Promote Yourself to CEO | Small Business Strategy for Women Entrepreneurs

Running your business like a CEO requires strategy and planning. It also requires skillfully managing your time and energy every week as a CEO so that you’re putting your attention on the tasks that’ll actually move your business forward. However, this is an area where we often get stuck. The email inbox, administration work, and ongoing busy work daily in our business can become a distraction. Then at the end of the week, we realize we haven’t made progress on those high-priority tasks that will truly move your business forward. In this episode, we’re talking about how you can run your week like a CEO and make those higher-value tasks a priority.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

4:33 - My model calendar approach. It’s essentially time blocking specific types of tasks, but here are the details of how I do it.

16:56 - Your CEO date. This is the time on your calendar when you’re checking in with your business.

26:49 - Asking yourself where you need support and self-care this week. Why did I include it in the CEO planner?

29:17 - Sticking to what you just mapped out for the week. The CEO Score really comes in handy, and I break down what it’s all about.

36:26 - A weekly review, starting with wins. It also helps track any recurring problems so you can nip them in the bud.

38:57 - Quickly recapping my top 5 things to run your week like a CEO.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• The CEO Planner
• “How a model calendar helps me work just 25 hours a week!”
• “What Is Your Role as CEO?”
• CEO Date Checklist
• “How to Track Your Productivity with an Entrepreneur Scorecard”
• Racheal on Instagram
• Review Giveaway - Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

You’ve probably heard of my weekly CEO date if you’ve been following me for a while now. This is where I sit down to check in on my business to make sure we’re continuing to progress towards all the goals we’ve set. But I have another CEO date every single month. This series is all about what you’re doing on an ongoing basis to ensure you aren’t only creating business plans but also following through on them and adapting as circumstances arise. So I’m diving deep today and discussing how to build in self-accountability so that your plan isn’t just another Google document you’ll never look at again.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

2:37 - My monthly CEO date falls on the first Monday of each month. Diving into my check-in process.

5:59 - The importance of a planner to look back and review. This way, you see patterns before a big emergency crops up.

8:50 - Reviewing last month’s metrics and revenue. It keeps my finger on the pulse and helps me decide my goal for the next month.

12:08 - Actively or passively selling offers? Just putting out the information isn’t enough anymore, so here’s what I have to do now.

14:23 - Seeing what has and hasn’t worked with marketing helped me course correct quite a few times. Brainstorming all of my content for the month.

16:38 - Setting my top three monthly priorities, communicating them to my team, and managing my calendar.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• Join the Plan Your Best Year Ever Challenge
• The CEO Planner
• Racheal on Instagram
• Review Giveaway - Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Every new year feels like a fresh start and a new chance to go after those big, audacious goals for our lives and businesses. But if this year has taught us anything, it’s that our plans need adaptability. We need to build this adaptability into our entire business and allow it flexibility while still getting the results we want. That’s why I love running my quarter through 90-day plans. Today, I talk about how to actually dig in and start creating these plans for your own business.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:14 - Why 90-day plans? Entrepreneurs love setting big, ambitious goals but it can be overwhelming.

8:40 - Breaking big goals into more manageable chunks to fit the time, energy, and resources you have. You can make your best guess, or do this instead.

12:08 - What do you need to think about as you’re creating your first 90-day plan? I walk you through my process.

14:32 - Starting the process by looking over your sales and marketing. I go over my 5-part marketing strategy.

19:31 - This step is what most of us think of as marketing. Super valuable and important but only going out to the people who already know you.

22:50 - Breaking things down into process vs. project goals. I share some personal examples of each.

25:01 - Asking yourself these questions can really help ensure you avoid major challenges as you’re working through your action plan.

27:54 - Fine-tuning your plan to achieve your goals at the beginning of every quarter.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• The CEO Retreat
• The CEO Planner
• Racheal on Instagram
• Review Giveaway - Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

You hear a lot of terrible advice online these days that causes people to focus on scaling at all costs. All of that effort only leads to your business blowing up. Things break and go awry, and you’re constantly putting out fires, feeling overwhelmed and stressed at the cash-eating monster you’ve created. So let’s forgo this unsustainable approach to growth and do something different. Avoid the three biggest things I see causing problems with business scaling.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:58 - The first mistake I see entrepreneurs make and how you can get yourself into this situation. No matter how much money you bring in, you feel like you can never get ahead.

6:33 - When do expensive, robust systems make sense to purchase and use in your business? Technology audits and figuring out where you’re unnecessarily spending money right now.

