If you're anything like me, you're probably tired of hearing the "get rich quick" marketing strategies. Anytime someone tries to sell me on their specific "formula" or "strategy" around how they made six figured in 30 days, I immediately start running in the other direction. It's just not a practical or realistic way to grow and scale your business!

There is, however, an easier way -- AND -- I can promise it will feel more organic, authentic, and fun.

In today's episode, Erica and I are talking through how to leverage your network to help you organically boost your sales and drive more impact.

For over two decades, Erica has helped business owners + personal brands expand their reach and online presence. She is also the founder of Castner Consulting, which specializes in helping service based businesses find, connect, and convert prospects into clients.

In today's episode we're diving into some tips like:

• How to find networking opportunities and local communities (likely ones you didn't even know existed!)
• The benefits of taking your marketing "offline" and growing 1:1 connections
• How to think about & create unique collaboration opportunities to get in front of new audiences
• Tips on how to get the most out of networking events (calling all of my fellow introverts!)
• & more!

We're having an honest conversation about how we, as business owners, can -- bring things back to basics and really connect and serve to grow our business.

Links from the episode:
Erica's book recommendation: The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
Snag Erica's free guide: "Position Your Expertise Toolkit"

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. Have you joined my weekly email community? Every week we're sharing tips on how to make building a business FUN -- & (as always) keeping things REAL and RELATABLE! Head on over to my website and enter in your email to join. 

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

This is, hands down, the MOST REQUESTED topic that I get. As business owners, especially as service providers, we are in the business of pleasing and serving our clients. And because of that, sometimes we don’t realize how much we are falling into our people-pleasing tendencies. 

The truth is, we grow up pleasing other people. It’s something that is so deeply rooted into our subconscious that a lot of times, we don’t even realize that we’re doing it. 

In today's episode we're going to dive into WHAT people please is and WHERE is tends to come from...and of course, I'm always sharing 5 tips on how to overcome it!

We're diving into:

• The difference between PLEASING and SERVING
• Where this pleasing tendency stems from inside of us (hint: it's deep down!)

And we're also talking through ways that we can overcome people-pleasing -- things like:

• How to dig deep and get truly comfortable with our own needs and desires
• The BIG difference between self-love and acceptance & general okayness
• Looking at what we provide to our clients & aligning it with our unique personalities
• How to get comfortable with people sometimes being unhappy (and how to continually honor ourselves along the way)
• ... and more!

If you've found yourself feeling low in your self-confidence, lacking in your creativity, overwhelmed, overworked, or any combination of these things above - you'll want to listen in to this episode! 

Links from today's episode:

• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (help other business owners find the podcast too 🙋‍♀️)
• Join the email community & make business building feel fun again! 🥳
• Learn about 1:1 coaching

Resources mentioned in today's episode:

• The Prosperous Coach (Book)
• Take the free enneagram quiz or pay $12 for an advanced version
• Take the free 16 personalities quiz

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

One of the BIGGEST struggles that photographers (+ creatives & online business owners) have, is converting their inquiries into paying clients!

In today's episode, Rachel Traxler and I are talking through not only how you can optimize your client inquiry form, but she's also sharing ways to elevate and improve your initial client experience to create more income and paying clients!

Rachel is a wedding elopement photographer, business coach & also the host of the Gold Biz Podcast.

In today's episode we're diving into some main tips like:

• How to optimize your contact form
• How to best analyze client submissions
• How to make a unique, custom response (that converts!)
• The importance of custom proposals
• & more!

We're having an honest conversation about how we, as business owners, can -- bring things back to basics and serve our clients in the best way possible to connect with them fully.

Links from the episode:
Listen to the Gold Biz Podcast
Connect with Rachel on Instagram
Snag her free phone call outline cheat sheet

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

Did you know that the BEST way to book new clients is to create incredible client experiences for the ones you have now?? Honestly,  client onboarding and offboarding is something that often gets overlooked, but it's one of the things that can make the biggest impact around your growth.

In today's episode, Devin and I are talking through not only how you can optimize your onboarding and offboarding experience, but she's also sharing tactical ways around how you can improve your overall client journey.

