By Ralph M. Rivera and Carol Lynn Rivera
The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.
Today, [insert husband name] is very much in love with [insert wife name] even though there is much talk of second wives and same-sex lovers. That’s all I’ll say about that, so if you really want in on the joke you’ll have to listen.
Jessica Evans Makes An IntroductionRalph loves being in the middle of the drama, so when he recently received an apparent spam email from someone named Jessica Evans, introducing him to someone named Donna, he decided to play along. Jessica assured Ralph that Donna provided excellent services and would be a great fit for him.
He knows neither of these people, but of course the email was phrased in a way that implied he knew Jessica, who was doing him the huge favor of introducing him to Donna.
He responded to Jessica and asked for an introductory call. When he received another email of the apparent auto-generated variety letting him know that she was on maternity leave, things took on a life of their own.
Suffice it to say, Jessica, Ralph and Donna exchanged a series of emails that ended in the question: is this a scam? And who is scamming who?
The Jessica CharacterRalph thinks it’s possible that Jessica is a real person. Well, clearly there is some person on the other end of the email but I think she’s a fraud. And we’ve got evidence. If you look up her photo online, it’s everywhere. But sometimes she’s Samantha. And sometimes she’s Julie. And one time, she was even Mohammed.
She has a company website that is so generic as to say nothing at all. And a LinkedIn profile tied to this company that lists it as having 11-50 employees – of which she is suspiciously the only one on LinkedIn.
The Donna CharacterHere’s where it gets weird. Even though Jessica appears to be no more than a façade, Donna has all the hallmarks of being an actual person. She has a real-looking website. And a real-looking profile. She even has a YouTube channel where you can see her giving real-looking talks.
Based on everything we've seen, she seems like a legitimate person with a legitimate business. So... how did she get involved with... and who the heck is... “Jessica?” And why is Jessica acting like she knows Ralph and is just making a friendly introduction?
A TheoryWe can’t leave this one alone, so we come up with a theory that Donna has hired one of those companies that promise to get you leads. And that’s exactly what “Jessica” is doing – getting Donna leads.
Maybe somewhere, someone set up this fake company with the intent of doing this kind of thing.
We can’t imagine why, except that it’s a deception to take money from people who want leads and then sort of spam a bunch of people into being leads.
At this point, Ralph is wondering if he’s the one perpetrating the fraud, because he’s pursuing the conversation with no intent to hire anyone. So if Donna is some unwitting player and has gotten involved with a bad company then maybe she is as much a victim of this deception.
We decide that instead of being a meanie, Ralph should approach Donna truthfully and find out if she’s part of the scam (if there is one) or offer some friendly advice about not hiring fraudulent companies.
Stay TunedWe don’t know where this one ends yet. Maybe neither Jessica nor Donna will respond. We don’t know who they are or what they really want, so maybe they’ll disappear into the internet miasma from whence they came.
But if we do hear from or speak to either, we’ll let you know!
What do you think? Scam? Fraud? What do these people want?
Ten Easy Steps To SpamWe’re convinced that there’s a play book out there somewhere telling people how to “reach out” to other business owners with the intent of gaining some advantage – someone to read their book, try their product or let them post on your site.
We get the same emails all the time. First, it’s the introductory email where the person praises you and tells you how amazing you would be for [insert thing they want here].
A few days later you get the follow up. “Just want to be sure you received the below.”
A few days later you get the next follow up. “I know you’re busy but…”
And so it goes.
On principle, I won’t talk to anyone who says “the below” because GRAMMAR, people.
I also won’t talk to anyone who “knows” I’m busy but decides to keep soliciting me anyway.
Personally, I delete them all. Ralph has come up with a macro that he uses to generate a “no thanks” email that tends to stop the deluge of follow ups, so that’s a good thing and definitely worth a try.
It just kills me that people do this incessantly, and without a single bit of effort. They just copy, paste and spam. Maybe some of it sticks, who knows.
If you’re going to reach out to someone, the least you can do is use their name. My name is everywhere, so for someone to start an email with “hey there” or “dear site owner” it just means they aren’t trying. At ALL. And what should I expect from their book/product/blog post if they can’t even bother to solicit me properly?
If you don’t want your solicitation email in the trash, then at least make an effort to connect with the person you’re soliciting. Say something meaningful. Say something real. Don’t just cue the form letter.
Things & StuffTake a look at Jessica Evans’ company website and decide for yourself whether it’s real or fake
Our loyal listeners may have noticed that our opening drumbeat, courtesy of our good friend Chris Curran, features Ralph’s name. But I want to know why Ralph gets top – and only – billing? Is this the Ralph show? I think not.
So I issued a challenge to Chris to work my name into a drumbeat. Creatively.
Let’s see what we get.
Another ApologyLast week Ralph apologized to various people and today I have to issue my own apology, to the great nation of the USA. In last week’s episode I mistakenly mentioned the Whopper as being an item you could eat at Mc Donald’s.
Travesty!
Are there enough mea culpas? I wonder.
In Which We Admire Chris CurranAfter I expressed my demand for a drum track with my name in it, Ralph mentioned something that Chris did with his businesses that was very clever.
Chris has a couple of businesses. One is called Podcast Engineering School, which teaches people how to professionally record, mix, master and engineer podcasts. The school is for people who want a career in podcasting.
The other is called Podfudge, an agency that provides editing and marketing services to podcasters.
Chris had one of his engineering school graduates produce The Podcast Engineering Show, which is Chris’s podcast. The show sounds great, which goes to prove that Chris is churning out qualified professionals who even HE is willing to hire and trust with his own show.
He also hires his grads for his editing business. And Ralph thinks that’s pretty smart. It’s a way to market your product (in this case, school) – not by saying how great you are and not by talking about all the wonderful things you do – but by actually showing it.
Show Don’t TellWe had an experience a few weeks ago where we went to a business dinner with colleagues, and in the course of the conversation we gave some advice to one of them about how he might improve his Facebook ads.
A few days later, we were at a networking meeting with this same colleague. He stood up and told the room that after implementing our advice, he immediately got seven new leads for his business. We didn’t have to tell people that we know what we’re doing. He told them for us. And that’s worth more than any dollar amount you can spend on an ad.
I know a woman who knits clothing. And she wears her own clothing. So when she’s out and someone says, “Hey, nice sweater!” She tells them she makes them for a living. It’s a great way to demonstrate that she stands by her own product.
When you do a good job for people, when you stand by what you do, then your work will speak for itself. And if other people speak for you, all the better!
A Travel WrapupLast week we talked about our trip, what we spent and how we can budget next time.
This week we summarize a Top Ten list of easy ways to save money so you can travel even if you don’t have a big budget.
We share war stories today about people who insist on doing things themselves.
Ralph talks about trying to help our friend Sophia with her website, only to be un-helped by her interfering. To be fair, Ralph volunteered to help and Sophia wanted to make things easier for him – by doing some of them herself.
The problem arose when she started doing things she didn’t understand, which got in the way of what Ralph was doing and ended up making everything take a lot longer and be a lot more complicated.
In the end, they both could have handled it differently. Ralph by being clear about his role and what he would do, and Sophia by simply letting him do it.
But we get it. When someone helps you, you feel a certain responsibility. You’re grateful, and you may feel bad about adding to someone’s workload.
If that’s you, and someone has offered to help you, let them! Just find another way to thank them.
A few weeks ago we called a colleague in the HVAC business to help us with a furnace problem. We didn’t ask or expect him to do it for free, but he did. Instead of freaking out and worrying about it, we simply bought him and his wife a gift certificate for dinner.
