Just Start Now

Hi there... it's been a while!

I wanted to let you know I've made the decision that I won't be adding any more episodes to the Just Start Now podcast. I hope you enjoy what you find here but there won't be anything new coming.

I'll keep these episodes available for the time being as I love to hear how helpful they are to so many of you as you embark on your wellness business journey. As long as they're a useful resource, I'll keep them live.

For the foreseeable future, instead of broadcasting here I'll be podcasting and writing over on Substack: sharing honesty, exploration and reframes on what it takes to truly believe in yourself and your solopreneur business in a world that fills you with doubt. This is my new focus as I step away from business mentoring and into Self-Belief Business Coaching.

As well as free articles on my Business of Self-Belief Substack, I am sharing a more personal self-belief business journey on a subscriber only private podcast and publication I'm calling The Self-Belief Business Experiment 🧪

This introductory episode explains more.

Sign up for my free Substack here.

Subscribe to The Self-Belief Business Experiment 🧪 (7 day free trial available) here.

Instagram is a tool that many of us have a love/hate relationship with and feel confused (and often filled with comparison) by how to use effectively. We know it can help us reach loads of ideal customers, yet somehow our accounts are the ones stagnant on numbers, only being followed by other practitioners and feeling like a total time suck.

To finish off the year I wanted to bring in an Instagram expert in the field of using the social media platform as a form of marketing for wellness professionals - someone I know has boundless enthusiasm (and evidence!) for what the Instagram can do for you and your business, if you use it right.

So I hope today you love listening to Marketing & Instagram Expert Molly Cahill, with insider knowledge of what's working right now on Instagram to get your health practice booked.

• How follower numbers mean absolutely nothing when it comes to getting booked: we share stories of knowing practitioners with 100k+ followers are struggling for clients and those with 300k+ have to cancel events when they don't sell enough tickets
• How even Instagram is embracing a return to slow marketing, using your platform to build stronger and deeper relationships with your existing client base, rather than always looking for more, more more people
• How a 'growth sprint' of 30-60 days of posting regularly, particularly with Reels and carousels (that can be repurposed!) can see a massive surge in the effectiveness of your Instagram account, if you can commit to it
• Metrics that are worth measuring and using to determine future ideas for content such a shares, saves and profile visits and simple small tweaks to calls to action that see x4 responses
• Employing a philosophy of 'quantity creates quality', and posting something rather than trying to make it perfect and strategic straight away. It only comes from practice!
• The new (quicker and less cringy) way to make Instagram Reels work as part of your social media strategy

Molly talked about her podcast episode 5 Simple Tips To Help Increase Your Instagram Engagement Today which includes tips on writing attention grabbing hooks.

We talked about Simone Seoul's Garbage Post Challenge.

Molly mentioned Tad Hargrave Marketing For Hippies

Molly has this podcast episode on scrappy ways to improve Instagram engagement.

I was interviewed on Molly's podcast Holistic Marketing Simplified talking about the four business model archetypes which you can listen to here, or take the quiz here.

Connect with Molly:

Molly's website

Molly on Instagram

Molly's free stuff: Download Molly's Reels training and 101 marketing prompts for health and wellness pros

Working with Molly 

Molly runs the Holistic Marketing Hub teaching you everything she knows about using Instagram to promote your health and wellness business. Find out more.

This year I've invested in my own skills as a coach so that I can better serve my clients and the Just Start Now community. And after years of waiting for the right course to come along I chose Sas Petherick's Self-Belief Academy.

Having trained April to November 2023, I wanted to share with you my biggest take-aways now I understand self-doubt and self-belief so much more and what I'll be bringing to my work and programmes going forward with this learning.

In this episode I talk about:

• What is self-doubt? The self-doubt loop, the 7 key risks we're all trying to avoid and the 6 P's of resistance that you are more than likely falling into (for a diagram of the self-doubt loop, the 7 key risks and 6 Ps of resistance visit the show-notes page on the website)

• What causes self-doubt? How the course has shown me a way, even as a coach, to touch on my clients' past experiences, traumas and understandings of the world and how this impacts their beliefs and decisions going forward

• Meeting the protector. Reframing and building a relationship with the protective part of your mind that is not actually a horrible part of us, but in fact a loving part that is keeping you safe.

