The Design Business Show

Susan Harrow is a media trainer, marketing strategist, martial artist + author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins), the first and only book on promoting yourself without using jargon, sales, sex, war, or aggressive language. She specializes in working with women leaders, entrepreneurs + innovators solving the world's most pressing problems. For the past 33 years she's trained thousands of people for TV, radio, panel, podcast + print interviews to be highly desirable, repeat guests who shine in the media spotlight™.

She's prepped her clients and course participants to appear on Oprah, 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Bloomberg, MSNBC, NPR, CNN, FOX, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Forbes, Inc., O, Parade, Vanity Fair etc. as well as stage to screen.

You may know her as the "Go To Girl" for getting on Oprah. What you might not know about her is that she has a black belt in Aikido, she rafted down the Zambezi River in class 5 rapids + was almost gored to death by an elephant.

Join us as we learn how to let go of imposter syndrome or if we lack or have lost confidence so we can keep our originality and quirks and be true to ourselves in every moment.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• How Susan used to be known as the go-to-girl for getting on Oprah when she was a publicist for authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs

• Women with products have a great opportunity to get into O Magazine, which can have one of the most powerful effects on your business

• As a publicist, Susan was curious why some people weren't as effective as others in media, and she discovered it was often what they were saying or how they were being, so she started doing media training

• Susan wanted to help promote women in a way where they didn't feel like they had to brag, beg or whore themselves

• Self-doubt and imposter syndrome are natural when moving to the next level of our expertise, and we need to accept that it exists but not stay in it

• When imposter syndrome comes up, Susan teaches us how to micromanage our minds so we can make sure our thoughts are serving the person we want to be and shares an example of when she was experiencing imposter syndrome the other day and what she did to help herself

• Imposter syndrome comes from within, which is why we need to shift our mindset around it – you can make a million dollars, have a great life and family, and still experience it

• Susan shares that she's always thinking about the next thing and moves towards what makes her curious and what's going to light her up

• Susan had been working on a course for women on how to handle sexual harassment but also be able to speak their minds, stand their ground and express themselves in the world, which is the area she's moving into

• Role-playing is important to developing internal personal power so you can speak up and stay safe in any situation, especially in the media spotlight

• Susan teaches facial language, body language, verbal language, and the embodiment of showing who you are in any circumstance so you're not pushed around

• To move forward in media today, Susan says you need to have a story or a connection with something going on in the culture today that's important to other people and then match that to the correct audience, publication, or show

• Susan works hand-in-hand with publicity firms where they do the booking, and she does the media training

• The first 3 questions Susan asks clients are what's your deepest intention/how do you want to serve? What do you want for yourself professionally, personally, spiritually, financially, and physically? What do you want your audience to do? Then they build their messaging around those answers

• When choosing the best media method for clients, Susan says they start small to develop their chops and test what resonates with their audience; they look at what comes naturally to them and choose the medium based on where their clients are

• Susan shares the strategy she used to help a client build her credibility through print media

• In a world of quick videos and pictures, Susan shares why it's important to pick something long and lasting, like a podcast, but says if there is a quick pop of something in media for you, you need to monetize it quickly and work it into your PR plan

• Susan is always looking at what's unique or special about a person and how they can connect it to the world and culture today

• Check out PR Secrets.com for freebies, Susan's blog and free report to help you create the specific story you'll need for any media, interview, presentation, etc.

• Susan would like women to expand their vision and being into all the areas of capability and curiosity that they've been longing for

Links mentioned:

Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul®

PR Secrets Website

Free Report: How to Create Your Story

Connect with Susan on Facebook

Connect with Susan on Instagram

Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

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Cinthia Pacheco is the owner and founder of Digital Bloom IQ, a Digital Marketing Agency specializing in helping female business owners and brands grow their businesses and change the world. She and her team are incredibly passionate about assisting female founders in making an impact and partnering with their clients to reach more people who are already searching for them online. After five years of corporate working with companies like Avon, Sears, and Hyundai, she transitioned into the small business world, focusing on creating a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO and Google Analytics services. She is on a mission to inspire Health and Wellness businesses to be more intentional about their SEO marketing and share more of their healing talents.

