Own It! For Entrepreneurs. Talking Digital Marketing, Small Business, Being Digital Nomads and Success Thinking

How do you go about New Year resolutions/intentions? What methods do you use? Judith shares two resources she’s discovered and Nicola’s whittled her plans down to just three...

Nicola describes her mammoth journey home to the UK for Christmas and tells Judith why she’s still here. Her Christmas was nice, her step-father joined the family for the day, she’s caught up with friends including Kim who she’s helping with Facebook Ads, and she and Phoebe have been for Reiki treatments.

Judith enjoyed her family on Christmas Day too and then visits from friends on 27th and 28th December. She completed the 21 Day tapping challenge and she’s been thinking about how she wants to show up in her business and in her writing in 2019.

Judith received lots of lovely unsolicited testimonials which she found very encouraging, including one about the podcast which she shared with Nicola during the show. Nicola’s been studying with Andre Chaperon, specifically his new course Lean Business for Creators which is about service not selling.

How do you go about New Year resolutions/intentions? What methods do you use? What systems have Nicola and Judith used? Judith shares two resources she’s discovered and enjoyed and which have provoked lots of New Year-type thinking and Nicola’s whittled her plans down to just three; Clicks And Leads Academy, her new passion project and her own sci-fi creative writing.

Do share your plans for 2019 in the Own It! Facebook Group – free to join.

Nicola chooses Family (good) and Judith picks Tapping.

During the break, Nicola has launched WritingClubWorld.com and was thrilled to be on Bing within 24 hours and attracting writers from all over the world. She’s describing it as her passion project but Judith goes as far as to say that she thinks this could be The One, given how people are so much more interested in what they want right now - their lives and their hobbies and passions - as compared to what they need.

Unusually Judith has also launched something new for her clients in 2019 – Crazy Bespoke. She noticed that she was offering clients the opportunity to buy either a year or an hour, so she thought she’d introduce something in between and invited them to get in touch and describe their bespoke needs, their brief and their budget, so she can quote accordingly.

Nicola is very definitely not impressed with her relatively new iPhone but she loved Luther and she IS impressed with Phoebe’s health plans for Dry January and her taking exercise daily.

Judith is also impressed by her family, specifically her brother who has lost 12kg low carbing and had a new strategy for keeping the peace on Christmas Day.

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What’s important when it comes to choosing friends? Nicola Cairncross and Judith Morgan discuss what causes clashes and what to look out for when people seek to befriend you in business.

Nicola talks about healing her fears of the dark and becoming generally braver, finding writing groups in Brighton she can meet up with during her UK Christmas trip and how two favourite actors are getting older.

Judith talks about dinner with good friends on Saturday night, another funeral on Monday, and joining a 21 Day tapping challenge.

Nicola’s enjoyed Frank Kern’s launch of Convert 2.0 and Judith’s happy it is the end of term tonight for her so that she can focus on tidying up the old and preparing for the new.

A regular listener to Own It! offers this week’s focus, a discussion on the nature of friendship. What’s important when it comes to choosing friends? Why do some stick with you and some go? How painful it can be when friends are “judgy” about your life choices in regard to your kids and/or your career. Where values come into this. What causes clashes and what to look out for when people seek to befriend you in business.

Nicola chooses Anticipation and Judith picks Service.

Nicola’s got two new projects on the go and updates the listeners on both, one inspired by Frank Kern and one she first mentioned last week; both will advance between now and the next show.

Judith remembers that she often sells Listening Vouchers at Christmas time and has remembered to put them in her Facebook Shop and mention them in this week’s newsletter which is all about Listening, Talking and Conversation.

Nicola is impressed by the two white male chefs who went through to the finals on MasterChef the Professionals and discusses that controversial decision and contributes to the debate on lack of diversity; she thought they were the best, end of.

Judith is impressed by five OAP ladies with the combined age of 428 who create a RTM (right to manage) company to direct how their 44-unit care home in Gloucestershire is run, saving money and improving services for themselves and fellow residents.

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Nicola’s thinking about buying a ready made business, online or off. Judith explains how she sold her accountancy business on the same basis.

Nicola’s infested with flies, Judith’s doing some shopping and they swap ideas for Christmas Day games.

Nicola’s having an entrepreneurial seizure about creating a business she’s seen which needs improvement. Judith’s excited to be working with a favourite client for another year and she’s paid already!

