Elaine Rau is the original founder of the LadyBossBlogger.com brand. She lives in Chicago and shared her path to success.
Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a stress reliever from my hectic job as a National Wedding Sales Manager, I volunteered whatever spare time I had to go to events to help a blogger write posts about cool stuff happening around Chicago. I never thought about blogging as a career because I really didn’t like writing, I did it because I enjoyed going to the exclusive events to network! However, everything in my life changed after I received a phone call from my boyfriend from overseas telling me that his brother had been murdered. I asked my boss if I could take a few days to attend the funeral and when he said “No” and his reason was “because it would affect sales”… I quit, packed my life up in 2 suitcases and moved to Honduras.
Can you share your story of Grit and Success? First, can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Even though I moved to Honduras to be there for my boyfriend during one of the darkest times of his life, I wasn’t much use because I was struggling so much myself to survive there. I didn’t help that I didn’t speak Spanish so I couldn’t make any friends, get a job, or do much of anything there. I had given up everything I knew and was suddenly jobless, “homeless” and at a total loss in life. However, it was the first time in years that I had nothing to do so I was finally able to REST. After a few weeks of relaxing, I started formulating a plan of action to give myself a reason to wake up in the morning. I thought about what made me happy and gave me energy and I kept coming back to blogging, so I started a blog and named it LadyBossBlogger.com.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
I was naturally motivated and would jump out of bed at 6 am because I was too eager to start working on my blog. I usually worked until midnight when I passed out and did it all over again the following day. I think I was just excited to have something to do and when I decide to do something, I give it my all.
I remember there were days where my brain was so fried from having learned so much that it literally hurt! Regardless, I would continue reading and learning until I got the problem solved. It was mainly technical issues with my blog when I started that gave me huge headaches! But immediately after I solved the problem or had a eureka moment… it was all worth it.
So, how are things going today? How did Grit lead to your eventual success?
The things that took me ages to solve before are a piece of cake now. I know my site’s structure inside and out, know how to set up email segments and sequences, have learned how to properly market my courses, have used social media to power my success… but still have so much more to learn! Grit is something that stays with you as long as you keep feeding it, and it will drive you for LIFE.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Plan and take vacations every other month. Vacations are actually also huge motivators for me because every time I have a trip coming up, I work extra hard to get everything done so that I can fully relax and be mindless for a few weeks. However, on the day to day, set times to CHECK OUT of your work. I had a hard time doing this at first, but it’s so important to have a pass time such as TV where your mind can relax DAILY.
I also recommend taking a trip to the masseuse at least once a month to get rid of all your knots, not everyone likes massages though so do whatever relaxes you, but make sure to PLAN IT. If it’s in your schedule, you can’t avoid it. And don’t reschedule! You need to relax and rest if you want to be at your best.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful to who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’m thankful for Christian Cook who was my very first intern who was there for me since day one when I launched my blog. She has since graduated from college and gone on to do great things, but she still takes the time to connect me to great people and events around Chicago! She also recorded a lovely video review of her internship experience, which I published on my YouTube channel. If you’re interested in an internship, please apply here: ladybossblogger.com/career.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
A portion of all our proceeds is donated to the Micah Project which is a home for street boys in Honduras. My husband was once one of these kids and this organization gave him a home, education and a future… so it has since come full circle!
What are your 5 things I wish someone told me before I started my company and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1. Start collecting email subscribers before you have something to sell. This is your audience builder, marketing operator, and the foundations to any online business, make sure to take time to invest in learning how to do it right. I have a course on how to start and monetize your subscribers that you can get for 20% off using promo code LADYBOSS20: Start And Monetize Email List.
2. It’s less about knowing what you’re doing, it’s more about your willingness to learn what is required. This is what hinders most people – the inability to START. As Newton said an “object in motion stays in motion” so start by investing in learning everything you can and implementing it immediately, that is how you’ll keep the ball rolling. Note that I said “what is required” because you don’t personally have to know EVERYTHING, you just need to know enough to then delegate tasks out to other people to complete while you work on the bigger picture. Most people believe that blogging is about doing everything yourself (it is if you want to become exhausted) stop trying to do everything and let things work for you, that is what I teach in my course, Start A Money Making Blog.
3. Get a mentor who has been where you want to go. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone you sit down with to drink coffee with (not sure why I always had that image in my mind) but once I got rid of that image and started thinking of online course creators as my mentors, that is when I learned a TON OF GREAT STUFF! I invested in this Affiliate course and doubled my income and this Pinterest course and doubled my traffic.
4. Social media is POWER. The more you invest time into it, the more you will reap its benefits. I decided 2 years ago to post on my Instagram @elainerau every single day and now 2 years later almost all my posts are sponsored and it has become an asset and another revenue stream. Get 20% off my Make Money As An Influencer course using promo code LADYBOSS20.
5. With time freedom comes great responsibility. All I ever wanted was to do what I want when I want, that to me is freedom. However, most people aren’t disciplined enough to be able to handle it. If you can’t motivate yourself to work diligently, you’re going to be in trouble as an entrepreneur.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would start a kindness movement. It’s a daily choice, always choose to be kind.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
- @ElaineRau
- @LadyBossBlogger
- @LadyBossIllustrations
- @LadyBossBlogger.Shop
- @LadyBossBlogger.Spanish
- @LadyBossBlogger.Chinese
- @LadyBossBlogger.French
- @LadyBossBlogger.Swahili
YOUTUBE