Elaine Rau is the Founder & CEO of LadyBossBlogger residing in Chicago.
Your Title/Business Name:
Founder and CEO, LadyBossBlogger
Website:
www.ladybossblogger.com
Instagram Handle:
www.instagram.com/ladybossblogger and www.instagram.com/elainerau
Describe what your hometown was like. Where were you born and raised?
I was born in New York but moved to Taiwan when I was 2. I grew up in Taichung which I believe is the most beautiful part of the island… but of course, I’m biased.
Where do you currently reside?
Chicago
What is your zodiac sign?
Scorpio
What is your favorite cereal?
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
How did you get started on this road of business?
What began it all, and what did the path look like along the way? My business started as a result of my circumstances. I quit my job as the National Wedding Sales Manager because my boss wouldn’t let me attend my brother-in-law’s funeral because “it would affect sales”. I then moved to Honduras where my fiance and his family were to be with them during this hard time and found myself jobless, broke and depressed as well. So I decided to start a blog to learn about who I wanted to become – a LADY BOSS BLOGGER.
Give us some business advice or one success tip in your field.
If your desire for success is as important to you as oxygen, you will succeed. This may sound dramatic, but desperate times call for desperate measures and if you don’t treat your business like your life, it will forever stay as your side hustle.
What has been the hardest part of being a business owner?
Getting over my own fears and confidence issues. Once I learned to “do it scared” that made all the difference, because we will never FEEL 100% confident, but if you do it anyways, you’ll learn to overcome your fears because you’re actually facing them.
What’s in store for you this year?
Just created a 7-day free course on how to start a money blog that you can access on ladybossblogger.com. If you’re an intermediate blogger, I also created a free 21-day build a better blog challenge you can join here: bit.ly/21BETTERBLOG. Looking forward to creating even more resources for bloggers and entrepreneurs.
Finish this sentence. If I knew back then what I know now” I would ______
Have started building my email list and learning about SEO immediately. Those are the two MOST IMPORTANT things you need to learn about if you want to blog full time.
What is one mistake that you see business owners make?
Regardless of what business you’re in, you need an email list. Your email list is your biggest asset and money maker… if you know how to utilize it, but first, you need one in order to tap into its riches! Check out ladybossblogger.com/convertkit for the best email marketing software that I use.
What is some piece of advice that you would give someone aspiring to be a business owner?
Intern for someone you admire and want to become. I learned everything from internships which is why I am a huge advocate for them. If you can pay for a mentor, do that instead, but if not, give value by providing high-quality work in exchange for experience and knowledge. Here are my internships: ladybossblogger.com/career.
What would be some word of advice to those individuals who are working their business and working a 9-5?
Invest in courses that will help you cut your learning curve in half. You usually either have time or money. Since you’re working, you have money, so make sure to invest in tools that save you time. If you want to learn how to blog I have a course for beginners you can access here: courses.ladybossblogger.com. But I would also recommend taking this amazing affiliate marketing course by 6 figure blogger: ladybossblogger.com/makingsenseofcents which is where I learned everything about affiliate marketing myself.
What is one thing that you are proud of, in relation to your business or personally?
I have partnered with The Micah Project in Honduras and every single sponsored blog post on ladybossblogger.com goes towards that charity. This particular charity is close to my heart because it was the organization that picked my husband off the streets when he was a teen – it’s a house for the street boys of Honduras. It’s also the place where my blog was founded because they housed my husband and I as we found a place to live in Honduras when I moved down there.
Where do you see yourself in five years? What about ten years from now?
That’s a big question! I can’t even believe that I am here in business in two years, I couldn’t even tell you! All I know is that I will be a speaker and hopefully putting on amazing blogging events for ladies around the world.
What are some things you do to ensure work/life balance?
I take time to take care of myself by getting massages and making sure I hang out with my friends. I am extremely social and was getting cabin fever from working at home as a blogger, so I started to work at coffee shops. I also joined a bunch of community groups in my area so I could get connected to people who live near me.
If we took a look at your iPod, what songs would we most likely stumble across?
I only listen to Pandora lol! A few stations I have are smooth jazz, r&b, gospel and instrumental.
What is your favorite tech app and why?
I love ladybossblogger.com/smarterqueue because it recycles my social media content every 90 days. Since I have started using it, I haven’t touched my social media in MONTHS and it still looks like I am on there every day hehe! Automate EVERYTHING if you can, it will save you loads of time.
What did you want to be as a child?
I wanted to be a singer and actress, but I have terrible stage fright and am a terrible singer LOL!
What are some ways you promote your business?
I promote all over – on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Medium, Tumblr, and YouTube (a little). But the best for blog traffic is Pinterest. I took this course ladybossblogger.com/createandgo to learn everything I needed to know about gaining massive Pinterest traffic.
What keeps you going no matter what obstacle come your way?
We help my husband’s sisters pay their rent as well his nieces and nephews education, if I fail, we fail them, therefore there is no room for failure because we have people depending on us to help them out.
Being a business owner teaches an individual a number of things. What has it taught you?
It’s taught me to be selfless. If you’re in business just for yourself, it will never last. The more you give, the more you’ll get. In the end, when you look back, you’re not going to value how much money you spent on yourself, but how much you helped other people have a better future – I’m talking about clients AND family.