
Episode # 26 - Teresa Cleveland On Being a Profitable CEO
Today I am so happy to welcome Teresa Cleveland to the podcast! She is my no nonsense friend who will tell me exactly what she thinks, especially about business. We both went through the OBM and Director of Op trainings but have ended up on very different paths. We are talking about why she loves to help business owners who have started the thing but hit a plateau, and how she helps them to get past it. Oh, and how there is enough business for us all.
On today’s podcast, I welcome Teresa Cleveland of the the Purposeful CEO. We talk about:
- Teresa’s path from teaching business owners about online tools to offering support services and managing for her clients; and finally why she’s arrived back at teaching
- The things that small business owners often don’t know; or even know to ask about
- The abundance of business opportunities out there and how their two businesses, though at times similar, are no threat to one another as a result
- Why so many small online business get stuck at an early revenue plateau
- How Covid is making the “I just need one more course” trap easier to fall into
- The value of keeping people around you that can give honest feedback
- What the Profitable CEO framework stresses
Teresa Cleveland is the head of The Purposeful CEO where she works with online business owners at the $3-$5k/mo level to structure their business so they can reach their next income level more quickly. The online world has been her "office" for 12+ years and she's loved almost every minute of it. In addition to the hundreds of incredible people she's had the privilege of working with, she says it's been an ongoing, in depth course of personal development.
Featured on this show:
Kelly Reynolds
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 26. Today I have a little treat for you. I have a guest here, Teresa Cleveland, she is from the purposeful CEO, and my friend, and I would love to introduce you. Hello, Teresa.
Teresa Cleveland
Hi, Kelly. It's so good to be here. Always nice to chat with a friend.
Kelly Reynolds
Now just so everyone out there understands Theresa can get on a call with me and we can talk for hours. So we're going to try to keep this together. Teresa, and I go way back in online business time, at least right? A few years, we have gone through OBM certification together. She is the one who brought me into the DOO, the Director of Operations. So I'm so happy you're here to talk about what's going on with your business. Tell everyone a little bit about what you do.
Kelly Reynolds
Sure. That seems like so long ago, right? The whole OBM. So it was like,
Kelly Reynolds
I looked it up. We signed up in 2017.
Kelly Reynolds
That's crazy. That is ancient and online years.
Kelly Reynolds
It's decade...
Kelly Reynolds
from there, I needed something meatier I wanted something that was more. The people that I was working with; it was just... there was just a lot of confusion. There was... they weren't really the OBM thing they really wanted that term they want they were looking for like VAs . You know that term I hate "unicorns" that could do it all. And I'm always saying, "Unicorns don't exist"
Kelly Reynolds
RIGHT!
Teresa Cleveland
I mean, people don't know what they don't know. Right? So there's this, all this around online business managers to what they are, and then people who are certified and people aren't. So it's just all this noise. And so the deal with Natalie, just it really spoke to me because it was really solid. And I don't think anybody really has to stop and think like, oh, what's the director of operations?
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah. Right. Very clear job description.
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah. Right. Because I thought online business manager was the same thing. Because it's like an online business manager. It's the title. So that was really appealing. And I have been following Natalie for a while and I just like her style. I like how she shows up. I like the way that she looks at business, because it's not just business. She's building a legacy business. And that's really bigger
Kelly Reynolds
It's bigger than her. Yeah,
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah. So that seemed like the natural progression. And then, fast forward, I'm not a DOO or an OBM anymore.
