Do Weekly Podcast

We’re pissed the heck off! Natalie can’t stand Javascript or the WordPress Rest API. I am pissed off because in creating my ad campaign I got myself locked out of my Facebook account. I didn’t succeed this week unfortunately so Nat gets cupcakes!

Natalie, on the other hand, crushed her challenge! She ran a Twitter awareness ad campaign to get new followers, she posits that even though she didn’t have a specific thing to promote she would instead grow her audience for the time when she does have something to promote. A bigger audience lends more eyeballs for that thing you’re selling.

How do you stack up against your competition? Do you know who your competition is? If not, it’s time to figure it out! Your challenge this week is to perform competitor analysis!!

Why should you care about competitors? Natalie says as long as your clients have other options for the products and services you offer, you have competition. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep an eyeball on what they’re doing. Being a secret agent has its privileges. Understanding what your competition is doing may help you unearth things you’re not doing in your own marketing or product offerings.

What are the benefits of doing competitor analysis?

How do you go about competitor analysis?

Other resources for this challenge

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 026: Do Some Competitor Analysis appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Natalie shares that she watches videos of goats wearing pajamas. We clearly are triggered by very different things in the world.

Last week’s challenge saw us asking our clients for feedback on our businesses. Getting feedback is not only an informative excercise, but also strategic. Learning what our clients frustrations are with our products and services can help us create better product informed by real-time feedback on things our clients don’t like and do like.

Not only should we poll our clients for feedback but we should also poll our contractors and employees, too. They have unique insights into how a business is run and into how effectively services are rendered. Not only that, they can possibly fill you in on gaps in your products and services.

I sent out an e-blast to my clients to ask to set up a time for a phone call just to ask a few questions to see what people are saying about my business. I wanted to know what they liked and didn’t like; I wanted to know what they value most and least about the service. The net result was getting feedback on excessive payment notices and also overall I found people were mostly pretty happy.

Natalie took the opportunity to engage with customers of her product, Simply Schedule Appointments. She got feedback to help her revise a component of her plugin that was a bit difficult to use and also provided ideas on how to make the plugin easier to use.

For this week’s challenge we tackle paid advertising. Paid advertising, you ask? You’ve no doubt seen Google ads and Facebook ads.

Getting eyeballs on your website is why we market; to sell more goods and more services to people. Raising awareness and marketing through organic marketing and growth channels takes time, especially when you need results right away.

For the challenge we’re recommending Facebook Ads as the “tool of choice.” Although, Natalie loves Twitter ads. You can also look at Google Adwords as well to get the ball moving.

Enter advertising.

Advertising allows us to reach out and pick our target market and customers; to identify our ideal clients and then to reach out to them with our ads. The result is more immediate engagement and relevant traffic.

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 025: Create a PPC Campaign (Paid Advertising Campaign) appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Natalie and I talked about last week’s challenge, which if you recall (and you read the heading above) is all about upping our knowledge. Our challenge to you all was to enroll yourself in a class!

For one, I took some time to think about what I wanted to learn. I opted to take two classes. One online and one in person class. The first class, was one we signed up for on Udemy and it’s all about investment basics. The other class is a Spanish class through an extension at my local community college.

Natalie decided to also take a class hosted on Udemy that has to do with drawing, which is something she enjoys doing and also has a lot of the required supplies necessary to produce the required work.

More than anything, it’s important to jumpstart our minds out of the rut that comes from working independently. Many business owners lose sight of the things that are important to them and when that happens we stagnate. Learning new skills, whether they are hobbies or something you can use for your business will undoubtedly help kick-start your creativity.

Also, let’s be honest, you don’t know everything (and in spite of what I tell Natalie, I don’t know everything either). Going back to school can help keep our skills current with trends in education and also trends in the areas we need to know to do well in our business. Learning also helps fill in our gaps in knowledge, things we didn’t learn in college (or if you never went to college). Adding new knowledge and skills also helps us potentially diversify our businesses. So get on out there and do that class thing! And if you’re enrolled in a class tell us what you did!

Jay Gibb, a friend of the pod, provides our challenge this week: Feedback. You need it. And if you’re like me you probably don’t want it. But I’m here to tell you this: Don’t be like me. Take the feedback and be awesome!

