Small Business Casual: Content Marketing, Productivity, Customer Experience for Entrepreneurs & Creators

Text Emily!

Ever wish you could have a crystal ball for your life or business?

I know I certainly do! I LOVE knowing what's going to happen next! When I know what's coming down the pike, I can plan, prepare, get excited, and in some cases... brace myself for it! I understand we can't know 100%. Life is full of the unexpected and surprises. But we can still guess, predict, hope, and then plan to do our very best no matter what comes our way. 

Today we’re going to have some fun with my fortune-telling skills as I share my marketing, visibility, and content creation predictions for 2024!

In this episode: 

• Where I got the inspiration for this episode! (Thanks, Alesia!) 
• Alesia's five predictions for podcasters: Evergreen Content will Reign Supreme, Video is the Future of Podcast Marketing, Bold and Thought Provoking Content Wins, Information is Abundant. Be Selective, and Listeners (People) Over Downloads (Numbers)
• My five predictions for your content and marketing in 2024: 2024 is the time to repurpose and reuse, you will stand out by being consistent, it's about the PEOPLE, people, storytelling is (still) King, clarity will be of the utmost importance 
• PLUS: bonus mini predictions/reminders around standing out, email marketing, AI tools, SEO, and more! 

Links Mentioned:
Alesia Galati's Episode of Listeners to Leads: The Future of Podcasting in 2024
My Content Catalyst Strategy Sessions ((Holiday deal through 12.31.23: buy four, get one FREE!))
👉🏻 I spared you taking notes! Here's the BLOG/Extended Show Notes that go with this episode

Connect with Me, Emily Aborn: 
I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

Sometimes… it just feels like you’re throwing a bunch of spaghetti at the wall. Again and again and again. 

And sometimes, you’re throwing fettuccine, elbow macaroni, and lasagna noodle at the wall when the spaghetti is already sticking just fine! 

Back away from the pasta, this episode will help you determine what’s sticking really when it comes to your business and visibility and how to let go of the tortellini weighing you down. 

In this episode, we review your current efforts and visibility, how to honestly self-evaluate what's working (and what isn't), and how to let go of things that aren’t sticking. 

• Ideas on how to get all your marketing and visibility efforts in one place 
• Using both metrics and gut to evaluate and assess
• Asking yourself honestly whether or not what you're doing aligns with where you want to be going? What you want to be known for? And if you enjoy it? 
• Examples on how I got back in the driver's seat of my own business after doing this activity 
• Giving it a fair shake before declaring it's not working 
• Ways to identify ineffective strategies 
• Letting go with ease and action 
• And more! 

Resources and Links Mentioned (in order of appearance):
👉🏻 EXTENDED SHOW NOTES
Content with Character Episode What Season of Business Are You In?
Lindsay Dreyer's Holistic Evaluation Method 
Content with Character Episode Taking Inventory
Taking Inventory Checklist
Nice Guys on Business Podcast with Doug Sandler and Strickland Bonner
Strategy Session: Seasonal PROMO - BUY FOUR, GET the FIFTH FREE!

What's Sticking Reflection Questions:
What went FABULOUSLY? 
What went just OK? 
What didn’t go well or even AWFUL? 
What would you do again? 
What will you not be doing again? 
What was worth your time, money, energy, emotions, efforts, and what was not? 

About the Host:
I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall… all you have to do is call, and I’ll be there. 

James Taylor forgot one little part of his song - WE’LL all be there at one point or another. Physically, mentally, probably emotionally… and in our businesses. 

In this episode, we’re going to talk about the four seasons of business, and help you determine which one you’re in, plus what actions to take no matter what the temperature is right now! 

In this episode on the seasons of business: 

• Business cycles are normal 
• Actions for Spring in business
• Actions for Summer in business
• Actions in Fall for business
• Actions for Winter and what to do when business is slow 
• Handpicked inspiration for each season :) 
• And more! 

Links and Resources Mentioned:
She Built This podcast episode with Bri Martinez: The Wisdom in Our Cycles
Episode on Setting Realistic Expectations
👉🏻 EXTENDED SHOW NOTES  

Connect with Me, Emily Aborn, Small Business Copywriter:

The quick synopsis: Small Business Copywriter, host of Small Business Casual, wife, auntie, eldest daughter, sister, voracious reader. I live in the backwoods of New Hampshire where I bide my time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading (as aforementioned), doing crosswords and word games, and enjoying bird songs in nature from my back deck.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn

Text Emily!

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've set myself up for disappointment by painting unrealistic expectations for my marketing and business.  I've gotten all hyped up and excited thinking: THIS is the moment. It's all about to blow up, go gangbusters, etc. And it pretty much never ends up like that or works that way. 

Instead, it takes lots of consistent hard work, daily time, effort, attention, and making sure I’m laser-focused on which direction I want to be going in and what I want for my life and business. 

In this week's episode, we're going to talk about big, bold, audacious goals, and setting REALISTIC expectations around our marketing and visibility. 

