85% of small business fail within the first 12 months because new entrepreneurs don’t take the time to identify and understand their ideal customer. If your new venture is struggling to get off the ground because you are hurting for clients, today’s guest is prepared to offer guidance around getting your product or service in front of the right audience and then creating an automated system of lead generation to produce consistent sales.
Oguz ‘Oz’ Konar grew up watching his father start business after business, all of which ended in bankruptcy. Motivated to understand what makes a business successful, he studied sales and marketing strategy to identify common mistakes made by aspiring entrepreneurs – and how to avoid them. With seven years of sales management and marketing experience under his belt, Oz founded Local Marketing Stars to assist small business owners in the implementation of productive marketing strategies. He has written two books about online marketing and marketing automation, and he is currently running four companies of his own.
Oz is an expert in the area of results-driven marketing strategy, and today he explains why automation is essential, the seven marketing strategies you need to know, and the function of a small business website. Listen in as Oz reveals his greatest challenge in building his consulting business and how to get your product or service in front of its target audience!
Key Takeaways
The importance of marketing automation
The first step toward automated lead generation
The greatest challenge Oz faced in building his own business
Oz’s seven marketing strategies you need now
Oz’s advice regarding small business websites
Oz’s #1 tip for aspiring entrepreneurs
Connect with Oguz Konar
What is holding you back from pursuing the life you want? In most cases, the answer is fear. Change makes us really uncomfortable, and our brains are wired to resist anything that takes us outside our comfort zone. But today’s guest is ready to help you forge a new neural pathway and expand your comfort zone through clearly defined goals and strategic action.
Jill Ethier is a personal strategist who combines her passion for business with the power of energy to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs who want more in every aspect of their lives, from business to relationships to health and personal growth. Her online programs provide the framework to shift your mindset, reclaim your power, and fulfill your purpose.
Jill spent a number of years as the Director of Marketing for SIGA, managing four casino marketing departments. After the passing of her young daughter, she knew she wanted to live her life differently, and Jill began to study Feng Shui and other energy disciplines. In 2000, she united her love of business strategy with the study of energy to found Jill Ethier Consulting. Today she shares tactics around cultivating the right mindset, tackling resistance to change, and avoiding distractions. Listen in to understand the importance of a strong WHY and how to prioritize daily actions as you work toward a meaningful life.
Key Takeaways
Jill’s ideal client
The greatest challenge Jill’s clients face
How to cultivate appropriate mindset
How to tackle extreme resistance to change
How to avoid distractions like social media and email
Jill’s energetic platform
How accountability plays into success
Jill’s advice around goal-setting
Connect with Jill Ethier
As new entrepreneurs, we are hungry for clients. It can be tempting to take on a project that doesn’t feel quite right because we need the money and want the experience. But today’s guest argues that a poor fit leads to immense frustration, and she is here to offer strategies that will help you determine whether a client is a good match on the front end so that both parties feel comfortable moving forward.
Liz Thompson earned her undergraduate degree in communication, then pursued master’s degrees in English and literature. She worked in editing and communication in the corporate world for 15 years before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. When Liz got married two years ago, the timing was right to start her own firm so that she would have the flexibility to stay home and raise her new blended family.
Liz is on a mission to help writers find and refine their voice and share their stories with the world. She takes on fiction and non-fiction projects, and she loves to edit cookbooks. Today Liz shares her secrets around building a clientele, online networking, and pricing her services. Listen in and learn how Liz approaches scheduling clients and the process she employs to choose clients who are a good fit.
Key Takeaways
How Liz built a clientele
The value of online networking groups like Boss Mom
How Liz made the decision to invest in a business coach
How Liz structures the working relationship with writers
How Liz prices her editing services
Liz’s approach to scheduling clients
Why Liz only accepts clients that feel like a good fit
Resources
Course: Slaying the Enemies of Good Writing
Connect with Elizabeth Thompson
If you want to make a change in your business, but you are unsure how to go about it, you may benefit from enlisting the help of an executive leadership coach. But how do you choose the right one? Should you invest in a one-on-one program, or is a group setting right for you?
Susan Barber has 20-plus years of experience as an IT and Leadership Executive. While working a traditional job, she pursued coaching as a side hustle, earning a certification in leadership coaching. When the company was going through a merger, she took a package and a leap of faith – and Susan M. Barber Coaching & Consulting was born.
Susan is passionate about helping her clients build confidence, grow as leaders and find their authentic voice. She also seeks to bring coaches together to support each other and share resources as entrepreneurs. Today she explains the differences among one-on-one, group and mastermind programs, the advantages of a structured group coaching environment, and how to choose a program that is the right fit for you. Listen in as Susan reveals what to look for in an executive business coach!
Key Takeaways
How to scale a coaching business
The difference between Susan’s group program vs. mastermind
The advantages of a structured group coaching environment
How to choose from among one-on-one, group coaching, and masterminds
When to pursue a business coach
What to look for in a business coach
Questions to ask a prospective coach
Characteristics of a quality coach
What to do if you’re not getting what you need from a coach
Susan’s advice for business owners considering an investment in a coach
Resources
International Coaching Federation
Connect with Susan Barber
So you’ve launched a product or service you’re really proud of, complete with a stellar membership site, but all you hear are crickets. Today’s guest has firsthand experience with this frustrating scenario, and she is here to help you learn from her mistakes and build an audience first.
Nathalie Doremieux and her husband, Olivier, spent ten years working as software engineers in Silicon Valley before returning to their native France and founding New Software Marketing in 2006. But they made the mistake of thinking that if they built a quality piece of software, people would find them. Because of their inexperience in the marketing realm, the business struggled.
