Business strategist Holly Haynes reveals income-stacking strategies for entrepreneurs

Akua: One thing that we need to remember as business owners is that being busy doesn’t necessarily lead to more revenue in your business. If you want to grow sustainably, we need to be more strategic with how we spend our time, the services that we offer, and how to price them in a way that’s going to grow our business.

Business strategist Holly Haynes joins us on the show to talk about how we can create more profit in our business using income stacking strategies. This conversation is pure gold with key ways to help you work with what you have to create more profit in your business. Now, if you are ready to make more money, which I know I am, then this episode is for you.

Now let’s get into it. Hey everyone. This is your host Akua Kanadu and you’re listening to the independent business podcast. More people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs.

And creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Hello. Hello, 

Holly: Holly. How are we doing today? I’m so good. I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. 

Akua: Oh my gosh, we are excited. Um, you know, I think this is something pricing number one as business owners is something that’s really difficult to figure out. Like every single time I revisit my prices, I always like twitch, right?

It’s so needed, but it’s like, it’s so hard. So important, obviously as a business owner, but it’s not an easy thing to do or revisit. So I’m really excited that you’re here. Um, so thank you. Yeah, I’m excited too. Yes. And so one thing that, you know, I we always hear in entrepreneurship is like, busyness is isn’t a badge of honor, right?

And like I think of a time as business owners, we find ourselves busy, but are we busy to where it’s. moving us forward in our business. And so I wanted to ask you, have you found yourself in times of busy where it just really didn’t equate to the money that you were bringing in your business? And so what did that look like?

Holly: Yeah, that’s a great question. So my, well, let me go back a little bit. So I have a 22 year corporate strategy background and I feel like I’m 45. So I was taught like, okay, girl, well, you look good, honey. Okay. Let me just stop real quick. I was like, Oh, 45. Okay. Almost 46. I feel like when I went to business school and got my master’s degree and all the things like you were basically taught, like the harder you worked, the more success you had.

You would have. And so it’s like very ingrained in me and it’s very ingrained in our culture. And I think we’re just now like starting to see a little bit of a shift. And so when I transitioned to entrepreneurship, like my whole goal, and I think a lot of our goals is, well, I don’t want to work 70 hour work weeks.

Like I want the time freedom. Right. But then what happens is, is you get in this like. Oh, I need to do these 17 things. We were just talking about launching like before this. And then all of a sudden your days are like 20 hour days. And you’re like, wait, this is not, this is not what I wanted. And so one of the things that I teach is to create capacity in your day and in your weeks.

And what that looks like is I have found that when you can create just a little bit of white space. It might be walking on the treadmill without your phone. That’s what my white space was yesterday. Like, can you go downstairs to the basement without your phone workout? Like what comes up for you? And so I think for me, like, it’s not a specific example, but like, as I exited corporate, I had to create the time to like, Feel the feelings really because I think a lot of times we like work more to cover things up I don’t know what your human design is I’m an Enneagram three I could totally get into all of that all of that But like I like to work work feels good to me.

I’ve been programmed that if I work more I’m going to do better and I think what I found was the more capacity White space I could create, whether through walking on the treadmill, going on vacation, like having lunch with friends, the better ideas I got, and the more passionate I was about what I was doing.

And I was actually talking about this to my clients, some of my clients yesterday, and I was like, you know, I can teach you strategy until I’m like blue in the face. But if you aren’t excited about it and you aren’t like aligned with what you’re doing like you can work and work and work And it’s not gonna work because people are gonna feel it.

They’re gonna see it. And so I think there’s like this I don’t like the word balance, but almost like a mix of figuring out like what you’re really excited about, but then sort of allowing yourself to have some white space in your schedule, whether it’s an hour a day or like a Sunday off social media, like whatever that might look like so that you can allow yourself to feel the feelings and like really think about, Oh, what do I really want to be doing?

And like, What’s happening. So not a specific example, but I think answered your question. 

Akua: Yeah. But I think that’s so good though. Like creating that space, that white space to feel all the feelings, because a lot of the times we find ourself just, especially in those, uh, busy season, busier seasons of our business, where we’re just constantly go, go, go, go, go.

