Courtney Sanders

You know all those skills and talents you've cultivated over the last several years?⁠ ⁠ PEOPLE WILL PAY YOU FOR THAT.⁠ ⁠ Instead of looking at the explosion of online "infopreneurs" and thinking there's no room for you, what if instead, you thought "I CAN DO THAT TOO."⁠ ⁠ Because you can! And learning "how" is not even the hardest part - *believing that you're worthy to be paid for what you know is.*⁠ ⁠ If you agree you're worthy, drop a 🙌🏽 in the comments:

In my latest podcast episode, I shared how I made my first $1,000. I laughed as I was outlining this episode because I was reminded how much I DIDN'T KNOW when I was first getting started.⁠ ⁠ I literally didn't know how people made a living from the internet. I thought people made money by hosting local events and promoting the event to their blog or social media. So that's what I did.⁠ ⁠ I held my first ever live event in Dallas, TX at the end of 2014. Not only did I NOT know what I was doing, I technically *lost* money on that event when it was all said and done. ⁠ ⁠ What I GAINED however, was a *knowledge of what my audience wanted.* The 30 or so women who attended that event kept asking me about goal-setting and how they could break their goals down so they could actually achieve them. I immediately went home and wrote my first ever ebook on that subject exactly. And when I announced the ebook for sale a few months later...people actually bought it.⁠ ⁠ That ebook lead to virtual masterclass, which led to a slew of digital trainings, which led to my first course, which led to sold out coaching programs, which led to multiple successful launches, which led to daily, automated sales, which led to *where I am today.*⁠ ⁠ Had I not done *what I knew how to do* at the time, I never would have discovered *what I needed to do* to succeed.⁠ ⁠ Wherever you are, START THERE. Where you are right now contains the keys to where you want to be.⁠ ⁠ Drop a 🙌🏽 if you agree.

Sometimes I get DM's or comments from people asking if I can "take a quick look at their profile." ⁠ ⁠ While I rarely do Instagram audits, if I *were* to look at your profile, here's what I'd be checking for:⁠ ⁠ 0️⃣ Is your profile private? How can you market your *business* with a profile no one can view? Step 0: make sure your profile is public!⁠ ⁠ 1️⃣ Does your bio clearly explain who you are and how you can help me? While *influencers* may opt to have a "STYLE. ART. LOVER OF LIFE. 💃 👠 ✨" bio because they're selling a *lifestyle*, if you you're trying to sell an actual product or service well...I'mma need you to be more specific.⁠ ⁠ 2️⃣ Is your content helpful? Hint: potential customer judge how helpful your paid offers are by *how helpful your free stuff is.* If I land on your page, will I see a catalogue of helpful resources that speak to my problem? Or will I see a catalogue of random quotes, weekend brunches, and duck-lipped selfies?⁠ ⁠ 3️⃣ Does your "link in bio" offer something in exchange for my email address? The truth is, the best way to sell on social media is actually *off* social media. Meaning, the majority of your sales won't happen on the platform but on your *email list.* If you're not using your social media to grow your list, you're leaving money on the table.⁠ ⁠ There's obviously more I'd look at when auditing a social media profile but these are the biggies.⁠ ⁠ Is your profile "ready for business"? Share why or why not in the comments below 👇🏽

Everyone wants to know how to grow a following but I’m surprised how many people sleep on FREE, tried-and-true methods. Take hashtags for instance. I still use them because THEY STILL WORK. (Swipe left to see the stats from one of my recent posts 👈🏽) Though ads can be amazing, truth be told, I haven’t really focused on paid ads in over a year because I’ve been busy building out my organic traffic. I make daily sales - *without* paid ads - just from my Instagram, YouTube channel, podcast, and even my Pinterest account. I say this not to say that paid ads are bad (I *will* be running some as we get closer to Black Friday 🤣) but that the reason business coaches like myself tell you to do “basic” stuff is because...the basics still work. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Before worrying yourself about paid ads, ask yourself if you’ve done everything you can to grow your audience organically? P.S. - If you want more help on growing your audience organically, download my free “Get Found Guide” by clicking the link in my bio 👉🏽 @courtneylsanders)

