Your Biz, Your Rules

Find meaning in the madness of running a business.

In this episode, I chat with business coach (and host of the Meaningful Business podcast) Jo Casey about feminine conditioning, energetic scheduling, the best of books, and much, much more.

The key takeaways:

• We all need to look at how we can create businesses that sustainable financially, emotionally and energetically. The rates of burnout amongst solopreneurs and entrepreneurs are really big, and it’s probably because there’s nobody telling us to clock out. We need to put those definite boundaries in ourselves.

• We’re the pioneers of working online. We’re developing new business models and ways of working ALL THE TIME. It’s exciting and gives us a lot of scope to get creative, especially with the ever-changing technology. Freedom? Yes, but we still need a bit of structure in there somewhere.

• Learn to understand your own energy patterns and build your schedule accordingly.

• There’s this idea that we are selfish if we’re not helping people all of the time, or if we ask for money for it, or if we’re not in all the Facebook groups answering questions and giving free advice 24/7, then we’re selfish and it’s just not true. But it’s a really pernicious idea that runs deep in a lot of us.

 

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Join me on Instagram here: 
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Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode39

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Boost your Instagram engagement with this simple hack.

In this episode, I'm sharing the Instagram engagement ritual I'm trialling... listen on for inspiration!

An overview of my 5×5 Instagram engagement hack:

Step 1: Scroll through the first 5 posts in your feed and mute or unfollow any accounts that you don’t want to see more of. The beauty of Instagram is that it’s such an inspiring place… so let’s keep it that way!

Step 2: Watch 5 Instagram Stories from beginning to end. Bonus points if you engage in polls and respond to what people are sharing.

Step 3: Hop onto that list of people you’re following. Like 5 posts. Comment on 5 posts (with 5 words or more in your comment). Now hop over to the list of people who are following you. Like 5 of theirs and comment on 5 more.

Step 4: Hit the “explore” tab and click through to 5 posts that grab your attention – like, comment and follow if the mood takes you.

Step 5: Tap on one of the hashtags you’ve used recently and follow 5 people who have used it too. Like at least one of their posts, and comment on another.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode38

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Bring clients (and cash) into your business with ease.

In this episode, LinkedIn expert Helen Pritchard shares some of her best tips to help you both get inspired by LinkedIn AND start making money from it... win!

The key takeaways:

• Your LinkedIn account doesn’t have to reflect an old life, it can evolve with you.
• If you love making money and hate doing too much work, LinkedIn is the one for you.
• The “work” takes place before you even log on. Once you’ve identified WHAT you want to sell and WHO you want to sell it to, it’s about implementing insanely simple daily activities.
• Reframe your profile so that it’s about your ideal audience and what they’re looking for, rather than having an incredibly long, boring career history. That’s not what people care about. They want to know how you can help THEM… so put that very crucial info right in your headline.
• The most important thing about publishing content on LinkedIn is CONSISTENCY. And, y’know, reminding people how they can buy from you.
• Don’t hang around in certain Facebook groups when you’ve had more than two wines.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode37

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Create the hard edges that allow your brain to do its best work... a.k.a. set up super strict boundaries and watch the brilliance FLOW.

The key takeaways:

5 boundary lines that make ALL the difference:

• Working hours. Including break times.
• Project scope, set deliverable, and the zone of genius you will not waver from.
• Pricing. Don’t wiggle. If someone wants to pay less they get less.
• Channels of communications. Not every platform has to be a client platform.
• Timelines – what are your turnaround times and when do require input from others?

Tips for keeping those boundaries in place:

• Define them. List them all out and make them accessible for everyone, whether that’s in an autoresponder, a client agreement or a simple email.
• Stick to them yourself (others will take cues from your behaviour, remember that).
• If you really, truly can’t stay out of your inbox outside of working hours, check out Boomerang.
• Create scripts that handle each type of boundary cross, so that you can easily, stresslessly deal with those less than ideal situations.
• Always be transparent with what you think and what you need. Difficult conversations get way more difficult when you put them off.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode36

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Are you pursuing perfection or pursuing EXCELLENCE?

In this episode, I'm chatting to coach for misfits Ebonie Allard about doing all things "your way". 

The key takeaways:

• Starting a business often comes from wanting to set your own rules and listen to your body, and yourself – when you work, how you work, what you wear, what you eat… but to a certain extent you have to create structure in order to have the freedom. It has to be your choice though. It feels so much more empowering to know that you’ve got a choice rather than feeling like you have to do things a certain way.

• Set strict boundaries around your working hours with regards to other people. Don’t allow your clients to contact you any time of day and night because that’s when things get crazy. And remember it’s all about the push and pull. If you work really late one day, you can have that morning time back later. We’ve got to make these businesses of ours sustainable!

• People fall into two camps, do-ers and be-ers. With do-ers, it’s in their blood, they can’t help doing and they will do and do and do until they stop. We have to really encourage them to take a break and to look after themselves. And then you have be-ers who are really good at being in the moment, being present, feeling what’s going on and not necessarily as good at taking action without some kind of discipline involved in that. Finding out where you are on that spectrum and then learning how to pay attention to your body and turning that into a habit is really important.

• It’s really important to pay attention to whether we’re working smart or whether we’re just working.

• If you truly want to channel your personality online, you need to listen to the you-isms. Take note of things you say to friends, family, your journal. Pay attention to those language choices and then turn up the volume.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode35

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Start making the impact you crave on Instagram... because we all know it's the best platform!
In this ep, I share a handful of surprisingly simple tips to help you uplevel your content, increase your engagement, and just have more fun with the whole thing.