And creating that space to actually really check in with yourself of like, do I actually really like what I’m doing or why am I doing this? I think is so key. And I’m like, Just thinking in my mind, I’m like, yeah, I’m guilty of that. Well, I don’t know. 

Holly: I mean, one of my goals is to like move my body. Like I always say, if you feel better, you do better, but it’s like, okay, well, does it count if I’m like answering 17 emails while I’m doing, you know, walking on the treadmill?

Like, I don’t really think that was the intention here. So I think it’s kind of like being present where you’re at, but also just making sure. That you’re, you know, slowing down to speed up kind of. 

Akua: Yes, that’s such a good point. Slowing down to speed up because I think that’s just so important as business owners.

And I think that constant, just introspection. I don’t even know if that’s a word. I hope so. It just costs it, you know, just really just like it, like, just like, Taking a look inward and really just checking in with yourself consistently. You know what I mean? And doing whatever you can, that’s really going to fuel you and bring you joy.

Cause some of my best ideas, I say this all the time. It comes when I’m going on a walk. 

Holly: Yes. Comes the 

Akua: best time. Some of the best ideas I’ve ever had have come when I’m on a walk, just walking around the city, walking around at a park, wherever, and all of a sudden I’m like, Oh my gosh, I got to whip out my phone really quick and put this idea in before I forget.

And the feeling that you get when you just have a, like a brilliant idea, there’s no feeling like it’s the best. There’s no feeling like it. So I love that you shared that. I think it’s just such a good, good reminder for business owners. And so some of our listeners, they’re, you know, they’re thinking of like, okay, I’m busy where I’m at, but some of us are facing much slower seasons, right?

So in those types of slower seasons, like what advice do you have for business owners during that time? 

Holly: Yeah, that’s a great question. So I actually have like two pillars that I sort of follow. So the first pillar is, Everyone has a slow season. Everything is cyclical. Like everything that’s slow is going to speed up again.

Like it’s just the way the world works and like every category. And without getting like political or digging into economic data, like if you look at what’s happening now, it will come back, it will slow down. It will come back, it will slow down. And so my first sort of piece of advice is to just. Look at the big picture and just acknowledge like, Hey, we’re in the season.

Then my second piece of advice, I’ll tell you what to do. But the thing that I would do is what is your big picture, right? So instead of thinking of weekly or monthly, like, what is that bigger plan? So one of the things you and I were talking about was launching a course. Maybe you pick a month that you’re going to do it and we’re like, well, what’s the right date?

I don’t know. Well, I don’t know the answer to that, right? Like nobody does. And so it’s like, you got to pick it. You got to stick with it. Yeah. And you got to see what happens. So it’s kind of like, put it out there, pivot, put it out there, pivot. But I also like to think of building a business as in it’s not this month.

It’s, can you do what you’re doing for the next five years? So you were saying that you’ve been the host of this podcast for a year and a half. It sounds like you really love it. Like, could you do it for the next five years? Sure. Like that sounds great. So it’s like really thinking about like, can I build a product suite and can I build, you know, if you’re a product or service, something that’s going to last for like three to five years and not necessarily like, Just this season.

The other thing that I like to look at is data. So, we talked a little bit about this in a previous example, but like, I would call it a look back analysis. So, if you look back to, let’s say, last season at this time, What was happening? Typically the slow seasons are at the same time. Typically the faster seasons are at the same time.

So if you launch something, let’s say last January and it did really well, maybe that’s something that you want to repeat again. Or if you’re in a slow season, maybe it’s time like, okay, this isn’t my longterm plan, but I’m going to get creative. I’m going to do something like a pop up sale or something to like, you know, increase engagement or.

I’m going to hold a networking event to just grow my audience so that when I am ready and really thinking about like, well, what happened before? What can I keep doing? That’s working well. And then if it didn’t work well, like stop doing it. Right. So it’s, it kind of goes back to slowing down to speed up is let’s pay attention to what’s going on in the industry.

What’s happening in our world. Is it slowing down? Is it speeding up? And then using that data to adjust. 

Akua: I love that. That’s such a, such a good reminder as business owners of just like really that checking and leveraging that data. Um, because no matter or not, whether we’re keeping track, like whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re all like, there’s data all around us in our business.