It’s a good practice to take feedback from your customers and clients, to take the water’s temperature if you will. Customers can tell you what’s going on with your service, how it affects them and what they do or don’t like about your offerings. You may find that most of the feedback is great and some of it is a little crummy. That feedback is absolute gold!

Natalie mentioned that we should ask our employees and contractors what they think, too. The people we work with and who work for us have a profound impact on our business and the service we provide. It’s just as important to poll the folks we’re working with to see if there are ways we can improve our processes and more.

What sort of feedback do you want? What questions should you ask?

A Call to Action:

YO! LISTENERS! WE’RE TALKING TO YOU. WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK, PLEASE CONTACT US OR TWEET US AND LET US KNOW HOW THE HECK WE’RE DOING.

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

The post Episode 024: Ask for Feedback appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

During our last episode, we discussed our challenge which had to do with ensuring your website is secure.

Recently, web browsers began marking sites as insecure (see image, courtesy of CNET).

Aside from the notice that makes visitors take heed of the insecure website they’re perusing, browsers have also made it very clear that there’s an issue sending data rom their computers to the offending website. This generally impacts trust and perception of your website. So it’s important to address that issue of trust and get that green lock to appear on your website. I’ll discuss how you do that in a bit.

Additionally, insecure websites receive a small penalty in their search engine rankings. Whether or not a website is secure is a ranking signal in search engines’ algorithms (how they dole out rankings for sites) and this has been the case for well over a year now.

Lastly, if your site is insecure or the SSL certificate is not properly setup people sending data through your website, like through signup forms, login screens, etc. will have their data exposed. That puts your users at risk as well as yourself!

If you’re using something like Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace they should take care of that or you. If you are self-hosting your website using WordPress or some other platform then there are a couple of options for you.

If you listen to Natalie and take what she says as indisputable gospel (and you really should), learning is not only fun but it is crucial.

As business owners, it’s important to stay sharp mentally while adding some tricks up the ol’ sleeve.

Your challenge this week is to take a class! There are a variety of types of classes you can take, too! You could go to your local community college and enroll in something different like a language class or something to do with the arts. There’s also online course platforms like Coursera or Udemy. You can also find classes on topics of interest at your local college or university’s extension programs. There are also a number of non-profit organizations offering low-cost classes like Girl Develop it.

A Call to Action:

DEAR LISTENERS, WE KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE. WE KNOW YOU LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. HOW THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU DOING THESE CHALLENGES? ARE THERE OTHER CHALLENGES YOU WOULD LIKE US TO DO? TELL US! PLEEEEEZE!!!!

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

Photo by Raj Eiamworakul on Unsplash

The post Episode 023: Enroll in a Class appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Last week we tasked you with educating yourselves and your small business from online scams. While it may seem easy to pick out scams, since many of them are comically easy to spot, it’s not always so easy to spot a scammer.

One of the most recent, and prominent, scams is the widely-covered IRS Scam.

We learned that you must always be vigilant, especially when considering phone calls. It’s so easy to spoof caller ID information. So be sure to reserve healthy skepticism from callers claiming to be from a government or law enforcement organization.

We do recommend two-factor authentication to add a layer of security.

For more tips and resources, be sure to check our notes from last week’s show.

Remember, if you win an award it shouldn’t cost you money, no matter how awesome you are.

Chrome began marking sites as Not Secure recently. The impact of not having a secure website may not be immediate, however, there’s a direct correlation in search engine rankings. Website owners may notice a slight uptick in their rankings for their keywords if their site is secure when compared to similar competition.

Also, if your site takes sensitive user information such as email it’s important to secure and encrypt data. If your site isn’t secure, data passed between your site and a visitor’s computer is in “the clear” meaning anyone can see what the data is. If you have a contact form or an ecommerce site then getting an SSL cert is important.

There are different types of SSL certificates available to you, four types in fact.

It’s in your business’s best interests to secure your website. The good news is that many hosting providers provide a free SSL cert via Let’s Encrypt. SiteGround is one such host as is our sponsor, Pantheon. You definitely don’t need to shell out fat stacks o’ cash for a good certificate either.

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 022: Secure Your Website appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Welcome to another set of show notes! I hope you enjoy these notes more than I enjoy writing them!

