blog

You maybe thinking, Wait, is it Monday already? Nope, you’re not crazy — it is Thursday!

Why the change? Well, let me give you a little background. When I was at Funnel Hacking Live (how many of my sentences start like that?), I heard from a lot of people who advised me on Things I Should Do In My Business. And some of those Things excited me. I got swept away, and I came home full of big ideas.

Sound familiar, Mama?

Here’s the problem: some of those Things were NOT right for me or my business right now. It took me some time to figure that piece out, and I spent a few weeks banging my head against the wall.

I mean, seriously, I spent weeks trying to implement things that didn’t feel right to me, because someone told me I should. Even worse, all the ideas I’d had before the conference, the things I really wanted to do for you in my business  — I let other people convince me that I shouldn’t.

Tell me you can relate. If you’ve ever spent time in the network marketing world, you probably know exactly what it feels like to be forced to do something that feels completely wrong. When I found myself feeling the way I did back in the very early days of trying — and failing — to do this work-from-home thing, I knew that something was NOT working.

It took some hard work with my coaches, more than one long-winded conversation with a trusted friend and some pretty deep introspection, but I figured things out. I’m ditching the stuff that the “gurus” say, and I’m doing what feels right in my heart.

Now I’m trusting my gut, because I’ve been listening to you, heard what you need from me, and I want to make it happen for you. These experts I was following…they don’t know you like I do.

Are you forcing yourself to play the game according to someone else’s rules? Are you trying to force yourself into the role of social media manager, because you think your prospective clients want it?

Maybe you’re stressed out about starting an email list in order to find a few clients, because someone in a Facebook ad told you that’s where the money is.

Maybe you’re asking yourself, “How do i know if freelancing is right for me?” Maybe you really want to do this freelancing thing, but you’re surrounded by people telling you that it’s not possible, that’s not how the world works, you can’t possibly earn a real living from home.

What does your gut say, Mama?

What does your heart say?

Don’t force the things that aren’t working. Open yourself up to what does feel right, and everything becomes easy.

There are some pretty exciting things coming up in the Free Mama world!

If you look at the calendar, you’ll see that Mother’s Day is almost here in the United States. You’ll definitely want to keep an eye on your inbox, because Mother’s Day is a BIG DEAL around these parts.

Plus, there’s a brand-spanking-new program in the works. If you’re a Free Mama Movement graduate, or you’ve build a successful freelance business and you’re spending a lot of your time thinking, “This is great, but what’s next?” — well, you’ll want to check this out.

Don’t make your business harder than it has to be. Do the things that are right for you — and see how easy it feels.

P.P.S. Save the date for Monday, May 13! No I’m not talking about the premier of The Bachelorette. This year I decided Mother’s Day deserves two days, so I’ll be hosting a FREE Virtual Party over on my YouTube channel…. there will be presents.

Some of the best virtual assistant tips for your virtual assistant business are going to be overcoming fear.  In this virtual assistant training, Lauren Golden of The Free Mama is talking about overcoming fear with the Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman.  
This is one of the best books for new entrepreneurs, best books for female entrepreneurs. Todd Herman Alter Ego is all about overcoming fear and anxiety, showing you how to be your best self. The Alter Ego Effect is a great entrepreneur mindset book, especially if you’re looking for amazing women in business inspiration!

Are you ready to scale your business? Well then you should check out the newest Free Mama thing – Movement Makers! Are you a Movement Maker?

Nearly a year ago, I hosted the second ever Free Mama Meetup right here in Houston. And one mama drove in all the way from Louisiana to be there — and she stayed all the way through the end of the event. In fact, I drove her back to her hotel!
And that’s when she came to me and said — and I may be paraphrasing a tiny bit, but not much — “Okay, Lauren. I did everything you said. I’m a Free Mama. I have clients. In fact, I’m getting clearer on what I really want to do. Now what?”

She was ready to scale her business.

Over the next few months, more Free Mamas (and even other online business owners) came to me with the same question, and over time, some of them wound up outsourcing to other Free Mamas — which nearly made my heart explode with joy. 

But I still felt like there was something more I could offer. 

Here’s the thing: you may be absolutely delighted with where your business is right now. You’ve locked down your anchor clients, your income is steady, and you’re working just the right amount of hours per week. 

