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MARIE FORLEO: “When it comes to books and learning, I can never get enough. I have things on my computer right now. I have things on my to-do list a little bit later today, things that I want to learn and improve. And even from you; remember, we've talked about webinars. I realized I had not had a webinar since 2009. I was like, girl, what are you doing? Why have you not done a webinar since 2009? Of course, I'm going to call you up because you are extraordinary at them. And that's the thing. When you get excited about learning, when you recognize that there are always new things to try, always new things to do, you have no attention on, ‘Why didn't I get started sooner?’ You just look out into this whole big, incredible world of things that will feed your brain and allow you to make a bigger difference. And then it just gets awesome. Then it gets exciting. You get motivated, and you go forward.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget, and the time to focus on growing my small–but–mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step–by–step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.
AMY PORTERFIELD: Well, my friend, you are truly in for a treat today. I'm going to share some of my mentor’s best business tips, especially for when you're just starting out in your business. Now, you know her as Marie Forleo; I know her as my dear friend and also my very first mentor, even when I was still in my nine-to-five job when I was building the business I have today, but it was a side hustle, meaning I was doing it in the morning or late at night or on the weekends. I know many of you can relate to that situation. So you get it.
And here's the deal. I've been thinking a lot about mentors lately and how very important they are really at every stage of your business but especially when you're just starting out. When I first started my business, I was determined to find a mentor who was a female entrepreneur who was building a business that was similar to the kind of business that I wanted to create. And I was looking for somebody who really walked the talk, and she was not only interested in making money and building an awesome business, but having an awesome lifestyle in the making. And that's when I found Marie.
Now, Marie has been on the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast many, many times. You already know this if you are an avid listener. And in every single interview, she's given such valuable guidance that I wanted to take some time and pull out some of my favorite snippets from every single interview, and I wanted to wrap them into one show so that you could literally get the best of the best in terms of the tools and the tips and the guidance that she's offered in these many episodes on my show. And get this. I went way back, all the way back to 2013 when I started this podcast. She was literally my very first guest. And so I'm telling you, we went back into the vault. And even though I went way back, those episodes are still priceless. The tips that she gave are still incredibly relevant. So, again, I only pulled the best–of–the–best snippets for this episode.
And I know I don't need to say this, because pretty much 99 percent of you know who Marie Forleo is, but let's just pretend you're brand new to my podcast, you’re brand new to online marketing, this is your first episode; here's what you need to know. Marie has built a multi–million–dollar online business. And before she built this business, before she was named a thought leader by Oprah, before she landed a spot in Inc. 500 or became a New York Times’ bestselling author, she was in the trenches, trying to figure out how to build and run and grow and scale an online business. The girl walks her talk. And along the way, she noticed what fears were holding her back. She figured out how to write compelling copy that connects with her audience. She figured out that number-one thing that helped her take her ideas and use them to create a business. She learned that there's no single big break—that's an important lesson—and she really started to understand the importance of investing in herself and her business every step of the way. And these are just a few of the themes that you're going to hear in the audio snippets from Marie's interviews today.
Now, if you listen to my podcast regularly or you follow me on social, you already know that I believe the decision for me to invest in Marie Forleo’s B-School was hands down the best decision I've ever made. And here's something I really want you to hear because timing of this is really important. Not only do I think the best decision I ever made in my business was enrolling in B-School, it was when I did it—early on. I put skin in the game. I paid for it even though I didn't have a lot of money at the time, even though I had to get scrappy and resourceful. I enrolled in B-School because I knew I needed to learn how to build an online business from scratch. I needed to learn from somebody who had gone before me, had success, and truly, again, walked the talk, actually did the things that she taught. And so investing in myself early on was something that I wouldn't change for anything, and I contribute that to the type of business and the success that I have today. Looking back, that was a huge factor.
