Meet Melanie Benson, Internet marketing trailblazer, masterful business coach and chief profit amplifier at Success Connections.
I first encountered Melanie on Twitter around 2009. It was through Melanie and Ali Brown that I was first exposed the power of using the Internet (especially email) to build a sustainable business that transforms lives. Melanie is a ROCKSTAR to me. 🙂 ‘Influential’ doesn’t even begin to describe Melanie and her work – I’ve been on her mailing list for at least seven years and during the past few months, I had the pleasure of getting to know Melanie better through the Women Speaker’s Association Facebook community, an awesome network of female professional speakers.
Thanks to the POWER of email marketing and social media, I’ve met and maintained connection with this phenomenal MogulMoxie® Maven. If you are not leveraging the power of social marketing in your business, you’re missing important opportunities build rainmaking relationships with prospective ideal clients.
Melanie is a successful business coach with an extensive and diverse educational background. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in Organizational Management. She also has multiple advanced certifications in Project Management, Coach University, Results Coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and even a license as a spiritual counselor.
Melanie shared that she spent the first part of her corporate career believing that she had to have a Master’s degree to advance in career. After investing over a hundred thousand dollars in her advanced education, all she knew was that she didn’t want to work in corporate America.
[Tweet “Personal development courses and investments in powerful coaches that helped her find her purpose and achieve big goal has made the biggest difference in her trajectory. @MelCoach”]
Let’s get starting by exploring one of my favorite works – ambition.
Tell us what role ‘ambition’ plays in your life.
“To me, ambition played a huge role in driving me to take action outside of my comfort zone to take me to a life and business that I love. Nothing I achieved came easy. Every client, every strategic partner and every friend I have is a result of having the ambition to make a lasting impact on the world.”
[Tweet “Nothing I achieved came easy. Every client, every strategic partner and every friend I have is a result of having the ambition to make a lasting impact on the world. ~ @MelCoach”]
Awesome! Tell us more about what ambition has allowed you to accomplish.
“I knew I had to become a better version of me, which drove me to master my mind set, level up my business skills, and dig deep enough to have the willingness to do what was scary to grow my business for the last 15 years.”
“My business helps expert entrepreneurs, change agents and thought leaders become industry leaders, doing what they were born to do, in a more profitable way so that they and their clients thrive. I started my business in 2001 as a “Get Out of Overwhelm” expert and quickly realized that leverage and mind set were critical parts of my client’s success strategies.”
Interesting. What experiences have helped you the most in your professional life?
“I have had several online courses, in person mastermind retreats and events, as well as coached and mentored many big name thought leaders to achieve high six and seven figure success.”
Impressive. Tell us about what you do as a profit amplifier.
I host the Amplify Your Success podcast on iTunes, speak at many business growth events, and I am a featured guest expert on many podcasts such as Entrepreneur on Fire, Business of Story and Reinvention Radio. I’ve also had my success strategies featured on Business Week, AmericanExpress Open Forum, Parenting Magazine and Women’s Day Magazine.
Are you involved in professional or civic associations?
“I currently serve on the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association and as the Programming Chair for the Association of Transformational Leaders.”
You are certainly busy! Tell us, what’s a typical day in the life of Melanie Benson?
“Every day of my week is different — but typically I keep Mondays and Friday afternoons for me and my personal lifestyle goals. Tuesdays are team meetings and project days. Wednesday and Thursdays I coach clients, teach webinars and host group calls for my MoneyDNA Mastery or Build Your Dream Team programs. I start work between 9 and 10 am and wrap up by 5pm.”
“Most days I start with an hour walk where I listen to motivational audio programs or catch up with a friend. What I love most is that 95% of what I do is in my home office, with my fluffy dog curled up at my feet, and ZERO commute. This was my dream for many years and have been fortunate enough to have a successful business I run from home for 15 years.”
Sounds like you have an amazing life! 🙂 What keeps you motivated?
“My motivation has two parts — growing my ability to impact others with what I’ve learned about running a successful business as an industry leader and building my personal wealth so I have the ability to live my life as I please. A big part of that is giving back — and knowing that as I grow my wealth I have the ability to contribute to causes I believe in. But I have struggled with my motivation at times.”
Tell us more about this. How are you overcoming your struggle with motivation?
When I feel like I’ve lost my connection to my “big why” and I’m off my game, my motivation will wane. Over the years I’ve struggled with chronic fatigue and other energy-related challenges. I’ve had to practice extreme self-care the last six years trying to heal and maintain my energy. When I hit a particularly low motivation phase, I’ll take more time away from my business and invest more in massages, energy work and reach out more often to my friends for girl-time. Almost always my fire will re-ignite and I’ll be back on track within a few days.
Great advice. What about confidence or courage – do you ever struggle with these?