People like to help. YOU probably like to help. So let people help you when they can, and then be grateful. Sometimes that’s enough. If you can return the favor, do it.
DIY MadnessSophia wanted to be considerate of someone who was helping her so she tried to do things herself. But some people do things because they simply can’t NOT do them.
We had a client for a month who micromanaged everything we did with his website, until we finally gave him his money back and told him he wasn’t ready to hire someone.
He ended up getting a college kid to do it because he could sit there and point over her shoulder and bark orders.
But at what cost? He could have afforded to hire someone. He just refused to. He wanted to control it himself. Except while he was micromanaging his website, he was not out selling.
People who do everything themselves risk two consequences. One is doing a thing wrong. Professionals are professionals for a reason. We don’t replace furnaces or fix car engines, we call professionals. We don’t know how to do their job they way they do. We don’t know what we don’t know.
The second is the opportunity cost. What are you NOT doing when you’re doing something you could have delegated?
Delegating is a skill that more people need to learn.
We Want To Eat Sophia’s CowsBut that’s an apology for next time.
More Things & StuffIf you’re thinking of a career in podcasting, check out Podcast Engineering School.
Listen to the Podcast Engineering Show produced by one of the school’s alumni.
If you're a podcaster, visit Podfudge for editing and marketing services.
Check out our friend Sophia Lemon’s podcast Double Exposure.
And her other podcast, Ridiculously Happy People.
If you’re in eastern Canada and looking for a photographer, Sophia is one of the best you’ll find.
Ralph has a few things to clear up before we jump into this episode, and it begins with apologizing for mispronouncing the name of one of the co-hosts of Social Media Unscrambled. Of course, next week he will apologize for calling it “Social Media Scrambled” in this episode.
He also takes umbrage with Janet Johnson, one of the hosts of Business Growth Time, whose marketing campaign had a typo, but who didn’t respond when Ralph pointed it out. Mostly, he wants to know: whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
Finally, SuperFred and friend Nadia Bracken let us know that we may have used the a-s-s word too many times in last week’s episode, especially since her mom listens, too. We apologize profusely because we’re just so happy to hear that her mom listens to our podcast!
Traveling On A Budget. Or Not.Last week, Ralph asked me to tally up the expenses of our 11-week cross-country road trip. So I did. On this episode we disclose the amount we spent. But why?
It’s important to let you know that we’re not “lifestyle entrepreneurs.” We don’t work from the beach and insist that you can too, if only you follow our ten-step plan and sign up for our email list. So we’re not talking about money to tell you how amazing we are or to pitch you on doing things our way.
We just like to travel. We discovered that recently, when we did it for real for the first time. And we were fortunate enough to have a really good year financially, so we didn’t have to travel on a budget. We were cost-conscious in some ways, and extravagant in others. But we know we COULD travel on a budget if we wanted to.
Here’s what we learned about traveling smart, so that if you want to get out of a stuck space and spend time somewhere else, you can do it even if you have a small budget. It’s a matter of mindset and a willingness to compromise.
The ExpensesAfter tallying it all up, the receipts, the credit card bills and the little bit of cash we brought, we spent about $22,000. Rounding it up just to have a nice even number, and in case we left anything out, let’s call it $25,000.
That includes a place to stay, food, gas, parking, and entertainment. It also includes anything we spent on incidentals on the road. Like toothpaste. And coffee.
It doesn’t include money we spent on souvenirs. We spent a couple hundred dollars here and there on t-shirts (one from every city and town!), gifts, and other fun things, but I don’t count that as a travel expense. It was totally optional.
That’s less than Ralph thought we spent, and more than we could have. But what if you don’t have $25,000 lying around?
Eating SmartYou’ve got to eat. And you’ve got to do that whether you stay home or travel across the country. So if you eat smart then you don’t have to figure much if any additional budget for food.
We went to restaurants when we arrived at our destinations but we almost never ate from the road.
We bought a cooler and filled it with fruit and bottled water, and stocked up on non-perishables like nuts and granola bars. Grab a loaf of bread, some cold cuts and a little PB&J and you can eat anywhere, anytime, inexpensively.
If you stay somewhere with a kitchen (or even an outdoor grill) you can cook for yourself instead of spending on restaurants.
Our cooler was a lifesaver. We bought a Yeti cooler, because we had experience with their products in the past and we know how awesome they are. We used one of their travel mugs for years. You can make a cup of tea in the morning and it will still be piping hot by afternoon. We also got their half gallon jug. We put a cold beverage inside and days later it was still ice cold.
So getting a Yeti was more expensive than getting a traditional cooler but it was easy to carry (more like a giant purse than a cooler) and it kept food cold for days. We could stock up on food from farmer’s markets, roadside stands and grocery stores. It was like having a mini refrigerator.
We saved a ton of money simply by not buying bottled water on the road. Compare two bucks a case at the supermarket to two bucks a bottle at a gas station. That can really add up.
Staying SmartOur trip included one very expensive, luxurious week at the Salish Lodge and Spa in Washington state. That one week accounted for a sizeable chunk of our budget, but it was our anniversary and we gave ourselves a present. It’s not the kind of thing you do on every trip but it was totally worth it!
We got a suite on the waterfall and enjoyed every second of the beautiful room, the stunning scenery, the great people and the incredible food. If you want to feel like you’re on top of the world and have money to spend, we highly recommend it.
But if you’re on a budget, there’s a lot you can do to keep your room costs in check. Start with one of the hotel apps, like Priceline or Hotels.com. If you can stand a little risk, pull the app out when you show up in a town and see what the deals are. You can sometimes get great deals at the last minute.
Airbnb is another great option for lower cost rooms. If you’re OK sharing space with other people, you can get pretty good rates on rooms in other people’s homes. If you want a little more privacy, like your own bathroom, you’re going to pay more, but you can still find nice places at good rates.
If you’re using Airbnb, look for rules and amenities that suit you. You can find places that allow pets, include parking, wifi, kitchens and patios, and a lot more. Some people don’t allow shoes or meat, others want quiet time by 9PM. Find something that fits your lifestyle.
Look for extended stay hotels or Airbnbs that offer discounts for a longer stay. If you want to get away and aren’t looking to do the touristy thing, go someplace for a month and you’ll get a better deal than if you place-hop every few nights. Sometimes a MUCH better deal.
Go off the beaten path. If you aren’t looking to go to the biggest tourist havens, you can get much better rates. January in our breach town is deserted, so rooms are much cheaper than they are in July. Don’t mind being in Arizona in the dead of the August heat? You can get some super nice rooms for dirt cheap.
We even found hotels that did “stay two nights get one free” deals, so look for those, too!
And finally: campgrounds. We didn’t stay overnight at one but it’s a possibility next time. You might be surprised by some of the amenities. You can find campsites with showers, electricity, and even wifi. And there are often common rooms where you can meet and socialize with other people, and even use laundry facilities. Yes, you can spend a little more and get yourself a cabin, but for very little money you can get a spot to park your car and either sleep right in it, or pull out a small tent. Depending on where you are, you could spend no more than $20 a night.
And since you’re a nomad now, you can leave your camping spot during the day and do a little sightseeing, or go park yourself at a café and work right from there.
Travel More, Spend LessKnowing what we know now, we could do another 11-week trip and easily cut our budget in half. We could do that without even thinking too hard, without having to sacrifice our private bathroom, and even getting to go out for a nice filet mignon and lobster tail dinner now and then.
