Is it ever a good idea to work for free? Many entrepreneurs wouldn’t consider it, especially after being in business for years, but this CEO makes a solid case for why selective pro bono work pays off - sometimes more than you would have even netted from charging for the original service. Tracy Marlowe, founder of marketing agency Creative Noggin, has consistently taken on 1-2 pro bono projects a year. In today’s case study, Tracy details how she’s made MILLIONS of dollars in ROI over the years ...
Aug 12, 2024•54 min•Ep. 259
This bonus episode on securing brag-worthy bylines pairs perfectly with Monday's case study on creating viral content for major publications using AI. Ericka Andersen - founder of Pitch and Publish Writing Co. - walks us through exactly how to pitch and get paid by media outlets to write content for them in your area of expertise or interest. Ericka makes six figures a year doing exactly this! Ericka gives us the insider scoop on how to pitch the right person, why it's important to have a strong...
Aug 07, 2024•35 min
Just in time for the release of the new Deadpool & Wolverine movie, you’ll love the story of how our guest caught the attention of Entrepreneur Magazine with a Wolverine costume and has since built a 9 years-strong content partnership with their publication. Ben Angel is an award-winning and bestselling author, entrepreneur, and influencer with over two decades of experience leveraging emerging technologies for competitive advantage, including AI. In today’s case study, Ben gives us his behi...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 258
Our Q2 2024 review is here! These quarterly review episodes contribute to our mission of creating financially transparent content - sharing what's working in our business, what we've learned, and what we're celebrating. For more in-depth, behind the business case study episodes from within our business, check out the C-Suite: https://ellenyin.com/csuite View the transcript for this episode at: https://otter.ai/u/OUJFnhtmBbrs2sbaBPXL6ZGQjOU?utm_source=copy_url Thank you to our sponsors! Learn how...
Jul 29, 2024•41 min•Ep. 257
Today’s case study embraces experimentation on several fronts - new audience, new content platform, and new offer. Seasoned online business owner and mentor to digital freelancers, Amy Posner, wanted to expand her audience beyond copywriters, so she got on LinkedIn, a platform she wasn’t active on previously, and tested a daily content strategy to build trust with a new audience of creative freelancers. Within 6 months, Amy had attracted 708 LinkedIn followers and added 414 people to her email l...
Jul 22, 2024•48 min•Ep. 256
We’re rounding up our 8 best tips and guest insights on all things hiring, from pre-hiring essentials, to successful delegation, to finding the right people to bring on your team. I’ll introduce each sound bite with the name of the guest and the original episode number, in case you want to go back and listen to the full interview. All referenced episodes will also be linked for you in the show notes below for easy access. View the transcript for this episode at: https://otter.ai/u/STlBAzdKb67YsL...
Jul 15, 2024•55 min•Ep. 255
The media tends to portray women as over-spenders who are bad with money, causing Kickstart Accounting founder Danielle Hayden to notice that many of her new clients would come in asking “where can I cut back?” But Danielle, who runs a 7 figure bookkeeping and accounting agency, challenges that narrative by examining where women are actually underspending in their businesses in a way that is prohibitive to reaching their goals. In this case study, we dissect how Danielle is spending $113,223 on ...
Jul 08, 2024•56 min•Ep. 254
A lot of expert-based online businesses and coaches start with 1:1 client services, myself included. But what happens when you’ve reached your capacity and want to transition from a one-to-one to one-to many business model? Dani Marenburg of Mindin’ My Macros successfully restructured her 1:1 service into a scalable offer suite that 2Xed her revenue in just one year! In today’s case study, we go through Dani’s process of shifting her individual client work into scalable programs, which halved he...
Jul 01, 2024•57 min•Ep. 253
When you start a business, you wear all the hats - everything from operations to accounting to marketing to customer service. Eventually, you become your own roadblock to growth - so how do you get out of the weeds and hire the right people to join your team? To answer this question, we’re joined by Emily Reagan, founder of the Unicorn Digital Marketing Assistant School, a program training women to become successful freelance marketing assistants and specialists every online business owner wants...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 252
If you’re a longtime listener, you know getting in front of borrowed traffic is our favorite audience growth strategy, and today’s case study on hosting roundtables affirms why. Women’s leadership expert and founder of Safi Media, Eleanor Beaton, has successfully hosted 14 roundtables since Q4 2021, inviting aligned speakers to join her for hot button conversations and growing her email list by 2655 highly vetted subscribers in the process. The roundtables may be free to attend, but they have co...