“Absolutely. In the beginning of my business, I had no idea what I was doing. I was a new coach and business owner and floundered a lot. Learning how to package my offerings, market and sell them was a huge confidence builder. I find with a lot of my clients who struggle with consistent income, this is the key for them too.
I’m also a recovering “validation junkie.” Which means, I spent a lot of years basing my decisions on whether or not I thought it would be received well by my prospects and community. As I become more of a thought leader in my own industry, I struggled with the confidence of running a bigger, more well-known business and balancing people’s expectations against my own values. Doing the deeper work of awakening a more sustainable leadership within me helped me have more courage to lead with new rules.”
I can relate. Speaking of validation, what’s the hardest thing you’ve had to do in business?
“One of the toughest things I had to do was invest in my future success when I didn’t have the money coming in. I struggled to make more than $1k a month for my first couple of years. But I also knew I was trapped — if I didn’t invest in help and new strategies I would always stay stuck where I was. The most important thing I did was change my thinking from “How can I afford it?” to “What could I do to make this investment pay off?” It allowed me to invest in a support person who freed me up — I reinvested my time in new clients. Within nine months I had broken into six figures.”
You have been a successful business owner for many years.
What has been most helpful to you in increasing and managing your cash flow?
I use a tool called the Profit Explosion Formula — and it helps me identify my cash flow needs and keep an on-going marketing plan in place. I find that many people struggle with consistent cash flow because they “wing” their offers.
The other thing that is huge for me is having higher priced offerings. This allows me to bring in bigger paydays and build up my financial reserves for growth.
Impressive strategy! As we know, words have power. And so, as you think about your professional life, what’s your favorite word and why?
“Probably ‘leverage.’ Because, every client I have doesn’t leverage their time enough. And leverage is the very strategy that can catapult success the fastest.”
As you think about your personal and professional life, do you consider yourself strange, unusual, or relatively normal?
“Wow, who is normal? I guess I’m an average human being with fears, desires, goals, dreams, challenges, and a deep desire to love and be loved.”
“I have accomplished more than 80% of the people on this planet will ever accomplish. I have failed more than 80% of the people on this planet can stomach. I have learned, grown and mastered parts of myself that I’m pretty sure most people will never master.”
“Oh, and I don’t eat gluten or dairy. Mastering that is something very few people will or can.”
Inspiring and very true! On the topic of mastery, what have you accomplished, built, or created that brings you the most joy?
“Of course I’m proud of my business accomplishments but actually I’m most proud of the relationship I have with my family. We’ve overcome major shit and have a pretty close relationship, mostly because none of us gave up. And I’ve been very active in my niece’s life from day 0, and today as she is 18 and graduating, she still wants to have Auntie dates and talk to me about her life. I also have a very amazing relationship with my husband, which was no small feat for me.”
Awesome! Have you received any accomplishments or honors that have made you particularly proud?
“Does my Best Auntie award count?”
“Absolutely! I think “Best Auntie” is one of the most awesome awards ever! I’m aiming for this notable achievement. 🙂 ~TC Cooper
“Most of my awards were given to me during my Corporate career during my five years in Total Customer Satisfaction 6 Sigma competitions. I was nominated for a 40 Under 40 Award and have several trophy’s for most valuable player.”
Awesome awards! Is there anything coming up you’d like our readers to know about?
“As host of the Amplify Your Success Podcast, I’m always excited to do On Air Coaching sessions with members of the Amplify Success Community. Be sure to listen in to the podcast to learn how to join in. And my Awaken Leadership retreat and virtual summit kick off soon — if you are emerging as a thought leader or industry expert, this is a powerful way to level up your game.
And, of course, we always have great resources on http://MelanieBenson.com.”
Sounds fantastic. Before we wrap up, is there anything you’d like to share?
“If you want to learn more of my techniques to bring in fast cash, get my FREE downloadable guide at http://www.rapidcashstrategies.com.”
Great. Last but not least – how can readers keep in touch with you?
“Join me in the Amplify Success Community on my website at http://www.MelanieBenson.com and you’ll get access to the podcast and my exclusive FB group.”
This has been another awesome interview with our #MogulMoxie Maven Melanie Benson – a trailblazer I’ve admired for many years. Melanie shared such wisdom in this interview!
Here are a few golden nuggets of wisdom from her journey you use to empower your own actions and life right away:
➢ Make time for yourself. You can successful in business and still have time to do the things you enjoy. Leverage is key to maximizing your business so you can enjoy more of your life.
➢ The only person whose validation you need is you! Look no further than yourself to know that both you and your work are valued and appreciated.
➢ Strong relationships with family and friends are extremely important. Don’t take them for granted.
Now that you’ve been inspired by our MogulMoxie® Maven – it’s your time. What are you going to do differently in your own life or business? We want to hear about it!