In our previous challenge, we took up the task of creating an outline (not a fully formed plan, mind you) for what you want to happen in the event of your untimely death.

Natalie and I had similar thoughts: Pay off bills, perhaps making donations to a charitable organization. More than anything we wanted to minimize the impact on our loved ones.

Ultimately,  you’re going to want to sit down with an Estate Attorney who can hook you up with a will and setup the estate during your lifetime and outline what happens after you die, particularly with your business’s assets.

Fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission, roughly 25 million are affected by fraud every year. They go on to state…

We learned that how people get product information and choose to pay relates to the likelihood they’ve been defrauded. People who made a first time purchase by internet or telephone after getting a telemarketing call, watching a TV ad or infomercial, or opening a spam email, were three times as likely to be victims of at least one fraud as people who didn’t buy in those circumstances. — Source

With that in mind, this week’s challenge is a little different. This week you need to work on educating yourself about online fraud but also find ways to further tighten your personal/online security.

Firstly, I’ll give you a list of security checks you can go through to ensure you’re more secure (and this isn’t exhaustive at all mind you).

Take some time reading up on recent online scams and note the top tips for keeping yourself (and your data) safe from prying eyes.

Bonus

A recording that I did with so-called IRS Scammer. I had them on the phone for 24 minutes. If you have better things to do with your life you can skip to 22:00 and catch our signoff. It’s heartfelt!

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 021: Protect Yourself From Fraud appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Last week we welcomed Natalie’s sister, Bethany, to the podcast and she provided our challenge for the week. And that challenge was to tidy a room in our place.

Some people think that cleaning up a space in their place is an all-day chore, one to be loathed and feared. We debunk that myth right quickly in this episode. Natalie and I probably spent a couple hours each re-organizing our spaces and purging possessions from our lives.

Cleaning and reorganizing one’s space can be very therapeutic. Our hobbies and work life are made easier and more accessible when we can find the things we need. It’s also a weight off our chest, allowing us to focus better on what’s really important.

Natalie talks about her hoarding lifestyle in which she takes all of her creative supplies and donated it to a non-profit that provides low-cost art classes for children. Dawww. She’s pretty darn awesome, isn’t she? I’m pretty darn impressed.

Death, it happens to almost everybody at some point. For those who never die, like Frank Dracula or Jimothy Christ, the distance 40th cousin of Jesus Christ, they probably don’t have to worry about a succession plan. What about the rest of us?

Well, it takes some planning. While the act of creating a succession plan is a big task, no doubt, it’s not something that any of us can expect to pin down in just a week. What we can do is outline what we want to happen in the event of our unexpected demise. That’s the goal this week!

Planning for what happens with your business after you’ve passed on to the great beyond is an essential piece of running a business—yes, even for a small business. By starting with an outline you can build in a process that helps your business either transfer to new ownership or responsibly closes the business down (paying off debts, taxes, and resolve paperwork).

Again, we’re just outlining what we ideally want to see happen when we pass. So don’t go all Rambo into this challenge. Keep it doable!

Things to think about

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 020: Create Your Business’s Succession Plan appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Natalie and I bring you the Do Weekly Podcast from the frigidly air conditioned Old Town Pasadena location of Cross Campus.  And we’re back for another challenge. This time both Natalie and Alex did the challenge so no one gets cookies.

Last week our challenge was getting outside help for our business. Personally, I’ve struggled with direction and vision. I began looking around for a coach to talk to and had an initial discussion where she fielded some basic questions. So I’m off to a good start. Generally, I just feel stuck and I’m not sure with how to proceed and where I should go.

Natalie took a survey from a colleague she met at a networking event recently. The survey targeted people who felt like they ought to be doing more. The questions Natalie read really resonated with her and made her feel like her colleague has great insights. The survey obviously struck a chord with Nat and she was able to gauge her comfort level with her colleague before setting up a date to chat with her.

Feeling stuck, feeling like we ought to be doing something else, or having a lack of direction are feelings that get us tripped up and make us get in our own way.

Personally, I think the outside perspective from someone who is an accomplished business person and coach is a great way to gain insight you otherwise wouldn’t have.