So yes, if you’re having a great year and want to treat yourself to something fun, grab your keys and go see some of this amazing country. But if you’re daydreaming about getting out of town “if only you could afford it”, then grab your keys anyway, stock up on granola bars and go find someone with a room to rent.
If you’re willing to take a chance, to leave your “safe space” for a little while and roll with whatever happens, it really can be that easy.
A Final PSAWe learned early on that using a debit card on the road was a really bad idea. If it gets stolen (and ours was, numerous times), that’s a direct line to your bank account. Use a credit card instead because you’re protected if it's stolen and it won’t affect your cash.
As for credit cards, use one with rewards if you’ve got it. We used our Discover card, which amounted to several hundred dollars of cash back at the end of the trip, and that’s like free money you can use to help pay for the credit card!
Things And StuffThis episode was like one giant ad for stuff we love, and we think some of these people should pay us for raving about them. If you run into them in the street, let them know!
Check out Yeti products if you camp, hike, travel or just want something you can keep out in the sun on barbecue day that won’t melt in an hour.
Book yourself a room (even better, book a suite) at the Salish Lodge and Spa if you want to be pampered.
Listen to Social Media UNscrambled and Business Growth Time and tell them we sent you.
Also, big props to Bensound for providing the royalty-free music that we used behind Ralph's apologies.
Finally, enjoy this skit from Key and Peele, related to a reference Ralph made that we’ll apologize for next week.
The best podcast on earth is back on air!
We’re talking about Social Media Unscrambled, hosted by our friends Chris Curran and David Deutsch, masters of the mic and all things unscrambled.
They were on hiatus for a long time but it’s great to have them back. You know, hiatus. A thing we would never do around here. Except for that first one. And then this last one.
Well, we’re back too, after several months and a 10,000-mile cross country trip during which we planned to podcast and never did.
So what happened?
Creative BlockWe went through a phase where we started scripting this podcast and that started getting less and less fun. We had an idea in our heads that it would help us stay more focused on a topic and have a higher quality show.
In the end we struggled to make a scripted show sound anything but scripted and sort of lost our mojo. So we ditched the script and went back to having fun. Lesson learned.
When We Last Left Our Heroes…We were on our way to Podcast Movement in Anaheim, one stop of many on our cross country trip. Some two dozen states and eleven weeks later, we learned a lot about ourselves and our business along the way.
For starters, we learned that we’re not the planning type. Much like we started trying to plan this podcast, we started traveling with a serious plan. We had dates and stops and things to do and people to visit. But after two stops and a handful of days, we realized that planning was just holding us back. We didn’t need to know where we were going. We just needed to go.
So we threw out the plans and got in the car and drove. We drove for as many as 15 or 20 hours depending on our mood and whether there was anything we wanted to see along the way. Then we’d pull into a town somewhere and pull up the Priceline app or the Airbnb app and figure out where to stay.
If that sounds a little scary, perhaps it was at first. But after a while we got used to the idea of not knowing and were even comfortable sleeping in our car if we had to.
It’s not something that I would have thought would work. But it did. Sometimes you have to forget what you think you know about yourself and let something else happen.
Working On The RoadIt seems like it would be a challenging thing. After all, routines get disrupted, cell phone service drops out, and there are so many amazing things to see and do that work could easily fall by the wayside.
It didn’t.
In a completely counterintuitive experience, working on the road was easier than working from the same old table we’d been at for months. We had our work days. And we had our play days. The new environments were exciting and interesting. Our creative juices flowed. We got into an exploratory mindset and that transferred to our work.
Being in great places made us feel great, which meant we got to be more focused and enjoy what we were doing, whether it was gaping in awe at the deep blue of Crater Lake or writing a blog for a client.
Planning helped in that regard. One thing we did plan for was working. We got ourselves a mobile hotspot. We made sure we had plenty to do on our laptops even if we absolutely couldn’t get an internet connection. We made sure that we scheduled our client calls and we showed up, even if it was at 5AM our time.
So it can be done! Far from being distracting and chaotic, working on the road was relaxing, energizing and fun.
More Things We LearnedBeing on the road was a bit of a revelation. We learned more than the fact that we could survive without a plan. We learned that we’re better in long bursts than short ones. When it comes to driving, 20 hours doesn’t phase us. It’s a lot more enjoyable than 3 hours.
In a way, we work that way, too. Long bursts of super focused time and then a break.
We learned that we enjoy the outdoors more than we thought we would. We learned that we’re not city people, which was a strange thing to discover since we’re New Yorkers at heart and love the city. We love to visit, to dine, to explore. But then we go home. And then we hike with elk, and that makes us happy.
We avoided most cities, from Nashville to Portland to Denver. But we hit lots of mountains and waterfalls and trails. We especially enjoyed our stay in Marin Country in California, where we had a cottage on a farm in a beautiful place with great people, great food, and plenty of elk.
We learned that we can do it, and we know we’ll do it again. This time, without even pretending to make a plan.
The Rest Of The StoryNext time we’re going to talk about how to travel even if you’re on a budget. We didn’t exactly do that, but we did find ways to save and to spend a lot less than we might have.
Until then, check out some of the other cool stuff we mentioned in this show…
Podfudge, Chris Curran’s new podcast production and promotion agency.
Double Exposure, our friend and wedding photographer Sophia Lemon’s podcast. In Episode 62 she and her co-host discuss a client who demanded a refund because they were offended by the use of the word “shoot” in “photo shoot.” We might even have an opinion on that next time.
And of course Social Media Unscrambled, which is lots of fun.
We’re actually, really leaving for California in a week! And we’re taking two weeks off from podcasting to get there and attend Podcast Movement. We’ll be back with lots of new stuff and hopefully some good travel stories soon.
In the meantime, would you be kind enough to leave us a rating and review on iTunes or Stitcher? We had some great feedback on the Web.Search.Social podcast but those reviews didn’t come with us when we switched to the new feed.
We’d love and appreciate your reviews!
So You’ve Quit Your Job And Started A Business! Now What?The subject came up during lunch with our business partner Michael last week. Until recently he had a “day job”. A 9-5 work-at-a-desk job. But he had enough freelance clients that he decided to strike out on his own.
When he asked us what he should be thinking about in terms of starting a business, first, we poured the cocktails. Then we came up with this list. It’s not an exhaustive list, but put it in the “what we wished we knew” category of stuff we learned. Feel free to add yours to the comments below!
1. Give Yourself A Day To Work On The BusinessWhen you’re an employee, someone else makes the decisions. Someone else sets the strategy, for everything from hiring to marketing. But when you’re the boss, it’s up to you to do that. And you can’t do it if you’re constantly in a whirlwind of client work.
Set aside a day – not five minutes, not an hour, but a solid day – each week to think about your own business. Plan. Strategize. Put systems in place. Brainstorm ideas. Learn a new skill. Go to the bank with your checks!
Make that day about your business, period.
2. Don’t Negotiate With YourselfWe’ve talked about this before. And it manifests in a couple of ways. It can mean that you’ve pre-decided the outcome of a conversation. For example, Michael was working with a client and completely stressing out because he was worried whether the client would like the color he chose for the design. And whether the client would like the font. And whether the client was going to ask for changes and what he’d say about that. In the end, the client loved everything.
In other words, Michael spent a lot of time worried about something that never happened.
On the other hand, you might pre-negotiate your pricing before presenting it to a prospect. You’ll wonder if it’s too high. You’ll tell yourself they can’t afford it. You’ll second guess everything and that’s all before you even talk to the client.