The key takeaways: YOUR INSTAGRAM BIO

• Make sure your profile picture is YOUR picture. Nobody falls in love with a logo.
• Be specific about what you do, who you do it for and how you do it. If I stumble onto your Instagram profile, I want to know instantly if it’s worth my while to follow you. I don’t want to enjoy your vague and whimsical naval gazing. Save that for later.
• Take full advantage of your link space (I use Linktr.ee).

YOUR GRID

• Curate the images you share. Don’t show us dark and grainy crap. Every image should be enough to force us to stop the scroll.
• Look at your grid as a whole and define your signature style, your signature subject(s) and even your signature filters.
• Dream up DIFFERENT ways to share your story, values and messaging (I have a free Instagram planner filled with all the prompts and all the inspo here).
• Use a scheduling tool so that you can play around with how your grid looks (I use Planoly – free for up to 30 images a month, which is all you really need).

YOUR CAPTIONS

• Opt for long-form captions. The aim is to keep people on your images for as long as possible.
• Break up those long captions with line breaks and emojis to keep the eyes moving.
• Plan out your posts (even if it’s just a week at a time) so there’s some cohesiveness to your channel.

HASHTAGS

• Put your hashtags IN THE CAPTION, not in the first comment.

INTERACTION

• Respond to everyone who leaves a comment on your posts – aim for comments of 4 words or more.
• Challenge yourself to like and comment on a handful of other people’s posts every day. Instagram is a social platform, not a broadcasting system.

INSTAGRAM STORIES

• Instagram Stories are your opportunity to get really creative. Just have fun with them!
• Check out the link round-up below for endless inspiration.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode33

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

In this episode of Your Biz, Your Rules, we're digging deep into MINDSET.
More specifically, how to develop a success mindset and bring that to life a little bit in your business.

The key takeaways:

• Often there is a running theme. It comes in so many different disguises, but when you break it down, a lot of it is to do with not feeling worthy or deserving of success. A lot of female business owners have self-love issues, but a lot of them are driven by experiences or situations or people that have affected them in the past, and it’s that that really holds them back, and defining their choices and their decisions.
• Affirmations work amazingly well because there’s nothing more powerful than the sound of our own voice. If we’re constantly putting ourselves down, that is all we’re going to attract, and that’s all our mind is gonna focus on. If we can change those words to something a lot more forgiving and a lot more loving towards ourselves, naturally we start to feel better.
• With visualization, you can actually really work on filling the void in a positive way, because quite often if we have issues with self-love, we try to fill that void through lots of different things. Some people do it through alcohol, through food, through buying the next shiny object on offer, going shopping loads, trying to make themselves feel good, in the hopes that internally you might feel better.
• Meditation is brilliant in so many different ways when it comes to calming your system down and getting you to start to really rebalance and reconnect to who you are and the resources you have within you. If you’re feeling particularly vulnerable, there are a couple of exercises that you can use (listen to the ep for details).
• It’s about finding stuff that works for you and tweaking it in a way that makes you comfortable, because the last thing you want to be doing, is squirming at the thought of doing things. Equally, you do need to be open-minded about things feeling a bit uncomfortable, because sometimes that’s your minds way of showing you that something’s important and deserves your focus.
• If you can start to celebrate the wins, you’re focusing on more winning, and then you’re naturally going to be more focused and more motivated to get MORE wins.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode32

--------------------

If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Ready to create Instagram Stories that stand out?

In this episode, Queen of Stories (Alex Beadon) shares her best tips for using Instagram Stories to boost your brand in a fun, creative, EFFECTIVE way.

The key takeaways:

• Being visible can be super uncomfortable to start with, but when you start feeling a little more confident you can start having fun and getting creative. Instagram Stories, in particular, are such an excellent means of self-expression and connection with your audience.

• Another benefit of Stories is that your people will never feel flooded by your content. If they’re offline for a few days… no biggie. They can just catch up on the past 24 hrs without the overwhelm that comes with extreme catch up mode.

• It can be a huge challenge to post lots of pictures of yourself. It’s so easy to listen to that voice in your head saying “you’re so vain”, but the reality is that you want to share your message. You want people to know who you are – if you didn’t you would bother creating content at all.

• Is it more important that you feel comfortable and hidden, away from judgement, or is it more important that you get out there, connecting with and serving your people? That is the question.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode31

--------------------

If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Interested in three big (ish) things that will boost your business results (for real)?

Well, wait no longer... they're right here.

The key takeaway:

• The three things:

  Thing 1: Find your person

  Thing 2:  Sort out yo’ systems

  Thing 3: Get out of that box.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode30

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

 

True connection and having the right mindset are two things that can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE as you run your business.

The key takeaways:

• A lot of people are on the quest to stand out, but it’s really just about the allowance, the giving yourself permission to be who you are and OWN WHO YOU ARE. Then, no matter what your “thing” is, others will connect you with it. You’ll become known for simply being yourself.

• Running a business can be the introvert’s dream, but it can also give you the permission to isolate yourself in a way that isn’t always good. The key is to be mindful of your own needs. We’re all different and self-awareness can really be your saviour.

• It’s SO important to have your mindset on board. It’s great to be aware of the Facebook algorithm and its limitations but no algorithm has the power to determine your success. Circumstances are inherently neutral – it’s your belief and your action that paves the way to your future.

• Your community will only be as active and inspired and happy as you are. It’s a matter of being consistent and really asking for what you want. It really will all depend on the specific goal you have for your Facebook group.

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Join me on Instagram here: 
https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode29

--------------------

If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.