Season Two, Episode 16: When spending and making money feels great with Erin Marshall

Today on the podcast I am joined by Erin Marshall. Erin runs a digital marketing agency that helps coaches and clients automate their sales process by creating sales funnels for them. Erin and I are talking about spending money, charging for our services, and the belief that either of those things can be hard to do.

Charging your worth

Many business owners believe that people will not pay higher rates for their work. For example, when an entrepreneur’s business coach tells them that their service or product is valuable and that they should raise your rates so they can make more money, all the while the entrepreneur is thinking no one is going to pay more than what they are currently paying. So, instead of listening to their business coach, the entrepreneur does not raise their rates.

Because of this, the entrepreneur can’t afford to grow their team, advertise, to pay for higher ticket software, etc. The link between these things is that the entrepreneur doesn’t believe they can spend money because money is scarce so, therefore, everyone else feels that way too. The entrepreneur believes mo one has money to invest in a business and therefore no one will pay higher rates.

Self-perpetuating truth

This becomes a cyclical, self-perpetuating truth because what you believe is what you create. And everything you create, you believe. If you believe that no one will pay more than what you are currently charging, you will keep attracting the clients that will only pay that amount and will never be higher-paying clients.

You end up telling yourself money stories and then believe these stories even though you have never asked anyone to pay more for your products or services. That mindset will also come out in your marketing copy, your conversations in Facebook Groups, in any of the content you put out – which won’t resonate with business owners who have the abundance mindset and who would invest in their business or themselves.

Your mindset attracts people of a similar mindset

The idea that when you pay for things or are investing in something of a higher ticket price should feel good and should not make you feel resentful. How you talk about money and your attitude about money becomes the basis for everything you do in business.

In Erin’s early years, she was convinced that she needed to be really wise about what she did with the money she earned. She thought investing in making her business easier for her to run was frivolous, but in reality, it enabled her to not feel burned out or overwhelmed. By spending money on her business, she can provide better service that results in more referrals, more business, and making more money.

She quickly realized that when she invests in services, tools and a team, the return on those investments are greater than what she puts out, so the money keeps flowing. Many people think they are scooping out “water” from a bucket, rather than seeing that water - or money - as a river that is constantly flowing and moving.

The flow of money

The best way to stop the flow of money is for you to become a dam. You think you’re going to collect more money by not investing it in things, but instead, you end up with a limited number of resources that prevent your business from growing.

There is also a fear of being greedy by charging more. By trying to attract higher-paying clients, Erin felt she was telling the world she didn’t want to help those starting out in business but she quickly realized that wasn’t the case. She needed to work past this perception for the improvement of her business.

Erin realized that she can create a business that allows her to offer assistance to businesses who are not at the same level and cannot invest in her because she has created a framework where she has the freedom to now offer free resources, such as checklists, Facebook Lives, etc. If she was constantly working with numerous low-paying clients as opposed to one or two higher-paying clients, then she wouldn’t have the time to devote to creating free resources that can help entrepreneurs just starting out.

As Money Mindset Mentor, Denise Duffield-Thomas says, “it’s either free or expensive.” More business owners should look at this statement in order to create a sustainable business that allows them to provide free resources to those just starting out or cannot pay your higher-end rates.

Moving past scarcity

Take the fear and scarcity out of making and spending money. Once you do this you can change the way you do business and you can grow your business. Change your rates incrementally so that you are stretching, but also feeling comfortable and confident about charging that amount of money. And then once you become too comfortable, think about raising your rates again.

Don’t feel you can’t raise your rates because no one will pay it. It’s not true. Chances are someone out there is paying those rates right now for the exact same service. There are people out there who will pay your rates – you just have to find the right people.

Once you do this you will find yourself enjoying your business more and being able to grow your business.

To find out more about Erin and how she and her team help businesses grow through automation, visit ErinMarshall.biz

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Season Two, Episode 15: The Joy of Money with Pamela George

Money is a tough subject to talk about for many people, which is why I was excited to have Pamela George join me on the podcast to dig into money and all the juicy stuff that comes with those conversations. Pamela is a financial literacy coach and credit counsellor. She helps women, particularly women business owners, figure out their money situation, including how to pay themselves, and how to pay off debt.

Pamela and I have had a lot of opportunities to talk about money from a lot of different angles. Money is one of those things that feels heavy for people and it's not actually something people should feel heavy about.

We have to deal with money in every aspect of our lives. Money is something that has to happen and we need to treat it like that. It's something we have to earn and we have to spend. We just need to learn how to do that properly. You learn how to cook a meal so you can eat well, and likewise you need to learn how to manage your money so you can spend well and save for the future.