• How to embody self-belief. With tools like the belief buster and entering into small but powerful experiments to test out new beliefs that are more conducive with taking 'just start now' action

• How to deal with conflict. Whether it's potential or real, being a solopreneur means there is always risk of conflict and disagreement with others - whether in your marketing or your work itself.

• Courageous goal setting. How not everyone is goal driven (like me!) and the ideas and concepts I've learned that I will bring into my goal setting sessions going forward.

If you're interested in learning more about Sas Petherick's work on self-belief:

Take the free self-doubt archetype quiz

Learn more about Self-Belief School (available to all)

Learn more about the Self-Belief Coaching Academy (SBCA) course I took (applicable for already trained coaches)

Right now as I release this podcast episode in November 2023 we are being flooded with videos and images of the horrific atrocities happening in the Israel/Palestine conflict. And sadly the case is that at any given moment in the world we live in, violence, displacement, persecution and war is taking place somewhere in the world.

When we bear witness to this – how does it affect how we show up for our business? Should we talk about it? Should we carry on as normal? Or should we shut up shop and stop selling? It feels there are loud opinions arguing all sides, leaving us feeling we’re never doing the ‘right’ thing.

With that backdrop I’m talking to Dalia on the podcast today – a Pilates instructor based in London, who herself has experienced war and conflict for many years in her home country of Lebanon.

• Dalia’s own experience with trauma living in a country where she experienced conflict and what this taught her about suppressing, ignoring and avoiding her feelings.
• The importance of acknowledging and hearing the voice that tells you to slow or stop and feel if it is hard to do business right now 
• Bringing a non-judgemental approach to both ourselves and to others in how they handle sharing or not sharing their thoughts and opinions on world events on a public platform
• What can be going on behind the scenes for us and others in how we choose to process and move through the grief we feel when we watch others suffer. And how ‘business as usual’ isn’t necessarily a bad thing for some (but in fact necessary).
• Tools that Dalia uses to connect with herself and not lose sight of the good and beauty in the world when everything feels dark and difficult – including mindfulness, walking, movement, breath-work and leaning in to communities and networks to feel less alone.
• The importance of talking therapies and practitioners in giving us a way to accept and understand ourselves more, and the ripple impact this has of understanding and showing compassion for others in a world that would otherwise seek to polarise and pit us against one another.

This episode was inspired by another question that was asked recently in the Just Start Now community - which is a safe space for my members to ask any and all questions no matter how small or seemingly silly, at any stage of business.

The question went something like this: you've got a great idea to run an event - maybe a talk or webinar, a challenge, a special class, something in-person or online - but you can't decide: should you charge? Or let people attend for free?

• Have you done your maths? Is your event going to cost you money, if so how much, and are you willing (or financially able) to run it at a loss because it's part of a wider strategy?
• Do you think you already have an audience with enough ideal customers in ready to buy from you? If yes then doing something paid makes sense and means you could also upsell something else at the end (if that's appropriate). If no, then doing your event free as an audience or mailing list growth exercise might be the best route - to give yourself new eyes on what you do and people to buy over the coming weeks and months.
• If you choose free: set yourself a goal of how many people you'd love to have come - and trust the sign ups are ideal clients that will buy from you in future once they've seen how great your event is
• If you do it paid: accept you will get a smaller attendance but if it sells it will get you closer to really 'ready' ideal clients who are more likely to convert sooner to other products and offers (because they're used to paying you, even in a small way!). 
• Ultimately there is no 'right' or 'wrong' decision and you'll only learn from giving it a go!