So I tell you this right now because today, if you're listening to this episode the day it goes live, today is the final day that you can enroll in B-School, meaning if you don't enroll today, you have to wait an entire year to enroll in this special program. And that's a whole lot of time to wait if you're looking to grow your business and learn what it takes to use modern marketing to get out in front of the audience that so very needs your knowledge and your offers and your products that you're creating. And so, if you enroll in B-School today and you enroll through my special B-School bonus link—of course I'm a partner. I'm an affiliate—I've put together a B-School bonus experience that is pretty incredible. And it includes a ticket to my live event in San Diego in July 2020, which is extra special. You can read all about it at amyporterfield.com/bschool.
But in addition to that, I'm offering other bonuses that will enhance your B-School experience, that will help you get through the program faster, that will help you get even bigger results, such as a private community where I am very active, where my team is very active, that you can be a part of a community of people going through B-School at the same time that you're going through, and we can troubleshoot together and engage and you can ask questions. It’s really special.
In addition to that, I have a bonus where I take you behind the scenes—it’s called the Backstage Pass to a B-School Success Story—where I literally show you how I use—specifically, in detail—how I use the B-School system in order to create the business I have today. So it's one thing for me to say I loved B School, you should go through the program as well. It's another thing for me to create a training—which I did. Part of the bonus package—where I say, here's how I use B-School. This is how it's looked inside of my business. This is how I've implemented it. So it's very tactical, very specific. It's my most–popular bonus that I have. I've got other bonuses as well. So go to amyporterfield.com/bschool. Today is the very last day for you to enroll in B-School before doors close for an entire year.
Okay, so, let's jump into today's episode. I think this might become your favorite episode because there are so many aha moments. Grab a notebook. You're going to want to take notes. I have no doubt. Let's get to it.
Okay, the first two clips are from episode 249, where Marie talks about two fears that often hold people back from committing to creating the business and the life of their dreams. Fear number one, not having an email list. Very tactical. You know I love it. And fear number two, not having enough expertise or skills. So if you ever felt like you didn't know enough, you didn't have enough knowledge, you don't have enough experience, you got to listen in. Here we go.
Fear number one, I don't have an email list.
MARIE: Yes. This is where, first of all, all of us start. So I want to make this statement. We all start with no mailing list. Amy started with no mailing list. I started with no mailing list. Any one that you admire, anyone that you're following on Instagram, you're like, “Oh, my goodness. How the hell they get there?” at one point in time, they started with zero. Back in the day when I started, I used to carry around a yellow legal note pad to my bartending gigs, to all of my fitness classes, and I would sign people up for that newsletter right on the spot because you were allowed to do that in those days.
Here's the second thing I want to tell you guys. Always, when it comes to a mailing list or even when it comes to followers—and again, Amy and I both teach it's not about that, because you don't own that connection with them—but my point is this: it's always about quality over quantity. I would rather take a smaller, more highly engaged list of subscribers over a mega list any day of the week. It's that important to focus on quality over quantity.
And I want to give you just two quick examples of people who, if you're like, “Yeah, this is fun for you, Amy and Marie. You guys got the big list,” and you're like, “Okay,” well, let me tell you about some folks who are very close to perhaps the stage that you're at right now. The first woman is Francesca Hogi, and she's a dating and career coach in California. So Francesca went through our program, B-School, and she wrote to us and she said, “Hey, I did‘t have a mailing list. And guess what. I did not have an online business.” She didn't even have an offline business. She had no clue where to begin. She was asking herself, like, how am I supposed to get clients? How do I build an email list? How do I cut through the noise? And this is the one that everyone has at some point in their career: Why would anyone ever take me seriously? So that’s where Francesca started off. Again, like where we all do. She went through B-School, she busted her buns, she implemented, and she changed everything. So she went from ground zero to growing her email list to over 3,000 subscribers, which is not an insignificant amount. In doing so, she started creating content. She was discovered by a Today Show producer, which has led to twelve appearances on that show. And she told me, she said, I went from having a wannabe business to an actual growing business that supports her full time. So that's—
AMY: So good.
MARIE: Isn’t that cool? And she's a dating and career coach. So again, if people have it in their minds like, oh, my goodness, you can only make money if you're selling how to make money. No! No, no, no, no, no. Get that fear out of your mind because it's not true.