What's inside: 

• Three questions to ask yourself to spur big dreaming 
• How the online space can set us up for disappointment
• Four things to consider when setting realistic expectations around your marketing and visibility efforts 
• Considering your marketing on the whole 
• Perfection right out of the gate is unrealistic 
• One-side-doesn't-fit-all 
• If you build it, they'll come IF...
• And more! 

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Recent Content with Character Episode on Taking a Break
Jessica Terzakis' LinkedIn post on Passive Income
Rosemarie Callendar's NEW Podcast Episode #3 "A Simple Strategy to Set Realistic Goals for Your Podcast"

Questions For Your Reflection: 

1. What do you REALLY want this year in your business? 
2. What do you want your business to look like and how does it marry with / complement how you want your life to look? 
3. What’s realistic this year for YOU to achieve right now? What steps do you need to get there? Can you nudge yourself just a bit further and dream a smidge bigger? How can you stretch your goals just a little bit more? Make your dream a little bolder and edgier. 

Connect with Me, Emily Aborn, Content Copywriter

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

If you do a Google search on how distractable we are, you'll get page after page of just how hard it is for us to pay attention nowadays. 

A well-known fact about human beings is that if what they're focusing on isn't interesting, or if they allow themselves to get distracted, or if we distract them... they tend to check out and we might have officially lost their attention for good. 

We don't want people getting distracted when consuming OUR content, do we!? No! We want their focus and preferably undivided attention. 

This episode will walk you through some ideas on how to decrease distractions and provide you with some tangible examples for keeping them engaged! 

In this episode: 

• It's not you, it's them! Well, it's not entirely you... 
• The human brains tendency to wander 47% of our waking hours 
• Creative ideas on keeping their attention and getting them engaged
• How to avoid distracting people in our content 
• Whether or not ums, ahs, so's, and buts are all that bad
• And MORE! 

Links and Resources Mentioned (as promised):
Article on Ending Sentences with Prepositions
Grammar Girl Podcast Episode with Valerie Fridland (YouTube)
Valerie's Book Like, Literally, Dude (Penguin Books)
She Built This Podcast Episode on 3 Powerful and Simple Speaking Tips
Content with Character Episode on Speaking Tips

👉🏻 EXTENSIVE SHOW NOTES

About the Host, Emily Aborn

Hi! I'm Emily! I'm a Content Copywriter, Speaker, and Podcast Host of Content with Character and She Built This. Since 2014, I've had experience running brick-and-mortar as well as online businesses. I've written for 97+ industries and love helping others increase their visibility, connect with their clients, and open up to creativity in their content. For fun, I like word games, reading, listening to podcasts, and adventuring around New Hampshire with my husband, Jason, and my dog, Clyde.

Connect with Me: [email protected]

Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

Personally, I'm craving some sort of in-between zone right now.  A space where it’s not 2023 anymore but it’s also not 2024 yet. Neither here, nor there. 

In this episode, I share with you about the magical gift I want us to consider giving ourselves in these final weeks of this year and that is…  a pause between reflecting and planning. 

Somewhere in between the taking stock and the planning, there needs to be a little bit of a nothing. Somewhere for all the creative ideas to bubble up without you planning them all and plotting your course in stone just yet. Somewhere for intention to really spark and then burn into a raging fire inside you, so you have a place to keep coming back to that’s solid inside you when you look at whether or not something is a yes or a no. 

That place is what we’re going to talk about today. A pause, a breathe, a break. Call it whatever you want. 

• You don't have to go out with a bang and CRUSH your goals before NY
• Five ideas for slowing down if you're like me and can't shut your business down for the last bit of the year 
• Questions to ask yourself (and your business) as you sit back and pause
• And more

Resources Mentioned 
Quote: “The price we pay for our errors is higher than the benefits we gain from our successes. So be careful of rushing headlong into maximalist action, convinced of your own righteousness. Be incremental and patient and steady.” - Matt Gaetz
Mahdi Woodard Instagram Post
Taking Inventory Episode 

Journaling Questions:
What do I really want to create? 
Dear business, how do you want me to share? 
Who do you want to connect with? 
Work with? 
What do you really want to do?
How do you best like to organize your time? Structure your weeks? 
What season are you in? Ramping up? Growing? Planting Seeds? Nourishing? Cutting back? Pivoting entirely? 
What does success abundance and a joyful business you’re proud of look like for you? 

Connect with me, Emily Aborn Content Copywriter

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

Creating content with "character" is what this podcast is all about. Not simply creating more just for the sake of more, or because you feel like you should be, but coming from a place of depth, intention, and a desire to spark more goodness in the world. 

In this episode, we’re talking about why to create content in the first place and the four hidden benefits to YOU to the creator when you do!

Discover how your content gives back to those experiencing it and to you in this episode.