When she's not working, you can find her playing with her daughter, chilling with her boyfriend, or watching Gilmore Girls on her couch.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• We first met Cinthia on episode 52 of The Design Business Show, where we talked about her background and attracting more clients using SEO

• Last year, Cinthia became a mom, which has been a crazy lifestyle change but has inspired her to dream bigger in her business, help more people, and be more transparent

• How parenting has changed Cinthia's mindset about how she utilizes her time because she doesn't have as much of it anymore

• Cinthia does a lot of journaling and tapping to help with her mindset and shares some exercises she uses

• I share a project I'm working on for an e-commerce brand where we are to the point of putting SEO terms on the page

• The first thing Cinthia suggests doing is SEO research to create a keyword strategy for everything inside your brand; that way, you can look at what someone would search if they were ready to buy or if they weren't ready to buy

• Cinthia explains how your SEO keywords play a part in your messaging and content strategy but also says that not every page on your site needs to have keywords and be SEO infused

• An SEO expert isn't someone who comes in and tells you where to put keywords; they're telling you what people are searching and giving you opinions on your customer personas

• When you are just starting, Cinthia feels that you don't need to spend money because you can search Google to see what people are searching and says to scroll down after you search to other suggested topics because those are also keywords

• Keywords Everywhere is a paid tool integrated into Chrome that works off credits – as you search on Google, it will give you keyword suggestions, tell you how many times that keyword is being used per month, and how competitive it is

• Other places to start keyword hunting are Quora and Reddit to see what people are asking

• When looking at your SEO data, Cinthia recommends starting with the Search Console over Google Analytics because Google Analytics isn't just SEO specific and could be more overwhelming

• Cinthia gives examples of how to use different keywords throughout the customer journey for products and service providers to diversify your keyword strategy

• A mistake Cinthia sees many product owners make is not blogging – they are so focused on the product page, which is important, but they are missing an opportunity to answer customer questions, create a product guide, or how-to videos

• When Cinthia tells her clients to blog about their competition, they get nervous but share how this has helped one of her clients rank on the first page

• It's okay if your product doesn't align with keywords; they don't need to live on your product page

• Cinthia feels virtual products are a little easier because you can talk a lot more and utilize SEO in many ways than physical products – you can use keywords on your sales page, blog, testimonials page, etc.

• If you have a product that is competing with Amazon in the search results, Cinthia explains that you need a strategy that differentiates yourself

• If you want to work with Cinthia, they have a done-for-you retainer option because SEO can take a bit of time, or they have a done-with-you audit for businesses and people not ready to dive into a month-to-month retainer

• Not only do they send you an in-depth audit of your business in the done-with-you option, but they also send you what to do next with the data you receive so then you can decide if you want to hire the SEO agency or take it upon yourself

• Cinthia has an SEO course for those who have a team or any business owners who want to know how to do SEO for themselves

• Listen to Cinthia's Digitally Overwhelmed podcast episode, How to Hire an SEO Expert, where she talks about how to know if you are hiring the right person

• Blogging is not dead, but Cinthia says that Google is pickier than ever about what it ranks, which isn't a problem, but it is something to consider because you have to write useful content

• All platforms have their pros and cons, but choosing not to have a website is a very personal choice – Cinthia explains that you don't know what could happen to some of these platforms if you decide to only use Instagram or Facebook, for example

• Check out the Digital Bloom IQ Website, where you can find Cinthia's services, blog, podcast, and webinar series called the 90-Day SEO Plan, which is a great starting point for people

Links mentioned:

Digital Bloom IQ Website

Episode 52 of The Design Business Show

Keywords Everywhere

Digitally Overwhelmed podcast: How to Hire an SEO Expert

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As the Founder & CEO of Factory45, Shannon Lohr works with idea-stage entrepreneurs to launch fashion brands that are sustainably and ethically made.

Shannon got her start in 2010 when she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that was featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com and Yahoo! News.

Through her online business school, Factory45, Shannon has worked with over 500 entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion space, many of whom have gone on to launch some of the most transparent supply chains in the fashion industry.

Shannon has worked as a consultant for crowdfunding projects that have surpassed their goal amounts by as much as 300%, and has worked closely with startup apparel companies from all over the world to create ethically-made products with a focus on environmentally-friendly materials.

Shannon is a strong advocate for increasing supply chain transparency through sourcing, localization and storytelling. She's been named a thought leader for the future of fashion and was nominated as a "Woman of Note" by the Wall Street Journal.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• How Shannon started a sustainable fashion brand in 2010 that led her to open Factory45, an online business school that takes sustainable fashion brands from idea to launch

• It took Shannon nearly 2 years to launch her fashion brand, and she shares how hard it was to launch a physical brand that was sustainable, which is why she is passionate about helping others easily launch their brands

• Shannon shares how her first business became the highest-funded fashion project on Kickstarter in 2011 through preordering and raising money before they went into production – this is the strategy she now teaches

• The breakdown of fast fashion and how the fashion industry is one of the top 5 industries contributing to environmental damage and human rights issues

• When it comes to attracting your ideal customer for fashion or physical brands, Shannon says that photography and copywriting are the most important

