Family & Business

Since my son Hayden was born in 2002 I have been selling things online.

At the beginning of 2020 I joked that I was isolating LONG BEFORE it was cool.

It’s not so funny anymore because isolating gets old but working from home, for me, NEVER got old.

I’ve been teaching others how to sell online or helping them do it through services since 2005! I LOVE showing people how to use the internet to build a lifestyle that they can control.

I have TONS of experience in so many things.

In the services area I was a Virtual Assistant, a Writer, an Editor, an Affiliate Manager, a WordPress Designer/Developer and more I probably forget.
I owned a writing agency where I had a team of writers pumping out great articles for websites.

I created my first business when Hayden was four months old out of a small investment from my parents. I partnered with my dad and we turned the garage into a production facility. We could whip up 120 bars of soap at a time and whip up soap we did! I created my first eCommerce store for that business in 2002 from a free software and I made my first online sale of a physical product – what a thrill!

I’ve been in network marketing selling everything from RESPs, Soy Candles, Lipstick, Workouts and now I’m so in love with selling Tower Gardens and capsules filled with literal dehydrated fruits and veggies (Juice Plus).

I’ve logged WELL over the 10,000 hours they say you need to have to become an expert at something.
If there are two things I know how to do after succeeding for almost twenty years doing them, they are:

Build Connections – You can’t make sales unless people actually WANT to buy from you. In order for people to want to buy from you they need to LIKE you. In order for people to like you they need to get to KNOW you. I know how to do this. I know how to let people get to know me without giving away my privacy (which I know many people fear) or worry about being judged (which also is a big deal for many, I’ve been there for sure). I know how to build real, lasting, true connections so it’s absolutely a win-win for all involved.

This is a picture of just a small smattering of friends who I’ve met in business and who then became customers, partners, clients, etc. Making money with REAL people, REAL friends, is the BEST. These ladies are: Alexis Rodrigo, Cindy Bidar, Crystal McNerney, Cherry-Ann Carew, Fran Watson, Jackie Brown and Rayven Monique

Make Sales – From the outside looking in it seems like making the sale is hard. Being inauthentic and pushy and trying to get people to do exactly what you want when you want for your own selfish reasons, that’s hard and I don’t recommend it AT ALL. But getting sales is EASY when you just tell people what you have to offer and you let them decide.

Talk soon. 🙂

I love this photo of me from a business photoshoot in 2019.

I’m kind of iffy about photoshoots because I DO want great photos to use for my business but I don’t want anything that looks or feels fake.

This photo is so real, though. We were moving from one spot to another and my photographer just snapped this one as I walked.

It represents so much of what I’m about and love… 

the cup carries a comfort drink and really to me that represents the comfort of having freedom.

the laptop was my lifeline to the world this year as it was for so many MORE people in 2020, and it represents creativity, freedom, communication and so much more.

the water is something that brings so much calm and peace to me, for me it represents home (island girl originating from the East Coast here) and how vast and varied and limitless things can be. That water is made up of tiny, tiny drops yet combined together they can do incredible things.

Yes, I love this photo.

It represents the best of what I’ve been able to do for all these years.

I’m SO PROUD of my accomplishments but I’m also not too proud to admit my mistakes.

And what’s been on my mind for about three days right now is the mistake I made in not taking strategy, organization and systems seriously.

I’ve known about how to organize a business since sometime around 2005 when I bought a business systems creating product from a lady who was called “The Systems Chick”. I don’t think she’s in business anymore but I loved her branding and her product was TOPS. I learned a lot there but I didn’t keep it in effect for my business and that was a mistake.

And then I heard about systems and processes and good business structure from many other people.

But I was being stubborn (who, me?  hahahah). I wanted to have “fun” and I think I thought that getting organized would suck the fun out of it. I wanted to be “carefree” and following some rules felt too stiffling. 

The problem is I failed to really see the rules would be all mine and they would make me MORE FREE, not less.

And my eyes were truly opened to this when Cindy Bidar released her new product Tiny Courses Empire and I went through it.

I saw how organized she was, how she talked about consistency and a snowball effect that happens when you repeat a process that works!

Like I know I said this yesterday and I’m not just writing marketing content here, she literally blew my mind with that course.

