#178: Ready for a Fresh Start with Your Online Business?

If you are ready for a fresh start with your online business, the best thing you can do is test your new idea to make sure your audience is interested.

The question to ask is: Does your new offering connect with your community?

In Part 2 of my interview with Laura Fuentes, she shares how she was able to test her new idea of teaching wellness by hosting webinars and asking her audience for feedback.

You can listen to Part 1 here: “Find New Solutions for Your Audience Now!“

Laura is pivoting her business from selling meal plans to moms to helping them live healthier lives by focusing on themselves.

Health is something Laura is deeply committed to. If you follow her on Instagram you see that in everything she posts. And she wants to share this with other women who are struggling to feel better about themselves and their wellness.

In this episode, we discuss:

Using the webinar software Demio to test her idea
Showing up live and engaging with your audience to understand their needs
How our businesses evolve as we evolve
How you need to be willing to fail to grow
Why you should start with a free group to help you learn

Laura has such a refreshing take on life, motherhood, and business. Don’t miss this Part 2 and the lessons Laura has learned.

Ready for a Fresh Start with Your Online Business? | MiloTree.com

Table of Contents

Show Notes:

Intro 0:04
Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.

Jillian Leslie 0:11
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to The Blogger Genius Podcast. I’m your host, Jillian Leslie, and I am a serial entrepreneur with my husband, David. And speaking to that David and I are launching a new product I am so excited about.

It is a way to help bloggers make money. If you listen to the show, you know, I’m constantly preaching that bloggers sell products and services to their audiences. And I also talk about the value of finding a recurring revenue stream.

Well, one of the easiest ways to do that is to set up a subscription in your business. That’s what we’re here to help you do. We are launching MiloTree Easy Payments. And what is it? It is a button.

A money button that you install on your blog where you can easily collect payments from your customers. Also, you can run your whole subscription business, from our product, it is easy to set up, it is fast, it is inexpensive.

If you are starting a subscription business and want to be a beta tester, I would love it. Reach out to me please at Jillian@milotree.com. I promise this is an awesome solution.

Now, for today’s episode, I have part two of my interview with my friend Laura Fuentes where we left off in part one was Laura testing her idea of teaching wellness to women using a webinar. And it was messy, and it didn’t go smoothly. But she learned a lot.

So, without further delay, here is part two, my interview with Laura Fuentes.

Ready for a Fresh Start with Your Online Business?

I love that you said, “I did this raw, I should have done this earlier. And I was willing to just put myself out there and have my tech knot work. And it was not my hunches. It was not all buttoned down.”

And that you were sweating. And they showed up. And I so, recommend everybody think about this, be a little embarrassed, you will not die from it. And you will get information.

Maybe nobody shows up to your webinar, chances are your mom will be there. So, go do it and go through the motions. A failed experiment, you will have information. So, go be a failure, you and for you, Laura, it sounds like this was really positive.

Laura Fuentes 3:00
It told me I can do it, one. Two, I’m getting paid to practice like, oh my gosh, so silly to say this. But I’m like, I have to practice what I want to build out. I can’t just go build it and they will come. No, I need to tweak and refine what I want to build.

And there’s no better way to do it, than do it live and create polls and ask, is this relevant to you?

Jillian Leslie 3:31
I love that.

Using a Webinar to Test Your New Business Idea

Laura Fuentes 3:31
If this is relevant to you raise your hand in the webinar. Because there’s like a little raise hand thing. If this is relevant to you say yes or no. It’s really easy to create a Google form and send out a survey.

And then you email it out to your list and you hope that people fill it out. You don’t have to get a whole webinar figured out, maybe you do an Instagram Live, or maybe you do a Zoom or a podcast.

But you have to be very specific at the very beginning and say if this resonates with you, all I want from you today is to share X, Y and Z with me, you could email me. Let them know how they can help you and how they can give you feedback on what you need.

And then you just teach or share what it is that you came to do. So, that’s really what I got the most out of it. And I’m just really excited to launch the program that can help moms more holistically, all the rest of their life.

Jillian Leslie 4:46
First I have to say what was the webinar software so people can know.

Laura Fuentes 4:50
Yeah, I use Demio.

Jillian Leslie 4:52
Demio, D-E-M-E-O.

