What's Your Story?When I started my business (and for quite some time after), I really didn't know how to talk about what I did. So, I didn't. I focused on the other side of my business, customer experience consulting, and then I'd back into the small business coaching stuff. Kind of like, "Oh yeah, and I help other entrepreneurs with their profitability, financial literacy, and growth strategy." It was awkward and, as they say in the news business, I was constantly burying the lede and doing myself a huge…Keep Reading
Something BorrowedIf you haven't had a chance to answer my 5-question survey, I'd really appreciate you taking 5 minutes now to do it. Then, come back and read my answer to a question that came through the survey: Where do I find my target market? Obviously, the answer to this question depends upon your business and your audience, but I want to share a strategy that many small businesses find highly successful. But first, I think it's important to note that the quality of your prospect list (no matter what you…Keep Reading
Community Is EverythingI'll be honest, I didn't know if I should write and send this email. I still don't. But, I've been thinking about this all weekend and it's one of those things that we so rarely talk about openly. So, let's get serious and talk about the epidemic that we're experiencing and not talking about—Loneliness. At the beginning of 2021, Harvard University released a study saying that 36% of Americans are experiencing "serious loneliness." I would guess that number hasn't lessened since the study was…Keep Reading
And We're Off…If your holiday break was like mine, things didn't exactly go as planned. Maybe you were stranded at an airport. Or, spent way too much time trying to get a COVID test. Or, quarantining. Or, were dealing with some other unexpected, unplanned inconvenience or worse. That's definitely what happened to me. We had a COVID scare, scrambled to get tested, and then couldn't get the results of our tests until we completed quarantine because the labs were backed up. In the midst of that, we had a leak…Keep Reading
Decisions! Decisions!This weekend I kind of went down a rabbit hole. Not on social media, but on something my friend and online consultant Leah Albrecht said to me on a call we had last week. Leah met with entrepreneurs over the past several months, looking to understand their website launch issues and challenges. Here's Leah's main takeaway from her research: People are so overwhelmed with the technical options and considerations that they don't even get started. I can absolutely relate to that! Can you? The…Keep Reading
Changing It Up!I don't know about you, but I'm thinking pretty hard about what I want next year to look like for me. I'm asking myself, "How will next year differ from this year or last year? More importantly, what is going to make it different for me and my business?" You've probably heard the saying, "Old habits die hard." Man is that true. But, for change to occur things have to change. That means some old habits need to go so new ones can be cultivated and take root. Over the past several years, I've…Keep Reading
When I started my business (and for quite some time after), I really didn't know how to talk about what I did. So, I didn't. I focused on the other side of my business, customer experience consulting, and then I'd back into the small business coaching stuff. Kind of like, "Oh yeah, and I help other entrepreneurs with their profitability, financial literacy, and growth strategy." It was awkward and, as they say in the news business, I was constantly burying the lede and doing myself a huge…Keep Reading
If you haven't had a chance to answer my 5-question survey, I'd really appreciate you taking 5 minutes now to do it. Then, come back and read my answer to a question that came through the survey: Where do I find my target market? Obviously, the answer to this question depends upon your business and your audience, but I want to share a strategy that many small businesses find highly successful. But first, I think it's important to note that the quality of your prospect list (no matter what you…Keep Reading
I'll be honest, I didn't know if I should write and send this email. I still don't. But, I've been thinking about this all weekend and it's one of those things that we so rarely talk about openly. So, let's get serious and talk about the epidemic that we're experiencing and not talking about—Loneliness. At the beginning of 2021, Harvard University released a study saying that 36% of Americans are experiencing "serious loneliness." I would guess that number hasn't lessened since the study was…Keep Reading
If your holiday break was like mine, things didn't exactly go as planned. Maybe you were stranded at an airport. Or, spent way too much time trying to get a COVID test. Or, quarantining. Or, were dealing with some other unexpected, unplanned inconvenience or worse. That's definitely what happened to me. We had a COVID scare, scrambled to get tested, and then couldn't get the results of our tests until we completed quarantine because the labs were backed up. In the midst of that, we had a leak…Keep Reading
This weekend I kind of went down a rabbit hole. Not on social media, but on something my friend and online consultant Leah Albrecht said to me on a call we had last week. Leah met with entrepreneurs over the past several months, looking to understand their website launch issues and challenges. Here's Leah's main takeaway from her research: People are so overwhelmed with the technical options and considerations that they don't even get started. I can absolutely relate to that! Can you? The…Keep Reading
I don't know about you, but I'm thinking pretty hard about what I want next year to look like for me. I'm asking myself, "How will next year differ from this year or last year? More importantly, what is going to make it different for me and my business?" You've probably heard the saying, "Old habits die hard." Man is that true. But, for change to occur things have to change. That means some old habits need to go so new ones can be cultivated and take root. Over the past several years, I've…Keep Reading