• What is your protective voice saying to you when you make the decision to charge or not? Are you making a decision on paid vs. free from a healthy place? Or a place lead more by fear and risk avoidance? 
• What outcomes do you want? Are they clear and if you achieve them, how will this expand things for you?
• What will you make it mean if you don’t hit the outcomes you want? If the only outcomes you focus on are sign-ups, attendees, engagement or immediate money made or bookings, can you add in some other parameters to measure as well? Things you're in control of and can learn from?
• What will make you feel resentful? You’re in control of what you ‘give away’ - no-one can make you feel resentful about running this event apart from you. Decide what that line is, or whether you can embrace whatever the outcomes are.
• How much marketing do you have capacity for? Because whether you choose paid or free, one post or one email alone is not going to fill your event. You do need to be resourced to talk about what you're hosting multiple times over a series of days or weeks.

We've covered Pinterest and how to use it to market your business before on the podcast and the basics you need to know, go back and check out episode 34 with Sahar Twesigye.

But that episode was recorded back in 2020 and we know what the internet is like and these tools - they change all the time! So I wanted to get a new expert back on the podcast to explore again, is Pinterest worth our time?

That's where Jano O comes in: a marketing expert, content strategist, and Pinterest educator for coaches, service providers, and other online expert.

• What changes there have been to Pinterest in the last few years and what we need to know if we're considering using it to market our businesses (news flash: it's good news and even easier these days to embrace!)
• The sorts of results Jana's clients in the health and wellness space have seen when they start using Pinterest regularly as part of their content marketing strategy
• What essentials need to be in place to make Pinterest beneficial - we touch on needing a signature offer and whether you need a website or blog to make Pinterest work, or clarity on your ideal clients
• Where ChatGPT can help make posting and getting found on Pinterest quicker and more effective
• The two essentials Jana can see helps service-based providers avoid burn out when it comes to content marketing

If you want to know more about creating a signature offer have a listen to episode 82: The impact of a signature offer on your wellness business.

Connect with Jana:

Jana's website

Jana on Pinterest

Jana on Instagram

Jana on Threads

Jana's free stuff: Access Jana's 5 Secrets For Getting Clients on Pinterest masterclass

Working with Jana 
Jana's Pinterest With Purpose course gives you a self-paced way to set up your profile on Pinterest and start pinning to attract clients.

• Accepting that there isn’t just one way of marketing your business – and embracing the experimentation and time it takes to find what works for you and your audience (and PS. you can’t do it all – so honing in and doing less not more!)
• Changing your expectations of what your marketing can achieve – realising there isn’t one magic bullet or quick fix everyone is hiding from you, nor is it the norm to have overnight success (you have to be persistent with whichever method you try)
• Changing your thoughts around marketing to prevent burn out – tapping into what your inner protector is trying to shelter you from when it comes to marketing, and switching up your thoughts and beliefs to something more helpful to allow you to experiment
• Shifting the focus of marketing to what you can learn – what marketing can prove to yourself about being visible and sharing, rather than “did this piece of marketing = customers / revenue immediately”. 

• Do you have a system or content strategy that takes people from browsing to buying? From discovering you to trusting and being ready to buy from you. If not, you will burn out by just trying to market yourself in the way you see other people doing, when their business model is not relevant to yours or you don’t know their strategy. If you don’t know what to post that actually moves people from finding you to buying from you, invest in my Use Social Media To Get Booked mini-training to discover the three types of content you need to be producing (with 100+ prompts to get started)
• Are you thinking long-term with the marketing that you spend your time on? Making sure with the marketing you choose that you have at least one long-term platform or strategy – something that you put your time into now but that will pay dividends to you months and years into the future, like your website and SEO, or Pinterest (more on that next week). If you don’t know what to spend your time on that isn’t social media, then invest in my How To Market Your Wellness Business Without Social Media mini-course.

Something I come up against with clients and Just Start Now members every week is how to be more structured and disciplined with time when working for yourself.

Somehow even though you were (or are) the 'productive' one in a corporate environment, organising yourself in your own business seems impossible. Days or weeks drift by and the important stuff just isn't getting done... why is that?!