Money Mistakes

When I hit my 10-year mark as an entrepreneur, I wrote a blog post all about the money mistakes I made. Money is one of those things where I thought if I just keep working, it'll get better as opposed to thinking I should figure out how to make sure it gets better. Figuring out your money situation often feels like a thing you don't want to do because it sounds like it's going to be hard.

Money makes people scared. It makes them have to sit and think about where their money is going, why they don’t have any, and why they have so much debt. But, the worst thing anyone can do is nothing at all because debt only gets worse.

Money is not going to go away

People tend to try to bury their heads in the sand and pretend the problems aren't happening. Meanwhile, it gets worse and worse. And one of the stories that they're telling themselves is that they're not good at money and so they can't do it.

Getting in control of your money is all about believing in yourself and empowering yourself on what you know and don't know about money. It’s about educating yourself. If money is a problem, you fix it by educating yourself.

In Pamela’s coaching programs, she walks through how to figure out how to understand money and learn the skills needed to control your money situation. There is so much shame around money that many people don't want to look at it, but when you don't know how to do a thing, you don't know how to do a thing. So you need to learn how to do a thing!

Learning money

Sometimes you just need somebody to tell you the things you need to do to make something you think you're bad at, something you're good at.  For example, Pamela would never post selfies on Facebook because she felt she was not good at it – that’s what she told herself. So, she posted a bad selfie on Facebook and I talked to her for a couple of minutes and gave her some simple tips, which Pamela then implemented. Her next selfie was beautiful.

Pamela was able to take a beautiful selfie because of what she learned and that’s how she feels about money. You feel you're not good with it, but then you get a little bit of counselling, a little bit of coaching, and you go on the other side of it and find out, wow, “I'm paying myself!”

Money doesn’t have to be hard

It’s important to recognize that not every step is going to be hard. Some of it is going to be hard, but it's just a matter of knowing what to do.

The very worst part of taking control of your money and going on that journey is all the stress and anxiety you put on yourself before you actually commit to making the change. But as soon as you make that commitment, it starts to happen.

We often have all these stories running through their heads, including this belief that making money and being good at money isn't something we can do. And that’s not true. We need to reframe and reposition our money mindset so that all business women can say, “You know what? I can absolutely do this. I'm going to take control now.”

We need to stop spending time feeling shameful and get to the other side.

Investing in your money is not a luxury

Some people think investing in their finances is a luxury. In Pamela’s program, her clients do a lot of goal setting. They figure out what they want to do, where they want to go, and they put that in. If you work with Pamela, you pay the money, you work on yourself for six months, and then you realize it was worth it - you now know how to control your money. It was a necessity because now you know where you want to be. Investing in yourself is so important yet so many people hesitate to do it, even though it is beneficial.

Part of this problem is that many business owners, women, in particular, leave themselves to last. They’ll take money for hockey for the kids, for their husband, their spouse, the kids, etc. And then there’s no money left for them. Women often feel they have to do everything else before they take care of themselves. And this is proven in fact that they’re not investing in themselves. They’re not investing in learning how to manage their money, but instead, they’re managing their family's money, which seems upside down. If you are the one responsible for managing your family's finances, you need to know what you're doing.

Pamela has heard many money stories over the years, including from women who have been led into debt because their husband was in charge of the finances and they had no idea what they were doing.

Anyone can get in control of their money and make it feel good. You just have to commit to working on it and realize that money is not something to be afraid of.

To find out more about Pamela and her financial literacy programs and coaching, email her visit her website at https://www.pamelageorgefinancialliteracy.com/ or follow her on Facebook or Instagram.

Resources & Links

5 Five money mistakes I made in 10 years

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Podcast editing done by Eric Wellman

Season Two, Episode 14: Making money from work you love with Amanda Jetté Knox

Amanda Jetté Knox, writer, speaker and LGBTQ advocate, joins me on The Biz Studio Podcast to talk about the belief that you can’t make money from work you love. Amanda does a lot of advocacy work, a lot of writing, and she and I have had many conversations over the years about what you can do or how what you do works in terms of making money.

For a long time, Amanda did not think she could make money doing what she is doing. According to Amanda, I was the first person to sit me down and say, “Hey listen, you might be wrong about that. Let's talk.” She didn’t believe me at first. The belief that you cannot make money doing something that feels good is one I hear a lot of, and I am glad I was able to help Amanda work through that belief.

Amanda’s story

Amanda is married with four kids. A few years ago she thought she had only sons and a husband, but she was wrong. In 2014, her daughter came out as trans and said she needed to live as a girl. That was a big learning curve for Amanda. And the following year, her spouse of then 18 years came out as well and said, “I'm actually a woman.” Trans issues and LGBTQ issues, in general, became really important to Amanda because her family's safety and wellbeing rely very much on people understanding, accepting and embracing LGBTQ people.

