Live Full Work Fun Podcast

For most entrepreneurs, when asked why they want to be in business for themselves, the word freedom usually is at the top of the list. Although the definition of freedom means different things to different people, it's that strong desire to achieve freedom that seems to drive most entrepreneurs.

But being an entrepreneur is hard work and, at times, it doesn't feel like you have much freedom. There are many occasions where you may feel drained of time, energy, and money. Even overwhelmed with the whole process.

Then, something significant happens.

Something happens that jerks you out of the day-to-day grind of your business. An event that will reveal that all the hard work you're doing is worth it.

That's what happened to me just a few short days ago. Listen to this episode as I share what made me drop everything in an instant and drive a 12-hour overnight car ride.

When something like this happens, I realize that it's times like these that I really appreciate the hard work in starting a business that I love, working with clients I adore, and creating a lifestyle where I have the freedom to enjoy life on my own terms.

At first, being a business owner doesn't feel like there's much freedom at all. It seems like you're working 24/7 with little to show for it. Especially if you're used to working for someone else, your mindset is in the place of trading dollars for time. And when you're in that mindset, you tend to calculate how many hours you're working compared to what income is coming in...it can be disheartening.

That's why, little by little, you create systems. Systems that for the short-term may be hard and time-consuming to implement, but over time the collection of little systems evolves into bigger systems and then even bigger systems. Soon, things start to get easier. Soon freedom peeks through.

Creating systems is a mixture of thinking about what you're doing right now and forward-thinking about how things should be in the future. And it all happens with one system at a time.

What's your "why"? What's your primary driver that keeps you going when things in your business may be hard?

If you're feeling overwhelmed because you're pushing yourself...

Who am I kidding? All of us who are entrepreneurs are always pushing ourselves to do more and achieve more. It's time to step back and take a breath and truly appreciate your reason why you're creating your lifestyle you want.

Thanks for listening. Until next time...have a fantastic week.

In today's episode, I interview Thinking Big Coaching's Sean Osborn.

Sean Osborn is a coach and mindset strategist who specializes in getting people to their next level. He has spent more than 30 years developing his philosophy of Thinking Big.

You'll learn what defining moment in his life changed him from being homeless and stuck to starting a multimillion-dollar tech company and managing high-level teams for some of the largest companies in the county.

Two of my biggest takeaways from our conversation were:

"If you're not happy, it's because you're not making a decision you need to make."

"People overestimate what they can do in a year and they completely underestimate what they can do in a decade."

Learn when Imposter Syndrome rears its ugly head and what you can do about it.

Enjoy!

• FREE 7-Day Think and Grow Rich Challenge! | August 17th – 24th 2020
• Sean Osborn
  • Website
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Podcast

If you were to tell me ten years ago that I'd have a career in marketing, I would have thought you were crazy!

In this episode, I share a little story about this reluctant and apprehensive marketer who had transitioned into becoming an owner of a content marketing agency.

The very word "marketing" conjured up negative feelings in the pit of my stomach. But when I made the decision to leave corporate life forever and start my own business, I knew that marketing was a necessary evil.

My perception of what marketing is was so closed-minded back then. Fast forward to today, a little over 8 years after I opened my business, and marketing has turned into a career.

Listen and you'll learn what triggered my mindset shift and transition into loving the art and community of marketing.

Once I realized that you could set up systems to allow people to get to know you and your expertise, grow an audience, and build relationships...selling wasn't "sleazy" at all! It's a natural transition into helping those who need and want your help.

What a joy it is to help clients amplify their message to realize their goals.

Enjoy!

• Ray Edwards
  • How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-By-Step System for More Sales, to More Customers, More Often
• Mike Kim
  • BrandYou Podcast
  • CopyProof
  • BrandYou Bootcamp
• Seth Godin
  • This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See
• Podcast | #120 – How to Tap into the Magic of Repurposing Content
• Podcast | #114 – Big Changes Revealed

This episode focuses on how to tap into the magic of repurposing your content.

Not everyone digests content in the same way. Much of the time, one piece of content will lead to another, then another. When you tap into the magic of repurposing, you're able to add value to your followers and make new connections.

Everyone's specific strategy would be a bit different, but perhaps these examples I go over in this podcast episode will spark some ideas that you'll want to try and implement.

A brief overview of the ideas:

• Creative Social Media Posts
• Add Your Video or Podcast as a Blog Post
• Email Your List
• Add Backlinks to Past Content
• Add Zoom Recordings to YouTube

• Canva
• Headliner App
• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• AirTable
• #116 – Super Simple Strategy to Start a Solid Foundation of Consistent Content
• Super Simple Strategy to Jumpstart Consistent Content Creation Checklist

Many live events have been or are going to be moved online because of the challenges sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. The event coordinators of these events are working hard to make your online experience one that is valuable and worthy of your time and money, just as they would if they were holding a live event.

The biggest challenge in hosting an online event is gaining the participants' attention.

If you aren't able to meet face-to-face for your favorite events, does that mean they are less valuable? Absolutely not.

Why do you go to an event in the first place?

• Education
• Inspiration
• Community

You will grow both personally or professionally. It's up to you on how you make the most of the event whether it is a live or an online event.

Online events do pose a particular challenge.

To help with your online experience, this episode outlines five ways you can make the most of attending online events.

Here's an overview:

• Block the time on your calendar
• Turn off distractions
• Go to a different space
• Take advantage of available chat room
• Follow-up

Listen to the full episode for ideas as I elaborate on each of the five ways you can make the most of attending online events.

In today's episode, I interview Success Coach, Mastermind Leader, and the creator of the Business Success Academy, Missy Martin.