If that’s you, that’s fantastic — I am SO happy you’re there!
But.

Maybe you felt like the very last lesson in the 12-week program was really just the first step in your journey. 

Maybe you’re ready to scale your business — for more income and more impact — but you can’t figure out how.

You want to be the leader in your field. And you want a step-by-step program to follow. A Free Mama Movement for the next 12 weeks. 

Well, I have AWESOME news. The Movement Maker Accelerator is opening its doors for the very first time, and I’d like to invite you to apply for a spot. 
This is for you if:

• You’re earning around $5000/month and can’t quite figure out how to scale that to $10k (or you’re earning at least$2000-$3000 month, and you’re turning down work because you’re at capacity).
• You want to serve the clients you’re turning away, but you can’t figure out how.
• You’re ready to step into a bigger role in your business, and you want someone to show you the step-by-step process. 

If you think the Movement Maker Accelerator is just what you need, then click here to learn more and apply for the program. I would LOVE to see you in the very intimate beta round!

I’ll be live in the Facebook group this week to talk about the program — and if you click here, you’ll get a personal notification every time I go live so you don’t miss out! 
Mama, the Accelerator isn’t for everyone. Like I said, you may be thrilled with where your business is right now, and if that’s the case, no one is clapping louder for you than I am. 

But if you’ve been looking for the next step, please take a close look at the Movement Maker Accelerator. I’d love to see you on the inside. 

P.S. This program is for you if you are ready to scale your business – meaning you have a steady income freelancing and you frequently find yourself wondering, “what’s next?”. If you’re still getting clear on your services, honing in on your pricing or aren’t bringing in those retainer clients, I’d advise you wait until our next intake.

P.P.S. Save the date for Monday, May 13! No I’m not talking about the premier of The Bachelorette. This year I decided Mother’s Day deserves two days, so I’ll be hosting a FREE Virtual Party over on my YouTube channel…. there will be presents. Have you seen the latest episode? It’s all about how to handle problem clients!

Lauren Golden of the Free Mama goes over how to avoid problem clients, get paid on time, and how to protect yourself from problem clients if you happen to get one! If you have difficult clients and your client refuses to pay, it’s important to be aware of these virtual assistant business tips such as upfront payment, and why you should have a freelance contract or virtual assistant contract. Stop problem clients and customer problems armed with legal contract for freelance or legal contract for virtual assistant and other freelance legal ways you can protect your business.

If you are ready to start your freelancing business with The Free Mama Movement, you shouldn’t wait too much longer – the price is going up! Read about it here!

Can I share a little bit of inside information with you, mama?

My 12-Week Program is getting a makeover!

“Optimize” is my work for 2019 — I’m focusing on how I can tweak my systems and make them even better. And now that we’re over a quarter of the way through the year. I’m turning my attention to The 12-Week Free Mama Movement program.

Hundreds of mamas have been through the program in the past year and a half, and it’s been humbling — and an honor — to serve you. I’ve seen where you get stuck, where an extra training could help, and what would get you where you want to go faster, with less effort.

It’s time to optimize the 12-week program to make it even better.

So for the last few weeks, I’ve been creating trainings, recording videos, and working hard behind the scenes to update, refine, and optimize every single piece of The Free Mama Movement.

Let me be clear: the core content is staying the same. It’s not like I’m suddenly going to be teaching something completely different — but I’m adding in material, streamlining and refining lessons, and ensuring that I provide you with the most value.

So, why am I telling you this?

Well, if you’re a new mama and you’ve been on the fence about enrolling in the program, let me tell you that this is an ideal time to take the leap — because you can still get it for the current price, and you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade to the new version when it’s released.

If you are already a Free Mama and you’ve purchased the program, I want to make sure that you have access to the new version of the program FOR FREE when it’s released.

Here’s the thing: We’re not just going into the existing modules and updating them — we’re creating version 2.0 of the program. It’s housed in a different virtual home online, so it’s not as simple as “Log in and you’ll see it!” If you are on our email list, you will receive instructions with how to access!

Mama, I’m really excited about releasing Version 2.0, because it’s a chance for me to deliver even more value to you so that you can do bigger things in your business.

And keep an eye out next week, because I have a few surprises coming your way, Mama!