This week we have a special guest! It’s Natalie’s sister, Bethany!

Bethany shares her thoughts about getting out of a rut and get “unstuck” to get out of a funk as a means of motivating yourself. She was stuck in a rut.

She had a room that was more or less a junk room; a place where she was storing a bunch of stuff she didn’t want to deal with.

Bethany, you see, has a lot of big things coming up in her life and, thus, a lot of things on her mind. She’s changing jobs and getting ready for a big move across the country. So, to prepare for the big move, she picked that room and began clearing it out.

So the challenge, this week, is to pick a room or a space in your office or in your home to clear out. Cleaning up and tidying up a space can be liberating, cathartic, and just plain good for your health.

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

The post Episode 019: Tidy a Room appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Natalie and I had to come up with a plan to decompress and eliminate stress and press the “reset button” when you’re having a bad day.

Natalie, for her plan, steps away from her breath, do some dancing around to loud music, and do something self-care related. For her, it can be about doing mindful things like breathing, meditating, or some simple Yoga.

Bad days happen and it’s good to have a plan of attack to get through your bad, awful, day. Doing things that improve your self-care.

I call this an “escape plan.” I use a note taking app called ‘Standard Notes‘ to jot down a few things that are bothering me, just to get them out of my head. I’m up in Pasadena, so my go-to place is Lacy Park. It’s a beautiful park, too. The things that ground me tend to be more rigorous activities like running, walking, or working out.

The biggest take away is to take a break, get up, and get out of where ever it is that you’re working.

If you’re a business owner, you’re your own boss. No one’s going to tell you what to do when to do it, or how to do it. You just have to figure it out on your own.

We have to create our vision and we don’t know if our direction is the right one; we don’t know that the decisions we make are good or bad. So it’s good to have some outside perspective, like talking to a mentor or a business coach and see what they have to say about what you’re doing in your business.

Finding help can be tricky. It’s important to know what questions to ask. Mentors and coaches can be great sounding boards and may have more experience in running a business or advising other people who do have a network.

One reason one might want to talk do a business coach is to run ideas by someone who doesn’t serve your industry and can give you unbiased advice and tell you if your ideas suck or not. It’s also important to find a coach or mentor to keep you accountable; they can hold you accountable for the changes you committed to, sort of like having an accountability partner.

My thought here, my gut instinct, says that I should find a coach or mentor who isn’t in my field of work in order to get opinions with the least amount of bias.

Resources for this challenge

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash

The post Episode 018: Getting Outside Help for Your Business appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.

Folks, it’s Alex and I have a confession. I was harangued by a vicious group of angry pissed off Middle Age Mutant Ninja Turtles. They harassed me so much that I was unable to complete the challenge last week. Truly, I need your sympathy, dear reader. Natalie thinks I’m a bad human, but it’s not my fault I was mauled by aging mutant ninja tortoises.

Natalie applied to speak at Freelancer Conference. When you listen to this week’s episode, you’ll catch a glimpse at my supreme omniscience! Not only did I tell Natalie she’d get into the conference but that I was completely right. Turns out that I was completely right!!! I’m very cool. Natalie thanked me profusely.

Some takeaways here, though: Apply for conferences, Meetups, or volunteer to speak at networking or chamber of commerce events. Look up opportunities at SpeakerHub to find a good event to apply to.

If you happen to not be selected don’t fret! Choosing a speaker is often the most difficult thing in any conference. Keep applying!

Resetting your mind is essential if you’re having a bad day. When things turn to shit, how we choose to cope with tough stretches matter. Bigly. I like to run or do something active.

But sometimes when you’re having a crappy day and you need to hit the reset button. Maybe a client yelled at you or you ordered five million paper clips and you just need to call it quits.

Creating an escape plan for your week is one of those things that we can help ourselves get out of that funk. The idea is to identify things are aimed at self-care and getting out of your workspace for the rest of the day.

Some Ideas for What to Do When You’re Having a Bad Crappy Day and Turn it Around

Resources for this challenge

As always, don’t forget to leave us that gushy 5-star review on iTunes and what not. And remember, kids, keep it simple and most importantly Keep it Doable!

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

The post Episode 017: Create an Escape Plan for Your Bad Day appeared first on Do Weekly Podcast.