• Shannon says as an independent startup, the founder is the one making most of the decisions, so if copywriting, photography, or graphic design, for example, aren't your strengths, outsource them

• One mistake Shannon sees a lot of people make when launching a new business is not taking the time to build an audience before they launch because otherwise, you'll be launching to crickets

• Shannon explains why it's important to validate your idea, test, and make sure there is a market for what you want to sell – with all of the platforms available to us to build an audience, there is no reason to launch a business blindly

• Once you have enough data behind your brand, Shannon says you can presell your product/service, which allows you to have that money upfront, validate your idea and market your idea

• Something Shannon tells her entrepreneurs is that visibility is so important when you're first starting, but it's not something that gets less important as you continue to grow

• Shannon breaks down the difference between content and visibility

• One of the best things Shannon did when starting Factory45 was focus on visibility by doing guest blog posts, interviews, and getting in front of other people's audiences

• Visibility today for Shannon looks like being a guest on podcasts, hosting a live show on Instagram every week, and focusing on their YouTube channel

How Factory45 Sets Themselves Apart

• Factory45 does 1 – 2 big launches each year, and in between, they do book a call enrollment to learn more about the program and an evergreen workshop that focuses on raising money for your fashion brand through preselling

• 80% of people in Factory45 just have an idea, the other 20% have started their fashion brand but haven't gotten to a sustainable launch or where they want to be, and there is a small percentage who are actively selling but want to be surrounded by a community of mentorship and coaching

• Every person who comes through Factory45 is matched with a mentor who has been through the program before, in addition to Shannon's coaching and consulting

• We talk about having diverse streams of revenue and creating merchandise just for the sake of creating merchandise without thinking about doing it sustainably or where it will end up

• Shannon shares that she is proud of how far the sustainable fashion movement has come because the brands that have launched from Factory45 and other independent sustainable fashion brands are having those conversations and educating consumers

• We talk about consumer culture and how consumers have the power to drive brands to become more sustainable, which was not always the case

• Factory45 is getting ready to launch a sustainable fashion mastermind called Founder, which you can join after you launch your brand; it will focus on growing sales and revenue in a sustainable and mindful way

• The personal coaching and consulting program called CEO Hour that Shannon is launching will focus on people who are running online businesses that want to scale to multiple six figures

• Shannon tells us who is on her team at Factory45 and says that getting a team is how you create a sustainable business

• Factory45 is a lifetime program, which sets them apart – it used to be a 6-month program, but Shannon realized it wasn't enough time to go from idea to launch

• If you are interested in starting any fashion or accessory product brand, you can go to Factory45.co/apply and book a free discovery call

• Check out Factory45 and the Start Your Sustainable Fashion Brand Podcast

Links mentioned:

Factory45 Website

Book a Free Discovery Call with Factory45

Start Your Sustainable Fashion Brand Podcast with Shannon Lohr

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From solopreneur to startup marketer. Jaclyn Mullen is currently the Head of Marketing for TheLoops AI. Much of her ability to help startups with their digital marketing success comes from her past experience as a solopreneur and founder of Jaclyn Mullen Media. When she isn't online building genuine connections or upleveling her marketing game, you can find her enjoying her family--son, fur baby and husband--and finding her next foodie spot.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• Jaclyn and I met in 2013/14 and have seen each of our businesses and lives change throughout the years

• When Jaclyn and I first met, she had an organic social media agency where she would post on Facebook and Twitter for people – this was before Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok

• Jaclyn previously worked as a solopreneur in digital marketing and now works in the start-up world as a head of marketing

• How the rise of digital and websites kept popping up, so in 2006, Jaclyn quit her job and decided she was going to work for herself doing consulting

• Jaclyn tells us how Jaclyn Mullen Media was created and how she was able to participate in the Tory Burch Goldman Sachs Foundation Program that helps female entrepreneurs scale their businesses and get to the next level, which gave her the foundation for where she is today

• When you go through a challenging situation where you have to split your time, Jaclyn says you discover skills you didn't know you had, like making quick decisions, a willingness to put yourself out there, and figuring out how to leverage what you're doing now to help yourself in the future

• Two important things Jaclyn suggests you do in this growing digital world are connecting with people and being quick to use new digital tools and resources

• Jaclyn explains how start-ups work and what she does in her current role as head of marketing

• The gist of marketing is making sure you're connecting with your customers and focusing on growing your brand

• What's become newer, especially in B2B (business to business) marketing, is that the marketing team is tied to a revenue goal

• Jaclyn explains why there's not much difference between marketing for a tech brand vs. a digital brand or physical brand

