports we deliver to our clients are to help them make sure they are building businesses that are healthy and profitable. When an online business is able to become profitable, that’s when the wealth-building potential starts to amplify.
But what do you do once your business is profitable and your personal income is growing?
That’s where Jackson Millan and his team at Aureus Financial can help. Jackson looks at wealth education very differently than a typical financial planner or advisor, which is why I was excited to interview him.
During our conversation, we discuss:
* Why Jackson gravitated towards finance as a career after growing up with entrepreneurial parents
* Why Jackson felt disgusted and disheartened by what he saw in the financial services industry once he g…
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May 21, 2021
TBL Episode 131: Can an online business grow too fast?
I don’t think you can have a business strategy conversation without using the word “grow.”
Grow your revenue, grow your customers, grow your team. Grow, grow, grow!!!
Obviously, growth is a great thing for a business, but is possible to have too much growth too quickly?
I think so.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* What does a quickly growing online business look like?
* Why your business model will affect how quickly your company can grow
* The problems we have seen pop up in our client’s businesses when they grow faster than they are able to handle
* Why you need to prepare yourself for a lot of leadership development if you want a fast-growth company
* Why your finances become infinitely more important when your online business is growing quickly
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May 11, 2021
TBL Episode 130: Why you should be using a credit card in your online business
As you see the revenue in your online business grow, it’s inevitable that your expenses will grow with them.
Of course, we want the expenses to be growing at a slower rate than the revenue, but even our most profitable clients can have thousands of dollars a month in expenses.
If we looked across all of our clients’ businesses, it would be super common to see them spending anywhere from $10k-$30k a month on their expenses. Our largest clients can easily spend $100k+ per month.
That’s why almost every client we work with uses a business credit card to cover as many of their monthly expenses as they possibly can.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* The benefits of using a business credit card for your business expenses
* Why you want to use a business card and not a personal card
* How to make sure your credit card bill gets paid in full each month
* The most popular business credit cards we see our clients use
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May 3, 2021
TBL Episode 129: Why a large following doesn’t always mean big revenues
My first experience with social media was MySpace.
I was a musician in a rock band during the peak of MySpace’s popularity, so we were ALL about getting followers on our page.
Since those days, the “in” social media platforms have changed, but the game has stayed the same regardless of if you’re a musician, thought leader, comedian, or video game streamer. Building a following. With the types of online businesses we work with at Evolved Finance, we call this growing an audience, a combo of people on your email list and those who follow you on social media.
So it’s safe to assume that a huge audience means a big business, right?
That’s not always been the case for our clients.
That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why it’s important for any online business to have an audience (even if it’s a temporary one)
* The biggest mistake we have seen a client make with building a large audience
* Why your business model needs to match the size of you…
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Apr 26, 2021
TBL Episode 128: How to build an online business you can sell with Tyler Evans
Since Evolved Finance was founded in 2010, we have seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens in a successful online business.
That means both the good and the bad.
But the one thing we haven’t seen a lot of is our clients selling their businesses.
As I have mentioned in the past, most online businesses are not built to be sold. They are built to be profit machines that generate income for the business owner. That being said, online businesses could become far more attractive to buyers in the future. Especially as more and more online entrepreneurs prove that their businesses can stand the test of time.
That is why I asked Tyler Evans from So-Cal Business Brokers to come onto the show. His company helps small business owners find buyers for their companies while helping to facilitate the negotiation and sales process.
During our conversation, Tyler and I discussed:
* What makes a business sellable?
* What sorts of things are investors and buyers typical…
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Apr 19, 2021
TBL Episode 127: What’s in store for online businesses in a post-COVID world?
Let me start out by saying that I don’t have a crystal ball that tells me the future. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think anyone else does either.
But as entrepreneurs, we must manage the financial risks and opportunities in our businesses based on what we think the future holds. Especially in times of uncertainty, which the past 12 months have given the entire world in spades.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why I think we are going to see a change in consumer behaviors as more people get vaccinated in 2021
* Whether or not there’s an online business bubble that might be ready to pop
* Why all online business owners will need to once again be prepared to pivot (though probably not as much as last year)
* How you can use a forecast and budget to prepare for a boom or a downturn in your business
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Apr 12, 2021
TBL Episode 126: What it means to prepare your online business for growth
I don’t think many people predicted in March or April of 2020 how beneficial COVID would be for the online business world.
I fully understand and acknowledge that COVID has been devastating for many industries and communities, but we are fortunate that the online business space has not impacted.
In the last year, we saw more of our client’s businesses take huge leaps in revenue than ever before and, as exciting as that growth has been for them, it has also challenged them in ways they have never experienced before (and that goes for us at Evolved Finance, too!).
New levels of revenue mean new problems to solve and new barriers to overcome. So how do you prepare your business so you can handle big leaps in growth?
That’s why we discuss:
* Why your business model can make or break your ability to grow as quickly as you would like
* How systems and processes can make or break your business’s ability to serve more customers at once
* Why you need to get comforta…
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Apr 5, 2021
TBL Episode 125: The four financial phases of an online business
I love teaching entrepreneurs about the financial side of their businesses because their numbers are so fundamental to the success of their companies. If you’ve listened to even a couple of episodes of this podcast, that’s hopefully become apparent to you as well.
But giving advice about money and business to a broad audience can be tricky because certain pieces of advice will be more or less important depending on how big your business is.
That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss:
* The 4 financial phases of an online business
* What your financial priorities need to be when you’re in each of these 4 phases
* Why you need to uplevel your financial systems and your financial team as you move into higher-level phases
* What you need from your financial data as your business continues to grow
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Mar 29, 2021
TBL Episode 124: The secret connection between finance and operations
One of my favorite sayings about running a small business is, “If your small business isn’t making sales, you’re simply funding an expensive hobby.” This is why learning how to generate consistent revenue in your online business is such an important skill to develop from the start.
This is also why there are so many coaching programs and marketing services dedicated to helping small businesses generate more sales. But there does come a point where simply making more sales won’t keep a business financially healthy.
In fact, we’ve had fairly large online businesses reach out to us who are generating lots of revenue but their financial health is still in jeopardy.
You might ask, “how is this even possible?” It’s almost always because the business owner doesn’t understand the connection between their finances and how they operate their business.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* How your business model affects your operations
* Why generating more…
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Mar 22, 2021
TBL Episode 123: Why you can’t grow your online business without data
To be a human being is to experience emotions and feelings.
To be a business owner is to balance feelings with data.
Many a startup have failed because the founder’s “feelings” and “instincts” didn’t match up with the reality of what the market was telling them (the data).
The types of online businesses our clients own can get far off of feelings and instincts alone, but they will eventually hit a point where it becomes too stressful, risky, or irresponsible to scale the business without paying attention to the different types of data that are available to their businesses.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The types of data every online business owner needs to be tracking and paying attention to
* Why data can help you make better decisions in your business
* Why the data in your business can help you understand what things you need to prioritize
* How to track the financial data in your online business properly
* Why everyone is 100%…
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Mar 15, 2021
TBL Episode 122: The pros and cons of hiring employees or contractors
If you have any hopes of growing your online business, then you’re going to need other people to help you get there.
For most online entrepreneurs, contractors are a great starting point to get the support they need, but as their business grows and scales, hiring employees becomes a necessary next step. I think it’s fair to say that when building any sort of team—be it your first contractor, or your 13th employee (like we’re hiring for right now!)—the thought of bringing more people into your business can be scary.
And like most things about online businesses, there’s a lot of bad information and advice going around about building teams.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why you need an accountant or lawyer to advise you on the best time to bring in employees as your online business grows
* Why employees are slightly more expensive than contractors and why the extra costs can be worth it
* Why certain contractors have the potential to be employees…
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Mar 8, 2021
TBL Episode 121: What online entrepreneurs get wrong about pricing
One of the most important things any business needs to get right, and sooner rather than later, is pricing. While a lot of business coaches tell you to “price what you’re worth!”, it’s not always that straightforward.
How you price your offers needs to not only reflect the value your offer provides but the way your offer is packaged
You also must price your offer in a way that supports the future of your business and not just the way your business is operating right now.
That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why it’s so crucial to get your pricing right if you want to scale
* Why the way you price your offer can affect your ability to convert leads into sales
* Why it’s important to solidify your offer so you can finalize what you want to charge for it
* Why you can charge more depending on how you package your offer
* Why you can charge more for “business to business” offers than “direct to consumer” offers
* Why you need t…
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Mar 1, 2021
TBL Episode 120: When is it time to cut expenses in your online business?
When entrepreneurs run into profitability issues in their online businesses, their immediate response is to cut back on expenses.
However, while cutting back on expenses might be part of the solution, it’s not always going to fix your problems. Balancing your expenses relative to your revenue is often a delicate dance that only data and a properly organized profit and loss statement can fix.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why your expenses will be disproportionately high when your business is small
* How to know if your business has a revenue problem as opposed to an issue with expenses
* Which expenses need to be audited the most often
* Why it’s crucial to look at your expenses relative to the amount of revenue you generate
* Why being profitable in the early stages of your business makes adding expenses easier down the road.
* How your bookkeeping can make tracking monthly expenses much easier
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Feb 22, 2021
TBL Episode 119: How to deal with refunds in your online business
When it comes to being successful as an online business owner, having a solid offer that delivers results to your customers or clients is an absolute must. That’s why we regularly tell new online entrepreneurs to get clear on their offer before they start to dive too deeply into sophisticated marketing strategies.
Because even if you have a killer landing page, a high-converting webinar, and the most enticing bonuses in the world, if the offer itself doesn’t deliver on its promises you’re going to have a lot of disgruntled customers.
And that means you’ll be issuing tons of refunds and sending all those hard-earned dollars back to your customers.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* How to know if you are issuing too many refunds
* Why your marketing strategy can greatly affect your refund rate
* Which online business model tends to issue the fewest refunds
* Why your customer onboarding strategy can have a big impact on your refund rate
* How our…
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Feb 15, 2021
TBL Episode 118: Why less is more when running an online business
Running an online business can be very overwhelming at times. As you convert more and more customers and clients, it can feel like the business takes on a life of its own.
It’s counterintuitive, but we’ve seen over and over again that our clients who try to do everything at once struggle to stay profitable. Instead, it’s the clients that understand the power of “less is more” who scale the fastest and stay profitable while doing so.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* How to know when you’re doing too much in your business
* Why having FEWER offers will help your business to grow
* Why having a streamlined business helps your profitability grow as your revenue grows
* The importance of knowing what to prioritize in your business
* How your numbers can show you the bottlenecks, money leaks, and inefficient product strategies in your online business
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Feb 8, 2021
TBL Episode 117: Why “All-In-One” is not the answer for your business
When a service provider or software company positions their offer to me as an “all-in-one” solution, I am immediately skeptical.
I think we all wish we could simplify our processes, activities, and solutions into fewer apps, fewer people, and fewer systems. But it’s just not realistic to expect an all-in-one service to be the most effective solution from both an operational and cost stand-point.
In fact, “all-in-one” solutions throw up major red flags for me.
I’m not saying small businesses have to be complex and over-built, but we do need to make sure we have expertise in the areas of our online businesses where expertise is more valuable than efficiency. Because after all, efficiency does not help you if the work is not being done right.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why “all-in-one” should not be what you strive for with your systems and processes
* Why even big corporations rarely use all-in-one solutions in their own businesses
* Wh…
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Feb 1, 2021
TBL Episode 116: How profitable should an online business be (2.0)?
