Real Happy Mom

Practical tips and encouragement for moms

Guaranteed Email Marketing Tips for the Win Without Feeling Sleezy

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Raise your hand if you would rather do anything else other than sending an email to your email list?

I used to feel the same way until I found Kate Doster. Kate is the host of the podcast Inbox Besties that helps coaches, bloggers, and course creators with list building, email marketing, funnels, and passive income products.

In this episode Kate shares:

  • Her story getting fired and the start of becoming a mompreneur
  • Tips for selling using email without feeling sleazy
  • What’s a freebie and how to use it to not only build your email list but ultimately make money
  • How she built a team and the question to ask to determine where you need help in your business

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level or you want to do better with email marketing, Kate is your girl. And this is the episode that will help with that.

The post contains affiliate links. This means that I will make a commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using one of my links. This helps to keep bringing you awesome guests and content on the Real Happy Mom Podcast.

About Kate

Kate Doster is the host of the Inbox Besties Podcast, creator of the Love Your List 2.0 email marketing mega course, and is dangerously obsessed with helping ethical entrepreneurs carve out their slice of the interwebs by wooing the hearts (and wallets) open of their small but mighty audiences thanks to fun email marketing and Easy Yes mini-offers.

She believes you don’t need to bleed the alphabet or be a dirty rotten spam face to write emails that jolt subscribers into taking action, gobbling up your paid offers like candy… or kale if that’s your thing.

Connect with Kate

Links Mentioned

Episodes in the Mompreneur Series

Episode 131 with Tiffany Huff-Strothers – The Way a Broken Single Mom Became Successful Mompreneur

Episode 132 with Kate Doster – Guaranteed Email Marketing Tips for the Win Without Feeling Sleazy

Episode 133 with Chloe McKenzie – The Secret to Showing Up Better at Home and In Your Business

Episode 134 with Cait Scudder – Here’s How to Ditch the Annoying Guilt and Get Support Now

Episode 135 with Katie Kahvo – This is How to Have Success Without the Exhausting Hustle

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Transcript of this episode

Real Happy Mom 0:02
Hey there, I’m Tony and I have an overwhelming passion to help moms navigate motherhood without the overwhelm. I went from struggling with motherhood and losing my identity, to be productive and living out my version of being a happy mom. On the Real Happy Mom podcast, I interview real moms and experts to help you navigate raising children self care, time management, and so much more. So if you’re ready to get rid of the overwhelm, and start being a Real Happy Mom, join me inside the Real Happy Mom podcast. Hey there, and welcome back to another episode of the Real Happy Mom Podcast. I am a su so very excited today because I have one of my favorite people that I love to listen to your podcasts and just consuming her courses. And that’s Kate Gosar. I’m talking about her on the podcast before a couple of times, actually. And I absolutely love Kate just because I love that she owns who she is. And she really is awesome at helping with email marketing. Now, if you haven’t heard about Kate doster, or like, Tony, and like, why are you so excited about her, you will see why in this episode. Today, I’m talking to Kate. And she’s going to give us some of her story of how she even got started and what lead her to having her own business and actually doing email marketing, then she shares with us some of the things that she wants us to know, especially as mompreneurs, about email marketing so that we can do better about sending emails to people that are actually interested in what we have. Then she goes through what we can put in what she calls her welcome email series, and how we can attract people to actually get in to our email list so that we can send that email series out. Then lastly, she talks about her business, how she structures things or not structure things, and how she, you know, sets goals and puts in milestones too, as well. And then lastly, she talks about her team, how she has these team members working on different things in the business, and how she goes about getting different people to help with things in the business. Because let’s just be honest, we feel like we can do everything ourselves. But that’s not always the case. So Kate shares with us her key way of figuring out what you need to hire out. And then lastly gives us some encouragement on how we can do better about showing up in our businesses, especially as moms, because it can be a lot, but it definitely can be done. So you definitely want to check out this episode and listen to it to the end, because I promise you, it is a good one. Now, I am not going to keep you any longer. We’re going to jump right on into this episode, which is a part of the mompreneur series. And I am so excited for you to listen to. So let’s go ahead and jump on in.

Real Happy Mom 2:54
All right, Kate, welcome to the podcast. I am super, super excited to have you.

Kate Doster 2:59
I am so excited to be here to Yes, you

Real Happy Mom 3:03
are one of my favorite people in the internet world about email marketing, so I am super pumped to have you and please forgive me my son, he’s, he’s almost done with his tantrum. Yeah,

Kate Doster 3:16
before we hit record, we’re like, but this is a real mom show. And this, this just proves the like people, your kids calming down, like you can still go into your thing. It is okay.

Real Happy Mom 3:24
Yes, it is. Yes,

Kate Doster 3:25
it’s real here.

Real Happy Mom 3:29
Absolutely. Now, Kate, I know you from inbox besties. But I just want to share a little bit about you and your business. And what do you do?

Kate Doster 3:37
Sure. So I am Kate doster, of Kate doster calm. And I have a podcast about inbox besties. And it is my mission in life to put money in the hands of good people so they can do good with it. And one of the things when people either start an online business or say they want to start a blog to get money, one of the most time efficient ways because I know we’re both about like, you know, your Sunday prep guide. And all that, like we’re all about making the use of our time is with email marketing, because those are the people that sort of raise their hand and they’re like, yeah, like I am really interested in meal planning help. I am really interested in organization tips. It’s not just like I’m a browser. And so with email marketing, you get such a return on your time that I’m just like, I love it because you get to talk to people like they’re your friends. You don’t have to worry about like posting on social media and like getting a lot of haters. I’m just like, this is the best. But with that whole good people part just like you and the moms that you help a lot of us carry that baggage of like I don’t want to be annoying, or we’ve received awful emails or we get a million emails. And so people have a really hard time one was writing in general because to write on the internet, we’re taught the exact wrong way in school so that doesn’t help. And then too, we don’t want to be annoying. We don’t want to seeing as being pestering as opposed to being late and somebody’s inbox. I’m like all of these moms need to use email marketing because it’s literally when you set it up. And we can talk about different terms later. It’s like an online Butler, it’s like that made that you always dreamed of having, it’s going to take care of your people when, you know, you’ve got to take care of your own little people. And I’m a mom, myself, and I’m sure we’ll talk about how actually becoming a mom is what made me start my business. So, Kate,

Real Happy Mom 5:21
now my biggest thing is, I always love to hear the back stories on how people actually got started. So I want to know what led you to this point?