I think it was the classic case of the right info at the right time. 

Like I said I’d hear much of this kind of thing before but being stubborn as I am I wasn’t ready to hear it. But now that I’m into my third six-figure year (I think still need to do the books) I’m ready to bust some new barriers and I knew I wanted to spend the last couple of weeks of the year thinking about my strategies so it came at the PERFECT time for me to hear and HEED!

Obviously, I’m recommending Cindy’s course you can Buy It Here 

I have some other things you should know about, too.

2021 Here We Come is a series of prompts for you to DO and be accountable for to plan for your best year next year. The prompts are:

• Get Your Planner Ready (free 2021 printable planner included)
• Set Up Your Vision for Life & Business
• Create Your Lifewheel
• Set Your Financial Thermostat
• Get Accountability in Place

These are NOT randomly chosen tasks. These are the exact tasks and practices I put into place to set myself up for increasing my business by 20% year over year and growing to six figures and beyond. 

I invite you to join in this accountability group and get these DONE for yourself. Instructions and downloads are also included to make it easy to do these tasks. 

Plus, isn’t it time to kiss 2020 GOODBYE! SO LONG! and move into a new year with new momentum? I say HELL YES!

Grab your printable pdf planner, your prompt lessons with assignments and join the accountability community for a one month $10 trial. If you decide to continue on and not cancel you’ll get in at the discounted price of $30/month (regular is $40/month). 

Grab your discounted membership with one month $10 trial right here:
https://angelawills.com/amember/signup/clubtrial 

p.s. Looking for a business coach? Check out my coaching offer by clicking here. 

What Will You Learn in Membership Impact

Here’s how it works :

Training – You’ll learn important steps and psychological information to help you run a successful membership site.

Action – You’ll get easy to follow steps and regular action to take on a timeline you determine.

Accountability – I invite you to contact me in two ways to keep fully accountable to create results for yourself.

No I don’t train you on a surviving software but, even better, I teach you how to use any software to create a membership site!

You’ll feel confident knowing how to use software to achieve your membership goals and you will even discover how to run simple membership with programs you must likely already have!

Plus, let’s take the stress out of this process. It should be fun, easy and something you WANT to do and it can be that way!

I have so many things to share in this. When we start you’ll get the full roadmap to starting and running your membership in lesson one and then what we’ll do is dive deep in with lessons, action plans and accountability.

Look forward to having you join us!

Sign up at https://AngelaWills.com/Membership-Impact

Early pricing ends Friday!

I’ve gotten a few messages from friends in the last few days asking me “What did you decide about sending Ella back to school?”

So many people are wondering what to do right now for September. It’s certainly a topic on many a person’s mind, even if you have school kids or not. 

I’ve decided: My daughter will go to school. 

Of course things can change on a dime in 2020 so I’m open to making a totally different decision if need be but I do feel confident this is the best thing for my daughter with the information I have right now. 

But this message isn’t about my choice or your choice or any of that. We as parents have to support ALL parents and the decisions they make in the best interest of their child. 

What this message is about is what will happen WHEN we send the kids back to school. 

I’ve been thinking a LOT about what I want my life to look like. Covid has taught me that I can still do what I do in between life. When school starts up again I will suddenly have 25 hours of time EACH WEEK to run my business, 100 hours per month. That’s a lot of time on my hands considering I’ve been managing with little to NO time to focus. 

My suggestions for you if you’re suddenly about to come into some free time when the kids go to school:

1. SELF-CARE first! My routine was given to me by my friend Charlotte Caunter from Health SHEro. What I do first thing is do a 10-minute mediation (I use the app insight timer), then I journal gratitude and other things, than a 15 minute workout. I will be doing a once a week hot yoga, too, come back to school.
   
2. Nourish Yourself. I used to rush through lunches so I could work. NO MORE. I will make sure I get the nourishment my body needs and I’ll be pumping it with nutrition. One of my favorite ways to do that is to have a smoothie with Juice PLUS capsules (all REAL food), Complete Shake mix (chocolate), Almond milk, Almond butter and a piece of Kale from my tower garden. See this instagram post for more details.
   
3. Life First, Then Business. I will NOT fill the time I have with work. I’ll take Friday’s to regularly do more self-care, I’ll decide how to leverage my work to get the BIGGEST results. 