Laura Fuentes 4:54
D-E-M-I-O. I use Demio even though I pay for Zoom myself is because of the stats that you get. Maybe all the webinars, software’s do this, but what was really interesting to me is that the webinar, once the webinar is over, I can export the chat.

And I get almost like a script of the chat. And I can see which user said what, and then I can create a follow-up, or I email people directly. “Hey, I know that you’re struggling with this. Thank you for attending the webinar.”

“In the webinar, you mentioned that you were struggling with X, Y, and Z. Can you just tell me a little bit more about that, and what would help you?” It has nothing to do with selling them on anything, it’s really more through the follow-up.

And you can do that with Zoom as well because there’s a chat feature, and then that’s where I was able to see. And I can see on the stats, like how many people entered, how long they stuck with it, and where the drop offs were.

So, I can then look at the video and go, “Oh, I’m in at 52. That’s where I started selling and only one person left. I’m like, “What?” I was like, but there’s people in there that already own the stuff they didn’t care.

So, through analyzing the data, I also figured out that they stayed that long because (a) I was serving them and they were getting good information.

But I realized that the product that I had to sell, which is the meal part, they were waiting for me to do something else. So, I was like, wow, I’m not serving them to their full capacity.

Showing Up Live Helps You Know What Your Audience Wants

Because they’re there, they connected with the elements that I taught them on the webinar. But what I quote sell is only one of the pillars. And yet, through the poll feature, I realize that they are struggling with very specific things that are outside of that 125%.

They’re struggling with the other 75%. So now, my job is to take what I already have, and realize they came to me because they trust me and I can lead them to what they want with what I already have. I just didn’t have it packaged. So, that’s where I’m going next.

Jillian Leslie 7:27
That’s my next question. What are you building?

Laura Fuentes 7:31
What I’m building out is more like mom life coaching.

Jillian Leslie 7:37
Whoo, I like it.

Laura Fuentes 7:38
But it’s not like a coach that’s going tell you to workout. The part where I’m really going to be focusing on is the mindset piece like motherhood and mindset, because that’s where people struggle with most.

Because if you are at a good emotional place. Even like self-confidence, that is something that people in my audience really struggle with. Why? Because our bodies look different after we have kids, because we don’t get that validation of love.

The emotional needs are not being met. Therefore, our self confidence that little tank isn’t being filled over the years. And I’m like, “Wow, how can I do that?” So, if you’re more confident with yourself, you’re going to feel okay to move fitness exercise.

You’re going to prioritize your food; you are going to serve your family better. You’re going to balance your work and business better.

Or if you’re a stay-at-home mom like I was for many years, you are going to be able to keep it together better and really be a better person, a better parent.

My Shifting Identity as a Mom

Jillian Leslie 9:03
Totally. I remember it was so interesting for me becoming a mom. I was a writer in Hollywood, Jillian Tohber maiden name, and then I became a mom and I my daughter went to preschool at 2 1/2.

And all of a sudden, my whole identity shifted. And I was not even now like Jill Leslie, I was Lainey’s mom. And I remember thinking, wow, and not that I didn’t want to be Lainey’s mom. I take that job like that is my number one job.

But it was as if my whole identity was completely deleted. And I was no longer even Jill. I was Lainey’s mom. And it was so, shocking to me I think of myself as this very layered woman with many facets, many gifts.

And as if I was flattened down to this one definition.

Laura Fuentes 10:05
Correct.

Jillian Leslie 10:06
And that was shocking to me because I was like a later mom. So, I had all life. and all of a sudden, nobody cared about that. Nobody asked me about that. We didn’t talk about it, we talked about things like poop, and what our kids ate.

And I remember feeling like, I just didn’t have as much confidence, because part of my identity was completely ignored and written over with this one label.

Laura Fuentes 10:41
And honestly, that happens to everyone. It’s happened to me, too. I guess I am my kids, mom. But I don’t want to talk about poop. And I don’t want to talk about the park. And I want to talk about other pressing things, that are important to me.

And so, my kids have a joke, which I told you on another podcast is that my daughter’s like, “Go introduce somebody else.” She’s like, “Good luck with that, because my mom doesn’t do mom friends.”

What she means by that is I’m not here to talk about poop. Okay, now, if you have stomach issues I’m happy you’re alright. A poop is like a normal thing for all of us.

But what you mean by that, I know this Jillian, you mean, like, I am more than just the person which is a very important job. But I am more than the mom that changes the kids’ diapers, makes food, cleans my house and keeps my husband happy.

