Plan Simple with Mia Moran

“Your level of consistency is important — and different than frequency.”

–Lisa Mullis

You have an amazing solution for people … but you can’t seem to convert. You have a million ideas, but they don’t end up on the page or screen. What’s getting in your way? In FLOW365 when we talk about our three most important things, creating content comes up for at least half the people every single week. I bet some of you struggle with this too.

I’m really excited to talk with Lisa Mullis, marketing and messaging specialist about making our content easier to create and more effective.

We talk about what we actually mean when we talk about content and how much we actually need. Two helpful takeaways: consistency is more important than frequency, and you can and should reuse your content!

We also talk about: 

• How a 10-minute writing practice can get you unstuck and bring more ease to weekly content
• Why we start talking about solutions too soon and the CAASE framework
• How much content you need to produce and the difference between consistency and frequency
• Reusing your content
• Why we need to repeat ourselves and think about each piece of content standing alone
• Thinking about social media platforms as tools you use, similar to productivity tools, and picking the one that works best for you.

ABOUT LISA

Lisa Mullis is the founder of Paraphrase Communications. She combines 23+ years of messaging, marketing, and small business acumen with a team of tech specialists to help coaches, consultants, and creatives build their businesses.

Lisa is driven by a belief that small business has the power to positively shape our economies and communities and a desire to help entrepreneurs and organizations doing good in this world expand their ability to make a difference.

Whenever she can get out from behind the screen and jump into RL, she’s usually off adventuring with her family on foot, mountain bike, or boat somewhere near or far to where she’s based in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

LINKS

• https://www.paraphrasecomm.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhmullis/

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is how change happens.

Often we feel like our actions have to be huge to match the bigness of our desires, but we have seen over and over and over again that the little things add up. By stacking up a series of Doable Changes, you will create that big change that you crave. Choose the one that really resonates with you this week and really make it part of your life. 

Here are Three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• WRITE DAILY FOR 10 MINUTES. Do 10 minutes of ramble or freeform writing every day. Pick a time to do it, set a timer and just keep putting words on the page. This practice can help unstopper what gets stuck in your brain.
• TALK ABOUT WHERE YOUR CLIENT IS. Practice talking or writing about the challenge your client or customer is experiencing. Then identify attempts they have made to fix this issue. Consider an analogy for the issue. This will help you build a bridge to your solution for potential clients or customers.
• FOCUS ON CONSISTENCY. What if instead of focusing on being all the places and posting/emailing frequently, you focused on consistency? Pick a manageable frequency. Commit to sharing your content (whatever format you chose) when you say you will. Tell somebody you are going to do it. Schedule time to ramble write, polish the writing (don’t stuck on perfect), and post/send it.

In this episode, Mia explores how tapping into your deepest desires can simplify goal setting and help you create a life that feels aligned. Discover the difference between want and desire, and how connecting with your future self can reveal what truly matters. Ready to transform how you approach your goals? Press play to learn more.

In this episode of the Plan Simple Podcast, I’m diving into why creating a 90-day seasonal plan is a game-changer for balancing all the pieces of your life—work, wellness, family, and more. I’ll walk you through the exact process, starting with centering yourself, getting clear on your vision, and defining what success really looks like (beyond just checking boxes). We’ll also talk about identifying those sneaky obstacles that can trip you up and how to take actions that truly align with what you want.

And, of course, I’ll share how FLOW365 can help you follow through with ease—because life isn’t meant to be about the hustle, but about living fully and on purpose.

Ever feel like the different parts of your life are siloed?

It wasn't until I really integrated all the parts of my life that I really understood that I needed to think about all the parts of my life if I really wanted to get stuff done.

That’s why I created FLOW365 — to bring together all the parts in a supportive circle, because I also learned we aren’t meant to do any of this alone.

I’m so excited to have four FLOW365 members here to talk about the impact of FLOW on their business and the rest of their lives.

