Episode 015:  - How to Increase Sales with Strategic Copy & Efficiency Tactics with Ashlyn Carter

Website | @ashlynscarter

Ashlyn Carter is conversion copywriter and marketing strategist specializing in wedding & creative industries. She traded Fortune 500 clients in corporate marketing for creatives likes Jenna Kutcher, Beth Kirby of Local Milk, Julie Solomon, Katelyn James, Hilary Rushford, Lara Casey/Cultivate What Matters, and more. She's been a contributing educator with Creative Live, ConvertKit, and HoneyBook, and have been featured in Southern Living, Style Me Pretty, and more. Ashlyn lives in Atlanta and convinces her husband (and baby boy) to go with her to grab margs and tacos weekly.

Do you know the importance of copywriting and how to use it in your business? Are you using rhythms and systems to help you work from a place of rest? This episode is FULL of amazing resources to help you serve your clients well while avoiding burnout, and you're not going to want to miss it!

Outline:

• Ashlyn shares about her corporate background and transitioning to building her own business and how she faced anxiety, and how she was able to shift her priorities both personally and in work.

• Copywriting - what exactly IS that? Ashlyn explains what the world of copy is all about.

"If you can't sell me on your business, then who can?"

• Alongside the visuals in the world of entrepreneurs are words, and the words are what do the heavy lifting when it comes to selling. Ashlyn shares how she creates tools to help people learn how to write effective copy themselves.

• Ashlyn shares tips on where to start for websites including messaging, branding, user experience, and how to have visuals and messaging tell a story.

"Copy dictates design, not the other way around."

• Word Banks and Messaging Guides: what are they and how to use them in every area of your business, from your greeting to how you choose who to work with when outsourcing.

• Ashlyn talks about the physiology around sales funnels and how to simplify communication from the beginning to the very end in clear and direct ways.

"Confused people don't buy."

-Templates! Do you have one for when you make a mistake, double book a client, or need to change the contract? Ashlyn recommends having a lot of templates, because if it happens twice, it's going to happen again.

- How templates offer greater care for clients instead of being an impersonal response.

• Trigger words, and words that help sell and help clients feel like the experience is about them.

• Tips for Instagram and how to batch write captions.

• Ashlyn talks about protecting her time and working from a place of rest.

• Knowing your hourly rate and what is worth that amount of time, and tracking your time to see where you're spending it.

"It's fun to do our work, but at the same time we've got to take a step away from it or we are going to burn out and our art won't get to the world."

• Delegating tasks that will free up time and save money because time is money.

• Ashlyn talks about figuring out your rhythms of work and schedules and tasks, and putting like things together to avoid burnout.

Resources:

Check out Ashlyn's Website for tons of great freebies, workbooks and helpful blog posts!

Focus Keeper App

Episode 014: Smarter Content Creation - With Kallie Branciforte

Website | @kallie_branciforte |

Kallie is the blogger and YouTuber behind But First, Coffee, a lifestyle brand about helping you save time and money and live a more simplified life. She's also the creator of Caffeinate and Conquer, an online resource for other creative entrepreneurs to grow their online presence. Along with being an avid content creator, she's an SEO strategist and internet media marketer.

Do you feel like you're on a constant hamster wheel of content creation? Do you want tips and strategies to help you optimize content so followers can find you? Do you want to provide content that's valuable while also staying passionate about it? Then you're going to want to tune into this episode!

Outline:

• Kallie tells us about her education background and how she fell into the blogging world, the industry of internet marketing, and content creation

• Kallie shares how she was able to marry her love of teaching and internet marketing and SEO strategy

• Pinterest? Facebook? Instagram? Youtube? Help! How to narrow your focus and why Kallie recommends picking two platforms to focus on when it comes to engaging with others and content creation

"When you're a blogger, you're constantly creating content.

- The importance of localizing your following and how that will help you stand out to the followers in your area

• Why localizing isn't turning off anyone, but is opening the door more for local followers

- Alt tags, keywords, descriptions, search engines, page titles? Kallie shares some very simple and practical SEO tips to help with localizing your blog

"Be smarter with the content that you are creating so that other people can find it."

• Kallie shares how to write posts for followers and how stepping into the perspective of a follower can offer insight on tweaking content.