Nicola’s thinking about buying a readymade business, online or off. She did it with The Acacia in Worthing way back and Judith gets her to remember the shape of the deal she did and how she did it. Judith explains how she sold her accountancy business on the same basis.

Nicola and Judith have studied with Rick Otton how to buy property on this options basis and the principles are the same.

How to find a motivated seller, find out what they want and work out what you do, how to take on the best bits of his business and leave the problems with him, and use the business’ own cash flow to pay for it.

It all depends on access to the vendor, good rapport and negotiation skills. It would very much suit a deal-maker. It’s all in the relationship.

Nicola asks:

1. Why would any business owner consider it?
2. What do you need to find out so you can evaluate the opportunity? 

Nicola chooses Change and Judith picks Appreciation.

Nicola’s keeping on with her daily videos and pleased with the results at both YouTube and LinkedIn but not at her website yet. She feels she might need to look into her SEO to discover why.

Dalton Harris, this years winner of the X Factor for Nicola. And Judith is impressed by the Back to 60 campaign winning the right to a historic judicial review, but specifically, anyone who finds the strength and resources to keep up a long campaign for anything where they are righting wrongs on behalf of others.

Thanks for listening!

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Rhys Morgan (no relation) was once a vicar. He is also a recovering alcoholic who is five years sober. He talks about how and why he got going with his Social Good Podcast and how his next venture will be about helping others to get and stay sober.

Nicola’s frustrated by some changes with Gmail, and she describes a sense of restlessness which has got her talking about an IRL job (!) and reading Daltons Weekly with a view to buying and selling businesses. Judith’s also frustrated; her challenge is with CreateSpace in regard to her book published on Amazon.

Judith’s handwriting challenge led within a week to her rediscovering a schoolgirl love of poetry which she is copying out instead of journaling her own thoughts, which was never the point of the exercise.

Nicola’s daily one-minute videos are going great guns and achieving interesting results at LinkedIn and Twitter but confusing ones at Facebook, so far.

Rhys Morgan (no relation) was once a vicar. He is also a recovering alcoholic who is five years sober. He talks about how and why he got going with his Social Good Podcast and how his next venture will be about helping others to get and stay sober with a companion podcast offering inspiration from those who have done just that.

Rhys shares with Nicola and Judith his love of the romance of radio from a very young lad and how his experiences in this life have led him to become a force for good.

Connect with Rhys at his website SocialGoodPodcast.com and on Twitter.

Nicola chooses Cocooning and Judith picks Hard.

Nicola talks about what she learned from Andre Chaperon’s Auto Responder Madness and explains why she’s invested in his latest product which is about identifying your ideal client and creating a product just for them. She mentions homework which involves Seth Godin’s podcast called Akimbo and his latest book which is called This Is Marketing.

This week it is Nicola’s turn to enjoy The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas, on Netflix. This provokes a discussion about canned laughter on comedy shows and whether or not it is a thing of the past. Judith appreciates Rhys.

Thanks for listening!

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Robin Sharma says; “Show me your schedule and I’ll show you your values” and this got Judith and Nicola thinking about creating space for creative thought, creative thinking and creative output.

Temperatures are down in Stoupa and Nicola talks of winter tavernas, wood-burning stoves and the chimney sweep. Judith’s been to a funeral and received news of a second death. It’s not all death and dying, but there is a small trend in that direction it seems.

Judith’s been shopping to buy a notebook and pen with which to begin some handwriting practice. She can see the opportunity for improving all the skills she’s lost through deliberately bringing them back into her life including walking, sleeping, singing and playing the piano. All require regular practice.

Nicola is in her third week of creating daily videos and she’s encouraged by the results. She went to a Twitter lesson and could see her profile stats were 54% up on the previous week. Her Vzine is back on track and she has a few in the can thanks to Sarah’s scheduling and this allows her to feel relaxed and that she’s doing “enough”.

Robin Sharma says; “Show me your schedule and I’ll show you your values” and this got Judith and Nicola thinking about creating space for creative thought, creative thinking and creative output.

Are we all addicted to busyness? Do we get a buzz out of being able to think of ourselves as efficient and productive? Have we lost the gentle art of doing nothing when we all know that genius comes when walking, swimming, driving and ironing.

Judith found this article on the Big Think pertinent to this topic and shared it with Nicola. Creativity and Distraction.

Nicola chooses Cooking and Judith picks Humility.

Judith is glad she has no room for projects right now and Nicola has abandoned NaNoWriMo in favour of a writing course with Curtis Brown in January.

