777: How to Juggle Your Full Time Job While Building Your Business

0:01Okay, I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing. Like if I haven't reached for it in months, it's got to go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse. It fits my laptop in it. So it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life.

0:35Their holiday shop is live right now with all the good stuff. Sparkly party dresses, cozy sets, cute gifts, everything you need for whatever is on your calendar. And it's all in one place, which makes shopping feel way less overwhelming. Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out or a holiday party, your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger, shop my edit and take 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger. Fast two day shipping, easy returns. it's literally the only place you need to shop from. That's revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop by favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger offer available for a limited time.

1:15So happy shopping. It's like at the end of the day, the amount of time that they put in, they're making pennies on the dollar and that's why they stopped doing them. And so it's like, if you want to have long-term success in this, and if you want to do this long-term to like bless other moms, then you have to change something. Hey, my name is Jenna Kutcher and I am obsessed with all things business, marketing numbers, and helping you to navigate both the messy and the magical seasons of this thing called life. I'm a small town mama who took a$300 camera, grew a successful photo biz, and now I work from home and run a seven figure online business.

1:51I teach you the tried and true secrets to building a career you adore. Shy away from the real talk? No way. Money, hardship, growth, loss, and marketing are all topics we discuss here. Think of this as your one-stop shop for happy hour with a gal pal mixed with business school. Pull up a seat, make sure you're cozy and get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn. This is the Gold Digger Podcast. It's no secret that entrepreneurship is hard. Between long days, sleepless nights and making tough decisions, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. And when you combine the challenges of entrepreneurship with being a mom and having a full-time job?

2:29Well, let's just say the stakes are even higher. Balancing the demands of entrepreneurship, motherhood, and a full-time job requires a special kind of determination and resilience. It's a journey that tests your limits and pushes you to grow in ways you never even imagined. However, despite the challenges, the rewards can be immense, both personally and professionally. In this podcast episode, I am coaching Gold Digger listener Jillian Bankey, who is the founder of MomCamp. It's a company dedicated to helping moms put themselves back on their priority list. Jillian hosts weekend retreats for moms that include incredible speakers and workshops, delicious food and wine, movement classes, campfires, outdoor activities, and so much more.

3:12It's all about helping moms reignite their spark and reconnect to themselves as humans alongside being a mom, partner, employee, or boss. I mean, it sounds amazing, right? Now Jillian is doing some really important work, but she's also struggling with navigating the challenging waters of managing a full-time job alongside of running mom camp and all the other endeavors. In today's conversation, we're discussing how to balance all of the things. I also give Jillian advice on how to host exceptional experiences that actually return a profit because let's be honest, events are expensive. Are you ready to explore practical strategies and mindset shifts to apply to your own juggling act?

3:52Today's episode is for you. Let's dive on into my coaching session with Jillian. And by the way, if you would like the opportunity to join me for a coaching session in the future, make sure to join the Gold Digger podcast Facebook group. It's our insiders group. We're linking it for you in the show notes and episode description of today. Watch there every single month. We do a post to find our coaching candidate. Without further ado, Jillian, welcome to the Gold Digger Podcast. Finding a service solution that helps you better connect with customers and keep them happy can feel impossible. Like trying to remember the name of that girl you just met at a networking event.

4:29Was it Mia? Or Leah? Or could it be Sophia? Yeah, that kind of impossible. HubSpot's all-new service hub can help. Well, with the service solution part, at least. It brings service and success together on one powerful platform for the first time ever. Between an AI-powered help desk and an AI chatbot that handles frontline tickets fast, you can scale support and drive retention and revenue. Plus it comes with a customer success workspace that helps reps anticipate customer needs. With a full 360 view of every customer, your go-to-market team can keep a pulse on accounts before ever trying to upsell or cross-sell.