“FLOW is not just about business, but it is a core piece of my building a business.”

—Jennifer Zwiebel

I moved through my life differently because of FLOW. Coming into FLOW actually set me up to move through life with so much more ease and grace and focus and joy — as a human and a spouse, partner, a friend, as a community member, and specifically as a business owner.

—Roxanne Lowery

FLOW creates a sacred container that really allows me to flourish in all the ways.

—Kelley Grimes

Coming into Flow, I was like, my goodness, every person I meet, there's like this connection, a soul level connection that I learned something from every single person. And it's just very magical. It's such a magical place. 

—Heather Hester

ABOUT JENNIFER, ROXANNE, KELLEY, AND HEATHER

Our guests today are all FLOW365ers. You can find more about each of them and connect with what they do here:

Jennifer Zweibel, Founder of Vision Craft Coaching, works with highly intuitive entrepreneurs to help them get very clear on what they actually want and build out strategies that make sense for their lives and then create an incredible space of collaboration and digging into what they authentically are here to create and bringing that to life.

• https://www.visioncraftcoaching.com/

Roxanne Lowery, founder of Infinite Flow, is a therapeutic sound practitioner based in Atlanta. Roxanne uses sound and other modalities to to help people who are ready for transformation change and deepen in their life and on their spiritual path.

•  https://www.infiniteflow.one/ 

Kelley Grimes, founder of Cultivating Peace and Joy, is an empowering counselor and workshop facilitator and the author of The Art of Self -Nurturing, A Field Guide to Living with More Peace, Joy and Meaning.  

• https://cultivatingpeaceandjoy.com/ 

Heather Hester, founder of Chrysalis Mama, provides support and education and empowerment to LGBTQ people and their families. Heather is also the founder and host of the podcast, Breathe Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen, as well as the author of the book, Parenting with Pride.

• https://chrysalismama.com/  
• Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen

“It's hard to succeed as a woman if we leave parts of ourselves out of our vision…. We need inclusive plans to show up to our full life.”

You are not your business.

When we untangle ourselves from our businesses, when we make quarterly business goals that are separate from but aligned with our seasonal goals, we thrive in business and life.

I explain:

• The difference between seasonal and quarterly goals
• Why you might have more than four seasons and how to define your seasons
• How to think about both kinds of goals and the actions you’ll take
• Why our actions sometimes don’t look the way we think they will
• How you can move forward without hustling 
• An amazing way to get support in creating and implementing both your seasonal and quarterly goals

LINKS

• https://plansimple.com/

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is where change happens.

Even though we want big change, it’s really little things done over and over that make the difference. So pick a doable thing. Put it in your calendar. Weave it through your days for a week and then move on to the next one. It will have a snowball effect.

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• IDENTIFY YOUR SEASONS. Seasons and quarters don’t always align, and often we have multiple seasons of different lengths. For example, the holiday season might feel different from winter. You might have three weeks of back to school transition between summer and fall or maybe you think vacation, back to school, back to business … Identify the season you are in now and what is coming next.
• THINK ABOUT QUARTERLY GOALS. I give some questions in the podcast to help you identify your quarterly goals. Take some time to journal on those questions. What’s one goal for the next quarter?
• WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES? Sometimes our actions seem a little out of place with our goals, but in addressing our obstacles they move us forward. For example, maybe before you can do the creative work you need on your book, you need to get more sleep. Or maybe you need to do mindset work on visibility before you can reach your marketing goals. Note the obstacles in the way of your goals. Identify actions you could take to move past them.

“Learning gets me excited about something new. And so I'm using that energy to really step into the fall and see how I'm wanting to meet these things that are already on the calendar.”

—Mia Moran

Learning new things doesn’t have to derail plans you already set. Learning can get you refocused and re-energized about what you are doing.

We’ve started Back to Business week, and there are so many ahas happening. It’s not too late to join — and even if you aren’t an entrepreneur, you’ll get a lot out of days 4 and 5.