• The importance of visual design and how it is integrated everywhere - Jaclyn explains that growing up, they had a lot of textual information, but now it's all about capturing attention on these smaller devices where text is not as aesthetically pleasing

• Every single marketing leader needs to understand that every brand needs to have a graphic designer or brand manager as part of their team and learn how to communicate their vision to the designer to identify their own look and feel

• Jaclyn says that tying how visual design is going to impact revenue is important, especially if you are a freelance graphic designer

• When you work in tech, you are going to have rapid product updates, so Jaclyn explains how to break out your marketing matrix and gives examples of micro-campaigns during tech launches

• On the coaching and product side, you're looking at launching quarterly or semi-annually, but Jaclyn explains that tech moves a lot faster because the buying cycle is longer

• Jaclyn shares the self-doubt she experienced before stepping into her new role as head of marketing and also shares how grateful she is for her current CEO's support

• When it comes to making and maintaining relationships, Jaclyn says you get what you put into it

• Life is very short, and you aren't guaranteed time, which is why Jaclyn says that even in this busy day in age, it's important to let those who have had meaning in our life know

• The last 3 jobs Jaclyn has had were due to LinkedIn, so she suggests having a presence on LinkedIn and using it for more than just a copy of your resume or portfolio

• Jaclyn shares some things to post, like your unique way of doing things, tips and tricks you've learned, and what you've been working on

• Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn

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Tara Newman is the Founder and CEO of The Bold Profit Academy, where she teaches service-based business owners how to sell premium services and programs without the emotional stress of launching, worrying about ads, overwhelming social strategies or complex funnels.

Tara hosts a weekly podcast called The Bold Money Revolution and has been featured in publications like Money Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and Huffington Post as well as other publications and podcasts.

She earned her Master's in Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University, has over 20 years of experience, is a certified Profit First Professional and holds an advanced level Reiki Certification. Everything she teaches incorporates Energy, Mindset and Strategy as a framework for resiliency and results.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• We touch on how weird the world of digital selling is right now and about having open conversations around it

• Tara says she was a high school failure because of undiagnosed ADHD but thrived in college because she found something she was passionate about, which was psychology - she went into industrial organizational psychology, which is the study of human behavior at work

• In 2005, Tara and her husband started their first business but went bankrupt in 2010, shortly after the recession

• Tara started her third business in 2014, which is something she felt she could never do because she was coming into her business at such a disadvantage financially and physically but had to figure out how to make 6-figures independent of an employer

• When she started her business in 2014, Tara was 38 years old and shared that she had never been responsible for her own finances, which was another disadvantage

• How we often forget that many people are necessity entrepreneurs, and most people leave their jobs out of necessity because of illness, stress, wanting flexibility, and wanting to replace their income

• Tara first had to figure out how to pay herself $100,000 because she was making more than that in her corporate career and shared that it took her years to get to that point – she had to learn how to sell, communicate the value of her work, position herself, understand her target audience, etc.

• After the first year, Tara realized she had a viable business but says she had the embarrassing realization that $100,000 in revenue is not the same as $100,000 in her paycheck

• It wasn't until year 3 in Tara's business that she was able to pay herself significantly, and she is transparent in saying that her pay has gone up and down over the years

• Just because someone says they have made $100,000 in a month or a year doesn't mean that's what they're profiting or paying themselves

• The framework Tara uses is the Profit First Framework – they provide a free revenue goal calculator that reverse engineers your revenue goal to make sure you can pay yourself what you need to meet your personal financial goals and expenses

• Tara explains it is possible to pay yourself $100,000 on $200,000 - $250,000 a year in revenue, but it depends on your business expenses

• 91% of Tara's Instagram community believes that social media over-glamourizes what's happening in small businesses and shares that in 2018, 88% of women small business owners earned less than $100,000 in revenue a year – only 1% are making over 1 million dollars

• We bust the myth that one-on-one work drains you and isn't as profitable because, personally, I've discovered that's how I work best

• Profit First is a book by Mike Michalowicz, and it's a cash flow management system; it's not accounting – Profit First helps you make intentional money decisions, gives you clarity and a language to talk about money

• Normally, profit = sales – expenses, but Mike said no, that's not the right formula and said we need to use sales – profit = expenses

• In Profit First, you pay yourself first, then set money aside for taxes, and then what's left over in your business is what you use to pay your expenses

• The first thing you want to do with your profit is pay off any debt you may have, then put 50% of your profit away as a cushion in your business until you feel comfortable and then once you've done that, you can take your profit as a reward for all your hard work, and then the next step is putting aside money for taxes and paying your everyday lifestyle expenses