Kate Doster 5:29
Sure. So I got started with this business, because I got fired for having a baby. So it was in 2012. So still super legal, I honestly think now, probably people still get away with it. And what had happened was that I had taken a new job at a bank, I won’t say which one, and I had been there for less than a year. And I found out that I was pregnant, like literally, I think like two months in not getting the job. So first of all, when I was like reading about the company policy, they considered getting pregnant an illness or an injury. So like, it wasn’t even a thing. Like they didn’t even have maternity leave mat leave none of that. And so literally, I am at this point, like, I’ve been trying to get a hold of like the benefits once like the leave work, how do I go this, like, you know, I was saving my sick time. Luckily for me, my pregnancy was a fairly easy one, I had no medical issues or any of that sort of stuff. So you know, my plan was to go back to work somehow, like we were going to figure it out. Because I was going to drop down to part time. And then I get a phone call at this point. I’m like eight months pregnant, I’m on that. I’m on the floor. And I’m like, Oh, you have a call from corporate. So I thought that we were going to be discussing like, you know, the benefits of maternity leave package, all that sort of stuff. And they fired me, they fired me mid shift. They’re like, if you do not come back within three days of being hospitalized, you’re terminated. I’m like, wait a minute, you’re not even laying me off. So if I had to go get another job I have to write I was fired for giving birth. And they’re like, well, we’re not going to word it like that. But you don’t fall under job protection. So we’re not going to protect you. And I was like eff that. So immediately when I had said that, I was like, I am never going back to this company again. They’re awful. I hate them. My actual branch manager had no idea because our bank had been bought out by another bank. So then she’s on the phone. And like, again, this is midday at a bank like on a Friday. So like you just hear my boss manager just screaming at corporate on the phone, even with the customers and they’re like it was awful in a scene. So long story short, I did qualify for unemployment. And in Rhode Island, we have something called TDI, short term disability. So we did have some money after that. But I ended up having an emergency c section with my daughter, we were in labor for about 28 hours, and my water had been broken for just about that whole entire time. And so her risk of infection was going high. So I had to have an emergency c section and I could barely walk three days, then like I couldn’t even get out of the hospital until day five. So like it was just a no go. So that is what sort of spurred on my business was getting fired. And I’m like, this is absolutely awful. And so I ended up staying home for a little while, because, you know, we had some TDI benefits and all this sort of stuff. And my husband was in social services. So long story short, we ended up you know, on state assistance, like what happens to a lot of ladies, like you think that the companies that you work for, are going to, I don’t even want to say take care of you, but at least not fire you and allow you to come back and give you the chance. And it’s like so here I was I just gave birth or fired. We’re on public assistance, which again, it’s there when you need it. And I was just like, this isn’t for me. Not for me, like I do not think so at all. No offense to the moms listening, I know that you mostly work with working moms. I just I couldn’t stay home. I’m like I hate cooking. I hate cleaning. Like I am not one with like the Pinterest crafts, more power to those moms that is not me and felt like I need to get out. But I’ve got this baby, we end up getting second with our get up getting pregnant with our second one like nine months later. So those were only two kids, we end up banging them out. They’re 17 and a half months apart. So after I was just like, I’m gonna figure out this work from home thing, like 100%. And so that is a very long story of how I got started with getting fired. And like I need to figure out how to make money while still being in this house. Because even after sort of things settle down. daycare where we are in New England, for any of the good daycares was so expensive. That literally it’s like I would end up netting like $5 and I think If that’s what happens to a lot of people, again, we didn’t think that we would necessarily be in the income bracket. But that’s why a lot of people ended up staying home and being on benefits. Because really, it’s like, wait a minute, I can go and work for 40 hours, net, like 200 bucks, and somebody else could be with my kid or like, I’ll stay here. And I was just like, this is just it. So I made my own business. Take that everybody. Close mine. Yes,

Real Happy Mom 10:25
I love it. I love all of that. It’s crazy how sometimes us going through some really difficult and challenging times can lead us to where we are now. But I really love one thing I love about you is that you own who you are. And I know a lot of people try to be like others, but you’re like, this is me, this is how I am. And you are just so awesome with it. And one of the things that I really wanted to do more of is, especially this being Real Happy Mom is being more real and transparent with but not being so real, that people are like, Oh, that’s too much like combat. Like, how did you get to this point where you’re just like, Okay, I’m just gonna, you know, be me. And this is how, you know, it’s just gonna go, especially when it comes to writing in particular.

