Confession time: I have a few love interests – crushes. Lots in fact. I visit my crushes quite often, sometimes more than once a day!

As an online business owner, I am constantly meeting new people, learning new skills from heart-centered business brains, and seeing mucho talent and inspiration right before me, mostly via my computer screen.

I have many crushes – both male and female. Too many to list right here but in the spirit of sharing and generosity, I’ve gathered my top online business crushes for you to enjoy too (in no particular order).

Warning: they are pretty steamy!

 

Leonie Dawson

I’ve already raved about Leonie Dawson’s  Create Your Amazing Year Workbooks and Calendars in this post, so it’s no doubt she’s listed as one of my favourite business crushes.

Don’t be fooled by the swirly-girly, flighty appearance of Goddess Leonie – this chick has a red hot business brain and a heart the size of planet Venus. In a few short years, she’s built her online business from a 5 to 9 gig (while holding down a regular 9-5) to a near million dollar success story – working only 15 hours a week.

She is unashamedly honest – every small detail about her business and life is up for grabs. It’s this honesty that has drawn a loyal community of fans reaching tens of thousands.

She attributes much of her success to her yearly planning workbooks, Create Your Amazing Year Workbook & Calendar. She created them for herself, then a few years later published them for the world to enjoy. An amazingly popular and useful tool to help you plan out and make happen your most incredible year in life or business (or both!)

Read more about Leonie on her website here and her totally amazing training academy here.

Anne Samoilov

I first met Anne through her Fearless Launching programme. I was one of a gang of 20 or so alumni group. We all bonded through a shared desire to launch our products online, and all the overwhelming moving parts and practicalities that come along with it.

Anne knows e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g there is to know about launching online having pulled off hugely successful 6 & 7 figure launches for Marie Forleo, Laura Roeder and Jonathan Fields. Unlike many other launch trainers, Anne doesn’t follow rules or blueprints – but encourages you to do things YOUR way to suit yours and your customers needs.

I adore that about her.

This training helped me change the course of my business. Anne has since gone on to be one of my closest friends and confidants (despite us having met only in person ONCE – but I’m certain there will be many more).

Taking Fearless Launching was the difference between my first launch of Twitter Brilliance being ‘kinda ok” to a sold out success.

I often refer back to the online training and still am part of an awesome community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Check out what Anne is up to and dive into her free launch resources on her website AnneSamoilov.com

Jenny Shih

I stumbled across Jenny in late 2011 not long after I had officially re-launched as AliciaCowan.com. I was reading an awesome guest post she had written which led me to find out more about her. On clicking through to her site, I continued to soak up her super logical business planning tips and have done so regularly ever since.

I’m big on planning, but this chick is something else. Through her free resources, paid-for products and personal coaching, she has helped me fully understand that running a business doesn’t have to be so hard. Her simple, straightforward, no-room-for-B.S communication is always on point and she is a constant inspiration.

Jenny created a  6 figure business in 18 months, works just 20 hours a week, and has a waiting list of private clients. If you dream of this level of success for yourself, you need to get your planning on!

It’s with her help that I’ve gone from a crazy schedule of 50 hour work weeks to just 25 hours. If you want to know how I did it, read Jenny’s post here.

Danielle LaPorte 

I was a little late to the Danielle LaPorte party but caught up pretty quickly when I discovered her Fire Starter Sessions audio book. DLP’s writing is poetic and I can listen to her sultry, cosy like cashmere voice alllll day. 

Not too long after the Fire Starter Sessions book was released, she created The Desire Map – a holistic approach to life planning, using your core desired feelings as the guidance system for your intention and goal setting. It completely changed the way I look at creating my goals and discovering what truly makes me happy.

These days, every action I take goes through these filter questions before getting a green light. Thanks to Danielle.

‘How does this [insert action here] make me feel?’ and ‘How do I want to feel today?’

She’s totally woo-woo but in a downright earthy way. I wake up to her truthbombs every morning (usually with a “Hell yea!”)

Check out Danielle LaPorte and get your Desire Map here (I highly recommend it!)

Kendrick Shope 

As business owners, we’ve learned that creating a product or service is just the beginning of the process. You have an amazing talent to share but without marketing and selling, you will never create a profitable business. You put all your heart, time, sweat and tears into your business so why does selling and marketing sometimes feel… ‘icky’?

Sound familiar?  I hear this from my clients all of the time.

All it takes is a subtle change of mindset and a rock solid strategy to take the ‘ick’ from your business sales and generate steady revenue.

Simple but not so easy perhaps. Thankfully sales coach, Kendrick Shope, has got your back.

Kendrick cut her teeth selling lumber. Not the most glamorous way to make a living but she gained top-notch experience that she generously shares with women entrepreneurs around the globe. Plus, she’s got amazing red hair and a Southern drawl to live for. What’s not to love?

Pssst – be sure to check out the blog – super juicy stuff.

Derek Halpern

I found Derek on Twitter when someone I followed, RT’d his tweet. His bio caught my attention: ‘I’m 99% useless, but that 1% when I’m not, I’m dangerous’ (how could I ignore that?) and I was compelled to click over to his site, Social Triggers, to find out more.

I spent the next few hours absorbing every post on his site like a drug addict. Goosebumps  a-go-go! Admittedly, it had only been around a few months so it didn’t take me THAT long.  But it’s not often I find top notch information on marketing and the psychology behind it, that’s so gripping I can’t drag myself away.

Derek’s not everyone’s cuppa tea. He’s brash and often rude but I can’t resist his straight talk, smart observations and proven marketing strategies. Oh, and his NYC taxi-cab driver accent. *Drool*.

Derek is an expert marketer and I highly recommend you check out his blog + podcast here.

Marie Forleo 

It’s hard not to have a business crush on Marie. This hip hop loving, ex dance pro, Oprah guest, marketing coach markets from her heart.

She was one of the first mentors to demonstrate to me that you can be proud of your passions, however disjointed they seem and swirl them together unashamedly to help you stand out in a sea of sameness.

Marie’s Q&A Tuesday is the only TV series I watch on a regular basis. No end of season cliffhangers or months of waiting for the next season to start – this lady is switched on 52 weeks of the year with juicy, practical tips to help create the business and life you want.

Her signature program, B School, is a 8 week business training programme designed to help you turn your online presence into a profitable and successful business. With a slogan like “Make Money, Change the World” you can’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy.

Get on the Marie train here.

Do you have a crush?

When I look back at the people on this list, each one shares amazing free resources (that are worth SO much more than nuthin’), and their premium training is golden.

I’ve worked with them all – either through group training or 1:1 and without their expertise I wouldn’t have the knowledge, confidence or skills to provide the results-oriented learning experience I do for my own clients, or run the business I have now. The one I dreamed of when I first jumped feet first into this self-employed world.

It’s no wonder I crush on them, big time!

I am always looking for more crushes – could you tell me a bit more about your online loves? Share in the comments below!