One of the first topics we covered in this podcast was about understanding how profitable your online business should be.
It’s been almost 3 years ago we released that episode, so we wanted to check back in and share our updated outlook on what a profitable online business looks like.
In this episode, we discuss:
* What profit is and how much of it your online business can have
* Why only focusing on revenue won’t guarantee you a profitable online business
* How our clients’ profit margins have changed over the past 3 years
* What information you need from your financial reports to help you understand your own profits
* How your business model and marketing strategy can greatly affect your profitability potential
* How proper bookkeeping can make your business far more profitable
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Jan 25, 2021
TBL Episode 115: The role of luck in your financial success
Starting an online business takes a lot of work.
Owning an online business that generates a full-time income takes even more work.
It is hard work that makes entrepreneurship, especially in the online space, such a meritocracy. If you work hard enough, you will get to where you want to be. But what about luck? What about circumstances? What about chance?
There is no question that the year of COVID has shown how much of a role luck can play in a business’s success (be it good luck or bad luck).
Hard work can take us far in life, but it’s also important to understand the role luck plays in our businesses so we aren’t comparing ourselves to other people who simply found themselves in more fortunate circumstances.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The importance of hard work and how far it can take you in the online business world
* What COVID taught us about good and bad fortune as business owners
* The difference between luck and opportunity
* How sm…
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Jan 18, 2021
TBL Episode 114: Help your accountant help you
This is the time of year when all entrepreneurs start thinking about their finances and taxes.
While March 15th (the S-Corp tax deadline) and April 15th (the LLC and Sole-Prop deadline) may seem like they’re miles away, any entrepreneur that has gone through the tax filing process knows there is a lot to do before then.
During this time leading up to tax season, we often see that online business owners have misaligned their expectations with their accountants.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* How to have a positive relationship with your accountant
* Why you as a business owner need to be proactive with your taxes, even if your accountant is not
* Why you get what you pay for when choosing an accountant
* Why proper bookkeeping can make filing your taxes so much easier, and can make the relationship with your accountant much more productive
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Jan 11, 2021
TBL Episode 113: What does a successful online business really look like? (version 2.0)
Back in May of 2017, we posted the very first episode of our podcast.
The title of the episode in 2017 is the same as the title of this week’s episode. Why cover it again?
Because in the last three years, the world has changed, the online business space has changed, and my insight into our client’s businesses has changed.
So for this week’s episode, we discuss:
* Why it’s important to define what success looks like for you
* Why it’s ok for your definition of success to change as your business grows
* Why you need to go beyond sales and revenue to define your online business’s success
* Why the profitability of your online business should be a factor in how you define success
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Jan 4, 2021
TBL Episode 112: What’s in store for 2021?
In last week’s episode, we reflected on what 2020 taught us as online entrepreneurs and why there was a silver lining for those running businesses in the digital space. Now that we’ve entered a new year, I wanted to discuss some predictions I have for 2021.
While nobody has a crystal ball that shares exactly what the future will look like, I do believe there are some assumptions online business owners can safely make going into 2021.
So in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why your customers will crave connection and normalcy
* Why your customers will be more open to connecting and working online than ever before
* Why there will be more competition in your niche
* Why life will not go back to the way it was in 2019
* Why business owners will look beyond Facebook Ads for their paid advertising needs
* Why businesses who received PPP money will invest big
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Dec 28, 2020
TBL Episode 111: What 2020 has taught online entrepreneurs
I think it’s safe to say that 2020 will be a year we will all remember for the rest of our lives.
For most Americans, if you have your health and you have an income, you are one of the lucky ones. And there is no question that the majority of our clients felt pretty fortunate this year.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* My reflections as a business owner navigating 2020
* Why so many online businesses were able to thrive during a year of shutdowns and quarantines
* How we saw our clients pivot and adapt to a changing world and marketplace
* How 2020 showed all entrepreneurs that we cannot take anything for granted and why we need to be better prepared for the unknown
* Why it’s necessary to balance short term desires with long term risk mitigation
* Why it’s more important than ever to make sure you have a strong grasp on the financial health of your business
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Dec 21, 2020
TBL Episode 110: Should you ever discount your offer?
In last week’s episode, we talked about the importance of pricing for online businesses. This week, I thought it would be appropriate to ask the question, “should you ever discount your offer?”
Many online entrepreneurs struggle with this question because of what they see retail businesses do. But online businesses are not retail businesses and thank sweet baby Jesus for that because the margins are SOOOOO much better for online businesses.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* Why retail businesses are forced to have sales and offer discounts and why online businesses are different
* The manipulative pricing games retailers play with holiday sales and outlet stores
* How online marketers use “discounts” as a sales tactic to create urgency
* Why your current customers HATE when you discount your offer(s)
* Why service-based businesses should rarely (if ever) discount their prices
* The marketing strategy I like seeing our clients enact that do…
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Dec 14, 2020
TBL Episode 109: Is your pricing holding back your business?
Before I started working with Corey (my business partner and the founder of Evolved Finance) back in 2014, I was the US footwear manager and merchandiser for adidas Golf.
In this role at adidas, I learned the importance of pricing very quickly because a big part of my role was to make sure all our footwear models were priced to:
* Drive profit for the company
* Drive the sales volume needed to steal market share from our competition
Leaving this business environment of tangible/physical goods to dive into an online world of digital offers and services made me have to rethink what I knew about pricing quite a bit.
After looking at thousands of profit and loss statements and having hundreds of coaching conversations with our clients, it’s become clear to me that pricing is just as important for an online business looking to scale and grow as it is for a company selling physical inventory.
I still see a lot of online entrepreneurs feeling unsure about what to consider wh…
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Dec 7, 2020
TBL Episode 108: How to make your sales tracking easier
At Evolved Finance, we love making finance easier for our clients.
One of the most common ways we see entrepreneurs make things harder for themselves is by not having centralized software to track every sale they make in their businesses.
Newer online businesses tend to accept any form of payment they can because they want to make the process as convenient as possible for their customers. I’m all about making things easier for customers, but not at the expense of operational efficiency.
All business owners must eventually make the way they collect money from their customers more systematized and streamlined so it doesn’t become a bottleneck to their growth.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why you need to be more strategic with how you accept money from your clients and customers
* How you can use the software you already have to streamline your checkout process
* Why we recommend staying away from sending out invoices as much as possible
* How…
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Nov 30, 2020
TBL Episode 107: Rocking your taxes with Keila Hill-Trawick
Can you freaking believe it’s December already?
December and January are when things really pick up for us at Evolved Finance. Between submitting 1099s and sending bookkeeping files over to our clients’ accountants, it’s definitely the busiest time of year for us.
It’s also the time of year where a lot of entrepreneurs start to panic about their bookkeeping and taxes. That’s why the timing was so perfect for this month’s guest. Her name is Keila Hill-Trawick and she is the owner of Little Fish Accounting.
Our conversation is the kick in the pants many online business owners will need to start taking their tax situation more seriously, so you will not want to miss it.
In this episode, Keila and I discuss:
* Why you shouldn’t attempt to file your own tax return
* Why so many online businesses struggle to find a good accountant
* The role a good accountant plays in your business
* Why your accountant’s operations and systems are so important for getting…
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Nov 23, 2020
TBL Episode 106: Why some big course creators are not doing affiliate launches next year
If you’re a big fan of Marie Forleo, who is arguably one of the most successful business coaches and course creators in the world, then you’ve probably heard that she is not going to be working with affiliate partners next year to sell B-School.
If you aren’t familiar with Marie, this is a pretty big deal. Mainly because she is the QUEEN of affiliate launches. So much so that she built her entire business model around doing one GIGANTIC affiliate launch every year and made millions of dollars as a result of it. But she’s not the only big name moving away from affiliate launches.
So why the sudden change of heart around affiliate marketing?
That’s exactly what we discuss in this week’s episode.
* How affiliate marketing got to be so popular over the past 7-8 years
* Why I’ve been telling our clients for the last 5 years to move away from affiliate launches
* When it still makes sense to use affiliate marketing as a sales strategy
* Why it’s hard to bui…
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Nov 16, 2020
TBL Episode 105: Should you promote your offer during the holidays?
The holidays can be a complicated time for online businesses.
While the holiday season can make or break retail, manufacturing, and e-commerce businesses, it seems to have a smaller effect on coaching and info-based online businesses (the types of businesses we serve at Evolved Finance).
Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of takes from different business experts about what online businesses should do during the holiday season.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* What we’ve seen with our clients’ numbers during the holidays
* Why it’s crucial for you to understand if there is seasonality in your business
* What you should be aware of when advertising in November and December
* Any misconceptions entrepreneurs have about how the holidays might affect their online businesses
* Why your numbers can help you better understand what the right decision is for your own online business
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Nov 9, 2020
TBL Episode 104: How to reduce risk as your business grows
Entrepreneurship is inherently risky. Period.
That being said, it doesn’t HAVE TO be any riskier than working for someone else. It’s up to you as a business owner to be aware of any vulnerabilities your business might have and get in front of them as soon as possible.
As your business grows, new vulnerabilities will come into play, but you will also have more resources available to you to make those vulnerabilities a non-factor.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* The risks new online businesses have to deal with versus the risks more established online businesses have to deal with
* How a business’s savings can go a long way towards making your business less vulnerable to financial risk
* How legal vulnerabilities can grow as your business grows
* How systems and processes make your business less threatened when team members leave
* How diversifying your marketing channels as you grow makes your revenue generation less risky
Links to past episodes refere…
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Nov 2, 2020
TBL Episode 103: Hiring like a pro with Megan Baker
One of the most attractive parts of running an online business is the fact you can do so much on your own. In fact, most of the smaller businesses ($100k-$250k a year) we work with barely have any team at all. But what every single entrepreneur we work with quickly realizes is that they can only get so far on their own.
Whether you are hiring your first virtual assistant or hiring your first full-time employee, the task can seem daunting. Especially because contractors and employees are some of the biggest financial investments we make in our businesses.
That’s why I was so excited to talk to hiring expert Megan Baker about how you can get better at hiring the right people for your online business.
During my conversation with Megan, we discuss:
* Why you want to hire people who DO NOT think like you
* Why hiring for your small online businesses is not liking hiring at a large corporation
* Why self-awareness is so crucial for successfully managing new team members…
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Oct 26, 2020
TBL Episode 102: What it means to take full ownership of your business
Nobody can be good at EVERYTHING in their business. At the same time, it’s not reasonable to only focus on the aspects of your business that you like and completely ignore everything else.
When you start a business, you’re accepting that you don’t get to ONLY be a specialist anymore. Business owners have to be leaders, problem solvers, sales reps, strategists…the list just gets longer the fewer people you have on your team!
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* What one of our Evolved Finance clients is doing to take extreme ownership of their business that has completely blown me away
* Why you can’t expect to just “outsource” all your problems away
* Why the more deeply you understand your business, the easier it is to hold your team members accountable
* Why you don’t need to have an MBA in finance to understand your numbers and take full ownership of your business
* Why resourcefulness is so crucial for success as a business owner
*…
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Oct 19, 2020
TBL Episode 101: When is it time to give yourself a raise?