But she really didn't think that her advocacy work and writing was something that was going to make money and as her platform grew and as her family's story grew, it overtook her life and she found herself working for nothing, and any other types of paying jobs she did took away from the important work that she wanted to be doing.

This is something that a lot of advocates deal with. A lot of artists deal with this too because they believe they can't make money off of their art, their writing or doing what they love. Amanda has since learned to challenge that. Doing what you love and what you are passionate about may not make you rich, but a lot of people can at least make something off of it and be able to support themselves and their families.

Making money doing what you love

Many people feel like they have to not make money doing something that feels good or that feels important because there’s no correlation between those two things. But there are a lot of people who will pay to hear your voice and making money when there is money is not a bad thing. It a belief dissonance in your brain; you’re not supposed to be able to make money – you’re just trying to do good and those things don't go together.

Amanda’s bestselling book, Love Lives Here, tells her family's story. Because of this book, people feel connected, people learn, and people understand more about how to step into the world.  “It’s always been my hope in all the work I do that I just have people being able to relate to it on their own level and take whatever they need to take away into their lives.”

Believe in yourself

For a long time, Amanda didn’t believe in herself. She didn't think she had anything of value to offer the world. She became a mom at a really young age. She dropped out of high school and unsuccessfully tried to go to university and college. Life just wasn't set up for her to do those things at the time.

For a long time, she thought parenting her children was what she had to offer the world and not much more, and that was heartbreaking to her because when she was growing up, she always had these ideas that she was going to do something and that she was going to help people. She was willing to make a difference and seeing an opportunity where she could make a difference and still keep the lights on is a really wonderful thing.

There is more than one path to success

Amanda graduated high school at age 38, with honours and with the English award. She proudly shares that story with people because people need to hear that they don't have to take one path to success.

In fact, the standard route doesn't work for a lot of us. Amanda became a bestselling author at age 42. And that was when she had her first published book. If she had told herself that it was too late the book never would have happened. Giving up on yourself and thinking that you’re never going to accomplish anything because of this or that is just a story that we are telling ourselves that has no value. We all have value. But we have to believe that and we have to pull it out of ourselves. It’s never too late to achieve your dreams.

Look for opportunities

There’s this idea that when somebody has a bestselling book they're automatically rich and they're making all this revenue. In truth, books are not a great money maker in and of themselves. Having a book is a great accomplishment. Amanda wrote her first book because she felt that her family had a story to tell, and everyone wanted her to write it. But writing books, unless you're Margaret Atwood or Stephen King, you're probably not making millions of dollars off of them. But books open up other opportunities. You can speak and earn money speaking and you can launch other platforms. You can tell your story in different ways, which can lead to other books. They can also lead to teaching opportunities. There are so many ways that you can use authorship to build up your own platform in your own career.

But don’t write a book just to build your brand. Amanda believes it’s disingenuous and it's going to show in your work. You have to have passion for what you're talking about. So, if the side bonus is that it raises your credit a bit, that's awesome. But when readers read your book, they want to feel that you put your heart into it. So, put your heart into it. And anything else that comes out of that is a bonus.

Find support

It took a long time for Amanda to feel like this is something that she should do and to realize that she doesn’t need a “real job.” But, thanks to the support of her wife, family and close friends she believes it now. She has learned it is important to have two or three or more people that will pick you up because it can be hard sometimes to get there, but it feels really good to get there.

We all have that little voice inside our head telling us we're not good enough. We need to acknowledge and be mindful that it's there and also realize that it's not telling the truth and then we need to know how to come out of it instead of listening to it.

Amanda easily gets 10 times more love online than she does hate. And she gets a lot of people that she knows in her personal life make sure to tell her all the time that they care about her and that they love her and that they're here for her. The work she is doing is really important and she believes to her core that this is what she is supposed to be doing with her life – even on the hardest of days.

Amanda’s advocacy work and writing are paying the bills. It’s an amazing success story and she has lots more to come. For more information on Amanda’s work, visit https://www.amandajetteknox.com/

Resources & Links

Season Two, Episode 8: Why making money is good for the soul

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Season Two, Episode 13: It’s time to put yourself first with Jessica Keats

When we talk about putting ourselves first, listening to what we need, what we want or what we desire, many of us immediately jump to either feeling like we're going to neglect everybody or that it's going to be seen as selfish.

Jessica Keats is the healer consultant's secret weapon that everybody needs in their life. She helps women find out who they really are, what their pure passion and purpose is, and then she removes everything in the way of that and helps them put their crowns on and be awesome.