Devin is a Certified Online Business Manager & Dubsado Specialist and she specializes in helping entrepreneurs perfect their client journey and get their time and energy back by putting their business on autopilot.

Devin is also your go-to high-energy hype woman who’ll bring a calm oasis to your growing business – and honestly, who doesn’t need someone like that in their life!?

No matter what point you're at in your business -- you'll want to listen in!

Links from the episode:
Books Devin loves: Essentialism by Greg Mckeown & Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Connect with Devin on Instagram
Snag her free elevated client journey workbook on her website

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

Today we’re talking about something that we ALL struggle with from time to time - motivation. 

One of the toughest things about being a business owner, especially for anyone that’s truly a solo entrepreneur, is that if we don’t do the work, no one else will. We don’t have a team to help pickup slack or take things over when we feel overwhelmed. At the end of the day, our growth, our success, our sustainability as a business, it all comes down to the decisions we make and how we choose to spend our time.

And because of that, when we feel unmotivated to get tasks done, it can feel like a HUGE blocker in our overall business growth.

Some of the things we're chatting through in today's episode are:

• How a lack of motivation doesn’t mean you’re lazy
• 3 of the MOST common reasons why people feel unmotivated in their goals
• 4 changes that you can make TODAY to bring back your motivation and feel excited again about growing your business

Also, if you have a business owner friend that would benefit from today's episode, I'd love for you to take a screenshot of this episode and send it to them in a DM or text message -- let's commit to helping each other continue to grow! 💛

Here are some additional links from the episode:

• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (help other business owners find the podcast too 🙋‍♀️)
  
  
• Join the email community & make business building feel fun again! 🥳
  
  

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

The copy on your website & how you convey your message to your potential clients makes a HUGE impact on your business growth!

As creatives, often times we struggle with how to clearly communicate our message to others and in this episode, Rachel and I are chatting through some really tactical tips for how to create amazing copy that will make others want to book!

Just throwing it out there -- this interview with Rachel is absolutely PACKED with so many golden nuggets when it comes to writing amazing copy!

Rachel Greiman is a copywriter and documentary family photographer in Denver, CO. She owns Green Chair Stories, a company committed to writing websites that get photographers booked.

You can tell from our conversation that Rachel really knows her stuff! And you'll leave this episode with so many tangible and tactical tips for ways that you can tweak, customize and improve the copy on your website.

No matter what point you're at in your business -- you'll want to listen in!

Links from the episode:
Read more free content on Rachel's blog
Connect with Rachel on Instagram
Check out Cal Newport's books
Subscribe to James Clear & Ann Handley's newsletters

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

In our business, WE are the thing that makes our business stand out. WE are the reason that people want to work with us. Our unique qualities, experiences, and everything that we bring to the table -- and so it's CRUCIAL that we learn to take care of ourselves if we want to create a business that feels authentic and sustainable. Today, I'm chatting with Ellen Broen and we're diving into how we can best take care of ourselves (our mental health/wellness/and even our physical health).

Ellen is a former opera singer turned certified life coach & helps creative business owners find deep personal wholeness and fulfillment, grow thriving relationships that self-honor, and achieve extraordinary results with greater ease and velocity.

Specifically, we're chatting through:
- 2 things that have have been a game changer in Ellen's business:
- Overcoming comparisonitis & taking care of our thoughts/headspace
- How to raise the floor and the ceiling around your goals
- Handling stress & anxiety and how it affects our bodies
- Finding the support that we need to take care of ourselves
- Consuming vs. creating 
- Creating goals that are less number-focused
- Time & schedule management 
...and more!

Links from the episode:
Download her free mini course
Visit her youtube channel
Check out her website
Connect on Instagram

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

As business owners, we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with messages of success.  Whether that's messages about how we aren’t living up to other people’s successes -- feeling like we're somehow “behind” or “not where we wanted to be” --  or maybe we're just learning how to navigate through a slower season (and not make it mean something about ourselves as a human being). Whatever the case, we're constantly learning new ways of how to navigate through life while also growing a business. 

That's why in today's episode, we're gonna get a little unscripted. We're having a really honest and raw conversation about navigating through how to keep growing a business when it feels tough. 