Stop! Act and react when you need to. Don’t worry about what hasn’t happened. Have the courage of your own convictions.
3. Follow An Organizational Paradigm That Works For YouWe’re big fans of GTD. That’s Getting Things Done, an organizational system created by David Allen. It’s based on the premise that your brain is not a storage unit. You need it for thinking and creating and planning. So if you’re constantly trying to remember things, likes dates and deadlines and what color the client wanted, then you’re going to drive yourself nuts, be less productive and probably be miserable.
Ralph has notebooks by Field Notes that he loves. And he uses them to capture every thought, idea and note. Then he organizes them into an app called OmniFocus. This works well for him. You have to find your own system. Just remember that your brain needs space to think, so get organized by getting stuff out of it.
4. Don't Get Lost In AppsWhile you’re searching for that perfect organizational paradigm, just remember that there are a LOT of apps out there. And you don’t need to use or try every one. There will always be something new to try. From CRMs to proposal writing software to project management.
Skip the new shiny. As your business grows you’ll probably outgrow apps and need to find something else, but if you’re constantly trying new things then you’re wasting time you could be spending growing your actual business.
Pick something. Stick to it. You’ll live.
5. Automate What You Can, Despite Your Feelings About Customer ServiceSolopreneurs often do everything with the good intention of "customer service." Talking, phone calls, emails, meetings. But more service is not better service.
When you talk and write less and save your customer valuable time, that's when they respect you more.
Here's an example.
When a client needs to have a conversation, what happens? They reach out to you and ask you when you can talk. You respond with options. They tell you those options aren't good. You go back and forth, sometimes forever.
A better approach is to automate the process. Use a service that lets you give clients a link where they can see your availability and schedule themselves accordingly. It saves both of you a lot of time.
6. Have Controls In PlaceWhen you’re an employee you have a boss. When you work for yourself you have two or ten or fifty bosses, and they’re called clients.
But that’s not how it should be. You control how your business runs. You control your time and services. You need to control your clients, too. Set expectations for how you work, when you deliver, when you can be reached, what you charge.
In our contracts, for example, we say that we don’t do in-person meetings. If you want us to drive 45 minutes to your office, that’s an extra charge.
Don’t set the precedent that you’ll go anywhere, do anything. Don’t answer emails in ten seconds. Set controls and stick to them.
7. Find A Good AttorneyMaybe two.
That last thing you want to do is be on the hunt for an attorney in a crisis. Instead, find a couple of attorneys that look like a good fit. Ask people you trust and respect to suggest attorneys for you and then look them up online. Interview them. Most will give you an initial meeting for free. Use it!
Go to their office because you can see what kind of shop they run and how attentive they are to you. Don't be afraid if an attorney looks too expensive because appearances aren’t everything. But conversely, if you show up and the attorney is late and looks like he or she hasn't showered in a week, then that could be a bad sign.
Consider having multiple attorneys. First, some attorneys specialize in specific areas and second, there’s always the possibility that your attorney is also the attorney of an opposing party.
8. Have A ContractAnd don't hire a lawyer to write one. We started out with a legal contract. It cost thousands of dollars and nobody understood it. We didn’t even understand it. It took forever to close a job because our prospect would want their attorney to review it, then they’d have questions, then our attorney would have to review it again.
Instead, use your contract to set expectations in plain English. How you work. What you bill. What you do and don’t do. Add to it as you learn and grow.
Besides, if you’re ever in a situation where you want to sue someone because they haven’t paid you and you think the contract is going to help… it isn’t. It’s a lot more complicated and expensive than that.
9. Consider Taxes, Fees And DuesWhen you were an employee, someone else was thinking about this stuff. Now that’s your job.
Taxes, fees, licenses, software, hardware, staplers. All of that comes out of your pocket now. Be sure you understand what your fixed expenses are and get comfortable with the idea that expenses can sometime be out of your control.
10. Get InsurancePeriod. At a minimum you need E&O (errors and omissions). It’s not that expensive. And it will protect you in the event that something goes wrong. In our business, let’s say we post something to Facebook and a client loses business because we said something stupid and they sue us. Insurance.
Depending on what you have or where you work, you may want property insurance as well. If your computers or desks or equipment go up in flames or get stolen, how will you compensate? Insurance.
11. If You Are Too Busy, Raise Your RatesDon't fall into the trap of thinking that the best way to get clients fast is to lower your rates. You may close more business, but at what cost? You’ll have less time to service those clients (and make less money doing it), and you may not have time to work on your business.
When you get swamped, you need to do one of two things: stop bringing in new business or make the new business worth your time. Don’t worry about losing clients. You may lose one or two or even more. But that will give you more time to work on servicing the ones you have, the ones that are paying you better. And it will give you more time to work on getting new – and better clients. You don’t want more clients. You want fewer clients paying you more money.
12. Set PricingIf you have to think about what you’re going to charge a customer, you’re doing it wrong. Don't customize your pricing every time. That costs you brain cells and lengthens your sales cycle. It leaves room for negotiating with yourself, and means that you’re probably not valuing your time and talent appropriately.
You need a rate sheet or formula. You don’t have to make it available to the client but you need it so that you can determine pricing without thinking about it. If you have materials costs, know what they are so if you have to put together a proposal you can just add them in.
Whatever you do, don’t line-item your invoices to the customer! The more line items you show someone the more likely they are to Chinese menu it. They’ll want to know what everything is and then talk about removing things. And you’ll burn time and brain cells explaining and over-explaining.
YOU need to know your pricing methods. The client only needs to bottom line. It also saves them the hassle of trying to understand and process a whole bunch of costs.
Here’s an example: we wanted to print t-shirts for Podcast Movement. I got a quote for $3 per shirt. It sounded great until the line items started getting added, then my three-dollar shirt turned into twenty. I get it. There are costs. But don’t make me (or your customer) figure them out. Nobody really wants a billion options or line items. They just want the bottom line.
13. Create An Onboarding Process And Stick To ItA few weeks ago, we talked about a client that we brought on. That client did not want to follow our onboarding process and we decided to be flexible with him.
In the end we both lost.
You are the expert in what you do, and your most important priority is to make sure that projects get into and out of your pipeline as fast as possible so that you can churn out happy clients and get paid.
If you have to invent a new onboarding process for each client, then you'll never have time to grow your business.
That doesn’t mean you can’t modify your process or come up with a new one if the job is worth it. If it’s a great opportunity, and you want the job and the money is there, then go ahead and make an exception. But having a foundation will go a long way to setting expectations and keeping you sane.
14. Have SystemsOnboarding is a system. So is invoicing, project management, task collection. If you have to do something more than once then know how you're going to do it. Don't burn brain cells figuring it out every time.
While you’re at it, have a system for what will happen to your clients and their stuff if you get hit by a bus. Do you have backups, copies, contingency plans?
Can you leave for a day without your business falling apart? Most solos can’t just drop everything and run off to Tahiti for a month, but if you have systems you can plan and work around things that pop up. We’re driving to California so there will be days when we don’t work. We don’t have staff, but we have systems. That means we’ve planned for this trip and our business will continue to run even if we spend 15 hours driving one day or take a week off to attend the conference.
15. Control What You Give Away For FreeWould you hand a client a bunch of money? No? Then you shouldn't provide your service for free either.
If you want to do something for free – to build a relationship or extend a courtesy – then go ahead. But doing free work for a client that bitches and moans at you all the time ends up looking like an apology.
Your time is valuable. Be selfish with it. But if you do want to be generous with your time, do so for the mutual benefit or your relationship and not because you feel guilty or pressured.