Jessica and I have known each other for a few years and recently we had a conversation about how hard it is for women, in particular, to put themselves first because it feels selfish.

We have this belief that we’re not supposed to think that we’re the most important person.

Society likes us to think that the group is the most important. And so we've grown up learning to sacrifice almost everything for “the group.” And none of us really learn to think self and then think group.

How to think “self” then think “group”

One example is oxygen masks on an airplane. You’re supposed to put the oxygen on yourself before you help anyone else, even your child, because if you don't have enough oxygen then no one is going to do well. That, however, is the only example most people can come up with.

When you take care of yourself first, you are not doing it at the expense of everybody else. What it means is you're actually going to have more to give.

It’s important to also remember to give yourself to others strategically, meaning you're going to give it for the right reasons. You're not going to give because you feel guilty or because you feel that you should do it or because you feel that if you help everyone, then everyone will like you.

Are you putting yourself first?

About four or five years ago, Jessica started to realize that she never thought about what was it that she wanted, needed or desired. She only thought about it in terms of her relationship with her husband or her son. She started thinking about how she could fit in around what they were doing or what they needed. And it wasn't until she realized that she didn't really matter that she started to choose herself. It was difficult, at first.

She started with Jessica first, and then them, and it was important for her in terms of her ability to tune into her intuition and becoming the healer she is today. It wouldn't have happened if she hadn't put herself first because it's only when she tuned inwards and asked herself, “What's going on in Jessica? What does Jessica need? What does Jessica want? What does Jessica feeling?” That she was able to hear the guidance that was coming to her and actually move forward in a different way. Putting herself first was instrumental in her growth.

Start small

To start putting the focus on yourself first, start small. Start with, what is it that I want to eat? What is it that I want to wear? What is it that I'm doing today? What is the thing that I want to work on? What is the dream I want to start moving towards? And notice your tendencies to put it aside. When we start to notice how much we may want for ourselves, but we continue to shuffle it aside and stuff it under something while we take care of something else then we never put ourselves first.  

Write it down

Jessica would write it all down so that she would remember what she wanted and start from that place. That way, when she would open up her laptop in the morning, I would see it and ask, “what is this all about?” She would see what was about her and what was about her business, etc. because she had written it all down, which helped her remain focused.

Be unapologetic

You have to move away from the guilt and be unapologetic. So, when family members question you doing your thing and they say something jabbing you can say, unapologetically, no, this is what is happening. This is what is happening and I want you around, but if you need to go – go.  

Jessica refused to apologize for being a kick-ass businesswoman. She refused to apologize for wanting to go out and change the world and she’s not going to apologize for knowing that's what feeds her soul.

We may feel like we're taking something away from the people that we love and in a moment we are, but we're also giving them back something way bigger, which is the ability for them to choose themselves and do what they're passionate about and not have to feel guilty or tied into doing something for us. We’re giving them all of this ability to do that and for our kids it's huge.

Boundaries

Boundaries are good for everybody. When you're saying no to somebody, you're giving them the opportunity to step up for themselves, but that's not to say there isn't going to be pushback because if you have been doing stuff for people for a really long time and you stopped doing it, they may not like it at first, but that's when we have to put a lot of faith and trust into the process and know that we're on the right path.

Some people are going to feel abandonment or they’re going to be triggered in a way that feels like they need to be more emotional about it. You need to understand that and continue to work on yourself too. It is a process. It isn’t something that will change overnight.

Every moment of every day when you’re thinking and looking out for yourself and your needs is self -care. And that's where the love of self comes from and that's where your confidence comes from. Self-care is how we reduce anxiety and we start to reduce depressive feelings. It’s when we’re saying to ourselves, “you can trust me now I'm listening and I'm acting.”

As business owners, most of us need to figure out how to feel more empowered and confident. Confident within themselves to go out and tell people what they do and sell what they do. Self-care will help with that. You will learn to understand your own value, having your own confidence, being able to say what you want to say, knowing who to talk to, and seeing other people's value because they have started flourishing in their own self-care!  

You will see people much differently than they used to before and the opportunities will follow.

For more information on working with Jessica, visit her website at https://www.jessicakeats.com/

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Season Two, Episode 12: People want to hear your stories with Marsha Shandur

The theme of this podcast season is rules and beliefs and things that we need to break down because they're holding us back in our businesses and in our lives. One of these beliefs is the idea that people think they're not supposed to be too vulnerable. They're supposed to be a certain way, they're supposed to be strong or perfect. And because of this, we’re all trying to live up to this perfection all the time and that can hold us back from actually connecting with our people.

