The Biz Podcast Season Two 2019 Recap

I am so glad I brought back The Biz Podcast this year. I’m even happier that I decided to focus on the theme of rules and beliefs - two things that affect entrepreneurs more than most realize. I talk to business owners every day and every day we uncover beliefs that are holding us all back in business.

Here’s a recap of the episodes so far in 2019 as I rebooted my podcast. We uncovered beliefs that I think all business owners need to look at, but even more than that, I loved having this authentic and genuine conversations where business women shared their stories and how they’ve overcome belief blocks and what that has meant for their businesses!

Rules & Beliefs

I started the season in Episode Two discussing how we are taught to be happy with what we have and that there is a fear of looking greedy if we strive for more. The messages that we hear tell us we should be happier with less, we should declutter, we should be moving into tiny homes even! That means we start feeling guilty about wanting more. Episode Two broke down those beliefs and encourages business owners to always strive for more.

In Episode Three, Core Belief Engineer, Megan O’Neill joined me to define rules and beliefs, how to recognize them, and how to change them. We also discussed outdated beliefs, where those beliefs come from and how to question rules. If you have ever been confused about what rules and beliefs are and how they may be holding you back, Episode Three is a must-listen.

Who will give you permission?

Episode Four with the creator of World-Changing Kids, Lindsey Barr and I dug into the belief that many women have that they need to be given permission to do things. We dug into what felt like she needed permission meant for Lindsey as an entrepreneur, and why talking about permission is so important. If you’re waiting to take the next big step in your business, then you need to listen to this episode.

Permission is a tricky belief that can stop business owners from really growing. In Episode Five, Michelle Weger of Venture Creative Collective, joined me to discuss a similar belief I hear often: that it's hard to think of yourself as a business owner, that's supposed to be working hard and making money if you also have a chronic health concern, illness or disorder. When it comes to your life and your business, do you fall into the belief that you can’t be successful or are you going to allow yourself to have the success you deserve?

Doing “The Right Things” in your business

Just as giving yourself permission to succeed and grow your business is a belief many of us need to change, there is also a belief among many business owners that things have to be done “the right way.” In Episode Six, Stephanie Rainey, owner of The Swimologist, joined me to discuss this topic and why this is a haunting belief and how it can hold business owners back. We discussed how not knowing something can stop business owners from growing or doing something and how when something is really hard in your business that it’s important to talk to people and to keep learning… and that’s okay to make mistakes along the way!

There is no right time to start something in your business and waiting until you know all there is to know means you will never start! In Episode 11 with Susan Diaz, founder and CEO of c+p digital, we discussed the idea that sometimes we get stuck because we believe something is just not going to work. And how, because you’re stuck on that thought, you won’t be able to move past it. We discuss how to talk yourself out of that belief and get things done in your business!

Sales

Another thing many people find really hard is sales. In Episode Seven, expert sales coach, Laura Wright, joined me to share how business owners can overcome their fear of sales so they can find success in their businesses. If you’re looking to get more comfortable with sales and let’s face it, selling is vital to being a successful business owner, then Episode Seven is a must listen!

Money

Sales and money go hand-in-hand - you can’t have one without the other! Yet many business owners do not have control over their money! In Episode 15, financial literacy coach and credit counsellor, Pamela George, joined me to discuss money mistakes, how to improve your relationship with money, and why it’s important to never ignore debt and why it’s important to empower and educate yourself on all things money! People tend to try to bury their heads in the sand and pretend money problems aren't happening. Meanwhile, it gets worse and worse. Money doesn’t have to be hard!

In Episode Eight, Sara Yamtich, CEO of Resonate with Sara, talk about a belief that stops many mission-driven business owners from making more money. That belief is: if you’re doing good in the world then you shouldn’t want to make money from that. But, as Sara says in this episode, this belief does not serve us or our abilities when it comes to making an impact on the world. If you have a mission-driven business, it’s okay to make money!

As you may be able to tell by now, one big takeaway so far this season is that making money can feel great! Erin Marshall, owner of a digital marketing agency, confirmed this and shares her journey into realizing this in Episode 16.