One of the biggest reasons people have for starting their own business is that they want to be their own boss. What many new entrepreneurs quickly realize, however, is that the boss doesn’t always get paid that much in the beginning.
As any business grows, there becomes more cash flow left over each month. But how do you know when the time is right to give yourself a raise? When should you be investing in a different area of the business to help it grow even more?
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The system we teach our clients for how to pay themselves responsibly
* Why your personal finances play a huge factor for your salary
* Why it’s almost impossible to decide on your monthly salary without a Profit and Loss statement
* How a forecast and budget can make adjusting your salary a much easier decision to make
* Why your goals for growth play a huge part in your ability to increase your salary
You can find the budgeting tools mentioned during…
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Oct 12, 2020
TBL Episode 100: Can successful online businesses avoid paying taxes?
With the release of President Trump’s tax returns in September of this year, there have been a lot of heated discussions online about what his tax returns have revealed about his businesses’ financial health.
While I do not want to get into the politics of this, the release of any major politician’s tax returns tends to generate a lot of misinformation and confusion around how taxes work as well as what constitutes a healthy business.
While neither I nor Corey are accountants, we do have 16 years of combined experience working with our client’s accountants to file their taxes. We have also looked over thousands of different profit and loss statements over these combined 16 years as well.
So what I’m trying to say is, despite not being accountants, we know a little something about how taxes work.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The different ways our clients reduce their tax bills, legally
* How your business entity can affect your tax bill
* Why it’s…
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Oct 5, 2020
TBL Episode 99: How much should online businesses spend on their website?
I went to high school in the late ’90s, right when the internet was starting to become popular. Back then, if you told me to create a website, you might as well have asked me to assemble my own airplane from scratch—I would not have even known where to start.
Now, over 20 years later, creating a website is so easy most elementary school kids could figure it out. Companies like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace have made creating a website accessible to the masses.
Despite the lower barrier to entry from both a price and technical standpoint, we still see online businesses spending thousands of dollars to create their websites. Is it worth the money?
Yes…but also no…it really just depends on how your business works.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Does every online business even need a website?
* The various price options online business owners have for creating a website
* Why you need to think about the return on investment for your website
* How…
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Sep 28, 2020
TBL Episode 98: Building a hybrid online business with Breanne Dyck
If you’ve been in the online business world for long enough, you know how many trends and fads have come and gone in such a short period of time.
When I left the corporate world to partner up with Corey at Evolved Finance, e-books and 1-on-1 coaching were going out of style and courses were coming in hot. Now, membership sites and group coaching programs are all the rage.
The reality is, all these online business models can turn into six or seven-figure ventures, but each one also has its unique challenges for scaling up.
Nobody knows this better than Breanne Dyck of the Visionary CEO Academy.
Breanne and her partner, Jill, have been supporting online business owners by transforming their online money-making ventures into sustainable and scalable businesses.
During my conversation with Breanne, we discuss:
* Why online business has changed and evolved so much over the past 7-8 years
* What it takes to be successful as an online business owner TODAY
* The pitfalls of…
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Sep 24, 2020
TBL Episode 97: How our clients use data to run successful online businesses
During my time working for adidas America, I quickly learned how important data is to running a successful business.
Do we need to order more inventory? Look at the data.
Do we need to run a promotion? Look at the data.
Do we need to change the pricing of a product? Look at the data.
Are we on track to hit our sales targets? Look at the data.
Any major decision I made or was a part of was always based on some sort of financial, inventory, or marketing data. I understand that adidas is a multi-billion-dollar corporation whereas Evolved Finance’s clients are running multi-seven-figure businesses at best, but that doesn’t make data any less important.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* How we used data to make decisions at adidas
* The role sales data plays in a successful online business
* The role marketing data plays in a successful online business
* The role financial data plays in a successful online business
* Why your business will be more suc…
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Sep 24, 2020
TBL Episode 96: Six signs your bookkeeper isn’t cutting it anymore
Hiring a bookkeeper is a lot like hiring a mechanic.
You’re taking a leap of faith that they’re not going to screw you over.
After all, unless you know how to fix your own car, how would you even know whether your mechanic is doing a good job or not? The same goes for a bookkeeper.
Luckily, you don’t have to be a bookkeeper yourself to know if your bookkeeper is doing quality work.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The top complaint we hear from our clients about their past bookkeepers
* Why the way your bookkeeper sets up your P&L matters
* The missing piece of most bookkeepers’ monthly service that business owners need to demand
* Why entrepreneurs need to trust their gut if they feel like their books aren’t being managed correctly
* Why it’s not unreasonable to expect a high level of customer service from your bookkeeper
* Why you need a bookkeeper that specializes in your industry
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Sep 7, 2020
TBL Episode 95: Finding the courage to look at your finances head-on
I got a surprise text message from my brother-in-law and his long-time girlfriend a few weeks ago. They wanted me to help them put together a personal budget.
I was honestly shocked they were asking for help on this.
They’re both in their early twenties and finishing up their last year of school, so it would be really easy for them to just “wing it.” I know when I was their age, it was the last thing on my mind—in fact, I avoided it altogether. I waited 5-6 years before I put together my own first personal budget, so I was blown away by their maturity and desire to learn new skills as young adults.
I was so blown away, in fact, that it inspired an entire podcast episode!
So for this episode, we discuss:
* Why it was easy to put off looking at my personal financial situation head-on
* Why we can’t afford to put our heads in the sand around money as entrepreneurs
* Why a more disciplined approach to your finances creates more freedom and clarity
* Why it’s…
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Aug 31, 2020
TBL Episode 94: Piecing together your entire financial story with Justin Krane
I’ve probably said this 100 times now, but simply growing your business’s revenue is not enough to build your wealth as the owner.
Is a steady stream of sales important for any business? Of course!
Does generating more sales create the potential for better cash flow? Absolutely! But if a business does not manage its expenses as the revenue increases, then profitability suffers, which means the business owner can’t increase their own pay.
The same goes for your personal finances. It’s hard to build wealth if your lifestyle is so expensive relative to your income that you don’t have any money left over to invest in your future.
Few understand this as well as Justin Krane. Justin is a Certified Financial Planner, money strategist, author, and fractional CFO for entrepreneurs.
During my conversation with Justin, we cover:
* How to handle the uncertainty of 2020
* The biggest misunderstanding entrepreneurs have about their business models and cash flow
* Why cash…
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Aug 23, 2020
TBL Episode 93: How to get a return from the courses and coaching programs you invest in
In 2019, Corey and I bit the bullet and finally invested in our first coaching program. It was $10k for 8 weeks of support. Outside of our employees, it was the biggest investment we had ever made in our business at one time.
Did we get the results we were looking for after the 8 weeks? Kinda.
Was it worth it? 100%.
Without those very intense eight weeks of analyzing and scrutinizing our business, we would not have been able to handle the last twelve months of growth we experienced. Honestly, it was a game-changing program for us.
Although my personal experience with coaching and courses has been positive, I’m still very conservative when it comes to my own continuing education. I’ve only spent $10k in 6 years, after all. On the other hand, we have a number of clients who dive much more deeply into personal and business development, spending tens of thousands of dollars every single year on courses and coaching.
That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Can you over…
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Aug 16, 2020
TBL Episode 92: Does affiliate marketing make sense financially?
When I jumped into the online business world six years ago, one of the first concepts I had to wrap my head around was affiliate marketing. As someone who had spent the previous 5 years in the sporting goods industry, it just wasn’t a strategy I was familiar with.
But back in 2014, almost all our clients were either running affiliate promotions for their own products or promoting a product for someone else. Over the last 5 years, however, we’ve slowly seen our clients focus less and less on both sides of the affiliate relationship.
What’s changed?
A lot.
That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* What affiliate marketing means in the online space
* How the evolution of digital products is making it more difficult to utilize affiliates
* Why affiliate marketing can be a shaky foundation to build your business upon
* How much of your revenue you should be spending on Facebook ads
* Why affiliate marketing tends to burn out entrepreneurs
* What we p…
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Aug 9, 2020
TBL Episode 91: The two reasons online businesses struggle to be profitable
When there is an aspect of our business that we don’t understand, we tell ourselves it’s because the subject matter is too confusing or too complicated.
While there definitely are areas of expertise like computer programming or law that take a lot of specialized knowledge to understand fully, we can easily outsource this type of work to experts. But when it comes to things like finance, most entrepreneurs overthink and over complicate it because they lack a basic foundational understanding of the role finance plays in their businesses.
Is that because finance is complicated?
Nope.
It’s just difficult to find financial information that’s specifically applicable to online business owners.
So when an online business is struggling with something like profitability, it’s easy to get overwhelmed about what to do. You might even think that you aren’t capable of fixing the problem yourself. Luckily, the reason that any business struggles to stay profitable only comes down to t…
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Aug 3, 2020
TBL Episode 90: Scaling your business through process documentation with Dean Soto
Here are the top two things MOST entrepreneurs love to spend time doing:
1. Marketing
2. Creating products and offers
Here are the top two things MOST entrepreneurs hate doing:
1. Dealing with their finances
2. Documenting internal processes
We know as well as anyone how much entrepreneurs love to avoid their finances, but when our clients start working with us, they realize they can actually feel empowered when it comes to their money.
It turns out Dean Soto from Pro Sulum has the same experience with his clients but with process documentation.
I invited Dean onto the podcast because I had never heard of a virtual assistant agency that only focuses on helping business owners to create SOPs (standard operating procedures). It’s a truly genius idea for a service because SOPs are ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL for creating a scalable and sustainable business.
So for this episode, I talked with Dean about:
* How he created his businesses
* Why he focused on SOP creation as a servic…
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Jul 27, 2020
TBL Episode 89: The four people online entrepreneurs need involved in their finances
Part of being a successful online business owner is knowing who you need on your team and what they should be responsible for.
Hiring people to manage functions like social media, copywriting, customer service, and graphic design is straight forward: you figure out what job needs to be done and pay someone to do it.
But who should be involved in your finances? In my experience, there are four key roles that every online business should have covered, and one role many business owners think they need but probably don’t.
That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* The role of a bookkeeper and their core responsibilities
* The role of an accountant and their core responsibilities
* The financial role an operations/business manager should play in your business
* When you need to talk to a financial advisor as your business starts to create wealth for you
* The one financial role we think is rarely needed in an online business
* Why organized and accurate fi…
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Jul 20, 2020
TBL Episode 88: The importance of cash during uncertain times
Let’s face it…we don’t really know what the next 6 months are going to look like. Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around what has just happened these last 6 months.
Surprisingly, we have actually seen the online businesses we work with thrive this year as more people are spending larger amounts of time on the internet. But can we expect this COVID bump to last?
I honestly don’t know.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The inherent risks of running an online business in the US during the next 6 months
* How to be smart with any bumps in revenue you’ve received these last 2-3 months
* Why holding onto extra cash in your business could be the most important factor in getting through another potential economic downturn
* Understanding the balance between keeping money in your business and investing your extra profit
* The importance of forecasting so you can be prepared for the unknown
* Why bookkeeping and financial tracking are…
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Jul 13, 2020
TBL Episode 87: Why most online entrepreneurs are not the visionaries they need to be
Over the last couple years, the books “Rocket Fuel” and “Traction” have become popular reads for many online entrepreneurs.
