The Sakita Method

Today marks the start of my 5th full year as an entrepreneur.

I remember the day that I quit my job at the end of 2010 like it was yesterday. It's been an interesting five years full of highs, lows, really tough moments and major triumphs.

I'm so grateful to have made it to this important milestone and wanted to share some of my experience and reflections with you.

In this episode, I'll be sharing 5 reflections, 5 mistakes and lessons learned and 5 things that I'll be taking into the next 5 years.

We don't talk enough about money. And we don't talk enough about what happens at the negotiating table, when you're an employee or when you're a business owner.

It's easy to make mistakes when you just don't have the knowledge or experience which is why I wanted to share some of my biggest negotiating fails.

A lot of people are struggling privately when it comes to negotiating (and leaving a lot of money on the table in the process), so I wanted to be transparent about some major ways that I've f*cked up while negotiating, so that you don't make these same mistakes.

When James Wright's review of Patti Labelle's Sweet Potato Pie went viral, it sent the pies flying off the shelves at Walmart. It was a PR gift wrapped in gold and bedazzled in diamonds. Instead of riding that wave, Patti threw it away by saying that the pies were selling out before the video.

On this episode, I talk about that crucial mistake, the nature of viral videos and if they can be deliberately created. I also discuss the power of social influence and how to leverage a "viral moment" if it happens to you or your business.

If you've ever felt like giving up, quitting a job or project or giving in, this episode it for you.

Lately, I've been having a lot of conversations with other creatives and entrepreneurs and a common thread seems to be that all of us have reached some sort of breaking point or moment when we're ready to quit projects or our entire business and do something else.

In this episode, I share my own story about wanting to give up and explore the ONE thing we should do when those begin to seep into our minds.

Fake gurus are the people who wake up on any given day and just decide that they are going to be an expert, coach, consultant or thought leader in a particular space, even when they don't have any actual expertise in that area. You can find fake gurus in your current work place, in your industry and especially on social media.

But instead of getting frustrated that they are muddying the waters and making things difficult for people like you, who actually know what you're talking about, you should focus on the one thing that they get right all the time!

Visit HashtagsandStilettos.com for the extended show notes.

Most people don't understand what public relations is, but they know they need it. Evidence of this can be found during some of my recent conversations and on Twitter whenever I ask people to submit PR questions and get crickets in return.

However, my inbox is consistently inundated with questions about different topics that fall under the PR umbrella. Which led to a recent epiphany: even though people know to bring these questions and issues to a publicist, they weren't able to make the connection that they were actually asking PR questions.

In this episode, I give some real life examples of PR problems, that on the surface may not immediately appear to have anything to do with PR. I also explain why everyone needs to employ a PR mindset so they can think more strategically about the impact of their choices and actions.

We live in a world where influence among every day people, bloggers and celebrities is rightfully wielded as a superpower.

Every business and brand wants a piece of that influence and to get the attention of their captive audiences, but when does it make sense to pay cold hard cash for it?

Sitting in traffic at a red light the other day made me think about all of the different automated signals we have in our life that enable us to mindlessly go with the flow and how that expectation then seeps into other areas of our life causing us to wait for some type of signal or green light to move forward.

I thought about this in relation to all of the things we say we want to do and accomplish but we never make a move. Why? What are we waiting for?

And what if the things that we’re waiting for never appear?

If you're not already blogging about your brand or business, you should be.

In this episode, Sakita talks about the common excuses entrepreneurs and creatives give for not blogging, the benefits of using blogging to become a thought leader in your industry and the many platform options that exist that make it super easy for you to share your first post today!

Mitch, the founder of Boy Beads, a men's accessory line asked for advice on how to turn down business opportunities and requests that may be beneficial to his business without ruining the business relationship.

In this episode, you'll learn to identify the moments or circumstances in your business when you should turn an opportunity down (1:20) and Sakita provides some quick examples of how to respectfully pass on a potentially lucrative deal without completely ruining the relationship (3:03).