And by the way, one of the most valuable things you can get is a referral from a happy client.
Unless you’re doing free stuff for that client and he refers you to a friend as “that cheap guy who does free stuff.” Those are not the kinds of referrals you want, nor can they sustain your business.
16. Don't Over DeliverIt’s sort of a cliché at this point. “Under promise and over deliver.” Well, I say no.
The more you do and the more available you are, the more it becomes expected. Then simply doing your job isn't good enough anymore.
Follow the schedule you set. Follow the expectations you set. Deliver exactly, precisely what you promised.
You CAN over-deliver but do it with intention. Maybe you particularly like someone or you feel compelled to help them out. Maybe they’re a potential source of good referrals. But be selfish with your time. Do what you say you’ll do. There’s no rule that says you have to do more. You can still do a great job and be ethical without going overboard.
You’re not in business to be a martyr. You’re in business to make money.
17. Participate In A Mastermind Or Get A MentorThere’s a business adage that says, "Always be the dumbest person in the room."
Or maybe just not the smartest. You want to be around people who can help you grow, who can teach you from their mistakes, who have value to bring that elevates you and your business.
But you must give value in return. Getting in a good mastermind is not easy. You can’t expect to be the only one learning so you need to bring your A-game.
If you're just getting started and you can't find a mastermind, find a mentor who will be willing to advise you. There are plenty of organizations that provide free services for new business owners, online and offline. Learn from the mistakes of others. You have a lot to gain.
18. Take Care Of YourselfAt work you'd quit at 5. At home you'll work all night. You need breaking points or you won't be productive. Your mental health will suffer. Your physical health will suffer. You’ll be less productive.
The more you do, the less you get done.
Your brain needs time off. So spend at least as much time taking care of yourself as you do taking care of your business. Or, as Ralph says, exercise, eat right and drink a lot of mojitos.
19. Read More BooksConsuming fresh ideas is a great way to stimulate your own ideas. The trick is finding the right books to read. We'll put a few recommendations in the show notes, but in general, stick to books that you love, books that you can relate to, books that speak to you and help you.
Don’t get caught in the trap that once you’ve started a book you have to finish it. Your time is valuable. Be selfish with it!
20. Treat Your Business As A JobIf your new office is at home and you’ve got kids or a family, someone is bound to ask you to do something during the workday. Take the kids to soccer, pick up the laundry. Even something as small as, “What do you think of these blue curtains?” can seem like a harmless conversation but it sucks your time up and takes you away from your job.
People who have a job leave their work at work. Solos don’t always have that luxury. It’s important to set boundaries around your time and space. Your family may not get it. So it’s your job to help them. Let them know that you’re working, that you’re not “home”. Let them know what to expect from you and your time.
Make compromises. Work out days and times and responsibilities with your family so everyone is on board. Then, when it’s work time, they’ll know what that means. Conversely, when it’s not work time then you need to detach and be present with your friends or family.
21. Control Your Business. Don’t Let The Business Control You.A lot of people walk around reacting from thing to thing to thing. You can't ask them to lunch because they are always tied up. They can't take your call because they’re always behind on something.
This usually happens when the business, and more specifically your clients, are making demands of you. If you don't process those requests effectively, you'll always be chasing time you never seem to have.
Schedule your time. Know what you’re doing and when. We used to take Tuesday afternoons off to see a movie. It was just part of the schedule. If you’re constantly running and jumping at demands, then the business will control you.
22. You Don't Need A Social Presence.Grow your business, not your “presence”.
It’s a myth that you need to be online. Plenty of businesses do very well without a Facebook page. Retweets don’t pay the mortgage. Likes don’t get your book published. Comments on your blog don’t help you finish that project.
If you do engage in social networking, choose your channels wisely. If you get an influx of business from LinkedIn, designate some time to network there. Just forget this idea that you need a “presence”. You need to be present to your clients. Not to random person on Twitter.
Start with the premise that you don’t need to be online. Then if you choose to be, do it with intention. Have a system. Have a schedule. Have a reason.
23. Learn To Say "No"New business owners are so afraid of losing new work that they instinctively say "yes" to everything. But you have to take on the work that is in the best interest of your business.
Recently, we gave a client some prudent advice. They chose not to follow it and the project exploded in their face. They came back to us and said, "Hey we're in a pickle now, please help fix this…"
And we said, "No."
Not because we didn't want to help, but because the “fixing” part wasn't in our area of expertise. It wasn’t going to be personally rewarding. It wasn’t going to be profitable. Not to mention the fact that we had advised them to do it right tin the first place and they chose not to.
Sometime opportunities are just distractions in disguise.
And That’s A Wrap!If you’ve got other ideas, or questions about anything we’ve talked about here, let us know. We’re happy to continue to conversation. We’ve been in business for nearly 20 years and have a learned a lot, and a lot of it the hard way. Maybe we can make it a little easier for you!
LinksLearn more about the GTD system
Read one of our faves, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Or this one… Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success In A Distracted World by Cal Newport
Leave us a rating and review on iTunes
…Or Stitcher
Check out OmniFocus, one of our favorite productivity apps
See if you love Field Notes notebooks, too
A few weeks ago we said we'd be leaving for California. Yet here we still are, and probably not leaving for a few more.
Why?
Business decisions, that's why! We've made some bad ones, and that has led to a lot of mistakes. But we rethought, reworked and figured out a better way so that we can keep moving forward.
The most important thing is launching our Podcaster's Toolbox product. And on further reflection, we realized that spending four weeks driving cross-country on our way to Podcast Movement was not only risky but costing us time we could be spending working on our app.
So the new plan is to spend only one week driving out, then seven or eight back at our leisure. We also have a backup to our backup plan - if things go really, really south then we'll fly out, attend Podcast Movement where we'll launch our app, fly back, THEN drive to California!
In the end we decoupled "trip" from "launch" which means we can do both - with a lot less stress.
Let's Make Mistakes!Admittedly they're not fun but there are things to be learned. And ours became glaringly clear after a conference we attended last week called Laracon, which is a conference for developers that is focused on a specific development platform called Laravel.
It turned out to be a lot less code-centric than I had expected it to be, which meant I got a lot out of it from a business perspective. Mostly, it made us realize that we were following the wrong path and we got a serious kick in the butt to get back on track with our software launch!
The thing is, I didn't hear anything earth-shattering. Nothing was particularly new to me. But we've been so stuck in the weeds of our daily activities that we lost sight of the big picture.
And if we can get so lost in our own heads, after 18 years and four business ventures, then we bet you can too. The trick is to get going in the right direction again, which is what we're talking about today. You may not hear anything earth-shattering here, either. But maybe it's the reminder you need to get out of your own weeds and start moving forward in your business.
Mistake #1: WTF MVP?We've developed a lot of apps in our time, and we've worked with other people who have. And one of the core principles of launching an app is MVP: Minimum Viable Product.
That means figure out the minimum thing you need to get your product out the door, and do that. You may have a lot of big ideas and grand visions, but you need to start somewhere. And start small.
If we'd been advising a client, we would have insisted on an MVP. But when it came to our own product, we completely lost sight of that.
We wanted it all. We wanted every feature. And we wanted them to be perfect. Except that's not how anything in life works.
So we had to stop and reassess. What's our MVP? And are we taking the right actions to reach MVP or are we digressing back into the weeds of big ideas?
Launch something good. Not perfect. Then make it better.
Mistake #2: Putting Design Before ContentIf we'd been working with a client, we would never have made this mistake. But again, we lost sight of what was important in our own busyness and excitement.