Both Corey and I loved “Traction” and incorporated several of the principles from the books into our own business. One concept that has become extremely popular is the two roles you need in a successful business: the “visionary” and the “integrator.”
Naturally, every business owner tends to see themselves as the visionary. They believe the next step for their business is to hire a high-level integrator to support and manage their daily operations.
The problem is that many of the online business owners I’ve talked to over the course of my 6-year career in the online space don’t fully embrace their role as the visionary CEO they want to be and the responsibility that comes with that.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why being the visionary means taking full responsibility for all aspects of your business
* Why many entr…
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Jul 6, 2020
TBL Episode 86: Understanding the cost of acquiring your customers
Successfully selling your products and/or services is how you generate revenue for your business. Understanding and managing the costs associated with selling to your customers is how you make a profit. And when I say cost, I mean from both a financial and time standpoint.
Luckily, online entrepreneurs have a multitude of ways they can generate leads for their businesses, but these options all have different costs (in both money and time) associated with them.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The most popular marketing channels we see our clients investing in
* Some of the more time-intensive marketing strategies that can really lower the cost of acquiring new customers if successful
* The pros and cons of advertising, SEO, content marketing, social media, public speaking, networking, and affiliate marketing
* Why a clear financial picture of your business is essential for ANY marketing strategy
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Jun 29, 2020
TBL Episode 85: Owning your operations with Natalie Gingrich
There are a lot of great business educators out there helping entrepreneurs to master the different aspects of their businesses. In fact, many of our clients are those educators. And we know exactly how great they are at what they do because we see their numbers.
But as important as it is to lock down your Instagram strategy, hone your copywriting skills, or up-level your webinar presentations, there is still the “un-sexy” part of running your business that most business coaches just don’t talk about.
Operations.
As we talked about a couple of episodes ago, smart and efficient internal operations are what can take a business from “ok” profitability to outrageous profitability.
That’s because as a business grows, simply getting stuff done isn’t enough to keep a business healthy. Getting stuff done efficiently and strategically becomes just as important as your ability to drive revenue and make sales.
And nobody understands this better than Natalie Gingrich, founder of…
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Jun 22, 2020
TBL Episode 84: The pros and cons of running a business online
When COVID-19 started to hit in full force in early to mid-March of this year, I had a wave of panic wash over me. I found myself thinking…
“Will our client’s businesses get through this shutdown?”
“Will our clients have customers who can still afford their products?”
“Will Evolved Finance have to prepare to downsize?”
Luckily, those doubts didn’t last long.
Corey and I had always speculated that online businesses would be particularly recession-proof (at least compared to other businesses), and we are so happy to see that hypothesis has proven to be mostly correct.
Although we have seen some of our clients’ businesses struggle over the last 3 months ( a couple fell apart after only a month), most of our clients have quickly stabilized, with many of them even thriving during these tumultuous times.
This roller coaster we’ve been on as business owners over the last 3 months has made me think a lot about not just the “pros” of operating in the online spac…
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Jun 15, 2020
TBL Episode 83: How your finances and operations are connected
At its core, bookkeeping is about keeping score in your business.
The financial reporting that a bookkeeper puts together for their clients is the scoreboard that shows if a business is doing the right things from both a sales and operations perspective to keep it profitable and thriving. But what if things aren’t looking as good as you want them to on your financial reports?
You have two options: make more sales or cut back on expenses.
For smaller online businesses, it truly can be this simple. For larger businesses, you need a deeper understanding of your internal operations in order to have the relationship between your revenue and expenses make sense (aka, generate healthy profits).
That is why in today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why our clients are surprised when their financial questions turn into conversations about product strategy and operations.
* Why the bigger your business becomes, the more important it is to have clean and efficient internal operations
*…
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Jun 8, 2020
TBL Episode 82: Acknowledging the struggle of black Americans
As I write this scheduled email, it’s June 3rd, 2020. It’s the day after #blackouttuesday.
Doing a podcast about business right now does not feel right.
Staying silent about the current situation in America doesn’t feel right either.
That’s why for this episode, we at Evolved Finance acknowledge the struggles of our fellow black Americans and reaffirm our commitment to being a company that welcomes diversity and inclusion in an effort to fight systematic racism.
We are working to be better, and we hope all our fellow white entrepreneurs are working to do the same.
We’re listening.
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Jun 1, 2020
TBL Episode 81: Brand strategy for online businesses with Michelle Garside
Before I joined forces with Corey at Evolved Finance back in late 2014, I had spent the last 5 years at adidas, specifically working in the golf division.
adidas is a company with an extremely recognizable and powerful brand. Likely one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Although I tried to resist drinking the Kool-Aid, the power of the adidas brand has me likely wearing adidas shoes for the rest of my life (I wasn’t a Nike guy, to begin with, anyway).
But shaping a brand like adidas is dramatically different than shaping a brand for a small online business, isn’t it?
That’s where our latest podcast guest, Michelle Garside, shines some light for us.
During my conversation with Michelle, we discuss:
* How Michelle took her years of experience working on brand strategies for massive corporations and channeled it into supporting small online businesses
* What is a “brand” and what makes a “brand” successful?
* What does a small business owner need…
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May 25, 2020
TBL Episode 80: What all online businesses need to know about bookkeeping
Nobody starts their online business because they’re excited about getting deep into the weeds of their finances. Entrepreneurs want to build their audiences and them into customers. And to be fair, is there anything better than making money by helping people with something you are really good at helping them with?
Unfortunately, your online business isn’t just about sales, marketing, and customer service. It’s also about tracking and managing your money.
That’s where bookkeeping comes in.
For most online entrepreneurs, bookkeeping is one area of their business that they probably know the least about (no shame if you feel the same way).
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The role of bookkeeping in an online business
* Why you should NOT have your accountant managing your bookkeeping if you can help it
* How proper bookkeeping can help your business stay profitable and healthy
* How to know when you’re ready to hire a bookkeeper
* Why it’s cr…
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May 18, 2020
TBL Episode 79: Should money be your biggest priority?
Money has got to be one of the most interesting inventions humanity has ever created. It is a core component of every civilized society and the driving force behind every economy in existence. However, if money is such a fundamental piece of the systems that we all live in, why do we each prioritize money differently?
Evolved Finance spends all day organizing, tracking, and analyzing money for our clients, so it should be no surprise that I think about money a lot. Without money, Corey and I would not have a business.
But despite the important role money plays in my life as an American citizen, and the role it plays in my business/career, I would say it is NOT my top priority.
And I don’t think it should be yours, either. But I also don’t think it’s a good idea to put it at the bottom of the list.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why you need to be clear about the priority money has in your life
* Why it’s especially important for entrepreneurs to build a…
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May 11, 2020
TBL Episode 78: Why product synergy is crucial for profitability
Thanks to everyone who attended our free Know Your Numbers Now workshop last week. One of the big themes that came up time and time again was profitability.
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, then that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
When entrepreneurs think about profitability, they usually think it’s all about cutting expenses or even creating more revenue streams. But it’s not that simple. Streamlining your operations and simplifying your offers can have a major impact on profitability.
That is why in this episode, we discuss:
* What product synergy really means
* Why keeping your offers simple in the early stages of your business can greatly benefit your profitability
* Why operational complexity is the enemy of online businesses
* Why not all six-figure online businesses are created equal
* How focus and intention can support you on your path to better product synergy
* Why proper financial tracking is your scorecard for keeping…
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May 4, 2020
TBL Episode: 77 Diving into Your Money Mindset with Wei Houng
I genuinely believe that the first step to addressing any negative feelings you have about money as a business owner is to look at your financial situation head-on. Without looking at data and hearing feedback, you will never have a real understanding of your actual financial situation.
That being said, I cannot deny the fact that despite all we do for our clients to make them feel financially empowered, there is a psychological and emotional component to how they relate to money that can stop them from making progress with their finances and their businesses.
That’s why I was so excited to talk with Wei Houng, money mindset expert and founder of The Six Figure Academy.
During our discussion, Wei shared:
* How his early family life set the stage for his relationship with money in a negative way and how he overcame those negative associations
* How defining moments in our lives create our relationship with money
* Why money is more taboo than sex
* How a poor money…
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Apr 27, 2020
TBL Episode 76: The reason entrepreneurs feel shame and guilt around money
509…that’s the number of online entrepreneurs who have reached out to us about our bookkeeping services. Across all of these email conversations and discovery calls, there is one big theme that keeps coming up.
These entrepreneurs feel shame, guilt, frustration, or stress over how they manage their finances. It doesn’t matter if they have been managing their books themselves or if they’ve been using a bookkeeper—they still don’t feel like they have a grip on their numbers.
Why do so many online business owners feel uncomfortable about their finances? Why is money such a vulnerability and weak point for these businesses?
In this episode, we’ll be discussing:
* The root cause of the negative emotions entrepreneurs feel about their finances
* Why most bookkeepers (and even accountants) aren’t able to alleviate these feelings for their online business clients
* How you can have a more positive and productive relationship with your numbers
* Why online bus…
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Apr 20, 2020
TBL Episode 75: The importance of understanding your business model
Online entrepreneurs of all sizes love to complicate their businesses—why?
Because they think it’s supposed to get more complicated, more sophisticated, more like a big corporation over time.
After years of watching successful online businesses thrive, we’ve come to realize that simplifying and streamlining is the real path to building a business that operates smoothly and builds wealth for the owner over the long run. A foundational piece of this is having real clarity around your business model.
That’s why for this episode, we discuss:
* The most common online business models we see and how they work
* Why your product or service offering plays a huge role in your business model
* How a clear and defined business model can generate more profit and create a smoother running business
* Why it’s ok to pivot your business model if you need to
* What we learned trying to add another revenue stream
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Apr 13, 2020
TBL Episode 74: Know your numbers and know them now
If I were to start a new business right now, the first thing I would do is create a spreadsheet and map out its financial structure. What are our software expenses going in? Will we need to outsource or hire for initial projects? Do I need to go through any business training? Will there be any cost of goods associated with the product?
If the numbers look good, then I’d move on to product development, marketing, operations, etc. If the numbers don’t seem to make sense, however, then I wouldn’t work on anything else in the business until I felt like the financial structure of the business is sound. After all, what’s the point of all the work if I don’t know if the business will even be profitable?
I understand that my desire to look at numbers first might come easier to me than to you, but it’s a learnable skill. I wasn’t born with it, but I learned its value over time and then honed it.
That said, with everything going on with COVID-19 right now, knowing your numbers i…
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Apr 6, 2020
TBL Episode 73: What COVID-19 is teaching entrepreneurs about financial risk
What COVID-19 is teaching entrepreneurs about financial risk
Being an entrepreneur is inherently risky.
I honestly don’t think you can be an entrepreneur without being comfortable taking risks. It’s the primary reason EVERYONE isn’t starting a business. What many business owners realize too late, unfortunately, is that entrepreneurship is also about managing and mitigating that risk as much as possible.