In Episode 14, Amanda Jetté Knox, writer, speaker and LGBTQ advocate, shares how she is now making money doing work she loves! 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, but by believing herself, surrounding herself with supportive people, and through hard work and determination, Amanda’s advocacy work and writing are paying the bills. It’s an amazing success story that you will want to listen to again and again!

Vulnerability

One thing Amanda’s learned through her work is that to connect with her audience, she needed to be her authentic self and be vulnerable. Many people fear being their real selves! One of the beliefs people have around being vulnerable is the idea that they think 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, joined me in Episode 12 to discuss the art of storytelling and how it can help business owners connect with their audience - a key skill to making sales!

Self-Care

In Episode Nine, Marie Shinmoto, a physiotherapist and the owner of M.A.P. Physiotherapy, joined me to talk 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. 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. If you struggle to take time for yourself, then you need to take the time to listen to this episode.

Healer consultant, Jessica Keats, used to struggle with taking time for herself, but in Episode 13 she shares how putting herself first opened her up to new opportunities. 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 feel like we're going to neglect everybody or that it's going to be seen as selfish. Jessica shares how we can set boundaries and work toward carving out more time for ourselves AND be kickass business women - without the guilt!

FOMO

Many people fear taking time for themselves because they fear they will miss out on something important in their business. 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)?  Rebecca Stanisic, a seasoned blogger at Bit of Momsense, joined me in Episode Ten to talk about how business owners can stop trying to keep up with “The Joneses” and focus on what makes them happy and what their definition of success is.

Are there any topics you’d love to see covered on the podcast in 2020? I want to hear!

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Podcast editing done by Eric Wellman

How to plan for business success

What do you need to plan for business success? Is it with a notebook and pen? An online course? A business coach? Recently, while getting ready for one of my workshops, I started thinking about everything needed to plan for business success. Here is what I came up with:

1. Know where you want to go
   
   Without a bit of a roadmap it can be easy to get distracted, start a million different things, and consequently not follow through and finish any of them. Instead, you will feel frustrated that things aren't moving forward. A plan really helps, and trust me, as a person who isn't big on planning, it took me a lot to come around to that.
   

2. Stop thinking you need to know it all
   
   You want to have a plan, but you don't have to plan everything forever. You can start with the next month if that's easiest! You can plan to keep things flexible enough to keep them interesting. You can make money without doing ALL THE THINGS you've heard will make more money. This is especially important for you over-planners out there. Some people keep jumping in with no idea what they're doing and others never jump in because they still aren't "ready." You don't need to have everything figured out to start moving forward.
   

3. Know how much money you want to make
   
   You may not be able to make it from the start but you need to know what kind of money is going to make sure you feel good about running this business. And also understand that running a business means YOU have to save for taxes and you have expenses that people who work for others don't. If you want to make $5000 you need to earn more than $5000 so make sure you know your numbers.
   
   Knowing these numbers will help you figure out what you're going to sell and how you're going to sell it too. They all tie together!
   

4. Do more of the things that feel good and that work well
   
   So many of us fight the stuff that's easy. So many of us feel guilty making money doing things that we enjoy, because "work is supposed to be hard." That is not true and I'll keep reminding you of that until I'm blue in the face.
   
   You're going to do the stuff you love with more heart. You're not going to procrastinate as much if you're selling things you love to do instead of things you know you can do but really wish you didn't have to do. Look for the things that light you up and look for the things that flow to you with ease and do more of those.
   

Take some time and think about how all of these play into your business. If you want ideas on how I can support you with any of them, let’s chat! I have a bunch of things coming up this summer that might be JUST the right fit.

How to find time as an entrepreneur

If you feel like there is ALWAYS too much to do, trust me when I say – you are not alone.

Almost every business owner I talk to feels like they never slow down. There is ALWAYS so much to do. It’s discouraging to constantly look at a to-do list longer than a city block (those people who only have to-do lists as long as their arms… pfft!). 

It even seems like the all “gurus” are telling you that working harder and more is the only way to reach success. “If you want to sleep and watch TV, I guess you don’t want it badly enough!”

This JP Sears spoof video was just what I needed when it comes to this mentality because it points out how silly some of it is. Working long hours, not getting enough sleep, trying to do ten million things at once, trying to be everywhere all of the time…not only is it going to exhaust you, but it’s also not effective.

