Path to Simple

If you're an entrepreneur, hiring a virtual assistant is a  great path to freedom but you have to do it the right way. It's about having constant communication, clear expectations, and many more.

That's why in this episode, I have my own VA, Bobbie  Clark, to be on the show to share how to have a successful working relationship with your virtual assistant.  We share our method on how we document our business processes or SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)  properly and how to properly hand off these tasks to a VA to ensure the tasks are done successfully so you can focus on the "$10,000 per hour tasks" in your business.

In this episode, we have Malorie Nicole. Malorie is an Executive and Entrepreneur Performance and Mindset Coach where she helps 6 and 7 figure business owners implement mindset works resulting in tremendous business and personal growth.

She's also the host of Abundantly Clear Podcast - a mindset platform for entrepreneurs that want to achieve mental clarity, learn to not only decrease stress but turn it into growth, and continue to create the business and lives most would only dream of.

Tune in as she shares her journey, the countless pivots, the mindset shifts as an entrepreneur, how to align your business with your purpose and the target market, and I think the most important thing: How to stop overly-complicating your business and marketing.

In this episode, I have the phenomenal speaker Grant Baldwin.

Grant is an entrepreneur,  public speaker, author of the book called The Successful Speaker, and the host of a podcast called The  Speaker Lab Podcast.

We talk about his backstory being in the trenches, the unfiltered realities of being a public speaker doing 70 gigs a year(the good and the bad), his 5-Step Speaker Success Roadmap, and what it really takes to build a successful public speaking business.

You’ll also learn his life-changing experience writing his book with the best-selling author Jeff Goins.

Snow notes

In this episode, I have the one and only Kerry Wise.

We’ve been married for over a decade and have 3 wonderful children.

Not only that, she’s also my primary advisor, confidant, strategist, and great filter.

We talk about some of the challenges we’ve been through in our journey as a married couple during our early years and how we triumphed over it.

You’ll hear snapshots of our lives, and her perspective on those challenges, and how she supported me throughout my entrepreneurial journey.

Snow notes:

[03:59] Kerry being the breadwinner of the family in our early years

[07:35]  Our reality in the early years of our marriage

[10:01] From working at a church to Monk Development in Kerry’s perspective

[15:40] Launching ThinkDigital and “The Basement Years”

[25:50] Spouse is the closest voice to the Holy Spirit

[30:08] From paying debts to ThinkDigital’s growth

[35:07] Kerry’s advice for entrepreneurs to get their spouses on board

Welcome to the very first episode of Experimental.

Here's a confession: I didn't want to do another podcast

I thought I was already done with podcasting. I've already done a number of podcasts for the last few years with varying success and they got boring.

But then, a bunch of things started happening.

I'll share the reasons why I'm starting another podcast, and unpack what are you going to expect from this show. Enjoy

[01:56] Mentors are telling me that I'm crazy by quitting podcasting

[03:15] I'm missing the podcasting format

[06:10] I heard all of you

[08:10] This podcast will be about "Tiny Hinges, Big Doors"

 How To Know When To Quit 

Welcome back to S03 Episode 44 of the Think Digital Podcast. Today I’m talking about what it means to fail, and how it is that you can recognize that.

Some failures are obvious, right? If you’re spending more than you’re earning, or conversions just aren’t working, it can be pretty clear that it’s time to stop - or at the very least, pivot.

Other failures are less obvious. I talk you through a real-world example of a program I ran that had some success, but that cost far too much.

Every single Thursday, I quit something. - Bob Goff

It would have been tempting to keep it going, but I want to talk you through what I like to call the Failure Scale. This involves examining your offer against three set criteria:

● Energy Allotment

● The Two Month Rule

● Avoiding Incrementalism

There are no easy answers when it comes to working out when it’s time to throw in the towel, or when it's worth you keep going.

Are you spending all of your time and up-front energy on something that you don’t plan on being a major source of income?

Are you succeeding, but just not as much as you would like? The response you’re getting is lukewarm or tepid, but not what you were hoping for.

Are you working your fingers to the bone, but with razor thin margins and insane amounts of work?

I talk you through one of my personal examples of when I knew it was time to call quits. It can be challenging to reframe what feels like failure into an honest reevaluation of what might not be working.

Everything in your business isn’t going to be easy, but there are times where you know that too much time and too much energy is being spent over way too long… for way too little. Instead of pushing yourself above and beyond, and after two months you’re still giving your all? It’s time to pull the plug.

There’s no shame in knowing when it’s time to pivot, reframe, and evolve.

Listen to the end to find out the danger of creeping incrementalism. An incremental change is skipping your daily Starbucks, but having a mortgage that’s too big for your budget. Instead of incremental changes, I’ll give you the lazy person’s way to cover a lot of ground, very quickly.

Think of it as your exponential hack, and the way to free yourself from something that just isn’t working. So whether you’re looking for some common sense advice from someone who’s been there or a few rules that you can apply to your own business thinking, then this episode of Think Digital is for you.

When it comes to how you approach your Facebook Advertising, a lot of people seem like they’re looking for a color by numbers blueprint for how it should be done, every time.

You’re not getting that here. Why?

Because while some businesses and organizations have a lot of crossovers, everybody’s situation is unique. It helps to think about it like chimpanzees. Sure, human beings and chimps are similar - in fact, we share 96% of our DNA structure with chimps. And yet, I’m willing to bet you’d argue we have some pretty fundamentally different needs.

