The Jim Galiano Show: Help for Freelancers & Solopreneurs

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Years ago, I dreamed of starting my own business. For me, the primary motive was freedom from the 9-5 grind. I didn’t have the best attitude in the very beginning. Truth be told, I hated working a “job.” In the back of my mind, I thought, “I’m either going to spend my time building my own dream or I’m going to spend it building someone else’s.

Over the years I learned a few things. First, there’s nothing wrong with working for someone else. In that respect, we’re all doing exactly that – even if we own our own businesses. It’s just that that time clock is no longer part of the mix.

Second, unless you build with “simplicity” in mind, you’ll be hard-pressed to hang onto that freedom you coveted so much when you first started the journey.

Today, business comes out of the box complicated. If you’re looking for true freedom, it’s up to you to make it simple.

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Will your plans, strategies, and pursuits change as the economy starts to reboot – post-shutdown? Depending upon the industry, some businesses have lost between one and a half to two months’ worth of income since March.

Depending upon the overhead, you can see why certain businesses will not be reopening their doors. The profit margins are just too small to compensate for that kind of loss.

On the other, some businesses have secured loans – which is in some ways, kicking the can down the road. It’s sort of like surviving today in order to fight tomorrow. One way or another, the loans will have to be repaid or the day of reckoning will be back somewhere down the line.

Will the economy bounce back? Will you have to adjust your business offerings and strategies?

That and more in today’s podcast!

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All business involves risk. The fact that you’ve started a business is a sure sign that you’re a risk-taker at heart. Many people, myself included, like to think of ourselves as being “fearless.” We can point to different times and instances in life where we took chances or risks. On the other hand, there are probably many times we’ve done just the opposite.

We’ve avoided taking a chance. We’ve avoided doing something new.

We’ve hesitated or lacked the confidence to take action and move forward.

In today’s podcast, I want to talk about fear, risk and danger – from a psychological and business standpoint. If you find yourself frozen, not understanding why you’re struggling to move forward, today’s episode is for you!

The late Zig Ziglar once wrote, “You’ve got to be before you can do and do before you can have. In short, you have to be a person of character and do the right things, and then you can have the things you really want.”

Today, the online world has provided you and I with the opportunity to build any kind of a business we want to build. The tech required to do so is becoming more affordable every day. You can make your plan do whatever you want to do. Success, however, has as much to do with time, patience, and persistence as it does anything else.

It’s not just being on the right road that’s important. It’s staying on the road long enough to reach your destination.

As the economy of my own hometown begins to reopen, it appears that people are still divided on “what comes next” with the economy and business. Even the experts in the world of health and finance seem divided.

So where does that leave you? Do you play it safe? Or do you plan with a different future in mind?

Maybe it starts by recognizing what’s within your power to change right here, right now?

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Today I wanted to share a talk I recently recorded on the topic of motivation. Motivation is like the kindling to a fire. At times it can fuel your efforts to the point where even the toughest work brings with it a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. The work is rewarding and fulfilling

That said, there often comes a time when the fire begins to dim. The things that once motivated us lose their energy and no longer fuel our efforts. The motivation triggers are blunted by motivation “killers.”

If you feel like you recapture that energy for your work and your future, today’s podcast is just for you!

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When I started my online business 20+ years ago, I didn’t have a business plan. I sold products and services. The plan was basically to do more of both. I didn’t have a “model” or “blueprint” like I encourage people to have today. I just jumped in and started working. On the plus side, getting forged by the fire gives you something extra you just can’t get out of a book or classroom. On the negative side, it can leave you feeling “chewed up and spit out” more times than you can count as you’re going through it.

Maybe that’s part of the reason why I recommend that people of all skill-levels consider following a simple (yet effective) business model. It’s your business, of course, so you can build it any way that you’d like to. Why follow a business model? I guess I can answer that question with this question, “Why use a map when traveling to someplace new?”

The business model, much like a business plan, shows you where all the pieces go before you start the journey. At the very least, it can keep you on the right path as you pass around, through, and past the distractions that liter the digital landscape of 2020.

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What comes next? Should you go back to your focusing on selling your service? Maybe you need to freshen up your services? Or, maybe you need to combine them differently?

You want to get a feel for what’s happening around you. From there, ask yourself, "Am I presenting an attractive or compelling solution?

Maybe even detach yourself a bit and look back at your business while asking this question,

"Would you buy from you?"

If not, why?

That's the topic of today's podcast.

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For many of us here in the U.S., this is week three of the economic slowdown. I can almost liken it to a period of hibernation. During the new few weeks, we’ll probably see the best and worst of client relationships and connections. It’s true, everyone has bills to pay. But it’s also true that some businesses are in a much stronger position, financially than others.

You can only hope that, at the very least, a small grace period is extended to those who really need it.

On other fronts, you may be seeing your position within the marketplace in April of 2020 much differently than you did in December of 2019. In just a handful of months, you may be seeing certain options in a different light than you have in the past.

That and the ongoing reminder to take one day at a time in today’s podcast.

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Last week, we started talking about some of the economic threats most of the world is currently facing. Specifically, those of us who own and run online businesses. Today, we’re entering a new month in which the shutdown is expected to continue to one degree or another for the next 30-days.

We can divide the current threat into two categories. Health and Financial. Worst-case scenarios in either category can be life-altering. My response to that is – why go down that line of thinking day after day? Today is April 1st. A lot of things can happen between today and the end of the month. Yes, even good things. In case you’re wondering, I’m not seeing the glass half empty.

So, if you’re ready to unplug from the mainstream media for a while and catch your breath, I think you’ll enjoy today’s podcast.