Join me online for free at the Product Freedom Summit next week!

Hi Reader,

I get asked about this all the time, so I wanted to take a moment to tell you about the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. It's like getting a mini-MBA for free, as well as a built-in community of established business owners. I'm an alumni, and the only thing I get out of referring you to 10KSB is the pleasure of giving you some good advice, and the hope to meet you at one of their future events.

The 10KSB program was one of the best things I've done for my business. It helped me step out of the day to day of running a business (because they told us it was going to take something like 10-20 hours a week). I delegated most of the operations work I was doing to my team, and didn't take it back after the course. After graduating from 10KSB, I was able to go on a two week vacation, and I didn't hear from my team once (I felt a tiny bit sad about this -- they didn't need me!! -- but mostly happy).

The other wonderful thing about the program was my growth group. We named ourselves The Breakfast Club. This doesn't happen for everyone, but my group of seven have been meeting on Zoom every month since 2019, have met up individually a bunch of times in person, and we recently took a "family vacation" together to Hawaii on my kids' spring break! It's priceless to get such varied perspectives on business problems, and I know that they'll be there for me in times of trouble. Love that group.

As far as the course work, it was great to set aside the time to work ON the business instead of in it, and get other peoples' ideas and perspectives. We did a couple things I hadn't thought of before. There was a lot of information about finances that was new to me. They have a focus on creating jobs and getting financing, and other business growth. For anyone who started a business without first getting a business education, this is a fantastic opportunity.

Finally, there are lots of great networking opportunities. For instance, I attended their 10KSB Summit in Washington DC with extraordinary speakers, and we have a Seattle group that meets up every few months. I've gone to the midwest for an in-person event and had great talks with people, and they've been putting on webinars and online roundtables regularly. I just presented a webinar for the 10KSB group myself, which is a lovely feather in my cap. Everyone you end up talking with has a business that's been vetted by the Goldman Sachs people, so it's a great pool to expand your network in.

You can check your eligibility here.

I hope you'll go learn more about it and apply! I recommend it to people all the time.

Q&A

Q: I want to hire Aeolidia to redesign my website, but I am worried about the price point. How can I ensure this is an investment, not an expense?

A: I firmly believe that you get what you pay for, and wouldn’t recommend choosing a designer or developer to showcase your brand online based on how inexpensive they are. This is an important project! Reputable agencies will charge based on their experience, expertise, the value they provide, and the time and care that they plan to put into your project.

Our services are designed for businesses that have goals to level up or make a significant change. Our web projects take time and involve a team of three to ten experts to take care of every little thing that goes into your sales and content strategy.

We will only agree to a project with you if we feel, based on our past experience with similar businesses, that you will get a good return on your investment. On your end, you need to be responsive, informative, and trust our process. We see our process work over and over, dozens of times each year.

Question: Answered

Our team includes experts in branding, design, development, email & SMS/text marketing, search engine optimization, copywriting, conversion optimization, ecommerce strategy, business growth and more. Email me back with your question! I'll consult one of our experts and share one response per week over email.

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