So too with your advertising. So real Talk: it’s irresponsible to claim I can make you thousands overnight by following a set plan of action. I’m not going to tell you what to do, and I can’t control the choices that you make.

What I can do is help you to make the smartest choices for how to approach Facebook Ads.

1. Organic Stacking

You’ve heard me say it before and doubtless, I’ll say it again because it’s the truth when it comes to so many things to do with your business: Content is key. 

What that content looks like is up to you. Is it in long or short form? Is it audio, video, graphic, or copy? You should know what works for you, and what works for your market, and this matters.

Don’t get preoccupied by the 90% of content that falls flat or doesn’t convert. Instead, look at the 10% that people are enthused about, and see what there is about this content which has a gravitational pull for your audience. 

Then repeat it.

When it comes to content, it should be about your audience, not about your ego.

2. Evergreen Ads

The 4Ps in this situation will help you to create adverts that are always right. This easy route is built up four simple steps that play with the concept of pleasure and pain.

How often do I recommend doing this? Every single time you make an ad.

3. 80/20 Content Creation

You want to experiment to make sure that your work is doing what it should do. This means looking at your work and finding 20% of your ads that push 80% of your sales.

Test widely, and assess them using No Mess Metrics. You want to know your click-through rate, the cost, conversions, and revenue generated. 

This involves you being brave and assertive, and not getting distracted by the other measures of success. Bring it back to the No Mess Metrics, and what isn’t getting your results there should be culled.

 The Warning Signs It Might Be Time To Digitize Your Business

When it comes to your business, you’re probably in one of two camps: you’re either a traditional business or an online business. However, this is beginning to change. What’s happening increasingly is that traditional bricks-and-mortar businesses are looking at how to branch out online.

But how do you do that? How can you take the physical version of your business model, and make it digital?

A lead generation funnel.

There isn't a single kind of business that hasn’t benefited from a digital lead funnel. So if you think it might be time to digitize your business, read on to see if these points ring true.

1. Competitors are figuring it out faster than you are

They’re not better. They’re not smarter. But somehow you’re finding that your competitors are pulling ahead of you. This likely means they’ve worked out how to automate something you’re still trying to do by hand.

Which do you think is going to bring in the biggest number of leads? Honestly, this becomes the difference between walking a mile or driving a mile. You might end up in the same place, but it’s going to take you a lot longer to get there.

2. You’re afraid of missing out, but you’re MORE afraid of feeling foolish

“I have this great idea, but…”

You’ve got these big ideas, but you feel stuck in a place where you can’t quite reach across to do it. Instead, you feel uncertain and without the confidence to follow through on what you’d secretly love to do.

So what do you do? 

You might find that the gap between your idea and your skills is too wide, but that doesn’t mean that you need to go alone. Instead, remember that this is why there are experts and consultants out there. 

If there are things that you want to do, but you don’t feel like you know how you need to reframe your thinking. Think WHO, not HOW. Who can help you to do what it is you want to do next?

3. What Got You Here Isn’t Going To Get You There

You might find that your business is beginning to plateau. What has been going gangbusters is now beginning to tail off. Or perhaps you can see why there’s a finite number of places that you can go.

If this is you, it might be time to consider how to branch out using the knowledge and skills that you have, just repurposed in some way. It can feel terrifying to dip into digitizing your business, but this isn’t something that you have to do by yourself. Your job is to be good at your business - let other people help you to reach the next level. 

 The Warning Signs It Might Be Time To Digitize Your Business

When it comes to your business, you’re probably in one of two camps: you’re either a traditional business or an online business. However, this is beginning to change. What’s happening increasingly is that traditional bricks-and-mortar businesses are looking at how to branch out online.

But how do you do that? How can you take the physical version of your business model, and make it digital?

A lead generation funnel.

There isn't a single kind of business that hasn’t benefited from a digital lead funnel. So if you think it might be time to digitize your business, read on to see if these points ring true.

1. Competitors are figuring it out faster than you are

They’re not better. They’re not smarter. But somehow you’re finding that your competitors are pulling ahead of you. This likely means they’ve worked out how to automate something you’re still trying to do by hand.

Which do you think is going to bring in the biggest number of leads? Honestly, this becomes the difference between walking a mile or driving a mile. You might end up in the same place, but it’s going to take you a lot longer to get there.

2. You’re afraid of missing out, but you’re MORE afraid of feeling foolish

“I have this great idea, but…”

You’ve got these big ideas, but you feel stuck in a place where you can’t quite reach across to do it. Instead, you feel uncertain and without the confidence to follow through on what you’d secretly love to do.

So what do you do? 

You might find that the gap between your idea and your skills is too wide, but that doesn’t mean that you need to go alone. Instead, remember that this is why there are experts and consultants out there. 

If there are things that you want to do, but you don’t feel like you know how you need to reframe your thinking. Think WHO, not HOW. Who can help you to do what it is you want to do next?

3. What Got You Here Isn’t Going To Get You There

You might find that your business is beginning to plateau. What has been going gangbusters is now beginning to tail off. Or perhaps you can see why there’s a finite number of places that you can go.

If this is you, it might be time to consider how to branch out using the knowledge and skills that you have, just repurposed in some way. It can feel terrifying to dip into digitizing your business, but this isn’t something that you have to do by yourself. Your job is to be good at your business - let other people help you to reach the next level.