The COVID-19 situation is teaching us all a hard lesson about managing and mitigating risk right now, but I do believe it’s a lesson that will make us more responsible and steady business owners going forward.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* Understanding the inherent risk of entrepreneurship
* How many of us are learning the hard way about building a business savings
* Why profitability is your buffer for risk
* How your salary affects the level of risk in your business
* Why you need to better mitigate risk the bigger your business becomes
* Why…
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Mar 30, 2020
TBL Episode 72: Navigating your investments with Colin Exelby
If you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, then you know I’m a huge proponent of getting your personal finances in order. When you’re not clear on your household expenses and long-term goals you can put undue stress and pressure on your business.
That’s why I broke away from our normal discussions around online business strategies and am sharing an interview I did with Colin Exelby, a Certified Financial Planner.
Colin has 20 years of experience helping people navigate the stock market and reach their financial goals. With everything going on with the market right now, the timing for this conversation could not have been better.
In this episode, we discuss:
* The difference between a financial planner and a financial advisor
* How this current economic downturn compares to ones from the past 20-30 years
* How to make smarter decisions with your investments
* Why building up savings is so important
* The art of balancing cash with liquidity as a busin…
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Mar 23, 2020
TBL Episode 71: Taking action during coronavirus
I don’t know about you, but last week shook me more than I was expecting.
The reality of COVID-19 hit the US hard, both economically and socially. We’ve never really experienced anything like this before, and I think it shocked a lot of us to see our realities change so rapidly with school closures, offices shutdowns, and empty grocery aisles.
This is the type of situation that can leave you feeling paralyzed.
When you’re a business owner, you can’t afford to stay frozen in place, which is why for this episode I wanted to focus on the actions we can take to get through these uncertain times.
This episode is a little longer than usual, but because I’ve had so many amazing conversations with other entrepreneurs this past week about how to respond to this crazy situation we’re all facing, I wanted to share as many insights as I possibly could.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* Why you can’t afford to wait around and see what happens
* Why you need to keep selli…
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Mar 16, 2020
TBL Episode 70: Preparing your online business for a recession
If you’ve been paying even just a little bit of attention to the news headlines over the last couple weeks, you’ll know that the US economy is not looking good. Between Coronavirus and a huge downturn in the US stock market, Americans are feeling a bit on edge about the immediate future.
Economists are in agreement that a recession is on the way (I think it’s here already). What does that mean for your online business?
It means you need to adapt and have a plan.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* What we can learn from these uncertain times as entrepreneurs
* Which types of businesses will be most impacted by the economic downturn
* The increasing importance of a business’ savings
* How to create an emergency fund for your online business
* Why there is still potential for growth as a business owner in a down market
* Why understanding your numbers can help you plan for future cash flow challenges
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Mar 9, 2020
TBL Episode 69: Keeping it legal with Autumn Witt Boyd
There is so much about running an online business that you just have to figure out as you go along.
One of those things is learning how to protect your business from a legal standpoint.
Like with finance and taxes, you can only get so far managing this aspect of your business without having to go and get a new degree. Unless you already have one, I don’t think most business owners are rushing out to apply to law school just to write a privacy policy for their website.
That’s why for today’s episode, we’re sharing an interview Corey (my business partner) and I did with legal expert Autumn Witt Boyd. Autumn has extensive experience working directly with online businesses (the likes of Amy Porterfield and Melyssa Griffin), which is a rare niche for a lawyer to dive into.
In this episode, Autumn and I discuss:
* The role a lawyer should be playing in your online business
* The top legal vulnerabilities you need to be aware of as an online business owner
* Some of th…
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Mar 2, 2020
TBL Episode 68: Do the numbers really matter for small businesses?
Running an online business can be crazy hectic.
So much so that it often doesn’t feel like you can address all the needs of your business quickly enough. One of the first things online entrepreneurs neglect on that list of to-do items is their finances. Why?
Because if you’re generating revenue, the numbers will work themselves out…right?
Wrong! The numbers for a small business are just as important as the numbers for a huge corporation, and there are so many reasons why you need to have a grip on your financial picture no matter what size you are.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why most entrepreneurs neglect their numbers
* How financial tracking can make tax time easy or a nightmare
* Why every decision you make will ultimately affect your financial reports
* Why profitability is important to track from the very start
* Why even very small businesses need to track their numbers
* Why knowing your numbers can free you up to grow more quic…
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Feb 24, 2020
TBL Episode 67: Are live events a profitable way to grow your online businesses?
The internet is awesome!
It’s connected the world in ways that very few could have ever predicted. The impact it’s had on entrepreneurship and business, in general, is monumental in its own right.
However, despite all the benefits the web has had on our ability to find and connect with our customers, we’re seeing a growing number of our clients put an emphasis on getting in front of their customers and audiences in person.
As a mega extrovert and all-around people lover, I’m very into the idea of connecting with people in the real world, but the finance side of me gets nervous whenever one of our clients ventures into live events because of the tremendous expenses that can come along with it.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why live events are becoming more common for online businesses
* The mistakes we’ve seen entrepreneurs make with live event planning
* How to do the work ahead of time to make a live event more profitable and worthwhile financia…
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Feb 17, 2020
TBL Episode 66: How to get better at making financial decisions in your business
Making decisions is what being a business owner is all about.
Sometimes those decisions can feel small and easy, and other times they can feel complicated and daunting.
When the decisions start to revolve around money, many online entrepreneurs start to seize up and lose confidence. At the end of the day, you need to know where you stand before you can make a decision about which direction your business should take.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* What you need as an entrepreneur to make more confident financial decisions
* Why your profit and loss statement makes financial decisions so much easier to manage
* How a forecast/budget becomes more important for decision making as your business grows
* Why profitability should be the guide for most business decisions you make
* Why deciding how much to pay yourself can feel like such a daunting task
* Why we get so many questions about how much to invest in ads and team members
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Feb 10, 2020
TBL Episode 65: Tips for a successful business partnership
It’s probably not surprising, but most business coaches would not recommend starting your business with a business partner. Do I feel the same way?
Yes and no.
Yes, in that we’ve seen several business partnerships go sour due to the relationship complexities that come from running a business together.
No, in that my personal experience of participating in a business partnership has been extremely positive. So much so that I can’t imagine ever starting a business without a partner.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* How Corey and I made the decision to go into business together
* What made our situation different than most other business partnerships
* The importance of having a shared vision and alignment
* Why having different sets of skills and strengths improves your chances of success
* How to structure your partnership so it’s fair and balanced
* Why you should talk to a lawyer or accountant when creating a business entity together
* Why com…
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Jan 27, 2020
TBL Episode 64: What will profitable online businesses look like for 2020?
If you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, then you know how much I talk about how profit is underrated while revenue is overrated.
Going into 2020, I still stand by that sentiment.
However, with the online business space changing so much with each passing year, what will it take to make your business as profitable as possible in 2020?
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* The key expenses all entrepreneurs will need to watch closely in 2020
* Why your business model is going to have a huge effect on how much profit you can expect
* The advantage our highly profitable clients have over the ones that struggle with their margins
* How your product strategy will become more important than ever
* Why doing “just enough” isn’t going to be enough to keep cash flow positive for the long haul
* How more competition is going to affect how much you have to spend to find new leads
* Why keeping up with your financial data is only going to bec…
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Jan 20, 2020
TBL Episode: 63 Is there an online business bubble that’s going to burst?
I recently joined a Facebook group that one of our new clients hosts (a group for course creators), and one of the top posts was a Youtube video from an entrepreneur named Alex Becker (apparently he’s pretty well known, but I’m not familiar with him).
In this particular video, Alex shares his thoughts on why he thinks the online business industry is collapsing and why it’s going to get worse.
I thought Alex made some good points, but I also feel it’s a bit extreme to say the online business world is collapsing.
We have a very unique view of the online business landscape because it’s our job to look at the numbers behind many of the more well-known online businesses in the space, so I wanted to share my thoughts on this topic and, hopefully, ease your mind about online entrepreneurship.
In this episode, we’ll discuss:
* The state of the online business space and why I don’t feel it’s collapsing
* The new challenges online business owners face with growing co…
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Jan 13, 2020
TBL Episode: 62 Why it’s difficult to make a revenue sharing partnership work
Everyone wants to grow their businesses. It’s kind of the point of entrepreneurship.
We’re also always looking for easier ways to drive revenue for our businesses. If we’re going to make more sales, why not take the easiest route possible?
That’s where revenue sharing relationships can come into play.
It can seem like an easy way to create a new revenue stream or grow a revenue stream that already exists without having to do all the work yourself, but based on what we’ve seen with our clients, you need to be careful about what kind of agreement you’re getting into.
Unsure what I mean by this? Then you need to listen to this episode.
We discuss:
* What a revenue sharing partnership looks like
* Why profit sharing is preferred over revenue sharing
* Why revenue/profit sharing is usually not a fair deal for the business owner?
* Why having accurate and strong financial data s is so important for revenue/profit sharing partnerships
* Why we prefer class…
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Dec 25, 2019
TBL Episode 61: What we’ve learned in 2019 and our predictions for 2020
It’s been a great year for Evolved Finance.
Our business has grown, our clients’ businesses have grown, and our podcast has grown… so much growth! As we’ve grown, one challenge that has emerged is figuring out how to hire the right people to expand our team and scale our bookkeeping business.
Doing the books for so many online businesses, we also see patterns in how our clients are approaching their own growth and what investments they’re making as they look to the future.
For this episode, I wanted to:
* Reflect on what we’ve learned running our own business for 2019
* The challenges of adding new people to your team
* How Corey and I have grown as leaders in 2019
* The trends we’ve seen with our clients’ businesses
* What we predict 2020 will look like for online businesses as a whole
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Dec 16, 2019
TBL Episode 60: Understanding the two games you’re playing in your online business
The more experience I get as an entrepreneur, the more I realize that I’m playing a weird and complicated game. And while it can be a frustrating and scary game, it can also be highly rewarding and lucrative if played properly. If we break down the core functions involved in running a business of any kind, then we’re actually playing two games at once.
* Game #1 is all about generating revenue and income.
* Game #2 is all about managing and utilizing that revenue as effectively as possible.
All entrepreneurs must stay focused on playing Game #1. If played poorly, the business will cease to exist.
What most people don’t realize, however, is that the better an entrepreneur becomes at playing Game #1, the more important being good at playing Game #2 becomes. To the point that paying attention to Game #2 becomes just as important as generating revenue. That’s why if you don’t learn how to play both games well, your business won’t fully achieve the results you want.…
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Dec 9, 2019
TBL Episode 59: The episode where we beg you to prep for your 2019 taxes NOW
I’m getting down to brass tacks this week.
We’re already into December, which means a new year is around the corner. And with the end of the old year, tax season is just around the corner. As we step into 2020, NOW is the time to start prepping for your 2019 taxes.
For this episode, I wanted to urge everyone listening to take action on their tax prep NOW:
* Why you should be reaching out to your current accountant NOW
* Why you need to get your books in order NOW
* Why you need to find a new accountant NOW if you don’t have one
* Why you won’t get the time and attention you need from your accountant if you don’t set up a meeting NOW
* Why you need to get the right financial professionals in your business NOW
Notice the key word here? If you missed it, it’s NOW! That’s because getting started NOW will save you so many headaches in 2020. Start your new year off right by closing the books on the old one NOW.
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Nov 25, 2019
TBL Episode 58: Should you spend money just for the deduction?
It’s getting close to the end of the year, which means business owners across the country are freaking out about their tax bills.
