This week we have another “Dear Lorraine” episode!  I asked my Instagram community what their biggest challenge is right now - and I had a LOT of responses.  

Today, I’m speaking to a major issue that came through in those responses: how we move forward with taking a risk.

As I share in this episode, all progress in our lives and business requires some level of risk - and each of us have a different appetite for risk.  I start my response with the best definition I’ve ever heard, and one I’ve worked with for over a decade.  Then I step through the processes and questions I ask myself when faced with a risk, and that I use with my one-on-one mentees. 

This episode will help you navigate past the next horizon of your comfort zone, and enable you to enhance your growth mindset. 

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Sharing the story of a business, and crafting its own unique voice, can be a challenge for many business owners - most especially those who don’t identify as natural writers.  This block can really hold a business back, and prevent entrepreneurs reaching the full potential of their marketing.  Luckily for us, this week on the show we have a gold standard expert in brand voice and storytelling!  

Brooke Hill is a brand storyteller, content consultant and copywriting coach.  For over 20 years, she has either led marketing campaigns or created content for some of the world’s leading brands - including Sheridan, Paspaley, Valentino, David Jones and Gucci.  She’s the author of children’s picture book, You Two, You Two, and has been a longtime mentee of mine. 

In our conversation, Brooke shares: 

• Why every brand is a storyteller... and how to tell our unique stories
• The three biggest challenges small businesses
•  face when it comes to content creation 
• Her gorgeous definition of strategy - I had never heard this before!
• How to bring content and desired business outcomes together
• What a brand voice is, and how we create one for our businesses
• When we should outsource copywriting
• How AI can support us in communicating our brands 
• The SEO benefit of great copy 
• How she has built her business on the basis of strong boundaries 
• What’s currently exciting her - and challenging her! - in her business

The resources Brooke mentions are: 

Building a Storybrand book by Donald Miller

Kate Toon’s SEO Nibbles course

Download the Voice Report here: thecontentedcopywriter.com.au/thevoicereport

Brooke’s website and newsletter sign-up here: thecontentedcopywriter.com.au

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I asked my Instagram community what their biggest challenge is right now - and I had a LOT of responses!  In this new “Dear Lorraine” occasional episode format, I speak to one of these challenges.

First up is a challenge that keeps a lot of us back from experiencing the growth we want or need to: that icky feeling of being stuck.

In this first “Dear Lorraine” episode, I address this challenge - including the five steps I suggest to get yourself unstuck, the need for an occasional “Winter”, and honest sharing from my own experiences of feeling stuck over the years.

Whether you feel you need a bit of a kickstart, or a total overhaul right now, this is a great episode to help you on your way.

The book I mention is Wintering by Katherine May - I highly recommend it!

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This week on the show I’m bringing back one of the people who has been a key guide for me in my personal and business journey.  Helen Jacobs is a psychic and soul coach, and author of three books.  

Her third book, Follow Your Heart: Simple Daily Rituals For Honing Your Intuition, was published in May this year, and is a guide to connecting with your intuition (which, as we discuss in our conversation, is an essential superpower that we should all be nurturing!).

Helen and I discuss:

• How she defines intuition 
• How intuition is so closely connected to our heart 
• Why intuition is so important in business
• My own experience of an intuitive nudge recently in business
• Why intuition isn’t always leading us to our “happy ever after path of easy”
• How we can differentiate between intuition and fear - who's talking?!
• The tools and practises she recommends to tune into our intuition more 
• How we know if our intuition is actually working!
• What to do during speed wobbles of faith and trust, and how we can get back on the path
• One thing she would like listeners to do after listening to this episode 

The authors I mention in the episode are Louise Hay and Florence Scovel Shinn.  

To find out more about Helen’s work, you can visit her website at helenjacobs.co or connect with her on Instagram at @helenjacobs.co.  You can find Follow Your Heart in leading bookstores, and online. 

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Ah, a fresh new season just in time for the second half of 2023!  This week I’m sharing my progress on my goals that I set at the beginning of this year - what’s on track, what’s not… and how I’m going to course correct over the next six months. 

I LOVE hearing about other peoples’ goals and how they’re tracking with them (probably why I love mentoring so much), and I wanted this episode to be a case study of sorts to help you review your own goals at this mid-year point.  It also gives me epic public accountability to make mine happen by 31st December…

I talk about progress on our life in Spain, the best investment in our relationship ths year, developments in my business and the habits I want to work on from here. 

I also share an exciting announcement about my Bali retreat in October.  There are just four spots remaining.  Find out more on my website: lorrainemurphy.com.au. 

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I see burn-out as being THE most critical occupational hazard of running a business - especially for female entrepreneurs (more on why that is soon!).  The responsibility of it can feel huge, with the pressure to perform and serve all the different stakeholders of our business.  

The problem is, we want to also live our lives - a core tenet of why I started my Bold Darling membership group!  As I always try to remind myself: if I go down, the whole thing goes down - the business, but also my health, relationships and family. 

Filippa Belette is a co-founder of Chris & Filly Functional Medicine, a virtual award-winning health and wellness practice. They specialise in ending body burnout in high-achieving people.  

