Strategy & Mindset Tips for Online Business Owners with Sarah Rose

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Reading instead of Listening (Transcript) 

FYI: this text is not polished, I try to keep it as close as possible to how the guest expressed herself/himself . 

Conny Graf
Welcome Sarah, thank you so much for making time to be on my podcast

Sarah Rose
Thank you so much for having me here. It's my pleasure my honor I'm so excited for this conversation.

Conny Graf
Me too because you teach and offer business strategy and systems to free up our mind, and you mentor people to start a business now, but before we dive into all this, very exciting, I would want to hear a little bit more about you, who is Sarah and how did she get here.

Sarah Rose
Yes, well I'll try and give you the short version, rather than the long way around but growing up, my mom was a single mom of three little kids with no child support. She found herself six figures in debt. And she realized that a traditional nine to five job was not going to help clear these lawyer fees away from the custody case and so she knew she had to find some other way. So she became a pioneer in the network marketing industry and went on to create a multi seven figure income. She's now a sought after speaker, trainer, author around the world... well, pre-COVID and post-COVID right. We're both struggling right now with not being able to cross borders but so she was just sort of my mentor and I ended up following her footsteps.

As I experimented with various jobs in my 20s and I realized I'm not employable, this is the only way I grew up, it's entrepreneurialism it's in my blood. So I did, I filled two pivotal positions in two different network marketing companies, and about a year and a half ago, I kind of plateaued, and I got really burned out on doing things the old way, the traditional way. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to take a step back, and I'm going to learn. I'm going to invest in myself and a coach, a mentor and a program that is going to teach me the modern marketing strategies of doing business in the online space. I fell in love with the process, and with the systems and the tools and the strategies, even though I was afraid of tech, I thought I could break the internet.

I figured out, you know, that this is a way to get in my creative zone of genius, create and connect with amazing female entrepreneurs from all over the world and help make an impact and create success for them as well. So now I run my coaching business alongside my network marketing business and it's just blowing up right now so it's exciting.

Conny Graf
Oh, that sounds awesome and exciting and I think the internet is an exciting medium. What would we have done without the internet, during this worst part of the pandemic when we were really locked down on supposed to stay home. With life and business we could stay connected with family we could stay connected with clients so it's amazing.

Can you give an example of what exactly you do like so you say strategic planning and systems how to clear our mind and becoming successful. Where would you start with somebody.

Sarah Rose
Well I say that in the Bible it says without a vision people perish. And so if you don't have a big vision for your life and for your business, you don't know where you're going, so you don't know the steps that you have to take to get there. I know it sounds a little cliche, the old metaphor but you should plan your life and your business how you plan a trip. You're not going to get on a plane and fly to Paris and not know the best places to go when you get there, and the best place to stay, and the best restaurants.

You're gonna have that all mapped out, right, so you can have the best experience from that. Well why would you treat your life or your business any different. So we look at the bigger picture of what do you want to achieve in the long term, what do you want to achieve in the short term, and actually sit down and do their research on how much things cost. So where is your dream house in a perfect world if time and money were no object. How much does it cost? What cars are in the driveway? Where are you traveling? What are your non-negotiables? How do you spoil yourself and your loved ones? What are your business overheads? What is the interior of your house look like? Do you have a garden on the exterior? Who do you need to hire? Do you have teams? ....and what does that bigger picture look like.

Then you can go up okay that's what I need to be making a month long term. In the short term, I need to be earning X to walk away from that job and go all in to being an entrepreneur. Or I need to earn, X to get out of debt so that I can do X, Y and Z. And you see that where you are right now and what you're working towards the short term can be scalable to the long term. And so then we put the plan in place, the action plan, to help you achieve those goals. So it starts with creating a bigger vision for where you want to go.

Conny Graf
So you go on a vision quest with your clients.

Sarah Rose
Yes, and I used to be an interior designer too along the journey and created an interior design business and I love the visual aspect of manifestation and visualization, I think it's a really powerful tool. So you sit down and go through magazines and pull out the pictures of your dream house, or the dream car, the places that you want to go and put those in a place where you can see them all the time, so that you can consistently remember what it is that you're working towards.