• Practical tips on character count for blog posts and how headers can help you organize your posts a bit more

• Navigating Yoast for Wordpress

• Kallie shares about her e-book that helps cover all the aspects of SEO

• Why video content is so important, and the benefits of using video to engage your audience

• Kallie shares why she loves Youtube for video and generating sustainable traffic

"You don't need to wait until you have a best equipment to get on Youtube."

• Kallie shares her journey of Youtube and all the work and reward involved with that platform

"If you're always chasing the next viral thing, you're going to get no satisfaction out of it."

• Why it's important to create content you're passionate about for the types of people you want to create content for

• Growth hacking, and how to use Youtube to help support your blog

• Monetizing Youtube and diversifying your revenue stream

- Kallie shares tips on starting out creating video content, how to become comfortable in front of the camera, and how to have FUN with it

"Whatever you decide to do - whether it's blogging or social media - is to make sure there's a piece of you that's still doing it in a way that you really enjoy."

Resources:

Yoast Plug-in for Wordpress

Kallie's Resources Page

Website | @jennifermagley |

Jennifer Magley  -Jennifer Magley is an Entrepreneur, High-Performance Coach, Speaker, and Author. She is the founder and owner of "OPEN GYM INDY" Indiana's Fitness Service where you can go to unlimited fitness classes at over 40 different gyms. A University of Florida graduate, former professional athlete, Division I head coach, and activist she has received national media coverage by USA Today, ESPN, Heart & Soul Magazine, BRIO Magazine, Active Life Magazine, The Kansas City Star, The Indianapolis Star, and IndyStyle TV among others. Jennifer is an in-demand speaker and served on the board of local nonprofits COBURN Place, The Patachou Foundation and is a 2018 Make-A-Wish Women Inspiring Strength and Hope Honoree (W.I.S.H.) in Indianapolis, IN. She is a single mother of two young boys.

How are your habits and do you struggle with change? Does the term "Work/Life Balance" leave you frustrated? Do you struggle with sales or don't know how to communicate with prospective clients?  Then THIS jam-packed episode is for you!

Outline:

- How to get clear on exactly what you want, take action, and replace your bad habits with good ones.

"We all have habits. The good news is when you create good ones, you're a slave to them."

• How Jennifer utilizes the 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins and how to reprogram your brain to do something different (and how it helped her run 10 miles without stopping!)

• Starting new habits and being successful.

-A great tool for a breakthrough - The Immunity Map - and how to identify what areas of life you're self-sabotaging.

- How to identify what excuses you might be using to keep you from living the life you really want.

"What is it that you are more committed to than actually changing?"

• Jennifer talks about defeating the Work/Life Balance Unicorn in her own life. She explains, as entrepreneurs, how to approach the concept of "Work/Life Balance" as "Work/Life Blending" instead.

• Recognizing how phrases like "work/life balance" and "being on brand" are limiting.

• Jennifer knows what it's like to talk sales, and gives great advice on how to handle "Nos" in the sales world, her number 1 tip for sales, and overcoming barriers when it comes to closing a sale.

• Where to begin when you don't know where to start with sales, how to maneuver cold calls, and what alternate choice ask is all about.

"You always want to give your prospective clients options."

• Jennifer talks about her high, low, circular technique.
• Knowing when to use systems and processes and when to keep communication more personal
• How lunch is related to a successful ask in a sale.
• Jennifer talks about what body matching is all about and how that translates to a sales environment.
• Setting the stage for a prospective client to say yes.

"Sales or having a business is not something you're good or bad at, it's just something we all have to keep growing at."

• Jennifer shares her top resources and where she sources data, research, and statistics.

Resources:

Drive by Daniel H. Pink

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

The Immunity Map

Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards

Radio Lab

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield

Episode 012: From Blog to Book: How to Get Published! with Lauren McDuffie

Website | @_laurenmcduffie_

As a professional writer, photographer, food blogger, and cookbook author, Lauren has grown a unique creative business model for herself that infuses her love of food and storytelling together. She helps brands tell their stories in ways that are authentic and relatable through the use of imagery, words and if needed, original recipes. Lauren lives in Indianapolis, IN with her husband and two young children.  

Outline:

-Lauren begins by sharing her story of how she moved from hobby to partnering with brands and monetizing her blog.

-As a mompreneur, Lauren shares how she has found meaning in both being a mom and business owner. "Don't be intimidated by the work if it's something you love."

-Learning how to say no and when to say no and being okay with that in order to maintain a realistic work-life balance.

-Lauren shares about her new adventure hosting a food blogger retreat. Shares her desire to give back through her blog.

