Today I'm joined by Libby Langley (social media coach) to talk about procrastination, fear and imposter syndrome, plus much more!

Things we talk about in this episode:

• Procrastination
• Feeling frustrated
• Quick wins/sales that aren’t a reality Self doubt
• People have too many platforms, 
• Determination, longevity and a strategy
• Not millionaires over night
• Social media doesn't work over night 
• Compare to other people and wonder why you're not growing your social media
• Start with one channel and master that.
• Self criticism 
• The best platform to match your audience
• Fears in business 
• Journey of self discovery
• Fear of success
• Imposter syndrome
• Accepting your fears and changing your mindset
• No need to be an expert on EVERYTHING
  
  

Links from the episode:

• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Where to find Libby online:

• https://libbylangley.com
• www.instagram.com/libbylangley

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Today I  talk about my story, how I left my awful 9-5 job and how I built up my business

  Things I talk about in this episode:

• I have been in the jewellery trade for many years.
• I feel like business has always been in my blood and soul as my dad was a businessman.
• I knew I wanted to have my own business but thought of other jobs like a vet; which I could work part time as due to earning enough money, photographer or a forensic scientist. 
• People always put you off having your own business due to saying get a ‘real job’. 
• I was stuck in a job that really affected me and pushed me more to set up my own business.
• I began to suffer from anxiety and depression. I was ill every three weeks or so and had to have an emergency operation due to passing out and I had lost all of my energy to even care. 
• This taught me not to take life for granted and made me realise that I am responsible for my life and whatever I do, I am responsible for.
• I opened my Etsy shop and within a few days I had my first sale.
• I went back to my job after I had recovered and my mindset had completely changed and I had put up a barrier. I began to not care what people thought and I had a sense of renewed hope and self worth.
• My routine was to wake up and get the bus to work at 6am, it was an hour long drive and I’d just be constantly learning the whole way to work and home. I also used my lunch break at work to do extra learning and then on an evening when I got home, I worked on my Etsy shop and did my orders. 
• I critiqued four shops a day, what was good/bad about these shops, their target market and decided what I would do differently.
• By December 2015, I had earned $6200. I knew I wanted to quit but was too nervous and worried about letting people down. 
• By April 2016 I was brave enough to leave my job and take my business full time. I knew that now I would be financially better and would have more time on my hands to do my own thing.
• We all have the knowledge and skills to build a business

Links from the episode:

• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Welcome back to another mini episode! These mini episodes are packed full of useful, bite sized chunks of information for you to easily, and quickly digest! 

This week I'm joined by Sophie to talk about our morning routine tips for success.

Here's some things we chat about in today's episode:

• Planning out your week in advance
• Procrastination 
• Stop putting yourself under pressure to ALWAYS work
• Be easier on yourself
• Getting organised
• Planning your week
• Batching 

To watch the full episode, head over to Episode 07 - Morning Routine Tips For Success

Links from the episode:

• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

This week I'm joined by Libby Langley to talk about overcoming toxic social media cycles.  

Just some of the things we talk about in this episode:

• How Libby became a social media marketing expert & what made Libby fall in love with it
• The world is open to us all from our smart phones
• The difference with social media in 2009, compared to now
• Panic posting and procrastination - constantly taking photos and posting all the time because even though it doesn’t work. This leads to self-doubt, criticism, burnout and negativity.
• A vicious cycle that leads to toxic social media cycles
• The fact that all projects start off well due to us being super keen and then feeling like you haven’t got anywhere after six weeks.
• It takes longevity and determination to make social media work
• People expect social media to be an incredible launch pad but that isn’t realistic
• Comparing your business to other businesses and how to make sure your business provides value and it makes a difference.
• The importance of mastering one social media platform and then start branching out to the others.
• Research what platform your audience is on by profiling them, and use that one and focus on it fully. 
• Do one, do it well, put all of your energy and efforts into it, build a following, get comfortable in how you create content, and then repurpose that content in other areas
• Don't worry about the numbers! Just enjoy it. We have to start somewhere
• Use the time to hone your craft, get confident sharing content, find out what content works for your audience
• Use the tools that exist and will make a difference to your exposure, in a way that you're comfortable with. Enjoy making content.
• Why it is important to experiment what social media platform is the best platform for our audience and the best things to post for your target market.
• You need to make sure content is valuable and can tell that you’re enthusiastic and passionate. 
• Treat your content like you're having a coffee with a friend. It doesn't need to be perfect.

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Where to find Libby online:

• https://libbylangley.com
• www.instagram.com/libbylangley

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Things we talked about in this episode:

• Overcoming mindset blocks. From fixed mindset to growth mindset.
• Talking about mindset shifts before, during and present in business.
• Having a positive outlook
• Steph's philosophy “turn your hobby into an business”
• Bringing people together “community over competition” vibes
• “There is room here for everyone”
• The market is NOT saturated! 