Each day offers several 5-minute videos that are with so much greatness, and if you are overwhelmed by the idea of listening to 55 talks (which you can do in an hour a day for one week), I wanted to show you how I am weaving them in.

Let’s set up your fall and get you into learning and applying what you learn to the things you already plan to do.

LINKS

• https://plansimple.com/backtobusiness

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action. 

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it. 

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• CHOOSE YOUR FOCUS. You can’t do all the things at once. What do you really want to focus on this fall? Choose four for business and three for the rest of your life. Then get more specific. If one of your focus areas is marketing, where are you focusing within that? See the Back to Business week workbook 1 for a worksheet on this Doable Change.
• SET UP YOUR WEEKLY FLOW. We need to put the things we are going to do into time, and we do that with a weekly plan, but it helps to start with a weekly flow. So when will you work with clients? When will you spend time on the focus areas you chose? Block that out so you can see it visually.
• CREATE YOUR MORNING/CLOSING PRACTICES. How we start and end the day matters. A new season is a great time to reset your daily practices. What is the first thing you want to do each day? Think about a practice that will support your throughout the day or set you up with a strong start. What is the first thing you want to do when you start work? And finally, how will you signal to yourself that you are done working and close in a way that sets you up for the next day? Pick ONE of these routines to set up now. Once you are in practice with it, add one of the others.

“We come here with a soul blueprint and we know exactly what we came here to deliver, to learn and to give and who to give it to.”

–Gosia Gorna

In 5 minutes, Gosia Gorna taught me the idea of the expansion game and being able to expand yourself to be open to so many more possibilities than I think we often let ourselves be open to. I can’t wait for you to meet her.

The voices that try to protect us are voices of fear, and so often they keep us from expanding and doing what we were meant to do. Those times you procrastinate or don’t send out the email or make the call are your response to that fear. But the biggest fears are actually showing us where to go.

A loving community or coach can help you spread your wings and fly. Ready to expand?

We talk about: 

• Playing with your fears
• Holding both sides of things
• What shifts when you approach things as a spiritual quest instead of a series of to dos
• Why “what do I need to do?” shouldn’t be the first question you ask yourself in the morning
• Breath and the courage to meet yourself
• The power of taking the time to just be

ABOUT GOSIA

Gosia Gorna is an award-winning coach, best-selling author, and international speaker. As the creator of the powerful fear release method 'The Expansion Game' and a business intuition trainer, she helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs and luminaries enhance their clarity, confidence, and visibility. With over 20 years of experience, Gosia supports impactful success by focusing on sharpening vision, fostering outstanding decision-making, and integrating business intuition as an essential business tool. Her mission is to turn fears into impactful successes, supporting change-makers in sharing their groundbreaking ideas, writing best-selling books, commanding the stage, and influencing globally. She is dedicated to helping clients achieve extraordinary outcomes in their fields.

LINKS

• Website: www.gosiagorna.com
• FB: https://www.facebook.com/gosia.gorna.1?locale=en_GB
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GosiaGorna
• The Expansion Game book: https://www.gosiagorna.com/the-expansion-game

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is how change happens.

Often we feel like our actions have to be huge to match the bigness of our desires, but we have seen over and over and over again that the little things add up. By stacking up a series of Doable Changes, you will create that big change that you crave. Choose the one that really resonates with you this week and really make it part of your life. 

Here are Three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• SET THE INTENTION. Set an intention for what you want and see it done. Really see it done. Focus on being with it, being here. See if it shifts the feeling of the to dos.
• SET SURRENDER ALARMS. We need reminders to pause. Because these pauses are often 5–10 minutes, they can feel awkward to calendar. Try setting an alarm called Pause or Surrender or Just Be throughout your day. Use a pleasant sound, like a gong or bell. When it goes off, pause and just be for a few minutes.
• ASK EXPANSIVE QUESTIONS. To get the most from your intuition or angels, think about the kinds of questions you ask. Instead of asking “Why can’t I make money?” or “What is wrong with me?” start asking expansive questions. You’ll need to pause and get quiet to listen to your intuition to hear the answer, but start by asking good questions.

