Fireside

Today is a coaching episode with Elizabeth Stiles, a fashion brand consultant based here in the UK who helps existing and emerging fashion brands take their ideas from paper to production. Elizabeth has been in business for about six months and has already done A LOT in her marketing, so today we talk about keeping going, maximising the effectiveness of her channels and adjusting your messaging to make sure you’re engaging the people you want to work with.

Today is a coaching episode with Kathryn Ho, an artist and coach-in-training based just outside of Dundee in Scotland. In art school Kathryn developed serious mental health problems and by the time she graduated was disillusioned with creativity, and took a marketing and operations job. However, a few years later she found the urge to paint again, and is now driven to help other creatives on their journeys through coaching. In this episode we talk about balancing the very different income streams Kathryn has across all the channels, thinking about who the customer is for her different offerings and building the brand around herself.

Today is a slightly different interview format than those I’ve done before. My guests are Dorte and Georgie of Curly Carrot, and we’re talking all things Pinterest. Now, I know how powerful Pinterest can be, but it’s something I’ve been pretty lax in setting up for my own business, so rather than try to come up with some questions myself, I let my Instagram audience volunteer their own questions. So today is a Q&A all about Pinterest, from what it even is, to how to set it up and how to be strategic with it.

Today is a coaching episode with Christina Paul, a web designer and copywriter to helps Heart Workers with their brand clarity to feel fully expressed in their words and websites. Christina has been avoiding marketing her business, but now she’s introducing a new offering and feels empowered to share her message, she wants to start slowly and quietly being more visible. In this episode we talk about how to think about marketing and the customer journey, how to introduce new offerings aligned with your purpose, what jobs your channels need to do and how to be consistent with your activities.

This is a solo episode talking through a question I’ve had several times over the last few months: how do I go from the seed of an idea into a fully-fledged actual business? I want to clarify too that this isn’t just for people who haven’t yet started their businesses, it’s for those of you who are thinking of launching a new offering or new product collection too. The 3 part process I’m going to talk through is the one I use myself and with clients when you want to introduce something new to the market, no matter how long you’ve already been there.

Today is a coaching episode with one of my former coaching clients, Joanne Griffin of Arnold & Bird. Joanne is a design and product specialist who cut her teeth at Not On The High Street and who now empowers design-led souls through product development, graphic design and the odd physical product too. In this episode we do a deep dive into email marketing - growing your list, opt ins, marketing your emails like a product and how to make sure they get opened. So let’s dive in.

I’m so excited to bring you my conversation with this week’s guest as she is someone who’s work is one of my favourites to follow. Susannah Conway is an author, photographer and teacher who helps people know, trust and express themselves better by sharing the tools that helped her heal her own heart and live a self-directed life. 2019 marks ten years of Susannah teaching online via e-courses and books, and today we have a twisty conversation through the lessons she’s learned in that decade and how she runs her meaningful business. Particularly if you are feeling frustrated near the beginning of your business, I hope this conversation brings you perspective, light and hope.

Although this episode is going to have a slight round up feel to it, it’s definitely going to have something useful for you whenever you’re listening. As 2018 is drawing to a close, I thought that I would share with you some lessons that I’ve learnt in the past year, which happens to have also been my first full year self-employed and running my business. So whether you're starting out, re-starting or just slogging away, I hope this episode can serve as some useful tips or reminders to help you grow with soul.

Today I’m chatting with Josephine Brooks who is a planning and productivity mentor for side-hustlers. Her mission is to help side-hustlers build a business that gives them the freedom to do more of what they love by helping them plan more effectively, and boost their productivity. Josephine was a client of mine through 2018 and so I knew she was the perfect person to get on the podcast to talk all things planning. So much useful stuff in here for you, and I hope you enjoy!

Today’s episode is just me and I’m going to talk to you about a question I’ve had four times in the last two weeks - how do you get your first client? That is such a loaded question, as it’s not just about acquisition strategies, but also navigating the emotional rollercoaster of starting out. Even if you have booked clients before, or you’re not a service-based business, there is still lots in here for you - I’m going to talk about all the different types of acquisition you can do in any business, tell the story of booking my own first client and also give you some mantras to think about when you’re feeling stuck.