Kelly Reynolds
Like we said, in a couple episodes ago, we've taken this knowledge and created what we want out of it,
Teresa Cleveland
I have now really come full circle when I came into the online world 12+ years ago, I was building websites, I did a lot of teaching, teaching people email marketing, teaching people how to set up lead magnet, not just set it up and how to create one how to market how to talk to their audience, and all of that. Now I'm back to teaching. This all came about because of the number of people that I talked to, I mean, good people with great ideas, business ideas, but they weren't ready financially or organizationally for OBM or DOO and, and I felt so bad because they they really needed help. They didn't... they were good at what they did but they had no idea of the business back end so they reached a certain level, like three to five thousand monthly and then there's that plateau, right? Where they jsut say, "Oh, this, I did this, but I can't move forward. And I don't know what to do next." And and a lot of that is because they don't have that business back end. So they can't look at the data and seeing what's working and what's not working. So then it turns into this day after day thing of throwing spaghetti at the wall or whoever's Ad is the loudest or they scream, "I need more followers!" And I say, "How did you determine that?" "Well, because I get in front of more people, then I can sell more." Well, yes, that's true. But wouldn't you like to get in front of the right people and know what's working?
Kelly Reynolds
So many people think that they just need more leads. Right? That's their problem. And I hear that a lot. I just need more leads and whatever way that works out for them. And that's rarely what they need.
Kelly Reynolds
Exactly. So this was happening time after time, and I would feel so bad getting off those calls because there have been some people who wanted to hire me they could afford to hire me but I just can't in good conscience do that. Because I know that what you need is more foundation than all of that. Over time I just decided, you know what; (and maybe it's the Libra in me, I've always been like for the underdog) it was that thing where it's like you know what? What if what if I just created like a program or did it as a group and took people through, so they knew how to set up that foundation so that they could be ready for an OBM or a DOO. So that just started growing and growing. So we used to be "The Entrepreneurs Toolbox" and then we shifted to "The Purposeful CEO" our signature course in eight weeks is "The Profitable CEO Blueprint"...
Kelly Reynolds
...very excited about this...
Kelly Reynolds
I'm so excited about it.
Kelly Reynolds
I've been I've been getting... I've been hearing about this for a while. Since Teresa and I are friends and we've been talking about this for a while. And I've been so excited about it. Because there is such a need for that. In between space, we talked about coming from corporate and knowing how to do a thing really well. And then coming out into the business world and having to do all the things and you're like, I've no idea how to do all this, but I can't afford to hire someone who's going to come in and manage because I'm just starting out. So I think there's such a need for that in between space that you're talking about where they've sold enough, they've made some money, but they don't have all the systems or the background, all working, and now they're hitting things and there's problems all the time, and they're losing momentum on that.
Kelly Reynolds
Exactly. And then there is just that, that space, when I say that, that is, you know, I'm going to after working with you know, six figure business owners, I'm going to share my knowledge from the last 12 years with you, and at a very affordable price point. So that you know what the big dogs know sooner. So you can do that with a little bit
Kelly Reynolds
like you You have seen the future. And you can help them.
Kelly Reynolds
And you know, the thing is it always comes down to there's not a magic beam. There's no magic formula, you know, there are formulas, but it's nothing magic or new. I say all the time. All right. It's about to get unsexy up in here.
Kelly Reynolds
Well, we all know my love of systems and things like that. But that's the kind of stuff that really is the help of getting through the grind.
Kelly Reynolds
We're terrified of it. They're good at what they do. And the thing that oh my goodness, such a great idea. And I would give them as much information as I could on the phone like start here do this. It just I felt't bad. So I'm like, Alright, and then no business has shifted to this. I'm really, really excited about it. Because it is number scare people, you know, I won't even let you see my books. Because I'm like, so embarrassed.
Kelly Reynolds
I've talked to Theresa about numbers, and I see the fear in her eyes when I start talking about it. And I'm her friend tonight, she knows I'm not gonna even yell at her. It's scary stuff, right? I mean, even myself, looking at my own numbers, sometimes I don't want to do it.
Kelly Reynolds
I love having people that I can refer people to for things, you know, my expertise. And that's it. I don't know everything.
Kelly Reynolds
Right.