• Tara explains how to use their free revenue calculator and shares that when you work with a Profit First professional, it could take 18 months to get you from where you are to where you want to be – you have to be patient and know it doesn't happen overnight

• When it comes to working with clients, Tara works with those who are just starting, making zero, and says there is never a better time to create a cash-flow management system, but she also works with large businesses that are bringing in 60 million dollars in revenue

• How Tara has been able to create her offers to meet the right size business at the right point – her one-on-one work is typically for larger businesses, and she says she's mindful of what she's charging at what point in their business because she wants them to keep more of their money

• The Bold Profit Academy is a learning container because Tara has found that there are just a few knowledge and skill gaps in getting people to the revenue they desire

• Use the free revenue goal calculator, check out Tara's free podcast, The Bold Money Revolution, and feel free to reach out to her

Links mentioned:

Free Revenue Goal Calculator

The Bold Money Revolution

The Bold Profit Academy

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Eric Melchor is the Partnerships and Personalization Ambassador at OptiMonk. He previously served as a Marketing and CX Director for publicly traded companies based in Houston and is currently building an ecommerce business from scratch.

He's also the host of the Innovators Can Laugh podcast interviewing over 70 entrepreneurs from all over Europe.

He claims he is a mediocre tennis player and currently provides guidance on how to personalize online shopping experiences for small and mid-size businesses.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• Eric shares that his experience is in digital marketing and only recently started thinking more and more about personalization when working with a startup called Bonjoro that sends personalized videos at the right moment during their customer journey

• OptiMonk specializes in giving marketers the tools to personalize an experience in real-time on their website – They're focused on giving small to mid-sized businesses the superhuman power that big players have, like Netflix and Amazon

• Before working with Bonjoro and OptiMonk, Eric worked in the retail energy space specializing in partnerships, managing PPC agencies, copywriters, and social media strategists

• Eric had wondered if he was as good as he thought and said the only way to prove that he was good at what he did was to work for a startup because, at a startup, every customer counts

• Over the past year, Eric says he has talked to more customers than he ever did in all his years working for large companies

• An important part of making a good experience is having the right messaging on your website – customers won't care about most of the jargon on your website; they care that you have a solution that solves their problem

• Eric walks us through an example of a customer in need of an engagement ring that is on a jeweler's website and says you wouldn't want a message to pop up that says, you could win a designer necklace; you want one that says, here's 10% off our top wedding rings

• One thing you can do is micro engagement, where if someone has been on your site for a while but hasn't clicked on anything to tell you what they're looking for, you can send them a message and ask what they're interested in – it's like holding their hand and showing them to the right part of your website, just like you would in a physical store

• OptiMonk specializes in helping SMBs (Small to Mid Businesses) where accounts fall between $500,000 – 1 million annually and specialize in e-commerce but says there are some B2B (business to business) companies that are starting to use them

• Every website visitor is important, so we should try to customize their journey as much as possible

• Eric shares that Winc, a subscription wine website, does a really good job gamifying its website so it's interactive and interesting for visitors

• When OptiMonk started, they focused on popups but now have transitioned into a personalization platform and have integrations with over 100 different platforms

• When thinking about personalizing your customer experience, Eric says to put yourself in their shoes and think about where you can make the experience more pleasurable and says to get rid of the annoying stuff, like an automatic popup that happens in the first 10 seconds

• If a quarter of your website traffic is international, Eric says to give those international visitors a personalized message

• Eric says if you get a lot of sales during the holidays, you could present a nice message that asks if they are shopping for themself or somebody else and take them where they need to go based on their response

• If you are running Facebook ads or Google paid ads, Eric highly suggests automatically changing the headings on your landing page based on the messaging that you are using in your ads

• When Eric moved to Europe a couple of years ago, he wanted to make friends, and because he worked at a startup thought it would be interesting to interview other startup founders, which is how he started his podcast, Innovators Can Laugh, and what led to his role with OptiMonk

• In OptiMonk, Eric delivers their personalization boot camps that happen every 2 weeks – if you want to learn more about personalization, you can come to their free boot camp, where Eric walks you through their process

• OptiMonk just launched E-commerce Revolution, the first e-commerce business reality show – over 3 months, they're going to help brands by implementing best practices when it comes to personalization

• Eric shares that OptiMonk is also launching The Art of Personalization podcast

• When you sign up for OptiMonk, Eric says you'll be able to see your results in your dashboard and can implement different features like A/B testing

• You can sign up for different plans when using OptiMonk; Eric says there is a free plan where you can get started and then walks us through their different plans, what they include, and pricing for each

• Eric explains how easy it is to use and customize their templates, and when you set the template up, any other campaign you create in OptiMonk will be aligned with your brand