9:50 - Female entrepreneurs are especially susceptible to this mistake. Trying to do it all yourself vs. paying everyone but yourself.

12:12 - These specific incidences of comparison often lead to overspending. Here’s how you can spend in a way more cost-effective way.

18:04 - Mindset that contributes to the second key mistake (especially for a product that doesn’t fit your market). Test this first, instead.

26:00 - The third key mistake feeds into both of the previous ones. Dangers of having overly complicated systems in your business.

31:04 - Bringing more humanity back to business. I ditched my Frankenstein-looking system for an old program that wasn’t working and simplified it.

34:20 - Recapping all three key business mistakes.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• The Ultimate Business Growth Checklist
• “The Truth About Scaling Your Business” episode
• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Is it really possible to double, triple, or 10x your business in just a year? Or to take your business from 100k to $1,000,000 in revenue within just 36 months? If you listen to all the noise online, scaling seems like the name of the game and what we all should be focused on. But the honest truth is scaling for the sake of it can be detrimental to your business. So in this series, we’re talking about the truth of scaling your business.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

2:44 - The difference between growth and scale. While the terms are used interchangeably, they’re not the same thing at all.

6:25 - Entrepreneurs focusing just on scaling sales and not putting infrastructure in place create unstable and unsustainable businesses with irate customers and bad word-of-mouth.

9:25 - Emergency panic mode triggered by a large influx of customers creates chaos. Exhausting sales cycle leads to burnout with the type of massive, expensive launches you see online all the time.

15:15 - All the expenses going into massive launches in pursuit of scale focuses on top-line revenue, not profit. The entrepreneur gets paid last and doesn’t actually end up pocketing a lot of money at all. 

18:00 - This year exposed how fragile so many businesses really are. One launch or bad month away from having to close up shop.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• The Ultimate Business Growth Checklist

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

A couple of years ago, I received an invitation to a thank you party via email. That incredibly heartfelt invitation gave me the best feeling and became the catalyst for a friendship and business contact. In this Thanksgiving Day episode, the woman behind that email, Shannon Siriano Greenwood, is back on the show. She and I talk about how gratitude can have a huge impact on and should be the driving force behind your business.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

4:23 - I read the entire email from Shannon that caused me, a super introvert, to dress up and attend a restaurant downtown.

8:54 - Shannon discusses how she and I met. She calls it our own little love story.

14:53 - When did Shannon realize that bringing people together was her strength? She discusses why the realization didn’t come quickly.

20:25 - Shannon reveals a huge component of making connections and building relationships. It looks different from most people’s image of networking.

22:48 - What’s even better than a typical referral? All it takes is a simple mindset shift to see it, and it definitely has a huge effect on your business.

25:53 - We talk about how we remember to touch base and stay in contact with people.

31:04 - Why does Shannon get invited to a lot of things? She’s already done five podcast interviews this month without having to pitch herself.

34:32 - Shannon reveals the purpose behind her new program that brings women together.

Show Links

• Rebelle Con
• SWELL by Rebelle
• Shannon on Instagram
• Racheal on Instagram
• Leave a review on iTunes

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Are you like a hamster on a wheel when it comes to content creation? Do you feel pressured to release a newsletter, blog post, or social media posts week after week? Unfortunately, you’ve become a couch potato content creator--creating content that gets seen once, then gets archived and never sees the light of day again.

Time in your business can be spent so much better than that! So in this episode, I’ve invited my friend and podcast producer Stacey Harris to discuss our anti-couch potato content creation approach and how to see your content as an asset to be used over and over in your business.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

6:25 - Stacey talks about podcast production and what her agency Uncommonly More does differently for podcasters.

11:24 - Is doing an interview-only podcast a good approach to take? Here’s why you might not want to do it like Dax Shepard.

12:54 - Shifting your content approach for client acquisition purposes doesn’t just apply to podcasting. You can do it elsewhere too.

14:03 - How do Stacey and I plan out the content for my podcast together? We reveal how the sausage is made to help you see the shift in real action.

18:13 - We discuss why you needn’t worry about boring people with recycled content, as long as you’re not creating junk food content.

20:19 - Stacey and I divulge how this approach creates space to get away from the never-ending content creation hamster wheel.

27:12 - Stacey highlights how she re-purposes her sales page content and why it helps get clients on board more quickly.

31:10 - How did one service-based entrepreneur build a content marketing system that worked for her, right around the time automation became popular?

