Live In The Feast

Today’s co-host is Sarah Masci. Sarah is a designer, entrepreneur, and the founder of Bracken House Branding Co. 

Sarah has been in the online business game for 15 years now, and she’s the epitome of building a business around the life she wants.

In the beginning, she experimented with lots of different channels and products, including Etsy and blogging. Since she was DIYing everything—from her website to her ads—others began asking her for help with branding and design. She dabbled in client work as a side hustle for a few years before deciding to go all in. 

Sarah currently uses a day-rate billing model, and building her reputation with clients early was important when she decided to make that change.

Knowing her work was solid, clients were excited by the billing mode. And it’s worked out well. Sarah has been doing day rates for two years now and is still going strong. 

Sarah has also expanded into creating courses and products that help other designers figure out how to use day rates themselves. 

In today’s episode, we talk about the benefits of a day rate model and how it can reduce stress, how to make the transition yourself, and how Sarah started creating courses on the subject as well.

Main Takeaways

• The first thing to do before you start offering day rates is knowing what you're going to offer. Don't offer too many things. Instead, offer the things you're really good at—something you can do consistently, and something that excites you.
• Testing day rates can be as easy as messaging your client base and asking if it works for them. If you have the reputation, it won't be hard for them to get on board with what you're doing.
• To make sure the work is doable within a day, have clients fill out some sort of questionnaire. Make sure to set expectations for communication throughout the day.

Links and Important Mentions

• Bracken House Branding
• Mood Board Challenge
• StoryBrand
• Val Geisler
• Live in the Feast S03 E08 - Val Geisler
• Sarah’s Design + Branding Courses
• Sarah on Instagram
• Sarah on Twitter

Stay in Touch

• Feast Club
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Today’s co-host is Matt Giovanisci. Matt is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Money Lab, a website where he writes, podcasts, and chronicles epic experiments about making money online.

Matt is a proud generalist. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients, created online courses and products, and built multiple businesses. He’s also a musician.  

As a kid, he started out as a pool boy. He taught himself how to build websites and created Swim University, which is still his main business today. 

One of the recurring themes in Matt’s story is his desire to constantly learn and try new things. This has created lots of twists and turns in his career, but he’s figured out how to make it work for him. 

One of the things he does particularly well is documentation. He knows how to show his work, as Seth Godin likes to say, and writes in-depth articles about everything he tries.

In today’s episode, we talk about how to run experiments in your business without losing focus, how to get around the roadblocks holding you back, and why you should build a team, even if you like doing everything yourself.

Main takeaways

• Transitioning your focus from one aspect of your business to another comes from your desire to learn and grow. Having a generalist perspective can make this process easier. 
• If you continue to do everything yourself, you're wasting time that could be spent growing your company. Hiring someone is a great way to force yourself to focus on the things only you can do.
• Take new projects one step at a time. If you think you need something, investigate it. Create a hypothesis, try it out, and let that inform your decisions.

Links and important mentions

• Money Lab
• Money Lab Podcast
• Matt’s Career Timeline
• Swim University
• Matt on Twitter

Stay in touch

• Feast Club
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 2 of Season 8

Today's co-host is Emily Leach. Emily has been a freelancer for 20 years and organizes many big events, including TEDx Talks and the Freelance Conference.

Emily is a hustler. If she puts her mind to something, she goes out and does it. Most recently, she set out to host her first virtual summit. Freelance Conference (or FreeCon), was created out of a need that Emily was already working to fill through her site,  Texas Freelance Association. 

In the beginning, she had hundreds of freelancers, but no gigs. Knowing that it would fizzle out quickly if she didn’t do something, she started personally evaluating jobs on Craigslist and other platforms and then hand-matching them to freelancers in her community. 

As Emily watched the community grow, and more freelancers find the support they needed, she saw an opportunity to scratch her own itch and create something unique. And thus FreeCon was born. 

In today's episode, I talk with Emily about socializing for introverts, how to find solutions by looking at your own skillset, and how to evaluate your business needs without over-committing yourself.

