How many of you use Canva? I do and it is an essential component of my business. Canva and I have a great relationship, and I have become a very proficient Canva user since early 2015, when I first discovered it and joined its community. I quickly started paying for my account because I believe in paying for software and services that I use in my business, even when there is a free option. I have worked in the tech industry for many years and I know how much time, effort, and money it takes to run the back end systems.

When I started with Canva, the user fee was $12.95 a month, a bargain. I then graduated to an annual subscription for $119.95, still a bargain.

I just renewed my professional Canva subscription last month for the same price, $119.95, which I consider to be a bargain. Even after 10 years my membership cost is less than the cost of high end design software that I don’t want to have to spend years learning. Canva offers a significantly less technically and financially painful alternative.

I had no idea that Canva was raising its annual pricing for the professional account holders until I read about it a few days ago. Raising its prices is an understatement. Canva was quadrupling the cost of the annual membership from $119.95 to $500.

I quickly checked my billing to make sure that I had not paid that much for my recent renewal and I had not so I am not sure when they were going to implement this change for its long time users, who should be grandfathered in to any price increase. Especially people like me, who have been loyal, paying customers for more than 10 years.

Of course Canva received considerable backlash from its customer base about this ill-conceived price increase and rightly so. It is a sign of how out of touch Canva has gotten with its user base. That happens when a startup becomes a major industry player, going from no revenues to over $2.5 billion in annual revenues with more than 170 million active monthly users. A few months ago Canva ran a promotion that showcased its image count and celebrated one billion images. Those are very impressive numbers.

Read the rest of this article on the blog at gpsbusinessacademy.com

copyright (2004-2024) by Jennifer Hoffman. All US and international rights reserved.

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There is a new fad in online marketing and it is not one I like or think is very beneficial. In fact, I really dislike it and I avoid anyone who uses it because I think it’s unprofessional, rude, lacks class, and is very objectionable.

It’s the use of profanity in marketing.

Now I am very old school when it comes to business. I started my career in the late 1970s at a time when we went to the office every day and dressed for business. For women that meant dresses or suits, stockings, and heels. Men always wore suits and ties and a white shirt. I worked in law firms where the dress code was very strict because clients were always visiting the office. I remember when they first introduced ‘casual Fridays’ and we were so excited even though that meant what would be called formal business casual today.

If you used the kind of language in a professional setting that people use today you would be fired and it would be justified. Profanity has no place in the workplace and it should not be used in business settings, or online either. I think that level of professionalism is something we need to return to. And I will tell you why in this podcast.

I do not swear and I never have. It is just not part of my vocabulary. Maybe it’s because I met a woman when I was about 14 years old, the mother of one of my brother’s friends, who swore like a sailor. I had never heard language like that and she saw that it made me very uncomfortable.

She apologized for her language and told me that people who swore and used profanity didn’t have a very big vocabulary and they had to use swearing to fill in the gaps. Although she was probably joking I never forgot what she said and I vowed that I would never swear. I also have a very big vocabulary in 4 languages.

Should you use profanity in your marketing? Is it ok to say that something is good AF? Should you spell out sh*t and then follow it with a little emoji? Not if you want my business. And I do not think I am alone.

The rise in profanity has followed a rise in the lack of integrity in business marketing, from people who overstate income claims to those who scam their followers with outrageous claims of income potential from their products and programs, who market with sleaze and take your money with ease, the internet is a scammer’s paradise.

It is getting better with time and I have been online since the late 1990s and have seen the wild west days. But the use of profanity is one area where we could use some improvement.

Why is this an important issue for me? As I said I have an extensive background in different areas, law, technology, finance, as well as multiple business degrees. I have been in many professional settings, including the board rooms of some of the world’s top companies and biggest startups, and I have never heard profanity used in the office in any of those environments.

Read the rest of the article on the blog at gpsbusinessacademy.com

copyright (2004-2024) by Jennifer Hoffman. All US and international rights reserved.

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No part of this work may be shared in any form whatsoever and on any platform whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Failure to obtain permission and share this content or illegally appropriate this content for business or personal use will be subject to civil and criminal prosecution seeking actual and punitive damages and restitution. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for content theft, copyright infringement, and theft of intellectual property.

In the 21 years that I have been in business I have never talked about how much money I make. I don’t think it is appropriate and to be honest, it adds no value to my credibility, my customers, or to what I do. As a privately held company I do not have to file public documents every year and as a business and legal professional I know that these kinds of claims must be done with care and with plenty of documentation so they are verifiable. Knowing this, I have been rather annoyed by the people who claim to have ‘6 and 7 figure’ businesses and making other income claims lately, which are frankly rather unbelievable and very unprofessional.

The problem with income claims is that they are generally greatly overstated and they do not accurately reflect the person’s financial standing. They are also no substitute for professional credentials, expertise, experience, or authority.

I will give you a few examples of bad income claims in this podcast because if you are going to be choosing a coach or mentor based on their income claims, thinking that you can replicate them in your life and business, you should probably know the truth and be prepared to ask relevant questions. Or better yet, find someone who has actual business credentials.

The other problem with income claims is that they can get you in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission in the US, the government agency that oversees and regulates truth in advertising laws. Making an income claim is a form of advertising and all businesses, regardless of size, have to follow these laws. If you are investigated by the FTC for false advertising, which they can do if they feel your advertising is fraudulent or misleading, the penalties involve hefty fines and possibly jail time, as well as financial restitution to anyone they feel you have defrauded or misled by your claims. Do you see why this is important?

Read the rest of this article in the blog at gpsbusinessacademy.com

copyright (2004-2024) by Jennifer Hoffman. All US and international rights reserved.