Teresa Cleveland
But I know, people who know everything, you know, like,
Kelly Reynolds
right. That's been a huge help to me in my business, because we're home by ourselves. And we don't know, these people, until we start getting into this networking of it all. I think that's a great aspect to
Kelly Reynolds
when you are out in, you know, the actual not the virtual world. But you know, the day to day world, and you have that network, and you were out networking and doing things like that, and COVID aside, in the online world, and you stay so busy that you don't get out as much. And a lot of people out here in the I don't want to call it real world because it's all real. But if those people out there that you meet face to face, though, they don't really understand the online world. So building this network online has been really valuable. I worked with a program for a while I worked with their, um.... I built websites for them way back when, for their the people that were certified in their program. And they didn't want me referring to anybody outside of the program.
Kelly Reynolds
Oh,
Teresa Cleveland
because they wanted
Kelly Reynolds
to they want to keep it all for themselves.
Teresa Cleveland
Yeah. Well, they wanted a portion of whatever if somebody had their people, so but I felt like that was so unfair. So I'm... collaboration is like one of my core values. So it's really important to be able to say, I don't want to say to a client, or even somebody a prospect, like, No, I can't help you, or here's what you should do. But no, I can't tell you good luck with that. Go Google it. See how you do,
Kelly Reynolds
right! Because I... especially like where people want to help. We want to help our clients want help our friends. And there's enough business out there for all of us. I think that that starts to like, Oh, I'm not going to help you. Because then you're going to take away from my business. There's plenty of business for everyone. There's plenty business, helping someone else doesn't take away from you,
or your business. Right? And I tell people all the time people can... you and I can say the same thing but people will be able to hear from you and the way that you say it where they couldn't hear it from me and vice versa. It's that we all bring our own special sauce and flavor to it. And it's just people you know me I'm just like, if you like me great enough, not that's okay. Somebody else. There's somebody else out there who will.
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah, like we were just talking about we you and I do similar things, but we help different kind of ideal clients.
Teresa Cleveland
Absolutely.
Kelly Reynolds
So we're not even like even if we were doing the exact same thing. There'd be business But we're not even doing the exact same thing. So why wouldn't you help?
Teresa Cleveland
And it's just applying like, I think in business, you know, there's always the fundamental things, but even how it applies to each business, and each person looks really different.
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah. And then we bring our own backgrounds to, I mean, my, my Wall Street background is going to be much different from your background, or anyone else, you know, like,
Kelly Reynolds
and even in those different backgrounds, there are so many different scenarios, you know, leadership and management and everything else. I love. I love being where we are, well, world aside right now. But as a woman in 2020, we have so many possibilities.
Kelly Reynolds
Oh, my God, right? It's out there.
Teresa Cleveland
Yeah, 12 years ago, there were still some things that I mean, it still goes on but, and even 12 years ago, it was worse, back beyond that, but you know, for the longest time to buy a website was so it costs so much to, you know, you had to get all these licenses and to be online like it was I feel a man's world. I just, it's changed today. So and that's one of my, as I, you know, work through my brand voice and everything else that's important to me that I want women to know they have a voice, if they have a voice in this world is a better place for them being in it, and their voice is needed. And I think one of the best ways to make a difference with your voice is to have a successful online business. So hang on, I want to I want to support women who are out there getting it done.
Kelly Reynolds
I love that I get that one piece of you saying "The world needs you." Because so many of us are so scared to sell to get going like we think about oh, well, we'll do that someday. But like thinking that there's somebody out there that you could help right now. And you're not helping them because you're too scared to get the job done. That has been a really great motivator in my own head for lots of times, like I can be helping these people and you're just sitting there doing nothing you got to get in there. That's a great point.
Kelly Reynolds
I say to my clients all the time, I remind myself when I look at people in my life like Bob Berg, like shad homesteader like Natalie, like, they're one of these people had just sat back and been, Oh, I can't do this. Where the hell would I be right now? I wouldn't even know you. How dare I? How dare you not show up and use your voice to make that difference in somebody else's life.