P.S. Remember, you can still enroll in the Free Mama Movement AND get all the upgrades when the new make money while working from home with freelance version is ready — but if you want to get it at the Version 1.0 price, you need to do it soon.

I want to introduce you to someone. A few someones, actually. These are the ladies of The Free Mama team, and it’s definitely time for you to get to know them.

The thing is, these ladies had never even heard of freelancing a year ago. When we met, they were just like you: they wanted a way to be at home with their kids, but they didn’t know how to make that happen.

They were afraid of investing in themselves.

They were skeptical that they had the kind of skills anyone would pay for.

And they all faced challenges and obstacles — just like you.

Mia was caring for a sick child, and her husband was about to be deployed overseas. She looked at The Free Mama Movement and thought, Is this too good to be true?

She was juggling her full-time job and parenting her son. She didn’t have the PTO she needed to care for her son properly, and there were easily a dozen reasons why she couldn’t add “start a business” to her plate.

But she did it. She took that leap of faith and invested in herself. Within just a few months, Mia walked away from her 9-5, replaced her income completely, and today she rocks it out in social media management — even though she had no previous experience when she started out. Today, she runs Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube for the Free Mama and other clients.

Jordan, my right-hand gal, had already left her job when we met. But she was struggling, and she needed to start bringing in income in order to avoid going back to the 9-5 that had stressed her out and taken over her life in an unhealthy way.

Discovering the Free Mama Movement changed her perspective of what a working mom’s life should look like. The entire concept of having it all — not sacrificing family or finances — excited Jordan, and she leapt into this world with both feet.

Today, she’s all about client care for Mamas in the program — maybe she’s helped you retrieve a lost password or find a login page? — and email management, plus she’s a spreadsheet NINJA (seriously, the girl makes numbers bend to her will), so she’s an amazing business manager, too.

Erin was a SAHM who was just starting to think about contributing to her family’s finances when she learned about The Free Mama Movement. She’d been scammed before, so she approached the program with a healthy amount of skepticism.

In fact, she decided she’d test the waters with the Quick Start program — that way, if things seemed a little iffy, she could cut her losses and move on.

Well, Erin did move on — she upgraded to the complete 12-week program within a few days and proved to herself and her husband that the money was well spent. Over the next few months, Erin built up her education even further — she graduated from TFFM and Kathryn Jones’ CF Design School — and started offering sales funnel design services to clients.

She’s also done an amazing job on the redesign of The Free Mama website — plus she designs all of our Free Mama swag.

Kyra is a new team member, but she’s an OG graduate of the TFFM.

She says her journey was slow and steady — it took her some time to take in all the knowledge and figure out exactly how she could use it to serve clients.

Growing and evolving doesn’t always happen on a schedule, and Kyra ran into her share of disappointments and challenges along the way. But she stuck it out, through the late nights and early mornings, and now she’s heading up outreach and PR so that we can help other mamas discover that they really can have it all.

Meagan is a driven mama who is passionate about accounting — but everything changed once she had a baby.

Fortunately, just as Meagan was about to lose her mind, she discovered that she didn’t have to choose between the two — she could be with her baby and contribute to the family finances as a Free Mama.

She raced through the program, and within just two months, she had an anchor client and a couple of smaller projects that allowed her to leave the 9-5 behind. And two months after that, she had completely replaced her income while working half the hours. She’s rocking out bookkeeping for The Free Mama, which makes this mama very grateful.

There’s one other mama I’ve been working with — in fact, she was the very first freelancer I hired to help me out. Her name is Abbi, and you may have seen her around the Facebook group.

Abbi has been a freelancer for even longer than I have — she’s been a freelance writer for most of the last 20 years. She started back before there were online courses that showed you how to do everything the right way, so, according to her, she made a lot of mistakes in her early days.

It took her years to figure out the business side of freelancing, but once she did, she was all in. By specializing in email sequences and sales pages, Abbi’s been able to rock out her income goals and hand-select her clients. And she’s also started teaching other mamas to do what she does and specialize in writing.

One of the most exciting moments of my life was getting to hang out with four of these incredible women at the recent Free Mama meetup in Salt Lake City over the weekend.

We tacked on an extra day to sit down together and work out some of the business strategy we’ll be implementing to make sure that you have the best, most actionable information at your fingertips as you navigate your own Free Mama journey.