• We talk about inclusivity and trends in the personalization space, and Eric shares that he saw a fashion tool where instead of putting in your size, you select a model that has a similar body type to you, and then anything you pick in the store, can be seen on that model

• Try OptiMonk's free plan, check out their free personalization boot camp, and reach out to Eric if you have any questions

Links mentioned:

OptiMonk Website

Innovators Can Laugh Podcast

Free Personalization Boot Camp

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Mickie Kennedy founded eReleases 24 years ago to help small businesses, authors, and startups increase their visibility and credibility through press release marketing. He lives in the Baltimore area.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• There are many different types of strategic press releases, and one of them, Mickie says, is researching your industry for blind spots; otherwise, you have a press release that doesn't result in anything

• How Mickie and his team helped a client issue a press release on a blind spot, and how they were able to issue 6 additional press releases on that same blind spot - each had articles written about them, which is the goal of a press release

• The articles written by media based on your press release convert very well because it's like a third-party endorsement for your company

• Mickie explains that these articles are a useful tool when working with leads and getting them to commit to working with you

• 26 years ago, Mickie graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry and knew he'd be waiting tables for the rest of his life, which he did for a bit but ended up being picked up by a telecom research start-up where he wrote press releases

• Mickie explains why you want to craft whatever press release you're doing into a story so a journalist sees the story and can create an article from it

• How PR firms tailor each pitch directly to key media outlets, which works but is very labor intensive - eReleases works with PR firms that send over their press releases, and then eReleases sends it through PR Newswire, the oldest and largest newswire of press releases which is available to journalists

• Mickie recommends doing both personal pitches and using a press release platform – many of their clients build relationships over time with different media outlets and email them directly and pitch as specifically as possible

• If you have a good quote, Mickie says to include it in the pitch because most journalists can craft a story around a really great quote

• Mickie says 95% of press releases that pay to go through his service don't generate any media attention because they aren't writing meaningful releases

• Many start-ups do well with eReleases because they understand their unique selling proposition and tell a story – being a small company is not an obstacle; it's something that makes you more likely to get media attention

• When eReleases started, Mickie had an email list of about 10,000 journalists who agreed to receive press releases from him as long as it was in their niche of reporting, so Mickie would have clients come in and match them with the right editors on his list

• With the wire, it's an electronic distribution where journalists have a login and can look at press releases based on different filters they set

• Mickie explains that it's $1,200 to send a 500-word press release through the wire nationally, and all of the releases that go out through eReleases, which are substantially cheaper, also go out nationally through PR Newswire who offered to work with Mickie over 10 years ago

• A winning press release often isn't based on how it was written but what it's writing about – knowing that journalists are gatekeepers means you should reverse engineer what you want to announce

• One of the easiest ways for someone to get media attention is to produce their own data by doing a survey or study in their industry with specific and relative questions

• Narrowing down the data you focus on in a press release is important, but Mickie says you should build a page on your website that includes all the questions and responses because journalists will go there to see if there's a different angle to write about, and will link to your resource page

• Mickie says to send people to your website after they take your survey because it's a great way to get in front of more people in your industry

• To find blind spots, Mickie says it's good to do audits and bring in other people from your industry and ask them what gaps they feel trade publications or media don't cover well and use that as material to build out from

• Take Mickie's free Masterclass to walk away with strategic ideas on press releases for your business

• Local media is some of the easiest media coverage to get – research who covers your industry, then email them a pitch that could be about a trend in your industry and share what you're doing as a local business based on that trend and make sure to include an amazing quote

• Visit the eReleases website to reach out and find out more about them

Links mentioned:

eReleases Website

Free Masterclass: How to Build a PR Campaign Designed to Get Massive Media Coverage

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Jenn Robbins is the Funnel Stylist. She saves online entrepreneurs from one-size-fits all funnels with her Flexible Funnel Framework. With more than a decade of experience, Jenn offers funnel strategy and copywriting services to 1:1 clients, as well as training and support through workshops, programs, and her membership, the Flexible Funnel Society! Because a good funnel is like the perfect little black dress: versatile, classic, and best when tailored to fit YOU.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• How Jenn and I connected through our mutual friend and met in person around 2018/19 at a couple of different events when our businesses looked different than they do now

• Before starting her business in 2011, Jenn was a tax accountant because although she always loved to write while growing up, she was told you couldn't make money as a writer – Jenn ended up being miserable at her job and volunteered to run social media and do blogs at her firm, which she enjoyed

• After Jenn quit her job, she moved back to Oklahoma, opened a WordPress site, and started taking clients and how it slowly evolved into what she does now, which is funnel strategy