When it comes to taxes, there is a misconception in the entrepreneur community that you should spend a bunch of money at the end of the year to reduce your tax bill. That somehow getting a bunch of new stuff you don’t need is better because you’re maximizing your deductions.
We are not a fan of this strategy at all, but for reasons that we think every online entrepreneur should understand.
So for today’s episode, we discuss:
* Why being prepared for your tax bill throughout the year can help you avoid having to create unneeded deductions
* Why unnecessary deductions are counterproductive to a successful online business that creates wealth for its owner
* How to never be surprised by your tax bill
* Why pulling expenses from January into December is a futile system that only hurts you the next year
* Why big tax bills are a sign…
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Nov 18, 2019
TBL Episode 57: The most important things your bookkeeper should be doing for your business
Bookkeepers for entrepreneurs are a lot like mechanics for people that don’t know anything about cars.
As a car owner, you trust that your mechanic is doing the work they say they’re doing because you don’t really have an easy way to double-check it.
Bookkeeping is ultimately pretty similar. Your bookkeeper tells you they’ve done the work each month, but you don’t know if it’s been done properly or if they’re even working on the right things at all.
In our experience, the work we see other bookkeepers do is usually pretty disappointing. It’s not until the client works with us that they realize how little value they were getting from their previous bookkeeper’s efforts.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* The common issues business owners have with their bookkeepers
* The most important things your bookkeeper should be doing for your business
* Why the old idea of what a bookkeeper should be doing for your business has changed (and for the bette…
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Nov 11, 2019
TBL Episode 56: How the dream of entrepreneurship can turn into a nightmare
Starting a business has some inherent risks that I think most entrepreneurs are aware of.
You risk investing your own money in a business that doesn’t end up making a profit.
With online businesses, the initial investment to get them off the ground is so low, that the financial loss of a failed business isn’t that ground shaking. Especially when you compare it to the capital needed to open restaurants, retail stores, and other more classic brick-and-mortar businesses. These businesses usually involve investing your life savings while also taking out thousands of dollars in loans.
Ultimately, if your online business doesn’t work out, you lose some of your savings and then go back to working for someone else. It’s a crummy situation, but it’s rarely a devastating situation.
What most online entrepreneurs don’t realize is that the real risk comes when you start to make money.
It seems counterintuitive, right? But the more financially successful your online business become…
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Nov 4, 2019
TBL Episode 55: How often should you REALLY be looking at your numbers?
There is something about finance and money that makes entrepreneurs feel like they’re never doing enough.
It’s the same feeling they get when they don’t feel like they’re working out enough or haven’t been eating as healthy as they would like to. Often, these feelings can get so overwhelming that it feels like you’re better off doing nothing than risking the chance you’ll get bad news.
But it’s important as an entrepreneur to understand which numbers are worth looking at a lot and which ones only need occasional attention. The truth is it doesn’t take as much time as you’d think, and the info you gain can make a drastic difference for your online business.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* The different metrics you need to be monitoring in your business
* How often you should be reviewing certain numbers in your business
* Why the right financial reporting can reduce the amount of time you spend analyzing financial data
* The difference…
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Oct 28, 2019
TBL Episode 54: Why your accountant should NOT be doing your bookkeeping
I don’t know how to say this gently, so I’m just going to say it.
Very few accountants are good at bookkeeping.
I share this because many entrepreneurs believe that it would make sense to have the person filing their taxes also be the person that’s managing their bookkeeping.
This arrangement would seem both convenient and logical, right?
Unfortunately for online entrepreneurs, they usually end up disappointed with the experience because they realize that the bookkeeping service they’re receiving is only designed to help the accountant file the tax return.
Bookkeeping can be so much more valuable and impactful than just preparing for tax season.
So for this episode, we discuss:
* Why you should be keeping your accountant focused just on your taxes
* Why a dedicated bookkeeper is so important once your business hits six figures a year in revenue
* Why bookkeeping services can be so inconsistent and frustrating
* How Evolved Finance uplevels bookkeeping for…
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Oct 21, 2019
TBL Episode 53: The six things our most successful clients have in common
We’re in a unique position at Evolved Finance. We get to see behind the scenes of some of the most successful online businesses in the industry.
After years of serving online entrepreneurs with their bookkeeping, it’s almost inevitable that we’ve started to see patterns in not just our client’s numbers, but also in the decisions they make in their businesses.
While all our clients have reached a level of success that most aspiring entrepreneurs wish to achieve, our most successful clients seem to have some clear commonalities that separate them from the rest of the pack.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss what our most successful clients have in common with each other:
* What they’re each able to do with their product offers
* What makes their marketing strategies so effective
* Why they put so much importance on building the right team
* Why they invest in their personal development as leaders
* Why they take their numbers more seriously than oth…
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Oct 14, 2019
TBL Episode 52: Dealing with money mindset issues as an entrepreneur
As human beings, our relationships with money can be diverse and complicated, particularly for those of us raised and working in the US.
Regardless of your outlook on money, materialism, consumerism, etc, it’s still important to understand what a healthy relationship with money looks like for you. This is one of those cases where what you don’t know _can_ hurt you. The only thing worse than not knowing about your finances is running into an unexpected “surprise.”
As entrepreneurs, our relationship with money isn’t just about being open to generating more revenue (which is a mind game of its own), but it’s also about feeling comfortable managing money and not feeling intimidated or ashamed about making financial decisions.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* How a lack of financial education in American culture is detrimental to entrepreneurs
* The problem with thinking budgeting is boring or complicated
* The importance of taking responsibility for ou…
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Oct 7, 2019
TBL Episode 51: Why profitable businesses don’t happen by mistake
We’ve been in the fortunate position to see a lot of online businesses go from moderate success to massive success in less than a year.
In fact, most of our new clients see their businesses grow after the first 12 months of working with us, so we’ve come to expect some sort of growth for all our clients each year, even if it’s just a little bit.
The one thing that is not guaranteed with a growing business is profit. There are a lot of expenses that come into running an online business that you might not be thinking of, which is why it’s so important to get a clear and accurate picture of your cashflow.
Entrepreneurs can be misled into thinking that an unhealthy business can simply be fixed by making more sales, but that’s not always the case.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why profit is easy in the beginning but more difficult as a business grows
* Why low-six-figure businesses need to worry more about cash flow than profit
* When it’s time to c…
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Sep 30, 2019
TBL Episode 50: Investing in the long-term success of your online business (part 2)
In last week’s episode, we began our discussion around what it takes to invest in the long-term success of an online business. In today’s episode, we dive deeper into the strategies and actions we’ve seen our clients embrace to build businesses that will be thriving years from now.
Models have changed from even a few years ago, and it’s not just about making a quick buck but building something sustainable. That means that even if your business is reliant on one main offer, you find other ways to deliver value that can synergize with it.
In this episode, we discuss:
* How much savings you should build up to weather bad luck
* Why it’s crucial to adapt to trends in the market place
* Why strong product synergy across your offerings is more important than ever
* Why maximizing the results you’re promising your customers needs to shape your business model and product strategy
* Why financial tracking is non-negotiable for a business that’s going to stay…
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Sep 23, 2019
TBL Episode 49: Investing in the long-term success of your online business (part 1)
Running a business online is still a relatively new frontier. It feels like only 10-15 years ago, people were still uncomfortable typing in their credit card info to buy a used book on Amazon.
Consumers have come a long way when it comes to being comfortable doing business online, but we still see many entrepreneurs operating like they’re trying to make a quick buck and cash out instead of aiming to build sustainable businesses.
Building an online business that’s in it for the long run goes far beyond a couple successful launches or landing a big client. You need to create a foundation for the business that you can build on and grow without the entire machine breaking down.
In part one of this two-part series, we’re going to look at what it takes to invest in the long-term success of your business so you can create a sustainable income for years to come.
* Why getting clear on your main offer is so crucial for growth
* Why less is more when it comes to product strategy…
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Sep 16, 2019
TBL Episode 48: Do online businesses need a CFO?
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is one of the most important leadership positions in an organization. But are they really necessary for most online businesses?
A CFO, with the help of their finance team, is ultimately responsible for tracking, organizing, reporting, and analyzing all the financial data in a company. A business is only as successful as its profit and loss statement, and when you’re doing things like managing inventory or multiple payments in and out of a business with millions of dollars on the line, you need to have someone constantly keeping track of how you’re doing financially.
But what about for an online business like yours? Do you need a CFO?
The short answer is no…the vast majority of online businesses do not need a monthly CFO involved in their operations. There simply isn’t the same amount of complexity around an online business’ finances that an eight-figure business selling physical products has. There ARE, however, some instances where it mak…
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Sep 9, 2019
TBL Episode 47: The pros and cons of having a business partner
The decision to go into business with another person is a HUGE one. Mainly because there is so much you must consider when it comes to bringing on a business partner.
When I hear other entrepreneurs talk about business partners, they usually recommend staying solo–and to be honest, I don’t blame them. Being a solo-preneur is just easier in a lot of ways.
My own experience at Evolved Finance, however, has shown me just how powerful a business partnership can be. We can rely on each other in a way that really lets us work to our strengths and shore up each other’s weaknesses.
That being said, I do think it’s super important to know exactly what you’re getting into when you go into business with someone else. There’s a lot more to it than just splitting the revenues, so it’s important to get a handle on how everything works.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why you need rock solid financial tracking if you have a business partner.
* Why partners need t…
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Sep 2, 2019
TBL Episode 46: Why do so many online entrepreneurs hate finance?
For most business owners, finance might as well be a four-letter word. It can definitely be scary to get a handle on your numbers—after all, what you don’t know can’t hurt you.
The problem is that running your business without knowing what’s going on financially is a little like driving a car with cardboard taped over the dashboard. Sure you can do it for a while, but how will you know if you’re running out of gas?
Nobody longs to become an entrepreneur so they can crunch numbers and organize financial data, and many financial services companies contribute to this by making it sound more complicated than it is.
The financial side of running a business gets a bad rap, which is why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why every single online business owner can and should understand their own numbers.
* How I came to love numbers even coming from a very creative background.
* Why finance professionals have done a horrible job of making finance an accessible topic.
*…
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Aug 26, 2019
TBL Episode 45: Why is good bookkeeping hard to find for online businesses?
It’s incredibly difficult to find good bookkeeping in an online business. We’ve onboarded 125-150 online businesses over the years and this generally rings true: if a new client signs up to work with Evolved Finance and they had a previous bookkeeper, the books are going to be a hot mess over 90% of the time.
Bookkeepers don’t need any special certification; they don’t have to follow any standardized industry practices, and very few specialize in specific industries so they can become experts.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
* Why finding a good bookkeeper is so difficult
* Why bookkeeping options for online businesses are so crappy
* How bookkeeping works and why it’s important for your business
* Why your bookkeeping shouldn’t just be about your taxes
* What you need to understand about what a bookkeeper does for your business
* Why we made the decision to specialize in online businesses at Evolved Finance
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Aug 19, 2019
TBL Episode 44: What every online entrepreneur needs to know about cash flow
Cash Flow is an often overused financial term, but most online entrepreneurs aren’t exactly sure what it means for their own businesses.
The most important thing to know is that it’s the lifeblood of any successful business—mainly because it’s not only related to the profitability of your business, but also to the timing in which money goes into and out of your business.
