Accountant Danielle Hayden gives an overview of the numbers every entrepreneur needs to know, including when it makes sense to invest heavily in your business.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Danielle’s motivation in working with entrepreneurs and accounting

* How to approach financials and daunting tasks

* Ways to step around the “it takes money to make money” myth

* Why getting started and being scrappy not only saves money, it informs your future branding

* Which numbers to pay attention to in each season of business you’re in

* How to make the decision on how much to invest back into your business

* Why it’s important for women, in particular, to take control of their finances

QUOTABLES:

“Just take one step and start to build momentum every day so you can start to understand your numbers.” – Danielle HaydenClick To Tweet

“We just started and then from there we learned who we were as a business, who we wanted to serve and where we wanted to spend our money.” – Danielle HaydenClick To Tweet

“I have to acknowledge the fact that there’s so many of us coming into business with our own money stories.” – Danielle HaydenClick To Tweet

MORE ON DANIELLE:

Website | Instagram

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* Profit Planner

* Instant Badass Brand

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Dr. Suzy Cater talks about conversion copywriting on sales pages, websites, and how to alter your message during changing times.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Suzy’s 4 Ps for copy that converts

* How you can inject personality and make your copy read in a way one can visualize

* Suzy’s method of writing with clarity first, personality second

* Why swipe files are important (hint: it’s not for copying!)

* How Suzy does ideal client research and creates a word bank for future copywriting

* The difference between pain-aware and solution-aware potential clients, and how that will affect what kind of website copy you need

* What needs to change during a period of transition

* Why it’s time to lean into your messaging

* What you need to do in conversion copy and why it means addressing every objection

* Why Suzy thinks the pandemic will push out the “bro marketing” tactics

QUOTABLES:

“I think a lot of people want to talk about pain points, but when it comes to the promise, the transformation, they water it down.” – Suzy CaterClick To Tweet

“A lot of people reach points in their business when they plateau and they think their copy needs a refresh… and often there’s something a lot deeper going on.” – Suzy CaterClick To Tweet

“If you’re a business owner feeling a bit anxious about your messaging, now is a time to lean in and show up for your community.” – Suzy CaterClick To Tweet

“This is key about conversion copy: don’t leave any elephants in the room.” – Suzy CaterClick To Tweet

“You can launch for sure, but don’t avoid talking about the coronavirus.” – Suzy CaterClick To Tweet

MORE ON SUZY:

Website | Instagram

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* The Wealth-Creating Messaging Club<...

Many will take this time and build side hustles or online businesses as the changing climate of our world becomes more solid. As online business owners, it’s our responsibility to guide them!

Here is a list of (free, discounted or inexpensive) tools I’m currently using to communicate, teach, and organize online:

Membervault: this is my LMS (learning management system). I love them for many reasons, and one is that they don’t hide behind a corporate veneer. They’re real people. You know who to go to with questions. AND their free version always includes 50 users but they’ve doubled it to 100 right now. So you can have 100 students in there for free!

Zoom Cloud Meetings: I’ve used zoom for years. It’s free for two-person meetings and up to 40min meetings with multiple people.

Active Campaign: this is my ESP (email service provider) and can also be a CRM. They don’t have a free version, so if you want free to start try ConvertKit or Mailchimp.

Loom: I use this for screen recordings with my video thumbnail in the corner. They have cut their prices significantly for the pandemic response and many can just use the free version like me.

Planoly: scheduling for Insta and Pinterest, though I only use it for IG. Free version totally enough for beginning businesses!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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TO BUILD YOUR BRAND:

Britney has a variety of ways to work with her, from recorded workshops guiding you through DIY brand building skills all the way to complete brand crafting with Instant Badass Brand and brand photography.

Music by Michael De La Torre. Thanks, Mikey!

