What do you do when the unexpected happens? A market disappears. A new competitor shows up and takes your business away. A pandemic happens and your sales dry up. It's time to pivot and pivot quick. Today's episode features Kim x 2 with guest Kim Sherman-Labrum of the Boise Idaho SBDC. Kim has been helping small business pivot and build new markets as an SBDC counselor for more than a decade. Get ideas on how to thrive during difficult times and grow your business instead of losing it. Kim shares different methods of selling products and services online to increase market share. She also discusses Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and how they can help small businesses and freelancers get started and grow through a variety of free services and free counseling. 

Bill Litster, founder of Better Biz Info, and a Master Level Certified Profit First professional talks to Kim about the biggest problems small business and freelancers have with money management.

The Profit First system, created by Mike Michalowicz, combines a unique process of paying out profit to the business owner first and dividing remaining cash into multiple bank accounts to pay bills and save money for tax time, similar to the envelope system your grandmother used to run her household. Bill talks about the danger in using bank balance accounting to get a pulse on a business' finances and how much money they have to spend.

Bill combines 25 years of real-world business and accounting experience having owned and operated several small businesses, in addition to consulting with hundreds of small and large companies, including NASA, Boeing, Dow Chemical, and the US Navy. More on Bill and Better Biz Info can be found at https://betterbizinfo.com/

Kim welcomes Beth Gantz, Certified Business Advisor with the Lorain CCC SBDC in Ohio to discuss America's best kept small business secret, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC).

SBDCs can be found in every state in the US, with more than 900 service locations, many attached to colleges, universities and economic development corporations. They offer free programs and counseling to the small business and freelance communities.

Beth talks about how SBDCs work with freelancers and the free counseling sessions available to SBDC clients. She discusses the three main questions her office hears from freelancers and what type of help is available. Beth also discusses special programs and services that have been introduced in the past few months in an effort to help those affected by COVID.

Learn the top three things freelancers and small business owners should be doing right now. Find your local SBDC office by going to https://americassbdc.org/small-business-consulting-and-training/find-your-sbdc/

57.3 million people in the United States freelanced in 2019, according to the "Freelancing in America" study conducted by Upwork and The Freelancer's Union. That's 36% of the US workforce. Kim Merritt, The URL Dr., and Top Rated Plus Upwork freelancer, explains the gig economy landscape in the US, who is participating in it and how it is impacting the way we work. A fascinating look at the work from home movement and how more educated professionals are choosing to strike out on their own as a 1099 contractor. 

Kim also shares updated information from the Payoneer survey in May of 2020, that surveyed freelancers from around the world on the impact COVID-19 was having on their freelancing efforts. 

For those new to freelancing in the 21st century, Kim shares eight of the top online freelancing platforms and the basics of how they operate. 

Audie Cashion, licensed One Thing Trainer, and founder of The World Peace Center, joins Kim Merritt, The URL Dr., in a lively discussion about achieving extraordinary results and work/life balance in stressful and chaotic times through coaching. 

As a One Thing Trainer, Cashion specializes in helping the dental community implement new ways of thinking to successfully grow their practices and restore peace and purpose in their lives. He shares the basics of Gary Keller's One Thing philosophy and how freelancers and solopreneurs can use this methodology to grow. 

Kim and Audie discuss how fears stemming from the pandemic can affect work/life balance and how to turn those fears into goals and plans for greater achievement. 

In the premiere episode, Kim Merritt, The URL Dr., shares the premise of The Freelance Economy podcast and her background as a serial entrepreneur since the age of eleven. Her success on freelancing platform Upwork, led her to start speaking at national conferences three years ago on how freelancers and small business owners could grow their businesses using the online freelance sites. In this episode she discusses how she'll be sharing proven secrets to success for growing freelancing activities and small businesses.

Kim also shares her fascinating entrepreneurial journey starting with the founding of her first company, Kim's Khocolate, while she was still in junior high school, through the bankruptcy of her second company, and the growth of her current company, in large part due to the online freelancing platforms. Kim has worked with Apple, The Rolling Stones, Microsoft, ADP, Bausch & Lomb, AT&T, and small businesses around the world. Her combined companies have grossed more than $11.5M.

Future episodes will be 30 minutes long and released every Monday. The Freelance Economy Podcast will also be available to view as a Vlog on YouTube.