Now, I'll tell you one more quick story, Amy, if it's okay. And this one is from Molly Patrick. She's great. She told us that before she went through the program, she was broke and stressed and worried that she would never be successful. By the way, I'm rewriting and editing a chapter in my book right now where I was in that exact same place, that exact place, feeling like, oh, my goodness, nothing is working; nothing is ever going to work. When she started with our program, she had no revenue at all. Fast forward. This is about three years. She went from zero to now having five full–time employees, a 33,000 email list, subscriber list. And last month, they brought in over $100,000 in sales in one month.
AMY: Wait. So what do they do? What is her business?
MARIE: So, get this. It’s not how to make money. You know what it is? She's a plant–based expert. This is all about wellness and food. She has a company called Clean Food Dirty Girl, which is super, super fun. It's very classy. Her and her girlfriend got married last year. They bought a house in Hawaii. Now she says she's living a life where she's comfortable. She has money enough to give to her sweet parents to help them out. And she said, “I'm no longer scared of failing because I'm winning.”
So, two examples of folks who started off exactly how Amy and I did: no email list, no clue, a dream, knowing they wanted to do something and willing to work really hard for it. So if you have that fear, I don't know how to grow an email list, or I don't have one, if I could ever have one. We can take that fear, set it aside because it is 100 percent figureoutable.
AMY: Yes and yes.
Okay, so moving on to fear number two, I don't have enough skills to make an online business work.
MARIE: Yeah. And this is a really understandable one, especially for those of us who don't feel particularly technically savvy. We feel creative. We want to do the craft. We want to do the work. We want to help people. We want to connect with them. And I know at least I've had this fantasy. Can someone else just do all that really hard stuff for me? My brain doesn't work that way. I am not built that way. I've heard that time and time again and again. I've had those thoughts in my mind. I'm curious, Amy, did you ever have this particular one or were you— ?
AMY: Oh my gosh. I mean, if we're talking technology specifically, I tell my students all the time, I am anything but technologically savvy. I am not techie at all, and I actually don't even enjoy that part of it. But I also say we're entrepreneurs. We figure this stuff out. You can't just say, I'm going to close my eyes and pretend it will go away and hope that it all comes together, because you got to just get in there and do it.
MARIE: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And even if it’s not about technology, even if it's about kind of the day–to–day operations of running a business, which again, I've worked with people on that. I remember when I first started my coaching business. Oh, my goodness, Amy, I did not know how to hire anyone. I was terrified of having an assistant because I'd never been a boss, and because I started young, I also had a lot of self-doubt and fear and concern around hiring someone that was older than me and managing them and doing a really crappy job. So let me tell you, Staci Ann’s story.
And by the way, you guys, obviously, these stories are from B-Schoolers, but whether you join us for that program or not, just listen to the stories themselves because these are real humans who went from having an idea and being in a place of fear and insecurity to making their dreams come true. And I want you to be able to use that as fuel and as possibility for yourself. I'm sure people know this, Amy, but I just wanted to say it, that Amy and I are so committed to people having success, whether you join us for our programs or not, we want to see more people succeed because when people are happy, they contribute. When they contribute, this world gets better. Everything improves. So just a little bit of context there.
So I want to tell you about Staci Ann, whose business is quilted ornaments, patterns, and knits.
AMY: Okay, these are my favorite stories because you’re like, what? Say it one more time. What is it?
MARIE: Quilted ornaments, patterns, and knits. So Staci’s story is a mind blower to me. It always bowls me over. So she is a mom in Florida. She was selling her handmade ornaments, mostly on eBay and Etsy, and she was doing it to just make a little extra money around Christmas time. So Staci has never graduated college. She had been a stay–at–home mom her whole adult life. Then, tragedy struck, and she became a widow, and everything in her life was turned upside down. So she was put in a position where she needed to turn that tiny side hustle of an ornament business into something that could support her and allow her to support her kids. Her biggest problem was confidence. So this fear, I don't know if I have what it takes to actually do this. She wasn't sure that she could actually make a living selling Christmas ornaments. It seemed way too seasonal, way too niche, and definitely something that wasn't scalable.