 

Amy Jo, a business coach and marketing strategist for female entrepreneurs, share the journey of her brand, her business pivots, and how she got to where she is today.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Amy Jo’s advice on how to set yourself apart in a crowded niche

* How she transitioned from life coaching to coaching on digital marketing

* Mindset issues around re-evaluating or taking a step back from your business

* How to pull yourself out of a “should” moment

* Amy Jo talks about changing her brandING as she pivoted her business

* How Amy began her Digital Magic membership by pulling in a crew of experts for areas outside her expertise

QUOTABLES:

“I think a lot of people keep [their niche] vague, thinking that they’ll be able to serve more people and make more money.” – Amy JoClick To Tweet

“We can ‘should’ ourselves out of actually doing anything.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“Always have something in your back pocket that you can pull out when you’re having one of those ‘should’ moments.” – Amy JoClick To Tweet

“I can be an expert at XYZ but I’m not an expert at everything so if I can bring other people’s expertise to my members, why not?” – Amy JoClick To Tweet

MORE ON AMY JO:

Website | Instagram

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* Digital Magic Membership

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Nikki Rausch of Sales Maven talks about the sales process, how it affects your personal brand, and the common hangups many entrepreneurs face as they move clients along the customer journey.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Nikki starts off by talking about the long game of sales and how it takes time to build relationships

* Why it’s your job to move a client from step to step and if sales feels yucky, it’s because you’re skipping steps

* Some of the hangups the average entrepreneur will face as they learn about sales

* Nikki’s 5 Steps of the Sales Staircase: Introduction, Curiosity, Discovery, Proposal, and Close

* Why offering coaching in a discovery/sales call is a mistake

* Nikki gives an example of where she would dig into a client’s sales process to fix a sales breakdown

* We talk about having integrity in sales

* How a sales process affects your personal brand

* The one big thing that would detract from your personal brand

“The last thing you want to do, from a personal brand standpoint, is to take on people who are not good fits.” – @yoursalesmavenClick To Tweet

“We want people to be ambassadors for our brand. You get to ride the coattails of the credibility of all the people who are out in the marketplace talking about you.” – @yoursalesmavenClick To Tweet

“It’s not my job to convince people to hire me. It’s my job to clearly lay out a way someone can get their problem, their want, their need solved by hiring me.” – @yoursalesmavenClick To Tweet

“A sales process showcases you as an expert in your field. It makes it easy for people to identify, yes, I’m an ideal client.” – @yoursalesmavenClick To Tweet

MORE ON NIKKI:

Website | Instagram | Twitter

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* Nikki’s Masterclass

* Closing The Sale

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I talk about visibility and vulnerability as they relate to personal branding and the know, like & trust factor.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Visibility and vulnerability go hand in hand

* Just having a personal brand by itself is super visible

* I go over the different kinds of vulnerability and why even you might feel unsafe, showing up isn’t a bad vulnerable state

* Where judgment comes into play

* Why I first included brand strategy in my photo packages

* How I taught my clients to combat feeling vulnerable

* Why your branding foundation matters for showing up

QUOTABLES:

“It’s a chicken or egg scenario: which comes first, visibility or vulnerability?” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“When you choose to be visible, you’re choosing to be uncomfortable.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“When you’re 100% clear on who you are, who you serve and how you serve them, you can’t help but be visible.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* The Show Up System

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LEAVE A RATING & REVIEW HERE

TO BUILD YOUR BRAND:

Britney has a variety of ways to work with her, from recorded workshops guiding you through DIY brand building skills all the way to complete brand crafting with Instant Badass Brand and brand photography.

Music by Michael De La Torre. Thanks, Mikey!

