More Than A Few Words

Do you have a super toolkit for your business? Also called standard operating procedures (SOPs), when created correctly give business owners freedom to work on their business.  This week, our guest Kris Ward explains that many business owners make the mistake of creating  static SOP's to cover liability.  The narrow definition and inflexible design will actually hold you back. A super toolkit will grow and change along as the business grows and changes.   About Kris Ward Kris Ward is an author, podcaster coach, and speaker. She is a team building and system strategist and a leading authority in building your business by building your team. She is the founder of Win the Hour, Win the Day day philosophy and she helps entrepreneurs create their WIN team. Learn more at:  Winthehourwintheday.com

When it comes to marketing, there are three simple truths. The first is that marketing hasn't really changed in 50 or 60 years. The basics of marketing are about what they were half a century ago. What has changed are the tools. And that's the second truth, there are always new tools on the horizon, new ways of doing things. And the third truth is that the most effective marketing is marketing that is authentic and unique to your brand, your business and to you. And so if you want to be successful, remember those three truths. Get very familiar with marketing basics, Learn the fundamentals and the strategies that drive everything. Keep up with what's new and what's changing. And finally, to turn inward to discover your voice. Define what's unique about you, and use that to guide your marketing.

If every morning is an adventure and you're not quite what you should do first, Ryan Cote suggests you begin your day with a morning routine.     Interestingly, one thing many highly successful people do is start the day off with a morning routine. In this conversation, Ryan shares his morning routine, and things you can do to build a habit of investing in yourself.  

This is a marketing story about personal branding that took place about 30 years ago, I had just started working for Lennox industries. At that time, Lennox Industries was a male oriented business. With men in all the senior roles, this company was trying to change their boys club image. It was also, surprisingly a personal, family run, $750 million business. It was a personal family business. Three weeks into my job, we had a party for one of the men on our team. He'd been there for 20 years, and we were having cake and coffee to celebrate. There was an executive meeting and they all came down to personally congratulate Roger. My boss thought this was a great time to introduce me to the president of the company, and his entire staff. As I walked over to meet them  I had a cup of coffee in my right hand.  It is a simple maneuver when you have a cup of coffee in your right hand, pass it to your left, and you extend your right hand. Somewhere between pass and extend I lost a cup of coffee.  It would have been o

Many business owners think closing the sale is the end of customer journey.  Guest Wayne Mullins doesn't agree.  He sees the act of attracting the customer as only half the process.  The other half should be focused on keeping the customer engaged so they become an evangelist for our product. As a salesperson he discovered  when he nurtured those relationships, checking in after the sale the customers would be more likely to tell  friends, family members and coworkers about the product or the service he was selling Today, as the author of Full Circle Marketing he advocates taking an objective look at the experience your give your customers from start to finish. Ask them, what they value, why they choose you and what you can do to improve.  

We make buying decisions because we've been influenced by someone or something. Many companies are trying to cash in on this trend, hiring influencers to promote their brand.  But our guest Jason Falls focusing on the influencer is not the right strategy. When you focus on the personalities there is  really no substance to it. If however, you the "r" off and focus on what you're trying to achieve, which is persuade an audience to take action now you are likely to have much better results.  And you won't be glued to Instagram or Youtube or Tiktok  as you realize you can use offline people to influence an audience to take action too  

Everyone likes to be right and to see their ideas put into practice but sometimes your ideas are not the best it. If, as a leader you are more focused on proving you're right and winning every argument people around you will acquiesce.  You will have a solution but it won't necessarily be the best solution. This is tough, because it means you have to give up control. If you've hired the right people they will have good opinions about projects and about the way the company is run, so you need to be prepared to listen and let others win.  When multiple viable solutions are proposed to a problem choose the one suggested by a passionate team member. Why? If it's their idea they're will work to ensure it is implemented properly and it sends a strong message that you are serious about finding the best alternatives. If you want to find the best solutions to every problem my advice is to sit back and listen to others.

