We recently connected with Rhonda Green and have shared our conversation below.

Rhonda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

Traditional advertising usually means paying for advertisements. Social media has made it easier and quicker to connect with any audience. If you want to run an ad in traditional print, you will hire a graphic designer, purchase the ad space and still wait for the actual article to be printed. This can take a few days or even weeks. Social media is instant and interactive. My first paying coaching client was not someone I knew but someone who saw me on social media.

I decided to do a daily live video on social media every day. The live videos can be one minute or up to an hour long. I searched for other authors and coaches to invite on my live. When a guest author or coach said yes, I provided them a flier to post on their social media so that their followers will tune in to the conversation. Interviewing guest on my platform introduced me to my guests’ followers and vice versa. Not only did I begin gaining followers, but my first client watched my live with the coach she was following and purchased a coaching package.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Rhonda Green is an author, entrepreneur and mentor. Rhonda believes “everything is within” and hopes to inspire you to live a life in tune with what God placed within you! Rhonda’s mentorship program for female survivors of intimate partner violence provides skills and information to help them get their lives back on track. She teaches there is a cycle to breaking free & staying free. Through the mentorship, S.A.I.L. (Survivors Advocate, Inspire and Live) Rhonda helps women get their lives back on track after abuse. Her written work includes: “How Much Is Your Dirt Worth?”, “40 Questions Before A First Date” and “Seven Ways to Free Your Mind After Abuse”.

Rhonda enjoys laughter and good food with friends. She loves to travel but also loves to just sit and soak in the beauty of nature.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

You have likely heard the saying “use other people’s money” to finance your business. But exactly how do you do that? I learned to build business credit which allowed me to actually use someone else’s money (i.e. credit) to cover initial costs versus paying business expenses out of pocket. Of course, first I had to properly structure my business. If you are a home-based business, you will need to make your business look creditable. In other words, if you believe that your business will one day be a multi-million-dollar business, when I search for your business online, I should be impressed with your professionalism and presentation. I shouldn’t Google your business and pull up a picture of your personal residence or anything that makes a potential customer, or a bank question is this a legit business. I separated my business and personal expenses. This is also helpful when you calculate cost. For example, my gas card is only used for gas. Each quarter I can simply look at the statement and know my total gas expense. After getting approved for a couple of credit cards in my business name I was able to build a business credit score that opened the door for additional capital. This is just a high-level overview of how I made my business appealing enough to receive startup capital and is not legal or tax advice.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

The number one rule is to deliver outstanding customer service at every touchpoint. People will forget what you say but remember how you made them feel. Think about Chick-fil-A. It is a national fast-food chain, but it has a uniform culture that is recognized at any location you are a patron. What do their employees always say to guests? “My pleasure”. When I support a business a simple thank you goes a long way. I do the same in your business by sending thank you gifts and showing that I care. During Covid we saw how Chick-fil-A became the example of how logistics should be done. Who has a better drive through than Chick-fil-A? In business we should always find ways to improve the customer experience.

Social media is the platform I initially find customers. Therefore, I utilize social media to continuously foster brand loyalty. By sharing content that is relevant to my target audience I can keep them engaged. I also have a private Facebook page titled Rhonda Green’s Inner Circle which is only for individuals I personally know, have worked with or sent an exclusive invite. When people are in smaller groups, they don’t feel like it is just another page with thousands of users. The inclusiveness and connection fosters relationship. People will do business with those they have relationship with. It is equally necessary to keep a repeat customer as it is to gain a new customer.

Contact Info:

• Website: RhondaGreen.com
• Instagram: AuthorRhondaGreen
• Youtube: @RhondaGreen