And that was something for me from when I first started, right. You’re just trying to go, go, go, go, go. I feel like literally I’ve been. Full time, like a business owner for this was my fifth year. But I remember like within the least, like first two years, I never really looked at data or anything.

Everything was just off of gut. Everything. 

Holly: And I think you can go off of gut, but also like, even if you’re new, like, look at Amazon, like there’s a reason that Amazon does Amazon prime in July, it’s their slowest month of sales. Like, I think I just read that McDonald’s had their like slow, I mean, what is McDonald’s like a billion.

bajillion dollar brand. They just had their slowest month ever. So if you pay attention to like some of the bigger businesses, you can be like, okay, what I’m feeling is maybe normal, maybe not. How can I adjust? And then you can adjust and, you know, hopefully make it one of your better months. 

Akua: 1000%. And I think a lot of times too, in our slower seasons, we, it’s, it’s.

You feel just like your confidence just really take a hit, you know what I mean? And I think a lot of us naturally feel that way. We feel like we’re not good enough as business owners. Like, what are we doing wrong? And stuff like that. Even if we know that it’s coming, it can still be a little bit hard.

And I think, you know, I think it’s obviously truly it’s rooted in because we have our worth tied to our work. And so for you, have you, like, obviously if you experienced that, like, how are you navigating that as a business owner of like, Hey, I have these really good high highs and sometimes I have these low lows, but how are you grounding yourself and moving forward within that?

Holly: Yeah, so I mean if you talk to my husband He will tell you that I like live and die with like every email like still to this day I’m like, oh my gosh, like sally just responded or Whatever that looks like so I definitely tie myself to my results I think it’s really hard not to even though you hear everyone say like oh like You know, my advice is you can control your actions.

You can’t control the outcomes, but like, you really want to control the outcomes. Um, the other thing that I try to think about is when you’re in a slower season or maybe your confidence is down is like, Check yourself of like, who are you surrounding yourself by? So one, like get in a room with some really inspiring people.

Cause they’re going to inspire you. Listen to podcasts like this, realize that like, you’re not the only one going through it. But two, I always say. You know building trust is something that you need to do as a business owner to create sales, right? So you’re feeling Maybe not as confident in your selling or you’re feeling like oh i’m a little behind Look at what relationships you’re forming.

So are you, you know, just connecting with other business owners? Are you networking? Are you talking about your business just in a normal everyday chat? Like you’re not selling, but you’re creating relationships. And one of the things that we started doing this summer was. Once a week we send out, I call it a, a client spotlight or a partnership email.

And all we’re doing is like highlighting other business owners. And it’s been so fun because I’m not selling anything. I’m sharing like success stories from other people who are in our community or in our clients. And we’ve gotten like so much interaction through it that it’s really helped just create some momentum.

Um, at the time of this recording, the Olympics are going on and some mobiles, just one. I can’t remember like a silver medal, but her woman from Brazil won the gold medal. And it was like this amazing moment where they were like all cheering each other on. It didn’t matter if they were like in first or second or third place.

And so I would try to think of your like, business sphere like that of like, how are you helping other business owners? Cause they’re going to remember that when something comes up and they think of you and then how are you celebrating other business owners and just putting yourself in the rooms where you’re just having conversations.

Akua: Yes, I love that so much because when you’re putting yourself in the rooms where those conversations are being had, it can lead to incredible, incredible opportunities that you wouldn’t have had unless you were connecting, networking, building those authentic and genuine relationships. And I truly wouldn’t have the business that I have today if it wasn’t for like, The community, right?

And so I even just think of right now, currently, like I’m in an Instagram challenge and we’re posting every day for 30 days. And when you have people that are doing it with you rallying, like we have all been consistent. Now I missed a day yesterday, however, right. They all said. Hey, Akua, it’s okay. Like get back up, brush yourself off and keep going.

And I was like, right. So like, I already prepared my posting that’s scheduled, ready to go out. You know what I mean? Because like, that’s entrepreneurship. You’re going to fall sometimes, but it’s like, are you going to be able to get back up and keep moving forward? And what’s even better is that when you have people that are there to continuously cheer you on and inspire you, so I do, I love that.

