simple prospering

When we work for ourselves, one of the things we are constantly engaged with is refinement.

In this week's episode I trace the journey of refinement for the Healing Arts Practice Incubator, complete with embarrassing tales of my early days in practice.

Many of us come to self-employment through a side door. Meaning, few of us choose self-employment first, and then what it is we will do as a self-employed person second.

Instead, most people acquire some skill, and either right away or eventually, it makes the most sense to deliver that skill as a self-employed person.

This means that many people wind up working for themselves without ever consciously asking themselves the question, "Do I want to be self employed?"

Oftentimes those of us who support self-employed or entrepreneurial types of businesses are caught up in cheerleading it as the best option for everyone. But in this episode, it's real talk time. Let's go through some of the pros and cons of choosing either self-employment or being employed by someone else. There is no one right answer, and, leveling with you here, there is no one perfect career path. So let's talk about it!

https://simpleprospering.com/hapi

We made it to the final building block! This week I'm discussing building block number 6: how to systematize your burnout proof business.

Building blocks 1 through 5 are all about attaining liftoff, but most of what you will be doing in your business is running your actual business!

This is when the challenge becomes how to streamline and systematize the operations of your business so that you don't wind up constantly in the weeds or constantly reinventing the wheel (I'm going to go ahead and mix metaphors here!).

In this episode we cover some of the key places to set up your systems, in as simple a way as possible, so that you have more wind at your back than you have wind-drag.

*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

This week I am delighted to be joined by Michelle Warner, a business designer and strategist and an expert on the topic of relationship marketing.

The vast majority of what we see these days is traffic-based marketing, which is well suited to mass market brands, but not at all well suited to tiny service-providing businesses. What serves us well is strategic, generous fostering of relationships.

In this interview, Michelle Warner talks us through some of the typical misconceptions, pitfalls, and, most importantly, winning approaches to cultivate our own relationship marketing skills for our own businesses.

You can find more of Michelle Warner's work at themichellewarner.com

You can find more of my work at Simple Prospering

"Marketing" and "sales" are much loathed words and activities in the tiny service-providing business space. Most of us got into our work to help people out while practicing something we have a deep love for. Not to feel like we're shaking people down for money. That's totally fair!

Except... if a business is not bringing in revenue, it's not a business (call back to building block #1...). So marketing and sales become essential, but we don't have to do them in ways that are either overwhelming or which just feel gross. We truly don't!

In this episode I discuss the simplest definitions of marketing and sales for our purposes, and the simplest and most effective (and non-gross) ways to engage with them.

*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

In building block #4 from You Need a Holistic Business, I'm talking about how branding (done right) puts a lot of wind at your back.

I also talk about what branding is NOT, particularly when it comes to small service-providing businesses. You don't need an iconic logo the way mega corporations do- If you're listening to this podcast you probably aren't thinking about opening up "flagship" stores, or buying a Superbowl ad, or generally "dominating market share" like an 8-figure company.

In our cases, branding is about the cohesive voice, vibe, and flow of how your business is presented in the world. In this episode, I go through each and walk you through how you can give yourself a brand refresh if you need one.

*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

We are going through the 6 essential building blocks for a thriving small business. This week is number 3, about how you can craft your business model in a way that is thoughtful about your strengths, your clients' true needs, and your revenue goals.

One the one hand, sometimes we assume that we need to tolerate a certain level of burnout, when we don't! And on the other hand, sometimes we seek self-employment nirvana to our own detriment, and jump from one business model to the next too quickly.

In this episode we discuss how you can think through crafting your model for yourself over both the short term and the long term.

*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

In building block #2 I'm talking about how to build a business around BOTH your strengths and your clients' true needs. Oftentimes things are lopsided in that equation. A symptom that things have gotten out of balance is that everything starts to feel Sisyphean- you keep rolling that boulder up the hill and it keeps rolling right back down.

In micro businesses we wear all the hats! So we have a lot less running room for a business that isn't well structured. I troubleshoot how to spot an unbalanced business, and how to weave your strengths and your clients needs into an offering that is satisfying and sustainable for both of you.

This is the audiobook version of chapter 2 from my free ebook: You Need a Holistic Business: Learn the Six Essential Building Blocks.

*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

This episode is essentially the audiobook version of the first chapter in my free ebook, You Need a Holistic Business: Learn the Six Essential Building Blocks.*You can get the updated building blocks PDF for free here: https://simpleprospering.com/pae

Building block number 1: Know what your business needs to earn.

Without understanding what your business needs to bring in in order to be sustainable, it's easy to wind up trying on tactics without having any clear direction and to wind up walking in circles.

This is especially try for tiny (sole proprietor) service-providing businesses. We figure if we only have to worry about paying ourselves, we don't really have to think about it that much. But we very much do!

This episode will guide you how to sort out what you actually need to bring in to make sure you can take good care of yourself as a small service-providing business.

In the last episode I discussed the "Jeremy Bearimy" loop de loop of one's business's evolution and maturation. Other entrepreneurial spaces would call this a pivot...

But sometimes we think we are in a pivot, when in fact we are channeling our inner squirrel.

I talk about an inquiry that I use to help me discern whether I am in a healthy pivot, or whether I am running around piling up acorns to deal with later. Oh and there is talk of emulating oak trees. And I generally beat the metaphor of squirrels vs. oak trees to death. Enjoy!

You can find the article version of this podcast at simpleprospering.com