Nicola likes The Fifth Season, Hugo Award winning sci-fi novel by N.K. Jemisin and Judith enjoys The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas, on Netflix.

Thanks for listening!

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Website: https://OwnItThePodcast.com

Debating the pros and cons of the internet and social media, including friendships and the ability to create a living from anywhere in the world with WiFi. Judith Morgan and Nicola Cairncross ask - but at what cost?

Nicola’s been making the ladies at Write Club laugh when she transposed America and Paris, and reading aloud in her French accent reminded them of Glaswegian! Her week has been creative and quiet and she’s been out to dinner a lot.

As Judith started to recover from the bug, she got going with sorting out her new home and two professional cleaners arrived to make it even more habitable. She got her Outlook fixed too so normal service is very nearly resumed.

Just when Judith was beginning to despair, two fabulous results came in from her Baggy Trousers Low Carb group and on the day she too was ready to go back to that way of eating after the bug and in a pre-Xmas health kick. She doesn’t think those two are a coincidence.

Nicola’s mentor has encouraged her to re-start her vzine and challenged her to make a daily one-minute video which she started to do herself in batches before deciding to outsource. Phoebe and Sarah are back in gainful employment.

Nicola and Judith debate the pros and cons of the internet and social media including friendships, clients the world over, the ability to create a living from anywhere in the world with WiFi, access to a wealth of information and much more.

But does it come at some cost and some risk to the old, the lonely and the vulnerable such as scamming, trolling, bullying and isolation?

Nicola believes the internet is what you choose and thinks it is 90% a force for good. Judith is uncharacteristically more downbeat than normal and would put it at only 50% or even 40% good.

Nicola chooses Punctuation and Judith picks Discernment.

Judith can already feel she’s rolling downhill to Christmas but senses this is no bad thing after a hard year. Nicola’s hell-bent on a LinkedIn cull.

Nicola likes Tom Riley in Dark Heart, a compelling watch. And Dalton Harris and Nile Rogers on X Factor. Judith caught Michael Buble on Graham Norton and tells of the songs and journey that led her on to YouTube.

Thanks for listening!

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Are you creating wealth in your business, or simply exchanging time for money? Nicola Cairncross and Judith Morgan discuss how self-employed people can secure their own financial future.

Both Nicola and Judith have been struck down by evil bugs without knowing how they were infected. They’ve each been taken out of the game for between 24 and 72 hours, stricken and taken to their beds without energy to do anything.

Consequently, Nicola is behind with NaNoWriMo and Judith’s abandoned it altogether. As if that wasn’t enough, Nicola has been suffering power cuts and Judith lost her emails for 24 hours last weekend. It has been quite a challenging week all round.

Nicola’s been enjoying thinking around the issues experienced by her daughter and her niece and noticing how that inspires content for her returning vzine.

Judith is finding her diary full of strangers and her inbox full of book sales and wonders if she was tempting fate when she started to talk about taking another sabbatical.

Are you creating wealth in your business, or simply exchanging time for money? Do you pay yourself first by saving the first 10% of everything you make?

If not, do you have savings, investments and/or pensions? What’s your plan for your financial future?

How can self-employed people secure their own financial future or does that go against the nature of being an entrepreneur, naturally a risk-taker?

Nicola chooses Conversion and Judith picks Scathed.

Talk in this section is of podcast jobs which still sit on the To Do List, being behind after illness and big visitor numbers on various social media platforms.

Both are impressed by Lee Child and his latest book #23, Past Tense. Nicola has finished it, Judith’s only half-way through but they each explain why he’s impressive and talk about why he’s so readable.

Lee Child is an example of a self-employed person who has used his creative business model to secure his own financial future long since.

Thanks for listening!

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Paula Gardner joins us to talk about Chaos Theory which is about how every tiny decision alters your course and how you come to realise you have no control over events, good or bad.

Nicola’s having a quiet week since sister Sarah returned to the UK. Dave’s Dining Club re-opens now that the offseason has returned to Stoupa.

Judith’s moved house, said goodbye to everyone in the West Country, and met her new helpful neighbours. She’s broken out the thermals, is contemplating NaNoWriMo and has enjoyed another crystal consultation.

Nicola’s ahead of the game when it comes to NaNoWriMo, she’s attended a writing sprint day with her writing club which was at her house so she mainly spent the time zapping (writing-based) tolerations. Sarah left her with the farewell gift of a tidy and clean home which means Nicola has a lovely feeling of being on top of all her chores.