Master storyteller, Marsha Shandur from Yes Yes Marsha, joins me on the podcast to discuss the art of storytelling and how it can help business owners connect with their audience. Marsha writes about storytelling, about how to tell compelling stories, and how to tell your own personal stories in a compelling way. She coaches speakers and entrepreneurs on how to tell their stories online and on stage. She also coaches them on how to write sales pages that don't make them want to cry or throw up. In essence, Marsha helps people tell stories that let people actually connect with them and get to know them and they're just powerfully real.

We connect to really powerful stories as well as very small stories because if you say, “I ran away from the bear and I narrowly escaped being killed by the KGB,” then people will be gripped, but they won't necessarily be able to relate to that. Whereas if you say, “I've worked at Coke for seven years and I hate my job, so I quit and did this other thing,” then people would think, “that sounds like where I am right now. And it sounds like you are where I want to be.” So, even in big stories such as the bear fleeing story Marsha is able to find the small moments because that's how people can connect to those stories so well.

We all have moments people can relate to.

Your story doesn’t have to have a moral, it just needs to excite the brain in a completely different way. When you tell a story in that kind of granular detail level as opposed to, “this happened, then this happened” you are better able to connect with people. Always ask, how did you feel? Because that's how we can connect to any story. For example, you may have never narrowly avoided death from the KGB, but you do know what it feels like to be frightened. And so, if you describe your fear to me, then I can connect to you.

When you tell a story where you show vulnerability, you create a connection. It’s when you tell a story where you ask the question, how did you feel? And the answer is anything other than fantastic. When you share fear or any emotion then anybody reading or listening to that story is going to think, “Oh gosh, you are not a perfect human either. And so maybe it's okay if I'm not a perfect human.” And that creates a total sense of relief…and connection. 

Make your audience feel safe

We need to be vulnerable and your audience needs to feel safe. This means that if you are going through something, you have to have emotional distance. You have to have emotional distance from whatever you're talking about. Otherwise, your audience is going to think you’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That can be scary. You want to be able to talk about stuff that you are now okay with. You need to be comfortable and safe in your stories so your audience can be too.

Instagram is a great example of this because some people have Instagram accounts that are beautifully curated. We often follow these accounts because our eyes like to lay on beautiful things. But, if you want to emotionally connect with people, you need to show a little bit of imperfection otherwise it's just too intimidating.

An example of this would be Marie Forleo and her BSchool program. She’s so funny and smart, and always well-poised, but in recent years watching her YouTube feed, she started having these unplugged videos where she has a little GoPro and she's filming just her and her friends messing around. It’s a side of the otherwise polished Marie that her audience had never seen before. People related to that!

Be human

The more human you are, the more people are going to want to connect with you. It's great to present yourself professionally some of the time but it’s also okay to be the opposite sometimes too. Just remember that no one can connect to you if you are constantly a disaster, but let people in partway. Let people know, “You know what? Sometimes I screw up too. Sometimes my hair is not done.” Make sure that you're finding those moments of connection because they happen constantly. We just need to believe that people are interested. Your little stories are really powerful for making connections.

Marsha has had people say this won’t work in a corporate setting. But, it does. You can't walk into a presentation and say, “So, there I was, standing on the edge of the cliff looking down, not sure what was going to happen” because everyone's going to wonder, where is this going? You have to say, “Today we're going to talk about XYZ and I'm going to show you how to get to ABC. But first a quick story.” People will connect with it.

Human beings are interested in stories. That's how we have passed down information for generations – before we had books, let alone the internet.

Brace imperfection

Just remember not everything has to be polished. There's room to be yourself and to let some vulnerability out.

If you do have polished stuff, mix up a little bit. Marsha recently wrote a blog post called How (and Why) to Brag Online Without Sounding Like a Jerk — 6 Ideas. One of the ideas she mentions in that post is that you can be self-deprecating. For example, sometimes she might post a very glamorous photo of herself, but then say something stupid that happened behind the scenes that's a bit embarrassing. The photo and story should make people laugh or be relatable. You can sneak a brag in – and you can be glamorous and be human at the same time.

Keep it small

Think about small stories and small moments; stories about us knowing what happened to you, stories or about your lens on the world. It can be a story about when you went and got into your car this morning. It can be a story about when you went and bought coffee and the thought process you had before the person started talking, and how that can change the course of your morning, or even a story smaller than that.

People love it when they can relate to the fact that other people think the way they think when they're at home thinking they're the only one who thinks that way.

It’s about finding your people. If you think something is silly, and someone else also thinks that something is silly – then you are each other's people. Some people may not think like that. And that’s okay. They're not your people.

Stories are one of the quickest ways to find your people. That's why when Marsha gets on consults and when they just feel so easy and fun, she knows they are her people. And that makes selling to them easier because she will just think, “Oh my gosh, we should work together.”

