Hidden Secrets To Success – Part 1: The difference between focusing on the external vs. internal and which one actually leads to results

During this 3-part mini-series of the podcast, we are unveiling the hidden secrets to success that most people never discuss— the exact reasons that keep them stuck.In the first episode of this series, I reveal a game-changing mindset shift that successful small business owners understand: the crucial difference between what you can control vs. what you can’t in your business. Learn why focusing on the internal, rather than the external, leads to real results.Here’s what you’ll discover:The key distinction between what you CAN and CANNOT control in business – and why it’s essential to understand this distinction so that you don’t end up focusing on the wrong aspects of your business, which only lead to feeling demotivated, discouraged, and ready to give up.How to release what you cannot control and let go of force… and what to focus on when you show up each day instead.Understanding the societal conditioning that keeps us stuck due to programming around how money, sales, and results are what leads to worthiness, success, accomplishment, and love… which is the furthest thing from the truth… and discovering where worthiness, success, accomplishment, and love truly originate.Transforming your measure of success and the one question you can ask yourself daily that will positively impact how you show up, who you impact, and ultimately your results.This episode is inspired by a recent PBA Mastermind group coaching call, where we dove deep into understanding what it really means to achieve success, sales, and self-worth. If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow growth or inconsistent results, this episode is exactly for you!LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

Self-confidence is often looked at as a trait that some people are simply born with…. But today’s podcast interview with Whitney from Cleansed reveals how much confidence anyone can build in just one year and the incredible business results that come from it.Whitney’s journey started with trying to find a solution for skincare products that wouldn’t irritate her daughter’s extremely sensitive skin. She began creating her own skincare line that actually worked for her daughter and, before she knew it, was sharing her handcrafted soaps with friends and family, too. When her husband encouraged her to turn this hobby into a business, Whitney took the leap - she began selling at local markets and received so much support from the local community... but she hit a roadblock when it came to scaling her business. Many small business owners find themselves in a similar situation, don’t they?This episode will inspire you to see how confidence – both business confidence and personal confidence – is what finally grew Whitney’s sales and business.Whitney’s story will inspire you to see how someone can go from not having any personal social media profiles at all…. To having a business social media with JUST photos of her products…. To showing her face… to now, talking on her stories, hosting IG lives, and posting reels showing the person behind the business and actually connecting with her growing follower base. Can you imagine how transformative this journey must have been?This confidence came from confidence in her business and the confidence in the solution that her products provide, all of which led to confidence in herself…. To the point that when she meets people in person, she no longer says she’s a stay at home mom of 2 girls and hides the fact that she has a business… but instead, she speaks from her heart, tells people about her business, and is proud to be the owner of a successful skincare business.What you’ll learn in this episode:The inspiring story behind Cleansed and how it grew from a personal need into a successful small businessThe personal mindset shift that helped Whitney go from fear of social media to confidently selling onlineThe business confidence that came from professional branding, updated labels, and professional photographyHow investing in PBA provided Whitney the roadmap & support she needed for business growthHow Whitney’s confidence shift positively impacted both her business and personal lifeSo, are you ready to embark on your journey to bigger, bolder confidence and success in your business?About Whitney: Whitney McClure is the founder of Cleansed, a skincare brand that started as a personal solution for her daughters’ severe skin sensitivities and evolved into a skincare business for those with sensitive skin. Whitney was awarded the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year Award in Product Biz Academy—and today, she shares her incredible journey of overcoming self-doubt, rebranding her business, and achieving major growth in just one year.LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODEFollow Whitney on Instagram: @CleansedPureAndSimpleShop Cleansed products: www.cleansedpureandsimple.comLEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

Most people (especially coaches in today’s world) will tell you that *THIS* strategy is what you “NEED” in order to be successful or *THAT* strategy is what will “FINALLY” change the success of your business.And I’m here to tell you that most of what those people say… is a bunch of BS.The reality is, there are 5 popular, shiny-object, ever-so-exciting-and-oh-so-promising strategies that, contrary to popular belief, WON’T save your business in 2025 and instead will keep you overwhelmed, overworked, wondering why NONE of them work for you… when the truth is that without the right foundation, they won’t work for ANY small business.In today’s episode, you’re going to learn:Why just collecting emails and sending random email campaigns WON’T magically boost sales no matter what people tell you… and what you need to master FIRST so that email marketing ACTUALLY works for you.How affiliates and brand ambassadors may expose new customers to you and do 50% of the work… but specific parts of your business need to do the remaining 50% of the work so these new customers ACTUALLY get to the finish line and buy.Why SEO won’t save a website with a subpar marketing experience no matter how much money or keywords you throw at it – and the 3 pieces your website NEEDS to have to turn shoppers into buyers before you even consider SEO a worthwhile project.How Facebook Ads CAN be used to expand your business… but how they WON’T fix a broken marketing strategy and can instead turn into an expensive bill with no results… and what to focus on instead.These strategies will only amplify your EXISTING results… so the goal is to increase your EXISTING results before we add fuel to the fire so that you can see ANY sort of impact.And that’s exactly what we’ll be diving into today.LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