Missy helps business owners create a personal and profitable business by tapping into their strengths and personality. Missy believes that the more YOU that you can put in your business, the better the service and connection you can create.

Missy is a mother, wife, and a 19-year military veteran. She loves reading, watching movies (popcorn is a must), and has figured out how to be an introvert and nerd while still being comfortable speaking to groups and networking with other business owners.

Her superpower is motivating and coaching business owners to take action to achieve the success they dream about.

I can't wait for you to meet Missy...let's dive right into the interview.

Resources Mentioned:

• More Revenue Bigger Reach Online Summit (affiliate link)
• Missy Martin
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
• Canva
• Evernote
• Putting Both Feet 100% In with Merrill Stewart
• Growing and Marketing a Personal Service Business | Interview with Kandice Alexander
• Defining Your Personal Brand | Kandice Alexander & Michele Rickman

Social media is an important piece of your overall marketing strategy because it's a means of communicating with individuals.

Since social media is personal and a way to build connections, are you cheating if you have others write and publish our social posts on your behalf?

Absolutely not!

Creating your personal brand and offering services through a brand that is unmistakably you...unmistakably personal...doesn't mean you do it alone.

Sure, at first, you may be doing all things yourself, but when you make the transition of treating your personal brand as a business and not a job, you will begin building your team.

You build your team so that you can scale and get help in areas where you fall short. Whether it's falling short on time or skill set, your team helps fill in the gaps and makes your personal brand stronger.

In this episode, I share five solutions that I found that works when it comes to delegating social media management and remain genuine.

My hope is that you can take away these ideas to help you when you're ready to look for someone to help you with your social posts.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the pressure of creating consistent content and struggle to get it all done?

All the online influencers are content producing machines! They are everywhere and doing everything! Video, podcasting, blogs, and on every social platform imaginable.

First of all, stop comparing yourself to those big online influencers. They've worked up to where they are today and have teams of people.

Stop comparing yourself to them and feeling like your efforts are falling short.

Where are you at right now in your business? Is it just you? Are you doing everything and haven't built your team yet?

Well...give yourself some grace. You don't have to be in all places and do all things.

Let go a bit and commit to doing one thing, one strategy to lay the groundwork and gain confidence in your content creation quest.

You do need to be consistent, but you don't have to do all and be everywhere. If you aren't consistent with one content publishing strategy first and get into the habit of it, then you don't have much of a foundation to grow on.

In this podcast episode, I outline a super simple strategy that will get you on the right track in strengthening your platform's foundation.

WARNING!!!

Don't be fooled about how simple this strategy is. Don't discount the fact that since it's so simple that it's not effective.

It IS effective!

…especially if you continually struggle in consistently publishing your content.

Listen to this week's podcast and learn the super simple strategy to start a solid foundation of consistent content.

Resources Mentioned:

• Checklist for Super Simple Strategy to Jumpstart Your Consistent Content Plan
• How to Create Your MailChimp Account
• How to Create Simple MailChimp Campaigns
  • Checklist
  • Video Tutorial

Merrill Stewart is the CEO of Marketing & Business Solutions and brings her experience in marketing and communications for both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

Merrill's experience includes over 10 years in non-profit fundraising and support including roles as Director of Development for a 120-year-old child-and family-centered non-profit in Tampa, raising $2 million in support each year in addition to the implementation of annual fundraising initiatives, social media strategy, fundraising strategy planning, marketing, communications, grant writing, major gift solicitation, community and volunteer support.

In today's episode we discuss Merrill's journey as she discovered that a physical therapy career wasn't for her and how she made a bold move in landing her first intern job that set in motion her marketing and consulting career. Learn how she was told that she chose the wrong double major, and how that made her even more determined to achieve her goals.

See why Merrill turns away countless corporate jobs in lieu of staying on her entrepreneurial path.

Best quote from the episode:

"You cannot be both efficient and successful with your feet on both sides of the door."

Resources Mentioned:

• Merrill Stewart
  • Website
  • LinkedIn: Business | Personal
  • Facebook: Business | Personal (Catch Merrill's FB Live Thursdays at 4pm ET)
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
• Lynne Wester | Donor Relations Guru
• Jocko Willink | Jocko Podcast

Last week, I promised a BIG announcement. I was brimming with excitement as I wanted to unveil this news at the same time our new website was published. But alas, a technical snafu happened to the website, delaying the upgrade. That's OK! I didn't want a little snag with tech stop me from telling you this big news! You know me and my Scrivener Solutions team as virtual assistants. No more. As of today, we are no longer virtual assistants. Scrivener Solutions is a Content Marketing Agency. We serve coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs implementing their content marketing plan. Why the change? Sure, we still work virtually. But our company has evolved over the last eight years. We went from doing general administrative duties to focusing exclusively on content marketing. Keeping the term "virtual assistant" caused confusion. Scrivener Solutions has never been a staffing agency, however, many thought we were. The company isn't a VA matchmaking service. Instead, Scrivener Solutions was set up to be our client's back office so they didn't have to manage many individuals. Over time, our clients became to depend on us to develop systems to get their work done. They were not only saving time and headache in managing every detail of staffing many individuals, but they also save time by tapping into our experience and systems. Still...I clung to the word "virtual assistant." In this episode, I'll clue you in as to why I clung onto the past so hard and why I finally let go and describe our new direction. It starts with a whole new look. Here's our new logo! A radical change from the past. The gears represent pieces in a content marketing system (i.e. social, website, landing pages, webinars, podcasts, etc). Each piece needs to work together for a smooth-running system.

A brand and a company aren't just about a logo. You'll notice other changes in our messaging to be more aligned with how we serve our clients. We're all about developing and implementing content marketing systems. From our social profiles to our website, you'll be seeing the transition over the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop me a note at [email protected]