No matter where you’re starting, you can get to where you want to go. It might take longer than you think — or longer than you see it take for others — but you can get there with consistent action.

When I started The Free Mama Movement, I did everything by myself. I knew I wanted a team, eventually, but I could never have imagined the amazing women I’d be working with just a year later.

Bringing these mamas onto the team lets me serve more mamas (without running myself into the ground) — and it’s given me the chance to hire some of the very first people who believed in me and what The Free Mama Movement is all about.

I believe in you, Mama, because I’ve seen this happen for women just like you.

Are you ready to believe in yourself?

P.S. If you have questions about the 12-Week Program, you’re not alone! Search the Facebook group, and you’ll find plenty of mamas asking and answering everything you could possibly want to know.

I just broke up with a client, mama.

It was a big deal, because I love this client. I’m passionate about the mission. I believe in what they do. I want them to be a huge success.

And all of that meant that I absolutely had to end the relationship.

I’m no longer in a position where I can put in the time and attention the client deserves. They needed my help on projects I didn’t have the time to do the right way. I couldn’t in good faith take on the work when I had no idea how to fit it into my schedule.

I knew a different freelancer could serve this client better than I could.

It wasn’t easy to accept that reality. My head got it, but my heart was aching — and my stomach was a mess. I didn’t want to destroy the relationship. I didn’t want to let down the client. I didn’t want to walk away from something that had meant so much to me for so long.

But I knew that I couldn’t become the next version of myself if I stayed stuck in the same place.

I see a lot of Free Mamas start out with a client or two while still managing the day job. And then they get to the place where I was — where it’s time to walk away from the 9-5 and go all in on being a Free Mama. They know it in their heads — but the heart. And the stomach.

Sometimes, you have to let go of something good — something you love, something that matters to you — because it’s holding you back from hitting the next level.

If you stay at your job, you can’t sign on the client who needs you for more hours. You can’t take on the role you really want. You can’t get to where you want to be.

If I kept working for this client, I wouldn’t be able to take my business to the places I’m dreaming about. I wouldn’t be able to show up for you the way I want to.

So we had to break up.

It was hard. I did it with love and great respect — but the break had to be clean. I had to fight my instinct to stay in constant touch. I had to hold back from offering to meet up several times in the near future.

It wouldn’t be fair to the client or to me if I broke up, but still wanted to be “in a relationship” with them. That doesn’t mean I’ve blocked them and torn up all our pictures. I can remember the great times. I can be genuinely happy to see them when we run into each other. But I’m not showing up for a booty call. (Mama, have I completely overdone this metaphor?)

Maybe you have a client you started with who’s not right for you anymore — or maybe it’s time for you to leave the 9-5 behind.

It’s hard — wrenching, even. It really can feel like you’re ending a significant relationship. But the same way you gave up nights out on the town for the joy of snuggling a 2-year-old, you can walk away from the relationships that don’t give you what you need so that you can have the things you want.

You’re strong enough, Mama.

And it’s time to step into the newest, best version of yourself.

It’s time for you to STOP learning.

(Pause while you wonder if Lauren has lost her mind.)

Nope, I haven’t lost my mind. I’m totally serious. But let me give you a little bit of context.

Nearly every day, I see posts and emails from mamas in our community who want to be free. But they’re nervous — maybe they don’t know enough. So they start researching and learning. And two, three, and even six months later, they’re still there, learning.

They’re not doing.  

Knowledge is great, Mama. Don’t get me wrong. BUT.

The point of learning isn’t just to have knowledge and hold it in your head. The point of learning is mastery — to get out there and USE your knowledge to DO something.

If you’re hiding behind courses, buying all the programs, and reading all the books, it feels good. It feels like you’re taking steps. But if you’re ONLY buying the programs and doing the lessons and reading the books — and you’re not taking action… well, then, what are you doing?

I think I might have mentioned (like, once or fifteen times) that I went to Funnel Hacking Live in February. 😉 One of the gems I heard from Myron Golden while I was there was this:

We don’t believe what we say, we believe what we do.

Mama. If you say you’re getting started in this freelancing thing, but you don’t do anything, then I have to ask again: What are you doing?

Reading blog posts about “how to do SEO” won’t make you money. Enrolling in half a dozen courses on social media management won’t make you money.