Jun 17, 2024•58 min•Ep. 251
Want to weed out the freebie seekers in your next launch? Try this pre-launch strategy on for size. Kelsey McCormick, founder of Coming Up Roses, knows that launch strategies are ever evolving, so she’s tested MULTIPLE top-of-funnel approaches ranging from challenges to workshops to quizzes. But she recently discovered that the best way to get intentional buyers for her $1500 program was to identify the people in her community who were serious about the transformation she offered AND had buying ...
Jun 10, 2024•45 min•Ep. 250
You may be overcomplicating your launches… While in the midst of a health scare juggling appointments, surgeries, and literally being unable to speak for periods of time, list-building expert and business matchmaker Linda Sidhu still pulled off a $330K launch. She didn’t use any of the traditional methods during her launch to promote her offer, like ads, webinars, social media posts, or email blasts. All of her new buyers were referred by her network of clients, peers, and mentors. Linda is a te...
Jun 03, 2024•51 min•Ep. 249
I was recently crowned Mrs. Oregon America! Curious what led me to compete in (and win) my first pageant? Many of you have been witness to my personal growth as a founder over the last 6 years, so in line with our usual practice of building in public, I’m sharing my experience as Mrs. Oregon America so far and how I plan to use my role to further our mission of championing women entrepreneurs. View the transcript for this episode at: https://otter.ai/u/wzwYJr0dRqg1W0bOgw03ufS7WG0?utm_source=copy...
May 27, 2024•48 min•Ep. 248
As humans, we are subconsciously attracted to or trusting of things that feel familiar. Today’s case study examines how executive assistant Kiri Mohan, who also doubles as a coach for freelancers who work corporate jobs, used this to her advantage to double her revenue in one year - all while working 25 hours a week as a solopreneur. By implementing a simple reflection framework, Kiri studied the brand colors, imagery, copy, social media, and website of her ideal clients, and started reflecting ...
May 20, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 247
Debt - especially personal or consumer debt - feels like a monster most people prefer to shove in a closet, so we’re grateful to get a rare and financially vulnerable testimony of what managing and paying off debt as an entrepreneur actually looks like from our guest, Taylor Aller. Despite making 6-figures as a multi-passionate registered massage therapist, educator and consultant, Taylor didn’t feel like her finances were in a comfortable place. After taking a deep dive into her and her husband...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 246
ManyChat has entered the chat in a big way over the last few years, so we’re bringing you a practical case study from an entrepreneur who has successfully leveraged this to skyrocket her post engagement and sales. Video marketing strategist, Keenya Kelly, started using ManyChat in 2020 to gather leads and convert them into paying customers. Her strategy has led to 18% conversion rates and over $15,000 in revenue in the last 60 days alone! Keenya walks us through each step of her chatbot automati...
May 06, 2024•48 min•Ep. 245
If you are a longtime listener of our show, then you’re probably used to hearing our quarterly income reports, but this year we’re testing quarterly reviews instead! Don’t worry, you’ll still get access to new income report episodes, just on an annual basis instead. It's very important to us to continue to create financially transparent content, and we are very proud of the advocacy work we've done over the last five years to contribute to that mission. With these quarterly reviews we will share...
Apr 29, 2024•37 min•Ep. 244
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2Not clickbait! I recently went through a formal valuation process for my business to see what it’s actually worth, and whether selling (now or in the future) would make sense for its continued growth.Listen to the full episode on our private podcast, exclusive to C-Suite members! Become a part of the suite life when you join The C-Suite...