Kelly Reynolds
I agree. That's what this whole gig, I love it. And we get this opportunity to be smart woman and have a whole business and you know, take care of our families, all of it. I love it. Last week, I raved about this whole idea of me being able to have this business and how much I loved it. So I love that. I hear that from you, too.
Kelly Reynolds
Yes, ma'am, that must be you know, I'm sure that's one of the many things
Kelly Reynolds
so then when people are getting stuck at this plateau, this three to five, why do you think they're getting stuck? Do you think it's just because they come... They just have no background? Do you think it's a mindset thing as well? Do you think they just have to take time for building out of systems or processes or anything like that? Like what do you think is the biggest sticking point?
Teresa Cleveland
Yes.
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah.
Kelly Reynolds
It's all the things. You know, they say the infamous they say that having your own business is like a crash course in personal development.
Kelly Reynolds
Oh, yeah. You learn real quick, what what all these things in the back yourhead they didn't know about.
Teresa Cleveland
You're just confronted whether it's in the middle of the night? Yes, you sit up in bed, like Oh, shit, I forgot, you know, something like that? Or oh my gosh, what are they gonna think about me and all the voices. So you work your way through that. But I think for the people like at that 3-5000 Plateau, and it's pretty typical to get there, right? Because they're very good at what they do. And they come in and they're like gung ho about it. And they they build that business to where they're making that 3-5000 a month. And then it's like, Why can I move any further and so I think it's a combination of Oh, what got me here is not going to get me where I'm where I want to go. And you get tired tired from doing all the things so I think it's a combination of yes your your inner voices and you know, the mindset and all that kind of stuff. And then there is like I don't know what I don't know, right now scary. And let's face it, there's a lot of noise online so it's like, oh, this course you know, I could make more money if only I you know, do better or if I you know, I need to build a course or I need to do group coaching like ever all these programs that are out there, which I feel like almost hypocritical because of course I have a program but mine is like this one is hands on and then there's even an opportunity at the end of this like you can walk away with the Profitable CEO blueprint. Apply that to your business every quarter, and you're going to be much better off. And then you know, the next thing up is the profitable CEO experience where we I work together with anybody that's been in through the other program that wants to do that to help them actually implement. Because what happens is we're working at home, I see so many people who have so many programs sitting on their hard drive.
Kelly Reynolds
Isn't that the truth? Right?
Teresa Cleveland
When there's not somebody there to ask, right? Because when they go to implement, it's like, oh, I don't know what I don't know what that means, right? We don't have access anymore. So they just what do they do? They go find another program,
Kelly Reynolds
that the next magic bullet the next shiny object? And yeah, I think that like that accountability factor has got to be in there. And that's great that you have that kind of ongoing, folks, I can tell you, she's not going to take any bull.
Teresa Cleveland
And that's it. I do call people on their stuff. You know, we talk about all the time, like my friends will say, Oh, they want to be coddled and call their mom and they want the truth, they'll call me. I
Kelly Reynolds
will vouch for that.
Teresa Cleveland
And like one of the things right now that I've really got stuck in my craw, for lack of a better term, his tiny offers and pocket products and all that other stuff. Like that's not a strategy. And people don't understand, right? People will be like, Oh, right, like it's here and $37. And guess, right, I'm going to do this, and this is going to help me be better on Facebook, what you end up with is like a whole, other to do list of things that you need to create and do and everything else. And how does that plug into the big picture? Like you truly do need a blueprint? You have to know like, even if you bought a tiny offer for every part of the business, how do they work together?
Kelly Reynolds
Which one do you do first? Because you can't do all the things, right?
Teresa Cleveland
So that means where I'm at right now with a lot of things, because I see a lot of people doing that, because it's like, I have to do something. I don't know what to do. But this is affordable. And this is looks, you know, like, oh, it'll do all these things. And there's nothing wrong with that that tiny offer or that you know, everything else if you need that
Kelly Reynolds
thing. Great, great. But that's not a strategic plan for going ahead with your whole business.