-The conversation switches towards her publishing her cookbook, "Smoke, Roots, Mountain Harvest". She dives into behind the scenes of what it looks like to publish. How she moved from blog to book.

-A lot of people assumed she was approached for a book deal.  She was more self-taught and figured it out on her own. She googled "how to get a book deal" and found resources.

-One of the crucial first steps in publishing is getting a literary agent. You will create a proposal that you pitch to agents.

-One of the blocks Lauren faced was not having a significant following or being "famous enough" which is a common hurdle.

-Once she found an agent, then that person pitched her book idea to publishers which then landed her with a book deal.

-People hear no's for YEARS when pushing a book before they get signed, so pushing past the challenges is key. Your people can help boost you from toxic self-talk.

-Importance of growing your email list

-A literary agent is really important in the process. While you can do it on your own, you're much more likely to succeed with one. They serve as a middle man between you and the publisher.

-How to find a literary agent.

-What should you expect to pay for a literary agent?

-Talks about the process of what goes on once you get signed up with a book deal: ie imagery, design, printing, etc.

-The importance of getting recipe testers in the process of creating a cookbook

-Push through the no's and you'll eventually get to your yes

-Not comparing yourself to others is a critical part of living into the creative process.

Resources:

Pre-Order her Cookbook here on Amazon.

101 Cookbooks

Writer's Digest

Small Victories by Julia Turshen

Episode 011: How to Build an Engaging and Successful Facebook Group with Becky Mollenkamp

Website | @beckymollenkamp |

Becky Mollenkamp is the creator of the Own it, Crush it movement. With nearly 15 years of experience as a business owner, she helps women navigate the mindset and tactical struggles of self-employment. Through her courses, exclusive membership community, and group program, Becky has mentored hundreds of women to own and crush their boss status.

Are you interested in Facebook Groups but not sure where to start or how to jump in? Are you organized and a natural leader? Are you looking to grow an engaging community on Facebook? Then this episode is for you! Jump in as Becky Shares her wisdom and experience!

Outline:

• Becky shares about her career as a writer, business owner, mother, business coach and how she moved into growing a successful Facebook Group.

• She learned a lot from Facebook Groups and they helped shaped the way she did things, provided a support community for herself as she started a business, and gave her resources to learn from.  She jumped into launching her own Facebook Group. It was a way for her to create a community and grow her business.

• Becky shares the best personality type for starting a Facebook Group successfully and the questions to ask before starting one.

"Anytime something feels like a "should" for you, then it's probably not the right thing for you."

- Offering value that you teach to people in a Facebook Group that will keep them coming back to your group and make yours unique.

• Becky shares how her group grew successfully because she was a part of visible community, put herself out there to know people, planted the early seeds, and pre-populated her group with contacts needed to launch her group.

• The power of writing a great Facebook Group Description, and the little things that will make people feel like they're joining something polished. People want to feel like they are joining something professional and real.

• The best thing Facebook did for groups: filtering questions. Becky shares how quality is far more valuable than quantity and how basic questions help grow members who will interact and be your potential ideal clients.

• Importance of being present in the beginning stages of a Facebook Group and engaging with your audience, and how your responsibility shifts as your group grows.

• Becky shares how to navigate the workload and the ins and outs of running a group and time commitment involved.

"If you want a really great, lively Facebook Group that has a lot of value, you have to be there."

- Creating interesting content and prompts that are engaging and encourage interaction and how important it is especially in the beginning stages of a Facebook Group.

• Monetizing Facebook Groups and providing valuable content that people will want to pay for. How to keep showing up and showing the value of what you offer. Creating a seamless sales funnel within your group that is inviting and natural.

- Becky shares about her course offerings, including LinkedIn, Money Mindset, and business coaching.

Resources:

Own It. Crush It. Facebook Group

Becky's Course Offerings

Episode 010: Systems That Will Save Your Business! with Jordan Gill

Systems Saved Me | @systmessavedme | Pinterest | Facebook

Operations Consultant and Host of the Systems Saved Me Podcast, Jordan Gill takes pride in saving hours (even days) around time-sucking technology decisions and an untrained team.

She has been on the stages of She's Building Her Empire, Creative CEO Conference, Success Without Sacrifice, Blog Like a Boss Brunch, and Vision Casting while also being featured in Belong Magazine!