Expanding on a very popular mini-training I did on Instagram Stories, I spend this episode debunking the myth of the ideal customer avatar and reframing the idea to be more approachable, less full of marketing jargon, and get to the heart of what you need to know to attract clients with ease.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Why the ideal client avatar is so confusing

* What you need to know about your best client to create a great brand message

* Why your best client is the first step to showing up consistently for your online business

* A real-world example of the differences between an ideal customer avatar and a best client

* How you can get to know your best client

QUOTABLES:

“A great brand message will allow your best client to feel understood by you.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“All of marketing is just getting your brand message out there by packaging up products to serve this one idea: your best client wants to feel understood by YOU.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* The Show Up System

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Your Best Client (and the myth of the ideal client avatar)

Let’s talk today about one of those super confusing topics.Yes, I’m talking about the ideal client avatar! The target client! Niching! (Side note, it’s a neesh, not nitch.)

I did a mini-training on this in my Instagram stories and I’ve never gotten more feedback on anything as I did on this training. I know it hit a mark. Here’s why:

* Why is it confusing?Because there’s a lot of marketing and branding jargon thrown around when people talk about this. Also, because there’s so much weight in this topic and all the “experts” both make it sound really important and simultaneously do nothing to break it down for you in a way that feels approachable.

* Let’s break down that confusion.I prefer not to talk about this subject in terms like an avatar.

It feels unapproachable.

Jess is an award-winning website designer and I use her to knowledge for our advantage by picking her brain on how to set up YOUR website in a way that attracts your best client and books you more clients.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Jess and I talk about marketing to a niche and serving a broader audience

* I put Jess on the spot about how to gear websites to a specific client

* How putting a website for the 55+ crowd and websites for busy moms differ

* Jess and I talk about stating the obvious again and again

* Why having a good-looking site is good, but not to overwhelm with design

* What a smiling photo, testimonials and the word “you” have in common

QUOTABLES:

“Content helps build that know, like and trust. It helps build authority.” – @jesscreativesClick To Tweet

“You have to keep the end-user in mind and put aside your own preferences.” – @jesscreativesClick To Tweet

“Clear is better than clever and function is more important than form.” – @jesscreativesClick To Tweet

“Having a smiling picture on your website builds more trust than words.” – @jesscreativesClick To Tweet

MORE ON JESS:

Website | Instagram | Twitter

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* Work Your Website Challenge

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Four years ago I wrote an article about the three reasons your brand isn’t a thing (yet) and today I’m updating it… because there are still a few great reasons your brand is not a thing even if they’ve changed.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

* Why Daring Greatly is such a great book for entrepreneurs

* All the many things we do as entrepreneurs that requires courage

* Why being the face of your business matters so much

* The “do it anyway” mentality

* Leaning into depth and beauty requires self-love and a purpose

* The question you should ask at your next networking event

* How leaning into your why creates a beautiful ripple effect

* Where to look for advice and approval if you want your business to succeed

QUOTABLES:

“So much of what we do as entrepreneurs requires great daring.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“You can lean into depth or lean into beauty and the other one will follow but do know, they are both required.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

“When you start living out your why you glow with purpose. It’s the fire behind your voice when you get excited. It’s a whole new level of beauty.” – @britneygardnerClick To Tweet

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* The Perils of Getting Scrappy #073

* Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

* Make a Decision. Be the First #069

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LEAVE A RATING & REVIEW HERE

TO BUILD YOUR BRAND:

Britney has a variety of

 

QUOTABLES:

You will be heard. You will be listened to. I think that’s what people are really looking for in 2020. They’re really looking for who is listening to me.

Your usefulness in someone else’s story is what they care about ultimately.

This detachment from a need that everyone has to buy from me has been helpful for me to make genuine connections with other people.

It makes the world feel less huge, less like I’m alone on this little island shouting with a megaphone hoping someone hears me.

MORE ON ANN:

Website | Instagram

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

* How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

* Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller

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Stitcher | Google Play Podcasts | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe

LEAVE A RATING & REVIEW HERE

TO BUILD YOUR BRAND:

Britney has a variety of ways to work with her, from recorded workshops guiding you through DIY brand building skills all the way to complete brand crafting with Instant Badass Brand and brand photography.

Music by Michael De La Torre. Thanks, Mikey!