Great content helps small business owners build trust and compete with businesses significantly larger, by establishing authority and credibility.  Guest John Hinson explains it is a cost effective strategy saving you potentially thousands of dollars every month because you are driving traffic without paid search. In the legal field, like many industries there are great evergreen topics. Information every customer and prospect needs.  Content that answers those typical questions has along shelf life as prospects are likely to return to it again and again.    About John Hinson John is the Editorial Director for Spotlight Branding, a content marketing company helping lawyers and other professionals increase referrals and attract better clients. John is also the host of two podcasts, The Law Firm Marketing Minute and Center Stage, where he dives into various aspects of marketing and business development.

The stories that we tell ourselves really are our most important stories. Our guest, Bridget Cook-Burch shared her thoughts on stories and how stories drive our destiny.  It is less about what is really happening and more about how we frame the situation. There are stories of opportunities and stories of limitations.  As entrepreneurs we got to capture the beautiful stories and learn to reframe others so we  actually write a new chapter of where we're headed in our lives so that we are ultimately in charge of our own destiny.   About Bridget Bridget Cook-Burch’s clients call her “The Book Whisperer”. She is a New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, mentor, trainer, mamma-bear humanitarian, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation. Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, CNN, GMA, The History Channel, NPR and in People among many others. She is the CEO and Founder of YourInspiredStory.com. As a successful entrepreneur, Bridget has also owned and operated a

If you're a business owner, you are probably  always looking for ways to widen your circle and networking is certainly a great way to do just that. In this conversation with Ryan Hansen, we talked about a slightly different approach to networking. Often called a professional extrovert he loves talking to people about their business ideas and then helping them act on it. So it was a natural fit  to start a podcast as a way to open the door to interesting conversations, with people he was hoping to connect with.  The episodes are are win-win-win.  The guest get publicity, the audience learns something, and Ryan has a chance to get in front of a prospective customer in a casual, conversational way.  

I love running my own business, getting to do things “my way” … most of the time. But I learned that to be successful, I need to also listen to the opinions of others. Who are these “others?” They are people who compliment my weaknesses and have skills to fill my blind spots. They are the Yang to my Yin. What Is Yin-Yang? With roots dating back to China in 1300 BCE, Yin-yang refers to a concept where opposite forces are seen as interconnected and counterbalancing. Together the two halves make a whole, and while one is mostly dark and the other is mostly light there is a little bit of each in the other. Yin, represents darkness, passivity, and the earth. Yang represents light, activity, and the heavens. Do you have a Business Yin-Yang? Whether it is your next hire or a member of your advisory board, expand your input by bringing people into your circle who brings a fresh perspective and different set of skills. Remember even someone who seems to be your complete opposite, should share some common ground with y

If you're a coach you can earn a living one conversation at a time. But if you really want to maximize your revenue opportunities. You need to consider group coaching Where do you start?  Our guest Chris Williams says it boils down to four simple steps Start organically.  Don't worry about advertising till you really understand your audience Start measuring predictability. If you don't have a way to predictably generate on-profile leads you don't have a business. you're just getting lucky! Invite people to a conversation Invite them to take the next step.  About Chris Williams - in his own words.  I spend most of my time raising our five kids, exploring world communities, and trying my hand at adventures like shark diving, ice climbing, running ultra marathons, and riding electric skateboards. In my spare time, I work with entrepreneurial and business experts, speakers, coaches, and leaders helping them market, monetize, and lead their own high-ticket mastermind (or group coaching) programs.

All too often people think the word freelancer is synonymous for broke. But according to my guest, Kate Bagoy, that's not true. You can make money and live the life you want as a freelancer. Right now is a great time for freelancers as we've moved to a more remote work culture.  More are outsourcing and opportunities for freelancers growing faster than ever. Making this shift from freelancer  to building a business is a shift in mindset. Freelancers who struggle tend to do so because they're constantly hunting for jobs based on their skill set.  In contrast, business owners take the time to create a business plan, a marketing plan, a strategy and a system for finding clients.   About Kate Bagoy Kate is a senior UX designer and founder of Six Figure Freelancers, where she helps experienced digital pros build businesses they can run from the beach. A self-professed nerd with an MBA, she’s worked with more than 50 startups and coached 1000’s of consultants through starting an online business. An adventurer at he