Like get in the room of people. I always say to you, like, um, Not me, but I’ve always heard this quote and it’s been sticking with me now to where even from a networking perspective, I wanted to like, it makes me more eager to connect with people of like, I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room.

You know what I mean? Like, now that I’ve actually really been thinking that and connecting with different people, I’m like, truly you learned. So like in. Like you learn just in so many different innovative ways that you just never could have thought of and when you’re in a room With people that are just so different from you or like doing what you want to do Like, you know where you see them and you’re like I want to do what they’re doing Yeah, right.

And so I love that so much. That’s such such good advice and so let’s talk about more so of you know, just like Pricing and our services and whatnot. I think a lot of us as business owners, I mean, I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of it, but it’s still like a very uncomfortable thing as really, like, it’s not something I ever feel good about.

And I think it’s because of our relationship with money. And I think for myself, I’m still like really deconstructing my relationship with money, still working on that. And like, I love money. I’m like, yeah, take it. But you know what I mean? Sometimes like I can feel little moments where like, I feel guilty and I know that there’s other business owners that feel guilty of getting paid.

Like, you know what I mean? And just, or feel totally. Wide array, like array of emotions in regards to money. And so what are some ways that we can work on our mindset with money? Any advice that you have on that? 

Holly: Yeah. So, I mean, I think mindset with money is probably the biggest thing, but one of the things that I still might tell my clients is.

Students really is the price is the price. So whenever you come up with the price, like you got to set a boundary and you got to know, and I’ll tell you like ways that you can come up with it, but like you came up with this for a reason. So there’s no, unless you’re having like a sale and you’ve like thoughtfully thought through it, like there’s no, like, I’m going to give this person 50 percent off, or I’m going to give this person for free.

Cause she’s my friend. Like, don’t, we don’t do that. Because the price is the price. We came up with the price for a reason. And I, I feel like whatever the price, if somebody is giving you their credit card and they’re invested in it, they’re valuing your time. And so there’s this like currency that happens, which is like a little more of the woo side of like, okay, I’m really, I sh I am really excited.

to invest in this. And I’m really excited for Holly to help me. And I, on the other hand, I’m like really excited that this person invested. And so we feel better about it as opposed to like, Oh, I’ll just give it for you to free. And we’ll see what happens. Like, it’s just a different vibe. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t give things away for free, but there should be some thought that goes behind it.

So one of the exercises that I like to do, and I usually do this a couple of times a year is I think about, okay, how many hours do I want to work A year. So like figure out how many hours you want to work a week, ideally and how many hours you want to work a year. And then think about what’s the ideal salary that I want to make.

Right. And this is just like, we’re baselining it. So let’s just pretend that comes out to like an hourly rate of 500 an hour. That does not mean that you’re charging everyone 500 an hour. But what it means is when you’re giving away your time, you’re giving away 500, right? So it’s just like a different way of thinking about it.

Like. You know, I was so excited to be on this podcast to me. That’s worth it. Right? Like that’s worth giving away my time, but is it worth giving away your time to somebody who’s like not invested in learning and you’re just like giving your time and hoping that they’re going to follow along. And so for me, it’s like a really great exercise to be like, okay, well, this is what my time.

Is truly worth. And then I think when it comes to pricing, the way that we’ve done it in our business is, you know, if you’re newer in business, you have to start somewhere. And I think you either start with like super low ticket where you’re just trying to get people in the door and you’re trying to learn and you’re building an audience and you’re using that data to ultimately build a product suite that makes sense for you.

So you’re, you’re using it as data, kind of like we talked about at the beginning, or what we did was super high. Hi ticket, right? Like I was working in corporate, I didn’t have a lot of time. I was like, I don’t have time to listen to a course. So I’m not going to teach a course that doesn’t make sense. I’m going straight into hosting a mastermind because I’m going to use my corporate strategy background and we’re just going to like dig right in.

So in this case, I looked at, well, how much time do I have? What are my goals? And for me, I had a very small audience cause I was just getting started. So like, Selling five people a 50 course was not going to hit any of my goals. So I’m like, okay, let’s, let’s do it backwards. So you, you kind of have to line up like how much time do you have?