We got caught up in building pretty landing pages and awesome email templates and cool buttons, but didn't build a single feature.
Part of the problem was focus. It's a lot easier (and more fun) to work on the pretty stuff. The stickers and postcards and colors and pictures. It's not as much fun to draw flowcharts for user interaction and error control.
Sometimes you have to do the stuff that's not as sexy. The boring stuff. The hard stuff. Get rid of distractions, and focus.
Mistake #3: MismanagementI get to blame this one on myself, and oh the irony! In one of our recent episodes I lamented the lack of leadership in another business that I'm not involved in. Well, this time I get to wear the mantle of poor leader.
The problem is that I am not a programmer. So when Ralph, my primary programmer, tells me something that sounds like a foreign language, not even human, I nod dumbly and say ok. I assume that I'm not going to understand it so I'll let him steer the ship.
Turns out he needs a manager.
After the conference we attended, I realized that there is a lot I can understand - conceptually, if not specifically. I don't have to know how to program to understand concepts like, "Don't spend all day tweaking code when you haven't even built a feature yet."
Part of my job has to be learning more, not just accepting what I don't know. As the team leader, I have to understand at least enough to be able to set targets and expect results. And I have to ask lots and lots of questions.
There's no excuse for ignorance. Nobody has to know everything. But everyone (everyone who wants to succeed, that is) has to know something.
An Inspirational TaleAt the conference, one of my favorite speakers was Justin Jackson. I'm in a few of his developer communities and have watched some of his courses related to launching an app.
And he told a story that was like a punch in the face. In short, he decided one day that he wanted to build something and make a dollar that very day. So he did.
He set up a landing page, offered a simple service for $10 per month, and by the end of the night he had 36 people sign up. It really was that simple.
And why did it happen? Because he decided to do it. He didn't spend days and months tweaking landing pages and copy. He didn't overthink features and functionality. He did it.
He had a clear goal and he delivered. And if he can do it, so can we. So can you.
Your TurnIf you're feeling stuck or if you've been sitting on an idea forever (maybe you've been working on one forever?) then it's time to stop and take a hard look at what you're doing.
For us, we had to step outside ourselves and ask, "What would I tell a client if they were in my position?"
The answers were right there, and I bet they're right there for you, too.
Make a change, take a step, and get something done.
Even if you think everything is running smoothly, I bet there are places you can improve. Cut something from a five minute task to a three minute task. Offload something to a VA. Whatever it is, do it in pursuit of your MVP. Make something happen, something simple, something small. Then keep making it better.
If you've got a story to share or a place you're stuck, let us know! We're good at doling out advice. Occasionally we're even good at following it.
In our last episode, we talked about how right before we went on hiatus from podcasting last year, the official Web.Search.Social puzzle was left in the hands of Alisa Meredith. So we called on Alisa to get back in the game and start recirculating the puzzle among listeners again.
And then we heard from Alisa.
Turns out, at the same time that she got the puzzle, she also adopted a stack of kittens. And it appears that in the game of Kittens vs.Puzzle, kittens win.
Alas, the puzzle is no more. But fear not, Carbon Nation, we'll find another, and if all you can think is, "OMG, I want to be in on the game and do the puzzle too!" Then let us know and we'll add your address to the recipient list!
Dumb Marketing Strikes AgainWe've talked about "follow the leader" marketing before but since it's not going away, today we bring up an email that I received recently where the subject line was "Please unsubscribe."
We know this hustle. It's the "I'm cleaning my list and if you're not going to buy something from me then get off it" silliness. Which really boils down to the "I'm doing this because some other marketer told me this was a good way to jolt my list into action" folly.
Come on, people. If your only trick for getting people to act is to insult them, then maybe it's time to stop marketing until you come up with something better.
First of all, I've been on this person's list for a long time. I've read and shared her content. So to be told to "unsubscribe" only makes me say, "Ok. Bye."
If you really can't think of a better way to get someone's attention then at a minimum segment your list so only people who haven't opened, read, clicked or shared will get your dumb unsubscribe email.
Better yet, how about an authentic and human way of getting someone's attention? How about reaching out and asking WHY someone hasn't opened or read your emails. How about asking whether there is anything better you can do to help or inspire someone?
When we were sending out regular emails, we would often take time just to say "hi" to our readers. No marketing, no selling, no expectation. And when that happened, we got feedback from people we never heard from otherwise.
Imagine if we had asked them to unsubscribe.
Well, once we sort of did…
Actually, we wrote a tongue-in-cheek email playing off the whole unsubscribe thing. It was meant to be a joke, over the top, a goofy way to get a response.
Well, we got a response. We got unsubscribes in droves. Turns out that some people were not amused. Some were, and we got some great feedback and lots of folks enjoyed the joke. But some didn't and boy were they mad.
Just goes to show that even with the best of intentions you can't always figure how someone will react. So keep that in mind as you follow tired advice. Consider how your reader will perceive your words, whatever you say.
Working In Your PajamasI admit it. I love working in pajamas. Well, more like sweats, but I wear them from bed to work to the bank to the grocery store. I bet lots of work-at-home entrepreneurs and business owners do that, at least sometimes.
Turns out that may not be the best idea.
We got a comment from a listener recently who told us that when she gets dressed, even just to work from her kitchen table, she is much more productive. And it's true. How you dress affects your mindset. If you're in raggedy old sweats, nice and comfy on your couch, you're probably in a pretty relaxed and comfy mindset. But put on a nicely ironed shirt and an actual pair of shoes and you're dressed for "work."
We're not saying you need to get dressed in a suit and tie but if you want to be successful then you need to dress the part.
Figure out what works for you, then do that. And we bet it's not sweats! For our listener, Sarah Dawn, wearing the knitwear that she designs is perfect.
When I taught kindergarten years ago, I used to wear clothes that had big giraffes up the leg, complete with matching earrings and accessories. For painting with kids, that was great. But when I transitioned into marketing, that wasn't so great anymore.
As Sarah said, she's a walking advertisement for her clothing. But even if you don't design clothing, you're still a walking advertisement - for yourself. You may run into clients or prospects. You may run into perfect strangers who present networking opportunities. And if you're wearing your pajamas or sweats or pink fuzzy slippers, you're probably not presenting yourself at your best and most professional.
My father is an accountant and the CFO of one of our businesses. During tax season, he made a lot of trips to the post office to mail tax returns. One of the people at the post office noticed, and asked him to be her accountant. He got a new client that he may not have gotten if he'd slouched his way into the post office wearing sloppy clothes.
So you never know.
And it's true that people who run into you may understand that you're just a busy person running errands and they'll look past your fuzzy slippers. But probably not. Admit it - you make snap judgements. And so do other people. So give people every reason to make a positive judgement about you - one that accurately reflects the successful business person that you want to be.
On The Flip Side…We actually lost a job once because we appeared too successful. We had pitched a prospect and were pretty sure we'd get the job. Except one day, he saw us pull up to his office driving a BMW. And he told us that we clearly didn't need his money, so we didn't get the job.
Like we said before, you just never know! You can't always figure everything out. But you can do your best to be the best. And that's all that really matters.
Getting FatOne of the side effects of working in pajamas and sweats is that I gain weight. If I don't have to get dressed and go out and look professional, I tend to sit around the table eating cookies while I work, and before you know it, stuff stops fitting.
It really all goes back to taking care of yourself. When you get up and get dressed you're demonstrating a certain level of self-care. You're taking care of yourself physically, which helps you take care of yourself mentally.