Conny Graf
So, then my question would be okay so now you have the big vision that's one part but then how do you build this in into your daily life? How do you get this from the big vision, all the way down to the nitty gritty. Because it can feel daunting and overwhelming now so you have to start bickering at it and taking one step at a time. How do you best get this all down into a daily action plan while you look at your vision daily but you have to take action daily too.... So how? What's the best way?

Sarah Rose
You're absolutely right because when you combine the law of attraction with the law of action that's when the magic happens. So you can sit here and visualize all day, and you wish it into existence but it's really not going to happen unless you actually do something about it. So, we start with cleaning up your social media channels, making it professional. Content creation too and it's sort of a chicken and an egg thing like why do I need to be creating content if I really don't have these contacts yet. I don't really have that many followers, I don't have a huge base. Well, you're going to, and so when those people that are looky loos, the lurkers, the people who want to come check out what you're doing to see if your somebody they want to collaborate with, or work with, or by your programme, your package or your product, your opportunity.

So when they come to your page and there is nothing there or it's just a mishmash and there's no clarity of who you are and what you're doing, people get confused and they're gonna go somewhere else. So it starts with just showing up consistently with quality content. Don't worry if anybody likes it doesn't like it, how many likes you get people are going to start watching you. It might not be the right people yet, but we're going to get you to that point. So it's putting in habits of starting to show up consistently and increasing the quality of what you're putting out there. Even clarity, learning and identifying who is the person that you want to help, and what is the problem that you solve, and how do you solve our problem. Then we get into branding, we get into daily method of operation which I think you were talking about earlier. It's like how and where do you show up every single day. How can you repurpose content to actually save time. How can you automate parts of your business to save time and headspace.

We get into some of the tech tools and connecting all the dots building beautiful funnels, lead generation, organic or paid or both, so I mean there's there's a lot of steps that need to be taken when you're launching a business. It takes some time. So you've also got to look on your mind from that and giving yourself some grace and patience that it will all come together but maybe just not overnight.

Conny Graf
Yeah, so you mentioned, and I think a lot of people struggle with that, you mentioned content. So you have to put out content and most likely it has to.. . well not most likely, it should actually be in line with where you want to go... so how do you figure out what to put out. How would you go from your big vision where you want to go to that one piece that you published today or that one post you're publishing today.

Sarah Rose
So it's sharing your journey, and it's being vulnerable and where you are and where you're headed and being grateful for all that you have while pursuing all that you want. You could talk about your hopes and your dreams and your goals and you talk about the foundation's you're putting in place now. The types of people that you're helping the types of people that you're serving. Talk about what your passions are because that's going to them to you. Now I'm not saying just keep putting like cat videos out there but maybe have a picture of you with your cat and be like, loving the stuggles today, so happy that I have found a way to work from home and have the time and freedom to have these cuddles or something like that, you know, you can always find a way to bring it back to your business.

Especially if you get lost, what am I supposed to post today, I teach about the four E's. And that is engaging entertaining, empowering and educating. So, as you're getting to know your audience, engage with them, ask them questions, do some market research to find out who's following you. Who's here who's hanging out in your space. What do they want from you, do they want more strategy than they were mindset. Do you see what i'm saying so you asked a lot of questions that's engaging and then the second one is empowerment so that's sharing your journey and your vulnerabilities and that creates the light know and trust factor because your audience is getting to know you, that's when they buy from you. That's empowerment and also who are you helping and what are their wins as well as yours, some testimonials definitely. Entertaining, if you come across something funny, put it out there if you've got a quirky sense of humor like let us get to know you. Be funny, a funny quote or something, something that happened in your day that you found hilarious.

And then the other thing is educating, so telling people what you do and adding value as to the problem that you solve. Once you find out what the struggle is, you find a need and you fill it and you'll become wealthy but beyond measure. So those are the four E's and that's, that's what I encourage my clients and my team to post about, and it helps you show up knowing what you can write about that day, if you're feeling lost.

Conny Graf
Oh, that sure helps, the 4 Es, that's a good tip. So that's what action we're taking towards the outside world. But, a lot of us, like, even though we know what we should do, we don't do it because we struggle internally and I know when we met in a Facebook group, you were saying that morning routine is important you have dmos daily methods of operation. So talk a little bit about that. How do we manage ourselves how do we get from chaos to peace with us, so that we actually can show up and post, and share with the world.