In today’s episode, we dive deep into the world of trademarks, an essential - but often misunderstood - part of protecting your brand and your business so that you never get into legal trouble. Because I bet you AREN'T someone who wants to get a little 'ol "cease and desist" letter in the mail, like... ever. Special guest and trademark lawyer Joey Vitale shares common misconceptions about trademarks vs LLCs vs domain names, why you need to protect your brand EARLY and the risks of waiting, how to work through the trademark application process that is notorious for being a little challenging, why so many applications get rejected and how to prevent that from happening to you, how to protect your logo and business name and slogan from copycats, and more.Joey Vitale is a trademark attorney (also known as a "brand legitimizer") for online entrepreneurs, course creators, and product based businesses. With his law firm and his courses, Joey helps online business owners call legal dibs on their brand name and signature methods so they never have to worry about losing their brand overnight. Joey has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and has spoken all over the country to help business owners stay safe and thriving.LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODEVisit Joey's website at www.indielaw.comFollow Joey on Instagram @thejoeyvitaleLEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

If your focus leading up to Black Friday is “save the date” posts and “don’t forget that our biggest sale of the year is coming up!” announcements, you are making the BIGGEST mistake possible and preventing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of sales during the most impactful holiday shopping period of the entire year.During these next two weeks, your main purpose should not be to PROMOTE your PROMOTION. Think about it this way: if someone isn’t interested in your product at full price, they won’t care about it even if it’s 80% off during Black Friday no matter HOW many times you tell them that it’s going to be 80% off.Instead, during these next two weeks, your main purpose is to create a strong sales runway that increases demand and desire of your products NOW so that WHEN you drop the promotion, it is a no brainer for anyone who hasn’t purchased from you YET.And even better? When you create a strong sales runway now, you’ll get sales NOW and at full price, and ALSO hype up your products for your best Black Friday weekend ever for those who are waiting for the cherry on top.Tune in to this week’s episode to learn how to prevent this mistake and how to create demand and desirability content for your products so you have your BEST holiday season yet.LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the three pillars required for a successful holiday campaign so that you can make the MOST of the Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday hype AND before AND after… through 3 pillars that are required for success: Promotion, People, and Performance. Most business owners only focus on promotions during the holiday season, without realizing that increasing people and increasing performance is what leads QUANTUM LEAPS! Which is why we'll be diving into strategy for all 3 components so that you see the sales you want.During this episode, you’ll learn: - How to choose your Black Friday promotion so that it stands out AND is easy for customers to understand so that they actually buy… and the top mistakes to AVOID that would otherwise cause your promotion to be watered down, confusing, or lost in a sea of others (which DOESN’T lead to sales).- How to run a marketing campaign leading up to Black Friday that DOESN’T include a massive discount but still is relevant to the season so that you keep your profits AND make more sales.- The importance of increasing PEOPLE (aka the size of your audience) for the success of your promotion… and a few quick tips on how to get more eyeballs to your business now. The goal is simple: more eyes on your brand = more sales when your promotion goes live.- The importance of increasing PERFORMANCE above all else and how to improve your email marketing metrics, social media engagement, and website conversion. Performance is key to maximizing impact and even small improvements in email open rates, click-through rates, and engagement can lead to massive, massive growth.- The performance metrics that matter, how influencing these metrics can make a massive impact, and how to keep assessing what’s working (and what’s not) to keep increasing YOUR performance.LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