I had interest before I became a mom, I have experienced things in life that have made me who I am. And I want to talk about those things. I’ve been selective with the people that enter my circle.

Jillian Leslie 11:55
Absolutely.

Laura Fuentes 11:56
There’s nothing wrong with doing that. That’s really the gist of it. I don’t want women to apologize for how they feel. You feel that way that’s great. Own, your feelings don’t get stuck there.

Get The Free “5 Secrets Successful Bloggers Already Know” Cheat Sheet Now!

Advertisement 12:11
There is nothing I find more satisfying than getting an email, from one of you saying my business is working things are really clicking, I put together a cheat sheet called, “The Five Secrets Successful Bloggers Already Know,” which identifies these elements.

I recommend you put in place in your own business, to get my cheat sheet, head to milotree.com/secrets. And that way, you can use this as a guide to know exactly what to focus on. So again, milotree.com/secrets.

And this way, when you wake up in the morning, and you look at all the tasks in front of you, you know, go this way. And now, back to the show.

Jillian Leslie 13:08
We have a membership, which I just love, because I love showing up with these women. And I will say that, yes, we do workshops, and we teach different things. I think the main purpose of the workshop is the mindset piece of it.

It is we show up and we check in and we kind of get ourselves out of those tapes that are running in our brains, where we doubt ourselves, where we say negative things to ourselves.

And I think the value of that is just being able to challenge those beliefs that we think are true. So, that we can go, oh, wait a second, this is limited thinking or I’m putting on the lens of scarcity versus abundance.

Be Willing to Fail as an Online Entrepreneur

Or I’m not doing the thing like you, which is I’m going to go out there and just test something and be willing for it to fail and show that this is just me trying it out.

And my audience is going to come with me because they’re rooting for me. But my hunch is if you did it again, or when you’ve done it again, it was probably a little better.

Laura Fuentes 14:25
And through practicing, I was like, Oh, I should include this next time. I’m going to take that out. That took too much time. And it wasn’t really the best way to serve this. And the feedback that they gave.

They’re really struggling more with this piece. So, I’m going to spend more time here.

Jillian Leslie 14:41
Absolutely.

Laura Fuentes 14:42
Was it successful? It was successful for me because I got to understand my audience better. It’s never a waste when you can figure out how to stay on your track. Who cares what everybody else is doing? What are you doing?

With your blog. With your business. With your life. Doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing.

Can you stick to something and commit to something long enough to where you’re like, wow, yeah, I failed at these things? But this is what I got out of it. It’s not a perfect thing.

Jillian Leslie 15:22
Absolutely. So, as you think about building out this membership coaching, or what did you call it?

Laura Fuentes 15:30
Like an inner circle, and will it be like a family kick-start. Because I feel like moms, we are responsible, we take a lot of this responsibility of, getting our families to eat better. We need to kickstart our mindset like, hey, just set your reset button a little bit.

Like, no, be kind to yourself, speak to yourself the same way you speak to your kids. We would never tell our kids who brings like a scribble from art class, that that thing looks like shit. No, we’re like, “Oh, is that blue? Is that a cloud right there?”

“Oh, no, that’s the whole sky.” I’m like, “Oh, that’s great.” And we go even further, and we put that scribble on our fridge to admire it. Now, the second that we do something that’s like us we’re like, “Oh, this thing’s crappy.”

Jillian Leslie 16:21
Absolutely.

Laura Fuentes 16:23
What? Did you not just try or make an attempt to pat yourself on the back for giving it a try? We talk to ourselves so meanly, and it’s a shame like, do I still have a struggle internal dialogues? Yeah.

You know, my story, I came to this country without speaking English, no one gave me anything, I had to figure it out. So, I have the very strong, like, I’m going to figure out, I’m going to fail at it. But I’m going to move forward. Because it’s really like up to me.

My mom, and I didn’t have any money. We had two suitcases, my whole green card story. All these things are part of who I am. I’m a mother but I’m also this whole person where motherhood is a component of it.

Jillian Leslie 17:11
Absolutely. So, how are you thinking of structuring this? How are you going to test it? When are you rolling it out?

Start with a Free Beta Test Group

Laura Fuentes 17:18
Yes. So, we are currently as we’re recording this, I have a small group of people that attended the webinar, that marked that they struggle with certain things, and I’m offering them to be part of the test group for free.