Some of the things we're chatting through are:

• Normalizing that slow seasons are necessary and that we don't always have to feel like we're constantly moving full speed ahead (and actually being okay with "free time" and not needing to be all consumed in our work)
• Getting really deep into our why, purpose and our mission (and why they should be detached from our business goals)
• Learning how to let go of things that aren't serving us or in alignment with our mission anymore (regardless of how much time/energy has been poured into them)

If you've felt like business has felt a little tough, or that you've lost some of the excitement or momentum along the way -- I'm really excited to have this conversation with you. 

Also, if you have a business owner friend that would benefit from today's episode, I'd love for you to take a screenshot of this episode and send it to them in a DM or text message -- let's help each other feel seen, heard and cared for within our community.

Here are some additional links from the episode:

• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (Help other business owners find the podcast too 🙋‍♀️)
  
  
• Connect with me on Instagram (I'd love to hear your takeaways from the episode 🥳)

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

If I had the opportunity to go back in time and change ONE thing about how I was growing my business -- I wish I would have put more time and effort into understanding the power behind SEO. For so long I put off learning about it because -- well -- it just felt like a really daunting subject. I didn't understand how it worked, and I didn't fully understand how much I was missing out on by putting it on the backburner.

As much as I love social media and hanging out there -- I've realized more and more as time goes on that it's not the most effective marketing strategy. Yes my people hang out there, but it's just not going to provide the same kind of return on investment that my website will. 

In today's episode I'm getting SUPER down to the details of SEO with our guest host, Victoria Rayburn. She's going to walk you through FIVE things that you can do right now that will help you get started on your journey to optimize your business's SEO on Google.

If you're anything like me and have felt overwhelmed by SEO, I highly encourage you to listen in to today's episode and also snag Victoria's free guides and resources below for some additional clarity and information on how to get started! Let's break this down into simple steps and help you get started on your new marketing strategy!

Links from the episode:
Snag Victoria's free guide to help you with keyword research
Join the waitlist for her upcoming SEO course
Visit her website
Listen to the Priority Pursuit podcast
Connect on Instagram

P.S. If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙

Planning on repurposing more of your content but don't know where to start? Or you’re struggling with recycling and expanding your content's reach?

In today's episode, we're chatting with Beth Hackmann, an experienced copywriter who helps creatives scale their businesses through powerful, personality-packed copywriting. According to Beth, creating and publishing content is not a "one and done" sort of thing. You've spent a lot of time and energy creating a piece of content, it only makes sense that you get as much mileage from it as you possibly can.

Tune in to hear Beth go through tips that are guaranteed to help you get the most out of your content repurposing efforts. She digs deeper into content repurposing, from idea management to choosing the right platform for your repurposed content and so much more!

Episode Outline:
Introduction  00:59
Getting to Know Beth Hackman 04:45
Beth's Entrepreneurial Journey 05:48
Tips For Business Owners Struggling with Copy 08:15
How to Get Better Results at the Things You Struggle With 11:36 
The Benefits of Having a Consistent Brand Voice 13:40
Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Content 17:09
Idea Management: What It Is and How to Do It 24:07
Why You Need to Hang Out Where Your Ideal Client Spends Time Online 27:30
Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms For Your Business 33:06
Are You Having Fun in Your Business? 37:40
Lessons Learned From Beth's Entrepreneurial Journey 41:51
Parting Thoughts 44:57

Links and Resources:
Bethscopycorner.com
Connect with Beth Via Instagram
Groove coworking app

If you haven't yet left a review for the podcast, I'd be honored if you took a few minutes to write one up for Apple Podcasts!

P.S. I have a new fun quiz I'd love for you to take! In just 3 minutes you can find out what kind of entrepreneur you are & if you have what it takes to create wild success in your business!

Loved the episode? Have a topic or guest host request? Send me a text message!

Ways we can work together:

• <<Brand Strategy + Coaching>> Create a brand so strong that clients are sold on working with you before they even reach out!
• <<Brand Photography>> Is it time to elevate your business with new brand photos?

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU!

• Say hello on Instagram 👋
• Join the email community ✍🏻
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 🎙