She's also had the pleasure of being interviewed on Creative Empire Podcast, Profit Planner, The Real Female Entrepreneur, Business Building Rockstars, Kickass Masterminds, and CEO Stories.

Jordan lives in Dallas with her Cavapoo, Vivienne and loves to indulge in some true southern bbq.

Outline:

-How travel has helped impact how she runs her business and helped her become flexible and adaptable.

-Shares how her faith impacts how she made the decision to switch her career and start her own Operations Consultant business with nothing but a network, LLC, an email and a bank account.

-Shares about how she relied on herself and took a chance on herself and grew a profitable business.

-Discusses the "Triple Threat" approach for organization and automating your inbox and social media.

-Talks about scheduling coffee chat details in calendar to maximize time with the person she is meeting with.

-Using scheduling links to prepare for meetings without spending 8-14 emails to schedule one meeting.

-Integrating Accuity and Zoom for business.

-Clarifying what Systems do and how they cut the crap out so you can do the work that really matters.

-When choosing new tools to use, she emphasizes the importance of making sure if it works with the other systems used in your business and their need for good customer service.

-Connection, Clients, Content

-Importance of having systems in place that are built for positive client experience and handling growth in your business.

-Dive into Inbox management and implementing Google Suite in your admin console, and using aliases within your inbox to seamlessly filter messages so you don't have to. Also illuminated the need to limit your main inbox so all people interactions.

-Setting expectations for response-time to clients and using template emails for common emails to save time.

-Creating social media content from the information you are already absorbing from podcasts, books, tv shows, client interaction. View your own consumption as a way to fuel your social media presence.

-Batching content creation and using scheduling software for social media and not overthinking things.

Resources:

Acuity

Zoom

Google Suite

Last Pass

Google Forms

Streak

Smarterqueue

Website | I: @ericaballardhealth | The Full Plate Podcast

Erica Ballard is a Health and Mindset Coach. She has been featured by The Mom Project, Orange Theory Fitness, and Women's Health and is the host of The Full Plate podcast. She specializes in upping one's productivity and focus through food and works closely with clients to identify foods and habits that fuel their professional and personal goals.   

Erica believes better food leads to a better life and is on a mission to show people that they can live healthy despite their busy schedules. As the force behind Erica Ballard Health, she works with business leaders, self-identified grinders, and business professionals to ditch the diets, drop the self-sabotage, and finally gain control over their food and health.

Erica worked in health care and public health for almost a decade before starting her business. She has an MS from Tufts School of Medicine and her CHC through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. After ten years on the east coast, she now lives in the hometown of Indianapolis with her amazing fiancé Nick and their really cute dog Max. Stop by www.ericaballardhealth.com to learn more.

Outline:

Eating well is important from a business standpoint.

-Definition of heath: Having the energy and confidence to do what you want. What does energy and confidence look like for you?

-How is what we eat connected to our outcome and happiness? Your brain and gut are connected by an axis, hence a "gut feeing". Your gut is your second brain. Your gut is the connection with the outside world.

-90% of your serotonin lives in your stomach, so your mood is completely dependent on what -you put in your body.

-Dives into microbiome and how that is connected to the conversations between your mind and gut.

-Food is frequency. We have to be on the right dial.

-How to avoid crashes. Sugar and Carb chats. Cut your carbs in the morning. Importance of incremental change.

-Your metabolism follows the rhythm of the sun. You burn the most calories between 12:00-1:30.

-Practical, incremental tips for increase your productivity. Drink water & Sleep! Our bodies are 65% water and our brains are 70% water.

-Listen to your body & the cues it is sending you. Don't suppress your gut feeling and logic your way out of it.

-Favorite snacks: Bulletproof Bars, Epic Bars, Lara Bars, Nuts,

-EAT FAT!!! It's good for your brain!

-90/10 rule. 90% of the time I do the best that I can and 10% of the time I don't.

-"Negative thoughts lead to negative action."

-"The way you do one thing is the way you do everything." Unpack your actions to get to the root cause.

-You give yourself your own freedom!

Episode 008: "The Inside Scoop on Pinterest Strategy" featuring Vanessa Kynes

Website | Instagram | Blog

Vanessa is a Pinterest Marketing Strategist for creative small businesses. Using YouTube and her blog, she helps creative small businesses blossom by creating traffic-generating Pinterest strategies to increase their visibility. Juggling the demands of her own budding business with those of family and home, she specializes in efficient productivity, making the most out of every moment, and every pin! Hailing originally from the great state of Texas, she has lived in two foreign countries and enjoys traveling with her three sweet daughters and memory-seeking husband while residing in Virgina. You can find her blogging at vanessakynes.com.