This is likely what my day will look like:

7am – wake and do morning self-care routine plus workout
8am – wake girly for school
9am – beach for daily bit of extra journaling or planning of the day’s activities
10am – head to coworking
1pm – lunch & me-time
2pm – more me-time
3pm – pick up my girly
4pm – family time – FOCUS on family
5pm – 8pm – family time
9pm – review day and plan next

10pm – night time self-care
11pm – bed for full 7-8 hours sleep

Now of course I won’t perfectly follow this ALL the time but it’s on point to what I was doing before covid. My plan is to also take two weeks off during Christmas so I am going to work to get ahead on my emails and product launches so they can be ready to go over the holidays.

How did I get here? What were the steps?

Well let me tell you I wouldn’t be where I am today with having first been a service-provider. 

I quit my job in 2007 to become a Virtual Assistant. I ended up, after that, doing Affiliate Management, WordPress Design, Salespage Copywriting, Writing and Editing and more. 

The services brought me “now income” that I needed in the moment and they allowed me to hone long-term skills that I use over and over and over again in my business. 

I highly recommend to people looking to break into this business to start with services. Not only do you get the benefits above but you ALSO get an insiders look at successful businesses (if you choose your clients right). That insider’s look is priceless! So valuable!

So on Thursday I want to give you the goods. I want to teach you as much as I can pack into one 30 minute training about how to leverage the skills you have now into services and then how to transform that, over time, into a laptop lifestyle. 

You might not be able to make your schedule look like mine, to start, but if you put in the time for the hourly work to learn while you earn you can use a short time of a fuller schedule to create a long term lifestyle of freedom. 

If you want to attend this one-time training just go ahead and sign up at the link below to get updates:Turn Your Skills into a Laptop Lifestyle << Free webinar click there

Note: I wrote this post when my girly was three years old. She’s six now, in Kindergarten, and keeping me as busy as ever. I actually don’t have more time to work now than I did when she was in daycare three days a week for 8+ hours a day because the school days are only 6 hours and I get to school 30 mins early to get a parking spot.

Years ago I was a speaker for a group of entrepreneurs and I found myself saying “I have a toddler” a lot, like I was excusing myself for doing stuff a certain way, or having super-short or super-odd hours.

Then I thought – what the heck am I apologizing for?!

What I do is share my life, share what works for me, share how I’m building a business and raising a family. That’s what I do and I’m sooooo “Sorry, not sorry.” about it!

Not everyone will relate to my life exactly, but what I have to share about living the Laptop Lifestyle is always universal:

• Build a business based on the lifestyle YOU want.
• Have freedom to do what YOU want.
• Spend time with the people YOU want.
• Do the things YOU want to do!

That’s the laptop lifestyle.

For me that is 100% building a business while raising a family and I do it quite well if I do say so myself!

We moms are hard on ourselves.

Of course I’ve thought at times there are things I could do better, it’s mom-nature to do so!

What I know is that I’m basically a Stay at Home Mom and a Work at Home Mom. Over the years the hours of those jobs have changed. Currently it’s summer and we’re on all kinds of odd schedules. This week my daughter has no childcare, next week three days for the next three weeks and then for three weeks after that – maybe summer camps. It’s a challenge, but it’s the lifestyle I chose and I LOVE it!

I do this not by accident and it wasn’t EASY to figure out I assure you. I struggled much in the first year and then a little less in the second year to find enough time to get work done. My daughter is five now, my son seventeen and I feel in a groove, I’ve got a really nice flow going now and I see the snowball starting to build.

There is nothing perfect about my business.

I don’t have a perfect website.
I don’t have perfect grammar.
I don’t have prefect products. 
I don’t have perfect ideas.
I don’t have perfect emails.
I don’t make perfect offers.
I don’t have perfect salespages.

You get the idea.

I focused on giving VALUE to my people and I focus on taking ACTION every single day towards my goals. If that means an email goes out with a mistake, an email goes out with a mistake. I sent out an email with the wrong date on it… did I get mortified and thoroughly embarassed… naw! I just sent a correction one! That’s all. No biggie.

