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Here’s a sneak peek inside my interview with Gretchen:
You have a background in marketing and advertising, but what got you interested in digital marketing and starting your own business?
I feel like I was bit by the entrepreneurial bug when I was young. I think I remember selling candy in elementary school, then I started my own business making earrings out of buttons. From there, I got into reselling items I found at thrift stores…I was always doing something, always forming a business, always trying my hand at different things that I was interested in…I feel like I always knew I wanted to have my own business.
I ended up in mobile advertising right out of college and worked at AOL until I got laid off.
It’s a gut punch anytime you get laid off, especially when it’s not from your own performance work. It hurts.
When I got into online and podcast advertising, I realized I had to figure out something to do for myself — I work from home all the time now and didn’t want to go back to a full-time job or go back to the office — no way!
Sometimes you just have to take a risk!
What got you interested in Advisori Insiders Pro?
I don’t even know how I stumbled across it, but I saw the ad and just felt like you were speaking directly to me. I felt like it was exactly what I needed.
Even though I’ve had experience starting things from the ground up — and I know I can do the work with paid ads and consulting — I didn’t know how to do the back-end things. I didn’t know how to start an LLC, how to do the accounting, how to get your EIN number — all of those things.
There’s so much information online that I could’ve tried to piece together, but I knew I would much rather have learned from somebody who’s already done it. I was back and forth with making the decision, trying to figure out if I should do it, but sometimes you just have to take a risk and I don’t regret it at all.
You started the program about a year and a half ago. How has your experience been?
It’s been great. I feel like it really added to the knowledge and experience I already had — Advisori Insiders Pro just took me to the next level and also provided a community that I could be a part of. It’s so great to have other people to bounce ideas off of, ask questions, and get feedback from.
I feel like that’s really the most valuable part to me because not only do you get to help others through the process but then you have that community as a resource to help you whenever you’re having an issue or even to celebrate your achievements with — if I did it on my own I wouldn’t have that.
Where are you at in your business now?
I’m almost at the point where I’m matching my full-time salary. Even though that was the point of getting in the Advisori Insiders Pro program, I just never thought I would get there. It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses the whole time, I‘ve had my share of mindset issues I’ve had to work on, but now I’m at that point where I’m getting a lot more clients and more people are randomly reaching out to me.
If someone was on the fence about joining the Advisori Insiders Pro program, what would you tell them?
I would tell them to do it – just do it. There’s so much information online and in Facebook groups for you to try to decipher what’s right and piece together the right steps, but that could hold you back from actually even taking a step.
So if you want someone to show you the way and give you the tools that can help you build the foundation of your business, you should join the program.
If you’re looking for a community of other people — where it really is community over competition — so you don’t have to go through this alone, you should join the program.
You really get that foundation, that base — and a lot of people who don’t even have any marketing experience have seen great success in the program, so it gives you that business base along with the community as well.
All those little steps add up. You might not be in the same place as others, but you’re still moving forward and that’s better than not taking any steps at all.
What advice would you give someone who is starting a business and going through some of those mindset hurdles that you went through?
Like you had us do in your manifestation challenge, write down your specific goals.
If your mindset isn’t there, or it isn’t where you want it to be, refer back to those goals. Refer back to why you’re here and why you’re doing this.
Taking a baby step, even if it’s a small step, is still a step forward.
When your mindset isn’t there and you start saying things like, “Why am I doing this? I shouldn’t do it. I’m not going to reach out. I’m not going to cold email, I’m not going to be in the Facebook groups because it’s not working…” you need to remember that not doing anything is not helping you get closer to your goals.
So refer back to those goals, the reasons why you decided to join the program, the goals you set for yourself every year, and then continue to take baby steps.
Whether it’s just working on your social posts for your business or spending an hour in the Facebook group, that’s something you’re putting towards your dream every single day.
All those little steps add up. You might not be in the same place as others, but you’re still moving forward and that’s better than not taking any steps at all.
Besides Advisori Insiders Pro, have you made any other investments in your business?
One of my degrees is in graphic design, so I was easily able to make my own website and do all of my own branding, but copywriting is not my jam.
So I invested in a copywriter to help me tweak my landing page and invested in a photographer as well.
I’ve also made other investments in networking and referral groups, and this year invested in Successful Solopreneur School.
What’s your game plan? What do you want to be doing in six months?
My main goal is to grow my business, but I feel like the most important goal for me is to prioritize balance.
I don’t have one of those full-time jobs where I hate it and I’m ready to leave – I really enjoy podcast advertising – so I want to figure out how I can have that balance where I’m still growing my personal business and working my full-time job because I want it to be my choice if I go full-time in my business or not.
Connect with Gretchen
- Website: millingtonandgeorge.com
- Facebook: @millingtonandgeorge
- Instagram: @millingtonandgeorge
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