Teresa Cleveland
I said we were working on this sales copy yesterday and the day before. And I said that I said we've got to put it in their life, this is not a strategy. And you do just need to be able to see the big pictures. Why do people get stuck there? I think it's not knowing what they don't know. It is the mindset. mindset, I think even comes once they get the blueprint, I think mindset. I think that's then as they actually start implemented, and they see the possibilities. That's where a lot of the mindset comes in. Because it's like, oh my gosh, now I don't have an excuse that I don't know how I have to really show up. So I think mindsets kind of there. I see people that have gone through programs, and they're just like, well, I don't know how to get out there. And they know how to have the knowledge, but it's now the mindset. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think more. So it's just like, I don't know what to do and what order and you know, before I just put it out there, and people bought it and and that's that they and they don't know how to measure the success of it. Right.
Kelly Reynolds
I mean, knowing which questions to ask. I've had that come up, like, Oh, do I need that? I didn't even know we needed that. Okay, sure. There's been a lot of that when I've come in, and I'm not starting out. I don't really work with businesses that are $3,000 a month, I'm working with bigger companies. And they're still like, Oh, I didn't, I didn't even think of that. And it's basic stuff as far as I'm concerned. But I mean, that's what they're hiring me. But it's so hard to know what you don't know.
Teresa Cleveland
Exactly. And that is talking about mindset for me to make this shift. Because I'm used to being in the DOO world. I'm used to the OBM world, but shifting to this world. And it's like, oh my gosh, they don't know me, like, Oh, no, no, I have to go prove myself all over. I have this whole meltdown and event. And it just started because I wanted to help them make more faster. Yeah. So it's like, Okay, look, Jason. So you have to have this talk with yourself and then have good people in your life. We've got to be like real with ourselves and be able to identify, you know, what, Is this real? Or how do I move forward? It's so easy for us to say, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. I like to say okay, but if I didn't know what would the answer be?
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah, we were talking about this couple weeks ago about figure-it-out-ness. Just knowing that you can figure it out is you'll be okay. You'll you'll figure it
Teresa Cleveland
out there. And yes. You don't have to do it all. And then of course, you know, I worked through that. And then I went on to some other things that rears its head and just when you think you've got it mastered it shows it shows up again. Just be like, yeah,
Kelly Reynolds
Ah-huh, and then the apocalypse happens and changes everything you thought you were doing good. Exactly.
Kelly Reynolds
I woke up until the night Long ago, I put a product out softly and had made a lot of noise about it. And then I just woke up. And the first thought was, well look at you. Nobody bought that you suck. Right? Yes. I was like, Oh my gosh, shut up, I just need better marketing. I didn't even put it out there that strongly, you know, but it's learning to talk back to him throughout. And
Kelly Reynolds
yeah, like, and I feel like, if somebody doesn't tell me, I'm awesome. And don't don't buy a million dollars worth of it, I must be terrible. And this product must be awful. It's been out for four and a half minutes, and you didn't make a million dollars. calm yourself down. You knowwhat I mean like, exactly, it
Teresa Cleveland
wasn't even delivered to your list. And you know, no one even knows
Kelly Reynolds
about it yet relax yourself, it's probably great. You need that instant feedback, or your self worth is trashed in your brain immediately and that's really hard to work through
Teresa Cleveland
it real and you're here by yourself. So you have to have you have to have that network, just not people who that you can refer and that you can hire and things like that. But people who can help you, you know who you know, have your back. And you can reach out to and be like, does this suck as bad as I think it does,
Kelly Reynolds
right? Like that honest feedback from people that you trust that are in that same world. So like reaching out to people in my industry, and having them understand me is so crazy good now, because in the beginning, I didn't even know anyone I didn't, I didn't have any I didn't know the lingo. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. And all of my friends were corporate people. So they had no idea what the hell I was talking about knowing what a virtual assistant was having that whole place where everyone understands you is, its key.