This episode is an EXCLUSIVE Q&A within the pop-up Facebook group that I hosted for small business owners after my LIVE training on How to Create a THRIVING Product Business WITHOUT Relying on Markets. Here are some of the amazing questions small business owners submitted that were answered during this hot seat Q&A for you to learn from, too:WHOLESALE- How do you grow your wholesale business?- How do you get your products into local stores?- Is it possible to reach your goals without wholesale? All my items are hand made and uniqueBRANDING- What if it your branding has already been done by a professional? How do you know if that is good enough?- How do you increase brand awareness and lead conversion in a saturated and noisy online market?SOCIAL MEDIA- Does growing on social media mean going live on social media?- Is there a correlation between IG following and sales? How do I know how many more I need?- How do you get followers on instagram?- How do you encourage people to share your site so you can potentially reach more people who appreciate your mission statement and product, resulting in increased sales?- As an introvert how do you do social media videos without showing your face to gain followers and have people trust your brand?OTHER PLATFORMS- Do you still recommend Etsy? Are there any other platforms aside from Etsy? Is it ok to like only put certain products on Etsy?- Do you suggest selling handmade goods on Amazon? Is it worth it?ADS- How do I use Google and Facebook ads efficiently and cost effectively?WEBSITE- Is there a way to get consistent traffic to my website without having to rely on social media?- How do I start an email list? I know I should send out emails. But who to?- How do you drive consistent traffic to your site?- How to increase conversion for those who do visit your site?To join Product Biz Academy before doors close on Thursday, October 24th at midnight Pacific, enroll at: www.monicalittlecoaching.com/specialoffer

By now, you probably already know the importance of marketing.  Because marketing is what gets you in front of more people.  If you aren't getting in front of people, you won't have any customers.  If you don't have any customers, you aren't making any money!  Most small business avoid marketing because it just doesn't come naturally… but here’s the thing, no one and I mean no one was born a natural marketer or a natural promoter or a natural salesperson. It’s a skill, a REQUIRED skill, that you can learn. The people who are good at it just have been around it and have learned it and embodied it, that’s it. And if learning this new skill is uncomfortable at first, then that just means you are learning something new and growing – isn't that a GOOD thing?  During this episode of the Product Biz Podcast, we talk about defining your one marketing project that will allow you to learn and grow both as a business owner AND as a business.  You'll learn why discernment is a critical skill that every single small business owner needs... and how to determine if the shiny object or new idea actually will impact your goals and get you closer to where you want to be, or if it’s simply a distraction.  You'll learn how to make your progress faster and specific questions to ask yourself when new items on your to-do list come up to make the SMART decision.  And we'll talk about the power of discipline to help you reach your goals.  These concepts are the 80% of the work when it leads to business growth… and the rest, only 20%, is the mechanics. The sooner you understand what it takes to see result, the sooner you become the person able to GET results.  LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

A big part of productivity is working on the RIGHT things.  These are the projects, tasks, skills, that actually move the needle in your business.  And another big part of productivity is making sure the RIGHT things aren’t getting the bare bones, the crumbs, the leftover, the barely-there energy because all of your main energy has been spent on OTHER areas of your business that AREN’T necessarily the “right” things to be focusing on.  If you’re struggling to make more sales in your business, I’m willing to bet you are also struggling to find time for marketing and selling… and if that’s the case, it’s time to rethink your approach.  During today’s episode, we will dive deep into what support to get in your business first, what roles to hire first, and how to free up your time and energy, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: growing your business.  During this episode you’ll learn: The value of your time as the CEO of your business and understanding what’s required of the CEO What support to get in your business FIRST so that you can be more efficient What roles you should let GO of in order to let IN more growth The difference between running a business vs. being an employee inside your own business Uncovering the myth behind “my products are too hard to teach others to make them for me” How to make sure you have the time, space, clarity, and mental energy for what matters most in your business How to get started with hiring in your business LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open

The million dollar question:  “I have SO much to do in my business AND I have so many responsibilities in life, how can I get MORE done with the amount of time that I do have?”  “How can I get MORE done so I can see results SOONER?”  We’re diving deep into these questions during today’s episode of The Product Biz Podcast… and the answers are going to completely shift how you look at your business and how you run your business.  Because at the end of the day, SO much of society’s conditioning is actually making us the OPPOSITE of productive. It’s making us unable to focus. It’s making us crave change and more change and more change. Which leads to context switching, burnout, chasing after dopamine via doomscrolling, and LESS productivity no matter how many tabs you have open or how many things you TRY to do at once.  So WHAT is the answer on how to get more done if doing everything at once is NOT working?  In this episode, you'll learn practical strategies to rewire your brain in a way that will allow you to ACTUALLY get shit done in both business and personal life… without the burnout. LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLEWebsite: www.monicalittlecoaching.comInstagram: @monicalittlecoachingJoin the Product Biz Academy waitlist to be first notified when doors open