She said something really funny, Amy. She's like, “Marie, I know you always say the world needs that special gift that only you have,” but she was like, “except for the gift of folding little pieces of fabric into Christmas ornaments. The world does not need that.” I was like, “Staci, it actually does.”
So, anyway, she came. She did B-School. She implemented. Again, she worked her butt off. Her audience began to grow. Sales of what she was selling—at that time was an e-book of patterns—actually started to take off. So suddenly, she started to see from evidence that something she felt was so tiny, unimportant, wasn't. Then she had this idea, Amy, which I think is brilliant. So she got a joyful idea. She's like, “Huh. Wouldn't it be cool if I launched an ornament–of–the–month club?” And she will tell you this. She will say, “I thought this idea was kind of out there. Is anybody going to want an ornament–of–the–month club?”
Well, guess what. She trusted her gut, she went for it, and it started to take off. She kept going with that. It allowed her to hit her first six figure a year. And then just a few short years later, she is doing seven figures, and she's got a ten-person team now. She's bought her dream home, which was an old lake house, and she runs her business from there so she can be with her kids.
AMY: Okay, so, hold on a second. From a woman that—I'm sure she—you said she didn't go to college and she had been a stay–at–home mom. Now, I believe that anybody can do anything. But I'm sure in her head she thought, “I didn't go to college. I never had a real big corporate job. I can't figure this out,” and she still did it. That is incredible.
And also, okay, this ornament of the month, my first thought would be, well, who's going to want an ornament when it's not Christmas? And she still, she went with her gut. These are the things that I love, when you just feel like I have to do this, I'm going to go for it.
MARIE: Well, here’s the thing, too. Like what we talk about in B-School all the time. And Amy, you and I talk about this. I'm sure you talk about it on your show. We have to give ourselves permission to play and experiment, right? So she gave it a go. She tested the idea to see if it had legs. So she had some momentum going with her e-book sales and things were starting to take off, but when she had this new ornament–of–the–month–club idea, she gave it a go. Now, if it didn't work after a few months, I'm sure Staci would be wise enough to say, “Okay, what did I learn here? Let me take in that feedback and try something else.” But she would have never known that it can turn into a seven–figure business unless she gave herself the permission to test.
AMY: This next clip comes from episode 231, where Marie shares a few unexpected tips about writing copy that converts. Let's take a listen.
You have been a student of copy from day one. That is something that you are definitely known for. And I know there's some tips and strategies that you have been using along the way to really resonate and connect with your audience. So will you share some of those personal strategies you use?
MARIE: Absolutely. These are three that I use all the time. Anyone listening should take what I'm about to say and apply it instantly. And I promise you, you will get better and better and better.
So the first one is this. It has to do with headlines. And when I say headlines, I made headlines for blog posts, emails, subject lines, especially if you're going to title a podcast, a video, any place where there really needs to be some type of headline, on a sales page, anywhere. Most people don't write nearly enough. They'll maybe do a draft of, like, five headlines or maybe seven headlines or maybe even ten. If they do that, by the way, I would be surprised if most people write even ten as a draft before they pick one.
AMY: Oh, I agree. Yeah.
MARIE: Here’s what you need to do. Write at least thirty before choosing one.
AMY: That sounds like so many.
MARIE: I know. I know it sounds like so many, but it actually isn't. Here's the secret. And in fact, I was doing some research and I believe it's either BuzzFeed or Upworthy, one of those big, major companies who makes a lot of money off of good headlines. Again, whether you agree with their editorial practices or not, you have to admit, they can hook you with their headlines. They make all of their writers write at least twenty-five headlines before submitting. And here’s why. None of us, no matter how experienced a writer you are—and again, at this stage in the game, twenty years in, I still do this, and I'm still pushing myself to do at least thirty, if not more—you only get to the gold, you only get to the magic once you get past, like, fifteen or seventeen. Amy, I cannot tell you how many times in my life, in my experience with myself, writing with my team, anywhere where I'm writing, writing, writing, there's an entire page full of potential headlines. And then boop, at, like, thirty-one or twenty-seven or forty, the gold happens. You don't think you're going to get there. The lop of stuff that you write is probably total crap; nothing feels good. But the mistake people make is they stop themselves short. All of the gold and creativity comes from the grind. If you can push yourself to volume, you're going to get amazing stuff.