5:09And you know what that means better service and happier customers at every stage of their journey. Visit hubspot.com slash service to do more for your customers today. That's hubspot.com slash service. Growing a business can feel really hard and starting one can be even harder. We as entrepreneurs need a community around us to learn from, to ask questions to, and to be inspired by. That's why you're here, right? Well, there's another great podcast that will help with that. It's called This Is Small Business. You'll hear from people you love, including me. That's right. I was just on an episode of This Is Small Business.

5:46The episode is all about why you need an email list. You'll hear me share all the strategies I use to grow my email list, how we make on average$2 a month for every subscriber. And you'll hear how cutting my salary in half was actually what led me to grow my business to seven figures. The host is Andrea Marquez, and she dives into all the questions you have about how to start and grow a small business. Like how can you use social media to reach new customers? How do you get a business loan? And how much should you charge for your products? This show is full of practical insights you can apply to your business right now.

6:21Go follow This Is Small Business, an original podcast from Amazon on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. Big thanks to This Is Small Business for sponsoring this show. Put This Is Small Business alongside Gold Digger in your podcast rotation now. I am so honored and excited. I love these coaching sessions. And Jillian, I'm just so grateful to spend time with you today. And so I feel like we're going to cover so much ground. And I know that this episode is going to help so many of our listeners. So before we dive in, just tell everyone a little bit about you, your stage of life, where you're at, what you're working on.

7:01And then we'll get into the coaching. Awesome. Jenna, thank you so much for having me here. This is honestly a bucket list item to be talking to you like this. So my name is Jillian Benke and I am a mom of two, 14 and 17 year olds. And then I work full-time in the events and HR industry. It's kind of a combination job. If I could design my dream full-time job, this would be it. So it's awesome. And then on the side, I run a business called MomCamp. I founded this business called MomCamp that's all about empowering moms to put themselves back on their own priority list. And we do that through weekend retreats and have a podcast as well.

7:40And so yeah, that's really my life in a nutshell right now. Teens, job, side hustle, you know, all the things. I mean, you're not busy at all, right? Oh, and I published a planner. I just did that in my spare time. So I'm a bit insane. All right. Let's dive on in and let's start walking through this together. And one thing that I also am just so excited about this is that you and I are in such different stages of lives, but there are so many similarities and places that we overlap. And so I'm just so excited to give my perspective. But I also want to say if I am off base at any point, you can say this doesn't resonate or like this doesn't make sense for my life right now.

8:21So I'm kind of excited to dive in. Awesome. All right. So number one question, as I've said, I work full time and I have two kids and I have the side hustle. So really for me, I'm pretty good at self-care and prioritizing. It's what I talk about with mom. So that's sort of what I preach, right? And I walk the talk, but what I want to make sure I'm doing is in those limited pockets of time that I have to spend on my business outside of work? How do I know I'm spending my time on the right things that are actually going to move the needle? Yes. Okay. So I have so many thoughts on this. And I am so obsessed with return on investment with investment being time.

9:04Like I think that a lot of people look at ROI, especially males in the business industry. And they're like, okay, how much am I spending? How much am I making? And I think for a lot of moms, we look at time as our currency in maybe just a slightly different way than our counterparts. And so I think this question is so spot on. And so the first thing that I want to kind of touch base on is we kind of have three different channels in your business, right? So we have the events, we have the podcast, and then we have the journal. And so what would be a strong ROI in terms of your podcast? So how are you measuring the return on your podcast?

9:41I'm just curious on that? It's a really great question. So financially, I will be totally transparent. There is no return on the investment for the podcast, unless I can draw a through line between people that listen to the podcast and then come to a camp, right? That could turn into that. But I know that it is creating loyal followers and listeners. They love going for walks, walking their kids to school and listening and being part of the conversation. And so I know that's working, but it also, as you know, takes a lot of time, but I love the conversation. So it also energizes me and reminds me that I'm doing what I should be doing.