Where to find Jackie online:

• Jackie’s Etsy Shop (Grab Bag Botany) - https://www.etsy.com/shop/GrabBagBotany
• Jackie’s Website - https://www.grabbagbotany.com/
• Grab Bag Botany on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/grabbagbotany/
• Grab Bag Botany Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/grabbagbotany

Links from the episode:

• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Today we talk about our morning routine tips for success

 Things I talk about in this episode:

• Before 9am I don’t check emails or work, just get kids ready. 
• Don’t log straight into work at 9am - spend half an hour tidying up after the morning rush
• Work in school hours, not when kids are at home. Be respectful to them and be present when they’re home, that’s why I went self employed in the first place
• How you start your day is how your day carries on. If you’re in a grump in the morning, it  puts you in a bad mood, and the rest of your day turns out like that.
• Tea and snacks to hide from the kids
• Always hydrate before you caffeinate in the morning. Drink water before coffee.
• Nurture the first part of your day. Craft the first hour of your day and pack the good stuff in there you enjoy doing first
• Routines have to be baggy. Be able to fit and move in them. Leave yourself a buffer.
  Not too baggy though! Find a middle of baggy bin bag, and tight dress. 
• I don’t have an alarm - it puts me in the worst mood. Instead have a bedtime alarm at the end of the day - and wake up depending on how much sleep you’ve had
• Set lots of alarms - to make sure you have different alarms to get things done by.
• Set an alarm for 3pm to remember to pick the kids up from school
• Don’t have a wake up alarm but have alarms for certain things to be done by certain times. 
• When starting work - check emails and orders, update spreadsheets. Then do the project or important things 
• Plan out your week in advance - when you wake up and don’t know what you’re doing that day, you end up finding things to work on and end up doing things to stay busy. 
• Ideas are cheap - execution is expensive
• Batch creating helps massively
• Work on 4 things a week and really focus on them, don’t get distracted. Prioritise
• Plan your week in a loose but structured way so you don’t get distracted. 
• Journal what's on your mind.
• Schedule a break or lunch break to have a rest from work.
• Know how you perform best. Understand how your body works and work around that. 
• Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get things done. You’ll feel a failure and become a failure because of the wrong mindset. 
• If I have a mountain of tasks to do, I do nothing, so I do a brain dump. Get everything out of your head and onto paper for each task. Make it fun and colourful if use on a daily basis
  
  
  

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/

Today I talk about the first thing I wished I’d have invested my first £1000 into

 Things I talk about in this episode:

• I wouldn’t advise going out and spending crazy on a new car/ bag etc
• Invest it back into your business
• I made a lot of mistakes when my business was young, so I’m here to stop you doing the same!
• I invested in Facebook ads and a Social Media Manager that wasted both my time and money. Lesson learned!
• Create a business hierarchy list - list all of the hats you wear. 
• Create a team chart with you at the top and all of the departments under that. Put all of the jobs you do and split them into the different departments. 
• HIRING - it’s not as bad as you think it is.
• Slowly hire from the bottom up. Hire out tasks at the bottom of your list
• For example, your marketing team list. At the bottom will be something like posting on social media - hire it out first and work your way up the list
• The more hands and man/woman power you can get in your business, the faster you are going to grow 
• You can’t do it on your own - you’ll only get so far
• If you have an income cap and you can’t break through it - that is likely because you need more manpower in your business. 
• I wish I hired out my first role.
• I wish I had hired a Virtual Assistant sooner for tasks like social media and bookkeeping
  
  
  

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Today I talk about productivity shaming in business

 Things I talk about in this episode:

• How ‘productivity shaming’ has been born from this ‘hustle hard’ mentality which meant you had to hustle hard and this has caused damaging mindset shifts.
• How do you feel when you have time away from your business and you’re not working - feel like you’re being unproductive?
• Are you worried about the time you’re ‘wasting’ as you could be spent working on your business?
• Do you feel a sense of guilt when taking time off at weekends etc? This guilt breads this mentality of feeling like you can’t disconnect from your business.
• Do you feel productive, when you’re actually burning yourself out?
• Are you experiencing stress, anxiety and burn out?
• We all dream of building a business that gives us more time with our families and to live a life on our terms, but we end up getting addicted to productivity 
• I link my self worth to my work achievements, so if my business fails, I fail too which is so damaging.
• Your body will give you signs to slow down, and if you don’t listen it will make you stop by getting ill.
• Stop linking your self worth to your business achievements!
• Sprinkle some achievements in your life that has nothing to do with your business 
• If you use work to escape your personal problems, this is a big warning sign! 
• Doing something because you’re stressed or bored like eating? Also a huge warning sign of stress, anxiety and burnout
• Using work as an escape mechanism to avoid things that are going on? Warning sign!
• Start to become self aware and acknowledge if you’re doing the above, and make a plan to stop it.
• Maybe implement office hours, Monday to Friday, 9am - 4pm and stick to them!
  