Topics covered: 

• What is content? 
• How to consider why you create content in the first place
• Your content can change someone else's life
• 9 Things your content can do for others
• Four hidden benefits for you, the content creator 
• And more! 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

Content with Character Episode: Speaking and Podcasting for Increased Visibility
She Built This podcast Bonus episode with Speaking Tips
Blog: Creating Connection through Speaking and Podcasting
Simone Seol's Instagram post referenced

Quotes:

“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” - Joan Didion

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

"Art is about the maker." - Rick Rubin

About Me, Podcast Host and Content Copywriter Emily Aborn
I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm a dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

For up to 75% of the population,  public speaking is their greatest fear. For some, it's even more scary than death itself!

Stage and large audiences aside, this fear can even creep in with podcast guesting, showing up in your own video content, and more. In this episode, we're headed into the haunted house of speaking and giving you tips on how to get started with more confidence, why to consider it as a tool for your business visibility,  how to find the ever-elusive speaking opportunities, and more!

In the episode: 

• How speaking be beneficial for us as business owners as we increase our visibility, develop our thought leadership, and find our voices
• What constitutes "speaking"? 
• Why speaking is a great way to create connection and infuse storytelling
• How to find the ever-elusive speaking engagements you crave (from podcasting to stages!) 
• Tips on pitching 
• Tips for overcoming nervousness when speaking 
• Speaking is not just another appointment in your calendar 
• And more! 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Podcast Collaboration Group (paid membership)
Podcast Guest Collaboration Group on FB (free version of above)
Pod Match
Innovation Women*
CWE, SBDC, SCORE (NH & VT Chapters)
Content with Character Episode: How to Pitch Like a Human
Linda Ugelow Book: Delight in the Limelight, Linda Ugelow TikTok (speaker confidence tips)
Linda Ugelow She Built This Podcast Episode: Delighting in the Limelight
More Show Notes! 

LISTENER THANKS:
Robin A., Bonnie, Debbie

About Me, Emily Aborn Content Copywriter, Speaker, and Podcast Host

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

*Please note: This is an affiliate link and I do receive a small commission if you choose to purchase an Innovation Women membership 

Text Emily!

Want to make your content and marketing more of a treat and steer clear of all the trickery out there? 

In this episode, we’re going to get into three ways to do just that! 

For this month of October 2023 - in the spirit of Halloween, we’ve been getting into some of the darker sides of marketing and business with some of those not entirely FUN things that happen to us as entrepreneurs. 

• What to do When Things Fail (Part 1) 
• What to do When Your Business is Slow (Part 2) 
• Are Ghosts Really so Scary? (Part 3) 

Today, we're getting into how to make your content more of a TREAT and less of a trick with three ideas to help you: 

Be more YOU wherever you're showing up in your content. 
Be kind. 
Be intentional. 

Resources Mentioned:

My personal Facebook page if you want to see the SCARIEST things people see online and in social media
Jessica Osborn's Podcast Episode of "She's the Business" with Lisa Twohig: How to Cut Through the Crowd by Having Fun in Your Content 
My lame attempt at following an Instagram trend (thank you to my one commenter!)
Karen Kenney's "Giving Credit Matters" podcast episode 
She Built This podcast episode with Alice Karolina "How We Sell Matters" - Ethical Marketing

Special Thanks: 
Kristy and Vicki for sharing! The Muscle Relaxer for your kind review and positive words!

About Me (Let's Connect!):

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, speaker, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm a dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Don't worry, mom (you're my favorite too!)  Our happy little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast

Text Emily!

Research shows that up to 23% of people have been ghosted in the US. Other terms closely related to this phenomenon include "breadcrumbing," "benching," "the slow fade". 

But these aren’t as spooky as straight-up ghosting. Why is the ghosting technique becoming more prevalent in the online business world with collaborators, connections, clients, and even contractors? 

In this week's episode, I wanted to take some time and first share some examples of where I see ghosting happen with connections, clients, and collaborators, then talk about WHY it might happen, and then talk about some ways to prevent it. And when not preventable, what to do about it. 

We get into: 

• Why there's an increase in ghosting due to a rise in technology
• Who is guilty of ghosting in a professional setting 
• Reasons collaborators, connections, and clients might ghost
• Ideas on how to prevent or lessen the prevalence of ghosting 
• How ghosting has almost nothing to do with you, the ghostee
• What to do about it when it happens 
• And more! 

While you may be tempted to take it personally or write a story about why they ghosted, what it means about the person doing it, or what it means about you... the truth is, there are lots of reasons ghosting happens. The most likely explanation is almost never that the person on the other end is cruel or uncaring, it might actually be the complete opposite! 

So, maybe we should just let sleeping ghosts lie… 

Resources mentioned:

Desiree Stanley's Pockets of Knowledge Podcast episode featuring yours truly :)
Alesia Galati's Listeners to Leads Podcast and Galati Media Website

Connect with Me:

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Content Copywriter, speaker, host of Content with Character, as well as the She Built This podcast. I'm a dog mom to Mr. Clyde and wife to my favorite person in the whole world, Jason. Our happy little family lives in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking and investigating fungi in the woods, reading, and sitting on the back porch (when it's not snowing) doing crosswords, word games, and drinking coffee.  

Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
She Built This Podcast