Cue Louisa Daubney, the Time Design Coach. Having experienced this exact shift herself after working in the charity sectory for years, Louisa now dedicates herself to helping other business owners and solopreners feel fulfilled in their day and ensure self-care is at the heart of what gets done.

• Time design vs. Time management. What's the difference and do we really need to be more 'productive' anyway?
• The importance of setting the right kind of goals - the sort that you actually want to check in on, rather than push to the back of a drawer and never look at again after writing!
• Creating 'water cooler' moments for yourself even if you work alone and the science behind working in bursts of time
• Building habits into your day so there's less overthinking and more ease with your actions
• Louisa's 3 top tips for structuring your day to get more done from your priority list

We mentioned a few books you might like to check out:

Emma Gannon's The Multihyphen Method

James Clear's Atomic Habits

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan

Connect with Louisa:

Louisa's Website 

Louisa on Instagram

Louisa on LinkedIn

Louisa's free stuff: Download: Mastering your schedule: 10 steps to create a daily routine that sticks by clicking here

Sign up for Louisa's weekly newsletter: Monday Momentum Moment - where she shares ONE top tip towards building a healthier, happier and more fulfilling relationship with how you spend your time. You can sign up here

Working with Louisa 
Join her group membership: Monday Momentum Meetups

Book a 1-2-1 Power Hour: where you'll do a deep dive into a current time related challenge that's stopping you from finding more time and energy to focus on what matters most to you; and work together to create an action plan to move forward.

I last had resident copywriting expert from the Just Start Now community Lea Tierney on the podcast two years ago (have a listen here). But I had to have her back as our first repeat guest! And that's because we both believe passionately in the power of great writing for your business and the fact it's still a main staple of how we support people connect and convert customers in their wellness businesses.

Two years on from the last time we sat down to speak... has copywriting changed? Can't ChatGPT just do it all for us now?

• What's changed in copywriting and content creation since 2021 and the fact that ChatGPT definitely can't and won't replace the skill of human writing (although we acknowledge there are a few handy things it can do for you!).
• How long writing for your business actually takes (Vicky shares her numbers!) and why this should be embraced and enjoyed, rather than shunned and resented.
• Is there a difference between content creation and copywriting? And does it even matter if the more important thing is just that you're sharing something with your audience?
• How to tailor content for different platforms like website, email and social media and how repurposing and writing less not more is actually key to connection (something we teach in Copy That Connects!)
• The Copy That Connects course Lea and Vicky have co-created and that received phenomenal feedback when it ran earlier in 2023. We're running it again November-December 2023 and talk through who it's ideal for and what you can find inside. Get all the details and sign up now.

Connect with Lea:

Lea Tierney’s website

Lea Tierney on LinkedIn

This episode is based on a blog I wrote called “Why prospective clients are ghosting you and how to handle it.”

• How common being ghosted is and the recent rise of this due to the cost of living crisis happening in 2023
• My own experience and reflections on ghosting a serving provider myself (!); why I did it and what I’ve learned from it to bring into my own business
• 5 reasons why someone ghosting you has absolutely nothing to do with you
• 8 questions to ask yourself if you’re being ghosted (or want to avoid it happening):
  • Have you helped them to get to know you before they get on the call?
  • Have you pre-qualified people to get on calls with you?
  • Are you making yourself distinctive from other offers out there?
  • Have you given them too many answers on the call?
  • Have you been clear what the offer is and what it costs?
  • Is it clear how to follow up?
  • Do you believe in your offer and your ability to get this person change?
  • Do you actually want this client?

I mentioned a few resources during the episode:

• How to grow an audience that knows you (blog)
• How to sell without feeling icky training (add on the How To Run Discovery Calls That Convert training for just €25)
• Buy the How To Run Discovery Calls That Convert training on its own
• Becky Lloyd-Pack from Story By Design and her work on being ‘distinctive’ not ‘different’
• Kate’s email about giving away too many answers on your discovery calls
• If you want to know how to write compelling sales pages sign up for Copy That Connects