In short, I get things done. The focus is on marketing every day. On getting my message to REAL PEOPLE be it via this message right here that will go on my blog post, to my email list, shared on social media and I might even make it into a video. I always spend my first batch of time on the things that will get in front of people, as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. THAT is so important, always, and when you have a family you don’t want to waste any moments you could be using for something else.

I see so many people spending months on things they shouldn’t.

If you need a website, get it up in a DAY and get it out there. Period. End of sentence. There is no reason why you can’t do that. NONE.

If you need an email list, sign up NOW and get a form. You could have new subscribers TODAY. For Sure. Don’t doubt me. It’s true ;).

If you want a social media following, go connect today. Not tomorrow. Not after you study five courses. Today. It is possible. 100%.

Action, fast action. Every single day.

That’s how you build a business and raise a family at the same time. If you think you don’t have time right now you’re probably moving really slow, most faster, do things fast and get things DONE.

Do them at night. Do them when the kids are in school (if you get that kind of time, I don’t). Do them during naps. Get up at 5am. Do them in line at the grocery store (good time for Instagram, a new love of mine). Do them. Do them. Do them. 

Go. Go. Go!

Love it! Incorporate it INTO your life. I don’t feel like my business is a hassle or something I have to fit into my life. My business and my life are ONE THING and doing business is a huge source of joy and awesomeness in my life. It’s not something I do just to have the Laptop Lifestyle, it IS my lifestyle. It’s something I’d want to do even if I didn’t get paid. It’s something I used to do before I even know HOW to get paid for it.

So that’s how I do it. Basically I just do it. I find ways to serve my market and I SERVE! I don’t decide I have to sell this or sell that and barrel through, I find out how I can help people, teach people, provide them with the information they need and I do it.

You can do this, too!

I started my first business in 2002, shortly after my son was born.

In the first couple of years I leaned heavily on the advice from mom and work at home mom forums which were very popular places for moms at the time (before Facebook ever existed ).

I quickly learned that it was HARD to find good advice for free.

You never knew who you could really trust.
You never knew who was really making money.
You never knew if their advice was anywhere near useful or accurate.

I found a really great forum and it just seemed different.

This was a community of women who were getting results. This was the place where I experience the true power of community. I made so many friends, worked with clients from there, partnered with, promoted as an affiliate, hired as my coaches, bought products from and so much more.I am STILL in contact with them all these years and I so value those relationships.

Through their guidance and advice I went from a frustrated mom who say and opportunity to a profitable business owner who found a business she LOVED.

I learned to build websites.
I learned how to write copy that attracts people.
I learned how to FOCUS, instead of flail.
I learned how to connect.
I learned to build my list.
I learned the value of hiring a coach.

I’ve hired a number of coaches over the years.

I knew I wanted/needed a VA Coach, and I found one.

I hired her to show me the ropes of being a VA.
I hired her to have a quick connection to the VA world.
I hired her to learn new skills like learning to build a WordPress website.

She did all those things and so much more!

Matter of fact I hired my VA Coach to coach me and then also to build my first WordPress website for my then new Virtual Assistance Business.

I skipped over so much hassle of learning from scratch and building from the ground up by getting my first site done for me! She created a beautiful site and then I took it over.

While coaching with my first coach I went from working an afternoon shift at a factory job to quitting my job in nine months!

In 2011 I was in the middle of completely transitioning out of the services business.

You see my goal as a VA was to get out of my job. I did that but I knew the Virtual Assistant lifestyle wasn’t something I wanted long term. I was looking for much more flexibility in my day to day activities and working for clients felt very restrictive to me, and just not for me.

So… I started offering my very first group coaching program around 2008. I started building momentum and sales. In 2010 I started doing Website Design Mojo which became my flagship program, earning me over six figures in sales over a number of years.

Then I felt I was just stuck, stalled. I had lived with my parents for far too long. Back in 2011 I was with my parents, in their basement apartment. I was making good money but I was completely paralyzed by the fear of getting out there and letting my business support us.

So in 2011 I hired Nicole Dean my coach. 

I had met Nicole in that initial mom forum run and she was the first person to reach out to me and ask if she could help me all those years back. Nicole had built herself an awesome business.

As I said when I started working with Nicole I was feeling very frustrated about my living situation, and also very embarassed. I did not feel like I could call myself a “success” if I was living in my parents basement, even though others would at times use that term to describe me.