Just finished an awesome virtual makeup lesson with @delinamedhin! ⠀ ⠀ Someone recently asked me how I manage to make myself look so “put together” in my videos, photoshoots, and social media and the truth is...I get help!⠀ ⠀ I don’t know why as women, we feel like we should be BORN knowing how to do our hair, do our makeup, pick perfectly flattering clothes, cook chef quality food, and beautifully decorate our house.⠀ ⠀ The truth is, many of us DON’T know how to do those things and guess what? THAT’S OKAY.⠀ ⠀ If there’s anything you want to learn how to do better, whether it be in your business, in your home life, or in your womanhood, don’t be afraid to ask for help!⠀ ⠀ I was QUICK to hire @delinamedhin when I realized I had NO idea how to do my makeup for video, just as I am quick to find a recipe on Pinterest or quick to buy a bunch of interior design magazines to learn how to decorate my house.⠀ ⠀ All education is ultimately self-education...but sometimes you have to sit yourSELF down and learn from someone who knows more than you.⠀ ⠀ Stop feeling embarrassed about what you don’t know and start feeling EMPOWERED to go out in the world and find out. ❤️⠀ ⠀ #lifelessons⠀ #weareallaworkinprogress ⠀ #nosuchthingasselfmade

In my last post I asked "what's holding you back from creating a second stream of income?" and the one theme I noticed is this:⁠ ⁠ Many don't realize that selling is SERVICE.⁠ ⁠ If you *genuinely* have a skill or product that can positively impact someone's life, then *selling* that skill or product is SERVICE....it's service to the person buying and its service to your community at large.⁠ ⁠ And before you say, "Well if its 'service,' why not just give it away for free?"⁠ ⁠ The truth is, women who don't charge (or more commonly, don't charge enough) do themselves AND their customers a disservice because they can't show up at the quality and *consistency* they otherwise would have been able to.⁠ ⁠ In other words, when you SELL your products and services, you're doing the world GOOD, not harm.⁠ ⁠ Do you agree or disagree? Share in the comments below 👇⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

I'm STILL on this, more so now than ever. I've said it before and I'll say it again:⁠ ⁠ Multiple streams of income is not about getting "rich" as much as it's about getting FREE.⁠ ⁠ Knowing how to monetize your skills & gifts, using the tools *available* to you, gives you OPTIONS.⁠ ⁠ If you have more than one stream of income, you have the OPTION to change careers or even cities when you want to.⁠ ⁠ If you have more than one stream of income, you have the OPTION to educate your kids in the way you feel is best.⁠ ⁠ If you have more than one stream of income, you have the OPTION to *bet on yourself.*⁠ ⁠ And here's the good news: you were literally BORN for such a time as this!⁠ ⁠ Never before in the HISTORY OF MANKIND has it been easier to monetize yourself, especially online.⁠ ⁠ So my question to you is - what's holding you back? That's NOT a rhetorical question - be honest in the comments below 👇🏽

Yup, TODAY. Even though it's not the beginning of the year. Or the beginning of the month. Or the beginning of the week. Or even bright and early in the day.⁠ ⁠ Starting RIGHT now...⁠ ⁠ Right where you are...⁠ ⁠ ***Even if you can't FINISH it all right now...***⁠ ⁠ ...will still put you light years ahead of where you'll be if you continue to NOT do it. 🤷🏽‍♀️⁠ ⁠ So what's it going to be? Procrastination or progress? Put a💪🏽 in the comments if you're starting TODAY. 👇🏽

And honestly, many of the people who are where you want to be spent BOTH.⁠ ⁠ For the first 6 years of building my brand, I did *everything* myself - EVERYTHING. Then when I made my first dollar in 2015 (see my last post for why it took me so long!), I started making investments in my brand and business to save time.⁠ ⁠ My first investments were a housekeeper, graphic designer, and virtual assistant, all of which bought me *time*.⁠ ⁠ But as I got savvier about business, I started investing in coaches and courses which bought me SPEED. (Learning from others hard-won knowledge can shave YEARS off your journey...)⁠ ⁠ The point is, you'll spend more time or more money depending on where you are in your business journey, but make no mistake - you WILL spend one or the other. ⁠There is no such thing as building a business for “free.” ⁠ Which one are you more willing to spend - time or money? Share why or why not in the comments below 👇🏽