So, here are a few things for you to think about when you feel like there is ALWAYS too much to do:

• We’re entrepreneurs – We’re always going to come up with MORE to do. Once you understand that you can’t possibly do all the things that you’ve set out for yourself, and you know that there is always going to be more (if you find space in your schedule, you’ll fill it!) then you will understand that your to-do list isn’t meant to ever be finished. You’re not failing if it’s always long. Cut yourself some slack when it comes to how much “more” there is to do.

• What is working really well right now? Even more specifically, what is working really well right now that is helping you to achieve your goals?
  
  Are there certain tactics that help you make more sales? Get more prospects?
  
  If increased sales is one of your goals, make sure that you’re doing THOSE activities first and don’t worry as much about all the other things you think you “SHOULD” be doing. I often tell my clients to stop focusing so much on social media and to just go out and make personal connections with people – because sometimes it’s about connecting and making relationships with new clients, not just “having a presence.”

  There are always things that you can stop doing or do more effectively. Most of us get so busy just DOING that we don’t stop to make sure we’re doing the right things.
  

• What is taking up a lot of your time but not getting results? Make a list. Can you skip it for a day or a week? Can you just stop doing it? What takes you a long time because you hate doing it or you’re not very good at it?

• Is it time to outsource? If your to-do list is beyond manageable with client work here is another thing to think about: is it time to hire someone to help you with that work?

Having a really long to-do list isn’t failing and nor is feeling like there’s always TOO much to do. On a regular basis take a breath and assess what you’re trying to get done and why. Then prioritize and decide what can wait, what can be deleted off the list and what can be outsourced.

You’ve got this! 

If you want more support in figuring out what the right priorities are for you and your business, one of my coaching programs might be a good fit. Book a consultation so we can figure out which one.

Are you visible online?

Do people know who are you? What you're selling in your business? Who you work with? Why they should buy from you? 

Getting visible online is something a lot of business owners really struggle with, but it's also one of the very best ways to be seen. To be known. To get more clients. To make more money.

When you're visible you can share your experience, your expertise, and give your audience the opportunity to get to know you. This is how you build relationships. You're creating the "know, like and trust" factor, which is how many people choose what to buy and who to buy it from.

Here's the good news. You don’t need to be a social media expert to make social media work for your business - you just need to be visible on it!

The bad news? Visibility is often something business owners have a really hard time with.
You may find yourself shying away from posting online too much or not wanting to share too many photos, personal stories or selfies. 

So, how can you get comfortable and start taking action so that people can see you, your business, and all of the value you have to offer? Be visible. And if that feels hard, get more comfortable with being visible in a safe space designed just for that - my visibility challenge.

I want to support business owners as they talk about their mindset. I want them to be more comfortable posting in a variety of places online, dabble with video and even start thinking about getting media attention.

Let's get you in front of more people so more people have the opportunity to start working with you!

Are you ready to attract your ideal clients? Together let's get more active in the online space, share relevant content, and build relationships with the people in your networks. That is how you stay top of mind, which is what visibility is all about. 

So, sign up for my visibility challenge.  It takes about 5-20 minutes per day (some days less!) over 14 days. We'll start getting comfortable, setting up good visibility tactics and building relationships with each other at the same time.

Let's get visible together! See you over there!

Sometimes it's the little things

I was away in Windsor, Ontario enjoying some peace and quiet when I recorded the following video. I often talk to clients about the importance of taking the time to sit, to reflect, to think, to be, and to journal.

These simple things can help you figure out what you really like to do, what's important to you, and what motivates you. This is important to the health of your business because when you're not paying attention to your feelings then you're not taking care of yourself, which in turn makes it hard for you to take care of your business.

Sometimes it's the little things that you do that can make the biggest difference. This could mean taking a few minutes to journal everyday! If you're looking for motivation on what to journal try using prompts i.e., use the prompt, "The thing I love about my business is..." or "If I didn't have to work today, I would love to..." or "I'm scared that I might..."

Take some time to think about the little things in your life and your business. Let the thoughts flow and see if anything interesting comes out of this time well spent. Don't be afraid of what might come up. Let your stream of consciousness flow. You need to think about these things and write about these things in order to move forward in your business.

And if you want some help and guidance in figuring it out, book a call with me and we can figure out if I'm the right person to support you forward on your entrepreneurial journey!