Seriously in Business: Brand + Design, Marketing and Business

Me: Mum, I'm hiring a VA!

Mum: A what?

Me: A virtual assistant?

Mum: Huh? Like a computer assistant?

Me: No, like a personal assistant... but she's not with me in person, she helps me online.

That is a bit of a glimpse into the convo I had with my mum a few months ago when I first hired a virtual assistant.

But it wasn't a quick decision. I'd been thinking about it for a year or so but was never sure when the right time would be.. or if I had enough jobs to give a VA... or if I WANTED to hand things over to someone else (how could anyone else do something as good as I could??).

In today's podcast episode I chat with Online Business Manager and virtual support agency owner, Nivek Harrison on all things you need to know when it comes to hiring a VA.

We chat:  

How to know when it's time to hire

What kind of things you can get help with in your business

How to find the right person

and how to onboard your new VA

ABOUT NIVEK:

Nivek Harrison is an Online Business Manager and the owner of The Virtual Chapter, a virtual support agency for soul-led coaches, course creators and consultants who want to transform & elevate their business through the power of leveraged systems.

Nivek is passionate about supporting business owners to show up and deliver their magic, with the support of incredible team, structures and systems.

After training with the Beautiful You Coaching Academy and building a successful life coaching business, Nivek quickly found her passion in all things technology & people, and supporting other entrepreneurs to build their dream businesses. Her signature framework of Strategy, Systems & Soul is designed to create business and life-changing outcomes, all while taking care of the behind-the-scenes of business.

When she's not project managing like a boss in Asana, you'll find her spending time with her young family, reading a book or getting her nerd on with the latest tech news.

GET IN TOUCH WITH NIVEK:

Download '70 Tasks a VA Can Do For You': https://thevirtualchapter.co/70-tasks

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thevirtualchapter/

Website: https://thevirtualchapter.co/

When we're in those early stages of business (and throughout and whole business to be honest) there are TWO graphics I think are non-negotiables.

Two graphics that we must have sorted to give us a professional, consistent and easeful business.

1. A style guide: This is a guide to your style. Not only does it lay out your colours, and your fonts but also your brand elements... are you going to have collage style graphics? Or are you going to have minimal designs and colours? Or maybe watercolour and glitter! There is so much more to your brand than just the fonts or colours and the more we have this nailed the more recognisable and brand will be AND the easier it will be to vreate graphics for.

2. Social media templates: Social media has got to be one of the things business owners dread the most. They don't know what to post or what things should look like... and this usually stops them from posting at all (or far less regularly than they should!). So, creating a set of social media templates that are already designed to match your brand can be a game changer! Now all you have to do is tweak some of the text or replace an image and you can put up a new post in minutes!

Once you nail these two things in your biz design becomes a lot less daunting and maybe even enjoyable! If you'd like help with this I'd like to invite you to the Brand Slam on Thursday the 7th of April 2022. This is a 1-day online workshop to help you to create both your style guide and social media templates in a day full of inspiration, support and encouragement.

BUY YOUR TICKET HERE: www.diydesignmybiz.com/brandslam

Writing a Sales Page can be SUCH a daunting task! Sales pages are those long form web pages that we use to sell something - most often, an online course or program.

But there are SO many things to know...

How do you know what to write?

How long should it be?

What do I need to focus on?

All. The. Things! In this podcast ep copywriting genius, Nami, gives us some incredible insights! Including uncovering some of the biggest mistakes she sees entrepreneurs making in their sales pages.

Listen now to get your sales pages actually SELLING!

PS. Keen to join in on the Brand Slam on April 7th!? You're invited to join us in this 1-day online workshop to ace your brand style guide and smash your social templates so you feel confident in your brand to win dream clients. BUY YOUR TICKET HERE: diydesignmybiz.com/brandslam

ABOUT NAMI:

Nami Clarke helps course creators, coaches and consultants shake imposter syndrome and take their launch sales from beige to badass.

The creative refined her magic toolkit of copywriting, sales, and content strategy while running a photography studio for 10 years in one of Melbourne’s fancy postcodes.  What surprised Nami more than the fact that she made use of her Arts degree was realising she could support so many other business owners who dreamed of ditching the 9-5 grind to launch their own business too. Today she works with private clients worldwide, while her online course, Course Launch Confidence, is due for release in April this year.

Along with the results she helps clients achieve in their businesses, Nami's written work has been published by Mamamia, Elephant Journal, Huffington Post, and more... but nobody likes a bragger.  She lives in Bendigo, Australia.

Connect with Nami:

namiclarke.com

instagram.com/namiclark

Have you ever thought about designing your social media posts, or your business logo but felt overwhelmed and given up before you started?

Or maybe you've created a design but you just can't bring yourself to post it anywhere coz you know it's not perfect...

Or are you just too scared to even login to the Canva account you created 6 months ago and attempt to make something?

Mindset can play a huge role in how well we can create graphics for our businesses - or if we even start!

In this podcast episode I want to help you to get out of your own way in your journey to being able to create graphics that not only look amazing but create momentum and success for your business!

We chat about:

- What's hindering your creativity

- How confidence impacts your skills

- The myth of perfectionism

- and allowing yourself space to create (and not copy)

The existence of my whole business is targeted at one thing - helping biz owners create their own graphics, posts and logos.

But WHY should a business owner actually do it? Actually, get onto Canva and make their own graphics over hiring a designer?

I firmly believe there's a place for both BUT in today's podcast episode I want to share with you my FIVE favourite reasons to know how to make your own incredible biz graphics.

1. Gives you the control

2. Can create any time

3. Your graphics reflect you

4. Can change in the future if needed

5. Saves money and ongoing costs

Want to learn more about creating your own *GOOD* biz graphics? Here are a ton of free resources to get you started: https://www.whitedeer.com.au/freebies

Selling can often feel kinda awkward and yuck... BUT one of the best ways I know of to sell authentically is to share stories.

