By Prime Sarmiento
I just had a wonderful and insightful discussion with my dear friend Jet about business school and travel blogging.
Jet just got her MBA and landed a lucrative job in an investment bank soon after her graduation from business school. No one deserved that job more than Jet who worked so hard just to get through business school. While studying for her MBA, she juggled work and family commitments and had to get a student loan to finance her studies. She believed in the power of having an MBA, and that belief – coupled with persistence and sheer hard work – paid off big time in the end.
The reason why I'm telling you this is because, a few years ago, I considered enrolling in a business school myself. I thought that an MBA will help me build my own business. But unlike Jet, I decided not to go with it. I didn't think that an MBA was the right thing for me (but of course that three letter word will look good in any resume and the connections that you form in business school are usually fantastic).
I discovered that while an MBA may help you climb the corporate ladder (where such things really matter – whether you admit it or not), it's not a requirement for aspiring entrepreneurs. I don’t need an MBA to elevate my then hobby – a travel blog – to the next level. I want to make a livelihood and, Goddess willing, a six-figure business from my passion for traveling, writing and all things online media.
And this can only happen if I stop treating my travel blog as a hobby and instead consider it as a business. And in order to make that as a business, I need to learn the nuts and bolts of setting up an online business.
An MBA might help me do that – but do I really want to commit more than two years of my life in business school just to build my online business?
I found a quicker, faster alternative though. Two years ago, I signed up as one of the pioneering members of WE Mastermind.#
WE Mastermind # is a three-month program designed for both existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs who want to play a bigger game and turn their passion or expertise into a product or service that will lead to a profitable online business that allows them to live the lifestyle they desire.
This program is delivered online with 12 step by step modules to take you from zero to launch of your own online product or service based around your sweet spot – the intersection between what you already know, what you’re good at and what you love to do. Each module includes coaching videos and actionable workbooks that you can work on at your own pace. So yes, each WE Mastermind member will get a structured but flexible business course. And I don’t have to miss each module whenever I travel or got too busy with work because I can get to it whenever, wherever.
I also enjoyed being part of a growing network of women entrepreneurs participating in an interactive forum. Entrepreneurship is tough and it can get lonely sometimes so it helps if you can get support from other people pursuing the same path. I value the weekly coaching calls with WE Mastermind founders Natalie Sisson and Natalie Macneil – two wonderful women who bootstrapped their way to online business success.
But more than that, WE Mastermind has encouraged me to develop a million-dollar mindset – or more accurately, an abundance mindset. It made me believe in myself and in the possibility that secret dream of becoming a travel diva will come true as long as I’m willing to do the work.
Here are the nice things that happened since I joined WE Mastermind in 2011:
-I launched a free book.
-I wrote and completed another book that I will be launching soon.
– I created a mailing list which helped in getting leads.
– I boosted online traffic.
– I got featured in several publications.
– I met a lot of wonderful people, online and off.
– I started earning a small but steady income from my blog.
– I am slowly but surely claiming my spot as the trusted expert on solo female travel, bar none.
In a nutshell: WE Mastermind proved to be the better and cheaper option for me. I learned the ropes of building a business and still get to network and got more confidence in building a business that I love.
And I got to this without having to borrow money or pore through countless case studies while holding on to a job and thinking of how I can fit my travels into my crazy schedule.
So if you’re keen on starting and monetizing your travel blog, go and watch this free video NOW and learn how you can build a 6 figure online business from your passion to travel !!
Cheers and enjoy your journeys!!!!
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Photo credit: Rouelle Umali