Ralph says that he is in better shape when he makes it a point to get up in the morning and dress professionally. That makes it easier for him to draw delineations in his mind between work time and relaxing time and exercise time. So physically changing from one set of clothing to another helps him mentally shift gears, too.
Clothing As NetworkingHere's a tip someone shared with me once. The next time you're waiting on line at Starbucks or the bank or wherever, instead of checking Facebook or your email, strike up a conversation with someone who is wearing a t-shirt or jacket with a company name or logo.
For example, if you see someone wearing a t-shirt with a painter's logo, ask him whether he works for that company. If he says yes, explore the opportunity to network. If he says no, ask what he does and use that as an opportunity.
Try it, because if there's one thing we've established today it's that you just never know!
Long ago and far away when Carbon Based Business Units was the Web.Search.Social podcast, we had a jigsaw puzzle that we started to circulate among listeners. Each person solved the puzzle, took a photo then sent it to another listener. Then we went on hiatus, and somewhere around that time, very sexy friend of the show Alisa Meredith took possession of the puzzle. And there is disappeared.
We assume she’s not actually holding it hostage, so Alisa, it’s time to get back in the game, solve that baby and send it on its way! And if you, dear Fred, would like in on the traveling puzzle, shoot us a message in the comments, on social, or via email and we’ll add you to the list!
Traveling Begins SoonIn about two weeks we’re starting our two-month road trip to Anaheim California, where we’ll attend Podcast Movement and launch our newest product, Podcaster’s Toolbox.
We’ve talked a bit about it before, but today we’re diving a little deeper into what Podcaster’s Toolbox is, where we are, how we got here the mistakes we made along the way and the failures we learned from.
A Bunch Of ToolsThere’s a lot that goes into podcasting. From ideas to research, planning, guest booking, audio production, and editing, it takes time to produce a single episode. And it doesn’t stop there because having an episode is not as good as having one that people listen to. Even after an episode is published, you still need to have email campaigns, social promotions, graphics, and all the things that go into getting the word out.
So we started building ourselves tools to make it easier to manage our podcast workflow. I would say something like, “OMG I HATE DOING THIS!” And Ralph would come up with some kind of automation script to make it easier.
And that worked, mostly.
But we had to manage and maintain the tools, which ended up being more work. Plus there were a bunch. And they were all separate.
At some point we thought, if we find tools like this helpful, we bet other podcasters will, too. So we decided to build a business around creating a toolbox for podcasters to help automate and streamline all those aggravating, repetitious things.
Thing Went Well For Three SecondsWe started our partnership with me, Ralph, our creative director Michael, my father as CFO, and another partner responsible for sales. We were excited and ready. Until we tried to name the product.
If you’ve ever tried to name a product AND come up with a domain name at the same time, you feel our pain. It took us a year to come up with the name because we didn’t want to be either too clever or too boring. Plus, there was the practical reality of needing a name that wasn’t already taken by some domain squatter.
But our bigger problem was that we were out of synch with one of our partners. Ralph, Michael and me have been working together for a long time and we have a very collaborative creative process. For example, when we named the company, we went back and forth with lists and ideas and spreadsheets (and arguments and some snark) for a very long time. In spite of disagreements and frustration we all enjoyed the process and we ended up with something we all loved.
On the flip side, our other partner believed we should all stick to our individual roles. He believed, for example, that as our creative director, Michael should design the logo and we should all stay out of it. His argument was that we had asked Michael on board for a reason and we should trust in his judgement.
Whether you want to collaborate or not in your business, it’s up to you. But you have to be in synch with your other partners or it will just cause frustration. And that’s where we ended up. Some of us wanted to collaborate. Some of us wanted to separate responsibilities. Nobody was happy.
The Partnership Breaks UpIn June of 2016, as we were preparing to go to Podcast Movement to announce our product, the partner who didn’t agree with our approach to building the business decided to drop out.
That left us in the lurch, one person short of what we had expected.
In the long run, it turned out to be a good thing. We had too many disagreements and nobody would have been happy. But even though it was the best thing for the business and for us in the long run, it still affected us personally.
Our lost partner was a friend, so we were not only relating to him as a business partner but as a friend. We didn’t make the best of business decisions because we were thinking like friends.
The fact is, you can’t separate business from personal. What happens to you personally affects your business. It affects how you feel. It affects what you do. We went through some personal unhappiness and a long depression dealing with the partnership breakup.
We Move OnThe breakup set us back. Not only being one man down, but being personally affected, meant that we didn’t get where we wanted to be. We made a lot of promises to a lot of people and failed to deliver on them. We set launch date after launch date and missed every one. Then on top of being in a bad place, we were feeling pretty miserable about our own failures. We got to a point where we were afraid to say anything at all because we had little faith in our own ability to deliver.
But we didn’t give up. This is our business and our baby. We know it can grow and we know we’re onto something that people want. So we moved on. It took some time, but we picked up and got ourselves going again. We refocused.
This is “do or die” time as we gear up for Podcast Movement. We’ve streamlined operations in our marketing business so we would have more time to focus on Podcaster’s Toolbox. And we dedicated ourselves to launching an MVP (minimum viable product) with only a small set of key features so people can start using them and we can iterate from there.
In fact, releasing a product with a bunch of features is dumb. We’d rather give people the things we know they want, then listen to what they need. We’re better off starting small and growing.
We’ve also gotten pretty good at firing clients. Not in a burning bridges way but in a way where we’ve focused solely on projects that hit that sweet spot between “good fit” and “profitable.” That has given us some much needed extra time to focus on what we really want to do instead of what we think we “have to” do.
Lessons LearnedFor me, one of the biggest lessons is that any partnership needs good leadership. If you’re working with friends or people you already have a relationship with, it can be tough to give directives.
It was tough for me to tell friends what to do, or to recognize that we weren’t in synch from a business standpoint. It’s been tough for me to give my father directives. He’s my father… I don’t tell HIM what to do! But I’m the CEO and for the business to succeed, I need to be a leader. I need to be sure our team is working together, that we’re all doing our jobs, that we’re all being heard. Even if it’s uncomfortable.
Also, patience. Things don’t always go the way you want. Sometimes they take a lot longer than you’d like. It gets frustrating. It gets draining. You’ve got to deal with it, adapt and keep going.
HomeworkDo you have a business story? A tough time, a failure, a lesson learned that has made you better and stronger? Share it with us. We’d love to talk about it!
Today we've got lots of good takeaways about how to start, grow and scale a business. We talk with Jessica Rhodes of Interview Connections, a company that helps people find guests for their podcasts or get booked as a guest on other podcasts.
At the time we recorded this in February, Jessica had just moved into a new and bigger office. As she was in the middle of the move, running her business, raising her kids, and taking care of her family, we saw her at Podfest where she was both selling and speaking and still making time to get to the hotel gym.
So basically we wanted to know how the heck she does it. Turns out it's about hard work, commitment and being smart about how you imagine and grow your business. It's also about making time for yourself and taking care of yourself, which is something we all know yet so rarely do.
Competition Gets RealJessica refers to her company as a "premier guest booking service". When she started her company, she was the only booking service. But now a bunch of imitators have sprung up to do what she does. And we wonder how that's affected her business.
Jessica says that it's the challenge of every entrepreneur to channel a mindset of abundance. It's not always easy but you have to believe that there is a place for everyone. What she's come to realize is that the market is big enough to hold her and her competitors. And since each of them is slightly different in their approach, style, and the types of clients they work with, she's found a way to not only keep going but to grow.