You’ll learn by doing the things. If you don’t have a client yet, start implementing what you’re learning on your own social media account, and use it to get in front of the people you want to serve. You learned WordPress? Great — build a page of a website for a prospect who needs it, and showcase it so that client can hire you.

I’ve seen plenty of mamas who keep themselves super busy learning — but don’t spend any time doing. And what happens is, they don’t feel confident, so they keep not going after clients.

Are you in this trap, mama?

I can’t pitch that client — I don’t know enough yet.

I don’t think I can do this, because I never have before.

I’m not ready to be a freelancer. I need to learn more.

Mama. NO.

It’s time for you to STOP learning.

Until you start doing, you won’t have the confidence you crave. Confidence doesn’t come from knowledge — it comes from doing the thing, over and over.

Did you feel ready to be a mom the day your first baby was born? It’s super lucky that pregnancy comes with a built-in “You have to start parenting now” date, or most of us would just stay pregnant forever. We’d never feel ready.

But once that baby shows up, you don’t have a choice. You jump in. You put a diaper on wrong once — and you don’t ever make that mistake again. You leave the house without wipes — ditto.

You learn, because you’re doing the thing, not because you read all the books.

Remember when you learned how to drive? Did sitting in Driver’s Ed have ANYTHING to do with what it felt like to be behind the wheel?

Yeah. I didn’t think so.

Do you want to be a Virtual Administrative Consultant, Mama? Then it’s time to DO IT.

I want you to come up with one thing you can DO, today — and post it in the Facebook group.

You can DO this. You know enough — it’s time to shine.

P.S. Can’t figure out what you can offer clients? Here’s a list of SEVENTY skills you can use to get started NOW.

I love mornings. Mornings are probably my favorite part of my day, especially taking Daphne to school, and it’s always been a really big part of my “WHY” that gave life to my mission, which is that moms should not have to choose between family and finances!

But…here is the thing. While I love mornings,I also love that my mornings are STRESS-FREE and non-chaotic, and I want to dive into that a little more with you!

Here is what a normal, school-day morning routine looks like:

Justin sets his alarm for 630am, and hit’s snooze. Now, I’m not a snooze person, and I don’t like to be woken up at 630am, unless our kids wake us up. And let’s be honest, it’s probably 50/50 on whether or not a child has already woken us up.

In the event that a kid hasn’t come down, Justin snoozes once, and then wakes up and gets ready.

I will roll over and get my phone, which every successful person tells me NOT to do.

Here is why I do it anyway: It is the only part of my morning where I can look at something without my children present. I personally just can’t wait until 9am, when I sit down at my computer, to be aware of what is going on. So, I will check my emails, sometimes I check Facebook (I do try to avoid that), but checking emails gives me a good snapshot of what’s going on. I also subscribe to The Skimm, which I can read in 5-10 minutes and it’s “Today’s Headlines” broken down into small, readable snippets. I’ve been reading The Skimm pretty much since they started! I love that part of my morning – to be able to read the headlines, alone without my kids.

Once I get up, I immediately brush my teeth before I eat breakfast – mainly because I take eight hours to drink one cup of iced coffee and I don’t want to have to come back and brush my teeth. I do wash my face, but I will stay in my pj’s and go help Justin with breakfast.

Justin does make breakfast six out of seven days a week, specifically on school mornings.

A huge part of our routine is that Daphne and Henry both get themselves dressed before the come downstairs. That is a habit that we built very early. It saves so much time! There is no arguing about clothes, there is no yelling about “Go back upstairs and get ready for the day!”. They come downstairs ready for the day. They are both capable – and of course, there are some weather adjustments from time to time, but for the most part, it works beautifully.

Another huge habit is that Daphne packs her lunch for school. Now, don’t get me wrong, this did not come without a lot habit building and trust building. We have a Bento Box for kids and it’s amazing!! I love it. It has little compartments and Daphne knows three out of five compartments have to be filled with either fruit or vegetables. I know what my kids like, so when I go grocery shopping, I make sure to buy those items. For examples, she loves raspberries and bell peppers, so she will usually pick those out, along with a protein like ham or salami. She is also allowed to pick out a “pantry snack” like Goldfish or crackers, along with a healthy snack for the afternoon like an apple. I do have to help with certain things like cutting the apple or the bell pepper, so she’s not doing it totally alone – but she is in charge of getting it all together, in addition to making sure her backpack is together!