Main takeaways

• It's important for freelancers to be able to meet up and support each other through shared ideas and networking. Conferences are a great way to do this.
• Figure out how to market your skillset. You may not even realize that you possess a skill that's valuable or needed by someone else. You can become a specialist by looking at what people need.
• It's easy to take on a lot of different projects as a freelancer, but once you're over-committed, it can be hard to identify what you should let go. It’s important to evaluate everything you’re doing and figure out what’s important.

Links and important mentions

• Emily Leach
• FreeCon
• Texas Freelance Association
• Freelance Business Weeks
• Emily Leach on Twitter

Stay in touch

• Feast Club
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 1 of Season 8

Today’s co-host is Michele Ronsen. Michele has been teaching design and user research for more than 20 years, and is the founder of Curiosity Tank, a design and user research firm in San Francisco.

Michele partners with companies and individuals to improve and grow businesses using a data-driven, consumer-centric approach. She’s worked with companies like Slack and Zillow, and she’s a regular instructor at General Assembly.

One of the primary ways she does this is by helping people ask better questions. It’s not rocket science. But there is an art to asking the right questions, and setting them up in a way where your customers will answer honestly.

In today’s episode, we talk about how you can apply these principles in your own business. Michele also helps us better understand the fine art of digging deeper in a meaningful and effective way.

In this episode Michele talked about:

• The differences between working with solo entrepreneurs and more mature companies with established user experience knowledge.
• Figuring out what you want to learn, understanding where you are in the learning process, and applying that knowledge.
• The core follow-up phrases she teaches in her The Art Of The Interview class.

Main Takeaways

• There are two ways to gather information: listening and observation. Listening helps us understand the “why”. Observation helps us understand habits, behaviors, and actions.
• Talk to customers and get their feedback. It can be scary to reach out, but it’s worth it.
• Don’t shy away from criticism. Even critical feedback can help us understand how we can improve our customer experience.
• Be fully present in all of your interactions with people. Be engaged and make observations about things like body language. There is a difference between what people say and what people do, and if you’re distracted during interactions, you might end up missing these nuances.
• Practice and get comfortable with essential follow-up phrases.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Curiosity Tank
• Curiosity Tank classes - Use promo code FEAST15 for 15% off any class
• Curiosity Tank Newsletter
• Sales Call Role Play
• Michele on LinkedIn

In this episode, we’re going to do something a little different. Instead of talking to a guest, I want to answer some questions about podcasting and marketing, and share how it’s helped me grow my business.

After publishing 358 episodes across three different shows, as well as appearing as a guest on hundreds of other podcasts, I’ve collected a few skills, tips, and reminders that are helpful if you’re thinking about creating your own podcast.

Podcasting has helped me not only position and grow my business, but build important relationships with other people. I think podcasting is one of the best marketing tools we have as freelancers and small business owners, and my hope is that you’ll realize how powerful it can be for your business as well.

Here are some of the things we’ll cover:

• How I got started learning about the full potential of podcasting.
• How podcasting can be an incredible way to market your business and gather leads.
• How to build relationships and networks from podcast guests that are mutually beneficial.

Main Takeaways

• Marketing is an often underutilized benefit of podcasting. As you continue podcasting, you’ll start generating new leads organically. Because of this, it’s important to be intentional about your subject matter and plan accordingly.
• Podcasting is a great way to connect to and build high-quality relationships with people. The more people you meet through podcasting, the bigger your referral network becomes. This creates mutually beneficial relationships with other business owners.
• If you own a business, podcasting is the perfect tool to promote growth. Even if it’s a loosely scheduled show, it can be highly beneficial in growing your business.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Sales Call Roleplay
• Learn how to build a service business based around your life
• Jason on Twitter
• Live in the Feast on Twitter
• Jason on YouTube
• Jason on LinkedIn

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 9 of Season 7

Today’s co-host is Kate Gilbert. Kate is a WordPress expert, an online marketing coach, and has spent the past decade building and supporting custom WordPress websites. In that time, she’s helped launch more than a hundred websites, and teaches website owners how to launch their own websites and maximize their online reach.

Kate’s been a web consultant since 2005 and her ideal client has evolved along the way. Currently, she works with female business owners at a critical stage of growth. Their businesses are big enough that they need some help getting to the next level, but still want to be involved in the process. Kate specializes in partnering with these kinds of founders and business owners.