Fun fact: I first started branding myself in 2009, but I didn't make my first dollar online until 2015. Why did it take so long?⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Because it took me that long to figure out the "game" to selling stuff online, lol! When I say I was clueless, I was CLUELESS. I had no idea how to take payments online, what a "lead magnet" was, or why I needed an "email list" (shoutout to @pauleannareid for forcing me to start one back in 2015!)⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ If you're new to this online game, I want to pay it forward. Swipe right for a crash course on the 10 tools you MUST have to successfully sell online.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ And if you're really looking for help getting your online business started, check out my "Monetize Your Magic" Course which is on sale this week! Link in bio 👉🏽 @courtneylsanders⁠⠀ ⁠⠀

...thus, if no one's buying 🥴, it could be because:⁠ ⁠ 1️⃣ Your product or service doesn't solve a problem for your target market...⁠ ⁠ 2️⃣ Your product or service doesn't solve a problem your target market is *willing to spend money to solve* 👀...⁠ ⁠ 3️⃣ Your product or service doesn't solve a problem your target market is willing to spend money to solve *right now* (i.e. - it's not a priority for them at the moment...*ahem coronavirus*)⁠ ⁠ Therefore, the best way to start or grow your business is to focus on *problems that your target market is willing to spend money on RIGHT NOW.*⁠ ⁠ If you need help identifying "profitable problems," download my free Profitable Problems worksheet at https://courtneylsanders.com/profitable-problems or by clicking the link in my bio 👉🏽 @courtneylsanders

Today’s read. Actually, this is a daily read because it’s a daily devotional - it does a nice deep dive into a particular promise of God everyday. (There are *thousands* in the Bible btw!) I just started it but I highly recommend it! If you’re dealing with fear in any part of your life, it’s probably because you don’t know God’s promises for your life! 🙌🏽 #faithoverfear #wellwateredwoman

Yesterday, I asked you what your biggest questions were when it comes to starting an online business and over and over again, people asked some variation of "how do I get people to pay me for this skill/passion?"⁠ ⁠ The truth is people don't pay for skills and passions...they pay for SOLUTIONS TO THEIR PROBLEMS.⁠ ⁠ To be "marketable" is to offer something *the market wants.*⁠ ⁠ Thus, your first step as a budding entrepreneur is not to ask "how can I make money from this?" but "what problem can I solve with this? And for whom?"⁠ ⁠ Profits are rewards for solving problems. The bigger the problem, the bigger the potential profit.⁠ ⁠ Choose your business idea wisely...⁠

Are you lookin' at the way everything is going and saying to yourself, "I need to start my own business!"?⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ If you're new to entrepreneurship and have never started a business before, let me make it easy for you:⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ START AN ONLINE BUSINESS!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Yes, I know I'm biased. But there's a reason for that! Truth be told, starting an *online* business is one of the easiest, low-cost ways for a beginner to get started. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ I'm not say the process is *easy*, only that it's a lot easier than trying to find investors or a bank loan for a brick and mortar business, especially in today's environment. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ I started my business back in 2015 as a self-taught 20-something with nothing more than a blog and my laptop. If you have a unique skill, knowledge, or talent, you can make it online.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ That said, I think the world of *teaching* online entrepreneurship has gotten way too complicated, so I want to bring it back to basics.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ What questions do you have about starting an online business? What's holding you back? Share in the comments below and I'll answer! 👇🏽

You've probably heard the old cliche that some of the most successful business are started during a recession...but do you know WHY?⁠ ⁠ The reason is because recessions are when people have the greatest NEED. At the end of the day, that's the core of what it means to be in business - meeting the needs of others for a profit.⁠ ⁠ Now more than ever (whether you've already started your business or not!) is the time to start LOOKING for needs you can meet with your existing skills and talents.⁠ ⁠ I share more in episode 110 of my podcast, "5 Money Moves to EVERYONE Should Make in the Middle of a Crisis." Search "The Courtney Sanders Show" on iTunes or Spotify, or click the links in my bio to listen 👉🏽 @courtneylsanders⁠ ⁠ What needs can YOU meet with your skills and talents? Share in the comments below👇🏽