Since 2009, Chris & Filly have worked with more than 2,000+ burned-out parents, including multi-millionaire entrepreneurs to successfully optimise their energy, productivity, and become connected to their family, their passion and their purpose in this world.

In our conversation, Filippa and I cover: 

• Her own experience of burn-out after the birth of her first baby
• How that experience led her to finding her business path
• The core childhood patterns that can set us up for burn-out later on in life
• The less obvious signs of burn-out 
• Why PMS is not normal
• How long the timeline to burn-out can take
• Whether or not female entrepreneurs are more likely to struggle with their health than male entrepreneurs 
• Post-baby burnout in entrepreneurial mums 
• The business/family blend and what she sees as the biggest challenges women have who are navigating both
• The symptoms that can arise from body imbalances
• How to go about finding a practitioner to support you  
• One thing that you can do to immediately support your health better

To find out more about Chris + Filly, visit their website - chrisandfilly.fm and connect with them on Instagram - @chrisandfilly_fm. 

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Hooray!  This week I get to talk about one of my absolute favourite things… BOOKS.

Books have, over the years, been one of the greatest sources of learning for me when it comes to the tools and knowledge required to grow a successful business.

I have revisited these ten books many times since starting my first business 11 years ago, and they’re the books I recommend most often to my community.

In this episode, I talk through the books, the biggest takeouts I had from them, and how they have changed my life and business.

For ease, I’ll share the titles here in the show notes too:

1. The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes
2. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni
3. Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
4. Purple Cow, Seth Godin
5. Do The Work, Steven Pressfield
6. The Five Second Rule, Mel Robbins
7. Mastering The Rockefeller Habits, Verne Harnish
8. Thrive, Arianna Huffington
9. Chill & Prosper, Denise Duffield-Thomas
10. How I Built This, Guy Raz

I also mention in this episode that there are just FIVE spots left on my Bali retreat in October. Visit my website - lorrainemurphy.com.au - to find out more about it.

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Sales is the lifeblood of any business, however it can also be the most intimidating element of entrepreneurship.  Sales isn’t a skill we’re taught at school or university; so for many business owners, they need to figure a lot out very fast when it comes to bringing the dollars into their business.

Thankfully we have experts like Abbie White in the world!  She is one of Australia’s most dynamic sales experts, as well as an in demand speaker and podcast host.  With over 15 years’ experience in sales, she has assisted in the delivery of over $500m in sales for her clients.

In our conversation, Abbie and I discuss: 

• How she became the sales guru she is
• The best salesperson she has encountered as a customer
• How everyone in a team has an impact on sales 
• If there is a “best time” of the year to be thinking about sales strategy
• What sales trends she’s seeing for FY23/24 (including the stat that lit a rocket under my ass!)
• The best strategies for lead generation
• Her tips on converting leads into sales
• What to think about when investing in a sales person (I also share my non-starter stories here…)
• How to brush up on your sales skills

To find out more about Abbie’s work, visit her website: abbiewhite.com.au.

As mentioned, her Rev Up Program is beginning soon.  To find out more, go to: salesredefined.com.au/rev-up.

Use code lorraine10 to get 10% off each month of the program. You’re welcome!

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I have long been a fan of retreats - since going on my first one in 2013.  

Since then, I’ve gone on multiple retreats: guided and self-guided, high budget and low budget.  I’ve also hosted several retreats for my community in Bali, Byron Bay, Noosa and the Central Coast. 

Over the last decade, I’ve become something of an expert retreat-er (ha!) and have built up a checklist on what makes the perfect retreat - which I share in this episode.  

I also touch on why retreats are so key, and how to overcome the guilt that can be associated with investing money and time away from everyday commitments in order to prioritise ourselves. 

I also mention in the episode that this week I announced I’ll be hosting my first Bali retreat in 5 years this October.  I am sooooo excited!  Spots will be open next week.

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Speaking is a surefire way to build your business - and even better if you’re getting paid to speak!  My guest this week is a guru on all things speaking.

Jaimie Abbott is an award-winning media professional and international keynote speaker and has spent two decades in the industry working as a radio and TV journalist, political media adviser and candidate, Managing Director of her own public speaking and media training company and a Communications Adviser for the Royal Australian Air Force. 

With over twenty years in the media and speaking world, Jaimie teaches business owners and entrepreneurs how to improve their public speaking skills and has a course called Paid to Speak, which teaches people how to sell from stage and how to become highly paid speakers.

In our conversation, we cover:

• Her very diverse background… and I mean very!
• The warzone crash course she had in public speaking training
• How waiting till we’re ready is the killer to any potential speaker career
• The most common blocks she sees people having with speaking
• Her powerful reframe on Imposter Syndrome 
• How to take those first steps towards getting speaking opportunities
• Her genius hashtag tip 
• How to decide on your speaking fee
• Exactly what you need in your speaking kit to secure gigs 

To find out more about Jaimie’s work, go to her website jaimieabbott.com or connect with her on Instagram - @jaimieabbott.

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