And here's why this is so important. Headlines and especially subject lines in your email marketing, those are the only things that determine if someone's going to click. Obviously, if they like you, that increases the chance that they just trust you and they want to hear from you. Great. But as email volume increases, as distractions increase, as people have less and less time, they're going to be less and less inclined, even if they love you, unless you're able to capture their attention with a fantastic subject line or a fantastic headline.
AMY: I totally love this one. I'm going to do it. I do not write nearly enough. Okay.
MARIE: So that’s one for everyone. Write at least thirty. Push yourself for more. That's where we're going to get the gold.
The second thing, second tip, don’t write and edit at the same time. This one is a really hard habit to break, especially if anyone listening—again, raising my hand—you tend to be a perfectionist. You want to bang stuff out. So you want to write it once, you want to write it really perfectly, and then just get it out the door. However, there are two distinct and very different parts of our brain that do the writing and the editing. And I promise you, you will get your best, most genuine, most original, most inspired work out if you can allow yourself to write really crappy first drafts and stay out of editing mode. So again, I don't know if anyone can relate to this. Maybe, Amy, you can. A lot of times, when we’re trying to push, we start to write a sentence, and we're like, oh, I didn't really say that right. And then you delete, delete, delete. You go back, and you're trying to write and craft these perfect sentences one by one. And it takes fucking forever. It takes forever. You don't get anywhere. There's, like, no flow. So again, not writing or editing at the same time is a great way to get yourself to write tons of ideas out fast, even if it's messy, even if the grammar isn't there, even if you're making a ton of spelling mistakes. And then go back, switch to the part of your brain that's an editor, which for 90 percent of us is actually the more pleasurable action. It's a lot easier to kind of rearrange things, to kind of meeting stuff up, to tuck words, to trim them down, to use the thesaurus, to find different things. But you have to do those two functions separately. That's part of the reason why people are saying, it takes me hours to write a simple email, is because 90 percent of the time, they're approaching it from a perfectionistic standpoint, where they're writing and editing at the same time. So if you can separate those two, you're going to save yourself time and come out with a better, more powerful, persuasive product at the end.
AMY: Okay, I love how we’re making this so actionable. Awesome.
MARIE: Third tip for you guys, and this is one that's so easy, all of you should be doing. It's going to make you feel a little weird, perhaps, especially if you have family or friends or kids around, but you must read your copy out loud. This is the fastest and easiest way not only to catch errors, but it's the best way to see where you're slipping into either professional mode or robot speak or if you're slipping into mimicking someone else. When you read things out loud, you start to catch areas where either you sound like a carnival salesman or you sound like something—you’re like, god, that just doesn't feel right. But the feeling comes from reading it out loud. So if you're someone who struggles with, I don't know if this is really my voice, or I don't know if this sounds friendly, or I don't know if this feels right, or is this too sales-y, reading it out loud is a really simple and effective way to quickly edit your copy and also to make sure it sounds like you.
AMY: So, I’ve got a question for you that I know comes up with my students a lot, and they're sometimes thinking, “But I don't know what my voice is.” What do you say to that?
MARIE: Everybody has a voice. Everybody has a voice. And you may not understand exactly what it is yet. And I'll tell you this, Amy. I couldn't necessarily describe my voice. It's almost like having to articulate who a human being is. How do you encapsulate a human being, with just a few words? You have to express it. So it's not necessarily about “finding it” as though it's something outside of yourself. It's about doing enough volume of work where it just expresses itself automatically. Most people who are like, I don't know if I have a voice, or how do I find my voice? you're just not practiced at writing. I can guarantee anyone who says that doesn't sit down enough to write copy. They're just out of the habit. When you start writing as you normally talk—so this is one of the things we often talk about and copy here, and I say this as many times as I can because I want business owners to get it—nobody gets talker’s block.
