The Fearless Launching Show with Anne Samoilov

I sat down with business systems expert Val Geisler to see if we could find a new way to look at systems and maybe make the topic a little more appealing--especially to those of who are artists underneath it all.

We get into a whole bunch of topics including:

For complete show notes and additional episodes, visit: http://www.annesamoilov.com/show

Last week we talked about how the work changes and doesn't change when you launch and relaunch your products and services. So, this week, I wanted to dive into the timeline of a launch. I'm always getting asked, okay what should I do next if I'm launching [insert date]? Listen to this new perspective on the timeline that might have you breathing a sigh of relief.

Episode 39 is a great place to go next after you listen to this one...because Marie shares a behind the scenes look at some of their timeline!

Today's episode demystifies what happens behind the scenes on a successful product launch and with a successful business. What changes in the day to day? Do we focus on the foundational pieces of starting a business? What's different and what stays the same as we grow our business?  Marie Forleo shares key insights and answers some of the most common questions about business and also highlights some of the key challenges she's faced over the past 6 years of building her B-School program to the popular program it is today.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is when and how to start telling people about their product launch... How long before a product or service is available do you start leaking it out to people? This episode updates you on my launch leaking strategy...and I think you'll like it because it's au naturale!

Today’s guest on the podcast is Denise Duffield Thomas of LuckyBitch.com. She’s well known for her work helping women entrepreneurs make more

Denise and I get into a ton of topics fast…including:

• What Denise is focused on this year in her business and why it’s nothing NEW
• Who we both have learned to “cut through the crap” from…
• Can you get to 6 figures by yourself or do you need a huge team?
• Her first launch…
• How she looks at over-delivering when you launch
• The most common money blocks entrepreneurs face
• Why launching brings up so much money resistance
• How to get clear on your launch money goals
• How she approaches launching and what she’s doing differently this year

Click over to the show notes for all the resources we talked about plus how to work with Denise inside her Money Bootcamp program.

They struggled for years and years trying to make the side hustle their main thing work -- to get the chance to finally do what they were passionate about.

That story is a common one in some for one or another for many entrepreneurs...even me! That side hustle keeps you ignited because you push, you struggle, you create, whatever it is… but it propels you forward.

What happens when you get out of that phase of needing a side hustle - when it becomes a full time hustle?

Today's episode covers this topic and more as I explore - 

And I also share three people who inspired me to start some side projects myself!

Are you ready to grow your business this year?

Do you know what it’s going to take?

Do you know what exactly you want to achieve?

Wanna know what you’ll have to give up (and take on) in order to get there?

You’ll get some insight, strategies and maybe a little inspiration to answer these questions for yourself.

Visit annesamoilov.com/show for the full show notes.

If there’s anything I know helps me improve and grow my business, it’s establishing better work habits. There’s only so many weeks I can wait until the last second to record a podcast, publish it, write the notes and get it up there in less than 24 hours.

I’ve got a 6 year old and a slightly short attention span.

And at the same time - I’ve got big goals. One of those was to make sure that I could commit to having a weekly podcast. Not every other week or every third week.

So, that’s what I dive into today in this shorter episode about how I got my podcast process back on track.

In this episode I also talk about:

The real reason I ended up skipping blogging for 2 months

Results of some of my blogging and podcast tests throughout 2014

How I plan to get all my publishing content

The simple question you can ask yourself about all that content you’re publishing

How I’m making the process even easier for myself

What happens when you finally have focus + establish a habit

Why I’m always evaluating what’s working and what’s not

Okay - let’s do this!

Who is running your business?

Can you say that YOU are?

Something I discovered this year is how many of my big business and life decisions are directly influenced by a few not so great forces.

The biggie is guilt.

Yup - Guilt has been my CFO on many occasion.

He’s allowed me to stay in jobs too long, in relationships too long, in friendships too long...and spending my energy on the wrong projects in my own business too...

And let’s get real - guilt is not a separate entity. It’s me.

I’ve been the one to allow the guilt to drive some of my biggest business delays and changes. And specifically I’ve:

stayed on people’s email lists because I felt guilty leaving and having them see me leave

said yes to projects that put my health and mental well-being in serious danger

said yes to jobs with destructive bosses (and even got hives in the process!)

avoided letting an employee go because I felt bad

didn’t do a number of promotions for my business because I felt guilty making the offer

Now, many of these are ancient history - they did NOT all happen this year, last year or even in the past 5 years...but they’ve left marks on me none the less.  

And only now am I staging the takeover of my own business.

If you’ve ever felt a little off after making a decision to work with someone or offer something, then there is something that’s driving the boat…and it might just be guilt.

Let’s dive in.

Do a search for creating useful content on google.

There’s enough opinion and education on the topic to make your head…

wait for it…

Explode.

And that’s pretty much what my head’s been doing since I first heard this phrase.

Create useful content, Anne.

Waking me up in the middle of night.

Are you being USEFUL enough, Anne?

And off and on this whole year I’d look at other people’s content and wonder…

How the heck is THIS useful to the world?

I started pulling apart every blog post I’d see, challenging it to be useful to me, which is hilarious because as you know there’s a lot of useless but fun info on the internet.

And that’s when it hit me...about being useful...and why I wanted to dig in and discuss this moving target of being useful…

In this week’s episode, I explore:

What does being useful really mean in the context of your online business?

Who decides if something is useful or trashable?

Why is creating useful content a challenge to most online entrepreneurs?

And...what do you need to know about your audience in order to get even close to figuring out what is useful for them on any given day?

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re being useful or not, listen to today’s episode of the Fearless Launching show and then leave me a comment below.

Ok let’s dive in!

Launch Toolkit

Creating Social Substance (great article at the top of google's list!)

Ep. 30 - Planning For Success (planning is all about knowing what your people want and need)

Ep. 10 - How To Become A Better Teacher with Jennifer Louden (love Jen’s take on teaching, especially since that’s what all content really does - it teaches!)