Apr 24, 2024•6 min
Are you misallocating your company’s resources on a product that’s stunting your growth? Today’s case study investigates this dilemma. Michelle Razavi, CEO and co-founder of the gut-friendly food company, Elavi, recently faced this roadblock head on. After successfully launching the company in 2020 with collagen protein bars, she made the tough decision to cut this entire product line - giving up $100,000 in guaranteed revenue in the process - in favor of going all-in on their new (and more prom...
Apr 22, 2024•53 min•Ep. 243
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 We’re rounding up our 7 best tips and guest insights on all things email marketing, from reducing unsubscribes to maximizing conversions. I’ll introduce each sound bite with the name of the guest and the original episode number, in case you want to go back and listen to the full interview. All referenced episodes will also be linked fo...
Apr 15, 2024•39 min•Ep. 242
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2I sold out my brand partnerships retreat in 7 days… but trust me this launch was anything but smooth sailing. Hear how my waitlist responded to this offer going live and how I filled up all 11 spots in a week in this behind the business episode!Listen to the full episode on our private podcast, exclusive to C-Suite members! Become a par...
Apr 10, 2024•4 min
Want to create your own branded app? Try Passion.io for free: https://passion.io/saas-free-trial?_go=ellen26 Recent studies show the average person spends 2 hours and 23 minutes a day on social media platforms, so imagine the power of capturing even a fraction of your dream customer’s screen time and diverting them from mindlessly scrolling to engaging with your business by turning your content into an off-social, destination experience. In early 2022, Megan Sumrell, time management expert and f...
Apr 08, 2024•52 min•Ep. 241
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 To close out women’s history month, we’re chatting with two trailblazers disrupting the publishing industry. Lauren Kleinman and Lee Joselowitz are the co-founders of The Quality Edit (TQE), a modern media company at the intersection of content, curation, and conversion. After working with big name publishers like Buzzfeed in their pre...
Apr 01, 2024•52 min•Ep. 240
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 Is it possible to have a 100% conversion rate? Marketing strategist Sophia Parra’s case study today proves that with a well-timed nurture event, yes. Sophia started hosting Q&A text parties with her audience last year and found that over the course of one year, all but one participant converted into paying customers. The best part?...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 239
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2Develop Your Entrepreneurial Mindset with a Master’s in Entrepreneurship at CU Denver! Take the next step in your career today by going to https://jakejabscenter.org/cubicletoceo/Watch a recap of our visit to The Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship:https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3-5i03JmFY/?igsh=MW40cXpjYm5sOHVqMAEllen is on campus a...
Mar 20, 2024•1 hr 1 min
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 Our show recently made its debut at SXSW week in Austin, Texas with a live podcast recording at the Cherub pop-up shop! Cherub, one of the companies I angel invested in, is a platform connecting founders with funders. If you’re interested in angel investing or you’re a founder who is seeking capital and wants to plug into a network of ...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 238
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 We’re rounding up our 9 best tips and guest insights on all things podcasting - from growing your own show to maximizing your results from guesting on other people’s podcasts! I’ll introduce each soundbite with the name of the guest and the original episode number, in case you want to go back and listen to the full conversation. All re...
Mar 11, 2024•36 min•Ep. 237
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 We’re switching things up and putting Ellen in the hot seat today! Listen to her guest interview on Season 1 of Honeybook’s Independent Business Podcast, the show that uncovers the science of self-made success. In this conversation with our friend Natalie Franke, we get into the science of asking good questions that get responses and g...
Mar 04, 2024•36 min•Ep. 236
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 According to CBS, 45% of women earn the same or more than their male spouses, almost triple the number from the 1970s. Of this group, 16% are the breadwinner in their family. What’s it like to navigate these changes while fighting outdated societal standards? I wanted to investigate. And while I recognize that no single person or coupl...
Feb 26, 2024•59 min•Ep. 235
You don't need to break the bank to boost your business! Check out the 33 FREE resources available to you in Freebie Fest Vol.2: http://ellenyin.com/freebiefestv2 Curious what it’s like to bring your ads in-house? Today’s case study gives you an inside look at the numbers and ads management process of a non-ads agency business spending more than $1 million yearly on Meta (aka Facebook & Instagram) ad campaigns. Again, these are their own campaigns and dollars, not ad spend for clients. After...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 234