Kate Doster 11:15
Okay, so I’m just a giant to work in real life. Like, if you could not guess I was in theater, did like Color Guard, flag marching man, like the whole nine yards, like, just just stack it up. And here’s the thing that and I think this goes back to again, being a really solid mom myself from having a really solid mom, because she just always just gave you like this inflated self esteem. So like, I did not care that I was not popular. I did not care that was like, oh, who’s that weirdo? Like, it didn’t matter. Like I had my core group of like five friends. I’m just like belting out songs from Chicago, like I’m living my best life. And so I just took that with me. And actually in school, like, I’m diagnosed with a learning disability, which is why I tell people like anybody can write. So I have dyslexia, they caught it when I was in about third grade. And as most of you guys know, you know, with children, and even in your own case, when you catch it, the earlier you catch it, the better it can be. So even some of my original stuff before I could hire somebody like a virtual assistant, which we can talk about stuff later on, you know, I couldn’t start my business until I had a computer that could read things back to me because proofreading was always a really big struggle. And so it was really ironic that I went into writing, and also, you know, sales, but I think the reason why just people connected and the people that I felt I connected with didn’t care if there was a typo because they weren’t a perfectionist. They were an action taker. Like Yeah, they needed to be able to understand what I said, but they liked the fact that I say like buttface and weirdo and I talk about sir mix a lot. And like, you know, I’m a nerdiest white girl ever. Not that you guys can see us recording, but like, I’ve got the ukuleles in the background, like, you name it like, but I’ve never tried to be anything else. But like, that’s just who I am like, take it or leave it. This is why everyone say oh, I feel like we’re friends. Or they feel like they can be like themselves. Especially the people that consider themselves like, Oh, well, I’m just normal. Like, well, yeah, you are just normal. But it’s like, Okay, well, how do you talk to your friends? Like what are, you know, some pop culture references if that’s your thing, you know, if you are quiet and reserved, that’s fine. Just be quiet and reserved. But you don’t like you said, you don’t have to be this big character. You don’t have to be a buttoned up professional. You don’t have to be like, you know, a boss, babe, and like with your Louis batanes. And like all that sort of stuff or be like yes, Queen. It’s like, if it comes out of your mouth, and it sounds stupid, then it’s gonna read stupid. And that’s what makes really compelling writing is just, especially on the internet, maybe not like a novel. But on the internet. When you write the way that you talk the way that humans speak. That’s how people connect to you so much. So just be yourself, guys. If you love cats talk about cats.

Real Happy Mom 13:56
Definitely. Now, what’s the one thing that you wish, especially more mompreneurs knew about email marketing, that you see a lot of us either making mistakes, or we’re not doing enough of? That is such a great question.

Kate Doster 14:10
I think that we had touched upon it a little bit. And that is thinking that you’re going to be annoying, or really letting that fear of somebody replying back and saying something mean, reflect on you as a person and taking it personal. Now I send a lot of emails, I send a lot of females where I asked for money. Usually they’re more casual than like straight up, but sometimes I’ll send a straight up sales message or it’s just like, that’s how we’re talking about what’s my thing, but I got two, two hate mails last year and that was it. And it was one person who’s like, I can’t believe you say the word homeslice like I say on everything. How did you get in here? Like I have more men who let you in. So I want you like looking at a landing page to see you guys in case you’re not familiar. a landing page is a special page either on your website, you can get a separate service if you want. And it’s got what’s called a little opt in form. That’s the thing that people puts in their email address on. And usually you give them some type of free gift, also called a freebie, a lead magnet. And I was like, what’s in all of my Caithness? This lady talks and I could see that she was unaware that I said this. And then another one was in a subject line. I don’t really consider this Hey, I think she’s trying to come from a place of love. But I put something like the subject line on email. It’s like, Oh, it’s such a buttface. But she’s like, I mean, I deleted her. I’m like, you’re not allowed to hang out with me get out. Bye, bye bye, buy sister baton. And it was like, Oh, it’s so unprofessional that you would say but face and all this sort of stuff. Now in my head, I’m like, Well, my bank account that’s looking at me does not care that I say the word buttface. So I don’t know why you are. But I’m like the people. I feel personally. That common like, right, I got the odd chance that you’re going to get a spammer comment. It’s like, how little are you doing in your life that you have time for this? Like, seriously, like, the whole time that you were like, so upset about me? Because I work with business owners that why aren’t you doing your own damn thing? Like, even if I don’t like somebody, like I really like it has to be something bad. Like, if I think that, like you’re making some comments that I feel are demeaning to women, or are racist, or it’s just like, excuse me, then yes, I will call you out when necessary. But I’m not like sitting there being a keyboard jockey. But like, how dare you say the word buttface. Like, get out. So that’s how I have to tell you is that if somebody replies back to you, and it is mean, or hurtful or spiteful one, laugh at them to yourself, and then to just delete them from everything, get them out of your email service provider, they are not allowed to be in your space anymore. And you control that space. So that’s really number one is allowing that fear to really get the best of you are thinking like, Oh, I’m gonna get looped in with all like the spammers of this people that are annoying. Literally just thinking that thought means that you can’t it is physically impossible. Because those spammers, they don’t care. The fact that you care prove that you’re never going to be like that. And if somebody doesn’t feel like talking about time management that day, they just simply won’t open your email. It’s fine. So that’s the biggest thing. The second thing will third, really, especially for moms is setting up those automations. So that’s the most like, you know, you have the freebie that somebody signs up for an email gets sent out, a lot of people have that set up. But again, we’re moms, so potentially emailing every week, like I recommend four meals a month, sometimes it can’t happen. So you want to have something like a welcome series, a welcome series is that digital bottler. So you set aside some time, maybe a weekend night, maybe you have to do you know, 10 minutes here an hour there, you write five emails, six emails, even don’t overwhelm yourself. And now you’ve got two to three weeks of content the new people are gonna see. So in case if you’re behind by a couple of weeks, people, especially the new ones, are still hearing from you. And this is the last one, I swear, if you are selling something, and you created it, because you know, you want to help somebody, again, like the self care idea, like the going to the dentist coloring book, which I think is super cute that you have, don’t just email once and think, Oh, well, they didn’t buy it. So they must hate it and they don’t want it.