• Jenn says she made the switch from mostly copy to strategy because she noticed many people were lacking in that department, and good copy and design couldn't convert unless there were a good strategy behind it

• How you can't create the same funnel someone else does for their business because it won't work for you the same way

• Jenn defines a funnel as an automated way to build a relationship that she breaks down into 3 different categories: list-building funnels, launch funnels, and evergreen funnels

• In Jenn's business, her goal is to get the audience off other platforms like Instagram and TikTok and into an email list because your email list is something that you own, and it will be the longest lasting

• People are tired of the over-promising; they want more personality, authenticity, and results

• Jenn shares a client story of a PR specialist who had a membership offer, but after going viral on TikTok, realized she didn't have anything set up for that, so they had to rework her funnel to get her audience off TikTok and to her offer

• A lot of people have been going viral on different platforms, which is great, but Jenn is helping these experts with what's next and how to get their audience off the platform to purchase an offer from them

• Jenn doesn't see funnels as separate steps; she sees all the funnels as a whole ecosystem that work together, so you're constantly doing leads and nurturing, and when you're launching, you might not give as much attention to those funnels but they are still there working

• Why it's important to build a relationship before you try to sell to someone right after they join your list

• We talk about my sales page Trello board, which is a great lead magnet and converts well, but doesn't have a sales sequence, and how I could set up a sales funnel for it

• Jenn talks about her membership, Flexible Funnel Society, which helps you understand the foundations of the funnels – there are basic courses that you can access at any time, she does 2 coaching calls a month with anybody in the membership, and she brings in 2 guest experts every month

• How there are different kinds of memberships, and you don't have to have one that creates new content every single month – it has to be something that works for you

• Jenn's favorite part about her membership is the monthly calls and getting to know her members on a more personal level

• When it comes to funnels, some common mistakes Jenn sees are people not having a funnel, overthinking their perfectionism, saying they don't need an email list, and relying on only one content platform

• Jenn is excited to start experimenting with posting on TikTok and working with content creators who are experts in their field on TikTok

• How Jenn can feel something shifting in her business and uses Taylor Swift as an example with the different eras she uses to brand herself and how we all have those different seasons of life but don't brand them in the same way

• We talk about our opinion on the trend of deleting your feed off Instagram and how many brands are doing that when they make a shift in their business

• Check out Jenn's Website, where you can find her Funnels 101 Mini Course and Flexible Funnel Society Membership

• Connect with Jenn on Instagram and TikTok

Links mentioned:

Flexible Funnel Society Membership

Funnels 101 Mini Course

Connect with Jenn on Instagram

Connect with Jenn on TikTok

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Megan helps business owners work less, but make more money & impact through simple operational systems. Yes, this sounds SUPER boring, however Megan brings a bubbly personality that makes understanding such a boring topic exciting & empowering for the business owner(s) who may be facing burnout.

Her goal is to share as much helpful information so your audience can take massive action and thanks you for bringing them the missing part that saves their mental health & their business!

Megan has helped multiple 6+ figure service based CEOs remove themselves from their day-to-day so that they can operate in their zone of genius and fully step into their role as the visionary in their empire.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• Megan shares how she quickly hit burnout from working her 9 – 5 job and running a drop shipping store by herself

• How Megan got rid of her drop shipping business and started learning how systems could work in a business – she practiced building systems inside her family's company and realized she really liked it, so she started her own business working for friends and agencies

• The story of how Megan got her first client, Tiffany Tolliver, who is still a client today, from a high-performance weekend event where she gave a horrible pitch for a package she didn't even have yet

• Megan shares her stressful experience of going up onstage and pitching her idea and how the other women in the room were able to help by telling her what they need as high-performing CEOs

• It took a while for Megan to realize that her biggest weakness was that she loved to talk to the CEOs about their vision and create systems for solutions to their problems but didn't want to have to tell them to change some setting in a software (the small details)

• After a few months, Megan was able to find her COO (chief operating officer), who loves the small details to balance her out in the business

• Megan shares that they build everything custom for each CEO based on their vision, so each client uses different platforms and software

• For recurring clients, Megan does a business map each quarter to make sure their vision stays aligned

• Megan and her team focus on the systems; they are on call for launches, community calls, etc., so if there are any tech issues, they are handled, and the CEO can focus on being the talent

• Behind the scenes, Megan and her team are focused on making sure the CEO's team is engaged, which isn't something she realized she did until a few clients pointed it out to her

• A lot of times, CEOs have great ideas, but the implementation can be messy, and then it's the team's job to fix it, so if Megan's CEOs have an idea, they talk to her so she can then communicate it, and make sure it matches their systems