Teresa Cleveland
And that's why within my programs, in order to get into the profitable CEO, experience, or the membership, the profitable CEO, Alliance, everybody has to go through that, that first the blueprint, because I want us to all be speaking the same language. Now, I don't want somebody showing up saying what's an EoW? And you're just like, an end of week report. If you're in the groups, right, you see the groups and somebody asked like even your local groups, who's a good hairdresser, it's like, can you search? So I think it's important in that community that you do know that you're all speaking the same language.
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah, that's a huge thing for me. Because, especially if you're trying to create a product or a service or something, and then trying to explain it, like, I still try to explain things to Brian. And he's, I mean, he helps me my business, but he's not in this world. And I'll be like, okay, so I want to do these three things. And there's just like a blank Look at his face, and he wants to be supportive. You can see him trying really hard to be supportive. But he has no idea what I'm talking about. And that's hard. And I could be on the phone with you or one of our other friends. And I'm like, dude, I want to do this. And you're like, Oh, yeah, well, you should change these three things are you totally instantly know what's going on? And that's so valuable when you're trying to figure out what the hell's going on, especially when you're starting out?
Teresa Cleveland
Yes, because it's absolutely one of those things where it's just like, Oh, that's a great idea. And have you considered, and maybe you wouldn't want to add, and you want to check out and so you get just this wealth of knowledge that many times will be like, Oh, I hadn't really thought about it in that way before. perspective, like I didn't even know that existed. But guess my audience would love that. I'll check that out.
Kelly Reynolds
So So what is the profitable Seo? blueprint cover? What are the kind of topics that you're working through?
Teresa Cleveland
Oh, my goodness. So I know people, all the things, all the things, all the things. So we start with mission vision values. And I get people that roll their eyes, I really have this lady on the prospect called it was just like, Oh, my God, I mean, she just like fell out on her desk. It wasn't even part of the program. It was about we were getting together. And she was like, Oh, just hearing you say that is like, oh,
Kelly Reynolds
it sounds like Business School. And we're not doing it. It's boring. And I don't like it. Right? reaction. Yeah,
Teresa Cleveland
yeah, I've done all that. It's on my computer somewhere. And I'm thinking, well, that's probably why you're struggling.
Teresa Cleveland
If you don't know where you're going, and what you were doing, off the top of your head, you probably are not clear on where you're going what you're doing.
Teresa Cleveland
Well, that's just if it's on your hard drive somewhere. It's doing you No, good. That's the company's name. Am I moving closer to or away from how can you tell that? How can you? That's like the first measuring, right? Like when an opportunity shows up? How do you know whether or not you should take it or not? Like I'll see people say, oh, who wants to be on my podcast? And like 500 people are like, Oh, I love to, they've given no information about me. or anything else and people because, oh, well, it's exposure. Well, you know, but
Kelly Reynolds
it's not. If you're getting a whole bunch of the wrong kind of people. It doesn't matter. If I have someone here talking about football, that's not really going to help them. You don't need me like it's so not what we're talking about. And it's not what you come here for.
Teresa Cleveland
So that it goes back to the mission, vision and values because then you can measure is this going to move be closer to her away from my business goals. And I learned that through the passion test years ago with their processes, like, you know, being able to identify these things, what do I want? Where am I going? And that that's your compass. We start with that. values. And then we go through a, I have them do an assessment of their systems, like, Oh, yeah, like, there's another big business world. And here's the thing,
Kelly Reynolds
all the scary words today,
Teresa Cleveland
I know. Here's the thing, though, that I want to say to everybody, businesses work, because of these principles, mission, vision values, and all of that, just because you had a bad work experience and a bad environment, culture, whatever. And you want an article out of corporate so bad, like, I get it, I don't want to be there either. But take the good things from that world that work. There's a reason that businesses don't have one person doing it all, there's a reason that they have mission, vision and value. So just understand that you can cherry pick the good stuff from that in your company, you get to create your culture, you get to create it just as you want it, yes. But understand that these other things are important. So that's where I, that's where I see that business maturity happen, where people are able to be like, Okay, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and do this. So when I talk about mission vision values, even if it's something that, you know, they still have that small thing, they're willing to do it, because they're trusting Yes, this is going to help me, we have those people who are at that level that are like, just be the easy answer. And those aren't my people, right? I this this sounds too much like work? Well, it is. it is.