Kate Doster 18:28
It’s gonna come as a new shocker. Not everyone is going to read all of your emails. I know, I know, you literally just fell off of your chair. You’re like I was driving, I just worked. It’s the breakdown. Like, how dare you say that, to me. It is the truth. So there really well could be somebody who was interested in going to the dentist coloring book, but because she didn’t get her email that day. And now all of a sudden, because lots of people do get emails, it got dropped down to the bottom or page two of her Gmail, she’s not going to see it. But if you send another email, again, not the same one not being like, Oh, you idiot, why didn’t you buy the dentist book, your kids are gonna hate you and the dentist and they’re gonna have trauma, and they’re gonna be on the couch. But if you’re just like, hey, so now one of the biggest pains is actually getting your kids to the dentist and sitting down. So wanting to make sure that you saw this book, it’s going to help your kids do this, and that and that, and they get to color it. There you go. And people will actually thank you for that second email, because they didn’t get a chance to read the first. And sometimes they do get Twitter first. Just like we started this interview, your kids having a meltdown, or the doorbell rings, or the dryer goes off or you knock over your coffee because sometimes you have bad situational awareness like he does. So you get a little distracted, right? So that’s what Joel is those haters just get to you. delete them, laugh at them secretly and then move on.

Real Happy Mom 19:50
Yes, I love all of those tips, all of them. And the one thing that I am thinking about right now and particularly when you brought up the email series, so I’m thinking about That mom that has just started their business or has a business, but they don’t really have an email list going. So that welcome series is one that I think is really important. One thing that I learned from you from taking your course love your list, and from getting the email marketing theory, which is you don’t have that and you’re like struggling like I was that is something that you’ll need. And I’ll make sure to include that link in the show notes. But I wanted to talk to you about the importance of having at least that welcome series. And what would you say is one of the key things to have in there so that people know this about you, and then they know what to expect moving forward.

Kate Doster 20:35
Love that. So the welcome series, like I said, it’s your digital Butler, you can consider a nanny for your subscribers if you want to. And I like to call it my little Jeeves ring. If you guys remember Ask Jeeves, because I’m old. So how do you know, for your welcome series, that first email is going to be that free gift that you created, whether it was a PDF, an audio file, a video, whatever, you said, Hey, I’m going to give you this, right. So your second email, if something that you’re not getting on this day, like a multi day thing, like a five day challenge, just it’s a one off thing, we’re keeping it simple here, that second day, you want to give them something that’s like a quick tip, like, oh, if you only have five minutes, and you don’t have time to schedule, make sure that you, I don’t know, tidy up your kitchen counter, because it’s gonna make everything look nice. Again, I’m just putting that out there. In that second email, you want to give them something quick and actionable that they can do. But you also want to remind them about that freebie that you create it because you’ve spent a lot of time creating that freebie that’s going to help some people solve a problem. And I know a lot of people are just like, Oh, well, like I just do art, I love doing art. And if I can find somebody to help me make a better painting or frame my photos better, like that’s the problem that got solved. Okay? So just for the record, you if you’ve got a hobby, even if you’re selling maybe you your online business is that you sell like cookies online, how to make the best chocolate chip cookie what mail pairs best, I don’t know, something fun that they can do, right? So the third email is really where you’re going to draw the line in the sand. And this is where you’re going to stand up for something that you believe in. The reason why we put this at three is because again, how did that lady who didn’t know that? I say homeslice. When I say it on everything? How was she still around? Okay, so that’s when the third email, say if you are, maybe you’re really an to health and fitness. And that’s what you want to help other moms with, because you got your body back even while you were working, which is really amazing. And maybe everyone is telling you that like you need to fast but you’re like fasting is the worst. Okay, so in that third email, you’re just gonna draw a line in the sand and be like, this is it. I used to tell people like, oh, share a personal story or your origin story. But people have really hard time talking about themselves. But when you get them talking about something, they’re just like, oh my god, I cannot believe everyone is saying this, it is the worst advice Don’t do this. They’ll go ahead. So you get on our soapbox. The people who think intermittent fasting is like the best thing ever, they will unsubscribe, right? Or their playback, and they’re like, Doc, stop intermittent. Intermittent Fasting is the best. So Bravo, Brian, here’s all these articles, laugh at them, and delete them and be like, you’re entitled to your opinion. But don’t worry, I won’t be talking to you anymore. Delete their job, right? We’re out of there. So we want to have that there. And then the fourth one, and technically, you could do this even faster than email for if you’ve got something for sale, because you’ve just started your business, talk about it, you can talk about it earlier today and talk about email too, you can talk about an email three, because maybe that’s what sparked you to create your product in the first place. If you don’t have those right now, because you’re working on other ways to monetize, and you have an affiliate program that you really love. And it makes sense for your audience. So say that you’re more of a lifestyle brand or and you help moms like you know, do great things on a budget, maybe you know that Stitch Fix is a great luxury item that you should actually have. I don’t really know if that’s the case.

Unknown Speaker 23:57
But you can go

Kate Doster 23:58
ahead and send something highlight something that you’re an affiliate for. So you can go to something like shareasale. And they have a whole they’re an aggregate. So they have a whole bunch of different companies that you can join their reply and be a part of their affiliate programs for talking about it. Make sure that if you are going to go that affiliate route, not force email, or even in the third, if you want to, that it doesn’t break their terms of service for being an affiliate. So Amazon is a big one where you’re not allowed to send Amazon links via email. As of the time of this recording. I noticed just straight up tell you that’s not one of my revenue generator, so I don’t really keep up to date on it. I’ve been informed by some of my students who are what I consider hardcore bloggers that you can link to say, an influencer store, but you can an email and that’s authorized but you can’t send a direct link in an email. So if you still want to get that sweet, sweet Amazon income because maybe for you that’s the thing or that’s the only one that you qualify. For right now, which is fine. Send them to say a blog post or a page on your website, that then they can go and get that stuff. And it’s like, okay, like this blender, that blender, that blender, which is why if you click here, you’ll be able to see it all broken down. And then they can click. So there you go. Just again, even if you just start with four, make sure there’s some way you can get revenue, make sure there’s some way that you can talk about yourself. And we have some more advanced ones. But we won’t necessarily talk about these last ones, perhaps they were fifth one could just be asking a question to your audience before you go ahead and put them on your normal newsletter list and be like, you know, how’s everything going with your kids with your meal prep, how’s everything going with your self care, like, just ask them a simple, open ended question, to sort of get them talking to you to start that relationship. If you are very active on a particular social media channel, or say that you’re growing a Facebook group, then in those first couple of emails, you’re gonna want to go ahead and mention that, that’s something that you can mention in, honestly, Email 123. That’s it, when you’ve done or my freebie is, make sure you post it on Instagram, you know what I mean? Make sure that you join the name of your Facebook group here, so we can cheer you on for actually getting your kids to the dentist. So again, think about what your business goals are, make sure that people are getting a dose of your personality, and that you’re helpful. And so then we’re gonna want to open your stuff.