Sarah Rose
Well, and you've just made a couple of really good points in that question and one is that what we're talking about the showing up and posting and being consistent. That's what we call passive marketing. So it's good to do that and hope that somebody is going to come across one of your posts and engage in it and reach out to you and want to buy your product, service or opportunity but it doesn't always work that way. So that's just one part of the formula that the second part of the formula is active marketing, where you're actually getting into groups and sharing value and sharing who you are and what you do and engaging on other people's posts and finding collaborations.

There's enough business out there for all of us and so when you connect with another woman who's an incredible entrepreneur like yourself, how can we lift each other higher, and collaborating so that you get more visibility and engagement as a result of these relationships. Booking sales calls, making more of an impact from the connections that you're making, the conversations that you're having. Now the third component of running a successful business is what you're talking about is mindset. Because you can have all the strategy in the world but if your mindset isn't right and you're out of alignment, or you're out of whack and you're just feeling burned out or up against the wall, things aren't happening fast enough and maybe I wasn't cut out for this and there's so many people in this field like why would anyone ever want to join or buy with me, right, so you got to start the day, getting your head right.

So that's why the morning routine is so important is doing something that sets your soul on fire and gets you radiant and high five to go into the day because that's going to show up in everything that you do.

Conny Graf
Do you have an example of that, to fire yourself up?

Sarah Rose
Yes, well, now that school is back on it's a lot easier because over the summer I was like, I'm gonna get back into my morning routine but I couldn't, it just was so out of whack. But now that we're back in school. I mean, we are distance learning but she's in a more classroom environment so the teachers are there with her and

I have that time and that space now to get into my Zen here in my office and I'll start with some incense or a candle, I'll do a meditation, some yoga, or I rock out to music. So it's not just totally peaceful it's like let's go with high power music let's get into the zone. Maybe have a coffee, or some water, I drink Aloa vera juice every morning, as a daily cleanse and after that I just feel like amazing and I can't wait to get to work and get into it. I think how you start your day is everything, it raises that vibe and gets you ready to go.

It could be a morning walk it could be a cup of coffee on the porch, we don't all have an extra hour in our day to do these things but find some time in your day just for you. Because we can't pour from an empty cup, it's, it's so easy to burn out.

Conny Graf
Exactly, I think if we want to find ..... well find is maybe also the wrong word .... we have to make the time to tend to ourselves. So, yeah, so I read every morning and then, I have animals, so I go out and feed the animals on take a walk with the dogs real quick, then I feel like okay I did something for me already that fires me up. I agree morning routine is important instead of just getting up and mindlessly like a zombie walk around and go in the office and start checking emails or social media

Sarah Rose
It's so easy to do. It's so easy to just be like, I don't need my time, let's just get into it. I'm guilty of it a lot ...... you know

Conny Graf
yeah some days you might be so fired up that you have to go right away in there but then you were in the right energy, you know, so I think that works too. And then you're talking, about these DMOs, the daily methods of operation. What do you mean with that and can you give an example.

Sarah Rose
Yes, well I think every single day you've got strategies in place, your foundation of where and how you need to show up. So, for me, that includes I post once on Facebook once in stories once on Instagram once and Instagram stories. I'll do a post in a group. I'll get into groups and interact and then I'm really active on Instagram right now.

I'm loving Instagram just acquired over 800 new followers in the last month, all organically so that's really exciting. I get into conversations and how many conversations, do you need to have each day, that are going to convert into a phone call with a quality prospect, client or team member. Then you have the phone calls to have a strategy session or a discovery session to find out you know what are you working on. Here's a few tips on how I can help you. And then also let me share with you my opportunity to see, you know, this is going to be a good fit for us to work together. So it's just your daily activity that you know where you need to be and when.

I think it's important to include that morning routine in there and also personal growth and development. What are you reading what are you listening to, for example a podcast like this, to keep growing and rising, showing up as the best version of yourself, as you can for yourself and for your family, for your team and your clients.

Conny Graf
Yeah, I love it because... so what I teach is, I help people creating a supportive environment, that's basically what you're doing too. You're creating a supportive business environment that you actually can go sit down at your desk in the morning and you know exactly what to do because you have everything planned out and mapped out and that's important so you don't have to invent it every day.