  
  

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Handmade Bosses Socials:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebosses
• https://www.instagram.com/handmadebosses/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/HandmadeBosses

Today I welcome Jackie to the podcast to talk about how she made $100,000 with her jewellery shop. 

 Things we talked about in this episode:

• How Jackie binge watched and implemented all of our FREE content which enabled her to make $5000 a month!
• How the Academy enabled Jackie’s Etsy shop to work on its own, so she could concentrate on her website.
• How her father influenced Jackie to start her jewellery business, after visiting the ‘grab bag botany store’
• How Jackie started out learning how to teach yoga, and ended up preserving flowers in resin instead
• How Jackie overcame imposter syndrome and changed her mindset from fixed to a growth mindset
• How another resin maker (who Jackie initially looked up to) had blocked Jackie on Instagram, and this lead to a movement of supporting other makes as there’s ‘room for everyone’
• Why when Jackie became successful, she experienced other makers copying her items and designs.
• How social media enabled Jackie to build a community and communicate with her customers
• How there’s a fine line between helping someone who has their own style who doesn’t know how to express it yet, and someone who just wants to copy you and know exactly where you get your materials from and who your suppliers are
• How to build hype on social media to get people excited before a big launch, without giving away your ideas to other makers
• How Jackie earned $100,00 in less than 17 months in business and is on track to earn her first 6 figure year in business this year
• How the 1:1 coaching with Steph helped Jackie to accelerate her business
• How Jackie wished she knew how Etsy SEO worked at the start of her business, so she didn’t have to go back and change all of her listings
• How having a brand and knowing your target market helps you get more sales
• Jackie says "just start and keep going" when you're starting out and "don’t listen to negative people who don’t believe in what you do".
• How being a business owner has taught Jackie that you don’t need to be an expert in something, you just have to be resourceful to succeed
• How Jackie actually HATED nature when she was younger, and now it’s her biggest passion

Where to find Jackie online:

• Jackie’s Etsy Shop (Grab Bag Botany) - https://www.etsy.com/shop/GrabBagBotany
• Jackie’s Website - https://www.grabbagbotany.com/
• Grab Bag Botany on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/grabbagbotany/
• Grab Bag Botany Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/grabbagbotany

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Today I welcome Sophie from The English Print Co to the podcast to talk about how she left her 'safe' nursing job to take her small print business full time. 

 Things we talked about in this episode:

• How the Handmade Bosses Success Academy transformed Sophie's business, giving her her best year in business to date
• What to do when you're in a saturated niche, and how to stand out
• How pricing your products correctly from the start allows you to earn more money, invest in your business and be a better business owner
• Why having the wrong target customer is "noisy" for your business, and why they take up so much time and energy
• You have the right to cancel orders to protect your own mental health
• Why Sophie fell in love with prints and started her own print business
• How Sophie gave her partner a subtle hint that she wanted to get married using her prints
• How niching down helped stop burnout, and increase sales
• The importance of having a clear brand, and how it makes customers trust you
• How Sophie found her passion by researching ways to help her son (who has oversensitive hearing) by focusing on simple and calm living and bringing it into her business
• How Sophie plans to bring a simple and calm life to the world with her new course
• How to avoid stress and anxiety in business, and take back control of your life with mindset shifts Sophie had to make
• How leaving her NHS job and taking her print business full time enabled Sophie to live a life she is much happier and content in
• Why Sophie left her job to be able to take her children to the park on a weekend, and be a fun mum again
• Building a flexible lifestyle brings a life of happiness from being self employed
• The perks of having complete control of your life by being your own boss
• How Sophie realised she “was made for being a small business owner” after leaving her ‘proper’ job, and how she wished she’d have done it sooner
• How much it costs to sell on Etsy, and all of the fees included
• The difference between having your own stand alone website and an Etsy shop
• You can run a full time handmade business from Etsy if you learn and put the effort in
   

Links from the episode:

• Join the Flourish By Handmade Bosses Live Event - https://www.handmadebosses.com/flourishbyhandmadebosses
• Interested in enrolling to the Handmade Bosses Success Academy? - https://www.handmadebosses.com/HBSAenrol 
• The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate - https://www.handmadebosses.com/conversion
• The 30 Day to A Kick Butt Etsy Shop Launch Plan - https://www.handmadebosses.com/30days
• Find out more about Steph -
  https://www.handmadebosses.com/aboutsteph

Where to find Sophie online:

• The English Print Co website - https://www.theenglishprintcompany.co.uk/pages/starthere
• The English Print Co Instagram - http://instagram.com/theenglishprintco
• The English Print Co Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/theenglishprintco