For larger organizations, cash flow can be complex and time-consuming to manage and analyze.
Thankfully, it’s much simpler for online businesses, but still very important to pay attention to.
That’s why in this episode, I discuss:
* What cash flow really means for an online business
* The difference between cash flow and profitability
* Why ignoring your cash flow can put you in debt or behind on your taxes
* Why cash flow for large corporations, ecommerce businesses, and retail business is much more complicated than the online businesses we serve at Evolved Finance
* Why tracking yo…
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Aug 12, 2019
TBL Episode 43: How important is it to be part of an entrepreneur community?
Last week, we had our first group call for our bookkeeping clients at Evolved Finance.
It was so exciting to have a handful of our clients together on a call talking about the financial sides of their businesses.
This got me thinking about how important it is to have an entrepreneur community you can connect with and learn from.
So in this episode, I discuss
* Why the majority of our clients are in some sort of master mind or group coaching program
* Why I underestimated the power of being part of an entrepreneur community when I first started working with clients at Evolved Finance
* The benefits I’ve seen our clients get from being connected to other entrepreneurs
* What sort of return on your investment you should expect from being part of paid entrepreneur groups
* What percentage of our client’s revenue we like to see them spend on business education and entrepreneur communities
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Aug 5, 2019
TBL Episode 42: Should online businesses ever have debt?
Debt can be a tricky topic when it’s regarding business.
In startups and corporations, debt can be a tool for jumping on opportunities that demand extra cash the business doesn’t have on hand.
In certain types of small business, a line of credit might be necessary to manage the ups and downs of monthly cash flow.
For online businesses, debt is rarely needed though.
That doesn’t stop many online entrepreneurs from getting into situations where they take on debt due to poor financial management.
That’s why in this episode, we discuss:
– Why it’s not super common for our clients to need loans or credit.
– Why debt happens when online entrepreneurs don’t pay close enough attention to their finances.
– Common situations that force online businesses to take on unwanted debt.
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Jul 29, 2019
TBL Episode 41: Why our clients are spending less on contractors and more on employees
There was a time about 4-5 years ago when 95% of our clients hired contractors exclusively for their businesses. A lot has changed since then. Much to our satisfaction, we’re seeing online business owners hire full time and part time employees more than ever before. ..and for good reason!
That’s why in this episode, we cover:
* Why contractors are still important but only for certain positions
* How employees are helping our clients manage their labor costs
* Why hiring employees can be scary but worth getting over the discomfort
* How balancing employee and contract labor is a step towards building a more stable business
* Why financial tracking is so important as you start to hire any new contractors or employees
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Jul 22, 2019
TBL Episode 40: How do you transition from launches to evergreen?
Once most online businesses hit $100k-$200k a year, they start to get very interested in evergreen funnel strategies due to the grind of constantly having to launch and promote their offers.
If you’ve never heard of an evergreen funnel before, it’s essentially using paid traffic and software automation to drive sales on a daily basis.
On the flip side, launches are more manual and happen less often but can take weeks to prepare for.
Successful evergreen funnels are not easy to create, but we’ve still seen a number of online entrepreneurs think that their evergreen strategy will completely erase the need for monthly, quarterly, or yearly launches.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
That’s why in this episode, I talk about:
– Why launches are still the best way to maximize sales despite the heavy lifting involved with doing it successfully
– Why evergreen strategies are inherently risky due to the investment in advertising
– Why our clients with evergreen funnels…
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Jul 15, 2019
TBL Episode 39: Why your customer’s results are the backbone of your online business
If your online business doesn’t deliver results for your customers, you’re probably going to have a difficult time continuing to get new customers. It doesn’t matter if you sell digital products or services — your offer has to deliver the goods. Over the last couple years, we’ve seen our clients at Evolved Finance double down on making sure their products and services provide an experience that gives their customers the best chance at getting results, but it’s changing how they structure their offers, their internal operations, and their profitability.
In this episode, we cover:
* The state of course based, service based, and agency based business models and how they’re starting to blend together
* Why course creators are starting to create offers that go beyond just their courses
* Why hiring internal employees is becoming more common but making it difficult to maintain higher profits
* Why the way you get results for your customers can be a competitive…
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Jul 8, 2019
TBL Episode 38: What does profitability and predictability have to do with finance?
Profit and predictability are extremely important for online businesses once they start generating consistent revenue. But how does finance play into it and why should you care?
In this episode, we cover:
* Why online entrepreneurs get confused about what profit actually is
* What profit means for your personal wealth
* How to track your profitability
* How your past financial data can make your business more predictable
* How forecasting and planning help make your revenue and expenses more predictable
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Jul 1, 2019
TBL Episode 37: Operations, systems, new team members, and a renewed focus
The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance is back! We know it’s been a while, but a lot’s happened since October for 2018. In this episode we discuss what we’ve been up to, why we took a break from the podcast, and what are plans for the show’s future.
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Sep 24, 2018
TBL Episode 36: Why online businesses should keep their finances simple
Most entrepreneurs have the perception that finance must be complicated and confusing. We’re here to tell you it doesn’t. Whether your online business is brand new or you’ve been in business for years, you will benefit by keeping things simple and clean. We share more about how to accomplish this in this episode.
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Aug 6, 2018
TBL Episode 35: Why your online business is not a startup
Startups and online lifestyle businesses are two very different things. Even if your business is still in its infancy, getting clear on how big a business like yours can get is important for understanding how much of a financial and time investment it will take to get your business to its maximum potential. Not everyone can be Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a lot of money running a business you love from your home office. That’s why in this episode we discuss the balance online entrepreneurs must find between growth and profitability.
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Jul 9, 2018
TBL Episode 34: Is your online business worth anything?
Creating an online business that generates revenue is a feat in itself, but creating one that is actually worth something is a different story. We’ve seen a number of online entrepreneurs overestimate the value of their businesses and find themselves disappointed when they realize what the sale of their business won’t give them the pay day they were hoping for. That’s why in this episode we discuss what makes a business valuable and why it can be ok to have a business that’s not sellable.
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May 21, 2018
TBL Episode 33: Does social media really drive revenue?
Social media is an amazing tool for finding your audience and connecting with others, but does it move the needle? And if it does drive revenue, is it enough money to make all the time spent tweeting, posting, and streaming worth it? We might not be social media gurus at Evolved Finance, but our clients are. That’s why in this episode, we share how the online businesses we work with are using specific social media platforms to get an ROI for their efforts.
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May 14, 2018
TBL Episode 32: How is your website making you money?
A website is one of the first investments a small online business makes, but regardless of the size of your own business, being clear on the role your website plays in your sales process and marketing strategy is important for insuring that it provides a return on your investment.
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May 7, 2018
TBL Episode 31: How much is it costing you to acquire your customers?
Profitable online businesses remain profitable as they grow by managing their cost to acquire new customers. That’s why in this episode, we review the most common customer acquisition strategies in the online space right now and the costs associated with maintaining those strategies.
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May 1, 2018
TBL Episode 30: Contractors vs. Employees
Almost every online business will hire a contractor for project-based work, but when does it make sense to hire a full-time employee for your business? In this episode, we share the hiring trends we’re seeing in the online entrepreneur space and address the pros and cons of working with contractors and employees.
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Apr 24, 2018
TBL Episode 29: How a painter gave me a master class on marketing
I wouldn’t have thought that I’d get a lesson in business while looking for a painting to hang up in my home office, but in this episode, I share the story of how an artist from Uganda unknowingly gave me a master class in sales and marketing at a small art fair.
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Apr 17, 2018
TBL Episode 28: How much money do you want to make from your online business?
There is a ton of pressure in the online entrepreneur community to make your business as successful as possible, but have you ever stopped to think what level of success is really right for you? Not everyone wants to make the sacrifices necessary to grow a huge life style business and that’s totally fine. That’s why in this episode, we explore that delicate balance between your personal life and your business’s financial success that every entrepreneur has to figure out for themselves.
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Apr 10, 2018
TBL Episode 27: How to overcome the financial downsides of owning a business
Running an online business can be a thrilling and fulfilling experience, but there are some financial downsides to entrepreneurship that can blindside you. In this episode, we address how being an entrepreneur can affect buying a home, filing your taxes, and complicate your personal finances.
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Apr 3, 2018
TBL Episode 26: Preparing your business for a recession
The US economy has been on a wild ride up-word for the past 5-7 years, but analysts are expecting a recession in the next year or two. That’s why in this episode, we address some of the things you need to be thinking about as an online business owner so you can be better prepared for when a recession hits.
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Mar 27, 2018
TBL Episode 25: The power of a focused revenue stream
It’s easy to get caught up pursuing every opportunity that’s in front of you instead of focusing on the one or two things that are already creating revenue for your business. It’s amazing how quickly your business can grow when you start to weed out the opportunities that just spread you thin instead of keeping you focused on what you do best. In this episode, we share how we learned this lesson the hard way and what you can gain from our experience.
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Dec 19, 2017
TBL Episode 24: The trends from 2017 that online businesses need to know about
2017 has absolutely flown by, so for our last episode of the year, we wanted to review the business trends we’ve seen in the online entrepreneur community and what they might mean for your business in 2018.
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Dec 12, 2017
TBL Episode 23: Why a profit and loss statement is so important
Big corporations have finance departments that can generate all kinds of crazy financial reports to help leadership understand the state of the company, but small online businesses only need one report, and that’s the profit & loss statement. If you aren’t creating a profit and loss statement each month to track your business’s health, then this is the episode for you. If you’re interested in the program I mentioned in the episode (The Shift:Small Business Edition), sign up for our free masterclass at evolvedfinance.com/shiftmasterclassregistration.
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Dec 5, 2017
TBL Episode 22: How to know when to charge and when to give away for free
Running an online business usually means having to create free content or opt-ins in order to build your email list and create an engaged audience ready to buy your products or services. But it’s not always easy to know when you should charge for something and when to give it away for free. That’s why in this episode we explain they key component you need to be clear on so you can give away content and opt-ins for free without resenting your audience.
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Nov 28, 2017
TBL Episode 21: How to make money without feeling like a sellout
Entrepreneurship is synonymous with making money, but not all entrepreneurs feel good about financial success. That’s why in this episode, we discuss the ways you can make more money without feeling like a sellout.
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Nov 14, 2017
TBL Episode 20: The Biggest Mistakes Online Entrepreneurs Make With Their Finances
At Evolved Finance, we work with many amazing and talented entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them successfully manage the financial aspects of their business. Over time, we’ve identified five frequent financial mistakes that online entrepreneurs can easily avoid. Learn from these mistakes and you’ll be miles ahead of the game.
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Nov 7, 2017
TBL Episode 19: What’s the Difference Between a Bookkeeper and an Accountant?
We’re so entrenched in the financial sides of our clients’ businesses that we forget not all online entrepreneurs are familiar with this stuff. That’s why in this episode, we make sure there is no confusion about the roles bookkeepers and accountants play in your online business.
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Oct 31, 2017
TBL Episode 18: The pros and cons of your business model
Every online business model has advantages and disadvantages. They become more obvious the larger the business becomes. What’s unfortunate, is that when most entrepreneurs start a lifestyle business like the ones we work with at Evolved Finance, they don’t always realize what they’re getting themselves into until they start making real money. That’s why in the latest episode, we share the pros and cons we see in the three most common online business models.