10:19So it's the return on investment for me is more energetically as opposed to revenue driven. Yes. Okay. I love that. But then do I spend the time on that? Right. So I think that's a really powerful thing to honor and talk about, especially to like passion has to be a part of it. And I don't think that every single thing we do has to be tied to revenue. But we also want to make sure that we're shooting for something there, right? So that we are strategic in a way that is allowing us to connect some of the dots. And so one of the things that I was thinking about with your podcast is making sure that in every single episode, you talk about your planner and having it either be like, Hey, this episode is made possible because of my planner or referencing how you're using it and where someone can get it.

11:08And one thing that can be really interesting to do, and this is something we didn't really do well in the past, is creating specific links that you are able to track so that you can see, okay, how much traffic from the podcast is actually going to join my event or to buy the planner and being able to kind of see that through line that gives you confidence that you're spending time on the right things. And I think that a lot of times when it comes to time and being strapped on time, all we really want is to feel like we're spending our time in the right places right yes it's not necessarily being like i am making x amount of dollars in this hour it's that if i am away from my kids or i'm taking time away from other things in my life i just want to make sure it's worth it and i think that is what saves us from feeling guilty which is a problem that a lot of us deal with and so do not hesitate to be strategic with your podcast if you are creating this free content every week.

12:06Make sure in every single description, you have a link for your events, your waitlist, and your planner. And like, talk about those things. Like, don't be shy. You can integrate it into the content itself and bring up stories from, you know, at my past retreat, I met this mom and this is what she was going through. Or again, just talking about your daily practice. So that's the first thing I want to talk about. Because podcasting, a lot of people think they're like, Oh, you just sit down and talk, but like, there are so many other pieces to it. And so that's just one challenge I have for you. The second thing that I would think about is with the planner, is it a planner or journal planner?

12:45It's a planner. Yeah. 90 day planner. Okay. A 90 day planner. So in theory, if somebody starts using it and they enjoy it, they would be buying multiple planners throughout the year. Correct? Yes. Okay. So we want to make sure that anyone that is buying the planner falls in love with it. It becomes a part of their daily practice. How do we teach them to incorporate this practice so that they fully use a planner? And then of course they need another one. And so again, we want to think about like, this could be as simple as you Jillian recording a one hour masterclass on the most effective ways to use this planner.

13:24How am I using this planner? How are my students using this planner? Why did I design it this way? this is the space that I use for this. This is how I audit my planner, whatever that is, and walking people through it. Because the more that you can get people to accept with it, the more likely they are to come back and purchase it again. One thing that I just got in my email and I was like, oh, this was so smart, is I had bought some non-toxic sunless planner. And apparently it expires. And I didn't know that. And the company had triggered an email saying, hey, your order from six months ago is expiring.

13:58now is a great smart yes and i was like wait like this would be a great opportunity to make sure you know the 75 day mark you're reaching out to anyone who bought a planner and saying hey there's a good chance you're down to the last few weeks now would be a great time to buy your next planner and so again when i was thinking about you because i was thinking about you i was just thinking about how some of these little pieces of strategy could really help anchor in the results. And most of them can just become either like autopilot or automated. So that again, it's not taking up more time. Does this resonate?

14:38This a hundred percent does. It feels like I've been doing the right foundational things, but not the pieces to actually drive it. Right. Like it's, yeah, this absolutely makes sense. And I talk about the events and things on the podcast, but I don't link out. On the planner, I don't follow up. I know. I know. I know. It's ridiculous. But yeah, this makes so much sense. These are such simple strategies that are so targeted that can actually do so much. So this is huge. This is huge. Yeah. Look, I've become kind of a systems nerd. And anything that gives me more space in my day, I'm all in. and a reliable connection is a huge part of that because when the internet lags or cuts out, everything pauses and suddenly the simplest tasks take forever.