AMY: Next up, Marie and I chat about investing in yourself and your business, especially when you're just starting out. This one is from episode forty-five. I told you I was taking you way back in time, but it's still incredibly relevant. Take a listen.
Now, the last thing I’ll say about stage one is this is the stage, in my opinion—you got to tell me what you think, Marie—but this is the stage where if you have a little money put to the side, you invest it in training, like online education or different training programs or different classes that you really need, to understand how to be an entrepreneur.
MARIE: Oh my goodness, yes. Hallelujah, yes. So, one of the reasons that I worked so hard wasn't just to fund my business, like to save up a couple hundred bucks at the time to get someone to build a very simple website for me. But I was also working really hard to fund my own self–education as an entrepreneur. I signed up for online classes. I would get myself to seminars. I would buy every educational product that I felt called to buy because I wanted to learn how to market. I wanted to understand how to write effective copy, sales copy, this copy, that copy. I wanted to understand how to be a great public speaker, if I could. I wanted to understand what it meant to really run a business, all the things that I needed to do. And I was passionate. I mean, I still am passionate. I consider myself a lifelong learner. But you are absolutely right. This is the time to invest in yourself, invest in your own education, because honestly, most schools don't teach this. And even people that come out with an MBA, we've had many people that have MBAs and PhDs that actually go through B-School and tell us, oh my god, this is worth more than what I spent in those years in those highly academic environments because this is so much more practical and actionable. So I'm not just saying that about my program. There are many great educational programs out there and many great people that you can learn from if you take the time and the money and the energy to invest.
AMY: I totally agree. I still invest in a lot of online training programs. I'm more selective now, but I remember my first year, I probably purchased a new one every single month and just poured into it as much as I could. That is truly how I got educated to run this business. So I'm a huge fan of investing in those training programs.
This next clip is from episode ninety-six, and it’s one of my favorites. Marie talks about why she thinks big breaks are a total myth. And I could not agree more. So take a listen.
MARIE: I think there's a myth about this idea of a big break, and I certainly used to have it. Remember when I first started out, I would sit in my studio apartment. I was staring at my computer, completely overwhelmed, completely terrified, alone, not knowing exactly what to do to build my business. And I remember having fantasies, Amy, wishing that there was this kind of fairy business godmother who would sweep in and discover me or give me that big break. You know what I mean? Say, “Hey, here's what you need to do to kind of get catapulted to this next level.” Not only did that day never come, but it was a delusional way for me to be thinking at that time. And what I've been able to see now in hindsight is there is no single opportunity that anyone else can give you that is more important for your success than the small daily actions that you have to take every day.
AMY: Hm, say it one more time. Say that one more time.
MARIE: So there is no big break or opportunity that anyone else is going to come and put in your lap that is going to catapult you further or take you farther or raise you up higher than the small actions, the quiet actions that you must take each and every day in your own service, meaning in service of your own creativity, those kind of gritty details that we do in the background that are not so sexy. You know, I think, especially for anyone that's familiar with Marie TV, sometimes they can see, hey, we have got great production values, and oh, she's got a blowout. She's got some cute clothes on, which, by the way, is not how I started out. And the second thing I want to say about that is the only reason we have all those things is so I can put the majority of my attention on the content. But what my point is, all of the work that happens before we get on set, that's not glamorous at all. It's really hard, and it takes a lot of time. And I think the thing I wish I could tell my twenty–two–year–old self, when I was just starting out, was like, girl, don't worry about the big break. Just take the small steps every day, and you will get there.
AMY: So that little snippet there, I believe in it so much, this idea that big breaks are a myth, that I actually created an entire podcast episode. It's all about why I think overnight success is also a myth, and I've got a lot to say about that. So if you want a full episode around this topic and really some insight and tips and tricks to help you kind of figure this out for the long haul, instead of thinking that you need to rush it overnight, then check out next week's episode. I think you're going to love it.