“We all know that when we write copy, we have to talk to the ideal person, but I find it's really easy to introduce bias and start talking about what you want or what you think they want and not what they actually want.”

–Mimi Zhou

Are you talking about the right things? Sometimes our copywriting misses the mark because we talk about what our potential clients or customers need … instead of what they actually want. I’m really excited to talk with conversion copywriter Mimi Zhou about how we really drive action with our writing.

You can be really good at what you do without being really good at talking about it. It can be hard to get out of our own heads and what we know. We need to use the language our clients or customers use. How do we do that?

We talk about: 

• How to gather the data that drives the writing
• How to get a better response on questions on social media
• The kinds of numbers you need for the data to be relevant
• Selling one thing
• Trigger events in marketing 
• Creating a timeline for that shows the before, the buy, and the steps in between

ABOUT MIMI

As a conversion copywriter, Dr. Mimi Zhou revels in customer research--because when you understand what your audience wants, you don't need to guess what they'll pay you for.

Her copywriting projects are built on a thorough research foundation where she studies info your audience provides through reviews, surveys, interviews, and more. Her ability to parse data into numerical information and read between the lines to hear what customers say beneath the surface helps her understand what customers want even when they don't tell you directly.

A fun fact about Mimi: Her path to becoming a professional researcher began at UC Berkeley and culminated in her PhD at New York University. Later, her belief that knowledge is power led her to seek copywriting training from the original conversion copywriter, Joanna Wiebe (founder, Copyhackers). So Mimi literally got a professional research degree and then studied copywriting with the original conversion copywriter herself!

LINKS

• https://mimizhou.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/mimithezhou/
• linkedin.com/in/mimizhou/

Mimi is also one of the amazing teachers for Back to Business Week. To learn how to write headlines that hook in your ideal reader (and so much more in over 50 5-minute teachings), get your free ticket to this event that will help you land in the new season:  https://plansimple.com/backtobusiness

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action. 

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it. 

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• SURVEY YOUR READERS. Create an 8–10 question survey about what they need and where they are. Your goal is to stop guessing about what people want and be able to talk to them about what they want. Have you heard the advice to sell people what they want and give them what they need? To do that you need to hit what they really want, not what you think they need.
• ASK A MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION. Tired of not getting a response on social media posts? Try asking a simple question with multiple choice. One choice can be “Something else” with a chance to elaborate, but you’ll probably get more responses on the options you give.
• CREATE A TRIGGER TO BUY TIMELINE. Ask current or recent clients what they were looking for or what they needed when they found you. Find out where they were when they started and what convinced them to buy. Pay attention to their actual words. Use this information when you write your copy.

“The more dialed in your messages, the more you're going to attract the right people.”

–Tiffany Neuman

You can be multi-passionate AND dialed in. If nicheing hasn’t worked for you or your brand is all over the place, check out this conversation with branding strategist Tiffany Neuman, who helps women find their message and step into their power as thought leaders.

Tiffany says defining your niche can be limiting and lead to a place where you get bored or want to blow up your business. Instead find the golden thread that ties all your offers together.

Getting your messaging dialed in makes it easier to talk about what you do and attract the right people.

We talk about: 

• Cyclical habits on social media instead of a spray and pray approach
• Choosing spaces where you have fun
• What it looks like to dial in your message when you are multi-passionate
• What people think your brand is … and what it’s really about
• Creating a brand operating system
• What it really means to be a thought leader

ABOUT TIFFANY

Tiffany Neuman is a visionary branding strategist who helps driven women entrepreneurs make their message a movement. After 15 years in the corporate world, working with brands like Adidas, Stoli Vodka and Burt’s Bees, she left to establish a revolutionary branding business that stays one step ahead of trends. Tiffany now works with clients across the globe to help them 10x their sales and shine even brighter as thought leaders. She is a contributor for Entrepreneur and has been featured in Forbes multiple times as a branding expert.