37:44 - I circle back to the three key questions that Stacey asks me every quarter. They can totally change the way you think about your content.

Show Links

• Uncommonly More
• Uncommonly More with Stacey Harris
• Uncommonly More, Episode 543: “Using Your Podcast As a Sales Tool with Racheal Cook”
• Uncommonly More on Instagram
• Plan Your Best Year Ever 5-Day Challenge
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Tiktok taking off. Influencer marketing making a huge splash. Gurus advocating automation everywhere. AI technology that practically reads the minds of potential clients and customers (or so it seems) being a thing that exists. All of these marketing trends took the world by storm in 2021.

But something about these kinds of marketing strategies doesn’t appeal or feel right to most entrepreneurs. So in this episode, I talk with marketing expert Beth Gebhard about why you need to be thinking more of the big picture when it comes to marketing and really bring the soul of your business forward in 2022.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:34 - If there’s one thing you should take away from my conversation with Beth, it’s this. I’ve seen people succumb to this A LOT this year.

8:13 - Beth summarizes the twisting, winding road of her marketing and PR background.

13:29 - Marketing gets treated too often as an afterthought. Try this if you’re new or hesitant to plan out your marketing.

18:52 - What are some major components you should keep in mind when creating a marketing plan for your business?

23:27 - Beth breaks down what a brand actually is. What you think it is doesn’t even scratch the surface.

25:37 - You need to get all the components of your brand in writing. Here’s how it’ll become a bottleneck in your business down the line if you do otherwise.

31:18 - Using text message marketing as an example, Beth reveals the three filters she uses to help clients decide on whether to engage with any marketing tactic.

33:30 - Ask yourself these questions after you’ve spent some time implementing any marketing technique.

38:29 - How can business growth be catastrophic? We reveal why marketing isn’t the solution to everything.

43:45 - To wrap up the episode, I circle back to point out some key takeaways from the interview.

Show Links

• Gebhard Strategy
• Beth on Instagram
• Beth on LinkedIn
• Plan Your Best Year Ever 5-Day Challenge
• The CEO Planner
• The CEO Collective
• Racheal on Instagram

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Inconsistent marketing... feast or famine cycle... shiny object syndrome... all work and no play... these are all signs of a lack of effective business planning to keep you focused and in implementation mode, without the hustle and burnout. In this episode, I guide you towards taking all the insights you’ve gained from the last few days and turning them into your 12-month profit plan for 2022. Welcome to the last day of the Plan Your Best Year Ever challenge!

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

3:59 - Your 12-month profit plan today isn’t a day-to-day or week-to-week list of things to do.

5:29 - I reveal the 5-part marketing strategy this profit plan is built on and include some examples.

8:56 - How do you map out a big picture profit plan for your business in 2022? Here’s where I start.

9:41 - Do this first to make sure you burnout-proof your business. I offer some questions for you to consider.

11:24 - Start planning what you’re going to sell next year. I discuss how I figure out what my promotion calendar will look like.

14:24 - As you implement your promotion calendar, you’ll want to build up this vital asset as well.

16:19 - I mention one last thing you might want to include in your workbook.

17:12 - If you loved this challenge, what can you do next? I offer you an invitation.

Show Links

• The CEO Collective
• Plan Your Best Year Ever 5-Day Challenge
• Racheal on Instagram

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!

Does this sound familiar? You write down a business goal and put it some place to remind you of it constantly. Then a few weeks or months down the line, that goal has gone missing, gotten thrown away, or is gathering dust on your desk or fridge or wherever you’ve placed it. And your business is as aimless as it’s ever been.

With goal setting, too many people have a “set it and forget it” mindset. It’s time to try something new! In this episode, I dive into a different way of goal setting that’ll help you actually create the kind of milestones you’ll follow through on. Welcome to day four!

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

4:20 - You’ve made New Year’s resolutions, only to realize you’ve fallen off the wagon before January’s over. Why does goal setting fail so often?

5:52 - Let’s begin a new approach for setting goals. I share a tip I’ve given a lot of my clients when it comes to brainstorming potential goals.

9:23 - You’re going to have a lot written down after your brainstorming session. I discuss how to narrow everything down to your top five goals.

11:08 - Think about how you’re setting yourself up for success.

13:39 - What’s a push goal? I define it and quickly give you a scenario to demonstrate.

Show Links

• Plan Your Best Year Ever 5-Day Challenge
• Racheal on Instagram

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

Subscribe & Review:

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!