Okay, let's move into our final audio clip, last but certainly not least, and this one is from episode 147. Now, in this episode, Marie and I chat about growth and the significant impact it can make not only on your business, but on your life. I think you’re going to love this one. Take a listen.
MARIE: Here is a belief that I live my life by. It served me from when I was a tiny little girl until now, and I hope it will serve me until my last breath. How can I make ongoing education a non–negotiable habit so I am constantly improving my business and my life? So once again, how can I make ongoing education a non-negotiable habit so I'm constantly improving my business and my life? So here's the thing, Amy. This is so, so important. We know this to be true. We know it instinctively, yet sometimes we don't practice it. If you're not growing, you're what?
AMY: Dying.
MARIE: Dying. This is true in our health, this is true in our most–important relationships, and it is especially true in our business. When I look back, it feels like marketing has changed more in the past five years than it has in the past fifteen. I don't know if you see that, too.
AMY: Oh, so true. Very true.
MARIE: Now, the only way that you're going to be able to keep your business growing and thriving and evolving is if you really make a commitment to constant and never–ending improvement. So the key to thriving right now and in the future, as it relates to marketing and every aspect of your business, is you've got to make ongoing education a habit. It's just that simple. Do not make it any more complicated than that.
And it's not just about education, though, because lots of people can go take a workshop. They'll go put themselves in some kind of course. They'll sign up for something online, and they expect to learn by osmosis. That's not going to happen. And I want to say, too, I love that people are listening to this podcast right now because this is a form of online education. This is a form of really feeding your mind. But you have to do more than that. You've got to go further. You have got to either get training from a strong coach or a strong teacher. You have to really learn or challenge yourself to integrate it into your life. So you can't just passively absorb it; you've got to take action and apply it so it's going to work for you.
Just to reveal a little bit about our business. Man, I can't stop learning. I spend such an inordinate amount of time and effort and money every single year to try and learn new things. I'm always going to conferences. If I can't get there in person, I sign up to get the videos. Talking with people, learning from others, any which way that I can. We're always experimenting with new strategies and ideas in our business. We do a lot behind the scenes. Some things work, some things flop. We’re like, okay, great, we just learned something.
I think one of the keys that's really helped me, and I want to pass this along, is you've got to find a handful of people who you trust and that really are a match for your learning style and your energy. When it comes to books and learning, I can never get enough. I have things on my computer right now. I have things on my to-do list a little bit later today, things that I want to learn and improve. And even from you; remember, we've talked about webinars. I realized I had not had a webinar since 2009. I was like, girl, what are you doing? Why have you not done a webinar since 2009? Of course, I'm going to call you up because you are extraordinary at them. And that's the thing. When you get excited about learning, when you recognize that there are always new things to try, always new things to do, you have no attention on, ‘”Why didn't I get started sooner?” You just look out into this whole big, incredible world of things that will feed your brain and allow you to make a bigger difference. And then it just gets awesome. Then it gets exciting. You get motivated, and you go forward.
AMY: So, what’d you think? I loved creating this episode for you because it was fun to pull out the best–of–the–best snippets, but also just to remember what's most important when creating your business. The topics that I chose for you today are the ones that have helped me the most on my journey of building my business. So I hope you found them valuable as well.
Now, as you know, B-School closes today. So I wanted this episode to go live for you to kind of get a little taste of how Marie teaches and her communication style and what she finds most valuable and how she's built the business that she has today. So now that you've gotten a taste of that, if you are curious at all about B-School, now is the time to go check it out. So go to amyporterfield.com/bschool. That will take you to a page where you can learn about my B-School bonus experience. And truly, the bonus experience is very personal to how I built my business, how I’ve used B-School, and how I do what I do to get the success that I've had. So you're really going to get a backstage pass to how I've used B-School to create my business, and so many of the bonuses that I've created for the special experience. So, go check it out. You might just love everything about it.
Okay, guys, thanks so much for tuning in. I hope I see you in B-School, and I will definitely see you same time, same place next week. I'll talk to you soon. Bye for now.