Learn more about the power of storytelling on Marsha’s website, as well as special videos and resources just for you podcast listeners at yesyesmarsha.com/bizpodcast.
 

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Season Two, Episode 11: Stop waiting to start things with Susan Diaz

This season’s podcast theme is all about the beliefs and rules and all the things that hold us back from finding success in our businesses. In this podcast episode, we’re talking about the idea that something's not going to work. And how, because you’re stuck on that thought, you won’t be able to move past it.

Joining the discussion is Susan Diaz, founder and CEO of c+p digital, a digital marketing agency with a strong focus on delivering effective content as a tool for conversion. She began her full-time entrepreneurial journey in 2011 as a new mom and recent immigrant to Canada and has grown c+p to a communication consultancy with deep niche knowledge in small business growth, finance, technology, and health. Susan is big on building flexible dream teams, and her team vision involves blurring the lines between ‘agency and client’, creating a model that brings senior talent together in a way that prioritizes accountability and growth.

Susan has witnessed many people second guess themselves before doing new things – especially in marketing. Social media, in particular, is an area where many business owners hesitate because they don’t believe it will ever work. They don’t believe they will get any likes or comments, and in the end, that mindset is blocking them.

Breaking down why you think it won’t work

There is a blocking belief that something is not going to work because it never works. It's not going to work cause it's too hard. It's not going to work because you don't have time. We get really good at finding all the ways things aren't going to work and so we wait to start anything new – and sometimes we never start.

As a marketer, marketing for her own business has remained a challenge for Susan. It's the reason she stepped out and let somebody else do it on many occasions. For Susan, it was the fear of the work involved to prove that something works.

One example is Susan’s podcast called the 4 am Report. She didn’t want to do it. She questioned if the world needed another podcast about marketing. She kept pushing back and saying it wasn’t going to work because it takes so much time. Susan’s partner kept pushing and so she decided to trust him. Together they started with $500 and a lot of hard work. Things were not going to happen unless she put the work into it. Once she realized that and started doing the work – things happened.

Does it fit your goals?

If you know why you're doing something and you have a proper plan to do it, even if it feels scary or hard or that it's going to be a lot of work, if it fits your goals, then it fits. You just need to make sure that whatever you are doing is going to be fun or make it fun. So, if you want to create content, but you’re not sure where to start, but realize you like talking, then talking is a good way to create content.

By launching the podcast, Susan was able to look at her business and the marketing of her business, differently. She saw the impact the business was creating and what leads they were getting out of it. She and her partner didn't set out to be a podcast production company, but they’re slowly becoming one – and that's an opportunity so long as they believe it will work and go forward with it.

Are you having fun?

Having fun while working is important. The podcast needs to be some level of fun for Susan and her partner to make it doable. Often people get stuck in the belief that things are supposed to be hard in order for them to be fruitful. But when we're having fun doing things, they're better. When we get too hung up on vanity metrics, and when we get too hung up on exactly what it was supposed to look like versus being curious as to how it's all going to come together, it generally works out better.

What are you focussing on?

If you’re waiting to do something, such as digital marketing, you could easily talk yourself out of it by saying you don’t have time, etc. You could be really good at doing your social media marketing, for example, but it could take up half your day and that’s time you should be spending on your business. You should be focusing your efforts on a few things, trying to see where your time is well spent. You need to ask yourself where your best successes come from and focus on that.

Work shouldn’t scare you. Everything can seem hard when there is many steps. With Susan’s podcast, she had to figure out what to talk about and find a guest on that subject. When she and her partner started, they thought they were going to have to convince all their friends, but eventually it got to a place where that wasn’t needed. Now they book potential guests in a calendar.  

It’s about seeing that there are 20 steps ahead of you, and taking the first step. Focus on what the first thing is that needs to be done and focus on one task at a time. Once you have done the first thing, it'll give you that little hit of adrenaline that comes from having achieved something and then you'll do the next one and then the next one, and before you know it, all 20 tasks are done and 20 steps are done.

The key behind not getting caught and overwhelmed when you have one million things to do before having success is to take one step at a time. The overall goal can feel like a lot of pressure, but if you break things down into one at a time and do things one at a time, it will feel a lot easier and less overwhelming.

Celebrate the wins 

Getting things done is worth celebrating. So, make sure to take the time to celebrate everything you do. Celebrate all the doing in the middle.

To learn more about Susan and her business c+p digital, check out her website, including the free marketing resources section, as well as her podcast, the 4 am Report.