Sarah Rose
Exactly. I use an old fashioned planner, people laugh at me, they're like oh my gosh you have this like paper thing, and I'm like, Yeah, I got to look at every part of my day to know this is where I need to be and when otherwise, it's so easy to get sidetracked and siderailed and distracted and you forget things and that's not building a business that's kind of playing with the hobby.

Conny Graf
Yeah. So we both have a business and we know distractions can suck the hell out of us and building a business is hard needs a lot of energy focus and everything,, so how do you balance that with your daughter, you said you have a daughter right, and with your family. How can you balance that? That whole work life balance that some people say doesn't exist and others insists it exists. So, what is your take on that?

Sarah Rose
It's a constant focus, shall we say, of managing the two, because when I'm with my daughter I feel like I should be working when am I working I feel like I should be with my daughter and so it's literally building that time into your calendar to say this is my time in the office and this is my time to play with her. And I have been really good about this is when I check out from work I don't put any more appointments after this time, and that's my time to go and we read Harry Potter and we watch movies, we play Legos, we go for a walk, get together with friends.

And just like Eckhart Tolle talks about in his book The Power of Now just really be mindful about being present in that moment wherever you are. You're supposed to be in that moment for a reason. And when you can just tap into the presentness of being there, that's where all the good stuff happens. It's sometimes hard, and it's sometimes easier said than done but block out blocks in terms of time of when you need to show up, and where.

Conny Graf
Yeah, I'm just reading the book called Indistractable by Nir Eyal and he says about how he was with his daughter, but at the same time checking his cell phone and so he wasn't present and then missed magical moments with his daughter. It's so interesting how we actually only have the now and we're still either in the past, or iin the future. When we're with our family we're at with our head in the business and when we should be working we most likely, or sometimes get distracted and our with our thoughts somewhere else too. So yeah being present and planning what you want to do and then being present with it that's one way how you can get the balance.

Sarah Rose
For sure. It's easy to just coast, and just hop from one to the other, to the other to the other and then you're not really anywhere. And that's when you just kind of have to check back in with yourself and be like, Alright let's revamp this strategy because it's just not going anywhere. I feel like I'm a horrible mother, I feel like I'm a horrible business person, business woman, I feel like I'm a horrible wife, and all of a sudden everything seems like it's falling apart. So that's going to be like burnout and self sabotage so you know when you block out these times of where you need to be in when it just saves so much headache and headspace, that's the other thing right.

Conny Graf
Yeah, I totally agree so where can people find you if they wanted to know more, like if the got intrigued by what you were talking about they wanted to come check you out. So you said Instagram so what's your handle on Instagram.

Sarah Rose
I'm on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn YouTube Pinterest and my website, it's the same across the board is Sarah with an H, Rose like the flower global so www.sarahroseglobal.com. I'm on Instagram @Sarahroseglobal so ja, just come in my inbox, it's open all the time I'm there to answer questions I love connecting with other female entrepreneurs and helping you get on your path with some amazing strategies.

Conny Graf
Yeah. Amazing. Do you have any last wisdom or tips that you still want to get across like something that we didn't touch on yet that you're desperate to get out.

Sarah Rose
Yeah, you know I think looking back I tried so hard for years to DIY my business thinking I could just go to YouTube university, I could piece all the dots together, the puzzle pieces together, and I was downloading every free masterclass and every free ebook and looking for the clues and the answers and it just wasn't coming fast enough. I think just looking back that's my number one tip would be hiring a business coach, because it will save you years, and hours of frustration and even money.

Trying to invest in different tools and learning different platforms,and then you're like, wait, I don't think this is the right thing, and then you have to go back and do it all over again. I just think it's really critical and important if you're looking to start or scale a business that you get help and it's okay if you don't have a background in marketing or strategy and you don't really know the next steps to take. It's okay to ask for help. And I wish I'd done that faster I would, I would have gotten so much further, faster, but we are where we are and it's all good now.

Conny Graf
Yeah, I think there's that stigma that .... like every sports person for sure they need a coach but the minute we're starting a business we're thinking oh no we can do that all by ourselves and I don't know why we think that. ourselves.

So yeah I really love that last tip. Awesome, well so thank you so much Sarah for being on a podcast. I hope we inspired the listeners that they actually do start strategically planning so thanks again Sarah.

Sarah Rose
Thank you so much

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