283: [High Performing Women] Scaling a Team, Creating Visibility and Continuous Innovation with Author, Speaker, Publisher Maria Dismondy

How do you continue to create visibility for your brand year after year? How do you manage multiple streams of revenue? Which ideas and opportunities should you say YES to? My guest, Maria Dismondy, is a children’s book author, professional speaker, and owns a publishing company. She rapidly scaled from 2 to 10 team members in the last year. This is her 9th year in business and she is not slowing down. In just the first 9 months of 2017, she has experienced 278% growth. Maria shares some tips for creating visibility for your business, how to grow your team by outsourcing and investing in training, and the importance of innovating in your industry.   Key Takeaways: [3:55] Natalie and Maria have known each other for a few years, and have seen and supported each other through the growth of their businesses. [6:20] What is Maria’s business? [7:00] Maria has three children. As her family grew, so did her business, but this was a challenge for her to manage. [9:09] What is the scale and scope of Maria’s business? She talks about the revenue of her company, as well as the streams of revenue.. [11:24] One of Maria’s revenue streams is speaking at schools. How have her speaking engagements expanded over time? [13:02] What is Maria’s system for publishing books? What kind of clients does her publishing company take on? [15:45] Maria is a person who is not afraid to try new things, but also not afraid to stop doing them if she decides she doesn’t like it or it doesn’t work. What has been the difference in how she has approached her business in 2015 and 2017? [17:25] Since 2015, Maria’s team has grown rapidly. What is Maria’s team like now? [25:33] From 2015 to 2017, Maria had a shift in mindset that allowed her to grow and expand her business. What brought that about? [30:27] In order to grow, Maria had to spend and expand. What are some of the changes she made in her spending? How did she outsource, both in her business and at home? [34:50] Even working just 10-to-15 hours a week, Maria accomplishes a lot. What are some secrets Maria has about setting yourself up for success? [38:30] How does Maria plan her days? [40:40] Maria has some really creative ways of getting herself known. What are some of Maria’s strategies for gaining visibility? She shares her experiences with social media, local media, book signings, and virtual book tours! [48:05] Maria shares about virtual speaking engagements.? [50:54] How do contests help Maria’s business and get her visibility? [53:30] Natalie and Maria leave us with some final thoughts about being innovators, entrepreneurs and sharing ideas.   This episode is sponsored by AWeber. Thank you for supporting women entrepreneurs! Find out more and get an all access, 60-Day Free Trial at BizChix.com/Aweber!   Join the BizChix Community   Connect with Maria Dismondy: ● Maria Dismondy ● Cardinal Rule Press ● Maria Dismondy on Facebook ● Maria Dismondy on Instagram   Mentioned in this Episode: ● Empowering Kids with Character (Private Facebook Group) ● Asana ● Voxer ● PowerSheets ● Day Designer