Real Happy Mom 26:25
Okay, I love Love, love that. Now, Kate, I know that there’s some moms are listening. And they’re like, okay, I can do that email series. But I don’t even know where to start with the freebie. So for the moms that are have, like, you know, like, let’s just say they’re selling candles? Or maybe they have a service based business where, I don’t know, they are cleaning houses and things like that. What are some ways that they can generate some ideas so that they know that they can create something? Or it can either be a discount or whatever it is, but what advice would you give for a mom that is struggling with coming out what they should create for their freebie?

Kate Doster 27:03
That’s a really great question. So if you are selling candles, I’m just going to be completely honest with you, if you’re in more product based business, what people want when they’re looking for physical goods are things like the free shipping, the money off coupon. Now we have tested it, because I do have a coaching client who she does do e commerce. And we have tried to do things like a guide, some type of extra content, but we found that that would work really well on her blog post. But when we’re really well on our actual ecommerce store, so I just wanted to be completely honest. Now you could definitely try something like say if you are selling candles, or essential oils are things like this, like, you know, five essential oils never to buy if they’ve got these ingredients. So you’re going to create some type of mystery. Now, if I wasn’t really into buying essential oils, then I wouldn’t care about the ingredients. But if I’m into buying these things, and you’re telling me oh my goodness, I need to make sure that I don’t buy something with these five things. I’ll give you my email address, it proves that I’m more of an active buyer. So if you have a service, same thing with cleaning, things to look for, for the cleaning service, different ways to clean your home, how to outsource stuff, what you’re really looking for, is what Yeah, buts. We call it the thermic slop principle. Because just like he likes big butts, so does your email list. So does your wallet. They absolutely love it. So you want to think of the yeah buts that people have. So even I can’t for the cleaning service, which is a super great service. Let me just tell you, I would love love somebody to come in. It’s like all of the love for you guys, is what would somebody have to hire you? I’d hire a cleaning service. But I don’t have the money. But I don’t want to clean before it but I don’t. But I don’t. But I don’t. Same thing with you know, if you are helping people say start a blog, maybe maybe one of your services is that you got really into Pinterest. So maybe it’s you know, they’re not quite sure about hiring out or they don’t know the tools or what type of return on investment can they get? So maybe it’s literally something as simple as five ways to make money with Pinterest pins, right? Because somebody might be like, I want to hire you. But I don’t know how I’d actually got money from it. I don’t know how I would see growth and so you’re literally like breaking it down for them. If you were reverse and you’re selling a digital product about Pinterest, it’s you know, the five best times to pin like I want to pin on Pinterest but they never show my stuff. So if you create a freebie a mini course or something that’s like how to get Pinterest to actually put your stuff in the feed. People are gonna download it. And only people who are really interested in getting Pinterest to work will download it. So you got to think to yourself, yeah, bots, there’s cash and complaining stories out everything that people could possibly have. What the go twos are always time, money, effort. You know, I want to make money from my blog, but I don’t know how to write but I don’t No check. And you’re just gonna take one of those tiny bots, you’re not doing all of it. It’s just one of those. So it’s like, you know how to make $100 on your blog, when you have no traffic? When you’re adding that disclaimer, all of a sudden people like, how does she know? That’s my problem? Or Oh, yeah, it’s so easy for people to do these five things of doing this and doing that, because they’re getting millions of views. What about me? So yeah, bots, is the best, and people really gravitate towards them.

Real Happy Mom 30:27
Yes, definitely. Now, okay, I want to switch gears just a little bit and talk about you in how you’re running your business. In particular, like setting goals and milestones. Because as a mom, you don’t just have to, you know, think about just the business, you also have a family and kids that you have to think about, too. So I’m just wondering, how do you develop your goals? And then how do you set milestones to get to those goals so that you can, you know, be successful in your business, but also be able to show up as a mom too, as well?