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Podcast editing done by Eric Wellman

Season Two, Episode 10: Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses with Rebecca Stanisic

Have you ever felt the need to “keep up with the Joneses?” Do you ever feel the need to keep track of what everyone around you is doing and make sure you are doing what they are doing? Do you ever suffer from fear of missing out (FOMO)?  

The belief that you need to do what everyone else is doing can put immense pressure on a person – and a business!

In this podcast episode, I am joined by Rebecca Stanisic, a seasoned blogger at Bit of Momsense where she has written for over ten years now. What started as a parenting blog has grown over the years to include lifestyle, travel, family, and food. In addition, she’s a freelance writer and also offers digital content marketing. She focuses on helping small business owners and other bloggers create and curate intentional goals.

In the ten years Rebecca has blogged and done digital marketing, the belief of keeping up with the Joneses has come up often. When these thoughts come up, however, she knows she needs to go back to her own goals and stop focusing on what everyone else is doing. 

What works best for you?

Looking to see what everyone else is doing is something we all do because whenever we start something, we want to see what other people are doing. Then we start to measure ourselves based on what they're doing and trying to figure out how we're going to do that for ourselves.

As business owners, we’re told all about the best practices, best tips, and best resources, and the best ways. And there's always contradictory information to what we’re doing ourselves. It comes down to what works best for your audience or what works best for you. Your path won't be the same as someone else's. And it's really important to know what your end goal is.  

This relates to the podcast episode with Stephanie Rainey on what's the right way to do things in your business. It all comes around to the same thing: instead of focusing on the right way, what is it that we need to be doing for OUR businesses?

What do you want in your business? What does success look like for you, and what are your goals? What is it that you want out of this business and this life? Once you know that, then everything can draw a direct line to that.

Before accepting a project or working with a client, ask yourself: Why are you saying yes? We have all said yes to projects or assignments or partnerships that weren't the best fit. This could be because everyone else was doing it, or it was a bit of a panic decision or because you fear you will get left behind.

Whose path are you on?

You want to figure out what it is that you want to create because otherwise, you’re on somebody else's path. This relates to the idea that the next thing that you’re supposed to want is the bigger house, the second car, the manager job, whatever. It's the path we think we're supposed to want. And then we realize we're driving down somebody else's road.

We need to figure out what it is that we want.

We can't be all things to everybody, and we need to figure out what it is that we want. 

In Rebecca’s early days, she was creating a blog, “I just wanted a place to write, and that was a piece of my own. And then as it became a business and the freelance writing and social media marketing, but it still came back to the fact that I was a stay at home mom....” The life that Rebecca created through her business resulted in more time. She’s the one who picks up the kids from school, and she’s available for them when they need her. Her business has always meant more time – for her family and self-growth. 

Financial and Strategic Goals

What is your ultimate goal? Your goals, like everything else, should be your own. For Rebecca, success doesn't need to be based on being a millionaire, but the financial goals she sets are related to her strategic goal of having time for her family, travel, etc. She knows what her number is every quarter that she wants to hit. She also knows what her number is every year that she wants to hit. Knowing this makes business decisions easier.  

Just because you don't have as much time, doesn’t mean you can't make more money. You can get a lot done in less time. People are working 60 hour work weeks who are not getting very much done because they are trying to do all the wrong things.

Focus on your journey

You can’t be jealous of other people's choices. If other people choose or if you decide to put more hours into something, then it will look different then someone else’s who may have spent more or less time than you. You need to remember this is your journey. Focus on your choices and what you can control and want to control.

We all do things differently. What other people choose to do and how they do it, that's not necessarily what's going to work for us. Our goals are different, our motivations are different, our ways of operating are different, and we need to remember that we're not cookie-cutter versions of each other.

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom starting a blog as a hobby or you're working full time and building a side hustle, the way you spend your time and your hours will be different. Everyone’s journey is different. 

To learn more about Rebecca Stanisic, check out her blog or information on her other work at: https://rebeccastanisic.ca/

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Podcast editing done by Eric Wellman

Season Two, Episode 9: Taking time for yourself is you working smarter with Marie Shinmoto

I am joined on the podcast today by Marie Shinmoto, a physiotherapist and the owner of M.A.P. Physiotherapy in Orleans, Ontario.

We are talking about a belief I know a lot of people struggle with, including myself. The belief is that “real” people work at least five days a week and that if you're not working a lot, you're lazy.

Working to make ends meet

Marie grew up watching her dad work six days a week and never being around. He worked to make ends meet for the family and to make sure they had what they needed. But all Marie remembers was him working, working, working, working. She grew up in an era where most moms stayed home. It was mostly dads that went off to work, and they all went off to work Monday to Friday. A lot of them weren't back at supper time even. And that's just what you did if you had a job.