• We talk about setting boundaries with clients, and both share experiences when boundaries were crossed, so we didn't continue working with those people

• How Megan goes about helping clients realize the root of their problems – she can fix something in their business, but if they don't follow it and get to the root of their problem, it won't really be fixed in the long run

• Part of Megan's business map is based on the personal life of the CEO, like if they are exercising, eating healthy, and what their balance is because all of that impacts whether or not they'll be able to perform well in their business

• Megan breaks down her business map that they revisit each quarter where they go over different the pillars of business - personal, finances, operations, marketing, sales, implementation, and vision

• When it comes to systems in her business, Megan says she is a big fan of ClickUp; she has her own CEO Braindump Board where she gets to dump any of her ideas and tasks – it helps her delegate tasks quickly

• How they are working to put everything in one spot so they don't have a ton of courses and communities all over the place, and Megan shares they are down to two software platforms, Mighty Networks and ActiveCampaign

• Megan shares that she has a COO, an HR person, two virtual assistants who help build systems and do project management, and someone who writes all the standard operating procedures for the business and their clients

• Connect with Megan on Instagram and, shoot her a DM, and check out her website to learn more about her, what she does, and take the quizzes on her site to figure out where you are wasting time in your business and what kind of CEO you are

Links mentioned:

Connect with Megan on Instagram

Megan Galane Website

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Adrienne Johnston is a presentation designer who specializes in helping clients visualize their content in PowerPoint for the purpose of landing new clients, educating existing internal or external clients, or securing investment capital. Adrienne's current clients include Meta, Microsoft, Samsung, and Marriott.

Additionally, Adrienne advocates for presentation design to be recognized as a design profession and coaches other presentation designers on building their successful presentation design businesses.

Adrienne currently resides in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, daughter, and two cats.

Here's what we covered on the episode:

• Adrienne shares that she majored in chemistry, where she spent more time making her lab report presentations look pretty than on the actual data, and after college, she realized the lab environment wasn't for her

• How Adrienne was hired for a startup in the healthcare space where she self-taught herself on nights and weekends to help with design

• In 2017, Adrienne wanted more flexibility and wanted to work for herself, so she got on Upwork and started doing any general design work people wanted but realized after a few months that she needed a better and more sustainable way to do her business

• Adrienne used her background in science to help create a process and look at what work came naturally to her, took the least amount of time, and wasn't as competitive, which is how she landed on presentations

• People get caught up in the plans and ideas, but Adrienne says it benefitted her to start and take action without having all the knowledge because then she was able to find where she fits in – she tells people to just get started instead of thinking it has to be something fancy

• In the first few months of her business, Adrienne realized people would pay her for her skills, she wasn't efficient enough to scale and make the revenue and lifestyle she wanted, and she had a customer acquisition problem

• As a freelancer, Adrienne says she doesn't have to serve every client; she needs to find a way to make her business work for her, and if she doesn't have boundaries, no one else is going to

• Executives at big companies do senior leadership meetings or present to the board, and they know they can't take cruddy-looking slides into those meetings, but they can't compete for those resources on the marketing team, so they find their own people to hire

• After doing some research, Adrienne optimized her website for SEO, and within 3 months, she was ranking for the term freelance presentation designer and started getting a flow of big-name clients, like Samsung

• When it comes to using templates and guides for clients and herself in the business, Adrienne says it depends on where the client is and explains that for pitch decks, they might have a logo and some colors, but they don't have an established brand style or guide

• On Adrienne's website, it says she can do presentations within 48 hours, but she says that no one asks for that service, but having that on her website has doubled her conversion rate

• Adrienne explains why building an agency wouldn't work for how she wants to run her business

• To help yourself find clarity in what you want, ask yourself if there were no limits, what you would want - write it down and commit to it

• Adrienne gives many ideas on how to think about long-term goals and break them down into smaller chunks to achieve them so you can build a business that is better aligned with you

• When creating your goals, you have to acknowledge that you might backslide – Adrienne shares that in 2020, she said that she wasn't working Fridays anymore, but at some point, she went back to working Fridays

• After optimizing her website for SEO, Adrienne had people reach out asking her to help them become presentation designers, so she started having informal one-on-one coaching calls and realized she needed to take all her knowledge about business and design and institutionalize it

• In 2020, Adrienne launched her course, Six-Figure Presentation Designer, which is all about helping people specifically focused on presentation design to reach and surpass that six-figure mark

• Reach out and get access to Adrienne's resources at designerandthriving.com

Links mentioned:

Designing and Thriving Resources

Adrienne Johnston's Website

Six-Figure Presentation Designer

Like what you heard?

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Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

Let's connect on Instagram!