Kate Doster 30:58
Okay, so I was smiling, because it’s gonna, I don’t want to sound awful. But as I have gotten hate using the term successful, so that’s, that’s a mindset thing for me to look into. But as I have gotten more successful, because I have, again, work those principles, but works getting in front of other people’s audiences, having a really great freebie telling people about your paid stuff more than once. Right? When it comes to setting goals, I’m just like, Oh, I’m gonna make a million dollars. And that’s just like, Okay, that’s it. Like, I don’t need to like strategize that out, or any of that sort of stuff. I know that a lot of people like I, my husband is now a stay at home dad, he had the option of getting transferred. When his job was shutting down. I’m just like, No, just stay home. Like I’m it. I’m literally it. But I’ve never worried because I think this is what moms really need to hit home with themselves. And so I love that you talk about confidence on the podcast, too. I know I can make it work. Again, if I have to go clean houses drive Uber, like, I am not too proud to do what I need to do to make sure that my kids are taken care of. And if it was go back on assistance, which we are off of it. Yeah. and have been for a while I would do it because I’m going to let them like they are going to get taken care of. So goals from business. Now my VA just hates it. She was like a business. I was like, oh, we’re gonna do this. And she’s like, well, how I’m like, this is a very my mindset coach, it’s very, very her words coming out. I’m like, well screw the hell like, it’ll just come to do it. Like that. So works. She’s like, Can you at least like, tell me what we’re gonna do next month. And so I’ve gotten a little bit better at planning ahead. But I will say, what I do still do. And I do really like it is, I like to have either words of the year, or even words of the quarter. So that way, I can always run decisions by that word. So like, especially last year, because I cheat. It was like, simplify and amplify. And so this year, again, it’s even more vague. It’s essential on every level. Essentially, it’s like visibility, like we want to get out there more. So something comes across my desk. It’s like, oh, could this be visible to the right audience? If it is, then enter? Yes. So my goal is to get in front of as many new people’s audiences as I can, actually with podcasts, because I love podcasts. I love interviewing, I love guest teaching. So once I guess I sort of had this inclination, like I want to get in front of more people, I kind of do look at what resources do I have? And have I tried to do this before, I really did try to get out to you know, pitch a lot of podcasts and do all that sort of stuff. But what was ending up happening? And I know you guys can relate, is that myself, and I’ll tell you about my team in a second, if you want to know how we’re structured between myself and them. We never got to run around to pitching podcast, because you know, I wanted to listen to the show and catch know the host. And I was just like, I couldn’t I couldn’t I couldn’t. And it wasn’t until the sheer I’m just like, and you’re thinking like, Oh, this should have dawned on you before. I’m like, I could hire somebody to do it. But I had some mindset work around it. I did. Because as a podcast, as I know, you’re shaking your head too, because you get it. We get the worst pitches in the world, the absolute worst. So what I do when I was like, I know we never got around to this. But I do Set Key Performance Indicators. So nerdy. And one of them was the only KPI that Kate has as a boss’s Did you speak to somebody else’s audience this week? And I kept on having to say, No, I asked my friends. So I asked my friends, I was talking with Tasha booth, she is fan freaking tastic. I love Tasha. And she was like, Oh, I use this service. And she’s like, and she was telling me all about her experience. And I’m like, how did you find them out of curiosity? She’s like, well, they had pitched me too guests to be on my show. And it was the only time that I said yes to a pis agency because it was so great. And I was like done though. So I got a folder. I’m like I’m already ready to give you my credit card because you You did such a great job for my friend. And we have been working together for a month. And we’re just talking. It’s just like, I’ve never had a guest that I want 100% Yes. Right. And but she’s like, you’ve got one. I’m like, Of course I do. And I’m like, it’s not because I think I’m so great. Or Honestly, I think they’re great, though they are. But I’m like, I just decided that this gets to happen for me. And I think that a lot of moms forget that working on that mental part, that confidence, like you help them and as well as everything else, it’s a muscle just like your bicep. If you don’t work on that daily, at least weekly, or at least once a month, stuffs gonna build up. So that’s the way that I sort of set my goals what what am I feeling into? What do I got around me? Something to hold me a little bit accountable. I can hold accountable to like, you know, one speaking gig a week. But if you’re like, no, Kate, at the end of the day, you need to have like a five point checklist that you’re going to check off, I will not do it, I have just I will not

Real Happy Mom 35:59
got it got it. Now, this is like totally different from a lot of the other moms who are like really structured and all that. So I love this, that we get to see the different spectrums like you can be successful, and not have everything, you know, super smart goals

Kate Doster 36:12
and measurable but I did at the very beginning, I did really need that structure. Because I was like I am by no means actual ADHD. And so I don’t want to take that other stuff. I just consider myself very creative. I’m a quick start. So that’s, that’s my problem. That’s my diagnosis. So I love doing a million things all at once. So before I had the nerve, honestly, that’s straight up what it was to hire somebody. As a virtual assistant. I use Trello. It’s a project management app. It was the only thing that worked for my brain. I wanted to love like the clickup. See, especially Asana because everyone’s like, Oh, it’s the best air table because it has so many gadgets and gizmos, my brain cannot deal with it. But Trello is like a board, you can attach pictures to it. You can put projects as cards, you could put due dates. So that just worked for my brain. And so now we’ve we’ve gotten a little bit better. But if you’re having struggles really with like to do list checks and being over, over compartmentalised. I think that Trello works really well. And I’m sure that you’ve talked about this before, but I think a little bit of time tracking, because that’s what happens to me sometimes. So every once in a while, I don’t wanna say We do this every quarter. But especially if I feel like, I’m not doing the things that I want to do. By the end of the week, I will use toggle, it is a free app. There’s no ESPN, though. It’s not like I don’t know if I was let’s just say. And so all I just do is anytime I’m doing a test, I just hit that little timer guy. And it’ll just like time it for me, I’m like, oh, it took me like three hours to do one podcast. That’s why stuff isn’t getting done. That’s where all my time went. So every once in a while, you might need to recalibrate with

Real Happy Mom 37:58
actually time tracking. Yes. And I love that you brought that up too. And I also love that you brought up your team, because that’s one thing as well. I think a lot of us moms, we have that mentality that we’re super moms, and we can do it all by ourselves. But you now have a team that you work with to help you with running everything. So you don’t have to do it by yourself. So if you don’t mind, just touch a little bit on what that looks like and where you fall in as far as what you do versus what everyone else is doing.