What are your goals? What makes the most sense for you? And I think that’s where people get lost because they’re like, well, you know, Beyonce just launched this, uh, 27 pop up thing. I should do that too. But in my scenario, I was working full time. I maybe had an hour a week, like, I didn’t have time to do that.

And I didn’t have the audience. And so you have to really think about how much time do you have, what’s your goal and what’s the best way to make those come together. And then once you have that and you figure out your sort of one thing, we talked about having a long term strategy. I like to think about how can you help people from a beginner, intermediate and advanced perspective.

level. So I’m teaching you like business strategy in five minutes. But what I like to think about is, so for me, I started with a mastermind. That’s like very advanced. So once I did that, I was like, okay, now I have a little bit more time. I’m hitting some of my income goals. If people can’t afford a mastermind, let’s create something at a beginner level.

So it’s a stepping stone. So you can, you know, whatever spectrum you start on, maybe you start at the beginner level, you get that going. And then you’re like, okay, I’m ready for an advanced level. And now you have two things. And then eventually you have beginner, intermediate and advanced. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re.

You’re not teaching a hundred different things. You’re just giving different levels of access to what you do. So in this scenario, obviously a mastermind is, you know, you get a lot of one on one access. It’s very hands on. Our beginner level is a membership. I’m still teaching the same thing. I’m teaching this concept, but it’s a little bit different.

It’s in like a group format, or maybe you only get access to me once a month. And so you’re controlling your access based on how much time you have. And then your pricing. Your products or services based on how much time you’re giving to other people. So one on one obviously would be, or customized.

Something would be more expensive as opposed to like do it yourself. If you’re a service based business, it’s like done for you. More expensive, high level DIY, where I give you the templates, less expensive. So you can see most people have a beginning, intermediate and advanced. level that they can work through.

Akua: Oh my gosh. Okay. So I had two additional questions, but you literally answered it because I was even like, okay, so for business owners that are like. I don’t know what kind of product you’re like, do I want to do a course or a mastermind or whatever? And I’m like, Oh my gosh, that makes total sense. Even of like, okay, you decided to start a mastermind because of your goals, where you were at the time that you had.

And so I just want to highlight that for business owners that if you’re trying to decide of like what type of service that you would like to provide, really look at those things, the goals, how much time do you have? Pricing? Like what’s your salary? Like all of these things are connected together in order to not Figure like to figure out the service and figure out what you want to price it at.

And I think that’s so good because I’m like, when you are like, all right, this is like, my time is 500 an hour. You’re very intentional then with how you’re spending your time. You’re going to make sure then that the time that you’re spending in your business is generating revenue. And so, and I think when you look at it that way, you move so much differently.

You’re very, very intentional and much more conscientious of like, all right, this is exactly what my schedule is today because this is how much my time is worth. And that’s all I can give. And so I think that’s just. Such a key, key piece. So the 

Holly: other thing that I, I would think of is how do you consume things?

Cause I mentioned in my sort of rant of how I would do it, it’s super quickly. Like I, I’m really bad at consuming courses. I don’t. I just don’t do well at them. Like I buy them and they sit in my inbox. What I do consume are podcasts or a lot of times I’ll be like, I just want to hire somebody. I want you to tell me what to do and I’ll do it because I didn’t have like the luxury of time.

And so a lot of times I think we like to teach or we like to create products or services based on how we consume things. So I would look at your behavior. And how you consume things and most likely that will point you in the direction of okay Well, maybe I should create something like this because this is what’s helped me the most 

Akua: I Love that and I feel like that’s such a great perspective to look at it because a lot of the times which I do still Think is very very valuable where where?

We hear all the time, ask your target audience what they specifically want. And I feel like that’s still valuable, but I think you also need to look at yourself of like, because I think too, when you see how you consume things, it also makes it easier to create it. Yeah. Yeah. It makes it a lot easier to create it.

Like for me, I’m like, I also have on my list eventually an opt in where I will be doing a private podcast. Why? Because I, I podcast often, it’s my full time role now, right? And so I’m like, cause it’s easier for me to create. And my audience, they’re going to consume whatever I create, right? Cause they already know me.