Besides that, work wasn’t known to be fun. Work was hard. You went to work, you made the money, and that's what you're supposed to do. You worked to support your family.

Marie started her career working in a hospital - your typical Monday to Friday, nine to five kind of deal. And that pretty much fit the model that she was used to. It wasn’t until she started in private practice that she had more control over her hours. But, she was still under the impression that she needed to work five days a week. The only weekdays you take off are holidays. And that's just what you do when you have a job. Even if you're self-employed, that's what you're supposed to do - keep going every day! You do your thing, and you don't take time off unless you're sick or there's a holiday.

The self-employed difference

But once Marie started her practice things changed. She realized that when you are self-employed you have the potential for other income flows than just what you're able to do yourself in terms of what it is you’re known for i.e., for Marie seeing physiotherapy clients. This opens doors to having passive forms of income and increasing your income.

However, Marie was still under this impression that even though she had this other source of passive income, she was supposed to go to work five days a week even though she didn’t really need to anymore financially. Wrapping her brain around being financially able to take half a day off a week or a whole day off a week or two days off a week was totally foreign to Marie because the messages she always got as a kid were that you have to work, work, work to make ends meet.

Money Mindset

Even when the numbers told her differently, Marie still had this thing where she had to keep working all the time. And really the only way that changed for her was doing some mindset work. Marie worked with Megan O'Neill (check out her Biz Podcast episode by clicking here). Working on her mindset was super helpful in changing her beliefs around money. She dug into what money means, how you earn it, and what you need to do to earn it.

There’s so much out there for small business owners, like Facebook Groups, that sort of thing, where the message is always that you have to work hard; you have to run yourself into the ground; you have to work these crazy hours, and that's just the way it's done. And if you're not doing that well, then there's something wrong with you. And that's a big message to overcome because it's overwhelmingly out there.

Working smarter

Entrepreneurs need to realize there are other ways of working. If they don’t then people start burning out and they can't do their jobs anymore. They're running so hard that they crash, burn and can't do anything. And that's not better either.

Working with me as a business coach, helped Marie in a few ways. It changed her mindset, but also made her ask herself how much money she really needed to make to make ends meet in her personal and professional life. She looked to see if she could tweak things and make more time for her family and for herself.

As entrepreneurs, we often think that time is money, which is true, but then the converse is also true: money can give you time. So, if you have a little bit of extra money from however it is you earn it, then maybe you don't need to work five days a week, nine to five. That money can buy you time off.

For Marie, that means only seeing clients four days a week. Her Fridays are her administrative days. And in the summer, she prioritizes getting outside and doing activities she loves, like kayaking. She takes the mornings off and goes kayaking, and maybe does a bit of admin work in the afternoon.

Learning this has made huge difference in Marie’s quality of life, and a huge difference in her family life, but it was a big hurdle for her to get past that idea of “real” people work five or six days a week and if you don’t then you’re lazy.

Entrepreneurs need to see slowing down as an act of self-care. When you're in go, go, go, go, go mode, you don't have time or space for new ideas to come in. You're too busy doing everything else. When you slow down and actually give yourself the room to just let your brain quiet down enough to feel inspired, all kinds of amazing things come up.

The never-ending to-do list

There will always be a to-do list with 75 things on it, but when you realize that those 75 things are still going to be there next week, you can relax about it a bit. And as long as you have gotten through what is important, i.e., if there's anything time-sensitive or if there's something specific you want to work on, then let the rest go and do something for yourself. Recognize that it helps you be a better business owner, parent, friend, partner, etc. if you put yourself on your own to-do list!

It’s important to remember that you’re doing a lot of good in the world by making sure you can keep doing your job by taking care of yourself.

Why are you working all the time?

An important question to ask if you are working all the time is, "Why?" And what is the motivation behind that? Maybe it is financial, but if you have some financial wiggle room in your business and you're still working 24/7 then you have to ask yourself why. And maybe it is because of some old belief making you think you need to work six days a week, or for some people seven days a week. And maybe that belief just isn't serving you anymore.

One thing Marie has learned most since owning her business is to put her own oxygen mask on first. She realized that if she burns out and can’t work that she certainly can't help her clients, let alone help her family. “You need to take care of yourself first, and doing that is not self-indulgent. It's called survival. And if you get really good at it, it goes beyond survival. It becomes a serious quality of life.”

Working and making money doesn’t have to hurt. We don't have to have physical pain and mental pain and believe that it is just life and that life is hard, and keep doing what we’re doing. We may have to look at things differently to make that work, but there are ways to do that and by taking the time to do so you may find yourself working smarter.

Learn more about Marie and M.A.P. Physiotherapy at mapphysiotherapy.ca, and follow them on Facebook.

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