When you come home from a networking event with a stack of business cards, you either have something incredibly valuable, or a pile of garbage. What makes the difference? It's not the cards themselves, but what you do with them. Do you take the time to sort them and pull out those handful of people who you really need to follow up with? Do you track those conversations over time, so that periodically when things get a little slow in your business, you go to your contact list and start making a few phone calls to reach out or reconnect?  Do you take the time to purge people from your mailing list.  After years of networking, I'll go through my list and find names of people that I don't really remember meeting and whom I've not had a single interaction with since the first time I met them. If you have contacts like that is is ok to let them go. If you reconnect, you can always add them back. Treat your database like a valuable resource. Take time to cultivate and curate it and you will be able to rely on it to

The next time you go to a networking event, guest Rochelle Groh suggests you should look for the four types of networking animals.  The shark, who is ready to take a bite out of every conversation The penguin who typically gravitates to the same people at every event The bee who knows everyone in the room  The lone wolf who prefers longer, more one on one conversations.   About Rochelle Groh Rochelle is the Co-Founder of Cutclass and the host of the Allergic to Small Talk podcast. Rochelle focuses on teaching first time small business owners the ABCs of business networking. This often leads to sales for their business, collaborations with other business owners, and connections that last a lifetime

These days the world feels more than just a little crazy.  As you are processing all the crazy in the outside world you have a business to run.  So how do you balance the conflicting emotions and keep your  business moving forward?  Guest, Debra Sunderland stresses that a business is only going to go as far as the leader goes.  That's not to put pressure on you, but to remind you that the first step is preparing and taking care of yourself every day. Typically leaders are focused on achieving results and taking care of their teams, so she suggests that as a leader, the first thing you need to do is give yourself some grace and take time to breathe, to work out, to go out in nature and to  fortify yourself with good foods and rest. Start your morning with a walk, a meditation or just a longer coffee without externals triggering you.  For example, avoid starting your morning by checking the news.    Debra’s genius is creating a clear vision for CEO’s and their teams – making that vision a reality. With decades

Great strategic relationships are what make your word of mouth marketing work.  These partners  have complementary businesses to yours.  Serving similar customers they are likely to bump into people who will need your services and you are likely to find opportunities for them.  So stop walking into networking events looking for your next sale.   Instead, seek out people who can be a gateway not to one customer, but to 100 customers.  

If you're looking for different results tomorrow than you had yesterday you need to make changes.  Sometimes it is a small change, but often it is a significant transformation in your business or in your life. But how do you make those transformative changes?   And more importantly, as you work with clients, what is the transformation you will make for them?  Lorraine explored the topic of Transformation  with Joe Matz a serial entrepreneur who has owned businesses in Italy, Brazil and the US. Today he works with executives, solopreneurs and micro business owners who want to develop and build a profitable, unique signature program as well as a monetizing roadmap.

So you've been creating content for awhile. You've got blog posts, images and videos.  You share it on social media and place it on your website, but that isn't enough, because you aren't creating content for fun.  The goal is to generate leads and maybe sales. In this episode, Dani Hao and I discuss how to create marketing content that actually converts. She suggests creating content specifically targeted at each stage in the buyer journey. That content should drive visitors to a specific landing page, with a call to action matched to that stage of the journey.    About Dani She doesn't believe in short-term wins - She believes in building brands, community, and real connections. To truly win customers and drive pipeline and revenue, you must first understand them as people. To truly understand people, you must learn to listen. She started her career in fashion but eventually went solo as a marketing agency owner, specializing in helping SMEs and startups build trust and authenticity. She loves telling the

Thinking about hosting a conference and wondering about which social media platforms will serve you best. While you should probably have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, each of those platforms is going to play a role at different stages. For example, in the lead up to the conference, you're probably going to get your best results promoting the event on LinkedIn. This is where businesses come to talk about business. During the conference. However, you may want to switch your energy to Instagram and Twitter for those "in the moment" photos and conversations. This is what Twitter was made for, interactive conversations with conference attendees.  And with clever use of a hashtag you will be able to collect comments and content from attendees as well. And after the event, that's  where Facebook is probably best. It's a wonderful place to post all of those photos and conference summaries.