They follow me. They trust me. Like those different types of things. And so I do think it’s a two way street, which I love the way that you like, look at how you consume things. But also, and obviously too, Take your target audience into account. We always have to, that’s a business one on one foundational piece, but I do think it’s so, so key to look at essentially how are you consuming, like how are you consuming your content?

Because then you’re putting yourself in your audience’s shoes in a, in a different kind of way, if that makes sense. Yeah. So we could do a whole episode on private podcasts, by the way, I love it. They’re so good. So yes, that is on my list of one of my things to do. But so essentially, is that how you’re viewing essentially like your income stacking strategies?

Is that currently how you’re doing it? Of what you just explained? 

Holly: So we basically have three levels, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. And again, it’s based on the level of access that you get to me. So our, like our membership is you get a little bit of access. Our intermediate is a program called anti social school and it’s an eight week program.

It’s like in person, well, virtual in person, but you get a little bit more access than the membership. And it’s like very focused. And then our advanced is the mastermind. And so what I do is I look at our quarter, going back to what we were talking about in terms of like capacity and what worked and what didn’t work.

And I say like, okay, what are my goals this quarter? Like, are we traveling as a family? What’s going on with, I have twins. What’s going on with my girl’s schedule? Um, do I have time to launch something? And then really thinking about like what product fits the best with our goals and our schedule. And then we sort of work towards launching that.

So we typically do like. One launch a quarter, maybe. But the nice thing is, is now we’ve created this like repeatable process where like, we’re getting ready to launch antisocial school again. It’s the seventh time we’ve launched it. Like we’re doing it a little bit differently based on what’s going on in the, you know, environment of the, the month.

Right. But it’s like, it’s not as hard if you are creating these repeatable processes where you’re doing it over and over again. And then it’s really cool because I feel like. From a client perspective, like that client experience is really, really important. And so if like the mastermind is your goal, but you’re like, well, I just, I can’t do that right now.

It’s like, okay, well, great. I’ve got this other option for you. And so then you can like grow with us. Like, and once people are in our world, they tend to stay in our world for like, I mean, I’ve been in business almost five years. So I, but I have clients that have been with me from the beginning because they’re like growing with me, or I have people that like join the mastermind and then they’re like, okay, I graduated the mastermind, but I really want to stay in your community.

So I’m just going to do the club for now. So I can like still like hang out and chat with everyone. And so it’s really cool to see how they all. Flow together, but give like different levels of access, depending on, you know, what our clients need and the, you know, the time that they have. Right. So it goes into their goals and how much time do they have, how much investment do they want to make and just really making those options available.

Akua: Oh my gosh. I love that so much. Cause I started similarly. I started, I have a high ticket offer. That’s been my main offer. Yeah. And now, which has been great, but now I’m actually going into now lower ticket offers, but I like, like I started the same way where I have hired, like you started with your mastermind and then you went down cause it was always told to me, like you start low and then go high.

And I was like, well, I really liked this product. I feel really passionate about it. So I’m going to start this way. But I think again, it just speaks to the fact of like, as a business owner, like really do what’s best for you and what works for you and what truly is aligned. So, yeah, cause I always felt guilty that I was like, Oh, I’m starting up here.

Holly: It’s really different for everyone. I mean, I have some clients that have like come from network marketing and they’ve got like a hundred thousand followers or something. So like a low thing for them would work great because they already have the following, but if you don’t have a following and you’re like me and you have like 10 people on your email list from high school, like selling a 27 course is just really not going to And so I think it’s like, again, you can’t copy and paste someone else’s business model.

Like there, there are things that you just have to really think about of like, what do I like to do? What are my goals? And then how do I serve my audience in a way where they can like continue to grow with me? 

Akua: Yes. And I think that’s such an important, important piece because I think a lot of us as business owners, like, of course we naturally, when we’re starting small, we decide to start at a smaller price point and I never did.

And I was still able to build a successful business. And so I, I just love that where how you just said, really take that time to really think about what’s going to work for you, because again, it’s like business is not a, a one size fits all. Like you really do have to look at your life bills that need to be paid.