In addition to all of this, my kids have three chores they have to do everything morning. They feed our cats, they take out the recycling to the bin, and they unload the dishwasher. I run the dishwasher every night, and my kids know that in the morning, they have to unload it.

At this point, we all sit down and have breakfast together! After we eat, my kids immediately go brush their teeth and put their shoes on!

I believe all beverages should be served on ice, so I buy a concentrated Cold Brew from HEB (best grocery store, ever – non negotiable), so once breakfast is finished, I will make my iced coffee and fill up my hospital-sized jug of water that I carry around with me, and we will all bike (if the weather permits) to take Daphne to school. We then come back, and have about 10-15 minutes before we turn around again and take Henry and Audrey to preschool.

Once all the kids are at school, I am usually at my desk by 8:45am or 9:00am where I will work a solid four to five hours before I pick up my kids from school!

Here is what I would love for you to take away – having a non-stressful morning is about two things:

One, asking for help. I asked my husband to make breakfast in our first year of marriage. It was taking me an hour to get out of the door for work, and it was taking him ten minutes, and I was like…wait a minute, this isn’t fair. So, that’s when he started making breakfast for our family, and now it’s something he really loves doing for our family!

Two, routines and building good habits. No, it’s not easy at first, but my kids KNOW – they get dressed before they come downstairs, they do their chores, and they brush their teeth and put shoes on after eating. It makes all the difference when your family knows what they’re supposed to be doing morning after morning.

Delegate, ask for help – basically, I everything I teach about freelancing, you can incorporate into your family routine apparently, haha!

I would love to know – do you and your family have any of these habits? Did you learn anything new, or is there anything you would like to start implementing?

Let me know in the comments below!

I blinked, and it’s April. How did that happen?

Daphne and Henry both have birthdays this month — Daph will be seven (CRAZY TOWN — I’m not old enough to have a seven-year-old!) and Henry just turned five (HOLY GUACAMOLE — we’re staring kindergarten in the face!).

I’m seriously in denial over here.

And you know, it’s funny. Some days, I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast, and I have to write down all of my to-dos or risk forgetting crucial tasks, but I remember everything surrounding the birth of my kids. I remember what it felt like to be a new mom, and then a mom again. And again. 🙂

Lately, I’ve been watching Henry with what I can really only call astonishment. This is the kid I worry about — I’ve written about that before. This is the kid who gets nervous. Who cries. Who sometimes can’t walk into his classroom on his own — even though he’s been walking in the same classroom for two years.

But lately?

This kid. This kid has grown up so much.

Lately, I’ve seen him do “big kid” things without flinching. Or with a little flinching — but a lot of grit.

He got on a big-kid ride at a carnival. He was scared — but he did it. And he loved it.

He’s learning to step out on his own, even when it’s clearly outside his comfort zone. It’s hard — but he does it. And he has fun.

It’s got me thinking, Mama.

I’ve always known that Henry would be able to do big kid things one day. I’ve always believed that he could. But he had to learn to believe it about himself. He’s stepping into that now, and it’s amazing to watch.

What about you?

I know you can do this Free Mama thing. If you can read this blog post, you can be a Virtual Administrative Consultant. But until you believe it for yourself, it won’t happen.

Let me put it another way: if you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? I know — it’s tough to hear that. But it’s true, and I say it with love. I believe in you now, and the moment you start to believe in yourself, you will be AMAZED by the awesomeness that follows.

The most awesome part? When you embrace the Free Mama way of life, you’ll get to be present for these moments with your kids. You’ll get to see fear give way to grit. You’ll get to watch them fall down — and pick themselves back up.

You just have to want this enough to be willing to do anything to get there. And it starts with a simple decision.

You have to decide that you’re committed. Not that you’ll try or that you want to — that you’ll do it. You’ll take the leap and BE a freelancer. Even when it’s hard. Even when you’d rather not. Even when you’re exhausted and afraid.

If you’re ready to commit, head over to the Facebook group and declare it out loud.

All those things you want and dream about are within your reach. Stretch yourself, Mama, and you can have it all.