LINKS

• https://yourlegacybrand.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyneumancreative/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyneuman
• Make Your Message a Movement — starts September 9

Tiffany is also one of our dynamic teachers for Back to Business Week. Want to hear more from her? https://plansimple.com/backtobusiness

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is where change happens.

Even though we want big change, it’s really little things done over and over that make the difference. So pick a doable thing. Put it in your calendar. Weave it through your days for a week and then move on to the next one. It will have a snowball effect.

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE. You don’t have to be on all the platforms or show up every day. Decide where you have fun engaging with people on social. Decide how much showing up feels good. That might change by season or depending on what you have going on.
• FIND YOUR GOLDEN THREAD. What is the golden thread that ties all the things you do together? Listen to the examples in the podcast to help you think about what that looks like. Start listing all the things you do. Look for what runs through them all. Sometimes it helps to get outside ideas on this. Hearing what other people think you do for them can help you find that thread.
• EXPLORE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. How do you feel about being a thought leader? A lot of women assume it’s not them. What’s in your way? Do you need mindset work on visibility or playing small or imposter syndrome? Try making a list of your accomplishments and areas of expertise (or if you have trouble claiming expertise what you are known for or talk about the most). This can be another exercise where it helps to work with a coach or partner who can help you see yourself. Pick one of those steps and schedule it.

“You are the value, not the tips and tricks, not the service, the product, you are the value.”

–Jude Charles

It’s not enough to share the lesson. You need to share the journey … and that’s where the story comes in. I loved talking with Jude Charles, about using story in our businesses.

When you tell a story — whatever the medium — the story becomes like a movie theater in people’s minds. The story sticks with them and triggers a reaction. They might forget the details of the tip or information you shared, but they will remember the story and make meaning from it.

To have that power, story should be specific. The details give it life. Jude demonstrates the level of detail that engages without overwhelming us.

We talk about: 

• Noticing which stories are conversation starters
• Why we should stop devaluing our own stories
• Focusing on what’s there for you right now to get out of your own way
• Putting in the reps: Practicing telling the stories, even as an introvert, until you get more comfortable
• A 5-minute practice to find your own stories and testing those stories
• How to quickly prepare to speak and include stories

ABOUT JUDE

For over 18 years, Jude Charles has been producing documentaries for entrepreneurs. He has produced stories for Google, Steve Harvey, and dozens of visionary CEOs. Jude teaches you how to dig deep to find compelling stories that no one else knows, and then leverage those stories to grow your business. Jude’s mission is to lead and empower entrepreneurs to have relentless, unwavering courage.

LINKS

• https://judecharles.co/
• storybankjournal.com
• https://www.instagram.com/judecharles/

Jude is also one of our amazing teachers for Back to Business Week. To check out his story and learn about changing the story in your head, get your free ticket to this event that will help you land in the new season:  https://plansimple.com/backtobusiness

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is where change happens.

Even though we want big change, it’s really little things done over and over that make the difference. So pick a doable thing. Put it in your calendar. Weave it through your days for a week and then move on to the next one. It will have a snowball effect.

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• GATHER A STORY. Take 5 minutes at the end of your day to record a story. Think back about what happened. Pick something memorable. Then: Create a title. Tell what happened. Identify the lesson.
• DO THE REPS. Practice telling your story. One technique is to record it on your phone and then listen to it to get really familiar with your story and get comfortable with your own delivery.
• FIND THE STORY BEHIND THE LESSON. Do you have a tip or practice or other teaching you share often? What’s the story behind it? Can you reverse engineer to find the story that leads to the lesson? Because the story is what makes gives the lesson heart and is most likely to be what sticks with people or even moves them (even if they take a different lesson from it).