You know what I mean? Um, what you have the time for, what do you enjoy doing? There’s so many different factors, but you know, really just. Taking that time and creating that white space so that you can really just check in with yourself and really figure that out. And so even with the price, the, the strategy, like you talked about early about just some of the repeatable processes that you have in place.

And so what are some of these processes that you have that have made it just to be able to launch once a quarter, just so easily? And I mean, obviously it’s work, but like, you know, just made the process at least a little bit more. 

Holly: So I would say the first thing, and I did not do this at the beginning of our business, and now I feel like we’re getting better at it, is I have a, what I call a quarterly and a monthly planning session.

And so every quarter, We sit down, it’s my husband and I, cause he helps us on the financial side. And I have an executive assistant and we sit down and we’re like, okay, what worked last quarter? What didn’t work last quarter? Like, how are we feeling? Like, and it just like helps us put into perspective of.

Okay, we’re just like slowing the airplane down and we’re gonna make sure that we’re like going in the right direction So that would be my number one focus if you don’t do a quarterly do it monthly um, I also do a monthly every monday morning my husband and I sit down and we go through like What’s happening for the week?

You can do it from a family, from business. We do both because I feel like it’s all just mixed together. But it’s like, okay, this is our number one goal for the week. This is what we’re focused on. This is why we’re focused on. And again, it just makes sure that like the plane is flying in the right direction and you’re not like going off track.

The other thing that I would say, and kind of goes back to what we were talking about, is just like looking at the data. So, like, you know, how many new people are on your email list? What’s your open rate? Like, what’s happening with your social media? Like, really paying attention to, Oh, wow, this, you know, content did really well, or this didn’t do as great.

And just paying attention to what people are thinking. And then again, it doesn’t mean that you do what they want all the time, but it’s like merging the two of like, These are our goals. This is what people are liking. Like, how do we. Sort of bring it together. So I would say those are probably the two biggest ones.

Um, it just, I think it’s just really important to be able to, again, if you’re like navigating this plane and like, they always say like entrepreneurship is like fixing it while you’re flying it. Like just pull off to the side of the road for a minute, pay attention to what’s happening and then come back.

And then based on that, we choose what we’re going to launch. And then the last couple of years, and you can do this, you know, After even your first launch, like document, what happened? Like we just did a pop up sale for, uh, July and after it was done, I opened a Google doc and I wrote down like, this is what we did.

This is how I felt afterwards. This was our outcome. So that next year. When we’re looking at the data and we’re like, okay, what did we do last year? What worked? Well, what didn’t I can go back to that document and be like, Oh, I remember this. Like this worked great, but like, let’s do it a little bit differently or let’s change it up.

And so I think just, it doesn’t have to be this like fancy process, but just like really paying attention to like, what you did. So that you can come back to it and continue to do what works and then not do what didn’t work. 

Akua: Yes. Oh, that’s so, so good. Just such so many key, key reminders that business owners can take away with that.

I think just that, that quarterly, I do quarterly, but also too, I try to do once a month, but I think again, like checking in and that works really well in your business. I’m like, okay, here’s the goal. This is why I’m doing this. I always have my checklist, of course, of like what I want to get done. But I think again, that’s just It’s so important because again, if you are not entirely confident about the direction that you’re going in, in your business, it’s okay to pull over and recalibrate.

There’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you’re going in the right direction, um, that you feel good about and that you are seeing success in your business, like that’s what truly matters. In terms of the, the income stacking, what do you look at or factor in when you’re wanting to add in another income stack?

Holly: Yeah. I mean, personally, I don’t want to add any more because I got three now and I feel like it took me a while to get like all three going and like with any. Well oiled machine you got to go back and like fix them, right? So like one of our goals this year is like we’re going back into each product and being like, okay Like does this still make sense?

Do we need to change it like different things come out? So I don’t think you need a ton I just think eventually and you know If you’re new in business you have one and you start with one and then you add on if you’re further along in business then you can Then you definitely want to have like a beginner, intermediate and advanced.

You can play around with things if you have time. But I think it’s like really making sure that those work, because if they do, you can just swap them in and out. And you don’t have to create anything else because you’re serving people at different levels. They have the choice And then you know They’re not getting tired of you talking about the same thing all the time because you’re you’re switching it out Like sometimes i’m talking about the membership.