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No part of this work may be shared in any form whatsoever and on any platform whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Failure to obtain permission and share this content or illegally appropriate this content for business or personal use will be subject to civil and criminal prosecution seeking actual and punitive damages and restitution. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for content theft, copyright infringement, and theft of intellectual property.

I just made my final $239 payment for B-School and I could not be more relieved. Every month I have been dreading having to pay for the program that I haven’t accessed in months and that I have my regrets about signing up for. I tried the B-School experience because I wanted to learn some new marketing techniques and to see if I could improve my business processes. Since I have been online since early 2004, I have experienced a lot of changes in the online world. I was open to learning new strategies and applying some new procedures in my business. B-School is one of the most aggressively marketed online business programs and I was curious to see what it was all about.

Although I thought the $2499 tuition price was very expensive, I thought that the marketing training alone would be helpful since Marie Forleo has access to some of the top internet marketers in the industry.

I had read a lot of reviews about the program, all of them positive and glowing which made me somewhat suspicious. The old adage, ‘you can’t please everyone’ applies to all businesses and I wondered why I could not find a single negative B-School review. So I did a little digging and it seems that Marie and her team don’t like negative reviews. In fact, they have a clause in their terms and conditions, which you must agree to before signing up for B-School, which specifically prohibits you from posting critical reviews of the program.

Really? Aside from violating the US Constitutionally protected free speech, it also violates the Consumer Review Fairness Act which specifically empowers consumers to provide reviews of products they purchase, positive or negative, and also specifically prohibits sellers from limiting customers’ ability to review their products.

So this B-School review is my lawful assessment of my B-School experience and is provided within the terms of the Consumer Review Fairness Act, as well as my expertise in the areas of business, economics, finance, technology, and law, which are all areas I have education, experience, and authority. Any attempt to intimidate, threaten, or harass me for this review will be responded to with civil and criminal prosecution.

Read the rest of the article on the blog at gpsbusinessacademy.com

copyright (2004-2024) by Jennifer Hoffman. All US and international rights reserved.

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No part of this work may be shared in any form whatsoever and on any platform whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Failure to obtain permission and share this content or illegally appropriate this content for business or personal use will be subject to civil and criminal prosecution seeking actual and punitive damages and restitution. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for content theft, copyright infringement, and theft of intellectual property.

Thinking about starting a business? Here are 5 things you need to do for a quick, successful startup. Monday Motivation is you business training resources with tips, tactics, and training to start your business the 'cash flow to profit' way, with Jennifer Hoffman, the iconic business expert and cash flow catalyst with the intuitive advantage.

5 things you need to do for a quick, successful startup

1. Implement a cash flow plan from the start. You do not have to provide expensive courses, programs, and coaching. In fact, it’s better that you don’t. Instead, focus on high volume, not high prices. You’ll create a better cash flow stream with more consistent and predictable revenues, and you will provide affordable solutions for your customers. It goes against every economic principle to think that there are throngs of people wanting to pay thousands for your programs. It’s fine to have a passion and a vision to ‘help people’ but you are in business to make money and earn a profit. If you do not have your revenue and cash flow as prominent goals you will not make any money in your business.

2. Start small and build up. Houses are not built from the top down, they are built from the bottom up. Every house starts with a hole in the ground (for a basement) or a concrete slab on the ground. Don’t focus on high prices or high value clients, there are not that many people who will pay you thousands for your solutions.

3. Do your marketing diligently. Marketing is not sales but marketing leads to sales. While you cannot sell to your audiences all of the time, you do need to promote your products and services regularly. Whether you launch using webinars or live or online events, marketing is an important part of your business.

4. Stop fearing the competition. There is no competition on the internet. That’s why we focus on building your platform in the GPS Business Academy programs, and not your niche. If you think you are not making as much money as others, don’t be fooled. There are a lot of deceivers out there, not being mean here but it’s the truth. The people who tell you they make millions probably do but what they do not tell you is 80% or more of those millions are spent on advertising. No one ever shares their profit margins. Look at their engagement numbers on their social media sites too. Someone with 5 million followers who only gets 36 comments or likes on a post has paid for their following and their numbers are fake.

5. be confident in what you know. People will follow you because of a shared experience, relevance, and resonance. They want to know you are authentic and you understand them. When they are in a tough place they don’t care how many millions you make, that’s like telling someone who is thirsty that you just had a glass of water and it was great. Give them the water, let them experience you as a teacher, mentor, and friend. That begins the journey to loyalty, not showing them your million $$ house.

And the most important thing – focus on your cash flow. You cannot manage a business if you are not making money and while everyone likes to teach all about business strategies – like building your list, creating a course, creating different revenue streams, it’s all part of a ‘hit and miss’ strategy that never really addresses the core steps to start a business that reaches an audience and generates revenue on a consistent basis.

Authenticity is the name of the game. You are authentic in your story, your experience is your expertise, don’t doubt yourself and no one else will doubt you. Be confident, your story is your ticket to business success, market yourself with clarity and confidence, and focus on cash flow because you are in business to make money.

Visit GPSbusinessacademy.com for more information about our 90 Day Business QuickStart program and other resources for your business.

copyright (2004-2024) by Jennifer Hoffman. All US and international rights reserved.

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Narration by Jennifer Hoffman

Artwork by Jennifer Hoffman

No part of this work may be shared in any form whatsoever and on any platform whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Failure to obtain permission and share this content or illegally appropriate this content for business or personal use will be subject to civil and criminal prosecution seeking actual and punitive damages and restitution. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for content theft, copyright infringement, and theft of intellectual property.