Kate Doster 38:27
Sure. So you’re gonna come up, even though I love talking, like practical, like use emojis in your subject line, make sure you’re talking about your people. I’m a huge mindset person. Because the longer that I bet in this game, and I you noticed it right away. So you’re way smarter than I am. It is your brain that is holding you back. It is that thought like, Oh my god, what are people gonna think? I thought and this is one of there’s two reasons why I didn’t hire out at the, like, sooner. I thought that people would be like, oh, like, she’s changed. She’s too good. Like, look at her. I guess it was a tall poppy syndrome, they

Real Happy Mom 39:00
call it

Kate Doster 39:01
over in Europe. And then I was just like, they’re gonna think I’m not relatable, and they’re gonna leave. And then the one that everybody has, what if I don’t make enough money to pay them? Here’s the thing that I want to tell you guys, because it’s not like you’re hiring an employee. And that’s what I think that we think about when a contractor, you can fire them. You can ask them to do a month to month contract. And if someone’s like, No, you’ve got to sign for six months and it doesn’t feel good to you, then don’t do it. Like so that’s what I want to really, really sort of stress home. I needed a work wife because I’m a hot mess. So that’s why I really call my assistant executive assistant. She’s had so many names, but I always just work wife. She’s the Yin to my Yang. I found her ironically because my business and the podcast and everything sort of blew up in a good way. It blew up once before we could talk about that if you want to or just like I’m done. But when I came back from I’m done moment. It was just like, I just need help. So one of my friends who was also a student just sort of helped me out. And she’s like, you know, she’s like, I have this friend who wants to become a virtual assistant. She had been an executive assistant and worked in the travel industry for years. And she’s really looking to do stuff online. She’s like, do you want an introduction? I’m like, Oh, dear god, yes. And so when I first was meeting with her, I’m like, I don’t know, like, how many hours a month that we can do or even like a week. Um, but you know, I would really like if somebody could help just sort of proofread my stuff. Because, you know, there does get to be a point where I have typos here and there now because I want to prove to you like, you’re gonna have a million dollar business with a typo. It’s not gonna hurt you, right? Like, just do it. Do it typos means that you’re an action taker, where does pride right? So but you know, we want to go hit more posh sound like, know what you’re gonna have for you. And then like, literally, by the end of month, one, I think 20 hours. I was just like, it was the best once I started off, turned it on, and you won’t have to kiss a lot of frogs. Before you go to hire though. I will say this. I’m do a little time tracking. But you know what we’ve talked about with taco. And you got to think to yourself, where are my weakest in the business? So I love the book, which I will show everybody right now.

Kate Doster 41:25
Not that you guys can see it. But it’s a book called clockwork. It’s by Mike McCallum. It’s, it was ghost written by my not so secret online crush, Adrian dorsen. And it just made so much sense. So they break down their business, they use a really simple model. It’s called AC DC, like the band. And it’s like, attract, convert cash and delivery. So even if you’re just break down your business, and you’re looking at it just from those four really big buckets, it’s like well, conversion, Iraq. So that’s not a problem, am I the amount of like, and that’s a really important number to get up, again, is conversion rate. So like, that’s not a problem. delivery, I’m like, technology is handling sort of that. So like, that’s okay, cash, cash was really for, you know, like that cleaning business if you invoice making sure you follow up, but like, for me, people have to pay up front for my things. So like, that’s not necessarily a problem. So you know, knowing where the numbers went, but a track was an issue. It was for me a little bit of that admin work. And so that’s what you truly want to look at before you just hire because people like oh, hire immediately, you know, outsource your inbox, outsource this. No, like, take a look at what you’re actually doing. And at least two weeks, thinking to yourself, where do I feel that I need the most growth? Or what do I just absolutely hate doing? And then just hire out for that little position? Make sure that you like the person. Yeah, there might be a time where it’s like, oh, I have to redo all their work. That’s going to be expected in the first couple of weeks. But if the end of month two, you’re still having to redo everything. It’s probably a them problem, especially if I love the tool called loom, where you can like record your processes, if they still don’t get it. Don’t feel bad, because I know your mom. So you’re gonna feel bad in a call, well, they need the money. No, they will go get another client. It’s fine. It is not worth your time. So we have my work with Abby. I literally just a couple of months ago allowed her to be in my inbox. Because I was like, Oh, you know, it was my lifeblood. And it was questions. That was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. And here’s the thing, Abby, who again, is the work wife, who I just brought in for proofreading, guys, just proofreading at the beginning, she loves being in that inbox. Because she’s like, even though we had been working together up until that point for about a year. She’s like, I did not realize exactly what your business was like, or how much time you were wasting in here. Because people miss types, their own email address, or bombarding you with questions. Or, you know, because constantly in the back of your mind, you’re like, oh, my goodness, I gotta check my email. What if there’s an issue with things? You know what I mean? It’s gonna use up all that mental energy, but knowing that she has it. It’s just like, Oh, that’s so free. So we have Abby, who was mark one. We have, um, I’ll be honest, I heard my brother in law cuz he got pandemic sized if you know, so he is. I don’t want to feel like a gopher. We’re trying to get him like more in there. So he used to be in charge of like making some social media graphics. I mean, doing some Pinterest pins, because attraction was a big point for us. So he would do a lot of that because my focus is always growing my email list. So like my email list is disproportionately large compared to my social media followings. So he’s working on that. I taught him how to do podcast editing. Now he’s in charge of that, and he absolutely loves it. The person who used to be the podcast editor, because she was just general helper, her real trade as a graphic designer. She just did the podcast to help me out. So now she’s like our creative director. So now my sales pages are core They were so hideous before. So it’s like, you’re gonna see that it’s going to evolve, I would. I’m not one of those people that’s like, Oh, I want to have a $10 billion business and a 25 person team. I’m like, absolutely not like, I can’t even email people back, like I’m the worst at back and forth, know what you are bad at and let somebody else do it. So as I was doing that, you know, we do summit’s, we have something called the back to business bundle giveaway. And like selling out, we all go back and forth, I’ll be like, I want to pitch this person, this person, this person, I’ll pitch them initially, but then she gets into all of the admin stuff, because it just can’t be bothered. So that’s, that’s my team. But start small, and start with a rate that you are comfortable at. Because there are some people who are well established and are well worth that $50 an hour. But if you’re just starting out, or even like you’re in that sort of messy, middle, $50 an hour unless that person is a sales person, probably is not going to be worth it to you. So that’s also a thing to think about as well.