15:26I learned really early on that dependable internet, it's not a luxury, it is a must. Whether you're a content creator like me, a restaurant owner or running a busy dry cleaning business, you need that steady connection to support your team and your clients. That's why I'm excited to share a solution for my fellow business owners. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all types connected with internet, advanced wifi, phone, TV, and mobile services, all with connectivity solutions built for your budget. And they have a truly incredible offer. Business owners can get free business internet advantage forever when you add four or more mobile lines.

16:02It's simple with no contracts and no added fees. Visit spectrum.com forward slash free for life to learn how you can get business internet free forever. Restrictions apply, services not available in all areas. Okay, I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing. Like, if I haven't reached for it in months, it's gotta go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse.

16:40It fits my laptop in it, so it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life. Their holiday shop is live right now with all the good stuff. Sparkly party dresses, cozy sets, cute gifts, everything you need for whatever is on your calendar. And it's all in one place, which makes shopping feel way less overwhelming. Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out, or a holiday party, your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger, shop my edit and take 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger.

17:18Fast two day shipping, easy returns. It's literally the only place you need to shop from. That's revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop my favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger. Offer available for a limited time. So happy shopping. And one thing that I want to remind you of too, is like selling can be a service in this way. And so it's like, if you're talking about this awesome event and someone is like, Oh man, I need this, but you're making it hard for them to find it. Or like, they're like, Oh, circle back or I'll Google it later. Then like you're taking away that act of service that you can just connect them to.

17:57And again, it can be as simple as just saying, I'll link it for you in the show description of today's episode. So you don't even have to say Like if you want to join the next, you know, and you could, you can do both. Right. And then again, to like with your planner, getting them success is a service. And so again, it's like, you're not taking anything away. You're only adding to their success. And again, if you can set up these automatic updates and even reminders of like checking in 30 days, once they bought their planner, like, Hey, how's it going? If you have any questions, like email me or let me know, or what is your favorite feature?

18:33or what would be something you'd like to see on a future planner, just like things like that. It can really, again, drive that connection and maybe help you iterate the next version or whatever that looks like. That's so funny. Cause I just realized I do that. So I have the, like I have, cause I learned from Jenna, I have freebies on my website, right? Like I'm a very good student. So I have freebies on my website to build my email list and that works. And I've just created another one, but there are pieces of the planner as a one page PDF that I use as freebies to that drive. And I'm really good at actually, I've got scheduled emails follow up one week later to say, have you been trying it?

19:10Did you know that I have a full planner? So I nailed that part and I totally missed the boat on the actual planner follow up. So that's huge. Yeah. No. And that's so great too. And there's so many statistics around how to increase the value of a customer versus getting a new one. Like the cost to acquire a new customer, I believe is like four to five times as much as keeping one. Makes sense. And so again, it's like once somebody makes that purchase, like we want to just give them this over the top service based, like community essence experience, because that's you. And like, that's why you do this.

19:46And I also would believe too, is like, if you were able to actually get somebody to respond back and let you know how their planner is going, that would open the door for communication about like the event and different places like that. And not in a weird way, but just like checking in, like, what are you noticing with your planner? Where are you overwhelmed? Where are you finding pockets of time for you? And just questions like that, because that is such a natural guide in to the other offer, right? That makes sense. The one thing I did do is I used when I have feedback is I've used it as testimonials to share more about the planner, but I haven't taken that leap to start talking about the other, like the camp, right?

20:25Which is the big one. So yeah. And I mean, I don't know about you, but like whenever I look at my planner or calendar, most of the time there's not scheduled in me time, right? I have to very like prioritize that piece of it. And so I think that for your demographic and who you're speaking to, a planner is a really great way to realize like, Hey, I'm making time for everything else and everyone else. Where is my time? And so it is a very natural lead in. And again, it doesn't have to be like this hardcore sales tactic. It's more this like communication that can guide people to community, which I think is exactly what you're about.

