As a business owner yourself, you know it can be scary to create something you want to share with the world. It can be intimidating to get started with your first offer (or your 17th!), and it might feel like a leap of faith to put it out into the world.

That’s what the Blooming Business Inner Circle is for me. I wanted to create a community where women business owners could come and learn from me, get weekly and monthly support, build each other up, share their struggles, and offer their solutions.

Most of all, I wanted to create space to help women grow throwing businesses and create joy-filled lives.

And you know what? We did it!

June 2020 marks the first birthday of the Blooming Business Inner Circle, and I’m so excited to celebrate our first year with over 180 Inner Circle sisters.

I won’t say giving birth to this program has all been a bunch of roses and rainbows, but it’s been so, so worth it.

Just like any offer, the Inner Circle has taught me even more about my business, myself, and the women I serve.

I also recognize how much it has changed the inside of my business (think team, systems and so much more!) thanks to this all-inclusive mastermind experience we manage and put our hearts into every single day.

Instead of keeping these changes and learning experiences to myself and my team, I’d love to share them with you. My hope is that it gives you insight into the program, as well as some advice you can apply to your own business.

Read on to see the five lessons I’ve learned from the last year of Blooming Business Inner Circle!

1. The proof is in the people.

If you’ve joined the Sweet Life Sisterhood, you know that this corner of the internet is full of amazing women who are committed to growing thriving businesses and creating joy-filled lives.

When I created the Blooming Business Inner Circle, it was with the intention of amplifying that mission in a dedicated space, with monthly learning opportunities and group coaching.

Inside the Blooming Business Inner Circle, I aimed to support women who wanted to grow their businesses and their impact but didn’t want to sacrifice their families or their happiness to do it.

And you know what? That’s exactly who showed up. I see my vision coming to life every day in the women who join the Inner Circle.

Inner Circle members are women with businesses in the the online services industry, in the arts, brick and mortar storefronts, health and fitness, product makers, and in direct sales.

They range from new business owners to some who’ve been entrepreneurs for 20+ years. There are also women from all walks of life: single, dating, married, mothers, pet moms, Black women, women of color, white women, gay women, straight women, young women, old women, able-bodied women, disabled women.

It’s the whole spectrum of female entrepreneurship, and I’m so proud to know the women who’ve joined the Inner Circle.

The even bigger and better part? They believe whole-heartedly in the mission to create their own personal success story. They say no to the hustle mentality and belief that you have to sacrifice your family and personal time to get ahead in the business world. They believe in joy, creativity, and bringing light to everyone they meet.

The big takeaway for me (and for you!) is that the right offer attracts the right people. The Blooming Business Inner Circle attracts the women who want this level of support in their businesses and their lives, and the women who do join are the right fit for what the program offers. 

That feels so good! 

2. Physical mail is magic.

One of the things I love most in this life is mail; sending little gifts and tokens of appreciation, getting packages from my friends and community of amazing women, you name it. So when I started the Blooming Business Inner Circle, it was so important to me to have beautifully designed goodies and learning resources mailed to members each month. 

 

There is something so magical about having a tangible workbook (we call them “Growing Guides”) in your hands, to help our sisters craft a new marketing strategy every month. From Instagram strategy to creating your email onboarding sequence, our members get a physical workbook and a juicy little treat delivered every month, right to their door!

This part of the membership gives me so much joy, but I also hear from our members that it makes them feel extra loved on each month! My big takeaway: always add that personal touch.

 

What’s that quote? Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded.

 

3. One offer can help you grow your business.

Whether you’re a product-based or service-based business (or a mix of both), it might feel like you have to have a lot of offers to keep revenue flowing and to meet your audience where they are. 

 

But when I created Blooming Business Inner Circle, it was with the intention of making it a huge pillar of my business — and I have managed to do that. In the last year, Blooming Business Inner Circle has generated over $171,870.98 in revenue, and it’s a cornerstone of my value ladder.

 

Value ladder: how your offers line up to meet your customers where they are: from free to highest price. 

 

Essentially, the Inner Circle is the main offer I promote to women who are at multiple points along their customer journey. From my marketing superpowers quiz to the videos I share on my public Amber Housley Facebook page, the Inner Circle is the main offer I promote to people who consume those resources.

 

It’s also where I house a lot of my smaller offers. So even if I start promoting things like the Fresh-Squeezed Social Content Curation System, anyone who’s interested in that offer will soon learn that they can actually join the Blooming Business Inner Circle and get that offer and dozens more resources (worth thousands of more dollars in value)!

 

This allows me to serve more women and also lets me pour my expertise, new knowledge, and ideas into the Blooming Business Inner Circle. In a sense, it serves as my “container” for how I want to show up and serve: women can tap into all the resources I have created in the past, and I am free to find new ways to serve them!

 

The big lesson here? Your business can thrive with a very strong offer (or one offer that houses multiple offers). It’s OK to dream big.

 

4. Systems are critical.

I’ll be honest: the amount of systems needed to get something like the Blooming Business Inner Circle rolling month after month is crazy. There’s no way I could do this on my own. That also means, though, that me and my team had to look at all of the pieces, figure out who was in charge of what, and determine how we’d work together. We had to optimize our planning process, and our project management, and our task system.

 

Now, we have a little production line for our monthly kits, where we plan, write, design, and pack and ship everything. And that’s not even touching on the planning for our digital resources!

 

There’s so much work that goes on behind the scenes to keep things going for the Inner Circle, and it took a long time to get this process smoothed out. We’re still learning how to optimize production and customer service, but we’ve worked out a lot of the kinks. 

 

My suggestion? Start your systems now if you’re thinking about a big juicy offer.

 

5. It’s important. 

As a leader, as a business owner, as someone whose calling is to serve women business owners, I will always feel a personal responsibility. A responsibility to give as much as I can to the women who show up in this space — even if they’re not Blooming Business Inner Circle members.

 

But especially for my Inner Circle sisters, I want to keep providing value. I want to share my knowledge and all the new things I’ve encountered with them. I want to create new resources for them. I want to learn from them, and I want to know how I can serve them better.

 

But by constantly sharing, constantly creating, constantly trying to provide more, it can actually lead to overwhelm — for both me and the members in this group. I have to remind myself that serving these women is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

I have also learned that my responsibility extends not just to providing value and in leading these amazing women, but in listening. In being educated. In lifting up the voices of the diverse women in this community who deserve to have their voices heard.

 

Most of all, I’ve learned that it’s an honor to lead the Blooming Business Inner Circle and to watch the women who make up this wonderful community grow. I’ve worked hard this last year to see this dream to fruition, and so has my team. But the women inside the Inner Circle are doing the work, too, and it’s SO inspiring!

 

Curious about what the Blooming Business Inner Circle is all about?

 

If you’re not an Inner Circle sister yet and you’re interested about what members get access to, you can learn more. More importantly, doors are now open to the Inner Circle, so you can come join us!

 

On top of this already-fabulous membership, more juicy things are coming… including a new business “camp” course, Growing Guides about Facebook ads and Pinterest strategy, and more…

 

JOIN THE BLOOMING BUSINESS INNER CIRCLE