Kelly Reynolds
Right? Like, yeah, that's a big thing. I mean, buying another course, isn't the thing that's going to fix it, it's not going to make you successful, you make you successful, you can take the information from there and take your experience in corporate, whatever that is, and then you have to do the thing. And I think that's not an answer a lot of people want to hear. They want to buy in and just be rich.
Teresa Cleveland
I was talking to somebody the other day that said that, it's almost like once we pay for it, we think we're instantly smarter.
Kelly Reynolds
Yes, or that it makes us somehow qualified, we need to take this course to be qualified, you don't need to take any course to be qualified you like if you can learn whatever it is, or you know, it, making that getting the stamp doesn't make you any better. I mean, probably you'll learn things. But like, it doesn't just automatically mean that you're like,
Teresa Cleveland
well, now I'm this so now, you know, but you do have to do the work and you have to show up. So that's really important to me that the people that I work with are at that place where it's like, Okay, I get it. I've been on this plateau too long I this is going to be my business. It's I want to build this out. I want this to be my life, you know how I get to live my life and create the things that I want to create. So those are the people that I really love to work with. And they're like, Okay, let's do the mission vision values, right? And that's what I'm like, Okay. It's unsexy, but what it does for you is so freakin sexy because
Kelly Reynolds
Yeah, that kind of clarity.
Teresa Cleveland
Yeah, as much as I you know, the numbers are you still bring out in hives a little bit, but it's the thing that I know, right? I know that it's important. And so coming to that place of knowing, like, Okay, I need to roll up my sleeves and do this. So in this course, we really get up close and personal with your business, everybody gets to do it and apply it practical application is so important to me. And because I don't want you just to learn this, I want, I want you to implement it, I want you to be more successful. So we do that, then we go through the strategic mapping, you know, when we talk about the seven, strategic objectives and figure out so everybody's working on it, we're doing it as a group, but they're working on it for their own business, okay. So they're able to go through there. And because different people, depending on where they are in their business, it's going to be different. And so and I've never been a cookie cutter kind of person, even in the kitchen. So we go through that. And then there's implementation and then we get to some people are just oh my God, oh, my God is the KPIs and the metrics and all of that. But how do we know how and not everybody has to track the same thing, and you don't have to track everything, especially when you're starting out? Let's talk about what's most important for your business. Let's talk about how this can be applied in your business so that you can walk away and make decisions. Again, here's one of those sexy terms, data driven decision. Right? data driven decisions, people are just gonna take a nap now. And they're like,
Kelly Reynolds
Oh, I don't want to talk about this. These are big words, but they're simple things. A KPI can be how many people listen to your podcast, like how many downloads. I look at my podcast episodes and different topics, I can see what everyone really likes listening to. So maybe I'll make more of those. That's an easy decision just to look at one number and say, well, no one really liked the episode where I talked about this. And that tells me what's going on in the business so that you can make decisions. That's it, it was just looking at number, it's not complicated.