Kate focuses on personality, more than industry or revenue, to identify her ideal client. And this has given her a lot of confidence in knowing what kind of person will be an ideal fit for her business.

In this episode, we dive into how to shift your ideal client as you evolve, and what that means for existing clients. We also talk about the importance of empathy and being a good listener. Finally, we dive into how to be flexible with your ideal client.

In this episode Kate talked about:

• Who her ideal client is and how she keeps the pulse on that segment of the market.
• Why the decision to work for herself was such a big deal in her life, and how it put her on her current path.
• How she used post-launch analysis of her clients to define which ones were ideal, and which ones weren’t.

Main Takeaways

• Trial and error is a massive part of defining your ideal client. After going through enough clients, you’ll be able to pick out which clients have “red flags” and which ones will be a good fit. It may take time, but it’s the most foolproof way to understand who you want to work with.
• Sometimes the most rewarding or impactful work may not be doing the work itself, but empowering others to do things for themselves. Work will always be available, but making a lasting change can be greatly rewarding.
• Teaching your clients how to solve their own problems, or inviting them to be a part of the process with you, can not only save you time, but significantly deepen your relationship with your clients.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Kate on Twitter
• WP Master
• Get Your Guide from WP Master
• WP Master on Instagram
• WP Master on Facebook
• Code Wiz

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 8 of Season 7

Today’s cohost is Paul Sokol. Paul is a self-proclaimed mad scientist. He’s worked on humanized automation within Infusionsoft, and is also the co-founder of Be Pro, which markets in-person events for businesses, venues, or entertainers.

Paul has spent a lot of time thinking about ideal clients and how to find them with a quick and replicable process. He truly believes that all sales conversations go through the same phases, regardless of what your selling. So if you can identify your audience, you can sell anything, regardless of product or service. And he applies these concepts to events, which is where a lot of his focus is now.

In this episode, we dive into how to capitalize on an opportunity where most think there isn’t one. We chat about the four parts of identifying your ideal client, and we talk about Paul’s exact recipe for validating the avatar.

In this episode Paul talked about:

• Who his ideal client is and how he got into that segment of the market.
• Why many events out there make no money and what they are doing wrong.
• The four parts of identifying your ideal client.

Main Takeaways

• Events should be treated like any other product or service. You should intentionally design the customer experience, the fulfillment, and how the sales experience is going to work.
• In figuring out your ideal client, focus on the demographics of your client, figuring out who they are, figuring out their behaviors, and positioning your message to convey what their life could be like.
• If you’ve come up with an avatar, you need to go the extra mile and research (or digitally stalk) these people. Once you’ve done that, it’s critical to put your money where your mouth is and test the advertising to make sure that you are getting the results that you believe should come from your ideal personas.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Be Pro
• Paul on Facebook
• Paul on LinkedIn
• InfusionSoft
• Paul Sokol Newsletter
• Keep Children Rockin’

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 7 of Season 7

Today’s co-host is Adam Clark. Adam is a fellow podcaster and the founder of Podcast Royale, a company that helps business owners grow their businesses and save time through done-for-you podcast production and marketing.

Adam and I have been friends for years, and Podcast Royale produces this very podcast. We were talking recently about ideal clients and how that relates to “founder market fit”, and we decided to record our conversation and share it with you.

Adam is a self-described serial entrepreneur. Over the last 20 years, he’s started half-a-dozen businesses and gone through just as many different careers. He used to see this as a negative thing — a lack of discipline or self-control. But in recent years, he’s come to see it as a strength.

The most important thing is to figure out what you really want out of life (and business). You won’t make much progress until you’ve taken the time to deeply understand your ultimate goals and desires.

In this episode Adam talks about:

• The importance of finding founder market fit, and not just product market fit.
• How your values and ultimate desires should be the foundation of your business, and inform your ideal client.
• Giving yourself permission to pursue what truly matters you, even if it's risky.