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Oct 24, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #6: Phil MacNevin
There is a misconception that only extroverts make good sales people. Phil MacNevin is a perfect example of why that’s not the case. Not only has he built a successful marketing agency that works with some of the most well-known online entrepreneurs in the industry, but he is also a networking machine — all while being a self-proclaimed introvert. This interview will definitely be eye-opening to anyone wanting to see how to start and grow a service based business through grit and cultivating strong relationships. You can learn more about Phil at www.liftmedia.co.
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Oct 17, 2017
TBL Episode 17: How to prioritize where to invest in your business
Savvy online entrepreneurs know that as soon as their businesses start generating revenue, they’re going to have to invest money back into their marketing and operations to help the business scale and grow. That’s why in this episode we discuss the areas of your online business you’ll likely need to invest in first, and what to expect as your revenue grows.
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Oct 10, 2017
TBL Episode 16: Why more products and services can mean less revenue
If you have one product or service making money, then offering a second one will bring in even more money, right? You’d be surprised how often that is NOT the case. That’s why in this episode, we explain how less can be more when it comes to your product strategy.
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Oct 3, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #5: Julie Santiago
If you made almost a million dollars last year from your job, would you leave it behind to start your own business? That’s exactly what women’s coach, Julie Santiago, decided to do after years of building a career on Wall Street. In the latest episode of our Entrepreneur Spotlight series, Julie shares why she made the jump into entrepreneurship and what her recipe for success has been growing a serviced based coaching business.
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Sep 26, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #4: Todd Uterstaedt
Many of the online businesses we work with at Evolved Finance were created in the past five years. That is why Todd Uterstaedt’s business is so interesting. In our interview with Todd, we discuss how he started his executive coaching business in the 90’s and brought it into the internet age. We also talk about how his popular podcast (From Founder to CEO) has helped him find and serve his niche and why his military background has helped him as an entrepreneur and coach.
You can listen to Todd’s podcast at fromfoundertoceo.com/podcasts.
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Sep 19, 2017
TBL Episode 15: How we’re investing in our marketing strategy
Online entrepreneurs have a lot of options when it comes to how they can grow their businesses. So much so, it can be overwhelming trying to decide on the best option. At Evolved Finance, we’ve struggled with this exact thing. That’s why in this episode, we share the major realization we’ve had about our own marketing plans and how it’s inspired us to invest five figures into a focused marketing strategy that makes sense for our business model.
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Aug 29, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #3: Megan Minns
Making the jump into working on your online business full time is a scary transition, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be overly risky. Megan Minns’ entrepreneurial journey is a perfect example of how you can build an online business without feeling like you’re risking it all. Megan also shares how she pivoted from her original business (website designer) to developing an expertise as a technical virtual assistant, co-creating a successful online course (squareyoursite.com) and co-hosting The Femtrepreneur Show Podcast. You can learn more about how Megan helps online businesses become well-oiled machines at meganminns.com.
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Aug 22, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #2: Think Creative Collective
Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams are the business partners behind Think Creative Collective, a business education company that helps other entrepreneurs build online businesses out of their passions. The ladies share their experience building a business together, the struggles they’ve had with a launch based strategy, what they’ve learned in 2017 to help them explode their revenue well into the six-figure realm, and why they think it’s so important to be transparent with their audience. You can learn more about Thinking Creative Collective at thinkcreativecollective.com. You can also check out their podcast, The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes
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Aug 15, 2017
TBL – Entrepreneur Spotlight #1: Caitlin Bacher
In our first ever Entrepreneur Spotlight interview, we’re joined by Caitlin Bacher. Caitlin is the expert when it comes to creating profitable Facebook groups and has built a thriving six figure business (soon to be seven figures) teaching other entrepreneurs how to get the most out of their Facebook groups. She shares the critical phases her business has gone through to get to where she is today, how she balances being a mom/wife while running an online business, how her mindset around money has changed, and so much more. You can learn more about Caitlin’s business at caitlinbacher.com.
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Aug 8, 2017
TBL Episode 14: How your personal finances are holding back your business
To run a successful online business, you need to keep your monthly expenses under control and invest in the parts of your business that will provide the best return. But what most entrepreneurs don’t realize is that they also need to make smart decisions with their personal finances too. Unless you have a business loan or startup capital, which very few online/lifestyle business do, you’re going to need to strike a balance between what you pay yourself and what to invest back into the business (especially in the early stages). That’s’ why in our latest episode, we explain the importance of getting your personal finances organized to ensure you give your business the best chance to thrive and grow.
Don’t forget to check out The20minbudget to learn more about our personal budgeting system for entrepreneurs.
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Aug 1, 2017
TBL Episode 13: Why online service businesses are underrated
Because so many business coaches and gurus are teaching aspiring entrepreneurs how to create product based businesses, we feel less attention gets put on the benefits of starting and growing a service based business. Especially for people who have little or no business experience, creating a service instead of a product can be a great way to generate initial cash flow while learning the ropes of running a business. That’s why in this episode, we discuss the upside of a service based business as well as how it can turn into a product based business down the road.
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Jul 25, 2017
TBL Episode 12: Reducing the financial risk of a launch based business
With online businesses, launches are where it’s at. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling an online course, a group coaching package or a piece of software, you’re going to have to plan a “launch” one way or another. As lucrative as a launch based strategy can be, it can be a roller coaster ride when it comes to your cash flow. The ups and downs in revenue can make this type of business extremely stressful to manage. That’s why in this episode, we cover everything you need to know about how launch based businesses work as well as how to make them more stable and consistent.
Click here to get the free forecast tool I mentioned in the podcast so you can plan your launches like a pro!
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Jul 18, 2017
TBL Episode 11: The Cost Of Scaling Your Business And Why It Can Be Terrifying
Scaling is a big-time buzzword in the entrepreneur world. It essentially means a business is trying to figure out how they can setup their operations to serve a larger quantity of customers and clients. For small online businesses, that almost always entails hiring people, which can seem like a scary endeavor. It not only means learning how to delegate work and manage others, but it also means taking on more labor expenses. That’s why in our latest podcast episode, we discuss the cost of labor in an online business. We share insights into the most common contractors we see online businesses hire first as well as how much our clients are spending on building their teams.
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Jul 11, 2017
TBL Episode 10: Why we love big tax bills and you should too
When entrepreneurs think about getting a big tax bill, it usually evokes a feeling of terror and dread. The reality is, all entrepreneurs should be crossing their fingers that every quarter (or year) they are shelling out big time bucks to the IRS. That’s why in episode 10 of The Bottom Line, we share some tough love about why no entrepreneur should be caught off guard by the size of their tax bill, why entrepreneurs have it far better than employees when it comes to taxes, and why a giant tax bill is a blessing in disguise.
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Jun 27, 2017
TBL Episode 9: A different perspective on turning your passion into a business
The internet has made starting a business more accessible than ever. That’s why many coaches and gurus urge aspiring entrepreneurs looking for a business idea to start with their passion. Pursuing your passion isn’t bad advice, but that doesn’t mean it’s good advice for everyone. Building a business around an opportunity can be more financially lucrative while still being fulfilling and fun. That’s why in this episode, we discuss the difference between a “passion” based business and an “opportunity” based business and why both of them have their own unique merits. Parker also shares his experience working in two industries he was extremely passionate about and why he’s far more fulfilled working at Evolved Finance.
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Jun 20, 2017
TBL Episode 8: What’s the most popular email marketing software?
One of the first monthly software subscriptions that online entrepreneurs invest in is their email marketing software. For a large portion of online businesses, growing an email list is their best option for connecting with a targeted audience and generating sales. This can make deciding on the right email marketing software for your own business seem very daunting, no matter your experience level with email marketing. So for this episode, we wanted to share the most popular email marketing software we see our clients using and explain why certain platforms are more popular than others depending on the size of the business.
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Jun 13, 2017
TBL Episode 7: The truth about the cost of Facebook ads
Facebook ads have been a hot topic for online entrepreneurs for quite a while now. Marketing gurus all over the web tout Facebook ads as the best way to scale any type of online business. We’re not saying Facebook advertising isn’t a valuable marketing tool, but if it’s such a fantastic way to skyrocket your revenue to new heights, then why don’t we see all of our clients spending thousands of dollars on Facebook ads every day? That’s why in this episode, we take a closer look at the cost of Facebooks ads and the reason our clients aren’t dumping every dime they have into Facebook advertising
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Jun 6, 2017
TBL Episode 6: The unavoidable expense for all online businesses
Online businesses are typically pretty inexpensive to get started. While brick and mortar businesses take tens (and sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars in capital to get started, an online business can get going for a couple hundred bucks. But the one expense online entrepreneurs cannot escape are merchant fees. That’s why in this episode, we examine what most online businesses should expect to pay in regards to merchant fees, who the most popular merchant providers are, and how to take action to insure you’re getting the lowest merchant rates possible.
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May 29, 2017
TBL Episode 5: Is launching with affiliate partners worth it?
Affiliate partnerships are a powerful way to generate revenue with relatively little financial risk. They can also be a ton of work to manage and support. That’s why in this episode, we examine how common it is for online businesses to work with affiliates, how affiliate payouts can affect the profitability of an online business, why certain business models gravitate towards affiliate partnerships and others don’t, and why we (Evolved Finance) relied heavily on affiliate partners for our first product launch.
Links: Get access to the free video lesson mentioned in the show
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May 22, 2017
TBL Episode 4: How much do software subscriptions really cost an online business?
You can’t run an online business without software. Period. It’s typically the first monthly reoccurring expense a new online business will take on. It’s also an expense category that can get out of control really quickly. That’s why in this episode, we look at the software almost every online business needs to invest in, how much you should expect to be spending on software each month, why smaller businesses tend to spend a larger portion of their revenue on software, why it’s ok to wait to upgrade to more sophisticated applications, and why email marketing software and CRM’s can be so expensive.
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May 15, 2017
TBL Episode 3: Does your online business issue too many refunds?
Refunds happen. It’s inevitable. One of your current or future customers is going to want their money back, and you’re going to hear a thousand different reasons as to why. That’s why in this episode, we look at the rarely talked about topic of refunds. We share why it’s important to keep track of refunds, what a healthy refund rate might look like for an online business, and what you should expect in regards to refunds as your revenue grows.
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May 8, 2017
TBL Episode 2: How profitable should your online business be?
Online entrepreneurs love to focus on how much revenue their businesses generate, but in the end, what truly matters is profit. That’s why in this episode, we talk about what profit looks like for an online business, how to calculate the profit margin in your own business, why some online businesses have so much potential for huge profit margin, what the ideal profit margin is for the clients we work with, and why owner benefits should be taken into consideration when analyzing the profitability of your business.
Links: Get access to the free video lesson mentioned in the show
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May 1, 2017
TBL Episode 1: What does a successful online business really look like?
Ever wonder how much earning potential your online business has? Every business owner does, but in the online space, it’s hard to know what’s really possible, especially if you’re selling to a niche market. Not every online business needs to be a multi-million dollar enterprise, which is why in this episode, we examine what an average “successful” online business looks like in terms of revenue, expenses and profit. You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need your business to be a seven figure monster to make a good living from it. Link mentioned in the podcast https://evolvedfinance.wpengine.com/sixandsevenfigurebusiness
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