21:05Totally. Yes. A hundred percent. I love it. Yes. Awesome. What is your next question? Okay. So my next question, and this actually follows really well, I think. So I have the planner, I have the podcast, I have the camp. And right now I'm in like a big drive for camp because early bird registration at the time of this recording is about to close. We still have registration open. And so I feel like with all these things and the freebies and everything that I'm competing with myself. So, and I know you have so many offers. So how do I get over the idea that I'm kind of cannibalizing my own promotion by like, if I'm in camp mode, and that lasts for months, like camp mode lasts for months, right?

21:47If I post about the planner, or if I post about the podcast, is it taking away from that camp promotion? Not at all. So this is something I've been working on. So you and I are together. A lot of times when we are say writing out a campaign or a copy. So like even the other day, I was in like 106 page document of email copy that I was going through. A lot of times we're reading it like in order, imagining a customer reading email one, two, three, four, five, all in sequential order. And our brain is telling us, oh, they're just reading one after the other. When in reality, days are passing by.

22:26They might have missed email one, but they might open email three. Right. And so we kind of have to let that go. and I saw the funniest meme the other day. And it was like, girl, stop like being afraid to promote your own stuff. And it was saying like, Petco just sent me six emails in the last three days and I don't even have a dog. Like we're saying like, don't be so apologetic about it. So I have a couple ideas for this because I love this question. But again, if we add just a tiny bit more strategy to your podcast, that your podcast, maybe even for two minutes a week, you tell a story about camp.

23:01You could do like campfire stories on your podcast, something like that, where you talk about why you needed camp, why you created it, who is coming, a story of a past mom that went to camp. And it could just be like a little two minute thing where then again, you're guiding people to it. And so again, I think if we can just get a tiny bit more strategy on the podcast, then if you're sending people to the podcast, it doesn't feel like you're cannibalizing, filling your events efforts. And then same, even with the planner, you could even have... This is what I'm envisioning, but in your confirmation email, having a colored block where it says like, Hey, as you're working through this planner, you might realize that you have no dedicated time for you.

23:45If this is the case, you might be interested in checking out blank. And so again, it's just thinking through because to me, your entire offers, they're so cohesive. They serve the same demographic. It's not like you're speaking to like doctors and then you're speaking to stay at home moms. Like you are speaking to the same audience the whole time. And so don't worry about cannibalizing. I think that again, if we can just add a teeny bit of strategy, then it's going to feel like, Hey, I want to send people to the podcast because the people that might not want to read a blog post or read this freebie, they might want to listen.

24:21And when I tell that campfire story, they're going to start to like, think about that. And again, remembering too, that like we as consumers have to see and hear about something like seven, and it's probably way more than that now. And so like, I think that could just take away that fear of it. The final thing too, is like Flowdesk just released these like awesome email templates. And you can do like these beautiful and you could do this in any platform, but like beautiful graphic blocks. So it could be like, here's what's happening with camp registration this week. Here's what's happening on the podcast.

24:57Here's what's happening with a planner. I mean, kind of like a summary or like a roundup. And I've seen so smart emails come out lately. Every time I see an email that I'm like, oh, this is good. I either forward it to my team or I like store it in a little inbox of like, oh, this caught my attention. But I've seen a lot of cool emails where it's like broken up in blocks. So it's just like, if you're curious about this, read this, if you're curious about this. And so again, I think there's some just interesting ways that you could strategically make it feel like it's cohesive and that there's something for everyone, like a choose your own adventure.

25:30That makes so much sense. I do a not every week because it's not consistent, but I do a Bob Camp Monday check-in email to my list. And I like to share if I've heard a great podcast episode or if I'm reading a book or something like that. Right. But having those blocks would make so much sense because then every time there's an email, they know they're going to get an update or a little tidbit or a tip on each of those three things. So that's awesome. I really, that's so simple. Like everything you said is so simple, but so on target. It's awesome. Oh, good. Oh, good. You know what I was just thinking too, this weekend, Drew and I are going to a marriage retreat with a ton of people we know.