All the things I learned from Nicole are too much to mention but I’ll give you the highlights:

• Work on a money task every single day.
• Work on more money tasks.
• Do things fast.
• Use what you’ve got.
• Make use of great tools.
• Reuse things that are still good (like previous emails, past content, more).
• Do something TODAY – Don’t Delay.

I really learned some of the KEY habits I still use every day from Nicole.

The two main being to release stuff FAST and do money tasks as often as possible.

Nicole would have none of this “I’m launching my product for two months… I’m off to work on it and I’ll talk to you later.” No, none of that at all.

She knew that most people will turn that two months into three and then that three months leads to doubt, fear, worry. She knew that even if it was done after three months then the work of promoting it begins. She wanted me to skip past that and get something of high VALUE out fast. We’re not talking skimping on offering good stuff, just changing your mindset on how you get it out there.

While coaching with Nicole I had my best month of sales to that date AND I co-bought my first house! 

There were more people… so many people who were coaching and teaching and training along the way. I couldn’t name them all and if you’re one I’ve missed please know I love you, too! I know that coaching is an incredible way to experience growth and that’s why I do it.

I hired Nicole again in 2017 to coach me. And then again in 2019, this year. Nicole offered me to work with both herself and Kelly McCausey as a team. Nicole focuses mainly on the Strategy and Kelly is so awesome at the Mindset part. They are a dynamic pair! The coaching offer was a Beachpreneurs offer and in 2018 I ended up going to a retreat called Beach House which was, also, life-changing (and I’ll save that for another post).

This year while coaching with Nicole she asked me what was my biggest roadblock at this time. Without hesitation I said it was “my skin”. If you don’t know I’ve had cystic acne since I was 13 years old and in my recent 20 years have also had rosacea (red skin). I’ve felt VERY held back by that. Honestly it is probably one of the major reasons I’ve been thriving in an online business. 

Simply having someone ASK the question who I trusted allowed me to answer openly and then start the discussion on HOW to move forward to resolve it. So here we are in December of 2019 and I feel like I’ve blasted through that roadblock completely!

THIS is just one example of why I believe in coaching, deeply. 

So, if you were to ask me: “Angela, is business coaching worth it?” I’d say holy hell YES it is! Not just because I’m now offering coaching but because I’ve been willing to invest thousands of dollars in it myself AND I believe the help I’ve gotten from that investment is just priceless.

I don’t think we’re meant to go it alone. I don’t think we do our BEST work when we have no one to support, understand and give us opinions. And I also don’t believe in “just business” coaching. My personal life affects my business and so when I coach people I don’t tell you that we’re limited to any one discussion. You’re free to ask me anything! 

Before we get into the details of my offer, let’s talk about the question many people get confused on:

What does a business coach DO?

I think there is this misconception that a business coach is going to kind of “take over” your business for you and tell you what to do. Many people come to coaching with this “I surrender” kind of attitude where they say “Ok, you’re my coach. TELL ME what to do.”. That’s NOT business coaching, at least not to me, not the way I’ve wanted to BE coached or to do coaching with others.

A coach guides you, answers your questions, let’s you know information that you may not have the experience to know. They might be there via email or via phone calls (I don’t do phone calls, by the way, it messes with my idea of having a free and clear calendar lol!).

A coach is supportive, inspiring, motivating. A coach could do a variety of things from making suggestions, giving you feedback, helping you navigate your ideas and more. That arrangement is something more specific to the coach and you.

Anyway – I have just 10 spots open. I’ve offered them to my customers and now I’d love to invite you to take me up on a spot. They are non-committal, month-to-month spots OR you can get my coaching for the entire YEAR of 2020 (and the rest of 2019). I have the year of coaching on sale from now until Friday at midnight. 

Check out all the details on coaching here. 

I hire coaches because they work, when you choose one that really matches you and your needs.

I coach people in my programs because of the amazing people who’ve influence and affected my life in the same manner.

I want to help people the way they helped me.
I want to inspire people the way they inspired me.
I want to motivate people the way they motivated me.

And I do. I get people telling me pretty regular that I’ve made a difference in their life. That to me is the biggest joy in this business, in running my own membership site and in offering my own coaching. I can’t see myself doing anything else.