And She Spoke

In this episode, we walk your through our “Before You Film Checklist,” which serves as a cheat sheet of sorts for new online teachers. Make sure you never film another video with your mic off or your iPhone oriented the wrong way! You can download a copy of the checklist here (scroll to the bottom of the post). p.s. This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Head over to audibletrial.com/soulfulmba to get a free audiobook and a 30-day free trial!

We’re joined in this episode by Leah Neaderthal, a serial entrepreneur who specializes in teaching other women how to become comfortable (and successful) with sales. Leah teaches her clients how to think of selling in these terms: Build the house. Furnish it. Move in. THEN, invite people over… How is the your sales process organized? Do you have a sales pipeline? According to Leah, the health of your pipeline is a good indicator of the health of your business. Leah didn’t learn to sell by being a commissioned salesperson; she learned it experientially through entrepreneurship. She taught herself everything she could about selling by reading over 60 books, which helped her overcome the natural “selling shyness” most entrepreneurs have. Prior to starting Smart Gets Paid, Leah built, grew, and sold multiple businesses. She co-founded Lesbians Who Tech, a global organization to foster more LGBT women in technology. She also co-founded Lean Impact, where she helped nonprofits use Lean Startup principles to increase their impact and run their businesses more efficiently. Leah’s best advice? Focus on articulating YOUR VALUE. When you can step into your value and really own it, the sales process becomes about offering that value instead of asking to be hired. Other Mentions: Smart Gets Paid Joy: sweater shaverHustle: CRM tool (Leah uses Nimble)

We’re becoming big fans of producing fewer, but more thorough, blog posts and we think that you should consider this strategy too. Here are the reasons we’re in favor of more comprehensive content: The majority of blog posts are short (under 500 words), so you will stand out by producing longer content. You can establish yourself as an authority and expert by writing high-quality, comprehensive posts (3,000 words or more). Search engines (like Google) reward long-form content. The Internet doesn’t need more fluff. Epic blogs posts can be easily repurposed. Think Instagram captions, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, email-based free course, ebooks, etc.

“We want you to be in this for the long haul, but you can’t do that if you’re working yourself to death… Your business is only as healthy as you are.” Startup culture is defined by quick growth and fast exits, but we believe that true accomplishment and innovation results from longer-term thinking. Starting a business is really not that different than starting a garden. You plant the seeds, water them, show up day after day—trusting that you’ll eventually see the garden bloom. Somewhere along the way, our culture became convinced that flowers that don’t bloom overnight are unworthy of planting. This kind of thinking is not only absurd; it’s dangerous. We love the idea of building companies that will support our families and communities for years to come, but this means making choices sometimes that prioritize longer-term goals over short-term gains. This is actually not a novel concept—it’s roots run deep and sustainable growth was a common practice prior to the “expand or die” economic paradigm that evolved out of the Cold War. Economic history aside, sustainable growth just makes sense in a world of finite resources. Some questions we want to leave you with… What does success mean to you? What do you want your legacy to be with respect to your current business? Joy: High Vibrational BeautyHustle: Overcast

Videography is kind of our jam and we get asked about this autofocus issue all the time. If you’re struggling to get yourself into focus while filming your online classes or having trouble staying in focus for the duration of your session, you’ll want to listen to this episode. When should you use autofocus and when should you disable the feature in favor of manual settings? If you’re filming in low light, filming around a bunch of reflective surfaces, or filming a fast moving object, you’ll want to disable autofocus on your camera. (We break down how to do this on a few of our favorite devices like the Canon Vixia, the iPhone, and the Logitech C920.) p.s. If you’re using the Logitech C920 for live-streaming per our recommendation, Sandy suggests that you download Logitech’s free gaming software in order to have more control of your video settings. p.p.s. This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Head over to audibletrial.com/soulfulmba to get a free audiobook and a 30-day free trial!

“Women often speak about their ambition in terms of altruism. This isn’t the full story.” - Laura Close This episode features a candid conversation with Laura Close. Laura is a Seattle-based executive leadership coach and career consultant who leads a select portfolio of clients through the transformative work of leadership development, helping them reach their next level of career and business achievement. In this episode, Laura explains why it’s problematic for women to lead with soft skills in business (and what they should do instead). She also shares her fascinating 4-part framework for identifying your own type of selfish drive: Money Fame Power Authority To summarize, Laura recommends two primary strategies for business success: (1) lead with your most technical value, and (2) identify (and come to terms with) your most selfish motivation.   Other Mentions: Hero’s Journey Framework, LauraClose.com Joy: Brent MartinHustle: Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need

We’re sharing our favorite new-to-us technology on this week’s Office Hours episode — Voxer. It’s super efficient (and addictive) to communicate via walkie talkie and it’s now a core part of our team’s communication strategy. Listen in to learn why we love this technology, why we think it beats texting, and why we think you should consider incorporating it into your own business. p.s. This podcast is sponsored by Audible. Head over to audibletrial.com/soulfulmba to get a free audiobook and a 30-day free trial!

One of our favorite benefits of entrepreneurship is the flexibility we have in our days and weeks. In this episode, we share about the specific ways we’ve built our business around our lives. The standard 40-hour work week was a product of the late 19th century and early 20th century labor movement, and while it did its job to protect factory workers who were—quite literally—being worked to death, it’s quickly becoming obsolete. In our era, most professionals work far more than 40 hours per week. (We found a stat that Americans employed in full-time jobs work an average of 47 hours per week, which is almost 6 full days of work.) We’re also constantly tethered to our phones, even during our non-working hours. And with all of this added connectivity, many employers are not adding in additional flexibility benefits (the ability to work remotely, flexible hours, etc.). Because of the autonomy it affords, entrepreneurship can be fundamentally liberating for women. The ability to be with our children after school, to take care of them when they’re sick, and to work nights to make up for family time during the day is priceless for us. If you feel called to entrepreneurship, you know it. It’s not for everyone. If you’re called to build something for yourself, there’s a fire in your belly that you can’t ignore. The drive to create your own schedule and define your own success outweighs your need for security (or the illusion thereof). You can find fulfillment in a side hustle, but for some of you, that side hustle will turn into your full-time gig—in which case you’ve won the lottery. (Only you made your own luck.) Joy: Wild Wild CountryHustle: Moo

This quick episode shares our five rules for sending cold emails. By following these simple guidelines, you’re much more likely to receive a positive response (or any response at all). Introduce yourself. Dropping a note to a new person? Want to pitch yourself for a podcast guest spot or a guest blog post? Please share a bit about yourself and include a link for how to learn more about you. Be authentic. Personalize with context or, even better, a compliment. Don’t blast people a blanket request without any personalization. Let the person receiving the message know that you’ve actually engaged with her/his content. State the value proposition. What’s in it for the person receiving the message? Use complete sentences. Maybe even proofread? Enough said. Have a specific call-to-action. What do you want the person to do? What action would you like for her to take?

Good sound quality is EVERYTHING when you’re running an online business. In this quick episode, we share our top recommendations for high-quality microphones:  Sandy’s Mic: Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone Jeni’s Mic: Electro Voice RE-20 Cardioid Microphone Our favorite Wireless Option: Rode RodeLink FM Wireless Filmmaker System Inexpensive Webcam with Mic Option: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920