Sometimes i’m talking about Our anti social school process sometimes i’m talking about our mastermind and we’ll like talk about retreats for a month So it’s like people don’t get tired of it because you’re switching it And it’s not too much to manage. I feel like if you have a hundred different offerings, then it gets really confusing and you’re always having to start from scratch where if you’ve got these like tried and true, you know, signature offers, you can go back, you can improve them, you can change them up.

Right. You can rebrand them. Like you can have fun with them. But the, the base kind of stays the same. 

Akua: Oh, I love that. That’s such a good reminders that you can have fun with what you already have, like work with what you already have. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. And I understand sometimes in business, you have to start things from scratch, but it’s like, if you already have some, some key services in place that just really just need to be refined and tuned, then lean into that.

So then you can be able to sell it and change it. Right. That, I think that leads, it makes it easier to be much more creative as well. So I. Absolutely love that. And I think that is so, so helpful. So what is next for you in this season of business? Yeah, 

Holly: great question. Uh, so we’re getting ready. We do have a private podcast.

It’s called ditch the social drama. I love private podcasts. It’s really fun. It’s how I consume things. And we have a new series coming out called it’s not your launch. It’s your audience. So this is a great example. This is our like intermediate offer. Our lead into it is the private podcast, it’s the social drama.

And instead of creating something brand new, I was like, well, let’s just create a series inside something that we already have. So we have a brand new podcast series coming out and it’s really helping everyone. We were talking before we hit record, like preparing for those, those fall and winter launches, because if you don’t have an audience, it doesn’t matter.

What price everything is like you’re not gonna have anyone to buy And so really helping you set up your audience to get ready to purchase Um, and then as a family I have like I said twin daughters who are are 10 They’re almost 11 and we made a goal when I left corporate to travel once a quarter So it sounds like oh, that’s it You know, easy.

It’s once a quarter, but every three months like comes by pretty fast. So pretty quick. Um, our next trip and then we’ll be launching our mastermind at the end of the year. 

Akua: Oh my gosh. So many exciting things. And I love, I love how you just shared one of those examples of like, you love to, you just mentioned earlier how you love to consume private podcasts and now you have one.

It’s like 

Holly: my favorite way to teach. I feel like it’s so easy. Like it’s consumable. It’s really fun. Um, 

Akua: so yeah, I’m excited about it. Oh my gosh. Well, I’m definitely gonna have to check it out and we will make sure to link that in the show notes. And Holly, thank you. Thank you so much for this conversation today.

So helpful. And if you are a business owner that is really looking to just, you know, figure out your strategy strategy, just take it one step at a time. Like take one thing. Refine it, tune it, work through it, and then go to the next thing. And again, really checking in with yourself to really make sure that this, like you’re going in the right direction.

And so a question that we love to end every episode with is what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail? 

Holly: Oh, um, consistency. So. So I always say consistency trumps talent. You don’t have to be the best in the game. You have to stay in it. And so we were talking about slow seasons.

We’re talking about taking vacations, like consistency and consistency could literally be like an hour a day. Like it doesn’t have to be crazy, but most people. Are not consistent. They’ll go a little while and then they’ll stop and they’ll go a little while and they’ll stop. So if you’re listening to this, like keep going because 90 percent of you are, will not be consistent and those of you that are listening, you’re going to be in the 10 percent that are, and that’s where you’re going to see the success.

Akua: Love that. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. And so for people that want to connect with you, where can we support you? Where can we find you? Yeah. 

Holly: So if you go to hollymariehaines. com forward slash profit, we actually have a whole master class on building your income stacking strategy. It’s really cool.

We’ve got an income calculator. We’ve got a scorecard for you to go through. Like track all that data that we talked about and lots of bonuses sort of built in there so you can check that out and add that to your like supplemental routine of things that you want to implement this year. 

Akua: Oh my goodness.

Love that. And thank you so much, Holly, for being here. This was like already I’m like, I got things to do. Yeah. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. And for everybody listening until next time, that ends our episode of the independent business podcast. Everything we’ve discussed today can be found at podcast.

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