Small Business, Big Mindset

This week on the show we have the one, the only, soon-to-be New York Times Bestselling author, Laura F*ing Belgray!When I thought of who I would want to help ring in my 100th episode, my mentor, my friend, Laura Belgray catapulted to mind first.She has a long list of accolades which you can learn more about on her Talking Shrimp website...as well as learn why her company is named after a chatty crustacean to begin with.A bonafide celebrity and icon in the copywriting world, she's about to lau...

Episode #99! Wow. When I first started this podcast I just wanted to connect entrepreneurs so we could inspire and learn from each other. What a journey it's been. As we catapult to episode #100, I thought I'd highlight the top 5 episodes so far (by downloads), introduce what's next with the podcast...and let you know who the special guest for episode #100 is (hint - she's a celeb in the copywriting world and about to launch her first book...sure to be a NY Times Best Seller).Top ...

I'll be honest - the mere thought of artificial anything, when it comes to creating the written word makes me cringe. It goes against every fiber of my being because for me, the point of writing is to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard to create something genuine. Even if it's fiction, it's supposed to come from a place of organic creativity. So when I heard artificial intelligence, I was like, oh here we go. But I'm not one to blindly shut something down. So I did take a deeper look...

Maura Kelpy, founder of Veggies & Vodka and Maura K Creative, joins the show this week! Maura runs her own successful graphic design business (in addition to her wellness community under the Veggies & Vodka umbrella) and shares with us specific actions to take when crafting your own visual brand. You know, the look and feel of your business where customers can recognize you in an instant.Here's an excerpt:"So when I take on a branding project for a client, I often start with a G...

Hiring. A critical piece to scale your business. But how do you know it's time to grow your team? What role do you hire for first...or next? How do you make sure you don't hire a jerk that will torpedo your business to the ground? (dramatic? maybe...but maybe not!) What are the pros and cons of hiring a full-time employee vs. a subcontractor? If you hire someone that's not working out, how do you let them go?Sandra Booker, the founder of Any Old Task, joins the show this week. She answers the...

Frederike Harms, founder of Katalyst Ventures, joins the show this week to dive into how to design a truly scalable offer. Growing up with entrepreneur parents, Frederike remembers that her family went on vacation once and only once. Her parents simply could not step back from their business to enjoy extra time with their family.Having a front-row seat to that type of schedule and lifestyle, she decided she wanted to work with entrepreneurs, founders, and business owners to create scalable bu...

Dan Mott joins the show this week! You might remember that Dan and I, along with Claire Davis and Matt Zaun hosted a weekly live show for entrepreneurs and business leaders called Power Hour. It ran for just about a year or so and we had a blast! So cool to reunite with Dan here.In this episode, Dan runs us through the 5 principles he's developed for LinkedIn social selling. Here's a quick excerpt:"You are organically finding them through content and conversation. And now we're no longer stra...

This week on the show I welcome launch strategist and copywriter, Brenna McGowan. We discuss the aspect of an offer that many entrepreneurs skip over: pre-launch.It seems so much easier to skip right to the promotion of the sale, rather than warming an audience up, doing our due diligence, and testing the market... Alas, those who skip the pre-launch are leaving money (and a loyal audience) on the table.Putting the right offer in front of the right audience with the right messaging is key. Ob...

"And I discovered that as a journalist if you don't have a pitch or a story to share with the big boss on Monday morning, you didn't have a job. What's important for entrepreneurs to realize is that journalists aren't just helping you with your business, you are helping them keep their job. Because if you don't pitch your story, they don't have anything to tell their boss on a Monday morning." - Adela HussainThat's one of my favorite pieces of insight from my discussion with Adela, founder of...

Sami Miles, founder of Catchiest Copy and creator of Automatically Funny AF in Four Weeks, talks all things funny in copywriting.When working with clients, she found that the funnest time was when they were joking around, when she could bring that humor out of them and onto paper. A former stand-up comic who has opened for some of the biggest names in the biz, Sami knows exactly how to inject humor into copy in just the right way. Whether it's punching up copywriting assets, speec...