As humans we are so pulled to stories. They pull us in, make us feel things and often guide us to discover something new.

And so to learn how to tell stories in our business can actually be a really powerful and natural way to sell.

And it's NOT just in using your brand story - but almost ANY story can be used to somehow educate, entertain and connect with our audience.

In this podcast episode I chat to storytelling expert, Sarah Beisel on how we can use stories in our business. We chat about where you can use stories and how they can be so powerful! As well as some tips to get you started on your storytelling journey!

BIO:

Sarah is a Copywriter and Storytelling Coach to Christian Entrepreneurs. She focuses on helping her clients promote themselves in a way that feels natural. Sarah teaches authentic marketing through storytelling in her program, the Authentic Storytelling Academy. Get started with her free story prompts at sarahbeisel.com/starthere

Links:

instagram.com/sarah.beisel

facebook.com/groups/authenticchristianentrepreneurs

sarahbeisel.com/starthere

Creating graphics for our business isn't about making "pretty things". Design is actually all about COMMUNICATION.

Communicating our message.

Communicating why people should work with us.

Communicating how to take action.

Communicating our value.

Communicating how professional we are.

And in this episode I want to talk to you about one of the biggest problems I'm seeing in graphics that business owners are DIYing.

Graphics that they're making for their business but aren't quite hitting the mark - that aren't COMMUNICATING.

It's quite a simple change but it makes a HUGE impact.

Tune in to find out what it is and how you can make your own graphics stand out and COMMUNICATE!

I see people that look like me EVERYWHERE. In clothing shops, models, ads, in business, as mums... everywhere I look I feel like I'm a part of the conversation.. I'm included.. that I belong.

But for so many other in our country (and the world) they don't see themselves represented. They don't see their skin colour or ethnicity shown.

They don't see themselves in ads,

or in the jobs they dream of,

or on stages,

or running successful businesses.

And so in today's podcast episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Annie Gichuru. Annie is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coach and she shares how we as business owners, can take steps to helping the world to be a more inclusive and beautiful place.

A place where people of all colours are represented, included and seen.

I know you're just going to LOVE this episode. Let it inspire you to action.

ABOUT ANNIE:

Annie is the founder of Uplifting Studios, a platform dedicated to supporting online business owners to build culturally & racially diverse, inclusive and equitable businesses.

Annie has become a leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) coach & consultant for online entrepreneurs. Annie’s grace, gentle spirit and passion for a racially equitable world is setting her apart in the coaching and personal development industry as a compassionate educator with an incredible space holding ability.

Jump into Annie's world via her instagram: instagram.com/upliftingstudiostv/

REPRESENTED Course:

https://www.upliftingstudios.com.au/represented
 

Wanna know what it's like to have your business transformed by YOU with the help of a designer?

Then this episode is gonna be your cup of tea! Join me as I chat with 2 incredible small busienss owners, Nic Everist and Marie Vakakis. Nic and Marie just finished my coaching program, The Co+Creation Club where they worked on their own business graphics in Canva - but with my help.

As a result they created incredible, professional brands while also having support to know that what they were creating was actually looking great, communicating with their audience AND saving them time, energy and stress!

Marie and Nic designed social media posts, logos, podcast covers, flyers and SO MUCH MORE during their time in the club and boy did they SMASH IT.

Enjoy hearing from these legends as they let you in on their experience and the transformation they achieved.

JOIN THE CLUB! https://www.diydesignmybiz.com/club

Doors close Monday 21st Feb 2022.

ABOUT NIC:

Nic Everist is a visual artist and creative mentor working out of her studio in Geelong, Australia. Endlessly inspired by her travels and explorations, Nic loves to visit new places, discover new landscapes and delve into the stories behind them. Whether that be the story of the places she is visiting, or the connection or intrinsic stories that develop through these explorations. Nic also runs a 4 month Mentoring program and The Full Time Artist Podcast where she helps other amazing creative humans build their own unique, soul led, thriving creative careers. 

You can find Nic on instagram at @nic_everist_art or @nic_everist_mentoring 

Check out her work over at niceverist.com or join the community of amazing creative humans building their own thriving careers at The Full Time Artist facebook group and listening to The Full Time Artist Podcast. 

ABOUT MARIE:

Marie Vakakis is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Family Therapist, presenter, podcaster, and trainer. Her focus is on supporting adults to have better relationships with the teens and young adults in their lives. Marie facilitates programs for parents and carers in a safe, supportive environment in which she teaches skills to help build emotional intelligence and promote positive relationships between caregivers and young people. Through the delivery of innovative and engaging training workshops, clinical supervision groups and a successful podcast, Marie also equips mental health professionals to work confidently with young people. She is committed to improving mental health awareness, reducing stigma, and promoting prevention and early intervention in the field of mental health.

You can find marie on Instagram: @marievakakis and @thetherapyhubcounselling

Or online at thetherapyhub.com.au

When someone works with your business as a solopreneur they work with YOU!

It's so essential that your business not only looks great - but resonates with you.

WHY?

For 2 reasons:

1. That your audience can get a real idea of what it's like to work with YOU. You are unique, the way you work is unique - let your brand channel that.

2. So that YOU feel connected to your business. If you're trying to hide who you are and be somebody else in your brand you'll feel distant and aloof - line up who you are with your business and you'll find it so much more fulfilling!!

This episode is a sneak peek of Day 1 in the Seriously in Business Free Challenge - a 3 day experience for business owners to start looking serious in their businesses!! This round is run on Feb 7-9 2022. It's not too late to join!

Join the Seriously in Business Challenge 2.0 here:

https://www.diydesignmybiz.com/SeriouslyChallenge