Welcome to the Scaling Success Stories series!
If you’re new to this series, I ask online entrepreneurs questions regarding growing and scaling their business.
This is the series description:
You can get your fill of online business tips by reading the other interviews on the Scaling Success Stories page.
Interview with Emma Bates from EmmaLeeBates.com
It was my pleasure interviewing Emma Bates, founder of EmmaLeeBates.com. Emma blogs and teaches about copywriting, course creation, and tech tips. Emma is a stay-at-home mom of 3 and also a successful blogger! She also offers done-for-you copywriting services.
Check out what Emma had to say to my questions!
1. Why did you start an online business and how does your passion still drive your business’ growth today?
I first started my blog because I felt like I had lost myself in motherhood.
I had three children and was a stay-at-home mom. I had an off-line business earlier that I had sold to be a more present mother but I missed having something that was a challenge.
My passion to provide a good life for my family still drives my business. But the biggest driver is to keep part of me separate from motherhood so I can feel like a person outside of the challenge of raising my three amazing children.
2. At what point did you realize that your business was “taking off” and that you could really make money from it?
I don’t know if I’ve really hit that moment yet.
I’ve had some great wins but I still feel like I have a ton of work to do.
3. At what point did you realize you were living the life you wanted to?
When we were able to buy a house last year.
We had been living with my parents for over a decade and as well as that worked for us, it was time to have a place of our own.
I didn’t think we’d ever be able to afford to move out, let alone buy a house but we managed it and it’s made a huge difference to our family.
Some people dream of travel or luxury, but I just wanted to have a place of my own and time with my family.
4. One of the biggest fears of outsourcing is trusting the people you hire to run your business the way you would. How did you overcome this and where did you find the right freelancers and employees to help you grow your business?
I’ve started to outsource a few things.
I have a Pinterest person and I had help with graphics and proofreading during my last launch, but mostly, I’m still doing everything myself.
Because there are two aspects to my business, blogging and freelance services, it can be a struggle to balance it all. I know that I will need to outsource more as time goes on but I’m not at that point yet.
So far, everyone that I’ve hired has been recommended to me or has been someone I know personally. I’m lucky to know some pretty talented people!
Editor’s note: Dustin Heiner and Debbie Gartner also prefer to hire people through recommendations.
5. A common myth is that as you grow and scale your business, you have to sell your soul to make money, especially when you venture into paid advertising. How do you debunk this myth in your business?
Is that still a common myth?
I feel like there are so many ways to make money online that you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do.
I avoid some aspects of a typical blog, such as sponsored posts, just because it feels a bit icky to me.
There are plenty of ways to diversify your income without doing anything that doesn’t feel right to you.
6. Why do you think most people fail to grow their businesses and what advice would you offer them to keep pushing, despite all the setbacks?
Failure is just a learning opportunity!
I’ve been knocked down more than once, but I try to find the lesson and get back up again. (After a good cry and a bowl of ice cream, of course!)
It seems like so many people experience one failure and give up. If you love it, it hurts to fail, but it’s also the thing that will help you keep going in the end.
So find what you love and dedicate yourself to learning and growing.
Editor’s note: Elaine Rau would agree that people give up too easily and too quickly after failure.
7. How important has niching down been (no matter how hard it hurts) to your business’ growth and profitability?
It’s been everything!
My original blog, “Kids, Cash and Chaos” was pretty broad and I was never able to grow it the way I wanted.
It took realizing that it’s not really “niching down” as it is picking one thing you want to be known for.
You can’t grow if no one knows what you can help them with.
Now that I focus on sales page copy and design, I get recommended to people all the time. It’s made all the difference in my business to have chosen my “thing.”
8. What do you attribute your success to and how do you explain it? Do you think the same strategies will help you reach your next monetization goals? Why or why not?
I don’t think I’m what most people would call a “success.” I do make an income online, but I’m in no way “killing it!”
My success is that I’m able to be home when the kids get out of school.
That I can pay the mortgage each month. That my kids have what they need to be happy, healthy people.
My perseverance and refusal to give up in the face of adversity is the reason that I’m able to be a success today. These skills will always help me get to that next level.
9. To scale, you really need to have a systemized business. What steps have you taken to build those systems and how do you optimize them?
I’m really working on this right now. I’ve definitely gotten to a point where I need to focus on systems. I’ve finally started using a real task management system, Clickup, where I can keep track of client projects and my own projects.
10. If you could speak face-to-face with yourself when you first started your business, what pearls of wisdom would you impart?
“This is gonna hurt, but will eventually be worth it.”
I was pretty blind going into this process. I had no idea the level of the knowledge needed to run a blog.
I saw so many posts about how you can “Start a Blog in 10 Minutes!” that I figured the whole thing must be pretty easy to learn.
When people ask me for advice, at the beginning of their journey, I mostly tell them that they won’t see real income for a year and that they should focus on one thing at a time.
Seems like no one ever really listens to me though 😉
About Emma
Emma Bates is a SAHM of three kids between the ages of 4 and 10. She blogs at EmmaLeeBates.com about copywriting, course creation and tech tips. She also offers done for you and done-with-you copywriting services. If she is not hanging out online, you can find her watching New Girl with her husband and eating ice cream. Grab your free copy of her Sales Page Checklist here: https://emmaleebates.com/sales-page-checklist
Conclusion
Thanks for participating in my series, Emma!
As you can tell, it’s NOT EASY growing and scaling an online business, but there are some things you can do to aid you in the process.
Inspired by Emma?
Now, it’s your turn!
I assembled the Scaling Blueprint to show you how to…
- Outsource Effectively
- Systemize Your Business
- Shatter Your Revenue Goals
After working with six-figure and seven-figure clients, I know the difference between how they function.
Let me help you start scaling successfully.
Cheers to future success!