Main Takeaways

• In order to understand your business and your ideal client, you have to know yourself, and what you truly value. And this knowledge only comes from time and experience. Try things, and be willing to fail.
• If you’re not sure what you want, or who your idea client should be, start with what you don’t want, or who you don’t want to work with. Sometimes it’s easier to know what you don’t want, than what you do want. And that’s ok.
• Give yourself permission to explore, and pursue what feels right to you, even if it goes against traditional business wisdom. It’s better to figure that out early, than to get really good at something you hate doing.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Podcast Royale
• Adam’s Newsletter
• Adam on Twitter
• Adam on Instagram

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 6 of Season 7

Today’s co-host is Kaleigh Moore. Kaleigh is a freelance writer who specializes in blog content for e-commerce platforms, and the software that integrates with them. She’s also written for Forbes, Ad Week, and Glossy. Kaleigh also co-hosts the Creative Class podcast, and helps run the Creative Class online course with Paul Jarvis, a former co-host of Live In The Feast S03 E04. Definitely give that a listen.

Kaleigh started writing copy as a freelancer about six years ago, and her clients and business have evolved quite a bit since then. As her interests and opportunities shifted, she allowed her business to shift with them. She’s also worked to niche down her business so that she focuses on creating blog content rather than being a generic copy writer.

In 2013, Kaleigh was working as a PR manager for a non-profit and wanted more flexibility in her schedule (and commute!). She gave herself an 18-month window to try out freelancing. If it didn’t work within that time, she committed to going to back to work. That was a huge moment for Kaleigh, and has defined her life and career.

In this episode, we talk about Kaleigh’s business and how her ideal client has evolved over time. We also talk about how to be selective and figure out who you want to work with, and why exit interviews are so important.

In this episode Kaleigh talked about:

• Who her ideal client is and how she got into that segment of the market.
• How she stays ahead of the industry and tweaks her business model to get in front of new audiences.
• Why she conducts exit interviews and how it’s changed her business.

Main Takeaways

• Be mindful of the fact that things are often changing and evolving. It’s your responsibility to evolve with your industry and to stay relevant to the people you’re working for. It helps if you follow your own interests and use that to expand your offerings and audience.
• Finding who you want to work with can be a lot of trial and error. Interest and expertise should drive these decisions.
• Exit surveys or interviews are invaluable in figuring out what to offer your clients moving forward, and sometimes allows you to expand your services in surprising and delightful ways for your clients.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Kaleigh Moore
• Kaleigh Moore on Twitter
• Creative Class podcast
• Creative Class online course
• S03 Ep04 with Paul Jarvis
• Paul Jarvis

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 5 of Season 7

Today’s co-host is Jessica Mehring. Jessica is a marketing communications expert and the CEO of Horizon Peak Consulting, where she helps IT and software companies increase enterprise sales with targeted conversion content. In this episode, we dive into the difference between an ideal client and a niche. We also talk about the emotions and the fears of this iterative process, and the importance of personal conversations and pattern recognition.

Out of college, Jessica started in a corporate marketing position. She did content management, wrote product copy and online merchandising content, banner ads, and essentially anything related to marketing. While corporate life wasn’t her long-term plan, she used her time to immerse herself in marketing. When she went out on her own, she found herself most comfortable working with corporate clients because that’s where she cut her teeth.

Even though Jessica had many established relationships and good clients, she came to a point where clients began to dry up and she was having to defend her pricing against freelancers on other digital platforms. At the prompting of a business coach, she decided to niche down in order to find her true ideal clients, and started making progress in her business.

Successful marketing and sales don’t just happen. To achieve faster customer growth, focus on shortening the sales cycle, and most importantly, build long-term customer relationships. You have to talk to people and put in the work of figuring out your ideal client and your business’ niche in order to succeed.

In this episode Jessica talks about:

• The difference between ideal customers and a niche.
• How she screens her clients and learns more about them.
• What to look for when the market is changing and how to adapt to that change.

Main Takeaways

• A niche is a genre of business in which you work. You might have a million ideal customers inside that niche, and those ideal customers might continue to change during the course of operation within your niche.
• You can’t rely on data alone. You have to investigate and actually talk to the clients you want to work with. Getting personal and having them open up about their organization will help you deepen the relationship and land them as a client.
• Use your instincts and keep an eye out for red flags that show the market is drifting in a different direction. You need to be aware of these issues in order to avoid problems in your business and finances.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Horizon Peak Consulting
• Jessica On Twitter
• Rapid Growth Academy

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 4 of Season 7