Real Happy Mom 46:02
got it got it. Now, okay, you’ve given us a lot, and I could go on and on with you. But I love everything that we’ve talked about so far. And I’m just wondering if you had like one last final word for especially our mompreneurs, who are, you know, in the trenches, who are out there trying to get their business going, who need some encouragement or some inspiration, because it can get hard, it can get lonely, and I know that that we need your voice to help us. So give us just some encouragement before we sign off.

Kate Doster 46:35
Of course, one, obviously hit subscribe because she needs to be listening to the Real Happy Mom podcast, because when she comes out your ear, every week, you’re in luck. Thank goodness, I needed this today. So that’s like step number one. Here is the thing I really do truly and listhesis get this so we call love your list people. If they pay in full, we get them a mug, and it says be the one to be brave enough to go after her dreams. This is the thing, the sheer fact that you’re even probably listening to this podcast means that you are not normal. Meaning that everybody else out there, I call them normies. Not to belittle them, but they’re just different. Some of my best friends are normies they cannot stomach what we are doing. So you need to be really proud of yourself. Like, you know, and they have again, I I want to ask people like you’re friends with me for life. So if I like the same five friends, since college in high school, they could not stomach the will How do you know what you’re going to make every week, I’m like, Well, I make money every day. Like they can’t handle the up and downs. So realize that you are creating something usually from scratch, you are going to be a mom, realize that there are going to be times when you are with your kids that you are thinking about your business. And there are going to be times when you’re with your business, you’re thinking about your kids. There is nothing wrong with you wanting to either do your own thing or give your kids a better life. And it is going to stink and I don’t want you ever acquainting the success of your business right now to Oh, that’s how I am as a mom, because that’s definitely in my darkest days when things weren’t picking up because I wasn’t really truly focused on the right things. 100%. Guys, if you only have 10 minutes in your business, instead of creating Pinterest pins, although some days it’s all your brain can do is play in Canva. But what is going to get you a higher return on your time are things like reaching out to guest blog posts. It’s things like getting to do podcast, it is doing the brave thing. So 100% of the time, when you sit down to that computer, or you’re doing something on your phone, what’s the bravest thing that I can do right now? It is pitch target for a brand deal. That’s what you’re going to do. If it’s following up with a client. That’s what you’re going to do. If Oh, well, you know, I’ll just go into somebody else’s Facebook group and just like hang out, that’s not a brave thing. Do the brave thing. You are amazing.

Real Happy Mom 48:59
You’ve got this. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Kate. That was awesome. And I love Love, love that I got to talk to you today. Now, if there’s someone listening that wants to hear more of what you got, or wants to connect with you, where can we find you online?

Unknown Speaker 49:13
Sure.

Kate Doster 49:14
So since you’re already listening to this modified podcast, you’re gonna have it on over to wherever you’re listening, just hit the little search guy and look for inbox. So one word inbox, and then besties and you’ll see my shining face will be staring back at you. And go ahead and hit subscribe there. So you have our episodes every week. We have a mix of interviews this year, and solo episodes. It’s all about like email marketing, courses, mindset stuff, like I have my ranji pan episodes. We also like to do things like behind the scenes like behind the scenes of launches, what’s going on? I like to share my struggles sometimes I’ll share them afterwards because I want to give you my hindsight 2020 on things but like you need to know like it. This is why I love this podcast. It’s called real mob. You know, sometimes things are just like, Huh, like when I ran my summit, that was how That was probably the closest memory in recent memory that I’m just like, Why? Why am I doing this? I thought it was gonna leave me. They know when they tell you take 90 days do it and 90 do try to do it and 45 were morons. And if you are really into this online space, which I’m sure you are, if you’re listening to this episode, but what do I actually have on my list? Or even like, you just need some a little bit more idea starters, for your welcome series, you can head on over to Kate doster comm forward slash happy hyphen, mom, and you can get my two years worth of email ideas. And then you are going to be able to have literally broken down I do a month by month. If you’re listening to this, and it is December and you’re like, oh, man, like I missed out on 11 months. Guess what, another January is coming. Just start back over. Nothing is date specific. It’s just month specific. So sometimes if it’s like, oh, it’s national, like milkshake day, I’ll make sure there’s a little icon so that way, you know, like, Oh, it’s not really best. But oh, it’s the 25th of March is milkshake day. And then you’ll never have the excuse of what do I email my list? You’ll go You’ll look like oh, okay, it’s week three, it’s March. I need to sentence provenance there. So again, cay johnston.com, forward slash happy Mom, I’m trying my hand at Instagram. It’s Kate underscore doster, as well, but the podcast and then two years worth of email ideas definitely going to be for you.

Real Happy Mom 51:22
Awesome. And I will be sure to include those links in the show notes. Again, Kate, thank you. Thank you for coming on. This has been a blast.

Unknown Speaker 51:30
I’m so excited.

Real Happy Mom 51:31
Thank you guys. Now that does it for this episode of the Happy Mom podcast to find the links and show notes that Kate mentioned here. You want to head over to Real Happy Mom comm slash 132. There, you’ll find the links that she mentioned, as well as a cliff notes version of what we talked about in this episode. If you’ve enjoyed it, please let me know either by leaving me a five star rating and review in the apple podcast player, or by sending me a message on Instagram and let me know like hey, Tony. And like I’m really digging this mompreneur series. I want to know if this is helping you. And I definitely want to give you more of the things that are going to help you to move forward. So I am looking forward to hearing what you think. And definitely stay tuned for the next episode. Like I said, this is a mompreneur series that we are doing for this entire week. We have some more ladies that are going to help you see how you can be awesome in your business as well as being an awesome mom. So you definitely want to make sure you stay tuned every day this week for the mompreneur series. Now that’s it for today. Make sure you tune in tomorrow. For the full episode. Take care and with the laptop

 

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