Jessica Is A BitchAnd that's a good thing. While she doesn't recall anyone actually calling her a bitch to her face, she has been called abrasive and intimidating. And that's because she doesn't put up with any BS.
Case in point: at a recent staff meeting, she called everyone to task for dropping the ball on some things. Everyone got a little nervous as Jessica laid it out. She said, "I'm not your friend. This is a business." And she's right!
We ask her if she thinks people have called her abrasive, blunt and other similar things because she's a woman, and she says she does. She speaks directly and doesn't use phrases and manners of speaking typically associated with women. In other words, she isn't going to coddle or nurture or tell you that if you mess up it's ok. Because it's not ok.
She says men speak the same way, but people don't question it.
Growing A Seven Figure BusinessJessica thinks she can get there in the next few years, but recognizes that to do that she needs higher ticket services to sell. So she plans to expand her product offerings not just to provide more services, but to provide higher value services. The key for her is not necessarily to get more clients but to get higher paying clients.
But it's more than just the numbers. You can make a lot of money on paper but if you're not profitable, it doesn't matter.
Jessica says that it's important to hire the staff you need and no more. She says the work you give someone will expand to fill the time you give them. But that's not necessarily efficient. So she makes sure that someone has plenty to keep them busy, so they're not just "filling time". And only when that person can't take on any more work does she hire new staff.
She also says it's important to price your services correctly. She realized at some point that her prices were not high enough to be able to pay herself and hire people to help her. It took some time to figure out, but eventually she got there.
When Money Is TightIt's one thing to decide not to pay yourself but if you've got people working for you, you still have to pay them. So when things are not as profitable as you'd like, what do you do?
Jessica says she had other work she was doing at an hourly rate, so that helped subsidize the lack of income from her business. And she racked up a lot of credit card debt. There are always "experts" out there who will tell you not to use your credit card or go into debt, but there's a perfect world and there's the real world.
It comes down to this: you do what you have to do.
Jessica wasn't spending frivolously. She was spending money that the business needed. So was it ideal? No, but it gave her the flexibility she needed to grow and to get to a point where she's now paying down large chunks of that debt because she's profitable.
Raising PricesWe want to know when and how Jessica decides to raise her prices. She had to do it at least once, when she realized her prices were not high enough to sustain her. And she's done it since.
For Jessica it's pretty simple. She knows that she's profitable right now. But she also knows that she could charge more. She says that she raises her prices until she starts to get pushback. If nobody is complaining about your prices, she says, then you're not charging enough.
Get Out Of Your Own WayOne of Jessica's most recent changes was to rebrand from what has essentially been "Jessica Rhodes" to Interview Connections. Jessica spent time building a personal brand, which has helped her get recognized in the industry and get invited to speak at industry events, but she doesn't want to be her business. She wants the business to stand on its own, so she can do other things.
So rather than be the face of the business, she's giving it its own identity. Like having a child then sending it off into the world to make its own way. She's still working in - and on - the business, but she has a team, and those people are the faces behind the business.
Bigger Space, Bigger VisionJessica recently moved into a much larger office space when she realized that her current space was a bit small. At the same time, her husband, who works at home, was talking about possibly getting his own office space. It was perfect timing, and the price was right on a local office space even though it was a lot more space than Jessica needed.
But she says that being in a large space has actually helped her expand her vision and see how her company can grow even more. She says her vision was literally held back by the four walls she saw it in every day.
And now she has all that extra space in her house to actually have a house!
Leading By ExampleIn light of how much time and energy Jessica puts into her business, we wonder how she manages the rest of her life.
She has a philosophy that it's important for her to demonstrate to her kids that she takes care of herself (hence her gym trips) and that she is committed to her business. She says nothing sends a message to kids about independence and work ethic like being an example. And nothing contributes to gender equality like demonstrating that she is a strong, independent and powerful career woman. Now that's a philosophy we can get behind.
LinksWant to find a guest for your podcast or be a guest on one? Interview Connections can help.
Listen to Jessica's podcast, formerly Rhodes to Success, now Interview Connections.
That’s what today’s episode is about. Yes, it’s safe for work!
This is one of the episodes we recorded in February at Podfest and it’s with Daniel J. Lewis, host of the Audacity to Podcast. The conversation was precipitated by a controversial Facebook post where Ralph called out Daniel, who is a Christian, and asked him to explain how it’s possible to reconcile President Donald Trump’s behavior with Christian values.
That wasn’t the controversial part, though. In the Facebook post, Ralph mistakenly said that Daniel had endorsed Trump, which he didn’t. So Ralph apologized for the error and the rest of the conversation was amicable. The controversial part comes in when other people jumped onto the thread to denounce Ralph for “attacking” Daniel, and in turn Christianity.
Nothing of the sort happened. But people reacted.
So today’s question is: why can’t we have a conversation about faith or politics without everything turning into – or being perceived as – an attack?
Daniel says this drives him crazy, too. He thinks people are too sensitive and instead of having an open conversation, people simply react. Respect goes out the window. Dialogue goes out the window. People take their beliefs so personally that any disagreement is seen as a personal attack.
He thinks that you can communicate with passion and with truth, but it’s important to do it with gentleness, love and respect.
Love The Haters?Daniel hosts another podcast called Once Upon A Time, which is all about the TV show. And he took a lot of heat for one episode where he didn’t comment on a scene in the show that was related to homosexuality.
Fellow Christians were angry that he didn’t address it from a Christian perspective. And people who support same sex relationships were angry because they thought he was ignoring it and being a “hater.”
But Daniel’s podcast isn’t about morality. It’s about the TV show. So he didn’t feel it was necessary to discuss the issue. That didn't stop people from being outraged, though. Some even threatened him.
Sometime later, another episode of the TV show had a similar scene. And this time Daniel addressed it. According to Christian values, homosexual behavior is a sin. But Daniel told people that it was not his (or anyone’s) place to judge any person’s sin as worse than any other person’s. Homosexual behavior is no reason for any more moral outrage than lying or cheating or anything else.
The difference for Daniel the second time around was that he spoke honestly, with love, kindness, gentleness and care. And he managed to bring people from both sides of the equation together. They may not have agreed, but they understood.
No threats. No trolling. Some hate – but far less than he had expected.
Be Yourself. But Not Really.One of the contradictions of social media is that you constantly hear people talk about “being yourself” online. Yet the moment you’re “yourself”, someone gets all uppity and rants about your opinion or behavior or thoughts.
Daniel says that people are presented with so much stuff on social media, and it’s a such a constant stream of information, that it’s hard to process it in context. You’re not reading a social media post in the context of a relationship you have with someone, or an understanding you may have reached. You’re just getting bombarded by words, without the emotional context, without being able to hear someone’s tone of voice or look into their eyes.
And by the time someone gets to your post, maybe they’ve already read ten things that were negative or that bothered them. Daniel says they’re already “negatively charged” and that’s when people become reactionary.
The Emotion You Express Is The Emotion You AttractDaniel says if all you’re putting out is negativity, you’re going to get negativity back. You can “be yourself” but still be mindful of what you post and how you post it. Sometimes there are topics not worth posting on social media, especially knowing what we know about how social media works. There are some things not worth being associated with.
Perhaps if we all spoke with more gentleness and kindness, we could disagree and still coexist peacefully. And just maybe, we could open a door to change people's minds.
LinksListen To Daniel’s show, the Audacity To Podcast
If you’re a fan of the TV show, listen to Once Upon A Time
The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.