Judith enjoyed a timely reminder when spending a most unusual 2.5 hours in the hairdresser this week; she received not one but two SEO-based leads. Step away from the machine more often, Judith!

Paula Gardner was in PR but her first love was always psychology. Careers advice put her and her parents off allowing her to pursue that but now she’s found a way to combine the two.

She talks about Chaos Theory which is about how every tiny decision alters your course and how you come to realise you have no control over events, good or bad.

This leads on to a discussion of Happenstance Theory which is about getting over the idea of goals, the more open you are, the more serendipity has room to happen.

Connect with Paula via her website Scarlet Thinking or on Facebook.

Nicola chooses Autonomous and Judith picks Budget.

Judith is taking a few days off to settle into her new home, and Nicola is experimenting with the podcast’s category by submitting it to Health/Self Help.

Nicola is impressed by self-published fantasy writer Peter Flannery who she has interviewed for Write Club’s podcast.

And Judith, by the care shown above and beyond by those ladies who have looked after her for the last six months, Holistic Helen and hairdresser Anita. She explains why.

Thanks for listening!

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Why are entrepreneurs so annoying? They buy systems and processes and then sabotage themselves by deviating from them!

Judith’s had a testing week with another fall, another house move, breakages and sleeplessness. Fortunately, there are lots of lovely family meetups too.

Nicola has been woken in the night by an earthquake – wow! And she was persuaded to go and watch the local Am Dram.

Two of the ladies in Nicola’s Write Club have had some wonderful successes.  And sharing a computer with sister Sarah in 2-hour stints has caused them both to be more efficient and work differently.

Both Nicola and Judith were inspired by the contributions from the listeners to episode 200 of Own It! And Judith’s enjoyed driving in the countryside, finding it uplifting; she’s especially enjoying singing M People’s Moving on Up and noticing the pretty English churches in Somerset and Dorset.

Why do entrepreneurs buy systems and processes and proven formulae and then sabotage themselves by deviating from them, or not showing up at all or believing that somehow it’s different for them?

Nicola chooses Contingency and Judith picks Idiosyncratic.

Nicola changed three things at once with her online presence across the summer and then realised she couldn’t tell the impact of any of them, so she’s reversing two. Judith’s still pondering a sabbatical in 2019 where she might not take on any new clients but would continue to look after her most beloved existing ones.

Judith was impressed by Jo Berry who has found a way to forgive the only IRA member convicted of killing her father in the Brighton bombing of the Tory Party Conference. Patrick Magee was later released from prison as part of the Good Friday agreement and they got to know one another and now travel the world in the name of peace and reconciliation. Here’s her interview on R2’s Jeremy Vine show with Vanessa Feltz.

Nicola has discovered Magic Numbers with Hannah Fry on BBC4 and the Mysterious World of Maths.

Thanks for listening!

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25 listeners and contributors from all over the world used the Speakpipe app on Nicola's website to send in their thoughts and congratulations and are featured in this 200th episode of Own It! Are you one of them?

Nicola and Sarah have taken a day trip to the Apple repair shop in Kalamata to try to sort out Sarah’s broken laptop. Meanwhile, they are sharing – eek! She also updates Judith on the LitFest, the Arts and Crafts Fair and her continued wrangling with Booking.com.

Judith’s found an easy and legal way to dispose of her printer, enjoyed a visit from Lotte and discovered a potential issue with new clients coming via her increasingly effective SEO. She’s flagging the differences between warm and cold traffic and simply observing for now. Two observations do not a disaster make.

Judith enjoys a session with a lady who dowses using a crystal, and Nicola discovers a new way to resuscitate her vzine.

Twenty-five listeners and contributors from all over the world used the Speakpipe to send in their thoughts and congratulations on the first 200 episodes of Own It! and encourage Nicola and Judith to make 200 more. Nicola and Judith discuss what they like about these messages and what they have learned from their encouragement.

Nicola chooses Expectations and Judith picks Clairsentience.

As Sarah and Nicola re-open the podcast’s own website, Judith discovers three new Patreons she didn’t know were supporting the podcast and thanks Kristina, Esther, Richard and Irene.

Judith was (unusually) impressed by herself in a very busy and potentially stressful time in her life and work, and Nicola waxes lyrical about the wonderful service and natural selling she spotted at iRepair - the Apple repair shop in Kalamata town centre.

Thanks for listening!

To share your thoughts:

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Website: OwnItThePodcast.com