Teresa Cleveland
That's where the mission vision and values is the compass that helps you stay on track. And if something shows up, that isn't aligned with where you're going, or your values, and then you can say no to it. And then same regard, then your metrics and KPIs those are those are like your pulse, that's, you know, you can just look at it and see like, okay, where's it go dead? And where is it not? And how do I make it stay up here where it's healthy. And the same thing with your podcast, and you can look at that, and you can say, Okay, here's, this is a great topic, or if you just look at your subscribers, and you can say, okay, over the next three to six months, I would like to increase this is by 25%, my downloads, so then you can really focus in on that and say, Okay, what do I need to do in order to get that 25% increase, and then you can dig down deeper into the topics and everything else, and then look for the audience's that would love to hear what you're talking about, and you're going to increase it. I mean, it's once you know, there's no bar, like the spaghetti stays on the plate, right? It's not on the wall anymore, you get to actually enjoy it. Because you're out there doing the things your business has shown you that your people need,
Kelly Reynolds
and you're making actual decisions, you're not just letting life happen to you. Like, oh, I'm gonna throw try some things. I don't know how it's gonna work. And if you're not tracking how well you're doing, if you don't know how much money you've brought in, then you have no idea if you made a lot or a little. And that's one of the basic things that we look for when we're making a business, right? When we're creating this business. making some money is usually one of the goals. First goals, if you don't know if you've made any of your goals, if you didn't track any of the stuff,
Teresa Cleveland
right? Or even set that threshold, like this is what I want. Hmm, we have these vanity numbers that a lot of people look at, like, Oh, I want to I want to be $100,000 a year, on average every I think most everybody knows that's like $8,333 33 cents, you know, a month. But how did you come to that number? Did you just split over the year? Or have you sat down and said, Okay, this is what I need to support myself or my family or you know, whatever your financial situation is that you're responsible for. And this is how much it cost me to run my business... see I do listen to you.
Kelly Reynolds
And so proud of you right now.
Teresa Cleveland
You know, and this so then what I mean to me, is $74,000 a year or 67,000, whatever it is...
Kelly Reynolds
and then there's a real tie to that number. Like Yeah, there's a real motivation to get there.
Teresa Cleveland
Right, because my kids like to eat and you know,
Kelly Reynolds
yeah, they do. Yeah.
Teresa Cleveland
Like having the internet it helps with the business.
Kelly Reynolds
It. Lights are good. Wine. There's definitely a wine budget here
Teresa Cleveland
as well. No, I want to like wine so much. I don't. I've tried 60 now, and I've tried and tried and I just can't like why. So for muscato, you said that's like heading right there? Yeah, that's it. It's just like, fine. It just works my through.
Teresa Cleveland
Yeah, you get used to that.
Kelly Reynolds
This podcast interview has gone off the rails a
Teresa Cleveland
little bit.
Kelly Reynolds
So the profitable CEO blueprint is open right now to register. And I think all of you find people who are in that space, where you're making some money, and you're kind of hitting some roadblocks, and you realize you didn't really build out a lot of the business the things that you needed to. Because in the beginning, you kind of don't, right, you just get in there you sell you do the thing you know how to do. And then there's a point where we all hit where we realized that we need some help. And Theresa's fine course is I think, going to be so helpful for a lot of you out there. So it is open now when is the cart closing?
Teresa Cleveland
The 30th October 30.
Kelly Reynolds
So you have until October 30 to get in there and you can go to ThePurposefulCEO.com for some more information. I will also put all of this in the show notes so that you can go and find out how to get yourself together and get your business going so that you can start making some more money and kick some ass around here.
Teresa Cleveland
Absolutely. I just have nothing else. Just trust yourself. Use your voice. This is not for you. That's okay. Just I just want every woman out there to know that your voice matters. You can make a difference and no matter what you do, like I don't care what some asshole told you some day one day they believed Like whether it was in school or whatever it was, it doesn't matter whoever somebody told you that like shut that voice down you matter and go out and share your voice because somebody is waiting to hear from you things that only you can tell them.
Kelly Reynolds
Here here. I highly agree with that statement. On that note, I will say thank you so much to Teresa, thank you so much for being a guest on this podcast. It was great to talk about it and I really think this course is going to fill such a wonderful need for a lot of business owners out there. So thank you so much for coming on.
Teresa Cleveland
Thanks for having me, Kelly.