Outline:

-Momprenuer advice! How she juggles business and life with three little girls!

-Why Pinterest? Why is this an important instrument for business owners

-How to use Pinterest to grow your email list. Fresh content on your blog that is in your zone of genius and then an Opt-in that is relevant to followers so they can opt-in to your email list. Make sure you are nurturing your email list before you sell them!

-What your Pinterest profile should be set up as a business and make sure you enable rich pins

-What your Pins should look like. Size, branding and text overlay. 600X900 pixels

-How to create blogs that are connected with Pinterest

-How to use Pinterest to create client leads & sales

-How to optimize your profile and boards. Key words, the algorithm, titles of boards, categories,

-The important elements of pin descriptions

-Automate your Pinterest strategy with Tailwind

Resources:

Tailwind

Episode 007: "What You Need to Know About Brand Partnerships" featuring Lindsay of Shrimp Salad Circus

Website | Instagram: @shrimpsaladcircus

Lindsay writes the DIY blog Shrimp Salad Circus, where she shares approachable projects to help people realize they can be creative, too. As an incredibly successful influencer, she believes in the power of authentic brand partnerships and has worked with companies like IKEA, Starbucks, Michaels, and more. In today's episode, Lindsay dives into what you need to know as you begin working with brands. From Media kits to regulations, to negotiating your campaign, this episode is packed!

Outline:

-Lindsay shares about her story of growing her 10+ year craft blog, Shrimp Salad Circus. She shares about how brand partnerships and the influencer world has changed throughout the years.

-How to align your brand with partnerships and making sure you are not "salesy"

-The behind-the-scenes of how to get connected work with brands- PR agencies, Networks

-How to know you are not getting spam leads for brand partnerships

-Guidelines and regulations for creating ads and sponsorships with your social accounts and blog- Federal Trade Commission

-The expectation for compensation of campaigns and partnerships. Moving from free products to getting paid, and how much you should plan to get paid.

-The importance of staying consistent with your brand voice and values.

-Details of what is involved in a campaign, and how to negotiate your terms. Your value is not just your numbers/followers.

-When its time to be confident to receive monetary compensation when working with companies. The importance of niching in your expertise to elevate your worth in partnerships.

-The movement towards Micro influencers

-What you should have prepared as you walk into work with brands. The basics of analytics and what should be included in your media kit.

Resources:

Federal Trade Commission

Clever Girls Collective

Massive Sway

Blog Lovin'- Activate

TapInfluence

Episode 006 "How to grow your Instagram with the Algorithm"  Taylor from LATER

Check out her blog feature on Bridging Herstory: 5 Tips to Grow your Business Instagram with the Algorithm

Later Website | Taylor's Instagram : @taylor.loren | Taylor's travel Instagram: @localwanderer

Taylor is a brand builder and Instagram expert, and you might know her as "Taylor from Later," the #1 Instagram marketing platform. She loves helping entrepreneurs grow their business using Instagram, which she does through Later's popular blog, newsletter, and free courses. She has grown Instagram accounts for big companies, startups, celebrities, and her own travel blog. Taylor lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and her cat, and when she's not on Instagram, she's passionate about raising awareness for mental health causes. 

Outline:

-Explains LATER and all the features and education businesses can gain through uses this resource that keeps people updated on Instagram trends & content to help build your brand.

-Auto-publishing with Instagram

-Taylor gives us the inside scoop on how and why Instagram changed their algorithm

-We dive into the 3 factors that play into the Instagram Algorithm: Interest (machine learning), timeliness, relationships

-How can businesses grow their Instagram given this new Algorithm change?  The importance of timing, engagement and the psychology of your consumer.

-The Instagram shadow ban doesn't exist anymore

-Find your "niche" on Instagram with content buckets

-What makes people decide to initially follow you? Your Instagram aesthetic and how to use presets & a Lightroom hack to get that consistency

-Importance of your Bio & Highlight icons

-Why Stories matter & how to use them for your business

-Importance of using a business profile and examining your analytics

Resources:

-Later Homepage

-Later Courses

-Maddie Corbin Presets

-Lightroom app for mobile 

-10 Creative Ways to use Instagram Stories for Business:

-Unfold for Stories

-Follow Jillian Harris on Instagram @jillian.harris