Just so, I can really create what serves them, and then just sort of get feedback.

Jillian Leslie 17:49
What in your business do you think you will pull back from as you lean into this?

Laura Fuentes 18:00
Probably the content creation are things that I’m going to pull back from. What I mean by content, like blog posts and such, because I have a lot.

Jillian Leslie 18:15
I know.

Laura Fuentes 18:15
And I don’t need to be making more, I need to show up more, I need to make less. We’ll probably be pulling back from some of the content. And I’m still trying to figure that out. But I will be saying no to a lot of things when I have no problem doing that.

Jillian Leslie 18:40
I totally get it. But again, I think that is something about seasons of our business, things that excited us, at certain times in our business aren’t as exciting today, or the market has changed or what people want is changing.

Who knows, Pinterest has changed. You won’t be getting as much organic traffic from Pinterest as you used to. So, it’s like, oh, how do I create products?

How do I use what Pinterest can offer me in a different way? Because what was working in the past might not work in the same way.

Laura Fuentes 19:15
Yeah, and I know that a lot of people come to me want to know more of the business advice side. I know that a lot of moms in my community they’re just like me, they’re juggling either working full time or they’re being there.

They’re entrepreneurs themselves. And it’s a lot and it’s exhausting. So, I will probably cover some of that, like micro topics. Some people are just struggling getting started.

So, I really see my role as more of like, leading these women to become the person that they’re meant to become to remind them of the amazing person they already are.

Okay, of bringing out of them the things that they enjoyed doing before kids. Encouraging them to pursue those interests. Like, isn’t that what we do for our kids? We want them to grow and be happy. So, how can we don’t have those people in our lives?

Creating Momentum in Your Audience

And I say we because up until recently, I didn’t. We think that the inspiration and motivation is going to come. That doesn’t come by itself. You just have to get started and pushing through and creates a feeling and a momentum that keeps yourself motivated.

If what you need is motivation. Then find people that are also like minded, that also want that motivation so that you can motivate each other.

Jillian Leslie 21:01
I love that. Alright, Laura, if people want to learn more, they want to reach out to you what is the best way?

Laura Fuentes 21:08
So, you’re going to go to laurafuentes.com, you’re also going to look in the show notes below. Because Jillian will have everything for you. If you want just food MOMables, but I am pretty sure by now you realize that this isn’t about food. This is about you.

So, find me on Instagram, Laura Fuentes, but really, Jillian will have it waiting for you. So, what am I going to tell you?

Jillian Leslie 21:35
Well, I am so glad to have you back on the show and to watch your journey. And we will do this again as you move forward and check in

Laura Fuentes 21:44
Yeah.

Jillian Leslie 21:45
I love it.

Laura Fuentes 21:46
Thank you.

Jillian Leslie 21:46
Again, I feel like as we come out of the pandemic, we are different. And hopefully, this episode gave you new insights both into how to keep in the game, how to take care of yourself, how to dig in deeper with your audience to serve them.

I feel like lots of things are changing. And we need to embrace that change. And so, I appreciate what Laura shared.

And in this spirit, please if you’re thinking of starting a subscription business, and you’ve thought about, “Oh, I don’t want to deal with any technology.” Hey, guess what, reach out to me Jillian@milotree.com and I will hook you up and get you paid quickly.

Also, in order to know where to focus in your business, get my cheat sheet of what I am seeing successful bloggers do to grow their businesses. And you can do that at milotree.com/secrets.

And if your business is clicking, I want to hear about it please. I’d love to have you on the show. So, reach out to me and I will see you here again next week.

Other Blogger Genius Podcast episodes with Laura Fuentes to listen to:

If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you.

Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week.

Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

Show Notes:

Subscribe to the Blogger Genius Podcast:

Ready for a Fresh Start with Your Online Business?

Using a Webinar to Test Your New Business Idea

Showing Up Live Helps You Know What Your Audience Wants

My Shifting Identity as a Mom

Get The Free “5 Secrets Successful Bloggers Already Know” Cheat Sheet Now!

Be Willing to Fail as an Online Entrepreneur

Start with a Free Beta Test Group

Creating Momentum in Your Audience

Other Blogger Genius Podcast episodes with Laura Fuentes to listen to:

Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy…

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