Down to their last $2,000, Nathalie and Olivier invested in a coach who changed their perspective, pushing them to focus on skills they might leverage to monetize quickly. It was then that they niched down to web design and membership sites, and New Software Marketing took off. Five years later, the multi-six-figure business serves entrepreneurs and public figures including Kimra Luna, James
Five years later, the multi-six-figure business serves entrepreneurs and public figures including Kimra Luna, James Wedmore and Kate Northrup. Today Nathalie shares the importance of ‘the hustle’ early in your entrepreneurial journey, how she and her husband approach working together, and the biggest mistakes people make in building websites. Listen and learn how to build an audience that will make your product launch a success!
Key Takeaways
The mistakes Nathalie made in building her business
How Nathalie pinpointed web pages and membership sites as niche
The importance of ‘the hustle’ early on in your entrepreneurial journey
The necessity of building an audience
How Nathalie approaches working with her husband
Nathalie’s biggest accomplishment in business thus far
The biggest mistakes people make in designing websites
Resources
Off the Charts with Nathalie Lussier
Connect with Nathalie Doremieux
Some of us are attracted to online entrepreneurship because of the freedom it affords us to travel, living the digital nomad lifestyle. Others of us choose web-based businesses because we want to get off the hamster wheel and spend real quality time with our kids and partners. Today’s guest is combining both of those perks and embarking on an RV adventure with her husband and two small children, traveling the country to visit family while maintaining her online venture, brb Yoga.
Catherine Middlebrooks began a yoga practice in college. Ten years ago, she earned a certification to teach and began a successful corporate yoga business. After a move to Nashville, Catherine transitioned into a ‘regular job,’ using her master’s in experimental psychology to work in market research. But when her daughter was born in 2012, Catherine and her husband made the decision to be more intentional about their lives and start their own online business.
At the same time, Catherine was struggling to find time for yoga. As a new mom, she didn’t have 75 minutes to spend at a studio, but she knew she needed the mindfulness and calm a yoga practice provides. So Catherine developed a program of shorter, precisely designed classes to pull her out of the overwhelm and help her embrace her new life and body. She created brb Yoga to help other moms make time for self-care and restore their core strength. Today she discusses how she niched down to serve a very specific population of new moms, the challenge of maintaining her relationship with her husband as they build a business together, and her upcoming family RV adventure! Listen and learn how to employ Facebook ads to generate traffic and apply a project management system to make the best use of your time.
Key Takeaways
Why Catherine’s digital format works for new moms interested in Yoga
The value of identifying a need in the marketplace
Catherine’s struggle to attract ideal clients
Catherine’s tips for employing Facebook ads
Catherine’s biggest challenge as entrepreneur
Catherine’s upcoming RV adventure
Catherine’s best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Resources
RV Entrepreneurs Facebook Group
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Connect with Catherine Middlebrooks
One of the major hurdles online entrepreneurs face is that of scaling their business. How exactly do you generate the client base necessary to take your venture to the next level?
Susan Cabezas quit her job as a digital marketing consultant in 2010, with the hopes of building an online business. She worked as a VA through Elance while she had her first child, but struggled to make a sustainable income and eventually went back to full-time work. She was laid off in 2013 and worked for a VA company doing subcontract work when her second son was born, but again returned to a ‘regular job’ to generate consistent income. Susan has been at her current full-time digital marketing position with a large non-profit for the past three years but has built an online social media management business as a side hustle. This venture, Being More Social, seeks to help female entrepreneurs connect with their audience and grow their businesses.
Susan is also a blogger, helping busy moms live happier and be more present with their families at The Mama Resource (formerly Modern Frugal Mom). Today she shares her best tips on organization and time management as well as her vision for the future of her business. In addition, Laura offers some on-air coaching to help Susan strategize next steps as she works to position herself as a social media expert, write effective proposals, and take Being More Social to the next level.
Key Takeaways
Why Susan has struggled to move into full-time freelancing
How Susan finds clients now
Laura’s advice around scaling a social media management business
Laura’s tips for landing clients
Susan’s advice regarding time management and productivity
What’s next for Susan’s business
Susan’s #1 tip for aspiring online business owners
Resources
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s Affiliate Marketing Course
Connect with Susan Cabezas
Even the most passionate solopreneurs among us can get to a point where our energy is depleted and we need a break from it all. Today’s guest admits to being the Queen of Burnout, working so hard for her clients that she forgets to give herself a break.
Based in beautiful Knysna, South Africa, Carol Hampshire is a brand designer and business strategist with twenty years of experience running her own studio, Red Hot Designs. She added business mentoring to her resume ten years ago, with the intention of helping female entrepreneurs who are coaches, creatives and wellness consultants work smarter and play harder.
Two years ago, Carol hit a wall. She had taken on too much, she was losing her joy, and she could no longer deliver her best work. After a week away from her desk on a sailing trip to Turkey, Carol realized that she needed to create a business around her life, not vice versa. Today she shares her best advice on avoiding burnout, connecting with clients in the onboarding process, and allocating time away from the computer. Listen to understand why Carol makes it a point to learn what drives her clients and how to shift your business model as the need arises.
Key Takeaways
Carol’s key to consistent success
Signs of burnout
Carol’s tips to avoid burnout
Carol’s guidance around working with clients
The questions Carol asks new clients in onboarding process
Carol’s biggest challenges as an entrepreneur
Carol’s shift to working as coach/mentor
Resources
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks PhD
Connect with Carol Hampshire